communion, "the childish and superstitious
toys" connected with the baptismal service, the words then used in the
marriage service by the man, "with my body I thee worship" by which the
husband "made an idol of his wife," the use of such titles as
archbishop, arch-deacon, lord bishop.

It was because of their excessively scrupulous conscience in these
matters, that the name "Puritan" was given to the Calvinist by his
enemy, at first a mocking designation analogous to "Catharus" in the
Middle Ages. But the tide set strongly in the Puritan direction. Time
and again the Commons tried to initiate legislation to relieve the
consciences of the stricter party, but their efforts were blocked by
the crown. From this time forth the church of England made an alliance
with the throne that has never been broken. As Jewel had been
compelled, at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, [Sidenote: 1562] to
defend the Anglican church against Rome, so Richard Hooker, in his
famous {345} _Ecclesiastical Polity_ [Sidenote: 1594] was now forced to
defend it from the extreme Protestants. In the very year in which this
finely tempered work was written, a Jesuit reported that the Puritans
were the strongest body in the kingdom and particularly that they had
the most officers and soldiers on their side. The coming Commonwealth
was already casting its shadow on the age of Shakespeare.

As a moral and religious influence Puritanism was of the utmost
importance in moulding the English--and American--character and it was,
take it all in all, a noble thing. If it has been justly blamed for a
certain narrowness in its hostility, or indifference, to art and
refinement, it more than compensated for this by the moral earnestness
that it impressed on the people. To bring the genius of the Bible into
English life and literature, to impress each man with the idea of
living for duty, to reduce politics and the whole life of the state to
ethical standards, are undoubted services of Puritanism. Politically,
it favored the growth of self-reliance, self-control and a sense of
personal worth that made democracy possible and necessary.

[Sidenote: Browne, 1550?-1633?]

To the left of the Puritans were the Independents or Brownists as they
were called from their leader Robert Browne, the advocate of
_Reformation without Tarrying for Any_. He had been a refugee in the
Netherlands, where he may have come under Anabaptist influence. His
disciples differed f