"Let men of God in Courts and Churches watch
O're such as do a Toleration hatch,
Lest that Ill Egg bring forth a Cockatrice,
To poison all with heresie and vice."
[Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 2, ch. v. section 1.]

In former ages churches had been comprehensive to this extent: infants
had been baptized, and, when the child had become a man, he had been
admitted to the communion as a matter of course, unless his life had given
scandal; but to this system the Congregationalist was utterly opposed. He
believed that, human nature being totally depraved, some became regenerate
through grace; that the signs of grace were as palpable as any other
traits of character, and could be discerned by all the world; therefore,
none should be admitted to the sacrament who had not the marks of the
elect; and as in a well-ordered community the godly ought to rule, it
followed that none should be enfranchised but members of the church.

To suppose such a government could be maintained in England was beyond the
dreams even of an enthusiast, and there can be little doubt that the
controlling incentive with many of those who sailed was the hope, with the
aid of their divines, of founding a religious commonwealth in the
wilderness which should harmonize with their interpretation of the
Scriptures.

The execution of such a project was, however, far from easy. It would have
been most unsafe for the emigrants to have divulged their true designs,
since these were not only unlawful, but would have been highly offensive
to the king, and yet they were too feeble to exist without the protection
of Great Britain, therefore it was necessary to secure for themselves the