ON THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION I4I 
opposed by the council of assistants. In short, there 
was a very clear division in Massachusetts between 
what we may call the aristocratic and democratic 
parties. Perhaps it would also be correct to distinguish 
them as the theocratic and secular parties. On the 
one side were the clergymen and aristocrats who 
wished to make political power the monopoly of a few, 
while on the other hand a considerable minority of the 
people wished to secularize the politics of the commu- 
nity and place it upon a broader basis. The foremost 
spokesmen of these two parties were the two great 
ministers, John Cotton and Thomas Hooker. Both 
were men of force, sagacity, tact, and learning. They 
were probably the two most powerful intellects to be 
found on Massachusetts Bay. Their opinions were 
clearly expressed. Hooker said, “In matters of 
greater consequence, which concern the common good, 
a general council, chosen by all, to transact businesses 
which concern all, I conceive, under favour, most suit- 
able to rule and most safe for relief of the whole.” 
Here we have one of the fundamental theorems of 
democracy stated in admirably temperate language. 
On the other hand, Cotton said, “ Democracy I do 
not conceive that ever God did ordain as a fit govern- 
ment either for church or commonwealth.’ Hooker 
also had more or less discussion with Winthrop, in 
which it appeared that the ideal of the former was 
government of the people by the people, while that of 
the latter was government of the people by a selected 
few. 
Among the principal adherents of Hooker were 
John Warham, the pastor, and John Maverick, the 
teacher, of Dorchester, both of them natives of Exeter 
