ENCYCLOPAEDIA LONDINENSIS 
OR, AN 
UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY 
OF 
ARTS, SCIENCES, and LITERATURE. 
INDEPENDENT. 
I NDEPENDENT, f. One who in religious affairs holds 
that every congregation is a complete church, fubje« 5 l 
to no fuperior authority.—We lhall, in our fermons, take 
occalion to juftify fuch palfages in o.ur liturgy as have been 
unjuftly quarrelled at by prefbyterians, independents, or 
other puritan feflaries. Sanderfon. 
The Independents, like every other Chriftian fefl, de¬ 
rive their own origin from the practice of the apoftles in 
planting the firft churches ; but they were unknown in 
modern times, till they arofe in England during the reign 
of Elizabeth. The hierarchy eftablilhed by that princefs 
in the churches of her dominions, the veftments worn by 
the clergy in the celebration of divine worfhip, the book 
of Common Prayer, and above all the fign of the crofs 
uled in the adminiftration of baptifm, were very offenfive 
to many of her fubjefls, who, during the perfecutions of 
the former reign, had taken refuge among the Protellants 
of Germany and Geneva. Thofe.men thought that the 
church of England refembled, in too many particulars, 
the antichriltian church of Rome; and they called perpe¬ 
tually for a more thorough reformation and a purer wor¬ 
fhip. From this circumltance they were fligmati^ed by 
their adverfaries with the general name of Puritans, as the 
followers of Novatian had been in the ancient church. 
Elizabeth was not dil'pofed to comply with their demands ; 
and it is difficult to fay what might have been the iffue 
of the cor.teft, had the Puritans been united 3inong them¬ 
felves in fentiments, views, and meafnres. But the cafe 
was quite otherwife. That large body, compofed of per- 
fons of different ranks, characters, opinions, and inten¬ 
tions, and unanimous in nothing but in their antipathy 
to the forms of doflrine and difcipline that were efta- 
blilhed by law, was all of a fudden divided into a variety 
of fe£ls. Of thefe, the mod famous was that which was 
formed about the year 1581 by Robert Broum, a man infi- 
•nuating in his manners, but unlteady and inconfiftent in 
his views and notions of men and things. See Brown, 
vol. iii. p. 441. 
This innovator differed not in point of doftrine either 
from the church of England or from the reft of the Pu¬ 
ritans-, but he had formed notions thejr new and lingu¬ 
lar, concerning the nature of the church and the rules of 
ecclefiaftical government. He was for dividing the whole 
body of the faithful into feparate focieties or, congrega¬ 
tions ; and maintained, that fuch a number of perfons as 
could be contained in an ordinary place of worfhip ought 
to be confidered as a church, and enjoy all the rights and 
privileges that are competent to an ecclefiaftical commu¬ 
nity. Thefe fmall focieties he pronounced independent, 
and entirely exempt from the jurifdiction of the bilhops, 
in whofe hands the court had placed Ihe reins of fpiritual 
government; and alfofrom that of prelbyteries and fynods, 
which the Puritans regarded as tire fuprerqe vifible fourccs 
Vol. XI. No. 729. 
of ecclefiaftical authority. He alfo maintained, that the 
power of governing each congregation refided in the peo- 
pie ; and that each member had an equal fhare in this go¬ 
vernment, and an equal right to order matters for the 
good of the whole fociety. Hence all points both of doc¬ 
trine and difcipline were fubmitted to the difcuftion of 
the whole congregation ; and whatever was fupported by 
a majority of voices parted into a law. It was the con¬ 
gregation alfo that defied certain of the brethren to the 
office of pallors, to perform the duty of public inftruc- 
tion, and the feveral branches of divine worfhip ; referv- 
ing however to themfelves the power of difmiffing thefe 
minillers, and reducing them to the condition of private 
members, whenever they fhould think fuch a change con¬ 
ducive to the fpiritual advantage of the community. It is 
likewife to be obferved, that the right of the pallors to 
preach was by no means of an exclufive nature, or pecu¬ 
liar to them alone ; fince any member that thought pro¬ 
per to exhort or inllrufl the brethren, was abundantly 
indulged in the liberty of prophejying to the whole alfem- 
bly. Accordingly, when the ordinary teacher or paftor 
had finilhed his difcourfe, all the other brethren were per¬ 
mitted to communicate in public their fentiments and il- 
luftrations upon any ufeful or edifying fubjecl. 
The zeal with wmich Brown and his aifociates main¬ 
tained and propagated thefe notions was in a high degree 
intemperate and extravagant. He affirmed, that all com¬ 
munion was to be broken off with thofe religious locie- 
ties that were founded upon a different plan from his ; 
and treated more elpecialty the church of England as a 
fpurious church, whofe minillers were unlawfully ordain, 
ed, whofe difcipline was popiffi and antichriltian, and 
whofe facraments and inllitutions were dellitute of all ef¬ 
ficacy and virtue. The fe£t of this hot-headed innovator, 
not being able to endure the fevere treatment which their 
own violence had brought upon them“from an admirriftra- 
tion that was not diftinguilhed by its mildnefs and indul¬ 
gence, retired into the Netherlands, and founded churches 
at Middleburg in Zealand, and at Amfterdam and Ley¬ 
den in the province of Holland ; but their euabliffinients. 
were neither folid nor lafting. Their founder returned 
to England; and, having renounced his principles of 
reparation, took orders in the ellabiilhed church, and ob¬ 
tained a benefice. The Puritan exiles, whom he thus 
abandoned, difagreed among themfelves, were fplit into 
parties, and their affairs declined from day to day. This 
engaged the wifer part of them to mitigate the Teverity of 
their founder’s plan, and to foften the rigour of his un¬ 
charitable decifions. 
The perlbn who had the chief merit of bringing about 
this reformation was one of their pallors cailed John Ro- 
binjon,' a man who had much of the folemn piety of the 
times, and 119 iacoaliderable portion of learning. Thi s 
B well,' 
( 
Li S 
