Note 3 — INTRODUCTION.

No one can see more clearly than myself the defectiveness of these views of the state of parties. We must begin somewhere. To go very far back is unsatisfactory, because the glimpses given of remote periods must be indistinct and confused, and are apt to convey inaccurate impressions. To commence with notices of what took place just before our history opens, is also exposed to objection, because it leaves out of sight so much which served to prepare for what followed. The history of the Commonwealth requires a previous study of the history of the Reformation, and that again the history of the Middle Ages. Notices of the early Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists will be found in subsequent chapters.