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Scarcely had Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558 when English exiles returned form Calvin's Geneva to complain that ministers should wear plain black gowns. Then they clamored for the governance of a local church by its lay elders (presbyters) rather than be a distant bishop-- a presbyterian rather than an episcopal organization. Later some even wanted to separate completely and set up independent congregations. Frustrated at Elizabeth's middle course, harried for nonconformity by King James, many Puritans sailed for the New World..
(373:1)
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