 On 3 or 4 January 1644 , the five leading dissenting brethren signalled a break with the rest of the Assembly when they published An <unk> <unk> , a polemical pamphlet appealing to Parliament . It argued that the <unk> system was more amenable to state control of religious matters than that of the presbyterians because they did not desire the church to retain any real power except to withdraw <unk> from aberrant congregations . By 17 January , the majority of the Assembly had become convinced that the best way forward was a presbyterian system similar to that of the Scots , but the dissenting brethren were allowed to continue to state their case in hope that they could eventually be reconciled . It was hoped that by avoiding asserting that presbyterianism was established by divine right , the congregationalists could be accommodated . 
