Presbyterian polity
Ainsworth and Baker were proponents of a Congregationalist polity that Paget firmly rejected in favour of the Presbyterian polity existing in the Netherlands and Scotland. They had broken with Johnson over Ainsworth's contention that authority rested in the whole congregation, not just the elders, as well as separating themselves from Paget's congregation and from the Church of England. Paget was vituperative in his assault on separatism, taking Ainsworth to task for his allegedly patchy record.