m^^^^^D 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 A 
 
^M^. 
 
 LECHFORD'S PLAIN DEALING; 
 
 OR, 
 
 Nezvs frovi New Englaitd. 
 
 rg>,^ 
 
Plain Dealing 
 
 O R 
 
 3^eU>s from MtW ^nglantr 
 
 B V 
 
 THOMAS LECHFORD 
 
 lV/7// AN INTKODLC'J'JON AND NOTES 
 
 J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL 
 
 c^c^cri-^sP 
 
 of Cor 
 
 13«7 
 
 ^,.VV ■" ^o.^,,^^ 
 
 
 (^ iJ s 1 11 
 
 J. K. WIGGIN & WM. PARSONS LUNT 
 
 iM DCCC LXVII 
 
 r 
 
Entered, according to A&. of Congrefs, in the year 1867, by 
 
 WIGGIN & LUNT, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Diftrid Court of the Diftridl of Maffachufetts. 
 
 JVo. f .f 
 
 EDITION: 
 
 Tzvo Hundred and EigJity-fivc copies, of which TJiirty-five are 
 Royal Quarto. 
 
 Press of Geo. C. Rand & Avery. 
 
 K^^- 
 
^^^m 
 
 £r> 
 
 George Brinley, Esq., 
 
 OF HARTFORD, 
 
 A SUCCESSFUL COLLECTOR AND A CAREFUL READER OF ALL THAT ILLUSTRATES 
 THE EARLY HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND, 
 
 WHATEVER THERE MAY BE OF VALUE IN 
 
 %\\i (Sbitioir of " ^Ihiu pealing,' 
 
 THE PREPARATION OF WHICH WAS UNDERTAKEN ON HIS SUGGESTION, 
 
 IS, 
 IN SLIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MANY OBLIGATIONS, 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 BY HIS FRIEND, 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 In the year 1858, the late Samuel Jennison, Esq., of Worcester, 
 — for many years an officer of the American Antiquarian Soci- 
 ety, and well known as a diligent and successful student of the 
 history of New England, — invited me to examine a manuscript 
 volume of which he had become the possessor. Of this volume, 
 its authorship and contents, Mr. Jennison wrote the following 
 account : — 
 
 " It is now some time since a friend, knowing that I had some curi- 
 osity in relation to matters of antiquity, and thinking I might find some- 
 thing to gratify it in a small folio, in manuscript, in broken but venerable 
 binding, which was then in his possession, placed the same in my hands. 
 He did not know the writer or the contents ; for the style of penmanship 
 was that of more than two centuries ago, and although not unusually 
 indistinct for its kind, could not easily be read by one unaccustomed to 
 the chirography of the time. It proved, on inspection, to be a journal- 
 book kept by Thomas Lechford, whose claim to the reputation of 
 having been the first Boston laivyer is, I believe, unquestioned. It con- 
 tains a record of the business transactions in which he was, from day 
 to day, engaged, commencing with his settlement in Boston, and con- 
 tinued until his return to England ; embracing many facts of historical 
 and genealogical interest. I have awaited a season of leisure and relief 
 from other occupations to transcribe and prepare it for publication." 
 
 It is much to be regretted that the work of transcription and 
 preparation, commenced by Mr. Jennison, was laid aside before 
 being completed, and the public thereby deprived of the valuable 
 
 2 IX 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 illustration such a volume must have received in the hands of 
 so competent an editor. 
 
 In this Journal, Lechford had made numerous entries in 
 short-hand, some of which are of considerable length, and one 
 occupies an entire page. It was for the purpose of asking assist- 
 ance in deciphering these, that Mr. Jennison first submitted the 
 volume to my inspection. I recognized the characters employed, 
 as belonging to a system with which I had previously become 
 tolerably familiar, and promised to furnish the desired transla- 
 tions whenever I could find leisure for the work. Mr. Jennison 
 died (March ir, i860) before this promise could be redeemed. 
 Until the spring of 1865, I found it impossible to devote the 
 time requisite for the study of the cipher, and for a more 
 thorough examination of the volume. On application to Samuel 
 Jennison, Esq., of Boston, into whose possession the manuscript 
 had come by the decease of his father, he not only most obli- 
 gingly consented to intrust it to my hands for so long a time as 
 should be necessary for deciphering the short-hand, but subse- 
 quently, with a liberality for which I am glad to have this oppor- 
 tunity of acknowledging my obligations, authorized me to pub- 
 lish, in a limited edition, the entire manuscript, and materially 
 lightened the labor of preparation by permitting me to make 
 use of an abstract of the volume and an index, which his father 
 had made. 
 
 The first instalment of this publication was nearly ready for 
 the printer when Lechford's Plain Dealing was announced for 
 re-impression in the "Library of New-England History." I con- 
 sented to become the editor of this volume, because it seemed 
 desirable that it should receive the benefit of whatever new 
 material the author's journal and manuscript letters might sup- 
 ply for its illustration, and because much of this material might 
 be more advantageously employed in notes to Plain Dealing 
 than in a separate publication. Meanwhile, the preparation of 
 the Journal for the press has been suspended. But the work is 
 already resumed, and a volume will shortly be published com- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 prising Lechford's entries of business transactions, copies or 
 abstracts of instruments drawn by him, and letters to his corres- 
 pondents in New and Old England, between June 27, 1638, and 
 Dec. 31, 1639. For that volume, the ensuing sketch of the little 
 that is known of Lechford's personal history, and estimate of the 
 man and his book, was originally prepared. The prior announce- 
 ment of Plain Dealing, by the publishers, and its necessary pre- 
 cedence in the series, have compelled me to employ the same 
 materials, in almost the same form, by way of introduction to 
 two separate but nearly connected publications. 
 
 Of the birth and parentage of Thomas Lechford, or of his 
 early life, I have no certain knowledge. His surname is that of 
 a family, which, at about the middle of the sixteenth century, 
 became seated at Leigh, near Reigate, in the county of Surrey, 
 where Henry Lechford, great-grandson of a Thomas Lechford 
 who lived in the reign of Edward IV. (1461-1482), bought the 
 manors of Shellwood and Charlwood, with other estates; This 
 Henry, dying, Sept. 27, 1567, left a son Richard, born in 1547, who 
 was knighted. Sir Richard Lechford was twice married ; first, 
 to Ann, daughter of George Lusher, by whom he had two sons^ 
 John and Thomas ; and, secondly, to Eleanor, daughter of Wil- 
 liam Morgan, of Chilworth, Esq. Henry, a son of the second 
 marriage, died in 1606, before his father, but left a son Richard 
 (born, about December, 1594), who inherited the estates of his 
 grandfather on the death of the latter, July 10, 161 1. John and 
 Thomas, above named, sons of Sir Richard by his first wife, were 
 living in 1606, when they are named in a deed of settlement by 
 their father on his second wife and her children.* Their nephew, 
 Richard Lechford, was knighted by James L Early in the reign 
 of Charles L, he was enrolled in the band of " Gentlemen Pen- 
 sioners," who constituted the king's body-guard. Like many 
 other courtiers of his day, he became a Roman Catholic, and 
 found his new religion no bar to royal favor, notwithstanding the 
 
 * Manning and Bray's History of Surrey, ii. l8i, 184-5, l^^- 
 
XII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 unabated severity of the Laws against " popish recusants." His 
 eldest daughter, Letitia (" alias Bridget," as she is named in the 
 record), remained a Protestant, and, about 1633, was confirmed 
 in the Church of England, to the great displeasure of her father.* 
 Not long afterwards, while Sir Richard was in attendance upon 
 the king in his journey to Scotland, this daughter Letitia and a 
 younger sister Mary, who had been placed under the care of an 
 aunt living near London, were detained by warrant from the 
 High Commission when about to sail from England for some 
 foreign port. Their father alleged that they had embarked with- 
 out his knowledge, and were attempting to escape from his 
 authority ; but another and more probable version of the story is 
 given by a well-informed writer (the Rev. George Gerrard, the 
 gossipping London correspondent of the Earl of Strafford), in a 
 letter dated May i, 1634:! — 
 
 " Sir Richard Lafliford,! a penfioner in ordinaiy, was fending two of 
 his daughters to the nunneries beyond the feas ; being to take Ihipping 
 in fome of the Kentifli ports, they w^ere ftopp'd and fent back to Lon- 
 don. My Lord's Grace of Canterbury [Laud] being made acquainted 
 with it, fent for the father, who offered to give caution that they fhould 
 not go out of England; but my Lord afked him, whether he would en- 
 gage himfelf that they fliould conform themfelves to the religion of the 
 Church of England, which he refufed. He afked then of him, of what 
 religion he was? He faid, A Romifh Catholick, and but lately con- 
 verted. He offered him both the Oaths, which peremptorily he refufed. 
 The Archbifliop then told him, he was not a fit fervant to be of the 
 King's principal Guard, that would not take the oath of allegiance unto 
 his Majefly. Since he hath been brought before the Lords, abfolutely 
 put out of his place, and another fworn into it." 
 
 * Caloidar of Brit. State Papers (Do- ally written. Evelyn (Z'w^j, ii. 56, Bohn's 
 
 mast. Ser., Charles I.), 1633-4, pp. 23, edit.) mentions, under date of Sept. 13, 
 
 536, 348, 581. 1670, going "to vifit Sir Richard Lalh- 
 
 t ^irdi^ord^s Letters and Dispat., \. 2i\2. ford, [his] kinfman." Elsewhere, we find 
 
 X So the name appears to have been the same name written Leecheforde. See 
 
 generally pronounced, and was occasion- note (t) on the next page. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 A few weeks afterwards, the same correspondent wrote : * — 
 
 " The Penfioner, Sir Richard Lafliford, was again called before the 
 Lords, when the oath of allegiance was again offered to him, but he 
 utterly refufed it. So order was given to the Attorney to indite him in 
 the King's Bench of a Preimmire ; but being brought thither, he took it 
 before the Judges, which if he had done before, 'tis likely he had not 
 been put from his Penfioner's place." 
 
 In other words, the influence of the court upon the judges, or 
 a " letter of grace and protection," such as the king, about this 
 time, was accustomed to grant to his courtiers who were papists, 
 would have stayed proceedings against him for recusancy. 
 
 In November, 1634, Sir Richard sold the manor of Shellwood, 
 and other estates in Surrey, and subsequently resided at or near 
 Dorking (in the same county), where he died, Sept. 14, 1671.! 
 
 The recurrence of the name of TJioinas in several generations 
 of the Lechfords of Shellwood ; the fact that the surname was by 
 no means common, and does not appear to have been repre- 
 sented in England by any other family than this, of the rank of 
 gentry ; with other considerations which it is unnecessary to 
 mention here, — render it highly probable, in fact nearly certain, 
 that the author of Plain Dealing was of this stock, and nearly 
 related to the last-mentioned Sir Richard Lechford, Knt., 1634. 
 
 In the address " To the Reader," Thomas Lechford describes 
 himself as " a student or practiser at law." An entry in his jour- 
 nal shows that he had been a member of Clement's Inn before he 
 came to New England ; and he resumed his residence there after 
 his return to London, in 1641, as the title-page oi Plain Dealing 
 informs us. In an order of the General Court of Massachusetts, 
 
 * Strafford's Letters aud Dispatches, i. chevron betw. three leopards' heads, ar- 
 
 261. gent. Crest, on a wreath of the same 
 
 t Manning & Bray, i. 586. The arms colors, a unicorn's head erased, argent, 
 
 confirmed to " Sir Richard Leechforde maned, bearded, and horned or, bearing 
 
 of Shelwood," Nov. 22, 1605, by W. Se- on the same a serpent proper. Howard's 
 
 gar, Garter, are thus blazoned: Sable, z. Miscel.Geneal.et Herald. {Oz\..\Zb(i),^.'j^if. 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 made in 1647, he is described as "an ordinary solicitor \\\ Eng- 
 land." * It does not appear that he was ever called to the bar. 
 The Inns of Chancery, of which Clement's was one, were so 
 called " probably because they were appropriated to such clerks 
 as chiefly studied the forming of zvrits, which was the province 
 of the cursitors, who are officers of chancery, and such as belong 
 to the courts of common pleas and king's bench." f In Stowe's 
 time, they were " chiefly filled with attorneys, solicitors, and 
 clerks." By an order of the judges, April 15, 1630, "attorneys 
 and solicitors, which are but ministerial persons of an inferior 
 nature," though permitted to occupy chambers in the inns of 
 chancery, were excluded from the inns of court, and conse- 
 quently from a call to the bar. J In his defence before the court 
 of magistrates at Boston, in December, i640,§ Lechford said of 
 himself: " I am no pleader, by nature ; oratory I have little, . . . 
 and if I had never so expert a faculty that way, I should not 
 now use it, . . . and as for the other part of pleading which 
 consisteth in chirography, || ivJicrcin I had some little skill, I do 
 not desire to use any of that," &c. 
 
 When Hugh Peters was lecturer in St. Sepulchre, in London, 
 — before the persecution of Laud drove him to Rotterdam, in 
 1629 or 1630, — Lechford was one of his hearers, and "hung 
 upon his ministry," as he expresses it in a letter to Peters, writ- 
 ten in 1639.^ Some years later, he was in Ireland, with Sir 
 Thomas Wentworth (afterwards Earl of Strafford), then lord 
 deputy. In what capacity he went, or how long he remained 
 
 * Mass. Col. Records, ii. 206. old law, a chirographer signified " him in 
 
 t Herbert's Inns of Court and Chan- the Common Pleas office {in Commtmi 
 
 eery, 169. Banco) that ingroffeth Fines in that Court 
 
 \ Dugdale's Origities yndicales, 320. acknowledged . . . and that writeth and 
 
 § See after, page xxxiii.; and note 256, delivereth the IndenUcres of them unto 
 
 on page 157 of this volume. the parties" (Minsheu, 1627) ; and a chi- 
 ll This word appears to be used here rograph was a bill, bond, or deed-in- 
 
 in its more modern sense, for the business dented, written in the maker's own hand. 
 
 of a draughtsman and scrivener. In the IT Copied, in short-hand, in Mx^ajottrnal. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 there, does not appear.* In 1640, when he contemplated depar- 
 ture from New England, he wrote to one of his correspondents, 
 that he was desirous to return to Ireland, " there to follow his 
 old profession, where he had some hope of friendship." f 
 
 In the address " To the Reader," of Plain Dealing, he alludes 
 to the fact, " well knowne unto many, that heretofore he suffered 
 imprisonment, and a kind of banishment, ... for some acts con- 
 strued to oppose, and as tending to subvert Episcopacie, and the 
 settled Ecclesiastical government of England." His offence, as 
 we learn from a couple of lines in Mr. Cotton's Way of Congre- 
 gational ChurcJies cleared, was his "witnessing against the Bish- 
 ops, in soliciting the cause of Mr. Prynne." In the judgment of 
 Laud and of the High Commission, his crime could hardly 
 have been greater, or have merited more severe punishment. 
 Prynne, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, had drawn upon himself the 
 vengeance of the archbishop, by the publication, in 1633, oi His- 
 triomastix. He was indicted in the Star Chamber, found guilty 
 of a libel, and condemned to a barbarous punishment, to be fol- 
 lowed by imprisonment for life, for the crime of railing " not only 
 against Stage Plays . . . but farther in particular against Hunt- 
 ing, Publique Festivals, Christmas-keeping, Bonfires, and May- 
 poles," &c. X His real offence (as Hume suggests) was, probably, 
 that he had, " in plain terms, blamed the hierarchy, the innova- 
 tions in religious worship, and the new superstitions introduced 
 by Laud." Four years afterwards, a renewal of this offence called 
 for a yet more vindictive prosecution in the same court. On the 
 14th of June, 1637, he, with Henry Burton, bachelor of divinity, 
 and John Bastwick, a physician, was tried and convicted of 
 
 * Wentworth was appointed lord dep- Strafford and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 
 uty in January, 1632, but did not go to — 'SiX.xzSoxdiS Letters and Dispute lies, x.b}^, 
 
 Ireland until July, 1633. In June, 1636, 84; ii. 430, 431; Nalson's Collection, i. 
 
 he came to London, remained about six 280. 
 
 months in England, and returned to Dub- t Letter, without address, dated July 
 
 lin in November. He was not again in 28, 1640, copied, in short-hand, in his 
 
 London until September, 1639. In De- Journal, p. 159. 
 
 cember, 1639, he was created Earl of \ Riishworth, ii. 220. 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " writing and publishing seditious, schismatical and libellous 
 books against the hierarchy of the Church." They were sen- 
 tenced to lose their ears in the pillory, to be fined ;^5000 each 
 to the king, to perpetual imprisonment in three remote places of 
 the kingdom ; and Prynne to be branded on both cheeks with 
 the letters S. L., for a "Seditious Libeller." This barbarous sen- 
 tence was executed in the palace-yard at Westminster, June 30 ; 
 "a spectacle no less strange than sad, to see three of several 
 professions, the noblest in the kingdom, Divinity, Law and Phy- 
 sick, exposed at one time to such an ignominious punishment, 
 and condemned to it by Protestant magistrates, for such tenets 
 in religion as the greatest pai't of Protestants in England held, 
 and all the reformed churches in Europe maintained." * Lnme- 
 diately after summons was issued for Prynne's appearance before 
 the court, he was shut up close prisoner, refused the use of pen, 
 ink, or paper, and not permitted to consult counsel until very 
 shortly before his trial. In his speech to the court he said : " I 
 was deserted of all means by which I should have drawn my an- 
 swer. ... I had neither pen, ink, nor servant to do any thing for 
 me ; for my servant was then also close prisoner, under a pursuiv- 
 ant's hands." All who rendered the slightest service to Prynne 
 or his fellow-offenders fell under condemnation. " One Gardener," 
 a scrivener or clerk, who wrote from Prynne's dictation a petition 
 to his judges, was apprehended, subjected to fourteen days' im- 
 prisonment, and compelled to give a bond for appearance when 
 called. His counsel. Holt and Tomlyns, did not dare to sub- 
 scribe his answer, after it was drawn and engrossed. After the 
 execution of his sentence, some of his friends visited him in 
 Chester, on his way to his prison at Caernarvon. Those who 
 had so offended were summoned before the Privy Council, cited 
 into the High Commission at York, imprisoned and fined, and 
 enjoined to make a public recantation.f It is not surprising that 
 Lechford, for "soliciting" in Prynne's cause or otherwise assist- 
 
 * May's Hist, of the Pari., b. i. ch, 7. t Hargrave's State Trials, i. 482, 501. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 ing his defence, should have been severely dealt with. Of his 
 punishment we know no more than he himself has told us, — that 
 he " suffered imprisonment and a kind of banishment." 
 
 Lechford landed in Boston one year and thirteen days after 
 Prynne's trial in the Star Chamber. Four years and five months 
 after the trial (Nov. i6, 1641), he dated his "Quaeres about Church 
 government" from his chambers in Clement's Inn, and, on the 
 first page of Plain Dealing, speaks of " having been forth of his 
 native country almost for the space of four years last past." The 
 inference, from comparison of these dates, seems to be, that he 
 left England in the autumn or winter of 1637, but did not then 
 sail directly for Boston. His imprisonment could not have been 
 of many months' duration. 
 
 In the letter to Hugh Peters,* before cited, he writes : — 
 
 " Being thrown out of my ftation in England ... I forfook prefer- 
 ment in a Prince's court that was offered to me, who of Chriftian princes 
 is the chiefe for godlinefs (as I was affured), Georgius Ragotzki, Prince 
 of Tranfylvania and Lord of Lower Hungary, fucceffor to Bethlem 
 Gabon t Likewife the Lords of Providence % offered me place of pre- 
 
 * Deciphered from the short-hand copy Earl of Holland, Lord Say and Sele, 
 
 in the Journal, p. 30. Lord Brooke, Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, and 
 
 t George, son of Sigismund Rakoczy, Sir Nathaniel Rich, were among the "Ad- 
 
 or Ragotzki, the representative of a noble venturers for the Plantation of the Islands 
 
 family distinguished for many genera- of Providence, Henrietta, and the adja- 
 
 tions in the annals of Transylvania, was cent Islands " (the Bahamas), incorpo- 
 
 chosen prince (vaivode) of that province rated by patent of Dec. 4, 1630. In 1636 
 
 in 1631. He married a daughter of Ste- and 1637, the privileges of the company 
 
 phen (brother of Gabor) Bethlem. As a were enlarged, and they were encouraged 
 
 champion of the Protestant cause in Hun- to make liberal advances for promoting 
 
 gary and Bohemia against the Jesuits and the growth of the plantation and fortifying 
 
 their tool, the Emperor Ferdinand II., Providence Island against the Spaniards, 
 
 and afterwards as the ally of Gustavus In^February, 1638, the Earl of Warwick, 
 
 Adolphus, his name was held in high Lord Say and Sele, and Lord Brooke 
 
 honor among the Protestants of Western declared their intention of going them- 
 
 Europe. Hoffmann [Lexicon Univ.) calls selves to the Island ; and a considerable 
 
 him " Princeps pacificus et egregius." number of planters and servants, with a 
 
 } The Earl of Warwick, Henry Rich supply of vessels, were to be sent thither 
 
 3 
 
XVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ferment with them, which I will not name. Hither I have come, and, 
 the Lord knows my heart! fain would I join with your Churches," &c. 
 
 I have not been able to discover the time or place of Lech- 
 ford's embarkation for New England, nor in which of the twenty 
 ships which brought three thousand passengers to Massachusetts 
 in the summer of 1638,* he came. His journal begins with the 
 date of his arrival : — 
 
 " Bofton in New-England, 27? 4.' the day of my landing — 1638." 
 
 From some allusions in his letters, especially a reference to 
 conversation " on ship-board," I infer that he came fellow-passen- 
 ger with Mr. Edmund Browne, afterwards minister of Sudbury, 
 and, perhaps, with Emanuel Downing,! the brother-in-law of 
 Governor Winthrop. 
 
 From succeeding pages of his journal, we gather some — but 
 scanty and unsatisfactory — knowledge of his domestic relations. 
 His wife is mentioned, in 1639 ^^'^ afterwards ; and, as no evi- 
 dence has been discovered of his marriage on this side of the 
 water, we infer that she accompanied him from England ; but 
 he nowhere gives any information of her family, nor even intro- 
 duces her Christian name. In July, 1640,$ he writes: "I have 
 not yet here an house of my owne to put my head in, or any 
 stock going." He lived in a house, or part of a house, hired of 
 Nathaniel Micklethwaite of Boston, who was, I think, the agent 
 or factor in New England of Richard Hutchinson of London, 
 and perhaps of Edward and William Hutchinson after their re- 
 moval to Rhode Island. 
 
 in advance of the coming of the Lords. * lVi)ithrop, i. 268. 
 
 Great inducements were offered to plan- t Yet I find elsewhere no earlier men- 
 
 ters, and strenuous efforts made to divert tion of Downing's arrival than that in 
 
 emigration from New England to Provi- the records of the Court of September 6, 
 
 dence. Among others thus solicited were 1638. {Mass Records, \.2T,(i.) Mr. Savage 
 
 the Rev. Charles Chauncy, the Rev. Eze- had, apparently, overlooked that refer- 
 
 kiel Rogers, and Capt. John Underhill. — ence, when he wrote the note to VVin- 
 
 Sainsbury's Calendar, 123, 248, 262, 267. throp, i. 274. 
 
 See Plain Dealing, p. 48, and note 198. % Plain Dealing, p. 69. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 It appears that he paid his rent, until August, 1639, to Samuel 
 Hutchinson, and subsequently to Mr. Micklethwaite, whose sig- 
 nature appears, on a page of the journal, to the lease of " the 
 chamber etc.," at jQs per year, from Sept. i, 1639. From the 
 fact that the name of Thomas Savage often occurs as a witness 
 to instruments drawn by Lechford, I conjecture that he wqs a 
 near neighbor, or perhaps a fellow-tenant under the same roof 
 Occasional entries like the following give glimpses of the inte- 
 rior of "the chamber etc.," and of Lechford's manner of living: — 
 
 1639. June. "Borrowed of Mr. Story about a month fince 
 
 2'i & halfe of the beft fuger at 2^^ t^g pound 5^- S'^- 
 
 April. " Rec'^ of Mr. Keayne for a filver laced coate 
 
 and a gold wrought cap £2. 10. 
 
 May. " Received of Mr. George Storj' 4 yards and 
 
 halfe a quarter of tuft holland to make my wife a 
 
 waflcoate at 2^^^ ^^ per yarde ii^- 
 
 1640. Jan. 31. "I payd Nathaniel Heaton for full of writings 
 
 & cutting wood 5^- 
 
 Feb. I. "I payd John Hurd, delivered to his wife by 
 
 Sara our mayd, for making my wife's gowne 8^- 
 
 " I payd Thomas Marfhall before hand for 
 wood, delivered by my wife to his wife in the 10 
 moneth laft part [Dec. 1639] £1. 
 
 Since which time I had of him 6. loads of wood 
 at 55- fo I owe him lo*- 
 
 Jan. 12. " Received of Mr. Keayne 6''- of Spanifh to- 
 bacco upon account. And I owe him i load of 
 wood, a good load. 
 
 " I payd Mr. Burton for malt, cheefe, and 
 irons, £1. — and owe him 8^- 9^^ — in loth [month] 
 last. 
 
 1 64 1. " Mary Sherman came to my wife the twelveth 
 day of Aprill, 1641." 
 
 Almost from the hour of his landing at Boston, he was regarded 
 with distrust by those whose influence prevailed in state and 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 church. First, because of his profession ; for, to " some of the 
 magistrates," and doubtless to Governor Winthrop himself, the 
 employment of " lawyers to direct men in their causes," seemed 
 more objectionable than the custom of obtaining advice from the 
 judges on an ex parte statement before the public hearing of the 
 cause.* Winthrop himself, Bellingham, Humphrey, Dudley, Down- 
 ing, — and perhaps Pelham and Bradstreet, — had been students 
 of law in England ; but, on this side of the Atlantic, their legal 
 knowledge was not called into requisition, except as it contrib- 
 uted to qualify them for seats in the Court of Magistrates or as 
 legislators for the new colony ; " no advocate being allowed," f 
 and the exercise of the profession of an attorney being discoun- 
 tenanced so far as possible without absolute interdiction. 
 
 But Lechford was not ^v\y professionally but doctrinally o\y]^Q.- 
 tionable. Though he came to New England, as he says, with a 
 disposition to " lay aside all by-respects, to join with the Church 
 here," " he could not be satisfied in diverse particulars," and 
 " desired to open his mind in some material things of weight 
 concerning the Christian faith" wherein he differed from the 
 received belief of the Massachusetts churches. He was not long 
 in giving to these points of difference more than a sufficient 
 prominence. On his passage hither, he had discussed them with 
 his fellow-passengers ; and before, or soon after, his arrival, he 
 made a written statement of his opinions and the arguments 
 by which he sustained them, and placed the paper in the hands 
 of Mr. Downing. % These opinions, which he tells us he " did 
 not lightly or hastily take up, but upon good grounds and mature 
 deliberation, long before he ventured to betake himself into these 
 parts of the world," § involved what magistrates and elders held 
 to be fundamental errors, and such as prevented his reception to 
 
 * Winthrop, ii. 36. " No judge can be cause of one, before issuing process." 
 
 wise enough to decide always with satis- t Ibid. 
 
 faction to both parties," observes Mr. % Letter to Edmund Browne, Dec. 10, 
 
 Savage, "after privately hearing, and of 1638. yournal, p. 28. 
 
 necessity, as it were, undertaking the § To Hugh Peters, Jan., 1639. Ibid., t^o. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 church fellowship. These errors, as stated by Mr. Cotton, were : 
 " I. That the Antichrist described in the Revelation was not yet 
 come, nor any part of that Prophecy yet fulfilled from the 4th 
 chapter to the end. 2. That the Apostolick function was not 
 yet ceased : but that there still ought to be such, who should by 
 their transcendent Authority govern all churches." * 
 
 Lechford himself conceived that his opinions on these contro- 
 verted points "might be held, or not held, salva fide" \ and 
 without impediment to church fellowship with those of opposite 
 belief Indeed, modern orthodoxy, even of the most rigid type, 
 would hardly insist on the identification of the pope of Rome 
 with the prophetical antichrist, and a denial of the permanency of 
 the apostolic function, as essential pre-requisites to church com- 
 munion, or for the elective franchise. But to the elders of the Bay, 
 in 1638, — when the churches had not yet escaped the dangers 
 of Antinomianism nor been thoroughly purged of all the eighty- 
 two errors condemned by the synod of the year previous, — every 
 deviation from the established creed was matter of grave impor- 
 tance. Moreover, although Lechford professed a disinclination 
 to controversy, he certainly took no great pains to avoid it ; so 
 that before he had been many weeks in the colony, his peculiar 
 views were somewhat widely made known, not only through oral 
 discussions, but by means of two or three manuscript volumes 
 of his composition, which he had tendered for the perusal of 
 some of the jealous guardians of orthodoxy in the churches. 
 
 In the letter to Hugh Peters, before quoted, Lechford writes : 
 " I showed you my books : you had not leisure to peruse them. 
 I likewise, long before, showed my main book to Mr. Cotton. 
 He had not leisure to read it ; and the first draught of that 
 Of Prophesie, it lay in his house at least five weeks." Peters had 
 too much work before him, in New England and Old, for wasting 
 his time over the crude speculations of an honest but narrow- 
 minded enthusiast ; and Mr. Cotton was perhaps less zealous in 
 
 * Way of Congr. Churches cleared, pt. t See after, his Propositions to the 
 
 i. p. 71. General Court, June 11, 1639. 
 
XXII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 heresy-hunting, if not more tolerant of error, than before his own 
 narrow escape from the censure of the synod of 1637 ^o^ ^^"^ i"^" 
 imputed taint of Hutchinsonianism. If Lechford had gone no 
 farther to look for readers and provoke criticism, he might have 
 fared better, — might have found a way at last to the fellowship 
 of the churches and the favor of magistrates, and have lived and 
 died in Massachusetts, in comfortable circumstances and with a 
 more favorable opinion of " rigid separations " and " electorie 
 ways " than he has expressed in Plain Dealing. But, in an evil 
 hour, he sought counsel of the deputy-governor, Thomas Dudley, 
 a man whose conscientiousness was as morbid, his vision as 
 narrow, and his prejudices as strong, as Lechford's own ; who 
 was so jealous for the purity of the faith that he magnified to a 
 mountain every mole-hill of error, and saw in the toleration of 
 new opinions a " cockatrice's ^%gl' 
 
 " To poison all with heresy and vice." 
 
 "After the court here ended," wrote Lechford to Hugh Peters, 
 in January, 1639, "I delivered [my book] Of Prophcsie to Mr. 
 Deputy, to advise thereof as a private friend, as a godly man 
 and a member of the Church, whether it were fit to be published. 
 The next news I had was, that at first dash he accused me of 
 heresy, and wrote to Mr. Governor that my book was fitter to 
 be burned. ..." 
 
 The court to which Lechford refers was probably the Quarter 
 Court held at Boston, Dec. 4th, 1638. On the eleventh of the 
 same month, Dudley wrote from Roxbury, to Winthrop : — 
 
 " Sir. Since my cominge home, I have read over Mr. Lechford's 
 booke, and finde the fcope thereof to be eiToneous and dangerous, if not 
 hereticall, according to my conception — His tenet beinge that the office 
 of apofllefliip doth ftill continew and ought foe to doe till Grift's coming, 
 and that a Church hath now power to make apoflles as our Saviour 
 Crist had when hee was heere. Other things there are, but I pray you 
 confider of this, and the infeparable confequences of it : I heare that 
 Mr. Cotton and Mr. Rogers know fomethinge of the matter, or man. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 with whome you may if you pleafe conferre : I heare alfo that hee 
 favoureth Mr. Lentall* and hath fo exprefl himfelfe fince Mr. Lentall 
 was queftyoned by the miniflers : It is eafyer floppinge a breach when 
 it begins, then afterwards : wee fawe our error in fufferinge Mrs. Huch- 
 infon too longe. I have fent you the booke herewith that in ftead of 
 puttinge it to the preffe as hee defireth it may rather be putt into the fire 
 as I defire : But I pray you lett him know that I have fent the booke 
 to you, that after you have read it (which I think you faid you had not 
 yet done) it may be reflored to him. 
 
 " I fuppofe the booke to be rather coppyed out then contryved by Mr. 
 Lechford, hee beinge I thinck, not foe good a grecyan and hebritian as 
 the author undertakes to be." f 
 
 Either Winthrop's zeal was less lively, or he saw less danger 
 in the new heresy and its " inseparable consequences," than his 
 colleague. Before the end of the month, Dudley wrote again : — 
 
 " For Mr. Lechford and his booke, you fay nothing, and I have fmce 
 heard that the worft opynion in his book (which I thinck I fliall proove 
 to be herefy) is taken upp by others. Nowe feeing that this is the way 
 Sathan invades us by (viz. new opynions and herefyes) it behooves us 
 to be the more vigilant, and to ftirr upp our zeale and ftopp breaches at 
 the beginninge, leaft forbearance hurt us as it did before." $ 
 
 Lechford's character appears in a very favorable light in his 
 comment on the course pursued by Mr. Dudley. After disavow- 
 ing the chief heresy imputed to him, " though indeed my words 
 might have been so strained," he adds : — 
 
 " I fpeak according to my light, and dare do no otherwife. If hotly 
 [pressed by ?] Mr. Deput}', I impute it to his zeal againll errors : I am 
 not angry with him for it. But when I faw feven fhepherds and eight 
 
 * See Plain Dealing, pp. 22, 41, and by Robert Keayne, have been pre- 
 
 notes 78, 144. Mr. Lenthall was " ques- served. 
 
 tioned by the ministers," Dec. 11, 1638, t Proceed. Mass. Hist Soc, 1855-8, pp. 
 
 at a conference (held at the house of 311, 312. 
 
 Capt. Israel Stoughton, in Dorchester), J Dudley to Winthrop, Dec. 29, 1638, 
 
 of which some manuscript notes, taken m /[ Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. iii. 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 principal men called out againfl me, as if I were an Affyrian [the allu- 
 sion is to Micah, v. 5], I thought there might be fomething in me to be 
 reproved, and that it concerned me to look about me. I dealt plainly. 
 . . . Thereupon my book was referred to the confideration of the Elders." 
 
 This reference to the elders was the occasion of his addressing 
 to Hugh Peters, Jan. 3, 1638-9, the letter from which several 
 extracts have already been introduced. In an interview with 
 some of the magistrates, he had " intimated a word of [his] other, 
 main book," treating of Antichrist and of the millenial kingdom of 
 Christ. " They all now press me to produce that. I told them it 
 was not ready for their view : I must fair write it, and alter some 
 things : yet at length, upon promise that I should have it again 
 (for if it be no error, I will not part with it for ;^ioo) I promised 
 to let them see it. I have accordingly left it to Mr. Deputy and 
 the Governor (who also desired to see it)." This book, with the 
 one Of Prophcsie, was to be submitted to an assembly of the 
 Elders ; and Lechford writes to request Mr. Peters that he would 
 himself be one of the council, " Mr. Ward another, and Mr. Par- 
 ker of Newbury ; and that Mr. Norton and Mr. Phillips may 
 likewise be called ; " who should " soundly and maturely advise 
 and consult of the matter," with "all lawful favour" to the writer. 
 
 I find no subsequent mention of this council, unless it be re- 
 ferred to by Mr. Cotton, in the passage already cited (from the 
 Way of the Congregational ChnrcJies cleared, pt. i. p. 71), where 
 Lechford is said to have been " dealt withall both in conference 
 and (according to his desire) in writing." Neither mode of deal- 
 ing was effectual to convince him of error, nor would the elders 
 admit that his opinions might be held " salva fide!' So he was 
 compelled to remain without the church ; and exclusion from 
 church fellowship carried with it exclusion from the privileges of 
 a freeman, and disqualification for civil ofifice. 
 
 His professional ability was not inconsiderable ; but the field 
 for its exercise was restricted. " Kept from all place of prefer- 
 ment in the Commonwealth," he was " forced to get his living 
 by writing petty things, which scarce found him bread," as he 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 complained to his friends in England, after two years* residence 
 here.* Though his imputed heterodoxy did not prevent his 
 occasional employment, by those of sounder faith, as a convey- 
 ancer, scrivener, or draughtsman, his receipts for such profes- 
 sional services were pitifully small. His Journal contains not 
 only the record of every instrument drawn by him while he was 
 in this country, but an account of the compensation he received ; 
 from which it appears that his professional income, for the two 
 years after his arrival, was a little more than ;!^47 ; about ^9 of 
 which was in debts remaining unpaid in July, 1640.! 
 
 In June, 1639, when he had been nearly a year in Boston, he 
 presented to the General Court certain propositions t for the 
 regulation of civil actions, and for the recording of judicial pro- 
 ceedings. He had perhaps been encouraged to hope — for he 
 states that his propositions were "made upon request" — that 
 the Court, notwithstanding his ineligibility to public office, would 
 employ his services in the humbler capacity of clerk or public 
 notary, and provide for his support by giving him work to do for 
 which his studies and experience peculiarly qualified him. His 
 application was not successful. " The Court was willing to be- 
 stow employment upon me," he writes (in short-hand) in his 
 Journal, "but they said to me that tJicy could not do it for fear 
 of offending the c/uirches, because of my opinions. Whereupon I 
 thought good to propose unto them as followeth : " — 
 
 " Certaine Propoficons to the generall Get, 11. 4. 1639. 
 " Whereas I have delivered that Prophefying in the Church is properly, 
 and therefore ought to be mainely, of prophetical! fcriptures : and that 
 Apoftles, Evangelifts, and Prophets ought to be continued as well and 
 as long as Paftors and Teachers or any other the undoubted officers, 
 (by vertue of the Inftitution, fo?ne Apofks, fome Prophets, etc.) and that 
 
 * Plain Dealing, 69. fide in debts owing, ^8. 18. 10. Caft, 2 
 
 t " Money received upon my book, as (5) 1640." — Short-hand note in 'your>ial, 
 
 appeareth, ;^38. 8. 5, or thereabout, be- \ Printed in Plain Dealing, pp. 29, 30. 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 it is probable there shall come yet a greater Antichrifl then ever hath 
 bin, etc. 
 
 1. I doe not refufe Church Communion w'^ any that hold the contrary. 
 
 2. If the Elders upon perufall of my books, and hearing me, will give 
 
 their cenfure and reafons in writing or otherwife againft the 
 maigne propofitions in my bookes, if they cannot fatisfy me fo 
 farre as to recant, yet I fliall be content to be filent. 
 
 3. If the Elders upon perufall of my bookes, and hearing me, can 
 
 convince me of error, in the maigne propofitions, I fliall be 
 ready to retract, yea, to burne my bookes. 
 
 4. If the State and the Elders thinke that the matters I treate on are 
 
 not tanti, or that they are iufl occafion of difturbance, I fhall be 
 content they will advife of them 12. moneths or more, w"' filence 
 on my parte during that fpace, faving to the Elders and chiefe 
 men, provided that I may have imployment to fubfift among 
 you, and in the meane while be admitted to the privileges of 
 God's houfe ; for that all I write may be held, or not held,yrt'/z'rt! 
 fide, as I conceive. W"^ all due fubmiffion to this hono^'^ Co""' 
 
 ^^ 
 
 It was in response to this application, probably, that he was 
 " dealt withal, according to Ids desire, in writing," as Mr. Cotton 
 has mentioned. Whether or not the Court gave favorable con- 
 sideration to the proposition by which Lechford engaged him- 
 self to refrain from controversy for twelve months, on consid- 
 eration of receiving employment, does not appear. But what- 
 ever good intentions in his behalf the magistrates, or some of 
 them, may have had, were counteracted by his own impru- 
 dence. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 In the summer of 1639, he was employed by William Cole* 
 and his wife Elizabeth, for the prosecution of an action against 
 her brother, Francis Doughty, of Taunton, whom she charged 
 with having defrauded her of her marriage -portion and her share 
 in their father's estate. To the preparation of this case, Lech- 
 ford's Journal and memoranda show that he gave much attention. 
 On the trial before a jury, at the quarter court in September, his 
 zeal for his clients betrayed him into an indiscretion (to use no 
 harsher term) which subjected him to the deserved censure of 
 the court, and gave occasion, not wholly displeasing to the ma- 
 gistrates perhaps, to prohibit him from the exercise of the profes- 
 sion of an advocate, to which, as has already been intimated, he 
 does not appear to have had any legitimate title. The order of 
 the court is in these words : — 
 
 " Mr. Thomas Lechford, for going to the Jewry & pleading \s^^ them 
 out of Court, is debarred from pleading any man's caufe hereafter, un- 
 leffe his owne, and admoniflied not to p''fume to meddle beyond what 
 hee fhalbee called to by the Courte." f 
 
 Lechford submitted, in a good spirit, to this censure. A few 
 days after receiving it, he presented to the General Court a 
 petition for pardon, with a frank confession of his fault. Of this 
 petition he has preserved a copy, in short-hand. % It is worth 
 insertion here, as characteristic of the man. 
 
 * William Cole, who came from Chew- Cole, was living in Farrington, co. Som- 
 
 Magna, co. Somerset, married Elizabeth, erset, in July, 1639. The names of Wil- 
 
 daughter of Francis Doughty, a merchant Ham, John, and Nicholas Cole, appear 
 
 and sometime alderman of the city of among the early inhabitants of Mr. 
 
 Bristol. Mr. Doughty died before 1637, Wheelwright's plantation at Exeter, and 
 
 and while William Cole and his wife were that of William is subscribed to the asso- 
 
 yet in England. Mention of his son, the ciation of Exeter planters, Oct. 4, 1639 
 
 Rev. Francis Doughty, is made in Plain (Hazard, i. 463). 
 
 Dealing, p. 41 (of this edition, p. 91, and t Mass. Col. Records, i. 270. 
 
 note 136). John, a brother of William J Journal, page 117. 
 
XXVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " To the IIo?i'^'^ the Governor, Council and AJfiJIants of this yurifdiflion 
 
 and to the General Court thereof afjembled, lo. 7. 1639. 
 " The humble fupplication or petition of Thomas Lechford, [late of 
 Clement's Inn in the County of Middlefex, gent.] * 
 
 " Truely fhowing and aknowledging that he did offend in fpeaking to 
 the Jury without leave, in the caufe of William Cole and his wife ; and 
 fo much the more inexcufable was this delinquency inafmuch as he 
 knew it was not to be done by the law of England. Yet he conceiveth 
 it was not Embracery, for that he had no reward fo to doe ; and fome 
 extenuation may, he conceiveth, be gathered by one or two feeming 
 approbations of the like which he hath obferved in other caufes here. 
 Notwithftanding, he is heartily forry for his offence, and acknowledgeth 
 the juftice of this Court, and is comforted in this — that he hopeth it 
 may doe him good and the example be a benefit to the publick. 
 Touching his fpeaking in publick for future time, he fubmitteth to the 
 wifdom of the Court ; and for that which is pafl, he came to the Court 
 being retained, and it's true flood there at the lower end, next the deputy 
 Marflial, attending unto a caufe or two wherein your petitioner was re- 
 tained. It was to (how his readinefs to do the countrey any fervice he 
 might, as well as to get a little money for himfelf Some fpeeches of 
 his, fpecially fome involuntary and of fudden interruptions of fome in 
 authoritie f being made, whereof fome might be occafioned by himfelf, 
 [being too tartly, as he conceiveth, rebuked and hindered by fome of the 
 Court,] X and zeal of fpeaking for his mafters, may feem to offend fuch as 
 have not been accuflomed to publique pleadings of advocates. Such ex- 
 pre/fions of his and involuntary offences he humbly prayeth may be paffed 
 by ; and fuch occafions of pleadings your fuppliant will readily forbear, 
 as not being fufificient or inclinable by nature thereunto. And he hopeth 
 that this Court and country may upon trial of this petitioner in fome 
 other tife find him, as in many things ignoratit, fo teachable and tractable. 
 
 " In the mean while, if your petitioner hath any the leall talent to doe 
 
 * The words included between brack- is doubtful. For the former, I have left 
 
 ets were crossed out on revision. a blank space ; and the latter are printed 
 
 t The characters are so closely crowded in italics. 
 together, and rendered so indistinct by | Several words were crossed out here, 
 
 the spreading of the ink on the thin pa- others interlined, and these in turn crossed 
 
 per, that a few words are quite illegible, out ; and the sentence appears to have 
 
 and of two or three others the reading been finally left incomplete. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxix 
 
 you any fervice in a way of profitting himfelf [ ] livelihood, he 
 
 defireth it. He is heartily ready, and humbly prayeth the fame, in 
 regard of his low and poor eftate, not unknown to fome of your Wor- 
 Ihips : Unfeignedly defiring both to live and die with you in the way of 
 God's ordinances, wherein your petitioner hopeth in fome good time or 
 other fome of the reverend Elders and himfelf may come to a perfect or 
 at leafl a fair underftanding of each other, which that we may do is the 
 unfeigned daily prayer of your unworthy petitioner, 
 
 " Thomas Lechford." 
 
 His submission was probably accepted by the Court, and he 
 was suffered to return to the practice of his profession as an 
 attorney, which, under the restrictions imposed upon it, promised 
 little improvement of his " low and poor estate." 
 
 In the autumn and winter of 1639, he received some slight 
 assistance, in the way of employment, from the magistrates. 
 For Mr. Endicott, he had written "The Court booke,* at i6^- a 
 sheete, 102 sheetes," and received £6. i6s. some time in June 
 or July. In November, after the surrender to Massachusetts of 
 the Dover patent, he wrote " For the Country : The writing of 
 receipt of the Inhabitants of Dover and Kittery and Oyster 
 River into the Protection of this Jurisdiction : The Commission 
 to Mr. Bradstreete for those places : The institution and limita- 
 tion of the Councell of this Jurisdiction : Another of the same : 
 Charta libertatis : The Act of the publique and private tenure of 
 land : The division of the Plantation into shires : " for all which 
 he received the sum of eleven shillings.^ Not long afterwards, 
 he was employed in the more important task of transcribing the 
 
 * I cannot learn that this copy of the of "sheets" with the foHos of the Colony 
 " Court Book " has been preserved. It Records, from the first court at Charles- 
 was, undoubtedly, a transcript of the town, Aug. 23, 1630, to the end of the 
 Colony Records, made for Mr. Endicott's Quarter Court at Boston, June 4, 1639, 
 own use or for that of the Salem Quarter making 202 pages (55-256 of the first 
 Court. A. C. Goodell, Esq., of Salem, volume of the manuscript Records of the 
 to whom I applied in the hope of discov- Governor and Company ; pp. 73-268 of 
 ering some trace of this volume, calls my the printed Records), or loi folios, 
 attention to the agreement of the number t Journal, p. 139. 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " breviat of laws," subsequently adopted, with some amendments, 
 as the Body of Liberties.* While engaged in this work, — 
 which, in his hands, we may be sure was something more than 
 that of mere transcription, — he could not resist the temptation, 
 or, as he chose to express it, "he conceived it his duty, in dis- 
 charge of his conscience," and "as Amicus ciiricB, with all faith- 
 fulness to present" to the Governor and magistrates his objections 
 to certain laws proposed to be embodied in the code. 
 
 In May, 1640, in "a paper intended iox the honored John Win- 
 throp," he expressed his convictions of the advantages and the 
 necessity of submission to the King, and acknowledgment of 
 the authority of the Church of England, " if it be but by way of 
 advice ;" frankly confessing that for himself he "disclaimed Par- 
 ker " and " inclined to Hooker and Jewel as to government." f 
 After this paper was drawn, Dudley was elected governor ; and 
 it is not likely that Lechford transferred to him the good advice 
 prepared for Gov. Winthrop. 
 
 The year during which he had conditionally promised to keep 
 silence, "saving to the Elders," on matters of difference between 
 himself and the churches, had now expired. He had been 
 " seriously dealt withal," and had been indulged in his desire for 
 " reasons in writing." % But his hope that " in some good time 
 the reverend Elders and himself might come to a perfect, or at 
 least a fair understanding," was less and less likely to be real- 
 ized. He was becoming more dissatisfied with the condition of 
 affairs in New England, both in church and commonwealth. In 
 July, 1640, he wrote to England : " I know my friends desire to 
 know whether I am yet of any better mind than some of my 
 actions about the time of my coming away did show me to be. 
 I do profess that I am of this mind and judgment, I thank God : 
 that Christians cannot live happily without Bishops, as in Eng- 
 land, nor Englishmen without a King. Popular elections indan- 
 
 * See Plain Dealing, p. 27 (this edition, t Plain Dealing, pp. 34-37. 
 
 p. 64, and note 91) and p. 31 (this edition, J See before, p. xxvi.; and Plain Deal- 
 
 72, and note lOi). ing, p. 77. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 ger people with war and a multitude of other inconveniences." * 
 Of the people of Massachusetts he says, " I am not of them, in 
 church or commonweal. Some bid me be gone : others labor 
 with me to stay fearing my return will do their cause wrong ; 
 and loth am I to heare of a stay, but am plucking up stakes with 
 as much speed as I may, if so be I may be so happy as to arrive 
 in Ireland, there at least to follow my old profession," &c. 
 " Some silence my letters and will not dispute with me, I think 
 either out of distrust of me, or else despaire of their cause ; some 
 cry out of nothing but Antichrist and the Man of Sin. . . . But 
 few know my full mind in some things of weight whereof I do 
 professe I was ignorant and misled in England. You may won- 
 der how I am now reformed," &c. 
 
 " I never intended," he writes, " openly to oppose the godly 
 here in any thing I thought they mistooke." f If he maintained 
 some reserve in the expression of his "full mind in some things," 
 he certainly made no secret of his dislike of " electory ways " 
 and of Congregationalism, as is evident from the advice which 
 he proffered to the governor and magistrates, and from his 
 queries propounded to the Elders of Boston, which challenged a 
 discussion of the nature and constitution of a church and the 
 validity of congregational ordination. J 
 
 That his opinions, and his zeal in advocating them, made him 
 obnoxious to the magistrates, as well as to the Elders, is no 
 matter of surprise. When the course which had been taken 
 with others who had similarly offended is considered ; when it is 
 remembered that, not only had teachers of doubtful orthodoxy, 
 like Roger Williams and Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson, 
 been banished from the jurisdiction, but laymen of influence 
 and position, like Stoughton and Aspinwall and Coggeshall, 
 when suspected of a taint of heresy or " sedition," had been as 
 summarily and as severely dealt with, — the leniency shown to 
 
 * Short-hand copy, in Journal, p. 159. t See Plain Dealing, p. 77. 
 
 Comp. Plain Dealing, pp. 68, 69. | Ibid, p. 55. 
 
xxxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Lechford is remarkable. It could hardly have been from motives 
 of policy — only his own vanity could have suggested that it 
 was from " fear his return would do their cause wrong " — that 
 he was suffered to remain so long unmolested. It must rather 
 have been owing to a conviction of his honesty, his conscien- 
 tiousness, and, possibly, to his lack of influence and the slight 
 danger of infection by his teachings. It would not be easy to 
 find, in the first fifty years of the history of Massachusetts, 
 another instance of so great tolerance of opinions so radically 
 opposed as were Lechford's to the views of the founders of the 
 colony, and so subversive of the constitution of civil govern- 
 ment and of the church polity they sought to establish in New 
 England. He was neither a freeman nor a church-member ; 
 not even a householder ; in the eye of the law he was merely a 
 " transient person," who might be driven away with slight cer- 
 emony. His calling made him unwelcome ; his creed, in the 
 judgment of others besides Thomas Dudley,* was " erroneous 
 and dangerous, if not heretical." He questioned the validity of 
 any non-episcopal ordination, and saw, in the exercise by the 
 people of the right to elect their own rulers, the root of all evil. 
 He would not acknowledge "a church without a bishop," and did 
 not hesitate to express his belief that all was going wrong, and 
 must go worse, in "a state without a king." In the complacent 
 consciousness of his own clearer light and well-grounded convic- 
 tions, he felt it to be his duty to point out to Governor Winthrop, 
 to Mr, Wilson, and to Mr. Cotton, the errors wherein through 
 ignorance they had gone astray, and were misleading others. f 
 That he should have been permitted for two years and a half to 
 hold his course unchecked, and that his unconcealed and some- 
 what aggressive dissent should have so long escaped censure. 
 
 * See before, p. xxii. noted in the margin : " In the number of 
 
 t " O mercy, mercy, from all the pow- the ignorant I hold myself, and Mr. Bur- 
 
 ers of mercy in heaven and earth " — he ton, Mr. Prynne and Dr. Bastwick, and 
 
 wrote in 1640 — " to such as sin of igno- a multitude more." Journal, p. 159 (in 
 
 ranee ! " And against this, he modestly short-hand). 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 
 
 proves that the founders of Massachusetts were not incapable 
 of the exercise of toleration, even though they might not give it a 
 place among the virtues. 
 
 At length, however, their patience was exhausted. In Sep- 
 tember, 1640, for a new offence, with which his questioning of 
 the Boston elders * may have had something to do, he was pre- 
 sented by the grand jury, and summoned before the Court of 
 Magistrates in December. When the General Court was in ses- 
 sion (Oct. 7), they were " pleased to say something to him, as for 
 good counsel about some tenets and disputations which he had 
 held ; advising him to bear himself in silence and as became 
 him." A few weeks afterwards, he writes in his Journal : " I am 
 summoned to appear in court to-morrow, being the first of loth, 
 1640. The Lord God direct me, &c." In a letter to England, 
 dated Dec. 19, he mentions having been "lately taken at advan- 
 tage and brought before the Magistrates, before whom, giving a 
 quiet and peaceable answer [he] was dismissed with favour," &c.t 
 Of this answer he preserved a copy, or perhaps the original draft, 
 in short-hand, in his Journal. An extract from it is printed in a 
 note on page 157 of this volume. Confessing that he had "too 
 far meddled in some matters of church government and the like, 
 which [he was] not sufficient to understand or declare," he threw 
 himself on the mercy of the court. His submission was ac- 
 cepted, and the record shows that — 
 
 " Mr. Thomas Lechford, acknowledging bee had overfliot himfelfe, 
 and is ferry for it, promifmg to attend his calling, and not to meddle 
 w*'' controverl'ies, was difmiffed." — Mass. Col. Records, i. 310. 
 
 Mr. Savage, in a note to Winthrop (ii. 36), cites this as a "curi- 
 osity in legislative and judicial economy." He was under the 
 
 * See Plain Dealing, p. 55 (this edition, and what rigid reparations may tend un- 
 
 p. 128). to, what is to be feared, in cafe the moft 
 
 t " Our chiefe difference was about the of the people here (hould remaine unbap- 
 
 foundation of the Church and IMiniftery, tized; &c." PL Deal., 77 (this ed. 156-7). 
 
 5 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 impression that the engagement " not to meddle with controver- 
 sies " was inconsistent with the promise " to attend his calHng," 
 since " the very calhng by which he sought to earn his bread 
 was that of an attorney." The inconsistency disappears on 
 learning from Lechford himself that he was brought before the 
 quarter court on the presentment of a grand jury, and that the 
 controversies in which he had "too far meddled" concerned "mat- 
 ters of church government and the like," — "the foundation of the 
 church and the ministry, and what rigid separations may tend 
 unto." He acknowledged his fault, promised amendment, and 
 the court dismissed the complaint. Lechford certainly did not 
 feel that he had been hardly dealt by. He avers that he was 
 " dismissed with favour, and respect promised him by some of 
 the chiefe, for the future." * 
 
 Sometime in 1640, he was enrolled in the " Military Company 
 of Massachusetts," afterwards the "Ancient and Honorable Artil- 
 lery." He perhaps owed his election to his intimacy with Thomas 
 Savage, one of the original members of this company, and to the 
 friendship of the captain, Robert Keayne. 
 
 Among those with whom Lechford appears to have been on 
 very friendly terms, was George Story, " a young merchant of 
 London," as Winthrop calls him, who lodged in the house 
 of Richard Sherman, and who was the chief instigator of the 
 proceedings against Capt. Keayne in the famous " sow case." 
 For six or seven years from its commencement in 1636, this 
 " great business upon a very small occasion" divided the people 
 of Boston into factions, disturbed the peace of the churches, 
 had an influence in elections, awakened a "democratical spirit" 
 throughout the colony, and at last (in 1643) came near bringing 
 about a radical change in the constitution of the General Court, 
 by depriving the magistrates of the exercise of a negative voice 
 on the action of the house of deputies.! In 1641, the quarrel 
 had not yet reached its height, but it had already assumed for- 
 
 * Plain Dealing, 'j'j. f See Winthrop, ii. 69-71, 11 5-1 19. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxv 
 
 midable proportions. That Lechford should become impHcated 
 in it, was inevitable. The only attorney in Boston, and the com- 
 mon friend of Story and of Keayne, he received the confidences of 
 both parties, tried his hand at peace-making, gave advice to both, 
 and, of course, offended both ; besides exposing himself to the 
 suspicion of wrong-dealing. The trouble which this affair oc- 
 casioned him may have contributed to hasten his return to Eng- 
 land. About a week before he sailed from Boston, he drew up 
 a statement of his connection with the case, for the purpose of 
 clearing himself of " divers imputations " of having promoted 
 litigation by advice which, " in the simplicity of his heart," he 
 had given to Mr. Story and Goody Sherman. This paper is 
 dated July 24, 1641. In the first draft (in his Journal), he had 
 written : " Being purposed some time at least to visit my na- 
 tive " — ; but drew his pen through the unfinished sentence, and 
 interlined, in its place : " Now being purposed, God willing, to 
 visit my friends in England." In another paragraph, alluding 
 to a conversation which he had with Story, " one Lord's day 
 when the Sacrament was at Boston," he fixes the time by add- 
 ing, " being the next day as I remember after the newes that it 
 was supposed Mr. Prynne had sent me money for my passage." 
 
 Mr. Cotton says that Lechford, " when he saw he could 
 not defend the Error [that the Apostolick function was not yet 
 ceased] but by building again the Bishops, against whom he had 
 witnessed (as he said) in soliciting the cause of Mr. Prynne, he 
 rather then he would revoke his present tenent, acknowledged he 
 was then in an Error when he took part with Mr. Prynne and 
 Mr. Burton, and therefore he tvoiild nozv retitrn to England again, 
 to reduce those famous witnesses from the Error of their way. 
 And accordingly, away he went." * 
 
 On the same day on which he wrote the statement above-men- 
 tioned, Lechford made a letter of attorney to Thomas Savage, to 
 receive all moneys due him in New England, and all letters 
 which should be sent to him, " and the same letters to peruse, 
 
 * Way of Congr. Churches cleared, pt. i. p. yi- 
 
XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and send and return them and the said moneys and debts to him, 
 in money or goods and commodities," &c.* 
 
 The last entry in his Journal, before leaving Boston, was made 
 on or after July 29. It is a memorandum of his obligation by bond 
 (in which Mr. David Offiey was his surety) to Mr. Joshua Hewes 
 of Roxbury, to pay ;^8. to " Mr. Joshua Foote at the Cocke in 
 Grace church Streete," before Christmas, on a bill or note dated 
 July 27. 
 
 On the opposite page are two unimportant entries, of payments 
 of money in England, in the discharge of commissions intrusted 
 to him before sailing. At the head of this page is the date, 
 "Post Mich[aelmas], 17 Car. 1641." 
 
 The vessel in which he took passage from Boston sailed on the 
 third of August. We learn from Winthrop (ii. 31), that among 
 her forty passengers were John Winthrop, Jr., Hugh Peters, 
 Thomas Welde, and William Hibbins, who, " finding no ship 
 which was to return right for England, they went to Newfound- 
 land, intending to get a passage from thence in the fishing fleet. 
 . . . They arrived there in 14 days, but could not go altogether, 
 so were forced to divide themselves, and go from several parts 
 of the island, as they could get shipping." Lechford mentions 
 having " touched, coming homeward," at Newfoundland.! On 
 the 1 6th of November, he was once more an inmate of Clement's 
 Inn, and had " returned humbly to the Church of England." $ 
 
 From this time, his personal history remains unknown. The 
 address "To the Reader" of his book, dated Jan. 17, 1641-2, is 
 the last trace of the author which he has left us. All that we 
 have to add is comprised in a single sentence by Mr. Cotton : — 
 
 " When he came to England, the Bifhops were falling, fo that he loft 
 his friends, and hopes, both in Old England and New : yet put out his 
 Book (fuch as it is) and foon after dyed." — JVa_y cleared, pt. i. p. 71. 
 
 * Journal, p. 234. t Plain Dealing, p. 46 (this edition, 109). J Ibid., 68. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxvii 
 
 That the magistrates and ministers of Massachusetts should 
 not look with favorable regard upon the book or its author, was 
 natural ; but it is not easy to discover good grounds for so severe 
 a judgment as that recorded by Mr. Cotton upon " Plaine deal- 
 ing, which (in respect of many passages in it) might rather be 
 called false and fraudulent." Lechford was not a man of broad 
 views, or of great political sagacity. He was tolerably clear- 
 sighted, but not far-sighted ; a good observer, but a bad prophet. 
 His own reverses had apparently taken from him v/hatever hope- 
 fulness he had by nature, and he looked habitually to the darker 
 side. Such men cannot lead colonies, or found States. He 
 was out of place in New England, and would have been none 
 the less so, if he had been as firmly convinced as was Mr. Cot- 
 ton of the identity of the Church of Rome with Antichrist. Lit- 
 tle as Winthrop or Cotton could foresee of the future of New 
 England, — of the ultimate results of the work in which they 
 were engaged, — Lechford foresaw less. To his view, prejudiced 
 somewhat, no doubt, by the adverse circumstances against which 
 he struggled from first to last in Massachusetts, "all was out of 
 joint both in Church and Commonwealth ; " * nothing better was 
 to be anticipated from popular government than anarchy and 
 bloodshed ; from separatism, than a speedy relapse to heathen- 
 ism ; and from a disregard of " worthy lawyers of either gown," 
 than tardy repentance.f There were, he thought, "some wise 
 men" in New England ; but "wiser men than they," if they had 
 attempted to set up in a wilderness a " strange government, dif- 
 fering from the settled government [in England], might have 
 fallen into greater errors." The only hope he saw for the coun- 
 try was in the exertion of the king's prerogative, and the exten- 
 sion of the authority of the Church. " With some kind of 
 subjection or acknowledgment of authority of the Ministry in 
 England," then perhaps, " under God and the King," the colony 
 might " make Church-work and Common-wealth work indeed, 
 and examples to all Countries." % 
 
 * Plain Dealing, p. 71. t Ibid., 2S. t Ibid., pp. 34, 35. 
 
XXXVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Yet Plain Dealing was not written in an unfriendly spirit. 
 " I doe not this, God knoweth," says the author, " as dehghting 
 to lay open the infirmities of these well-affected men, many of 
 them my friends, — but that it is necessary, at this time," — when 
 England was in danger of falling into the same kingless and 
 churchless abomination of desolation, — "for the whole church of 
 God, and themselves, as I take it." * However prejudiced in his 
 judgments, however unwarranted his inferences, in his record 
 of facts he is conscientious, painstaking, tolerably exact, and 
 almost always reliable. And this it is which gives to his book 
 its peculiar value. It is a view of New England, — more parti- 
 cularly of Massachusetts, — taken upon the spot by an intelligent 
 observer, who, though unsympathising, was not in the main 
 unfriendly ; and who, while he certainly did " naught extenuate," 
 cannot justly be charged with setting down aught in malice. 
 His mistakes are comparatively unimportant ; and the information 
 he gives of the state of the country, civil and religious, from 
 1638 to 1 64 1, is valuable enough to render his book nearly in- 
 dispensable to the study of New-England institutions. 
 
 The Massachusetts Historical Society possesses a manuscript 
 copy of a part of Plain Dealing, of which the Hon. James Bow- 
 doin, in a note to the Society's reprint of the volume, gave the 
 following description : — 
 
 " The MS. was at some former period bound up with others, and was 
 probably at that time perfect. It now consists but of twenty-nine pages 
 in small 4to. It is obviously ancient, whether we examine the appear- 
 ance of the paper, of which the water-marks cannot be distinctly ascer- 
 tained, or the color of the ink, or the character of the hand-writing ; 
 which last is remarkably fine of its kind. The shorthand, of which 
 there are short passages on pages 9, 16, 23, 24, and 27 [corresponding 
 with pages 12, 20, 37-38, 39, 41, of the first edition oi Plain Dealing], 
 differs from any one that the writer has been able to find ; and he re- 
 
 * Plain Dealing. " To the Reader ; " (this edition) p. 7. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxix 
 
 grets to add, that application to two members of our Society, who are 
 accustomed to shorthand of many periods, has ended, Hke his own 
 exertions, in an inabihty to furnish a translation of them. . . . That the 
 MS. was written prior to the printed copy, seems certain, as well from 
 these last considerations, as from the additions and verbal differences 
 that distinguish the two copies: — That it was written a/k'r LecMord 
 returned to England, is ascertained by its containing the passage, on 
 p. 73 [first edition, p. 13], alluding to his having left New England the 
 August preceding. . . . 
 
 " The MS. begins with its own page 7, which is page 8 of the Ebeling 
 copy [of the first edition], at the words — 'the Elders formerly men- 
 tioned. Then the Elder requireth,' &c. It ends with its own page 36, 
 being [page 53, line 10, of the first edition], with the word 'perfected.' "* 
 
 Mr. Bowdoin gave reasons for concluding that this MS. "could 
 not have been the identical original which Lechford eventually 
 enlarged, nor that from which the printer copied;" and that "it 
 was probably a duplicate original, made and deposited for secu- 
 rity, lest the fruit of his labor should be lost, by fire or other 
 accident." The handwriting of the MS. is unmistakably Lech- 
 ford's, as a comparison of it with his Journal shows. It certainly 
 was not the first draft or sketch of his book : the penmanship is 
 too neat, and there are too few of the interlineations or erasures 
 which abound on the pages of his Journal. My impression is, 
 that the copy of which this is a part was one intended for the 
 use of the printer ; but that, on his passage homeward or after 
 his return, the author found so much to amend and so much 
 new matter to add, that it became necessary to make another 
 revised copy, from which the book was printed. The additions 
 and alterations, amounting (as Mr. Bowdoin states) to near one- 
 half of the whole, were made, in some places, in short-hand, on 
 the margins or blank spaces of the manuscript, and afterwards 
 incorporated in the text,! or printed as notes. 
 
 In the note referred to, Mr. Bowdoin has given the results of 
 
 * 3 Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 397, 398, 400. t See after, p. 57, note 77. 
 
XL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a careful collation of the Society's MS. with the printed volume. 
 Of this collation I have made free use in the notes to the present 
 edition ; and, relying upon its accuracy, I have cited the manu- 
 script as " Mass. Hist. Society's Manuscript," or " M.H.S. MS." 
 
 The system of short-hand which Lechford used was substan- 
 tially that taught by John Willis, first published in 1602, and 
 very popular in England for thirty or forty years afterwards. 
 When the characters are well formed, not too much crowded, 
 nor too minute, there is no great difficulty in deciphering 
 them. Lechford was so familiar with this system, and so prac- 
 tised in its use, that he was not very careful how he wrote it, 
 especially in his first drafts ; and when, as on some pages of his 
 Journal, he used bad ink on imperfectly-sized paper, it is not easy 
 always to distinguish his circles from ellipses, straight lines from 
 curves, or dots from dashes. 
 
 A second edition of Plain Dealing — or a re-issue of the 
 edition of 1642, with a new title-page — appeared in 1644, as 
 New England's Advice to Old England. I have never met with 
 this edition, and mention it here only on the authority of Watt 
 and Lowndes. 
 
 The copy which I have used while preparing this edition, and 
 for the correction of the press, is from the library of George 
 Brinley, Esq., of Hartford, to whom I am also indebted for the 
 opportunity of consulting several rare tracts cited in the notes. 
 
 J. H. T. 
 Hartford, Jan. 8, 1867. 
 
PLAIN DEALING 
 
 nevVes 
 
 PROM 
 
 New-England. 
 
 (Vivat Rex AnglicB Carolus, 
 
 Vivat Anglia, 
 Vivantq^ eorum Aniici omnes.) 
 
 A fhort view of New- England s 
 
 prefent Government, both Ecclefiafticall and Civil, 
 
 compared with the anciently-received and efta- 
 
 blillied Government of England, in 
 
 fome materiall points ; fit for the graveft 
 
 confideration in thefe times. 
 
 By Thomas Lechford of Clements Inne, 
 in the County of Middle/ex, Gent. 
 
 Levis eji dolor, qui capcre confiliimi potejl, 
 
 Et clepere fefe ; Magna non latitant mala. Sen. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed by W. E. and /. G. for Nath: Butter, at the figne of 
 the pyde Bull neere S. Aiijlins gate. 1642. 
 
To THE Reader. 
 
 Vejy man is to approve himfelfe, and anfwer 
 
 to God for his anions his confcience leads him 
 
 to ; and next^ to good men, as much as in hhn 
 
 lyeth. I have thus pre/umed to enter into 
 
 publiqtie, for thefe reafons : 
 
 Firfl, becaufe it is well knowne unto many, that hereto- 
 fore I fuffered imprifonment, and a kind of banifhment out 
 of this good Land, forfome a^s conflrued to oppofe, and 
 as tending to fubvert Epifcopacie, and the felled Ecclefi- 
 aflicall government of England : therefore now I defire to 
 p2irge my f elf offo great a fcandall ; and wherein I have 
 offended, to intreat all 7ny Superiours, and others, to im- 
 pute it rather to my ignorance, for the time, then any 
 wilfull flubbornneffe. 
 
 Secondly, feeing that fine e my com,ming home, I find that 
 multitudes are corrupted with an opinion of the unlawfttl- 
 neffe of the Church-government by Diocefan Biffiops, zuhich 
 opinion I beleeve is the root of much mif chief e ; having nozu 
 had experience of divers governments, I fee not how I could 
 
To the Reader. 
 
 with faithfuliielfe to God, my King aiid Countrey, be any 
 longer Jilent, efpecially conjidering fome of thefe late troubles 
 occajioned, among other Jins, I fear, m,tich through this 
 evill opinion. Happy | fliall I be, if any be m-ade wifer by 
 my harmes ; I wifJi all men to take heed, how they fJiake 
 hands with the Church of God, upon any fuch heedleffe 
 grounds as I ahnofi had done. 
 
 Thirdly, that I might (though unworthy) in a fit fea- 
 fon, acquaint the learned and pious Divines of England 
 with thefe 7ny fiender obfervatiofis, qucsres, and experiments, 
 to the end they may come the better prepared, tipon any pub- 
 lique occafion, for the coiifideration of fuch matters, aitd fo 
 at length, thofe good things that are fiiake^z among us may 
 be efiablifiied, and truth confirm,ed. 
 
 It is enough for me, being a Student or Practifer at 
 Law, faithftilly to put a Cafe, which will be this : Whether 
 the Epifcopall Government by Provinciall and Diocefan 
 Bifiiops, in number about 26. in England, being, if not of 
 abfolute Divine authority, yet nearefi, and mofi like there- 
 unto, and mofi anciently here embraced, is fiill fafefi to be 
 co7itinued ? 
 
 Or a Presbyterian government, being (as is humbly con- 
 ceived) but of humane authority, bringing in a numerous 
 company of above 40000. Presbyters to have chief e rule in 
 the keyes, in England, be fit to be newly fet 2ip here, a thing 
 whereof we have had no experience, and which moderate 
 
To the Reader. 
 
 wife men think to be lejfe con/onant to the Divine patterne^ 
 and may prove m^ore intolerable then the /aid Epifcopacie? 
 
 Or an independent governm,ent of every congregationall 
 
 Church ruling it fel/e, which introduceth not onely one ab- 
 
 folute BiJJtop in every PariJJt, but in effeH/o many men, fo 
 
 many BiJJiops, according to New-Englands rule, which in 
 
 England zvould be Anarchic & confujion? 
 
 I would entreat thofe that Jland for this lajl me^itioned 
 manner of government, to be p leafed to consider, 
 
 1. That the very terme of leading, or ruling in the 
 Church, attributed to Elders, forbids it ; for if all are 
 Rulers, whofJiall be ruled ? 
 
 2. The maine afls of Rule confifl of receiving into the 
 Church by Baptifme, or otherwife, aiid eje^ion out of the 
 Church by cenfure, binding and loofing ; now thefe are 
 committed to the Apoflles, and their fucceffors, and not to 
 all the members of the Church. 
 
 3. All have not power to baptize, therefore not to receive 
 into the Church, nor to cafl out of the Church. My breth- 
 ren, be not many mafters,y^2V/^ .5". lames, 3. i. The words 
 of the wife are as goads, and as nayles, faftened by the 
 mafters of affemblies, which are given from one Shep- 
 heard, Ecclef. 12. 11. 
 
 And whereas fome may fay, that this power of ratling 
 
 is but miniflerially in the officers, and initiatively, conchc- 
 
 fively, and virtually in the people : If fo, zv hat power ordi- 
 
To the Reader. 
 
 narily have the people to con trad id the minijleriall works 
 and afls of their Officers ? Mujl the ivhole Chin^ch try all 
 thofe whom their Minijlers convert abroad, fuppofe among 
 Indians, before they may baptize them ? How can all the 
 C/mrch examine and try fie h ? All have not power, war- 
 rant, leifire, pleafure, ability, for, and in fuch works, nor 
 can all fpeake Indian langtiage. 
 
 Doubtleffc the afls of rule by the Officers is the rule of 
 the whole Church, and fo to be taken ordinarily without 
 contradiflion, elfe there would be no end \ of jangling : 
 And thus taken, the zuhole Clnn'ch of Corinth, by S. Pauls 
 command, (sc. by their Minifiers) were to put azuay that 
 wicked perfon, and deliver him tp to Satan, i Cor. 5. 13. 
 and refiore him, and forgive him, 2 Cor. 2. and fo all the 
 dotibt 071 that Text is (neer I think) refolved. 
 
 Now that the government at New-England feemeth to 
 m,ake fo maiiy Church-meanders fo many Bifiops, will be 
 plaine by this enfiing Difcotirfe : for you fiall here find, 
 that the Churches in the Bay gov erne each by all their mem- 
 bers unanimoifly, or elfe by the major part, wherein every 
 one hath equall vote and f2iperfpen,io7t with their Minifiers : 
 and that in their Covena^tt it is expreffed to be the duty of 
 all the meinbers, to watch over one another. And in time 
 their Churches will be m,ore corripted then now they are ; 
 they cannot (as there is reafon to feare) avoid it pofjibly. 
 How can any now deny this to be Anarchic ajid conffion? 
 
To the Reader. 
 
 Nay^fayfome, we will keep out thofe that have not true 
 grace. But how can they certaiitly difceriie that true grace, 
 and what fneafure God requireth ? Bejides, by this coiirfe 
 they will (it is to be feared) injiead of propagating the Gof. 
 pel, fpread heathenifme ; in flead of gaining to the Churchy 
 lofe from the Church : for zuhen the major part are unbap- 
 tized, as in twenty years tmdotibtedly they will be, by fich a 
 courfe cojttinued, what is like to become of it, but that either 
 they may goe among their fellow-heathens the Indians, or 
 rife tip againfl the Church, and break forth into iuany 
 grievotis dijlempers amoiig themf elves ? which God, and the 
 King forbid, I pray. 
 
 And that you (coicrteous Reader) may perceive I have 
 from time to time dealt cordially in thefe things, by declar- 
 ing them impartially to my friends, as I received light, 
 I f tail adde in the lafl place certaine paffages out Letters, 
 fent by me into England to that piirpofe, and conclude. 
 
 And I doe not this, God knozueth, as delightijig to lay 
 open the infirmities of thefe well-affeiled men, many of them 
 my friends, but that it is neceffary, at this time, for the 
 whole Church of God, and the^nf elves, as I take it : Bcfidcs, 
 many of the things are not infirmities, but fuch as I am 
 bound to protefi againfi ; yet I acknowledge there are fome 
 wife men among them, who zuould help to mend things, if 
 they were able, and I hope will do their endeavours. And 
 I think that wifer men then they, going into a wilderneffe 
 
To the Reader. 
 
 to fet up another Jirange governTnent diff'eri7ig from the 
 fetled government here, might have falne into greater errors 
 then they have done. 
 
 Neither have I the leaji aime to retard or hinder an 
 happy and dejired reformation of things amiffe either in 
 Church or Common-wealth, but daily and earncflly pray to 
 God Almighty, the God of W if dome a7id Counfell, that he 
 pleafe fo to direfi his Royall Majefly, and his wife and hon- 
 ourable Counfcll, the high Court of Parliament, that they 
 may fall upon fo due and f aire a moderation, as may be 
 for the glory of God, and the peace and fafety of his Royall 
 Majefiy, and all his Majeflies dominions, and good Stib- 
 jcfls. Vale. 
 
 Clements Inne, 
 Jan. 17. 1 64 1. 
 
 Thomas Lechford. 
 
A Table of the chiefe Heads 
 
 of this Discourse. 
 
 1. '' I '^Hc Church-government and adnihiijlrations in the Bay 
 
 X of the Mattachufets. Page 2. 
 
 2. Their publique ivorfliip. 16 
 
 3. ToitcJiing tlie government of the Common-zvealth there. 23 
 
 4. Certaine Propofitions to the generall Court, concerning record- 
 ing of Civill Caufes. 29 
 
 5. A Paper of the Church her liberties. 31 
 
 6. A Paper intended for the Worf/iipfu II ]o\\n Winthrop, Efqnire, 
 late Governonr, touching baptising of thofe they terme without, 
 and propagation of the Gofpel to the Infidel Natives. 34 
 
 7. The Miniflers and Magiftrates their names. 37 
 
 8. The flat e of the Countrey in the Bay and thereabouts. 47 
 
 9. A relation concerning the Natives or hidians. 49 
 I o. Some late occurrences touching Epifcopacie. 5 3 
 
 1 1. Three Quefiions to the Elders of Bofton, and their Anfwers. 55 
 
 12. A Paper of exceptions to their government. 56 
 
 13. Forty qucBres about planting and governing of Churches, and 
 other experiments. 58 
 
 14. An abflrafl of certaine Letters. 6^ 
 
 15. The Conclufion. 78 
 
OR, 
 
 N E W E S 
 
 FROM 
 
 New-England. 
 
 Aving been forth of my native Coun- 
 trey, almoft for the fpace of foure 
 yeeres laft pafl/ and now through the 
 goodneffe of Almighty God returned, 
 many of my friends defiring to know 
 of me the manner of governments, and 
 flate of things, in the place from whence I came. New 
 England ; I thinke good to declare my knowledge in 
 
 I Lechford landed at Bofton, June government," in this volume, are dated 
 
 27, 1638. He failed for England, by from Clement's Inn, Nov. 16, 1641. — 
 
 the way of Newfoundland, Aug. 3, Ms. Journal, p. i; Plahie Dealing, 
 
 1641. His "Quaeres about Church 13,68; WintJirop,\\. ^i. 
 
12 Plaiiie dealing, 
 
 fuch things, as briefly as I may. I conceive, and hope, 
 it may be profitable in thefe times of difquifition. 
 
 2 For the C/iurc/i government, and adminijlratiojts, in the 
 
 Bay of the Mattachufets. 
 
 How Churches 1^ Church is orathered there after this maner : A conve- 
 
 are gathered / % '-' 
 
 there. ± 1. nicnt, or competent number of Chriflians, allowed 
 
 by the generall Court to plant together, at a day prefixed, 
 come together, in publique manner, in fome fit place, and 
 there confeffe their fins and profeffe their faith, one unto 
 another, and being fatisfied of one anothers faith & re- 
 pentance, they folemnly enter into a Covenant with God, 
 and one an other (which is called their Church Covenant, 
 and held by them to conflitute a Church) to this e£fe6t : viz. 
 
 Their Church To forfakc the Devill, and all his workes, and the van- 
 
 Covenant. 
 
 ities of the finfull world, and all their former lufts, and 
 corruptions, they have lived and walked in, and to cleave 
 unto, and obey the Lord Jefus Chrift, as their onely King 
 and Lawgiver, their onely Prieft and Prophet, and to 
 walke together with that Church, in the unity of the 
 faith, and brotherly love, and to fubmit themfelves one 
 unto an other, in all the ordinances of Chrifl, to mutuall 
 edification, and comfort, to watch over, and support one 
 another. 
 Eieaion of their Whcreby they are called the Church of fuch a place. 
 
 Church Officers. •' ■^ r i 
 
 which before they fay were no Church, nor of any Church 
 
Newes from New-England. 1 3 
 
 tioiis. 
 
 except the invifible : After this, they doe at the fame 
 time, or fome other, all being together, ele6l their own 
 Officers, as Paftor, Teacher, Elders, Deacons, if they have 
 fit men enough to fupply thofe places ; elfe, as many of 
 them as they can be provided of 
 
 Then they fet another day for the ordination of their Their oidma- 
 faid officers,- and appoint some of themfelves to impofe 
 hands upon their officers, which is done in a publique 
 day of fafling and prayer. Where there are Minifters, 
 or Elders, before,^ they impofe their hands upon the new 
 Officers : but where there is none, there fome of their 
 chiefefl men, two or three, of good report amongft them, 
 though not of the Miniftery, doe, by appointment of the 
 faid Church, lay hands upon them/ And after the faid 
 
 2 " Of this they give notice to all indued with able parts of humane and 
 the near adjoining churches, ... in- divine learning, that either hath been 
 treating their prefence, and brotherly a Minilter in our native countrey, or 
 counfell, and affiftance. . . . They give is fit to be one amongft them, who 
 notice alfo thereof unto the governor, ufually and frequently preacheth to 
 and fuch other of the magiftrates as them after they are united." — T. 
 are near to them, that the perfon to Welde, Anfwer to IV. R. his Narra- 
 be chofen, meeting with no juft ex- //<?«, (Lond. 4to. 1644,) p. i^. " It is 
 ception from any, may find the greater our ufual and conftant courfe (as hath 
 incouragement and acceptance from beene faid) not to gather any church, 
 all." — Cotton's Way of the Coiigreg. untill they have one amongft theni- 
 Churches, 40. Comp. Anfwer of the felves, fit for a Minifter, whom with 
 Boflon Elders to Lechford^s Queflio7is, all fpeede they call into Office, and 
 p. SS, pofl. account themfelves a lame and im- 
 
 3 " It is a received pra6lise amongft perfed body till that be effetled." — 
 us, that when any combine into a Id.^ 55. 
 Church, there is one at leaft of them 4 " One of the Elders of the church, 
 
H 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 ordination, if there are any Elders of other Churches 
 
 prefent, (as of late I have knowne divers have been pref- 
 
 ent, under the names of the Meffengers of the Churches) 
 
 The right hand j-^gy privc tlic ncw Officcrs thc riorht hand of fellowfliip, 
 
 of fellowship by -^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 meffengers of taking thcm by the right hand, every one feverally, or 
 elfe, fometimes, one forraine Elder, in the name of all 
 the reft, gives the right hand of fellowfliip, with a fet 
 fpeech unto them.^ Notice is given in divers Churches 
 or other places, before-hand, of the gathering of every 
 
 (if they have any) if not, one of the 
 graver brethren of the church, (ap- 
 pointed by themfelves to order the 
 work of the day) ... he then, with 
 the Presbytery of that church (if they 
 have any, if not, two or three others 
 of the graveft Chriftians amongft the 
 brethren of that church, being de- 
 puted by that body) do, in the name 
 of the Lord Jefus, ordain him unto 
 that office, with impofition of hands," 
 &c. — Cotton's Way of the Congreg. 
 Churches, 41. Comp. his Keys of the 
 KingdoDi of Heaven, &c., 21, 28, ^l- 
 See Mr. Gott's account of the ordina- 
 tion of Mr. Skelton, at Salem, in 1629, 
 in Bradford, 266 ; the Anfwer of the 
 Bofion Elders to Lechford, p. SS^pofl; 
 Winthrop, i. 31, 96, 1 14, 1 15, 1 16, 180. 
 "Some difference there was" about 
 the ordination of Rev. Thomas Carter, 
 at Woburn, in 1642, — when "fome 
 advifed, in regard they had no elder 
 of their own, nor any members very 
 fit to folemnize fuch an ordinance. 
 
 they would defire fome of the elders 
 of the other churches to have per- 
 formed it ; but others fuppofing it 
 might be an occafion of introducing a 
 dejaendency of churches, etc., and fo 
 a presbytery, would not allow it." 
 {IVinthrop, ii. 91.) A few years later. 
 Hooker {Survey, ii. 59) maintained 
 that, " though it be moft comely that 
 thofe of the fame Congregation fhould 
 exercife it [the aft of ordination], yet 
 the Elders alfo of other Congrega- 
 tions may be invited hereunto ; " and 
 the Cambridge Synod of 1649, " faw 
 not why impofition of hands might 
 not be performed by the elders of 
 other churches." — Platforin, c. ix. 
 § 5. Comp. Mag7ialia, b. v. pt. 2.; 
 Hijl. Rejnarks, § 5. (fol. p. 42) ; and 
 Ratio Difciplittce, 14-42. 
 
 5 "Teftifying their brotlierly accep- 
 tance of him, . . . and doth exhort 
 him in the Lord, to fulfil the miniftry 
 which he hath received of the Lord." 
 — Cotton, Way, 42. 
 
Newes front New-England. 1 5 
 
 Church, divers weeks before ; and fo alfo of every ordi- 
 nation. And fome Minifters, or others, as Meffengers 
 from other Churches, are ufually prefent at fuch gather- 
 ings of Churches, and ordinations : for fometimes, Ma- 
 giftrates. Captains, Gentlemen, and other meaner Breth- 
 ren, are made meffengers of Churches, for thofe and 
 other purpofes, never having had impofition of hands : 
 And at planting of a Church, or gather- | ing, as they 4 
 
 tearme it, one of the Church meffengers of forraine 
 Churches, examines and tries the men to be moulded 
 into a Church, difcerns their faith and repentance, and 
 their Covenant being before ready made, written, fub- 
 fcribed, and here read and acknowledged, hee decerns^ 
 and pronounceth them to be a true Church of Chrifl, 
 and gives them the right hand of fellowfliip, and all this 
 in the name of Chrift, and of all the Church-meffengers 
 prefent, and their Churches : fo did Mafler Weld at the 
 founding of Weymouth Church, or to this effe6l7 
 
 6 Decides, determines, adjudges. — unfatisfied with any of thofe that are 
 Richard/on. From the Latin, decer- about to enter into cliurch fellowfliip,] 
 fieye^ never arrogated to themfelves fuch 
 
 7 " The Churches indeed fend Mef- power, to this day, (nay, they profef- 
 fengers (commonly their Elders) to fedly expreffe againft it, conftantly in 
 lend them a word of counfell if they fuch meetings) as to forbid their en- 
 need, being more experienced in thofe trance into Church eftate. The moft 
 ways then (commonly) new beginners they doe (at any time in this cafe) is, 
 are, to joyne their prayers with theirs, to defire leave to be faithfull in inter- 
 and to give them the right hand of pofmg their counfell, and that only 
 fellowfhip. . . . The Meffengers [if when they fee very great caufe : And 
 
i6 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 And the generall Court will not allow of any Church 
 
 otherwife gathered.^ 
 
 Some differ. 
 
 Some Minifters have there heretofore, as I have heard, 
 difclaimed the power of their Miniflery received in Eng- 
 land, but others among them have not.^ Generally, for 
 
 withall leave them to their Chriftian 
 liberty." — Welde, Reply to IV. R., 
 34, 35. Comp. Winthrop, i. 183, 184. 
 Concerning the " founding of Wey- 
 mouth Church," which was regathered 
 Jan. 30, 1639, "with approbation of 
 the magiflrates and elders," — fee 
 Winthrop, i. 287, 288 ; and p. 22, pojl. 
 
 8 See order of March, 1636, Mafs. 
 Records, i. 168. 
 
 9 There had been fome differences 
 of opinion among the minifters of 
 Maflachufetts as to the validity of 
 epifcopal ordination, — accordingly as 
 they inclined more to non-conformity, 
 or feparate congregationalifm; though 
 all agreed in holding that "the effence 
 of minifters' calling under the Gofpel, 
 is the Congregation's confent." The 
 " Confeffion and Proteftation of the 
 Faith of Certain Chriftians in Eng- 
 land," &c. (1616), attributed, though 
 queftionably, to Henry Jacob, was ex- 
 plicit on thefe points : "We cannot 
 but believe it to be fimply unlawful 
 and finful, to fetch, receive, yea, or to 
 life, a miniftry formerly received from 
 the Prelates ;" and "that a minifter, 
 fo reputed, without any particular 
 flock, is indeed no minifter." {Han- 
 biirfs Memorials, i. 296.) So Rob- 
 
 infon {Jtijlif. of Separation, 334,) fays, 
 "The judgement ... of the moft for- 
 ward men in the Land, in this cafe, I 
 may not omit ; which is, that they 
 renounce, &= difclayni their ordina- 
 tion by the Prelates, and hold their 
 Miniftery by the peoples acceptation." 
 But while Rev. George PhiUips of 
 Watertown (who came over with 
 Winthrop,) had declared, that " if 
 they will have him ftand minifter by 
 that caUing which he received from 
 the prelates in England, he will leave 
 them," — Mr. Wilfon was conftituted 
 teacher of the church at Charlestown 
 by impofition of hands, " with this 
 proteftation by all, that it was only as 
 a fign of eleftion and confirmation, 
 not of any intent that Mr. Wilfon 
 ftiould renounce his miniftry he re- 
 ceived in England." — Fuller's Letter 
 to Gov. Bradford, 1 Maff. Hiji. Coll., 
 iii. 74 ; Winthrop, i. 32. 
 
 In April, 1637, the minifters who 
 met at Concord for the ordination of 
 Mr. Bulkley and Mr. Jones, "refolved 
 that fuch as had been minifters in 
 England were lawful minifters by the 
 call of the people, notwithftanding 
 their acceptance of the call of the 
 bifliops, etc., (for which they humbled 
 
Neiues from Nezu-England. 
 
 17 
 
 the moft part, they hold the Paftors and Teachers offices 
 to be diflind;; the Teacher to minifter a word of knowl- 
 edg, the Pafhor a word of wifdome, but fome hold them 
 all one ; '° as in the Church of Watertowne, there are two 
 
 themfelves, acknowledging it their 
 fin, etc.,) but being come hither, they 
 accounted themfelves no minifters, 
 until they were called to another 
 church." IVinthrop, 217, 218. Mr. 
 Lenthall, who was called by the peo- 
 ple of Weymouth, " {landing upon his 
 miniftery as of the Church of England, 
 . . . was compelled to recant fome 
 words," (as Lechford tells, p. 22) ; and 
 at his examination by the Elders of 
 the Bay, in January, 1639, Mr. Cotton 
 faid to him that " his former ordina- 
 tion, not being given by them that 
 had lawful power, and former eleflion, 
 will not ferve to make him a minifter 
 here, except they [the people of Wey- 
 mouth] were in a mutual covenant as 
 a church before," &c. {Mf. Notes by 
 Robt. Keayne) But when Roger 
 Williams cited the admiffion of Mr. 
 Cotton " and others moft eminent in 
 New England," that, " notwithftand- 
 ing their former profeffion of miniftry 
 in Old England, yea, in New Eng- 
 land," " they were but private Chrif- 
 tians, until they received a calling 
 from a particular church," {Mr. Cot- 
 ton^ s Letter Examined, 1644; Blondy 
 Tenent, ch. xxvii.), — Mr. Cotton re- 
 plied, that, "being caft out by the 
 ufurping power of the prelacy, and 
 
 3 
 
 difmilTed, though againft their wills," 
 they did look upon themfelves " as 
 private 7>iembers and 7wt officers to 
 any church here," until called, &c. ; 
 but that any other fenfe given to 
 their declaration was either a miftake 
 or " a fraudulent expreffton " of their 
 minds. — Reply to Mr. Williams'' s 
 Anfwer, p. 131. 
 
 Hooker {Survey, ii. 50, 51,) declares 
 that the doftrine of an " indelebilis 
 chara6ler" imprefted by ordination, 
 " comes out of the forge of Popery, 
 and is fo befooted with the smoake 
 of the bottomleffe pit, and carried 
 along in the fogs of the myfteries of 
 iniquity, that by a fecret fleight it hath 
 eaten infenfibly into the orders of 
 Chrijl before the world was aware." 
 
 10 William Rathband, in his " Nar- 
 ration of the Opinions and Praftifes 
 of the Churches lately erefted in New- 
 England" (London, 1644.) aiferted, 
 that "whereas, in opinion and tenent 
 they precifely diftinguifti between the 
 paftor's and teacher's office, yet in 
 praftife they ufually confound them : 
 both Paftour and Teacher equally 
 teaching and equally applying both 
 the Word and Scales, without any 
 diiTerence." (p. 42.) Thomas Welde, 
 in " An Anfwer to W. R. his Narra- 
 
i8 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Hov/ members 
 are received or 
 added to the 
 Clnuch there. 
 
 Paftors," neither will that Church fend any meffengers to 
 any other Church-gathering or ordination. 
 
 When a man or woman commeth to joyne unto the 
 Church fo gathered, he or fliee commeth to the Elders in 
 private, at one of their houfes, or fome other place ap- 
 
 tion," &c. (printed the fame year, at 
 London,) declares this ftatement un- 
 true ; " for it is both our profeffed 
 judgements and conjlant pra^ice, that 
 as the teacher is chofen, whofe proper 
 gift is aptneffe to teach, fo after hee 
 is chofen, hee bends himfelfe that 
 way, and waites upon teaching, fo. the 
 Paftor upon exhorting, as Ro7n. 12. 
 7, 8. Though in fuch congregations 
 where there is but one, hee labours to 
 improve his talent both waies, for the 
 prefent neceffity, till that defe6l be 
 fupplyed : " and citing from Mr. Cot- 
 ton's Catechifm, p. 2, " Tlie Paflor's 
 worke is to attend upon exhortation ; 
 The Teacher on Doftrine," — adds : 
 " His owne, and others pra6lifes there 
 run accordingly " (p. 57). — Comp. 
 Hooker's Survey^ ii. 19, 21 ; Savage, 
 Note on Winthrop, i. 31 ; Dexter's 
 Congregationalifm, 125. 
 
 There was "a very fharp debate 
 anent the office of Doftors," (or 
 Teachers,) in the Weftminfler Affem- 
 bly,in 1643. The Independents "were 
 for the divine inftitution of a Do6lor 
 [Teacher] in every congregation, as 
 well as a Paftor." The Presbyterians 
 were " extremely oppofite : " but a 
 final agreement was had on certain 
 
 propofitions "wherein the abfolute 
 neceffity of a Do6lor in every congre- 
 gation, and his divine inftitution, in 
 formal terms, was efchewed, yet where 
 two minifters can be had in one con- 
 gregation, the one is allowed, accord- 
 ing to his gift, to apply himfelf moft 
 to teaching, and the other to exhorta- 
 tion ; according to the Scriptures." — 
 Bay lie's Letters, in Haiibiiry, ii. 217. 
 
 " George Phillips and John 
 Knowles. Winthrop (ii. 18), when 
 recording, under date of Dec. 9, 1640, 
 the ordination of Mr. Knowles, "a 
 godly man and a prime fcholar," re- 
 marks : "And fo they had now two 
 paftors and no teacher, differing from 
 the pra6lice of the other churches, as 
 alfo they did in their privacy, not giv- 
 ing notice thereof to the neighboring 
 churches, nor to the magiftrates, as 
 the common praftice was." 
 
 A few weeks after Mr. Wilfon's re- 
 turn from England, in 1632, the Bof- 
 ton Church fought advice from the 
 elders and brethren of Plymouth, Sa- 
 lem, etc., on the queftion " Whether 
 there might be divers paftors in the 
 fame church ? " to which the refponfe 
 was, " Doubtful." — Winthrop, i. 81. 
 
Newes from Neiu- England. 1 9 
 
 pointed, upon the weeke dayes, and make knowne their 
 defire, to enter into Church-fellowfliip with that Church, 
 and then the ruHng Elders, or one of them, require, | or 5 
 
 afke him or her, if he bee wilHng to make known unto 
 them the worke of grace upon their foules, or how God 
 hath beene deahng with them about their converfion : 
 which (at Bojloji) the man declareth ufually ftanding, the 
 woman fitting. And if they fatisfie the Elders, and the 
 private affembly, (for divers of the Church, both men 
 and women, meet there ufually) that they are true be- 
 
 The iifuall 
 
 leevers, that they have beene wounded in their hearts for termes where- 
 
 upon. 
 
 their originall fmne, and a6luall tranfgreffions, and can 
 pitch upon fome promife of free grace in the Scripture, 
 for the ground of their faith, and that they fiinde their 
 hearts drawne to beleeve in Chrifl Jefus, for their jufti- 
 fication and falvation, and thefe in the minifterie of the 
 Word, reading or conference : and that they know com- 
 petently the fumme of Chriftian faith. And fometimes, 
 though they be not come to a full affurance of their good 
 eftate in Chrift. Then afterwards, in covenient time, in 
 the publique affembly of the Church, notice is given by 
 one of the ruling Elders, that fuch a man, or woman, by 
 name, defireth to enter into Church-fellowfhip with them, 
 and therefore if any know any thing, or matter of offence 
 againft them, for their unfitneffe to joyne with them, fuch 
 are required to bring notice thereof to the Elders ; elfe. 
 
20 Plaine dealings 
 
 that an}^ who know them, or can fay any thing for their 
 
 fitneffe, be ready to give teftimony thereof, when they 
 
 fliall be called forth before the whole Church. 
 
 6 If there be matter of offence, it is firft heard | before 
 
 Matters of of- thc Eldcrs, and if the party fatisfie them, and the of- 
 fence how heard 
 
 in private. fcndcd, in private, for private offences, and promife to 
 fatisfie in publique, for publique offences ; then, upon 
 another day, one of the ruling Elders calleth forth the 
 party, by name, in the publique affembly of the Church, 
 and before ftrangers, and whomfoever prefent, moft com- 
 monly upon the Lords day, after evening exercifes, and 
 fometimes upon a week day, when all the Church have 
 notice to be prefent. 
 
 Diiatorie pro- T\\^ party appearing in the midfl of the Affembly, or 
 
 ceedings in ad- x y i i o j 
 
 niitting mem- fomc convcnicnt place, the ruling Elder fpeaketh in this 
 manner : Brethren of this congregation, this man, or wo- 
 man A. B. hath beene heretofore propounded to you, 
 defiring to enter into Church-fellowfhip with us, and we 
 have not, fmce that, heard any thing from any of you to 
 the contrary, of the parties admittance, but that we may 
 goe on to receive him : Therefore now, if any of you 
 know any thing againft him, why he may not be admit- 
 ted, you may yet fpeak. Then after fome filence he pro- 
 ceedeth, Seeing no man fpeaketh to the contrary of his 
 admiffion, if any of you know any thing, to fpeak for his 
 receiving, we dehre you, give teftimony thereof to the 
 
N ewes from New-Englmid. 21 
 
 Whether Po- 
 
 Church, as you were alfo formerly defired to be ready 
 therewith, and expreffe your felves as briefly as you may, 
 and to as good hearing. Whereupon, fometimes, men do 
 fpeak to the contrary, in cafe they have not heard of the 
 propounding, and fo flay the party for that time alfo, till 
 this new offence be heard before the | Elders, fo that 
 fometimes there is a fpace of divers moneths between a 
 parties firft propounding and receiving ; and fome are fo 
 baflifull, as that they choofe rather to goe without the 
 Communion, then undergoe such* publique confeffions 
 and tryals, but that is held their fault'" pirn Auricular 
 
 -^ confemon, and 
 
 thefe public confeffions be not extremes, and whether fome private Paftorall or Presbyteriall collation, left at liberty, 
 upon caufe, and in cafe of trouble of confcience, as in the Church of England is approved, be not better then thofe 
 extremes, I leave to the wife and learned to judge. 
 
 But when none fpeaketh to the contrary, then fome Tedimoniais and 
 
 Recommenda- 
 
 one, two, or three, or more of the Brethren fpeak their <io"s- 
 
 12 Comp. Cotton's Way, pp. 53-55. been the Opinion of many that this 
 
 "In this trial," he fays, "we do Czijloiii oi Relations, to be made by 
 
 not exa6l eminent meafure, either of Candidates for AdiniJJlon to the 
 
 knowledge, or holinefs, . . . for we had Church ... is as a Scare-Crow to 
 
 rather ninety-nine hypocrites fhould keep Men out of the Temple; but, it 
 
 perifh through prefumption, than one may be, it has been the Opinion of as 
 
 humble foul belonging to Chrift fhould many, that none but the Defilers of 
 
 finkunder difcouragement or difpair." the Temple would be kept out by 
 
 (p. 58.) Yet Mather {Magnalia, b. v. fuch a Scaj-e-Crow. . . . Well, the 
 
 pt. ii. 43, 44,) commenting upon cer- refult of thefe various Apprehenfions 
 
 tain "difficulties" in the platform of has been this: That fome uiifcriptii- 
 
 difcipline, corroborates Lechford's ral Severities, urged in this matter 
 
 ftatement. " The Jews tell us of by feveral of our Churches, in the be- 
 
 Ni^D. or a Scare-Crow upon the top ginning of the Plantation, are now 
 
 of the Temple, which kept off the generally laid afide," etc. So, In- 
 
 foivls from defiling of it ; and it hath creafe Mather (in the Epiflle prefixed 
 
2 2 Plaine dealings 
 
 opinions of the party, giving inftances in fome godlineffe 
 and good converfation of his, or fome other recommen- 
 dation is made, and that they are willing (if the Church 
 thereto confent) for their part, to give him the right 
 hand of fellowfliip. 
 
 Which done, the Elder turneth his fpeech to the party 
 to be admitted, and requireth him, or fometimes afketh 
 him, if he be willing to make knowne to the congrega- 
 tion the work of grace upon his foule ; and biddeth him, 
 as briefly, and audibly, to as good hearing as he can, to 
 doe the fame. 
 pubiique confef- Thcrcupon the party, if it be a man, fpeaketh him- 
 
 fions of parties 
 
 to be received, fclfc j but if it be 2l woman, her confeffion made before 
 the Elders, in private, is moft ufually (in BoJIon church) 
 
 to the Life of Mitchell,) fays, "It a perfon live not in the commiffion of 
 
 cannot be denied . . . that there has any known fin, nor in the negleft of 
 
 been an unjuftifiable Severity in im- any known duty, and can give a rea- 
 
 pofing Cinumjlantials not inftituted, fon of his hope towards God," he is 
 
 whereby fome truly gracious Souls to be judged fit for church-fociety, — 
 
 have been difcouraged from Offering he remarked {Survey^ iii. 6), " This 
 
 themfelves to joyn in Fellowfliip with rule being received and agreed upon, 
 
 fuch Churches. Thus it hath been, it would mervailoufly facilitate the 
 
 when an Oral Declaration of Faith work oi AdiiiiJJlon, without any trou- 
 
 and Repenta7ice has been enjoyned ble, and prevent fuch curious itiqui- 
 
 on all Communicants, and that before fitions and niceties, which the pride 
 
 the whole Congregation; when as and wantonnejfe of inetis fpirits hath 
 
 many an Humble Pious Soul has not brought into the Church, to difturb 
 
 been gifted with fuch Confidence^ — the peace thereof, and to prejudice 
 
 {Magna/ia, b. iv. c. 4. p. 159.) the progreffe of God's Ordinances." 
 
 Mr. Hooker fpoke more pointedly. [Comp. Cambridge Platform, c. xii. 
 
 After laying down the rule, that "if §3.] 
 
Newes from New-England. 23 
 
 read by the Paftor, who regiiired the fame.'^ At 6^^- 
 lem the women fpeake themfelves, for the moft part, in 
 the Church ; but of late it is faid, they doe this upon the 
 week dayes there, and nothing is done on Sunday, but 8 
 their entrance into Covenant. The man in a folemne 
 fpeech, fometimes a quarter of an houre long, fliorter or 
 longer, declareth the work of grace in his foule, to the 
 fame purpofe, as that before the Elders formerly men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Then the Elder requireth the party to make profef- "^'^^'^ profeffio.. 
 fion of his faith ; which alfo is done either by queftions 
 and anfwers, if the party be weake, or elfe in a folemne 
 fpeech according to the fumme and tenour of the Chrif- 
 tian faith laid downe in the Scriptures, defining faith, 
 and fliewing how it is wrought by the Word, and Spirit 
 of God, defining a Church to be a company of beleevers 
 gathered out of the world, by the Word preached, and 
 holy Spirit, and knit together by an holy Covenant, that 
 there are in the Church remaining fuch and fuch officers, 
 
 13 " In the churches where we have Anfwer to W. R., 19. " Some, being 
 Hved many years, we have feene fuch more weake and fearefull," fays the 
 a tender refpeft had to the weaker fame writer (p. 48,) " we rather tender 
 fex (who are ufually more fearefull (as Jacob would not overdrive the 
 and baflifuU) that we commit their feabler fort of ewes and lambes) left 
 triall to the Elders and fome few they fliould mifcarry."—Comp. Hook- 
 others in private, who upon their tef- er's Survey, iii. 6 ; Cambr. Platfonn, 
 timony are admitted into the Church ch. xii. § 4. 
 without any more adoe."— T. Welde, 
 
24 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Officers in the and membei's, as aforefaid : That is to fay, Paftors and 
 
 Church. 
 
 Teachers, ruHng Elders, Deacons and Deaconeifes or 
 
 Widowes ; ' ^ and fuch and fuch are their offices and 
 
 „. . , . duties in particular, viz. the Paftor to exhort, and be- 
 
 iheir duties or J^ ' ' 
 
 offices. fides to rule ; the Teacher to inftrudl in knowledge, and 
 
 likewife to rule; the ruling Elder '^ to affifl Paftor and 
 
 14 See, after, p. 15, — "No Church 
 there hath a DeaconnefTe, as far as I 
 know." Robert Browne {TJie Points 
 and Parts of all Dh>inity. Middle- 
 burgh, 1582,) names the Widow, as "a 
 perfon having office of God to pray 
 for the Church, and to vifit and 
 minifter to thofe which are afflifted 
 and diftreffed in the Church." Dcjin. 
 54. {Hauburys Memorials, i. 21.) 
 " Their Rehevers, or Widows, muft 
 be women of fixty years of age at the 
 leaft, for avoiding of inconveniences," 
 &c. — True Defcrip. of the Vifible 
 Chicrch, 1589. {Ibid. 30.) Comp. J. 
 Canne's Necejffltie of Separation, 6. 
 Gov. Bradford mentions " one an- 
 cient widow ... a Deaconnefs," in liis 
 time, in the church at Amfterdam. — 
 Dialogue between fome Young Afen, 
 &c.. Young's Chron. of Plymouth, 
 
 455- 
 
 Mr. Cotton regarded Widows as 
 "fit affiftants to the Deacons, in min- 
 iftering to the fick," etc., ..." onely we 
 find it fomewhat rare to find a woman 
 of fo great an age ... fit to undertake 
 fuch a fervice." — Way of the Con- 
 greg. Churches, p. 39. Comp. Cambr. 
 Platform, c. vii. § 7. — "The Lord 
 
 hath appointed ancient widows, i 
 Tim. V. 9, 10, (where they may be 
 had,) to minifter" etc. Mr. Daven- 
 port {Catechifm ; repr. N. Haven, 53,) 
 names four officers of " the fecond 
 fort of miniflry : . . . 4. The Deacon, 
 . . . under whom is included the wid- 
 ow or Deaconefs, who is to attend 
 the fick and impotent," &c. 
 
 IS Savage, on Winthrop, i. 31, note 
 3. For ample citations of early au- 
 thorities, and a hiftory of this office 
 from its origin to its decline, and, 
 finally, its entire difufe, in Congrega- 
 tional churches, fee Rev. Dr. Dex- 
 ter's Congregationalifn, pp. 1 10-132. 
 " The lateft record on the books of 
 the Firft Church in Boflion, of the 
 eleftion of a Ruling Elder is believed 
 to be of date, Augufl: 3, 1701." — 
 Ibid. 131. A few years earlier, 
 Jofhua Scottow lamented that, while 
 "fome of the Old Planters children" 
 remembered " that there were fuch 
 men, when they were young, that 
 were called Ruling Elders, . . . what 
 men they were, or what was their 
 work, they profefied they could not 
 tell." — Narrat. of the Planting, &c. 
 (1694), in 4 Mafs. Hifl. Coll., iv. 329. 
 
N ewes from New-England. 25 
 
 Teacher in ruling, as the Levites were given to the 
 Priefts for helps, and to fee to whomfoever comming in- 
 to, or to goe forth of the Church, by admonition,"^ or 
 excommunication; the Deacon to receive the contribu- 
 tions of the Church, and faithfully to difpofe the fame ; 
 the Deaconeffes to fliew mercie with cheerfulneffe, and 
 to minifler to the fick and poore brethren; the members Members duties. 
 all, to I watch over and fupport one an other in broth- 9 
 
 erly love. 
 
 Notwithflanding, there was a Sermon lately made by a sermon of 
 Mafler Cotton in Oflober, Anno 1640. upon i Cor. 11. 19. 
 touching herefies, which was fmce commonly there called 
 the Sermon of the twelve Articles, wherein was declared, 
 that there are twelve Articles of Religion, which main- 
 tained by any, the Church may receive them, and keepe 
 fellowfliip with them ; but the ignorant '^ of them after 
 inflrud;ion and fcandalous fms unrepented, exclude from 
 the fellowfliip of the Church. The faid Articles were 
 to this effe6l : Firfl, that there are three Perfons in one twelve Articles 
 
 of Religion. 
 
 God, the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Spirit. Sec- 
 ondly, that this God made, and governs all the World, 
 and that he is a rewarder of the good, and punifher of 
 the evill. Thirdly, that this God alone is to be wor- 
 fhiped. Fourthly, this worfliip of God is inftituted in 
 
 16 The Mafs. Hift. Society's Ms. 17 The fame Ms. has " ignorance," 
 
 has "admiffion." for "ignorant." 
 
26 Plaine dealing, 
 
 his written Word, not the precepts of men. Fiftly, 
 that from the fall of Adam, we have not fo worfliiped 
 God, but have all fmned, and deprived our felves of the 
 reward promifed, and therefore are under the curfe by 
 nature. Sixthly, that we are by nature utterly unable to 
 refcue our felves from this curfe. Seventhly, that Jefus 
 Chrift the eternall Sonne of God, in fulneffe of time took 
 upon him our nature, and was made flefli for us, and by 
 his death and fufferings, redeemed his ele6l from fm, and 
 death. Eighthly, that Chrifl Jefus, and falvation by him, 
 lo is offered, and given in the | Gofpell, unto every one 
 that beleeveth in his name, and onely by fuch received. 
 Ninthly, that no man can come unto Chrift, nor beleeve 
 on him, except the Father draw him by his Word and 
 Spirit. Tenthly, whom the Lord draws to him by his 
 Word and Spirit, them he juftifies freely by his grace 
 and according to his truth, not by works. Eleventhly, 
 where the foule is juftified, it is alfo regenerate and fanc- 
 tified. Twelfthly, this regeneration and fan(5lification is 
 ftill imperfe6l in this life. And unto all is added this 
 generall Article, That fuch as walke after this rule, fliall 
 arife to everlafling life; and thofe that walk otherwife, 
 fliall arife to everlafting condemnation, in the day of 
 Judgement: That the knowledge and beliefe of thefe are 
 of the fo7mdation of Religion : But things touching the 
 foundation of Churches, as Baptifme, Impofition of hands ; 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 27 
 
 ignorance in thefe may hinder the meafure of our reward 
 in heaven, not communion with the Church on earth.'^ 
 Exceptions againfl the Apoftles Creed were thefe : That 
 it is not of neceffity to beleeve Chrifts defcent into hell 
 in any fenfe ; '^ That it is not in that Creed contained, 
 
 18 " Now, in points of do6lrine fome 
 are fundamental, without right belief 
 whereof a man cannot be faved ; oth- 
 ers are circumflantial or lefs principal, 
 wherein men may differ in judgment 
 without prejudice of falvation on 
 either part." Cotton's Anf%ver to 
 Arguments againjt Perfeciition^ etc. 
 To this diftinftion, Roger Williams 
 objefted, believing that " God's peo- 
 ple may err from the very fundamen- 
 tals of vifible worfhip," and yet be 
 faved. Bloudy Tenettt, ch. iv. In 
 his Reply {Bl. Tenent IVaJJied, etc., 
 p. 5) Mr. Cotton explains, that "fun- 
 damental do6lrines are of two forts ; 
 fome hold forth the foundation of 
 Chriftian religion — others concern 
 the foundation of the Church : " and 
 that he had fpoken, as above, " of the 
 former fort of thefe only — the other 
 fort I look at as lefs than principal, 
 in comparifon with thefe." — Hans. 
 Knolly''s Soc. ed.^ pp. 19, 39. 
 
 19 The controversy on this article 
 of belief was "plied hotly in both the 
 univerfities, in 1604, and after," when 
 Mr. Cotton was at Cambridge. — 
 Wood's A thence. Oxon. (ed. Blifs), ii. 
 308. Certain fermons preached at 
 St. Paul's Crofs, London, in 1597, by 
 
 Bilfon, Bifhop of Winchefter, in which 
 the doctrine of Chrift's defcent to 
 hell was maintained, had given much 
 offence to the Puritans ; and the next 
 year Henry Jacob publifhed "A Trea- 
 tife of the Sufferings and Vi6tory of 
 Chrift, . . . declaring by the Scrip- 
 tures . . . That Chrift after his death 
 on the Crofs, went not into Hell in his 
 Soule ; contrarie to certaine Errours 
 in thefe points publickly preached 
 in London." (1598, 8vo. pp. 174.) 
 " The Effedl of certain Sermons, 
 touching the full Redemption of Man- 
 kind by the Death and Bloud of 
 Chrift Jefus," etc., was printed by 
 Bifhop Bilfon, in 1599 (Lond. 4to.), and 
 anfwered by Jacob, in " A Defence of 
 a Treatife," etc. (1600, 4to. pp. 211.) 
 At the fuggeftion of Queen Elizabeth, 
 as is ftated, the biftiop prepared a 
 more full and elaborate defence of his 
 fermons, and of the dodrine in con- 
 troverfy, in " The Survey of Chrift's 
 Sufferings for Man's Redemption and 
 of his Defcent to Hades or Hell," 
 etc. (Lond. 1604, fol.) — Wood's 
 Athen. Oxon., ut fupra, and ii. 170, 
 171, 309; Hanbury's Memorials, i. 
 221. Robert Parker publifhed, in re- 
 futation of Bilfon, and other affert- 
 
28 Plaine dealings 
 
 that the Scripture is the onely rule of Gods worfliip ; nor 
 doth it fo dire6lly fet forth the point of Juftification. 
 Matter Knoih ^ji^ alfo I remember Mafler K^iolles,^" now one of the 
 
 how admitted. 
 
 Paflors at Watertowne, when he firft came to be admitted 
 at Bojion, never made any mention in his profeffion of 
 faith, of any Officers of the Church in particular, or their 
 duties, and yet was received. 
 1 1 The party having finiflied his Difcourfes of his con- 
 
 Sfowfllirgivln feffion, and profeffion of his faith, the Elder againe fpeak- 
 eth to the congregation: Brethren of the congregation, 
 •if what you have heard of, [and] "" from this party, doe 
 not satisfie you, as to move you to give him the right 
 ha7id of fellowJJiip, ufe your liberty, and declare your 
 mindes therein: And then, after fome filence, if none 
 
 The whole cxccpt againfl the parties expreffions, (as often fome 
 
 Church ruleth. . . - . .r-. . . 
 
 members doe) then the Elder proceedeth, faymg. But if 
 you are fatisfied with that you have heard of, and from 
 him, expreffe your willingneffe, and confent to receive 
 him, by your uftialljigne^ which is ere^ion and extention 
 of the right hand." 
 
 ers of this doflrine, " De defcenfus Church, Aug. 15, 1639, and was or- 
 
 Domini noftri, Jefu Chrifti ad Inferos, dained at Watertown, Dec. 9, 1640. 
 
 libri quatuor, ab Hugoni Sanfordo — Savage, Geneal. Diil.; Winihrop, 
 
 inchoati, opera R. P. ad umbilicum ii. 18. 
 
 perducti." (Amft. i6ii,4to.) 21 The conjundlion is inferted on 
 
 20 Rev. John Knowles had been a the authority of the M. H. S. Ms. 
 
 fellow of Catharine Hall, Cambridge. 22 See after, p. 12, and note 25 ; p. 
 
 He was admitted to the Bofton 14, note y]. 
 
Newes fro}n New-England. 29 
 
 This done, fometimes they proceede to admit more 
 members, all after the fame manner, for the mofl part, 
 two, three, foure, or five, or more together, as they have 
 time, fpending fometimes almofl a whole afternoone 
 therein. And then the Elder calleth all them, that are Their enterance 
 
 into Covenant. 
 
 to be admitted, by name, and rehearfeth the covenant, on 
 their parts, to them, which they publiquely fay,"^ they doe 
 promife, by the helpe of God, to performe : And then 
 the Elder, in the name of the Church, promifeth the 
 Churches part of the covenant, to the new admitted mem- 
 bers. So they are received, or admitted. 
 
 Then they may receive the Sacrament of the Lords 
 fupper with them, and their children bee baptized, but 
 not before : alfo till then they may not be free men of the 
 Common-wealth, but being received in the Church they 
 may. 
 
 Sometimes the Mafler is admitted, and not the fervant, 12 
 & e contra: the husband is received, and not the wife; f^n""^ 
 and on the contrary, the child, and not the parent. 
 
 Alfo all matters of publique offence are heard & deter- ^j^^^^"J ^"2. 
 mined in publique, before all the Church, (and Grangers ''^"^• 
 
 23 Mr. Welde (Anfwer to W. R., a Covenant agreed to by their fdence 
 
 24) writes : " He [Rathband] tells o^ily : and as it is contrary to our 
 
 us, We hold our Church Covenant practife, fo to our writing, in the Dif- 
 
 viujl be vocall. . . . It's contrary (wee cour/e of the Covenant, which exprelT- 
 
 are fare) to our conftant pradife, that ly faith, that filent confent is fuffi- 
 
 admits members into the Church by cienty 
 
30 
 
 Plaine dealing. 
 
 The whole 
 Church ruling 
 and ufurping the 
 
 keyes. 
 
 * Whether a 
 grave and ju- 
 dicious confifto- 
 rie of the Bifhop 
 well aflifted be 
 not a great deale 
 better, I leave to 
 our fuperiours to 
 determine. 
 
 too in Bofton,^^ not fo in other places.) The party is 
 called forth, and the matter declared and teftified by two 
 witneffes ; then he is put to anfwer: Which finiflied, one 
 of the ruling Elders afketh the ^congregation if they are 
 fatisfied with the parties expreffions ? If they are, he 
 requireth them to ufe their liberty, and declare their fatif- 
 fiedneffe ; If not, and that they hold the party worthy of 
 admonition or excommunication, that they witneffe their 
 affent thereto by their filence.^^ If they be filent, the 
 fentence is denounced. If it be for defaults in erroneous 
 opinions onely, the Teacher, they fay, is to denounce 
 
 24 " Some of our moft populous 
 Churches do no Church Aft, no not 
 of difciph'ne, but in the prefence of 
 the whole Towne, (non-members, as 
 well as members) fo many of them 
 as are pleafed to be prefent. Wayes 
 of truth feeke no corners ; if any 
 Church admonifh a brother privately, 
 it is becaufe his offence is not known 
 to non-members." — Cotton, Way 
 cleared, pt. i. p. 68. 
 
 25 " The whole Church may be faid 
 to bind and loofe, in that the Breth- 
 ren confent and concurre with the El- 
 ders, both before the Cenfure, in dif- 
 cerning it to be jult and equall, and 
 in declaring their difcernment, by lift- 
 ing up of their hands, or by filence," 
 etc. — Cotton, Keyes, 14. " The con- 
 fent of the people gives a caufall ver- 
 tue to the compleating of the fen- 
 tence of excommunication." — Hook- 
 
 er, Pref. to Survey. " Its granted 
 by Divines, there can be no proceed- 
 ing to excomtmtnication, but with the 
 tacit e co7ifent of the people.'''' — Sur- 
 vey, pt. i. p. 135. Comp. Cotton, 
 Way, 92 ; Cambr. Platform, c. x. 
 
 §§ 5> % 10- 
 
 A memorial prefented to the court 
 at Ipfwich, by certain members of 
 the Newbury Church, in 1669, fays : 
 " Near thirty years fmce, at a fynod 
 at Cambridge, it was propofed, and 
 it was confented unto by them, that 
 if the minifters thought it moft con- 
 venient to vote by fpeech and filence, 
 rather than by lifting up the hand, 
 they had nothing againft it, feeing the 
 one was a teftimony of confent as well 
 as the other, fo this kind of voting 
 began and continued in praftice with- 
 out difference or interruption for a 
 good feafon." — Coffin's Newbury, 78. 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 31 
 
 the fentence ; If for matter of ill manners, the Paflor de- "^^'^o denounce 
 
 Church cenfures. 
 
 nounceth it ; the ruling Elders doe not ufually denounce 
 any fentence :^^ But I have heard, a Captaine"'' delivered 
 one to Satan, in the Church at Dorchejier, in the abfence 
 of their Minifter. 
 
 Ordinarily, matter of offence is to be brought to the Dk Eccu/ta;. 
 Elders in private, they may not otherwife lell the *CImrch * This agreeth 
 m ordmary matters, and lo it hath been declared m pub- E„^/and. 
 lique, by the Paftors^^ of Bojloji.""^ 
 
 The admoniflied muft, in good manners, abftain from Admonition. 
 the Communion, and muft goe on to fatisfie the Church, 
 elfe Excommunication follows. 
 
 26 To the contrary, Hooker {Sur- 
 vey, iii. 38,) lays down the rule, that, 
 after the affent of the Church has 
 been given, " the fentence, thus com- 
 pleatly iffued, is to be folemnly paffed 
 and pronounced upon the Delinquent, 
 by the ruling Elder, whether it be the 
 cenfure of admonition or excotnniuni- 
 cation.'" Cotton {Keyes, 22) does not 
 difcriminate, but gives to "the El- 
 ders" authority "bothy«j dicere, and 
 fententiam ferreP So, the Cam- 
 bridge Platform, c. vii. § 2, includ- 
 ed with thofe a6ls of fpiritual rule in 
 which the Ruling Elders are to join 
 with the Paftor and Teacher, that of 
 pronouncing fentence. Comp. Cot- 
 ton's Way, 91, 92. Winthrop, in his 
 mention of Mrs. Hutchinfon's excom- 
 munication, fays that "it being for 
 
 manifeft evil in matters of converfa- 
 tion . . . the fentence was denounced 
 by the paftor [Mr. Wilfon], matter of 
 manners belonging properly to his 
 place:' (i. 258.) 
 
 27 Whofe name, " Ifrael S tough- 
 ton," is given in the Maflachufetts 
 Hiftorical Society's Ms. 
 
 28 " Paftor." — Ma/s. Hijl. Soc. Ms. 
 
 29 . . . " The brother firft offended 
 telleth the church of it, to wit, in 
 God's way : he telleth the elders, who 
 are the mouth of the church," etc. — 
 Cotton, Way, 90. " When there be 
 Elders in a Church, all the complaints 
 mujl be made to them, and the caufes 
 prepared and cleared, and then by 
 their means they muft be complained 
 of to the Church." — Hooker, Survey, 
 i. 134, 135 ; fo iii. 36. 
 
32 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 13 
 
 Excommunica- 
 tion. 
 
 The excommunicate is held as an Heathen and Publi- 
 can : Yet it hath been declared at Bojlon in divers cafes, 
 that children may eate with their parents excommuni- 
 cate; 3° that an eledted Magiftrate excommunicate may 
 hold his place, but better another were chofen ; ^^ that an 
 
 30 Such a declaration had been 
 made by Mr. Wilfon, after the ex- 
 communication of Mrs. Hutchinfon : 
 "In the general, he faid indeed, that 
 with excommunicate perfons no re- 
 ligious communion is to be held, 
 nor any civil familiar connexion, as 
 fitting at table. But . . . fuch as were 
 joined in natural or civil near rela- 
 tions, as parents and children, huf- 
 band and wife, &c., God did allow 
 them that liberty, which he denies to 
 others." — Cotton's letter to Fras. 
 Hutchinfon, in 2 Mafs. Hijl. Coll. x. 
 186. Comp. Cotton, Way, 93, 94 ; 
 Hooker, Survey, iii. 39 ; Cavibr. Plat- 
 form, c. xiv. § 5 ; S. Mather, Apol- 
 ogy, 108. 
 
 31 " Excommunication . . . toucheth 
 not princes or magiftrates in refpefl 
 of their civil dignity or authority." — 
 Catnbr. Platform, c. xiv. § 6. 
 
 No civil difabilities followed ex- 
 communication except difqualification 
 for admiffion as a freeman. In Eng- 
 land, even fo late as the 53d of George 
 III. (1813) the excommunicate was 
 debarred from ferving as a juryman, 
 from bringing or maintaining aftions, 
 from appearing as a witnefs in any 
 caufe, from praflifmg as an attorney 
 
 in any court ; and from doing any a6l 
 " that is required to be done by one 
 that is probus et legalis homo.'''' The 
 excommunicate was moreover liable, 
 after forty days, to be taken on writ 
 de excommicnicato capiendo (ilTued on 
 the bifhop's certificate), and to be 
 imprifoned in the county jail, till he 
 fhould be reconciled to the church. 
 — Blackftone, Comment, iii. 102. 
 
 For a fingle year MafTachufetts had 
 a law that any perfon who fhould 
 " ftand excommunicate for the fpace 
 of fix months, without labouring what 
 in him or her lyeth to bee reftored," 
 fhould be prefented to the Court of 
 Affiiftants, and proceeded with "by 
 fine, imprifonment, banifhment, or 
 further, for the good behaviour, as 
 their contempt and obftinacy, upon 
 full hearing, fhall deferve." — Mafs. 
 Rec., i. 242. This law was enabled 
 in September, 1638, and repealed 
 September, 1639. — Ibid. 271. 
 
 Roger Williams (in The Bloudy 
 Tenent, c. cxxviii.) mentions this 
 "ftrange law in New England for- 
 merly," by way of explaining a fup- 
 pofed reference to it in " A Model of 
 Church and Civil Power," &c., the 
 authorfhip of which he miftakenly af- 
 
Newes from New-Engla7id. 
 
 33 
 
 hereditary Magiftrate, though excommunicate, is to be 
 obeyed ftill in civill things ; that the excommunicate 
 perfon may come and heare the Word, and be prefent 
 at Prayer, fo that he give not pubHque offence, by tak- 
 ing up an eminent place in the Affembly : But at 
 New-have7i^ alias Quinapeag, where Mafter Davenport is 
 Paflor, the excommunicate is held out of the meeting, at 
 the doore, if he will heare, in froft, fnow, and raine.^^ 
 
 cribed to Mr. Cotton (fee Bloody 
 Tenent waj/ied, etc., pp. 150, 192): 
 " To give liberty to Magiflrates, with- 
 out exception, to punifh all excom- 
 municate perfons within fo many 
 months, may " (fay the writers of the 
 Model) "prove injurious to the per- 
 fon who needs, to the church who 
 may defire, and to God who calls for 
 longer indulgence from them." Mr. 
 Cotton's opinions on this fubjedl may 
 be found in his Expofition upon Rev- 
 elation, c. xiii. (delivered, January - 
 April, 1640) : " It was a matter in 
 queftion here not long agoe, whether 
 the Court fhould not take a courfe 
 to punifh fuch perfons as flood ex- 
 communicate out of the Church, if 
 they fhould ftand long excommuni- 
 cate, but it was a good providence of 
 God that fuch a thing was prevented : 
 Let not any Court, ipfo fa^o, take 
 things from the Church." (p. 19.) 
 Again, "It is dangerous to bring in 
 civill Authority immediately upon 
 Church-cenfure : A warning to us 
 
 5 
 
 here, that if men be excommunicated, 
 not to deny them civill Commerce, or 
 to fay fuch as ftand out excommuni- 
 cated fo long, (hall no longer enjoy 
 the priviledges of the State." [Ibid., 
 p. 238.) 
 
 32 On this. Dr. Bacon (in Hijlorical 
 Di/courfes, 48) remarks : " Lechford 
 was probably lawyer enough to know 
 that the fame rule obtained in the 
 Church of England, and that the ex- 
 communicate, befides being excluded 
 from the place of worfhip, was liable 
 to a penalty every Sunday for his con- 
 ftrained abfence. Good old Oliver 
 Heywood found that this was no dead 
 letter. Heywood' s Works, i. 100." — 
 See the Ads of i Eliz., c. 2 ; 23 Eliz., 
 c. I (impofmg fines on every abfentee 
 from the parifh church); and 7 Jac. I. 
 c. 6; Blackjlone'' s Comment., iv. 52. 
 One of the fchifmatical tenets for 
 maintaining which feveral non-con- 
 formifts of Northamptonfhire were 
 called to anfwer Laud's Ecclefiastical 
 Commiffiioners, in 1634, was, " that 
 
Plaine dealing. 
 
 Moft an-end, in the Bay, they ufe good moderation, and 
 forbearance in their cenfures : Yet I have known a Gen- 
 tlewoman excommunicate, for fome indifcreet words, with 
 fome flifneffe maintained, faying, A brother, and others, 
 fhe feared, did confpire to arbitrate the price of Joyners 
 worke of a chamber too high, and endeavouring to bring 
 the fame into civill cognizance, not proceeding to take 
 two or three to convince the party, and fo to tell the 
 Church, (though fhee firft told the party of it) and this 
 without her husband. I feare flie is not yet abfolved ; I 
 am fure fhe was not upon the third of Augufl laft, when 
 we loofed from Bqfton. 
 Cognizance of Thcrc hath been fome difference about iurifdidlions, or 
 
 caufes. •' 
 
 cognizance of caufes : Some have held, that in caufes be- 
 tweene brethren of the Church, the matter fhould be 
 
 perfons excommunicated by the ordi- leper, and explained how "the leper 
 
 nary, might come to church." — Cal- under the law anfwered the ftate of 
 
 endar of Brit. Stale Papers, i62,4.-T,Si ^"^ excommunicated perfon now." — 
 
 p. 411. N. H. Chtirch Rec, in Bacon's Hijl. 
 
 In 1644, Henry Glover, who had Difcourfes, 307-309. See, too, the 
 
 been excommunicated by the Church reference to Mrs. Eaton's cafe, in 
 
 of New Haven, expreffed a defire to Trial of Ezek. Cheever, Coll. Co}i7i. 
 
 be reftored. " The brethren agreed Hijlor. Society, i. 29, 44. 
 
 that he fhould have liberty to fpeak The church at Bofton did not de- 
 
 in the afternoon," when, after the bar the excommunicate from entrance 
 
 contribution was ended, "the ruling into the aflembly, "in time of preach- 
 
 elder defired fotne thatjlood near the ing the Word, or Prayer, or fuch 
 
 door, to call in Henry Glover." Mr. other worfhip of God as is not pe- 
 
 Davenport then addreffed him, telling culiar to the church ; for this liberty 
 
 him of the law in Leviticus xiii. and we do not forbid to Heathens and In- 
 
 xiv., concerning the cleanfmg of the dians." — Cotton's Way, 93. 
 
Newes from New-Engla7id. 
 
 35 
 
 firfl told the | Church, before they goe to the civill Mag- 
 iftrate, becaufe all caufes in difference doe amount, one 
 way or other, to a matter of offence ; and that all crimi- 
 nall matters concerning Church members, fliould be firft 
 heard by the Church. But thefe opinionifls are held, by 
 the wifer fort, not to know the dangerous iffues and con- 
 fequences of fuch tenets." The Magiftrates, and Church- 
 leaders, labour for a jufl and equall correfpondence in 
 jurifdiclions, not to intrench one on the other, neither 
 the civill Magiftrates to be exempt from Ecclefiafticall 
 cenfure, nor the Minifters from Civill : ^'^ & whether Ec- 
 
 H 
 
 33 Anthony Stoddard, one of the 
 conftables of Boflon in 1641, was one 
 of thefe " opinionifts," as appears 
 from IVinthrop, ii. 39, 40. When re- 
 quired by Gov. Bellingham to take in 
 cuftody Francis Hutchinfon, he "faid 
 withal to the governour, Sir, I came 
 to obferve what you did, that if you 
 fhould proceed with a brother other- 
 wife than you ought, / might deal 
 with you in a church 'way;'''' and 
 having been committed, for this "in- 
 folent behavior,'' he admitted his er- 
 ror, "which was that he did conceive 
 that the magiftrate ought not to deal 
 with a member of the church before 
 the church had proceeded with him." 
 
 34 The General Court, Sept. 1639, 
 propofmg to take meafures for the 
 "prefent reformation of immoderate 
 great fleeves, and fome other fuper- 
 fluities" of apparel, found "that fome 
 
 [had] been grieved that fuch excelTes 
 were prefented to the Court, which 
 concerned the members of churches, 
 before the parties had been dealt with 
 at home," etc.; and thereupon, all 
 proceedings upon fuch prefentments 
 were fl:ayed, " in expectation that the 
 officers and members of all the 
 churches, having now clear knowl- 
 edge . . . will fpeedily and etTeftually 
 proceed againft all offenders in this 
 kind, and . . . keep the more Itricl 
 watch ... for time to come." — Mafs. 
 Rec, i. 274. 
 
 In Otlober, 1640, the elders re- 
 newed a motion which had been 
 made at a previous Court, " that the 
 churches might know their power 
 and the civil magiftrate his. The 
 fame had been moved by the magif- 
 trates formerly, and now at this Court 
 they prefented a writing to that effe6l, 
 
36 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Churches inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 clefiafticall, or Civill power firft begin to lay hold of a 
 man, the fame to proceed, not barring the other to inter- 
 meddle. 
 
 Every Church hath power of government in, and by 
 it felfe ; and no Church, or Officers, have power over one 
 another but by way of advice or counfaile, voluntarily 
 given or befought,^^ faving that the generall Court, now 
 
 to be confidered by the Court, where- 
 in they declared that the civil magif- 
 trate fhould not proceed againft a 
 church member before the church 
 had dealt with him, with fome other 
 reftraints which the Court did not 
 allow of. So the matter was referred 
 to further confideration, and it ap- 
 peared indeed that divers of the el- 
 ders did not agree in thofe points." 
 — Winthrop, ii. i6, 17. 
 
 The hiftory of this movement, and 
 its influence in fhaping and in fecuring 
 the adoption of the " Body of Liber- 
 ties," of 1641, deferve more thorough 
 examination than they appear hith- 
 erto to have received from hiflorians. 
 No more difficult problem was pre- 
 fented to the founders of Maffachu- 
 fetts, than that of defining the limits 
 of jurifditlion between the civil ma- 
 giftracy and the churches. " It is 
 neceffary," taught Mr. Cotton, at one 
 of his weekly leftures, early in 1640, 
 (after the body of laws, drawn up by 
 a committee of the General Court had 
 been fent to the elders and freemen 
 of the feveral towns, for their confid- 
 
 eration,) " It is neceffary . . . that all 
 power that is on earth be limited, 
 church -power or other. ... It is 
 counted a matter of clanger to the 
 State to limit Prerogatives ; but it is 
 a further danger, not to have them 
 limited : They will be like a Tempefl, 
 if they be not limited. ... It is there- 
 fore fit for every man to be ftudious 
 of the bounds which the Lord hath 
 fet : and for the People, in whom fun- 
 damentally all power lyes, to give 
 as much power as God in his word 
 gives to men : And it is meet that 
 Magiftrates in the Common-wealth, 
 and fo Officers in Churches fhould 
 defire to know the utmoft bounds of 
 their own power, and it is fafe for 
 both ; " etc. — Expos, ofi-^ih Chap, of 
 Revelation, 72. 
 
 " A Declaration of the Liberties 
 the Lord Jefus hath given to the 
 Churches," (comprifing eleven arti- 
 cles,) was incorporated in the Body 
 of Liberties eftablifhed in 1641, — for 
 which fee 3 Ma/s. Hijl. Coll., viii. 234. 
 
 35 " All particular Churches and 
 all the Elders of them are of equal 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 37 
 
 and then, over-rule fome Church matters : and of late, 
 divers of the Minifterie have had fet meetings to order 
 Church matters ; whereby it is conceived they bend 
 towards Presbyterian rule.^^ 
 
 power, each of them refpectively in 
 their own Congregation. None of 
 them call others Rabbies, or Mafters, 
 or Fathers (in refpedl of any authori- 
 tie over them) but all of them own 
 and acknowledge one another as fel- 
 low brethren, Matth. 23. 8, 9, 10." — 
 Cotton, Keyes, p. 37. Comp. Way 
 cleared, ii. 20, 21 ; Hooker, Survey, 
 i. 219, 220; Cambr. Platform, c. xv. 
 
 §1- 
 
 " Beware of all fecular power, and 
 Lordly power ; of fuch vaft infpec- 
 tion of one church over another : . . . 
 Leave everj' church Independent ; 
 not Independent from brotherly conn- 
 fell j God forbid that we (hould refufe 
 that; but when it comes to poiuer, 
 that one Church fhall have power 
 over the reft, then look for a Beaft 
 [Revel, xiii. 2], which the Lord would 
 have all his people to abhor." — Cot- 
 ton, Expos, of Revel, xiii. 30, 31. 
 
 " At all times, when a particular 
 church fhall wander out of the way, 
 (whether out of the way of truth, or 
 of peace) the community of churches 
 may by no means be excufed from 
 reforming them again into their right 
 way." — Cotton, Keyes, 59. 
 
 36 The laft three lines of this para- 
 graph, beginning "and of late," etc., 
 are not in the M. H. S. Ms. — The 
 
 " fet meetings " of the miniflers had, 
 from the firft, given offence to fome 
 who held to the abfolute indepen- 
 dence of the churches. In 1633, 
 when "the minifters in the Bay and 
 Sagus [Lynn] did meet, once a fort- 
 night, at one of their houfes by courfe, 
 when fome queftion of moment was 
 debated," — the Salem paflor, Mr. 
 Skelton, a rigid feparatift, and Roger 
 Williams (then lately returned from 
 Plymouth, and " exercifing by way of 
 prophecy" at Salem, though not in 
 church-office), " took fome exception" 
 to thefe meetings, "as fearing it might 
 grow in time to a presbytery or fu- 
 perintendency to the prejudice of the 
 Churches' liberties." — IVintlirop, i. 
 1 16, 117. " Mr. Williams [before his 
 banifhment] had fome fellowfhip with 
 us," faid Mr. Cotton {IVay cleared, 
 i. 55), "and might have had more, but 
 that hee fufpecled all the Statos con- 
 ventus of the Elders to bee unwar- 
 rantable, and fuch as might in time 
 make way to a Presbyteriall govern- 
 ment." 
 
 The " Model of Church and Civil 
 Power," drawn up about 1635, and 
 which appears to have had the appro- 
 val of Mr. Cotton (fee before, p. 13, 
 note 31), propofes, "as the means ap- 
 pointed by God whereby he may me- 
 
38 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Difference of 
 rule in Churches. 
 
 In Bojlon, they rule, moft an-end, by unanimous con- 
 fent, if they can, both in admiffions, and cenfures, and 
 other things. In Salem, they rule by the major part of 
 the Church : You that are fo minded hold up your hands ; 
 you that are otherwife minded, hold up yours.^'' 
 
 diately reform matters amifs in our 
 churches," meetings, "i. Monthly of 
 feme of the elders and fnejfengers of 
 the churches . . . which are neareft 
 together, and fo may moft convenient- 
 ly affemble together ; . . . [who may] 
 confult of fuch things as make for the 
 good of the churches. ... 2. Annual, 
 of all the mejfengers and elders of 
 the churches . . . fometimes at one 
 church, fometimes at another, ... [to 
 which] let all the churches fend their 
 weighty queftions and cafes, fix weeks 
 or a month before the fet time." 
 Thefe affemblies, monthly and annu- 
 al, were to " do nothing by authority, 
 but only by counfel." — Blotidy Teu- 
 ciit, ch. cxxix. S^Hans. Kiiollys Soc, 
 1848, pp. 334-6]. In this plan, Ro- 
 ger Williams found " a moft four and 
 uncomely deformed look of a mere 
 human invention," and denies that 
 " general arguments from the plaufi- 
 ble pretence of Chriftian fellowfliip, 
 God's glory, &c., prove fuch particu- 
 lar ways of glorifying God, without 
 fome precept or precedent of fuch a 
 kind." — Ibid. c. cxxx-cxxxiv. 
 
 The 7th Article of the Declaration 
 of Liberties of the Churches, adopted 
 with the Body of Liberties in Decem- 
 
 ber, 1 64 1, as the fundamental law of 
 the colony, fecures to the Elders " free 
 libertie to meete monthly, quarterly, 
 or otherwife, in convenient numbers 
 and places, for conferences and con- 
 fultations about Chriftian and Church 
 queftions and occafions." And the 
 nth Article allows and ratifies "as 
 a lawfull libertie of the Churches," 
 monthly meetings of the elders and 
 any other of the brethren, of neigh- 
 bouring churches, for " publique 
 Chriftian Conference about the dif- 
 cuffing and refolveing of . . . doubts 
 and cafes of confcience concerning 
 matter of do6lrine or worftiip," . . . 
 but " onely by way of brotherly con- 
 ference and confultations." {Body of 
 Liberties, 95 (7, 11); 3 Ma/s. Hijl. 
 Coll., viii. 234, 235.) The Synod at 
 Cambridge, in June, 1643, agreed, 
 " That Confociation of churches, in 
 way of more general meetings, year- 
 ly ; and more privately, monthly, or 
 quarterly ; as coit/iiltative Synods ; 
 are very comfortable, and neceffary for 
 the peace and good of the churches." 
 — Letter from N. E., quoted in Re- 
 ply of Two Brethren to A. S. (Lond. 
 1644), p. 7. See H anbury, ii. 343. 
 37 See before, p. 1 1, and p. 12, note 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 39 
 
 In Bojlon, when they cannot agree in a matter, they A°bft^e°7confia 
 will fometimes referre it to fome feled; brethren | to 15 
 
 25. " Whether matters be carried 
 amongft them by moft voices or no, is 
 not fo generally agreed upon. Some 
 affirme that the major part carries it 
 againft the lelTer part, yea, though the 
 officers be in this lefler part, and to 
 fliew ftrong reafon to the contrary . . . 
 Otliers, that the whole body muft 
 agree, elfe nothing proceeds. . . Some, 
 that things are not carried by voyces 
 at all, but by truth and right, and ac- 
 cording to God. . . . Sometimes they 
 grant indeed all things are carried by 
 confent of all ; but they explain it 
 thus, viz. ... If the lelTer party dif- 
 fenting neither can give fatisfacftion 
 to the greater, nor will receive fatif- 
 fa6lion from them, but ftill perfift in 
 diffenting, then doe the major part 
 (after due forbearance, and calling in 
 the counfel of fome neighbouring 
 churches) judicially admonifh them ; 
 who being thus under ceii/i(?-e, their 
 voyce is now extinft, and made voide. 
 And fo the reft proceed to vote," etc. 
 — [W. Rathband's] Brief Narratioti 
 offoine Church Cottr/es in A^. E., 27, 
 28. Comp. Anfw. to the 32 Qnef- 
 tions [by Richard Mather], 58, 61. 
 "When we fay we do this or that 
 with common confent, our meaning 
 is, wee do not carry on matters either 
 by the over-ruling power of the Pref- 
 bytery, or by the confent of the inajor 
 part of the church ; but by the gene- 
 
 rail and joynt confent of all the mem- 
 bers . . . bjio-^vnadbv, that is, with one 
 accord, A6ls 2. 46, as becometh the 
 church of God." — Cotton, Way, 94. 
 
 [The expedient of putting a diffent- 
 ing minority under cenfure, by admo- 
 nition, and thereby nullifying their 
 vote, was reforted to in the Bofton 
 church, in the cafe of Mrs. Hutchin- 
 fon. Two of her fons refufmg to 
 agree to her cenfure, were admonifhed, 
 and the church was thereby enabled 
 to proceed ofio&ufiaodv. — See IVin- 
 throp, i. 255.] 
 
 Hooker (Survey, iii. 40) lays down 
 the rule that cenfure may be pafled 
 '■'■ if fotne few fJiould diffent, in cafe 
 their reafons be heard and anfwered, 
 and they filenced by power of argu- 
 ment ; " and that, in doubtful cafes, if 
 "the difference grow wide and great," 
 after counfel of the neighbouring 
 churches has been had, "either all 
 will agree, or elfe the major part of 
 the church hath power and right to 
 proceed^'' Of his own prudent man- 
 agement under this rule, by which 
 "he rarely mifled of a full concur- 
 rence," and of its refults, fee the 
 Magnalia, b. iii. pt. i, app. § 25. 
 
 There is a touch of pathos in Cot- 
 ton Mather's allufion to the trials to 
 which the "fpeakingariftocracy" was 
 occafionally fubjefted, by the " filent 
 democracy " of the congregation : 
 
40 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Engla7id. 
 
 Difference in 
 number of Offi 
 cers. 
 
 ory is and may he^j-g ^nd cnd, Or to ccrtlfie the Church, and any breth- 
 
 be conftituted m •' 
 
 ren, that will, to be prefent at the difcuffe in private.^^ 
 
 Some Churches have no ruling Elders, fome but one, 
 fome but one teaching Elder, fome have two ruling, and 
 two teaching Elders ; fome one, fome two or three Dea- 
 cons ; fome hold that one Minifler is enough for a fmall 
 number of people ; No Church there hath a Deaconeffe, 
 as far as I know.^'^ 
 chappeisofeafe. Whcrc famics Or villages are, as at Rumney-marflt*° and 
 Marblehcad,^' there a Minifler, or a brother of one of the 
 
 " Now tho' this liberty of the breth- 
 ren [to judge in their own church 
 cafes], be that wherein for the moft 
 part the repofe of the paftors has been 
 by the compaffionate wifdom of our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift provided for, yet 
 fome trouble fometimes has arifen to 
 the paflors from the brethren's abiife 
 of their liberty, isahich has caWd for 
 much patience in thofe that have the 
 rule over them." — Magnah'a, b. iv. 
 pt. 2. c. iv. § ID. 
 
 38 Comp. Cotton, IVay, 95, 96. 
 
 39 See before, p. 8, note 14. 
 
 40 Now Chelfea. No church was 
 gathered there until 171 5. Early in 
 1640, the owners of farms at Rumney 
 Marfli made requeft to the Bofton 
 church, that John Oliver, (fon of Elder 
 Thomas,) "a gracious young man," 
 might be fent "to inftruft [their] fer- 
 vants, and be a help to them, becaufe 
 they cannot many times come hither. 
 
 nor fometimes to Lynn, and fome- 
 times nowhere at all." The confent 
 of the church was given, after fome 
 debate, and Sergeant Oliver exprefled 
 his willingnefs to " employ his weak 
 talent to God's fervice." Savage, 
 from Keay7ie's Ms., in note to Win- 
 throp, i. 328. Mr. Oliver died in 
 1646, — "one who, for the fweetnefs 
 of his difpofition and ufefulnefs, 
 through a public fpirit, was generally 
 beloved, and greatly lamented." — 
 Ibid. ii. 257. 
 
 41 " Marvill Head is a place which 
 lieth four miles full fouth from Salem, 
 and is a very convenient place for a 
 plantation, efpecially for fuch as will 
 fet upon the trade of filhing. There 
 was made here a fliip's loading of fifh 
 the laft year, where ftill ftand the 
 ftages and drying fcaffolds. Here 
 be good harbour for boats, and fafe 
 riding for fliips." Wood, N. E. Prof- 
 
Newes from New-England. 4 1 
 
 congregations of Bojlon for the Mar/Ji, and of Salem for There, you ree. 
 Marblehead, preacheth and exercifeth prayer every Lords EngiamUnfom" 
 
 places. 
 
 Licence. 
 
 day, which is called prophefying: in fuch a place. And fo 
 
 •^ '-' ^ Propliefying. 
 
 it was heretofore at Mounlwoollajlon within Bojlon pre- 
 cinds, though fince it became a Church now called of 
 Brainlree,^^- but before they of the mount did, and thofe 
 of the MarfJi and Marblchead ftill come and receive the 
 Sacrament at Bojlon, and Salem refpectively, and fome of 
 Braintree ftill receive at Bojloji. 
 
 Alfo when a Minifter preacheth abroad, in another Prophefying, 
 congregation, the ruling Elder of the place, after the Preaching by 
 Pfalme fung, faying publiquely; If this prefent brother 
 hath any word of exhortation for the people, at this time, 
 in the name of God let him fay on \^^ this is held proph- 
 
 pe£l, pt. i. c. 10. The plantation was one of the figners of the remonftrance 
 
 fet off from Salem, as a feparate town- againft Wheelwright's cenfure, but 
 
 (hip, in 1649. Joflelyn found there "acknowledged his failing, and de- 
 
 "a few fcattered houfes . . . ftages for fired his name might be blotted out," 
 
 fifhermen, orchards and gardens ; half May, 1640. Mr. Savage fuggefts that 
 
 a mile within land, good paftures and his ordination at Braintree may have 
 
 arable land." — Voyages, 167. been poftponed "to afford him liberal 
 
 42 The inhabitants of Mount Wol- opportunity for this recantation." It 
 
 laflon were granted town privileges, is poffible that his fin of charity. 
 
 May, 1640, and the name of Brain- though repented of, may have left a 
 
 tree given. — Mafs. Rec, i. 291. The taint of error which influenced "fome 
 
 church was gathered September 17, of Braintree" to receive the facra- 
 
 1639, when Mr. William Tompfon ment at Bofton, after the gathering of 
 
 and Mr. Henry Flint were chofen a church in their own town. — Mafs. 
 
 their miniflers. The former was or- Rec, i. 191 ; Winthrop, \. 196, 247, 
 
 dained November 19; Mr. Flint not 313, 324. 
 
 until March 17, 1640. He had been 43 "The elders calling to them . . . 
 6 
 
42 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 It ought not to glVinO". 
 be otherwaies in 
 
 i6 
 
 * Univerfities, 
 Cathedrals, 
 and Collegiat 
 Churches. 
 
 * I Cor. 13. 2. 
 
 Alfo the confeffions or fpeeches made by mem- 
 bers to be admitted, have beene by fome held prophefy- 
 ing, and when a brother exercifeth in his | own congre- 
 gation (as at Salem^^ they doe fometimes) taking a text of 
 Scripture, and handling the fame according to his ability. 
 Notwithftanding, it is generally held in the Bay, by fome 
 of the moft grave and learned men amongft them, that 
 none fliould undertake to prophefie in publique, unleffe 
 he intend the worke of the Miniflery, and fo in fome 
 places, as in fchooles*, and not abroad, without they have 
 both impofition of hands, and miffion, or permiffion, be- 
 caufe prophecie properly hath its denomination from 
 ^tmdcrjianding propheticall Scriphires, which to know 
 difcreetly to handle, requireth good learning, fkill in 
 tongues, great fidelity, and good confcience/^ 
 
 If they have any word of exhortation 
 to the people, to fay on." — Cotton, 
 True Conjiit. of a Particular Vifible 
 Church, p. 6. 
 
 44 As to the diflinftion between 
 "teaching by office" and "prophefy- 
 ing," fee Ainfworth's Counterpoyfon, 
 1608, pp. 174-178 ; Robinfon's Apol- 
 ogy, 1625, c. viii.; and People's Plea 
 for the Exercife of Prophefy, 161 8, 
 pp. 6, 33 ; Cotton, Keyes, 20, 2 1 (comp. 
 Goodwin and Nye, in Preface) ; [or, 
 in Hanbury's Metnorials, i. 175-6, 
 353? 3S9 ; ii- 263 ;] Bradford's Dia- 
 logue, in Young's Chron. of the Pil- 
 grims, 419, 420. 
 
 45 " Mr. Skelton, the paftor of Sa- 
 lem, and Mr. [Roger] Williams, who 
 was removed from Plimouth thither, 
 (but not in any office, though he exer- 
 cifed by way of prophecy,)" etc. — 
 Winthrop, i. 117 (1633). 
 
 4'3 " Though wee deny not, but in 
 fome cafe, fome able judicious expe- 
 rienced Chriftians, may humbly and 
 foberly, when neceffity requires, as in 
 the want of Minifters and being in- 
 vited thereunto, difpence now and 
 then a word of exhortation to their 
 brethren, This is farre enough from 
 Preaching in an ordinary way [or, as 
 W. R. had afferted,] with all An- 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 43 
 
 T 
 
 The publique worfJiipe. 
 HE publique worfliip is in as faire a meeting houfe i\^& puwique 
 
 1 • 1 1 • • o 1 woi-fliip. 
 
 as they can provide, wherein, in moft places, they 
 
 have beene at great charges."*^ 
 
 Every Sabbath or Lords 
 
 //w;-///."— Welde's Aiifwer to IV. R., 
 37, 38. 
 
 Mr. Cotton accorded a larger lib- 
 erty : "As for the publike teaching of 
 a private man, indued with gifts and 
 zeal, I know not why it may not be 
 allowed, not only in cafe of extreme 
 neceffitie, but in fonie cafes of expe- 
 diency, as when his gifts are to be 
 proved before he be called into of- 
 fice." {Way cleared, ii. 24.) " It is 
 not an unheard of novelty, That God 
 fliould enlarge private men with pub- 
 like gifts, and that they that have re- 
 ceived fuch gifts, fhould take liberty 
 to difpenfe them unto edification." 
 {Ibid. 27.) " And in this," fays Gov. 
 Bradford, " the chief of our minifters 
 in New England agree." — Dialogue, 
 See, in Young's Chron. 421. 
 
 When Mr. Wilfon went to Eng- 
 land, in 1 63 1, he commended to his 
 church, " the exercife of prophefy 
 in his abfence, and defigned thofe 
 whom he thought mofl: fit for it," 
 namely. Gov. Winthrop, Mr. Dudley, 
 and the ruling elder, Increafe Nowell. 
 — Winthrop, i. 50. 
 
 The next year, when Winthrop was 
 in Plymouth on the Sabbath, Mr. 
 
 Roger Williams propounded a quef- 
 tion, " according to their cuftom," 
 "to which the paftor, Mr. Smith, 
 fpake briefly ; then Mr. WiUiams 
 prophefied," and, afterwards, Gov. 
 Bradford, Elder Brewfter, " then fome 
 two or three more of the congrega- 
 tion," and, by invitation. Gov. Win- 
 throp and Mr. Wilfon, fpoke to the 
 queflion. — Winthrop, i. 91, 92. 
 
 In 1634, when the people at Aga- 
 wam (Ipfwich) were without a niinif- 
 ter. Gov. Winthrop " fpent the Sab- 
 bath with them, and exercifed by way 
 of prophecy." — Ibid. i. 30. 
 
 " The practice of private members 
 making fpeeches in the church affem- 
 blies, to the difturbance and hin- 
 drance of the ordinances," was one 
 of the evils reproved by Mr. Rogers 
 of Rowley, in his fermon before the 
 Synod and the General Court, in 
 1647. — Winthrop, ii. 308. 
 
 47 The new meeting-houfe in Bof- 
 ton was finiflied the year before Lech- 
 ford's departure. It flood (for feventy- 
 one years) " on the fite now occupied 
 by Joy's Building, in Wafliington 
 Street, a little to the fouth of, and 
 oppofite to, the head of State Street." 
 
44 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Every Sunday 
 morning. 
 
 day, they come together at Bojion, by wringing of a bell/* 
 about nine of the clock or before. 
 
 Drake's Bojlon, 142. It was ereft- 
 ed at a cofl: of about ^1000, "which 
 was raifed out of the weekly volun- 
 tary contribution, without any noife 
 or complaint." (IVitithrop, ii. 24.) 
 Jofhua Scottow, contrafted the " am- 
 plified and dignified " church of Bof- 
 ton, in his latter days, with " that lit- 
 tle church which after feven years 
 growth, its number (in their mud- 
 wall Meeting-Hoit/e, with wooden 
 Chalices) was fo fmall as a child might 
 have told [counted] the whole Affem- 
 bly." — Narr. of the Planting, &c. (4 
 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., iv. 307). 
 
 48 Bofton was favored, in having a 
 bell "to wring," in 1641, or before, — 
 though Lechford does not tell us 
 whether the bell was Jlationa>y, or 
 perambnlatory in the hand of a bell- 
 man. In moft of the towns of New 
 England, at this period, the fummons 
 to public worfhip, and to other meet- 
 ings of the inhabitants, was given by 
 beat of drum. Johnfon relates, how 
 a new-comer from England, in 1636, 
 when near Cambridge, " hearing the 
 found of a Drum, . . . demands of the 
 next man he met what the fignall of 
 the drum ment ; the reply was made 
 that they had as yet no Bell to call 
 men to meeting ; and thereupon made 
 ufe of a drum." W. W. Providefice, 
 b. i. c. xliii. Yet Prince ftates, on 
 the authority of a manufcript letter, 
 that the Cambridge meeting-houfe, 
 
 The Paftor begins 
 
 built in 1632, had "a bell npon itf 
 and Dr. Holmes thinks the statement 
 confirmed by the town-records, which 
 fliow that town-meetings were then 
 called by the ringing of the bell. 
 HiJl. of Cambridge J Mafs. Hiflor. 
 Coll.,V\\. 19. Mr. Davenport of New 
 Haven, writing to Gov. Winthrop, 
 Oftober 17, 1662, mentions the fick- 
 nefs of his colleague, Mr. Street, 
 who, " the laft lefture day . . . pur- 
 pofed to preach . . . and continued 
 in that purpofe till the fecond drum, 
 but then was compelled to take his 
 bed." Another letter (November, 
 1660) gives an account of the laft 
 ficknefs of Gov. Newman : " My fon 
 went to him after the beating of the 
 firft drum. . . . When the fecond 
 drum beat, I was fent for to him." 
 
 Hartford had a town-crier and bell- 
 ringer as early as 1641, at leaft ; and 
 in 1643, the town ordered "a bell to 
 be rung by the watch every morning, 
 an hour before day break," and " that 
 there fliould be in every houfe, one 
 up, and have made fome light, within 
 one quarter of an hour after the end 
 of the bell ringing." To devife a 
 penalty that would infure compliance 
 with fuch a requifition, in this gene- 
 ration, might prove a difficult problem 
 for legiflators. That Watertown had 
 a church-bell as early as February, 
 1649, the payment at that time for a 
 bell-rope, which is noted in the town 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 45 
 
 with folemn prayer continuing about a quarter of an 
 houre. The Teacher then readeth and expoundeth a 
 Chapter/'' Then a Pfahne is fung, which ever one of the 
 ruling Elders di61ates.^° After that the Paftor preacheth 
 a Sermon, 5' and fometimes ex tempore exhorts. Then 
 the Teacher concludes with prayer, and a bleffing. 
 
 Once a moneth is a Sacrament of the Lords Supper,^^ Lords supper. 
 
 records, feems to prove. (Bond's 
 Watertown, 1046.) 
 
 49 " After prayer, either the paftor 
 or teacher readeth a chapter in tl\e 
 Bible, and expoundetli it." — Cotton, 
 Way, 67. Comp. Tnie Conjlit. of a 
 Church, 6. 
 
 " In England," wrote Lechford to 
 a friend in 1640, "twelve or thirteen 
 chapters and pfalms are read every 
 Sunday, in all churches, befide what 
 is upon Wednefdays and Fridays and 
 other holydays ; but here, Scripture 
 twice a Sunday, in any Church, upon 
 whatfoever occafion ; but preaching, 
 and long conceived prayers." — Ms. 
 copy (in J]iort-ha7id). Comp. p. 20, 
 after. 
 
 50 " Before Sermon, and many times, 
 after, we fmg a Pfalme, and becaufe 
 the former tranflation of the Pfalmes 
 doth in many things vary from the 
 original, and many times paraphrafeth 
 rather than tranflateth ; befides divers 
 other defefts (which we cover in fi- 
 lence) we have endeavoured a new 
 tranflation of the Pfalmes into Englifli 
 
 meetre, as near the originall as wee 
 could exprefs it, . . . and thofe Pfalmes 
 we fing both in our publick churches, 
 and in private." — Cotton, Way, 6j. 
 
 51 " In difpenfmg whereof, the Min- 
 ifter was wont to ftand above all the 
 people in a pulpit of wood, and the 
 Elders on both fides." Cotton, Trne 
 Conjlit. of a Church, 6. "In fundry 
 churches, the other, whether pallor 
 or teacher, who expoundeth not, he 
 preacheth the Word ; and in the after- 
 noon, the other who preached in the 
 morning, doth ufually (if there be 
 time) reade and preach, and he that 
 expounded in the morning preacheth 
 after him." — Way, 67. 
 
 "At Quinnipyack [New Haven] 
 Mr. Davenport preached in the fore- 
 noon that men fhould be uncovered, 
 and ftand up at the reading the text ; 
 and in the afternoon the aflembly 
 jointly praftifed it." — Mr. Hooker^ 
 in letter to Mr. Shepard, March 20, 
 1640 [in Hutchinfon, i. 430, note]. 
 
 52 Comp. Cotton, Way, 67-69. 
 
46 Plaine dealing, 
 
 1 7 whereof notice is given ufually a fortnight | before, and 
 then all others departing fave the Church, which is a great 
 deale leffe in number then thofe that goe away, they re- 
 ceive the Sacrament, the Minifters and ruling Elders fit- 
 ting at the Table, the reft in their feats, or upon forms : 
 All cannot fee the Minifter confecrating, unleffe they 
 ftand up, and make a narrow fliift. The one of the 
 teaching Elders prayes before, and bleffeth, and confe- 
 crates the Bread and Wine, according to the words of 
 Inftitution ; the other prays after the receiving of all the 
 members : and next Communion, they change turnes ; 
 he that began at that, ends at this : and the Minifters de- 
 liver the Bread in a Charger to fome of the chiefe, and 
 peradventure gives to a few the Bread into their hands, 
 and they deliver the Charger from one to another, till all 
 have eaten ; in like manner the cup, till all have dranke, 
 goes from one to another. Then a Pfalme is fung, and 
 with a fliort bleffmg the congregation is difmiffed. Any 
 one, though not of the Church, may, in Bojlon, come in, 
 * Once I flood without one of the aud * fcc thc Sacramcnt adminiftered, if he 
 
 doores, and looked in, and faw 
 
 the adminiftration : BeCdes, I have will I " But UOnC of aUy ChUTCh lu tllC COUU- 
 had credible relation of all the par- 
 ticulars from fome of the members, try may receive the Sacrament there, without 
 
 leave of the congregation, for which purpofe he comes 
 
 S3 " It is not true that wee hold out without exception are allowed to be 
 any at all, Englifh or Indian, out of prefent, at our publick Prayers and 
 our Chriftian Congregations. AH Pfalmes, at our reading of the Scrip- 
 
Newes from. New-England. 
 
 47 
 
 to one of the ruling Elders, who propounds his name to 
 the congregation, before they goe to the Sacrament.^'* 
 
 About two in the after-noone, they repaire to the meet- Aftemoone. 
 ing-houfe againe ; and then the Paflor begins, as before 
 noone, and a Pfalme being | fung, the Teacher makes a i8 
 Sermon. He was wont, when I came firfl, to reade and 
 expound a Chapter alfo before his Sermon in the after- 
 noon. After and before his Sermon, he prayeth. 
 
 After that enfues Baptifme,^^ if there be any, which is ^^p"^"^^- 
 
 tures, and the preaching and expound- 
 ing of the fame, and alfo at the ad- 
 mitting of Members and difpenfmg 
 of feales and cenfures." — Cotton, 
 Way cleared, i. 69. 
 
 54 " The members of any Church, if 
 any be prefent, who bring Letters tef- 
 timoniall with them to our Churches, 
 wee admit them to the Lords Table 
 with us, and their children alfo (if oc- 
 cafionally in their travell they be 
 borne with us) upon like recommenda- 
 tion, wee admit to Baptifnier Cot- 
 ton's Way of the Churches, 68. Com- 
 pare, Keyes, 17; Hooker's Survey, 
 iii. 28, 29, 32 ; Anfwer to Nine Po- 
 fitions, 17; Defence of the Anfwer, 
 by AUin and Shepard, ch. iii. 2. "We 
 hold it not unlawfuU, (but doe often 
 practife) to receive other members to 
 communion with us withotit letters; 
 efpecially if they bee knowne to any 
 of our Church, elfe fuch letters are 
 defirable." — Welde's Anfiucr to W. 
 R; 53- 
 
 55 Compare Cotton's Way of the 
 Churches, 67, 68. Hooker (Survey, 
 iii. 28) fays that the Lord's Supper 
 and Baptifm " muft be difpenfed pub- 
 likely, in the prefence, and with the 
 concurrence of the Church folemnly 
 affembled," and fhould "goe hand in 
 hand" with preaching; "after the 
 word preached, the feals fhould be 
 adminiftred." So, the New Haven 
 Church Catechifm, by Davenport and 
 Hooke (repr. New Haven, 1853, p. 56), 
 in anfwer to the queftion, " How is 
 Baptifm to be adminiflered ? " I do 
 not find, in the early authorities on 
 Congregational order, an intimation 
 that baptifm might not rightfully be 
 adminiftered on any day of the week, 
 when the Church was aflembled and 
 the word preached. See Anf-wer to 
 N^ine Pofitions, pp. 36, 37. Mr. Ball, 
 in the Reply to the Anfwer (p. 38), 
 remarks incidentally, and not as if 
 the pofition was a matter of contro- 
 verfy, " Baptifme is not tyed to the 
 
48 
 
 Plaine dealing. 
 
 Contribution. 
 
 done, by either Paftor or Teacher, in the Deacons feate, 
 the mofl eminent place in the Church, next under the 
 Elders feate. The Paftor moft commonly makes a 
 fpeech or exhortation to the Church, and parents con- 
 cerning Baptifme, and then prayeth before and after. It 
 is done by wafhing or fprinkling. One of the parents 
 being of the Church, the childe may be baptized, and the 
 Baptifme is into the name of the Father, and of the 
 Sonne, and of the holy Ghojl. No fureties are required. 
 
 Which ended, follows the contribution, one of the 
 Deacons faying. Brethren of the congregation, now there 
 is time left for contribution, wherefore as God hath prof- 
 pered you, fo freely offer.^^ Upon fome extraordinary 
 
 firfl day of the week." That, in point 
 of fa6l, this facrament was ufually — 
 perhaps, almojl invariably — admin- 
 iftered on the firft day, in the churches 
 of New England, there is no room 
 for doubt. Mr. Davenport, writing, 
 in 1666, about the innovations which 
 the Rev. Jofeph Haynes was intro- 
 ducing in the church at Hartford, 
 fays, parenthetically, that he fuppofes 
 baptifm "was never adminiftered, in 
 a week day, in that Church, before." 
 3 Ma/s. Hijl. Coll., x. 61. But the 
 " lax ways" which (in the fame letter) 
 he cenfured in Mr. Haynes were thofe 
 which concerned the Jubje^s of bap- 
 tifm, not merely the time of its ad- 
 miniftration. Mr. Davenport was a 
 zealous "Anti-synodift," or oppofer 
 
 of the Half-way Covenant. Mr. 
 Haynes went even beyond the Syn- 
 odifts in " large Congregationalifm " 
 (as it was afterwards termed), by ad- 
 mitting not only the children of half- 
 way covenanting parents, but grand- 
 children in right of covenanting 
 grandparents, adopted children, fer- 
 vants; and flaves, in right of their 
 adoptants and mafters. 
 
 s6 " The Deacons, (who fit in a feate 
 under the Elders, yet in fundry 
 churches Hfted up higher then the 
 other pewes,) doe call upon the peo- 
 ple, that as God hath profpered them, 
 and hath made their hearts willing, 
 there is now time left for contribu- 
 tion."— Cotton, Way of the Churches, 
 69. 
 
Newes fj'om New-Eitgland. 49 
 
 occafions, as building and repairing of Churches or 
 meeting-houfes, or other neceffities, the Minifters preffe 
 a Hberall contribution, with effedtuall exhortations out of 
 Scripture. The Magiftrates and chiefe Gentlemen firft, 
 and then the Elders, and all the conofres^ation of men 
 and moft of them that are not of the Church, all fnigle 
 perfons, widows, and women in abfence of their husbands, 
 come up one after another one way, and bring their offer- 
 ings to the Deacon at his feate, and put it into a box of 
 wood for the purpofe, if it bee money or | papers ; if it be ig 
 any other chattle, they fet it or lay it downe before the 
 Deacons, and fo paffe another way to their feats againe." 
 This contribution is of money, or papers, promifmg fo 
 much money : I have feene a faire gilt cup with a cover, 
 offered there by one, which is ftill ufed at the Communion. 
 Which moneys, and goods the Deacons difpofe towards 
 the maintenance of the Minifters, and the poore of the 
 Church, and the Churches occafions, without making ac- 
 count, ordinarily.^^ 
 
 57 " The people from the higheft to duty of contribution ; whereupon the 
 
 the lowed in sundry Churches do governour and all the reft went down 
 
 arife, the firft pew firft, the next next, to the deacon's feat, and put into the 
 
 and fo the reft in order, and prefent box, and then returned." — IVintlirop, 
 
 before the Lord their holy offerings." i. 92. 
 
 Ibid. Comp. Joffelyn, Voyages, 180. sS " This weekly contribution is 
 
 In Brewfter's church at Plymouth, properly intended for the poore, ac- 
 
 when Gov. Winthrop was there in cording to i Cor. 16. i. Yet fo as (if 
 
 1632, "The deacon, Mr. Fuller, put there be much given in,) fome churches 
 
 the congregation in mind of their doe (though others do not) appoint 
 
50 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Differences in 
 contributions. 
 
 But in Salem Church, thofe onely that are of the 
 Church, offer in publique ; the reft are required to give to 
 the Minifterie, by collection, at their houfes. At fome 
 other places they make a rate upon every man, as well 
 within, as not of the Church, refiding with them, towards 
 the Churches occafions ; and others are beholding, now 
 and then, to the generall Court, to ftudy wayes to enforce 
 the maintenance of the Minifterie.^'^ 
 
 the overplus towards the Minifters 
 maintenance. 2. This is not given 
 in by the people according to their 
 weekly gaines [as Rathband had 
 ftated,] but as God hath blejl them 
 with an ejlate in . the generall. . . . 
 3. Nor is this difpenfed to the Minif- 
 ters (in thofe churches where any 
 part of it is fo given) though by the 
 hands of the Deacons, yet not for 
 [proportion as they pleafe, .... but 
 by the Church, who ufually, twice in 
 the year or oftener, doe meete to con- 
 fult and determine of the fumme to 
 l)e allowed for that yeere to their 
 Minifters, and to raife it, either from 
 the Churches treafurie .... or by a 
 contril)ution to be then made on pur- 
 pofe." — Welde, Anfwer to W.R., 59. 
 59 See the order of court, Sept., 
 1638, Maff. Rec, i. 240. Mr. Cotton 
 was not willing that the Boflon 
 Church fhould avail itfelf of any com- 
 pulfory procefs, and taught his people^ 
 " that when magiftrates are forced to 
 provide for the maintenance of minif- 
 ters, etc., then the churches are in a 
 
 declining condition ;" and "he fhowed 
 that the minifters' maintenance fhould 
 be by voluntary contribution," &c. 
 Winthrop, i. 295. When Roger Wil- 
 liams objefted to the "conftraint laid 
 upon all confciences ... to come to 
 church and pay church duties," 
 {Blondy Tenent, c. Ixix.) Mr. Cotton 
 replied, " I know of no conftraint at 
 all that lieth upon the confciences of 
 any in New England, to come to 
 Church . . . Leaft of all do I know 
 that any are conftrained to pay 
 church duties in New England. Sure I 
 am none in our own town are conftrain- 
 ed to pay any church duties at all. What 
 they pay they give voluntarily, each 
 one with his own hand, without any 
 conftraint at all but their own will, as 
 the Lord directs them." {Bl. Tenent 
 IVaJJied, 146.) In his rejoinder, 
 Williams fays : " For a freedom of 
 not paying in his [Mr. Cotton's] 
 town, // is to their coj/miendaiion, 
 and God's praife. Yet who can be 
 ignorant of the aftelTments upon all, 
 in {7///^';- towns," etc. {Bl. Tenent yet 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 51 
 
 This done, then followes admiffion of members, or hear- Admimons. 
 
 Offences. 
 
 ing matters of offence, or other things, fometimes*^" till it 
 be very late. If they have time, after this, is fung a 
 Pfalme, and then the Paftor concludeth with a Prayer and 
 a bleffmg. 
 
 Upon the week dayes, there are Le6lures in divers Leaures. 
 
 ^ ■' Fafts & FeaJ^s 
 
 townes,^' and in Bojlon, upon Thurfdayes, when Mafter 
 
 7nore bloody, 216.) It is not eafy to 
 reconcile Mr. Cotton's general denial 
 with Winthrop's ftatement, (ii. 93.) 
 that fome churches raifed their minif- 
 ters' maintenance by taxation, "which 
 was very offenfive to fome ; " or with 
 his account of the profecution of 
 " one Brifcoe of Watertown, who . . . 
 being grieved . . . becaufe himfelf 
 and others, wlio were no members, 
 were taxed, wrote a book againft it," 
 which he " publiflied underhand ; " 
 for which offence the court fined him 
 £\o, and "one of the publifhers" £1, 
 in March, 1643, — not long before 
 Roger Williams failed for England 
 (where he printed the Bloudy Tenent). 
 Hooker, (Survey, ii. 29, 32,) regard- 
 ing it the duty of " every one that is 
 taught " to contribute, argues that 
 fuch contribution fhould be enforced, 
 not by the civil magiftrate, but by the 
 difcipline of the church. " In cafe 
 any member fhall fail in this free con- 
 tribution, he finnes in a breach of the 
 knowne rule of the Gofpell ; it apper- 
 tains to the Church, to fee the Refor- 
 mation of that evill, as of any other 
 
 fcandall." And he makes it the duty 
 of the deacon, if any member fail to 
 perform this duty, to admonifh, and, 
 in cafe he reform not, to " follow the 
 adlion againft him . . . and bring 
 him to the cenfure of the church." 
 Ibid. 37. 
 
 60 In the M.H.S. MS., the comma 
 is placed rt//^r'fometimes ;' "or other 
 things fometimes, till," &c. 
 
 61 " So that fuch whofe hearts God 
 maketh willing, and his hand doth 
 not detaine by bodily infirmitie, or 
 other neceffary imployments, (if they 
 dwell in the heart of the Bay) may 
 have opportunitie to heare the Word 
 almoft every day of the weeke in one 
 Church or other, not farre diftant from 
 them." Cotton, WayoftheChnrclus, 
 70. In 1639, "there were fo many 
 lectures . . . and many poor perfons 
 would ufually refort to two or three 
 in the week, to the great negled of 
 their affairs and the damage of tlie 
 public," — that the General Court 
 fou'dit a conference with the Elders 
 " to confider about the length and fre- 
 quency of church affemblies," &c. 
 
52 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Cotto7i teacheth out of the Revelations^ There are dayes 
 20 of fafling, thankfgiving, | and prayers upon ^occafions, but 
 feffarting'^Lyrs ^^ ^ ^'^^'^^ dayes, except the Sunday. 
 
 & times, and fet feafts, as well as fet Synods in the Reformed Churches ? b And why not holy dayes as well as the fift of 
 November, and the dayes of Purim among the Jews? Befides, the commemoration of the bleffed and heavenly myfleries 
 of our ever blelTed Saviour, and the good examples and piety of the Saints? What time is there for the moderate recrea- 
 tion of youth and fervants, but after divine fervices on moft of thofe dayes, feeing that upon the Sunday it is juftly held 
 unlawfuU ? And fare enough, at New-England, the Maflers will and mud hold their fervants to their labour more then in 
 otlier Countries well planted is needful! ; therefore I think even they fliould doe well to admit of fome Holy dayes too, as 
 not a few of the wifer fort among them hold neceffary and expedient. 
 
 But " this was taken in ill part by 
 moft of the elders and others of the 
 churches," who regarded it as an 
 infringement of their liberties, and 
 feared it might " alfo raife an ill fa- 
 vour of the people's coldnefs, that 
 would complain of much preaching," 
 — and the magiftrates " finding how 
 hardly fuch propofitions would be 
 digefled . . . thought it not fit 
 to enter any difpute or conference 
 on the fubje6l." (IVinthrop, i. 324, 
 325.) Rarely, fince then, has the 
 General Court had occafion to confi- 
 der tlie expediency of legiflating for 
 the fuppreffion of inordinate church- 
 going. 
 
 f'- Mr. Cotton's fermons upon the 
 thirteenth chapter of the Revelation 
 were printed in London, in 1655, from 
 notes taken by one of his hearers. 
 An Epirtle to the Reader, by Rev. 
 Thomas Allen (formerly of Charlef- 
 town, but then of Norwich, co. Lin- 
 coln), fpeaks of his having had " the 
 happy priviledg [while living in that 
 American wilderneffe ... in the towne 
 next adjoyning to Bo/ion,'] of enjoying 
 
 the benefit of the precious labours of 
 Mr. Cotton, in his Leflure upon every 
 fifth day of the week ; " and ftates 
 that this expofition of chap. xiii. was 
 delivered "about the 11. and 12. 
 moneths (if I miftake not) of the year 
 1639, ^rid the firfi; and fecond of the 
 yeare 1640." Before June, 1641, Mr. 
 Cotton had reached the end of the 
 1 5th chapter. {lVuit/irop,u.'^o.) His 
 Sermons on the Seven Vials, from 
 the 1 6th chapter, were printed early 
 in 1642, and the volume was received 
 in Bofton in July. {Ibid., ii. 75.) " Mr. 
 Humfrey had gotten the notes from 
 fome who had took tJicin by chambers, 
 and printed them in London," with- 
 out Mr. Cotton's confent. Was this 
 note-taker Lechford.'' — " This Vener- 
 able Seer," wrote Jofliua Scottow, 
 " nvhofe f/icthod was to go through 
 the Books of Scripture he entred 
 upon, and had in his Minifterial 
 Courfe in both Bojions been (length- 
 ened out to little lefs than forty years), 
 went through near the whole Bible." 
 — N^arrative of the Planting, &c., 4 
 Jl/afs. Hifl. Coll., iv. 284. 
 
Newes from New-England. 53 
 
 In fome Churches, nothing is 'read on the firft day of ^ittie reading « 
 
 catechizing. 
 
 the weeke, or Lords day, but a Pfalme dilated before or 
 
 after the Sermon, as at Hing- , whereas in England every Sunday are read in publique, Chap- 
 
 hnnt ' therP i<; nnrni-prhlyino- '"^ ^'"dPfalmes in every Churd,,befides the eleven or twelve Com- 
 
 nam , mere is no t^aieCniZing mandemems "Epiftle and Cofpell, the Creed and other good formes 
 
 C\^ rln'lHrPn nr ntVlPrc I'n amr ^nd catechizings, and befides what is read upon Holy dayes and 
 
 Ul CnilUren or OinerS in any other dayes both in the parith, and Cathedral! and Collegiate 
 
 Chnrrh (ey.C^X^\ in Cniirnvr/ '^''"'■'''"^"' ^ '" ^''^ Univenlties, and other Chappels, the benefit 
 V.11UIC11, (^exeepi 111 K^UnCOra whereof, doubtleffe, all wife men win acknowledge to be exceeding 
 /^i IP* i.1 1 great, as well as publique preaching and expounding. 
 
 Church, & m other places, 
 
 of thofe admitted, in their receiving:) the reafon given 
 by fome is, becaufe when people come to be admitted, 
 the Church hath tryall of their knowledge, faith, and 
 repentance, and they want a dire(?i: Scripture for Min- 
 ifters catechizing ;^^ as if, Goe teach all Nations, and Traine 
 Zip a childe in the way he JJwiild goe, did not reach to 
 Miniflers catechizings. But, God be thanked, the gen- 
 erall Court was fo wife, in lune laft, as to enjoyn, or take 
 
 63 See before, p. 16, note 49. color of the ink fliows this to have 
 
 64 The printer of the firft edition mif- been done early." (3 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., 
 placed the words "eleven or twelve," iii. 79.) — For "Creed," in the third 
 which fhould have been inferted, in line of the note, the M.H.S. MS. has 
 the line above, before "Chapters." "creeds ;" and, in the fifth line, after 
 The manufcript in the Library of "parifli," is the word "churches." 
 the MafTachufetts Hiftorical Society ^5 " The excellent and neceflary ufe 
 is fufficient authority, if any is re- ofcatechifing young men, and novices, 
 quired, for the corredion of fo ob- ... we willingly acknowledge : But 
 vious an error. In all the copies of little benefit have wee feene reaped 
 the firft edition which I have feen (as from fet formes of queftions, and an- 
 in that from which the Mafs. Hift. fwers devifed by one Church, and im- 
 Society's reprint was made), "a pen pofed by neceffity on another."— Cot- 
 has been carefully drawn through tlie ton, Anf. to Ball's Difc. of Set Fonnes 
 words 'eleven or twelve,' and the ^//';7Z7^T,(London, i642,)ch. vii.p.4i- 
 
54 
 
 Plaiiie dealinjr, 
 
 21 
 
 Dayes and 
 inoneths how 
 t.illed. 
 
 Ntj;le<rt of in- 
 ftnidling the 
 I ndians. 
 
 fome coiirfe for fuch catechizing, as I am informed, but 
 know not the way laid down in particular, how it fliould 
 be done.*^*^ 
 
 They call the dayes of the weeke, beginning at the 
 firfl, fecond, third, forth, fifth, fixth, and feventh, which is Sa- 
 turday : the moneths begin "^^ at March, by the names of 
 the firft, fecond, and so forth to the twelfth, which is Fcb- 
 ruary : becaufe they would avoid all memory of heathenifli 
 and idols names : And furely it is good to overthrow hea- 
 thenifme by all good^^ wayes and meanes. But there 
 hath not been any fent forth by any Church to learne the 
 Natives language, or to inflru6l them in the Religion;^'' 
 
 6^ "It is defired that the elders 
 would make a catechifme for the in- 
 llrudlion of youth in the grounds of 
 religion." (June, 1641.) — Ma/s. Rcc, 
 i. 328. 
 
 •37 "Beginning." — il/.//.^". MS. 
 
 63 Theinfertion of the word "good" 
 — which is not in the M.H.S. MS.— 
 was a judicious qualification. 
 
 &9 A few years later, the labors of 
 Eliot, Mayhew, and their fellow-la- 
 borers, had done much to remove this 
 reproach from the churches. Robert 
 Baylie, the Presbyterian writer, in 
 " A Dijfvafive from tlie Erroiirs of 
 the Time^'' printed in 1645, cites 
 this remark of Lechford's in fupport 
 of his averment that the Independents 
 of New England, "of all that ever 
 croffed the American Seas, . . . are 
 
 noted as moft negle6lful of the work 
 of Converfion" (p. 60). Mr. Cotton, 
 in TJie Way of Congregational 
 Churches cleared {164S)), — which was 
 written in reply to Baylie's book, — 
 alks, " What if there have not bin 
 any fent forth by any Church to learn 
 the Indians language 1 That will 
 not argue our negleft of minding the 
 work of their converfion. For there 
 be of the Indians that live amongft 
 us, and dayly refort to us ; and fome 
 of them learne our language ; and 
 fome of us learn theirs. And men 
 that love the Lord Jefus doe gladly 
 take opportunity to inftrucl; them in 
 our Religion, and to teach them both 
 Law and Gofpell. And of late, the 
 Word (as I have faid) is pubhckly 
 preached unto them in two feverall 
 
Nezves from New-England. 
 
 55 
 
 Firft, becaufe they fay they have not to do with them 
 being without, unleffe they come to heare and learn Eng- 
 Hfli/° Secondly, fome fay out of Rev. 15. laft,^' it is not, 
 probable that any nation more can be converted, til the 
 calling of the Jews ; till the /even plagues finiJJied 7ione was 
 able to enter into the Temple, that is, the Chriflian Church, 
 and the feventh Viall is not yet poured forth, and God 
 knowes when it will bee/^ Thirdly, becaufe all Churches 
 among them are equall, and all Officers equall, and fo be- 
 tweene many, nothing is done that way. They muft all 
 
 Iiuiian Congregations [one near to 
 Dorchejier Mill, and another in Cam- 
 bridge, neer JValerlOcUU Mill\ though 
 wee never thought it fit to fend any 
 of our Englifli to live amongft them, 
 to learn their language : for who 
 JJioidd teach thetji .?" — Pt. i. pp. 78, 79. 
 To High-Church writers, as well 
 as to Presbyterians, Lechford's ftate- 
 ments on this point fupplied conve- 
 nient matter of reproach againft New 
 England. " O that we could approve 
 to God and our confciences that [the 
 propagation of Chriftian religion] is 
 our main motive and princijDal drift in 
 our Weftern plantations ; but how 
 little appearance there is of this holy 
 care and endeavour, the plaine dealer 
 upon knowledge hath fufficiently in- 
 formed us." — Diverfe Pranicall Cafes 
 of Cojfcience Refolved (1649), p. 323, 
 cited by Dr. Palfrey, Hlfl. of N. Eng- 
 land, ii. 192. (See after, p. 69, and 
 note.) 
 
 70 " I know not whether ever any 
 gave him fo weake an account, or no : 
 If any fo did, it was his raflineiTe, or 
 ignorance both of us, and the truth. 
 But if the Author fpeake it, as a Point 
 of our Profeffion or praflife, that we 
 doe negleft the inftruftion of the In- 
 dians, and efpecially upon fuch a rea- 
 fonlelTe reafon, I will fay no more to 
 it but this, it feemeth there are two 
 forts oi Plain dealing: Plain honeft 
 dealing, and Plain falfe dealing, of 
 which latter fort, this fpeach is." — 
 Cotton's Way cleared, pt. i. p. 79. 
 
 71 "Verfe the lad." — J/.//.^. MS. 
 
 72 This was Mr. Cotton's belief 
 See Winthrop, ii. 30 ; (and comp. Way 
 of the Churches cleared, pt. i. p. 78.) 
 " Till the Jewes come in, there is a 
 feale fet upon the hearts of thofe 
 people, as they thinke from fomc 
 Apocalyptical! places." The Day- 
 Breaking, &c., pp. 15, 16. — Roger 
 Williams, though (at this period) he 
 
56 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Chnrity 
 
 therefore equally beare the blame ; for indeede I humbly" 
 conceive that by their principles, no Nation can or could 
 ever be converted. Therefore, if fo, by their principles 
 how can any Nation be governed ? They have nothing 
 to excufe themfelves in this point of not labouring with 
 the Indians to infl;ru(51; them, but their want of ^'^ a ftaple 
 trade, and other bufmeffes taking them up. And it is 
 true, this may excufe a tanto. 
 22 Of late fome Churches are of opinion, that any | may 
 
 be admitted to Church-fellowfliip, that are not extremely 
 ignorant or fcandalous : but this they are not very for- 
 ward to pra6lice, except at Newbcrryy" Befides, many 
 good people fcruple their Church Covenant, so highly 
 
 was more hopeful of the fruits of to repent, and be baptifed in the name 
 
 labors among the Indians, likewife of the Lord Jefus, without known dif- 
 
 believed " that no remarkable conver- fimulation, are to be admitted [to 
 
 fion of the nations is yet to be ex- Church fellowfhip] . . . and that God 
 
 pefled, becaufe fmoke filled the tem- took into covenant fome that were 
 
 pie till Antichrift was overthrown, veffels of wrath, as for other ends, fo 
 
 Rev.yiwZr — Hireling Minijlry none to facilitate the converfion of their 
 
 of CliriJTs, p. 13; in Knowles's Me- eled children." — Rev. Nich. Noyes^ 
 
 inoir of R. Williams, 378. in the Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 2. ch. 25. 
 
 73 " I humbly" was fubftituted, on Mr. Parker wrote to a member of the 
 revifion, for "fome."— M.H.S. MS. Weftminfter Affembly, in December, 
 
 74 "Their poverty, and want," &c. 1643, that he and his colleague held 
 — ^bid. that " the rule mull be fo large that the 
 
 75 Where the Rev. James Noyes weakeft Chriftians may be received ; 
 was paflor, and the Rev. Thomas and [that] there was according to ap- 
 Parker, teacher. Mr. Noyes "was pearance, much conjundion in this 
 jealous (if not too jealous) of particu- particular," among thofe prefent in 
 lar Church-covenants. ... He held the Synod at Cambridge in Septem- 
 . . . that fuch as (how a willingnefs ber. — Hanbury's Memorials, ii. 295. 
 
Newes from New -England. 
 
 57 
 
 tearmed by the moft of them/^ a part of the * Covenant 
 of grace ; and particularly, one Mafter Marthi'^'' for faying 
 in argumentation, that their Church Covenant was an 
 humane invention, and that they will not leave till it came 
 to the fwords point, was fined ten pounds, his cow taken 
 and fold for the money. A Minifter^^ ftanding upon his 
 
 * The Covenant 
 of Grace of the 
 New Teftament, 
 it is true, makes 
 the whole univer- 
 fall Church of 
 Chrift, and every 
 part thereof, or at 
 leaft belongetli 
 thereunto : but 
 allowing Church- 
 es a Covenant of 
 
 Mr. Warham, of Dorchefler, and 
 afterwards of Windfor, Conn., appears 
 to have favored " the parifli way" (as 
 it was called) at his firfl coming to 
 New England. Samuel Fuller wrote 
 to Bradford, June, 1630, that "Mr. 
 Warham holds that the vifible church 
 may confift of a mixed people, — god- 
 ly, and openly ungodly ; upon which 
 point we all had our conference," 
 &c. — I Mafs. Hijl. Coll., iii. 74. 
 
 76 The earlier (M.H.S.) MS. has 
 " by them," without the words " the 
 moft of." — According to Hooker, the 
 church-covenant is " an ordinance of 
 the Gofpel, and warraiitcd by the 
 Gofpel, but it is not in propriety of 
 fpeech the covenant of the Gofpel.'''' 
 " A man may be in the covenant of 
 grace, and fhare in the benefit thereof, 
 who is not in a Church ftate, and a 
 man may be in a Church ftate, who 
 is not really in the Covenant of grace 
 . . . and therefore the one is not 
 the other." — Survey., i. 70, 78, 79. 
 
 77 The M.H.S. MS. ends the para- 
 graph abruptly with, " and Mr. Mar- 
 tin." The fourteen lines which follow 
 were transferred to this place, on re- 
 vifion, with additions and alterations, 
 
 from another page (27) of that MS., 
 where they follow the notice of the 
 church at Aquedney, under the cap- 
 tion, " Mr. Lenthall his Controverfie. 
 Brittaine whipt," — and a marginal 
 dire(5\ion (in fhort-hand), " Put thefe 
 notes in their proper places." 
 
 At a General Court, March 13, 
 1639, — "Mr. Ambros Marten [of 
 Dorchefter,] for calling the church 
 covenant a ftinking carrion & a hu- 
 mane invention, & faying hee won- 
 dered at God's patience, feared it 
 would end in the fharpe, & faid the 
 minifters did dethrone Chrift, & fet 
 up themfelves ; hee was fined 10/. 
 and counfelled to go to Mr. Mather, 
 to bee inftrucled by him." — J/rt/S'. 
 Rec, i. 252. See Winthrop, i. 289. 
 
 78 Mr. Robert Lenthall.— See, after, 
 p. 41, note 144; Winthrop, i. 287, 
 288; Mafs. Rec, i. 217, 254. Mr. 
 Lenthall did not long remain in the 
 Colony. In 1640, he was at New- 
 port ; admitted a freeman there Aug. 
 6, and employed by the town to 
 teach a public fchool. He returned 
 to England in 1641 or 1642. — Ar- 
 nold's HiJl of R. IJland, i. 145-46; 
 Callender's Hijl. Difcourfe, 62. It 
 
58 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Reformation MinifteiT, as of tlic ChuTch of Eiizlcind, and arg^uing 
 
 tending to the -^ ' c!> ' O O 
 
 better ordering a^alnft thcii" Covcnant, and beeino^ eledled by fome of 
 
 and well-being ^3 o j 
 
 of themfeives, Wevmoiith to bc their Minifler, was compelled to recant 
 
 and for other pol- -^ 
 
 itique refpeds, fome words j one that made the eledlion, & ^ot hands to 
 
 this is as much ^-^ 
 
 astheyatNew- |-]-^g paper, was fined lo. pounds/^ and thereupon fpeaking 
 
 England can juft- r 1 ' r ' VT I- i:) 
 
 ly make of their ^ fcw croffc words, 5. pound more, and payed it downe 
 
 Covenant, and >^ 1. \. j 
 
 fome that are ju- prcfcnUy ; Another^° of them for faying one of the Minif- 
 
 dicious among *■ ■' J o 
 
 themfeives have ^gj-g q{ \^-^q g^y was a Brovvnlft, or had a Brownifticall 
 
 acknowledged it : ■' 
 
 And ' 
 
 this, 
 
 made and guided ^]^g aeiierall or quarter civill Courts. 
 
 by good counfell, '-' ^ 
 
 and held with dependance and concatenation upon fome Chiefe Church or Churches, may tend to much divifion and confu- 
 
 fion, as is obvious to the underilanding of thofe that are but a little verfed in itudy of thefe points. 
 
 ,d yet, even head, aud for a fuppofed lie, was whipt: and all thefe by 
 
 s, unlelle it be ^ ^ '■ ■> 
 
 Ecclefia reg- 
 nans. 
 
 23 Touching the government of the Common- Weak there. 
 
 "XTOne may now be a Freeman of that Commonwealth, 
 •^ ^ being a Societie or Corporation, named by the 
 name of the Governoiir, Dep2Lty Governour, and AJfift- 
 
 was after his return, probably, that only ^15 was X.-^t-ix:' — Mafs. Rec, i. 
 
 Lechford erafed the note made in his 252, 254, 258 ; IVinilirop, i. 288. 
 earlier draught, — that at Aquedney, 80 " One of them named Brittaine." 
 
 " is Mr. Lenthall, a minifter out of —M.H.S. MS. p. 27. James Britton 
 
 office, and lives very poorly."— J/. " who had fpoken difrefpeftfully of the 
 
 H.S. M.S. anfwer which was fent to Mr. Barnard 
 
 79 John Smith, "a chief ftirrer in his book againft our church covenant, 
 
 the bufmefs," was fined ^20, at the and of fome of our elders, and had 
 
 March court, 1639. The fine not fided with Mr. Lenthall, etc., was 
 
 being paid, the May court fined him openly whipped, becaufe he had no 
 
 ;^5 for contempt, and ordered him to eftate to anfwer, etc."— IVinthrop, i. 
 
 be imprifoned till both fines fhould 289. The whipping did not produce 
 
 be paid ; but " on his fubmiffion, and a thorough reformation of manners,— 
 
 bringing in of his money," the court for Britton was hanged for adultery, 
 
 remitted ^10 of the amount, " and fo March i, 1644.— /<J/^/., ii. 158, 159. 
 
N ewes from New-England. 59 
 
 a7its of the Societie of the Mattachufets Bay in New Eng- 
 land, unleffe he be a Church member amongft them. 
 None have voice in eledlions of Governours, Deputy, and 
 Affiftants ; none are to be Magiftrates, Officers, or Jury- 
 men, grand or petite, but Freemen. The Minifters give 
 their votes in all elections of Magiftrates. ^' Now the 
 mofl of the perfons at New-England are not admitted of 
 their Church, and therefore are not Freemefi, and when 
 they come to be tryed there, be it for life or limb, name 
 or eftate, or whatfoever, they muft bee tryed and judged 
 too by thofe of the Church, who are in a fort their adver- 
 faries : how equall that hath been, or may be, fome by 
 experience doe know, others may judge. 
 
 The manner of the ele6lions is this : At firft, the chiefe Ekaions of the 
 
 Governour & 
 
 Governour and Magiflrates were chofen in London, by chiefe Magif- 
 
 ^ ^ _ trates. 
 
 ere6lion of hands, by all the Free-me7i of this Society. 
 Since the tranfmitting of the Patent into New-England, 
 the eledion is not by voices, nor eredion of hands, but 
 by papers,^^ thus : 
 
 81 The seven lines which follow (to firft inftance of an eledion by ballot, 
 the end of the paragraph) are not in It would have been hard for the free- 
 the M.H.S. MS. men to nerve themfelves to the point 
 
 82 After the transfer of the govern- of difplacing their old benefador by 
 ment to New England, eleclion of the cuftomary "ereaion of hands." — 
 governor and affiftants continued to Palfrey, Hijl. of N. England, i. yj^. 
 be made " by ereftion of hands " until In September, 1635, the General 
 1634, when Dudley was chofen in the Court ordered, "that, hereafter, the 
 place of Winthrop, " by papers." — deputyes to be chofen for the Generall 
 Winthrop, i. 132. "This is the Courts flialbe eleded by papers, as 
 
6o Plaine dealing, 
 
 The general! Court-ele6lory fitting, where are prefent 
 24 in the Church, or meeting-houfe at | Bq/ion, the old Gov- 
 ernour. Deputy, and all the Magiftrates, and two Depu- 
 ties or Burgeffes for every towne, or at leafl one, all the 
 Freemejt are bidden to come in at one doore, and bring 
 their votes in paper, for the new Governour, and deliver 
 them downe upon the table, before the Court, and fo to 
 paffe forth at another doore. Thofe that are abfent, fend 
 their votes by proxies.^^ All being delivered in, the votes 
 are counted, and according to the major part, the old 
 Governour pronounceth, that fuch an one is chofen Gov- 
 ernour for the yeare enfuing. Then the Freemen, in like 
 manner, bring their votes for the Deputy Governour, 
 who being alfo chofen, the Governour propoundeth the 
 Affiftants one after the other. New Affiftants are, of late, 
 put in nomination, by an order of general Court, be- 
 forehand to be confidered of:^'' If a Freeman give in a 
 
 the Governor is chofen. " — J/^z/j. C^/. ^a Mafs. Records, i. 293. This 
 
 Records, i. 157. order, giving the nomination of new 
 
 83 In March, 1636, liberty was affiftants to the freemen, was made at 
 
 granted to fuch freemen as, for the the General Court in May, 1640, after 
 
 fafety of their towns, fhould be de- the eledion of Dudley. The year 
 
 tained at home on the day of eledion, previous, the governor (Winthrop) 
 
 " to fend their voices by proxy." The and magiftrates had given offence to 
 
 next year, it was made "free and law- the freemen by nominating Emanuel 
 
 full for all freemen to fend their votes Downing (Winthrop's brother-in-law) 
 
 for eleclions by proxie the next Gen- and two others for eleclion as affifl- 
 
 erall Courte in May, and fo for here- ants. A fufpicion " that the magif- 
 
 after." — IVuithrop, i. 185; Mafs. trates intended to make themfelves 
 
 Records, i. 166, 188. ftronger, and the deputies weaker, 
 
N ewes from New-E^igland. 6i 
 
 blanck, that reje(5ls the man named ; if the Freeman 
 makes any mark with a pen upon the paper which he 
 brings, that ele6ls the man named ; then the blancks and 
 marked papers are numbred, and according to the major 
 part of either, the man in nomination ftands ele6led or 
 rejeded. And fo for all the Affiftants. And after every 
 new election, which is, by their Patent, to be upon the 
 laft Wednefday in every Eafler Terme,^^ the new Gover- 
 nour and Officers are all new fworn. The Governour 
 and Affiflants choofe the Secretary. And all the Court 
 confifting of Governour, Deputy, Affiftants, and Deputies 
 of towns, give their votes as well as the reft; and the 
 Minijlers, \ and Elders, and all Chu7'ch-officcrs, have their 25 
 votes alfo in all thefe elections of chiefe Magiftrates. Con- 
 ftables, and all other inferiour Officers, are fworn in the 
 generall, quarter, or other Courts, or before any Affiftant. 
 
 Every Free-man, when he is admitted, takes a ftri6t Freemen thei. 
 oath, to be true to the Society, or jurifdidion : In which 
 
 oath. 
 
 and fo, in time, to bring all power into and i William IV. c. 70, (1830.) Eaft- 
 
 [their own] hands," occafioned fome er term of court began two weeks 
 
 oppofition to Winthrop's re-eleftion from the Wednefday after Eafter 
 
 in 1639, and doubtlefs contributed to Sunday, and ended three weeks from 
 
 effe6lhisdifplacementini64o. — Jr/;/- the Monday following. The begin- 
 
 ihrop, i. 299, 300 ; ii. 342-3. ning of the term, varying as Eafter 
 
 In Afa/s. Rec, i. 308, is a lift of fell earlier or later, ranged from April 
 
 perfons" propounded for magiftrates" 8 to May 12; and the laft Wednef- 
 
 by the freemen, in Oaober, 1640; day, from April 29 to June 2.— By 
 
 with the number of votes by which the Maflachufetts charter of 169 1, the 
 
 they were refpedively nominated. laft Wednefday of May was eftab- 
 
 85 Before the ad of 1 1 George IV. liftied as the day of eleftion. 
 
62 Plaine dealings 
 
 oath, I doe not remember expreffed that ordinary faving, 
 which is and ought to be in all oathes to other Lords, 
 Saving the faith and truth which I bcare to our Soveraigne 
 Lord the King, though, I hope, it may be implyed. 
 Courts and Laws. There are two generall Courts, one every halfe yeare, 
 wherein they make Lawes or Ordinances : The Minifters 
 advife in making of Laws, efpecially Ecclefiafticall, and 
 are prefent in Courts, and advife in^^ fome fpeciall caufes 
 criminall, and in framing of Fundamental] Lawes : But 
 not many Fundamentall Lawes are yet eflabliflied : which, 
 when they doe, they muft, by the words of their Charter, 
 make according to the Laws of England, or not contrary 
 thereunto.^^ Here they make taxes and levies. 
 
 86 For "advife in," the M.H.S. and title of Z/^^r//>j-, and not in the 
 MS. has, "in hearing." exafl form oi Laws or Statutes," and 
 
 87 This was one of the "great rea- the General Court did not enaH them, 
 fons . . . which caufed molt of the but " with one confent fully authorize 
 magiftrates and fome of the elders and earneftly entreat all that are and 
 not to be very forward in this matter" (hall be in authority to confider them 
 of fundamental laws; "for that it as laws," and not to fail to inflift 
 would profefTedly tranfgrefs the limits punifhment for every violation of 
 of our charter, which provide, we them. — Z/(5'. 96 ; ^ Ma/s. Hi/l. Coll., 
 fhall make no laws repugnant to the viii. 236. 
 
 laws of England, and that we were At a later period, when the afcend- 
 
 ajfjired we 7nujl do. But to raife up ency of the parliament was eftab- 
 
 laws by praClice and cujlovi had been lithed, and MaiTachufetts was for the 
 
 no tranfgreffion ; as in our church time reheved from apprehenfion of 
 
 difcipline," &c. {Wmthrop, i. 323.) the lofs of her charter, the General 
 
 The " Body of Liberties," adopted Court denied, with lefs referve, the 
 
 December, 1641, was fo framed as, if authority of the laws of England, 
 
 poffiblc, to avoid this difficulty. They They " did ever honor the parliament, 
 
 were " expreffed only under the name and were ready to perform all due 
 
Newes from New-England. 63 
 
 There are befides foure quarter Courts for the whole 
 Jurifdi6lion, befides other petie Courts, one every quarter, 
 at Bojloti, Salem, and Ipfwich, with their feverall jurifdic- 
 tions, befides every towne, almofl;, hath a petie Court for 
 fmall debts, and trefpaffes under twenty fliilHngs. 
 
 In the generall Court, or great quarter Courts, before ^^J°"'^"'^ 
 the Civill Magiftrates, are tryed | all actions and caufes 26 
 civill and criminall, and alfo Ecclefiafticall, efpecially 
 touching non-members : ^^And they themfelves fay, that 
 in the generall and quarter Courts, they have the power 
 of Parliament, Kings Bench, Common Pleas, Chancery, 
 High Commiffion, and Star-chamber, and all other Courts 
 of England, and in divers cafes have exercifed that power 
 upon the Kings Subje6ls there, as is not difficult to prove. 
 They have put to death, baniflied, fined men, cut off 
 mens eares, whipt, imprifoned men, and all thefe for Ec- 
 clefiafticall and Civill offences, and without fufficient re- 
 cord. In the leffer quarter Courts are tryed, in fome, 
 a6lions under ten pound, in Bojlo7t^'^ under twenty, and 
 
 obedience, etc., to them according to binds us not to the laws of England 
 
 our charter, etc. ; " but they rebuked any longer than while we live in Eng- 
 
 Dr. Childs and his fellow-petitioners land, for the laws of the parliament 
 
 in 1646, who "did impudently and of England reach no further," &c.— 
 
 falfely affirm, that we are obliged to Ibid. 288. 
 
 thofe laws [of England] by our gen- 88 The nine lines following (ending 
 
 eral charter and oath of allegiance," with "fufficient record") are not in 
 
 {Winthrop, ii. 285, 288,) and they the JVI.H.S. MS. 
 
 explicitly declared, "our allegiance ^9 Mafs. Rec.,\. \6<^, 276. 
 
64 Plaine dealings 
 
 all criminall caufes not touching life or member. 9° From 
 the petie quarter Courts, or other Court, the parties may 
 appeale to the great quarter Courts, from thence to the 
 generall Court, from which there is no appeale, they fay: 
 Notwithflanding, I prefume their Patent doth referve and 
 provide for Appeales, in fome cafes, to the Kings Majefty. 
 Grand Juries. Thc gcncrall and great quarter Courts are kept in the 
 
 Church meeting-houfe at Bojlon. Twice a yeare, in the 
 faid great quarter Courts held before the generall Courts, 
 are two grand Juries fworne for the Jurifdicftion, one for 
 one Court, and the other for the other, and they are 
 charged to enquire and prefent offences reduced, by the 
 Governour, who gives the charge, moft an-end, under the 
 "^1 Heads of the te7i Commajidments : I '''And a draudit of 
 
 I o 
 
 90 Five lines following ("From the exa6t method," {IVinthrop, i. 202,) — 
 
 petie . . . Kings Majefty.") are not which is perhaps the fame that was 
 
 in the M.H.S. MS.— When Dr. Child again prefented to the November 
 
 and his fellow-petitioners demanded Court in 1639, and printed in Eng- 
 
 an appeal to England, in 1646, Gov. land in 1641, as "An Abftrad of the 
 
 Winthrop " told them he would ad- Laws of New England as they are 
 
 mit no appeal, nor was it allowed by now eftablifhed," (repr., i Mafs. Hijl. 
 
 our charter ; " and the Court fuftained Coll., v. 171-192,) and in a more com- 
 
 his judgment. — Winthrop, ii. 285, plete form, by William Afpinwall, in 
 
 290- 1655 ; and another, framed by Nathan- 
 
 9> Thirteen lines following (to the iel Ward, prefented November, 1639, 
 
 end of the paragraph) are not in the and, with Mr. Cotton's, referred by the 
 
 M.H.S. MS. Court to the governor and others "to 
 
 At leaft two draughts of a body of confider of, and fo prepare it for the " 
 
 fundamental laws had been prefented May Court, 16^0. — Wint/trop, i. 322. 
 
 to the General Court: one by Mr. Thefe "two models were digefted with 
 
 Cotton, in oaober, 1636,— "a copy divers alterations and additions, and 
 
 of Mofcs his judicials, compiled in an abbreviated, and fent to every town 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 65 
 
 a body of fundamentall laws, according to the judiciall 
 Laws of the Jews, hath been contrived by the Minijiers 
 and Magijlrates, and offered to the generall Court to be 
 eflabHflied and pubhflied to the people to be confidered 
 of, and this fince his Majeflies command came to them to 
 fend over their Patent :'^^ Among which Lawes, that was 
 one I excepted againft, as you may fee in the paper fol- 
 lowing, entituled, Of the CJmrch her liberties, prefented to 
 the Governottr and Magiflrates of the Bay, 4. Mai'tii, 
 1639.''^ Notwithflanding, a by-law, to that or the like 
 
 (12), to be confidered of firfl: by the 
 magiflrates and elders, and then to 
 be publifhed by the conftables to all 
 the people," &c. — Ibid. Comp. Afa/s. 
 Rec, i. 379. Lechford was employed 
 to tranfcribe the " breviats of propo- 
 fitions " to be fent to the towns, (see 
 p. 31, pojl^ and his Journal fliows 
 that in January, 1639-40, he made for 
 the governor "a coppie of the Ab- 
 ftra6l of the Lawes of New England," 
 and numerous copies of " the Lawes 
 for the Country " and " the Breviat of 
 the body of Lawes," in January and 
 February. Mr. Ward wrote to Win- 
 throp, Dec. 22, 1639 • " ^^ ^^- Lach- 
 ford have writt them out, I would be 
 glad to perufe one of his copies if I 
 may receive them." — 4 Mafs. Hijl. 
 Coll., vii. 27. Mr. Gray, in his excel- 
 lent paper on the Early Laws of Maf- 
 fachufetts, in 3 Mafs. Hi/l. Coll., viii. 
 attributing the compofition of the 
 Body of Liberties to Ward, (on the 
 
 9 
 
 authority of Winthrop,ii. 55,) remarks, 
 that it "exhibits throughout the hand 
 of the praftifed lawyer, familiar with 
 the principles and the fecurities of 
 Englifh Liberty." (p. 199.) Without 
 detracting from whatever honor may 
 be due to Mr.Wardforhis firft: draught, 
 it is very poffible that while Lechford 
 was tranfcribing the much revifed and 
 amended " breviats," the " hand of a 
 praftifed lawyer" left fome of its 
 traces on his work. 
 
 92 The lords commiffioners for for- 
 eign plantations ordered, April 4, 
 1638, that the patent fliould be fent 
 over to them by the firft fhip. The 
 demand was renewed the next year ; 
 and a letter from Mr. Cradock, en- 
 clofmg the order, was received by 
 Winthrop before the meeting of the 
 May Court— Winthrop, i. 269, 274, 
 299; Hubbard, 268-271. Sec p. 34, 
 pojl, and note 103. 
 
 93 See p. Z^, po/l. 
 
66 Plaine dealing, 
 
 effe6t, hath been made,'''* and was held of force there when 
 I came thence : yet I confeffe I have heard one of their 
 wifeft fpeak of an intention to repeale the fame Law. 
 ^■'^''*''- Matters of debt, trefpaffe, and upon the cafe, and equity, 
 
 yea and of herefie alfo, are tryed by a Jury. Which 
 although it may feeme to be indifferent, and the Magif- 
 trates may judge what is Law, and what is equall, and 
 fome of the chief Minifters informe what is herefie, yet the 
 Jury may find a generall verdi61, if they pleafe ; and fel- 
 dome is there any fpeciall verdid: found by them, with 
 deliberate arguments made thereupon, which breeds 
 many inconveniences. 
 
 The parties are warned to challenge any Juryman be- 
 fore he be fworn ; but becaufe there is but one Jury in a 
 Court for tryall of caufes, and all parties not prefent at 
 their fwearing, the liberty of challenge is much hindred,^^ 
 
 94 March, 1635-6. — i^Az/y. Rec, i. before the church, in 1637, on the 
 168. charge, that, " when a matter of difter- 
 
 95 The hinderance was- not entirely ence between her and another was at 
 removed by the Body of Liberties, the Court put unto the Jury, fhe ex- 
 which fecured the right of challenge cepted againft two of the jury men," 
 in all cafes ; but the challenge was not (members of the fame church with 
 to be allowed unlefs the other jurors, herfelf,) "who were therefore offended, 
 or the bench (as the challenger might and with them others alfo ; " and fhe 
 elea), fliould find it " juft and reafona- was inftruaed, that, although the law 
 ble." — 3 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., viii. 221. grants fuch exception in cafe of con- 
 There was another hinderance to fanguinity or fome nigh relation, the 
 
 the freedom of challenge which Lech- ground or reafon muft be fliowed to 
 ford omits to mention. The wife of the judge of the court. And her alle- 
 FrancisWefton, of Salem, was brought gation that one of the challenged 
 
Newes from New- England. 67 
 
 and fome inconveniences doe happen thereby. Jurors are 
 returned | by the Marfliall, he was at firft called the 
 Bedle^^ of the Societie. Seldome is there any matter of 
 record, faving the verdi6l many times at randome taken 
 and entred, which is alfo called the judgment. ^^And for 
 want of proceeding duly upon record, the government is 
 cleerely arbitrary, according to the difcretions of the 
 Judges and Magiftrates for the time being. And humbly 
 I appeale to his royall Majefty, and his honourable and 
 great Counfell, whether or no the proceedings in such 
 matters as come to be heard before Ecclefiafticall Judges, 
 be not fit to be upon Record ; and whether Regifters, 
 Advocates, and Procurators, be not neceffary to affifl the 
 poore and unlearned in their caufes, and that according 
 to the warrant and intendment of holy Writ, and of right 
 reafon. I have knowne by experience, and heard divers 
 have fuffered wrong by default of fuch in Nciu-England. I 
 feare it is not a little degree of pride and dangerous im- 
 
 jurors was "all one with the party be Marfliall of the QowxV — Mafs. 
 
 againfl her" appears to have been Rec, i. 74, 128. His fucceffor was 
 
 regarded as an aggravation of her of- Edward Michelfon, of Cambridge, ap- 
 
 itxiC&. — Rev. John Fijk's Notes, in pointed November, 16^7. — lb. 217. 
 Coll. Effex Injlitute, i. 40, 41. 97 What follows, to the end of the 
 
 96 The title of this officer was paragraph, (twenty lines,) is not found 
 
 changed by theGeneralCourt,Septem- in the M.H.S. MS., at the corref- 
 
 ber, 1634, when James Penn, who had ponding page, but is written in Ihort- 
 
 been appointed in 1630 "a beadle to hand, as a marginal note, on p. 9, of 
 
 attend upon the governor," &c., was the MS., correfponding to pp. 12, 13, 
 
 granted a falary of ^^20 ; " his office to of the firft edition. 
 
68 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 providence to flight all former lawes of the Church or 
 State, cafes of experience and precedents, to go hammer 
 out new, according to feverall exigencies ; upon pretence 
 that the Word of God is fufiEcient to rule us : It is true, 
 it is fufficient, if well underftood. But take heede my 
 brethren, defpife not learning, nor the worthy Lawyers of 
 either gown, left you repent too late.''^ 
 
 9S Lechford — forbidden '' to plead 
 any man's caufe except his own," and 
 only efcaping the Court's cenfure by 
 "promifing to attend his calling, and 
 7wt to meddle with controvef/ies,''' — 
 had reafon to fpeak feelingly of the 
 fmall efteem had for the legal profef- 
 fion in MalTachufetts. There was 
 very little encouragement for the 
 future in the "Body of Liberties," 
 which permitted "every man that 
 findeth himfelf unfit to plead his own 
 caufe in any court," to employ any 
 man againll: whom the court doth not 
 except, to help \nm, provided he give 
 him no fee or reward for his pains.'''' 
 — Lib. 26; 3 Mafs. Hijh Coll., viii. 
 220. 
 
 Mr. Cotton, in a fermon delivered 
 early in 1640, took occafion, by way 
 of " ufe," to drop a word of " reproof 
 to unconfcionable Advocates ; " such 
 as " bolfter out a bad cafe by quirks of 
 wit, and tricks and quillets of Law." 
 ..." And for men that profefs Reli- 
 gion (as many Lawyers do) to ufe 
 their tongues as weapons of unright- 
 eoufneffe unto wickednefs ... to 
 
 plead in corrupt Caufes, and to rtrain 
 the Law to that purpofe, w-ere I to 
 fpeake in place where [fuch are ?] I 
 fhould think it meet to fpeak more." 
 But, he remarks, " I have not I thinke 
 fo much caufe to fpeak of it here, but 
 in moll: places of the world I might 
 fpeak of it." — Expos, of \yh Chap, 
 of Revelation, p. 163. 
 
 ^Ir. Ward, preaching before the 
 General Court, in Alay, 1641, advifed 
 " that magiftrates fhould not give pri- 
 vate advice, and take knowledge of 
 any man's caufe before it came to 
 public hearing. This was debated 
 after in the General Court ; " but fome 
 of the magillrates oppofed the making 
 a law to this eftecl, for divers reafons. 
 " I. Becaufe we muft then provide law- 
 yers to dire(5l men in their caufes. . . . 
 4. [The private hearing by a magif- 
 trate] prevents many difficulties and 
 tedioufnefs to the court to underftand 
 the caufe aright {no advocate being 
 allowed, and the parties being not 
 able, for the moft part, to open the 
 caufe fully and clearly, efpecially in 
 pubhc)."— ;f7;////rt^, ii. 36. 
 
beaten downe. 
 
 A'tzjts frotn JVew-England. 69 
 
 The parties in all caufes, fpeake themfelves for the 
 moft part, and fome of the Magiftrates where they thinke 
 caufe requireth, doe the part of Advocates without fee or 
 reward. Mofl matters | are prefently heard, and ended 29 
 the fame Court, the party defendant having foure dayes 
 warning before ; but fome caufes come to be heard again, 
 and new fuits grow upon the old. 
 
 Profane fwearing, drunkenneffe, and beggers, are but Prophaneneffe 
 rare in the compaffe of this Patent,^ through the circum- 
 fpeclion of the Magiftrates, and the providence of God 
 hitherto, the poore there living by their labours, and great 
 wages, proportionably, better then the rich, by their ftocks, 
 which without exceeding great care, quickly wafte. 
 
 A Paper of certaine Propqfitions to the general! Court, 
 made tipon rcqueft, 8. lunii, 1639. 
 
 I. TT were good, that all actions betweene parties, were 
 •*■ entred in the Court book, by the Secretar}-. before 
 the Court fits. 
 
 99 " One may live there from year to moft thefe twelve yeares ; am held a 
 
 year, and not fee a drunkard, hear an verj- fociable man ; yet I may confi- 
 
 oath, ormeetabeggar." — ."Wcc'^//^- derately fay, I never heard but one 
 
 land's Firjl Fruits. " In feven years, Oath fworne, nor never faw one man 
 
 among thoufands there dwelling, I drunk, nor ever heard of three women 
 
 never faw any drunk, nor heard an AdulterelTes, in all this time, that I 
 
 oath, nor [faw] any begging, nor Sab- can call to minde." — Ward's Sufiple 
 
 bath broken." — Hugh Peters, Ca/e Cobbler of Agawam (1647) p. 67. 
 
 impartially communicated, Sec. {1660). "There are none that beg, in the 
 
 "I thank God, I have lived in a CoMnixty.'' — ]o^t\yn, Voyages, 1Z2. 
 Colony of many thoufand English al- 
 
70 Plaiite dealings 
 
 2. That every a6tion be declared in writing, and the 
 defendants anfwer, generall or fpeciall, as the cafe fliall re- 
 quire, be put in writing, by a pubhque Notarie, before 
 the caufe be heard. 
 
 3. The Secretary to take the verdi(fts, and make forth 
 the judicial! Commands or Writs. 
 
 4. The publique Notarie to record all the proceedings 
 in a fair book, and to enter executions of commands done, 
 & fatisfa6lions acknowledged. 
 
 5. The fees, in all thefe, to be no more then in an in- 
 feriour Court of Record in England, and to be allowed 
 by the generall Court, or Court of Affiftants. 
 
 30 T^i^ benefit hereof to the publique good. 
 
 I. TT will give an eafie and quick difpatch to all Caufes: 
 ■*■ For thereby the Court and Jury will quickly fee 
 the point in hand, and accordingly give their verdidl and 
 judgment. 
 
 2. The Court fliall the better know, conftantly, how to 
 judge the fame things ; and it is not poffible, that the 
 Judges fliould, alwayes, from time to time, remember 
 clearly, or know to proceed certainly, without a faithfull 
 Record. 
 
 3. The parties may hereby more furely, and clearly ob- 
 taine their right ; for through ignorance and paffion, men 
 may quickly wrong one another, in their bare words, 
 without a Record. 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 71 
 
 4. Hereby fliall the Law of God and Juftice be duly 
 adminiflred to the people, according to more certaine and 
 unchangeable rules, fo that they might know what is the 
 Law, and what right they may look for at the mouthes of 
 all their Judges. 
 
 5. Hereby the Subje6ts have a great part of their evi- 
 dences and affurances for their proprieties, both of lands 
 and goods/°° 
 
 100 What appears to be the original 
 draught of thefe propofitions, with 
 numerous erafures and amendments, 
 is in Lechford's Journal, p. 57. He 
 had there added, under the head of 
 " The benefit hereof" &c., a fixth 
 confideration : — 
 
 " The people may alfo ufe the pub- 
 lique notary in divers cafes, to the 
 eafe of the magiftrates, and for mak- 
 ing feverall writings, etc." 
 
 Immediately after thefe propofi- 
 tions, the writer made this note, in 
 short-hand : — 
 
 " The Court was willing to beftow 
 employment upon me, but they faid 
 to me that they could not doe it for 
 feare of offending the Churches, be- 
 caufe of my opinions. Whereupon I 
 thought good to propofe unto them 
 as followeth, over the leaf," — where 
 he has inferted " Certaine Propofi- 
 tions to the Generall Court, 11. 4. 
 1639," which are printed in the Intro- 
 du6lion to this volume. 
 
 Though the Court did not fee fit 
 
 to conflitute the office of public no- 
 tary, and to give Lechford the em- 
 ployment which he fought, the value 
 of his fuggeftions was appreciated, and 
 at the next Seffion (September, 1639), 
 orders were made for recording judg- 
 ments, "with all the evidence," — 
 " wills, adminiftrations and invento- 
 ries, as alfo of the dayes of every mar- 
 riage, birth and death," — " all men's 
 houfes and lands," — and " all the pur- 
 chafes of the natives." Lechford's 
 fchifmatical opinions on prophefying 
 in the churches and the pofiibility of 
 a coming Antichrift, continued to dif- 
 qualify him for the public fervice ; and 
 the Court infured the orthodoxy of 
 the records by appointing Steven 
 Winthrop (the governor's fourth fon) 
 " to record things," and the next year 
 (October, i64o)chofe Emanuel Down- 
 ing to enter all bargains and fales of 
 land, &c., at Salem, and Samuel Sy- 
 monds at Ipfwich. — i^o/i". Records, 
 i- 275-6, 306. 
 
72 Plaine dealings 
 
 31 A Paper touching the Church her liberties, delivered at 
 
 Bofton, 4. Martii, 1639. 
 
 To the Right WorJJiipfull the Governour, Deputy Gover- 
 nour, Councellers, and AJ/iJlants, for this yurifdi5lion. 
 
 WHereas you have been pleafed to caufe me to tran- 
 fcribe certain Breviats of Propofitions,'"' delivered 
 to the laft generall Court, for the eftablifliing a body of 
 Lawes, as is intended, for the glory of God, and the wel- 
 fare of this People and Country ; and publiflied the fame, 
 to the intent that any man may acquaint you, or the De- 
 puties for the next Court, with what he conceives fit to 
 be altered or added, in or unto the faid lawes ; I conceive 
 it my duty to give you timely notice of fome things of 
 great moment, about the fame Lawes, in difcharge of my 
 confcience, which I fliall, as Amicus curicB, pray you to 
 prefent with all faithfulneffe, as is propofed, to the next 
 
 '°i See before, p. 27, and note 91. of the body of Lawes for the Country, 
 
 Lechford's account-book and journal 12. 5. 1639: " "Three coppyes of the 
 
 fliow that he delivered twelve copies foid breviat delivered to the Gover- 
 
 of "the Lawes for the Country" in nor, befides the firft, 12. 12. 1639:" 
 
 December, 1639; " Five copies more "OnecoppyddtoMr.B[ellingham?]:" 
 
 ... by the direftion of our Governor, " One coppy . . . delivered to Mr. Bel- 
 
 II. 8. 1639; feven of them (and the lingham, w'h one copy of the origi- 
 
 former) had 3 lawes more added:" nail Inftitution and Limitation of the 
 
 "A coppie of the Abftraft of the Counfell, at 4s and 2s, 12. 17. 1639:'' 
 
 Lawes of New England d^ to the Gov- and, near the end of the fame month 
 
 ernor, II. 15. 1639:" [Was this Mr. (February, 1640), "Seven coppyes 
 
 Cotton's, printed under the fame title more of the faid breviate." 
 in 1641 ?] "A coppy of the breviat 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 73 
 
 generall Court, by it, and the reverend Elders, to be fur- 
 ther confidered of, as followeth : '""^ 
 
 1. It is propounded to be one chiefe part of the charge, 
 or office of the Councell intended, to take care that the 
 converjion of the Natives be endeavoured. 
 
 2. It is propofed, as a liberty, that a convenient * num- 
 ber of Orthodoxe Chriftians, | allowed to plant together 
 in this Jurifdi6tion, may gather themfelves into a Church, 
 
 32 
 
 Althougl\ 
 fonie have held 
 
 and ele6l and ordaine their Officers, men fit for their 'i^^' *'>■"" ^^ 
 
 two may make a 
 Church, yet I have heard Mafler Cation fay, tliat a Church could not be without the number of fixe or feaven at leaft, 
 and fo was their practife while I was there, at Weymoitth, and New Taunton, and at Lin, for Long IJlaitd ; Becaufe if 
 there are but three, one that is offended with another, cannot upon caufe tel the Church, but one man. ' "■-' 
 
 102 The claufe to which Lechford 
 objecls, and which agrees in fub- 
 ftance with a provifion of the order 
 of March, 1636, {Ma/s. Rec, i. 168,) is 
 not found in the Body of Liberties, as 
 printed by Mr. Gray, 3 Ma/s. Hijl. 
 Coll., viii., from the MS. copy in the 
 Athenaeum. It may have been omit- 
 ted on the revifion of thefe laws in 
 December, 1641, {IVitithrop, ii. 55,) 
 or on the fubfequent revifion made 
 by order of the Court in 1644, by 
 Winthrop, Dudley, and Hibbens. 
 {Ma/s. Rec.,n. 61.) The "Declara- 
 tion of the Liberties given to the 
 Churches," {Body 0/ Lib., 96, §1,) 
 aflures to " all the people of God with- 
 in this Jurifdiction who are not in a 
 church way, and be orthodox itijndg- 
 vient . . . full libertie to gather them- 
 felves into a Church eftate. Provided 
 they do it /;/ a Cliri/lian way, with 
 due obfervance of the rules of Chrill," 
 10 
 
 etc. Lib. 58 declares that " the Civill 
 Authoritie hath power and libertie to 
 fee the j>eace, ordinances and Rules 
 of Chrift obferved in every Church, 
 according to his word, fo it be done 
 in a civil and not in an ecclefiafticall 
 way." 
 
 In Welde's An/zvcr to W. Rath- 
 band, {Y^owd.., 1644,) he fays, "There 
 was a time in Nciv-England (for fome 
 few years fpace) before fuch a law 
 was made, and then Churches did ufe 
 to gather without any notice given to 
 Magiflrates or other Churches. But 
 after the opinions grew on, and expe- 
 rience difcovered the danger, there 
 was a law made that none mufl con- 
 ftitute any Church but firft give notice 
 thereof to Magiftrates and Churches, 
 and fince that this courfe is duly ob- 
 ferved." P. 32. 
 
 102* See Cotton's Way 0/ the 
 Churches, p. 53. 
 
74 Plaine dealing. 
 
 places, giving notice to feven of the next Churches, one 
 moneth before thereof, and of their names, and that they 
 may exercife all the ordinances of God according to his 
 Word, and fo they proceede according to the rule of God, 
 and fliall not be hindered by any Civill power ; nor will 
 this Court allow of any Church otherwife gathered. 
 
 This claufe {nor will the Court allow of any Church 
 otherwife gathered) doth as I conceive contradi6l the 
 firft proportion. 
 
 My reafons are thefe. 
 
 1. If the converfion of tJu Natives muft be endeavoured, 
 then fome wife and godly men (they fhould be of your 
 gravefl and befl men) muft bee fent forth to teach them to 
 know God. 
 
 2. When fuch are fent, they muft bee either fent im- 
 mediately by the Lord, or mediately by his Churches. 
 
 3. If the Churches fend men, they that are fent muft 
 be fent by impofttion of hands of the Prefbytcrie. 
 
 33 
 
 Now when Churches are thus gathered or planted, they 
 are gathered by Miniflers, doing the works of Apoflles 
 and Euangelifls, which hath ever been, and is the ordi- 
 
 . nary and regtilar way of gathering or planting 
 Churches, (and not as is propofed, a C07tvenie7it number 
 of Orthodoxe Chriflians, gathering themfelves into a 
 Church) and yet when fuch a Church is gathered by 
 
Newcs from New-England. 75 
 
 Church-mcjfengcrs and Minijlers, this Court is ad- 
 vifed not to allozu the fame ; which, I conceive, is to 
 fay. The converfion of the Natives fiall not be endeav- 
 oured, orderly, according to the rule of God. 
 
 Againe, it would be confidered, that when men are fent 
 forth, whether they fliould not be fent forth two, and by 
 two at leafl, as the Scriptures beare, and for divers good 
 reafons, which lye not hid to your wifdomes. 
 
 That you would be pleafed to fliew unto the Elders 
 thefe things to be confidered, and that they would well 
 weigh, whether or no thofe Miniflers and Meffengers fent 
 by Churches, fliould not vifit the Churches which they 
 plant ? 
 
 Other things there are, wherein, I think, I could alfo, to 
 good purpofe, move fomew hat to your WorfJiips, which 
 lyes more direBly in the way, and calling, I have been 
 educated, if I were required, but this thing lying upon 
 my confcience, / could not well paffe by : Wherefore 
 IfJiall requefl it may be confidered. 
 
 1. Whether it be not fit to leave out, at leafl. | that 34 
 contradictory claufe, viz. Nor will this Court allow of any 
 Church otherwife gathered? 
 
 2. Whether it be not better to let the liberty run thus, 
 in generall, 
 
 The holy Church of Godfhall enjoy all her jufl liberties ? 
 
76 Plaine dealings 
 
 A Paper i7itended for the honoured John Winthrop, 
 Esqinre^ late Governour. Bojton, Mail 2. 1640. 
 
 TF you fee a neceffity of baptizing them without, If an 
 ■*■ ingagement oi Propagation of the truth to the Infidel 
 Natives : 
 
 Then confider, whether by the Kings leave, fome 
 Churches may not be appointed to fend their chiefe Paf- 
 tors, and other Minifters, to doe fuch works. 
 
 Alfo, with fome kind of fubjedlion, or acknowledge- 
 ment of authority of the Minifterie in £ngtand, if it be 
 but by way of advice, which is cleare to me you may doe : 
 
 I make no doubt but in all things requifite for the flate 
 of the Country, they will yeeld you all faire liberties. 
 
 Nay, I am perfwaded, the Kings Majefty will not fend 
 any unexperienced Governour to afifli(5l, but make you 
 Patentees againe, or at leaft, after the manner of other 
 Plantations, reftoring not onely favour, but other benefits, 
 whereof, under God, to us EngliJJimen, he is the Foun- 
 taine. The Kings Attorney did offer fome of you this in 
 my hearing, I meane, the renewall of your Patent.'"^ 
 
 103 When and where could this offer Mewtis, clerk of the Council. The 
 
 have been made, in Lechford's hear- repetition of the demand, in 1639, 
 
 ing ? The demand for the return of with " threats of further courfe to be 
 
 the patent to England, made by the taken " in the event of non-compli- 
 
 Commiffioners for the plantations, ance, was received in a letter from 
 
 April 4, 1638, was communicated to Mr. Cradock, and " not being deliver- 
 
 Gov. Winthrop by letter from Thomas ed by a certain vieffenger, as the for- 
 
Newes from New-England, 77 
 
 Nay further, if you would invent, and devife what the 35 
 King may doe for the Country, you might obtaine. 
 
 The very converfion of thefe poore naked people, 
 which is very hopefull, and much prepared for per acci- 
 dens, or Gods owne providence, bringing good out of 
 evill, will rejoyce the hearts of all Chriftians in our deare 
 native Countrey, and here : and of it felfe (if there were 
 no other defirable things here, as bleffed be God there 
 are many) would caufe a continued confluence of more 
 people then you can tell well where to beftow for the 
 prefent. 
 
 The Fifliing trade would be promoted with authority. 
 
 Hereby would you give the greater teftimony to the 
 caufe of Reformation. 
 
 Hereby will you, under God and the King, make 
 
 mer was,'" no reply was returned, Who was the " certain meffenger " 
 
 and precautions were taken that the to New England in 1638, we are not 
 
 commiffioners "could not have any told. There is, at leaft, ground for 
 
 proof that it was delivered to the conjefture, that John JofTelyn, Gent, 
 
 governor." IVinthrop, i. 269, 274, who failed from London three weeks 
 
 299; Hubbard, 268-271; 4 Ma/s. after the date of the Commiffioners' 
 
 Hi/l. Coll., vi. 129. Winthrop and order, landed at Noddle's likind, and 
 
 the records are filent as to any fub- was the gueft of Maverick July 10, 
 
 fequent renewal of the demand, or went to Bofton the day following, and 
 
 any interview with " the King's Attor- "prefented his refpeds to Mr. Win- 
 
 ney." It is poffible that Lechford throp the Governour, and to Mr. 
 
 alludes to fomething which paffed in Cotton," and next morning failed for 
 
 England, on the trial of the ^w^wrt:;-- Black Point, in U^nQ, {Voyages, i, 
 
 rrz«% or after judgment was rendered 12, 20,) and who was in the intereft 
 
 againft the patentees, in 1636, and of Sir Ferd. Gorges, — was charged 
 
 before his coming to this country. with this fervice. 
 
yS Plaine dealing, 
 
 Church-work, and Common-wealth work indeed, and ex- 
 amples to all Countryes. 
 
 You will enrich your Countries both, in fliort time. 
 The Heathens in time, I am perfwaded, will become zeal- 
 ous Chriflians, then will they labour, get cloathes, and 
 fubftance about them. In vaine doe fome think of civiliz- 
 ing them, either by the fword, or otherwife, till (withall) 
 the Word of God hath fpoken to their hearts: wherein I 
 conceive great advice is to be taken. 
 
 For which purpofe a Preffe is neceffary,'°'* and may be 
 obtained, I hope, fo that wife men watch over it. 
 36 Confider how poorely your Schooles goe on, | you muft 
 
 depend upon Englajtd for help of learned men and Schol- 
 lers, bookes, commodities infinite almofl:. 
 
 No doubt but the King, this way, will make your 
 authority reach even to the Dutch Southward, and to the 
 French Northward. New-England indeede without frac- 
 tion. A facile way, taking out the core of malice. 
 
 The conveHion and fubduing of a Nation, and fo great 
 a tra6l of ground, is a y/ork too weighty for fubjedls any 
 much longer to labour under without Royall affiflance, as 
 I apprehend, I think, in religious reafon. 
 
 '04 The prefs was already obtained, fome fpeciall things." — 4 Mafs. Hiji. 
 
 thanks to the hberality and forefight C<?//., vi. 99. The " Book of Pfah-nes " 
 
 of Rev. Joffe Glovtr.— Wmthrop, bears the imprint of 1640, and muft 
 
 i. 289. "Wee have a printery here," have been in prefs, if not completed, 
 
 wrote Hugh Peters, Dec. 10,1638, when this "paper " of Lechford's was 
 
 "and thinke to goe to worke with written. 
 
Newcs from New-England. 79 
 
 If any fhall fuggeft, that your Churches may fend forth 
 men of their own authority; 
 
 Confider, if it may be done warrantably by the Word 
 of God, as peradventure it may be fo. 
 
 Yet you will be in danger, reb7is Jic Jiantibus, of great 
 imputations. 
 
 That you infringe Regall power, 
 And EcclefiafticalL 
 
 Wheron adverfaries will fure enough make fearfull 
 worke. 
 
 And befides, fome reformations (under favour) have 
 been too deep, at leait for others to follow. 
 
 They were alfo unexperienced of miffion to convert 
 Infidels. 
 
 Is Geneva without her faults ? or Holland, Rotterdam, 
 A mjlerdam, vi\t\\o\xi theirs.? what experience have they 
 of miffion, or ever had } 
 
 Now I befeech you grave Sir, doe you thinke it good, 
 honourable, fafe, for us poore men here, | or for the Reli- 37 
 eion and Profeffors thereof in generall, in the whole 
 world, that fuch as have the name of the moft zealous, 
 ffiould be the firft example of almoft utmoft provocation 
 to our owne Soveraigne .'* 
 
 For my part, I difclaime Parker'"^ 
 
 los Robert Parker, whom Mather the non-conformifts in our age," and 
 calls "in fome fort the father of all "one of the greateft fcholars in the 
 
8o 
 
 Plaine dealino-, 
 
 And encline to Hooker, Iewel'°^ as to government. 
 Great men have great burthens, therefore they have 
 their counfels croffe, and fometimes they ufe them both. 
 You heare enough on the other fide, 
 Heare now this, on this, and the Lord guide your fpirit. 
 Odere Reges diHa, qucs did J2ibcnt,^°'^ 
 
 Englifli nation," and whom Cotton 
 {Way of the Churches Cleared, pt. i. 
 p. 13) names firft of the "gracious 
 faints and faithfull witnelTes " through 
 whofe teaching the Congregationahfts 
 of New England received "the chief 
 doftrines and praflices of [their] way, 
 fo far as it diiTereth from other re- 
 formed churches," was, in 1571, rec- 
 tor of North Binfleet, in EiTex ; next 
 year, at Weft Henningfield, and fubfe- 
 quently at Dedham, in the fame coun- 
 ty. Sufpended from his miniftry for 
 refufmg to fubfcribe Whitgift's three 
 Articles (1584), he removed to Wilton, 
 in Wiltlhire. He was compelled to 
 leave England in confequence of his 
 publication, in 1607, oi A Scholajlicall 
 Difcourje againjl Sytiibolizing ivith 
 Antichrijt in Ceremonies, etc. He 
 went to Holland, — was for a time at 
 Leyden, in the companionfliip of Dr. 
 Ames and Henry Jacob, — afterwards 
 at Amfterdam ; and died about 1614. 
 Two years after his death was pub- 
 lifhed his treatife De Politeia Ecclefi- 
 ajlica Chrijli et Hierarchia oppofita, 
 
 libri tres. (Francof 1616, 4to.) In 
 this he maintained the doftrine "that 
 the vifible Church inftituted by Chrift 
 and his Apoftles, to which the Keys 
 are given, is not a Diocefan, or Pro- 
 vincial, or National Affembly, but a 
 particular Co7igregationy (See Cot- 
 ton's Way Cleared, pt. ii. p. 23.) 
 
 i°6 Richard Hooker, author of the 
 famous treatife Of the Laws of Ec- 
 clefiajiical Polity; and John Jewel, 
 Bifliop of Salisbury, who wrote tlie 
 not lefs famous Apologia Eccleftce 
 Aiiglicance, firft publifhed in 1562. In 
 his preface, (chap. i. § 2,) Hooker de- 
 clares, " as [his] final refolute perfua- 
 fion : Surely the prefent form of 
 church-government which the laws 
 of this land have eftablifhed is fuch, 
 as no law of God nor reafon of man 
 hath hitherto been alleged of force 
 fufficient to prove they do ill, who to 
 the uttermoft of their power with- 
 ftand the alteration thereof" — Works, 
 (Keble, 4th ed.) i. 127. 
 
 107 Seneca, CEdipus, aft. 3. 520. 
 
Newes from New-Engla7id. 
 
 Thefe are the Mini/iers of the Bay. 
 
 A T Bojlon, m after Cotton Teacher, mafter Wit/on Paf- 
 ^ ^ tor: At Roxbury, mafter Weld^°^ Paftor, mafter ^'■"''^"' "'*"'^' 
 Eliott Teacher : At Dorchejler, mafter Mather Paftor or 
 Teacher, and Mafter Btirgh '°^ out of ojffice : At Braintree, 
 Mafter Thomfon Paftor, Mafter Flint Teacher :"° At 
 Weymouth, Mafter Neivman Paftor, Mafter Parker out of 
 office:"' At Hmgham, mafter Hubbard Paftor, mafter 
 
 •°s Thomas Weld failed for Eng- 
 land, on a miffion for the Colony, 
 Aug. 3, 1641, in the fame veffel with 
 Lechford, and did not return again to 
 Maffachufetts. Winthrop, ii. 25, 31. 
 Hubbard (371) says that "he had 
 given the greateft encouragement of 
 any man elfe for invitation of his 
 friends to come over to New England, 
 yet it was obferved true of him, 
 which fome note of Peter the hermit, 
 who founded an alarum and march to 
 all other Chriftians, to the Holy Land, 
 but a retreat to himfelf " 
 
 In Oftober, 1645, the General 
 Court "defired [his] prefence here, 
 and fpeedy return." {Ma/s. Rec, ii. 
 137.) The defire was not gratified. 
 Mr. Weld became the minifter of St. 
 Mary, Gatefliead, Co. Durham, and 
 died in England, 23d March, 1661. — 
 Savage's Geneal. Dicl. 
 
 lO') Jonathan Burr came to New 
 England in 1639, ^""^j after having 
 been received a member of the church 
 in Dorchefter, was called to ofiice as 
 
 the affiftant of Richard Mather. Be- 
 fore the call was accepted, fome un- 
 guarded expreffions, "favoring of 
 familifm," awakened apprehenfions of 
 Mr. Burr's orthodoxy, and " the Evil 
 One, difturbed at the happinefs of 
 Dorchefter, very ftrongly endeavoured 
 a Mifn7idt'rjlanding between Mr. 
 Mather and Mr. Burr, and the Mif- 
 tinderjlaiiding did proceed fo far as 
 to produce a Paroxi/m.''^ — Magnalia, 
 b. iii. pt. 2. c. 3. Of the treatment 
 and happy compofure of the paroxyfm, 
 fee the Magnalia, 1. c, and IVint/irop, 
 ii. 23. Mr. Burr died Aug. 9, 1641, 
 (a few days after Lechford failed from 
 Bofton.) He was a graduate of Cor- 
 pus Chrifti College, Cambridge, and, 
 before coming to New England, had 
 been a minifterat Ricking(hall [Rick- 
 inghall,] co. Suffolk. — Savage's Gen- 
 eal. Did. 
 
 ■ 10 See before, p. 15, note 42. 
 
 II > See before, p. 22, and note 78. 
 The Rev. Samuel Newman fucceeded 
 Thomas Jenner at Weymouth, and 
 
Plaine dealing, 
 
 Peck Teacher: They refufe to baptize old Ottis grand- 
 children, an ancient member of their own Church."^ At 
 Charlcjiowne, ^2&.q.x Symms Paflor, mafter^//^;/ Teacher: 
 At Cambridge, mafter Sheppard Paftor, mafter Dunjler 
 
 became pallor of tlie church, which, 
 after one or more unfuccefsful trials, 
 was at laft "gathered with approba- 
 tion of magillrates and elders," Jan- 
 uary 30, 1639. — Mr. James Parker, 
 "a godly man and a fcholar," had 
 lived in Dorchefter, removed to Wey- 
 mouth, and was a deputy from that 
 town to the General Court, 1639-42. 
 He afterwards preached for fome 
 years at Portfmouth, but was not 
 fettled in the miniftry there. — See 
 IVinthrop, ii. 93 ; Savage's Geneal. 
 Did. 
 
 "2 Of Rev. Peter Hobart, "a man 
 well qualified with miniflerial abilities, 
 though not fo fully perfuaded of the 
 Congregational difcipline as fome 
 others were," (as Hubbard judged, p. 
 192,) see the memoir in the Rlag- 
 7ialia, b. iii. pt. 4. c. i., and Savage's 
 note to Winthrop, ii. 223. 
 
 Robert Peck was a graduate of 
 Magdalen College, Oxford, (A. M., 
 1603,) and had been minifter at Hing- 
 ham, CO. Norfolk, for more than thirty 
 years before he came to New Eng- 
 land in 1638. He was ordained 
 teacher of the church in our Hing- 
 ham, Nov. 8, 1638; but returned 
 home in 1641, refumed his reftory in 
 old Hingham in 1646, and died there 
 
 in 1656. — IVinthrop, i. 275; Mag- 
 nah'a, b. iii. pt. 4. c. i ; Blomefield's 
 //{/?. of Nirrfolkjltire, ii. 424, 425 ; 
 Brook's Lives, iii. 263. 
 
 John Otis, born about 1581, at 
 Glaftenbury, co. Somerfet, came to 
 New England in 1635, and was one 
 of the fettlers of Hingham in that 
 year. His daughter Hannah, wife of 
 Thomas Gill, had tzuo children bap- 
 tized the fame day, January, 1644, 
 one of whom may have been born 
 before Lechford wrote. Another 
 daughter, Margaret, wife of Thomas 
 Burton, had a daughter baptized May 
 30, 1641. — Savage's Geneal. Dicl.j 
 N. E. Geneal. Reg., v. 223. A few 
 years afterwards this Thomas Bur- 
 ton, "a fojourner, and of no vifible 
 eftate in the country," was a figner, 
 with Dr. Child, Fowle, Maverick, and 
 others, of that famous petition to the 
 General Court for the redrefs of fun- 
 dry grievances, one of which was 
 that of being, " themfelves and their 
 children, debarred from the feals of 
 the covenant, except they would fub- 
 mit to fuch a way of entrance and 
 church covenant, as their confciences 
 would not admit." See Winthrop, 
 ii. 261, 262 ; Hutchinfon's Colleflion, 
 188-196. 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 83 
 
 School-mafter ; "^ divers young Schollers are there under 
 him to the number of almoft twenty : At Watertowne, 
 mafler Phillips \ Paftor, mafter Knolls Paflor:"'* At Ded- 
 ham, another mafler Phillips''^ out of office, and mafter 
 Allen Paftor or Teacher: At Sudbury, mafter Brown''^ 
 in office, mafler Fordkam^''' out of office: At Lynne, maf- 
 
 38 
 
 "3 See after, pp. 52, 53. Before 
 Plaine dealing was publiflied, " Maf- 
 ter Dunjlcr, School-mafter," became 
 Prefident of Harvard College. 
 
 "4 Rev. John Knowles, "a godly 
 man and a prime fcholar," vi^as or- 
 dained paftor, at Watertown, Dec. 
 9, 1640, as colleague of Mr. Phillips : 
 "and fo they had now two paftors 
 and no teacher, differing from the 
 pra6lice of the other churches," &c. 
 — Winthrop. ii. 18. 
 
 "S Rev. John Phillip, who had been 
 re6lor of Wrentham (co. Suffolk), in 
 England, and had married a fifter of 
 the great puritan divine. Dr. William 
 Ames, was at Dedham in 1638. He 
 declined feveral invitations to the 
 work of the miniftry in Maffachufetts, 
 and returned home in the autumn 
 of 1641, — failing from Bofton, 061. 
 27, in the fhip with John Humfrey, 
 Rev. Robert Peck, and two other 
 minifters. He was a member of the 
 Weftminfter alTembly of divines. — 
 Winthrop, ii. 86 ; Savage, Gencal- 
 Diff.; Calamy {Contin.), ii. 797. 
 
 Rev. John Allin, the firft minifter 
 of Dedham (ordained April 24, 1639), 
 
 had alfo been a preacher at Wrentham 
 in England. — Savage, Geneal. Did. 
 His " virtues and merits," fays Ma- 
 ther, " were far from the fmalleft fize, 
 among thofe who ' did worthily in 
 Ifrael.' " — Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 2. 
 ch. 22. 
 
 "6 Rev. Edmund Browne came to 
 New England in 1637 or '38, and was 
 ordained minifter of the church gath- 
 ered at Sudbury, in Auguft, 1640. By 
 a power of attorney which he execut- 
 ed in July, 1639, it appears that he 
 was then of Watertown, and had 
 married the widow of John Loverum 
 (or Loveran). — Lechford's MS. Jour- 
 nal, 87. 
 
 117 Robert Fordham, who was for a 
 fliort time at Cambridge, and after- 
 wards at Sudbury, removed to Long 
 Ifland, where, early in 1644, he was a 
 principal planter at Hempftead, and 
 is firft named in the patent for that 
 townftiip granted by Gov. Kieft, in 
 November of the fame year. He was 
 fubfequently fettled at Southampton. 
 — Savage, Geneal. Ditl.; Brodhead's 
 Hijl. ofN. York, i. 388 ; Doc. Hijh of 
 N. Y. (8vo.) iii. 189. 
 
84 
 
 Plaine dealing. 
 
 ter Whiting Pafhor, mafter Cobbett Teacher: At Salem, 
 mailer Peter Paftor,"^ mafter Norris Teacher, and his 
 Sonne a Schoole-mafter: At Ipfzuich, mafler Rogers Paftor, 
 mafter Norton Teacher, and mafler Nathaniel Ward, and 
 his fonne,"^ and one Mafter Knight, out of employment : 
 At Rowley, Mafter Ezek. Rogers Faftor, Mafter Miller: "° 
 
 "8 Hugh Peters failed for England 
 in the fame fhip with Lechford, Aug. 
 3, 1641. Rev. Edward Norris, or- 
 dained teacher at Salem, March 18, 
 1640, remained in office there until 
 his death, Dec. 23, 1659. — Sav- 
 age, Geneal. Dul. His fon Edward 
 was fchool mafter from 1640 to 1676, 
 and died in 1684. Rev. John Fifk, 
 who had taught a fchool at Salem, 
 and occafionally preached there be- 
 tween 1637 and 1640, removed to 
 Wenham before Lechford wrote. — 
 Ibid. 
 
 "9 John Ward, educated at Em- 
 manuel College, Cambridge, came to 
 New England in 1639, affifted Mr. 
 Rogers, at Rowley, for a fhort time, 
 and in the winter of 1639-40, with his 
 brother-in-law, Giles Firmin, was 
 projefting the fettlement of a planta- 
 tion at Pentuckett or Cochichawick. 
 March 23, 1 641, Thomas Gorges wrote 
 from Acomenticus (York, Me.) to Gov. 
 Winthrop : " We have fent younge 
 Mr. Ward of Newbury a call. I hope 
 the Lord will be affifting to us in it ; " 
 and Winthrop tells how, in the fpring 
 of 1641, Ward, going from Pafca- 
 
 taquack to Acomenticus, with Hugh 
 Peter and Mr. Dalton, loft his way, 
 and "wandered two days and one 
 night without food or fire." He re- 
 turned to MaflTachufetts, fettled at 
 Haverhill before 1642, and, on the 
 gathering of the church there, was or- 
 dained paftor, in Oilober, 1645. — 
 Winthrop, ii. 29, 252 ; Mafs., Rec. i. 
 290 : Hutch. Colleclion, 108 ; 4 Ma/s. 
 Hijl. Coll., vii. 274, 334 ; Chafe, Hijl. 
 of Haverhill, yj, 39, 58. (See after, 
 
 P- 45-) 
 
 "Mafter Knight'''' is not named in 
 the Hift. Society's MS. This was 
 Rev. William Knight, who had lately 
 come to Ipfwich, where he had a 
 grant of land in 1639. He began to 
 preach at the New Meadows (Topf- 
 field), in 1641, but returned to Eng- 
 land before 1648. — Savage, Geneal. 
 Din. 
 
 '2o John Miller, a graduate of Cam- 
 bridge (A.B. 1827), was at Dorchefter 
 in 1636; afterwards, of Roxbury; 
 minifter at Rowley, 1639, as affiftant 
 or colleague of Mr. Rogers, and firft 
 town clerk there. He was defignated 
 by the elders in 1642, (with George 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 85 
 
 At Newberry, Mailer Noyfe Paflor, Mafter Parker 
 Teacher:'^' He is fonne of Mafter Robert Parker, fome- 
 time of Wilton, in the County of Wiltes, deceafed, who in 
 his life time writ that mif-learned and miflaken Book De 
 Politeia Ecclefiajlica.^''- At Salifbury, Mafter Worjler^''^ 
 Paftor: At Hampton, Mafter Bae/iellor''' Paftor, Mafter 
 
 Phillips and William Tompfon,) for 
 the miffion to Virginia, but did not ac- 
 cept the call. He fubfequently removed 
 to Yarmouth, where he preached for 
 a fhort time, but appears to have been 
 living at Roxbury again in 1647, and 
 died at Groton, June 12, 1663. — 
 Winthrop, ii. 78 ; Hubbard, 410 ; 
 Johnfon, W. W. Providence, b. ii. c. 
 1 1 ; Savage, Geneal. Dhl. 
 
 121 Thomas Parker, and his coufm 
 James Noyes, had taught in the fame 
 fchool in Newbury (co. Berks), Eng- 
 land ; " came over in o}ie Ship; were 
 paftor and teacher of one Church; 
 and Mr. Parker continuing always in 
 Celibacy, they lived in one Houfe, till 
 death feparated them for a time." — 
 Rev. Nich. Noyes, in Magnalia, b. iii. 
 pt. 2. c. 25. 
 
 122 See before, p. y], note 105. 
 
 123 WiUiam Worfter was the firft 
 minifter of the new plantation " begun 
 upon the north fide of Merrimack, 
 called Sarisbury, now (1639) Colchef- 
 ter," — ordered " henceforward to bee 
 called Salsbury," by the General 
 Court in Oftober, 1640. Winthrop, 
 i. 289 ; Mafs. Rec, i. 305. He is fup- 
 
 pofed to have come to New England 
 in 1639; w^s admitted freeman May 
 13, 1640; and cHed 061. 28, 1663. — 
 Savage's Geneal. Diil. 
 
 124 Winthrop records the arrival of 
 "old Mr. Batchelor, being aged 
 71," a fellow-paffenger with Thomas 
 Welde, June 5, 1632 ; and elfe where 
 gives account of his troubles at Lynn ; 
 his unfuccefsful attempt to eftablilh a 
 plantation at Mattakeefe (Yarmouth), 
 in 1637 ; his fall and penitence at 
 Hampton, in 1641 ; and of the ftop 
 put by the General Court, on the 
 gathering of a new church at Exeter, 
 in 1644, to which he was to be called 
 as paflor (i. 78, 176, 260; ii. 44, ^11-, 
 211). From 1647 to 1650, he was at 
 Portfmouth ; returned to England in 
 1653 or '54 ; and died at Hackney, near 
 London, in 1660, in the one hundredth 
 year of his age. See Savage's note 
 to Winthrop, i. 78 ; Mafs. Rec, i. 100, 
 103, 236; Lewis, Hijl of Lynn (2d 
 ed.) 78, 92-97. Several of his letters 
 are printed from the Winthrop pa- 
 pers, in 4 J/rt/jr. HiJl. Coll., vii. 88-109. 
 
 Mr. Bachiler, and his colleague at 
 Hampton,— Rev. Timothy Dalton, — 
 
86 Plaine dealing, 
 
 names. 
 
 Dalton Teacher: There are other School-mafters which 
 I know not, in fome of thefe townes.'-^ 
 
 The Magijlrates in the Bay are thefe : 
 
 Magiftrates Maftcr BelHugham the prefent Governour, mafler En- 
 
 decot the prefent Deputy Governour, mafter Wi^ithrop, 
 mafler Dudley, mafler Htim/rey, mafter Saltonjlall, mafler 
 Bradjlrcat, mafler Stoughton, mafler VVinthrop junior, 
 mafler Nowell, Affiiftants. Mafler Nowell is alfo Secre- 
 tarie. Mafter Stephen Winthrop is Recorder, whofe oflfice 
 is to record all Judgments, Manages, Births, Deaths, 
 Wills and Teflaments, Bargaines and Sales, Gifts, Grants, 
 39 and Mortgages.'^'' There is a MarJImll;'' \ who is as a 
 Sheriff e ox Bailiff e, and his Deputy is the Gaoler^~^ sca^ 
 executioner. 
 
 Marriages are folemnized and done by the Magiflrates,''^ 
 
 Marriages. Tef- 
 taments. Admin- 
 iflrat. Burials. 
 
 were by no means fo well agreed as '^s Richard Bracket was " ap- 
 
 were the two minifters of Newbury, pointed to keepe the prifon," and "to 
 
 See Winthrop, ii. 45, 177, and 4 bee at the commandment of the ma- 
 
 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., vii. 102. giftrates for any fpecial fervice," by 
 
 125 Lechford omitted to name the the General Court, November, 1637. 
 
 minifters of Concord, where the em- In 1639, his falary was increafed to 
 
 inent Peter Bulkley was teacher, and £20 per annum. — J/^. Rec, 1.217, 
 
 John Jones paftor. Mr. Jones re- 260. 
 
 moved to Fairfield, Conn., with feveral 129 John Robinfon (in A Jiijllfica- 
 
 of his parhhioners, in September, tion of Separation, &c., p. 352) 
 
 1644. — Savage, Geneal. Diil.j Win- refers to " almoft twenty feverall fcrip- 
 
 throp, i. 167, 189, 217; ii. 71. tures [cited in his Apology, ch. vi.], 
 
 "6 See before, p. 30, note 100. and nine diftind reafons grounded 
 
 "7 See before, p. 28, note 96. upon them, to prove that the celebra- 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 87 
 
 and not by the Miniflers. * Probats of Teftaments, and 
 
 and other Eccle- 
 fiafticall caufes, 
 have been an- 
 
 but all the neighbourhood, or a good company of them, 
 
 * Caufes touch- 
 ing Matrimonie, 
 
 erantinor of Letters of Adminiftration, are made and ^"^ Teamen's. 
 
 O o ' and other Eccle- 
 
 granted in the generall or great quarter Courts. At 
 
 Burials, nothingr is read, nor any Funeral Sermon made, '''^""^, ^^ "'^, 
 
 ' o ' J good lawes of 
 
 England, com- 
 mitted to the 
 Clergie, upon 
 better grounds then many are aware of Brethren, I pray confider well that the Apoftle doth allow judgements of contro- 
 verfies to the Church, i Cor. 6. And fo they did anciently in other countries, as well as in England, as appeares by S. 
 A ugufthiL's profeffion thereof, cited by one lately, viz. Tliat he (the faid Father, and other holy men of the Church) fuf- 
 fered the tumuHuous perplexities of other mens caufes touching; fecuhir affaires, either by determining; them hy jndging, 
 or in cutting theiii off hy etitreaties: Which labour (faith he) ive endure with confolation in the Lord, for the hope of 
 eternall life. To which moleftations, the Apoftle tyed us, not by his owne Judgement, but by his judgement 7uhofpake in 
 him. Befides, fhould they judge thefe things, and labour for, and watch over us in the Lord, and not be recompenced as 
 long as they doe well ? I speak not to countenance undue exactions, bribes, or other corruptions. I intend brevity, and 
 therefore make bold to refer my Reader to the many learned arguments both in Law-books and Divinity of this subjeft. 
 
 tion of marriage, the buryall of tlie 
 dead, afe not ecclefiajlicall anions, 
 apperteyiiing to the viinijlry^ but 
 civill, and fo to be performed ; " and 
 argues that " the proper works of the 
 miniftry muft needes be workes of re- 
 ligion," while "thefe are civill duties, 
 and fo pra6lifed by the fervants of 
 God in all ages." In Maffachufetts, 
 it was not deemed advifable " to make 
 a law, that marriage fliould not be 
 folemnized by minifters," becaufe this 
 would be " repugnant to the laws ot 
 England ; " but due care was taken 
 " to bring it to a cnflom, by praftice, 
 for the magiftrates to perform it." See 
 IVinthrop, i. 323, and comp. ii. 313. 
 So, in Plymouth, the firft marriage 
 (May 12, 1621), "according to the 
 laudable cuftome of y^ Low-Coun- 
 tries, . . . was thought moft requifite 
 to be performed by the magiftrate, as 
 being a civill thing," &c., and Brad- 
 
 ford (loi) adds, "this praftifs hath 
 . . . been followed by all the famous 
 churches of Chrift in thefe parts to 
 this time, — Anno 1646." Mr. Sav- 
 age has " difcovered no record of a 
 marriage performed by a clergyman 
 prior to 1686, except in Gorges' Pro- 
 vince, by a clergyman of the Church 
 of ^ngXTinA." — Proceed. Mafs. Hifi. 
 Soc., 1858-60, p. 283. 
 
 The publication of the intention, 
 or " contraftion," of marriage, was, 
 however, fometimes folemnized by a 
 fermon. Mather alludes to this as 
 "the old ufage of New England," 
 when fpeaking of Mr. Cotton's fer- 
 mon, in 1 65 1, at the contradion of 
 Rev. Samuel Danforth to the daughter 
 of Mr. Wilfon. — A/agna/m, h. iv. c. 3. 
 §6. A MS. note-book of Henry 
 Wolcot, of Windfor, preferves the 
 heads of a fermon by Rev. John War- 
 ham, Nov. 17, 1640, "at the 
 
88 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 come together by tolling of the bell, and carry the dead 
 folemnly to his grave, and there fland by him while he is 
 buried. The Minillers are moft commonly prefent.'^° 
 
 contracting of Benedi6l Alvord, and 
 Abraham Randall." (The former 
 married Joan Newton, Nov. 26 ; 
 the latter, Mary Ware, Dec. i.) 
 That tliis difcourfe was prailical and 
 pointed may be inferred from the fe- 
 le(5lion of the text, — Ephes. vi. 10, 
 II, ("Finally, my brethren, be ftrong 
 in the Lord," &c. " Put ye on the 
 whole armour of God, that ye may 
 be able to fland againft the wiles of 
 the devil.") — and from one of the 
 " ufes " to which it was applied by 
 the preacher, — " to teach us, that the 
 Jlate of marriage is a warfariiig 
 condition.'''' 
 
 Robert Baylie, the Presbyterian 
 divine, in A Dijfuafive from the 
 Errors of the Time (Lond., 1646), al- 
 leging that, " whatever crotchets the 
 Brownifls have fallen into, the htde- 
 pendents pun6lually do follow the 
 moft and worft of them," says, 
 " Firft, for the marriage bleffing, . . . 
 they fend it from the Church to the 
 Town-houfe ; making its folemniza- 
 tion the duty of the magiftrate : this 
 is the conftant praftice of all in New 
 England. The prime of the Inde- 
 pendent Minifters now at London, 
 have been married by the Magiftrate : 
 and all that can now be obtained of 
 them, is, to be content that a Minifter, 
 in the name of the Magiftrate and as 
 
 his commiffioner, may folemnize the 
 holy band." — pp. 115, 116. 
 
 •3° " Concerning burials, this they 
 fay : all prayers either over or for the 
 dead, are not only fuperftitious 
 and vain, but alfo are idolatry, and 
 againft the plain fcriptures of God . . . 
 Mourning in black garments for the 
 dead, if it be not hypocritical, yet it 
 is fuperftitious and heathenifti : funer- 
 al fermons, they alfo utterly condemn, 
 becaufe they are put in the place of 
 trentals, and many other fuperftitious 
 abufes follow thereby. To be brief 
 . . . the Nonconformifts will have the 
 dead to be buried in this fort, (holding 
 no other way lawful,) namely, that it 
 be conveyed to the place of burial, 
 with fome honeft company of the 
 Church, without either fmging or 
 reading, yea, without all kind of cere- 
 mony heretofore ufed, other than that 
 the dead be committed to the grave, 
 with fuch gravity and fobriety as 
 thofe that be prefent may feem to fear 
 the judgments of God, and to hate 
 fin, which is the caufe of death ; and 
 thus do the beft and right reformed 
 churches bury their dead, without any 
 ceremonies of praying or preaching 
 at them." — J. Canne's NeceffUie of 
 Separation (1634); Hans. Knolly^s 
 Soc. ed., pp. 112, 113. Comp. Ma- 
 ther's Ratio Difciplina, 117. 
 
Neiues from New-England. 89 
 
 They are very diligent in traynings of their fouldiers Trainings or 
 and military exercifes, and all except Magiftrates, and Min- 
 ifters beare amies, or pay for to bee excufed, or for fpeciall 
 reafons are exempted by order of Court. The Captains 
 and officers are fuch as are admitted of the Church. 
 
 But the people begin to complain, they are ruled like Grievances. 
 Jlaves, and in fliort time fliall have | their children for 40 
 the moft part remain unbaptized : and fo have little 
 more priviledge then Heathens, unleffe the difcipline be 
 amended and moderated. 
 
 It is feared, that Eledions cannot be fafe there long, Danger. 
 either in Church or Common-wealth. So that fome 
 melancholy men thinke it a great deale fafer to be in the 
 midft of troubles in a fettled Common-wealth, or in hope 
 eafily to be fettled, then in mutinies there, fo far off from 
 fuccours. 
 
 At Neiv Plymouth they have but one * Minifter, maf- p^nt^'""'""'' 
 ter Rayner;'^' yet mafter Chanccy lives there, and one m.j„„v/,. 
 mailer Smith, both Miniffers, they are not in any office "^^f^^^^rd.. 
 
 James 3. i. Not many mafters. Whether this be their ground, I know not ; but what e%er tliere be in others to advife 
 and affift, the deciding, determining voice, I meane alfo the negative, in fome cafes, ought, as I thmk, to be m the Pallor: 
 Be there never fo many Minifters in the Church, Doe nothing zvithout your Pajlor or Bijliop, faitli Ircn<em : for whaffo- 
 ever is faulty in the Church, the Bithop is firfl and principally blamed, i?<v. 2. and 3. 
 
 The firft inftance, as far as is fon, minifter of Medfield, prayed with 
 
 known, of prayer at a funeral, in the company before they went to the 
 
 Maffachufetts, was at the burial of grave." — Palfrey's ///>/ ^/ A'. A'., iii. 
 
 the Rev. William Adams, of Roxbury, 495, note i. 
 
 Auguft 19, 16S5, when, as Judge '3x John Reyner, born at Gilder- 
 
 Sewall noted in his Diary, " Mr. Wil- fome, Yorkfliire, was educated at 
 
90 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 M. c//a«a.y his |-]^g^.g.i32 niafter C/miicey flands for dipping in baptifme 
 
 controverfie. ' -^ i i o i 
 
 onely neceffary, and fome other things, concerning which 
 there hath been much difpute, and mafter Chaiicey put 
 to the worft by the opinion of the Churches advifed 
 withall.'^^ 
 
 Cohamict, aHas Tatuiton, is in Plymouth Patent. There 
 is a Church gathered of late, and fome ten or twenty of 
 the Church, the reft excluded. Mafter Hooke Paflor, 
 mafler Streate Teacher.'^^ Mafter Hooke received ordi- 
 
 Taunton. 
 M. Hooke. 
 M. Streate, 
 their ordination 
 
 Magdalen College, Cambridge. He 
 came to New England about 1635 ; the 
 next year fucceeded Rev. Ralph Smith 
 at Plymouth, and continued in the 
 miniftry there until 1654. — Brad- 
 ford, 351 ; Davis's Morton's Mevto- 
 rial, 216, 217; Savage's Geneal. 
 Dia. 
 
 132 Ralph Smith came with Hig- 
 ginfon in 1629, and after brief ftay 
 at Nantafket, removed to Plymouth, 
 where he was " kindly entertained 
 and houfed, . . . and exercifed his 
 gifts amongft them, and afterwards 
 was chofen into ye miniftrie, and fo 
 remained for fundrie years." Brad- 
 ford, 263. In the winter of 1635-36, 
 when John Norton was preaching in 
 Plymouth, and there was hope of 
 effefting his fettlement there, Mr. 
 Smith "layed downe his place of min- 
 iftrie, partly by his owne willingnes, 
 . . . partly at the defire and by ye per- 
 fuafion of others." — Ibid, 351 ; comp. 
 Winthrop, i. 175. 
 
 Charles Chauncy had been at Plym- 
 outh fmce 1638. He left there, in the 
 latter part of 1641, to become paftor 
 at Scituate, where he remained until 
 chofen prefident of Harvard College 
 in 1654. — See Bradford, 382-84; 
 ll'iiit/irop, i. 330; Magtialia, b. iii. 
 pt. 2, c. 23 ; I I\Iafs. Hifi. Coll., x. 171; 
 and the ample memoir in Fowler's 
 Moiiorials of the Chatinceys, 1-37. 
 
 133 See Bradford, 383 ; Winthrop, 
 
 i- 330-31- 
 
 134 William Hooke (A.M. Trin. Col., 
 Oxford, 1623) is named as a land- 
 holder in Taunton in May, 1639. In- 
 quiry for the date of his ordination 
 there is hopelefs, fmce Mr. Savage 
 has " aflced in vain " (Geneal. Difl.). 
 He removed to New Haven, and was 
 ordained teacher there about 1644; 
 thence he returned to England, in 
 1656, to become the domeftic chap- 
 lain of Cromwell. — Bacon's Hifl. Dif- 
 cojirfes, 62-73 ■> Savage, in note to 
 IVinthrop, i. 251 ; Emery's Miniflry 
 
Ncwes from Nezu-England. 
 
 91 
 
 nation from the hands of one mafter Bifliop a School- 
 mafter, and one Parker an Husbandman, '•''^ and then 
 mafter Hooke joyned in ordaining mafter Streate. One 
 mafter Doughty, a Minifter, oppofed the gathering of the 
 Church there, alleadging that according to the Covenant 
 of Adi'-akain, all mens children that were of baptized 
 parents, and fo Abrahams children, ought to be baptized; 
 and fpake fo in publique, or to that efife6l, which was 
 held a difturbance, and the Minifters fpake to the Magif- 
 trate to order him : The Magiftrate commanded the Con- 
 ftable, who dragged mafter Doughty out of the Affembly. 
 He was forced to goe away from thence, with his wife 
 and children.'^^ 
 
 M. Doughty his 
 controverfie. 
 
 41 
 
 of Taunton, i. 63-155 ; Baylies' Hijl. 
 of Plymouth Colony, i. 290-95. 
 
 Nicholas Street removed to New 
 Haven, where he was elefted and or- 
 dained teacher (Nov. 26, 1659) as Mr. 
 Hooke's fuccefifor, and the affociate 
 of Davenport. After the latter re- 
 moved to Bofton. in 1668, Mr. Street 
 remained fole minirter of the New- 
 Haven Church till his death, April 
 22, 1674. — Bacon's HiJl. Difcourfcs, 
 155-57 ; Baylies' Plymouth, i. 295. 
 
 13s " Mafter Bifliop " was, probably, 
 John Bifliop, afterwards niinifl:er of 
 Stamford, Conn. See N. E. Geneal. 
 Reg., viii. 156. Trumbull {Hijt. of 
 Conn., i. 286) fays, the meffengers of 
 the Stamford Church, fent to feek a 
 miniflier, "travelled on foot, through 
 
 the wildernefs, to the eaftward of Bof- 
 ton, where they found Mr. John Bifli- 
 op, who left England before he had 
 finiflied his academical ftudies, and 
 had completed his education in this 
 country." — William and John Parker, 
 probably brothers, were among the 
 purchafers of Taunton, in 1637. The 
 latter was a reprefentative in the Gen- 
 eral Court, in 1642 and 1643. Bay- 
 lies' Plymouth, ii. 2, 282 ; Savage, 
 Geneal. Did. John Parker and John 
 Bufliop (as the name is recorded,) of 
 Taunton, were propounded for free- 
 men, June I, 1641. Plym. Col. Pec., 
 
 ii. 17. 
 
 136 In tlie earlier draught was add- 
 ed : " And being a man of eflate when 
 he came [to] the country, is undone." 
 
92 
 
 Plaine dealing. 
 
 Divers other Thcrc arc alfo in this Patent divers other Plantations, 
 
 Towns and 
 
 Minifters. Qg Safidwicli, SUiiatc, Duxbury, GreejieJJiarbotir,^^'^ and 
 
 Yarmouth. Minifters there are, mafler Leveridge,^^^ maf- 
 
 M. H.S.MS. In July and Auguft, 
 1639, Lechford was attorney for Eliz- 
 abeth, fifter of Francis Doughty and 
 wife of William Cole, in a fuit to re- 
 cover from her brother a fliare of their 
 deceafed father's eftate, and her prom- 
 ifed marriage portion : and it was 
 "for going to the Jewry and pleading 
 wti^ them out of Court," in this caufe> 
 or another between the fame parties, 
 that Lechford was debarred by the 
 Court " from pleading any man's 
 caufe hereafter," &c., as his MS. jour- 
 nal fhows. See Ma/s. Rcc, i. 270 ; 
 ii. 205, 206. 
 
 Francis Doughty was the fon of a 
 merchant of the fame name, of Briftol, 
 who died before 1637. In a recog- 
 nizance for appearance at the next 
 Quarter Court, made in July, 1639, he 
 is ftyled, of Dorchefter. In March, 
 1 64 1, then of Taunton, he was fined 
 by the Plymouth Court for felling 
 powder to the Indians. {Ply in. Col. 
 Rec, ii. 8.) In Auguft, 1639, l"s fif- 
 ter, in a petition to the General Court 
 of Mafiachufetts, averred that he 
 " had a purpofe to remove his dwell- 
 ing forth out of the jurifdiftion of this 
 Court ; where, this complainant can- 
 not tell." (Lechford's Journal) He 
 was, afterwards, at Rhode Ifland, 
 where he made brief ftay ; and, in 
 1641, betook himfelf to the Dutch at 
 
 Manhattan, from whom he and his 
 aflbciates procured, March 28, 1642, 
 a patent for Mefpath (fince, New- 
 town, L. I.). He failed, however, "to 
 fecure the happy home " which (Mr. 
 Brodhead tells us) he came, from per- 
 fecution in Maffachufetts, to feek : for 
 he was fined and imprifoned by Kieft 
 — " threatened with this and that " by 
 Stuyvefant, — obliged to quit Mef- 
 path for Flufliing, — and driven from 
 Flufliing to Virginia. See Brodhead's 
 Hijl. of Neiv York, i. 2,1,1, 3^7, 4ii, 
 472. 
 
 •37 Incorporated as a townfhip, 
 March, 1641, and named Rex/iame, 
 but, within a year afterwards, called by 
 its prefent name, MarJJiJield. Plyin. 
 Col. Rec, xi. (Laws) },']. The Rev. 
 Richard Blinman, with the friends 
 who came with him to New England, 
 fettled firft at Green's Harbour, prob- 
 ably in 1640: but he had left that 
 place (and Plymouth Colony) before 
 Lechford's book was written. See 
 after, p. 54. 
 
 '38 The Rev. William Leveridge, 
 or Leverich (A. M. Emman. College, 
 Cambridge, 1629), after fucceffive re- 
 movals from Dover to Bofton, and 
 from Bofton to Duxbury (where he 
 was for a fliort time the affiftant of 
 Rev. Ralpli Partridge), fettled at 
 Sandwich before 1640, and was teach- 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 93 
 
 ter Blackwood'^'^ mafter Mathews, ^"^^ and mafter Ajtdrew 
 Hallet,'^' a School-mafter. Mafter Saxton alfo, who was 
 comming away when we did.'*' 
 
 At the Ifland called Aquedney,^^^ are about two hun- inand/}?,,.-,/;,,^. 
 dred families. There was a Church, where one mafter 
 
 er of the church there. For what 
 further is known of him and his work, 
 fee Savage's Geiieal. Did., and note 
 in Winthrop, i. 115; Freeman's Hijl. 
 of Cape Cod, ii. 38. 
 
 139 Chriflopher Blackwood was for 
 a fhort time at Scituate, after the re- 
 moval of the Rev. John Lothrop to 
 Barnftable in 1639. He returned to 
 England in 1642. — Deane's Scituate, 
 172, 222. 
 
 After the name of Mr. Blackwood, 
 Lechford had inferted (in the M.H.S. 
 MS.) that of " Mr. Thomas." This 
 was probably William Thomas, of 
 Marfhfield, who is fuppofed to have 
 come to New England with Mr. Bhn- 
 man. On a fubfequent page (54) will 
 be found mention of "a broyle be- 
 tweene one Mafter Thomas . . . and 
 Mafter Blindman," which refulted in 
 the removal of the latter from the 
 colony. 
 
 140 Marmaduke Matthews preached 
 at Yarmouth from 1639 to 1643. Of 
 him and his many troubles, fee Froth- 
 ingham's Chaidejloum, 121-29; Free- 
 man's Cape Cod, ii. 180, 182; John- 
 fon's W. W. Providence, b. iii. c. 7. 
 
 141 Andrew Hallet removed from 
 Lynn to Sandwich in 1637, and to 
 
 Yarmouth about 1640. — Savage's 
 Geiieal. Did. 
 
 142 The M.H.S. MS. adds, "And I 
 know not what ftayed him, he is very 
 aged and white." The Rev. Peter 
 Saxton (A.M. Trin. Col., Cambridge, 
 1603), whom Mather calls "aftudious 
 and a learned perfon, a great Hebri- 
 cian," was at Scituate in 1640, but 
 did not long remain there. He was 
 probably one of the four minifters 
 who returned to England, 061. 27, 
 1641, in the fhip with John Humfrey. 
 — See Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 4, c. I ; 
 Winthrop, ii. 85 ; Brook's Lives, iii. 
 139 ; Savage's Gcneal. Did. 
 
 Of the " worthy inftruments " whom 
 Morton, s. a. 1542, names "among 
 the fpecialeft" in Plymouth colony, 
 Lechford omits the Rev. John La- 
 throp (Scituate, 1634-39 ; Barnftable, 
 1638-53) ; Rev. John Mayo, Mr. La- 
 throp's colleague at Barnftable (ord. 
 April IS, 1640); and Rev. Ralph 
 Partridge, firft minifter of Duxbury 
 
 (1637-58). 
 
 143 "The Iftand," — a name fpecial- 
 ly appropriated to Rhode liland by 
 the Engliih who firft planted there. 
 With the locative or objeftive affix, 
 Aqueduct, or Aquidnick, fignifying, 
 
94 
 
 Plaifie dealings 
 
 M after Gortoh 
 wliipt and 
 baniflied. 
 
 Clark was Elder : '^^ The place where the Church was, is 
 called Newport, but that Church, I heare, is now dif- 
 folved ; "*^' as alfo divers Churches in the Country have 
 been broken up and diffolved through diilention. At the 
 other end of the Ifland there is another towne called 
 P ortf mouth, but no Church : there is a meeting of fome 
 men, who there teach one another, and call it Prophefie. 
 Thefe of the Ifland have a pretended civill government 
 of their owne ere6lion, without the Kings Patent.'^^' There 
 lately they whipt one mafter Gorton,''^'' a grave man, for 
 
 io, OH, or at the Ifland. [Thus, in A6ts 
 xxvii. 1 6, Eliot wrote, '■'• aJiqiiednet 
 hettamun Clauda," for "an ifland 
 caUed Clauda.] The diminutive of 
 this name, Aquedi?//<?/et, or Aquidz/i/^ 
 ick, was given to "the little Ifland in 
 the mouth of the Bay " (4 Mafs. Hijl 
 Coll., vi. 267). 
 
 The M.H.S. MS. reads here,— 
 "about one hundred families : There 
 is one church," etc. 
 
 ■44 For "Elder," the M.H.S. MS, 
 has " Paftor," and adds: "There is 
 Mr. Lenthall a minifler out of office 
 and imployment, and lives very poor- 
 ly. Mr. Doui^hty alfo is come to this 
 Ifland. The place where the church 
 is, is called Neiv ported To the 
 name of Mr. Lenthall is this note, in 
 the margin : " He flood upon his min- 
 ifterie and againft the Church Cove- 
 nant in the Bay, and diverfe joyneing 
 to choofe him their minifler at Wey- 
 
 mouth, by fubfcribing to a paper for 
 that end, he was cenfured in the gen- 
 rall Court at Bofl:on, and fo were they 
 that joyned in that election, and one 
 of them named Brittaine for words 
 faying that fome of the Minifters in 
 tlie Bay were Brownifts, and that they 
 would not [_/?t] tin it came to the 
 fwords point, was whipt, and had 
 eleven ftripes." Comp. p. 22, ante, 
 and fee notes 77-80. 
 
 145 " But that church . . . through 
 dilfention." Thefe three lines are not 
 in the M.H.S. MS., where the fen- 
 tence ends with ^^ Newport." 
 
 '46 The words " pretended civil " 
 are not in the M.H.S. MS. 
 
 '47 Of Samuel Gorton, — whofe hif- 
 tory Mr. Savage has, in a Angle line, 
 reduced to its effence : "a moft ac- 
 tive religious diflurber of feveral 
 places," — fee the Memoir by Judge 
 Staples, prefixed to " Simplicities De- 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 95 
 
 denying their power, and abiifing fome of their | Magif- 
 trates with uncivill tearmes ; the Governour, mafter Cod- 
 dington, faying in Court, Y021 that are for the King, lay 
 hold on Gorton ; and he againe, on the other fide, called 
 forth, All you that are for the King, lay hold on Codding- 
 ton ;^^^ whereupon Gorton was baniflied the Ifland : fo 
 with his wife and children he went to Providence.^^'^ They 
 began about a fmall trefpaffe of fwine, but it is thought 
 fome other matter was ingredient.'^" 
 
 fence," R. I. Hijl. Coll., ii. ; Mackie's 
 Life of Gorton, in Sparks's A/ner. 
 Biography; A-otice (by Chas. Deane) 
 in N. E. Getieal. Regifler, iv. 201-21 ; 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet., and note to 
 Winthrop, ii. 58 ; Arnold's R. Ifland, 
 i. 163, et feq. 
 
 "The fum of the prefentment of 
 Samuel Gorton, at Portfmouth " was 
 printed by Edward Winflow in his 
 reply to Gorton {Hypocrifte Un- 
 mafked, Lond., 1646), pp. 54, 55, — 
 whence it is copied by Arnold, Hifl. 
 of R. Ifland, i. 170-72. The precife 
 date of his trial or of his banifhment 
 from the Ifland has not been afcer- 
 tained. Mr. Arnold (i. 172) places it 
 in March or April, 1640 ; Dr. Palfrey 
 {Hifl. of N. E., ii. 119) writes " 1640 
 or 1641 ;" Mr. Savage, in his Geneal. 
 Diilionary, and Mr. C. Deane, in A' 
 E. Geneal. Regifler, iv. 206, are filent. 
 
 148 Comp. the prefentment (14th 
 count) in Hypocrifie Unmafked, 55 ; 
 Arnold's Hifl. of R. I.,\. 172. 
 
 149 Roger Williams wrote to Gov. 
 Winthrop, from Providence, under the 
 date, "8. ift 1640," fome account of 
 Gorton's proceedings there : " Mafter 
 Gorton having foully abufed high and 
 low at Aquednick, is now bewitching 
 and bemadding poor Providence, . . . 
 denying all vifible and external ordi- 
 nances, in depth of Familifm, againfl 
 which I have a little difputed and 
 written, and fhall (the Molt High 
 affifting,) to death. As Paul faid of 
 Afia, I of Providence ; (almofl) all 
 fuck in his poifon, as at firfl they did 
 at Aquednick," etc. — Hypocrifie Un- 
 mafked, 55 ; Arnold, i. 172. Comp. 
 N. E. Geneal. Reg., iv. 216. Mr. Ar- 
 nold reads the date of this letter, 061. 
 I, 1640; Mr. Deane and Dr. Palfrey 
 (ii. 120), March 8, 1641. That the lat- 
 ter is the true reading hardly admits 
 of doubt. 
 
 150 Winflow expreflly ftates that 
 Gorton's punifliment was " all for 
 breach of the civil peace and notori- 
 
96 
 
 Plaiiie dealing. 
 
 New Proviih'tice 
 
 At Providence, which is twenty miles from the faid 
 Illand, hves mafter Williams, and his company of divers 
 opinions ; moft are Anabaptifls ; they hold there is no 
 true vifible Church in the Bay, nor in the world, nor any 
 true Miniflerie.'^' This is within no Patent, as they fay ; 
 but they have of late a kind of government alfo of their 
 owne ere6tion.'5^ 
 
 ous contempt of authority, without 
 the leaft mention of any points of re- 
 ligion, on the Government's part. 
 Hyp. U)iin. The " fmall trefpafs " 
 was by " an ancient woman's cow 
 going into the field where Samuel 
 Gorton had fome land." 
 
 'SI See IVint/u'op, i. 293, 367. Af- 
 ter his re-baptifm by Holliman, Roger 
 Williams " walked in the Baptifls' 
 way about three or four months," then 
 "brake from the fociety, and declared 
 at large the ground and reafon of it, 
 — that their baptifm could not be 
 right, becaufe it was not adminiftered 
 by an Apoftle. After that, he fet 
 himfelf upon a way of Seeking," etc. 
 (Rich. Scott's letter, in App. to Fox's 
 N. E. Fire-Brand QiiencJied, 247.) 
 " He advifed [the church at Provi- 
 dence] to forego all, to dillike every- 
 thing, and wait for the coming of new 
 Apoftles : whereupon they diffolved 
 themfelves, and became that fort of 
 fe6l which we term Seekers, . . . own- 
 ing of no true Churches or Ordinan- 
 ces now in the world." Magnalia, 
 b. vii. c. 2, § 7 ; comp. Calender's 
 
 Hijl. Difc, 109, 1 10. When Mr. Wil- 
 liams was in England, in 1643 and 
 '44, he made numerous converts to 
 his peculiar belief, and the feft of 
 Seekers — of whom Baxter called him 
 the father — became confiderable in 
 numbers and influence. Robert Bail- 
 lie, the Presbyterian divine, wrote 
 from London, in June, 1644, that the 
 Independents "are divided among 
 themfelves. One Mr. Williams has 
 drawn a great number after him, to a 
 fingular independency, denying any 
 true church in the world." Not long 
 afterwards, he wrote again : " Sundry 
 of the Independents are flepped out 
 of tlie church and follow my good 
 acquaintance, Mr. Roger Williams, 
 who fays there is no church, no 
 facraments, no paftors, no church- 
 officers, or ordinance in the world, 
 nor has been fince a few years after 
 the Apoftles." Hanbury's Memorials, 
 ii. 439, 444. Of the se(5t of Seekers, 
 fee Reliq. BaxteriancE, pt. i. 76 ; Ed- 
 wards's Gangrcena, pt. ii. p. 131. 
 
 152 This alludes probably to the 
 articles of agreement entered into by 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 97 
 
 One mvSiG^Y Blakcjion,'^^ a Minifter, went from Bojlon, '^'^- Biakejio,,. 
 having lived there nine or ten yeares, becaufe he would 
 not joyne with the Church ; he lives neere mafter Wil- 
 liams, but is far from his opinions. 
 
 There are five or fix townes, and Churches upon the connenkot. 
 River Conne5licot^^^'' where are worthy mafter Hooker, 
 mafter Warham, mafter Hewet, and divers others, and 
 mafter Fenwike with the Lady Boleler,'''" at the rivers i.^Ay Boteier. 
 
 the inhabitants of Providence, July 
 27, 1640. " It was but a flight depar- 
 ture from the primitive democracy, 
 ftill it forms an era in our colonial 
 hiftory, and for feveral years confti- 
 tuted the town government." — Ar- 
 nold's Hiyi. of R. IJland^ i. 108; fee 
 Staples, A?ina!s of Prov., 40-43. 
 
 153 In the M.H.S. MS., this name 
 is written Blackflo)ic. Of the little 
 which is known of the Rev. William 
 Blackftone, the first known white fet- 
 tler of Bofton, and the " earliefl per- 
 manent civilized refident" in what 
 now conftitutes the State of Rhode 
 Ifland, ample exhibition may be found 
 in Blifs's Hifl. of Rchoboth, 2-14; 
 Daggett's Hifl. of AttleboroHgJu 29; 
 Callender's Hifl. Difcourfe (Elton's 
 ed.), App. v. ; S. Davis, in 2 Mafs. 
 Hifl. Coll., X. 170; Savage's Geneal. 
 Did., and note on Winthrop, i. 44, 45 ; 
 Drake's Boflon, 95-97 ; Arnold's R. 
 Ifland, i. 99, ii. 568-70. He lived on 
 the tra(5l afterwards called the "Attle- 
 borough Gore " (included in Reho- 
 both north purchafe, in 1661), near 
 
 13 
 
 the river fmce called by his name, in 
 the fouth part of what is now the 
 townfliip of Cumberland, R. I. 
 
 154 Lechford had not vifited Con- 
 necticut, and his notice of the river 
 towns is brief and unfatisfaftory. He 
 names Mr. Hooker of Hartford, but 
 omits his colleague, the Rev. Samuel 
 Stone. John Warham was paflor, and 
 Ephraim Huet teacher, of the church 
 at Windfor. It does not appear that 
 Wethersfield had an organized church 
 before 1641, when Henry Smith is 
 fuppofed to have been ordained there. 
 Peter Prudden (who was fettled over 
 the church of Milford, April, 1640) 
 and Richard Denton (who removed to 
 Stamford early in 1641) had preached, 
 perhaps only occafionally, at Weth- 
 ersfield, before Mr. Smith's ordina- 
 tion. — Comp. Trumbull's Hijl. of 
 Conn., i. loS, 120, 121, 279, 280 ; Win- 
 throp, i. 305, 306 ; Goodwin's Footc 
 Genealogy, Introd., xxxviii. 
 
 155 George Fenwick of Brinkburn, 
 CO. Northumberland, a gentleman of 
 good family and eftate, was intcrcfted 
 
98 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 43 
 
 mouth in a faire houfe, and well fortified, and one mafler 
 Higgifon, a young man, their Chaplain.'^^ Thefe plan- 
 tations have a Patent ; the Lady was lately admitted of 
 mafler Hookers Church, and thereupon her child was 
 baptized. 
 
 The Lady Moody''''''' lives at Lynne, but is of Salem 
 
 in the Earl of Warwick's grant to 
 Lord Say and Sele and others, ufual- 
 ly termed the "old patent" of Con- 
 necticut. In July, 1639, as the rep- 
 refentative of the grantees, he came, 
 " with his lady and family, to make a 
 plantation at Saybrook," " landing at 
 New Haven from the firfl fhip that 
 ever caft anchor in that place." {\Vin- 
 throp, i. App. A. 59, 60, and p. 306 ; 
 Hiifc/u'ji/o/i, \. 97.) His wife, Alice, 
 was a daughter of Sir Edward Apfley 
 of Thackham, co. Suffex, Knt, and, 
 at the time of her marriage with Mr. 
 F., the widow of Sir John Botelcr 
 of Tellon, co. Kent. She died at Say- 
 brook, in November or December, 
 1645, fliortly after the birth (Nov. 4) 
 of her fecond daughter, Dorothy. 
 The elder daughter, Elizabeth, whofe 
 baptifm Lechford mentions, married, 
 in England, after her father's deceafe, 
 her coufin, Roger Fenwick, Efq., 
 younger brother of Major John F., 
 the proprietor of Salem Tenth, New 
 Jerfey. See Will of Geo. Fenwick, 
 in Conn. Rec, i. App. vii. ; Berry's 
 SiiJJ'ex Genealogies (Apfley) ; Burke's 
 ExtinCl Barotietcies (Boteler, of Tef- 
 ton.) Mr. Fenwick, having tranf- 
 
 ferred to Connefticut his intereil in 
 the fort and plantation at Saybrook, 
 returned to England foon after the 
 death of his wife, and entered the fer- 
 vice of the parliament. In 1648, he 
 " was made a colonel and governor 
 of Tynemouth caftle" {IVinthrop, ii. 
 App. A. 72), and was named a mem- 
 ber of the high court of juflice for the 
 trial of Charles I., but did not take 
 his feat in that tribunal. In 1652, he 
 was Governor of Berwick ; and, the 
 fame year, married Katharine, daugh- 
 ter of Sir Arthur Hafelrigge. He 
 died at Berwick, March 15, 1657 ; 
 and a monument in the church there 
 honors his memory with the epitaph, 
 " A good man is a public good." 
 
 156 John Higginfon, eldeft fon of 
 the Rev. Francis ; afterwards affiflant 
 and fucceflbr of Rev. Henry Whit- 
 field at Guilford, and, later, the hon- 
 ored minifter of the Salem church, 
 1660-1708. Before his fettlement at 
 Guilford, — probably before his chap- 
 laincy at Saybrook, — he taught fchool 
 for fome time in Hartford, while prof- 
 ecuting his ftudies for the miniftry 
 under Mr. Hooker. 
 
 '57 I have found no earlier mention 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 99 
 
 Church, fliee is (good Lady) ahiioft undone by buying f^^'ij' ^^""^y- 
 mafter Humphries farme, Siuarnpfcot,^'"'^ which cofl her 
 nine, or eleven hundred pounds. 
 
 Beyond Conne6licott are divers plantations, as Neiu- Av^t, Haven. 
 Haven^ alias Quinapeag, where mafter Davenport is Paf- 
 tor, and one mafter lames^^'^ a Schoole-mafter ; and 
 
 of Lady Deborali Moody than in a 
 memorandum by Lechford, acknowl- 
 edging the receipt of ^i. ii. "of my 
 Lady Moody," April 22, 1639, — '^i 
 payment of profeffional fervices pro- 
 bably. She had a grant of four liun- 
 dred acres of land from the General 
 Court, May 13, 1640. Mafs. Rcc, i. 
 290. Winthrop (ii. 123), writing in 
 the fummer of 1643, tells how, "being 
 taken with the error of denying bap- 
 tifm to infants," flie was admoniflied 
 by the Salem Church, and removed 
 to the Dutch colony, "to avoid fur- 
 ther trouble, etc." By permiffion of 
 Gov. Kieft, fhe fettled at Gravefend, 
 L. L See Brodhead's Hijl. of Neiu 
 York, \. 367, 411. 
 
 158 Intheealternpartof Lynn; grant- 
 ed to Mr. Humfrey by the General 
 Court, May, 1635, and laid out, 1637-8, 
 "betwixt the Clifte and the Foreft 
 River near Marblehead." Mafs. Rec, 
 i. 147, 226. [The name "Swampfcot" 
 
 — contracted from \Vaiiiiafquo>npfl:ut 
 
 — fignifies, at the clitT, upriglit rock, 
 or rock-fummit.] 
 
 '59 Thomas James, ordained paftor 
 
 at Charleflown, Nov. 2, 163-2, was dif- 
 milTed in confequence of " fome occa- 
 fions of difference " with his colleague, 
 Mr. Symmes, as Winthrop relates, 
 under date of March 11, 1636. He 
 removed, after brief ftay at Provi- 
 dence, to New Haven, whsre he had 
 a grant of land, Nov. 3, 1639, and 
 was admitted a freeman June 1 1, 1640. 
 See Winthrop, i. 94; 127, 182, ii. 95 ; 
 Frothingham's Charleflcii'n, 70-72 ; 
 N. Haven Col. Rec, i. 24, 35 ; Ba- 
 con's Hi_^. Dtfc, 57-59- A greater 
 than Mafter James was teaching at 
 New Haven when Lechford wrote, 
 or very fhortly afterwards. Ezekiel 
 Cheever, "the father of New-England 
 fchool-mafters," came with Davenport 
 and Eaton in 1638. In February, 
 1642, a free fchool was eftabliOied in 
 New Haven, and provifion made by 
 the General Court for its fupport, 
 "according to which order, 20^. a 
 year was paid to Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, 
 ... for two or three years," and his 
 falary was increafed to ^30. in Au- 
 guft, 1644. — A'. //. Col. Rcc, i. 62, 
 210 ; Bacon's /////. Dif:, 318-20. 
 
lOO 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 another where mafter Whitfield^''^ is : and another where 
 mafter Pridgeon "^' is, and fome others,'^' ahnoft reaching 
 to the Dutch plantation fouthward. Among thefe are 
 my old acquaintance, mafter Roger Ludlow,^^^ mailer 
 
 '60 Manunkatuck — named Guil- 
 ford, July 6, 1643 — was purchafed 
 and planted, in 1639, by the Rev. 
 Henry Whitfield and his ailociates. 
 Mr. W. arrived in New Haven in 
 July, 1639, ""^ the fliip with George 
 Fenwick. He returned to England 
 in 1650. — N. H. Col. Rec, i. 96, 199 ; 
 TV. E. Geneal. Reg., ix. 149; Trum- 
 bull's Hijl. of Conn., i. 207, 285, 295. 
 
 161 For Prudden. Wepowaug, af- 
 terwards named Milford, was pur- 
 chafed of the Indians, Feb. 12, 1639, 
 by Rev. Peter Prudden and his affo- 
 ciates. Their church was gathered 
 at New Haven, and Mr. P. was or- 
 dained their minifter, April 18, 1640. 
 He remained with them till his death, 
 July, 1656, — "a man of great zeal, 
 courage, wifdom, and exemplary grav- 
 ity in his converfation." — Hubbard's 
 HiJl. of N. E., 328. See alfo, Mag- 
 nalia, b. iii. pt. 2, c. vi.; Bacon's Hifl. 
 Difcou)fes, 55. 
 
 ^^^ Thefe were Rippoivams (named 
 Stamford, April 6, 1642), fettled in 
 1 641, under the jurifdidion of New 
 Haven ; Peqiionnock, or» CjipJtcag, 
 (Stratford), and Uncowa (Fairfield), 
 begun to be fettled in 1639, the for- 
 mer admitted to town privileges by 
 Connefticut the fame year ; the latter 
 in April, 1640. — Trumbull's Conn., \. 
 
 121, 109, no ; N. H. Col. Rcc, \. 45, 
 58 ; Conn. Rec, i. 35, 36, 41, 53. 
 
 163 Mr. Ludlow probably accompa- 
 nied Captains Mafon and Stoughton 
 in purfuit of the fugitive Pequots to 
 Safco fwamp, in June, 1637, and had 
 thus an opportunity of exploring that 
 fine traft of land which Capt. Stough- 
 ton pronounced to be "before Pequot, 
 or the Bay either, abundantly." (Let- 
 ter, in Winthrop, i. App. D.) In Oc- 
 tober, 1639, he had taken fome fteps 
 toward the eftablifliment of a planta- 
 tion at Uncowa (Fairfield), and re- 
 moved thither not long afterwards. 
 Conn. Rcc, i. 35, 53. Confidering the 
 imjDortant pofition which Roger Lud- 
 low held in two colonies, and the 
 trufts with which he was honored, it 
 is furprifing that fo little of his per- 
 fonal hillory and family relation has 
 come to light. That little may nearly 
 all be feen in Savage's Geneal. Difl., 
 and note to Winthrop, i. 28, and in 
 Trumbull's Cotuie^liciit, i. 217, 218. 
 A prefatory note to Mr. Brinley's ad- 
 mirable reprint of the Conn. Laws of 
 1673 gives reafon for doubting the 
 correftnefs of Dr. Trumbull's ftate- 
 ment (1. c), adopted by Mr. Savage, 
 that Ludlow " removed with his fam- 
 ily to Virginia." The fa6l of his re- 
 turn to England is placed beyond 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 lOI 
 
 Frojl^^'' fometime of Nottingham, and his fonnes, loJin 
 Grey and Henry Grey ; the Lord in his goodneffe pro- 
 vide for them ; they have a Minifler, whofe name I have 
 forgotten, if it be not mafler BlackwelL^^^ I do not know 
 what Patent thefe have. 
 
 Long I/land is begun to be planted, and fome two Min- Long ijia,ui. 
 ifters are gone thither, or to goe, as one mafter Peir/on,^^^ 
 
 doubt by the occurrence of his name 
 as one of a committee to whom, in 
 July, 1656, the council at Whitehall 
 referred the petition of Thomas Jen- 
 ner for reftitution of goods which had 
 been taken from him at Bofton, under 
 a commiffion from Major Sedgwick 
 and Capt. Leverett. See Sainsbury's 
 Calendar of Col. Papers, i. 444. 
 
 164 William Froft was an early fet- 
 tler at Uncowa, where he died in 
 1645. His will, of Jan. 6, 1644-5, is 
 printed in Conii. Rec, i. 465. John 
 and Henry Grey were living in Bof- 
 ton in 1639. Before May of that 
 year, John married Elizabeth, daugh- 
 ter of William Froft, and widow of 
 John Watfon. Aug. i, he fold a houfe 
 and home-lot in Lynn, and, before 
 September 28, removed (perhaps ac- 
 companying his father-in-law) to Un- 
 cowa, or the vicinity. Henry, the 
 younger brother, had a houfe-lot 
 granted in Bofton, Feb. 12, 1639. In 
 an inftrument executed Sept. 7, 1639, 
 he is defcribed as " now of Bofton, 
 heretofore citizen and merchant of 
 London." He married Lydia, another 
 
 daughter of William Froft, after May, 
 
 1639. In September, 1640, he and 
 his wife conveyed their houfe in Bof- 
 ton to Thomas Lechford, in truft, to 
 be fold for their account. (Lechford's 
 MS. Journal.) He foon afterwards 
 followed his brother and wife's father 
 to Uncowa, where he became a man 
 of fome importance ; was a deputy in 
 1656 and '57 ; and died in 1658. 
 
 165 Adam Blakeman (as in his auto- 
 graph now before me, but more often 
 written by his contemporaries and 
 defcendants. Black/nan) became, in 
 
 1640, the firft minifter of Pequonnock 
 (Stratford), where he continued to re- 
 fide until his death in 1665. — See the 
 Magnalia, b. iii. pt. 2, c. 7 ; Trum- 
 bull's Hijl. of Conn., i. 280, 463 ; Sav- 
 age's Geneal. Dulionary. 
 
 i66 Rev. Abraham Pierfon, from 
 Yorkftiire (A.B. Trin Col., Cambr., 
 1632), came to New England in 1640, 
 and was chofen minifter of the church 
 gathered at Lynn in November of 
 that year, for removal to Long Ifland. 
 — See Winthrop, ii. 6 ; Savage's 
 Gen. Did. J Trumbull's Conn., i. 148. 
 
I02 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 and mafter Knowles;^^ that was at Dover, alias Northam. 
 A Church was gathered for that Ifland at Lynne, in the 
 Bay, whence fome, by reafon of flraitneffe, did remove to 
 the faid Ifland ; and one mafter Simonds, heretofore a 
 fervant unto a good gentlewoman whom I know, was 
 one of the firft Founders.''^^ Mafter Peter of Salem was 
 at the gathering, and told me the faid mafter Henry Si- 
 monds made a very cleare confeffion. Notwithftanding 
 he yet dwels at Bojlon, and they proceed on but flowly. 
 The Patent is granted to the Lord Starling ; but the 
 Dutch claime part of the Ifland, or the whole : for their 
 
 1^7 Sept. 28, 1641, James Farrett, 
 agent of the Earl of Stirling, recorded 
 at Bofton his formal proteft againft 
 Edward Tomlyns and Timothy Tom- 
 lyns, "witli one Han/ard Knoivles^nd 
 others, who have lately entered and 
 taken pofieffion of fome parts of the 
 Long Ifland," etc. See note to U'in- 
 throp, ii. 4. Thefe were of the com- 
 pany from Lynn and Ipfwich which 
 went to Long Ifland in the fummer 
 of 1641, and "finding a very commo- 
 dious place for plantations, but chal- 
 lenged by the Dutch, they treated 
 with the Dutch governor to take it 
 from them" and obtained from Kieft 
 a grant (June 6) of all the privileges 
 they defired, on "very fair terms." 
 The Maflachufetts Court "were of- 
 fended at this, and fought to fl:ay them, 
 not for going from us, but for fl:rength- 
 ening the Dutch, our doubtful neigh- 
 
 bors, and taking that from them which 
 om- king challenged and had granted 
 ... to the Earl of Stirling." Some of 
 the leaders, called before the Odlober 
 court, " were convinced and promifed 
 to defifl:." IVinthrop, ii. 34; Brod- 
 head's Hijl. of New York, i. 332-33. 
 If Mr. Knollys actually went with this 
 company to Long Ifland, he did not 
 long remain there, for we know that 
 he arrived in London, Dec. 24, 1641. 
 Brook's Lives, iii. 492 ; Wiiifhrop, ii. 
 28 (and note). 
 
 jfjs Henry Symonds came to New 
 England in July or Auguft, 1640, (fail- 
 ing from Briftol in the " Charles," or 
 her confort, the "Hopewell"). He 
 was admitted an inhabitant of Bofton 
 Jan. 30, 1643, and died there in Sep- 
 tember of the fame year. — Lechford's 
 MS. journal; Snow's Bq/ion, 124, 
 125 ; Drake's Bo/ion, 278, n. 
 
Neives from New-England. 1 03 
 
 plantation is right over againft, and not far from the 44 
 South end of the faid Ifle. And one Lieutenant Howe 
 pulHng downe the Dutch Arms on the Ifle, there was 
 Hke to be a great flir, what ever may become of it.''^'^' The 
 Dutch alfo claime Quinapeag, and other parts. 
 
 At Northam,^''° ahas Pafcattaqua, is mafler Larkham Pn/caaagua. 
 Paftor. One mafler H. K:''' was alfo lately Minifler 
 there, with mafter Larkham. They two fell out about 
 baptizing children, receiving of members, buriall of the 
 dead ; and the contention was fo fliarp, that mafter 
 K. and his party rofe up, and excommunicated mafter m. Larkiutm 
 
 excommunicated. 
 
 Larkliain, and fome that held with him: And further, 
 mafter Larkham flying to the Magiflrates, mafter K. and 
 a Captaine'^-' raifed Amies, and expeded helpe from the a broyie or not. 
 
 169 See IVinthrop, ii. 4-7; Brod- reafon for thinking "it was time for 
 
 head's Hijl. of New York, i. 297-99. him to be gone." He became the 
 
 The " great ftir " was quieted by the minifter of Taviftock, Devonfhire, and 
 
 interchange of letters in Latin, by notwithftanding the evil report which 
 
 Kieft and Dudley. followed him acrofs the Atlantic, he 
 
 '7° Dover was fora fliort time calkd was honored as " a man of great fin- 
 
 Northam, after a pariOi of that name cerity, ftricl piety and good learning." 
 
 near Bideford, co. Devon, where the Palmer's Calaniy, i. 407. Edwards, 
 
 Rev. Thomas Larkham had been min- in the GangrcEna (1646 : pt. 3, p. 97), 
 
 ifter. Of the ftrife between Mr. Lark- gives brief and bitter notice of " one 
 
 ham and Mr. KnoUys, Winthrop gives Mafter Larkin," who was then preach- 
 
 a full account, ii. 27, 28. See alfo ing fomewhere in Kent, — "a fierce 
 
 two letters from Hugh Peters, in 4 Independent." 
 Mafs. Hijt. Coll., vi. 106, 107; Bel- '71 " Hanfard Knowles." — J/.//..V. 
 
 knap's yV^w //aw/y/wVv, i. 46-49- Mr. MS. 
 
 Larkham failed for England in 1642, ^n "Captaine Underbill." — /^/rt'. 
 
 and Winthrop (ii. 92) gives a good Comp. Winthrop, ii. 27, where the 
 
I04 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Bay; mafter K. going before the troop with a Bible 
 upon a poles top, and he, or fome of his party giving 
 forth, that their fide were Scois, and the other EjigHJIt :'^^ 
 Whereupon the Gentlemen of Sir Ferdinando Gorges 
 plantation came in, and kept Court with the Magiflrates 
 oi Pafcattaqua, (who have alfo a Patent) being weake of 
 themfelves. And they fined all thofe that were in Armes, 
 for a Riot, by Indi6lment, Jury, and Verdi6l, formally.'^'* 
 Nine of them were cenfured to be whipt, but that was 
 fpared. Mafter K. and the Captain their leaders, were 
 fined loo.l. a piece, which they are not able to pay. To 
 
 Kpifcopacie. tliis broylc came mafler /^t'/rr of ^'^/c^;;^, and there gave 
 his opinion, at Northam, that the faid excommunication 
 was a nullity.'" 
 45 Mafter Thomas Gorgs fonne of Captain Gorgs of Bat- 
 
 Provinceof combc, by Ckedder m SomerfetJJiire, is principall Commif- 
 
 captain is faid to have gathered his lower part of the River [at Portf- 
 
 neighbors " to defend hiiiifelf, and to mouth and Dover], who came up with 
 
 fee the peace kept," Mr. Larkham a company of armed men and befet 
 
 having previoufly "laid violent hands Mr. Knolles' houfe where Capt. Un- 
 
 upon Mr. Knolles." derhill then was, . . . and in the mean 
 
 173 " KnoUys's calling his party time they called a Court, and Mr. 
 Scots, and the other party EngliJJi, Williams fitting as judge, they found 
 will be underftood when it is remem- Capt. Underbill and his company 
 bered that the battle of Newburn- guilty of a riot, and fet great fines 
 upon-Tyne had been lately fought." upon them," etc. — Winthrop, ii. 28. 
 — Palfrey's Hijl. of N. E., i. 591. 17s See after, p. 53, where Lechford 
 
 174 " Mr. Larkham and his compa- mentions this vifit of Hugh Peters to 
 ny . . . fent to Mr. [Francis] Williams, Dover as one of the " occurrences 
 who was governour of thofe in the touching Epifcopacie." 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 lO: 
 
 fioner for the Province of Maigne, under Sir Ferdinando, 
 but he was not at that Court at Noi^tham himfelfe.'^^ 
 Mafter Wards fonnc'" is defired to come into the Pro- 
 vince of Maigne. There is one mafter lenner''^^ gone 
 thither of late. There is want of good Minifters there ; 
 the place hath had an ill report by fome, but of late fome 
 good a6ls of Juftice'^'' have been done there, and divers 
 
 '76 Thomas Gorges arrived at Bof- 
 ton in the summer of 1640, commif- 
 fioned a member of the council for 
 Maine, and its fecretary. Winthrop 
 found him "well difpofed," and "care- 
 ful to take advice of our magiftrates 
 how to manage his affairs.'" He re- 
 mained a few days in Boflon, and 
 went to Maine in feafon to be prefent 
 at the fecond meeting of the General 
 Court for the province, September 8. 
 In 1641, when Acomenticus was in- 
 corporated as a town, by charter of 
 Sir Ferd. Gorges, his " well-beloved 
 coufm" Thomas was named mayor; 
 and he was alfo conftituted deputy- 
 governor of the province. Winthrop, 
 ii. 9, and Savage's note ; Sullivan's 
 Maine, App. vi.; Williamfon's Maine, 
 i. 283-5 ; Hazard's State Papers, i. 47; 
 Letters of T. Gorges to Winthrop, in 
 4 Ma/s. Hijl. Coll., vii. i},},, 335. 
 
 177 See before, p. 38, note 119. 
 
 178 Rev. Thomas Jenner, who had 
 been at Roxbury in 1634 or 1635 ; 
 afterwards at Weymouth, where he 
 preached for fome years, and his 
 name appears as deputy to the Gen- 
 
 14 
 
 eral Court, in May, 1640. In Janu- 
 ary, 1 64 1, he was at Saco, commend- 
 ed thither by Winthrop, Humfrey, 
 and other friends in Maflfachufetts ; 
 and Richard Vines (who was an Epif- 
 copalian) wrote that "he liked Mr. 
 Jenner his life and converfation, and 
 alfo his preaching, if he would let the 
 Church of England alone." He was 
 yet at Saco in April, 1646, though al- 
 ready " on the wing of removal ;" re- 
 turned to England, and was living in 
 Norfolkfliire in 165 1. — Winthrop, i. 
 250 (and note), 287-88 ; Folfom's 
 Saco and Biddeford, 81-83; Mafs. 
 HiJl. Coll., 3d Ser. iv. 144 ; 4th Sen 
 vii. 340, 341- 
 
 • 79 The "good afts of juftice" to 
 which Lechford fpecially alludes,were, 
 probably, the proceedings againft the 
 notorious George Burdett, late gov- 
 ernor and preacher at Dover, and 
 more recently at Acomenticus, where 
 Thomas Gorges " found all out of or- 
 der, for Mr. Burdett ruled all." In 
 1640, he was complained of and fined, 
 on three feveral convidions, for grofs 
 mifcondua, and foon afterwards re- 
 
io6 
 
 Plaine dealings 
 
 Gentlemen '^° there are, and it is a Countrey very plenti- 
 ful for fifli, fowle, and venifon. 
 
 Exeter. Not farrc from Norikaju is a place called Exeiej^, where 
 
 mafter Wheelwright hath a fmall Church.'^' 
 
 Cape Anne. And at Cape Anne, where fifliing is fet forward, and 
 
 fome ftages builded,'^- there one mafter RaJJiley is Chap- 
 
 turned to England. — See IVinf/irop, 
 i. 276, 281, 291; ii. 10 ; Hubbard, 221, 
 
 353, 361. 
 
 180 We may read here, with the 
 M. H. S. MS., "divers well acco/n- 
 pliJJit and dijcreeie Gentlemen there 
 are." 
 
 "8i Rev. John Wheelwright, " being 
 banifhed from us, gathered a compa- 
 ny, and fat down by the falls of Paf- 
 cataquack, and called their town Ex- 
 eter." IViiithrop, i. 290. The fettle- 
 ment was commenced in 1638, and. 
 Oft. 4, 1639, thirty-five planters fub- 
 fcribed a combination for civil gov- 
 ernment, independent of other jurif- 
 diflion. Hazard, i. 463 ; Belknap's 
 iV. HampJJiire, i. ch. i. 
 
 182 "A filhing trade was begun at 
 Cape Ann by one Mr. Maurice Tom- 
 fon, a merchant of London ; and an 
 order was made [by the General 
 Court, in May, 1639], that all flocks 
 employed in fifliing fliould be free 
 from public charge for feven years." 
 Winthrop, i. 307 ; Mafs. Rec, i. 256, 
 257-8. Mr. Thompfon, if he came at 
 all to New England, did not remain 
 long. He was an enterprifing mer- 
 
 chant, who was largely interefted in 
 trade with Canada, Virginia, the Weft 
 Indies, and Guinea ; much employed 
 by the company of Providence Ifland, 
 the Virginia company, and the pro- 
 prietors of the Somers Ifland, be- 
 tween 1632 and 1650 ; a member of 
 the Guinea company; and, in 1653, 
 one of the commiffioners for govern- 
 ing the Somers Iflands. See Sainf- 
 bury's Calendar of Colon. Papers, i. 
 151, 155, 294, 316-19, &c. Land was 
 appropriated in his name at Cape 
 Ann, and " Mr. Thomfon's frame " 
 (probably for curing fifli) is mentioned 
 in the Gloucefter town records in 
 1650, as having formerly flood upon 
 a "parcel of land in the harbour." 
 Babfon's Hijl. of Ghmcejler, 50. 01- 
 mond Douch and Thomas Milward 
 (or Millard) were partners in the fifli- 
 ing bufinefs at Cape Ann in July, 
 1639, and the latter defcribes himfelf 
 as "of Cape Ann," in Auguft, 1640. 
 Lechford's Ms. Journal. They were 
 probably employed by Mr. Thompfon, 
 and were under the immediate direc- 
 tion of his agent, Samuel Maverick 
 of Noddle's Ifland. 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 107 
 
 lain:'^^ for it is farre off from any Church: Rajliley is 
 admitted of Bojlon Church, but the place lyeth next 
 Salem, and not very far further from Ipfwich. 
 
 The IJlc of Shoalcs and Richmonds IJle, which He neere ifleofi-/w«/« 
 Pafquattaqua, and '^* good fifliing places. 
 
 About one hundred and fifty leagues from B0JI071 Eafl- ineof^-aw,... 
 
 ward is the IJle of Sables, whither one lo/in Webb, alias 
 
 Evered, an a6live man, with his company are gone with 
 
 commiffion from the Bay, to get Sea-horfe teeth and 
 oyle.'®5 
 
 Eaflward off Cape Codd lyeth an Ifland called Martins ^;[;f "^ '''"•^- 
 
 183 Thomas Rafliley was admitted 
 to the Bofton Church, March 8, 1640, 
 then called a " ftudent." He was at 
 Exeter in 1646 ; returned to England, 
 and was minifter at Bifhop Stokes, 
 Hants ; afterwards, it is faid, in Wilt- 
 fhire. Goical. Dici. In 1641, Rev. 
 Richard Blinman, with a part of the 
 company who followed him from 
 Wales, removed from Green's Har- 
 bor (Marflifield) to Cape Ann, and 
 gave to the plantation the name of 
 Gloucelter. 
 
 184 For "and" read "are." Af.H.S. 
 MS. Richmond's [or Richman's] Ifl- 
 and is on the coaft of Maine, between 
 Cape Elizabeth and Black Point. Jof- 
 felyn vifited it, in September, 1638; 
 " where Mr. Tralanie [Trelawney] 
 kept a fifliing. Mr. John Winter, a 
 grave and difcreet man was his agent, 
 and imployer of 60 men upon that 
 
 defign." P^oyages to A'. E., 25, 26. 
 W^inthrop (i. 124) mentions the com- 
 ing of feventeen fifliing fliips to Rich- 
 man's Ifland and the Ifles of Shoals, 
 in the winter of 1633-4. 
 
 185 June 21, 1641, Lechford drafted 
 a "commiffion to John Webbe als 
 [Evered] of Bofl:on and his company 
 to trade and doe their bufinefle at the 
 Ifle of Sables, and to pafle in the 
 barke Endevor of Salem, whereof is 
 mafler Jofeph Grafton." Ms.Joitnial, 
 224. "This fummer [1641] the mer- 
 chants of Bofton fet out a velTel again 
 to the Ifle of Sable, with 12 men, to 
 flay there a year. They fent again in 
 the 8th month, and in three weeks 
 the veflel returned" with 400 pair of 
 fea-horfe teeth, worth ^^300. Win- 
 throp, ii. 34, 35. Earlier expeditions, 
 in 1635, 1637, and 1638-9, had been 
 lefs fuccefsful. Ibid., i. 162, 237, 305. 
 
io8 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 46 
 
 Vineyard'^'' uninhabited by any Englifli, but Indians, 
 which are very favage. 
 
 Northward from the Bay, or Northeaft, lyeth the 
 Freiich plantation, who take up bever there, and keepe 
 ftri6l government, boarding all veffels that come neare 
 them, and binding the mafters till the governour, who is 
 a Noble-man,'^^ know what they are ; and fouth of Nezv- 
 England the Dutch take up the bever. 
 
 French and 
 Dutch. 
 
 JofTelyn mentions " the Ainphibio2is 
 creature, the Walrus, Afors, or Sea- 
 Hoife," — "a kind of monftrous-fifli 
 numerous about the Ifle of Sables, i. e. 
 The fandy Ifle." Voyai^es, 10, 106. 
 
 186 "The m^oi Capa^vack." Brad- 
 ford, 97. " Thofe of the Ifles of Cap- 
 awack" fent to make friendfhip." 
 Ibid., 104. " The lile Gapewak . . . 
 now called Martin'' s Vineyard." Mor- 
 ton's Memorial (1669), 26. Winthrop 
 wrote "Martin's Vineyard," when no- 
 ticing the beginning of a plantation 
 there by "fome of Watertown," in 
 1643 ('i- '51) 152). So, Thomas May- 
 hew himfelf, in 1650; Henry Whit- 
 field i^'' Martin'' s Vineyard, . . . fome 
 call it Marthaes Vineyard "), in 165 1 ; 
 and Hubbard, a generation later. But 
 " Martha's Vineyard" was the name 
 given by Gofnold, in 1602, to the fmall 
 ifland now called No-man's Land (3 
 Mafs. Hi/l. Coll., viii. 75, 76) ; and the 
 " I Hands of Capawock alias Martha's 
 Vineyard" were, by that name, con- 
 veyed to Thomas Mayhew, 061. 25, 
 
 1 64 1. Hough's N^antiicket Papers, 4. 
 See 2 Mafs. Hifl. Coll., iv. 107, 118, 
 184 ; Belknap's Avier. Biog., ii. 113; 
 Davis's Morton, 58, 275. By Indians 
 of the main land, the ifland was called 
 Nope. 2 Mafs. Hifl. Coll., ii. 242. 
 
 187 Charles d'Aulnay de Charnife, 
 governor of the divifion of Acadie 
 which was weft of the river St. Croix. 
 After the death (in 1635) of Razilly, 
 chief commander of French Acadie, 
 D'Aulnay and the Sieur de La Tour 
 (to whom had been affigned the gov- 
 ernment of the eaflern divifion), quar- 
 relled for the fucceffion, the former 
 holding fortified ports at Penobfcot 
 (whence he had expelled the Plymouth 
 traders in 1635), at Port Royal (now 
 Annapolis) and La Heve (now New 
 Dublin), in Nova Scotia. La Tour 
 had a fort at the mouth of the St. 
 John. See Winthrop, i. 117, 166, 171, 
 206 ; ii. 42, 43, 107-14, &c.; Hutch- 
 infon, \. 127-135, 497-516; 3 Mafs. 
 Hifl. Coll.,w'i\. 90-121 ; and Palfrey's 
 Hijl. of N. Eng., ii. 1 44-1 51. 
 
Neives from New-England. 109^ 
 
 Three hundred Leagues fouth from the Bay along the virsmia. 
 coafls, lyeth Virginia ; neare to that is Maryland, where Maryland. 
 they are Roman CathoHques, they fay. 
 
 There was a fpeech of fome Siuedes which came to ^■^'^'i^'- 
 inhabit neere Delawar Bay, but the number or certainty 
 I know not. 
 
 Three hundred leagues from the Bay, Eaflward, lyeth New-fonnd-iand. 
 New-found-land, where is a maine trade for fifliing. Here 
 we touched comming homeward.'^^ 
 
 Florida lyes betweene Virginia and the Bay of Mexico, Florida. 
 and had been a better Country for the EnglifJi to have 
 planted in, according to the opinion of fome, but it is fo 
 neere the Spaniard, that none muft undertake to plant 
 there, without good Forces. 
 
 For theflate of the Country in the Bay and thereabouts. 47 
 
 T 
 
 He Land is reafonable fruitfull, as I think; they s'ateofti.e 
 
 Countrey oi 
 
 have cattle, and goats, and fwine good ftore, and .^ew- England 
 fome horfes, ftore of fifli and fowle, venifon, and *corne, ^^'^'T.'tZn 
 both Englifit and Indian. They are indifferently well r.^ore^fainn' 
 able to fubfift for viauall. They are fetting on the man- f;f7„'^tei: 
 ufadure of linnen and cotton cloath,"^ and the fifliing :,", ^;,gS:f,:: 
 
 Peafe Iiave no 
 
 •88 " There being no fliip which was xSg This marginal note is not in tlie ^j"™^;^,^^^,;^'^ 
 
 to return right for England, they went M.H.S. MS. are very good.'" 
 
 to Newfoundland, intending to get a '9° The General Court, May, 1640, 
 
 paflage from thence in the fifhing " taking into ferious confideration the 
 
 fleet." Winthrop, ii. 31. abfolute neceffity for the raifing the 
 
no 
 
 Plaine dealing. 
 
 trade,"^' and they are building of fliips,"'' and have good 
 ftore of barks, catches, lighters, fliallops, and other vef- 
 
 manufafture of linen cloth," made an 
 order for the promotion of this branch 
 of induftry in the feveral towns, as 
 alfo, "for the fpinning and weaving 
 of cotton wool." Mafs. Rec, i. 294. 
 At the Oftober feffion, a bounty was 
 granted of 3d. on the (hilling on the 
 value of all linen, woollen, and cotton 
 cloth which fliould be made in the 
 jurifdiclion, of yarn fpun or materials 
 raifed therein. Ibid., 303. The next 
 year, payment of this bounty was or- 
 dered to be made on 83^ yards of 
 cloth, valued at a fhilling per yard ; 
 but the people did not approve the 
 a(5lion of the Court, and the order of 
 the preceding year was, at the requeft 
 of the deputies, repealed by the Gen- 
 eral Court, June, 1641. Ibid., 316, 320. 
 Conne6licut, in February, 1641, or- 
 dered that hemp or flax fliould be 
 planted by every family in the jurif- 
 diftion, that " we might, in time, have 
 fupply of linen cloth among our- 
 felves." Conn. Rec, i. 61, 64. 
 
 " Rowley, to their great commen- 
 dation, exceeded all other towns," in 
 the manufaflure of cloth, as Winthrop 
 (ii. 119, 120) records, under the year 
 1643. The fettlers of that town were 
 moftly from Yorkfliire, and "were the 
 firft people that fet upon making of 
 cloth in this Weftern world, . . . many 
 of them having been clothiers in Eng- 
 land." — Johnfon's WAV. Providence, 
 b. ii. ch. 1 1. 
 
 191 See before, p. 45, note 182. 
 "This year [1641] men followed the 
 fifliing fo well, that there was about 
 300,000 dry fifli fent to the market." 
 — Winthrop, ii. 42. 
 
 In July, 1640, Lechford drew an 
 agreement between Mr. Thomas 
 Fowle of Bofton and John Squire, 
 Nicholas Squire, and Sampfon Anger 
 [Angier], all of Acomenticus, fifher- 
 men, for the purchafe of as many 
 " merchantable dry cod-fifli" as they 
 fliould take, cure, and deliver to him 
 on board veflels at or near the Ifle of 
 Shoals, within twelve months there- 
 after ; for which he was to pay four- 
 teen fhillings per kental. — Ms. Jour- 
 nal, 155. 
 
 " Some of the freemen and inhabi- 
 tants of Hingham" petitioned the 
 General Court in June, 1641, to be 
 "inftituted into a company" for ef- 
 tablifliing a fifliing plantation at Nan- 
 tafket, and for a grant to themfelves, 
 for that purpofe, of " the faid neck of 
 land called Nantafket, from fea to fea, 
 unto the head of Straits pond." Ibid., 
 221. The court granted the land, 
 and gave liberal encouragement to 
 the enterprife ; and, in 1644, the plan- 
 tation, having become a town, with 
 "twenty houfes and a minifter," was 
 named Hull. Mafs. Rec, i. 320, 326 ; 
 Winthrop, ii. 175. 
 
 192 " The general fear of want of for- 
 eign commodities, now our money was 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 fels. They have builded and planted to admiration for 
 the time. There are good mafts and timber for fliipping, 
 planks, and boards, clap-board, '^^ pipe-ftaves, bever, and 
 furres, and hope of fome mines. ""^ There are Beares, 
 Wolves, and Foxes, and many other wilde beafts, as the 
 Moofe, a kind of Deere, as big as fome Oxen, and 
 
 gone, and that things were like to go 
 well in England, fet us on work to 
 provide fliipping of our own, for which 
 end Mr. [Hugh] Peter, being a man 
 of very public fpirit and fingular ac- 
 tivity for all occafions, procured fome 
 to join for building a fhip at Salem, 
 of 300 tons, and the inhabitants of 
 Boflon, ftirred up by his example, fet 
 upon the building another at Bofton, 
 of 150 tons/' IViiithrop, ii. 24, under 
 date of Feb. 2, 1641. Both fliips 
 were finiflied in 1641. Ibid, 31. Mr. 
 Peters and Emanuel Downing write 
 from Salem, Jan. 13, 1641, that there 
 were "two or three fliips building" 
 there. 4 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., vi. 90- 
 The next year (1642), "five fliips 
 more were built, three at Bofton, one 
 at Dorchefter, and one at Salem " 
 {Winthrop, ii. 65); and in September, 
 the author of " New England's Firfl; 
 Fruits " wrote (p. 22) : " Befides many 
 boats, (hallops, hoys, lighters, pinna- 
 ces, we are in a way of building fliips 
 of an 100, 200, 300, 400 tons. Five 
 of them are already at fea, many 
 more of them in hand at this prefent," 
 &c. 
 
 ■93 If it were not for the perfiflent 
 
 omiflion in modern dictionaries of 
 the primary meaning of this word, it 
 would be unneceffary to remark here, 
 that it was applied to all fmall boards 
 (efpecially to paling and pipc-Jlaves) 
 which were made by riving or cleav- 
 ing, in difl:in6lion fromy^w^?^ boards. 
 Cloven (A. Sax. clotcgh) boards eafily 
 pafl'ed into " clo'-boards," " claw- 
 boards," " clobboards," and " clap- 
 boards." Joflelyn wrote of the "cleav- 
 ing of clawboard," and of oak wood 
 "excellent for claw-board and pipe- 
 ftaves." Voy., 208 ; A' E. Rar., 48. 
 Wood diflinguiflies between oaks 
 " more fit for clappboard, [and] others 
 for fa-d-me board." N. E. Pro/peS?, 
 pt. i. c. 5. 
 
 194 Comp. Joflelyn, iV. E. Bar., 92, 
 93 ; Voyages, 44 ; Wood's A^.E. Prof- 
 pecl, pt. i. c. 5. John Winthrop, Jr., 
 failed for England in the fame fliip 
 with Lechford, and, while abroad, 
 formed a company for eftablifliing an 
 iron-work in New England ; return- 
 ing, in 1643, with ;{^iooo flock, and a 
 number of workmen. See Winthrop, 
 ii. 212, and Savage's note; Mafs. 
 Rec., i. 206, 327; ii. 61, 81, 125; 4 
 Mafs. HiJl. Coll., vi. 516, 5 '7- 
 
112 
 
 Plaine dealing. 
 
 Lyons,''5 ^s I have heard. The Wolves and Foxes are 
 a great annoyance. There are Rattle fnakes, which 
 fometimes doe fome harme, not much ; He that is flung 
 with any of them, or bitten, he turnes of the colour of the 
 Snake, all over his body, blew, white, and greene fpotted ; 
 and fwelling, dyes, unleffe he timely get fome Snake- 
 weed ; '^"^ which if he eate, and rub on the wound, he may 
 
 I9S Everybody in New England had 
 heard of thefe lions. " For beafls, 
 there are fome bears, and they fay 
 fome lions alfo ; for they have been 
 feen at Cape Anne. ... I have feen 
 the fkins of all thefe beafts fince I 
 came to this Plantation, excepting 
 lions." Higginfon's A\ E. Plantation 
 [in Young's C/tron. of Ma/s., 248]. 
 Wood, too, heard "fome affirme that 
 they have feene a Lyon at Cape Anne," 
 and fays that fome who were loft in 
 the woods had "heard fuch terrible 
 roarings, as . . . muft eyther be De^nlls 
 or Lyons. . . . Befides, Plimouth men 
 have traded for Lyons Ikinnes in for- 
 mer times." N. E. ProfpeH, pt. i, ch. 
 vi. Joflelyn was told, at Black Point, 
 of "a young Lyon (not long before) 
 kill'd at Pifcataway by an Indian" 
 ( Voyages^ 23) ; and there were fome 
 "yet living in the country," in 1663, 
 or later, to affirm that a young lion 
 had been (hot by an Indian, not far 
 from Cape Ann. A'. E. Par., 21, 22. 
 
 The fuppofed lion may have been 
 the cougar, or puma, fometimes called 
 the American lion, or panther. 
 
 196 "The Antidote to expell the 
 poyfon ... is a root called fnakeweed, 
 which muft be champed, the fpittle 
 fvvallowed, and the root applyed to 
 the fore ; this is prefent cure againft 
 that which would be prefent death 
 without it : this weed is ranck poyfon, 
 if it be taken by any man that is not 
 bitten. . . . Cowes have been bitten, 
 but being cut in divers places, and 
 this weede thruft into their flefli were 
 cured." Wood's N. E. Profpecl, pt. i. 
 ch. xi. Higginfon {N. Eng. Plan- 
 tation) fays, the "fling" of the rattle- 
 snake will caufe death "within a quar- 
 ter of an hour after, except the party 
 ftinged have about him fome of the 
 root of an herb called fnake-weed to 
 bite on, and then he fliall receive no 
 harm." Young's Chron. ofAIa/s., 255. 
 
 Cornuti {Canadenjiuni Plantaruni, 
 &c. Paris, 1635), as cited by Prof. 
 Tuckerman in his Introdu6lion to Jof- 
 felyn's N. E. Parities, mentions a root 
 received ex notha Anglia, "known, 
 it appears, by the name of Serpenta- 
 ria, or, in the vernacular, Snaqroel, — 
 a fure remedy for the bite of a huge 
 
Newes from New-England. 113 
 
 haply recover, but feele it a long while in his bones and 
 body. Money is wanting, by reafon of the failing of paf- 
 fengers thefe two laft yeares, in a manner. They want 
 help to goe | forward, for their fubfiftence in regard of 48 
 cloathing : And great pity it would be, but men of eftates 
 fliould help them forward. It may bee, I hope, a chari- 
 table worke. The price of their cattell, and other things 
 being fallen, ''^ ^-^gy ^j-e not at prefent able to make fuch 
 returns to England, as were to be wiflied for them : God 
 above dire6l and provide for them. There are multitudes 
 of godly men among them, and many poore ignorant 
 foules. Of late fome thirty perfons went in two small 
 Barks for the Lords IJle of Providence,"''^ and for the 
 
 and moil pernicious ferpent." Prof, would bu}- nothing ; " a cow worth 
 
 T. thinks this to be "one of the nu- /20 in 1640 might now be bouglit 
 
 merous varieties of iXabalus albus for ^4 or £^ : " fo as no man could 
 
 (L.) Hook., if not, as Purfh fuppofed, pay his debts, nor the merchants 
 
 what is now the var. Serpentaria, make return into England for their 
 
 Gray." Trans. Avier. Antiq. Soc, commodities." lVin/hrop,\\. 21, t,i. 
 iv. 1 19. Joffelyn figures and defcribes '98 Lechford left New England be- 
 
 the Nabalus albus, in N. E. Rarities, fore the return of thefe barks, with 
 
 76, but without allufion to its virtues, their paffengers (Sept. 3, 1 641), made 
 
 Gov. Winthrop mentions (i. 62) that known the difaitrous iifue of this ex- 
 
 "he always carried about him ... in pedition, "wliich brought fome to fee 
 
 fummer time, snakeweed." their error, and acknowledge it in the 
 
 '97 See Winthrop, ii. 7, 18, 21, 24; open congregation, but others iL'cre 
 Ma/s. Col. Rec, i. 304, 307 ; E. Winf- hardened.'' Winthrop, ii. 33, 34- The 
 low's letter from Plymouth, June, provifions of tlie charter granted in 
 1640, in 4 Mafs. Hijt. Coll., vi. 166. 1630 to the Adventurers for the Plan- 
 In the fummer of 1641, "few coming tations of the Illands of Providence, 
 to us, all foreign commodities grew Henrietta, and the adjacent illands 
 fcarce, and our own of no price. Corn (the Bahamas), were very liberal, and 
 
 15 
 
114 Plaine dealings 
 
 Maine thereabout, which is held to be a beter countrey 
 and chmate by fome : For this being in about 46. de- 
 grees of northerne latitude, yet is very cold in winter, fo 
 that fome are frozen to death, or lofe their fingers or 
 toes every yeere, fometimes by carelefnes, fometimes by 
 accidents, and are loft in fnowes, which there are very 
 deepe fometimes, and lye long : Winter begins in 06io- 
 ber, and lafts till Aprill."^^ Sixty leagues Northerly it is 
 held not habitable, yet again in Summer it is exceeding 
 hot. If fliipping for conveyance were fent thither, they 
 might fpare divers hundreds of men for any good de- 
 fign.^°° The jurifdi6lion of the Bay Patent reacheth from 
 Pafcattaqiia Patent Northeaft to Plymouth Patent South- 
 ward. And in my travailes there, I have feene the towns 
 of Newberry, Ipfwich, Salem, Lynne, Bojlon, Charlejloivne, 
 Cambridge, Watertoivne, Concord, Roxbury, Dorchejlcr, 
 and Braintree in the Bay Patent, New Tauntoji in Plym- 
 
 the Company offered great encourage- who fired upon one of the veffels 
 
 ment to planters. " The great ad- when coming into harbor, and within 
 
 vantages fuppofed to be had in Vir- piftol-fliot of the fort, and kilHng her 
 
 ginia and the Weft Indies, &c., made commander, WilHam Peirce, and Mr. 
 
 this country to be difefteemed of Samuel Wakeman of Connefticut, a 
 
 many," wrote Winthrop, in 1640. paffenger. ff'/;///^;-^/, i. 332, ii. 33, 34; 
 
 John Humfrey, appointed by the Com- Johnfon, IV. IV. Providence, b. 2, 
 
 pany in February, 1641, Governor of ch. 20. 
 
 Providence Ifland, "labored much to 199 For " Aprill," the M.H.S. MS. 
 
 draw men to join with him." But, has " March." 
 
 before the emigrants from New Eng- 2°° The fe6lion ends here in the 
 
 land arrived at Providence, the ifland M.H.S. MS. The eleven lines which 
 
 had been taken by the Spaniards? follow were fubfequently added. 
 
Of the Indians. 
 
 Newes from New-England. 115 
 
 oiith Patent, the Ifland Aqiicdney, and the two townes 
 therein, | Neivport and Port/mouth, and Neiv Providence 49 
 within the Bay of Narhigganfets. This for the fatisfac- 
 tion of fome that have reported I was no Travailer in 
 N^eiv-England. 
 
 Concerning the Indians, or Natives. 
 
 THey are of body tall, proper, and ftraight ; they goe 
 naked, faving about their middle, fomewhat to cover 
 fliame. Seldome they are abroad in extremity of Winter, 
 but keep in their wigwams, till neceffity drives them 
 forth ; and then they wrap themfelves in fkins, or fome 
 of our Englifli coorfe cloth: and for the Winter they 
 have boots, or a kind of laced tawed-leather ftockins. 
 They are naturally proud, and idle, given much to fmg- 
 ing, dancing, and playes ; they are governed by Sache^ns, 
 Kings ; and Saggamorcs, petie Lords ; ^°' by an abfolute 
 tyrannic. Their women are of comely feature, induftri- 
 ous, and doe moft of the labour in planting, and carrying 
 
 201 This diftinaion is not well (for fo are the kings witli us called, as 
 
 founded. Sachem and Sagamore they are facJiims, fouthwards)," &c. 
 
 were two forms of the fame word, Young's Chroti. of Ma/s., 305. Capt. 
 
 —fairkimau, "he leads," "direas." John Smith makes a fimilar diftinc- 
 
 Wood's vocabulary has, " Sagamore, tion : " The Majfachufets call . . their 
 
 a king. Sachem, idem." Dudley, in ¥:\ng?.fachemes. The Pennobfcots, . . 
 
 his ktter to the Countefs of Lincoln, fagamosr Advert, for the Unexf>er., 
 
 writes, that " Chickatalbott . . . leaft 3 ^W^- Hifl. Coll., iii. 23. Comp. 
 
 favoreth the Englifli, of any fagamore Jofl'clyn's Voyages, 123. 
 
1 1 6 Plaine dealino;, 
 
 of burdens ; their husbands hold them in great flavery, 
 yet never knowing other, it is the leffe grievous to them. 
 They fay, EiigliJJiman much foole, for fpoihng good 
 working creatures, meaning women : And when they 
 fee any of our EngliJJi women fewing with their needles, 
 or working coifes, or fuch things, they will cry out, Lazie 
 /quaes ! but they are much the kinder to their wives, by 
 the example of the Englijli. Their children, they will 
 not part with upon any terms, to be taught. They are 
 50 of complexion fwarthy and tawny ; | their children are 
 borne white, but they bedawbe them with oyle, and col- 
 ours, prefently. They have all black haire, that I faw. 
 
 In times of mourning, they paint their faces with black 
 lead, black, all about the eye-brows, and part of their 
 cheeks. In time of rejoycing, they paint red, with a kind 
 of vermilion. They cut their haire of divers formes, ac- 
 cording to their Nation or people, fo that you may know 
 a people by their cut ; and ever they have a long lock on 
 one fide of their heads, and weare feathers of Peacocks, 
 and fuch like, and red cloath, or ribbands at their locks ; 
 beads of wampompeag about their necks, and a girdle of 
 the fame, wrought with blew and white zvampom, after 
 the manner of chequer work, two fingers broad, about 
 their loynes : Some of their chiefe men goe fo, and pen- 
 dants of wampom, and fuch toyes in their ears. And 
 their women, fome of the chiefe, have faire bracelets, and 
 
Newes froTii New-England. 
 
 117 
 
 chalnes of zuainpom. Men and women, of them, come 
 confidently among the EngliJJi. Since the Pcqiiid war, 
 they are kept in very good fubje6lion, and held to fl:ri6l 
 points of Juftice, fo that the EnglifJi may travail fafely 
 among them. But the French in the EafI:, and the Dutch 
 in the South, fell them guns, powder and fliot.-°' They 
 have Powahes, or Priefls, which are Witches, and a kind 
 of Chirurgions, but fome of them, notwithftanding, are 
 faine to be beholding to the Englijli Chirurgions. They 
 will have their times of poivaheing, which they will, of 
 late, have called Prayers, according to the EngliJJi word. 
 The I Powahe^°^ labours himfelfe in his incantations, to 
 
 5' 
 
 2°2 De Vries, in an account of the 
 Indians of New Netherland, in 1640, 
 fays, " They have now obtained guns 
 from our people [the Dutch]. He 
 was a villain who firft fold them to 
 them, and fhowed them how to ufe 
 them." Voyages (tranflated by Mur- 
 phy), in 2 iV. V. Hijl. Soc. Coll., iii. 
 95. Comp. Brodhead's New York, i. 
 308 ; Records of Cotitvi'rs of U. Cols. 
 (Hazard, ii.) 19, 58. Bradford {Hifl. of 
 Plymouih, 238, 337) complains of the 
 French trade in arms and ammuni- 
 tion ; but, in another place, he dif- 
 tributes more impartially his cenfure 
 of the " bafenefs of fundry unworthy 
 perfons, both EngliJJi, Dutch, and 
 French,'''' who had fupplied the In- 
 dians of thefe parts with "peeces, 
 powder and fliote" Qip. 235, 238-9). 
 
 203 Powwdw, as Roger Williams 
 writes it. Pa7i'wau,'EX\o\.. This word 
 is nearly related to, if not identical 
 with, taupowaw, "a wife fpeaker ; " 
 pi. taupoivaiiog, " their wife men, and 
 old men (of which number their Priefls 
 are alfo)." R. Williams, Key, 57, 120. 
 Wood (iV. E. Profpea, pt. 2, c. xii.) 
 gives an amufmg account of the 
 "pow-wows" and their doings. He 
 admits "that, by God's permiffion, 
 through the Devils helpc, their charms 
 are of force to produce effcCls of won- 
 derment," and fays, "fomelimes the 
 Devill for requitall of their worfliip, re- 
 covers the partie [who is fick or lame] 
 to nuzzle them up in their devillifli 
 Religion." Comp. R. Williams, Key, 
 c. xxi.; Winflow's Good Xciucs from 
 N. E. [2 Mafs. HiJl. Coll., ix. 92, 93]- 
 
1 1 8 Plaine dealing, 
 
 extreame fweating and wearineffe, even to extafie. The 
 Poivahcs cannot work their witchcrafts, if any of the Eng- 
 liJJi be by ; neither can any of their incantations lay hold 
 on, or doe any hamie to the Eiiglijli, as I have been 
 credibly informed. The Powahe is next the King, or 
 Sachem, and commonly when he dyes, the Pozvahe mar- 
 ryes the Sqiia Sachem, that is, the queene. They have 
 marriages among them ; they have many wives ; they fay, 
 they commit much filthineffe among themfelves. But 
 for every marriage, the Saggamore hath a fadome of wam- 
 pom, which is about feven or eight fliillings value. Some 
 of them will diligently attend to any thing they can un- 
 derftand by any of our Religion, and are very willing to 
 teach their language to any EngliJJi. They live much 
 the better, and peaceably, for the EngliJJi; and themfelves 
 know it, or at leafl their Sachems, and Saggamores know 
 fo much, for before they did nothing but fpoile and de- 
 ftroy one another.-'"^ They live in Wigwams, or houfes 
 made of mats like little hutts, the fire in the midft of the 
 
 204 "The Pagan world of Indians weaker Countreys, or to make them 
 
 here will acknowledge our fitting Tributary: which danger ready to 
 
 down by them, hath prevented the fall upon their heads in thefe parts, 
 
 danger either of their diilolution or the coming of the Englifli hither pre- 
 
 fervitude. For the Indians in thefe vented." Cotton's Way of Congr. 
 
 parts being by the hand of God fwept Churches cleared, pt. i. p. 21. See 
 
 away (many multitudes of them) by alfo Higginfon's N. E. Plantation, 
 
 the plague, the manner of the Neigh- in Young's Chron. of Mafs., 257; 
 
 bor- Indians is either to deftroy the Wood's N. E. Profped, pt. i. ch. 9. 
 
Newes from New-England. 119 
 
 houfe. They cut downe a tree with axes and hatchets, 
 bought of the EngliJJi, Dutch, or French, & bring in the 
 butt-end into the wigwam, upon the hearth, and fo burne 
 it by degrees. They Hve upon parched corne,'°^ (of late, 
 they grinde at our EngliJJi mills.) Venifon, Bevers, Ot- 
 ters, Oyfters, Clammes, Lobfters, and other fifli, Ground- 
 nuts,^"^ Akornes, they boyle all together in a kettle. 
 Their riches are their wainpom, holies, trayes, | kettles, 52 
 and fpoones, bever, furres, and canoos. He is a Sachem, 
 whofe wife hath her cleane fpoons in a cheft, for fome 
 chief Englifit men, when they come on gueft wife to the 
 wigzvam. They lye upon a mat, with a ftone, or a piece 
 of wood under their heads; they will give the beft enter- 
 tainment they can make to za\y Engli/Ii comming amongft 
 them. They will not tafte fweet things, nor alter their 
 habit willingly ; onely they are taken with tobacco, wine, 
 and ftronof waters ; and I have feene fome of them in 
 
 los '■'■ Nokehick, parch'd meale . . . yj?, Moench.) JofTclyiVs i\'. A'. /wzr., 
 
 which they eate with a httle water, 47 {Trans. A. A. Soc, iv. 180). — 
 
 hot or cold." R. WiUiams, A'tj, p. 1 1 . Brereton noted the "great flore of 
 
 (ch. ii.) "-Nocake (as they call it) ground-nuts" to be found " in every 
 
 which is nothing but Indian corne ifland, and almoft in every part of 
 
 parched in the hot aflies," and " after- every ifland ; " " forty together on a 
 
 wards beaten to powder." Wood, N. firing, fome of them as big as hen's 
 
 E. Pro/pen, pt. 2, ch. vi. eggs ; they grow not two inches un- 
 
 206 " Earth-nuts, which are of di- der ground : the which nuts we found 
 
 vers kinds, — one bearing very beau- to be as good as potatoes." Account 
 
 tiful flowers," (which Prof. Tucker- of GoJnohVs Voyage, 3 ^fafs. lliJI. 
 
 man identifies with the Apios tubero- Coll., viii. 89. 
 
I20 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 EngliJIi, or French cloathes. Their ordinary weapons 
 are bowes and arrowes, and long ftaves, or halfe pykes, 
 with pieces of fwords, daggers, or knives in the ends of 
 them : They have Captaines, and are very good at a 
 fliort mark, and nimble of foot to run away. Their man- 
 ner of fighting is, moft commonly, all in one fyle. They 
 are many in number, and worfliip Kitan,^'''' their good 
 
 207 Comp. E.Winflow's Good N'eiues 
 from N. E. (Young's Chron. of the 
 Pilgr. Fathers, 326, 355) : Wood's 
 N. E. Profpea, pt. ii. ch. 12. "The 
 MalTachufets call their great God 
 Kic/ifan, . . . and that we fuppofe 
 their Devill, they call Habamoiik. 
 The Pennobfcots, their God, Tan- 
 tu}nP J. Smith's Advert, for the 
 Unexperienced, ch. vi. 
 
 Higginfon (in N, E. Plantation), 
 wrote : " For their religion, they do 
 worfliip two Gods, a good God and 
 an evil God. The good God they call 
 Tanium, and their evil God, whom 
 they fear will do them hurt, they 
 call Squantjun.'" Robert Southey, 
 tranfcribing this " very fummary ac- 
 count" of the Indian faith, adds: 
 "An equal degree of knowledge on 
 the part of the Indians might have 
 made them defcribe Mr. Higginfon 
 himfelf as a Sgnatittunitey Southey's 
 Com.-Place Book, 2d Ser., 656. The 
 comment, though mifchievous, is not 
 wholly unjuft. Had our early writers 
 been more diligent ftudents of the 
 Indian language, they would have 
 
 difcovered, probably, that TantJim 
 and Squantum were names of the 
 fame "Great Spirit," or Keihta7i, — 
 to be worfhipped as a beneficent, or 
 propitiated as an angry, god. Sqnan- 
 tum, or nifqnantiun, fignifies, "he is 
 angry " {lit., bloody-minded]. " If it 
 be but an ordinary accident, a fall, 
 (S:c., they will fay, God was angry and 
 did it. Alnfqiiantuinnianit, God is 
 angry." R. Williams, Key, p. 115. 
 
 Manit, the word which is often 
 tranflated " God," conveyed to the 
 Indian no other or higher idea than 
 that of fomething extra-ordinary and 
 tranfcending former experience. Its 
 literal fignification is, " that which 
 furpaffes," " that which is more than,'''' 
 other perfons or things with which it 
 is compared. "At the apprehenfion 
 of any Excellency in Men, Women, 
 Birds, Beafts, Fifli, &c. [they] cry out 
 Manittoo, that is, it is a God ; " and 
 this " they fay of every thing which 
 they cannot comprehend." R. Wil- 
 liams, Key, 118, 105. The initial ;// 
 reprefents the imperfonal prefix, while 
 anit is a regularly-formed verbal. 
 
Newcs from New-England. 
 
 121 
 
 god, or Hobbamocco,^"^ their evil god ; but more feare 
 Hobbaraocco, becaufe he doth them moft harme. Some 
 of their Kings names are Canonicus, Meantinomy,-°^ 
 Ow/Jianiequm^^''° CiiJJiamequin,^^^ Webbacoiuiils, and Squa 
 Sache7n,^^- his wife : She is the Oueene, and he is Poiuahc, 
 
 From keihte, 'great,' 'chief,' and anit, 
 is formed kcihtannit, "great fupe- 
 rior being" [which Eliot ufed in tranf- 
 lating Genefis xxiv. 7, "the Lord 
 God," Jehovah Keihtannit.'] Of this 
 word, Kiehtan^ Kitan^ &c., were con- 
 traft forms, or equivalents. Comp. 
 the Narraganfet Kautdiitoiuif, "the 
 great South-weft God " (R. Williams, 
 Key, 116); the Delaware Geiajinito- 
 7uit (Heckew.) ; and the Old Algon- 
 kin kitchi >nanitoo (Lahontan). 
 
 20S " Hobbamock, as they call the 
 Devil." Winthrop,\.zz^\. "Aba/no- 
 cho (the Devill) whom they much 
 feare." Wood's .V. E. ProfpcH, pt. 2, 
 ch. viii. '■'■ Abbajnocho or CheepieT 
 JofTelyn's Voyages, 132. 
 
 2°9 Caunoujiicus, and his nephew, 
 Miantunnoinii, fachems of the Nar- 
 raganfetts. 
 
 210 Oitfaiiieqnin, Ofomeagen, Ofa- 
 tnekin, Afuluneqtiin, &c., as the name 
 is varioufly written ; the great fachem 
 of the Wampanoags, — better known 
 as Majfafoit. His principal refidence 
 was at Sowams, now Warren, R. I. 
 See Dexter's Mourfs Relation, 91, 
 94, 98, &c. ; Bradford, 94, 102, &c. 
 
 2" Cutjhamakin was the nominal 
 chief of the few remaining Indians of 
 16 
 
 Neponfet. Chickataubut, who lived 
 " upon the river of Naponfet, near to 
 the Maffachufetts Fields," (in Ouincy,) 
 was " the greateft fagamore in the 
 country " (as Wood was told,) before 
 the plague of 1616-18 fwept over this 
 part of New England. In 1631, he 
 had only between fifty and fixty fub- 
 jefts ; and many of thefe, with the 
 fachem himfelf, died of fmall-pox in 
 1633. "Jofias, Chickatabot his heir" 
 was not then of age, and Cutfliama- 
 kin, who is faid to have been a brother 
 of Chickataubut, and who had been a 
 humble hanger-on of the Engliih from 
 their firft coming, fucceeded for a time 
 to the titulary honor of fachem of iMaf- 
 fachufetts, and to the right of figning 
 deeds and conveyances of lands once 
 occupied by the tribe. Winthrop, i. 
 48, 1 16, 192, 195, &c., ii. 153 ; Wood's 
 N. E. Pro/peel, pt. i, c. x. ; Dudley's 
 Letter, in Young's Chron. of Mafs., 
 305 ; ///J/?, of Dorchefter, 10, 11, 47 ; 
 Gookin, i Mafs. Hifl. Coll., i. 169. 
 
 212 '■'■IVebcowttes, and the Squa Sa- 
 chem of Millicke, wife of tlie faid 
 Webcowites." Lechford's Ms. Jour- 
 nal, 143. "Squa Sachem & li'ebba 
 Cowet:' Mafs. Nee., i. 201. The 
 Squa Sachem had been the wife of 
 
122 Plaine dealing, 
 
 and King, in right of his wife. Among fome of thefe 
 Nations, their policie is to have two Kings at a time ; 
 but, I thinke, of one family ; the one aged for counfell, 
 the other younger for a6lion. Their Kings fucceed by 
 inheritance. 
 \\. Dunjur^ Maflcr Henry Dun/Ier, Schoolmafler of Cambride^e, 
 
 hopefull School- y j ^ o • 
 
 mafter. deferves commendations above many; he I hath the 
 
 plat-forme and way of converfion of the Natives, indiffer- 
 ent right, and much fludies the fame, wherein yet he 
 wants not oppofition, as fome other alfo have met with : 
 He will, without doubt, prove an inftrument of much 
 good in the Countrey, being a good Scholar, and having 
 fkil in the Tongues ; He will make it good, that the way 
 to inftru6l the Indians, muft be in their ow7ie language, 
 not EngliJJi i^''^ and that their language may be per- 
 feded.^'-* 
 
 Nanepafhemit, the great fagamore with other petty fachems, made a for- 
 
 of the Pawtucket Indians (north and mal fubmiffion to the government of 
 
 eaft of Charles River), who was killed Maffachufetts. See Winthrop, i. 1 19 ; 
 
 by the Tarratines in 16 19. His fons, Dexter's Mourfs Relation, 126-28 ; 
 
 Wonohaquaham, or Sagamore John, Brooks's Mcdford, j^i 74 i Young's 
 
 of Miftick, "the chiefeft Sachim in C/iron. of Ma/s., ^od, 2,07 ; Frothing- 
 
 thefe parts, at our firft coming hith- ham's Hi/i. of Charlejloivn, 32-36. 
 
 er " (Cotton's Way cleared, i. 80), and 213 See Mr. Dunfler's letter to Dr. 
 
 Montowompate, or Sagamore James, Ravis, in 4 i1/^. Hifl. Coll., i. 251-54. 
 
 of Saugus, with mofl of their people. He writes : " We do not trouble the 
 
 died of fmall-pox in Dec, 1633. The Indians to learn our Englifh, but onely 
 
 widow married Webbacowit before fuch as for their owne behoof doe it 
 
 1635. 0"e of her places of refidence of their owne accord." 
 
 is fuppofed to have been in what is ^'4 Near the end of this paragraph, 
 
 now Weft Cambridge. In 1644, (lie, Lechford, in his earlier draft, had in- 
 
Newes from New-E^igland. 
 
 123 
 
 A Note of fome late ocaim^cnces touching Epifcopacie. 
 
 SOme of the learnedft, and godlieft in the Bay, begin some late 
 to underftand Governments ; that it is neceffary, ins Tpifco 
 when Minifters or People fall out, to fend other Minifters, 
 
 ferted : " M"s Glover did worthily and 
 wifely to marry him." M.H.S. MS. 
 
 iVIrs. Elizabeth Glover, who mar- 
 ried Mr. Dunfter in June, 1641, was 
 the widow of Rev. Joffe Glover, reftor 
 of Sutton, CO. Surrey, from 1628, or 
 earlier, till December, 1634, when he 
 was fufpended for refufing to read the 
 book of fports. He was " much be- 
 loved of mod, if not of all, and his 
 departure lamented by moft, if not of 
 all," his people, as the parifh regifler 
 affirms. (His fucceffor was indufted 
 June 10, 1636.) He is afterwards de- 
 cribed as " of London " ; but his refi- 
 dence there muft have been brief, for 
 he failed for New England in 1638, 
 with the intention of eftablifhing a 
 printing prefs here, having made a 
 contract, June 7, 1638, with Stephen 
 Day of Cambridge to come over for 
 that purpofe. 
 
 Mr. Glover died on the paffage. 
 His will, which was probably executed 
 before failing, names the Rev. John 
 Harris, D.D., Warden of Winchefler 
 College, and Richard Davys, mer- 
 chant, of London, his executors. He 
 left two fons, Roger and John (H. C, 
 1650), and three daughters, Elizabeth 
 
 (who married Adam Winthrop), Sarah 
 (who married Deane Winthrop), and 
 Pr if cilia (who married John Apple- 
 ton). There may have been other 
 children whofe names do not appear. 
 Of thefe five, Roger, Elizabeth, and 
 Sarah, were by a former wife, Sarah, 
 (daughter of Roger Owfield of Lon- 
 don,) who died at Sutton, July 10, 
 1628, aged 30 years, while her huf- 
 band was reftor there. Her epitaph, 
 with the names of her children, may 
 be feen in Manning & Bray's Hiji. 
 of Surrey, ii. 483. 
 
 Mr. Glover's name frequently oc- 
 curs in Lechford's Ms. Journal, vari- 
 oufly written Joas, Jofs, and fojfe 
 Glover. On his wife's monument, 
 and in the extract from the parifli 
 regifter of Sutton, it is Jofeph ; and 
 elfewhere it appears as Jcffe. Win- 
 throp, i. 289 ; Manning & Bray's Hifl. 
 Stir., ii. 487; Lechford's Ms. Journal; 
 Calendar of (Brit.) St. Papers, Dont. 
 Ser., 1634-5, p. 355 5 Savage's Gencal. 
 Did. J Thomas's Hifl. of Printing, i. 
 222-26, 458-66. Erom Mr. DunAer's 
 ftatement of account with the ellatc 
 (printed by Thomas, from the County 
 Court Records), it appears that his 
 
124 
 
 Plaine dealing, 
 
 or they voluntarily to goe among them, to feek by all 
 good wayes and meanes to appeafe them."^ 
 
 And particularly, Mafter Pelcr went from Salem on 
 foot to New Dover, alias Pafcattaqua, alias Northam, to 
 appeafe the difference betweene Mafter Larkham and 
 Mafter K. when they had been up in Armes this laft Win- 
 ter time/"^ He went by the fending of the Governour, 
 Coun/ell, and Ajjijlants of the Bay, and of the Church of 
 Salem; and was in much danger of being loft, returning, 
 by loftng his way in the woods, and fome with him, but 
 God be bleffed they returned. 
 
 wife died "two years and two months 
 after her marriage " with him, — that 
 is, about Auguft, 1643. 
 
 215 "Who giving advice according 
 to the Word, doe by the bleffings of 
 Chrifl heale jealoufies, and compofe 
 differences, and fettle peace and love 
 amongft them." Cotton, Way of the 
 C/nnxhi's, 106. 
 
 " When a Congregation wanteth 
 agreement and peace amongft them- 
 felves, it is then a way of God (ac- 
 cording to the patterne, A6ls 15. 2.) 
 to confult with fome other Church, or 
 Churches, either by themfelves or 
 their meilengers met in a Synod. But 
 then they fend not to them for power 
 to adminifter any ordinance amongft 
 themfelves, but for light to fatisfie 
 diffenters, and fo to remove the ftum- 
 bling-block of the fufpition of mal- 
 adminftration of their power, out of 
 
 the way." Cotton, Way cleared, pt. i. 
 pp. 94-5- 
 
 2'6 See before, page 44, and Win- 
 throp, ii. 28, 29. Hugh Peters's 
 miffion to Pifcataqua had lefs to do 
 with " epifcopacie " than Lechford 
 fuppofed. " A good part of the in- 
 habitants there " defired to come un- 
 der the government of MalTachufetts ; 
 and this, as Winthrop believed, was 
 the real caufe of the "eager profe- 
 cution of Capt. Underhill" and his 
 friends. It was on the petition of Un- 
 derhill and the Maffachufetts party, 
 for aid, that the governor and council 
 gave commiffion, early in 1641, to 
 " Mr. Bradftreet, one of our magif- 
 trates, Mr. Peter and Mr. Dalton, 
 two of our Elders, to go thither and 
 to endeavor to reconcile them, and if 
 they could not effeft that, then to in- 
 quire how things ftood, and to certify 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 125 
 
 Againe he went a fecond time, for appeafing | the 
 fame difference, and had a Commiffion to divers Gentle- 
 men, mafler Humphrey, mafter Bradjlrcate, Captaine 
 Wiggon, and mafler Simons, to affift, and to heare and 
 determine all caufes civill and criminall, from the Gover- 
 nonr of the Bay, under his hand,^'^ and the publique 
 feale, and then mafter K. went by the worfl. 
 
 Mafter Wilfon did lately ride to Greens harbour, -^^ in 
 Plymouth Patent, to appeafe a broyle betweene one maf- 
 ter Thomas, as I take it, his name is, and mafter Blind- 
 man,"""^ where mafter Blindman went by the worft, and 
 
 54 
 
 us, etc" {Winthrop, ii. 28.) Mr. 
 Peters, in a letter to Winthrop (with- 
 out date, but which appears to have 
 been written in the fpring of 1641), 
 makes brief report of his million : 
 " They there are ripe for our Gouern- 
 ment as will appeare by the note I 
 have fent you. They grone for Gou- 
 ernment and Gofpell all ouer that fide 
 on the Country. I conceive that 2 
 or 3 fit men fent ouer may doe much 
 good at this confluxe of things ... If 
 Mr. Larkham fay and hold, hee hath 
 promifed mee to clofe with us," &c. 
 4 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., vi. 106-7. Not 
 long afterwards (June 14, 1641), the 
 proprietors of the Dover and Straw- 
 berry-Bank patents made a formal 
 furrender of their jurifdi6lion to Maf- 
 fachufetts ; " whereupon a commiffion 
 was granted to Mr. Bradftreet and 
 
 Mr. Simonds, with two or three of 
 Pafcataquack, to call a court there 
 and aflemble the people to take their 
 fubmiffion, etc., but Mr. Humfrey, 
 Mr. Peter and Mr. Dalton had been 
 fent before to underfland the minds 
 of the people, to reconcile fome dif- 
 ferences between them, and to pre- 
 pare them.^^ Winthrop, ii. 38, 42 ; 
 comp. Mafs. Col. Rec, i. 324, 332. 
 
 217 The original draft of this com- 
 miffion, dated July 8th, is in Lecli- 
 ford's Journal. It names as commif- 
 fioners, "John Humfrey Efq., Simon 
 Bradflreete gent., Thomas Wiggon 
 gent., and [Samuel] Symmons gent." 
 
 2>8 See before, p. 41, note 137. 
 
 2'9 Of the occafion of difference be- 
 tween Mr. Blinman and Mr. WilHam 
 Thomas, I can learn notiiing. The 
 fad of diffention and feparation is 
 
126 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Captaine Keayne and others went with mafter Wil/on on 
 horfeback. 
 
 Alfo at another time, mafter Wil/on, mafter Mather, 
 and fome others, going to the ordination of mafter Hooke 
 and mailer Streate, to give them the right hand of fellow- 
 fliip, at New Tatmton, there heard the difference be- 
 tweene mafter Hooke and mafter Doughty, where mafter 
 Doughty was overruled, and the matter carried fomewhat 
 partially, as is reported."" 
 
 It may be, it will be faid, they did thefe things by way 
 of love, and friendly advife : Grant that ; But were not 
 the counfelled bound to receive good counfell ? If they 
 would not receive it, was not the Magiftrate ready to 
 
 briefly mentioned in the Plymouth trated. Not long after thofe that 
 
 Church record (i. 36), for the follow- went from Plymouth with that Godly 
 
 ing extrafl from which, I am indebt- gentleman Mr. William Thomas, 
 
 ed to my friend, the Rev. Henry M. keeping up a communion, it pleafed 
 
 Dexter, D.D. : — the Lord to fend unto them a faithful 
 
 " This church of MarOifield, above and able preacher of the Gofpel, 
 
 called Green's Harbour, was begun, namely Mr. Edward Buckley, who 
 
 and afterwards carried on by the help was chofen their paftor, and officiated 
 
 and affiftance, under God, of Mr. Ed- in that place very profitably divers 
 
 ward Winflow, who att the firft pro- years," (S:c. 
 
 cured feverall WeKh Gentlemen of Rev. Ebenezer Alden, Jr., in his 
 
 good note thither, with Mr. Blinman, Sketch of the Church in MarJJifield, 
 
 a Godly able minifter, who unani- p. 3, fays : "In confequence of a 
 
 moufly joined together in holy fellow- want of harmony between the new 
 
 fliip, or at leaft were in a likely way and old fettlers, after a refidence of a 
 
 thereunto, but fome diffenfions fell few months, Mr. Blinman, with moft of 
 
 amongft them, which caufed a parting his friends, removed to Gloucefter." 
 
 not long after, and foe the hope of a Comp.^m^f;;-^', 303-4; Winth.^W.d^. 
 
 Godly fociety as to them was fruf- 220 5ee before, p. 41, note 136. 
 
Newes from New-Englmid. 
 
 127 
 
 ajjijl, and in a manner ready, according to duty, to e7iforce 
 peace and obedience?'-^' did not the Magiflrates affijl? 
 and was not mafter K. fent away, or compounded with, 
 to feek a new place at Long IJland,''^-^ mafter Doughty 
 forced to the Ifland Aqiicdney,^-^ and mafter Blindman to 
 Coniieilicot ? "'' 
 
 2-1 How Mr. Cotton would have 
 anfwered thefe queftions may be in- 
 ferred from fome remarks of his on 
 the relation of the Church to the 
 civil magiftrate, in a Thurfday leflure 
 (preached early in 1640): "There is 
 nothing more difproportionable to us, 
 then for us to aflfecl Supremacy, for 
 us to weare the homes that might 
 puth Kings ; to throw downe any, or 
 to defcrc tnagijlrates to execute ivhat 
 we JJiall think fit, verily it is not com- 
 patible to tJie finiplicity of the Church 
 of Chrifi. Neither may they give 
 their power to us, nor may we take 
 it from them. ... It is good to have 
 thefe two States [the Church and the 
 Magiftracy] fo joyned together, that 
 the fimplicity of the church may be 
 maintained and upheld and ftrength- 
 ened by the civill State according to 
 God, but not by any fimplicity further 
 then according to the word. Beware 
 of all fecular power, and Lordly 
 power, of fuch vaft infpe<5lion of one 
 church over another: Take heed of 
 any fuch ufurpation, it will amount to 
 fome monftrous Beaft : Leave every 
 church Independent, not Independent 
 from brotherly counfell; God forbid 
 
 that we fhould refufe that ; but when 
 it comes to power, that one Church 
 fliall have power over the refl:, then 
 look for a Beaft [the allufion is to 
 Revel, xiii. 2], which the Lord would 
 have all his people to abhor." — Ex- 
 pofttion upon 1 3/// chap, of Revelation, 
 
 PP- 30, 31- 
 
 2^2 See before, p. 43, note 167. 
 
 223 See before, pp. 40, 41, note 144. 
 
 224 See note 219, above. Mr. Blin- 
 man removed, with his friends, to 
 Cape Ann. Nothing is known of his 
 going to Conneclicut after leaving 
 Marfhfield, before 1650, when he went 
 from Gloucefter to New London, 
 where lie preached for feveral years. 
 Perhaps Lechford was niifmformed 
 as to the place of Mr. Blinman's new 
 fetdement ; for, in a notice of Cape 
 Ann (p. 45, ante), the coming of his 
 company from Marfhfield is not men- 
 tioned. Poffibly, however, Mr. B. 
 did, in the firft inftance, direft his 
 courfe from Plymouth Colony to Con- 
 nedicut or New Haven, " to feek a 
 new place," which not finding to his 
 mind, or failing to fecurc fatisfaftory 
 accommodations for himfelf and peo- 
 ple, he returned eaftward. 
 
128 Plaine dealing. 
 
 55 Quejlions to the Elders of Bofton, delivered 9. Septerab. 
 
 1640. 
 
 I. 'I "\ T'Hether a people may gather themfelves into a 
 
 V V Church, without a Vai\\^^x fent of God ? -^^^ 
 
 2. Whether any People, or Congregation, ma}^ ordaine 
 their owne Officers ? 
 
 3. Whether the Ordination, by the hands of fuch as 
 are not Mi^iijiers, be good ? ^-^ 
 
 To the which I received an Aji/wer the fame day: 
 
 TO the firft, the Anfwer is affirmative ; for though the 
 people in this Countrey are not wont to gather 
 themfelves into a Church, but (as you would have it) 
 with the prefence and advice of fundry Miniflers ; yet it 
 were lawfull for them to gather into a Church without 
 them. For if it be the priviledge of every Church to 
 choofe their owne Minifters, then there may be a Church, 
 before they have Miniflers of their owne ; for Miniflers 
 of another Church have no power but in their owne 
 Church. 
 
 22s In a copy of thefe queftions (in "Whether fuch as never had ordina- 
 fhort-hand) in Lechford's Ms. Journal, tion or impofition of hands of the 
 the words "to approve thereof" are Presbyterie themfelves, may warrant- 
 added at the end of the firft queftion. ably impofe hands upon any to the 
 
 "6 In the manufcript (fhort-hand), miniftry? and if they do, whether it 
 
 the third queftion reads as follows : be good ? " 
 
Newes from New-England. 129 
 
 To the fecond and third ; The fecond and tliird Qiicf- 
 tiofis are coincident, and one Anfwer may ferve for both : 
 The Children of Ifi^acl did impofe hands upon the Lc- 
 vites, Num. 8. 10. and if the people have power to elecl 
 their owne officers, they have power alfo to ordainc 
 them ; for Ordination is but an Inftallment of a man into 
 that I office, whereto election giveth him right, neverthe- 56 
 leffe fuch a Church as hath a Prcsbyterie, ought to ordaine 
 their Officers by a Presbyterie, according to i Tim. 4. 14. 
 
 This Anfiuer was brought 7ne by Majler Oliver, one of 
 the Elders, and Mafier Pierce, a Brother of Bofton. 
 
 When I was to come away, one of the chief ejl^^'' in the 
 Comitry wifJied 7ne to deliver him a note of what things 
 I miflikcd in the Coimtjy, which I did, thus : 
 
 I doubt, 
 I. T T rHether fo much time ffiould be fpent in the 
 V V publique Ordinances, on the Sabbath day, bc- 
 caufe that thereby fome neceffary duties of the Sabbath 
 muft needs be hindered, as vifitation of the fick, and 
 poore, and family. 
 
 2. Whether matters of offence fliould be publiquely 
 handled, either before the whole Church, or ftrangcrs. 
 
 "7 This may have been the new whom Lechford appears to have 
 governor, Richard Bellingham, with maintained very friendly intercourfe. 
 
 17 
 
130 Plaine dealings 
 
 3. Whether fo much time Ihould be fpent in particular 
 catechizino^ thofe that are admitted to the communion of 
 the Church, either men or women ; or that they fliould 
 make long fpeeches ; or when they come publiquely to 
 be admitted, any lliould fpeak contradi6lorily, or in 
 recommendation of any, unleffe before the Elders, upon 
 juft occafion. 
 
 4. Whether the cenfures of the Church fliould be 
 ordered, in publique, before all the Church, or ftrangers, 
 
 57 other then the denunciation of | the cenfures, and pro- 
 nunciation of the folutions. 
 
 5. Whether any of our Natio7i that is not extremely 
 ignorant or fcandalous, fliould bee kept from the Com- 
 munion, or his children from Baptifme. 
 
 6. That many thoufands in this Countrey have forgot- 
 ten the very principles of Religion, which they were daily 
 taught in England, by fet forms and Scriptures read, as 
 the Pfalmes, firft and fecond Leffon, the ten Command- 
 ments, the Creeds, and publique catecliizings. And al- 
 though conceived Prayer''^ be good and holy, and fo pub- 
 like explications and applications of the Word, and alfo 
 neceffary both in and out of feafon : yet for the moft part 
 
 22S " In conceived ^XTVj^x, the Spirit but prefcribed and impofed upon us 
 
 of God within us teacheth us what to by the will, wifdom and authority of 
 
 pray. . . . But in y?/;;/^?^ prayer, the men," &c. — Cotton's ^«/«/,?r/<? J/r. 
 
 matter is not fuggefted or endited to BaWs Difcourfe, &c., ch. ii. IHaii- 
 
 us by the Spirit of God within us, bury, ii. 159.] 
 
Neives from New-E^igland. 1 3 1 
 
 it may be feared they dull, amaze, confound, difcourage 
 the weake and ignorant, (which are the moft of men) 
 when they are in ordinary performed too tedioufly, or 
 with the negle6l of the Word read, and other premedi- 
 tated formes inculcated, and may tend to more ignorance 
 and inconvenience, then many good men are aware of 
 
 7. I doubt there hath been, and is much negledl of 
 endeavours, to teach, civilize, and convert the Indian 
 Nation, that are about the Plantations. 
 
 8. Whether by the received principles, it bee pojfiblc 
 to teach, civilize, or convert them, or when they are con- 
 verted, to maintain Gods worfliip among them. 
 
 9. That eledorie courfes will not long be fafe here, 
 either in Church or Common-wealth. 
 
 10. That the civill government is not fo equally admin- 58 
 iftred, nor can be, divers orders or by-laws confidered. 
 
 11. That unleffe thefe things be wifely and in time 
 prevented, many of your ufefulleft men will remove and 
 fcatter from you. 
 
 At Bojlon July 5. 1641. 
 
132 Plaine dealing. 
 
 II Mat. 10. I. 
 Mar. 3. 13. 
 A61. I. 4. & 2. 47 
 & 8. s- 6. & 9. 32 
 35. & II. 19. 20. 
 21. 26. 
 
 ^ Acts 8. 14. & 
 9. 31.& II. 22. 27 
 & 13. 2. 3. & 14 
 21. to 28. 
 
 Certain Quceres abont Church governfne^it, planting 
 Churches, and fome other Experiments. 
 
 I. T "![ /"Hether the people fliould cal the Minifter, or 
 V V the Minifter ^ gather the people ? 
 
 2. When a Church is gathered or planted ; fhould 
 they not have a care in ^ propagating other Churches, in 
 other places next them. 
 
 3. Whether fliould not the firft Church " vifit the later 
 la^ii^ 27. & Churches planted by them, to fee they keepe the faith 
 IS. 36. 16. 4- ^^j order, as long as fliee remains herfelfe in purity of 
 
 Do(5lrine and worfliip ? 
 
 4. How fliall a Church propagate, and vifit other 
 Churches ? fliall they do it by their members, ordinary 
 
 d Acts 8. s- 14- Chrifl;ians, or by their Minifl;ers, ^ or Paflors ? fliall they 
 
 & II. 22. 27. & -^ ' -I 
 
 ^\iat^ 23 I " ^^^^^^^ ^^^'"^ propagation, or flay, till, by their numbers 
 Adis ^13. ., 2, 3. increafing, they are neceffitated to fwarme, or are perfe- 
 cuted abroad ? 
 
 /Ads 1.2,3,4. 5. If by their Pafl;ors, mufl not there bee more ^ Min- 
 
 & 2. 47. & 13. 1. 
 
 ifl;ers then one in the firfl Church ? how elfe can any 
 
 be fpared to goe abroad about fuch works upon occa- 
 
 fion ? 
 
 59 6. When they have planted other Churches, | mufl; not 
 
 '" ^^' '■ ''' '^' the s firft Church take care for the providing of Elders or 
 
 A Afl. 6. 6. & 14 
 
 23. ■ Mmilters for thefe new planted Churches, and ^ ordain 
 
N ewes from New-England. 133 
 
 them, and fometimes goe ' or fend fome to teach them, ' ^a. s. .4. & 
 
 II. 22. 
 
 and uphold the worfliip of God among them ? 
 
 7. How can any preach, unleffe he be *" fent ? and how k Rom. 10. 15. 
 can he be fent, unleffe by impofition of ' hands of the -^ Aa. 6. 6. & n. 
 
 ' J ^ 3. xTim. 4. 14- 
 
 Presbytery of the firft Church ? 
 
 8. If fo, hath not the firft Church and the Minifters 
 
 thereof, Apoftlolical '" power in thefe thinos? '« Eph.4. ". 
 
 ^ ^ ... Aa. I. 25. & 8. 
 
 9. But have all " Churches and Minifters this power.? .4. &■>. 22. 27- 
 
 « Rom. 16. I. 
 
 are they able? have they learned men enough, to ° water iCor. 3. 6. 
 
 where they have planted 1 If fome fliould not be of the 
 
 •' Quorum, as it were, in ordinations, and the like, what / = iim. .. 6. 
 
 I Tim. 4. 14. 
 
 order, peace, or unity can be expedled } compared. 
 
 10. Againe, if all Churches and Minifters have this 
 power, equally, to exercife the work Apoftolicall ; muft 
 they not all then goe, or fend abroad, to convert the In- 
 dians, and plant Churches .? and how can all be fpared 
 abroad.? Are all ^ Apoftles.? all Euangelifts? where ,;,co 
 were the body, if fo .? 
 
 1 1. Will they not interfiere one upon another, and trcf- 
 paffe upon one anothersMine, rule, or portion, which bleffed 
 S. Paul condemned in thofe that entred into his labours.? 
 
 12. When any other <■ Church, befides the * firft, hath f ;J^^ l^;-- ^ 
 power and ability to propagate and bring forth other •'^ 
 Churches, may flie not doe well fo to doe .? muft flic not ? 
 
 in her fitting line, obferving peace, and holding commu- 
 nion with I the firft, as long as they remain in purity 60 
 
 _or. 12., 
 19, 29. 
 
 2 Cor. I. 
 to the cud. 
 
134 Plaine dealing, 
 
 both of them ? and if a fecond, why not a third, and a 
 fourth, and fo forth to a competent number ? 
 
 1 3. Whether the firft and other Churches alfo having 
 power and abihty thus to propagate the Gofpell and plant 
 Churches, may not be fitly called, prime, chief, or princi- 
 V As Hierufa- p^H feats of tlic Cliurch, or '' chiefe Churches ? 
 
 lein, Antioch, 
 
 Ephefns, Acis ^ \. Whcthcr tliofc Churches fo o^athered, in one Kino-. 
 
 11.26. ^ C ' o 
 
 dome, Citie, or Principality, holding communion to- 
 gether, may not be fitly, in regard of their unity in Doc- 
 trine and worfliip, called the Church of fuch a Nation, or 
 u Aas II. 22. Province, " City, or Countrey ? 
 
 15. Whether is it probable, that the firfl Church Chrif- 
 
 X Afts 1. 4, 15, tian, that wee reade of to be, at '^ Hierufalem, was onely 
 26. & 2. 41. 
 
 one congregation, or but as many as could meete in one 
 
 place ? had they not among them twelve Apoflles, befides 
 
 Elders, three thoufand, at once added, what ever number 
 
 there was befides ? and had they fuch a large Temple or 
 
 meeting-houfes at their command in thofe dayes ? 
 
 16. Whether the word CImrcJi bee not diverfly taken 
 in holy Scripture, and fometimes for a civill or uncivill 
 
 j/Aa.io. 40. affembly or congreffion ? ^ Afts 19. 40. Ka\ xmra tlnm' 
 anilvct rrjv tuxh^aiav, and when he had thus fpoken, he dif- 
 miffed the affembly or Church ? 
 
 Fitzherb. N.B.2-!' ij. Whcthcr aucicntly in j5';^^/^;^<^, fome fmall affem 
 
 229 " For the word Ecchfia is al- bert's Natiira Brevium, 32. " In a 
 ways intended a parfonage." Fitzher- qtiare impedit prafentare ad Ecclefi- 
 
Newes from New-England. 135 
 
 blyes were not called Churches, as every | prefentativc 61 
 Re6tory or Parfonage is called Ecclejia, when others that 
 were greater were not fo called, as no Vicaridge, Dona- 
 tive or Chappel is called Ecclcjia in our Law ? 
 
 1 8. Whether the Re6lor, or Parfon that is a Presbyter 
 in a Church, fliould, being alone, rule abfolutely by him- 
 felfe, without the concurrence, advife, or fuperiour power 
 
 of the Evangelifticall ^ Paftor of the Church, who had - ■ *-"«' 5 3 4. 
 care in the plantation or eredlion of the Parfons Church ? 
 
 19. If not; fhould the Vicar, Donative, Minifter or 
 Chaplain ? 
 
 20. But where they have ufed to rule more abfolutely, 
 (as in fome peculiar jurifdi6lions in England) why may 
 they not with the peace and unity of the Church, and by 
 good advife, ftil doe the fame alway, with fubordination 
 to the Evangelifticall leaders, and fit Chriftian, and Na- 
 tionall Synods ? 
 
 21. If the Parfon fliould not rule alone ordinarily, why 
 fliould the principall leaders rule ordinarily alone without 
 the advife and affiftance of a competent number of their 
 Presbyters, who may afford them counfell ? Did not the 
 
 holy Apoftles advife with the Elders =* fometinies ? is it-Aas.s.6. 
 fafe for them or the whole ? 
 
 22. But were there any Bifliops fuperintendent, over Objection. 
 
 am, it is a good plea to the writ that be intended a paridi church." Lord 
 it is but a Chapel ; for Ecdefia fliall Hale's Comment, in loco. 
 
136 Plaine dealings 
 
 other Bifliops, or Presbyters, in the firft hundred years 
 after Chrifts birth ? Did not Saint lames write his Gen- 
 62 erall Epiftle to the twelve | Tribes, which were then fcat- 
 tered abroad, no doubt, in many places, and therein men- 
 -^ James 5. .4. tion for Rulcrs, onely '^ Elders? and S. Peter write his 
 c I Pet. SI, 2. 3 generall Epiftle, and therein dire6l or command the "" El- 
 ders not to over-rule the flock, the Lords inheritance ? 
 where was the Order of Bifliops ? had not the Elders the 
 rule ? might they not elfe have returned anfwer, that 
 the command concerned not them, but a certaine Order 
 of men, called Bifliops, above us ? 
 Anfwer. 23. Were not the Apoftles and Euangelifts then liv- 
 d Afts 1. 20. ing, '^ Bifliops, and fuperintendent overfeers ? had they 
 e 2 Cor. II. 28. not the ^ care of all the Churches, in their lines ? did not 
 
 & Chap. 10. 12. 
 
 to the end. thcfc lioly Apoftlcs, S. lames and S. Peter, mention their 
 owne names, in their Epiflles ? is it not plain, that Peter 
 had over-fight upon thofe to whom he wrote, to fee that 
 they did not over-rule, and take account of them, if they 
 did? And did the Lord ordaine there fliould be fuch a 
 fuperintendencie, onely for an 80. years, and not fonie 
 equall correfpondent fuperfpe(?i;ion alfo in after-ages, when 
 thofe extraordinary men fliould ceafe ? If fome had then 
 the care of all the Churches, fliould there not be fome, 
 in after-times, to have the care of fome, to a competent 
 number of Churches, in their fitting lines, and as they 
 
 / a Cor. 8. 12. arc ^ ablc ? And though this Divine right be broken 
 
Newes from New-Engla7id. 137 
 
 through the many groffe corruptions of fucceffions, and 
 the Hke, yet is it not equall to obferve the firft Inftitution, 
 as neere as may be, as we fay the equity of fome Lawes 
 and Statutes among us is fometimes to be obferved, 
 though I not in the Letter ? And why may not a chiefe 63 
 Paflor be called a Bifliop, as well as an Elder, or any 
 other officer heretofore fuperiour ? 
 
 24. If ^ Pfalms, and Hymnes, and fpirituall fongs are s lip'i- 5 '9- 
 
 I Cor. 14. 26. 40. 
 
 to be fung in the Church, and to fmg melodioufly, and 
 with good harmony, is the gift of God, and uncomely 
 fmging a kind of fm in the holy Affemblies; why fliould 
 not the chiefe leaders, and rulers of the Church, appoint 
 fome, in their flead, to take care of the fmgings of the 
 Church ? and may not fome be fitter to lead in fmging, 
 then others ? and left they may fall out of their tunes to 
 jarring, why may they not ufe the help of fome muficall 
 inftruments? and left they fliould want able men this 
 way, why fhould they not take care, that fome children 
 be trained up in Mufique ? 
 
 2^. Whether or no Chrift did not allow of a '' form of/. Ma.. 6. 9. su 
 
 -J ergo adoriitc X'OS 
 
 Prayer, and a Hiort one too ? will not the ' flrong allow ovtu,.^ 
 the weak helps in Prayer? are not the befl Chriflians /;; ' 
 often diftraded in long Prayers ? is it not eafier for the 
 ftrong to pray, then for as flrong men to hear Prayer 
 well? fhould thofe that are flrong Proficients in grace 
 not be fatisfied, without all their weak brethren come to 
 
 I.llkc 11.2. 
 
 {0111. 15. I. 
 
138 Plaine dealings 
 
 k Rom. 12. 16. tiie fai-jie pitch of hiorh fandification with themfelves ? 
 
 Idipjuni in in- *-* 
 
 vkevt/eutientes ; fhouM thcv DOt Tathei" ^ condefcend to the weaker? And 
 
 noH alia fapien- 
 
 tes, fed Jmmiii- althou^h it bc rare to tell of any a6tually converted by 
 
 bus con/entientes. J J J 
 
 aAuroif 7a7r«- formes of Prayer, and Scriptures read ; yet who can juftly 
 
 vole, avvanayo- 
 
 fievoi,hntconde- deny, but that much good hath been, is, and may for ever 
 
 fcending to the 
 
 humble. be done by fuch things that way, Sic?^^ ultimits i£lus 
 
 64 quercimi non ccedit, extrema arena clepfydrain non exhaurit, 
 as the lafl ftroak fells not the oake, nor the lafl fand ex- 
 haufts the houre-glaffe ? ^^° 
 
 /Aa. .024, 44, 26. Whether may not a man ' and his houfehold, a 
 
 47, 48. & 16. 30. 
 
 3i> 32. 33- ver3 
 14. IS 
 
 woman and her houfliold, a whole '" City, or Countrey, 
 
 m Afts 8. 8, a King and his people, a whole Nation, be baptized, after 
 
 12, 14. 
 
 they are competently inftruded in the Religion of God. 
 u Acioio. 27. Is it certain, that all that were baptized in " Corne- 
 
 Aasio. lius his houfe, in the ° Gaolers houfe, in Lydids, in ^ 6'^:- 
 
 P Ads 8. . . A- • 7 
 
 5;Aas.8. maria, in ^ Corinth, were fuch true beleevers, as now 
 good men require all thofe that joyne with them, to be, 
 before they will receive them to the Communion of their 
 r Adis. 8. 13. Church ? Were not "■ hypocrites admitted & baptized in 
 wmparld.^' ' thc PHmitive Church, by the Apoftles and Evangelifls 
 themfelves, being deceived by them ? Were not children 
 circumcifed in the old Teflament, and baptized all along 
 in the times of the New, fo received into the bofome of 
 the Church ? 
 
 230 "Quem admodum clepfydram hora, qua efle definimus, non fola 
 non extremum ftillicidium exhaurit, mortem facit, fed fola confummat." — 
 fed quidquid ante defluxit : fie ultima Seneca, Epijl. xxiv. 19. 
 
Newes from New-England. 1 39 
 
 28. Could, or can ever any Nation, probably, be 
 brought into the obedience of the Gofpel, poll by poll, in 
 fuch manner as is imagined by the leaders of feparations ? 
 
 29. If it be poffible, let them make experience, and 
 try whether the Indians, or any other Heathen people, 
 can be fo converted before the Greek Kalends. 
 
 30. Whether there be any dire6l Scripture for the 
 peoples choice of their chiefe Paftour ? Can there, ordi- 
 narily, be a better election, then when the fupreame 
 Magiftrate (who hath, at moft | times, the power of all 
 the people, and fometimes their counfell in a regular 
 way) joynes with a fele6l and competent number and 
 company of Presbyters in the fame ? 
 
 31. Whether any that have not fkill, grace, and learn- 
 ing, to judge of the parties to be ordained, whether they 
 be fit, and able to what they are to be ordained, may ^ or- ^, 
 daine them ? 
 
 32. Whether or no to maintain a defired purity or per- 
 fedion in the Magiftracie, by eleaion of the people, thefe 
 good men oi New- England, are not forced to be too ftricl 
 in receivine the brethren, and to run a courfe tending to 
 heathenifme ? 
 
 33. Whether have not popular elcdions of chiefe 
 Magiftrates beene, and are they not very dangerous to 
 States and Kindomes? Are there not fome great myf- 
 teries of State and government? Is it poffible, con ve- 
 
 / I Tim. 5. II. 
 itus 2. 2. 
 
140 Plaine dealing. 
 
 nient, or neceffary, for all men to attain to the knowledge 
 of thofe myfleries, or to have the like meafure of knowl- 
 edge, faith, mercifulneffe, wifdome, courage, magnanimity, 
 patience ? Whence are Kings denominated, but from 
 their fkill and knowledge to rule ? whereto they are even 
 born and educated, and by long experience, and faithfull 
 Counfellors enabled, and the grace and bleffmg of God 
 upon all ? Doe not the wife, good, ancient, and renowned 
 Laws of England attribute much, yea, very much truft 
 and confidence to the King, as to the head and fupreame 
 Governour, though much be alfo in the reft of the great 
 body, heart and hands, and feete, to counfell, maintain, 
 66 and | preferve the whole, but efpecially the Head ? 
 
 34. Hence what government for an Englifliman but 
 an hereditary, fucceffive, Ki7ig, ^ the /on of Nobles, well 
 
 ,0. .6, 17. counfelled and affifted ? 
 
 35. Whether we the poflerity of the Church, and peo- 
 ple of God, who now fee the tops of things onely, may 
 fafely condemne the foundations, which we have not 
 feen ? 
 
 36. Whether is there not a difference between bare 
 fpeculation, and knowledge joyned with found experience, 
 and betweene the experience of Divines and people re- 
 forming from out of fome deepe corruptions in Churches 
 called Chriflian, and the experience of thofe that have 
 converfed in and about planting, and building Churches, 
 
 V Pio. 25. 3. 
 Ecclef. 8. 4 & 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 141 
 
 where there was none before, or among Heathens ? what 
 is art many times without experience ? 
 
 37. Whether thofe Authors from Hierome^^"^ to Arch- 
 Bifliop Adamfon,^^'' that alledge all Presbyters to be 
 equall, and fliould alwayes have equall power and au- 
 thority, had any great fkill, or will, or experience, in the 
 propagation of Churches among heathens, or barbarous 
 Nations ? 
 
 38. If not, whether their Teftimony bee of that validity 
 as is thought by fome ? If they had, whether they might 
 not erre ? 
 
 39. Whether meffengers fent by Churches, or Minif- 
 
 231 " Haec propterea, ut oftendere- 
 mus apud veteres eofdem fuilTe pref- 
 byteros et epifcopos. . . . Sicut ergo 
 presbyteri fciunt fe ex eccleliae con- 
 fuetudine ei, qui fibi propofitus fuerit 
 effe fubje(?tos, ita epifcopi noverint fe 
 magis confuetudine quam difpofitionis 
 dominicas veritate, presbyteris efle 
 majores." Hieron. Coinineiit. in Tit. 
 i. 5 [cited, with other paffages from 
 Jerome's Commentaries and Epillles, 
 in the Rev. Dr. De.xter's Congrega- 
 tionalifm, pp. 94-96 ; where fee a care- 
 ful digeft of authorities, from Clem- 
 ent of Rome to Dean Alford, affirming 
 the original equality of all presby- 
 ters.] 
 
 232 Patrick Adamfon, titular Arch- 
 bifliop of Saint Andrew's, Scotland, 
 1575-92, who had been a vigorous 
 
 and uncompromifmg opponent of 
 Presbyterianifm, near the clofe of his 
 life fubfcribed " certain articles allow- 
 ing presbyterial difcipline and con- 
 demning the government epifcopai." 
 "Whether he knew what was con- 
 tained in them, or that he was in- 
 duced thereto by a poor colleaion 
 they gave him in the time (for fo the 
 report went), or otherwife, it is uncer- 
 tain," fays Bifliop Spottifwood. Hijl 
 of the Church of Scotland (cd. Ruf- 
 fel), ii. 415 ; comp. Calderwood's True 
 Hifiory, 96 ; and Stephen, i. 299. 
 Some years after the ArchbiHiop's 
 death, thefe articles were printed, 
 with the title of The Recantation of 
 Maifler Patrick Adamfon, fome time 
 ArchbifJiop of S. Androwes in Scot- 
 lande. (n. p. 1598-) 
 
142 Plaine dealing, 
 
 !i I Cor. 4. I 
 & 2. lO. 
 
 ters taking upon them to go to gather or plant Churches, 
 and to ordain, or give the right hand of fellowlliip to 
 67 Minifters in thofe Churches, | and to appeafe differences 
 in Church affairs, are not Epifcopall a6ls?'^3 
 
 40. Is Epifcopacie, or a fuperintendencie neceffary at 
 Neiv-Enola7id, and is it not neceffary in more populous 
 places ? Are there not fome, nay many depths and " myf- 
 teries in Gods holy Word, the Scriptures, and certain 
 Catholique interpretations, which tranfgreffed, the faith 
 is hurt? Is it poffible, convenient, or neceffary for all 
 men, nay all Miniflers, to attain the knowledge of thofe 
 myfteries, or to have the like meafure of knowledge, faith, 
 mercifulneffe, wifdome, patience, long fuffering, courage, 
 whereby to be enabled to rule in the Church of God, 
 whereto they are educated, tryed, chofen, and ordained? 
 and do not the facred rules and Laws of God, of holy 
 Church and of this Kingdome attribute much, yea very 
 much truit and confidence to the chief Paftors, Leaders, 
 and Rulers, the Fathers of the Church, efpecially to the 
 Bifliops of the prime and Metropoliticall Churches, by the 
 affiftance of, and with, and under the fupreame Magif- 
 trate, the chiefe, the beft cement of government, though 
 much be alfo in other members of the great body, the 
 Church, to counfell, maintaine and preferve the whole in 
 the faith, foundneffe, peace and unity, efpecially the chief 
 
 233 See before, pp. 53, 54. 
 
Newes from New-England. 143 
 
 leaders, when need requireth ? Hence what government 
 
 for Chriftians in chief, but by pious, learned, Provincial} 
 
 and Diocefan Bifliops, efpecially in England and Ireland! 
 
 By the jujl examination of the whole, thofe that are pious 
 
 and learned, may eafily gather, what good \ reafons I 68 
 had, and have, to returne, as now humbly I doe, lo the 
 Church of 'E\-\^2indi, for whofe peace, ptirity, and prof 
 perity, is the daily prayer of one of her mofl ^inworthy 
 fons, 
 
 Clements Inne, 
 
 Novemb. 16. i'64i.. 
 
 Thomas Lechford. 
 
 To a friendP^ 
 Sir, 
 
 HEre is a good Land, and yeelding many good com- 
 modities, efpecially fifli, and furs, corne, and other 
 richer things, if well followed, and if that popular elec- 
 tions deftroy us not. It is a good Land, I fay, that m- 
 ftruds us to repentance, when we confider what a good 
 Land we came from, wliat good lawes and government 
 we have left, to make experiments of governing our felves 
 here by new wayes, wherein (like young Phyfitians) of 
 
 .34 A copy of this letter, in (hort- In tlie margin are the words (alfo in 
 hand, without date or addrefs, is in (hort-hand), "This is written. 
 Lechford's Ms. Journal, pp. 164, 165. 
 
144 Plaine dealing, 
 
 neceffity we muft hurt and fpoile one another a great 
 while, before we come to fuch a fetled Common-wealth, 
 or Church-government, as is in England. 
 
 I thank God, now I underfland by experience, that 
 there is no fuch government for Englifli men, or any 
 Nation, as a Monarchy ; nor for Chriftians, as by a law- 
 full Miniflerie, under godly Diocefan Bifliops, deducing 
 their flation and calling from Chrift and his Apoflles, in 
 defcent or fucceffion ; a thing of greater confequence 
 69 then I ceremonies, (would to God I had known it fooner) 
 which while I have in my place ftood for here thefe two 
 years, and not agreeing to this new difcipline, impoffible 
 to be executed, or long continued, what I have fuffered, 
 many here can tell ; I am kept from the Sacrament, and 
 all place of preferment in the Common-wealth, and forced 
 to get my living by writing petty things, which fcarce 
 finds me bread ; and therefore fometimes I look to plant- 
 ing of corne, but have not yet here an houfe of my owne 
 to put my head in, or any flock going : Whereupon I 
 was determined to come back,^^^ but by the over-entreaty 
 of fome friends,'^^ I here think to ftay a while longer, 
 hoping that the Lord will fliortly give a good iffue to 
 things both in our native Country, and Scotland, and 
 here, as well as in all other his Majefties dominions. 
 
 235 "To come back ////tf/r^/rtz/r/." — 236 "Of my wife and fome other 
 
 Ms. copy. friends." — Idem. 
 
Newes from New-England. \ac 
 
 I was very glad to fee my Lord Bilhop of Exctcrs 
 Book; '^7 it gave me much fatisfadion. If the people 
 may make Minifters, or any Minifters make others with- 
 out an Apoftolicall '^^ Bifliop, what confufion will there 
 be ? If the whole Church, or every congregation, as our 
 good men think, have the power of the keyes, how many 
 Bifliops then fliall we have ? If every Parifh or congre- 
 gation be fo free and independent, as they terme it, what 
 unity can we expe6t ? 
 
 Glad alfo was I to fee Mafter Balls Book of the tryall 
 of the grounds of Separation,-" both which are newly 
 come over, and I hope will work much good among us 
 here ? 
 
 And whereas I was fometimes mif-led by thofe of opin- 
 ion that Bifliops,'*° and Presbyters, & all Minifters, are of 
 
 237 "For Epifcopacie by divine the Power of the Keys," &c. (1640, 
 right." Idem. Bifhop Hall's A)!'//^,?- 4to, pp. 314-) See Hanbury's JAv/zt;- 
 pacie by Divine Right ajferied—2i rials, ii. 46, 47, 156-63. In 1642, 
 work undertaken at the requelt of Mr. Cotton publifhed •' A modell and 
 Archbiihop Laud, and remodelled in clear Anfwer to Mr. Ball's Difcourfe 
 conformity with his fuggeftions — was of Set Forms of Prayer," &c. John 
 publiflied in 1640. Ball, whom Fuller pronounces '"an 
 
 238 " Apollolicall or Evangelicall excellent fchoolman and fchoohnarter, 
 Bifliop." — J/j. (T^?//. a painful preacher, and a profitable 
 
 239 "A Friendly Trial of the Grounds writer," was minifter at Whitmore, 
 tending to Separation : In a plain and near Newcaftle, in Staffordfliire. He 
 modeft Difpute touching the lawful- died in 1640. Worthies of England, 
 nefs of a Stinted Liturgy and Set (ed. 1840) iii. 23 ; Brook's Z/7W,ii. 440. 
 Form of Prayer ; Communion in 240 " BiOiops dioccfan luere not of 
 Mixed AlTemblies ; and, the Primi- divine right and tliat BifJiops. and 
 tive Subjeft, and Firlt Receptacle, of Presbyters," &c. — J/.*', copy. 
 
 19 
 
146 Plaine dealing, 
 
 the fame authority ; When I came to confider the necef- 
 fary propagation of the truth, and government of the 
 Church, by experimental! foot-fleps here, I quickly faw 
 my error : For befides, if the congregations be not 
 united under one Diocefan in fit compaile, they are in 
 a confufion, notwithftanding all their clafficall pretend- 
 ments, how can the Gofpel be propagated to the Indians 
 without an Apoftolicall^'^' Bifliop ? If any Church, or 
 people, by the Kings leave, fend forth Minifters to teach 
 and inftru6t the poore Indians in the Chriftian Religion, 
 they muft have at leafl; Apoftolicall-"*- power to ordain 
 Minifters or Elders in every congregation among them ; 
 and when they have fo done, they have power of Vifita- 
 tion where they plant : Nor can they without juft caufe-''^ 
 be thrufl out from government without great impiety ; 
 and where they have planted, that is their line or Dio- 
 cefe. Thus I came to fee, that of neceffity a Diocefe, 
 and Bifliop Diocefan, is very neere, if not altogether --^^ of 
 Divine authority. 
 
 I am alfo of opinion, that it were good for our Minif- 
 ters to learne how to doe this work from fome of our 
 reverend Bifliops in England, for I feare our Minifters 
 
 241 " Apoftolicall or Evangelicall ^'^^ ThQ word?, '■'"without Ju/lcan/e^'' 
 Bifhop." Idem. See before, pp. 59, are not in the Ms. copy. 
 
 60, Queries 10-13. -■+-* This qualifying claufe, "very 
 
 242 The Ms. copy has '■'• Evangel i- near, if not altogether," was inferted 
 calV inftead of " Apoftolicall." on revifion. 
 
Newes from New-England. 147 
 
 know not how to goe about it. Whether muft not fome 
 Minifters learne their language ? It is a copious lan- 
 guage, as I am informed, and they have as many words 
 to expreffe one thing as we have. And when they teach 
 Indians to pray, will they not teach them | by a forme? 71 
 and how can Gods worfliip be maintained among igno- 
 rant perfons without a forme } I am firme of opinion, 
 
 * 
 
 that the befl of us have been much beholding to the 
 Word read, and formes of Prayer. 
 From Boflon in N. E. 
 lulii 28. 1640. 
 
 TJiis Gentleman -^'' to whom I wrote, kindly returned me a 
 wife anfwer, wherein is this pajfage : 
 
 TO fpeak in briefe, I think now that New-England is 
 a perfed model and fampler of the ftate of us here 
 at this time; for all is out of joynt both in Church and 
 Common-wealth, and when it will be better, God know- 
 eth : To him we muft pray for the amendment of it, and 
 that he will not lay on us the merits of our nationall and 
 particular hnnes, the true caufe of all thefe evils. 
 Dated out of Somerfet-fliire, 
 Aprilis 27. 1 64 1. 
 
 345 William Prvnne? He was a na- It was rumored in the summer of 
 tive of Somerfetmire, and an old friend 1641 that he had fent money to Lech- 
 of Lechford's. See the Introduction, ford to pay his passage to England. 
 
14^8 Plaine dealing, 
 
 \ 
 
 To anothc7% tJms :'^^'' 
 
 N a word or two, we heare of great diflurbances in our 
 deare native Countrey ; I am heartily forry, &c/^^ I 
 befeech you take my briefe opinion ; We here are quite 
 out of the way of right government both in Church 
 and Common-wealth, as I verily think, and as far as I 
 can judge upon better confideration, and fome pains 
 72 taken | in fearching after the bottome of fome things. 
 Some eledlorie wayes tend to the overthrow of King- 
 domes : No fuch way for government of Engliflimen, as 
 a Monarchic ; of Chriftians, as by Diocefan Bifliops -■♦^ 
 in their line : Better yeeld to many preffures in a Mon- 
 archic, then for fubje6ts to deftroy, and fpoile one 
 another.-^^ If I were worthy to advife a word, I fliould 
 
 M'^ The draft of this letter (in (liort- lows : " Right Worthy Sir. I fent 
 
 hand) is in Lechford's Journal, p. 175, you at my firfl landing here an un- 
 
 with this note (alfo in fhort-hand) add- wife letter of which I [deferved ?] to 
 
 ed : '' This letter was fent by Mr. K. receive no anfwer. I can not forget 
 
 to his father, Ralfe King, of Wat- my refpeft toward you and your wor- 
 
 ford." It is not certain (nor, I think, thy and beloved family, my good lad3% 
 
 probable) that it was rt</(r!'r^t?^ to Mr. and all your dear and hopeful chil- 
 
 King. It may have been fent to dren, as in my [poor ?] fupplications I 
 
 his care, to infure its fafe tranfmiffion remember dayly. In a word," &c. 
 to the perfon to whom it was written. 247 " I am heartily forry that I had 
 
 The day before its date, Lechford had ever Jiand in fome of the caufesT — 
 
 drawn, for Thomas Talmadge and his Ms. [I think that I have not mif- 
 
 brothers, a letter of attorney to Ralfe read the cipher, though the chara6lers 
 
 King, of Watford, co. Herts, woollen are fo imperfeflly formed that I am 
 
 draper, to receive for them certain not certain of the words italicized.] 
 moneys in England. 248 "Or Evangelilts." — Ms. 
 
 In the MS. the letter besfins as fol- 249 "As I fear we muft do here 
 
Newes from New-Engla7id. 1 49 
 
 defire you to have a care, and fo all your friends, you 
 prejudice not your eftate, or pofterity, by too much 
 oppofing the Regall power: For I verily beleeve the 
 Kings Majefty hath in generall a good caufe touching 
 Epifcopacie : ^'° My reafons I could better deliver in 
 prefence, if haply God give opportunity to fee you, or 
 if you require it hereafter, I will be ready to prefent my 
 thoughts unto you. All this, as I fliall anfwer before 
 the Lord, without any by-refpe6ls. If you were here, I 
 prefume you would fee more then I can, but I think you 
 would be much of my mind/^' 
 
 * From Bofton in N. E. 
 
 Septemb. 4. 1640. 
 
 To another of no meane rafik. 
 
 Complaining of my fufiferings, and lliewing the rea- 
 fons, defiring him to fend for me, that I might de- 
 clare them to his perfon more effedually. 
 
 From Bofton in N. E. March, 1640. 
 
 lonc' before we come to any fettled- 20I. I owed you, of Mr. Hill. God's 
 nefs either in Church or Common- will be done. I am not able to pay 
 wealth." Ms., — but this was crofied it yet, but fhall be mindfull, God will- 
 out on revifion. ing, to difcharye it as foon as I can. 
 
 .so For " touching Epifcopacie," the I am thankful), and deHre to be yet 
 
 Ms. reads, "againft the Sectaries." more thankfull to you for the loan 
 
 35^ After this comes, in the copy, a of it. If you hear any thmg of me 
 
 paragraph about matters of bufmefs. fpecially from Mr. Hookc or h.s w.le, 
 
 " I hear that you [required ?] tliat pray keep an ear for me, for we have 
 
150 Plaine dealing., 
 
 73 To another. 
 
 '\/'Ou knew my condition and employment, and how 
 -*- ill it went with me in E^igland, by reafon of the 
 trouble of our friends, and my own danger therby. For 
 my outward fubfiflence here, at this time, God knowes it 
 is but meane ; fome fay it is my owne fault, and that I 
 fland in my owne light, and you, and others may fo con- 
 ceive ; but the God of heaven is my witneffe, I have 
 endeavoured in all things to keep a good confcience, 
 though fometimes I have failed ; I have endeavoured, 
 laying all by-refpedls afide, to joyne with the Church 
 here, but cannot yet be fatisfyed in divers particulars, 
 whereby I am kept from all place of employment or pre- 
 ferment, as I have had overtures made unto me of, if I 
 would or could yeeld, but hitherto I have not dared to 
 doe it, for good reafons befl; knowne to our heavenly 
 Witneffe. I muft give you a tafte. 
 
 They hold their Covenant conftitutes their Church, 
 and that implyes, we that come to joyne with them, were 
 not members of any true Church whence we came, and 
 that I dare not profeffe. Againe, here is required fuch 
 confeffions, and profeffions, both in private and publique, 
 
 had fome \^feveral words erafed'\ and all yours to the guidance and . . . 
 
 I wifli you knew how I am ufed : of his heavenly Majefty, refting yours 
 
 For this time thus I take my leave in all fervice to be commanded. 
 heartily recommending your Worfhip " Thomas Lechford." 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 15 
 
 both by men and women, before they be admitted, that 
 three parts of the people of the Country remaine out of 
 the Church, fo that in fhort time mofl of the people will 
 remaine unbaptized,^^^ if this courfe hold, and is (we feare) 
 of dangerous confequence, a thing not tending to the 
 
 252 Robert Baylie, in A Diffuafive 
 f7-07n the Errours of the Tii/ie, &c. 
 (Lond. 1645), refers to this ftatement 
 as his authority for the affertion that 
 the fruits of the church-way of New 
 England were, " firft, the holding-out 
 of all their Churches and Chriltian 
 Congregation many thoufands of Peo- 
 ple, who in former time have been 
 reputed in Old England very good 
 Chriftians." In the Way of Congre- 
 gational Chioxhes Cleared (the firft 
 Part of which was written in reply to 
 Bay lie's Dijfiiafcve), Mr. Cotton ex- 
 amines Lechford's teflimony : " The 
 Book is unfitly called plaine dealing, 
 which (in refpe6l of many palTages in 
 it) might rather be called falfe and 
 fradulent. I forbear to fpeak of the 
 man himfelf, becaufe foon after the 
 publifhing of that Book, himfelf was 
 called away out of the world to give 
 account [&c.]. . . . That which he tef- 
 tifieth, neither is it true ; neither if 
 it were, doeth it reach Mr. Baylie's 
 alTertion. It is not true, that three 
 . parts of the Countrey remaine out of 
 the Church, if he meane three parts 
 of foure, no, though hee fliould take 
 in thofe remote EnglifJi, who live a 
 fcore of miles or more from any 
 Church." Pt. i. pp. 7I) 72- 
 
 Right or wrong as to the propor- 
 tion of non-members, Lecliford was 
 not the firft to complain of the ftriCl^- 
 nefs in admiffion to church privileges 
 and of the virtual exclufion thereby 
 of a confiderable, if not the greater, 
 part of the people. Mr. Stansby, min- 
 ifter of Little Waldingfield, co. Suffolk, 
 in a letter to the Rev. John Wilfon, 
 dated April 17, 1637, mentions as 
 matter of grief, " that you [of MalTa- 
 chufetts] are fo ftrift in admiffion of 
 members to your church, that more 
 then one halfe are out of your church 
 in all your congregations, & that Mr. 
 Hoker [Thomas Hooker] before he 
 went away preached againrt yt (as one 
 reports who hard him) (& he faith) 
 Now although I knowe all mull not 
 be admytted, yet this may do mucli 
 hurt," &c. " There is now," he adds, 
 "fo much talke of yt, & fuch cer- 
 teyne truth of yt, & I know many of 
 worth, for outward eftate & abiiit\-, 
 for wifdome & grace, are much danted 
 from comeing." 4 ^^faf- IHft. Coll., 
 vii. 1 1. Comp. Hooker, Survey, pt. 3, 
 p. 6, —cited in note 12, p. 7» ante. 
 
 See, alfo, W. Rathband's Briefe 
 Narration of fome Chunk Courf-s 
 in New England, (London, 1644-) 
 pp. 9, 10. 
 
152 Plaine dealings 
 
 74 propagation of the Gofpel in peace : Which, though it 
 have a colour of fan(5timony and ftri6lneffe, whereby 
 many well-affe6ted or affeftionate people, but weak in 
 found experience and judgement, are the rather drawn 
 thereunto, and they are in a manner neceffitated to it, to 
 maintaine their eledtion of Magiflrates and Miniflers in 
 their owne way of popular or Ariflocraticall government; 
 I dare not (for my part) yeeld unto neither in my own 
 confcience, nor for the credit of thofe perfons v/ith whom 
 I have been educated, and in whofe caufes I have been 
 feen. A Monarchy is the beft government for Englifli- 
 men ; better to fuffer fome preffures under that kind of 
 government, then to fpoile one another with popular 
 eledlions. Againe, I cannot yeeld to Lay-Elders, nor 
 that Lay-men fliould impofe hands upon any to the 
 Minifterie, nor that any Minifler fliould renounce his 
 calling to the Minifterie which he received in Eiigland, 
 as Antichriftian : It is a groffe error, and palpable 
 fchifme ; then our Baptifme is not right, and fo there 
 will be no end of feparations. Alfo I beleeve there 
 cannot be a Church, without a true Minifter; nor can 
 any gather themfelves together into a Church without 
 a true Minifter; nor can they ordain their own Min- 
 ifters ; ordinarily, I meane ; what may be done in an 
 extraordinary cafe, pro prima vice, is another queftion ; I 
 hold there ought to be an Apoftolicall Bifliop, by fuccef- 
 
Newes from New-England. 153 
 
 fion from Chrift and his Apoftles, fuperiour in order or 
 degree to his brethren ; which Bifliop ought to ordain, 
 and I rule with other Presbyters, or alone, but Presbyters 75 
 cannot without him. And if fo be any thing in word or 
 ad paffed from mee to the contrary hereof, I do profeffe 
 it was in my ignorance. Their calling is of Divine au- 
 thority, or nearefl: thereunto, elfe the Church of God 
 could not have fubfifted in any tolerable way of peace, 
 through all this by-paft time of 1600. yeeres. I feare 
 they know not what they fay, that fay the contrary : let 
 them come here, they will quickly change their minde, if 
 they ftudy the point, and follow it home ; for, befides the 
 keeping of peace and unity, and a pure and able learned 
 Miniftery, how can the Gofpell be propagated without 
 fome fpeciall Minifters, having the power Apoflolicall, to 
 goe forth to convert Indians or Pagans? ^''^ If a Paftor, 
 or Miniller, or Chriftian, of any Church fliall doe fo, what 
 hath he to doe with Infidels t as hee is a Paftor, he is no 
 Paftor to them. Therefore if any are fent to convert, 
 and eftabliOi Churches among Infidels, fuch as are fent 
 are Apoftolick Meffengers, Bifliops or Minifters to them, 
 and ought to be fent with fafting and Prayer, and by 
 impofition of hands of the Presbytery, and having con- 
 verted Infidels, may plant Churches, and ordain Minifiers 
 among them, and afterwards vifit them ; and is not this 
 
 253 See before, pp. 21, 70; .ind Cotton's Way Cleared, pt. i. pp. 78, 79- 
 
154 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Epifcopacie, and their line wherein they have gone their 
 Dioceffe ? Thefe things naturally flow from, and are 
 grounded in the Word, or equity thereof, and meere 
 neceffity. Now if all Minifters fliould ordinarily have 
 76 this authority, to go forth to thefe works, | without mif- 
 fion, what quarelling there would be for divifion of Lines 
 or Diocefes, let the experience of former ages tell, yea of 
 the Apoftolique times, wherein were not wanting thofe 
 that quarelled with Saint Paul himfelfe, about his Line 
 or rule, 2 Cor. 10. Now unto this confufion, tends the 
 opinion, that faith, a Bifliop and Presbyter is all one and 
 equall ; it is of Acrms,-'"'^ it is falfe, and it is confufion. 
 The reformed Churches and Writers that held fo, had lit- 
 tle experience of miffion to convert & and plant Churches 
 among Lnfidels. That reformation goes too deep that 
 tends to pulling downe of Cathedrall Churches, and Bifli- 
 ops houfes : Should not Apoftolick Bifliops, and the 
 chiefeft Minifters have houfes to dwell in, and Churches 
 
 -54 For^^^-r/V/j,— the nameof apref- tr/ibus, c. liii. ; Epiphanius, Harcjis 
 
 byter of Sebafte, in Leffer Armenia, 75 (ed. Patav., pp. 905-912.) 
 
 about the middle of the fourth cen- Bifliop Hall, in Epifcopacie by Di- 
 
 tury, who was the founder of a confid- 7>iiie Right ajfcrted, which Lechford 
 
 arable feft called Aerians. He taught had recently been reading (fee before, 
 
 that no difference ought to be recog- p. 69), mentions that "branded her- 
 
 nized between a bifliop and a presby- etic Aerius," as "the only founder 
 
 ter. He alfo condemned prayers for and abettor ... in all the world of hif- 
 
 the dead, ftated fafts, and the celebra- tory and record," of the opinions held 
 
 tionofEafter. — Mofheim's^'f^/. ////?., by the difparagers of epifcopacy. — 
 
 bk. ii. pt. 2, ch. 3 ; Augufline, De Hce- Works (ed. Wynter), ix. 246. 
 
Newes fro7n New-England. 1 5 5 
 
 to recide and officiate in, whither all the Churches of 
 their Line may fend and come together in Councel, or 
 Synod, and fo do nothing of great moment without their 
 Bifliop, a Timothy, or a Titus? Again, Baptifme is ad- 
 miffion and initiation into the Church ; to whom Bap- 
 tifme is committed, viz. Apoftles and Apoftolick Minif- 
 ters, they have power of admiffion, that is, of loofmg, and 
 confequently of binding, excommunication or expulfion. 
 Where is now the peoples power in the keyes ? are they 
 all Apoftles, and Apoftolick Minifters ? what confufion is 
 this? who can yeeld to it knowingly? I befeech you 
 pardon my zeale, and when you have confidered all, pity 
 my condition, and pray for me ftill. Well I am affured, 
 that mafter Prynne^-='= & mafter Biu^ton would never yeeld 
 to thefe things, efpecially, | if they had experience of "ii 
 them. It is good for us to fee our errours, and acknowl- 
 edge them, that we may obtain peace in the day of ac- 
 count. ^ _ ^ 
 
 Bojlon, 13. on. 1640. 
 
 To another. 
 
 Orry and grieved we are at the heart, to heare of the 
 troublous eftate and condition of our native coun- 
 trey; wee here alfo meete with our troubles and diftrelles 
 
 355 Refpeding Lechford's relations fufferers, Balhvick and Burton, lee tl>c 
 with William Prynne and his fellow- Introduclion to this ed.t.on. 
 
 S 
 
156 Plaine dealings 
 
 in outward things, and fome in fpirituall matters alfo. 
 Here wants a ftaple commodity to maintain cloathing to 
 the Colony. And for my own particular, hitherto I have 
 beene much diftrelTed here by reafon I cannot yet fo 
 clearely underftand the Church proceedings, as to yeeld 
 to them, there are therein fo many difficult confidera- 
 tions, that they have fometimes bred great confufion in 
 my thoughts. Never fmce I faw you have I received 
 the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. I have difputed in 
 writing, though to my great hinderance, in regard of out- 
 ward things, yet bleffed be the Lord, to my better fatif- 
 fadlion at the lafl. I never intended openly to oppofe 
 the godly here in any thing I thought they miftooke, but 
 I was lately taken at advantage, and brought before the 
 Magiftrates, before whom, giving a quiet and peaceable 
 anfwer, I was difmiffed with favour, and refped promifed 
 ^ me by fome of the chiefe for the future.'^'' Our chiefe 
 difference was about the foundation of the Church and 
 
 2s6 "I am fummoned to appear in verfies, was difmifled." — Ma/s. Col. 
 
 Court to-morrow, being the ift of Rec, i. 310. 
 
 loth, 1640. The Lord God direfl Hon. James Bowdoin, introducing, 
 
 me, &c." — Short-hand note in Lech- in his Note to the Hiftorical Society's 
 
 ford's Journal, p. 1 76. reprint of Plaine dealing, this ex- 
 
 " A Quarter Court held at Bofton traft from the Records, remarked : 
 
 the Firll: Day of the loth Mo- 1640. "No allufion has ever been made to 
 
 . . . Mr. Thomas Lechford, acknowl- the caufe of [this decree] ; but it feems 
 
 edging hee had overfliot himfehe, & to have been confidered as referring 
 
 is forry for it, promifmg to attend his to the firil [of Sept. 3, 1639, by which 
 
 calling, & not to meddle wt'^ contro- Lechford was debarred from plead- 
 
Newes from New-England. 
 
 157 
 
 Miniftery, and what rigid reparations | may tend unto, 
 what is to be feared, in cafe the moft of the people here 
 fhould remaine unbaptized ; confiderations which may 
 trouble the wifeft among us. Rigid feparations never 
 did, nor can propagate the Gofpell of Chrifl, they can do 
 no good, they have done hurt. It is dangerous to found 
 Church government on dark & uncertain interpretations 
 of Propheticall, or other Scriptures ; foundations ought 
 to be full of evidence, & demonflration. Bleffed be the 
 
 ing]. The language, however, leads 
 me to a different conclufion ; but to 
 what it does refer, I know not." — 
 3 Mafs. Hijl. Coll., iii. 400. 
 
 Lechford's Jotirnal contains the 
 draft (in fhort-hand) of his " quiet and 
 peaceable anfwer." He ftates that 
 he appeared before the Court in obe- 
 dience to a warrant fent forth againft 
 him, on an information by the Grand 
 Jury, in September; but "fmce that 
 time (he fays) the General Court [of 
 Odlober 7th] was pleafed to fay fome- 
 thing to me, when they brake up, as 
 for good counfel to me, about fome 
 tenents and difputations which I 
 have held ; advifing me to bear my- 
 felf in filence and as became me. . . . 
 According to that advice I have been 
 hitherto, and fhall, God willing, be 
 ready to carry myfelf for hereafter. . . . 
 I defire not to trouble your Worfiiips 
 with long fpeech, to divert or hinder 
 your other occafions ; [I)ut, waiving 
 all the forms of trial and proof of the 
 
 matters charged,] I defire your Wor- 
 fhips to be pleafed to accept of this 
 my fhort acknowledgment that I 
 have, I do confefs, too far meddled 
 in fome matters of church govern- 
 ment and the like which I am not 
 fufficient to underftand or declare ; 
 and although once I thought myfelf 
 bound in confcience to fay fome of 
 thofe things I have faid, yet now I 
 am afhamed of many of them." 
 
 It will be obferved that the "fliort 
 acknowledgment" is very adroitly 
 framed. What things, formerly faid, 
 he is now afhamed of, or what mat- 
 ters of church government he had 
 unadvifedly meddled with, he leaves 
 the court to conje6\ure. In letters 
 to his friends at home, he was more 
 explicit. See before, pp. 74, 75- 
 
 Perhaps the offence for which he 
 was called to anfwer may have had 
 fome conneclion with the quel^ions he 
 proposed " to the Elders of Bofton," 
 Sept. 9, 1640. See before, p. 55. 
 
 78 
 
158 Plaine dealing, 
 
 Lord, now fome of the chiefe leaders of the Churches 
 here hold the Churches in Ejtgland true Churches, and 
 your Miniftery lawfull, though divers corruptions there 
 may be among you;^" yea fome there bee of the chiefe 
 among us that conceive the government by godly Bifliops 
 fuperintendent over others to be lawfull/^^ Churches are 
 not perfe6l in this world. We may not for every difa- 
 greement in opinion, or for (lender pretended corrup- 
 tions, feparate from the Church : feparate fo once, and 
 no end of feparation. 
 
 From Bofton 271 N. E. 
 Decern, 19. 1640, 
 
 To conclude. 
 
 OUppofe there are foure forts of Government, which 
 *~^ are ufed in Church, as in Common-wealth ; Mon- 
 
 archicall abfolute without Lawes, which is tyrannic ; 
 
 257 Baylie (in A Dijfuafivc froin Minilters before me :) neither have I 
 
 the Errours of the Ti/ne, &c.) quoted fallen to the liking of the contrary 
 
 a private letter in which Mr. Cotton opinion fuice. But the Diffuader is 
 
 had declared that it was "an error, much deceived, if he take that Error 
 
 to conceive that our Congregations to be the judgment of the Churches 
 
 in England are none of them particu- of New-England, howfoever fome 
 
 lar reformed Churches." " I willing- particular perfons may lean that way." 
 
 ly acknowledge," wrote Mr. Cotton, Way cleared, pt. i. p. i8. 
 
 in his reply to Baylie's book, "I did Comp. Welde's Anfwer to W. R. 
 
 appear againft that Error. But nei- Jiis N^arration, pp. 45, 46, and 24. 
 
 ther was I the tirft that did appear 258 " Let no man think he [Lech- 
 
 againft it, (but divers godly Englifh ford] was kept out of our Churches, 
 
Newes from New-England. 159 
 
 Monarchical! bounded by Lavves ; Ariftocraticall, and 
 Democraticall : Epifcopall abfolute, which is Popifli 
 tyrannic; | Epifcopall regulated by juft Lawes ; Presby- 79 
 terian, and Congregationall : Which of thefe will all men 
 like, and how long? Some have well compared the 
 humour of the people in this kind, to a merry relation of 
 an old man and his fonne, paffmg through the ftreets of a 
 City, with one horfe betweene them : Firft, the old man 
 rode, then the people found fault with his unkindneffe, in 
 that he did not caufe his fon to ride with him : then the 
 young man gets up too, now the people fay they are both 
 unmercifull to the beast : downe comes the old man, then 
 the young man is unmannerly to ride, and his father 
 walk on foot: at laft downe goes the young man alfo, 
 and leads the horfe, then they were both unwife to lead 
 the horfe, and neither of them to ride. Well, but alter 
 the inconftant vulgar will ; if fo, God grant it be for the 
 better. But then confider ftories, one alteration follows 
 another; fome have altered fixe times, before they were 
 fetled againe, and ever the people have paid for it both 
 money and bloud. 
 
 Concerning Church-Government, what the Presbyterian 
 way is, and how futable for Englands Monarchic, I leave 
 
 for maintaining the authority of Bifh- or Prcsbyteriall, or Congre^^alUmall 
 
 ops. For we have in our Churches Government, fo be it they governe ac- 
 
 fome well refpeaed Brethren, who doe cording to the rules of the Gofpel. 
 
 indifferently allow either Epifcopall, - Cotton, IVaf cleared, pt. i, p. 7 ' • 
 
i6o Plaine dealings 
 
 to the pious experienced Divines to fet forth, and the 
 Church and State thereof to judge. 
 
 And for the Congregationall independent government, 
 whereof I have had fome experience, give me leave in- 
 ftead of a better intelHgencer thus to prefent to my deare 
 countrey, now in a time of neede, my impartiall opinion 
 80 in thefe confufed | papers: And in brief thus: Although 
 it had fome fmall colour in Scripture, and a great pre- 
 tence of holineffe, yet no found ground in the Scripture ; 
 Again, if it be neither fit nor poffible long to bee contin- 
 ued in New-England, as not I alone, but many more eye 
 and eare witneffes doe know, and the learned can and 
 will judge undoubtedly, it muft needes be much more 
 unfit and impoffible to be brought into England, or Ire- 
 land, or any other populous Nation. 
 
 All which upon the whole I humbly fubmit unto the 
 facred judgment and determination of holy Church, his 
 royall Majefty, and his Highneffes great and honourable 
 Councel, the high Court of Parliament. 
 
 Imprimatur, 
 
 I oh : Hanjley. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
INDEX. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABORIGINES, their conversion 
 neglected, 54, 55. 
 Adams, William, of Roxbury, 89. 
 Adamson, Patrick, 141. 
 Administration of the Lord's Supper, 
 
 45-48 ; of Baptism, 47, 48. 
 Admission of church-members, 18-29. 
 Advocates in court not allowed, 68. 
 Allen, Thomas, of Charlestown, 52,82. 
 Allin, John, of Dedham, 83. 
 Alvord, Benedict, 88. 
 Angier, Sampson, no. 
 Animals, domestic, 109; wild, in. 
 Ann, Cape, 106, 112. 
 Apostles' creed, exceptions to some 
 
 articles of the, 27. 
 Appeals to the king not allowed, 64. 
 Aspinwall, William, 64. 
 Assistants, how nominated, 60, 61. 
 
 BACON, Leonard, quoted, 33, 
 34. 
 
 Baptism, administration of, 47, 48. 
 
 Bastwick, John, his severe sentence, 
 xvi. 
 
 Batchelor, Stephen, of Lynn, Yar- 
 mouth, and Hampton, 85. 
 
 Baylie, Robert, 54 ; his statements 
 relative to the effect of New-Eng- 
 land Congregationalism denied, 151. 
 
 Beggars rare, 69. 
 
 Bellingham, Richard, governor, 35, 
 
 86, 129. 
 Bells, what churches had them, 44. 
 Bilson, Bishop, his opinions on the 
 
 descent of Christ into hell, 27. 
 Bishop, John, 91. 
 Bishops, diocesan, indispensable, 142. 
 
 144, 148. 
 Blackman, or Blakeman, Adam, of 
 
 Stratford, 10 1. 
 Blackstone, William, 97. 
 Blackstone's Commentaries, quoted, 
 
 32. 
 Blackwood, Christopher, 93. 
 Blinman, Richard, 92, 107, 125, 126, 
 
 127. 
 "Body of Liberties" in 1641, its gen- 
 eral character, 62. 
 Boteler, Lady Alice, wife of George 
 
 Fenwick, 97, 98. 
 Bowdoin, James, xxxviii.; his remarks 
 
 on a MS. copy of " Plain Dealing," 
 
 xxxix. 
 Bracket, Richard, 86. 
 Bradstreet, Simon, 86, 125. 
 Braintree, a church formed there, 41. 
 Brinley, George, Dedication, 100. 
 Britton, or Brittaine, James, whipped 
 
 for disrespect, 58, 94; hanged for 
 
 adultery, 58. 
 Browne, Edmund,ofSudbury,xviii.,83. 
 
 203 
 
204 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Buckley, or Bulkley, Edward, of 
 Marshfield, 126. 
 
 Bulkley, Peter, of Concord, his ordi- 
 nation, 16, 86. 
 
 Burdett, George, his misconduct, 105. 
 
 Burials, how conducted, 87, 88. 
 
 Burr, Jonathan, of Dorchester, 81. 
 
 Burton, Henry, his trial and severe 
 sentence, xv. 
 
 Burton, Mr., xix. 
 
 Burton, Thomas, a petitioner with 
 Robert Child, 82. 
 
 CAPAWACK, or Martha's Vine- 
 yard, 108. 
 
 Cape Ann, 106, 112. 
 
 Call of a Church, essential to ordina- 
 tion, 16, 17. 
 
 Cambridge Platform quoted, 32. 
 
 Catechising of children, 53, 54. 
 
 Charitable contributions, 48, 49. 
 
 Chancey, Charles, 89 ; his opinions 
 on baptism, 90. 
 
 Cheever, Ezekiel, the father of New- 
 England schoolmasters, 99. 
 
 Chickataubut, sachem of Neponset, 
 121. 
 
 Child, Robert, and others, their pe- 
 tition, 63, 64, 82. 
 
 Chirography, what it was in Lech- 
 ford's time, xiv. 
 
 Christ's descent into hell, not neces- 
 sary to be beheved, 27. 
 
 Church, manner of gathering one, 1 2 ; 
 church covenant, ib.j church offi- 
 cers, election of, 13 ; ordination of, 
 ib.; church members, how received, 
 18-23; offending, how to be dealt 
 with, 34, 35 ; no others can be free- 
 men, 59 ; church censures, 30-34 ; 
 churches not to be gathered with- 
 
 out notice to magistrates and other 
 churches, 'j^y ; how few may form a 
 church, ib.; the Church, its relation 
 to the State, 127 ; church govern- 
 ment of New England disapproved 
 by Lechford, 132-143 ; may a peo- 
 ple form a church without a minis- 
 ter .'' ib.; " The Church, her Liber- 
 ties," 72. 
 
 Civil franchise dependent on church- 
 membership, 59. 
 
 Clapboards, primary meaning of, 1 1 1. 
 
 Clark, John, of Newport, 94. 
 
 Clement's Inn, xiii., xvii. 
 
 Climate, severe, 114. 
 
 Cobbett, Thomas, of Lynn, 84. 
 
 Cole, WiUiam, and wife Elizabeth, 
 employ Lechford in a suit at law, 
 xxvii. 
 
 Confession of faith, how made, 19-23. 
 
 Conversion of the natives, 54, 74, jy. 
 
 Cotton, John, of Boston, xxi., xxiv., 
 XXXV., xxxvi., 81; his "Sermon of 
 the Twelve Articles," 25 ; his Lec- 
 tures on Revelation, 52, printed in 
 London, ib.; his writings quoted, 
 xxiv., xxxv., xxxvi., 13, 14, 17, 21, 
 
 27> 30-37? ^^ •5'^A- 
 
 Cotton manufacture, no. 
 
 Court, General, meet semi-annually, 
 62 ; its powers, 63 ; place of meet- 
 ing, 64. 
 
 Courts, Quarterly, 63. 
 
 Covenant, church, 12. 
 
 D ALTON, Timothy, of Hampton, 
 85, 125. 
 D'Aulnay, his quarrel with La Tour, 
 
 108. 
 Davenport, John, of New Haven, 99. 
 Day, Stephen, the first printer, 123. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 20: 
 
 Days of the week and month, how 
 designated, 54. 
 
 Deacons and deaconesses, their du- 
 ties, 24. 
 
 Decline in prices, 113. 
 
 Denton, Richard, of Stamford, 97. 
 
 Diocesan bishops, needful, 142, 144, 
 148. 
 
 Douch, or Dutch, Osmond, 106. 
 
 Doughty, Francis, of Taunton, his 
 diiiticulties, xxvii., 91, 92, 126. 
 
 Dover, 102, 103, 125. 
 
 Downing, Emanuel, xviii., 71. 
 
 Drums used to call people to public 
 worship, 44. 
 
 Drunkenness rare, 69. 
 
 Dudley, Thomas, deputy-governor, 
 his character, xxii.; Lechford con- 
 sults him, ib.j his letter to Win- 
 throp concerning Lechford's errors, 
 ib.; mentioned, 86. 
 
 Dunster, Henry, of Cambridge, 82 ; 
 commended, 122 ; his marriage, 123. 
 
 ELECTION of governor and ma- 
 gistrates, how conducted, 59. 
 
 Election-day, when, 61. 
 
 Eliot, John, of Roxbury, 81. 
 
 Endicot, John, 86. 
 
 England, laws of, not binding here, 
 62, 63. 
 
 Equality, original, of all presbyters, 
 141. 
 
 Episcopal ordination, how regarded, 
 16. 
 
 Excommunication, how pronounced, 
 30 ; a law concerning, 32. 
 
 Excommunicated persons, how treat- 
 ed, 31-34- 
 
 E.xeter, 106. 
 
 FELLOWSHIP of the churches, 
 how expressed, 14. 
 
 Fenwick, George, of Saybrook, 97, 98. 
 
 Firmin, Giles, of Ipswich, 84. 
 
 Fishing-business, no. 
 
 Fisk, John, of Wenham, 84. 
 
 Hax, cultivation of, no. 
 
 Flint, Henry, of Braintree, 41, 81. 
 
 Foote, Joshua, xxxvi. 
 
 Fordham, Robert, of Sudbury, 83. 
 
 Forms of Prayer, 137. 
 
 FowIe, Thomas, a petitioner witli 
 Robert Cliild and others, no. 
 
 Freemen must first be church-mem- 
 bers, 29, 59 ; their oath, 61. 
 
 Frost, William, 10 1. 
 
 Fuller, Samuel, 57. 
 
 Funerals, how conducted, 87. 
 
 GENERAL COURT, how often 
 held, 62 ; place of meeting, 64. 
 
 George Ragotzki, or Rakoczy, Prince 
 of Transylvania, xvii. 
 
 Gerrard, George, his letter to the Earl 
 of Strafford, xii. 
 
 Gill, Thomas, 82. 
 
 Glover, Henry, an excommunicated 
 man at New Haven, 34. 
 
 Glover, Josse, 123 ; his widow Eliza- 
 beth marries Henry Dunster, ib. 
 
 Gorges, Thomas, 104, 105. 
 
 Gorton, Samuel, 94, 95. 
 
 Governor and magistrates, how cho- 
 sen, 59. 
 
 Grafton, Joseph, 107. 
 
 Grand juries, 64. 
 
 Green's Harbor, sec Marslificld. 
 
 Grey, Henry, 101. 
 
 Grey, John, loi. 
 
 Grievances, 89. 
 
206 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 HALLET, Andrew, 93. 
 Hartford, when it first had a 
 bell, 44. 
 
 Heaton, Nathaniel, xix. 
 
 Hewes, Joshua, xxxvi. 
 
 Hewit, or Huit, Ephraim, 97. 
 
 Hibbins, William, of Boston, xxxvi. 
 
 Higginson, John, of Guilford and Sa- 
 lem, 98. 
 
 Hobart, Peter, of Hingham, 82. 
 
 Hooke, William, of Taunton, 90, 126. 
 
 Hooker, Richard, 80. 
 
 Hooker, Thomas, of Hartford, 97 ; 
 ' quoted, 14, 17, 22, 30, 31, 39, 51, 57. 
 
 Humfrey, John, 86, 99, 114, 125. 
 
 Hurd, John, xix. 
 
 Hutchinson, Samuel, xix. 
 
 I 
 
 NDEPENDENCY of churches, 
 36. 
 
 Indians, their manners, character, 
 habits, government, religion, &c., 
 1 1 5-1 22 ; they obtain fire-arms from 
 the French and Dutch, 117; their 
 powahes, or priests, 117; their con- 
 dition improved from intercourse 
 with the English, 117, 118; their 
 rehgion, 120 ; names of their chiefs, 
 121 ; their conversion at present 
 neglected, 54, 55 ; cannot be con- 
 verted but by ministers episcopally 
 sent, 153. 
 
 Inns of Chancery, why so called, xiv. 
 
 Inordinate church-going, 52. 
 
 Iron- works, in. 
 
 Isle of Sable, 107, 108. 
 
 Isle of Shoals, 107, no. 
 
 JACOB, Henry, a "Treatise" by 
 him noticed, 27. 
 James, Thomas, of Charlestown, 99. 
 
 Jealousy of church power, yj. 
 
 Jenner, Thomas, of Roxbury, Wey- 
 mouth, and Saco, 81, 105. 
 
 Jennison, Samuel, of Worcester, be- 
 comes the possessor of Lechford's 
 MS. Journal, ix. 
 
 Jennison, Samuel, of Boston, x. 
 
 Jewel, John, Bishop of Salisbury, 80. 
 
 Jones, John, of Fairfield, 86 ; ordained 
 at Concord, 16. 
 
 Josselyn, John, "]"]. 
 
 Juries, liberty of challenge restricted, 
 66. 
 
 KEAYNE, Robert, xix., xxiii., 
 xxxiv., 126. 
 Keys, power of the, in the church, 
 
 30- 
 Kingly government preferred by the 
 
 author, 140, 144, 148, 152. 
 Knight, William, of Ipswich and 
 
 Topsfield, 84. 
 Knowles, John, of Watertown, 18, 28, 
 
 83. 
 Knowles, or KnoUys, Hansard, 102, 
 103 ; his difficulty with Larkham, at 
 Dover, 124. 
 
 LARKHAM, Thomas, of Dover, 
 103 ; quarrel with Knollys, 124. 
 
 Lashford, Sir Richard, xiii. 
 
 La Tour, his quarrel with D'Aulnay, 
 108. 
 
 Laud, William, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, xii., XV. 
 
 Laws of Moses followed, 65. 
 
 Lawyers held in small esteem, 68. 
 
 Lay ordination, 13. 
 
 Lechford arms, xiii. 
 
 Lechford, Sir Richard, xi., xii.; his 
 daughters detained in England, xii.; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 207 
 
 refuses the oath of allegiance, xii.; 
 xiii. See Lashford. 
 Lechford, Thomas, his MS. Jour- 
 nal, ix.; his family connections, xi.; 
 account of him, xiii.; his account 
 of himself, xiv., xv.; a lawyer, xiii., 
 4 ; a solicitor for Prynne in his trial 
 before the Star Chamber, xv., xvii.; 
 comes to Boston, xvii.; date of his 
 arrival, xviii.; his wife, xviii., xix.; 
 regarded in Boston with distrust, 
 and why, xix., xx.; differs from the 
 belief of the colonial churches, xx.; 
 his alleged errors, xxi.; his letter 
 to Hugh Peters, xvii., xxii., xxiv.; 
 unsuccessful and disappointed in 
 Boston, XXV.; his proposal to the 
 General Court, xxv., xxvi.; his au- 
 tograph, xxvi. ; employed in the 
 case of William Cole against Fran- 
 cis Doughty, xxvii. (see Doughty) ; 
 his indiscretion, ib.; censured by 
 the court, ib.; his confession of his 
 fault, xxviii. ; obtains employment 
 from the magistrates, xxix.; coun- 
 sels submission to the king, xxx.; 
 dislikes popular government both 
 in Church and State, xxxi.; becomes 
 obnoxious to the magistrates, ib.j 
 yet treated with remarkable lenity, 
 xxxii.; summoned before the court, 
 xxxiii.; censured, xxxiii., 156; sub- 
 mits, xxxiii., 157 ; implicated in the 
 famous "sow case," xxxv.; returns 
 to England, xvii., xxxvi., 109; his 
 death and character, xxxvii.; value 
 of "Plain Dealing," xxxviii.; asks 
 forgiveness of the reader for his 
 acts against Episcopacy, 3 ; his 
 reasons for printing "Plain Deal- 
 ing," 3, 4; his objections to Inde- 
 
 pendency, 5 ; how long a resident 
 in New England, 1 1 ; date of his 
 departure from Boston, 35 ; per- 
 haps took notes of Cotton's Lec- 
 tures, printed in London, 52 ; makes 
 sundry copies of the colonial laws 
 for Gov. Winthrop and others, 65, 
 72 ; his " Propositions to the Gen- 
 eral Court," 69, 70 ; not employed 
 by the court, and why, 71; his pa- 
 per of advice to Gov. Winthrop, 
 76-80 ; extent of his travels in New 
 England, 114, 115; several things 
 which he disapproved, 1 29-1 31 ; 
 discontented, 144, 150; commends 
 Bishop Hall's book, " Episcopacie 
 by Divine Right asserted," 145 ; 
 eschews republican government, 
 148 ; a decided monarchist, 140, 
 144, 148, 152 ; believes that a 
 church cannot exist without a min- 
 ister episcopally ordained, 152 ; 
 holds that bishops are the suc- 
 cessors of the apostles, xxi., 152 ; 
 thinks the Indians cannot be con- 
 verted without episcopal authority 
 and ordination, 153; regards Con- 
 gregationalism as unfit both for Old 
 England and New, 160. 
 
 Lectures, public, 51, 52. 
 
 Lenthall, Robert, of Weymouth and 
 Newport, xxiii., 17, 57» 94- 
 
 Leverich, or Leveridge, William, of 
 Dover, Duxbury, and Sandwich, 92. 
 
 Limits of civil and ecclesiastical au- 
 thority defined, 36. 
 
 Linen manufacture, no. 
 
 Lions, their cry supposed to be heard. 
 112. 
 
 Long Island, loi ; colonized from 
 Lynn and Ipswich, 102. 
 
208 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lord's Supper, manner of administer- 
 ing, 45 5 46. 
 
 Lothrop, John, of Scituate and Barn- 
 stable, 93. 
 
 Loveran, John, 83. 
 
 Ludlow, Roger, 100. 
 
 MAGISTRATES, their power, 
 35 ; how chosen, 59. 
 
 Maine, province of, 105. 
 
 Majority, shall it rule ? 38, 39. 
 
 Manufactures, 109 ; encouragement 
 of, no. 
 
 Marblehead, 40 ; incorporated, 41. 
 
 Marriage performed by the civil ma- 
 gistrate, 86, 87. 
 
 Marshal, an officer of the law, 67. 
 
 Marshall, Thomas, xix. 
 
 Marshfield, 92, 107, 125. 
 
 Martha's Vineyard, 108. 
 
 Martin, Ambrose, dishkes church 
 covenants, 57. 
 
 Massasoit, 121. 
 
 Mather, Cotton, his opinion respect- 
 ing public confession, 21. 
 
 Mather, Richard, 81, 126. 
 
 Matthews, Marmaduke, 93. 
 
 Maverick, Samuel, 106. 
 
 Mayhew, Thomas, 108. 
 
 Mayo, John, of Barnstable, 93. 
 
 Meeting-house, first, in Boston, de- 
 scribed, 43. 
 
 Members of a church, no others can 
 be freemen, 59. 
 
 Michelson, Edward, of Cambridge, 
 67. 
 
 Micklethwaite, Nathaniel, xviii., xix. 
 
 Military trainings, 89. 
 
 Miller, John, of Rowley, 84. 
 
 Milward, or Millard, Thomas, of Cape 
 Ann, 106. 
 
 Ministers in the colony, list of, 81; 
 how supported, 50, 51; their meet- 
 ings, yi- 
 
 Minority of a church put under cen- 
 sure, a contrivance for excluding 
 their vote, 39. 
 
 Monarchy the best government, 144, 
 148, 152. 
 
 Money, scarcity of, 113. 
 
 Moody, Lady Deborah, buys John 
 Humfrey's farm, 98, 99. 
 
 Morality, strict, of New England, 69. 
 
 Mount Wollaston, 41. 
 
 Music in churches, the subject dis- 
 cussed by Lechford, 137. 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND, Lechford 
 goes to England by way of, 109. 
 Newman, Samuel, of Weymouth and 
 
 Rehoboth, 81. 
 Newton, Joan, 88. 
 N'ocake, what ? 119. 
 No-man's Land, 108. 
 Nomination of Assistants, 60. 
 Norris, Edward, of Salem, 84. 
 Northam [Dover], 102, 103, 125. 
 Norton, John, of Ipswich and Boston, 
 
 84, 90. 
 Notary Public, the office of, proposed 
 
 by Lechford, 70. 
 Nowell, Increase, 86. 
 Noyes, James, of Newbury, 56 ; his 
 
 liberal views, 85. 
 
 OBJECTIONS to Congregation- 
 alism stated, 132-143. 
 Offences, how heard, 29, 30. 
 Offley, David, xxxvi. 
 Oliver, John, instructs the servants 
 
 at Rumney Marsh, 40. 
 Oliver, Thomas, 129. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 209 
 
 Ordination, how performed, 13 ; epis- 
 copal, how regarded, 16 ; does not 
 confer an indelible ministerial char- 
 acter, 1 7 ; may it be performed by 
 laymen ? 128, 129. 
 
 Original equality of all presbyters, 
 141. 
 
 Otis, John, of Hingham, 82. 
 
 PANTHERS, mistaken for lions, 
 112. 
 
 Parker, James, of Portsmouth, 81. 
 
 Parker, John, of Taunton, 91. 
 
 Parker, Robert, a learned non-con- 
 formist in England, 79, 80, 85. 
 
 Parker, Thomas, of Newbury, 56, 85. 
 
 Parker, William, 91. 
 
 Parties in court plead- their own 
 cause, 69. 
 
 Partridge, Ralph, of Duxbury, 93. 
 
 Pastors and teachers, distinct offices, 
 
 17, 18 ; debate on this subject in 
 the Westminster Assembly, 18 ; 
 shall they be chosen by the peo- 
 ple ? 139. 
 
 Patent of the colony demanded back, 
 
 65, l(^, 77- 
 Peck, Robert, of Hingham, 82. 
 Penn, James, appointed beadle, or 
 
 marshal, 67. 
 Pequonnock, loi. 
 Peters, Hugh, xiv., xvii., xxi., xxiv., 
 
 xxxvi., 84, 102, 104, III, 124; his 
 
 testimony to the strict morality of 
 
 New England, 69. 
 Philip, John, of Dedham, 83. 
 Phillips, George, of Watertown, 16, 
 
 18, 83. 
 
 Pierson, Abraham, of Southampton, 
 
 lOI. 
 
 Popular elections dangerous, 139, 152. 
 22 
 
 Powahes, Indian priests, or conjurors, 
 117. 
 
 Printing introduced, 123. 
 
 Productions of the soil, 109. 
 
 Profane swearing scarcely known, 69. 
 
 Profession of religion, how made, 
 18-23. 
 
 Prophesying, what ? 42, 43. 
 
 Providence Island, one of the Baha- 
 mas, xvii., 113. 
 
 Proxy, voting by, allowed, 60. 
 
 Prudden, Peter, 97, 100. 
 
 Prynne, William, his trial in the Star 
 Chamber, and severe sentence, xv., 
 xvi. 
 
 Psalms, version of, used, 45. 
 
 Public lectures, 51, 52. 
 
 Public worship, 43. 
 
 QUERIES concerning Church 
 Government, 132-143. 
 
 RAGOTZKI, or Rakoczy,George, 
 Prince of Transylvania, xvii. 
 Randall, Abraham, 88. 
 Rashley, Thomas, of Cape Ann, 106, 
 
 107. 
 Rathband, William, his statements 
 respecting the colonial churches, 
 
 17, 39- 
 Rattlesnakes, 112. 
 Records of proceedings in court 
 
 sparingly made, 67. 
 Reyner, Joim, of Plymouth, 89. 
 Richmond's Island, 107. 
 Right hand of fellowship, 14. 
 Rogers, Ezekiel, of Rowley, 43' 84- 
 Rogers, Nathaniel, of Ipswich, 84. 
 Rowley, its early manufactures, no. 
 Ruling elders, 24. 
 Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, 40. 
 
2IO 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 SALTONSTALL, Richard, a ma- 
 gistrate, 86. 
 
 Savage, James, xviii., xx., xxxiii. 
 
 Savage, Thomas, xix., xxxiv., xxxv. 
 
 Saxton, Peter, of Scituate, 93. 
 
 Scottow, Joshua, of Boston, 44, 52. 
 
 Shepard, Thomas, of Cambridge, 82. 
 
 Slierman, Mary, xix. 
 
 Sherman, Richard, of Boston, xxxiv. 
 
 Ship-building, no ; stimulated by 
 Hugh Peters, in. 
 
 Skelton, Samuel, of Sakm, y]^ 42. 
 
 Smith, Henry, of Wethersfield, 97. 
 
 Smith, John, fined for promoting the 
 election of Robert Lenthall as min- 
 ister of Weymouth, 58. 
 
 Smith, Ralph, of Plymouth, 90. 
 
 Snakeweed, an antidote to the poison 
 of the rattlesnake, n2. 
 
 Snows, deep, 114. 
 
 " Sow case," xxxv. 
 
 Squire, John, no. 
 
 Squire, Nicholas, no. 
 
 Star Chamber, xv. 
 
 Stoddard, Anthony, of Boston, 35. 
 
 Stone, Samuel, of Hartford, 97. 
 
 Story, George, xix., xxxiv. 
 
 Stoughton, Israel, xxiii., 31, 86, 100. 
 
 Strafford, Earl of, xv. 
 
 Strawberry Bank [Portsmouth] pat- 
 ent, 125. 
 
 Street, Nicholas, of Taunton and New 
 Haven, 90, 91, 126. 
 
 Strictness of the colonial churches, 
 151. 
 
 Support of ministers, 50, 51, 
 
 Symmes, Zechariah, of Charlestown, 
 82, 99. 
 
 Symonds, Henry, 102. 
 
 Symonds, Samuel, of Ipswich, regis- 
 ter, 71, 125. 
 
 TAXATION for support of min- 
 isters, sometimes resorted to, 5 1 . 
 Thomas, WilHam, of Marshfield, 93, 
 
 125, 126. 
 Thompson, Maurice, a merchant of 
 
 London, concerned in fishing at 
 
 Cape Ann, 106. 
 Tomlyns, Edward, 102. 
 Tomlyns, Timothy, 102. 
 Tompson, William, of Braintree, 41, 
 
 81. 
 Trelawney, Mr., 107. 
 Trials, how conducted, 66. 
 " Twelve Articles of Religion, The," 
 
 a sermon by John Cotton, 25. 
 
 UNDERHILL, Capt. John, 103, 
 104, 124 ; his difficulties at Do- 
 ver, 104. 
 
 VEGETABLE productions of 
 Massachusetts, 109. 
 Verdicts of juries, sometimes at ran- 
 dom, 67. 
 Vines, Richard, of Saco, 105. 
 Voting for governor, &c., how con- 
 ducted, 60 ; by proxy allowed, ib. 
 
 WARD, John, of Ipswich and 
 Haverhill, 84. 
 Ward, Nathaniel, of Ipswich, 84 ; 
 
 frames a body of laws, 64, 65 ; his 
 
 advice to the General Court, 68 ; 
 
 his testimony to the strict morality 
 
 of New England, 69. 
 Ware, Mary, 88. 
 Warham, John, of Windsor, 97 ; his 
 
 views touching admission to church 
 
 privileges, 57. 
 Watertown, its church-bell, 44. 
 Watson, John, loi. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 21 I 
 
 Webb, "alias Evered," John, 107. Williams, Roger, 42, 96; quoted, 17, 
 Weld, Thomas, of Roxbury, xxvi., 27, 32, 38, et sape. 
 
 13, 81; quoted, 15, 17, 23, 29, et Willis, John, xl. 
 
 sape. Wilson, John, of Boston, 16, 81, 125, 
 Wentworth, Thomas, Earl of Straf- 126. 
 
 ford, XV. Winslow, Edward, 126. 
 
 Weston, Francis, of Salem, 66. Winter, John, 107. 
 
 Weymouth Church, 15, 16, 17. Winthrop, John, xx.; quoted, 14, 16, 
 Wheelwright, John, 106. 18, 31, 35, 36, et scepe. 
 
 Whitefield, Henry, of Guilford, 98, Winthrop, Stephen, recorder, 71, 86. 
 
 100. Woollen manufacture, no. 
 
 Whiting, Samuel, of Lynn, 84. Worcester, William, of Salisbury, 85. 
 
 Wiggin, or Wiggon, Thomas, 125. Worship, public, how conducted, 44. 
 
t 9fl7