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1832.

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[ 1832 ] REVIVALS OF RELIGION. 122

HISTORY OF

FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY TO THE PRESENT TIME.

A REVIVAL of religion is the manifestation, in a community, of an unusual interest on the subject of religion; or it is a period, when the concerns of the soul become, to a greater or less extent, prominent objects of attention. From the earliest records of Jewish national history, to the present day there have been times of extraordinary moral reformation. It is a fact as indisputable as any other in the records of the human race. Communities of men have been refined, transformed, spiritualized. To deny this, is to reject the repeated, unequivocal, unimpeached testimony of a great multitude of witnesses.

The inhabitants of this country, particularly, ought to be the last to he sceptical on this point. Nearly all the original settlers of New England were pious men. As communities, they were pervaded by a religious influence. It was their great object, in leaving their native land , not so much to promote individual Christianity, as it was to form societies of Christians. They could have maintained silent, personal communion with their Heavenly Father, in Lincoln-shire, or in Holland, as some of the recluses did in the monasteries of the middle ages. But this was not their purpose. They wished for a diffusive, all pervading Christianity. They looked upon religion not only as a concern between man and his Redeemer, but as a matter in which society at large ought to be deeply interested. Hence we might expect, what we find to be the fact, purified and spiritual communities—righteousness exalting and beautifying whole towns and colonies—men dwelling together in peace because they dwelt together in the fear of God, and in the love of the Saviour. Revivals of religion are not new events in the history of this country. They were not new in the days of Whitefield and Edwards. Our earliest progenitors witnessed these years of the right hand of the Most High. The Indian wilderness was made a fruitful place, and the desert as a garden of the Lord.

It is proposed in this, and in some subsequent numbers of our work, to review the religious history of this country somewhat in detail, to trace the progress of vital Christianity, to collect and arrange all the important facts which have reference to special periods of religious attention, in short, so far as our materials and the limited nature of our publication will allow, to write the history of REVIVALS OF RELIGION. In doing this it will be the purpose of the writer to show the causes of them, the reasons of their decline, the characters of the instruments by whom they were conducted, and their immediate and ultimate results, so far as the light of history may reveal them.

We shall collect our facts, and dispose of our remarks under the following distinct divisions:

PERIOD I. From the settlement of Virginia in 1607, to 1662; a period of Fifty five years.

These were the days of primitive and golden piety. These were the days of the Joshuas, and of the elders who outlived them. Then there was pre-eminently one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. The civil rulers, especially of New England, were "as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, as a morning

[ 1832 ] HISTORY OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 123

without clouds." The pastors fed the people with wisdom, and with understanding. Righteousness was the stability of those times.

PERIOD II. From 1662 to 1720; a period of Fifly-eight years.

Owing to various causes, this was a season of great decline in vital Christianity. There were some partial revivals of religion, but there was but little of that all pervading piety, which characterized the first generation. The light of holiness grew feeble and faint. The general interests of morality also suffered a corresponding degeneracy.

PERIOD III. From 1720 to 1750; thirty years.

This period was marked by great and powerful revivals of religion, which extended over nearly all New England, and into some portions of New York, New Jersey, and other States. It embraces a variety of interesting events. It, indeed, teaches most important and striking lessons in regard to the whole economy of the kingdom of grace.

PERIOD IV. From 1750 to 1790; forty years.

A time of signal and melancholy declension. The public mind was engrossed and enchained by the French war, by the causes, progress, and results of the revolutionary struggle, and by the establishment of a new form of government.

PERIOD V. From 1790 to the present time.

During the whole of this period, with very short intermissions, the churches, in all parts of the country, have experienced the reviving influences of the Holy Spirit. A new era of light and grace has commenced. New causes, and new results are witnessed. Efforts for the universal diffusion of Christianity have produced a powerful reaction at home. Some of the principal hindrances to the thorough and permanent conversion of man have been removed. A great amount of talent and learning has been consecrated by the grace of God. Our principal difficulty, in this period, will be to make a proper selection and arrangement, where the materials are so rich and abundant.

We now proceed to the consideration of the

FIRST PERIOD, or the time included from the settlement of the Colonies, to the year 1662.

Our notices of the actual state of vital Christianity in this period, must be desultory and incidental. Much of the evidence of the flourishing condition of the churches is indirect or inferential. No faithful, and accurate chronologist, like Prince, or Holmes, has transmitted to us records of the religious history of those times. We have carefully examined the principal sources of information within our reach, and we will proceed to give the result of our inquiries. [Footnote: * The following list. comprises our principal authorities. Governor Winthrop’s, Journal edited by Savage; Prince’s (Thomas, Jun.) Christian history, Boston, 1744; Collections of the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Historical Societies; Morton’s New England’s Memorial, edited by Judge Davis; Prince’s New England Chronology; several volumes of Tracts collected by Prince, and now deposited in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society; Holmes’s Annals; Mather’s Magnolia; Maynew’s Indian Converts; Gookin’s Historical Collections; Snow’s History of Boston ; Emerson’s, History of First Church; Wisner’n History of Old South Church; Trumbull’s history; Hutchinson, &c. &c. ]

On the 13th of May, 1607, one hundred emigrants made the first permanent English settlement in the United States, on the north side of Powhatan, or James river, in Virginia. In honor of James I., the settlement was named Jamestown. In 1619, we find the following record: "The king of England having formerly issued his letters to the several bishops of the kingdom, for collecting money, to erect a College in Virginia, for the education of Indian children, nearly £1,500 had been already paid toward this benevolent and pious design, and Henrico had been selected as a suitable place for the seminary. The Virginia Company, on the recommendation of Sir Edwin Sandys, its treasurer, now granted 10,000 acres of land, to be laid off for the University at Henrico." "The first design," says Anderson, "was to erect and build a College in Virginia, for the training up and educating infidel children in the true knowledge of God."

[ 1832 ] FIRST CHURCHES ESTABLISHED. 124

Another object was to found a seminary for the education of the English. Most of the original settlers of Virginia were Episcopalians. It does not appear that the promotion of religion was a prominent object of attention, for many years. In 1620, there were but five ministers in Virginia; and eleven boroughs erected into eleven parishes.

On the 22d of December, 1620, (corresponding to the 11th of December, old style,) the foundation of Plymouth, the first English town, built in New England, was laid. Nineteen families, in all 101 persons, composed the infant settlement. A great mortality, that commenced among the people, swept off half of their number, within the first three months, leaving scarcely fifty persons remaining. The dead were buried on the bank, at a little distance from the rock where the fathers landed; and lest the Indians should take advantage of the weak and wretched state of the English, the graves were levelled and sown for the purpose of concealment.[ Footnote: Holmes, i. 168. ] Mr. William Brewster was the minister of the first settlers. He had been ruling elder of the congregation at Leyden, of which Mr. John Robinson was the pastor. The emigrants, and their brethren remaining in Holland, were to continue to be one church, and to receive each other to Christian communion, without a formal dismission or testimonial. In the middle of July, 1621, as there had been no rain since the third week in May, the colonists "set apart a solemn day of humiliation, to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer in this great distress." In the evening of the day of the fast, "there were such sweet and gentle showers, as gave them cause of rejoicing and blessing God." [ Footnote: Morton, p. 99.] The religious exercises, on this occasion, continued eight or nine hours. A day of joyful thanksgiving was soon after observed.

In the early part of the year 1628, John Endicot, with a few people, were sent over by a company, which had been formed in London, and commenced a settlement at Naumkeag, which they called Salem [ As early as 1626, a few people from Plymouth commenced a settlement on Naumkeag river. ] A church was formed at Salem, on the 6th of August, 1629. Thirty persons accepted a confession of faith and church covenant, which had been drawn up by Mr. Francis Higginson, who had been chosen teacher of the church. Mr. Samuel Skelton was the pastor.

In the summer of 1680, a fleet of fourteen sail, having on board Gov. John Winthrop, Deputy Gov. Thomas Dudley, with about 840 passengers, arrived in Charles river. A part of the company coming before the rest, ascended Charles river to Watertown, or the "well watered place," landed their goods, and in a few days, proceeded to Matapan, afterwards Dorchester. Here was established the second church in the colony, in June, 1630. The Dorchester settlers were embodied into a church before they left home. John Maverick, and John Warham, were the ministers.

The great body of the emigrants had landed at Charlestown. On the 30th of July, a day of solemn prayer and fasting was observed, when the foundation was laid of the first church in Boston, and the third in tile colony. Mr. John Wilson was chosen teacher, and Mr. Increase Nowel ruling elder. Probably sixty-four men, and half as many women, signed the covenant. Their first meeting-place was under the shade of a large tree. The settlers soon began to remove to the peninsula. In a little time, public worship was celebrated on both sides of the river. At length the church took its station altogether in Trimontane, which was soon after called Boston.

On the same day, July 30th, the settlers who had fixed their residence at the "pleasant spot which has since been called Watertown," set apart a day for solemn fasting and prayer, and entered into a covenant. It was signed by Sir Richard Saltonstall, at the head of forty names. Rev. George Phillips was the pastor. The church in Roxbury was formed in July, 1632. One in Lynn about the same time, being the sixth in the colony. On the 11th of October, those members of the first church, who belonged to Charlestown, finding it troublesome to worship in Boston, were peaceably dismissed from their relation to the church, and were formed into a new church and society, constituting the

[ 1832 ] COTTON—MISSION TO VIRGINIA. 125

seventh in the colony. They were thirty-three in number. Rev. Thomas James was chosen pastor. [ Footnote; According to a note in Savage’s Winthrop, the churches were formed in the following order, seven already named. 8. Cambridge Oct. 11 1633, 9, Ipwich, 1634; 10, Newbury, 1635; 11, Weymouth, July 1635; 12, Hingham, Sept. 1635; 13, Concord, July 5, 1636; 14, Dedham, Nov. 8, 1638; 15, Quincy, Sept. 17, 1639; Rowley, Dec. 3, 1639; 17, Salibury; 18, Sudbury, August, 1640; 19, Glouchester, 1642; 20, Woburn, Aug, 24, 1642; 21, Hall, July, 1644; 22, Wenham, Oct. 8, 1644; 23, Havehill, and 24, Andover, Oct. 1645; 25, Reading, Nov. 5, 1645; 26, Manchester; 27, Malden; 28, Boston 2d; June 5, 1650. ]

On the 10th of October, 1633, the Rev. John Cotton was established teacher of the church in Boston, in connection with Mr. Wilson as pastor. He exerted a great and most beneficial influence over the whole colony. His labors, soon after he came to Boston, were more effectual than those of any minister of the country. He was the means of exciting great attention to religious subjects, and some of the most profligate individuals were brought to renounce their iniquities. His sermons were simple and plain. His Christian character amiable and interesting. Gov. Winthrop, in his journal of’ December, 1633, has the following sentence. "It pleased the Lord to give special testimony of his presence in the church of Boston, after Mr. Cotton was called to office there. More were converted and added to that church, than to all the other churches in the bay. Divers profane and notorious evil persons came and confessed their sins, and were comfortably received into the bosom of the church. Yea, the Lord gave witness to the exercise of prophecy, so as thereby some were converted, and others greatly edified. Also, the Lord pleased greatly to bless the practice of discipline, wherein he gave the pastor, Mr. Wilson, a singular gift, to the great benefit of the church." Two or three months after, we find the following record, which Mr. Savage supposes to refer to Stephen Winthrop, a son of the governor.

"Among other testimonies of the Lord’s gracious presence with his own ordinances, there was a youth of fourteen years of ago (being the son of one of the magistrates) so wrought upon by the ministry of the word, as, for divers months, he was held under such affliction of mind, as he could not be brought to apprehend any comfort in God, being much humbled and broken for his sins (though he had been a dutiful child, and not given up to the lusts of youth,) and especially for his blasphemous and wicked thoughts, whereby Satan buffeted him so as he went mourning and languishing daily ; yet, attending to the means, and not giving over prayer, and seeking counsel, &c., he came at length to be freed from his temptations, and to find comfort in God’s promises, and so, being received into the congregation, upon good proof of his understanding in the things of God, he went on cheerfully, in a Christian course, falling daily to labor as a servant, and as a younger brother of his did, who was no whit short of him, in the knowledge of God’s will, though his youth kept him from daring to offer himself to the congregation." This last mentioned son was probably Deane Winthrop, born March, 1622—3.

The following fact,, strikingly shows the orthodoxy of our fathers. A greater part of the church in Dorchester having removed to Connecticut, the remainder desired the approbation of the churches and magistrates, in a design to found a new church. But upon examination, it was judged best not to comply, at that time, with the wishes of the Dorchester people, for the following reasons.

I. With two exceptions, (Mr. Mather and one other person,) the applicants did not appear to hate sin, because it was filthy, but only left it, because it was hurtful.

2. That, by reason of this, they had never truly closed with Christ, or rather Christ with them, but had made use of him only to help the imperfection of their sanctification and duties.

3. They expected to believe by some power of their own, and not only and wholly from Christ. [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 184. ] In 1622, an individual came from Virginia, with letters from many well-disposed people there, "bewailing their sad condition for want of the means of salvation, and earnestly entreating a supply of faithful ministers, whom, upon experience of their gifts and godliness, they might call to office." After setting apart a day for prayer, it was agreed that Mr. Phillips of Watertown, Mr. Tompson of Braintree, and Mr. Miller of Rowley, could best be spared, as the churches in those towns had each of them two ministers. Mr. Miller did not accept the call. Mr. Knolles, a fellow-elder of Mr. Phillips, went in his place, in company with Mr. Tompson. "The main

[ 1832 ] REVIVALS OF RELIGION. 126

argument," says Winthrop, "which prevailed with the churches to dismiss them to that work, and with the court to allow and further it, was the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in those parts, and the confidence they had in the promise, that whosoever shall part with father, &c. We were so far from fearing any loss by parting with such desirable men, as we looked at them as seed sown, which would bring us in a plentiful harvest, and we accounted it no small honor that God put upon his poor churches hero, that other parts of the world should seek to us for help, in this kind." [* Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 78. ]

Messrs. Tompson and Knolles "found very loving and liberal entertainment in Virginia, and were bestowed, in several places, not by the governor, but by some well-disposed people, who desired their company." In the following spring, Mr. Knolles returned to Boston, with letters, which were read at the public lecture, whereby it appeared that God had greatly blessed their ministry in Virginia. When they were silenced from public preaching because they would not conform to the established church, the people resorted to them in private houses.

It was a signal advantage to the cause of vital religion in this country, that the church at Cambridge had such a minister as THOMAS SHEPARD. While a member of the University of Cambridge, England, after a season of deep distress, he became a humble disciple of Jesus Christ. He was the Baxter of New England, radiant in holiness. It was on account of the energy and searching character of his preaching, and his skill in detecting errors, that when the foundation of a college was to be laid, Cambridge, rather than any other place, was fixed upon. Of his flock at Cambridge, his successor, Mr. Mitchell, gives the following character. "They were a gracious, savoury—spirited people, principled by Mr. Shepard, liking an humbling, mourning, heart-breaking ministry and spirit; living in religion, praying men and women." The eminent preachers who were trained at Cambridge, were greatly indebted to Mr. Shepard. His words came with power to the heart, and his example was a constant reproof to sin. Mitchell, the holy, and meek, and heavenly Mitchell, was scarcely inferior to his predecessor. Of Rev. George Phillips it is said, "About fourteen years continued he in his ministry in Watertown; in which time his ministry was blessed, for the conversion of many unto God, and for the confirmation and edification of many who were converted."

The Rev. Thomas Prince, in a sermon preached by him before the General Assembly of the province, in May, 1730, has the following sentence:— "It must be here observed, that though the generality both of the first leaders, heads of families, and freemen, were persons of noted piety; yet there were great numbers, not only of the younger sort, both of children and servants, but also of elder, of every age, who came over, both in the year 1630, and the ten following years, that came hither only under the common impressions of a pious ministry or education, or the religious influence of their friends, or heads of families they belonged to; and who were therefore fit materials for the numerous conversions which quickly followed, under the lively, searching, and awakening preaching of the primitive ministers." "The Spirit from on high was poured upon them, and the wilderness became a fruitful field. In twenty-seven years from the first plantation, there were forty-three churches in joint communion with one another. And in twenty-seven years more, there appear above fourscore English churches of Christ, composed only of known, pious, and faithful professors, dispersed through the wilderness; viz, twelve or thirteen in Plymouth colony, forty-seven in Massachusetts colony and province of New Hampshire, nineteen in Connecticut, three in Long Island, and one at Martha’s Vineyard.". [ Footnote: Christian history, pp. 63,64. ] 1659, Mr. John Norton, the successor of Mr. Cotton, in the first church in Boston, thus wrote. "It concerneth New England always to remember that originally they are a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade. The profession of the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline, is written upon her forehead." [ Footnote: lb. p. 66. ]

The following passages are from a Tract published by Captain Roger Clap, who came with Warham and Maverick, in 1630, and settled in Dorchester.

[ 1832.] INFLUENCE OF TH SPIRIT. 127

Then in those days did God manifest his presence among us, in converting many souls, in gathering his dear ones into church fellowship each with other, by solemn covenants; wherein they gave up themselves and their seed to the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ was so plainly held out in the preaching of the gospel unto poor lost sinners, and the absolute necessity of thc new birth, and God’s Holy Spirit, in those days was pleased to accompany the word with such efficacy upon the hearts of many, that our hearts were taken off off Old England, and set upon heaven. The discourse not only of the aged, but of the youth, also, was not, How shall we go to England, but how shall we go to heaven? Have I true grace wrought in my heart? Have I Christ or no? Oh how did men and women, young and old, pray for grace, beg for Christ, in those days; and it was not in vain. Many were converted, and others established in believing. Many joined unto the several churches where they lived, confessing their faith publicly, and showing before all the assembly their experiences of the workings of God’s Spirit in their hearts to bring them to Christ; which many hearers found very much good by, to help them to try their own hearts, and to consider how it was with them; whether any work of God’s Spirit was wrought in their hearts or no? Oh the many tears that have been shed in Dorchester meeting-house, at such times, both by those that have declared God’s work on their souls, and also by those that heard them. In those days God, even our own God, did bless New England." [Footnote: Christian History, pp. 71,72 ]

In 1678, the venerable Increase Mather thus writes. "Prayer is needful on this account, in that conversions are become rare in this age of the world. They that have their thoughts exercised in discerning things of this nature, have sad apprehensions in reference to this matter; that the work of conversion hath been at a great stand in the world. In the last age, in the days of our fathers, in other parts of the world, scarce a sermon preached, but some evidently converted, and sometimes hundreds in a sermon. [Footnote: Doubtless Dr. Mather refers to Scotland in this sentence.] Which of us can say, we have seen the like. Clear, sound conversions are not frequent in some congregations." Again, in 1702, Dr. Mather says, that "the life and power of godliness has been the singular glory of New England. The generality of the first planters, were men eminent for godliness. Time was, when these churches were beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. What a glorious presence of Christ was there in all his ordinances. Many were converted and willingly declared what God had done for their souls; and there were added to the churches daily, of such as should be saved." [ Footnote: Christian History, passim.]

Mr. Prince, in a manuscript sermon, has the following remark concerning Mr. Shepard, of Cambridge. "1 was told when a youth, by elderly people, that he scarce ever preached a sermon, but some or other of his congregation were struck with great distress of soul, and cried out aloud in agony, What shall I do to be saved? Though his voice was low, yet so searching was his preaching, and so great a power attending, as an hypocrite could not easily bear it, and it seemed almost irresistible." The same effect was often visible alter the preaching of Mr. Mitchell. It is stated, that it was a common question for those who were detained at home, to put to their friends, who had attended meeting, Whether anybody appeared to be wrought upon to-day?"

In 1650, the number of churches in New England, was fifty-eight, and the number of communicants, 7,750. [ Footnote: Emerson’s History of the First Church, p. 81. ] On the 23d of December, 1652, died the Rev. John Cotton, at the age of 67. During his ministry, from 1634 to 1652, there were received into the first church, 306 men, and 343 women, in all, 649.

In closing our notices of the history of the first period, it may be proper to exhibit some of the CAUSES of the flourishing state of vital piety among the primitive settlers. While the Holy Spirit was signally manifest, with, his converting and sanctifying grace, many causes conspired to invite and prolong his life-giving presence. The soil, on which the dews of Zion descended, was well prepared. The fathers united a deep feeling of dependence on God, with strenuous effort. They obeyed the whole of the inspired direction, Trust in the

[1832 ] REVIEW OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 128

Lord and do good. Many circumstances, also, additional to their own efforts, combined in producing a state of society, the like of which, in all respects, has not been seen on earth.

1. They were descended from excellent families in England. It is a well known saying, uttered first, we believe, by William Stoughton, Governor of Massachusetts, in 1692, "God sifted a whole nation that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness." The family of Ames, who settled at Dedham, were descended from the celebrated Dr. William Ames, author of the Medulla Theologiae, and Professor at Rotterdam. Charles Chauncy, President of Harvard College, was descended from parents "in Hertfordshire, that were both honorable and religious." The parents, grand-parents, and great-grand-parents of Mr. John Fisk, of Chelmsford, "were eminent in zeal for the true religion." Three of his family had the honor of being persecuted by Mary. The father and mother of the celebrated Peter Hobart, of Hingham, "were persons eminent for their piety, and even from their youth feared God." Of John Sherman, assistant minister of Watertown, it is said, that he was born of godly and worthy parents. "While he was yet a child, their instructions, joined with the ministry of the famous Rogers, produced in him an early remembrance of his Creator." A great proportion, indeed, of the first settlers of New England, were children of" parents who had passed into the skies." This was doubtless one cause of the blessings which have descended on New England. God keepeth covenant and remembereth mercy.

2. The objects for which they came to this country were worthy and noble. In the statement of the reasons given by the emigrants from Leyden for their removal, is the following. "Fifthly and lastly, and which was not the least, a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some good foundations, or at least to make some way thereunto for the propagating and advancement of the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea, although they should be but as stepping atones unto others for the performance of so great a work. [Footnote: New England’s Memorial, p. 20.] Eliot and the Mayhews, Sergeant and Brainerd did not forget this. Mr. Clap, before quoted, thus expresses the objects which the original settlers had in view. "What a wondrous work of God was it, to stir up such worthies to undertake such a difficult work, as to remove themselves, their wives, and children, from their native country, and to leave their gallant situations there, to come into this wilderness, to set up the pure worship of God here." The venerable John Higginson, first of Guilford, Conn., afterwards of Salem, thus remarks in a sermon: "Let merchants and such as are increasing cent per cent remember this, let others that have come over since, at several times, understand this, that worldly gain was not the end and design of the people of New England, but RELIGION. And if any man among us make religion as twelve, and the world as thirteen, let such an one know that he has neither the spirit of a true New England-man, nor yet of a sincere Christian." [ Footnote: Christian History, p. 68. ]

3. In the attainment of their object, the fathers of New England made great sacrifices. As truly as any men who ever lived they brought themselves within the comprehension of the promise, that whosoever forsake houses, and lands, father and mother, for Christ’s sake, shall inherit an hundred fold. Gov. Winthrop had a fine estate, in England, of six or seven hundred per annum, which he sacrificed. He died a poor man. Several gifts were bestowed on his family by the legislature. Many others sacrificed what were considered, in those days, large estates. Isaac Johnson, "the father of Boston," was one of the richest men in the colony. As a proof of it, he limited his funeral expenses to £250. The people manifested their attachment to him by requesting that their bodies might be buried near his. The lady Arabella, his wife, was the daughter of the earl of Lincoln, and "came from a paradise of plenty, into a wilderness of wants."[ Footnote: See Judge Sorey’s Cent. Discourse.] Not a few of the ministers relinquished prospects of splendid preferment. John Norton had talents such as would have qualified him for a station in almost any department of life. He was offered a fellowship in the University of Cambridge. Peter Bulkly, of Concord, left in England "a good benefice,—and the estate of a gentleman."

[ 1832 ] SUFFER1NGS OF THE PILGRIMS. 129

The sufferings which they endured were many and severe. In the winter of 1629-30, eighty persons, out of about three hundred in the colony, had died, and many of those that remained, were in a weak and sickly condition. When the Arbella arrived at Salem, on the 12th of June, there was not corn enough to have lasted above a fortnight, and all other provisions were very scarce. They had only three or four months to look out for convenient settlements. Being destitute of necessary accommodations, they dropped away, one after another. Before December, 200 of those who came with Winthrop, including a few who had died on the passage, were in their graves. Such a winter the settlers had never seen before. "The poorer sort," says Hutchinson, "were much exposed, lying in tents, and miserable hovels, and many died of the scurvy and other distempers. They were so short of provisions, that many were obliged to live on clams, muscles, and other shell-fish, with ground-nuts and acorns, instead of bread. One that come to the governor’s house, to complain of his sufferings, was prevented, being informed that even there the last batch was in the oven. Some instances are mentioned of great calmness and resignation in their distress. A good man, who had asked his neighbors to a dish of clams, after dinner, returned thanks to God, who had given to them to suck of the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sands. [ Footnote: Hutchinson i. Pp. 27, 28]

4. The feelings of the emigrants towards their brethren, in England, and towards the members of the Established Church, were eminently kind and Christian.

One reason, why the congregation of Mr. Robinson, in Leyden, did not choose to remain in Holland, was, that "their posterity would, in a few generations, become Dutch, and so lose their interest in the English nation; they being rather desirous to enlarge his Majesty’s dominions, and to live under their natural prince." [Footnote: New England’s Memorial, p. 20.]

The following letter from Governor Winthrop, and others, written in April, 1630, just as they had embarked, is so fraught with pious and fraternal feeling, that we cannot forbear quoting it entire. It is written in a noble spirit

The humble request of his Majesty’s loyal subjects, the Governor and the Company late gone for New England; to the rest of their brethren in and of the Church of England.

Reverend Fathers and Brethren,—The genera! rumor of this solemn enter-prize, wherein ourselves with others, through the providence of the Almighty, are engaged, as it may spare us the labor of imparting our occasion unto you, so it gives us time more encouragement to strengthen ourselves by the procurement of the prayers amid blessings of the Lord’s faithful servants: for which end we are bold to have recourse unto you, as those whom God hath placed nearest his throne of mercy; which as it affords you the more opportunity, so it imposeth the greater bond upon you to intercede for his people in all their straits, we beseech you therefore by the mercies of’ the Lord Jesus, to consider us as your brethren, standing in very great need of your help, and earnestly imploring it. And howsoever your charity may have met with some occasion of discouragement, though the misreport of our intentions, or through the disaffection, or indiscretion, of some of us, or rather, amongst us: for we are not of those that dream of perfection in this world ; yet we desire you would be pleased to take notice of the principals, and body of our company, as those who esteem it our honor, to call the Church of England, from whence we rise, our dear mother, and cannot part from our native country, where she specially resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many tears in our eyes; ever acknowledging that such hope and part as we have obtained in the common salvation, we have re-

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ceived in her bosom, and sucked it from her breasts: we leave it not therefore, as loathing that milk wherewith we were nourished there, but blessing God for the parentage and education, as members of the same body shall always rejoice in her good, and unfeignedly grieve for any sorrow that shall ever betide her, and while we have breath, sincerely desire and endeavor the continuance and abundance of her welfare, with the enlargement of her bounds in the kingdom of Christ Jesus.

Be pleased, therefore, reverend fathers and brethren, to help forward this work now in hand; which, if it prosper, you shall be the more glorious, howsoever, your judgment is with the Lord, and your reward with your God. It is an usual and laudable exercise of your charity to commend to the prayers of your congregations, the necessities and straits of your private neighbors; do the like for a church springing out of your own bowels. We conceive much hope that this remembrance of us, if it be frequent and fervent, will be a most prosperous gale in our sails, and provide such a passage and welcome for us, from the God of the whole earth, as both we which shall find it., and yourselves, with the rest of our friends, who shall hear of it, shalt be much enlarged to bring in such daily returns of thanksgivings, as the specialties of his Providence and goodness may justly challenge at all our hands. You are not ignorant, that the Spirit of God stirred up the apostle Paul to make continual mention of the church of Philippi, (which was a colony from Rome,) let the same Spirit, we beseech you, put you in mind, that are the Lord’s remembrancers, to pray for us without ceasing, (who are a weak colony from yourselves,) making continual request for us to God in all your prayers.

What we intreat of you that are the ministers of God, that we also crave at the hands of all the rest of our brethren, that they would at no time forget us in their private solicitations at the throne of grace.

If any there be, who through want of clear intelligence of our course, or tenderness of affection towards us, cannot conceive so well of our way as we could desire, we would intreat such not to despise us, nor to desert us in their prayers and affections, but to consider rather, that they are so much the mere bound to express the bowels of their compassion towards us, remembering always that both nature and grace, doth ever bind us to relieve and rescue with our utmost and speediest power, such as are dear unto us, when we conceive them to be running uncomfortable hazards.

What goodness you shall extend to us in this or any other Christian kindness, we, your brethren in Christ Jesus, shall labor to repay in what duty we are or shall be able to perform, promising so far as God shall enable us, to give him no rest on your behalfs, wishing our heads and hearts may be as fountains of tears, for your everlasting welfare, when we shall be in our poor cottages in the wilderness, overshadowed with the spirit of supplication, through the manifold necessities and tribulations which may not altogether unexpectedly, nor, we hope, unprofitably befall us. And so commending you to the grace of God in Christ, we shall ever rest Your assured friends and brethren,

Jo. WINTHROP, Gov. ISAAC JOHNSON.
CHARLES FINES. THOS. DUDLEY.
GEORGE PHILLIPS. WILLIAM CODDINGTON.

RICH. SALTONSTALL.

[ Footnote: There is scarcely one of the settlers of New England, who is so worthy of love and veneration, as Gov. Winthrop. He was generous, kind, true-hearted, in an eminent degree. The description of a good man, in the 156^th Psalm, would apply to him admirally. In the Appendix to his Journal, vol. I. There is a large number of his letters, principally to his wife. They show great delicacy, parity, and tenderness of feeling towards " the loved and the left behind." , and a spirit of entire and sweet resignation to the will of God. We cannot refrain from quoting his record of her death. " in this sickness, the governor’s wife, daughter of Sir John Tindal, Knight, left this world for a better, being about 50 years of age; a woman of singular virtue, prudence, modesty, and piety; and especially beloved and honored of all the country."]

5. Another cause of the flourishing state of vital piety among the first settlers was their morality. They furnished a most striking example of the tendency and effect of the doctrines of the cross. They relied wholly on a gratuitous and purchased salvation. They renounced, with abhorrence, all idea of the merit of human works. Yet they were not antinomian. They believed, with Pres. Chauncy, that "Christians, notwithstanding the forgiveness of their sins, ought often to renew all the expressions of repentance for their sins, and still to be fervent and instant in prayer for pardon." While they magnified the grace of the gospel, they maintained the dignity and everlasting obligation of the law. In nothing were they more exemplary than in the observance of the Sabbath. Of Eliot, the Indian

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apostle, it is said, "That the sun did not set the evening before the Sabbath, till he had begun hi~ preparation for it; and when the Lord’s day came, you might have seen John in the spirit. The Sabbath day was a type, a taste of heaven to him." In 1646, three Frenchmen spent a Sabbath in Boston. "The Lord’s day they were here," says Winthrop, "the governor acquainting them with our manner, that all men either come to our public meetings, or keep themselves quiet in their houses, and finding that the place where they lodged, would not be convenient for them that day, invited them home to his house, where they continued private all that day till sunset, and made use of such books, Latin and French, as he had, and the liberty of a private walk in his garden, and so gave no offence." In a company of emigrants, who came from England, in 1637, was an individual who was "examined about his going to divert himself with hook and line on the Lord’s day. He protested that he did not know when the Lord’s day was; he thought every day was a Sabbath day; for, he said, they did nothing but pray and preach all the week long." Dr. Increase Mather, in the preface to his sermons on early piety, printed in Boston, in 1721, says, "There was a famous man that preached before one of the greatest assemblies that ever was preached unto, seventy years ago; and he told them, I have lived in a country, seven years, and all that time I never heard one profane oath, and all that time, I did never see a man drunk, in that land. Where was that country? It was New England." in 1641, Gov. Winthrop makes the following entry in his journal. "A great training in Boston two days. About 1,200 were exercised in most sorts of land-service ; yet it was observed that there was no man drunk, though there was plenty of wine and strong beer in town, not an oath sworn, no quarrel, nor any hurt done." In another place, the following record is inserted. "The deputy granted license to Andrews, of Ipswich, to sell wine, by retail, for six months, provided he did not wittingly sell to such as were likely to abuse it by drunkenness." It is stated by one of the annalists of those times, that servants and vagrants were the authors of most of the open crimes, which were committed. Some individuals, who found the moral atmosphere too pure, and religion too prominent, returned in disgust to England, and there exerted their influence to the prejudice of the colonists.

6. Another circumstance, which exerted a favorable influence on piety, was the remarkable freedom from bigotry and intolerance which prevailed. It is asserting nothing but what is susceptible of the fullest proof, that the early settlers of New England were in advance of all other communities on earth, in freedom from a spirit of exclusiveness and bigotry. John Robinson has the following passage in a letter to that portion of his flock, which sailed for the New world. "If God reveal anything to you, by any other instrument of his, be as ready to receive it, as ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry; for I am very persuaded—I am very confident, that the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go, at present, no further than the instruments of their reformation. They cannot be drawn beyond what Luther saw. Whatever part of his will our good God has revealed to Calvin, they will rather die than embrace it. And the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left, by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things." Many of the emigrants acted in accordance with this advice of the excellent Robinson. Thomas Walley, a venerable minister of Barnstable, uttered on an important occasion, these memorable sentences. "It would not consist with our profession of love to Christ or saints, to trouble those that peaceably differ from the generality of God’s people in lesser things; those that are like to live in heaven with us at last, we should endeavor they might live peaceably with us here. A well founded toleration were very desirable in all Christian commonwealths, that there may be no just occasion for any to complain of cruelty or persecution; but it must be such toleration that God be not publicly blasphemed, nor idolatry practised." Governor Winthrop was a man of enlarged and liberal principles. When near death he expressed a wish that more moderation had been practised toward those who were termed "heretics." It is true that there were many things, which occurred in reference to Gorton, Mrs. Hutchchinson, Roger Williams, the Quakers,

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and others, which can be justified on no correct principle. The descendants of the pilgrims would gladly consign some pages of their history to oblivion. Their spirits were not entirely emancipated from the thraldom of the dark and persecuting ages. Still they acted from a stern sense of duty. They were determined to obey their conscience, though that conscience sometimes misled them. They hearkened to the precepts of Scripture, though they sometimes mistook their spirit, and misinterpreted their injunctions. They were far in advance of any of the communities of that generation in understanding the nature, and in acting according to the true design of civil and religious liberty. Before we administer to them unmitigated censure, we must recollect the intolerant spirit which reigned in England; we must remember that the excellent Matthew had punished witchcraft capitally; we must also consider that they came to this new world to find a sanctuary, where they could have a pure and holy community. Those ‘who came in to distract and pollute their societies, intentionally, or unintentionally, were regarded with unjustifiable, but not with unaccountable aversion. It is also to be observed that they had such clear views of the transcendent importance of personal religion, that they could hardly refrain from drawing men, by violence, from their destructive courses. Much of that which would be called bigotry, in these days, was a reasonable and a rational concern for the spiritual interests of amen. True Christian liberty not only allows a man to think as he pleases, but to use all proper ways to induce others to think as he does, or in other words, to make known his opinions. It is an undoubted fact that our forefathers were men of enlarged views, and of generous sentiments. They consulted, in a remarkable degree, for the interests of posterity. They lived for future ages, and for the human race. This trait in their characters had a very favorable effect on their piety, and on the prosperous state, generally, of vital godliness. Civil freedom operates most beneficially, and in a thousand ways, upon that freedom wherewith the Son of God makes his people free.

7. The doctrines, which were maintained, and which were preached, was one cause of the religious prosperity of the primitive churches. Our fathers were "in doctrine uncorrupt." They held forth the word of life in scriptural purity. The ministers were such as we should expect from the countrymen of Bates, Howe, Manton, Owen, and Baxter. The fall of man, his total alienation from God, the supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, atonement by his sufferings and death, the necessity of regeneration by the influence of the Holy Spirit, the perseverance of believers in holiness, and their kindred truths and doctrines, were heartily embraced, and faithfully preached. Doubtless there were defects in their mode of presenting the doctrines of the gospel, which detracted from the weight and pungency of their preaching. Still the great truths of redemption were understood and proclaimed with singular earnestness, and fullness, and solemnity. The Bible was made the only standard of appeal. The reverence paid to that book was very great. We doubt if it has been exceeded among any class of Christians in any age of the church. A principal cause of the unjustifiable opposition to the Quakers, was the little esteem with which that sect was supposed to regard the Scriptures. The fathers were rooted and grounded in the faith. Conversions, in those days, were frequently the result, so far as human agency was concerned, of long continued, personal application to the truths of religion. Feeling flowed from contemplation. Anxiety of mind was caused by the clear apprehension of truth. They had but few books, and the Bible was the one great and inestimable treasure in every family. The books which they did possess were thoroughly read and digested. The ministrations of many of the preachers were characterised by great solemnity. This was doubtless owing to the spirit of prayer which they possessed in an uncommon degree. One of them was accustomed to say that a minister’s great work was prayer. Another used to spend the whole of Saturday afternoon, in imbuing, by earnest prayer to God, his own soul, with the sentiments of the discourses, which he was expecting to deliver on the following day. The holy Shepard said, on his dying bed, that he never preached a sermon but what cost him tears. "He wept in the studying of every sermon. Before he preached any sermon he got good by it himself. He always went up to the pulpit as if

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he was to give up his accounts unto his Master." Men, who could with truth make such declarations, and not a few closely followed the example of Shepard, must have, indeed, been burning and shining lights. Their piety warmed and illuminated their doctrines. Their near communion with the Holy Spirit, breathed light and life into all their ministrations.

8. The exemplary religious education of children was, unquestionably, one of the principal causes of the flourishing state of true religion. Of John Eliot, of Roxbury, it is said, that " whatever decay there might be of family religion generally, he would command his children, and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord. His family was a little Bethel, for the worship of God constantly and exactly maintained in it; and unto the daily prayers of the family, his manner was to prefix the reading of the Scriptures which being done, it was also his manner to make his young people choose a certain passage in the chapter, and give him some observation of their own upon it." Of the house of Mr. Peter Hobart, of Hingham, it is said that "it was edified and beautified with many children, on whom when he looked, he would say, with much thankfulness, Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who feareth the Lord! And for whom, like another Job, he offered up daily supplications." Mr. James Noyes and Mr. Thomas Parker, both of Newbury, who lived in the greatest intimacy, who taught in one school, came over in one ship, lived in the same house, were pastors together of the same church, used to sing four times a day in the public worship, and always just after evening-prayer in the family, where reading the Scripture, expounding and praying were the other constant exercises. Governor Eaton, of the New Haven colony, in the management of his family, "was prudent, serious, and happy to a wonder. He sometimes had a large household, consisting of no less than thirty persons, yet he managed them with such an even temper, that observers have affirmed, They never saw an house ordered with more wisdom. By taking care of his aged mother, he secured his own prosperity as long as he lived. His children and servants he would mightily encourage unto the study of the Scriptures." Nearly half of the ministers, who came from England, and who remained in this country, "were signally blessed with sons, who did work for our Lord Jesus Christ, in the ministry of the gospel. Yea, some of them, as Mr. Chauncy, Mr. Eliot, Mr. Hobart, Mr. Mather, had four or five sons each, employed in the ministry." "None of the least concerns," says Cotton Mather, "that lay upon the skirts of these reformers, was the condition of their posterity ; for which cause, in the first constitution of their churches, they did more generally, with more or less expressiveness, take in their children as under the church-watch with themselves."

9. But the revivals of religion, or the eminent piety which prevailed in the days of our fathers, is to be attributed, under God, to the high. character of the Christian ministry, more than to any other cause. New England, and the United States, have cause of unceasing gratitude to God, for the blessing of a learned and faithful ministry, existing at the settlement of the country. For original talent, for thorough scholarship, for discriminating sense, and for comprehensiveness of view, they were inferior to no men of the age in which they lived. It is not pretended that they were faultless. Their system of biblical interpretation, was, in many respects, erroneous. Mental philosophy had not then been transformed and illuminated by the labors of Locke and Reid. The principles of correct taste were not well understood. Hence wretched doggerel was mistaken for poetry, ingenuity in the inversion of syllables for genius, and pedantry for sound learning. The endless divisions and subdivisions of the schools disfigure the productions of the press. A singular species of humor and witticism, employed on the most solemn subjects, and sacred occasions, offends every person of genuine sensibility. It is not pretended, moreover, that indiscriminate and fulsome eulogy has not frequently been applied to the fathers of New England. Cotton Mather, with all his good qualities, sadly lacked judgment. He had knowledge, but had no discrimination. But with all these abatements, the early New England ministers united distinguished piety and learning. They understood, and they relished well, Latin, and Greek, and Hebrew. An earnest pursuit of’ these studies, through the whole course of

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their ministry, did not interfere with the most faithful and self-denying labors. These studies made them to be men of rich, deep, and various thought. Learning did not make them less ardent in the pursuit of holiness. It is an unquestionable fact that the most learned ministers were the most godly ministers. Knowledge and grace exerted a powerful reciprocal influence. By the combined effect of piety and of cultivated intellect, they were enabled to detect errors, to meet skilful opposers to religion, to look at remote consequences, to lay foundations for other ages, and for a distant posterity.

John Cotton, of Boston, was fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, afterwards fellow, head lecturer, dean, and catechist in Trinity College. He was able to converse in Hebrew; he wrote and spoke Latin with great facility. He would often say, with regret, after the departure of a visitant, "I had rather have given this man an handful of money, than have been kept thus long out of my study." He called "twelve hours" the scholar’s day. A Dutchman, of great learning, having heard Mr. Cotton preach in Boston, declared "that never in his life had he seen such a conjunction of learning and plainness, as there was in the preaching of this worthy man." John Wilson, of Boston, obtained a fellowship in King’s College, in Cambridge. Thomas hooker was a fellow of Emmanuel College. On a certain occasion, after his removal to Hartford, he visited Cambridge. Such was his extraordinary ability that Governor Winthrop, (" which was not common with him,") and a great crowd went over from Boston to hear him preach. From the imperfect notices now remaining of Mr. Hooker, it seems that he was more characterised by a very accurate knowledge of the human heart, and of the great principles by which human society are regulated, than he was for profound classical scholarship. He was a man fitted to exert a great influence. He had much more liberality than was common with many in those days. President Dunster, of Cambridge, translated a great part of the metrical version of the Psalms, which was printed at Cambridge in 1640. Richard Mather, of Dorchester, the first of the name in this country, was an indefatigable student. So intent was he upon his studies, that the morning before he died, he importuned his friends to help him into the room where "his works and books awaited him." President Chauncy, of Cambridge, by all accounts, was, for those days, an eminent oriental scholar. "he found the conjunct pleasure and profit of the Hebrew inexpressible." He rose and commenced his studies about four o’clock, both winter and summer. He was very judicious in the application of his knowledge. He made no display, but was unaffectedly modest and plain. He was also eminent for his attachment to the Christian doctrines, and for personal religion. In his last moments President Oakes asked him to give a sign of his hopeful and joyful assurance of eternal life; the speechless old man instantly raised his arms high towards heaven. He had six sons, all educated at Cambridge, and all ministers of the gospel. Thomas Thacher, of Weymouth, corn-posed an Hebrew Lexicon. It was his custom, once in three or four years, to review all his studies; in this way he attained to eminent facility in them. Yet he was most exemplary in the discharge of all the duties of a pastor. He had the charge of a large and excellent church, made so very much by his prayers and toils. Samuel Whiting, of Lynn, "for his learning was many ways well accomplished; especially he was accurate in Hebrew, in which primitive and expressive language, he took much delight; and he was elegant in Latin, whereof, among other demonstrations, he gave one, in an oration at one of our commencements." John Sherman, of Watertown, "making the mathematics his diversion, did attain unto such incomparable skill therein, that he was undoubtedly one of the best mathematicians that ever lived in this hemisphere. [ Footnote: It ,seems that there was a Christian Almanac before the existence of the American Tract Society. "This great man, Sherman, would sometimes give the country an Almanac, which yet he made an opportunity to do good, by adding, at the end of the composures, those holy reflections, which taught good men how to recover that little but spreading thing, the almanac, from that common abuse of being an engine to convey only silly superstitions, or sinful superstitions, into almost every cottage of the wilderness.]

His hearers used to call him "a second Isaiah, the honey-dropping and golden-mouthed preacher." John Eliot translated the whole Bible into the Indian language, also Baxter’s Call, Practice of Piety, and many primers, catechisms, &c.

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Richard Baxter said, "there was no man on earth, whom I honored above Eliot. It is his evangelical work that is the apostolical succession, which I plead for."

The first churches, though their numbers were small, and though they had to meet all the hardships, dangers, and expense of new settlements, commonly supported two able, experienced ministers. With the first three churches settled in Connecticut, there were at Hartford, the Rev. Thomas Hooker, and the Rev. Samuel Stone; at Windsor, the Rev. .John Warham, and Ephraim Hewit;* [ Footnote: The ancestor of the Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D. D. The name is spelt variously. Rev. Ephraim Hewit came from England in 1644, settled in Windsor, Connecticut, die d in 1644, of whom Johnson in his Wonder Working Providence says,

"And he, Hewit had his arguings strong and bright."

and at Weathersfield, the Rev. Peter Prudden, in 1638, while his people were making preparations to remove from New Haven to Milford. At New Haven, at first were stationed the Rev. John Davenport, and Mr. Samuel Eaton, a brother of Guy. Eaton. The Rev. Henry Whitefield, was pastor, and the Rev. John Higginson, son of the Rev. Francis Higginson, of Salem, was teacher, of the church at Guilford. Rev. Abraham Pierson was pastor of the church at Branford, and it seems that one Mr. Brucy assisted him for some time. The first six towns in the Connecticut and New Haven colonies, enjoyed the constant labor of ten able ministers. This was as much as about one minister to fifty families, or to two hundred and sixty or seventy souls. Mr. Neal, after giving a catalogue of the ministers, who first illuminated the churches of New England, bears the following testimony concerning them. "I will not say that all the ministers mentioned, were men of the first rate for learning, but I can assure the reader, they had a better share of it, than most of their neighboring clergy, at that time. They were men of great sobriety and virtue, plain, serious, affectionate preachers, exactly conformable to the doctrine of the church of England, and took a great deal of pains to promote a reformation of manners in their several parishes."

It was the opinion of the principal divines, who first settled in New England, that in every church, completely organized, there was a pastor, teacher, ruling elder, and deacons. From the passages, Romans xii. 7, 1 Corinthians xii. 28, 1 Timothy. 17 and Ephesians iv. ii, they argued that it was the duty of all churches, which had the ability, to be thus furnished. The churches which were not able to support a pastor and teacher, had their ruling elders and deacons. The pastor’s work consisted principally in exhortation, "In working upon the will and affections." Tire teacher was doctor in ecclesia, whose business it was to teach, explain, and defend the doctrines of Christianity. The ruling elder’s office was to assist the pastor in the government of thc church, to prepare and bring forward all cases of discipline, to visit and pray with the sick, and, in the absence of the pastor, and teacher, to pray, and expound the Scriptures. From this view it appears that the first towns and churches in New England were remarkably well instructed. At the time of the union of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, in 1665, there were about 1,700 families, and eight or nine thousand inhabitants, and they constantly enjoyed the instruction of about twenty ministers. Upon an average there was about one minister to every 85 families, or to about 430 souls, in some of the new plantations, thirty families supported a minister, and commonly there were not more than forty, when they called and settled a pastor. In several of the first churches, at the time when they were formed, there were not more than eight, nine, and ten male members. The General Court of Connecticut would not allow a plantation to be established which would not support an able, orthodox preacher. [Footnote: See Trumbull’s History of Connecticut, vol. 1. chap. 13.]