USA > Connecticut > A complete history of Connecticut, civil and ecclesiastical, from the emigration of its first planters, from England, in the year 1630, to the year 1764; and to the close of the Indian wars > Part 19
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" And the said Cleavelands say, that this being the act. of the major part of the members in full communion with the said society, is a sufficient warrant for them to join with them. They also say, that she said Solomon Painc has sufficient knowledge and ability to expound the scrip- tures, and to preach the gospel, and therefore has a right to do it ; and therefore say they, that in withdrawing from the public worship, and attending upon the preaching of the said Solomon Paine, they have not acted contrary to any divine or human law. Whereupon it is considered by the rector and tutors,
" 1. That we, (depending in this matter upon the unani- mous judgment of the association in the county of Wind- ham) do judge that the said Mr. Cogswell, is sufficiently qualified to be a preacher of the gospel, and therefore that the reflections cast upon him, as aforesaid, are groundless.
"2. That if there were any reasons why the said sepa- ratists should not choose to receive Mr. Cogswell as their minister; or if it should be doubtful whether it is conven- ient that Mr. Cogswell should be ordained, where so great a number are against him, (which things properly belong , to the hearing and judging of a council,) yet we cannot ser- that this could be any justification of their setting up a sepa- ration in the mean time.
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"3. That neither the major part of the members in full Book II. communion, nor any other persons in any parish or socie- ty, have any right or warrant to appoint any house or place 1744. for worship on the' sabbath, distinct and separate from, and in opposition to the meeting-house, the public place Act of ex- appointed by the general assembly, and the parish ; but pulsion, on the contrary, all such places and separate meetings are prohibited by the ancient laws of this government.
" Whereupon, it is considered and adjudged by the rec- tor and tutors, that the said John and Ebenezer Cleave- land, in withdrawing and separating from the public wor- ship of Gon, and attending upon the preaching of lay ex- horters, as aforesaid, have acted contrary to the rules of the gospel, the laws of this colony, and the college, and that the said Cleavelands shall be publicly admonished for their faults aforesaid ; and if they shall continue to justify themselves, and refuse to make an acknowledgment, they shall be expelled. THOMAS CLAP, Rector."
About a week after this, John Cleaveland gave in a pa- per, wherein he says, " I did not know that it was a trans- gression either of the laws of God, or of the colony, or of this college, for me, as a member of, and in covenant with a particular church, generally owned to be a church of Je- sus Christ, to meet together with the major part of the said church for social worship, and therefore beg and entreat that my ignorance may be suffered to apologise for me in that respect."
Upon which it was considered, "That whatever might be in his former ignorance and mistake, yet after all means Reasons of light and conviction, he still persists in justifying what for expuf- he had done, and would acknowledge no error in it ; though sion. sometimes he seemed to be brought to such a doubt and stand in his own mind, as that it seemed probable that he would have made some acknowledgment, if he had not been prevented by ill advice : and since the principal end and design of erecting this college (as declared in the char- ter) was to train up a succession of learned and orthodox ministers, by whose instruction and example people might be directed in the ways of religion and good order; there» force, to educate persons whose principles and practices are directly subversive of the visible church of Christ, would be contrary to the original design of erecting this society ; and we perceive that it would be a contradiction to the civil government, to support a college to educate stu- dents to trample upon their own laws, and break up the churches which they establish and protect, especially since the General Assembly, in May, 1742, thought proper to give
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Book II. the governors of the college some special advice and di- rection upon that account, which was to this effect : That 1744. all proper care should be taken to prevent the scholars im- bibing those or such like errors ; and that those who would not be orderly and submissive, should not be allowed the privileges of college; Neither can we conceive that it makes any odds, whether such pernicious errors are imbib- ed and practised, and the laws of God and the civil gov- ernment are broken in' or out of the vacancy, of the town of New-Haven, or with or without the concurrence of the parents, since the pernicious consequences thereof to the college and religion, will be just the same.
THOMAS CLAP, Rector. CHAUNCEY WHITTELSEY, JOHN WHITING, THOMAS DARLING, Tutors."
The expulsion of these young men, made a great clam- our in the state, as unprecedented and cruel. It was con- sidered as a severity exceeding the law of college respect- ing that case. The law was, "That no scholar upon the Lord's, or another day, under pretence of religion, shall go to any public or private meeting, not established or al- lowed by public authority, or approved by the president, under penalty of a fine, confession, public admónition, or otherwise, according to the state and demerit of the of- fence." A fine, or confession, or public admonition, might have answered the law ; and it supposed, in its very form, that the offender was to be treated in a more mild or severe manner, according to what was to be pleaded in his favor or against him. That there was much to plead in behalf of these young men was most evident. Mr. Cogswell's preaching, and his support at Canterbury, by the asso- ciation and consociation, against a majority of the church, and so large a proportion of the people, was very extraor- dinary. The separates affirmed that thirteen delinquents, who were admonished by their brethren for open trans- gressions of Gon's law, called the consociation that pro- hibited the church from dealing with them. That these, and three more who joined with them, and put themselves under the Saybrook platform, were the men who chose Mr. Cogswell. The society had locked the meeting-house against the church. They had also threatened to prose- cute Mr. Buel, of Long-Island, for preaching in the town. John Cleaveland, it seems, had joined in full communion with the church in Canterbury, and according to the ac- count which is given of the matter, the president had before owned and communed with him as a brother, in CHRIST.
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The church with which he had joined in worship, was the Book II. very church with which he had covenanted, and with which they had both worshipped. Their parents wor- 1744. shipped there. They held to the same confession of faith which they had always used and owned, and which had been adopted both by the Cambridge and Saybrook plat- forms. They differed as to the mode of discipline. They adopted the Cambridge, instead of the Saybrook platform. The president and tutors allowed young men of the church of England, and of other denominations, to be in college without renouncing their principles. The treatment of these young men was therefore considered as partial, se- vere, and unjust. It was believed by many, that churches had a right to worship GOD according to the dictates of their own consciences, and at such times, and in such pla- ces, as they pleased : That it was the principle on which the Protestants and Puritans acted, and the only one on which their separation and conduct could be justified. They imagined if christian legislatures and councils, had a right to appoint the modes and places of worship, and confine christians to them, that then the Papists, and church of England, had a right to bind all christians to worship with them, and the reformers and Puritans were totally wrong, and the persecutions raised against them were just. But this they could not believe. Hence they rejected the constitution, as then understood and practised upon, and the laws as really tyrannical and persecuting .*
* The act of the legislature, and the proceedings in consequence of it, towards ministers and others, and the procedure at college, were repugnant to the sentiments of Mr. Locke, and all the best writers on toleration. The intolerant spirit of the president and governors of college at that time, will appear from an affair which happened soon after the law was made to pre- vent disorders, &c. A number of the senior class in college set a subscrip- tion on foot for the reprinting of Mr. Locke's essay on toleration, and ob- tained a considerable number of subscribers, and were about to engage, or had engaged for the reprinting of it. The president found it out, and re- primanded them for such a piece of conduct, and ordered them to make a public confession for what they had done, or else they should not have their degrees. They all made their confessions but one : he was of age, and a man of considerable property, and had some knowledge of the cred- it of Mr. Locke's writings, and of, that tract in particular, and he would make no confession for his attempts to obtain the reprinting of such a. tract. The day before commencement he found his name was not in the catalogue of his class, who were to have their degrees : he waited on the president and corporation to know the reason why his name was not in the catalogue : he was told that he had been in the mischievous business of carrying about subscriptions for the reprinting of Mr. Locke on toleration. He told them he was of age, and had property, and if he could not have his degree, he would appeal to the king in council : that he had an attor- ney, and would enter it soon. Some time after, a freshman was sent to him, acquainting him that the president and corporation wished to see him. He waited on them, and they treated him with much complaisance, and told him to appear with his class and take his degree.
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BOOK II. But the laws were executed in all their severity. The exhorters were not only imprisoned for teaching and ex- 1744. horting, but the members of the church were also arrested and imprisoned, for not hearing Mr. Cogswell, and for at- tending their private meetings. This severity, however, did not intimidate these zealous people, but increased their zeal and resentment. Their sufferings awakened the pity of others, and influenced some to think more favour- ably of them, and rather increased than diminished their numbers.
A large separation took place at Plainfield, and the same disorderly spirit appeared among considerable num- bers in Mansfield, and in some of the neighboring towns.
In the mean time, the clergy bore animated testimony against the prevailing errors, and adopted such measures as they judged best calculated to prevent them. The ge- neral association resolved,
" That whereas, at all times, but more especially at this time, sundry persons unjustly disaffected to, and preju- diced against either the minister or church, or both, to Resolu- general as- sociation. which they belong, under the influence of such disaffection, tions of the withdraw from their worship and communion ; and although as yet they are under no censure, yet we think that other ministers and churches receiving such disaffected persons to privileges, serves to encourage and strengthen them, in their unjust disaffection and unreasonable separation ; which, to prevent, it may be proper that the minister, by himself, or in conjunction with some of the brethren of such church, from which there is such a separation, to write to the minister or ministers of such churches, to which the aforcsaid disaffected members repair for privileges, and in a brotherly and kind manner, represent to them the true state of such members and churches, desiring them to dis- countenance and prevent such separations. And in case a minister, or ministers, so informed or applied to, shall still receive and encourage such persons, that then the complainant lay the matter before the association to which that minister doth belong, and that the association deal with him as the nature and circumstances of the case doth require. And inasmuch as we judge that such separations, countenanced as above, are the source and origin of much difficulty, and a practice big with many mischiefs, we ear- nestly recommend the affair to the particular associations, that in this, or some other way, they provide against so great an evil, that it may be, by the divine blessing, soon and easily cured. And that ministers should be very cautious of entertaining such disaffected persons, and of hearing and
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countenancing their reports of or against their ministers Book II. and churches.
" That the entering of a minister, or of a number of min- 1744. isters, into any established parish in this government, and there gathering a church of members, that had before dis- orderly separated themselves from the church to which they belonged, and some of them actually under ecclesias- tical censure, is just matter of offence.
" That requiring persons particularly to promise to walk in communion with that church of CHRIST into which they seek admission, conscientiously attending and upholding the public worship of God in that place, until regularly dismissed therefrom, is not a hard or unreasonable term of communion.
" That it is not advisable to admit a person to commun- ion, who refuseth to submit to the above mentioned terms, but insists on liberty to go to other places, when and where he pleaseth, to attend the public worship and ordinances."
The ministers in the county of Windham took much pains with the separates, in private, to find what were their errors, and to convince them of those things where- in they conceived them to be wrong. They also met to- gether in association, towards the close of the year, and addressed a letter to the people in the several societies in the county, in which they particularly notice some of the most prevailing errors, and attempt, in a solid, plain and convincing manner, to refute them. The most prominent of these errors are thus particularized :
" That the saints certainly know one another, and know Doings of who are CHRIST's ministers, by their own inward feelings, the associ- or a communion between them in the inward actings of ation of the their own souls. county of Windham,
" That no other call is necessary to a person underta- Dec. 11th, king to preach the gospel, but his being a true christian, and 1744. having an inward motion of the spirit, or persuasion in his own mind, that it is the will of God he should preach, and perform ministerial acts. That God disowns the ministry and churches in this land, and the ordinances administered in them.
" That at such meetings of lay preaching and exhorting, they have more of the presence of GOD, than in his ordi- nances and worship under the administration of the pre- sent ministry, and in the administration of the ordinances in these churches.
" That it is the will of God to have a pure church on carth, in this sense, that all the converted should be sepa- rated from the unconverted," They also maintained, that
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Book If. natural men could not understand the scriptures, nor dis- cern nor understand divine truth; and that the standing churches in this land were antichristian.
The association say many excellent things in refutation of these errors. They acknowledge, "That there had been of late, in a few years past, a great and merciful re- vival of religion, in most of the towns and societies in that county, as well as niany other places in this land, which they desired to acknowledge, to the praise of divine grace. They declared, nevertheless, that they were satisfied, that there had been many things which accompanied the work, which had really been of a different kind : That, when it pleased Gop to send down his Holy Spirit, to con- vince and convert sinners, and the prince of darkness was no longer able to keep them in that fatal security and for- inality in which they had lain, he was then obliged to act a different part to carry on the designs of his kingdom of darkness; and oppose the conquests and triumphs of the Redeemer. And this he had done, by imitating as nearly . as he could, the work of the Holy Ghost, both by raising imaginary frights and terrors, in some instances, in men's minds, somewhat resembling the convictions of the blessed Spirit, and awakenings of conscience for sin ; and also filling their minds with flashes of joy, and false com- forts, resembling somewhat, in a general way, the consola- tions of the HOLY GHOST. In permitting which, is to be adored the awful and mysterious sovereignty of GOD, whose way is in the sea, and whose footsteps are not known. This, in its beginning was not so plainly dis- cerned and distinguished, in many instances, from the work of the Holy Spirit; especially, as there was some- times some mixture of such things with the true experien- ces of the people of GOD ; and was also partly owing to the injudicious and violent opposition of some, to this work; who, while they saw bad things attending it, and many people taken with them, boldly concluded it was all of a piece, and with tremendous rashness ascribed all to the devil : while others, on the other hand, looking on the good, and being persuaded that it was a day of GoD''s wonderful power and gracious visitation, suddenly and weakly 'concluded that there was little wrong in the ap- pearances beside human weaknesses, and unavoidable in- firmity. This gave great advantage to the subtle powers of darkness to sow tares in the field, and execute their wicked designs, which now more and more appear to have been to raise men's tempers, throw them into parties, to excite and keep up a blind and furious zeal, and embitter
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their spirits, and set them on to reproach and persecute one Book II. another; to lead off their minds from the true and proper concerns of religion ; to deceive some with false shews of zeal for the cause of GOD ; to lead many into wrong and false notions of the nature of regeneration, and lead off their minds from the word of GOD ; to puff them up with pride and vain notions of immediate impulses on their minds, and apprehensions of being taught their duty and the doc- trinal meaning of particular texts of scripture thereby ; to lead them off from the ordinances of Christ, and persuade them of the uselessness of the ordinary means of teaching, and render them deaf to all conviction, but what they think is from the spirit of God speaking in them ; and also to prejudice the minds of carnal and inexperienced persons against the doctrine of regeneration, and the necessity of a special work of the Holy Spirit to convince and renew them, and to satisfy themselves without any such work, and to think that all beyond mere outward morality and virtue, and what reformation is wrought by mere moral persua- sion, is nothing but wild rant, superstition, and folly ; and the issue of these things is deism and infidelity."
In their answer to this error, that Gon disowns the churches in this land, among other things, they say, " it is in fact false." "Gon has graciously and mercifully owned these churches, and the ministry and ordinances in them : there are at this day great numbers in several of our churches, and more or less in them all, (adored be sove- reign grace for it) who, according to the best judgment men can make by the rules of God's word, are truly godly and regenerate souls, who have received edification, and do from time to time receive edification, quickening and com- fort from the Holy Spirit, through the means of the word and ordinances administered in these churches : yea, we can several of us testify, that it has pleased GOD, within these few years past, to awaken, convince, and, as far as we can judge, to convert, divers persons in our respective congregations ; and so far as we can find by the most care- ful examination, it has been wholly by, and through the means of the instituted ministry and ordinances of CHRIST, in his church, that all these instances of grace have been manifested : we would be far from speaking it to arrogate the least praise to ourselves ; we are not worthy to be hon- ored to be the meanest of the servants of Christ ; but we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and known to the glory of the name of GOD, and the honor of his in- stitutions : and we must testify that they are false witnesses against CHRIST, who deny it."
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BOOK II. In another part of their letter, they say, " Notwithstand- ing all the malice of Satan, and the errors and sins which 1744. have defamed the work of divine grace, we do declare, that we are fully satisfied that there has been in several of our parishes, a wonderful work of divine grace, and a bless- ed outpouring of the holy spirit ; and in some of our plac- es, those of us that belong to them, have reason to think, that great numbers have been under true, genuine con- victions, and awakenings of the spirit of GOD; and ma- ny scores, to the best of our judgment, have given a clear and credible account of a gracious and saving work of the Holy Spirit on their hearts ; and though many are much decayed, and swerved from that strict and holy living and nearness to GOD, which they expressed, yet many are found who appear to be bringing forth the fruits of GOD's grace, in an holy, humble, heavenly walk and conversa- tion. That work of Gon therefore, which we do acknowl- edge, and have seen in our parishes, has been a work of conviction and awakening in many souls, wherein they have been made to see their guilty, lost, undone state by nature, brought to see themselves under the righteous curse of GOD's holy law, and the broken covenant of works, hav- ing no power to help themselves out of that condition, and crying out, what must we do to be saved ? (And this con- cern did in divers of our parishes, run swiftly through most of the families, and there was scarce a sermon preached but was blessed for some time to promote this work.) And al- so leading many, so far as we could see, by their expres- sions and actions, to see the divine truth of the gospel of -. fer of salvation by CHRIST, and upon the credit, call and warrant of God's word, to venture their souls, for holiness and eternal life, upon the satisfaction and mediation of CHRIST alone ; and with humble joy and praise to admire the infinite riches of sovereign grace in CHRIST, the eter- mal son of GOD; and that way of boliness and salvation which Gon has provided through him : and many saints have been much enlivened, quickened and comforted thro' the promises of the covenant of grace, and the sealings of the holy spirit. Both one and the other have been filled with humility, meekness, peace and charity, and a fervent love of God's word and institutions, which, as is recorded of the saints in scripture, they have prized as the greatest treasure in the world, and loved them as gold, yea, above fine gold ; and have been led out to see the beauty, and taste the sweetness of holiness in the great variety and ex- tent of the virtues and duties of christianity, in their seve- eral callings, conditions and relations ; and that there is
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room for the most zealous exercises and fervent actings of Book II. love and obedience to CHRIST, and communion with him, without thinking themselves qualified for preachers, or 1745. that their business lay in finding out the condition of oth- ers, and settling and directing the affairs of CHRIST's visi- ble kingdom. And this work we have spoken of, we would publish and proclaim with the loudest sounds of praise to the glory of rich and sovereign grace: in carrying on which, GOD has owned the labours of many of his faithful ministers ; while divine grace has triumphed, notwithstand- ing all the weakness of men, and the craft of satan."
The association having abundantly refuted the errors of the separates, by solid scripture arguments, solemnly ad- dress them, to warn, caution and advise them. They then address true christians, beseeching them to stand fast in the grace which is in CHRIST JESUS, and not to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, &c.
In the last place, they address the unregenerate, and de- clare unto them that, " there is a work of the holy spirit, a regeneration or new birth, which the scripture declares absolutely necessary to every man, or else he shall never enter into the kingdom of Gop." They testify to them, that if they took occasion, from the mistakes and errors be- fore mentioned, to ridicule religion, or think it exists in nothing but outward reformation, or the outward practice of virtue, they would be fixed in hypocrisy and presump- tion, and be forever ruined. They assured them, that if they unreasonably spent their time in disputing, or if pri- vate persons, who were not obliged by any oath or office, should keep stirring up prosecutions, and promoting and furthering the corporal punishments or religious disorders, and driving on coercive measures to reclaim those that wander out of the way of understanding, it would not only be the most effectual way to prevent their conviction, but also would be likely to be an occasion of their neglecting their own souls, comforting themselves with a false zeal for GoD and his cause, while they remained as great strangers. to GoD as they were born .*
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