USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > History of the First church in Boston, 1630-1880 > Part 12
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In the previous year Winthrop speaks of the church as in a particularly thriving condition. To show some sense of their obligation to him for this result, but more particularly on account of a mis- fortune which befell the Governor through the un-
1 The actual cost was 61,000. Sec Winthrop, 24, which Savage cites as authority for the statement that the edifice was finished in 1640, and not in 1639, as most writers have indicated.
2 The large sum realized by the sale of the old church cannot be wholly attributed to the value of the land on which it stood. The building itself must have been sufficiently substantial to be worth preserving. Partly on this account, and partly from a consideration of the wealth of the founders, it is reasonable to suppose that some solid material entered into the compo- sition of the first meeting-house, and not, as has been generally supposed, simply clay and mud. - ED.
# Where Joy's Building, which is now being reconstructed, lately stood. The first sermon in the new (second) meeting-house was preached Aug. 23, 1640. Memorial History of Boston, Vol. I. 537, note.
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1633-52.
faithfulness of his steward in England, the church made him a present this year of {200.
Captain Underhill was cast out of the church for gross misconduct on the " 5th day of ye ist moneth " (1640), so says the church record. But the same year we find that he made humble confession, and was given another trial.
At the Court of Assistants held in 1640 Hugh Bewett was banished for promulgating views about original sin not in accord with those of the au- thorities.
On a training-day in Boston in 1641, twelve hun- dred men appeared in line; but, Winthrop says, such was their sobriety, that not one was drunk or swore an oath.
" 1642 Mo. 1 ; 27."] Mr. William Aspinwall, who had been banished for joining with Wheelwright, having liberty to retract his errors, "was this day reconciled to the church of Boston." Afterwards, on making a full acknowledgment of the same be- fore the magistrates appointed to take his submis- sion, upon their certificate he was released from banishment.
In the year 1642 Captain Underhill contrived to restore himself into favor with the church sufficiently to induce them to fit him out with a pinnace, to take him and his family to some place where he could find better employment. He desired to go to the Dutch country; but "the church, understanding that the English at Stamford, near the Dutch, had
77
JOLIN COTTON.
1633-52.]
offered him employment and maintenance, advised him rather to go thither, seeing they were our coun- trymen and in a church estate. He accepted this advice; but when he came there he changed his mind, or at least his course, and went to the Dutch." 1
Several fasts were kept this year, for one cause and another. Such observances are characteristic of the times, and of too frequent occurrence to bear further insertion in this history.
" 5 28."] A surreptitious edition of Cotton's ser- mons on the " Seven Vials " makes its appearance. Mr. Humfrey had them printed in London from notes taken here, without authority from Cotton, or any revision by him, and received three hundred copies for his pains.
" 6."] Letters came from members of both houses of Parliament, and three ministers in England " who stood for the independency of churches," to Cot- ton, Hooker (of Hartford), and Davenport (of New Haven), inviting them to attend a synod called to settle the question of church government.
Cotton and Davenport were rather inclined to go; but Hooker decidedly opposed the plan.
Soon after more letters from England, with news of the breach between king and Parliament, and with advice from Mr. Welde and Mr. Peter to tarry awhile, put an end to all hesitation.
1 Savage gives an interesting sketch of this remarkable man in a note to Winthrop's Journal, Vol. II. 15.
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1633-52.
A call from Virginia to supply them with min- isters of the gospel, read at the Thursday lec- ture, met with but a feeble response, only one, Mr. Tompson of Braintree, complying with the in- vitation.1
A spirit of restlessness about this time broke out in Boston, arising partly from a general depression in trade, and great numbers of people embarked for foreign countries; some even returned to England. This declension calls forth from Winthrop a lament, followed by a beautiful expression of fortitude, and devotion to his adopted country, at one of the most critical periods in her history. " Ask again," he says, " what liberty thou hast towards others which thou likest not to allow others towards thyself; for if one may go, another may, and so the greater part ; and so church and commonwealth may be left des- titute in a wilderness, exposed to misery and re- proach, and all for thy case and pleasure, whereas these all, being now thy brethren, as near to thee as the Israelites were to Moses, it were much safer for thee, after his example, to choose rather to suffer affliction with thy brethren than to enlarge thy case and pleasure by furthering the occasion of their ruin."
" 1643 1. 5.] The churches held a different course in raising the minister's maintenance. Some did it by way of taxation, which was very offensive to some."
1 Two other ministers afterwards joined him.
79
JOHN COTTON.
1633-52.]
" One Briscoe," for writing a book against taxa- tion, "was fined ten pounds, and one of the pub- lishers 40 shillings." 1
In the year 1643 La Tour, the French governor (as he claimed), from St. John's, arrived at Boston, to exhibit his commission as lieutenant-general of Acadia. He attended our church meetings, though a papist, or " idolater." This called forth discussion from the elders, whether such a thing as communion with idolaters were lawful. The arguments on both sides show a strange mixture of religion and expe- diency. Mr. Cotton and some of the elders had a conference with one of the " friars" of the company, and the former found him a "very learned, acute man."
"5. 22."] Severity seemed to " have a good effect on Hett his wife," for, "being cast out of the church of Boston, the Lord was pleased so to honour his own ordinance, that whereas before no means could pre- vail with her, either to reclaim her from her wicked and blasphemous courses and speeches, or to bring her to frequent the means, within a few weeks after her casting out, she came to see her sin and lay it to heart, and to frequent the means, and so was brought to such manifestation of repentance and a sound mind, as the church received her in again."
' The right to levy taxes for the support of the ministry which prevailed in country parishes until quite a recent date was never exercised in the town of Boston. " The ministers of the several churches in the town of Boston have ever been supported by a free weekly contribution." It was even doubted by " Que minister " whether it were lawful to receive support in any other way.
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON.
[1633-52.
Mo. 7. 4.] " There was an assembly at Cambridge of all the elders in the country (about fifty) ; such of the ruling elders as would were present also, but none else. They sat in the college, and had their diet there after the manner of scholars' commons, but somewhat better, yet so ordered as it came not to above sixpence the meal for a person. Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker were chosen moderators. The principal occasion was because some of the elders went about to set up some things according to the presbytery, as of Newbury. The assembly concluded against some parts of the presbyterial way, and the Newbury ministers took time to consider the arguments."
The proceeding against Gorton and his com- panions of Providence is but another instance of the stern spirit of the magistrates. Their notions were those of uneducated, illiterate men, but at the same time of a sort to cause contentions and draw followers. To pass them by in silence would be a departure from the practice in all similar cases, and might endanger " the peace of the churches."
As for the sentence, "all the magistrates, save three, were of opinion that Gorton ought to die; but the greatest number of the deputies dissenting, that vote did not pass. In the end all agreed upon this sentence, for seven of them, viz. that they should be dispersed into seven several towns, and there kept to . work for their living, and wear irons upon one leg, and not to depart the limits of the town, nor by word or writing maintain any of their blasphemous or wicked errours upon pain of death, only with excep- tion of speech with any of the elders, or any other
1633-52 ]
JOHN COTTON. 81
licensed by any magistrate to confer with them; this censure to continue during the pleasure of the court." Cotton and all the elders combated this spirit of Gor- tonism; and, the advice of the latter being called for, their answer was that, if the charge was maintained, they deserved death by the law of God.
On May 14, 1645, the General Court assembled in the meeting-house, when Winthrop delivered a vin- dication of his conduct from a charge of arbitrari- ness, and in what he calls his " little speech " on that occasion, gave that admirable definition of liberty so highly praised, especially by Tocqueville.
It was the custom in those days here, just as it was until quite recently in parts of England, to hold political and public gatherings in the meeting- house,2 as the most available and convenient place for assembling.
This speech was the last great effort of the noble Winthrop. The church was destined soon to lose its great supporter and founder. Before he died, true to his devout nature, Winthrop sent for the elders to pray with him. At the same time the church fasted and prayed, and Cotton preached a sermon appropriate to the occasion. He died on · March 26, 1649, at the age of sixty-one years, two
1 Dr. Charles Deane gives a concise and impartial statement of the pro- ceeding against Gorton in the New Eng. Hist. and Geneal. Reg. (1850), 201.
2 The General Court was held in First Church meeting-house as late as 1658. Sometimes they held elections in the open air, notably on one occasion, - in May, 1636, - when Wilson, the minister, became so displeased at the way in which the business was conducted that he climbed a tree, and spoke with such effect as to turn the scales. Hutchinson, Vol. 1. 61, note.
6
S2
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON.
[1633-52.
months, and fourteen days, and on the 3d of April "his body was buried with great solemnity and honor."
In the year 1646, some of Hingham, becoming a little wearied by the restraint imposed upon them, whereby many who were members of the Church of England were debarred from free worship, contrary to the rights of free-born subjects of England, drew up a petition setting forth their grievances, and asking that the distinction, or rather the combination, be- tween civil and church estate might be removed. This was punished, as a rebellion against the order of churches, with fine and imprisonment. They ap- pealed to Parliament; and two of them, Dr. Child and Mr. Fowle, a merchant, sailed for England to prosecute the business. The result was awaited with considerable anxiety on this side of the water; but the minds of the rulers were soon set at rest, for Parliament had other and weightier matters on hand which called for more immediate action.
At this time marriages were ratified by the magis- trates, a preliminary step being the " Contraction a little before the Consummation," at which a pastor was usually employed, and a sermon preached.1
! After Samuel Danforth's " Contraction, according to the Old Vsage of Newv-England, unto the Virtuous Daughter of [the Reverend] Mr. Wilson [of Boston] (whereat Mr. Cotton preached the Sermon), he was married " 5 November, 1651. Mather's Magnalia, Vol. IV. 155. Dexter's Congrega- tionalism, etc., 458, note.
A careful search through the old record book of First Church reveals no entries of marriages. Charles Morton (1686-98) was the first and only minister of the First Church in Charlestown to record marriages in that book.
1
83
JOHN COTTON.
1633-52.]
"1647 :4:(6).] There was a great marriage to be solemnized at Boston. The bridegroom being of Hingham, Mr. Hubbard's church, he was procured to preach, and came to Boston to that end. But the magistrates, hearing of it, sent to him to forbear. The reasons were, I, for that his spirit had been discovered to be averse to our ecclesiastical and civil government, and he was a bold man, and would speak his mind, 2, we were not willing to bring in the English custom of ministers performing the solemnity of marriage, which sermons at such times might induce, but if any ministers were present, and would bestow a word of exhortation, etc., it was permitted."
The synod at Cambridge, called in 1646, came to an end in 1648. The following vote shows a ten- dency in these early times to discourage legal pro- ceedings : -
" The 22th Day of ye 12th Moneth, 1649. Att a Church Meeting agreed upon by y Church to be on this Day for y" needfull occasions thereof, It was agreed upon by y" Church y" mett together y' none of ye members eyther of o' owne church or Recomended or Dismissed to yª church from any other Should goe to law one wth another w"hout the consent of o' brethren y" Maio' Gibbon, M' Dun-
Before his time ministers were not authorized to solemnize them. When Dr. Frothingham opened a new record book on Jan. 1, 1841, he took occasion to say in the preface, that, of three books handed to him in 1815, but one contained a record of marriages, and that began in the year 1800. He says : " I have never been able to discover any preceding list of the same kind, or even to ascertain whether any were preserved in the archives of the church, though such a document has been often inquired for."
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1633-52.
kan, M' Stoddar, James Penne & Thomas Marshall, but they shall answer for it unto the Church as an offence against it." 1
" The 28. Day of ye I. mº 1650. Our Brother Fames Penn was chosen by y" Church wh a vnanimus Consent to be a Messenger to goe and Distribut the Churches Contributions (to y poore Church of Christ y' was ban- ished from Bermudos for the Gospells sake to Segoton). And he was sent out to sea on y" 13 of y 3ª me And on ye 17th day of the 4th mº 1650, we arived at Segotea, where I found the people in wants, who when I had Given the Churches letters and Declared the end of my coming they thanked god and ye churches, and after on months stay with them we retorned backe and arived at Bos- ton the 17" of the 6th m? 1650, and soe declared to ye church ye good hand of God ypon vs in o' voyage, wch was matter of praise to God." 2
In the year 1650 the Second Church in Boston was gathered. Nearly twenty years had elapsed since the First Church was formed; and now the growing population felt the need of another place of worship. " The foundation of the Second Church edifice in Boston was laid, in 1649, at the head of North Square. The first sermon in it of which we have information was at the gathering of the church on the fifth day of June, 1650." Sev- eral distinguished preachers of the day - such men as Samuel Mather, John Norton, and John Daven- port - were invited to take charge of the new church; but none could be persuaded until four years had elapsed, when John Mayo, of Nosset, in
1 Church Records, 20.
2 Ibid. 26.
1633-52.]
JOIIN COTTON. 85
Plymouth County, Mass., accepted a call, and was duly ordained on Nov. 9, 1655, to be followed, in the year 1664, by a more distinguished preacher (Rev. Increase Mather), whose fruitful ministry covered a period of sixty-two years. It is told, to the credit of Cotton, that he did all he could to further the undertaking, "notwithstanding it might draw away parishioners from himself." Like John the Baptist, "he reckoned his joy fulfilled in this, that in his own decrease the interests of his Master would in- crease." 1 In 1651, the year before Cotton died, First Church contributed a fourth part of the whole con- tribution ({800) taken up in the colony for a strug- gling church at Bermuda, a large part of the two hundred pounds coming from Cotton and one other. Emerson gives the following data : 2 -
" In 1650 there were about forty churches in New Eng- land, and seven thousand seven hundred and fifty communi- cants. One thousand and thirty-four children had been baptized since Mr. Cotton's ordination. Of these 538 were males, and 456 females. There had also been admitted, during this period, - that is, from the beginning of 1634 to the end of 1652, - 306 men and 343 women; in all 649. Seventeen persons had been admonished publickly, and five excommunicated for irreclaimable errours."
1 Robbins's History of Second Church, 6 et seq.
2 Emerson's History of First Church, 81, S2.
CHAPTER III.
1653-1670.
JOHN WILSON, JOHN NORTON, JOHN DAVENPORT, JAMES ALLEN.
Prominent Position of the Early Ministers. - Death of Dudley. - John Norton. - Right of Baptism. - Life of Wilson. - John Dav- enport. - Controversy over his Settlement in First Church. - Formation of Third Church from Disaffected Members of the First. - James Allen.
"THE death of Cotton left Wilson in sole charge of the church for a period of nearly four years, until the installation of John Norton. The latter performed the duties of minister during a portion of this time, although not regularly installed as teacher until July 23, 1656. The paucity of impor- tant events, compared with the interest attaching to individuals, especially noticeable during this carly period, makes it somewhat difficult to observe the bounds separating history from biography. The lives of the first four ministers, extending to the close of the present chapter, contribute largely to the narrative of church occurrences. We have seen how Cotton absorbed all the interest in church mat- ters while he lived; and the same is true, perhaps in
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JOHN WILSON.
1653-70.]
a less degree, of the other three. The minister still dictated to his flock. As churches became more numerous this power was gradually weakened, till at last in 1684 the final blow was struck by the va- cating of the colony charter and the adoption of the new, or provincial charter, making the franchise depend, not upon church membership or certificate from the minister, but upon a simple property qual- ification.1 This change essentially diminished the temporal power of the ministers.
Governor Dudley died July 31, 1653. He was born at Northampton (Eng.) in 1574.2 He was a man of undoubted ability and character, but ex- tremely sensitive to opposition and tenacious in opinion. This disposition on his part no doubt served to keep alive a variance between him and Governor Winthrop. The Governor, so he said, had given him to understand in 1632 that Newtown was to be the seat of government ; and under this impression he had planted himself at that place.3 In this he was disappointed ; Boston became the capital ; and the result was to him a pecuniary loss, besides the disappointment involved. 'The minis- ters, as referees, decided that the Governor should
I Bradford's History of Massachusetts, 93. The order of the General Court allowing a certificate from the minister to be substituted for that of church membership was enacted Aug. 3, 1664. Mass. Coll. Records, Vol. IV. Part II. 118.
2 The true year of his birth is said to be 1576. Mass. Hist. Soc. Procced. (1863-70), 207.
3 Winthrop went so far as to prepare a frame for his house, but after- wards removed to Boston, and on this account Dudley took offence.
£
SS
FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1653-70.
either procure them a minister at Cambridge and help support him, or should pay Dudley £20 to- wards building another house. The latter course was chosen; but Dudley declined the gratuity, and the whole affair was happily ended.1
" In the year 1655, according to the historians of that day, Mrs. Anne Hibbins [wife of a leading man in Boston] was tried and condemned for a witch, and executed in the following year. There is, however, no notice of this fact in First . Church records." 2
" On. 29 Nov., 1655, a church meeting was holden at the house of the pastor, in which it was voted to give Mr. Norton {200 towards the purchase of a house, on the supposition that he becomes the teacher of the church."
Cotton is said to have proposed him for a suc- cessor on his death-bed.
Norton was much esteemed by the people of Ips-
1 Their children afterwards intermarried, and this event helped to heal the breach
2 Emerson's History of First Church, SS. Upham gives the order of court condemning her to be executed under the date of May 14, 1656. His- tory of Witchcraft, 421. Mr. Norton did what he could to save her in spite of the popular clamor, as appears from the following story told by a clergyman in Jamaica in a letter written to Increase Mather in 1684 : " You may remember what I have sometimes told you your famous Mr. Norton once said at his own table, - before Mr. Wilson, the pastor, Elder Penn, and myself and wife, &c., who had the honor to be his guests, - that one of your magistrates' wives, as I remember, was hanged for a witch only for having more wit than her neighbors. It was his very expression; she having, as he explained it, unhappily guessed that two of her persecu- tors, whom she saw talking in the street, were talking of her; which, proving true, cost her her life, notwithstanding all he could do to the contrary, as he himself told us." - Ibid. 423.
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1653-70.] JOHN NORTON.
wich, who did all they could to keep him; but finally, " after the lapse of nearly four years, the sitting of several ecclesiastical councils and the decision of the Governour and magistrates in favour of his re- moval, he and his wife were admitted members of First Church 6 July, 1656."
LIFE OF NORTON.
John Norton, son of William and Alice (Browest) Norton, was born at Stortford in Hertfordshire, May 6, 1606. His parents, who were respectable per- sons, sent him to a school kept by a Mr. Strange, of Bunningford. He early showed a great deal of intellectual vigor, and entered Peterhouse, Cam- bridge, at fourteen. After taking his first degree in 1623, his father having lost property, he was obliged to leave college, and accept positions as curate and usher at Stortford. While at Cambridge he at- tracted attention for ability and scholarship. A Catholic priest, seeing that he was a promising youth, tried to make him change his creed, but without success. In early life Norton showed none of that austerity of spirit so manifest in maturer years. He was naturally rather inclined to gayety, though not to excess ; but gradually, and chiefly under the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Dyke, rector of Epping, a deep sense of sin entered in and took possession of his soul. He showed fine abilities as a preacher, and had an offer from his uncle of a
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FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON.
[1653-70.
valuable benefice ; but the requirements which the position involved proved a bar to its acceptance. On the same account he was obliged to decline an offer of a fellowship at Catharine Hall, Cambridge, from the master, Dr. Sibbes. Unlike a large part of the English clergy at that time, Norton was decidedly opposed to Arminianism. Cut off from any higher range of duty, he finally contented himself with the post of chaplain to Sir William Marsham. Here he resided for some time, not without hope that larger tasks might be in store for him.
But finally, seeing no prospect of a change for the better, he resolved to migrate to the New World. In 1627 he received the degree of M. A. Before embarking in September, 1634, Norton married a lady " both of good estate and good esteem." He then went to Yarmouth and joined Thomas Shep- ard, revered as the minister of Cambridge Church, and largely instrumental in the foundation of Har- vard College. After a long delay they set sail in the Great Hope, four hundred tons burden, but. in a few hours were driven back by a violent storm, which disabled the vessel, and put off their depart- ure until the following year. During the interval Norton resided in Essex with Mr. Dyke and other friends. Meantime Governor Winslow, agent for Plymouth Colony, had invited him to assist Ralph Smith as teaching elder over Plymouth Church. Norton and Winslow came over together. When
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JOHN NORTON.
1653-70.]
the former left England, an old minister said that he believed that there was not more grace and holi- ness left in all Essex than what Mr. Norton had car- ried with him. On reaching the New England coast in October, 1635, they were met by another storm, which was wellnigh fatal; but finally, after ten or twelve days, the ship was safely anchored in Plymouth harbor.
Norton stayed but a short time in the Pilgrim colony, although they offered him every inducement to settle among them, - Mr. Smith, their pastor, even resigning in his favor, - and early in 1636 re- moved to Boston. His argumentative powers were here put to a good and satisfactory test in a public debate with a French priest. He finally accepted a call to settle as teacher of Ipswich Church, Feb. 20, 1638, with the Rev. Nathaniel Rogers as pastor. Before his acceptance of this office he had preached in the same place as assistant to Mr. Ward. In 1637, before his settlement at Ipswich, he attended the synod called to deal with Mrs. Hutchinson, and performed valuable services. When he went to live in Ipswich several families, who came over with him from England especially to enjoy his ministry, at his request, obtained grants of land from the town authorities. On Nov. 5, 1639, the General Court allowed Norton two hundred acres of land. Dec. 22, 1645, is the date of his reply to questions on ecclesiastical government propounded by the Rev. William Apollonius of Middleberg, in Holland, un-
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