USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 16
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 16
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1 In one of Cranfield's letters he says, " I found Mr. Moodey and his party 80 troublesome that I believed myselfe unsafe to continue longer amongst them till I had the continuance of a ffrigott and full instructions to re- duce them to better understanding." Capt. Barefoot also shows the general feeling of the church party towards the l'uritan element and the acts of the Massachusetts by writing, " I have beene an inhabitant about five and twenty years, during web time I have not only made my observation upon ye humors and carriage of this people, but by the means of some of my neare relations being married into ye wealthiest familyes in this country, Ihave been thoroughly informed of the intregles and designs of the faction and malignant party who managed all pub- licke affaires here whilest this province was under the Massachusetts jurisdiction, & very unwillingly submitted to u change of government wch his Mujey by his Royal Commission hath established, & although Massachusetts exercise noe authority in this province, yet they influ- once things as they please, there being a strict confederation between ye ministers and church members of this province and those of yo Massa- chusetts Collony, who Governe and sway ye people us they please, noe pope ever acted wth greater Arrogance than these preachers who enflame the people to their fantastick humors and debauch them from theire duty & obedience to his Majesty & his Lawes, & are ever stirring them up to disloyalty & intermeddling in all civill affaires."
Aud again Cranfield writes, " When the charter shall be made vold it will be necessary to desolve their University of Cambridge, for from them all the severall colonys in New England are supplyed the people. Looking upon their Teachers little less than Apostles, it is incredible what an Influence they have over the vulgar, & do make it their business dayly to excite and stir them up to Rebellion, being profest Enimies to the King's govmit & Church it is to be feared this people will never bee reclaimed until the University of England supply these Culonys, the not nipping them in the budd may prove of great inconveniencee. By taking away their University (which will also be forfeited with their
58
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The occasion for an open rupture between the head of the State and the head of the church came in 1684. In that year one of the leading characters of Great Island, George Jaffrey, a constable, and a prominent merchant, was brought before the court for some evasion or infringement of the revenue laws, but for some reason legal proceedings against him were stayed, and he seemed about to escape. Mr. Jaffrey was, however, a member of the church worshiping at the old Sonth, and it came to the ears of MEr. Moodey that there had been some false swearing in the matter, and when the State let Mr. Jaffrey go the church took him up. Mr. Moodey brought Mr. ' church and receive the sacrament according to the Jaffrey before the church for discipline, against the command of the Governor, and in the end obtained from him an open confession of his wrong, a confes- sion so sincere that, instead of provoking him, it led Mr. Jaffrey to be afterwards an active, useful, and leading man in the church. Thereupon a short time after Governor Cranfield issued an order that after the 1st of January ensuing all the ministers within the province should admit all persons of suitable years and not vicions or scandalous in their lives to the blessed sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and their children unto baptism ; and if any persons desired the sacrament, or their children to be baptized ac- cording to the liturgy of the Church of England, it be done accordingly under penalty of imprisonment of the clergyman refusing and the loss of all the
charter) the Effect will come, for all other waies will be ineffectuall, the fountaine beiog impure."
And still once more Cranfield writes, "The experience I have had in this small governmt plainly discovers no true obedience nor good can be expected upon ye regulation of the Massachusets Colony if the Assem- blymen or other persons in publick trust doe consist of the Congregated Church members, the ministers giving it as doctrine that the Oath of Supremacy, & all other oaths that are not approved of by the Ministers & Elders of their Churches are unlawful in themselves, therefore 'tis my humble opinion that it will be absolutely necessary to admit no persoo ioto any place of Trust but such as take ye Sacrament & one conformable to the Rites of the Church of England, for others will be so influenced by their ministers as will obstruct the good settlement of this place, & I utterly dispair of any true duty aud obedience paid to his Majty untill their Colledge be supprest and their Ministers silenced, for they are not only Enimies to his Majts & government, but Christ himself, for of all the inhabitants of this Province, being abont four thousand in number, not above three hundred Christened by reason of their Parents not being members of their Church. I have been this I6 months persuading the ministers to adovitt all to the Sacrament & Baptism that were not vitious in their lives, Unt could not prevail upon them, therefore with advice of the Conncell made this inclosed order. Notwithstanding they were left in the entire possession of their churches and only required to adminis- ter both Sacraments, according to the Liturgie of ye Church of England, to such as desired them, which they refuse to doe, and will understand Liberty of Conscience given io his Majte Commission oot only to exempt them from giving the Sacrament according to the Book of Comon Prayer, but make all the Inhabitants contribute to their Maintenance, although they refuse to give them the Sacrament & Christen their Children, if it be not absolutely enjoyned here, & io other Colonies, that both Sacra- ments be administered to all persons that are duly qualified, according to the form of the Comon Prayer, there will be perpetual dissentions and a total decay of the Christian Religion."
What an admirable illustration of the confusion most rulers would create when they meddle with theological subjects of which they are ig- norant, and the blindness of that bigutry which is seeking to establish for itself the very thing it is condemoing in others !
profit of his spiritual benefices. This was in accord- ance with a statute of Queen Elizabeth, but it was also in conflict with a later statute granting liberty of conscience unto all Protestants,-a provision as we have seen plainly made in Cranfield's commission, and also in conflict with a provision of the church in not permitting one who was not in holy orders to administer its sacraments, and Mr. Moodey had not been ordained to the Church of England ritual. In spite of all this the arbitrary and enraged Governor sent word to Mr. Moodey soon after that on a follow- ing-named Sunday he should attend worship at his service of the Established Church. The order reads very much like the reported command of one of our colonels in the late war, ordering out a battalion of men to be baptized, so as not to be surpassed by a revival in another regiment. The Governor sent also to Rev. Seaborn Cotton, of Hampton, saying that when he had prepared his soul he would come and demand the sacrament of him, as he had done at Portsmouth. Whether the Governor ever prepared his soul is not a matter of history, but without wait- ing for that the minister of Hampton at once fled to Boston. It was not so with the more courageous minister of Portsmouth. Mr. Moodey refused to obey the Governor, saying, "I told the marshall I durst not, could not, should not do it," whereupon complaint was made against him of violating the statute of Queen Elizabeth; "that the said Joshua Moodey, being the present minister of the Town of Portsmouth, in the province of New Hampshire, . . . by the duty of his place is by laws and statutes of the said realm of England required and commanded to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in such manner and form as is set forth in the Book of Common Prayer and administration of sacraments and other rites and ceremonies in the Church of England, and shall use no other manner or form than is mentioned and set forth in the said Book. Whereas the said Joshna Moodey in contempt of the said Laws and Statutes hath wilfully and obstinately refused to administer the sacrament of the Lord's supper, ac- cording to the manner and form set forth in the said Book of Common Prayer unto the HIon. Edward Cranfield, Gov. of his Maj. in the Province of N. HI., and others of his Majs. Council of the said Province, and doth wilfully and obstinately use some other form than is by the said statutes ordained, Therefore, &c., doth pray that the said Joshua Moodey being thereof convicted according to the Law, may suffer such pen- alties as by the said statutes are made and provided." In another information against Mr. Moodey praying for judgment against him that he might suffer the penalties of the statute we find this expression : " The said Moodey having for many years had the appear- ance & reputation of a minister of God's word." It seems that the justices were divided in their opinion, two holding that he was not liable to the penalty on
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PORTSMOUTHI.
account of the liberty of conscience granted to all Protestants here, and four hokling that he was. Mr. Moodey himself, at the Quarter Sessions the 5th of February, 1684, upon examination pleaded " his not being ordained, having no maintenance according to the statute, and therefore not obliged to do that work which the statute required. Besides, these statutes were not made for these places ; the known end of : their removal hither being that they might enjoy liberty in these foreign plantations which they could not have by virtue of the statutes at home, and were allowed to have here, especially our commission granting liberty of conscience." But it was all to no purpose, for the Governor had determined upon his imprisonment, and to the prison at Great Island Mr. Moodey went.
There is preserved a letter of one William Vaughan, who was imprisoned about the time, containing a jour- nal with comments of current events. He writes, " Above all, our minister lies in prison, and a famine of the Word of God is coming upon us. No public worship, no preaching of the word. What ignorance, profaneness, and misery must needs come." Under date of Feb. 10, 1684:
-
" The Sabbath is come, but uu preaching at the Bank nor any allowed to come to us. . . . Motions have been made that Mr. Mooney may go up and preach on the Lord's day, though he come dowo to prison at night, or that neighbor ministers might be permitted to come and preach, or that the people might come down to the prison and hear, as many as could. But nothing will do; an unparalleled example amongst Chris- lians, to have a minister put out and no other way found to supply his place by one means or other. Good Mrs. Martin was buried, being not able to live above one Sabbath after the shutting up of the doors of the Sanctuary."
Ilow many would die for that reason now? Mr. Martyn, one of the first seven members of the church, was also imprisoned, and this journal is authority for the remark that the Governor said to him, "I want money and will have it." "But," said Martyn, "I have none." Then said the Governor, "I will take you home," adding also that Martyn was a church- member, and he would watch him and all such and be sure to pay them off if he could catch them. In April, after they had been " nine Lord's days without a sermon," Mason, in absence of Cranfield, gave leave for any minister to come and preach at the Bank, whereupon Rev. Samuel Phillips, of Rowley, came for two Sundays, the 13th and 20th of April.
We find this item under date of September 12th : " Mr. Joshua Moodey, being to take a journey out of the Province, was forced to give a recognizance of £200 to return in three weeks, if alive and well."
Mr. Moodey underwent imprisonment with a cour- ageous spirit, and writes during his confinement :
" 1 tull the court that I should go to prison with much more peace than they sent me thither, aod particularly applied myself to Roby, a church-ovember, and told him that I had done nothing but what he was by soleon covenant engaged to maintain, and wished him to provide against the day when these things should be overhauled. ... But blessed be God for Jesus Christ, Iam quiet and at peace. Thus I have many things that are matter of repentance und shame to me, yet in this matter I am abundantly satistled in my lot, and hope shall be a gainer,
atul that the cause of Christ will gain by my sufferinga. Ouly methinks 1 find it u hard matter to suffer in a right mmuner. Sonarthing of stont- ness of spirit, some other sinister ends are apt to creep in and spoil suf- fering work. The Lord grant that I may have grace ro to curry it ax not to lose aught that I have done and do now suffer ! I beg your hearty prayers for me, that with integrity and sincerity I may cheerfully and patiently hear my cross till the Lord shall give me a discharge."
There is another letter dated "From the prison, 27th 1st Mo., 1684," i.e., March 27, 1684, in which he writes to Rev. Mr. Phillips, of Rowley, urging him to. come to Portsmouth and preach :
"Oh, consider that my poor flock have fasted about forty days, and must now be an hungered ! Have pity upoo them, have pity upon them, and thou, my friend ! And when you have taken your turn we shall hope for some other. You will thereby not only visit me in prison, but feed a great multitude of the hungry and thirsty little ones of Christ, which will be accounted for at that day. Pray come carly enough in the week to give notice to the people. (1 do also in behalf of my dear and tender wife, thank you for yours to her.) Now pray for me, that I may have an humble heart, and that my whole soul, body, and spirit may be sanctified and kept blameless to that day."
Mr. Moodey was once allowed to leave the prison and make a short visit to his family. He was released after thirteen weeks' imprisonment under a strict charge to preach no more within the province on penalty of further imprisonment, whereupon he re- moved to Boston, and was at once called to be assist- ant minister with Rev. John Allen at the First Church, and at once occupied a prominent place, and was held in the highest regard during the eight years of his ministry. Mr. Moodey seems to have followed the course of the justices who condemned him with a keen vision, and he interpreted the disasters which befell them as a divine retribution for his imprison- ment, and in the church records he writes of them as follows: "Not long after Green repented, and made his acknowledgment to the pastor, who frankly forgave him. Roby was excommunicated out of Hampton Church for a common drunkard, and died excommunicated, and was by his friends thrown into a hole near his house for fear of an arrest of his car- cass. Barefoot fell into a languishing distemper, whereof he died. Coffin was taken by the Indians at Coebecho, 1689, his house and mill burnt, himself not being slain but dismissed. The Lord give him repentance, though no signs of it have yet appeared."
While Mr. Moodey was at Boston he became a fellow of Harvard College, and upon the death of Rev. John Rogers, the president, the distinguished honor of that office was offered to him, but de- clined.
It had doubtless been greatly owing to Mr. Moodey's interest in educational matters that in May, 1669, the inhabitants of Portsmouth sent to the General Court of the Massachusetts the following address, to which Mr. Moodey's name is appended :
" To the much Hond the General Court of the Massachusetts assembled at Boston, 20 May, 1669:
"The humble address of the inhabitants of the town of Portsmouth humbly sheweth that seeing by your means (under God) we enjoy much peace and quietness, and very worthy deeds are done to us by the favor- alde aspect of the Government of this Colony upon us, we accept it always and io all places with all thankfulnews. And the' we have
60
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
articled with yourselves for exemption from publique charges, yet we never articled with God and our own consciences for exemption from gratitude which to demonstrate while we were studying, the loud groans of the sinking College in its present low estate came to our ears. The relieving of which we account a good work for the house of our God, and needful for the perpetuating of knowledge, both religious and civil, among us and our posterity after ns, und therefore grateful to yourselves, whose care and study is to seek the welfare of our Israel. The premises considered we have made a collection in our town of £60 per annum (and hope to make it more), which said sum is to be paid annually for these seven years ensuing, to be improved at the discretion of the Hond overseers of the College for the beloof of the same and the advancement of good literature there, hoping withal that the example of ourselves (which have been accounted no people) will provoke the rest of the country to jealousty (we mean an holy emulation to appear in so good a work), and that this hond Conrt will in their wisdom all meet vigorously to act for divesting the sad omen to poor New England ; if a College begun end comfortably upheld while we were little should since now we are grown great, especially after so large and profitable an harvest, that this country & other placee have reaped from the same. Your accept- ance of our good meaning herein will further oblige us to endeavor the approving ourselves to be your thankful and humble servante.
"JOHN CUTT. " RICHARD CUTT. " JOSHUA MOODEY.
"in the name and behalf of the rest of the subscribers in the towne of Portsmouth."
This address from the inhabitants of the town of Portsmouth was presented by Mr. Richard Cutt and Joshua Moodey, May 20, 1669, and gratefully ac- cepted ; and the Governor, in the name of the whole met together, returned them the thanks of this court for their pious and liberal gift to the college therein.
The town of Portsmouth had then become the richest town, and the occasion of the subscription was a general collection for the purpose of erecting a new brick buikling at Harvard College. Dover gave thirty-two and Exeter ten pounds for the same pur- pose. This interest in Harvard College and the rec- ollection that besides the election of Mr. Moodey to its presidency, Dr. Langdon, of the North Parish, was also called to the same office at a later period, Dr. Peabody, of the South Parish, fulfilling the same " duties temporarily at a still later period, and that Dr. Stiles, of the North Parish, was called to the same office at Yale College, show how greatly the strength and substantial character of our parishes were due to their appreciation of and demand for an able, culti- vated, and learned minister, and how greatly the congregations have departed from so general and deep an interest in true scholarship.
having the liberty of the town by day, on condition of returning to the jail at night), and preached from the text, " When they persecute you in this city flee ye into another," in which he justified every attempt to escape from the forms of justice when justice was violated in them. After service he visited the pris- oners and advised them to flee, and offered himself to assist Mrs. English to escape. After much reasoning he induced them to go, and had provided, with the consent of the Governor, for their escape from the prison at midnight. They reached New York and remained until the danger was over, and yet so uni- versally was witchcraft believed in, even by many of the best, that Mr. Moodey was severely denounced for opposing it.
Death of Mr. Moodey .- The long ministry of Mr. Moodey over the parish at Portsmouth created an attachment which is revealed by the words of tender- est sympathy while he was ministering to the First Church at Boston. He writes that during his resi- dence there "the church were often visited by the pastor, and kept up theyr private meetings, and so held together, tho' some removed and others were taken away by death."
In a letter to Increase Mather, then in England, he writes, "If you can, in all your opportunities of wait- ing on his Majty find a season to thrust in a happy word for poor N. Hampshire, who are under lamen- table circumstances Mason is dead, but his sons survive, and possibly may be worse than hce. You know how the poor people have been unreasonably harassed, and to raise one family on the ruins of half a dozen considerable Townes looks hard. "Tis my affection to my people that has drawn this hint fro. mee. I leave it to your consideration and pray for God's presence to be with you." And again he writes, " If something could be done for the poor province of N. Hampshire & Mein, it would be a good work."
The year after Mr. Cranfield drove Mr. Moodey to Boston he was himself removed from his office here, and though the opportunity was offered, and Mr. Moodey constantly expressed the deepest interest in the parish here, it was not until 1693 that he returned. The explanation is very easy and satisfactory, if only we keep in mind the Episcopal element, which has brought to the surface, and probably was more impor- tant and influential than it had been since the minis- try of Gibson. The want of harmony in the parish was doubtless such as to make him question the use- fulness of his ministry, although never without the cordial, earnest support of a large portion of the par- ish. In July, 1688, Mr. Moodey wrote to Mather upon the subject, "I need exceedingly your advice about going to Portsmouth, which is vehemently urged by my church and people, and the next week we are to take counsell about it. The church is dear to mee, and I could bee glad to be with them, but the circumstances of my removing hence and being there
Mr. Moodey and Witchcraft .- But the one thing | been so steadily ignored, and which must have been for which Mr. Moodey deserves the highest credit, and which shows a mind enlightened and liberal beyond the current opinions of his day, is the part he took in the witchcraft delusion, a delusion which, as we shall see at another time, hardly found any spread or reception in our settlement. While he was settled over the First Church in Boston, Salem was very much excited upon the subject, and Philip English, an eminent merchant of Salem, with his wife, were sent to the Boston jail by reason that the one at Salem was crowded with the victims of this terrible persecution. Mr. Moodey took an early occasion to call upon them and invite them to his church (they
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PORTSMOUTH.
are tremendous to mee. Pray for mee daily." At length he removed his pastorate here, and continued it for four years, when a dangerous illness seizing him from his wearying labors he went to Boston for medi- eal advice, and died there on Sunday, July 4, 1697. Ilis funeral sermon was preached by Cotton Mather, from the text, " Looking steadfastly on him they saw his face as it had been the face of an angel," in which for all the virtues and gifts of a clergyman he is placed among the foremost of his day. "The church of Portsmouth," he says (a part of the country that very much owed its life unto him), "erys out of a deadly wound in his death."
That Mr. Moodey had an impressive manner, which left an influence upon his bearers, I should judge from a trifling incident, that during the time of rebellion under Cranfield, one Waldron, talking by the road with another of the subject, said he had been thinking of a sermon he heard that Mr. Moodey preached at Dover, and his text was " in the time of adversity consider." That he hesitated not to bring all the influences of religion upon the politics of his day may be judged from the deposition during the Corbet conspiracy of one who testified Corbet had said Mr. Mondey's prayers were but babblings, but withal he must be regarded as a man of distinguished abilities, ceaseless industry, fervent piety, and during a long ministry in a difficult field resolute in his sense of right, full of kindness and sympathy, foremost in every good work, devoted to his parish, and faithful unto the end.1
CHAPTER X.
PORTSMOUTH .- (Continued.)
Separation of the Town of New Castle-The Parish-Lithobolia-Prom- inence of New Castle-Prominent Inhabitants-The Sheafs Family- The Juffrey House.
Separation of the Town of New Castle .- Until the year 1693 there was but one place of worship, the old South Meeting-house, for the inhabitants within the limits of Portsmouth, New Castle, Rye, Greenland, and a part of Newington.
From the settlement at Odiorne's Point in 1623 the way was easy across the beautiful waters of the Little Harbor to the Great Island (as New Castle is even still frequently called), with its small and pleas- ant beaches, its higher rocks, and its securer defenses by nature from the attacks of the Indians. One finds at the present time graves in all parts of the island, and although, by reason of the inconveniences of the ferries and in the growth of the colony, Portsmouth became more prominent and engrossed nearly all the history of the settlement, we must not forget that for a number of years Great Island was of more impor- tance and the most populous and aristocratic part of
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