Part 15

The subject of this discourse is "Rhode Island's Idea of Government." Judge Durfee speaks of the "origin of this idea--of the various forms which it took in its progress towards its realization in that state, in minds of much diversity of character and creed; and of that 'lively experiment,' which it subsequently held forth, that 'a most flourishing civil state may stand, and be best maintained, with a full liberty in religious concernments'--a liberty which implied an emancipation of reason from the thraldom of arbitrary authority, and the full freedom of inquiry in all matters of speculative faith."

Though to the founders of Rhode Island, and particularly to Roger Williams, belong the fame and glory of having realized this idea in the form of a civil government, they were by no means the first to maintain it. Long before the Reformation it originated among the Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont, and by means of the crusade against them by Innocent III., it was spread far and wide. The Reformation and the coming of the Puritans to America tended to confirm it, but never was it fully realized till Roger Williams and his followers came to "the forest-shaded banks of the Mooshausic," and established a government on the principle that "the State has no right to interfere between conscience and God."

After dwelling largely on the early history and influence of Rhode Island, the author passes to the time of the Revolution. We find that this little state, though royally armed in her Charter, stood among the foremost in the great struggle for independence. She was the first to direct her officers to disregard the Stamp Act, and to assure them indemnity for so doing; the first to recommend the permanent establishment of a Continental Congress; the first to adopt the Articles of Confederation; the first to brave royalty in arms; the first to enact and declare independence; the first to establish a naval armament of her own; and the first to recommend to Congress the establishment of a Continental Navy. The oration closes with an eloquent appeal to preserve the history and early records of the State. Appended is a Poem by Sarah Helen Whitman, recited before the Rhode Island Historical Society, previous to the delivery of the address.

_A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845. By Joshua Coffin, A. B. S. H. S._

"_For out of the old fieldes, as men saithe, Cometh the new come from yere to yere, And out of old bookes in good faithe Cometh this new science that men lere._"

_Chaucer._

"_Lives there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own my native land?_"

_Scott._

Boston: Published by Samuel G. Drake, No. 56 Cornhill. Printed by George Coolidge. 1845.

This is an exceedingly valuable and highly interesting work, and appears to have been written with great labor, and _con amore_. The author seems, as he says, "to have made a broad distinction between fact and tradition, and to have related nothing as fact, which he did not believe to be true." The representation of the character of the inhabitants of Newbury and their transactions, we think is accurately given, and seems to have been given "_sine ira, sine studio_." Copious extracts are made from the town records, and many from the church records, which latter exhibit more fully the peculiar traits of our ancestors.

The town of Newbury was originally one of the largest towns in the county, being about thirteen miles long, and about six miles broad in the widest place, and containing about thirty thousand acres, of which nearly two thousand were covered with water. In 1764 it was divided into two towns, Newbury and Newburyport, and in 1819 West Newbury was set off and incorporated as a separate town.

This volume is embellished with portraits of Dr. John Clarke, the physician in Newbury from 1637 to 1651, who died in Boston in 1664, aged 66, Chief-Justice Sewall, Rev. Mr. Whitefield, and Rev. Dr. Parish, and also with a map of the town and engravings of the old-town meeting-house which stood one hundred and six years, from 1700 to 1806, and of a house which "was infested with demons" in 1679, and where, "before the devil was chained up, the _invisible_ hand did begin to put forth an astonishing _visibility_!" The Appendix, containing among other things a List of Grantees, and Genealogies of the First Settlers from 1635 to 1700, is a very important part of the work. The conclusion, comprising about fifty pages, is also valuable.

_Brookline Jubilee. A Discourse delivered in Brookline, at the request of its Inhabitants, on 15 March, 1847, the day, which completed half a Century from his Ordination, by John Pierce, D. D., fifth minister of the first Congregational Church and Society in said town._ Boston: James Munroe and Company. MDCCCXLVII.

The text on which this discourse is founded is in Psalm xxxvii: 25. "I have been young and now am old."

It is indeed pleasant in these "moving times," when ministers are not settled during even good behavior, but only so long as they please the fastidious taste of their people, to behold a pastor who has remained with his flock a long series of years, who stands among them, a relic of a former generation, to guide them by his counsels and guard them with his watchful care. It is alike honorable to the pastor and his people to meet in one common jubilee, to thank the bounteous Giver of all things for his mercies, and strengthen the ties which have so long bound them together. In the present case, however, not a church merely, but a whole town have united to honor one who may be regarded as their father, and whose name is identified with the town.

The sermon contains, as might be expected from Dr. Pierce, an immense amount of historical facts, some of them of a general, but most of them of a local character. The town of Brookline was incorporated Nov. 13, 1705, O. S., and the first Congregational church was gathered Oct. 26, 1717, O. S., of which Dr. Pierce is the fifth pastor. Since his settlement nearly all who were then around him have departed this life, while he, now enjoying a "green old age," stands almost alone. The discourse is very valuable for the history it contains, and is written in a candid and an affectionate manner. Appended is an exceedingly interesting account of the proceedings of the day, which was published in the Christian Register, and other papers in Boston. We regret that we have not room to insert extracts from it. Dr. Pierce will go down to the grave beloved and respected by all ministers and people who knew him, whether of his own or other denominations.

_A Discourse on the Cambridge Church-Gathering in 1636; delivered in the First Church, on Sunday, February 22, 1846. By William Newell, Pastor of the First Church in Cambridge._ Boston: James Munroe and Company. 1846.

The text is from Psalm xliv. 1-3. "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedest them.... For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them."

This discourse contains an account of the formation of the church in Cambridge, and of some of the events preceding it, and brief notices of the principal actors. It contains also many other valuable facts. There is an appendix containing nineteen pages of great value, embracing among other things a list of the members of the church, "taken and registered in the 11 month, 1658," and brief genealogical notices of one hundred and seventeen individuals. In giving this sermon to the public, Mr. Newell has rendered an important service.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This Memoir is an abstract, (taken by permission,) of a "Memoir of John Endecott, First Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, by Charles M. Endicott, a descendant, of the seventh generation;"--a work well prepared, and handsomely printed in folio form, containing 116 pages, and just issued from the press, solely for the private use of the family. Our Memoir will be introduced with a few preliminary remarks, and, occasionally, will be interspersed with passages respecting the early history of the country.

[2] See Morton's New England Memorial. The Planter's Plea notices the event as rather the effect of accident from the prevailing winds, than any design on the part of the master.

[3] Letter to the elder Adams, among the MSS. of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

[4] The Rev. Mr. Felt has recently found among some papers at the State House, Boston, a bill made out in Gov. Endecott's own hand-writing, and presented to the General Court, for the cure of a man committed to his care. He there styles himself "Chirurgeon."

[5] Deposited there by C. M. Endicott, Esq., in 1828.

[6] Perhaps Roger Conant and two or three others, in some respects, might have been exceptions.

[7] See Covenant, p. 221.

[8] The Rev. Mr. Upham, in his Dedication Sermon, in 1826, thus speaks of him: "John Endecott, (a man, who to the qualities which have rendered him illustrious, as an effectual leader of colonization, as a gallant soldier, as a skillful statesman, added a knowledge of the Scriptures, and a devout piety, which will ever hallow his memory,) early in the year 1629, before the formation of this church, wrote to Gov. Bradford respecting a conference he had held with a gentleman sent to him from Plymouth, (Dr. Fuller.) on the subject of church institution and government. In this letter we find no acknowledgment of any other authority in such a matter than his own private judgment, and no desire expressed, or attempt exhibited, to force his judgment upon others." The letter here referred to is the one already cited, of May 11, 1629. "The standard," says Mr. Upham, "by which Mr. Endecott made up his judgment in this matter, was certainly no other than the standard of Protestantism--the Scriptures, as they were opened to his understanding."

[9] "Kernwood," the summer residence of Francis Peabody, Esq., is situated on the borders of this stream, and for beauty of location is not surpassed in that part of the country.

[10] Charles M. Endicott, Esq., distinctly recollects his visiting, when quite a boy, one of these ruins on the borders of this stream, situated in the midst of a locust grove, in the vicinity of the "Endecott Burying-Ground."

[11] Mass. Hist. Coll., I., iv., p. 119.

[12] The General Court, in January, 1635, unanimously agreed, that if such a Governor should come to this country, the Colonists ought to resist his authority, and maintain their rights.

[13] The very next year, only two of the Council, Vane and Dudley, would consent to spread the King's colors even in the fort, on account of the cross in them.--_Winthrop's Jour._, Vol. I., p. 189.

[14] Neal's History of the Puritans, Vol. II., chap. 5.

[15] Snow's History of Boston.

[16] This "faithful friend" was none other than Mrs. Leverett, the wife of the Agent.

[17] According to tradition, his tombstone was in a good state of preservation down to the commencement of the American Revolution, when it was with many others destroyed by the British soldiers, at the time they occupied Boston.

[18] The Church, (the first in Massachusetts Colony,) was established Aug. 6, 1629.

[19] This is not the church of which the Rev. Mr. Hurd is pastor.

[20] Twins.

[21] This account of the antiquities and pedigree of the Parsons Family was prepared principally from manuscripts in the possession of Samuel H. Parsons, Esq., of Hartford, Ct., by the Corresponding Secretary of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society.

[22] For minute and interesting particulars of this now important town, the reader is referred to the history of it by REV. DANIEL LANCASTER. In that work the author has given pedigrees of many of the early settlers.

[23] All the fly-leaves are gone from the beginning of the Old Testament, as well as the title-page.

[24] This Deborah was the mother of the American Heroine, _Deborah Sampson_, who, under the name of _Robert Shirtlieff_, served about two years as soldier in the army of the Revolution, in Capt. Webb's Company, Col. Jackson's Regiment, and General Patterson's Brigade, and after an honorable discharge from the Continental army, returned home to her mother at Plimpton in the Old Colony; assumed her female habiliments, and was married to Benjamin Gannet of Sharon, Ms., in 1784, where she died about ten years ago, and where three of her children reside at the present day.

[25] MS. Memorandum of Capt. John Hull, made at the time and preserved among the Sewall papers. The Boston Records also say Sept. 17.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.

Superscript letters are denoted by ^, for example y^e and Serv^t. A number following the ^ indicates the generation of the family, for example Joseph,^3 is in the third generation of the (Parsons) family.

Missing names and dates were usually indicated by a blank space in the original text, a few times by ----, and this is retained in the etext.

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example: horrours; thraldom; intrusted.

Pg 237, 'quotâ' replaced by 'quota'. Pg 258, '(31)' replaced by '(34)'. Pg 259, the list of children under (37) has been formatted to be consistent with the other lists. Pg 260, 'Jan. 4, 1748' replaced by 'Jun. 4, 1748'. Pg 261, the list of children under (45) has been formatted to be consistent with the other lists. Pg 262, '335--4 Oliver' replaced by '335--4 Olive'. Pg 264, 'Commonweath' replaced by 'Commonwealth'.