FOR the satisfaction of Your Hon our, and some Friends, and for the use of such as shall hereafter intend to increase our Plantati­on in New England, I have in the throng of Domestick, and not altogether free from Pub­lick Business, thought fit to commit to memo­ry our present condition, and what hath befal­len us since our Arrival here; which I will do shortly, after my usual manner, and must do rudely, having yet no Table, nor other Room to Write in, then by the Fire-side upon my knee, in this sharp Winter; to which my Fa­mily must have leave to resort, though they break good manners, and make me many times forget what I would say; and say what I would not.

Concerning the English that are Planted here: I find that about the Year 1620. Cer­tain English set out from Leyden in Holland, in­tending their Course for Hudson's River.

These being much Weather beaten, and wearied with seeking the River, after a most tedious Voyage, Arrived at length in a small Bay, lying North-East from Cape▪Cod; where Landing about the Month of December, by the favour of a calm Winter, such as was never seen here since, begun to Build their Dwellings in that place, which now is cal­led New-Plimouth: Where after much Sick­ness, [Page 10] Famine, Poverty and great Mortality, (through all which, God by an unwonted Providence carried them) they are now grown up to a People, Healthful, Wealthy, Politick and Religious; such things doth the Lord for those that wait for his Mercies. They of Pli­mouth came with Patents from King Iames, and have since obtained others, from our So­veraign, King Charles, having a Governour and Council of their own: There was about the same time, one Mr. Weston, an English Mer­chant, who sent divers men to Plant and Trade; who sate down by the River of Wesa­guscus, but these coming not for so good ends as those of Plymouth, sped not so well; for the most of them Dying and Languishing away, They who survived were rescued by those of Plymouth, out of the hands of Chickatalbott, & his Indians, who oppressed those weak English, and intended to have destroyed them: And the Plymotheans also, as is set down in a Tract, Written by Mr. Winslow of Plymouth: Also since, one Captain Wollaston with some Thir­ty with him, came near to the same place, and Built on an Hill, which he named Mount Wollaston; but being not supplied with renew­ed Provisions, they vanished away as the for­mer did. Also divers Merchants of Bristol, and some other places, have yearly for these eight years, or thereabouts, sent Ships hither at [Page 11] the Fishing times, to Trade for Bever, where their Factors dishonestly for their gains, have furnished the Indians with Guns, Swords, Pow­der and Shot.

Touching the Plantation which we here have begun: it fell out thus. About the Year 1627. some Friends being together in Lincoln­shire, fell into discourse about New En­gland, and the Planting of the Gospel there; and after some deliberation, we imparted our reasons, by Letters and Messages, to some in London and the West Country; where it was likewise deliberately thought upon, and at length with often negotiation so ripened, that in the year 1628. we procured a Patent from His Majesty for our Planting between the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River on the South, and the River of Merrimack on the North, and three miles on either side of those Rivers and Bay; as also for the Government of those who did or should Inhabit within that Compass: And the same year we sent Mr. Iohn Endicott, and some with him, to begin a Plantation; and to strengthen such as he should find there, which we sent thi­ther from Dorchester, and some places adjoyn­ing: from whom the same year receiving hopeful News: The next year, 1629. we sent divers Ships over, with about Three Hundred People, and some Cowes, Goats and Horses, [Page 12] many of which Arrived safely. These by their too large Commendations of the Coun­try, and the Commodities thereof, invited us so strongly to go on, that Mr. Winthrop of Suffolk, (who was well known in his own Country, and well approved here, for his Pie­ty, Liberality, Wisdom and Gravity) coming in to us, we came to such resolution, that in April, 1630. we set Sail from Old England with four good Ships. And in May following eight more followed; two having gone before in February and March, and two more follow­ing in Iune and August, besides another Set out by a private Merchant. These seventeen Ships Arrived all safe in New England, for the in­crease of the Plantation here this year 1630. but made a long, a troublesome and costly Voyage, being all Wind bound long in England, and hindred with contrary Winds, after they set Sail, and so scattered with Mists and Tem­pests, that few of them Arrived together. Our four Ships which set out in April, Arrived here in Iune and Iuly, where we found the Colony in a sad and unexpected condition, above Eighty of them being Dead the Winter be­fore; and many of those alive, weak and sick; all the Corn and Bread amongst them all, hardly sufficientto feed them a fortnight: insomuch that the remainder of an Hundred and Eighty Servants we had the two years [Page 13] before sent over, coming to us for Victuals to sustain them, we found our selves wholly una­ble to feed them, by reason that the Provisions Shipped for them, were taken out of the Ship they were put in; and they who were trusted to Ship them in another, failed us, and left them behind; whereupon necessity enforced us to our extream loss, to give them all Liber­ty; who had cost us about Sixteen or Twenty Pound a Person, furnishing and sending over. But bearing these things as we might, we began to consult of the Place of our Sitting down: For Salem where we Landed, pleased us not. And to that purpose, some were sent to the Bay, to search up the Rivers for a con­venient place; who upon their return, report­ed to have found a good place upon Mistick; but some other of us, seconding these, to ap­prove or dislike of their judgment; we found a place liked us better, three Leagues up Charles River: And thereupon Unshipped our Goods into other Vessels, and with much Cost and Labour, brought them in Iuly to Charlstown; but there receiving advertisements (by some of the late arrived Ships) from London and Amsterdam of some French Preparations against us (many of our people brought with us being sick of Fevers, and the Scurvy, and we there­by unable to carry up our Ordnance and Bag­gage so far) we were forced to change coun­sel, [Page 14] and for our present shelter to Plant disper­sedly, some at Charlstown, which standeth on the North side of the mouth of Charles Ri­ver; some on the South-side thereof,. which place we named Boston (as we intended to have done the place we first resolved on) some of us upon Mistick, which we named Meadford; some of us Westward on Charles River, four miles from Charlstown, which place we named Watertown; others of us two miles from Boston, in a place we named Roxbury; others upon the River of Sawgus, between Sa­lem and Charlstown: And the Western men four miles South from Boston, at a place we named Dorchester. This Dispersion troubled some of us, but help it we could not, wanting ability to remove to any place fit to Build a Town upon; and the time too short to deli­berate any longer, least the Winter should sur­prize us before we had Builded our Houses. The best counsel we could find out was to Build a Fort to retire to, in some convenient place, if any Enemy pressed us thereunto, after we should have fortifyed our selves against the injuries of wet and cold. So ceasing to consult further for that time, they who had Health to Labour, fell to Building, wherein many were interrupted with Sickness, and ma­ny Dyed weekly, yea, almost daily. Amongst whom were Mrs. Pinchon, Mrs. Coddington, [Page 15] Mrs. Phillips, and Mrs. Alcock, a Sister of Mr. Hookers. Insomuch that the Ships being now upon their Return, some for England, some for Ireland; there was as I take it not much less than an Hundred (some think many more) partly out of dislike of our Government, which restrained and punished their Excesses; and partly through fear of Famine, not seeing o­ther means than by their Labour to feed them­selves) which returned back again; and glad were we so to be rid of them. Others also afterwards hearing of men of their own Dis­position, which were Planted at Pascataway, went from us to them; whereby though our Numbers were lessened, yet we accounted our selves nothing weakned by their Removal: Before the Departure of the Ships, we con­tracted with Mr. Peirce, Master of the Lyon of Bristol, to Return to us with all speed, with fresh supplies of Victuals, and gave him dire­ctions accordingly; with this Ship returned Mr. Revil, one of the five Undertakers here, for the joynt Stock of the Company; and Mr. Vassal, one of the Assistants, and his Fa­mily; and also Mr. Bright, a Minister sent hi­ther the year before: The Ship being gone, Victuals wasting, and Mortality increasing, we held divers Fasts in our several Congregations, but the Lord would not yet be Deprecated; for about the beginning of September, Dyed [Page 16] Mr. Gager, a right Godly man, a skilful Chy­rurgeon, and one of the Deacons of our Con­gregation. And Mr. Higginson, one of the Ministers of Salem, a zealous and a profitable Preacher; this of a Consumption, that of a Fever: And on the 30th. of September, Dyed Mr. Iohnson, another of the five Undertakers, (the Lady ARBELLA his Wife being Dead a Month before) This Gentleman was a prime man amongst us, having the best Estate of a­ny; zealous for Religion, and the greatest fur­therer of this Plantation; he made a most Godly End, Dying willingly, professing his Life better spent in promoting this Plantation, than it could have been any other way. He left to us a Loss greater then the most conceiv­ed. Within a month after, Dyed Mr. Rossiter, another of our Assistants, a Godly man, and of a good Estate, which still weakned us more: So that now there were left of the five Undertakers, but the Governour, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and my self, and seven other of the Assistants. And of the People who came o­ver with us, from the time of their Setting Sail from England, in April 1630. until Decem­ber following, there Dyed by Estimation about Two Hundred at the least; so low hath the Lord brought us! Well, yet they who Survi­ved were not discouraged, but bearing Gods Corrections with Humility, and trusting in His [Page 17] Mercies, and considering how after a lower ebb he had raised up our Neighbours at Ply­mouth, we began again in December to consule about a fit place to Build a Town upon; lea­ving all thoughts of a Fort, because upon any Invasion, we were necessarily to lose our Hou­ses, when we should retire thereinto: So after divers Meetings at Boston, Roxbury and Water­town, on the Twenty Eighth of December, we grew to this resolution, to bind all the Assist­ants (Mr. Endicott, and Mr. Sharp excepted, which last purposeth to return by the next Ship into England) to Build Houses, at a place a mile East from Watertown, near Charles Ri­ver, the next Spring, and to Winter there the next year; that so by our Examples, and by removing the Ordnance and Munition thither, all who were able, might be drawn thither, and such as shall come to us hereafter to their advantage, be compelled so to do; and so if God would, a Fortifyed Town might there grow up, the place fitting reasonably well there­to. I should before have mentioned how both the English and Indian Corn being at ten shil­lings a strike, and Bever being valued at six shillings a Pound; we made Laws to restrain the Selling of Corn to the Indians, and to leave the price of Bever at liberty, which was pre­sently Sold for ten, and twenty Shillings a Pound. I should also have remembred, how [Page 18] the half of our Cowes, and almost all our Mares and Goates, sent us out of England, Dy­ed at Sea, in their Passage hither; and that those intended to be sent us out of Ireland, were not sent at all; all which, together with the loss of our six months Building occasioned by our intended Removal to a Town to be Forti­fyed, weakned our Estates, especially the E­states of the Undertakers, who were Three or Four Thousand Pounds ingaged in the joynt stock, which was now not above so many Hun­dreds; yet many of us laboured to bear it as comfortably as we could, remembring the end of our Coming hither, and knowing the power of God, who can support and raise us again; and useth to bring his Servants low, that the meek may be made glorious by Deliverance.

I have no leisure to Review and Insert things forgotten, but out of due time and order must set them down as they come to memory. A­bout the end of October, this year 1630. I joyned with the Governour, and Mr. Mave­rick, in sending out our Pinace to the Norra­gansetts, to Trade for Corn, to supply our wants; but after the Pinace had doubled Cape Cod, she put into the next Harbour she found, and there meeting with Indians, who shewed their willingness to Truck; she made her Voyage there, and brought us an Hundred [Page 19] Bushels of Corn, at about four shillings a Bush­el, which helped us something. From the Coast where they Traded, they saw a very large Island, four Leagues to the East, which the Indians commended as a fruitful place, full of good Vines, and free from sharp Frosts, having one only Entrance into it, by a Navi­gable River, Inhabited by a few Indians, which for a trifle would leave the Island, if the En­glish would set them upon the Main; but the Pinace having no direction for Discovery, re­turned without Sailing to it, which in two Hours they might have done: Upon this Coast they found store of Vines full of Grapes dead ripe, the Season being past; whither we pur­pose to send the next year sooner, to make some small quantity of Wine, if God inable us; the Vines growing thin with us, and we not having yet any leisure to Plant Vineyards. But now having some leisure to discourse of the motives for other mens coming to this place, or their abstaining from it; after my brief manner, I say this. That if any come hither to Plant for Worldly. Ends, that can live well at Home, he commits an Error, of which he will soon repent him: But if for Spiritual, and that no particular obstacle hinder his Removal, he may find here what may well content him: viz. Materials to Build, Fewel to Burn, Ground to Plant, Seas and Rivers to [Page 20] Fish in, a pure Air to Breath in, good Water to drink, till Wine or Beer can be made; which together with the Cowes, Hoggs and Goats brought hither already, may suffice for Food; as for Fowl and Venison, they are Dainties here as well as in England. For Cloaths and Bedding, they must bring them with them, till time and industry produce them here. In a word, we yet enjoy little to be envyed, but endure much to be pittied in the Sickness and Mortality of our People: And I do the more willingly use this open and plain dealing, least other men should fall short of their expectations, when they come hither, as we to our great prejudice, did; by means of Letters sent us from hence into En­gland; wherein honest men out of a desire to draw over others to them, wrote somewhat hyperbolically of many things here: If any Godly men out of Religious Ends will come over, to help us in the good Work we are a­bout: I think they cannot dispose of them­selves, nor of their Estates more to God's Glo­ry, and the furtherance of their own Reckon­ing: But they must not be of the poorer sort yet, for divers years. For we have sound by experience, that they have hindred, not fur­thered the Work: And for profane and de­bauched persons, their oversight in coming hi­ther is wondred at, where they shall find no­thing [Page 21] to content them. If there be any En­dued with Grace, and furnished with means to feed themselves and theirs for eighteen months, and to Build and Plant, let them come into our Macedonia, and help us, and not spend themselves and their Estates in a less profitable Employment: for others, I conceive they are not yet fitted for this Business.

Touching the Discouragement which the Sickness and Mortality which every first year hath seized upon us, and those of Plymouth, as appeareth before, may give to such who have cast any thoughts this way (of which Morta­lity it may be said of us almost as of the E­gyptians, that there is not an House where there is not one dead, and in some Houses many) the natural causes seem to be, the want of warm Lodging, and good Dyet, to which English men are habituated at home; and in the sudden increase of heat, which they endure that are Landed here in Summer; the salt meats at Sea having prepared their Bodies thereto; for those only these two last years dyed of Fevers, who Landed in Iune and Iuly; as those of Plymouth, who Landed in Winter, dyed of the Scurvy; as did our poor­er sort, whose Housing and Beding, kept them not sufficiently warm, nor their Dyet suffici­ently in heart: other causes God may have, as our Faithful Minister, Mr Wilson (lately [Page 22] handling that point) shewed unto us; which I forbear to mention, leaving this matter to the further Dispute of Physicians and Divines.

Wherefore to return, upon the Third of Ianuary, Dyed the Daughter of Mr. Sharp, a Godly Virgin, making a comfortable end, af­ter a long sickness. The Plantation here re­ceived not the like loss of any Woman, since we came hither; and therefore she well de­serves to be remembred in this Place.

Amongst those who Dyed about the end of this Ianuary, there was a Girl of Eleven Years Old, the Daughter of one Iohn Ruggles, who in the time of her Sickness, expressed to the Minister, and those about her, so much Faith and Assurance of Salvation, as is rarely found in any of that Age; which I thought not un­worthy here to commit to memory: and if any tax me for wasting paper with Recording these small matters; such may consider, that small things in the beginning of natural or po­litick Bodies, are as remarkable as greater, in Bodies full grown.

Upon the fifth of February, Arrived here Mr. Pierce, with the Ship Lyon of Bristol, with supplies of Victuals from England; who had set forth from Bristol the first of December be­fore. He had a Stormy Passage hither, and lost one of his Saylors not far from our Shore [...] in a Tempest having helped to take in [Page 23] the Sprit Sail, lost his hold as he was coming down, and fell into the Sea; where, after long Swimming, he was Drowned, to the great dolour of those in the Ship, who beheld so la­mentable a Spectacle, without being able to minister help to him, the Sea was so so high, and the Ship drove so fast before the Wind, though her Sails were taken down. By this Ship we understand of the Fight of three of our Ships, and two English Men of War co­ming out of the Straits, with Fourteen Dun­kirks, upon the Coast of England, as they Re­turned from us, in the end of the last Sum­mer; who through Gods Goodness, with the loss of some thirteen or fourteen men, out of our three Ships; and I know not how many out of the two Men of War, got at length clear of them. The Charles, one of our three, a stout Ship, of 300 Tonn, being so torn, that she had not much of her left whole above wa­ter. By this Ship we also understand of the Death of many of those who went from us the last year to England, as likewise of the Mortality there; whereby we see there are Graves in other places as well as with us.

Amongst others who Dyed about this time, was Mr. Robert Welden, who in the time of his Sickness we had Chosen to be Captain of 100. Foot, but before he took possession of his place, he Dyed, the sixteenth of this February, [Page 24] and was Buried as a Souldier, with three Vol­lyes of Shott. Upon the Twenty Second of February we Held a General Day of Thanks­giving throughout the whole Colony, for the safe Arrival of the Ship which came last with our Provisions.

Upon the Eighth of March, from after it was fair day light, until about Eight of the Clock in the Forenoon, there flew over all the Towns in our Plantations, so many Flocks of Doves, each Flock containing many Thousands, and some so many, that they obscured the Light, that it passeth credit, if but the Truth should be written; and the thing was the more strange, because I scarce remember to have seen ten Doves since I came into the Country: They were all Turtles, as appeared by divers of them we killed Flying, somewhat bigger than those of Europe, and they flew from the North-east, to the South-west; but what it portends, I know not.

The Ship now waits but for Wind, which when it Blowes, there are ready to go Aboard therein for England, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Coddington, and many others; the most whereof purpose to return to us again, if God will In the mean time, we are left a People poor and contemptible, yet such as Trust in God; and are contented with our condition, being well assured, that he will not [Page 25] fail us nor forsake us. I had almost forgotten to add this, That the Wheat we received by this last Ship, stands us in thirteen or fourteen shillings a strike, and the Pease about eleven shillings a strike, besides the Adventure, which is worth three or four shillings a strike; which is an higher price than I ever tasted Bread of before.

Thus Madam, I have as I can, told Your Honour, all our matters; knowing Your Wis­dom can make good use thereof. If I Live not to perform the like Office of my Duty hereafter, likely it is, some other will do it better.

Before the departure of the Ship (which yet was Wind-bound) there came unto us Sagamore Iohn, and one of his Subjects, requiring satis­faction for the Burning of two Wigwams, by some of the English; which Wiggwams were not Inhabited, but stood in a place convenient for their shelter, when upon occasion, they should Travel that way. By Examination we found that some English Fowlers, having reti­red into that which belonged to the Subject; and leaving a Fire therein carelesly which they had kindled to warm them, were the cause of Burning thereof. For that which was the Sa­gamores, we could find no certain proof how it was Fired: yet least he should think us not sedulous enough to find it out, and so should [Page 26] depart discontentedly from us; we gave both him and his Subject, satisfaction for them both.

The like accident of Fire also befel Mr. Sharp, and Mr. Colborn, upon the seventeenth of this March; both whose Houses (which were as good, and as well furnished as the most in the Plantation) were in two hours space Burned to the ground; together with much of their Houshold stuff, Apparel, and other things; as also some Goods of others, who Sojourned with them in their Houses; God so pleasing to exercise us with Correcti­ons of this kind, as he hath done with others. For the prevention whereof, in our New Town intended this Summer to be Builded; we have ordered that no man there shall Build his Chimney with Wood, nor cover his House with Thatch, which was readily assented un­to; for that divers other Houses have been Burned since our Arrival.

Upon the Eighteenth Day of March, came one from Salem, and told us, that upon the Fifteenth thereof, there Dyed Mrs. Skelton, the Wife of the other Minister there. She was a Godly and an helpful Woman, she lived desired, and dyed lamented, and well deserves to be honourably remembred.

Upon the Twenty fifth of this March, one of Watertown having lost a Call, and about ten of the Clock at night, hearing the How­ling [Page 27] of some Wolves not far off, raised many of his Neighbours out of their Beds, that by Discharging their Muskets near about the place where he heard the Wolves, he might so put the Wolves to flight, and save his Calf: The Wind serving fit to carry the Report of the Muskets to Roxbury, three miles off, at such a time; the Inhabitants there took an Alarm, Beat up their Drum, Armed themselves, and sent in Post to us to Boston, to Raise us also: So in the morning, the Calf being found safe, the Wolves affrighted, and our danger past, we went merrily to Breakfast.

I thought to have ended before, but the stay of the Ship, and my desire to inform Your Honour of all I can, hath caused this Addition: And every one having warning to prepare for the Ships departure to morrow, I am now this Twenty-Eighth of March, 163 [...] Sealing my Letters.

In Domini Nortoni Librum, ad Lectorem Praefatio Apologetica.

GRAVIS ea quidem Calumnia est, et c [...]ndore spiritus Christiani indigna admodum, Fra­tres sive [...] Belgio reduces, sive in nova Anglia ex­ulantes, Rerum Anglicarum ruinam praesentiscen­tes; tanquam sorices e domo labante, aufugisse, ut saluti quidem suae provide prospicerent; communis autem causae Reformationis patrocinium, perfide dese­rerent. Non sic olim vitio vertebatur Eliae, qui prae metu Jezebelis, in desertum aufugisse fertur, 1 Reg 19. Nec piis illis Confessoribus, qui in Mariana tempestate, in exteras Regiones se receperunt; sive in Germaniam, sive Genevam. Et illi quidem se subduxerunt, cum per id tempus libera ipsis (si re­stitissent) restaret copia, amplum satis et luculentum Testimonium perhibendi Veritati; cum Disputati­onibus publicis, tum Confessionibus: idque non solum coram frequenti Iudicum consessu, ut rederentur in excusabiles; sed etiam coram universo populi circum stipantis coetu; qui perspecta fratrum invicta fide & patientia, redderentur ipsi quoque constantes in fide, invicti, inexpugnabiles. Et tamen discesserunt viri isti boni, bona fratrum cum venia: Venia? imo & gratia: neque omnino vel ut desertores fratrum, vel ut proditores Causae, eo nomine male audiebant. At nobiscum nuperis bisce diebus, longe iniquius actum fuisse, nemo est tam bardus, qui non intelligat, nemo [Page 42] ingenuus rerum aestimator, qui non agnoscat. Si quispiam nostrum coram Tribunali compareret, pro­tinus affantur, Heus tu, num juramentum, quod ex officio tibi imponimus, capescere lubeat? Si capias, mille nocendi artes, et certa necessitas, & temetip­sum, et fratres cum accusandi, tum prodendi in in­extricabiles legulejorum malignantium labyrinthos. Sin juramentum recuses, apage illico ad carceres; nulla amplius restat Libertas, vel disputandi, vel confitendi, sed tantum dura necessitas in perpetuo squallidi et umbrosi carceris silentio contabescendi Quum igitur ita se res haberet, ut nobis aut in carcere inutiliter pereundum, aut solum vertendum, Christo duce, sols vertendi consilium ini­bamus, cum nos inter nos, tum vocatis in consilium fratribus. Fratres autem illi quos consuluisse visum erat, non erant illi quidem viri leves (invi­sa et cassa capita) sed viri Dei, tum pietate, tum sancta prudentia spectatissimi. Illi autem pro ea qua pollebant, sapientia, perpensis omnibus (quae ad tam arduum negotium spectabant) rerum mo­mentis, judicabant, potuisse nos Testimonium am­plius longe et luculentius causae Christi praebere, par­tim libera praedicatione verbi, partim viva praxi Ecclesiasticae Disciplinae, in caeteris Regionibus, quam Londini in arctis tetrisque careeribus, ubi nec li­brorum, nec calamorum, nec amicorum, nec conscio­num copia concederetur.

Iuvet praeterea meminisse, consuluisse nos etiam privatos quam plurimos viros, eosque syncerae pieta­tis [Page 43] professions conspicuos, qui in Ecclesiis istis dege­bant, quorum nobis cura impendebat, et qui ipsi maxime pendebant a ministerio nostro. Et horans quidem pars, qui libertati conscientiae, et puritati cultus impensius studebant, tantopere probarunt consi­lii nostri de discessu rationem, ut ultro sese offerrent Comites Itineris, etiam in Ultimas orbis terrarum oras, si Dominus viam aperuerit. Pars autem al­tera, qui propendebant magis, licet non approbationi, tamen tolerationi adinventionum humanarum, hi etiam consilium nostrum de discessis probarunt, ut pote cum nobis, tum paci Ecclesiae apprime perneces­sarium: tametsi consultius se facturos autumarent, si libertatem pacemque suam, succumbendo oneri, si­ve subscriptionis (ut loquuntur) sive conformitatis, ipsi redimerent. Sic bona cum venia, imo et gratia, discessum est invicem, non sine multis utrinque ge­mitibus, suspiriis, lachrymis inter amplexandum, et valedicendum.

In istas autem (bono cum Deo) cum appulimus oras, & sine cujusquam offensa laeti frueremur (pro summae Dei op. max. benignitate) ea conscientiarum libertate, et institutionum Christi puritate, quam animitus quaerebamus, haud ita multo post, ex praxi Ecclesiasticae politeias, quam hic exercere caepimus, hoc inprimis experts sumus, posse Ecclesiasticam po­liteiam, cum politeia civili optime consistere, et tanquam Hippocratis gemellos, et ridere simul et simul flere. Atque hoc non leve Testimonium viris prudentibus visum est, posse eam, quam profitemur [Page 44] disciplinam, publica authoritate stabiliri, tum sine nota Schismatis in Ecclesia, tum sine periculo Sedi­tionis in Republica. Atque hinc etiam obstaculum aliud, quod subinde in publicis Regni Anglicani Comitiis, adversus purioris disciplinae zelotas objici solebat, facile amovebatur. Oggerebant siquidem viri, civili prudentia haud incelebres, fieri non posse, ut zelotae isti in unam Ecclesiasticae Politeias for­mam (ne si optio quidem daretur) communi inter se consensu, unquam conspirare velint. Objectacu­lum (inquam) hoc, experientia teste, apud nos, nullo negotio amotum est. Concordes etenim (pro eximia Iesu Christi gratia) in unam eandemque Ecclesiastici Regiminis formam, sine vi, sine strepi­tu, sine tumultu, tacito omnium consensu, extemplo coaluimus.

Posteaquam autem Domini Iesu praestitutum tem­pus advenit, quo misereretur Zionis, in Anglia vestra paritur ac nostra, et supremo ordinum Regni consessui visum est, summos Theologos, eruditione si­mul ac pietate insignes, ex utroque Regno convocare, ut communi consilio de Religione reformanda disqui­rerent, et verae Doctrinoe (UPOTUPOSIN,) purum cultus divini exemplar, et sacram ecclesiasti­ci regiminis formam, ex scripturarum fontibus ador­narent; Nos etiam haud cunctandum rati, scriptae quaedam nostra (de foedere ecclesiastico, de quaesti­onibus in Disciplina controversis, de clavibus Regni Coelorum, de praescriptarum precum (ANOMALIA) tenuia haec quidem omnia, et levidensia, sed tamen [Page 45] modulo nostro et pietatis erga patriam, et studii er­ga veritatem, et debi [...]ae objervantiae erga ecclesias Anglicanas, certa pignora (ut olim vidua minu­tula sua) in aerartum Domini Iesu contulimus.

Cum autem haec qualiacunque fuerint videremus in controversiam rapi, etiam a fratribus eximia pi­etate, atque eruditione ornatissimis, non id quidem aegre aut indigne tulimus. Nam quinam, obsecro, nos sumus, viri incircumcisi labiis, incircumcisi c [...]rde, ut summos viros ad nostrum captum sapere spere­mus? Veruntamen quia veritas et instituta Domini Iesu sacrosancta sunt, neque patitur ipse vel unum (IOTA) aut apicem legis suae, nedum Evangelii Regnique Christi leges perire, ecce excitavit Dominus Iesus (qui et ipse est et lux et veritas) Presbyteros multos e nostris (stellas eas quidem splendidas in Ecclesiarum nostrarum candelabris) qui veritati la­boranti [...]ppetitas ferrent, et nebulas luci obductas studiose dispellerent. Inter hos Agmen ducit H [...]o­kerus, qui non solum dominatur in conscionibus gra­tia spiritus sancti et virtute plenos, sed etiam (prout est vir solertis ingenii, atque accerrimi judiorii) causam Ecclesiasticae disciplinae disputavit acutissime, et pertractavit (quantum ego quidem judico) accu­ratissime. Davenportus, pro co, quo pollet, Iu­dicio, eruditione, et singulari prudentia, defensionem non sui tantum, sed disciplinae Christi adversus do­minum Pagettum instituit, justam, solidam, erudi­tam. Quinetiam, pro egregia ea, qua in grege Christi curando pollet vigilantia, ut errantem gre­gis [Page 46] sui oviculam, quae in aridis Anabaptistarum puteis submersa fuerat, sublevaret, vivificam Christi sanguinis, spiritusque virtutem, ex pernni gratuiti foederis sonte scaturientem et in paedobaptismi fluentis largiter decurrentem, graphice delineavit.

Maderus, ut aetate, ita judicio, et industria proximus, vir morum gravitate, et vitae integritate conspicuus, potens in sermone Evangelii, et strenuus veritatis assertor, praeter ea quae superioribus annis edidit, firma et inconcussa potestatis ecclesiasticae pro­pugnacula, operam hoc anno tempestivam impendit, ut maculas et sordes, quas in faciem ecclesiarum nostrarum frater bonus ille quidem, sed male feria­tus aspersit, abstergeret. Quin et illud insuper (aucterit loco) adjecit viam ecclesiarum nostrarum, quam a viris magnis (eximia eruditione, & pietate clarissimis) exagitari, interturbari cernebat, disjectis aggeribus, atque impedimentis amotis, divina spiri­tus sancti op [...], solida, et solita dexteritate complana­vit. Sepharedus (qui vernaculo Idiomate She­pardus) una cum Allinio fratre (fratrum dulce par) uti eximia pietate florent ambo, et eruditione non mediocri, atque etiam mysteriorum pietatis proe­dicatione (per Christi gratiam) efficaci admodum, ita egregiam navarunt operam in abstrusissimis dis­ciplinae nodis faeliciter enodandis: et dum responsum parant, atque nunc etiam edunt Domino Baleo, non illi quidem satisfactum eunt (qui satis jam aperte videt in beatifica Agni visione, introitus omnes at­que exitus, formas et leges coelestis Hierusalem) [Page 47] sed iis omnibus, qui per universam Britanniam in ecclesius Christi peregrinantur, et rei disciplinariae studiosius animum appulerunt. Verba borum fra­trum uti suaviter spirant pietatem, veritatem, cha­ritatem Christi: ita speramus fort (per Christi gra­tiam) ut multi qui a disciplina Christi alieniores erant, odore borum unguentorum Christi effusorum delibati atque delincti, ad amorem ejus & pellecti, & pertracti, eam avidius arripiant, atque amplex­entur.

Proximus ab his (sed cum primis annumerandus) Nortonus hic est, quem in manibus habemus, vir et ingenii acumine, Iudicii gravitate, morum sua­vitate insignis, et (quod caput est) gratiae Christi cum solertissimus indagator, tum buccinator fidelissi­mus. Is fratrum regatu (quemadmodum et reli­qui) pensum hoc suum et suscepit (non sine modesta sui abnegatione) et confecit non sine divina gratiae affluentia. Placuit clarissimo viro, Domino Apol­lonio, quaestiones quam plurimas de Ecclesiastica dis­ciplina, sicut ex nonnullorum beterogeneorum libris, sic inter alios Orthodoxos, ex sanctissimi Baynesii ex­amine, ex placidissima pienissimaque Septemvirum Apologia, atque etiam ex nostrorum Nova-Anglo­rum scriptiunculis, quasi in fasciculum colligere, et percontari insuper a fratribus illis, num conclusiones istas, tanquam suas agnoscerent. Candide hoc qui­dem ac pie, atque adeo prudenter factum, ne dum ipsorum dogmata conv [...]re in animo haberet, quio­quam ipsis per imprudentiam affingeret, quod ipst [Page 48] non ut suum agnoscerent. Hac perquisitione charis­simi Fratris, nos quoque monitt atque expergefacti, facile persensimus, causam non solum Septemvirorum Fratrum, sed et nostrum agi, nec nostrum solum, sed (quod multo maximum est) Domini nostri (pariter ac vestri) Iesu Christs. Visum est atque nobis, id muneris Domino Nortono serio commen­dare, ut non gravaretur sententiam nostram (simul ac Christi) super quaestionibus istis explicare, ne quid non nostrum, ut nostrum, nobis quoque (in praejudicium Causae Christi) affingeretur. Praesti­tit SUN THEO quod petiimus, in hac quam in manibus habes Diatribe: ubi dextre, dilucide, di­stincte, succincte, nervose denique pertractavit capit a singula, et ad mentem nostram, si non omnia, saltem pleraque accommodatissime. Ingenue fateor (neq [...] enim dissiteri debeo) nec meipsum, nec Fratres etiam (quos dixi) alies, idem plane omnes per omnia sentire, de praescriptarum precum omnimoda A NOMALIA, de statis Ministrorum stipendiis, de apicibus quarundam notionum circa primum subjectum ecclesiasticae potestatis, et discrimen foe­deris gratiae et ecclesiae, et siqua sunt bujusmodi. Sed cum de rebus ipsis, rerumque praxi inter omnes satis constet, profecto a Deo edecti sumus, non solum pla­cide ferre aliud de istis rerum apicibus sentientes, sed etiam medullitus amplexari Fratres in Christo dilectissimos, qui opus Domini operantur, sicut et nos.

Quod autem Latino Idiomate scripsit, consulto id quidem factum est, ut et Domino Apollonio sine [Page 49] Interprete innotesceret; et controversa capita trans­morinis Ecclesiis, in examen venirent. Verba au­thoris non tam diserta sunt quam fortia; ut qui con­troversias scriberet, non declamationes. Paulus ipse non affectavit sapientiam sermonis; sed sermonem sae­pientiae. Nemo despiciat sermones, utcunque incultos, fratrum exulum, abjectorum, longe terra marique dissitorum, etiam ex eremo vociferantium; dummodo constiterit vere dici posse de hisce ftatribus (quod Jo­saphatus olim de Elisha dixerat in eremo Idumaeo peregrinanti) Verbum Domini cum ipsis esse. Nar­rat Johannes (dilectus ille a Christo discipulus) se­metipsum in eremum asportatum fuisse, ut clarius per­spiceret, non modo magnae meretricis judicium, sed etiam castissimae Christi sponsae, Novae Jerusalem de Caelo descensum, Apoc. 17. 1, 3. & cap. 21. 2.

Quod si quispiam hic oggerat, Fratres [...]sce om­nes, omnium pessime de ecclesiis Christi mereri; ut qui praecipue (una cum Fratribus apologeticis) Refer­mationem institutam retardare, at pro virili inter­turbare moliuntur: quippe si per ipsos non stetisset, presbyteri reliqui omnes omnino per universam An­gliam, in unam regiminis presbyterialis formam con­spirassint: Adeo ut fratres hii quos excusare cupis a crimine desertionis causae Reformationis; revera non modo desertores, sed et proditores, et publicae pacis bostes, jure merito male audient, male plectentur.

Hem spiritum, partium studio plus nimio abreptum et occaecatum! Piget et pungit, dolet et angit, me­minisse, binas istas regiminis ecclesiastici form [...] tan­ta [Page 50] animorum comentione, tauta calamorum am [...] ­lentia peragi, et promoveri; aosi de summa Rei chri­stianae, adversus infensissimos Christiani nominit ho­stes, certamen cerneretur. Sicc [...]e in Dominum Ie­sum ingratos nos esse deceat; ut confracto, per divi­tem Ipsius gratiam, jugo hierarchico, et amoto Phi­listeo adinventionum humanarum plaustra; cum par erat, omnes conticum Agni et Mosis, latis et gratis animis vocibusque cantare; nos interea in mutuas dis­cordias, et vasta animorum, et calamorum divortia (quasi dis-diapason) discinderemur? Tantaene ani­mis coelestibus Irae? Nunquid aequum erat, duplam spiritus episcopalis portionem super capita fratrum com-presbyterorum residere? Dispicite (per viscera Domini Iesu, dispicite, obsecro, et obtestor) quid illud est, de quo tantopere digladiamini? Regimen ecclesiasticum non Dominum est sed Ministerium. Digladientur reges terrae de dominijs suis, & de jurisdictienum suarum finibus, et latifundijs; at in­ter ministros Domini Iesu, maximus is est, qui minimus esse studet et servus omnium.

Deinde, dispicite rursus, quodnam illud sit To MEGA CHASMA, quod mutuum utr [...]que divor­tium, tanquam murum intergerinum interposuit? Vos regimen omne ecclesiasticum, penes presbyteros sta­bi [...]dum contenditis: certe neque nos regimen pro­prie dictum (salte [...] quoad ordinarium ejus exerciti­um) alibi quam pen [...]s presbyccros, stabiliandum [...]. In eo itaque convenimus ambo [...] in subjecto regi [...]inis ecclesiastici. Convenimus etiam in regula [Page 51] regiminis; ut administrentur omnia, non juxta cano­nes; sive papales, sive bierarchicos: sed juxta cano­nem sacrarum Scripturarum. Convenimus etiam in sine regiminis, ut omnia transigantur ad aedisicatio­nem ecclesiae; non ad pompam, aut luxum secularem. Synodos no [...] una vobiscum, cum opus fuerit; et susci­pimus, et veneramur. Quantillum est quod restat, quod distat? Actus regiminis, quos vos a synodis peragi velletis; [...]os a synodis porrigi ecclesiis, et ab ecclesiis ex synodali DIORTHOSI peragi peteremus. Petimus et illud etiam (& quidem juxta mentem Christi, prout credimus) ut regimen omne ecclesiasti­cum administretur a presbyteris cujusque ccclesioe, in ecclesiae facie, nec inscia, nec invita ecclesia. Vos aliud quiddam vendicatis: sed videte et perpendite etiam atque etiam, an non satis tuto cautum fuerit, ne quid ecclesia detrimenti capiat, si omnia a presby­teris ecclesiae, ecclesia conscia, et consentiente, peragan­tur; modo nihil arduum aut quod superet ecclesiae vi­res, nisi ex consilio vicinor [...]m compresbyterorum transi­gatur? Mensam Domini Iesu, ausim di [...]ere, aeque vos ac nos, a prophanis a [...] immundis manibus tract a­ri polluique, aeg [...]e laturos. Pie renuntiatum est in publico divini cultus directorio, Ignarum quem [...] ­am, aut scandalo aliquo inquinatum, indignum prorsus esse, qui ad mensam Domini appropin­quet. Ac nisi potestas detur ecclesiae cujusque pres­byteris, de ignaris et immundis hijsce judicium face­re; caveri certe non potest, quin non modo c [...]ci & claudi (quos non recipit aula Davidis) sed canes et­jam [Page 52] et porci (quos odit anima Christi) ad mensam Domini ingerant sese: qui nec corpus Domini discer­nunt, nisi ut per illud dejerent; nec sanguinem Do­mini ebibimt, nisi ut exinde animosius ad sanguinem sanctorum effundendum (tanquam invisorum rotun­dorum, ac rotantium capitum) prosilirent. Hujus­modi ad mensam Domini convivas, nullus dubito, vobis pariter ac nobis, aeque ingratos esse & permole­stos. Cum itaque in hisce rebus omnibus (quae qui­dem maximi momenti sunt) pulchre convenimus, quid, obsecro, impedit, quo minus non causae commu­nis aut proditores, aut desertores: sed communis vo­biscum causae, et defensores, atque astipulatores (pro modulo nostro) adversus communis fidei atque eccle­siae hostes, habeamur? Certo certius est, si ex mu­tuis nostris dissensionibus, aditus per posticum pateat; sive pontificiis, sive hierarchicis, ut rerum denuo potiantur, actum iri funditus (humanitus loquor) de utrisque nostrum; sive presbyteriis, sive ecclesiis propensiores fuerimus. Tros, Tyriusve, illis nullo discrimine agetur. Sive presbyteriales cluitis, sive ec­clesiastici, istis rerum dominis, ambo vos certe puri­tani estis; et prout PUR Graecis, et ITAN Wallis ignem significat; sic toti toti, quanti quanti estis, tanquam ignei Reipublicae, atque Ecclesiae incendiarii, extinguemini. Non tam multi abhinc anni retro fluxerunt, quin recenti patrum memoria recordari li­ceat, Ridlejum pariter ac Hooperum, quanquam in causa disciplinae, alter ab altero plus nimio disjun­geretur; tamen utrosque vivicomburio, a pontificiis [Page 53] rerum potiuntibus, extinctos esse. Verbum sapienti.

Verum enimvero, si fratres animum inducere non possunt, quin nos ut communis causae desertores, dese­rant: liceat mibi quaeso (quod Judas olim a fratre Josepho petiit) et petere a vobis, et impetrare, ut loquar verbum in auribus vestris, neque ira vestra accendatur. Causa haec, quam a nobis deseri quiri­tamini; quatenus a nobis deseritur, non ea quidem vobis communis est cum pijssimis illir, ac sanctissimis Christi confessoribus, qui nostra, et patrum memoria causam Reformationis tuebantur? Vestra non ea causa est, quam Heroes illi, amissione libertatis, con­fiscatione bonorum, incarceratione, exilio, sanguine denique cosignarunt? Quantam pocestatem venera­bilis Cartoretus ecclesiae cuique deferat, nemo nescit qui commentarium ejus in 1 Cor. 5. perlegerit. Quodnam primum subjectum ecclesiasticae potestatis Paraeus statuat, testatur tertium ejus volumen, acer­rimo cum judicio, et summa eruditione continuatum. Quaenam ea ecclesia sit, quam sanctissimus Bainesius agnoscat, cui Christus ecclesiasticam omnem potesta­tem detulerit, patet ex examine. Quid gravissi­mus Amesius, nervorum et medullae theologiae satur, super ecclesiae institutae statu, forma, et potestate sen­serit; patet ex medulla. Atque hij quidem cur­rus, atque equites Israelis, illarum cobortum primi­pili erant, qui causam Reformationis tuebautur; & nostra, et patrum [...]tate. Ab horum sive vestigijs, five principijs, si novitatis studio cessimus: jure me­rito deseremur ut desertores. Quod si in via illorum [Page 54] ambulamus, nec ultra progredimur (quod ad sum▪ mam rei attinet) quam ab illorum lumine divinitus collustrati: certe non nos illi sumus, qui causam Re­formationis deseruimus; sed illi potius (quos lubens nollem dicere) qui nos ut desertores deserunt, et dete­stantur. Desinant itaque viri sratres, viros hosce Dei, qui scriptis editis, causam cum patribus commu­nem, tueri satagunt, sugilla [...]e, ac vellicare, tanquam male de Ecclesia meritos, causae desertores, pacis pub­licae perturbatores.

Caeterum [...] hos omnes, supersunt duo fratres reliqui, Covetus, & Eliotus; quorum hic justam contexuit historiam eorum qui apud nos, sub praetex­tu conscientiae, a civili magistratu, graviora quam par erat, passi perhibentur. Vir hic, uti gnavus est & impiger, fidelis in domo Dei servus, priscis mori­bus, antiqua fide; ita fidelem operam navavit in in­vestiganda rerum istarum veritate; quas etiam fi­de historica in tabellas retulit, et typis mandavit: ut intelligant aequi rerum aestimatores, ea quae passion feruntur de persecutionibus in Nova Anglia, consci­entiae nomine perpessis (ut dicam verbo, et verbo qui­dem Apostolorum) nihil esse. Alter autem ille e fratribus, quem dixi, Covetus, cum persentisceret ali quot ex ovibus Christi sibi commissis, antipaedobap­tismi laquess atque dumetis irre [...]as; zelo Dei accensus (et zelo quidem secundum scientiam) imo et misericordia etiam Christi comm [...]tus erga errantes oviculas; libros quos potuit, ex anababtistarum pen [...] congessit; rationum momenta (qualia fuerant) in [Page 55] lance Sanctuarii trutinavit; testimoniorum plaustra, quae ab illis congesta fuerant, sedulo perquisivit; et pro eo quo floret disputandi acumine, dijudicandi so­lertia, solida multa paucis complectendi dexteritate, atque indefesso labore, nihil pene intentatum reliquit, quod vel ad veritatem in hac causa illustrandam, vel ad errorum nebulas discusiendas, atque dispel­lendas conduceret.

Sed vellicat hic mihi aurem quispiam (praesertim ex iis quibuscum necessitudo mihi aliqua intercedit:) & serio percontatur: Cum tot tantosque labores a compresbyteris tuis susceptos narras; qui prodierunt, ut Debora loquitur, ad auxiliandum Iehovae, ad auxiliandum Iehovae (ut Junius vertit) inter for­tes; quid tibi interea faciendum rest abat? Nunquid tu solus restitabas inter sarcinas, vel inter sibilos & balatus gregum? Tune cum Reubene, a fratrum consortio, prae magnis animi cogitationibus, divulsus es? Equidem non diffiteor, me etiam aliquid moli­tum esse, et, pro gratiae acceptae modulo, perfecisse etiam aliquatenus, atque emisisse. Sed quicquid illud suerit, haud dignum reor, quod inter exquisitos Fra­trum labores, vel nominari quidem debeat. Scrip­serunt illi TOIS CHARIESI; ego, prout necesse habui, TOIS POLLOIS. Gratiosus est Domi­nus, qui acceptare dignatur ad aedificationem Sanctu­arii sui, non modo purpu [...]m et byssum; sed etiam pelles arietum, et melium; imo et pilos caprarum: Exod. 35. 23.

Pergat Dominus (pro gratuita sua, & divite [Page 56] Gratia) laboribus servorum suorum omnium, Sibi in obsequium, Ecclesiae in aedificationem, benedicere; Zionis sui miserers; Lites inter suos dirimere; Veri­tatem, & pacem promovere; Fines Regni Christi, atque pomeria, dilatare; Antichristum spiritu Oris conficere; Viam denique sternere, ut Shem in textoria Japheti, quasi postliminio, revertatur; per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, in secula sem­piterna benedictum. Amen.