town. The father, being fallen in his estate, came into Casco Bay, in New England, and after some time having occasion to return back to England, left behind him two daughters, comely maidens, and of modest behavior for aught appeared; but not taking that course for their bestowing in his absence, as the care and wisdom of a father should have done, the eldest was left in the house of one Mr. Mitton, a married man, who was soon so captivated with her person and behavior, that he attempted her chastity, which she, not having such strength of virtue to resist as she should, yielded unto, though with much reluctancy of spirit, and, as it was reported, begged of God to be delivered from the temptation, and if ever she were overtaken again, would leave herself to his justice to be made a public example, as indeed it came to pass, for not taking heed to herself, nor minding her promise, she was overtaken the third time with the same sin. But afterwards going into service at Boston and finding herself to have conceived, she was not able to bear the shame of the discovery, (being in so much favor with her mistress also, that she would not allow of the least suspicion herself or suggestion of the fear of it from others,) so as she wholly concealed it till the time of her delivery, when she was alone by herself in a dark room, and used violence to destroy the child she had brought forth, a first and a second time before she effected it, and then wrapt it up in her chest for fifteen days, till her master and mistress went on ship board, being bound for England, on which occasion she was put to remove to another house, where she was charged by some that had suspected her before, and now found she had been delivered of a child. She at first denied the fact of murthering it, and said it was stillborn, but upon search it was found in her chest, and being made to touch the face of it before the jury, the blood came fresh thereinto, whereupon she confessed the whole truth. She carried it very penitently in prison, and at the time of her suffering, which gave hopes to the standers-by of the truth of her repentance, justifying God from the first time of her falling into the sin till the last time of her suffering; and

it was very observable, that as she had confessed she § had twice attempted to murther her child before she could effect it, so through the unskilfulness of the executioner, they were forced to turn her off the ladder twice before she could die. Thus the foolishness of the sons and daughters of men makes them choose sin rather than shame, till at last they are covered with shame for their sin. The way of sin is a dangerous path, and the further any pass on therein, the more unable they are to return therefrom, till they descend down to the chambers of death in the pursuit thereof.

In the depth of winter, in the year 1647, in a very tempestuous night, the Fort of Saybrook fell on fire, none knows how, whereby all the buildings within the pallisado were burnt down, with the goods, so as Captain Mason, with his wife and child, could hardly escape. The loss was esteemed at a £1,000, and better. Where the iron is blunt we must use the more strength, and where the matter is so combustible as their dwellings are in New England, we must use the more care to preserve them.

In June, 1648, one Margaret Jones, of Charlestown, was indicted for a witch, and executed' for it. She was proved to have such a malignant touch that whomsoever she touched (man, woman, or child,) with any affection of displeasure, were taken presently with deafness, vomiting, or other violent pains or sickness. Soon after she was executed, a ship riding over against Charlestown, of three hundred tons, having in her hold an hundred and twenty tons of ballast, and eighty horses aboard her for the Barbadoes, was on the sudden observed to roll, as if she would have turned over. The husband of that witch, lately executed, had desired passage in that ship to Barbadoes, which not obtaining, that accident was observed to follow. Notice being given of this to the magistrates then sitting in Court at Boston, a warrant was sent to apprehend him, and as the officer was passing therewith over the ferry, one asked if he could not tame the vessel, seeing he could sometimes tame men; he answered, I have that here which, it may be, will tame her and make

1 On June 15th.-H.

her quiet, shewing his warrant, and at the same instant the ship began to stop her motion and swim upright, which had continued rolling after a strange manner about twelve hours, and after Jones was in prison she never moved in that kind any more.

The 11th of January, 1648, an idle fellow that used to go home drunken from Boston to Winnisemet, was often told he would be drowned at last; and that night, passing over the water in a tempestuous time, when he was far in drink, perished in the water by the way. Another that had been aboard ship late on the Saturday night to make merry, and detained over long by the seamen's invitation, the boat turning over upon the ice, he was drowned by the shore, though three seamen waded out. He that was drowned was noted to be of good conversation, and commendable in religion, but only drawn away by idle company. God will be sanctified

of all them that draw near unto him.

Two young persons were drowned about that time in a sad manner, one, a boy of about seven years old, ran down upon the ice towards a boat he saw there with a staff in his hand, but the ice breaking under him the staff kept him up till his sister, of about fourteen years of age, ran down to save her brother, though there were four men at hand, that called to her not to go, being themselves hastening to save him; but she not considering, ran hastily towards the same place, and so drowned both herself and him, being past recovery ere the men could come at him, who might have reached ground with their feet. The parents had no more sons, which made them set their hearts too much upon him, and by their indulgence, as was feared, came to lose him on the sudden. Four more were drowned that winter by adventuring upon the ice. Outward comforts are but crutches, which, when we lean too much upon, God suffers them many times to fail, that we may stay upon himself. It is but just the cisterns should either be broken or dried up, when we forsake the Fountain to depend upon them.

In the year 1647 an epidemical sickness passed through the whole country of New England, both among

Indians, English, French, and Dutch. It began with a cold, and in many was accompanied with a light fever. Such as bled, or used cooling drinks, generally died; such as made use of cordials, and more strengthening, comfortable things, for the most part recovered.

It seems to have spread through the whole coast, at least all the English Plantations in America, for in the Island of Christophers and Barbadoes there died five or six thousand in each of them. Whether it might be called a plague or pestilential fever, physicians must determine. It was accompanied in those islands with a great drought, which burnt up all their potatoes and other fruits, which brought the provisions of New England into great request with them, who before that time had looked upon New England as one of the poorest, most despicable, barren parts of America.1

In October, 1648, some shallops of Ipswich, having been fishing all the summer at Monhiggin, in their way home were intended to put in at Damarill's Cove on a Saturday night, and three of them gat safe into the harbor's mouth before sun-down. They in the fourth shallop were not willing to put forth their oars till it was very late in the afternoon, when they were becalmed, and so it was dark night before they could reach the harbor, the entrance of which they missed, and by that means were overrraked by the surf of the sea and all drowned, four Englishmen and one Indian, and the goods all perished. Their friends called to them to make haste; but the sluggard is wiser in his own eyes, than seven men that can render a reason.

CHAP. LVIII.2

Ecclesiastical affairs in New England, from the year 1646 to 1651.

THE churches in New England had now for some considerable time enjoyed rest and peace, and having had liberty, without adversary or evil occurrent, to model

There is a slight confusion here. According to Winthrop the drought preceded the pestilence.-H. LVII in the MS.-H.

the frame of their churches as near the Apostolical and primitive pattern, as well might be, began to think it now high time to draw up some platform of their discipline and church government, that might be as a foundation for many generations that might be to come; especially at this time they judged it very necessary, when the way, wherein they had hitherto walked, began to be called in question, whether it were of the right stamp, and agreeable to the pattern in the Mount. For this end a bill was presented to the General Court in the year 1646, for calling a Synod to consider of that matter. The magistrates passed the bill, but some of the deputies questioned the power of the Court to require their churches to send their messengers to such a convention, as not being satisfied that any such power was given by Christ to the civil magistrates over the churches in such cases, as also because the main end of the meeting propounded, was for an agreement upon one uniform practice of all the churches, to be commended to the General Court, &c., which seemed to give power either to the Synod or the Court to compel the churches to practise what shall be so established. To this it was answered, that if the magistrate was called of God to maintain the churches within his precincts in purity, peace, and truth, (which is assented unto by all sober men that profess Christianity, else how can he be custos utriusque tabulæ,) then the civil magistrate must have power, upon just occasion, to require the churches to send their messengers to advise in such ecclesiastical matters, whether they concern doctrine or discipline, profession of faith or practice, in point of manners; and further they were answered that the Synod was not to proceed by way of authoritative power, but by way of counsel and advice from the Word of God, and that the Court was at liberty either to establish or disannul such agreement of the Synod as they should see cause, which would put no more into the hands of the Court than it had already by the Word of God and the laws of the country. Thereupon the force of all objections on the other hand was taken away. But in tender respect to such as were not yet fully satisfied in the point,