fluence, the laws against blasphemy, Sabbath breaking, want of respect to ministers and church ordinances, and kindred offences, were sufficiently severe. Like Paul, the priest magnified his office; and the audacious wight who ventured to cast opprobrium on the anointed, could not hope to escape unpunished. The following are taken from among a multitude of similar instances:

"fforasmuch as ye open contempt of God's word and messeng's thereof is ye desolating sinn of civil states & churches, & yt ye raching of ye word by those whom God doth send is ye cheife ordinary meanes ordained of God for ye converting, edifying and saving ye soules of ye elect,

* It is therefore ordred & decreed, yt if any christian, so called, wthin y jurisdiction shall contemptuously behave himselfe toward ye word preached, or ye messeng's thereof, * or, like a sonn of Corah, cast upon his true doctrine or himselfe any reproach, to ye. dishonor of y Lord Jesus who hath sent him, & to ye dispagmt of yt his holy ordinance, making God's wayes contemptible & ridicu los, yt evry such Pson or sons shall for ye first scandole be convented and reved openly by ye matrats;

and if a second time they break forth into ye like contemptuous carriages, either to pay 51. to ye publicke treasury, or to stand two houres openly upon a block, 4 foote high, on a lecture day, wth a pa fixed on his breast, wth this: A WANTON GOSPELLER, written in capital lett's; yt others may fear & be ashamed of breaking out into the like wickedness."-Vol. 2. 156. 1646.

We should think such a discipline might be an excellent corrective for the prevailing levity and irreligion of our own times. Imagine the block, “4 foote high," yet standing by the Old South Church, and the modern scoffer, infidel or reformer doing penance thereon, in view of the throngs of Washington street!

"Mr. Ambros Marten for calling the church Covenant a stinking Carryon & a humane invention, & saying hee wondered at gods patience, feared it would end in the sharpe, & said the ministers did dethrone christ & set up themselves; he was fined 107. & counselled to go to Mr. Mather to bee instructed by him."-Vol. 1. 240.

1638.

The various phrases by which men have endeavored to express the idea of gradual diminution, will all have to yield to that of "ending in the sharpe." It must be allowed that the sturdy heretic spoke good idiomatic Saxon. There was a refined cruelty in his sentence, however salutary it might prove in the end; to send him for instruction to Mr. Mather, the very chief of the class whom he con

"Whereas the Court and Jury did not agree in Crosmans Case, who is now a prisonor for blasphemy, and so it Necessarylie Coming to this Court to be determined, the Court on a full hearinge of the Case uppon the evidence given in, doe Order & determine as follows: viz', that the sd Crosman be severely whipt in open market place, & Imediately after to be burnt in his forehead with the letter: B: and after to be banished for ever out of or Jurisdiction."-Vol. 2. 328. 1651.

A "Scarlet Letter" one would not wish to wear!

"Steven Greensmyth for affirming that all the mir (except Mr. Cotton, Mr. Wheelright & hee thought Mr. Hooker), did teach a Covenant of works, was for a time Comited to the marshall, & after enioyned to make acknowledgment, * and was fined 40l. and standeth bound in 1007. till this bee done."-Vol. 1. 187. 1636.

66 The Corte thinke it convenient vt order be given to ye Auditor to send 12 gallons of sack & 6 gallons of white wine, as a small testimony of ye Corts respect, to yt rev'end Assembly of Eld's at Cambridge."—vol. 2.

much as may be fit, for their needfull use or refreshing."-Vol. 2. 66. 1644.

But religion did not claim the exclusive veneration of the age. Such pains were not taken to support one section of the arch alone; rising from the same plane, the State inclined in equal curve toward the Church, and, meeting it, gave and received support. The Magistracy was surrounded with an outward state that now seems impossible in an elective government. The very halberdiers, who preceded the Governor on public occasions, were more reverenced than the Governor himself is now. Merchants and men of wealth were not the important personages they have since become. The aristocracy of birth was not extinct; the aristocracy of wealth had not arisen. The Lawyers, who have managed latterly to engross nearly all the places of honor or profit, were then rather more moderately esteemed. It seems indeed to have been a matter of special reproach to one of the early magnates that he had been an "Atturney."

"It is ordered that Thomas Dexter shalbe set in the bilbowse, disfranchized & ffined XL., for speakeing re Pehfull & seditious words against the Gou'm here established, & findeing fault to dyv's wh the acts of the Court, sayeing this captious gou'mt will bring all to naught,' adding, that 'the best of them was but an Atturney.'"-Vol. 1. 96. 1632.

"It is ordered that John Lee shalbe whipt & ffined, for calling Mr. Ludlowe false hearted knave, and hard-hearted knave, heavy ffriend."-Vol. 1. 111. 1634.

"It is ordered that John Lee shalbe whipt and ffyned XLI. for speakeing re Pehfully of the Gou'n', sayeing, 'hee was but a Lawers clerke, & what understanding hadd hee more than himselfe?' also, taxeing the Court for makeing lawes to pick men's purses, as also for abusing a mayde of the Gou'n', pretending love in the way of marriage, when himselfe professes hee intended none, as also for intiseing her to goe with him into the corne feild."-Vol. 1. 133. 1634.

John seems to have been ambitious of filling a whole criminal's calendar alone. However venial his rage against "ye worshipfull matrats "9 have been, yet, in may view of his perfidy to the "mayde" whose ear he beguiled, we must deem him most justly punished.

"Capt. John Stone for his outrage comitted in confronting authority, abuseing Mr. Ludlowe both in words and behavour, assalting him, and calling him a iust as &c, is ffined Cl. & Phibited comeing within this Pattent wthout leave from the Gou'm', under the penalty of Death."-Vol. 1. 103.

1633.

We should have felt some sympathy for the Captain under his fine (equivalent to at least $1500. now), had it not been for the very poor pun in which he vented his anger; but "Just-ass!"-no, "'tis tolerable and not to be endured."

"It is ordered that Ensigne Jennison shal be ffyned the some of XXI., for upbraydeing the Court with Iniustice, uttering theis words, I pray god deliver mee from this Court,' professing hee hadd wayted from Court to court, & could not have iustice done him."-Vol. 1. 133. 1634.

We suspect that if all the weary suitors in modern courts were called to account for similar ebullitions of impatience, their Honors, the Judges, would have plenty to do.

"It is ordred yt Edm° Bridges, for his neglect of shooing Mr. Symonds horse (when he was to come to Corte,) should be required by warrant from this Corte to answere this complaint & his neglect to further publike service, at ye next County Corte," &c.-Vol. 2. 170. 1647.

"Rich'd Cluffe, for saying, 'shall I pay 12d. for the fragments wh the grandiury roages have left?' hee was bound to his good behavior. & fined three pounds, sixe shillings & eight pence, weh was discounted by Mr. Rob't Saltonstall, upon account." - Vol. 1. 284. 1640.

The laws forbade innkeepers charging more than twelve pence for a meal; so, of course, they never charged less. It would appear that Cluffe was so unfortunate as to come to dinner after the Grand Jury; and, finding the fragments altogether unsatisfactory, demurred to the landlord's bill. He might have come off easily if he had expressed himself circumspectly, for the Puritan did not dislike the spirit that resisted imposition; but to allow the Grand Jury to be called "roages,” was not to be thought of.

"Thomas Starr, being accused for speaking against the order of Court about swine, and the same Pred that hee said 'the law was against gods law, and hee would not obey it': so hee was comited, and enioyned to acknowledg his fault the 14th, at the gen' all Court, and was fined 207., and to give security for his fine, or pay the same before his releasement.'-Vol. 1. 215. 1637. O. S.

The higher law is here plumply avowed, and the fugitive swine law trampled upon. The doctrine of the harmony of law with ethics is as old as the race. Each age

imagines the conflicts which arise between its idea of the Right and the exist ing institutions and laws, to be new, and that great principles are for ever settled in the encounter. But, truly, we move in a circle; and, notwithstanding the substan

tial progress of civilization, there is still a sense in which it may be said, there is nothing new under the sun. The philosopher of a century hence will puzzle over some of the problems of to-day, precisely as though Emerson, Fourier, Parker and Brownson had never existed.

The Magistrates of the Bay received no compensation for many years; never more than enough to pay travelling expenses. Tea Rooms, Contingent Expenses, and other plausible modes of covering appropriations for personal comforts, had not then been invented. They did not know how to derive revenue from the sale of ferry slips, for the only profitable ferry right was given to aid the infant college at Cambridge. They could not expect a percentage on land sales, for to the settler,

"The world was all before him where to choose." They took nothing from paving contracts, for if the stumps were dug up, and the boulders rolled out of the road, it was all the hard-working pioneers could accomplish. Even then some towns were sharply enjoined to "mend their ways" many times before they obeyed. But, after sixteen years' service, the members of the Court ventured to ask in foro conscientiæ for reasonable pay; and they intimated that it was nothing less than the religious duty of the governed. We insert the application of the Deputies, similar to that of the Magistrates, made at the same session; and only regret that neither were of any avail. The people, doubtless, thought the honor of office to be its proper and sufficient reward.

"It is ordred that it shall & may be lawfull for ye Deputies of this howse to aduise & consultt wth theire Elders & ffreemen, whoe are desired to take it into serious consideraçon, whether God doe not expect that all ye inhabitants of this Colony alowe, as to theire magt, soe to all other y1 are called to Country service, porçonable alowance & mayntenance answerable to theire seu'all places & imploymts, annually or otherwise, & uppon wt grounds; & they are further desired to send in their thoughts & determinaçons in wrighteinge at ye next gen'all Courte."-Vol. 3. 1644.

In criminal proceedings the Court exercised unlimited power. From blasphemy and heresy down to petty larceny or breaches of the sumptuary laws, every offence was dealt with; and where positive statutes were wanting, the laws of Moses were ready to supply the deficiency. Often the prisoner, against whom a case could not be clearly made out, was either punished for an offence of a minor grade, or dismissed under bonds, or with a reprimand. Thus

"John Davies for his grosse offences in attempting lewdnes wth divers woomen, was sentenced to bee severely whiped both heare and at Ipswich, & to weare the letter V upon his breast upon his uppermost garment until the court do discharge him." -Vol. 1. 238. 1638. O. S.

"Robte Coles is fined VI. & enioyned to stand wh a white sheete of pa on his back wherein A DRUNKARD shal be written in greate l'res & to stand therewh soe long as the Court thinks meete, for abuseing himselfe shamefully wth drinke ** oth misdemean"."-Vol. 1. 102. 1633.

&

This sentence, as might have been expected, produced only a temporary effect; for, but a short time after, we find him again before the Court, when the following order was passed.

"It is ordered that Robte Coles, for drunkenes by him comitted att Roxbury, shalbe disfranchized, weare about his necke & so to hange upon his outward garmt, a D made of redd cloath & sett upon white, to contynue this for a yeare, and not to leave it of att any tyme when hee comes amongst company, under penalty," &c.—Vol. 1. 108.

1633.

One Richard Wilson, a servant, for theft was sentenced to three years additional service, and to wear a T upon his outer garment.

Sometimes the punishments were yet more whimsical. Witness the following, upon one of the officers of the Fort.

"It is ordered that Srieant Perkins shall carry 40 turfs to the ffort, as a punishmt for drunkenes by him comitted."-Vol. 1. 103.

1633.

"Edward Palmer, for his extortion, takeing £1. 13s. 7d. for the plank wood work of Boston stocks, is fined 57. & censured to bee set an houre in the stocks."-Vol. 1. 250. 1639.

One feels a sort of satisfaction in this sentence;

"For 'tis the sport, to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard."

The common penalty for swearing or railing was putting the offender's tongue in a cleft stick; a very painful as well as humiliating punishment.-Thus:

"Elisabeth, the wife of Thomas Aplegate, was censured to stand wth her tongue in a cleft stick, for swearing, railing and revileing."-Vol. 1. 178. 1636.

"Robert Shorthose, for swearing by the bloud of God, was sentenced to have his tongue put into a cleft stick, and to stand so by the space of haulfe an houre."-Vol. 1. 178. 1636.

It is to be lamented that modern innovations have rendered it so difficult to visit medical quackery with the punishment it deserves. The newspapers are so burdened with the advertisements of drugmongers, that a foreigner might reasonably suppose that Americans breakfast upon pills, take lotions instead of baths, bitters for juleps, and after dinner fortify against indigestion with "pepsin." Our fathers, good men, did not let empirics throw children into epilepsy, nor sell molasses-and-water for sarsaparilla, with impunity; e. g.

"Nich: Knopp is fyned Vl., for takeing upon him to cure the scurvey by a water of noe worth nor value, which he solde att a very dear rate, to be imprisoned till hee pay his ffyne or give securytie for it, or els to be whipped, and shalbe lyable to any mans acçon of whome hee hath receaued money for the sd. water."-Vol. 1. 67. 1630.

The distinctions in society, as before intimated, were somewhat broadly marked. At a later period, it was customary in every congregation to have the seats in the meeting-house assigned once a year to the people according to their rank; this was termed "seating the meeting." Magistrates and others in official station, the military, and persons of good families or estates, were scrupulously designated by their appropriate titles. We insert some of the names of the officers chosen in 1646; a random specimen..

"John Winthrop, sen. Esqr, Gou'n'
Thomas Dudley, Esq, Dept Gou'n'
John Endecott, Esq, Assistant.
Herbert Pelham, Esq, Assistant.
Increase Nowell, gent, Assistant and Se-
cretary.

Wm. Pinchon, gent, Assistant.
Mr. Rich: Russell, Treasurer.

Capt. Wm. Hauthorne is chosen speaker of the howse of Deput for this session."vol. 3. 63. 1646.

The names of HAWTHORNE and PYNCHON will be at once linked together in the reader's mind. The ancestor of our most gifted novelist, and the founder of the family whose name is preserved in the "House of Seven Gables," could hardly have dreamed of the tie that has since joined them so indissolubly.

The appellation "Mr." though not the highest, was still a very respectable one.

A curious instance occurs where the deprivation of this prefix was considered a sufficient punishment for theft; while the accessories, who were of the lower class, having neither dignity to lose, nor money to atone for their crime, had to submit their backs to the constable's whip. Though it has been printed before, (Hutchinson's Hist. Mass.,) it may not be amiss to insert it here.

"It is ordered that Josias Plastowe shall (for stealing 4 basketts of corne from the Indians) returne them 8 basketts againe, be ffined VI. and hereafter to be called by the name of Josias, and not Mr. as form'ly hee used to be, and that Willam Buckland and Tho: Andrewe shalbe whipped for being accessary to the same offence."Vol. 1. 83. 1631.

The most respectful term which could be applied to the untitled was, "Goodman," or "Goodwife;" in the latter generally abbreviated to "Goody."-very suggestive of red cloaks, broom-handles, and other appliances of witchcraft. Thus:

66

Gooddy ffinch was censured to bee severely whiped to morrow, and so kept in prison."-Vol. 1. 282. 1640.

A variety of admonitions, sentences, &c., are given, to illustrate more fully the minute surveillance exercised in regard to morals and manners.

"John Stone and his wife were admonished to make biger bread, and to take heede of offending by makeing too little bread hereafter."-Vol. 1. 265. 1639.

"Willi Wake was counselled to go whom to his wife, and upon his mise so to do, his repentance and testimony of his good behavior hee was discharged."-Vol. 1. 294.

1640.

"Rich'd Hollingsworth, for prophaning the saboth in travelling, was censured to bee set in the stocks upon a lecture day at Salem."-Vol. 1. 237. 1637.

"Benjamin Hubberd was also solemly admonished of his failing for being in company wh James Browne and the rest, and often drinking of the strong water bottle wth them, and not reving them."-Vol. 1. 198. 1637.

"James Davies, for his unquietness wh his wife, was enioyned to appear at the next Court of Assistants."-Vol. 1. 282. 1640.

"Thomas Makepeace, because of his novile disposition, was informed, wee were weary of him unlesse he reforme.”—Vol. 1. 240. 1638.

"Ezekiel Holliman, appearing upon sumons, because hee did not frequent the publike assemblyes, and for seduceing many, hee was referd by the Court to the ministers for conviction."-Vol. 1. 216. 1687.

The Court, with commendable liberality, were unwilling that a forsaken woman should always remain in widowhood. In

the following instance, one would think the period quite long enough.

66

"Mri Dorothy Pester, whose husband went into England some ten yeares since, and was never to this day heard of, uppon her petition to this Court, hath liberty granted her to marry when God by his vidence shall afford her an Oppertunitie.”— Vol. 3. 352. 1652.

Whether the patient Dorothy everfound her “Oppertunitie," the records do not tell.

Daniel Fairfield, a notorious offender against morality, was most severely, and (if mutilation were ever justifiable) most justly punished by whipping, slitting his nose, &c. He likewise wore a rope two or three feet long round his neck for several years. His wife, with a forgiving affection which even the wretched husband must have wondered at, petitioned the Court, session after session, for permission to drop the ignominious badge; and, at last, having been successful in that, she asked and obtained leave to emigrate. This is the answer of the Court:

"Upon the petition of Elisa: ffairefeild, it is granted that her husband, she & their children [may] depart out of this Jurisdietion unto such other parts of the world as it shall please God to dispose.”—Vol. 2. 232.

1649.

The curtness of this license would indicate that the magistrates were quite as well pleased with the departure as the heart-sick woman herself.

The extreme severity with which the laws were executed at first seems to have relaxed somewhat about 1653. Among the more zealous religionists, the lamentations for the decline of piety were loud and frequent. At length the General Court took up the matter, and referred the whole subject of the dissoluteness of the times to a special committee, with instructions to present a plan for thorough reformation. A long report was made by the committee, and is now on file, Mass. Archives, vol. 10., fol. 338. 1654. It recommends reform under fourteen distinct heads. The preamble reads thus:

"Concearning many Evells growing amongst us of sundry kinds, we conceaue ye Lord calls us to soleme and serious humilliation, y euells may be discouered and pvented, ye lord therin appearing eying the many mercyes wee haue receued, and our unsutableness thereunto."

Among the subjects specially mentioned, are, Fasts, public and private, more liberal support of the Ministry, a House of Correction for the idle and dissolute, punishment of aggressive heretics, pirates, slanderers, and the improvement of schools. VOL. II.-10

Three items of the proposed great reformation we subjoin:

"8. Wheras much Grieff lyeth on ye spirits of many godly, & much dishonor redounds unto God, by sleepinesse of sons, in ye publique ordinances of Christ, wee conceaue it meet from this Court bee declared, yt It is ye duty of such sons, who, while ye ordinances of Christ are dispensing, shal sit neere such sons, to awaken ym, and, In case they shai bee offended, to Admonish ym priuatly. If, notwithstanding, they shall Psist therin versely, ya to Complagne of ym to ye magistrat or commission or Townsmen of yt Towne, who are sharply to admonish ym. This order to bee publiquely posted In some open place of ye meetinghouse by ye Constable of yt Towne."

"9. That, In all Elections wherein ffreemen and non ffreemen voat, Its conceaued meet yt, whereas Scotch, seruants, Irish, negers, and sons under one and twenty years have liberty to voate, y ffreemen who undergoe all ye burdens of this Com'welth should haue a double voate."

10. This Court considering ye Cruel and malignant spirrit yt haue from tyme to tyme been manifest in ye Irish Nation against ye English, doe hereby declare thyr Phibition of any Irish men, women or childrens being brought Into this Jurisdiction" &c.

At a later period, when a series of calamities overtook the Colony, communications came in from the country expressing very great concern at what were considered evident marks of the Divine displeasure. Whereupon a committee was formally appointed to consider the subject, and "to inquire into the causes of God's wrath!" The matter is too long and wordy to be quoted here.

It has been imagined by some that the Puritans, from their stern treatment of idleness and vice, were deficient in charity to the poor. But this was far from the fact. The unfortunate, whether from sickness or accident, never applied to the Court for aid in vain. The benefactions of that day were in far greater proportion to the slender resources of the colony, than are our boasted charities to the immense wealth we have accumulated. Nor were the recipients of charity herded like animals or criminals, and left to die without the presence of a friend to cheer the last moments of life. The order following, of which there are many parallels, will show the fact we have stated, as well as the simplicity of the times:

"It was ordered that Alexander Beck should have 24 bushels of corne for Mary Joanes for the time past, & for the time to come, a bushell of corne a weeke, & to have two blankets & a rug to keepe her warme."-Vol. 1. 295. 1640.