Chapter 9 - Portsmouth (continued--Mason Claims, Clergymen, Moodey) from History of Rockingham County, NH
From: Ida Ransom - iransom@earthling.net

Source:  History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens
          by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915

Page 121 
                                     CHAPTER IX
                              PORTSMOUTH -- (Continued)

   The Mason Claims -- Theological Movements -- Early Clergymen -- Cranfield
     and Moodey -- Imprisonment of Moodey -- Mr. Moodey's Interest in Har--
       vard College -- His Death -- The Ministry of Rogers -- The Half-way
                                   Covenant.

     Mason Claims.-- During all this period, to the government of which we
have briefly referred, and even to a much later date, the petitions and efforts
of the Mason heirs were fruitful of the most constant and serious disturb-
ance to the province, and of course with a legal if not an equity claim.  In
1681 we find a petition, signed by most of the prominent settlers, setting forth
that "the great matter of difficulty now amongst us is referring to Mr. Mason's
pretensions to the propriety of the lands we possesse, some countenance to
his clayme whereunto he hath gotten in yor Majtys Commission under the
broad Seal, which we cannot but thinke has been by inderect meanes and
untrue informations (in wch he abounds) obtained.  Wee are informed yt 
he has no authority, Authentique, Originall, or Duplycate, of any grant for
thc soyle, nor hath he in any measure attended the scope of such grant (if
any such had been made to him), viz.: the peopling of the place and enlarg-
ing yor Majtys Dominions, both which have been vigorously attended by
the present Inhabitants.  The vast expense of estate is mostly if not merely
a pretence.  An house was built in this province, but the disbursements laid
out were chiefly in the Neighbouring Province of Meyn, on the other side
of the River, and for carrying on an Indian Trade in Laconia, in all wch
his grandfather was but a partner, however he would appear amongst us as
sole proprietor."  The petition states at length how Mason has tried to
substantiate his claims by the signatures of persons of no influence or account
in the province, and adds, "These subscribers are the generality of the whole
province, yt are householders and men of any principles, port, or estate."
     This is met by a counter petition from Mason, requesting all the acts of
the governor and company of the Massachusetts Bay to be declared void
and illegal. and that "the petitioner, may not be any longer kept out of his
inheritance by the continuance and practices of evill minded men,"
     After Cranfield assumed the government here and had looked into this
disturbing element, we find him writing that "Mr. Mason hath much mis-
represented ye whole matter, both as to ye place and people.  * * *   In-
stead of being ready to own Mr. Mason as their Proprietor, they are very

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slow to admit of any person except their Sovereign Lord, the King, to be
their Lord Proprietor."  In the same paper he adds, "Touching Ecclesiastical
Matters, the attempting to settle ye way of ye Church of England, I per-
ceive will be very grievous to the people,   However, Mr. Mason asserted yt
their Inclinations were mch yt way.  I have observed them to be very dili-
gent and devout in attending on yt mode of worship wch they have been
brought up in, and hath been so long settled among them, and seem to be
very tenacious of it, and am very thankful for His Majties gracious In--
dulgence in those matters."
     In 1691, Robert Tufton Mason, to whom the estate of his brother, John
Tufton Mason, had descended, sold his whole claim in the province of New
Hampshire to a merchant in London, Samuel Allen, for the sum of seven
hundred and fifty pounds, a paltry sum after the statements of expenditures
and the prosperity of the colony, or a proof that the confidence in his legal
claim or the hope of recovering anything had nearly vanished.  One of the
chief reasons for Usher's unpopularity was his attempt immediately upon
arriving to secure into his own "possession all the papers relating to the
Mason claims.  For some time, through the determined opposition of
Pickering, a man very prominent in the early history of the settlement in
both church and state, he was prevented, and at last after succeeding, and
after many discussions and legal attempts, a peaceful solution of the long
standing contention was about reached when Allen died and his son carried
on the strife.  Again, in 1746, John Tuftbn Mason, still claiming a title to
the realm "of New Hampshire, sold it in fifteen shares to twelve persons
prominent in the province, who at once released to all the towns the lands
which came under the old grants, and Mason's claim forever fell asleep.
Two or three conclusions are evident from a careful review of the whole
matter, -- that Mason was not the original founder of this colony, but the
one who carried on the original settlement by Thomson to a successful issue;
that he was one who by a long and generous interest showed his unwearied
faith in its final success; that he doubtless spent large sums upon this colony
without any encouraging returns; that after the settlement was by his heirs
for a long time abandoned there is every reason to suppose the wages of his
colonists and their labors to build up the province fairly entitled them to
most of the possessions here, and that most of the claims made by succeed-
ing generations of heirs were manifestly exorbitant and unjust. But, on
the contrary, when in "Notes on an Indenture of David Thomson and
others," recently recovered among the papers of the Winthrop family, it is
said, "New Hampshire has but little cause to cherish his (Mason's) memory;
and he would probably have been forgotten but for the accidental revival
of his name by the claims of his heirs, who used them as an instrument to
annoy and perplex the settlers on the soil, who had acquired a right to their
homesteads and farms by long undisturbed possession,"  we think we find
here the old spirit of the Massachusetts to belittle the character of  the
settlers at the Piscataqua, for there is no reason to suppose that Mason was
not an honorable, loyal, generous, and good man.
     Theological Movements.-- The change in the Piscataqua from Episco-
pacy to Puritanism, was made during one of the most excited ecclesiastical
periods in history.

Page 123

     The turbulence and bitter personalities which filled all England, both
in church and state, are equaled but two or three times in history.
Now it was at the very culmination of these troubles that our settle-
ments were made, the Bay Colony by the Puritans, Maine and New Hamp-
shire, the Piscataqua by the adherents of the Established Churches. The
first chapel on Pleasant Street was built, and Richard Gibson, the first min-
ister of the Piscataqua parish, preached in it the very year (1638) that
Episcopacy was abolished in England, and the glebe with its chapel and
parsonage was given by the inhabitants to the wardens and their successors
forever, just on the eve of the civil war in England.  Can anyone at all
acquainted with the bitterness of party feeling, either in politics or theology,
fail to see a sufficient explanation of the constantly repeated charges against
the Piscataqua settlement that it was begun and carried on simply in the
interests of trade, and by men who had no religion, for to the Puritans
Episcopacy was no religion?  On the other hand, does not the same height
of party feeling lead us to suppose that the supporters of the Established
Church at this point did everything with reference to its perpetuity, if for
no other reason because it was, even though weak, an open testimony to their
cause in the very face of Puritanism?  No one can wish to question the
purity of life or the praiseworthy sacrifices of many of the Puritans, or
that the first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was made singly in the
interests of religious liberty; but the spirit of colonization at that time per-
vaded all classes about alike, and. the character of the various settlements
soon became much the same.
     The settlements along the Maine coast and at Piscataqua were strictly
in the interests of the Established Church; and without making any claims
for the special godliness of their members, the testimony is ample that
though the kind of religion was different from the Bay Colony, there was
just as much interest in the kind.  When the expedition under Popham
reached the Maine coast in 1607, as soon as they land they listen to a
sermon from their preacher, Richard Seymour, and as soon as they dis-
embark they build a church.
     It is easy to see, therefore, that all the heat of ecclesiastical troubles in
the old country was reproduced in these neighboring settlements.  The ques-
tion then arises,  How did the Episcopal parish here pass so rapidly and
completely under the control of the Puritans?  The solution is not afar.
In the first place, as in the Bay Colony some elements of Episcopacy appear,
so there were doubtless some of Puritanism already here from the begin-
ning.  Next, with the greater influence and fear of the Massachusetts colony,
all her efforts were directed towards hastening the supremacy of Puritanism.
We find a record that a merchant of London writes to John Winthrop, Jr.,
"there are honest men about to buye out the Bristoll men's plantations on
Piscataqua, and doe propose to plant there five hundred poor people;" and
a little later Bristol merchants who had bought the patents of Edward Hilton
sell them to purchasers by the encouragement of Massachusetts.  "in respect
they feared some ill neighborhood from them;" whereupon one of the Puri--
tan historians writes; "As these new proprietors were of Puritan preferences
and principles, such a consideration must have been very welcome to the

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Bay authorities, who naturally wished to be surrounded by those who labored
for the same great cause of reformation."
     To the ecclesiastical enmity which separated the colonies at the Bay and
at the Piscataqua there must be added a political animosity also, arising from
the feeling on the part of some that the Bay Colony had assumed here a
jurisdiction which never justly belonged to it, a feeling which seems to have
remained deep-seated and active even to the time of the appointment of the
first governor of the separate province of New Hampshire.
     In 1664 the king appointed commissioners to visit all these colonies and
collect testimony in regard to the many complaints which had reached the
court. The appointment of it created great opposition by the Bay Colony,
and great consternation at the Piscataqua.  The religious and political dif-
ferences ran so high that the commissioners found hard work and ill treat-
ment awaiting them.  John and Richard Cutt, who seem to be the leading
selectmen of Portsmouth, sent a messenger post-haste to Boston for advice,
saying that although "our people the five to one are in their hearts for the
Bay, yet they have fears that the king's commissioners will gradually take
advantage upon us by secret seducing the ignorant and ill affected, then will
openly prevail with the rest;"  but when the commissioners came and held
their meeting at Portsmouth, one Henry Sherborne (the same who was a
church warden), when it was demanded who would be under the immediate
government of the king and renounce the Massachusetts, "the sayd Henry
Sherborn sayd, `one and all for the King,' or in words to that effect."
     Such are the incidents which reveal to an impartial consideration the
true condition of the colony, its various divisions, its theological and political
excitement, and its personal animosities.
     In the light of this historical sketch we find then a far safer and more
sufficient explanation of the early matters of our settlement than it has
been customary to give.  All the charges that it was made only in the in-
terests of trade, and that it was wholly irreligious, or as Winthrop says.
that it was the usual manner (some of them) of the colonists here to coun-
tenance all such lewd persons as fled from the Bay here, as if our settlement
was composed of that class of persons, fall to the ground.  The accusation
has the common sound and taint of the party feeling which ran at that
time so high.  Many early settlers both at the Bay and here were of the
highest class of colonists who ever left a mother-country, and many were
of that restless nature moved by the numberless motives which fill all new
settlements.  As human beings they were pretty much the same, as wor-
shipers they were widely apart and greatly embittered against each other,
but the settlement at the Piscataqua I have satisfactorily shown was planned
and supported enthusiastically in the interests of Episcopacy.
     In the light of this historical review we find the only true explanation of
another point which has been as steadily misunderstood or misrepresented.
If the first parish and church were Episcopal, how is it that all the services
after the departure of Gibson were by Puritan ministers, and that the chapel,
parsonage, glebe land, and all the appointments for public worship were
transformed with seemingly so little public or long-continued opposition to.
the Puritans?

(Pages 125 and 126 have pictures and are not here reproduced.) 

Page 127

     In the first place we must give up all those suggestions which, if they
did not show themselves as too partisan, would be too absurd, such as that
the forms of the deed were expressed according to the Church of England,
and appropriate church terms were used because no other were at hand;
that the deed was purposely drawn so as to leave the form of worship to
be decided from time to time.  Would anybody have reasoned thus if a
Catholic priest had been chosen, or the glebe land come under the Romanists'
patronage, or that the adherents of the Established Church, in assenting to
the worship they were powerless to prevent, did ever see in the change any
perversion of the original intention and employment of the gift?   We all
well know that churches are never thus indifferently founded, and that the
denominational spirit is not so readily transferred, and does not so readily
die out.   If we could ask Walford and Sherborne, the first wardens, or
any of the little congregation of churchmen who, in that little log chapel
on Pleasant Street, saw the Puritan minister, Parker, officiate in the winter
of 1642 without robes, and without the Book of Common Prayer, whether
there was in that any perversion of the provisions for the maintenance of a
church, can there be any doubt what their reply would be?
     The parish had been gathered, the chapel and parsonage built, and the
glebe land set apart with no other thought than that the worship according
to the Established Church of England would be perpetual in the Piscataqua
settlement, but the proprietors and supporters of the .settlement died, and
their estates came into new hands.  Some of the leading churchmen of the
colony went elsewhere or died, and of course many of the settlers were as
willing to support the worship of one church as another, and some were
earnest for Puritanism.  he Bay Colony, as we have seen, was far more
populous and prosperous, and even reached as far as England to see that
their neighboring settlers were of the same faith.  The jurisdiction of
Massachusetts was established over the Piscataqua settlement just at that
time, and the very year the chapel was built Episcopacy was abolished in
England.  If all the records which a sectarian zeal made way with were
extant, we should doubtless find more open opposition to the rule and wor-
ship of the Puritans than we do, but the Episcopalians could no longer
support public services, and their numbers were soon almost lost in the
rapid increase of Puritans.   In secret, without a doubt, they trusted that
the Established Church would soon be triumphant, the combination with
Massachusetts be dissolved, and the king confirm to them all the rights of
their chapel and worship.  That time never came.  It remained for them to
worship in their own chapel under other forms or to have no public worship
at all.   They did the former, and even Sherborne himself became much
interested in subsequent ministrations of the South Parish, and in the build-
ing of the Second Church. 
     The Puritans, too, could not as I see have done or been expected to do
otherwise.  There was the unused Chapel and parsonage and glebe land;
perhaps no one thought of objecting to their worshiping in it.  When Sunday
came round, as a company of travelers in distant lands and of divers faiths,
they were all glad of some kind of worship, and went to what they had.  As
to their appropriating it as their own thereafter, that was what either side

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was doing to the other whenever it could during that long period of eccle-
siastical anarchy, and justice from one bitterly excited sect towards another
is something which is still remanded to a Sunday's meditation rather than
to the consideration of a parish meeting.
     I find not so much fault with what the Puritans did at the time as their
explanations of it afterwards, when a calmer survey of history, or a little
meditation upon the golden rule, ought to have taught them better, not so
much with what they did in the heat of theological warfare as what they
attempted to justify in the calm of Christian worship.
     With the departure of Gibson in 1642 the public services of Episcopacy
In the Piscataqua settlement came to an end.  We shall find that it was
almost precisely a century before they were again opened, but not so as to
have any historical associations with the first parish and chapel of their
faith on Pleasant Street; all the worshipers there had become a part of the
South Parish, and yet it is but a fair concession to the tenacity with which
we know persons hold to their inherited or adopted faith to regard it as
quite probable that during that century Episcopacy did not quite die out
among the descendants of the early worshipers.
     The most important incidents in the recorded history of this settlement
now follow for a time the two or three principal pastorates.   Joshua Moodey
began his ministrations in the year 1658, and the next year was regularly
settled as the minister of the town. He was born in Wales in 1632, and
brought by his father to this country the following year.  The family lived
for a time at Ipswich, and removed to Newbury in 1635.   Mr. Moodey
graduated at Harvard in 1653, and began the study of theology.   He preached
in the new meeting-house in Portsmouth with so much approval that a sub-
scription was taken for his maintenance for a year, and then he was called
to be the minister, yet such was the division of sentiment on account of
Puritanism and Episcopacy, preventing any permanent and harmonious
action, that he was minister of the town for twelve years before a church,
meaning thereby a body of communicants, was gathered.  The Episcopal
element, though small, was so important and influential that in regard to
all matters pertaining to the minister's support it had to be regarded, and it
persistently opposed everything which tended to the strict organization of
Puritanism.  The history of the formation of the church is still plainly pre-
served in Mr. Moodey's own handwriting in "A Book Containing Ye Min-
utes on Ye Church of Christ in Portsmouth, Anno., 1671."

                                                  "PORTSMOUTH, N. E., Anno 1671.
     "After many serious endeavors wch had been used by ye then minister of
ye place (since the pastor of ye Church there) in publig, & by severall of
ye Inhabitants in Private; ye Lord (without whose presence and Blessing
man builds but in vaine) was pleased at length to lay ye foundation of an
House for himself in this place, of ye Beginning and progress whereof here
follows a brief but true account.   In ye winter of ye foregoing year [viz.,
1670] there were severall meetings together of ye minister with sev'll of
ye Inhabitants (who were members of other congregations) in ye country
& by providence settled Inhabitants in Portsmo', to discourse and confer

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about ye greate worke and necessary Duty of entering into Church Fellow-
ship, yt themselves might enjoy all ye ordinances of ye Lord's House, &
theyr little ones also might be laid near God's Altars, and brought up under
ye Instruction & Discipline of his House.  Nor could they yt were members
of other churches any longer satisfy themselves to live without ye enjoy-
ment of those edifying & strengthening ordinances yt theyr soules had in
some measure formerly tasted ye good of, tho' now for some yeares been
kept from; others also, well affected to ye worke, professed theyr longings
after those fatt and marrowed things in God's house, and theyr readiness
t joyne with yue in helping to build if they should be found fitt œor ye
same.
     "Hereupon sev'll assembled in Private & sought ye Lord by fasting &
prayer yt hee would discover to us a right way ( there being many feares
and discouragements before us) for ourselves and little ones (Ezra viii.
21,22, 23), and wee hope wee may say hee was entreated of us, as ye Event
hath in some measure (blessed bee his name) made manifest."
     Then follows an account of private meetings, which were continued
several days, to discuss the subject and arrange the conditions of church
membership; meetings of inquiry as to relations of one to another, so that
they could freely unite in the same society; of consent to several sermons
delivered by Mr. Moodey upon the subject in the latter part of 1670 and
beginning of 1671; of a committee appointed to "acquaint the Civill"
authority of their purpose; of an invitation sent to other churches ; of their
attendance with the civil authority; of a sermon by the pastor, and the
ordination of the pastor by several of the elders, and of the ordination of a
deacon by imposition of hands and prayer.
     The nine persons who were embodied and formed the first communicants
were Joshua Moodey, Mr. John "Cutt, Mr. Richard Cutt, Elias Stileman,
Mr. R. Martyn, James Pendleton, Samuel Haines, Mr. John Fletcher, and
John Tucker.  So widely were they scattered that Stileman was from New
Castle, and Haines from Great Bay, at Greenland.
     Cranfield and Moodey. -- It seems from the language of Cranfield's com-
mission that one of the principal objects of his appointment was to settle
the serious difficulty constantly reappearing in the colony in regard to the
claims of the heirs of Mason.  His descendants, under the lead of Robert
Mason, Esq., one of Cranfield's council, came to reassert their right to
most of the land here, which had been greatly improved, and the titles to
which having been derived from the government of Massachusetts Bay, the
judges in England had set aside.  The most serious disturbances the colony
had yet known now began.  Cranfield's residence was at Great Island, now
New Castle, where a number of the leading colonists lived.   Of course,
Cranfield and Mason became at once objects of bitter hostility to all the
settlers, who, without any or with no good legal titles, began to fear the
loss of their possessions. The home government had decided that on account
of great expenses which the ancestors of this Robert Mason had incurred
upon their grant of land at the Piscataqua he had a claim upon the estates
here.  Mason agreed with the home government to demand nothing for
the time past, nor molest anyone in the time to come, provided the tenants

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would pay him sixpence on the pound on a just and truly yearly value of 
all their estates.  If no settlement could be made upon these terms, the cases
were to be sent to England for decision.  It is easy to see the tumult into
which the colony was thrown, it being determined almost unanimously that
the claims of Mason would not be satisfied.  Each house became the seat of
a secret conspiracy.  All conversation was abut the claims of Mason and
the unpopular governor at Great Island. The result of it was that Cranfield
could not settle the difficulties, adjust the claims, nor resist the wide-spread
opposition, nor, as it has generally been represented, obtain any personal
advantages from the office.  Complaints were made against him, and
listened to by the government, that he had attempted to settle himself cases
which ought to have been sent to England, and he left the province in 1685.
Whether it was because Cranfield was sincerely desirous to favor the Estab-
lished Church, or whether he used this plea to cover up plans for self-
aggrandizement, or whether it was because the Rev. Mr. Moodey, as one
of the most influential men of the settlement, was in the way of his success,
Governor Cranfield soon came to an open rupture with Mr. Moodey.  A
ministry of twenty-four years at the time Governor Cranfield came, and
steadily increasing in favor and influence, had given to Mr. Moodey a sway
in all local as well as parish matters which could not easily or safely be
disputed, and that Mr. Moodey was not unwilling to use it appears from a
letter of one Chamberlain, secretary of the province and justice of the peace, 
wherein it is stated that Mr. Moodey was "archbishop and chief justice too."
     The occasion for an open rupture between the head of the state and
the head of the church came in 1684.  In that year one of the leading charac-.
ters of Great Island, George Jaffrey, a constable, and a prominent merchant,
was brought before the court for some evasion or infringement of the
revenue laws, but for some reason legal proceedings against him were stayed,
and he seemed abut to escape.  Mr. Jaffrey was, however, a member of the
church worshiping at the old South, and it came to the ears of Mr. Moodey
that there had been some false swearing in the matter, and when the state
let Mr. Jaffrey go the church took him up. Mr. Moodey brought Mr. Jaffrey
before the church for disciplne, against the command of the governor, and
in the end obtained from him an open confession of his wrong, a confession
so sincere that, instead of provoking him, it led Mr. Jaffrey to be afterwards
an active, useful, and leading man in the church.  Thereupon a short time
after Governor Cranfield issued an order that after the 1st of January
ensuing all the ministers within the province should admit all persons of
suitable years and not vicious or scandalous in their lives to the blessed
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and their children unto baptism; and if any
persons desired the sacrament, or their children to be baptized according to
the liturgy of the Church of England, it be done accordingly under penalty
of imprisonment of the clergyman refusing and the loss of all the profit
of his spiritual benefices.  This was in accordance with a statute of Queen
Elizabeth, but it was also in conflict with a later statute granting liberty of
conscience unto all Protestants, -- a provision as we have seen plainly made
in Cranfield's commission, and also in conflict with a provision of the church
in not permitting one who was not in holy orders to administer its sacra-

Page 131

ments, and Mr. Moodey had not been ordained to the Church of England
ritual.  In spite of all this the arbitrary and enraged governor sent word to
Mr. Moodey soon after that on a following-named Sunday he should attend
worship at his church and receive the sacrament according to the service
of the Established Church.  The order reads very much like the reported
command of one of our colonels in the late war, ordering out a battalion of
men to be baptized, so as not to be surpassed by a revival in another regiment.
The governor sent also to Rev. Seaborn Cotton, of Hampton, saying that
when he had prepared his soul he would come and demand the sacrament
of him, as he had done at Portsmouth. Whether the governor ever pre-
pared his soul is not a matter of history, but without waiting for that the
minister of Hampton at once fled to Boston.  It was not so with the more
courageous minister of Portsmouth. Mr. Moodey refused to obey the
governor, saying, "I told the marshall I durst not, could not, should not do
it," whereupon complaint was made against him of violating the statute of
Queen Elizabeth; "that the said Joshua Moodey, being the present minister
of the Town of Portsmouth, in the province of New Hampshire, . .  .  .
by the duty of his place is by laws and statutes of the said realm of England
required and commanded to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper
in such manner and form as is set forth in the Book of Common Prayer
and administration of sacraments and other rites and ceremonies in the
Church of England, and shall use no other manner or form than is men-
tioned and set forth in the said book.  Whereas the said Joshua Moodey
in contempt of the said laws and statutes hath wilfully and obstinately
refused to administer the sacrament of the Lord's supper, according to the
manner and form set forth in the said Book of Common Prayer unto the
Hon. Edward Cranfield., Gov. of his Maj. in the Province of N. H., and
others of his Majs. Council of the said Province, and doth wilfully and
obstinately use some other form than is by the said statutes ordained,  There-
fore, &c., doth pray that the said Joshua Moodey being thereof convicted
according to the Law, may suffer such penalties as by the said statutes are
made and provided."  In another information against Mr. Moodey praying
for judgment against him that he might suffer the penalties of the statute
we find this expression: "The said Moodey having for many years had the
appearance & reputation of a minister of God's word."  It seems that the 
justices were divided in their opinion, two holding that he was not liable
to the penalty on account of the liberty of conscience granted to all
Protestants here, and four holding that he was.  Mr. Moodey himself, at
the quarter sessions the 5th of February, 1684, upon examination pleaded
"his not being ordained, having no maintenance according to the statute,
and therefore not obliged to do that work which the statute required.
Besides, these statutes were not made for these places; the known end of
their removal hither being that they might enjoy liberty in these foreign
plantations which they could not have by virtue of the statutes at home, and
were allowed to have here, especially our commission granting liberty of
conscience."  But it was all to no purpose, for the governor had determined
upon his imprisonment, and to the prison at Great Island Mr. Moodey went.
     There is preserved a letter of one William Vaughan, who was imprisoned

Page 132 

about the time, containing a journal with comments of current events. He
writes, "Above all, our minister lies in prison, and a famine of the Word
of God is coming upon us. No public worship, no preaching of the word.
What ignorance, profaneness, and misery must needs come."  Under date
of February 10, 1684:
     "The Sabbath is come, but no preaching at the Bank nor any allowed
to come to us.  .   .   .  Motions have been made that Mr. Moodey may
go up and preach on the Lord's day, though he come down to prison at
night, or that neighbor ministers might be permitted to come and preach,
or that the people might come down to the prison and hear, as many as
could.  But nothing will do; an unparalleled example amongst Christians,
to have a minister put out and no other way found to supply his place by one
means or other.  Good Mrs. Martin was buried, being not able to live above
one Sabbath after the shutting up of the doors of the Sanctuary."
     How many would die for that reason now?   Mr. Martyn, one of the
first seven members of the church, was also imprisoned, and this journal is
authority for the remark that the governor said to him, "I want money and
will have it."  "But," said Martyn, "I have none."   Then said the governor,
"I will take you home," adding also that Martyn was a church-member,
and he would watch him and all such and be sure to pay them off if he
could catch them.  In April, after they had been "nine Lord's days without
a sermon," Mason, in absence of Cranfield, gave leave for any minister to
come and preach at the Bank, whereupon Rev. Samuel Phillips, of Rowley,
came for two Sundays, the 13th and 20th of April.
     We find this item under date of September 12th: "Mr. Joshua Moodey,
being to take a journey out of the Province; was forced to give a recognizance
of œ200 to return in three weeks, if alive and well."
     Mr. Moodey underwent imprisonment with a courageous spirit, and
writes during his confinement:
     "I told the court that I should go to prison with much more peace than
they sent me thither, and particularly applied myself to Roby, a church-
member, and told him that I had done nothing but what he was by solemn
covenant engaged to maintain, and wished him to provide against the day
when these things should be overhauled.  .   .   .   But blessed be God for
Jesus Christ, I am quiet and at peace.  Thus I have many things that are
matter of repentance and shame to me, yet in this matter I am abundantly
satisfied in my lot, and hope shall be a gainer, and that the cause of Christ
will gain by my sufferings.  Only methinks I find it a hard matter to suffer
in a right manner.  Something of stoutness of spirit, some other sinister
ends are apt to creep in and spoil suffering work.  The Lord grant that I
may have grace so to carry it as not to lost aught that I have done and do
now suffer! I beg your hearty prayers for me, that with integrity and
sincerity I may cheerfully and patiently bear my cross till the Lord shall
give me a discharge."
     There is another letter dated "From the prison, 27th 1st Mo., 1684,"
i. E., March 27, 1684, in which he writes to Rev. Mr. Phillips, of Rowley,
urging him to come to Portsmouth and preach:
     "Oh, consider that my poor flock have fasted about forty days, and

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must now be an hungered!   Have pity upon them, have pity upon them,
and thou, my friend!  And when you have taken your turn we shall hope
for some other.  You will thereby not only visit me in prison, but feed a
great multitude of the hungry and thirsty little ones of Christ, which will
be accounted for at that day. Pray come early enough in the week to give
notice to the people. (I do also in behalf of my dear and tender wife, thank
you for yours to her.)  Now pray for me, that I may have an humble heart,
and that my whole soul, body, and spirit may be sanctified and kept blame-
less to that day."
     Mr. Moodey was once allowed to leave the prison and make a short visit
to his family. He was released after thirteen weeks' imprisonment under a
strict charge to preach no more within the province on penalty of further
imprisonment, whereupon he removed to Boston, and was at once called
to be assistant minister with Rev. John Allen at the First Church, and at
once occupied a prominent place, and was held in the highest regard during
the eight years of his ministry.  Mr. Moodey seems to have followed the
course of the justices who condemned him with a keen vision, and he
interpreted the disasters which befell them as a divine retribution for his
imprisonment, and in the church records he writes of them as follows:
"Not long after Green repented, and made his acknowledgment to the pastor,
who frankly forgave him.   Roby was excommunicated out of Hampton
Church for a common drunkard, and died excommunicated, and was by
his friends thrown into a hole near his house for fear of an arrest of his
carcass.   Barefoot fell into a languishing distemper, whereof he died.  Coffin
was taken by the Indians at Cochecho, 1689, his house and mill burnt, him-
self not being slain but dismissed.  The Lord give him repentance, though
no signs of it have yet appeared."
     While Mr. Moodey was at Boston he became a fellow of Harvard
College, and upon the death of Rev. John Roger, the president, the dis-
tinguished honor of that office was offered to him, but declined.
     It had doubtless been greatly owing to Mr. Moodey's interest in educa-
tional matters that in May, 1660, the inhabitants of Portsmouth sent to
the General Court of the Massachusetts the following address, to which
Mr. Moodey's name is appended:
"To the much Hond the General Court of the Massachusetts assembled at
     Boston, 20 May, 1669:
     "The humble address of the inhabitants of the town of Portsmouth
humbly sheweth that seeing by your means (under God) we enjoy much
peace and quietness, and very worthy deeds are done to us by the favor-
able aspect of the Government of this Colony upon us we accept it always
and in all places with all thankfulness.  And tho' we have articled with
yourselves for exemption from publique charges, yet we never articled with
God and our own consciences for exemption from gratitude which to demon-
strate while we were studying, the loud groans of the sinking College in
its present low estate came to our ears.  The relieving of which we account
a good work for the house of our God, and needful for the perpetuating of
knowledge, both religious and civil, among us and our posterity after us,
and therefore grateful to yourselves, whose care and study is to seek the

Page 134 

welfare of our Israel. The premises considered we have made a collection
in our town of œ60 per annum (and hope to make it more), which said
sum is to be paid annually for these seven years ensuing, to be improved at
the discretion of the Hond overseers of the College for the behoof of the
same and the advancement of good literature there, hoping withal that the
example of ourselves (which have been accounted no people) will provoke
the rest of the country to jealously (we mean an holy emulation to appear
in so good a work), and that this hond Court will in their wisdom all meet
vigorously to act for divesting the sad omen to poor New England;  if a
College begun and comfortably upheld while we were little should since now
we are grown great, especially after so large and profitable an harvest, that
this country & other places have reaped from the same.  Your acceptance
of our good meaning herein will further oblige us to endeavor the approving
ourselves to be your thankful and humble servants.
                                                                     "JOHN CUTT.
                                                                     "RICHARD CUTT.
                                                                     "JOSHUA MOODEY.
"in the name and behalf of the rest of the subscribers in the towne of
Portsmouth."

     This address from the inhabitants of the town of Portsmouth was pre-
sented by Mr. Richard Cutt and Joshua Moodey, May 20, 1669, and grate-
fully accepted; and the governor, in the name of the whole met together,
returned them the thanks of this court for their pious and liberal gift to the
college therein.
     The town of Portsmouth had then become the richest town, and the
occasion of the subscription was a general collection for the purpose of
erecting a new brick building at Harvard College.  Dover gave thirty-two
and Exeter ten pounds for the same purpose. This interest in Harvard
College and the recollection that besides the election of Mr. Moodey to its
presidency, Dr. Langdon, of the North parish, was also called to the same
office at a later period, Dr .Peabody, of the South Parish, fulfilling the
same duties temporarily at a still later period, and that Dr. Stiles, of the
North Parish, was called to the same office at Yale College, show how
greatly the strength and substantial character of our parishes were -- due to
their appreciation of and demand for an able, cultivated, and learned minister,
and how greatly the congregations have departed from so general and deep
an interest in true scholarship.
     Mr. Moodey and Witchcraft. -- But the one thing for which Mr. Moodey
.deserves the highest credit, and which shows a mind enlightened and liberal
beyond the current opinions of his day, is the part he took in the witchcraft
delusion, a delusion which, as we shall see at another time, hardly found any
spread or reception in our settlement.  While he was settled over the First
Church in Boston, Salem was very much excited upon the subject, and
Philip English, an eminent merchant of Salem, with his wife, were sent to
the Boston jail by reason that the one at Salem was crowded with the
victims of this terrible persecution.  Mr. Moodey took an early occasion to
call upon them and invite them to his church (they having the liberty of 

Page 135

the town by day, on condition of returning to the jail at night), and preached
from the text, "When they persecute you in this city flee ye into another,"
in which he justified every attempt to escape from the forms of justice
when justice was violated in them.  After service he visited the prisoners
and advised them to flee, and offered himself to assist Mrs. English to
escape.  After much reasoning he induced them to go, and had provided,
with the consent of the governor; for their escape from the prison at mid-
night.  They reached New York and remained until the danger was over,
and yet so universally was witchcraft believed in, even by many of the
best, that Mr. Moodey was severely denounced for opposing it.
     Death of Mr. Moodey. -- The long ministry of Mr. Moodey over the
parish at Portsmouth created an attachment which is revealed by the words
of tenderest sympathy while he was ministering to the First Church at
Boston. He writes that during his residence there "the church were often
visited by the pastor, and kept up theyr private meetings, and so held
together, tho' some removed and others were taken away by death."
    In a letter to Increase Mather, then in England, he writes, "If you can,
in all your opportunities of waiting on his Majty find a season to thrust in
a happy word for poor N. Hampshire, who are under lamentable circum-
stances.   Mason is dead, but his sons survive, and possibly may be worse
than hee.   You know how the poor people have been unreasonably harassed,
and to raise one family on the ruins of half a dozen considerable Townes
looks hard.   'Tis my affection to my people that has drawn this hint fro
mee.   I leave it to your consideration and pray for God's presence to be
with you."   And again he writes, "If something could be done for the poor
province of N. Hampshire & Mein, it would be a good work."
     The year after Mr. Cranfield drove Mr. Moodey to Boston he was him-
self removed from his office here, and though the opportunity was offered,
and Mr. Moodey constantly expressed the deepest interest in the parish here,
it was not until 1693 that he returned.   The explanation is very easy and
satisfactory, if only we keep in mind the Episcopal element, which has been
so steadily ignored, and which must have been brought to the surface, and
probably was more important and influential than it had been since the
ministry of Gibson.   The want of harmony in the parish was doubtless
such as to make him question the usefulness of his ministry, although never
without the cordial, earnest support of a large portion of the parish.   In
July, 1688, Mr. Moodey wrote to Mather upon the subject, "I need exceed-
ingly your advice about going to Portsmouth, which is vehemently urged by
my church and people, and the next week we are to take counsell about it.
The church is dear to mee, and I could bee glad to be with them, but the
circumstances of my removing hence and being there are tremendous to
mee.   Pray for mee daily."  At length he removed his pastorate here, and
contimied it for four years, when a dangerous illness seizing him from his
wearying labors he went to Boston for medical advice, and died there on
Sunday, July 4, 1697.   His funeral sermon was preached by Cotton Mather,
from the text,  "Looking steadfastly on him they saw his face as it had
been the face of an angel," in which for all the virtues and gifts of a clergy-
man he is placed among the foremost of his day.   "The church of Ports-

Page 136 

mouth," he says (a part of the country that very much owed its life unto
him),  "crys out of a deadly wound in his death." 
     That Mr. Moodey had an impressive manner, which left an influence
upon his hearers, I should judge from a trifling incident, that during the
time of rebellion under Cranfield, one Waldron, talking by the road with
another of the subject, said he had been thinking of a sermon he heard that
Mr. Moodey preached at Dover, and his text was "in the time of adversity
consider."  That he hesitated not to bring all the influences of religion upon
the politics of his day may be judged from the deposition during the Corbet
conspiracy of one who testified Corbet had said Mr. Moodey's prayers were
but babblings, but withal he must be regarded as a man of distinguished
abilities, ceaseless industry, fervent piety, and during a long ministry in
a difficult field resolute in his sense of right, full of kindness and sympathy,
foremost in every good work, devoted to his parish, and faithful unto the
end.
     The Ministry of Rogers. -- The long ministry of Moodey ended in 1697,
and after several attempts to settle a clergyman, on the 3d of May, 1699,
Nathaniel Rogers was ordained minister of the town of Portsmouth. He
was born at Ipswich, February 22, 1669-70, and graduated at Harvard in
1687.
     His work was quiet, faithful, and successful; but although repeatedly
solicited to publish some of his sermons he always refused, and we have
nothing by which to judge of the character of his writings; and the influence
of his ministry, which in all respects appears the best, was unhappily greatly
lessened by a serious disturbance in regard to building a new church, which
for a long time embittered the whole neighborhood, and even extended
throughout the province.
     After being the minister of Portsmouth for fifteen years, preaching in
the old South, Mr. Rogers was directed, by a vote of the church-members,
to officiate in the new meeting-house which had just been completed on the
northeastern corner of the glebe land, the site of the present North Church.
Here he remained preaching with acceptance and success for nine years
until his death, on the 3d of October, 1723, making a total pastorate of
twenty-four years five months.   He was buried at the "Point of Graves."
     The Half-way Convenant. -- It is somewhat remarkable that with a clergy-
man so strictly of the Genevan school as was Mr. Rogers his church should
under his pastorate adopt what was termed the Halfway Covenant, but in
the church records under date of April 21, 1707, we find the following:
" At a church meeting legally convened it was voted that persons having a
competent knowledge, and making a serious profession of ye Xian Religion,
and being of a conversation void of scandal, upon ye owning ye covenant,
and subjecting themselves to ye government of Christ in this church, shall
be admitted to baptism, and have the like privilege for ye children."   It
would seem that to be well informed of Christian truth, and to seriously
profess to obey its requirements, to be of a walk and conversation, free
from all reproach, to confess the creed, and to be entirely subject to the
Head of the Church would be sufficient to admit one to the questionable
salvation by the form of baptism, but such was the severity of the Geneva

Page 137

school that all this was only half-way.   A man might be of an upright walk
beyond question, a glory of example of goodness to an the world, and yet,
being without the formal test of election, redemption, and faith, all his
goodness was unavailing, and even might make against him.   Nevertheless
this Half-way Covenant was for a time quite popular in New England, and
was in use in the new parish in Portsmouth until it was discontinued by
Dr. Putnam.

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