recognized, in one form or another, in all the earlier colonies of New England. History has recorded the fact; and it will ever remain one of the most impressive lessons of human nature, taught by the settlement of this country, that the Puritans, who left their homes and their kindred, in order to escape all restraints upon freedom of conscience and of worship, should, as one of their first acts, have incorporated into their government the very principle from which all these iniquitous restrictions arose.

By adopting the constitution of civil government to which allusion has been made, the people of New Haven had recognized the church as the source of political power, but they had not yet determined what should be the foundation, or who should be members of the church. Accordingly, at the same meeting, in Mr. Newman's barn, it was agreed by the planters, "that twelve men should be chosen, that their fitness for their foundation-work may be tried;"" and that it be in the power of these twelve to choose out of themselves seven, that shall be most approved of the major part, to begin the church." In conformity with this agreement, seven men were chosen from the twelve, to be pillars of the church, and these covenanting together and receiving others into their fellowship, became an independent church, on the 22d of August, 1639. In this singular and characteristic manner was completed the organization, both civil and ecclesiastical, of this ancient colony. As we look back upon these early forms of New England society, we every where trace in them the spirit of the Puritans,-a spirit which, with all its failings and deficiencies, has yet done more than any other cause, to render the sons of New England the pioneers in every glorious enterprise, whether of physical or moral improvement, to which the western continent has given origin. They were a race of men such as England had never before produced; and though history and fiction have united in heaping upon them ridicule and contempt, yet the lustre of their fame has grown brighter and brighter through every succeeding age. Appearing at a most interesting crisis in human affairs, trained under peculiar influences, and cherishing principles of the sternest and most uncompromising severity, they were preeminently fitted to encounter the perils of the wilderness, and to plant the foundations of a free and Christian empire amidst the

desolate domains of savage life. It was a favorite aspiration of many of the leading minds of that age, to find a form of society best fitted to develop the nature of man,to promote his moral interests and advance the kingdom of Christ on the earth. It was from the influence of an aspiration like this, that the models of government, furnished by the old world, were so little regarded by the settlers on the shores of the new. They turned away from the imperfect systems of earthly rulers, and sought in the theocracy of the Hebrews, and the revelations and promises of the Bible, to find the elements of a jurisprudence which should establish the reign of a more perfect justice, and apply surer and holier tests to the character of men. The error of the Puritans, in their civil organizations, was, that they trusted too implicitly in the purity and sincerity of human nature; and the issue of the social experiment which their history records, is but another proof, added to the many already gleaned from the annals of the world, that both the church and the state are in the healthiest and best condition, when each, with its appropriate constitution, is left to accomplish its objects, entirely unconnected with the other.

The church, which was thus established at New Haven, was in itself a perfect and independent body for the transaction of all ecclesiastical business. Its officers were, according to the custom of the times, the pastor and the teacher, who were both clergymen, and received their support from the people, and the ruling elder, who was usually a layman, and engaged in some secular business. In addition to these, there were two deacons. The offices of pastor and teacher are now, in all Independent churches, usually vested in one person. When, however, they were regarded as distinct, the pastor and the teacher preached by turns on the Sabbath, and seem to have divided between them the responsibility of administering the discipline and good order of the church. In the Cambridge Platform, which was framed in 1648, their duties are thus designated. "The pastor's special work is to attend to exhortation, and therein to administer a word of wisdom; the teacher is to attend to doctrine, and therein to administer a word of knowledge; and either of them to administer the seals of that covenant unto the dispensation whereof they are alike called; and also to execute the

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censures, being but a kind of application of the word; the preaching of which, together with the application thereof, they are alike charged withal."

In the Discourses of Mr. Bacon, the reader may find not a little curious information relative to the early periods of the ancient church of which he is pastor. Situated as we are, amidst circumstances which contribute so largely to the convenience of public worship, and reposing in the ample security, insured by the strength of a mighty people, it is impossible for us fully to conceive the spectacle, presented by an assembly of exiled Puritans, in the first years of their settlement. In a rude structure, framed according to the uncouth fashion of the age, the fathers of New Haven were accustomed, for many years, to meet for the worship of God, at the beat of the drum, instead of the cheerful summons of the bell, and to perform the services of the sanctuary under the protection of a military guard, with a sentinel stationed in the turret during the hours of worship, and three of the six pieces of artillery belonging to the town, planted at the door of the meeting-house, while armed watchmen patroled the streets and watched the outskirts of the town, to give the earliest alarm of Indian invasion.

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"Their mode of conducting public worship," says Mr. Bacon, was not materially unlike our method at this day. Every Sabbath they came together at the beat of the drum, about nine o'clock, or before. The pastor began with solemn prayer, continuing about a quarter of an hour. The teacher then read and expounded a chapter. Then a psalm was sung, the lines being given out by the ruling elder. After that, the pastor delivered his sermon, not written out in full, but from notes, enlarged upon in speaking. In this church, at an early period, it was customary for the congregation to rise while the preacher read his text. This was a token of reverence for the word of God. After the sermon, the teacher concluded with prayer and a blessing.

"Once a month, as now, the Lord's supper was celebrated at the close of the morning service, in precisely the same forms which we observe, the pastor, teacher and ruling elder sitting together at the communion table. One of the ministers performed the first part of the service, and the other the last, the order in which they officiated being reversed at each communion,

"The assembly convened again for the exercises of the afternoon, at about two o'clock; and the pastor having commenced, as in the morning, with prayer, and a psalm having been sung as before, another prayer was offered by the teacher, who then preached, as the pastor did in the morning, and prayed again.

"Then, if there was any occasion, baptism was administered, by either pastor or teacher, the officiating minister commonly accompanying the ordinance with exhortation, addressed to the church and to the parents.

"Next in the order of services was the contribution, made every Lord's day, to the treasury of the church. One of the deacons, rising in his place, said, 'Brethren of the congregation, now there is time left for contribution; wherefore as God hath prospered you, so freely offer.' The ministers, whenever there was any extraordinary occasion, were wont to accompany the call with some earnest exhortation out of the Scriptures, urging to liberality. The contribution was received, not by passing a box from seat to seat, but first the magistrates and principal gentlemen, then the elders, and then the congregation generally, came up to the deacon's seat, by one way, and returned orderly to their own seats by another way. Each individual contributed either money, or a written promise to pay some certain amount, or any thing else that was convenient and proper. Money and subscriptions were placed in the contribution box,-other offerings were laid down before the deacons. It may be that some of the ancient silver cups, now used in our monthly communion, were given in this way.

"After the contribution, the assembly being not yet dismissed, if there were any members to be admittted into the church, or any to be propounded for admission, or if there were cases of offence and discipline to be acted upon by the church, such things were attended to; and then another psalm was sung, if the day was not too far spent, and then the pastor closed the services with prayer and the blessing.

"In the church, a meeting was held weekly, on Tuesday, when the members of the church, by themselves, conferred together on religious subjects, and the ministers, as they had occasion, communicated appropriate instruction and exhortation. There were also stated 'private meetings,' in the different districts of the town, at which the brethren exercised their gifts for mutual instruction and edification. Besides which, there was a stated public lecture on Wednesday, whether monthly, before the communion, or more frequently, I am not able to determine."-pp. 45, 46.

The history of the church at New Haven brings to our notice a succession of worthies, who, for dignity of character, and loftiness and purity of purpose, are not surpassed by the public men of any portion of the country. There are Davenport and Eaton, the foremost among the founders of the colony. In addition to these, we find the names of Street, and Pierpont, and Noyes, and Whittlesey, and Dana, all men of eminent gifts and attainments, and

together, constituting a galaxy, such as any church may be proud to point to, as the luminaries of its history. Of these, the influence of Mr. Davenport is most clearly traceable upon every part of the political and ecclesiastical character of the colony. Educated for the pulpit at the University of Oxford, and accustomed in England, to an elevated circle of society, he stands forth among the most venerable and accomplished of the Puritan ministers of his time. Before leaving his native land, he had taken an active part in some of the controversies with which that contentious age was filled, and in consequence of the fearless expression of his non-conformity, and his zeal in the purchase of "lay impropriations," for the uses of the church, he became obnoxious to the authority of Archbishop Laud, and was obliged to flee to Amsterdam, to escape the persecution of this haughty prelate. Here he preached to an assembly of English Christians, organized upon Presbyterian principles, but at length differing with his brethren, in relation "to the indiscriminate baptism of children," he returned to England, with the full intention of emigrating to America. Accordingly, we soon find him embarked as one of the leaders of the new expedition to New England, and arriving at Boston on the 26th of June, 1637. The fame of his wisdom and piety had gone before him, and his arrival was hailed with joy by the ministers and churches of Massachusetts, distracted as they then were by the divisions and disorders of a furious controversy. Nor were their anticipations disappointed. From the very day of his arrival, he set the full influence of his talents and character against the contentions and corruptions of doctrine and practice, which then infested the churches. At the meeting of the synod, at Cambridge, in August of the same year, he was invited to a seat, and was actively engaged in promoting a spirit of union and peace. In the words of Cotton Mather, "The learning and wisdom of this worthy man in the synod then assembled, did contribute not a little to dispel the fascinating mists which had suddenly disordered our affairs."

Mr. Davenport and his companions remained in Boston and its vicinity for nearly a year, and, having declined urgent invitations from the people of Massachusetts and of Plymouth, to settle among them, they at length established themselves at New Haven, beyond the jurisdiction of