921.73 W589w.pdf - Mesa FamilySearch Library

Rev. gamueZ W/dLz_g. 73
of its ablest men. Affairs in the older settle-
ment at Salem were in no better condition.
Churchmen were forced back to England, the
Brownes were exiled, and the spirit of bigotry
and persecution seems to have palsied the
conscience and clouded the understandings of
those who professed to be the most zealous
worshippers of the blessed Saviour of mankind.
Although the magistrates and the ministers,
with few exceptions, were to the last degree
stern, if not vindictive, in their condemnation
of those whom they called heretics, there was
nevertheless, much dissension among the clergy
on doctrinal questions. It was principally the
Puritan element, which had grown up in the
bosom of the English Church, that was repre-
sented here. Independents, Congregationalists,
rigid Separatists, and a few Episcopalians, some
inclined to a presbytery, and others to inde-
pendency, were included in the folds of the
churches. It is natural to suppose that great
diversity of judgment upon matters of religion
would have led to universal toleration. The
result, as has been shown, was quite the con-
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