History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

l""A] DISMISSAL OF REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 219
AnotiH-r Animated In the meantime the weekly lectures were
ciiuich Meeting, continued, and large audiences gathered to,
listen, among Avhom were to be found fewj
Northam])ton people. After the fifth and last lecture, ini
accordance with a vote of the precinct. Mr. Edwards called
a church meeting to agree upon a council. This was apl)arently
one of the most hotly contested of the many
church meetings that had been held. The first vote was'-
uyjon admissions to the church, and a large majority signi-
fied their preference for the old way. By a bare majority,'
at the conclusion of an animated debate, it was decided to
call a council, which was to take into consideration the
state of affairs, and if judged best to proceed to dissolve
the relation between pastor and people. Then followed
another lengthened discussion concerning the question of
inviting ministers from other counties. Mr. Edwards in-
sisted on the privilege of naming one half the council,
three of whom should be from churches not in the county, yij' \
if the council consisted of more than fourteen churches, /-^ "'^''
but he would be satisfied with two if the whole number
was not more than ten. The church decided against this
proposition, and adjourned to the next day. An attempt
was made at the adjourned meeting to amend the vote
already adopted concerning the business to be brought before
the council. But after a spirited debate, Mr. Edwards
refused to put to vote the motion to amend, virtually ruling
it out of order. Again the suggestion to select members of
the council from other counties was negatived. Thereupon
the moderator threw out the hint that the meeting had
better be dissolved, as there seemed to be no prospect of
joint action. He thought that if the church had decided
" not to leave it to the discretion of the council, whether to
separate and not allow him to choose any members of the
council outside of the county," it would not be worth
while to make any attempt to act in concert. This ultimatum
only added fuel to the flame, bringing out in a more
emphatic manner the determination not to yield those
points. The more hot-headed were in favor of the church
acting ex-parte in the matter, and after the meeting had
been dissolved some one proposed that they should then
and there take action in defiance of the pastor, and pass
the amended call, but wiser counsels prevailed.