4. Confessions and petitions 3 married couples 5. Convicted and respited 1 " " existing between the colonial church and state. On October 31, 1671, for instance, Christopher Wheaton and Martha his wife were sentenced in Boston to make an acknowledgment "in publique at Hull to y^e Satisfaction of y^e Congregation, & pay twenty Shillings fine," on pain of being whipped ten stripes each by the constable.[584] An elaborate "church confession," found among the Middlesex Files, would seem to prove that in another case the decree of the court was obeyed; and that the written acknowledgment made before the congregation was returned to the court for record.[585] [Footnote 583: See the long petition and confession of Samuel and Elizabeth Manning, who had been presented by the grand jury of Middlesex. It is expressed in perfervid pious phrase, much like the "church confession" presently referred to: _MSS. Files of the County Court of Middlesex_, June, 1664.] [Footnote 584: _MSS. Records of the County Court of Suffolk_, 22. There was another sentence of this kind at the same session of this court.] [Footnote 585: See the acknowledgment of Samuel Wright and Lydea his wife beginning: "for as much as wee are heere called to confese our sine before God and his people wee doe therefore heere accnowlidg that wee haue sined in that wee haue brokne the seuenth comandmente in neglecting of our deuty therein required and comitinge the sine forbiddene: to the dishonour of God and Scandalizinge of the gospel;" and so on in scriptural phrase to the extent, in the author's copy, of a large typewritten page: _MSS. Files of the County Court of Middlesex_, Oct., 1664.] The files and records of the same two counties, supplemented by the record of the superior court, may next be examined for the period of the second charter. The impression made by their contents is decidedly disagreeable and depressing. The coarser and more heinous sexual crimes are growing more frequent, although due allowance must be made for the increase of population. Indeed, the bulk of the records of the general sessions appears to be concerned with sexual immorality of almost every kind.[586] Inquiry is, however, here restricted to the two classes of cases thus far considered. For convenience the material is treated chronologically in two divisions. The first division covers the period ending in 1725; and the second the years 1726-80. Within the former period (Table IV) the records of the general sessions of Suffolk for the years 1702-25, inclusive, TABLE IV SUMMARY OF FORNICATION CASES BEFORE THE GENERAL SESSIONS OF SUFFOLK COUNTY, 1702-25, AND THE GENERAL SESSIONS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, 1692-1725 Between 1702 and 1725 the following cases brought conviction before the general sessions for Suffolk county: Cases of fornication where the woman alone was sentenced 104