General History of Connecticut, from Its First Settlement Under George Fenwick to its Latest Period of Amity with Great BritainPeters, Samuel
History
General History of Connecticut, from Its First Settlement Under George Fenwick to its Latest Period of Amity with Great Britain
Peters, Samuel
Connecticut -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Connecticut -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
Mr. Neal, furthermore, professes his want of conception why the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts should send
missionaries into New-England, when Oliver Cromwell had, in 1640,
instituted a society to propagate christian knowledge there. Mr. Neal
might have learnt the cause of this phenomenon from the charter
granted to the first-mentioned society by King William III., who was a
friend to civil and christian liberty, and who endeavoured to suppress
the intolerable persecutions in his days prevailing in New-England.
But, besides, Mr. Neal could not but know that there were many
Churchmen in New-England desirous of the use of the liturgy and
discipline of the English Church; and for what reason should they not
have ministers of their own persuasion, as well as the sober and
conscientious dissenters? I hope my readers will not think me a
partial advocate for the Church of England, which, perhaps, has lost
the opportunity of civilizing, christianizing, and moderating the
burning zeal of the dissenters of New-England, who were honest in
their religion merely by the sinful omission of not sending a bishop
to that country, who would have effected greater things among them
than an army of 50,000 men. I avow myself to be liberal-minded towards
all sects and parties; and, if I had power, I would convert all sorts
of ministers into popes, cardinals, prelates, dominies, potent
presbyters, and rich Quakers, that the world might be excused from
hearing again of preaching, defamation, insurrections, and spiritual
jurisdictions, which result more from pride, poverty, avarice, and
ambition, than the love of peace and christianity.
It has been said by the deists, and other politicians, that ministers,
by preaching, have done more hurt than good in the christian world. If
the idea will hold in any part it will be in New-England, where each
sect preaches, for Gospel, policy and defamation of its neighbour;
whence the lower classes think that christianity consists in defending
their own peculiar Church and modes, and subverting those of others,
at any rate; while the higher ranks value religion and the Gospel as
laws of a foreign country, and the merchants powwowers, subtle, cruel,
and greedy of riches and dominion over all people. For this reason the
savages have taken an aversion to the protestant religion, and they
say they would rather follow Hobbomockow and the Roman priests than
New-England christians, who persecute one another, and killed their
ancestors with a pocky Gospel. With scorn they cry out: “We value not
your Gospel, which shews so many roads to Kicktang; some of them must
be crooked, and lead to Hobbomockow. We had, therefore, better
continue Indians like our ancestors, or be Catholics, who tell us of
only one way to Kicktang, or the invisible God.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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