What caused this irruption of the mob into Great Barrington, follows: The laws of Massachusets-Bay gave each town a power to vote a tax for the support of the ministry, schools, poor, &c. The money, when collected, was deposited with the town treasurer, who is obliged to pay it according to the determination of the majority of the voters. The _Sober Dissenters_, for many years, had been the majority in Barrington, and had annually voted about two hundred pounds sterling for the ministry, above half of which was taken from the Churchmen and Lutherans, whose ministers could have no part of it, because separately the greatest number of voters were _Sober Dissenters_, who gave the whole to their minister. This was deemed liberty and gospel in New-England; but mark the sequel. The Lutherans and some other sects having joined the Church party, the Church gained the majority. Next year the town voted the money, as usual, for the ministry, &c.; but the majority voted that the treasurer should pay the share appointed for the ministry to the Church clergyman, which was accordingly done; whereupon the _Sober Dissenters_ cried out, “Tyranny and persecution!” and applied to Governor Hutchinson, then the idol and protector of the Independents, for relief. His Excellency, ever willing to leave “Paul bound,” found a method of reversing the vote of the majority of the freemen of Barrington in favour of the Churchmen, calling it “a vote obtained by wrong and fraud.” The Governor, by law or without law, appointed Mayor Hawley, of Northampton, to be Moderator of the town-meeting in Barrington. The Mayor accordingly attended, but, after exerting himself for three days in behalf of his oppressed brethren, was obliged to declare that the episcopalians had a great majority of legal voters; he then went home, leaving matters as he found them. The _Sober Dissenters_ were always so poor in Barrington that they could not have supported their minister without taxing their neighbours; and when they lost that power, their minister departed from them, “because,” as he said, “the Lord had called him to Rhode-Island.” To overthrow the majority of the Church, and to establish the American Vine upon its old foundation, was the main intention of the _Sober Dissenters_ of Connecticut in visiting Great Barrington at this time.