[93] Since the particular purpose of this chapter is to explain the bitter spirit existing between the orthodox party and dissenters in New England near the close of the eighteenth century, rather than to re-write the history of the struggle for full religious toleration, much that occurred in the long process of severing the bond between church and state may be passed over. Attention will be focused upon the character rather than the chronology of the struggle. [94] Cobb, _The Rise of Religious Liberty in America_, p. 238; Fiske, _The Beginnings of New England_, pp. 123 _et seq._ [95] Greene, _The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut_, p. 121; Cobb, _The Rise of Religious Liberty in America_, p. 243. [96] Cobb, _op. cit._, pp. 244, 246. [97] _Ibid._, pp. 240 _et seq._; Greene, _The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut_, pp. 62 _et seq._, 68. [98] It was the judgment of Isaac Backus that “oppression was greater in Connecticut, than in other governments in New England”. (_History of New England_, vol. ii, p. 404.) [99] Cobb, _The Rise of Religious Liberty in America_, p. 244. Cobb’s statement concerning the lack of harshness and ungentleness which characterized the attitude of the supporters of the state church toward dissent is extreme. The controlling spirit of the Standing Order was doubtless a positive concern for the welfare of the Establishment rather than a desire to weed out dissent; but the clash of interests became so sharp and bitter that motives did not remain unmixed, and in many an instance dissent in Connecticut was compelled to reckon with a spirit of actual persecution. [100] _The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut_, vol. i, p. 21. [101] Cobb, _The Rise of Religious Liberty in America_, pp. 246 _et seq._ [102] _The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut_, vol. i, p. 311. [103] _Ibid._, pp. 356, 362; vol. ii, pp. 99, 240; vol. iii, pp. 78, 82 _et seq._ [104] _Ibid._, vol. iii, pp. 13, 18, 101, 216 _et seq._ [105] _Ibid._, vol. iv, pp. 67, 127, 136 _et seq._ [106] _Ibid._, vol. vii, p. 554. [107] _Ibid._, pp. 334, 335. [108] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 183. [109] _Ibid._, vol. i, pp. 437 _et seq._ [110] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 104. [111] Cobb, _The Rise of Religious Liberty in America_, p. 247. [112] Walker, _The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism_, pp. 465 _et seq._ [113] Walker, _A History of the Congregational Churches in the United States_, pp. 202 _et seq._; Greene, _The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut_, pp. 133 _et seq._ [114] Walker, _The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism_, pp. 491–494. [115] _The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut_, vol. v, pp. 51 _et seq._ [116] _Ibid._ [117] _Ibid._