36o 



HISTORY OF COH ASSET. 



The precinct thus became only half owner of the 

 house ; at least it assumed only half the expense of 

 building it. The pew owners thus voluntarily invested 

 their means in a religious enterprise which some others of 

 the precinct were voluntarily abandoning. It is true that 

 ministerial taxes still had to be paid by all of the precinct, 

 whether they participated in the worship or not, but there 

 were many who felt that the conducting of religious ser- 

 vices was not so necessary a part of the precinct business 

 as it formerly had seemed. The owners of these square 

 pews or pens were manifestly more interested in the 

 affairs of public worship than were those who had invested 

 no money. 



The pew holders thus constituted a ring or com- 

 pany which began to grow into what was called an 

 "ecclesiastical society." Some of them were also mem- 

 bers of the covenant church, which was concerned more 

 deeply with the spiritual factors involved in public wor- 

 ship. 



At about this time, 1748, the people in Rocky Nook, 

 that is, the region of Hull Street, petitioned* both the 

 precinct and the General Court to be allowed to withdraw 

 from the precinct. Perhaps the new building seemed too 

 big a burden for them since it was too far away for them 

 to attend service easily. 



At any account, the petition indicates a growing un- 

 willingness upon the part of some to support the precinct 

 in its religious affairs. The pastor, John Brown, ordained 

 September 2, 1747, was a strong man with large ideas of 

 citizenship ; he was well fitted, therefore, to restrain the 

 precinct from its tendency to drop off its religious func- 

 tions. But this tendency was inevitable ; and before the 

 pastorate was ended Rev. John Brown was subjected to a 

 tax (1782) just as any other citizen, — a thing never done 

 before with the precinct's minister, and proving that the 



*See p. 269, in chapter on " Separation from Hinghani." 



