IN LINEBROOK. 121 



was a time when the parish had its use ; when every 

 man understood and obeyed its precept or felt its rod 

 of correction ; when the parish was a power for good in 

 social life and moral conduct, to say nothing now of 

 the exemplary piety fostered by that old regime. There 

 was a time when a man should labor six days and rest on 

 the seventh ; when he must belong to some parish, must 

 contribute proportionally of his substance for the gospel 

 support, must be in his place of worship, with his family, 

 on Sunday, or give a good and substantial reason for 

 his neglect, and so bring up his children in rectitude. The 

 parish was not a regime of compulsion more than any 

 rule of right conduct of to-day. Worship is naturally 

 inherent and is the foundation of religious life, and no 

 well-ordered life exists without a time and place for every- 

 thing. So every community for religious worship and 

 instruction must have its metes and bounds, its corps of 

 officers, its laws and by-laws and means of support. 



Parishes grew up then as towns do now. New corpo- 

 rations in either case remove existing burdens and open 

 new facilities for progress and prosperity. The inhabi- 

 tants of this precinct were burdened in being so far re- 

 mote from their respective places of worship. Boxford 

 first parish, and Rowley second, were upon the west, 

 Byfield upon the north, Rowley and Ipswich first parishes 

 upon the east, and Topsfield parish upon the south. Cen- 

 tral Linebrook is some four miles from either. Besides, 

 many living within that distance would be better accom- 

 modated here ; and with ample territory and consequently 

 ample means, it was thought advisable to employ a relio-- 

 ious teacher as early as 1739 or 40. Shortly afterwards 

 the propriety of a corporate parish began to be discussed, 

 and a petition was sent to the Great and General Court 

 of Massachusetts Bay. Finally, a committee of that body 



