259 



bury among his select "Memorials of the Independents," and 

 which Dr. Bentley, in his History of Salem, said, had been 

 "recorded in every History of New England." Yet in the 

 recent copious Ecclesiastical History of New England, it found 

 no place excepting some mutilated sentences introduced appar- 

 ently to disprove its authenticity. And in the appendix to the 

 new edition of Morton's Memorial it was treated in a way 

 still less worthy and more perversive of its true character. 



Morton and Mather entirely agreed as to the manner of 

 admission into the church, particularly described by the latter 

 as follows: — "Some were admitted by expressing their con- 

 sent unto their Confession and Covenant ; some were admitted 

 after their first answering to questions propounded unto them ; 

 some were admitted, when they had presented in writing such 

 things, as might give satisfaction to the people of God concern- 

 ing them ; and some, that were admitted^ orally addressed the 

 people of God in such terms as they thought proper to ask 

 their communion with ; which diversity was perhaps more beau- 

 tiful than would have been a more punctilious uniformity. But 

 none were admitted without regard unto a blameless and holy 

 conversation."* 



The accounts of both Morton and Mather were expressly 

 sanctioned by Rev. John Higginson, an eye witness of the foun- 

 dation of the church and perfectly acquainted with its discipline 

 and history, t The facts stated by Mather had doubtless been 

 furnished by Mr. Higginson himself; and they demonstrated 

 that no test creed, or prescribed form of confession, could have 

 been used in the admission of members. 



3. The records of the church afforded the same clear dem- 

 onstration. These records, as contained in the present old 

 church book, consisted of transcript records from 1636 to 1659, 

 and of original records from the settlement of John Higginson 

 in 1660, to the dismission of Samuel Fisk in 1735. The 

 transcript records, copied from a former book, comprised the 



* Magnal. 1. 19. fol. ccl. f See Appendix and Note. 



