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Samuel Sewall: The Conscience of a Puritan
- University of New Hampshire Press
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samuel sewall The Conscience of a Puritan In its origins puritanism had focused on reforming men and society by example and persuasion. The establishment of the Bible Commonwealths of New England—and the puritan Commonwealth and Protectorate in England—presented puritans with the challenge of how to use governing authority to shape God’s kingdom. samuel sewall was raised and reached maturity in a society where puritan magistrates wielded their power to nurture the church, define the boundaries of acceptable behavior , and advance a culture of discipline. The loss of the Massachusetts charter brought such practices to an end. once again puritans could draw only upon their example and words to shape their world. His story is one in which we can trace the end of one era and the beginning of another. s amuel sewall was born in England in 1652. His father, Henry, had actually immigrated to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1634, and there married Jane dummer. But the couple had returned to England in 1647 because the harsh New England climate did not agree with Jane’s parents, and it was in England that samuel was born. In 1659 Henry returned to the colony to settle estate matters. shortly thereafter the restoration of the monarchy and the adoption of policies meant to suppress puritanism in England convinced him to stay in Massachusetts . In 1661 Jane joined him, along with samuel and his siblings, and the family settled in Newbury. samuel was nine years old at the time and had begun his education at romsey grammar school in England. In Newbury he prepared for college with the town’s pastor, Thomas Parker. Parker and his ministerial colleague James Noyse had been the region’s principal advocates of presbyterian church practices. Isolated in a sea of 250 First Founders congregationalists, they were still able to administer their own church in keeping with their views and over time influenced the move in New England toward greater clerical authority and a greater role for synods and assemblies. samuel entered Harvard College in 1667. on graduating four years later he remained at the college as a fellow and tutor, and supervised the library. He strongly considered a career in the ministry and received an invitation to be pastor of the church being formed in the newly settled town of Woodbridge, New Jersey. The town had been established by former residents of Newbury and named after John Woodbridge, a nephew of Thomas Parker. reluctant to leave Massachusetts, samuel declined the invitation. He did, however, substitute for the ailing Parker in preaching to the Newbury church in the spring of 1675. Thoughts of a clerical career were abandoned following his marriage in February 1676 to Hannah Hull, the only surviving child of John Hull, a wealthy merchant , silversmith, and the colony mint-master. The newlyweds moved into Hull’s home, and samuel began to learn the “manner of merchants” as he expressed it in his diary. Hull had been one of the leading figures in the secession from First Church Boston and one of the leaders of the new Third Church. samuel was admitted to that congregation in 1677. samuel and Hannah would have fourteen children, only six of whom lived to adulthood. He was to prove a loving husband and a caring father. His detailed diary reveals his emotional responses to the birth of his various children, his watchful care at their sickbeds, and his grief when one of them died. He remained deeply invested in the lives of his adult children, counseling them and aiding them as they struggled to establish their own places. sewall became enamored of the natural landscape of eastern Massachusetts , and particularly Plum Island, the coastal barrier island near Newbury which he had explored as a youth. He took his children there, and also to Hogg Island (which he owned) and other sites for outings. on a summer saturday afternoon in 1685 he and his wife traveled to dorchester to gather and eat cherries and raspberries. on another occasion they travelled to the family property at sherborn, where they walked through the meadow, ate apples, and drank cider. A few years later he [3.131.110.169] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:54 GMT) Samuel Sewall 251 took five of his own children and some of their friends on a picnic to Hogg Island, where they feasted on “turkey and other fowls.” occasionally he took his sons fishing. The children, particularly his sons, were allowed to go swimming...