PETERS. 353 little credit is due to Dr. Nichols, that bold champion for high-church principles, who Says, that Mr. Peters, growing into contempt among the people at Rotterdam, was obliged in a little while to leave the place.. On the resignation of his charge at Rotterdam, in the year 1635, he went to New England, and was chosen pastor of the church at Salem.t - There he obtained a high repu- tation, and was greatly esteemed in the new colony. By an order from the general court of government, dated Boston, March 3, 1636, Mr. Peters, Mr. John Cotton, and Mr. Thomas Shepard, were appointed to assist the governor, deputy-governors, and others, 44 to make a draught of laws agreeable to the word of God, which might be fundamentals of the commonwealth, and to present- the same to the next general court."1- Mr. Peters, after residing there seven years, was sent to England by the government of the new commonwealth to mediate for ease in customs and excise. Upon his arrival in his native country, he found the.nation deeply involved in the horrors of civil war ; and being obliged to remain in England, he was not able for some time to accomplish the object of his mission.s" He always intended returning to New England, but one thing or another occurred,, in those unsettled times, to prevent him.fi Mr. Peters had not been long,arrived in England, before he became a zealous preacher in the parliament's army. In the year 1644, he was with the Earl of Warwick at the siege of Lime, a particular account of whichhe gave to the house of commons. In 1645, he attended Sir Thomas Fairfax at the taking of Bridgwater ; and, bringing letters from the general, he was called before the house, and gave a circumstantial account of the siege ; when the house voted him to receive one hundred pounds, as a reward for his unwearied services. As a preacher he was undoubtedly very serviceable to the cause of the parliament. When it was determined to storm Bridgwater, 44 Mr. Peters, in his Nichols's Defence of the Church, p.50. Edit. 1740. History ' of New Eng. p. 79. t Backus s New Eng. Baptists, vol.-i. p. 76-79. § Peters's Dying Legacy, p. 97-103. Mr. Thomas Peters, a minister of puritan principles, went to New England during the civil war ; and after staying about three years, he returned to his native country. He was a worthy man, and author of several excellent pieces; but whether he was any relation to Mr. Hugh Peters, we have not been able to learn.-Mother's Hist. of New Eng. b. iii. p. 214. von. III. A
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=