NORTON. 421 44 little ones, and our substance ; choosing the pure scripture " worship, with a good conscience, in this remote wilder- " ness, rather-than the pleasures of England, with submission " to the impositions of the hierarchy, to which we could not " yield without an evil conscience. We are not seditious to " the interests of Caesar, nor schismatical in matters of reli- " gion. We distinguish between churches and their impu- " rifles. We could not live without the public worship of " God, but were not allowed to observe it without such a " yoke of superstition and conformity as we could not con- " sent to without sin.". In the month of February, 1661, they entered upon their voyage; and having obtained the king's letter, confirming the privileges of the colony, they returned in September follow- ing. Mr. Norton, however, did not long survive his return. His death was very sudden. For he expected to have preached in the afternoon of the day on which he died ; but, instead of preaching, his heavenly Father received him to himself. He departed greatly lamented, April 5, 1663, nearly fifty-seven years of age. Mr. Richard Mather preached his funeral sermon to his numerous and mournful flock. He was a man of great piety, an excellent scholar, and a good divine, but certainly of too irritable a temper. He is said to have been at the head of all the hardships which were inflicted upon the quakers in New England, for which they afterwards reproached him as dying under the just judgment of God. " John Norton," said they, " Chief priest in Boston, was smitten by the immediate power of the Lord ; and as he was sinking down by the fire-side, being under just judgment, he confessed the hand of the Lord was upon him, and so he died."t Though this reflection was undoubtedly unjust, it certainly would have been much better, if neither he, nor any others, had, by their unchristian severities, given the occasion .to make it. Mr. Norton m was author of several learned and excellent works. His book, entitled " Responsio ad Gal. Appol- lonium," 1648, rendered his name famous in the controversial world. Fuller observes, " that of all the authors he had ever perused, concerning the opinions of the dissenting brethren, none gave him more information than Mr. John. Norton, a man of no less learning than modesty, in his answer to 4, Islassachusets Papers, p. 345-371.-Mather's Hist. b. iii. p. 37. t Neal's Hist. of New Eng. vol. H. p. 340. leaso6an'T
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