DAVENPORT. 449 the commencement of the civil wars, when he came to England, and obtained a benefice in the church ; but after- wards went to New England.. When this learned divine fled to New England, with a view to escape the storm of persecution in his own country, Archbishop Laud said, " My arm shall reach him there ; ' but whether the cruel oppressions of this arbitrary prelate were, in this instance, equally extensive as his wishes, appears extremely doubtful.t Upon the arrival of Mr. Davenport and his friends, they found the colony deeply agitated by the antinornian and familistic errors, which, by the influence of a bold woman, had shaken the pillars of the government, and threatenedthe existence of the churches. She held public assemblies in her own house, and expounded the scriptures to all who came. Mr. Davenport arrived just before the famous synod at Cambridge, appointed to con. sider the errors that were then propagated. His assistance and influence on this . occasion were peculiarly seasonable. In the conclusion, he was appointed to announce the result of the synod, when he preached a sermon fromPhil. iii. 15., in which, it is said, " he shewed the occasion of differences among christians, and, with much wisdom and sound argu- ment, persuaded the people to unity."t. In the month of March, 1638, Mr. Davenport, Mr. Prudden, and Mr. Eaton, brother to the above person of this name, removed, with many families, from Massachusets, intending to form a new settlement at'Quinipioke. They had formed a high opinion of the situation, and expected there to escape the power of a general governor, whom they feared would soon be sent over. The good people of Massachusets parted very reluctantly with these valuable brethren. Charlestown made them large offers to induce them to settle there. Newbury generouslyoffered them their whole town, and the legislature kindly offered them any place they should choose, which had not been already granted. But Quinipioke, which they now called New Haven, was the spot on which they resolved to fix their station, andno allurements could divert their attention from it. The first public service observed in this new plantation was on Lord's day, April 18, 1638, under a large spreading oak. Mr. Davenport preached from Matt. iii. 1. on the temptations of the wilderness. Here he endeavoured to * Wood's Athena,, vol. ii. p. 334. + Wharton's Troubles of Laud, vol. i. p. 348. t Morse and Parish's Hist. p. 71. 'VOL. M. e e
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