Some Phases of Sexual Morality and Church Discipline in Colonial New England
()
About this ebook
Read more from Charles Francis Adams
Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848. Vol 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSome Phases of Sexual Morality and Church Discipline in Colonial New England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFamiliar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"Imperialism" and "The Tracks of Our Forefathers" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStudies Military and Diplomatic, 1775-1865 (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes on Railroad Accidents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"'Tis Sixty Years Since" Address of Charles Francis Adams; Founders' Day, January 16, 1913 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Some Phases of Sexual Morality and Church Discipline in Colonial New England
Related ebooks
The Oxford Movement Twelve Years, 1833-1845 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ, revised and illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Builders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSalem Witchcraft (Vol. I&II): The Real History & Background of the Greatest Witch Hunt Trials in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSalem Witchcraft: The History & the Myth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSymbolical Masonry: An Interpretation of the Three Degrees Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Builders A Story and Study of Masonry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Salem Witchcraft: The History and the Background of the Witch Trials in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Message Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSalem Witchcraft: Including the History of the Conflicting Opinions on Witchcraft and Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrthodoxy in Massachusetts 1630-1950 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Missouri Persecutions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHugh: Memoirs of a Brother Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913: Containing the Reminiscences of Harris Newmark Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSalem Witchcraft (Vol. 1&2): Including the History of the Conflicting Opinions on Witchcraft and Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarcelona and Beyond: The Disputation of 1263 and Its Aftermath Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Century of Christian Service Kensington Congregational Church, 1793-1893 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConstantine and the Conversion of Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSatanstoe, or, the Littlepage Manuscripts: A Tale of the Colony Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotes and Queries, Number 37, July 13, 1850 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays Ancient and Modern Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Dealings with the Dead: Funeral Rites and Ceremonies in the 19th-Century America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlton Locke, Tailor and Poet: An Autobiography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life and Times of Isaiah Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Christian Leaders of the 18th Century: England During the 1700s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Christian Leaders of the 18th Century: England During the 18th Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reference For You
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Sign Language in a Hurry: Grasp the Basics of American Sign Language Quickly and Easily Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51001 First Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything Sign Language Book: American Sign Language Made Easy... All new photos! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition): A Writer's Guide to Character Expression Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bored Games: 100+ In-Person and Online Games to Keep Everyone Entertained Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Everything Essential Spanish Book: All You Need to Learn Spanish in No Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robert's Rules For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51,001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlining Your Novel Workbook: Step-by-Step Exercises for Planning Your Best Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Show, Don't Tell: How to Write Vivid Descriptions, Handle Backstory, and Describe Your Characters’ Emotions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Legal Words You Should Know: Over 1,000 Essential Terms to Understand Contracts, Wills, and the Legal System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mythology 101: From Gods and Goddesses to Monsters and Mortals, Your Guide to Ancient Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51200 Creative Writing Prompts (Adventures in Writing) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE EMOTIONAL WOUND THESAURUS: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Useless Sexual Trivia: Tastefully Prurient Facts About Everyone's Favorite Subject Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy 101: From Muscles and Bones to Organs and Systems, Your Guide to How the Human Body Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Some Phases of Sexual Morality and Church Discipline in Colonial New England
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Some Phases of Sexual Morality and Church Discipline in Colonial New England - Charles Francis Adams
Charles Francis Adams
Some Phases of Sexual Morality and Church Discipline in Colonial New England
Published by Good Press, 2022
goodpress@okpublishing.info
EAN 4064066100384
Table of Contents
Cover
Titlepage
Text
In the year 1883 I prepared a somewhat detailed sketch of the history of the North Precinct of the original town of Braintree, subsequently incorporated as Quincy, which was published and can now be found in the large volume entitled History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts.
In the preparation of that sketch I had at my command a quantity of material of more or less historical value,—including printed and manuscript records, letters, journals, traditions both oral and written, etc.,—bearing on social customs, and political and religious questions or conditions. The study of this material caused me to use in my sketch the following language:—
That the earlier generations of Massachusetts were either more law-abiding or more self-restrained than the later, is a proposition which accords neither with tradition nor with the reason of things. The habits of those days were simpler than those of the present; they were also essentially grosser. The community was small; and it hardly needs to be said that where the eyes of all are upon each, the general scrutiny is a safeguard to morals. It is in cities, not in villages, that laxity is to be looked for.
But now and again, especially in the relations between the sexes, we get glimpses of incidents in the dim past which are as dark as they are suggestive. Some such are connected with Quincy.... The illegitimate child was more commonly met with in the last than in the present century, and bastardy cases furnished a class of business with which country lawyers seem to have been as familiar then as they are with liquor cases now.
[1]
Being now engaged in the work of revising and rewriting the sketch in which this extract occurs, I have recently had occasion to examine again the material to which I have alluded; and I find that, though the topic to which it relates in part is one which cannot be fully and freely treated in a work intended for general reading, yet the material itself contains much of value and interest. Neither is the topic I have referred to in itself one which can be ignored in an historical view, though, as I have reason to believe, there has been practised in New England an almost systematic suppression of evidence in regard to it; for not only are we disposed always to look upon the past as a somewhat Arcadian period,—a period in which life and manners were simpler, better and more genuine than they now are,—not only, I say, are we disposed to look upon the past as a sort of golden era when compared with the present, but there is also a sense of filial piety connected with it. Like Shem and Japhet, approaching it with averted eyes we are disposed to cover up with a garment the nakedness of the progenitors; and the severe looker after truth, who wants to have things appear exactly as they were, and does not believe in the suppression of evidence,—the investigator of this sort is apt to be looked upon as a personage of no discretion and doubtful utility,—as, in a word, a species of modern Ham, who, having unfortunately seen what ought to have been covered up, is eager, out of mere levity or prurience, to tell his brethren without
all about it.
On this subject I concur entirely in the sentiments of our orator, Colonel Higginson, as expressed in his address at the Society’s recent centennial. The truth of history is a sacred thing,—a thing of far more importance than its dignity,—and the truth of history should not be sacrificed to sentiment, patriotism or filial piety. Neither, in like manner, when it comes to scientific historical research, can propriety, whether of subject or, in the case of original material, of language, be regarded. To this last principle the published pages of Winthrop and Bradford bear evidence; and, in my judgment, the Massachusetts Historical Society has, in a career now both long and creditable, done nothing more creditable to itself than in once for all, through the editorial action of Mr. Savage and Mr. Deane, settling this principle in the publications referred to. I am, of course, well aware that Mr. Savage did not edit Winthrop’s History for this Society, but nevertheless he is so identified with the Society that his work may fairly be considered part of its record. Whether part of its record or not, Mr. Savage and Mr. Deane,—than whom no higher authorities are here recognized,—in the publications referred to, did settle the principle that mawkishness is just as much out of place in scientific historical research as prurience would be, or as sentiment, piety and patriotism are. These last-named attributes of our nature, indeed,—most noble, elevating and attractive in their proper spheres,—always have