Two persons, afterwards distinguished in English annals, arrived this year in Boston. One was Hugh Peters, the coadjutor and chaplain of Oliver Cromwell; the other was Mr. Henry Vane, the son of Sir Henry Vane, who was, at that time a privy councillor of great credit with the King. The mind of this young gentleman was so deeply imbued with the political and religious opinions of the puritans, that he appeared ready to sacrifice, for the enjoyment of them, all his bright prospects in his native land. His mortified exterior, his grave and solemn deportment, his reputation for piety and wisdom, his strong professions of attachment to liberty and to the public good, added to his attention to some of the leading members in the church, won rapidly the affections of the people, and he was chosen their governor.
His administration commenced with more external pomp than had been usual, or would seem to be congenial either with his own professions, or with the plain and simple manners of the people whom he governed. When going to court or church, he was always preceded by two sergeants who walked with their halberts. Yet his popularity sustained no diminution, until the part he took in the religious controversies of the country detached from him many of its most judicious inhabitants.[61]
Independent of the meetings for public worship on every Sunday, of the stated lecture in Boston on every Thursday, and of occasional lectures in other towns, there were frequent meetings of the brethren of the churches, for religious exercises. Mrs. Hutchinson, who had been much flattered by the attentions of the governor, and of Mr. Cotton, one of the most popular of the clergy; who added eloquence to her enthusiasm, and whose husband was among the most respected men of the country; dissatisfied with the exclusion of her sex from the private meetings of the brethren, instituted a meeting of the sisters also, in which she repeated the sermons of the preceding Sunday, accompanied with remarks and expositions. These meetings were attended by a large number of the most respectable of her sex; and her lectures were, for a time, generally approved. At length she drew a distinction between the ministers through the country. She designated a small number as being under a covenant of grace; the others, as being under a covenant of works. Contending for the necessity of the former, she maintained that sanctity of life is no evidence of justification, or of favour with God; and that the Holy Ghost dwells personally in such as are justified. The whole colony was divided into two parties, equally positive, on these abstruse points, whose resentments against each other threatened the most serious calamities. Mr. Vane espoused, with zeal, the wildest doctrines of Mrs. Hutchinson, and Mr. Cotton decidedly favoured them. The lieutenant governor Mr. Winthrop, and the majority of the churches, were of the opposite party. Many conferences were held; days of fasting and humiliation were appointed; a general synod was called; and, after violent dissensions, Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions were condemned as erroneous, and she was banished. Many of her disciples followed her. Vane, in disgust, quitted America; unlamented even by those who had lately admired him. He was thought too visionary; and is said to have been too enthusiastic even for the enthusiasts of Massachusetts.