History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

1754.J DISMISSAL OF REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS. 233
part he had taken in that " niehincholy affair." and " humbly & earn-
estly" asks the forgiveness of Mr. Edwards. ^
And Writes another Tell jeai's after the proceedings for dis-
Letter Six Years missal had been closed, six years subse-
quent to the above quoted correspondence,
and two years after the death of Mr. Edwards, Major
Hawley again opened up the matter. This time he addressed
a very humble and apologetic letter to Rev. Mr.
Hall of Sutton, a member of the two councils. Having
made his peace with Mr. Edwards and been forgiven by
him, he now made a full and free confession to the public.
In this document he takes much the same ground as in the
letter to Mr. Edwards, accusing himself of bitterness, par-
tisanship and uncharitableness. acknowledging in particu-
lar certain marks of disrespect to Mr. Hall, as well as to
the council. He strongly condemns his own acts in preparing
and promulgating the remonstrance against the re-
settlement, and is humbly penitent and sincerely sorry for
the course he pursued in that unhappy affair. ^ That Major
Hawley greatly regretted the position he had assumed and
maintained in this controversy is manifest, and that he had
the manliness and courage to confess it, is greatly to his
honor as a man and a christian.
Mr. Edwards' Friends. Wlieii the filial couucil voted to dissolve
the pastoral relation between Mr. Edwards
and liis church, "if the people still persist in desiring
it," the church was speedily convened to answer the
question. As has been previously stated, " a great majority
(above two hundred against twenty) ^ voted " in the affirmative,
Mr. Edwards writes that twenty-three persons voted
in his favor, and '' others staid away choosing not to act
either way." Which statement if correct is of very little
significance, but the very full vote given— the church con-
sisting of "about 230 male members"*—shows the state of
1 This correspondence may be found in full among the Hawley papers in the Bancroft
collection, at the Lenox Library in New York. The letter of Mr. Edwards was
published iu the Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 1, p. ii83, but the reply of Major Hawley has
never before been given to the public.
2 The above letter may be found entire in Dwight's Life of Edwards, pp. 421-427.
3. Dwight's Life of Edwards, p. 399.
4 lb. p. 410.