In her native country, she had shown symptoms of
irregular and daring thought, but, chiefly by the influ-
ence of a favorite pastor, was restrained from open indis-
cretion. On the removal of this clergyman, becoming
dissatisfled with the ministry under which she lived, she
was drawn in by the great tide of Puritan emigration,
and visited Massachusetts within a few years after its
first settlement. But she bore trouble in her own
bosom, and could find no peace in this chosen land. She
soon began to promulgate strange and dangerous opin-
ions, tending, in the peculiar situation of the colony, and
from the principles which were its basis, and indispen-
sable for its temporary support, to eat into its very exist-
ence. We shall endeavor to give a more practical idea
of this part of her course.
It is a summer evening. The dusk has settled heavily
upon the woods, the waves, and the Trimountain penin^
sula, increasing that dismal aspect of the embryo town,

8



170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
