in the colonies. There had been many instances of intolerance
and tyranny on the part of the clergy in the past. Cotton Mather's
implacable spirit found vent in the superstition and cruelty that
characterized the Salem Witchcraft, while other ministerial leaders were
prominent in the persecution of the Quakers. Joseph Sewall and Thomas
Prince were educated under the Cottons and Mathers, but their lives
presented a striking contrast to these fiery expounders of the Christian
faith. Tolerance, benevolence, and humility shone conspicuously in their
united careers. The serious character of the books collected and read by
young Prince from his tenth year shows not only his daily training, but
the inherent tendency of his mind toward that profession which he
afterwards adorned. Mr. Sewall, his colleague, says of him, "That his
crowning glory was that he was pious from his youth." He entered Harvard
College at sixteen, and, after graduating, devoted two years to the
study of divinity in Cambridge. His acquirements in theology, science,
and history were marvellous, and, with his diligence and love of
research, he turned with great energy to Europe as a wider field, where
he could add indefinitely to his already fine attainments, and where the
ease and grace of an older civilization left their stamp on his future
deportment and endeared him to his people and the whole community. In
1709 he sailed for England by the way of Barbadoes, thence to Madeira,
and, after another trip to Barbadoes, he finally settled in England in
October, 1710, making his home there seven years. There is one volume of
his journal covering this period, bound in vellum, at the Massachusetts
Historical rooms, presented by the Rev. Chandler Robbins. It is a
miracle of neatness and precision, but in such fine penmanship that it
is difficult to decipher. His love of detail is manifest in the most
accurate information in regard to the ship's progress in her various
voyages; and in his account of the small-pox and measles, both of which
diseases assailed him at this time, the daily symptoms were chronicled
in the most vivid manner. He attended theological lectures in London and
at various universities, becoming in 1711 pastor of a church in Combs,
Suffolk County, England. For six years this young American pursued his
profession with enthusiasm, in the midst of a population who were
devoted to him. Before returning to America he formed a church at
Battisford, next