.. "but for the danger he saw of God's judgment to come
upon us for these differences and dissensions which he saw amongst us, and
the scandalous imputations brought upon himself, as if he should be the
cause of all." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 207.]
Such a flight was out of the question. The weight of his name and the
protection given his supporters by the power of his family in England
could not be dispensed with, and therefore the Boston congregation
intervened. After a day's reflection he seems himself to have become
convinced that he had gone too far to recede, so he "expressed himself to
be an obedient child to the church and therefore ... durst not go away."
[Footnote: _Idem_, i. 208.]
That a young and untried man like Vane should have grown weary of his
office and longed to escape will astonish no one who is familiar with the
character and the mode of warfare of his adversaries.
In that society a layman could not retort upon a minister who insulted
him, nor could Vane employ the arguments with which Cromwell so
effectually silenced the Scotch divines. The following is a specimen of
the treatment to which he was probably almost daily subjected, and the
scene in this instance was the more mortifying because it took place
before the assembled legislature.
"The ministers had met a little before and had drawn into heads all the
points wherein they suspected Mr.
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