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In October, 1649, the court commended the platform to the consideration of
the congregations; in October, 1651, it was adopted; and when church and
state were thus united by statute the theocracy was complete.
The close of the era of construction is also marked by the death of those
two remarkable men whose influence has left the deepest imprint upon the
institutions they helped to mould: John Winthrop, who died in 1649, and
John Cotton in 1652.
Winthrop's letters to his wife show him to have been tender and gentle,
and that his disposition was one to inspire love is proved by the
affection those bore him who had suffered most at his hands. Williams and
Vane and Coddington kept their friendship for him to the end. But these
very qualities, so amiable in themselves, made him subject to the
influence of men of inflexible will. His dream was to create on earth a
commonwealth of saints whose joy would be to walk in the ways of God. But
in practice he had to deal with the strongest of human passions. In 1634,
though supported by Cotton, he was defeated by Dudley, and there can be no
doubt that this was caused by the defection of the body of the clergy. The
evidence seems conclusive, for the next year Vane brought about an
interview between the two at which Haynes was present, and there Haynes
upbraided him with remissness in administering justice.
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