Johannes in eremo. Memoirs, relating to the lives, of the ever-memorable, Mr. John Cotton,…

To the CHURCHES in the Colony of CONNECTICUT.

Although the Providence of Heaven, whereby the Bounds of People are set, hath carried you so far Westward, that some have pleasantly said, The Last Conflict with Antichrist must be in your Colony, yet I believe, you do not reckon your selves Removed beyond the reach of Temptation and Corruption. 'Tis a Great World that you have done, for our Lord Jesus Christ, in Forming Colony of Evange•iea Churches for Him, where Satan alone and Reigned without Control in all former Ages: but your Incomparable HOOKER, who was one of the Greatest in the Foundation of that Work, was in his Day, well aware, that Satan would make all the Hast he could, unhappily to get all Buried in the Degeneracies of Ignorance, Worldliness, and Profanity. To Advise you of your Dangers, and uphold the Life of Religion among you, I presume Humbly to Lay before you, the Life of that Excellent Man, who for Learning, Wisdom, and Religion, was a Pattern well worthy of perpetual Consideration. Having Served my own Province, with the History of no Less than Four Famous JOHNS, all fetched from One▪Church, I was for certain special Causes unwilling to have it Complained, as once it was of the Disciples, THOMAS was not with them; Wherefore. I was willing to make this Appendix unto that History. Confessing that thro' want of Information. I have Undered no in This, more than in any part of the Composure, yet So Done, that, I hope the Good Hand of the Lord whom I have designed therein to Glorify, will make what Is D •ne, to be neither unacceptable nor unprofitable unto His People.

Although the Providence of Heaven, whereby the Bunds of People are set, hath carried you so far Westward, that some have pleasantly said, The Last Corflict with Antichrist must be in your Colony, yet I believe, you do not reckon your selves Removed beyond the reach of Temptation and Corruption. 'Tis a Great World that you have done, for our Lord Jesus Christ, in Forming Colony of Evange•iea Churches for Him, where Satan alone and Raigned without Control in all former Ages: but your Incomparable HOOKER, who was one of the Greatest in the Foundation of that Work, was in his Day, well aware, that Satan would make all the Hast he could, unhappily to get all Buried in the Degeneracies of Ignorance, Worldliness, and Profanitie. To Advise you of your Dangers, and uphold the Life of Religion among you, I presume Humbly to Lay before you, the Life of that Excellent Man, who for Learning, Wisdom, and Religion, was a Pattern well worthy of perpetual Consideration. Having Served my own Province, with the History of no Less than Four Famous JOHNS, all fetch'd from OneChurch, I was for certain special Causes unwilling to have it Complained, as once it was of the Disciples, THOMAS was not with them; Wherefore. I was willing to make this Appendix unto that History. Confessing that thro' want of Information. I have Undered no in This, more than in any part of the Composure, yet So Done, that, I hope the Good Hand of the Lord whom I have design'd therein to Glorify, will make what Is D ne, to be neither unacceptable nor unprofitable unto His People.