former. In proof of this assertion, I present you the following certificate.

66

Lunenburg, March 23, 1831. "This may certify, that when Rev. Mr. Payson of Leominster visited my house, to give information against the character of Rev. Mr. Hubbard of this town, Mr. Payson stated to me and my wife, that Mr. Hubbard was free in his exchanges with unitarians. I answered, 'We can put up with that, because it is better to be so, than not to have an orthodox minister settled over us.' Mr. Payson further stated, that Mr. Hubbard's character was bad, that he allowed his children to swear, and that if he was settled here, he would prove a curse to us. My wife asked, 'What is that you say?' and he answered, 'He will prove a curse to you.' He then said, 'If you will inquire of Mr. Putnam of Fitchburg, and Mr. Fisher of Harvard, and of a minister in Middleton, you will find Mr. Hubbard to be a bad man.' He then told us we must make all this public, and tell it to Deacon Sanderson, and, I think he said, Mr. Lawrence; saying to us, You have but a short time to do this in,' and that we must vote against his settlement here. He likewise said, 'This is enough against him, that Mr. Damon recommended him.' I told him, that I did not like to do this, for we had been striving to get an orthodox minister, and some had thought hard of us, and I did not know what they would think, if I went and told these things. Mr. Payson then said, 'Blessed are you who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for great is your reward in heaven.' He went on to say, 'As now you know these things, it is your duty to make them known.' I further declare, that when Mr. Payson was about to leave my house, I said to him, "The account you give of Mr. Hubbard is very different from what a man gave me, a few weeks ago, who wished me to subscribe for the "National Preacher." He said Mr. Hubbard's character stood fair

6

among the people with whom he lived.' Mr. Payson replied, 'You

must tell what I have told you, but do not give my name.'

EDMUND PROCTOR."

I also stated that Mr. Payson was asked before witnesses, if he should have taken such a step, had not Mr. Hubbard exchanged with unitarians; and that he answered, "No." I also asserted, that Mr. Payson intimated that Mr. Putnam of Fitchburg and Mr. Fisher of Harvard, in connexion with himself, had taken Lunenburg under their special protection. The truth of both of these assertions you deny outright. In proof of my statements, I present you the following certificates. I could also give you the same account from Mr. Hubbard's minute of the conversation.

"Lunenburg, March 23, 1831. "This may certify, that very soon after Mr. Payson's visit at my house, I visited Mr. Payson with Mr. Hubbard, and heard all their conversation; and that Mr. Hubbard began by asking Mr. Payson

'what could have induced him to come into Lunenburg to injure his character, as he had done.' Mr. Payson said, 'WE heard that you was likely to be settled in Lunenburg, and Mr. Putnam and Mr. Fisher and myself were at Andover, and inquired out your character, and found it was bad.' Mr. Hubbard said, he thought a man could be orthodox, and yet exchange with some unitarians.' Mr. Payson answered, "WE are determined to put down all who exchange with unitarians, for we think they are as bad as unitarians.' Mr. Hubbard then said to Mr. Payson, 'Should you have come into Lunenburg to injure my character, if you had not heard that I exchanged with unitarians?' and Mr. Payson said, 'No.' Mr. Hubbard said, 'The people in Lunenburg can take care of themselves, and I think your interference improper.' Mr. Payson said, 'WE think it our duty to take care of Lunenburg,' or words to that amount. EDMUND PROCTOR."

"The account given in this certificate of the interview between Rev. Mr. Payson, Mr. Edmund Proctor, and myself, which took place at the residence of Mr. Payson, is, I believe, strictly true.

EBENEZER HUBBARD."

Thus you see, that the moving cause of all Payson's exertions, was the exchanging with unitarians; for he expressly declared, that he and his ministerial brethren had determined to "put down all who exchange with unitarians." Mr. Hubbard also visited Mr. Payson in company with Dr. Lawrence, an orthodox man, and now member of the church in Hollis. I give you an account of this interview from Mr. Hubbard's minutes, taken on his return to his own residence.

"Visited Rev. Mr. Payson of Leominster with Doct. Luke Lawrence of this town. I made to Mr. Payson a proposition, to let him pass unharmed, if he would give me the name of his informer. He answered, that he had promised not to do it, and that Mr. Proctor had made him the same promise, with respect to the concealment of his name; and that Mr. Proctor was not a man of his word, because he had given up his name. He said, that a minister was a public character, and that he had a right to talk about me; that he was told in Andover, that I would not consent to have Andover students come into Middleton and preach to my people; that I exchanged freely with unitarians; that I had no Sabbath school, or Bible class, or lectures, excepting the customary lecture before Communion; and that Mrs. Adams, a godly woman, wished to have Andover students preach in Middleton, but I would not consent. When I informed him that these were untruths, he answered That is your word for it, and I don't know that you tell the truth.' He then said, he thought a large number of the church-members in Lunenburg were destitute of vital or real religion, and that if I was settled there, I ought to discipline them, to ascertain whether they were orthodox. I then asked him, 'What is orthodoxy?' He said, 'The Andover creed, that is orthodoxy,'

and that they believed Calvin's doctrine of election, that a certain number of persons were decreed to be saved, and a certain number left to perish as a punishment for their sins. Dr. Lawrence then asked him, whether, he did not think it better to have a minister exchange with a few unitarians, and so keep his town united, as Mr. Howe of Pepperell did, than to have it divided as Groton was. He answered, 'No.' Dr. Lawrence then observed, that he was well acquainted with Mr. Howe, and thought him a good man. Mr. Payson replied, that he did not think him so good a man as Mr. Todd of Groton. Dr. Lawrence then said, 'Do you doubt Mr. Howe's piety?' and he answered, 'I do; and we, his orthodox brethren in the Association, are running upon Mr. Howe, and we will run upon him, till we run him down, for exchanging with unitarians.' I then observed to him, that the calumnies he had circulated against me and my family were violations of the law. He answered, 'I did it conscientiously.' I asked him, if the account he gave Mr. Proctor of me and my family was the same that he received from his informer, and he said, 'Yes'; and also said, that Mr. Putnam gave the same account to Deacon Sanderson of Lunenburg, the day after I first visited him. I told him that this was not the case; that Mr. Putnam had said nothing against my character to Deacon Sanderson. I told him I would certainly commence a legal prosecution against him, unless he gave me the name of his informer. He said he would consider whether he ought to do this, and let me know week after next. I advised him to consult some lawyer. EBENEZER HUBBARD." "Lunenburg, 1 Nov. 1831."

“Hollis, April 20, 1831.

"I, having read Rev. Mr. Hubbard's account of his interview with Rev. Mr. Payson of Leominster on Nov. 1, 1828, at which I was present, do now declare, that, to the best of my recollection, the said account is substantially correct. LUKE LAWRENCE."

I stated that orthodox ministers in the vicinity of Lunenburg went to Andover, and earnestly solicited information derogatory to the character of Mr. Hubbard. You pronounce this statement false. In proof of its truth, I present you the following account of Mr. Hubbard's interview with Braman.

"I visited Rev. Mr. Braman of Danvers on the 23d of December, in company with David Parker, jun. of North Reading. I stated to Mr. Braman, that I had seen a letter written by him to Mr. Payson of Leominster; that there had been a number of reports in circulation, which went to destroy my moral character, and that Mr. Payson, after relating them to respectable people in Lunenburg, had referred me to him as his authority. I then read the certificate of Edward and Elizabeth Proctor, and observed to Mr. Braman, that these were the reports. He answered, 'Does Mr. Payson say that I told him these things?' I answered 'He has referred me to you as his author.'

'And what,' said he, ' are you going to do?' I said, 'My own character and my duty to my family oblige me to resort to a legal prosecution against you, unless you can refer me to some individual, as your informer. What,' said I, 'could have induced you, who have been in habits of intimacy with me, and of ministerial intercourse, to pursue me to Lunenburg, with a design to injure my character?' He answered, 'I saw them at Andover, and they inquired about you, and I told them I knew nothing personally against your character. They then inquired, if I had never heard any thing, and I was unwilling to answer; but they were so earnest, that I told them what I had heard. But I did not think it would have come to this.' Mr. Braman appeared to be much alarmed, and I told him, I would not prosecute him, if he would give me the name of his informer. He then acknowledged that he heard what he related from Washington Berry of Middleton. I then earnestly requested him to go immediately with me to Middleton, and inquire into the truth of the reports, of the people there, whom he knew to be respectable. This he declined. I then told him that he might give me such a certificate as he thought proper; he accordingly wrote and signed, in presence of a witness, the following certificate. EBENEZER HUBBARD."

"This certificate certifies that some time in September last, I made statements to Rev. Mr. Payson of Leominster, respecting Mr. Hubbard's conduct in Middleton, which I have reason to believe were not exactly agreeable to truth. I did not state to any person that Rev. Mr. Hubbard brought up his children to use profane language, and Mr. Payson must have misapprehended me, if he says that I used such language; nor do I know that Rev. Mr. Hubbard allows of any such conduct in his family. And I hereby state that I know nothing personally against the Rev. Mr. Hubbard's moral character.

Signed in my presence.
DAVID PARKER, Jun.

Danvers, December 23, 1828."

MILTON P. BRAMAN."

This statement proves, that Mr. Braman was earnestly beset for information derogatory to the character of Mr. Hubbard; and that Mr. Braman related what he heard with great reluctance. This reluctance is more fully expressed in a letter of Mr. Braman's to Mr. Hubbard, which I have before me.

But Mr. Braman contends, that the confession was extorted from Washington Berry. Here you have his own account of the affair.

"The confession of the gentleman in Middleton was an extorted one. He, at that time, was in ill health, suffering under a disorder of the nervous system, and liable in consequence to great mental agitation. Being severely threatened, and treated in an overbearing manner, by Mr. H.; being taken into a room with several individuals, all Mr. H.'s friends; being pressed with the consequences of refusing to sign the

confession prepared for him, and with no one to advise and assist him,— he put his name to a paper, the contents of which he had not presence of mind enough fully to comprehend. What deserves particular mention is, that his agitation and confession were principally produced and wrung from him, by an unfounded statement which Mr. H. made to him of some declarations I had reported him to have uttered respecting Mr. H.'s moral character. He doubted the truth of what Mr. H. said he could substantiate by witness, and asked for one hour to send for me, with a view to ascertain the correctness of the statement; but was told that it could not be granted, and that unless he should sign the confession speedily, a legal prosecution would be commenced against him. Fearing that, in case the matter should be brought to such a result, I might appear as an important witness against him, he reluctantly complied with the demand. Had I been sent for, his confession would have appeared in a very different shape from that in which it is presented in Mr. Whitman's Letters. As it now stands, it ought never to have been demanded or made."

The following statement of Mr. Hubbard, corroborated by proper testimony, proves the incorrectness of several of these assertions.

"I was in Middleton, April 23, 1829, at the house of Mr. Andrew Merriam, and early in the afternoon of that day, sent a note to Washington Berry, a copy of which I have in the hand-writing of Miss Catharine Merriam, a member of the church in that place. In this note I stated, that I should be at the house of Mr. Andrew Merriam, until nine o'clock on the morrow morning, and that he might then settle with me if he chose; but if he did not, on my return to Lunenburg, I must pursue the course of the law. He returned a verbal answer by the messenger, that he would come at or near the appointed time. He brought with him two gentlemen, one of whom was his own cousin. These were men of his own choosing, and of course must have been considered by him as his friends. The Merriam family were all orthodox in their religious opinions, and were connected by marriage with the family of Washington Berry; and the two families had been on terms of great intimacy all the time of my ministry there. Mr. Berry and his two friends were introduced into the room by a member of the family, and some one or more of the family were present, I think, during most of the transaction. The object of the meeting was discussed. Mr. Berry said that Mr. Braman told him, that he would not testify, that he (Berry) had told him my moral character was bad. I told Berry that he had said this before a witness, and then observed, that if Mr. Braman would not testify to this, I had something from another source which was full to the purpose. I then read to him a note in the handwriting of Col. J. Putnam of Danvers, which was as follows: This may certify, that I heard Mr. Washington Berry say, that Rev. Mr. Hubbard allowed his children to swear as much as they had a mind to,