"Inner Light," set forth by the Quakers--a doctrine that has always held
a charm for people who enjoy the mystical. But it was not so much the
doctrines probably as the fact that she and her followers were a
disturbing element that caused her expulsion from a colony where it was
vital and necessary to the existence of the settlement that harmony
should prevail. There had been great hardships and sacrifices; even yet
the colony was merely a handful of people surrounded by thousands of
active enemies. If these colonists were to live there must be uniformity
and conformity. "When the Pequots threatened Massachusetts colony a few
men in Boston refused to serve. These were Antinomians, followers of
Anne Hutchinson, who suspected their chaplain of being under a 'Covenant
of works,' whereas their doctrine was one should live under a 'Covenant
of grace.' This is one of the great reasons why they were banished. It
was the very life of the colony that they should have conformity, and
all of them as one man could scarcely withstand the Indians. Therefore
this religious doctrine was working rebellion and sedition, and
endangering the very existence of the state."[17]

Mistress Hutchinson was given a church trial, and after long days of
discussion was banished. Her sentence as recorded stands as follows:
"Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of Mr. William Hutchinson, being convented
for traducing the ministers and their ministry in the country, she
declared voluntarily her revelation, and that she should be delivered,
and the court ruined with her posterity, and thereupon was
banished."[18] The facts prove that she must have been a woman of
shrewdness, force, personality, intelligence, and endowed with the
ability to lead. At her trial she was certainly the equal of the
ministers in her sharp and puzzling replies. The theological discussion
was exciting and many were the fine-spun, hair-splitting doctrines
brought forward on either side; but to-day the mere reading of them is a