Ah, I found the actual established laws:
The Winthrop Society: Descendants of the Great Migration
Let me quote from them:
"94. Capital Laws
1. If any man after legal conviction shall have or worship any other god, but the Lord God, he shall be put to death.
2. If any man or woman be a witch (that is, hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit), they shall be put to death.
3. If any person shall blaspheme the name of God, the Father, Son or Holy Ghost, with direct, express, presumptuous or high handed blasphemy, or shall curse God in the like manner, he shall be put to death.
4. If any person commit any willful murder, which is manslaughter committed upon premeditated malice, hatred, or cruelty, and not in a man's necessary and just defense, nor by mere casualty against his will, he shall be put to death.
5. If any person slayeth another suddenly in his anger or cruelty of passion, he shall be put to death.
6. If any person shall slay another through guile, either by poisoning or other such devilish practice, he shall be put to death.
7. If any man or woman shall lie with any beast or brute creature by carnal copulation, they shall surely be put to death. And the beast shall be slain, and buried and not eaten.
8. If any man lyeth with mankind (with another man in homosexual intercourse) as he lyeth with a woman, both of them have committed abomination, and they both shall surely be put to death.
9. If any person committeth adultery with a married or espoused wife, the adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death.
10. If any man stealeth a man or mankind (i.e.: kidnapping), he shall surely be put to death.
11. If any man rise up by false witness, wittingly and of purpose to take away any man's life, he shall be put to death.
12. If any man shall conspire and attempt any invasion, insurrection, or public rebellion against our Commonwealth, or shall indeavour to surprise any Town or Towns, fort or forts therein, or shall treacherously and perfidiously attempt the alteration and subversion of our frame of polity or government fundamentally, he shall be put to death."
I'd be happy even if we didn't get Cotton's version, but only these.
Cheers,
Adam
[quote=timmopussycat;425236][quote=Backwoods Presbyterian;425069]I do not know if any of you have read this before but it is well worth your time.
An Abstract of the Laws of New England,
as They Are Now Established.
printed in London in 1641.
JOHN COTTON Quote:
Short Historical note:
I don't think Cotton can be blamed for the title but it does contain an error. Cotton's laws (for he did write them) were never law in New England. In 1536 Cotton was asked together with some other ministers and magistrates to "assist some of the magistrates in compiling a body of fundamental laws". Cotton worked independently and presented his draft, but it did not become law at that time. In 1638 another committee, not including Cotton returned to the task. One of this committee was Nathaniel Ward whose, Body of Liberties was circulated among the towns in 1641 and for the next 7 years work continued on the project.
Cotton's work differs from what was finally approved in a very significant way. Cotton believed that the Mosaic judicials remained as obligatory as the moral law, the code that was utimately adopted did not do so.
For further details see Sameul T. Logan Jr. New England Puritans and the State in Theonomy: A Reformed Critique from which this summary is drawn.
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