Each county has five judges, who try by a jury all causes above 2_l._

Five judges preside over the superior court of the province, who hold

two sessions in each county every year. To this court are brought

appeals from the county courts when the verdict exceeds 10_l._ appeals

from the courts of probate, writs of error, petitions for divorce, &c.

The General Assembly is a court of chancery, where the error or rigour

of the judgments of the superior courts are corrected.

The General Assembly, and not the Governor, has the power of life and

death.

The courts of probate are managed by a justice of peace appointed by

the General Assembly.

Each county has its Sheriff, and each town its constables.

By charter the Governor is Captain-general of the militia. Fourteen

Colonels, 14 Lieutenant-Colonels, and 14 Majors, are appointed by the

General Assembly. The Captains and Subalterns are elected by the

People, and commissioned by the Governor.

The ecclesiastical courts in Connecticut are: 1. The Minister and his

Communicants; 2. The Association, which is composed of every minister

and deacon in the county; 3. The Consociation, which consists of four

ministers and their deacons, chosen from each Association; and always

meets in May, at Hertford, with the General Assembly. An appeal from

the Consociation will lie before the General Assembly; but the clergy

have always been against it, though with less success than they

wished.--The General Assembly declared “Sober Dissenters” to be the

established religion of the province.

The laws of the colony enacted by the authority of the Charter are

decent in comparison with the Blue Laws. They make one thin volume in

folio. Yet exceptions may justly be made to many of them--equal liberty

is not given to all parties--taxes are unfairly laid--the poor are

oppressed.--One law is intolerable, viz. When a trespass is committed

in the night, the injured person may recover damages of any-one he

shall think proper to accuse, unless the accused can prove an alibi,

or will clear himself by an oath; which oath, nevertheless, it is at

the option of the justice either to administer or refuse. Queen Ann

repealed the cruel laws respecting Quakers, Ranters, and Adamites; but

the General Assembly, notwithstanding, continued the same in their

law-book, maintaining that a law made in Connecticut could not be

repealed by any authority but their own. It is a ruled case with them

that no law or statute of England be in force in Connecticut till

formally passed by the General Assembly and recorded by the

Secretary.[25] Above 30 years ago, a negro castrated his master’s son,

and was brought to trial for it before the Superior Court at Hertford.

The Court could find no law to punish the negro. The lawyers quoted

the English statute against maiming; the Court were of opinion that

statute did not reach this colony, because it had not been passed in

the General Assembly; and therefore were about to remand the negro to

prison till the General Assembly should meet. But an _ex-post-facto_

law was objected to as an infringement upon civil liberty. At length,

however, the Court were released from their difficulty by having

recourse to the vote of the first settlers at Newhaven, viz. That the

Bible should be their law till they could make others more suitable to

their circumstances. The court were of opinion that vote was in full

force, as it had not been revoked; and thereupon tried the negro upon

the Jewish law, viz. Eye for Eye, and Tooth for Tooth. He suffered

accordingly.

The idea fostered by the colony of independence on Great Britain was

not, as might be imagined, destroyed by the royal charter, but, on the

contrary, was renewed and invigorated by it. Indeed, the charter is as

much in favour of Connecticut, and unfavourable to England, as if it

had been drawn up in Boston or Newhaven. Had it been granted jointly

by the King, Lords, and Commons, and not by the King _solus_, no one

could dispute the independence of Connecticut on England, any more

than they could that of Holland on Spain. The people at large did not

discriminate between an act of the King _solus_ and an act of the

King, Lords, and Commons, conjointly; and, to prevent any-one from

shewing the difference, the General Assembly made a law that “whoever

should attempt to destroy the constitution of this Colony as by

charter established, should suffer death.” The power of a British King

was held up by them much higher than the constitution allowed. The

King had authority, they said, to form palatinate states without

consent of Parliament. Accustomed to doctrines of this tendency, the

multitude concluded the General Assembly of Connecticut to be equal to

the British Parliament.

Notions of this kind did not prevail in Connecticut alone;

Massachusets-Bay still more abounded with them, and Rhode Island was

not uninfected. What was the consequence? Complaints against those

governments poured into the British court. A reformation, therefore,

became indispensable in New-England, and was begun by a

disfranchisement of the Massachusets province. The death of Charles

II. put a temporary stop to proceedings against the other colonies;

but James II. soon found it expedient to renew them. In July, 1685,

the following instances of mal-administration were formally exhibited

against the Governor and Company of Connecticut, viz., “They have made

laws contrary to the laws of England:--they impose fines upon the

inhabitants, and convert them to their own use:--they enforce an oath

of fidelity upon the inhabitants without administering the oath of

supremacy and allegiance, as in their charter is directed:--they deny

to the inhabitants the exercise of the religion of the church of

England, arbitrarily fining those who refuse to come to their

congregational Assemblies:--his Majesty’s subjects inhabiting there

cannot obtain justice in the courts of that colony:--they discourage

and exclude the government all gentlemen of known loyalty, and keep it

in the hands of the independent party in the colony.” (_New-Eng. Ent.

vol._ ii. p. 241.) In consequence of this impeachment, James II.

ordered a _Quo Warranto_ to be issued against the Charter of

Connecticut. The People perceived the King was in earnest; and their

alarm manifested itself in humble sollicitations for favour: but, it

being thought adviseable, on several accounts, particularly the

extensive progress the French were making in Canada, to appoint one

general Governor over New-England, the submissive applications of the

Connecticut colonists could no further be regarded than in allowing

them their choice, whether to be annexed to New-York or the

Massachusets. They preferred the latter; and, accordingly, Sir Edmund

Andros having been appointed Captain-general over all New-England, the

charter of Connecticut was surrendered to him. It is very remarkable

that Mr. Neal, Hutchinson, and other historians of New-England, have

artfully passed over in silence this transaction of the surrender of

Connecticut Charter to Sir Edmund Andros, the General Governor over

New-England. They have represented the magistrates of Connecticut as

not having resigned their charter, but by an erroneous construction

put on their humble supplication to James II. by the Court of London;

whereas the fact is, they resigned it, _in propria forma_, into the

hands of Sir Edmund Andros, at Hertford, in October, 1687, and were

annexed to the Massachusets-Bay colony, in preference to New-York,

according to royal promise and their own petition.[26] But the very

night of the surrender of it, Samuel Wadsworth, of Hertford, with the

assistance of a mob, violently broke into the apartments of Sir

Edmund, regained, carried off, and hid the charter in the hollow of an

elm; and, in 1689, news arriving of an insurrection and overthrow of

Andros at Boston, Robert Treat, who had been elected in 1687, was

declared by the mob still to be Governor of Connecticut. He daringly

summoned his old Assembly, who, being convened, voted the charter to

be valid in law, and that it could not be vacated by any power without

the consent of the General-Assembly[27] They then voted that Samuel

Wadsworth should bring forth the charter; which he did in a solemn

procession, attended by the High-sheriff, and delivered it to the

Governor. The General Assembly voted their thanks to Wadsworth, and

twenty shillings as a reward for _stealing_ and hiding their charter

in the elm. Thus Connecticut started from a dependent county into an

independent province, in defiance of the authority that had lately

been paid such humble submission. None should be surprized to find the

People shewing more deference to Abimeleck, King of Mohegin, than to

George, King of England; since a vote of men, whose legislative and

even corporate capacity had been annihilated, has prevailed, for more

than eighty years, over a just exertion of royal prerogative.[28]

Nevertheless, this unconstitutional Assembly, whose authority under an

assumed charter has been tacitly acknowledged by the British

Parliament, have not at all times been unchecked by the Corporation of

Yale College. That College, by a charter received from this

self-erected Government, was enabled to give Bachelors and Masters

degrees; but the Corporation have presumed to give Doctors degrees.

When the General Assembly accused them of usurping a privilege not

conferred by their charter, they retorted that “to usurp upon a

charter was not so bad as to usurp a vacated charter.” The General

Assembly were obliged to be content with this answer, as it contained

much truth, and came from the clergy, whose ambition and power are not

to be trifled with.

Whatever might be the reason of the English Government’s winking at

the contempt shewn to their authority by the people of Connecticut, it

certainly added to their ingratitude and bias to usurpation. Having

been in possession of that country one-hundred and forty years, the

General Assembly, though unsupported either by law or justice,

resolved to take up and settle their lands west not only of Hudson but

Susquehanna river, and extending to the South-Sea. In pursuance of

this resolution, they with modesty passed over New-York, and the

Jerseys, because they are possessed by Mynheers and fighting

christians, and seized on Pensylvania, claimed by Quakers, who fight

not for either wife or daughter. They filled up their fathers

iniquities, by murdering the Quakers and Indians, and taking

possession of their lands; and no doubt, in another century, they will

produce deeds of sale from Sunksquaw, Uncas, or some other

supposititious Sachem. This is a striking instance of the use I have

said the Colony sometimes make of their charter, to countenance and

support their adventurous spirit of enterprize. They plead that their

charter bounds them on the west by the South-Sea; but they seem to

have forgotten that their charter was surreptitiously obtained; and

that the clause on which they dwell is rendered nugatory, by the

petitioners having described their lands as lying upon Connecticut

river, and obtained partly by purchase and partly by conquest. Now, it

being a fact beyond all controversy, that they then had not conquered,

nor even pretended to have purchased, any lands west of

Hudson’s-River, it is evident that their westernmost boundary never

did or ought to extend further than to that river. Not that Mr. Pen

has any just title to those lands on Susquehanna river which are the

bone of contention, and which lie north of his patent: they belong to

the assigns of the Plymouth Company, or to the Crown of England.

Republicanism, schisms, and persecutions, have ever prevailed in this

Colony.--The religion of “_Sober Dissenters_” having been established

by the General Assembly, each sect claimed the establishment in its

favour. The true Independents denied that the Assembly had any further

power over Christ’s Church than to protect it. Few Magistrates of any

religion are willing to yield their authority to Ecclesiastics; and

few disciples of Luther or Calvin are willing to obey either civil or

spiritual masters. In a Colony where the people are thus disposed,

dominion will be religion, and faction conscience. Hence arose

contentions between the Assembly and Independents; and both parties

having been brought up under Cromwell, their battles were well fought.

The independent Ministers published, from their pulpits, that the

Assembly played off one sect against another; and that Civilians were

equal enemies to all parties, and acted more for their own interest

than the glory of God. Those spiritual warriors, by their

Associations, fasting, and prayers, voted themselves the “_Sober

Dissenters_,” and got the better of the General Assembly. Indeed, none

disputed their vote with impunity. Whenever a Governor manifested an

inclination to govern Christ’s Ministers, Christ’s Ministers were sure

to instruct the freemen not to reëlect him. The Magistrates declared

that they had rather be under Lords-Bishops than Lords-Associations. A

Governor was appointed, who determined to reduce Christ’s Ministers

under the Civil Power; and, accordingly, the Assembly sent their

Sheriff to bring before them certain leading men among the Ministers,

of whom they banished some, silenced others, and fined many, for

preaching sedition. The Ministers told the Assembly that curst cows

had short horns; and that “they were _Priests for ever after the order

of Melchisedec_.” However, like good christians, they submitted to the

sentence of the Assembly; went home, fasted, and prayed, until the

Lord pointed out a perfect cure for all their sufferings. On the day

of election, they told the freemen that the Lord’s cause required a

man of Grace to stand at the head of the Colony, and with sure

confidence recommended the Moderator of the Association to be their

Governor; and the Moderator was chosen. This event greatly inflamed

the lay-magistrates, who were further mortified to see Ministers among

the Representatives; whereupon they cried out, “This is a presbyterian

popedom.” Now Magistrates joined with other Churches which they had

long persecuted; and the Connecticut Vine was rent more and more every

day. The Ministers kept the power, but not always the office, of the

Governor, whilst the weaker party paid the cost. One party was called

Old Light, the other New Light: both aimed at power under pretence of

religion; which-ever got the power, the other was persecuted. By this

happy quarrel, the various sectarians were freed from their

persecutions; because each contending party courted their votes and

interest, to help to pull down its adversary. This has been the

religious-political free system and practice of Connecticut since

1662.

In speaking of the religious phrenzies and persecutions in Connecticut

under the sanction of the charter, I must notice the words of an

eminent Quaker, who, as a blasphemer, had been whipped, branded, burnt

in the tongue, set on the gallows, banished, and, upon return,

sentenced to be hanged. “Dost thee not think,” said he to his Judges,

“that the Jews, who crucified the Saviour of the World, had a

_Charter_?”

Many have been the disputes between Connecticut and the neighbouring

Colonies concerning their several boundaries, and much blood has been

spilt on those occasions. On the north and east, where lie the

Massachusets and Rhode-Island, Connecticut has, in some degree, been

the gainer; but has lost considerably on the west and south, to the

engendering violent animosity against the _loyal_ New-Yorkers, to whom

it will probably prove fatal in the end. The detail is briefly as

follows:

The Dutch settlers on New-York Island, Hudson’s river, and the west

end of Long Island, being subdued by Colonel Nichols in September,

1664, the royal Commissioners, after hearing the Deputies from

Connecticut in support of the charter granted to that province against

the Duke of York’s patent, ordered, in December following, that

Long-Island should be annexed to the government of New-York, and that

the West boundary of Connecticut should be a line drawn from the mouth

of Mamaroneck river north-north-west to the line of the Massachusets.

This settlement, although it infringed their charter, was peaceably

acquiesced in by the people of Connecticut; and not complained of by

those of New-York till 1683, when they set up a claim founded upon a

Dutch grant, _said_ to be made in 1621, of all the lands from Cape Cod

to Cape Henlopen. In furtherance of their pretensions, they had

recourse to invasion and slander. Of the latter Mr. Smith has given a

specimen in his History of New-York, where he says that the agreement

in 1664 “was founded in ignorance and fraud;” because, forsooth, “a

north-north-west line from Mamaroneck would soon intersect Hudson’s

river!” Could any one of common-sense suppose the Dutch on the banks

of Hudson’s river, who no doubt were consulted upon the occasion, less

acquainted with the course of it, than persons residing on the banks

of the Connecticut? Extraordinarily absurd as such an insinuation

might be, the people of Connecticut were aware of its probable weight

with the Duke of York, whose patent grasped half their country; and

therefore, knowing by whom a contest must be decided, they consented

to give up twenty miles of their land east of Hudson’s river, hoping

that would content a company of time-serving Jacobites and artful

Dutchmen. But neither were they nor their Patron satisfied; and the

agreement was suspended till 1700, when it was confirmed by William

III. About twenty years afterwards, however, the New-Yorkers thought

the times favourable to further encroachments; and at length, in 1731,

they gained 60,000 acres more, called the Oblong, from Connecticut,

purely because they had Dutch consciences, and for once reported in

England what was true, that the New-England colonists hated Kings,

whether natives or foreigners. Mr. Smith, indeed, p. 238, says,

referring to Douglas’s[29] Plan of the British Dominions of

New-England in support of his assertion, that “Connecticut ceeded

these 60,000 acres to New-York, as an _equivalent_ for lands near the

Sound _surrendered_ to Connecticut, by New-York.” Mr. Smith, and all

the New-York cabal, know, that there never were any lands in the

possession of the New-Yorkers _surrendered_ to Connecticut: on the

contrary, Connecticut was forced, by the partiality of sovereigns, to

give up, not only Long-Island and the above-mentioned twenty miles

east of Hudson’s river, but also the Oblong, without any _equivalent_.

How New-York could surrender lands and tenements which they never had

any right to or possession of, is only to be explained thus: whereas

the people of New-York did not extend their eastern boundary to

Connecticut river, they therefore _surrendered_ to Connecticut what

they never had; which is like a highwayman’s saying to a Gentleman,

Give me ten guineas, and I will _surrender_ to you your watch in your

pocket.

Thus by degrees has Connecticut lost a tract of land sixty miles in

length and above twenty in breadth, together with the whole of

Long-Island; and this in the first place by a stretch of royal

prerogative, and afterwards by the chicanery of their competitors, who

have broken through all agreements as often as a temporising conduct

seemed to promise them success. Whenever, therefore, a favourable

opportunity presents itself, it is probable, that Messrs. Smith and

Livingston, and other pateroons in New-York, will find the last

determination also to have been “founded in ignorance and fraud,” and

will be pushing their claim to all the lands west of Connecticut

river; but the opportunity must be favourable indeed, that allows them

to encroach one foot farther with impunity.

Another stroke the people of Connecticut received about 1753 has

sorely galled them ever since, and contributed not a little to their

thirst of revenge. The Governor of New-York was then appointed

“Captain-General and Commander in Chief of the militia, and all the

forces by sea and land, within the Colony of Connecticut, and of all

the forts and places of strength within the same.” This violation of

the Charter of Connecticut by George II. was very extraordinary, as

the reins of Government were then in the hands of protestant

dissenters, whose _supposed_ veneration for the House of Hanover

operated so powerfully, that the American protestant dissenting

ministers were allowed to be installed teachers, and to hold synods,

without taking the oath of allegiance to the English King, at the same

time that papists, and even members of the Church of England, were not

excused that obligation. The aggravating appointment above mentioned

added no celebrity to the name of George II. in New-England; nor,

however excusable it may appear in the eyes of those who with me

question the colonial pretensions of the people of Connecticut, was

it, upon the ground they have been allowed to stand by the English

government, justifiable in point of right, nor yet in point of policy,

were the true character of the New-Yorkers fully known. This argument

may be used on more occasions than the present.

But Connecticut hath not been the only sufferer from the restless

ambition of New-York. Twenty miles depth of land belonging to the

Massachusets and Newhampshire provinces, which formerly claimed to

Hudson’s river, were cut off by the line that deprived Connecticut of

the same proportion of its western territory. With this acquisition,

surely, the New-Yorkers might have been content; but very lately their

_wisdom_, if not their “fraud,” has prevailed over the “ignorance” of

Newhampshire; which has sustained another amputation of its territory,

eighty miles in width and two hundred miles in length; viz. all the

land between the above-mentioned twenty-mile line and Connecticut

river. The particulars of this transaction are interesting. Benning

Wentworth, Esq. Governor of Newhampshire, by order of his present

Majesty, divided, in 1762, the vast tract of land just mentioned into

about 360 townships, six miles square each. These townships he granted

to proprietors belonging to the four provinces of New-England, one

township to sixty proprietors; and took his fees for the same,

according to royal appointment. Every township was, in twelve years

time, to have sixty families residing in it. In 1769 there were

settled on this piece of land 30,000 souls, at a very great expence;

and many townships contained 100 families. The New-Yorkers found means

to deceive the King, and obtained a decree that the East boundary of

New-York, after passing Connecticut and Massachusets-Bay, should be

Connecticut river.[30] This decree annexed to the jurisdiction of

New-York the said 360 townships; but was quietly submitted to by the

proprietors, since it was his Majesty’s will to put them under the

jurisdiction of New-York, tho’ they found themselves 150 miles farther

from their new capital New-York, than they were from Portsmouth, their

old one. Had the New-Yorkers rested satisfied with the jurisdiction,

which alone the King had given them, they might have enjoyed their

acquisition in peace; and New-England would have thought they had

possessed some justice, though destitute of religious zeal. But the

Governor and General Assembly of New-York, finding their interest in

Old-England stronger than the interest of the New-Englanders,

determined at once, that, as the King had given them jurisdiction over

those 360 townships, he had also given them the lands in fee simple.

Sir Henry More, the Governor, therefore, in 1767, began the laudable

work of regranting those townships to such people as lived in

New-York, and were willing to pay him 600_l._ York currency for his

valuable name to each patent. It is remarkable that Sir Harry made

every _lawyer_ in the whole province a patentee; but totally _forgot_

the four public lots, viz. that for the Society for the Propagation of

the Gospel, those for the church, the first clergyman, and school in

each township, which had been reserved in Governor Wentworth’s grants.

Death stopped his career; but Colden, the Lieutenant-Governor, filled

up the measure of his iniquity, by granting all the rest on the same

conditions. Sir Henry More had taken care to grant to his dear self

one township, settled with above 80 families, before he died. Colden

did the same for himself. The virtuous William Smith, Esq. of New

York, had a township also; and Sir Henry More left him his executor to

drive off the New-England settlers. This, however, he attempted in

vain. The polite New-Yorkers, having the jurisdiction, betook

themselves to law, to get possession of the lands in question, which

they called their own; and sent the posse of Albany to eject the

possessors; but this mighty power was answered by Ethan Allen, and the

old proprietors under Governor Wentworth, who was a King’s Governor as

well as Sir Henry More:--the Mynheers of Albany were glad to have

liberty to return home alive.--See here the origin of Ethan Allen!--of

the Verdmonts, and the Robbers of the Green Mountains; a compliment

paid by the New-Yorkers to the settlers under Governor Wentworth;--who,

on that amiable gentleman’s death, had no friend of note left in

England, and were therefore under the necessity of defending

themselves, or becoming tenants to a set of people who neither _feared

God_ nor _honoured the King_, but when they got something by it.--The

New-Yorkers had the grace, after this, to outlaw Ethan Allen, which

rendered him of consequence in New-England; and it would not surprise

me to hear that New-York, Albany, and all that the Dutchmen possess in

houses east of Hudson’s River, were consumed by fire, and the

inhabitants sent to Heaven, in the style of Dr. Mather, by the way of

Amsterdam. I must do the New-Englanders the justice to say, that,

though they esteem not highly Kings or Lords, yet they never

complained against his Majesty for what was done respecting Verdmont;

on the contrary, they ever said the King would reverse the obnoxious

decree, whenever he should be acquainted with the truth of the case,

which the New-Yorkers artfully concealed from his knowledge.

There are in the four New-England provinces near 800,000 souls, and

very few unconnected with the settlements on Verdmont; the property of

which was duly vested in them by Wentworth, the King’s Governor, whose

predecessors and himself had jurisdiction over it also for 106 years.

They say, what is very legal and just, that his Majesty had a right to

annex Verdmont to the government of New-York, but could not give the

fee of the land, because he had before given it to the New-Englanders.

It appears very unlikely that those hardy sons of Oliver will ever

give up Verdmont to the New-Yorkers by the order of Sir Henry More, or

any other Governor, till compelled by the point of the sword. The

Mynheers have more to fear than the New-Englanders, who will never

yield to Dutch virtue. Van Tromp was brave; Oliver was brave and

successful too.

Mather, Neal, and Hutchinson, represent religion to have been the

cause of the first settlement of New-England; and the love of gold as

the stimulus of the Spaniards in settling their colonies in the

southern parts of America; but, if we should credit the Spanish

historians, we must believe that their countrymen were as much

influenced by religion in their colonial pursuits as were our own.

However, in general, it may be said, that the conduct of both parties

towards the aborigines discovered no principles but what were

disgraceful to human nature. Murder, plunder, and outrage, were the

means made use of to convert the benighted savages of the wilderness

to the system of Him “who went about doing good.” If we may depend on

Abbé Nicolle, the Spaniards killed of the Aytis, or the savage

nations, in the Island of Hispaniola, 3,000,000 in seventeen years;

600,000 in Porto Rico, and twenty times these numbers on the continent

of South-America, in order to propagate the Gospel in a savage and

howling wilderness! The English colonists have been as industrious in

spreading the Gospel in the howling wilderness of North-America.

Upwards of 180,000 Indians, at least, have been slaughtered in

Massachusets-Bay and Connecticut,[31] to make way for the protestant

religion; and, upon a moderate computation for the rest of the

colonies, on the continent and West-India Islands, I think one may

venture to assert, that nearly 2,000,000 savages have been dismissed

from an unpleasant world to the world of spirits, for the honour of

the protestant religion and English liberty. Nevertheless, having

travelled over most parts of British America, I am able to declare,

with great sincerity, that this mode of converting the native Indians

is godlike in comparison with that adopted by the Africans.

These miserable people are first kidnapped, and then put under saws,

harrows, and axes of iron, and forced through the brick-kiln to

Molock.

Nearly half a million of them are doomed to hug their misery in

ignorance, nakedness, and hunger, among their master’s upper servants

in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. The number of these

wretches upon the Continent and Islands is scarce credible; about

100,000 in Jamaica alone; all toiling for the tyrant’s pleasure; none

seeking other happiness, than to be screened from the torture rendered

necessary by that curious American maxim, that men must be willing to

die before they are fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. However, what

Mussleman, African, or American, would not prefer the state of a

christian master, who dreads death above all things, to the state of

those christian converts? Christianity has been cursed, through the

insincerity of its professors; even savages despise its precepts,

because they have no influence on christians themselves. Whatever

religious pretensions the Spanish, French, or English may plead for

depopulating and repeopling America, it is pretty clear that the

desire of gold and dominion was no impotent instigation with them to

seek the western continent. The British leaders in the scheme of

emigration had felt the humiliating effects of the feudal system;

particularly the partial distributions of fortunes and honour among

children of the same venter in the Mother Country. They had seen that

this inequality produced insolence and oppression, which awakened the

sentiments of independence and liberty, the instinct of every man.

Nature then kindled war against the oppressors, and the oppressors

appealed to prescription. The event was, infelicity began her reign.

Both parties invoked religion, but prostrated themselves before the

insidious shrine of Superstition, the life of civil government, and

the sinews of war; that expiates crimes by prayers, uses ceremonies

for good works, esteems devotion more than virtue, supports religion

without probity, values honesty less than honour, generates happiness

without morality, and is a glorious helmet to the ambitious.

They enlisted vassals with her bounty to fight, burn, and destroy one

another, for the sake of religion. Behold the sequel! The vassals

seemed more to themselves than the Egyptian masters and laws, both in

the elder and younger brothers; yet, after all, Superstition told them

they enjoyed liberty and the rights of human nature. Happy deception!

The Spartan Magnates, tributary to the Turks, are jealous of their

liberties; while the American Cansey, near Lake Superior, enjoy

liberty complete without jealousy. Among the latter, the conscious

independence of each individual warms his thoughts and guides his

actions. He enters the sachemic dome with the same simple freedom as

he enters the wigwam of his brother: neither dazzled at the splendour

nor awed by the power of the possessor. Here is liberty in perfection!

What christian would wish to travel 4000 miles to rob an unoffending

savage of what he holds by the law of Nature? That is not the God or

Dominion that any christian ever sought for. The first settlers of

America had views very different from those of making it a christian

country; their grand aim was to get free from the insolence of their

elder brethren, and to aggrandise themselves in a new world at the

expense of the life, liberty, and property of the savages. Had the

invaders of New-England sown the seeds of christian benevolence, even

after they had eradicated the savages and savage virtues, the world

would not have reproached them for cherishing that all-grasping spirit

to themselves, which in others had driven them from their parent

country. But the feudal system, which they considered an abominable

vice in England, became a shining virtue on the other side of the

Atlantic, and would have prevailed there, had the people been as blind

and tame in worldly as they were in spiritual concerns. But they had

too long heard their leaders declaim against the monopoly of lands and

titles, not to discover that they themselves were men, and entitled to

the rights of that race of beings; and they proceeded upon the same

maxims which they found also among the Indians, viz. that mankind are

by nature upon an equality in point of rank and possession; that it is

incompatible with freedom for any particular descriptions of men

systematically to monopolise honours and property, to the exclusion of

the rest; that it was a part despicable and unworthy of one freeman to

stoop to the will and caprice of another on account of his wealth and

titles, accruing not from his own, but from the heroism and virtue of

his ancestors, &c., &c.

The _vox populi_ established these maxims in New-England; and whoever

did not, at least outwardly, conform to them, were not chosen into

office. Nay, though not objectionable on that score, men very seldom

met with reappointments, lest they should claim them by hereditary

right. Thus, the levelling principle prevailing, equals were respected

and superiors derided. Europeans, whose manners were haughty to

inferiors and fawning to superiors, were neither loved nor esteemed.

Hence an English traveller through Connecticut meets with supercilious

treatment at taverns, as being too much addicted to the use of the

imperative mood when speaking to the landlord. The answer is, “Command

your own servants, and not me.” The traveller is not obeyed, which

provokes him to some expressions, that are not legal in the Colony,

about the impertinence of the landlord, who being commonly a Justice

of the Peace, the delinquent is immediately ordered into custody,

fined, and put in the stocks. However, after paying costs, and

promising to behave well in future, he passes on with more attention

to his “unruly member” than to his pleasures. Nevertheless, if a

traveller softens his tone, and avoids the imperative mood, he will

find every civility from those very people, whose natural temper are

full of antipathy against all who affect superiority over them. This

principle is, by long custom, blended with the religious doctrines of

the province; and the people believe those to be heretics and

Americans who assent not to their supremacy. Hence they consider the

kingly Governors as the short-horns of Antichrist, and every Colony in

a state of persecution which cannot choose its own Governor and

magistrates.

Their aversion to New-York is inconceiveably great upon this account,

as well as others I have mentioned. Their jealousies and fears of

coming under its jurisdiction make them heroes in the cause of

liberty, and great inquisitors into the characters and conduct of

kingly Governors. They have selected Mr. Tryon as the only English

Governor who has acted with justice and generosity in respect to the

rights, liberties, and feelings of mankind, while, they say, avarice,

plunder, and oppression have marked the footsteps of all the rest.

This character Mr. Tryon possessed, even after he had subdued the

regulators in North-Carolina, and was appointed Governor of New-York.

Some persons assert, indeed, that he secured the good will of

Connecticut by recommending, in England, the Livingstons, Schuylers,

and Smiths, as the best subjects in New-York. However, Mr. Tryon was

undoubtedly entitled to good report; he was humane and polite; to him

the injured had access without a fee; he would hear the poor man’s

complaint, though it wanted the aid of a polished lawyer. Besides, Mr.

Tryon did not think it beneath him to speak to a peasant in the

street, or to stop his coach to give the people an opportunity to let

him pass. His object was not to make his fortune, nor did he neglect

the interests of the people. He embellished not his language with

oaths and curses, nor spent the Sabbath at taverns. ’Tis true, Mr.

Tryon went not to meeting; but he was forgiven this offence because he

went to church, the people of New-England having so much candour as to

believe a man may be a good sort of man if he goes to church, and is

exemplary in his words and deeds. I have not the honour of being known

to Mr. Tryon, but from what I know of him, I must say, without meaning

to offend any other, that he was the best Governor, and the most

pleasing gentleman, that I ever saw in a civil capacity in America;

and that I cannot name any Briton so well calculated to govern in

Connecticut, with ease and safety to himself, as he is. One reason for

this assertion is, that Mr. Tryon has a punctilious regard for his

word: a quality which, though treachery is the staple commodity of the

four New-England provinces, the people greatly admire in a Governor,

and which, they say, they have seldom found in royal Governors in

America.

Of the share Connecticut has taken, in common with her sister

colonies, in co-operating with the Mother Country against her natural

enemies, it is superfluous to say anything here, that being already

sufficiently known.

I shall therefore proceed to a description of the country, its towns,

productions, &c. together with the manners, customs, commerce, &c. of

the inhabitants, interspersing such historical and biographical

anecdotes as may occur to me in the relation, and having a tendency to

elucidate matter of fact or characterize the people.

The dimensions of Connecticut, according to the present allowed

extent, are from the Sound on the south to the Massachusets line on

the north, about sixty miles; and from Biram River and New-York line,

on the west, to Narraganset-Bay, Rhode-Island, and Massachusets-Bay on

the east, upon an average about one hundred miles. It is computed to

contain 5,000,000 acres.

Many creeks and inlets, bays and rivers, intersect the coast. Three of

the last, dividing the colony into as many parts, I shall particularly

notice. They all run from north to south.

The eastern river is called the Thames, as far as it is navigable,

which is only to Norwich, fourteen miles from its mouth. Then

dividing, the greatest branch, called Quinnibaug, rolls rapidly from

its source 100 miles distant through many towns and villages, to their

great pleasantness and profit. On it are many mills and iron-works,

and in it various kinds of fish, but no salmon, for want of proper

places to nourish their spawn.

The middle river is named Connecticut, after the great Sachem to whom

that part of the province through which it runs belonged. This vast

river is five hundred miles long, and four miles wide at its mouth;

its channel, or inner banks, in general, half a mile wide. It takes

its rise from the White Hills, in the north of New-England, where also

springs the river Kennebec. About five hundred rivulets, which issue

from lakes, ponds, and drowned lands, fall into it; many of them are

larger than the Thames at London. In March, when the rains and sun

melt the snow and ice, each stream is overcharged, and kindly hastens

to this great river, to overflow, fertilize, and preserve its

trembling meadows. They lift enormous cakes of ice, bursting from

their frozen beds, with threatening intentions of ploughing up the

frighted earth, and carry them rapidly down the falls, where they are

dashed in pieces and rise in mist. Except at these falls, of which

there are five the first sixty miles from its mouth, the river is

navigable throughout. In its northern part are three great bendings,

called Cohosses, about one hundred miles asunder. Two hundred miles

from the Sound is a narrow of five yards only, formed by two shelving

mountains of solid rock, whose tops intercept the clouds. Through this

chasm are compelled to pass all the waters which, in the time of the

floods, bury the northern country.

At the upper Cohos the river spreads twenty-four miles wide. For five

or six weeks ships of war might sail over the lands that afterward

produce the greatest crops of hay and grain in all America. People who

can bear the sight, the groans, the tremblings, and surly motion of

water, trees, and ice, through this awful passage, view with

astonishment one of the greatest phenomenons in Nature. Here, water

consolidated without frost, by pressure, by swiftness, between the

pinching, sturdy rocks, to such a degree of induration that an iron

crow cannot be forced into it; here, iron, lead, and cork, have one

common weight; here, steady as time, and harder than marble, the

stream passes irresistible, if not swift as lightning; the electric

fire rends trees in pieces with no greater ease than does this mighty

water. The passage is about four hundred yards in length, and of a

zigzag form, with obtuse corners.[32]

At high water are carried through this straight masts and other timber

with incredible swiftness, and sometimes with safety; but when the

water is too low, the masts, timber, and trees, strike on one side or

the other, and, though of the largest size, are rent, in one moment,

into shivers, and splintered like a broom, to the amazement of

spectators. The meadows, for many miles below, are covered with

immense quantities of wood thus torn in pieces, which compel the

hardiest travellers to reflect, how feeble is man, and how great that

Almighty who formed the lightnings, thunders, and the irresistible

power and strength of waters!

No living creature was ever known to pass through this narrow, except

an Indian woman, who was, in a canoe, attempting to cross the river

above it, but carelessly suffered herself to fall within the power of

the current. Perceiving her danger, she took a bottle of rum she had

with her, and drank the whole of it; then lay down in her canoe, to

meet her destiny. She marvellously went through safely, and was taken

out of the canoe some miles below, quite intoxicated, by some

Englishmen. Being asked how she could be so daringly imprudent as to

drink such a quantity of rum with the prospect of instant death before

her, the squaw, as well as her condition would let her, replied, “Yes,

it was too much rum for once, to be sure; but I was not willing to

lose a drop of it: so I drank it, and you see I have saved all.”

Some persons assert that salmon have been caught above this narrow,

while others deny it. Many have observed salmon attempt to pass in the

time of floods, which certainly is the best and likeliest time, as,

from the height of the water, and the shelving of the rocks, the

passage is then broader; but they were always thrown back, and

generally killed. It is not to be supposed that any fish could pass

with the stream alive. Above this narrow there is plenty of fish both

in summer and winter, which belong to the lakes or ponds that

communicate with the river: below it are the greatest abundance and

variety caught or known in North-America. No salmon are found in any

river to the westward of this.

Except the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, the Connecticut is the

largest river belonging to the English plantations in the New World.

On each shore of it are two great roads leading from the mouth 200

miles up the country, lined on both sides with the best-built houses

in America, if not in the world. It is computed, that the country on

each bank of this river, to a depth of six miles, and a length of 300,

is sufficient for the maintenance of an army of 100,000 men. In short,

the neighbouring spacious and fertile meadow, arable, and other lands,

combined with this noble river, are at once the beauty and main

support of all New-England.

The western river is navigable and called Stratford only for ten

miles, where Derby stands; and then takes the name of Osootonoc. It is

50 miles west from Connecticut River, and half a mile wide. It rises

in the Verdmonts, above 200 miles from the sea, and travels 300 miles

through many pleasant towns and villages. The adjacent meadows are

narrow, and the country in general very hilly. With some expence it

might be made navigable above 100 miles. It furnishes fish of various

kinds, and serves many mills and iron-works.

Two principal bays, named Sassacus or New-London, and Quinnipiog or

Newhaven, run five or six miles into the country, and are met by

rivers which formerly bore the Sachems names.

It has already been observed, that Connecticut was settled under three

distinct independent Governors; and that each Dominion, since their

union in 1664, has been divided into two counties.

The KINGDOM OF SASSACUS, Sachem of the Pequods, a warlike nation,

forms the counties of New-London and Windham, which contain about

10,000 houses, and 60,000 inhabitants. Sassacus was brave by nature.

The sound of his coming would subdue nations, at the same time that

Justice would unbend his bow, and Honour calm the thunder of his

tongue. Dr. Mather, Mr. Neal, and others, have endeavoured to blast

his fame by proving him to have been the aggressor in the bloody wars

which ended in his ruin. They have instanced the murder of Captain

Stone and others, to justify this war, but carefully concealed the

assassination of Quinnipiog, the treachery of Mr. Elliot (the

Massachusets-Bay Apostle of the Indians), and the infamous villainy of

Hooker, who spread death upon the leaves of his Bible, and struck

Connecticote mad with disease. They also conceal another important

truth, that the English had taken possession of lands belonging to

Sassacus, without purchase or his consent. Besides, Sassacus had too

much sagacity to let christian spies, under the appellation of gospel

missionaries, pass through his country. He had seen the consequences

of admitting such ministers of christianity from Boston, Hertford, &c.

among his neighbouring nations, and generously warned them to keep

their gospel of peace from his dominions. The invaders of this howling

wilderness, finding their savage love detected, and that the Pequods

were not likely to fall a sacrifice to their hypocrisy, proclaimed

open war with sword and gun. The unfortunate Sassacus met his fate.

Alas! he died, not like Connecticote, nor Quinnipiog, but in the field

of battle; and the freedom of his country expired with his final

groan. This mighty conquest was achieved by the colonists of

Connecticut, without the aid of the Massachusets; nevertheless, Mr.

Neal and others have ascribed the _honour_ of it to the latter, with a

view of magnifying their consequence--ever Mr. Neal’s grand object.

The country of New-London abounds chiefly with wool, butter, cheese,

and Indian-corn; and contains eight towns, all which I shall describe.

_New-London_ has the river Thames on the east, and the bay of its own

name on the south, and resembles Islington. Its port and harbour are

the best in the colony. The church, the meeting, and court-house, are

not to be boasted of; the fort is trifling. The houses in this, as in

all the towns in the province, are insulated, at the distance of

three, four, or five yards one from the other, to prevent the ravages

of fire. That of John Winthrop, Esq. is the best in the province. The

township is ten miles square, and comprizes five parishes, one of

which is episcopal. Abimeleck, a descendant of the first English-made

king of Mohegin, resides with his small party in this township. He is

a king to whom the people pay some respect,--_because they made him

so_.

The people of this town have the credit of inventing tar and feathers

as a proper punishment for heresy. They first inflicted it on quakers

and anabaptists.

New-London has a printing press, much exercised in the business of

pamphlets, sermons, and newspapers. It is employed by the Governor and

Company, and is the oldest and best in the colony. Newhaven, Hertford,

and Norwich, also, have each a printing press; so that the people are

plentifully supplied with news, politics, and polemical divinity.----A

very extraordinary circumstance happened here in 1740. Mr. George

Whitefield paid them a visit, and preached of _righteousness_,

_temperance_, and _a judgment to come_, which roused them into the

belief of an heaven and an hell. They became as _children weaned_ and

pliable as _melted wax_, and with great eagerness cried out, _What

shall we do to be saved?_ The preacher, then in the pulpit, thus

answered them, “Repent--do violence to no man--part with your

self-righteousness, your silk gowns, and laced petticoats--burn your

ruffles, necklaces, jewels, rings, tinselled waistcoats, your morality

and bishops books, this very night, or damnation will be your portion

before the morning-dawn.” The people, rather thro’ fear than faith,

instantly went out on the common, and prepared for heaven, by

burning all the above _enumerated goods_, excepting that of

self-righteousness, which was exchanged for the preacher’s velvet

breeches.--Vide _Dr. Chancy_.[33]

_Groton_, across the bay from New-London, resembles Battersea. The

township is ten miles square, and forms four parishes, one of which is

episcopal. This town was the residence of the valiant Sassacus, Sachem

of the Pequod nation.

_Stonington_ lies on Narraganset-Bay, is the east corner of

Connecticut, and consists of three parishes. The township is 8 miles

square.

_Preston_, on Quinnibaug river, forms three parishes, one of which is

episcopal. The township is 8 miles square.

_Norwich_, on the Thames, 14 miles from the sea, is an half-shire with

New-London. The town stands on a plain, one mile from Chelsea, or the

Landing. Its best street is two miles long, and has good houses on

both sides, five yards asunder from each other. In the centre is a

common, of the size of Bloomsbury Square, in which stand a beautiful

court-house, and a famous meeting with clocks, bells, and steeples.

The township is fifteen miles square, and forms 13 parishes, one

episcopal. Chelsea, or the Landing, resembles Dover. [Here land is

sold at fifteen shillings sterling by the square foot.]--This town is

famous for its trade; for iron-works, grist, paper, linseed,

spinning and fulling mills; also for a furnace that makes stone

ware.----Some peculiarities and curiosities here attract the notice of

Europeans:--1, a bridge over Quinnibaug, 60 yards long, butted on two

rocks, and geometrically supported; under which pass ships with all

their sails standing:--2, the steeple of the grand meeting-house stands

at the east end:--3, the inhabitants bury the dead with their feet to

the west.--The following couplet was written by a traveller, on the

steeple:

“They’re so perverse and opposite,

As if they built to God in spite.”

The reasons for the singular custom of burying the dead with their

feet to the west, are two, and special: first, when Christ begins his

millenarian reign, he will come from the west, and his saints will be

in a ready posture to rise and meet him: secondly, the papists and

episcopalians bury their dead with their feet to the east.

Was I to give a character of the people of Norwich, I would do it in

the words of the famous Mr. George Whitefield, (who was a good judge

of mankind,) in his farewel-sermon to them a short time before his

death; viz. “When I first preached in this magnificent house, above 20

years ago, I told you, that you were part beast, part man, and part

devil; at which you were offended. I have since thought much about

that expression, and confess that for once I was mistaken. I therefore

take this last opportunity to correct my error. Behold! I now tell

you, that you are not part man and part beast, but wholly of the

devil.”

_Lyme_ stands on the east side of Connecticut River, opposite

Saybrook; and resembles Lewisham. The township is 16 miles long, and 8

wide; and forms four parishes.

_Saybrook_ is situated on the west side of Connecticut river, 20 miles

west from New-London, and resembles Battersea. The township is twenty

miles long and six wide, and forms four parishes. This town was named

after the Lords Say and Brook, who were said to claim the country, and

sent, in 1634, a Governor and a large number of people from England to

build a fort and settle the colony. See p. 17. It was principally

owing to this fort that Hertford and Newhaven made good their

settlements: it prevented Sassacus from giving timely aid to

Connecticote and Quinnipiog.

Saybrook is greatly fallen from its ancient grandeur; but is,

notwithstanding, resorted to with great veneration, as the parent town

of the whole colony. The tombs of the first settlers are held sacred,

and travellers seldom pass them without the compliment of a sigh or

tear. On one mossy stone is written,

“Here pride is calm’d, and death is life.”

In 1709, this town was honoured by a convention of contending

independent divines, who were pleased with no constitution in church

or state.--This multitude of sectarians, after long debates, published

a book, called The Saybrook Platform, containing the doctrines and

rules of the churches in Connecticut. The only novelty in this system

is, that Christ has delegated his ministerial, kingly, and prophetical

power, one half to the people, and the other half to the ministers.

This proposition may be thought in Europe a very strange one; but, if

it be recollected, that the people in the province claimed all power

in heaven and on earth, and that the ministers had no other ordination

than what came from the people, it will appear, that the ministers

hereby gained from the people one half of their power. From this

article originated the practice of the right hand of fellowship at the

ordination of a minister. No one can be a minister, till he receives

the right hand of the messenger who represents six deacons from six

congregations. The conclusion of this reverend and venerable body is,

“The Bible is our rule.”

Mr. Neal says, p. 610, “That every particular society is a compleat

church, having power to exercise all ecclesiastical jurisdiction,

without appeal to any classis:--they allow of synods for council and

advice, but not to exercise the power of the keys.”

If Mr. Neal had taken the trouble to read the History of the Church of

Massachusets-Bay, written by the Reverend Mr. John Wise, a minister of

that church, he would have found that the contrary to all he has

advanced is the truth. The people of that province held the keys from

1620 to 1650: then the ministers got possession of them by their own

vote, which was passed into a law by the General Assembly. The vote

was, “There cannot be a minister, unless he is ordained by ministers

of Jesus Christ.” Thus commenced ordination by ministers in

New-England. The people were alarmed at the loss of the keys, and

asked the ministers who had ordained them? The ministers answered, The

people. Then, replied the people, we are the ministers of Jesus

Christ, you are not ministers; and we will keep the power. A violent

contest ensued between the people and the ministers; but the latter,

by the help of the General Assembly, retained the power of the keys,

and instituted three ecclesiastical courts, viz. 1, the minister and

his communicants; 2, the associations; and 3, the synod. There lies an

appeal from one to the other of these courts, all which exercise so

much ecclesiastical power that few are easy under it. The first court

suspends from communion, the second re-hears the evidence, and

confirms or sets aside the suspension; the synod, after hearing the

case again, excommunicates or discharges the accused. From the last

judgment no appeal is allowed by the synod. The excommunicated person

has no other resource than petitioning the General Assembly of the

province, which sometimes grants relief, to the great grief of the

synod and ministers. But the representatives commonly pay dear for

overlooking the conduct of the synod at the next election.

The people of Connecticut have adopted the same mode of discipline as

prevails in Massachusets-Bay, but call the synod a Consociation.

To show that the synods are not quite so harmless as Mr. Neal reports,

I will give an instance of their authority exercised in Connecticut in

1758. A Mr. Merret, of Lebanon, having lost his wife, with whom he had

lived childless forty years, went to Rhode-Island, and married a niece

of his late wife, which was agreeable to the laws of that province. By

her having a child, Mr. Merret offered the same for baptism to the

minister of whose church he was a member. The minister refused,

because it was an incestuous child; and cited Merret and his wife to

appear before himself and his church upon an indictment of incest.

Merret appeared; the verdict was, “Guilty of incest.” He appealed to

the Association, which also found him guilty of incest. He again

appealed to the Consociation, and was again found guilty of incest.

Merret and his wife were then ordered to separate, and make a public

confession, on pain of excommunication. Merret refused; whereupon the

minister read the act of excommunication, while the deacons shoved

Merret out of the meeting-house. Being thus cast out of the synagogue,

and debarred from the conversation of any one in the parish, it was

well said by Mr. Merret: “If this be not to exercise the power of the

keys, I know not what it is.” The poor man soon after died with a

broken heart, and was buried in his own garden by such christian

brethren as were not afraid of the mild puissance of the Consociation.

Mr. Neal says, also, p. 609, after evincing his jealousy at the growth

of the Church of England in New-England: “If the religious liberties

of the plantations are invaded by the setting up of spiritual courts,

&c., they will feel the sad effects of it.” In this sentiment I agree

with Mr. Neal; but, unluckily, he meant the bishops courts, and I

meant the courts of synods, composed of his “meek, exemplary, and

learned divines of New-England,” but who are more severe and terrible

than even was the Star-Chamber under the influence of Laud, or the

Inquisition of Spain. The ecclesiastical courts of New-England have,

in the course of 160 years, bored the tongues with hot needles, cut

off the ears, branded the foreheads of, and banished, imprisoned, and

hanged more quakers, baptists, adamites, ranters, episcopalians, for

what they call heresy, blasphemy, and witchcraft, than there are

instances of persecution in Fox’s book of Martyrology, or under the

bishops of England since the death of Henry VIII. And yet Mr. Neal was

afraid of spiritual courts, and admired the practice of New-England

churches, who only excommunicated offenders, delivering them over to

the civil magistrates to torture and ruin. If I remember right, I once

saw the Inquisition of Portugal act after the same manner, when the

priest said, “We deal with the soul, and the civil magistrate with the

body.”

Time not having destroyed the walls of the fort at Saybrook, Mr.

Whitefield, in 1740, attempted to bring them down, as Joshua brought

down the walls of Jericho, to convince the gaping multitude of his

divine mission. He walked several times round the fort with prayer,

and rams’-horns blowing; he called on the angel of Joshua to come and

do as he had done at the walls of Jericho; but the angel was deaf, or

on a journey, or asleep, and therefore the walls remained. Hereupon

George cried aloud: “This town is accursed for not receiving the

messenger of the Lord; therefore the angel is departed, and the walls

shall stand as a monument of sinful people.” He shook off the dust of

his feet against them, and departed, and went to Lyme.

_Killingsworth_ is ten miles west from Saybrook, lies on the sea, and

resembles Wadsworth. The town is eight miles square, and divided into

two parishes. This town is noted for the residence of the Rev. Mr.

Elliot, commonly known as Dr. Elliot, who discovered the art of making

steel out of sand, and wrote a book on husbandry, which will secure

him a place in the Temple of Fame.

_Windham_, the second county in the ancient kingdom of Sassacus, or

colony of Saybrook, is hilly; but the soil being rich, has excellent

butter, cheese, hemp, Indian-corn, and horses. Its towns are twelve.

Windham resembles Rumford, and stands on Winnomantic River. Its

meeting-house is elegant, and has a steeple, bell, and clock. Its

court-house is scarcely to be looked upon as an ornament. The township

forms four parishes, and is ten miles square.

Strangers are very much terrified at the hideous noise made on summer

evenings by the vast number of frogs in the brooks and ponds. There

are about thirty different voices among them, some of which resemble

the bellowing of a bull. The owls and whippoorwills complete the rough

concert, which may be heard several miles. Persons accustomed to such

serenades are not disturbed by them at their proper stations; but one

night in July, 1758, the frogs of an artificial pond, three miles

square, and about five from Windham, finding the water dried up, left

the place in a body, and marched, or rather hopped, towards

Winnomantic River. They were under the necessity of taking the road

and going through the town, which they entered about midnight. The

bull-frogs were the leaders, and the pipers followed without number.

They filled the road, forty yards wide, for four miles in length, and

were for several hours in passing through the town unusually

clamorous.

The inhabitants were equally perplexed and frightened: some expected

to find an army of French and Indians; others feared an earthquake,

and dissolution of Nature. The consternation was universal. Old and

young, male and female; fled naked from their beds, with worse

shriekings than those of the frogs. The event was fatal to several

women. The men, after a flight of half a mile, in which they met with

many broken shins, finding no enemies in pursuit of them, made a

hault, and summoned resolution enough to venture back to their wives

and children, when they distinctly heard from the enemy’s camp these

words: Wight, Hilderkin, Dier, Tete. This last, they thought, meant

treaty, and, plucking up courage, they sent a triumvirate to

capitulate with the supposed French and Indians. These the men

approached in their shirts, and begged to speak with the general; but,

it being dark and no answer given, they were sorely agitated for some

time betwixt hope and fear: at length, however, they discovered that

the dreaded inimical army was an army of thirsty frogs going to the

river for a little water.

Such an incursion was never known before nor since; and yet the people

of Windham have been ridiculed for their timidity on this occasion. I

verily believe an army under the Duke of Marlborough would, under like

circumstances, have acted no better than they did.

In 1768 the inhabitants of Connecticut River were as much alarmed by

an army of caterpillars as those of Windham were at the frogs; and no

one found reason to jest at their fears. Those worms came in one night

and covered the earth, on both sides of the river, to an extent of

three miles in front and two in depth. They marched with great speed,

and eat up everything green for the space of one hundred miles, in

spite of rivers, ditches, fires, and the united efforts of 1,000 men.

They were, in general, two inches long, had white bodies covered with

thorns, and red throats. When they had finished their work they went

down to the river Connecticut, where they died, poisoning the waters,

until they were washed into the sea. This calamity was imputed by some

to the vast number of logs and trees lying in the creeks, and to

cinders, smoke, and fires, made to consume the waste wood for three or

four hundred miles up the Connecticut River; while others thought it

augurated future evils, similar to those of Egypt. The inhabitants of

the Verdmonts would unavoidably have perished with famine, in

consequence of the devastation of these worms, had not a remarkable

Providence filled the wilderness with wild pigeons, which were killed

by sticks as they sat upon the branches of the trees, in such

multitudes that 30,000 people lived on them for three weeks. If a

natural cause may be assigned for the coming of the frogs and

caterpillars, yet the visit of the pigeons to the wilderness in August

has been necessarily ascribed to the interposition of infinite Power

and Goodness. Happy will it be for America, if the smiling providence

of Heaven produces gratitude, repentance, and obedience, amongst her

children!

_Lebanon_ lies on the west side of Winnomantic River. The best street,

which has good houses on both sides, is one mile long and one hundred

yards wide. An elegant meeting-house, with steeple and bell, stands in

the centre. The township is ten miles square, and forms four parishes.

This town was formerly famous for an Indian school, under the conduct

of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, whose great zeal for the spiritual good of

the savages in the wilderness induced him to solicit a collection from

England. Having met with success, his school at Lebanon became a

college in the province of Newhampshire, where he has converted his

godliness into gain, and promises fair to excuse government from the

expense of a superintendent of Indian affairs.

_Coventry_ lies on the same river; the houses are straggling. The

township is ten miles square, and consists of two parishes. Here are

two ponds, the one three and the other four miles long, and half as

wide, well filled with mackerel and other fish.

_Mansfield_ lies east of Coventry, on Winnomantic and Fundy Rivers;

the houses are scattered. The township is eight miles square, and

divided into two parishes.

_Union_ and _Wilmington_ lie on Winnomantic River, forming two

parishes. Each township is six miles square.

_Ashford_ lies on the Fundy, in a township ten miles square, and forms

three parishes. The people of the town have distinguished themselves

by a strict enforcement of the colony-laws against heretics and

episcopalians, for not attending their meeting on the Sabbath.

_Woodstock_ lies on Quinnibaug, and resembles Finchley. The township

is ten miles square, and divided into three parishes. Woodstock had

the honour of giving birth to the Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, D.

D., a learned divine of the Church of England, and well known in the

literary world.

_Killingsley_ lies east of Woodstock. The township, twenty miles long

and six wide, forms three parishes.

_Pomfret_ stands on Quinnibaug River, and resembles Battersea. The

township is twelve miles square, and forms four parishes, one of which

is episcopal. Fanaticism had always prevailed in the county of Windham

over christian moderation: where, about the year 1770, after many

abuses, the episcopalians found a friend in Godfree Malebone, Esq. who

built on his own estate an elegant church, which was patronized by the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, who

appointed a clergyman.

We read that David slew a lion and a bear, and afterwards that Saul

trusted him to fight Goliath. In Pomfret lives Colonel Israel Putnam,

who slew a she-bear and her two cubs with a billet of wood. The

bravery of this action brought him into public notice; and it seems he

is one of fortune’s favourites. The story is as follows: In 1754 a

large she-bear came in the night from her den, which was three miles

from Mr. Putnam’s house, and took a sow out of his pen. The sow, by

squeaking, awoke Mr. Putnam, who hastily ran to the poor creature’s

relief; but, before he could reach the pen, the bear had left it, and

was trotting away with the sow in her mouth. Mr. Putnam took up a

billet of wood and followed the screaming of the sow, till he came to

the foot of the mountain where the den was. Dauntless he entered the

horrid cavern, and, after walking and crawling on his hands and knees

for fifty yards, came to a roomy cell, where the bear met him with

great fury. He saw nothing but the fire of her eyes, but that was

sufficient for our hero; he accordingly directed his blow, which at

once proved fatal to the bear, and saved his own life at a most

critical moment. Putnam then discovered and killed the two cubs; and

having, though in Egyptian darkness, dragged them and the dead sow,

one by one, out of the cave, he went home, and calmly reported to his

family what had happened. The neighbors declared, on viewing the place

by torchlight, that his exploit exceeded those of Samson or David.

Soon after, the General Assembly appointed Mr. Putnam a lieutenant in

the army marching against Canada. His courage and good conduct raised

him to the rank of Captain the next year. The third year he was made a

Major, and the fourth a Colonel. Putnam and Rogers were the heroes

through the last war. Putnam was so hardy, at a time when the Indians

had killed all his men and completely hemmed him in upon a river, as

to leap into the stream, which in a minute carried him down a

stupendous falls, where no tree could pass without being torn to

pieces. The Indians reasonably concluded that Putnam, their terrible

enemy, was dead, and made their report accordingly at Ticonderoga; but

soon after a scouting party found their sad mistake in a bloody

rencontre. Some few that got off declared that Putnam was yet living,

and that he was the first son of Hobbomockow, and therefore immortal.

However, at length the Indians took this terrible warrior prisoner,

and tied him to a tree, where he hung three days without food or

drink. They did not attempt to kill him, for fear of offending

Hobbomockow; but they sold him to the French at a great price. The

name of Putnam was more alarming to the Indians than cannon, and they

never would fight him after his escape from the falls. He was

afterwards redeemed by the English.

_Plainfield_ and _Canterbury_ lie on Quinnibaug River, opposite to one

another, and have much the appearance of Lewisham. Each township is

eight miles square, and forms two parishes.

_Voluntown_ lies on a small river, and resembles Finchley Common. The

township is fifteen miles long and five wide, and forms three

parishes, one of which is Presbyterian. This sect has met with as

little christian charity and humanity in this hair-brained country as

the Anabaptists, Quakers, and Churchmen. The _Sober Dissenters_ of

this town, as they style themselves, will not attend the funeral of a

Presbyterian.

The KINGDOM OF CONNECTICOTE forms two counties, viz. Hertford and

Litchfield, which contain about 15,000 houses and 120,000 inhabitants.

The county of Hertford excels the rest in tobacco, onions, grain of

all sorts, hay, and cider. It contains twenty-one towns, the chief of

which I shall describe, comparing the rest to the towns near London.

_Hertford_ town is deemed the capital of the province; it stands forty

miles from Saybrook, and the same distance from Newhaven, on the west

bank of Connecticut River, and is formed into squares. The township is

twenty miles from east to west, and six in breadth, comprising six

parishes, one of which is episcopal.

The houses are partly of brick and partly of wood, well built, but, as

I have observed in general of the towns in Connecticut, do not join.

King’s Street is two miles long and thirty yards wide, well paved, and

cut in two by a small river, over which is a high bridge. The town is

half a mile wide. A grand court-house, and two elegant meetings, with

steeples, bells, and clocks, adorn it. In 1760 a foundation of

quarry-stone was laid for an Episcopal church in this town, at the

expense of nearly 300_l._, on which occasion the episcopalians had a

mortifying proof that the present inhabitants inherit the spirit of

their ancestors. Samuel Talcott, Esq. one of the Judges of the County

Court, with the assistance of a mob, took away the stones, and with

them built a house for his son. What added to so meritorious an

action, was its being justified by the General Assembly and the

Consociation. In 1652 this town had the honour of executing Mrs.

Greensmith, the first witch ever heard of in America. She was accused,

in the indictment, of practising evil things on the body of Ann Cole,

which did not appear to be true; but the Rev. Mr. Stone, and other

ministers, swore that Greensmith had confessed to them that the devil

had had carnal knowledge of her. The Court then ordered her to be

hanged upon the indictment. Surely none of the learned divines and

statesmen studied in the Temple or Lincoln’s Inn! It should seem that

every Dominion or township was possessed of an ambition to make itself

famous in history. The same year Springfield, not to be outdone by

Hertford, brought Hugh Parsons to trial for witchcraft, and the jury

found him guilty. Mr. Pincheon, the Judge, had some understanding, and

prevented his execution till the matter was laid before the General

Court in Boston, who determined that he was not guilty of witchcraft.

The truth was, Parsons was blessed with a fine person and genteel

address, insomuch that the women could not help admiring him above

every other man in Springfield, and the men could not help hating him;

so that there were witnesses enough to swear that Parsons was a

wizzard, because he made the females love and the men hate him.

In Hertford are the following curiosities: 1. A house built of

American oak in 1640, the timbers of which are yet sound, nay, almost

petrified; in it was born John Belcher, Esq. Governor of

Massachusets-Bay, and New-Jersey. 2. An elm, esteemed sacred, for

being the tree in which their Charter was concealed. 3. A wonderful

well, which was dug sixty feet deep without any appearance of water,

when a large rock was met with. The miners, boring this rock in order

to blast it with powder, drove the auger through it, upon which the

water spouted up with such great velocity that it was with difficulty

the well was stoned. It soon filled and ran over, and has supported,

or rather made, a brook for above one hundred years.

The tomb of Mr. Hooker is viewed with great reverence by his

disciples. Nathaniel, his great-grandson, a minister in Hertford,

inherits more than all his virtues, without any of his vices.[34]

_Weathersfield_ is four miles from Hertford, and more compact than any

town in the colony. The meeting-house is of brick, with a steeple,

bell, and clock. The inhabitants say it is much larger than Solomon’s

Temple. The township is ten miles square; parishes four. The people

are more gay than polite, and more superstitious than religious. This

town raises more onions than are consumed in all New-England. It is a

rule with parents to buy annually a silk gown for each daughter above

seven years old, till she is married. The young beauty is obliged, in

return, to weed a patch of onions with her own hands; which she

performs in the cool of the morning, before she dresses her beefsteak.

This laudable and healthy custom is ridiculed by the ladies of other

towns, who idle away their mornings in bed, or in gathering the pink,

or catching the butterfly, to ornament their toilets; while the

gentlemen, far and near, forget not the Weathersfield ladies’ silken

industry.

Weathersfield was settled in 1637 by the Rev. Mr. Smith and his

followers, who left Watertown, near Boston, in order to get out of the

power of Mr. Cotton, whose severity in New-England exceeded that of

the bishops in Old-England. But Mr. Smith did not discard the spirit

of persecution as the sole property of Mr. Cotton, but carried with

him a sufficient quantity of it to distress and divide his little

flock.

_Middletown_ is ten miles below Weathersfield, and beautifully

situated upon the Connecticut, between two small rivers one mile

asunder, which is the length of the town and grand street. Here is an

elegant church, with steeple, bell, clock, and organ; and a large

meeting without a steeple. The people are polite, and not much

troubled with that fanatic zeal which pervades the rest of the colony.

The township is ten miles square, and forms four parishes, one

episcopalian. This and the two preceding towns may be compared to

Chelsea.

The following towns, which lie on the Connecticut River, are so much

alike that a description of one will serve for the whole, viz.

_Windsor_, _East Windsor_, _Glastenbury_, _Endfield_, _Suffield_,

_Chatham_, _Haddam_, and _East Haddam_. Windsor, the best, is cut in

two by the river Ett, which wanders from the northward 100 miles,

through various meadows, towns, and villages, and resembles Bedford.

Township ten miles square, forming three parishes. It was settled in

1637 by the Rev. Mr. Huet and his associates, who fled from religious

slavery in Boston, to enjoy the power of depriving others of liberty.

The following towns, lying back of the river towns, being similar in

most respects, I shall join also in one class, viz. _Hebron_,

_Colchester_, _Bolton_, _Tolland_, _Stafford_, and _Sommers_.

_Hebron_ is the centre of the province, and it is remarkable that

there are thirty-six towns larger and thirty-six less. It is situated

between two ponds, about two miles in length and one in breadth, and

is intersected by two small rivers, one of which falls into the

Connecticut, the other into the Thames. A large meeting stands on the

square, where four roads meet. The town resembles Finchley. The

township is eight miles square; five parishes, one is episcopal. The

number of houses is 400; of inhabitants, 3,200. It pays one part out

of seventy-three of the governmental taxes, and is a bed of farmers on

their own estates. Frequent suits about the Indian titles have

rendered them famous for their knowledge in law and self-preservation.

In 1740 Mr. George Whitefield gave them this laconic character:

“Hebron,” says he, “is the stronghold of Satan; for its people

mightily oppose the work of the Lord, being more fond of earth than

heaven.” This town is honoured by the residence of the Rev. Dr.

Benjamin Pomeroy, an excellent scholar, an exemplary gentleman, and a

most thundering preacher of the New-Light order. His great abilities

procured him the favour and honour of being the instructor of

Abimeleck, the present king of Mohegin. He is of a very persevering,

sovereign disposition, but just, polite, generous, charitable, and

without dissimulation. _Avis alba._ Here also reside some of the

descendants of William Peters, Esq. already spoken of, among whom is

the Rev. Samuel Peters,[35] an episcopal clergyman, who, by his

generosity and zeal for the Church of England, rendered himself famous

both in New and Old-England, and in some degree made an atonement for

the fanaticism and treason of his uncle Hugh, and of his ancestor on

his mother’s side, Major-General Thomas Harrison, both hanged at

Charing-Cross in the last century.

_Colchester_ has to boast of the Rev. John Buckley for its first

minister, whose grandfather was the Rev. Peter Buckley, of Woodhill,

in Bedfordshire in Old-England; who, after being silenced by the

bishop for his misconduct, went to New-England in 1635, and died at

Concord in 1658.

John Buckley was a great scholar, and, suffering prudence to govern

his hard temper, he conciliated the esteem of all parties, and became

the ornament of the _Sober Dissenters_ in Connecticut. He was a

lawyer, a physician, and divine. He published an ingenious pamphlet to

prove that the title of the people to their lands was good, because

they had taken them out of the state of nature. His argument satisfied

many who thought their titles were neither legal, just, nor

scriptural; indeed, it may seem conclusive, if his major proposition

be granted, that the English found Connecticut in a state of nature.

His son John was a lawyer and physician of great reputation, and was

appointed a Judge of the Superior Court very young. He and his father

were suspected to be not sound in faith, because they used in their

prayers, “From battle and murder, and from sudden death, good Lord

deliver us, for the sake of thine only Son, who commands us thus to

pray, Our Father,” &c., &c. Peter Buckley was possessed of a

gentleman’s estate in Bedfordshire, which he sold, and spent the

produce among his servants in Massachusets-Bay. His posterity in

Colchester, in Connecticut, are very rich, and, till lately, were held

in great esteem, which, however, they lost by conforming to the Church

of England.

There is nothing remarkable to be observed of any of the other towns I

have classed with Hebron, except _Stafford_, which possesses a mineral

spring that has the reputation of curing the gout, sterility, pulmony,

hysterics, &c., &c., and therefore is the New-England “Bath,” where

the sick and rich resort to prolong life and acquire the polite

accomplishments.

_Herrington_, _Farmington_, and _Symsbury_, lying on the west of

Hertford, and on the river Ett, will finish the county of Hertford.

_Herrington_ is ten miles square, and forms two parishes.

_Farmington_ resembles Corydon. The township is fifteen miles square,

and forms eight parishes, three of which are episcopal. Here the

meadow-land is sold at 50_l._ per acre.

_Symsbury_, with its meadows and surrounding hills, forms a beautiful

landscape, much like Maidstone, in Kent. The township is twenty miles

square, and consists of nine parishes, four of which are episcopal.

Here are copper mines. In working one, many years ago, the miners

bored half a mile through a mountain, making large cells, forty yards

below the surface, which now serve as a prison, by order of the

General Assembly, for such offenders as they choose not to hang. The

prisoners are let down on a windlass into this dismal cavern, through

a hole which answers the triple purpose of conveying them food, air,

and--I was going to say--light, but that scarcely reaches them. In a few

months the prisoners are released by death, and the colony rejoices in

her great humanity and the mildness of her laws. This conclave of

spirits imprisoned may be called with great propriety the Catacomb of

Connecticut. The light of the sun and the light of the Gospel are

alike shut out from the martyrs, whose resurrection-state will eclipse

the wonder of that of Lazarus. It has been remarked by the candid part

of this religious colony, that the General Assembly and Consociation

have never allowed any prisoners in the whole province a chaplain,

though they have spent much of their time and public money in

spreading the gospel in the neighbouring colonies among the Indians,

Quakers, and episcopalians, and though, at the same time, those

religionists preach damnation to all people who neglect to attend

public worship twice every Sabbath, fasting, and thanksgiving days,

provided they are appointed by themselves, and not by the King and

Parliament of Great Britain. This well-founded remark has been treated

by the zealots as springing more from malice than policy.

I beg leave to give the following instances of the humanity and

mildness the province has always manifested for the episcopal clergy.

About 1746, the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, of Symsbury, refusing to pay a rate

imposed for the salary of Mr. Mills, a dissenting minister in the same

town, was, by the collector, thrown across a horse, lashed hands and

feet under the creature’s belly, and carried many miles in that humane

manner to gaol. Mr. Gibbs was half dead when he got there; and though

he was released by his church wardens, who, to save his life, paid the

assessment, yet, having taken cold in addition to his bruises, he

became delirious, and has remained in a state of insanity ever since.

In 1772 the Rev. Mr. Moyley, a missionary from the Society for the

Propagation of the Gospel, at Litchfield, was presented by the Grand

Jury for marrying a couple belonging to his parish, after the banns

had been duly published, and consent of parents obtained. The Court

mildly fined Mr. Moyley 20_l._ because he could not show any other

license to officiate as a clergyman than what he had received from the

Bishop of London, whose authority the Court determined did not extend

to Connecticut, which was a chartered government. One of the Judges

said: “It is high time to put a stop to the usurpations of the Bishop

of London, and to let him know that, though his license be lawful, and

may empower one of his curates to marry in England, yet it is not so

in America; and if fines would not curb them in this point,

imprisonment should.”

The second county in the Kingdom of Connecticote, and the most

mountainous in the whole province, is _Litchfield_, which produces

abundance of wheat, butter, cheese, iron ore, &c., and has many iron

works, foundries, and furnaces. It contains the following fourteen

towns:

_Litchfield_ is watered by two small rivers. An elegant meeting-house

and decent court-house, with steeple and bells, ornament the square,

where three roads meet. The best street is one mile long. It resembles

Dartford. The township is twelve miles square, and forms five

parishes, one of which is episcopal.

Though Litchfield is the youngest county of Connecticut, yet in 1766

it set an example to the rest worthy of imitation. The province had

always been greatly pestered by a generation of men called “quacks,”

who, with a few Indian nostrums, a lancet, a glister-pipe, rhubarb,

treacle-water mixed with Roman bombast of _vena cava_ and _vena

porta_, attacked fevers, nervous disorders, and broken bones, and, by

the grace of perseverance, subdued Nature, and helped their patients

to a passage to the world of spirits before they were ready. The

surgeons and physicians who were not quacks formed themselves into a

society for the encouragement of literature and a regular and

wholesome practice. But their laudable endeavours were discountenanced

by the General Assembly, who refused to comply with their

solicitations for a charter; because the quacks and the people said,

“If the charter were granted, the learned men would become too rich by

an monopoly, as they did in England.” The answer to this question was,

“Would it not be better to permit a monopoly to preserve the health

and lives of the people, than to suffer quacks to kill them and ruin

the province?” The reply proved decisive in that fanatical Assembly,

viz. “No medicine can be serviceable without the blessing of God. The

quacks never administer any physic without the prayers of the

minister.” One doctor proposed the trial of a dose of arsenic--whether

it would not kill any one who would take it, though twenty ministers

should pray against it. He was called a profane man, the petition was

rejected, and quackery remains triumphant.[36]

_New-Milford_ lies on the Osootonoc River. A church and meeting, with

steeples and bells, beautify the town, which resembles Fulham. The

township, twelve miles square, forms five parishes, of which two are

episcopal.

_Woodbury_ lies on the same river, and resembles Kentish-town. The

township, twelve miles square, is divided into seven parishes, three

of them episcopal. In this town lives the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, who is a

good scholar and a great preacher. He has attempted to shew a more

excellent way to heaven than was known before. He may be called the

Athenian of Connecticut, for he has published something new to the

christian world. Zuinglius may learn from him.

The following towns lie also on the Osootonoc, viz. _Sharon_, _Kent_,

_Salisbury_, _New Fairfield_, _Cornwall_, _Goshen_, and _Canaan_; and

all of them resemble Finchley. Each township is ten miles square.

_Sharon_ forms three parishes, one of which is episcopal. It is much

noted on account of a famous mill, invented and built by a Mr. Joel

Harvey upon his own estate; for which he received a compliment of

20_l._ from the Society of Arts in London. The water, by turning one

wheel, sets the whole in motion. In two apartments wheat is ground; in

two others, bolted; in another, thrashed; in a sixth, winnowed; in the

seventh, hemp and flax are beaten; and in the eighth, dressed. Either

branch is discontinued at pleasure, without impeding the rest.

The other towns of Litchfield county are: _New-Hertford_,

_Torrington_, _Hartland_, and _Winchester_; all which lie on the river

Ett. The townships are severally about six miles square, and each

forms one parish.

The KINGDOM OF QUINNIPIOG constituted the Dominion of Newhaven,

divided into two counties, viz. Newhaven and Fairfield; these again

divided into seventeen townships, about twelve miles square each. The

number of houses is nearly 10,000, and that of the inhabitants 60,000.

The county of _Newhaven_ is hilly, and has a thin soil, enriched,

however, by the industry of its inhabitants. The chief commodities are

flax, rye, barley, white beans, and salt hay. It contains eight towns,

four of which lie on the Sound, and the others on the back of them.

Newhaven township comprises fourteen parishes, three of them episcopal

and one Sandemanian. The town, being the most beautiful in

New-England, if not in all America, is entitled to a minute

description. It is bounded southly by the bay, into which the river

Quinnipiack empties itself; easterly and westerly by two creeks two

miles asunder; and northerly by a lofty mountain, that extends even to

the river St. Lawrence, and forms a highland between the rivers Hudson

and Connecticut, standing in a plain three miles by two in extent.

This plain is divided into 300 squares of the size of Bloomsbury

Square, with streets twenty yards wide between each division. Forty of

these squares are already built upon, having houses of brick and wood

on each front, about five yards asunder; every house with a garden

that produces vegetables sufficient for the family. Two hundred houses

are annually erected. Elms and button-trees surround the centre

square, wherein are two meetings, the court-house, the gaol, and Latin

school; in the fronts of the adjoining squares are Yale College, the

chapel, a meeting, and a church: all these grand buildings with

steeples and bells. The market is plentifully supplied with every

necessary during the whole year, excepting greens in winter. But the

harbour is incommoded by flats near the town for one mile in width,

and by ice in winter. The former evil is, in some measure, remedied by

long and expensive wharves, but the latter is incurable. The people,

however, say their trade is greater than that of Norwich or

New-London; and their shipping, of different burthens, consists of

nearly 200 sail.

According to Dr. Mather, Newhaven was, about 1646, to have been made a

city, the interests of the colony with Cromwell’s party being then

very great; but a wonderful phenomenon prevented it. As the good Dr.

Mather never wanted faith through the whole course of his “Magnalia,”

and as the New-Englanders to the present time believe his reports, I

will here present my readers with the history of this miracle:

“The people of Newhaven fitted out a ship, and sent her

richly laden for England, to procure a patent for the colony

and a charter for the city. After the ship had been at sea

some weeks, there happened in New-England a violent storm,

which induced the people of Newhaven to fast and pray, to

inquire of the Lord whether their ship was in that storm or

not. This was a real fast: for the people neither eat nor

drank from sunrise to sunset. At five o’clock in the

afternoon they came out of the meeting, walking softly,

heavily, and sadly, homewards. On a sudden the air thundered

and the lightnings shone abroad. They looked up towards the

heavens, when they beheld their ship in full sail, and the

sailors steering her from West to East. She came over the

meeting, where they had fasted and prayed, and there was met

by a euroclydon, which rent the sails and overset the ship.

In a few moments she fell down near the weathercock, on the

steeple, and instantly vanished. The people all returned to

the meeting, when the minister gave thanks to God for

answering the desires of his servants, and for giving them

an infallible token of the loss of their ship and charter.”

This, and divers other miracles which have happened in New-England,

have been and still are useful to the clergy in establishing the

people in the belief that there is a great familiarity between God and

their ministers. Hence the ministers govern the superstitious; whilst

the deacon, the lawyer, and the merchant, for lucre, wink at the

imposition. Yet the ministers, in their turn, are governed by their

abettors.

Thou genius of adventure, that carriedst Columbus from eastern to

western shores, the domain of savage beasts and savage men, now cursed

with the demons of superstition and fanaticism, oh, kindle in no other

breast the wish to seek new worlds! Africa already mourns, and Europe

trembles!

The true character of Davenport and Eaton, the leaders of the first

settlers of Newhaven, may be learnt from the following fact: An

English gentleman of the name of Grigson, coming on his travels to

Newhaven about the year 1644, was greatly pleased with its pleasant

situation, and, after purchasing a large settlement, sent to London

for his wife and family. But, before their arrival, he found that a

charming situation, without the blessings of religious and civil

liberty, would not render him and his family happy; he resolved,

therefore, to quit the country and return to England as soon as his

family should arrive, and accordingly advertised his property for

sale; when, lo! agreeable to one of the Bible laws, no one would buy,

because he had not, and could not obtain, liberty of the selectmen to

sell it. The patriotic virtue of the selectmen thus becoming an

insurmountable bar to the sale of his Newhaven estate, Mr. Grigson

made his will, and bequeathed part of his lands towards the support of

an episcopal clergyman, who should reside in that town, and the

residue to his own heirs. Having deposited his will in the hands of a

friend, he set sail with his family for England, but died on the

passage. This friend proved the will, and had it recorded, but died

also soon after. The record was dexterously concealed, by glueing two

leaves together; and, after some years, the selectmen sold the whole

estate to pay taxes, though the rent of Mr. Grigson’s house alone, in

one year, would pay taxes for ten. Some persons hardy enough to

exclaim against this glaring act of injustice, were soon silenced and

expelled the town. In 1750 an episcopal clergyman was settled in

Newhaven, and, having been informed of Grigson’s will, applied to the

town clerk for a copy, who told him there was no such will on record,

and withal refused him the liberty of searching. In 1768, Peter

Harrison, Esq. of Nottinghamshire in England, the king’s collector in

Newhaven, claimed his right of searching public records; and, being a

stranger, and not supposed to have any knowledge of Grigson’s will,

obtained his demand. The alphabet contained Grigson’s name, and

referred to a page which was not to be found in the book. Mr. Harrison

supposed it to have been torn out; but, on closer examination,

discovered one leaf much thicker than the others. He put a corner of

the thick leaf in his mouth, and soon found it was composed of two

leaves, which with much difficulty having separated, he found

Grigson’s will! To make sure of the work, he took a copy of it

himself, and then called the clerk to draw and attest another, which

was done. Thus furnished, Mr. Harrison instantly applied to the

selectmen, and demanded a surrender of the land which belonged to the

Church, but which they as promptly refused; whereupon Mr. Harrison

took out writs of ejectment against the possessors. As might be

expected, Mr. Harrison, from a good man, became, in ten days, the

worst man in the world; but, being a generous and brave Englishman, he

valued not their clamors and curses, though they terrified the

gentlemen of the law. Harrison was obliged to be his own lawyer, and

boldly declared he expected to lose his cause in New-England; but

after that he would appeal, and try it, at his own expense, in

Old-England, where justice reigned. The good people, knowing Harrison

did not get his bread by their votes, and that they could not baffle

him, resigned the lands to the Church on that gentleman’s own terms,

which in a few years will support a clergyman in a very genteel

manner. The honest selectmen yet possess the other lands, though

report says Mr. Grigson has an heir of his own name residing near

Holborn, in London, who inherits the virtues of his ancestor, and

ought to inherit his estate.

The sad and awful discovery of Mr. Grigson’s will, after having been

concealed for one hundred years, would have confounded any people but

those of Newhaven, who study nothing but religion and liberty. Those

pious souls consoled themselves by comparison: “We are no worse,” said

they, “than the people of Boston and Windham County.” The following

will explain this justification of the saints of Newhaven: