The preceding sheets bring the “History of Connecticut” to its latest
period of amity with Great Britain, agreeable to the plan upon which
it was begun. I propose laying before my readers, in an Appendix, a
summary account of the proceedings of the people of Connecticut
immediately leading to their open hostilities against the Mother
Country, not only because some events are not at all, or erroneously,
known here, but also because they will form a supplement necessary in
several instances to what has been already related. Another reason
that induces me to make the proposed addition is, the contradictions
that have so frequently appeared regarding the statements made by the
author of the “History,” as to acts and laws that were in force in the
colony of Connecticut during its early settlement, and which had been
handed down to their posterity by the _Sober Dissenters_, as they
called themselves, many of which laws remained in force up to the
beginning of the Revolutionary War.
Mr. James Hammond Trumbull, a descendant of Governor Trumbull, so
frequently spoken of in this work and notes, in a book lately
published by him, entitled “The True Blue Laws of Connecticut and
Newhaven, and the False Blue Laws invented by the Rev. Samuel Peters,”
has taken unnecessary pains to show that the Blue Laws represented in
the “History” were never published in the colony, and consequently
must be factitious. The author of the “History” himself mentions that
they never were published; and had Mr. Trumbull referred to the action
of the meeting of the planters in Quinnipiack, the 4th of June, 1639,
he would have seen that the general resolutions then and there adopted
were to be their laws, and that no laws were enacted. (See Note on
pages 44-47.)
Many writers have endeavoured to point out the motive which prompted
the Americans to the wish of being independent of Great Britain, who
had for a century and a half nursed and protected them with parental
tenderness; but they have only touched upon the reasons ostensibly
held up by the Americans, but which are merely a veil to the true
causes. These, therefore, I shall endeavour to set before the reader.
In the first place: England, as if afraid to venture her Constitution
in America, had kept it at an awful distance, and established in many
of her colonies republicanism, wherein the democratic absorbs the
regal and aristocratic part of the English Constitution. The people
naturally imbibed the idea that they were superior to kings and lords,
because they controlled their representatives, governors, and
councils. This is the infallible consequence of popular governments.
Secondly: The English had, like the Dutch, adopted the errors of
ancient Rome, who judged that her colonies could be held in subjection
only by natives of Rome; and therefore all emoluments were carefully
withheld from all natives of the colonies.
Thirdly: The learned and opulent families in America were not honoured
by their King like those born in Britain.
Fourthly: The Americans saw themselves despised by the Britons,
“though bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh.” They felt and
complained of, without redress, the sad effects of convicts, the
curses of human society and the disgrace of England, taken from the
dungeons, jails, and gibbets, and poured into America as the common
sewer of England, to murder, plunder, and commit outrage upon the
people “whom the King did not delight to honour.”
Hence the rebellion. Human nature is always such that men will never
cease struggling for honour, wealth, and power, at the expense of
gratitude, loyalty, and virtue.
Indignation and despair seized the gentlemen in America, who thought,
like Haman, that their affluence and ease was nothing worth so long as
they lay under the sovereign’s contempt. They declared that the insult
reached the whole continent, in which were to be found only two
Baronets of Great Britain, while all the other inhabitants were held
beneath the yeomanry of England. They added: “Let Cæsar tremble! Let
wealth and private property depart, to deliver our country from the
injuries of our elder brethren!” How easily might the rebellion have
been averted by the granting of titles! With what reason faction and
discontent spring up in South-America, may be learned from the
dear-bought wisdom of Spain, who transported to her colonies her own
Constitution in Church and State, rewarded merit in whatever part of
her territories it appeared, sent bishops to govern and ordain in
every church in South-America, and they, together with the native
_noblesse_, promoted harmony, the offspring of justice and policy;
while North-America abounded with discord, hatred, and rebellion,
entirely from want of policy and justice in their party-coloured
charters, and of the honours and privileges of natural-born subjects
of Great Britain.
It appears that the British Government, in the last century, did not
expect New-England to remain under their authority; nor did the
New-Englanders consider themselves as subjects, but allies, of Great
Britain. It seems that England’s intent was to afford an asylum to the
republicans, who had been a scourge to the British Constitution; and
so, to encourage that restless party to emigrate, republican charters
were granted, and privileges and promises given them far beyond what
any Englishman in England was entitled to. The emigrants were
empowered to make laws in Church and State, agreeable to their own
will and pleasure, without the King’s approbation; they were excused
from all quit-rents, all Government taxes, and promised protection
without paying homage to the British King, and their children entitled
to the same rights and privileges as if born in England. However hard
this bargain was upon the side of England, she had performed her part,
except in the last respect--indeed, the most material in policy and in
the minds of the principal gentlemen of New-England. The honour of
nobility had not been conferred on any of them, and therefore they had
never enjoyed the full privileges and liberties of the Britons, but,
in a degree, had ever been held in bondage under their chartered
republican systems, wherein gentlemen of learning and property attain
not to equal power with the peasants. The people of New-England were
rightly styled republicans; but a distinction should be made between
the learned and the unlearned, the rich and the poor. The latter
formed a great majority; therefore the minority were obliged to wear
the livery of the majority, in order to secure their election into
office. These very republican gentlemen were ambitious, fond of the
power of governing, and grudged no money or pains to obtain an annual
office. What would they not have given for a dignity depending not on
the fickle will of a multitude, but on the steady reason and
generosity of a king? The merchants, lawyers, and clergy, to
appearance were republicans, but not one of them was really so. The
truth is, they found necessity on the one hand, and British neglect on
the other, to be so intolerable, that they rather chose to risk their
lives and fortunes to bring about a revolution, than continue in the
situation they were. As to the multitude, they had no cause of
complaint: they were accuser, judge, king, and subjects, only to
themselves.
The rebellion sprung not from them, but from the merchants, lawyers,
and clergy, who were never inimical to the aristocratic branch of the
Government, provided they were admitted to share in it according to
their merits. It is true, they, like Calvin, the author of their
religion, maintained that no man can merit anything of the Great
Eternal; nevertheless, they thought they had merited the aristocratic
honours which emanate from earthly kings; while kings and nobles of
the earth imagine themselves to have merited more than they yet
enjoy--even heaven itself--only because they happen to enjoy the honour
of being descendants of heroic ancestors.
England had also been as careful to keep to herself her religion and
bishops as her civil constitutions and baronies. A million of
Churchmen in America had been considered as not worthy of one bishop,
while eight millions in South-Britain were scarcely honoured with
enough with twenty-six: an insult on common justice, which would have
extinguished every spark of affection in America for the English
Church, and created an everlasting schism, like that between
Constantinople and Rome, had not the majority of the American
episcopal clergy been possessed of less ambition than love and zeal.
They had suffered on both sides of the Atlantic in name and property,
for their endeavours to keep up a union between the Mother Country and
her children; but all their arguments and persuasions were
insufficient to convince their brethren that England would in future
be more generous towards her colonies. One of the first fruits of the
grand continental meeting of dissenting divines at Newhaven was a
coalition between the republican and the minor part of the episcopal
clergy, who were soon joined by the merchants, lawyers, and planters,
with a view of procuring titles, ordination, and government,
independent of Great Britain. Such were the real sources of the
rebellion in America. The invasion of this or that colonial right, the
oppression of this or that act of Parliament, were merely the
pretended causes of it, which the ill-humour of a misgoverned people
prompted them eagerly to hold up--causes which would never have found
existence, whose existence had never been necessary, if a better
system of American policy had been adopted; but, being produced, the
shadow of complaint was exhibited instead of the substance, pretence
instead of reality. Every republican pulpit resounded with invectives
against the King, Lords, and Commons, who claimed a power to tax and
govern the people of America--a power which their charters and
ancestors knew nothing of. “Britons,” they said, “call our property
theirs; they consider us as slaves--as hewers of wood and drawers of
water to the descendants of those tyrants of Church and State who in
the last century expelled and persecuted our fathers into the wilds of
America. We have charters sacred as Magna Charta and the Bill of
Rights.”
They declared that the liberties of America ought to be defended with
the blood of millions; that the Attorney-General ought to impeach the
Parliament of Great Britain, and all its abettors, of high treason,
for daring to tax the freemen of America; that each colony was a
palatinate, and the people a palatine; that the people of Connecticut
had as much authority to issue a writ of _quo warranto_ against Magna
Charta, as the King had to order such a writ against the Charter of
Connecticut.
By ravings of this kind did the _Sober Dissenters_ manifest their
discontents, when the various measures for raising a revenue in
America were adopted by the British ministry. That of sending tea to
America, in 1773, subject to a duty of three pence on the pound,
payable in America, particularly excited their clamour, as designed,
they said, to establish a precedent of British taxation in this
country; and, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of the loyalists,
who strenuously exerted themselves in removing vulgar prejudices and
procuring a reconciliation with circumstances rendered unavoidable by
the necessity cf the times, they effectually inflamed the minds of the
populace by reading, in the meetings on Sunday, letters said to have
been sent by Dr. Franklin, I. Temple, and others, representing the
danger of paying any tax imposed by Parliament, and the evil
protestantism was threatened with by a Roman Catholic King, by
Jacobites, tories, and episcopal clergy in both countries, all enemies
to liberty and the American Vine; and adding that, if the Americans
paid the tax on tea, there were three hundred other taxes ready to be
imposed upon them, one of which was “50_l._ for every son born in
wedlock, to maintain the natural children of the lords and bishops of
England.”
The moderate counsel of the loyalists had formerly been attended with
some effect; but it was forced to give place to the ribaldry just
mentioned, and an opposition much more resolute was determined upon
against the tea-act than had been made to the Stamp Act.
A provincial congress, committee of correspondence, committee of
safety, in every town, &c. &c. now started up for the purpose of
setting the colony in an uproar against the Parliament of Great
Britain. To this end contributed not a little the falsehoods and
artifices of Mr. Handcock, and other Boston merchants, who had in
their storehouses nearly 40,000 half-boxes of tea, smuggled from the
Dutch; which would never have been sold had the Company’s teas been
once admitted into America, as the latter were not only the better in
quality, but, the duty being reduced from one shilling to three pence,
would be also the much cheaper commodity. Mr. Handcock and his
compatriots, therefore, were by no means wanting in endeavours to
procure for the first teas which arrived in New-England the reception
they met with in the harbour of Boston.
That famous exploit afforded them an opportunity of clearing their
warehouses, which they prudently resolved to do as soon as possible,
lest the reception of the Company’s tea in other provinces, or other
possible circumstances, should afterwards put it out of their power.
An idea began to prevail that a non-importation of tea was an
advisable measure upon the present occasion; accordingly, they
advertised that, after disposing of their present stock, they would
not import or have any further dealings in tea for two years. This at
once tended to fill their pockets, and exalt their characters as
patriots.
The people, ignorant of the extent of such stock, and apprehensive of
being deprived of an article they were so passionately fond of,
eagerly furnished themselves with quantities sufficient for that time,
mostly of about thirty, forty, and fifty pounds, notwithstanding the
prices were advanced one shilling per pound, upon the pretence of
raising money to pay for the tea destroyed, in order to secure the
religion and liberty of America, which, under that idea, it was
generally acknowledged ought to be done. When the tea was mostly
disposed of, the people found that the extra price they had given for
it was designed for the venders, instead of for the East-India
Company, whose tea at the bottom of the harbour was not to be paid
for. They murmured; whereupon the smugglers voted that they would not
drink any more tea, but burn on the Common what they had left. Some
tea was disposed of, and the public-spirited transaction blazoned in
the newspapers. But this was not all: the smugglers sent letters to
the leaders of mobs in the country, enjoining them to wait upon the
purchasers of their tea, and compel them to burn it, as a proof of
their patriotism. Those honourable instructions were obeyed, to the
real grievance of the holders of the tea. “Let Mr. Handcock,” said
they, “and the other merchant-smugglers, return us our money, and then
you shall be welcome to burn the tea according to their orders.”
But it signified nothing to dispute the equity of the requisition; the
cry was, “Join, or die!” Nor would the Sons of Liberty be satisfied
with anything less than that each owner of tea should with his own
hands bring forth the same and burn it, and then sign a declaration
that he had acted in this affair voluntarily and without any
compulsion, and, moreover, pay the printer for inserting it in the
newspapers.
An act of Parliament for shutting up the port of Boston was the
immediate consequence of the destruction of the East-India Company’s
tea. It took place in June, 1774, and was considered by the Americans
as designed to reduce the Bostonians “to the most servile and mean
compliance ever attempted to be imposed on a free people, and allowed
to be infinitely more alarming and dangerous to their common liberties
than even the hydra, the Stamp Act.”
Due care had been taken to enforce it, by sending General Gage, as
Governor, to Boston, where he arrived the preceding month with a
number of troops. Determined, however, as Parliament seemed, on
compulsion, the colonists were equally bent on resistance, and
resolved on a Continental Congress to direct their operations. In the
mean time, contributions for relieving the distressed people in Boston
were voted by the colonies; and Connecticut, through the officiousness
of Jonathan Trumbull, its Governor, had the honour of first setting
the example, by having a meeting called in Hebron, the inhabitants of
which remained loyal and refused to vote for the collection. Governor
Trumbull imputed this to the influence of the Rev. Samuel Peters (of
whom more will be said hereafter) and his family. Many were the
attempts made to ruin his character, but unsuccessfully; he was too
well beloved and befriended in the town.
Falsehoods and seditions had now for some time been every day
increasing in the province; and men who were secret propagators of
traitorous opinions, pretended in public to look up to the
Consociation, the great focus of Divine illumination, for direction.
After much fasting and praying, that holy leaven discovered an
admirable method of advancing the blessed work of protestant liberty.
The doors of prisons were opened, and prisoners became leaders of mobs
composed of negroes, vagabonds, and thieves, who had much to gain and
nothing to lose. The besom of destruction first cleared away the
creditors of the renegades, and then the Sandemanians, presbyterians,
and episcopalians. The unfortunate complained to the Governor and
magistrates of the outrages of the banditti, begging the protection of
the laws. The following was the best answer returned by the
magistrates:
“The proceedings of which you complain are like the acts of
Parliament; but be this as it may, we are only servants of the people,
in whom all power centres, and who have assumed their natural right to
judge and act for themselves.”
The loyalists armed, to defend themselves and property against the
public thieves; but the Liberty Boys were instantly honoured by the
ministers, deacons, and justices, who caused the Grand Jury to indict,
as tories and rioters, those who presumed to defend their houses, and
the courts fined and imprisoned them.
Thus horridly, by night and day, were the mobs driven on by the hopes
of plunder and the pleasure of domineering over their superiors.
Having sent terror and lamentation through their own colony, the
incarnate fiends paid a visit to the episcopalians of Great
Barrington, whose numbers exceeded that of the _Sober Dissenters_.
Their wrath chiefly fell upon the Rev. Mr. Bostwick and David
Ingersoll, Esq. The former was lashed with his back to a tree, and
almost killed; but on account of the fits of his wife and mother, and
the screamings of the women and children, the mob released him upon
his signing the eighteen articles, or their League or Covenant, as
they called it, (which without doubt was the same as that drawn up and
written by Governor Trumbull, which will be referred to hereafter.) As
to Mr. Ingersoll, after demolishing his house and stealing his goods,
they brought him almost naked into Connecticut upon the bare back of a
horse, in spite of the distresses of his mother and sister, which were
enough to melt the heart of a savage, though producing in the _Sober
Dissenters_ but peals of laughter that rent the skies.
Treatment so extremely barbarous did Mr. Ingersoll receive at their
hands, that the sheriff of Litchfield County could not withhold his
interposition, by which means he was set at liberty, after signing the
league and covenant. The Grand Jury indicted some of the leaders in
this riot, but the Court dismissed them, upon receiving information
from Boston that Ingersoll had seceded from the House of
Representatives, and declared for the King of England.
What caused this irruption of the mob into Great Barrington, follows:
The laws of Massachusets-Bay gave each town a power to vote a tax for
the support of the ministry, schools, poor, &c. The money, when
collected, was deposited with the town treasurer, who is obliged to
pay it according to the determination of the majority of the voters.
The _Sober Dissenters_, for many years, had been the majority in
Barrington, and had annually voted about two hundred pounds sterling
for the ministry, above half of which was taken from the Churchmen and
Lutherans, whose ministers could have no part of it, because
separately the greatest number of voters were _Sober Dissenters_, who
gave the whole to their minister. This was deemed liberty and gospel
in New-England; but mark the sequel. The Lutherans and some other
sects having joined the Church party, the Church gained the majority.
Next year the town voted the money, as usual, for the ministry, &c.;
but the majority voted that the treasurer should pay the share
appointed for the ministry to the Church clergyman, which was
accordingly done; whereupon the _Sober Dissenters_ cried out, “Tyranny
and persecution!” and applied to Governor Hutchinson, then the idol
and protector of the Independents, for relief. His Excellency, ever
willing to leave “Paul bound,” found a method of reversing the vote of
the majority of the freemen of Barrington in favour of the Churchmen,
calling it “a vote obtained by wrong and fraud.” The Governor, by law
or without law, appointed Mayor Hawley, of Northampton, to be
Moderator of the town-meeting in Barrington. The Mayor accordingly
attended, but, after exerting himself for three days in behalf of his
oppressed brethren, was obliged to declare that the episcopalians had
a great majority of legal voters; he then went home, leaving matters
as he found them.
The _Sober Dissenters_ were always so poor in Barrington that they
could not have supported their minister without taxing their
neighbours; and when they lost that power, their minister departed
from them, “because,” as he said, “the Lord had called him to
Rhode-Island.” To overthrow the majority of the Church, and to
establish the American Vine upon its old foundation, was the main
intention of the _Sober Dissenters_ of Connecticut in visiting Great
Barrington at this time.
The warlike preparations throughout the colonies, and the intelligence
obtained from certain credible refugees of a secret design, formed in
Connecticut and Massachusets-Bay, to attack the royal army, induced
General Gage to make some fortifications upon Boston-Neck for their
security. These, of course, gave offence; but much more the excursion
of a body of troops, on the 19th of April, 1775, to destroy a magazine
of stores at Concord, and the skirmishes which ensued. In a letter of
the 28th of April from Mr. Trumbull, the Governor of Connecticut, to
General Gage, after speaking of the “very just and general alarm”
given the “good people” of that province by his arrival at Boston with
troops, and subsequent fortifications, he tells the General that “the
late hostile and secret inroads of some of the troops under his
command into the heart of the country, and the violence they had
committed, had driven them almost into a state of desperation.”
Certain it is, that the populace were then so maddened by false
representations and aggravations of events, unfortunate and lamentable
enough in themselves, as to be quite ripe for the rebellion the
Governor and Assembly were on the point of commencing, though they had
the effrontery to remonstrate against the defensive proceedings of the
General, in order to conceal their own treachery. Further on, in the
same letter, Mr. Trumbull writes thus: “The people of this colony, you
may rely upon it, abhor the idea of taking up arms against the troops
of their sovereign, and dread nothing so much as the horrors of civil
war; but, at the same time, we beg leave to assure your Excellency
that, as they apprehend themselves justified by the principles of
self-defence, so they are most firmly resolved to defend their rights
and privileges to the last extremity; nor will they be restrained from
giving aid to their brethren, if an unjustifiable attack is made upon
them. Is there no way to prevent this unhappy dispute from coming to
extremities? Is there no alternative but absolute submission or the
desolations of war? By that humanity which constitutes so amiable a
part of your character, for the honour of our sovereign, and by the
glory of the British empire, we entreat you to prevent it, if it be
possible. Surely, it is to be hoped that the temperate wisdom of the
empire might, even yet, find expedients to restore peace, that so all
parts of the empire may enjoy their particular rights, honours, and
immunities. Certainly this is an event most devoutly to be wished for;
and will it not be consistent with your duty to suspend the operations
of war, on your part, and enable us, on ours, to quiet the minds of
the people, at least till the result of some further deliberations may
be known?” &c. &c.
From this letter, written, as it was, from the Governor of a province
at the desire of its General Assembly, the people of England might
have learned to think of the American as they did of the French
sincerity. It is almost past credit that, amidst the earnest
protestations it contains of a peaceable disposition in Mr. Trumbull
and the rest of his coadjutors in the Government of Connecticut, they
were meditating and actually taking measures for the capture of
certain of the King’s forts, and the destruction of General Gage and
his whole army, instead of quieting the minds of the people! Yet such
was the fact. They had commissioned Motte and Phelps to draft men from
the militia, if volunteers should not readily appear, for a secret
expedition, which proved to be against Ticonderoga and Crown Point;
and the treasurer of the colony, by order of the Governor and Council,
had paid 1500_l._ to bear their expenses. Nay, even before the date of
the above amiable epistle, Motte and Phelps had left Hertford on that
treasonable undertaking, in which they were joined on the way by
Colonels Allen and Easton. Nor was this the only insidious enterprise
that they had to cover. The “good people” throughout the province, to
the number of nearly 20,000, were secretly arming themselves, and
filing off, to avoid suspicion, in small parties of ten and a dozen,
to meet “their brethren” the Massachusets; not, however, with the view
of “giving aid, should any unjustifiable able attack be made upon
them,” but to “surprise” Boston by storm. In addition to the
Governor’s letter, the mock-peacemakers, the General Assembly, had
deputed Dr. Samuel Johnson, son of the Rev. Dr. Johnson, spoken of in
this work, and Oliver Wolcott, Esq. both of the Council, which had
ordered the 1500_l._ for the adventurers to Ticonderoga, to wait upon
General Gage, the more effectually to amuse and deceive him into
confidence and inaction. But happily, at a critical time, just before
the intended storm and slaughter at Boston, the news of the success of
the secret expedition reached the town, which fully discovered the
true character and business of the two Connecticut ambassadors, and
rendered it necessary for them, _sans cérémonie_, to retire from
Boston, and General Gage immediately to render the fortifications at
the Neck impregnable.
The _Sober Dissenters_, chagrined at being disappointed in their
hostile project against Boston, readily embraced the opportunities
which afforded of wreaking their vengeance upon New-York. At the
instance of the rebel party there, who found themselves too weak to
effect their purpose of subverting the Constitution of the province, a
large body immediately posted to their assistance, delivered “their
brethren” from the slavery of regal government, and invested them with
the liberty of doing that which was fit in their own eyes, under the
democratic administration of the immaculate Livingstons, Morris,
Schuyler, &c. As seemed necessary to the furtherance of their pacific
views, frequent irruptions were made afterwards, in which many
loyalists were disarmed and plundered, and some of them taken
prisoners. Among these last were the Rev. Dr. Seabury and the Mayor of
New-York. Governor Tryon happily escaped their fury; as also did the
Rev. Miles Cooper, LL.D., who was leaving his house through a back
window when a party of ruffians burst into his chamber and thrust
their bayonets into the bed he had just quitted. Mr. Rivington was one
of the sufferers by the loss of his property.
These “good people” of Governor Trumbull’s, who dreaded nothing so
much as a civil war, with the reverse of reluctance, plundered his
house of all printing materials and furniture, and carried the type to
Newhaven, where they were used in the service of Congress.
The King’s statue, however, maintained its ground till after General
Washington, with the Continental army, had taken possession of the
city; when it was indicted for high treason against the Dominions of
America, found guilty, and received a quaint sentence of this kind,
viz. That it should undergo the act of decollation; and, inasmuch as
it had no bowels, its legs should be broken, and that the lead of it
should be run into bullets, for the destruction of the English
bloody-backs, and the refuse cast into the sea. The sentence was
immediately carried into execution, amidst the huzzas and
vociferations of “Praise ye the Lord!”
This insult upon his Majesty, General Washington, to his credit,
thought proper thus to notice in his general orders of the next day.
He was sorry, he said, that his soldiers should in a riotous manner
pull down the statue of the King of Great Britain.
While General Washington remained in possession of New-York,
Connecticut served as a prison for those persons who had the
misfortune to fall under his suspicion as disaffected to the cause of
freedom. He was himself, however, at length obliged to evacuate it by
General Howe, to the great relief of such royalists as remained.
In April, 1777, some magazines having been formed by the Americans at
Danbury and Ridgfield, Major-General Tryon was sent with 1800 men to
carry off or destroy them.
They reached the places of their destination with little opposition;
but the whole force of the country being collected to obstruct their
return, the General was obliged to set the stores on fire, by which
means those towns were unavoidably burnt. David Wooster, the rebel
general, Benedict Arnold’s old friend and acquaintance, and mobbing
confederate, received a fatal ball through his bladder as he was
harassing the rear of the royal troops, of which, after being carried
forty miles to Newhaven, he died, and was buried by the side of the
grave of David Dixwell, one of the Judges of Charles the First.
In the summer of 1779 Sir Henry Clinton sent General Tryon, with a
large party of soldiers, for the relief of the loyalists in
Connecticut. They landed at Newhaven after much opposition, and,
having accomplished their object, sailed to Fairfield, which town they
were necessitated, by the opposition of the rebels, to set fire to,
before the loyalists could be released from prison. General Tryon then
repaired to Norwalk, where, having by proclamation enjoined the
inhabitants to keep within their houses, he ordered sentinels to be
stationed at every door to prevent disorders--a tenderness, however,
they insulted, by firing upon the very men thus appointed to guard
them. The consequence was, destruction to themselves, and the whole
town, which was laid in ashes.
I have now mentioned the principal proceedings by which the people of
Connecticut had distinguished themselves in bringing on and supporting
the rebellion in America, and that, I believe, in a manner
sufficiently particular to show their violence and deceit.
It is very observable that a peculiar characteristic resolution
appeared to possess the people of Connecticut. As, on the one hand,
rebellion had erected her crest in that province with more insolence
and vigour than in the rest, so, on the other hand, loyalty had there
exhibited proofs of zeal, attachment, perseverance, and fortitude, far
beyond example elsewhere to be found in America. In particular, the
episcopal clergy had acquired immortal honour by their steady
adherence to their oaths and firmness under the “assaults of their
enemies;” not a man among them all, in this fiery trial, having
dishonoured either the King or Church of England by apostacy. The
sufferings of some of them I cannot pass over in silence.
Among the greatest enemies to the cause of the _Sober Dissenters_, and
among the greatest friends to that of the Church of England, the Rev.
Samuel Peters stood conspicuous. A descendant of one of the first
settlers in the colony, greatly venerated and beloved by the
inhabitants of Hebron, where he was born in 1735, and being a man of
such truth and integrity as to command great weight in all that
concerned the benefits of the colony, it may not be out of place to
give a slight sketch of the treatment he received at the commencement
of the war, and the cause that drove him from his native country.[42]
In the year 1758 Dr. Peters went to England for the purpose of being
ordained. He had been in ill health for some time previous to this,
but was most anxious for his ordination on account of the church in
Hebron being vacant. He remained in England, very feeble, for some
time, and refused a living there because he wished to return to his
numerous relations and friends in New-England, and especially to
Hebron, where he had left his mother, whom he highly loved and
venerated for her maternal tenderness, wisdom, and piety, and for the
sake of the episcopal church in that town, erected in 1785, which
never had a resident clergyman, though they had sent four candidates
to London for holy orders, and all perished in going or returning,
viz. The Rev. B. Dean, in returning, the ship and crew were lost in a
storm; the Rev. Jonathan Cotton, returning, died at sea with the
smallpox; the Rev. ---- Feveryear, died on returning in the West-Indies;
Mr. James Usher, A. M., in going out, was taken by the French and
carried into Bayonne, dying there with the smallpox.
These four deaths manifested the want of a bishop in North-America,
which was owing to bad policy, and not religion, and was one great
reason of the separation of the two countries, as clearly now appears
by bishops being now established in many States without any offence to
other protestant sects of christians.
His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord-Bishop of London
willingly gratified the wish of Dr. Peters, appointing him Rector of
Hebron and Hertford. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts appointed him their itinerant missionary in New-England,
and his Majesty George the Second granted him his letters-patent of
protection to all governors, admirals, generals, and officers by sea
and land, to protect him against all insults and abuse, and to support
him at all times in his sacred office.
Dr. Peters returned to Hebron in 1760, and was received with much joy
and gratitude by the people of all denominations, with whom he had
lived fourteen years in love, peace, and harmony, without knowing an
enemy, until the tea belonging to the East-India Company was destroyed
in Boston. The news, reaching Hertford, caused great surprise and
sorrow, and the people condemned the illegal and violent action of the
mob in Boston.
The news soon reached England, and the Government sent General Gage
and Admiral Graves to block up the harbour of Boston and demand
payment for the teas destroyed. Soon after their arrival at Boston a
report was spread through the country that General Gage had shut up
the town of Boston, and the people must perish with hunger; whereupon
Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, pretending to credit the
report, sent his circular letter to every clergyman in the colony,
requiring it to be read on the Sabbath-day to their respective
congregations, and to urge the selectmen to warn town-meetings to
appoint a general contribution for the support of the poor people in
Boston, shut up to starve by General Gage and Admiral Graves.
The Governor’s letter was obeyed. Hebron held the first meeting.
Deacon John Phelps was chosen Moderator, and explained the business of
the meeting, giving leave to all persons to speak their minds on the
subject. Capt. Ben. Buell was the first who spoke in favour of passing
a vote for a general collection. Col. Alex. Phelps next spoke against
having any collection. The Rev. Elijah Lathrop made the third speech,
in favour of a general collection. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Peters made the
fourth speech, against having any vote or collection, for the reasons
following:
“First: Because Boston is not, and has not been, shut up by order of
General Gage, and all people pass out of and into Boston as usual, and
the citizens want not our charitable help; of consequence, Governor
Trumbull’s letter was premature, occasioned, perhaps, by false
information from some friend to the destroyers of the teas, or an
enemy to America.
“Secondly: Governor Trumbull, in his letter, has not assigned any
proof of the fact that Boston is, or has been, shut up by General
Gage.
“Thirdly: The teas destroyed in the harbour of Boston ought to be paid
for by the author of that horrible crime; for which deed the King and
Parliament have ordered Admiral Graves to blockade the harbour of
Boston, until the teas wickedly destroyed are paid for; when the
blockade will cease, or I will give my last shilling to help the poor
of Boston.”
The question was then called for.
The Moderator commanded silence, and said: “Will not more of this
Assembly speak on the subject?”
The answer was a general cry of “No! no!”
The Moderator then put the question: “Will you vote for the general
collection for the support of the poor, said to be shut up in Boston
to perish with hunger, by the order of General Gage? You that are for
the affirmative, hold up your right hands.”
Only four hands were held up.
The Moderator said: “You that are for the negative, hold up your right
hands.”
Every hand but the four was held up.
The Moderator proclaimed that the negatives, by a vast majority, had
determined the question. “Therefore, I dissolve this town-meeting.”
Hertford, the capital of Connecticut colony, held the next
town-meeting, and, after due consideration of Governor Trumbull’s
letter, unanimously negatived to vote for a general collection, and
the Moderator dissolved the town-meeting.
The doings of Hertford and Hebron were soon spread, and put a stop to
all other town-meetings in Connecticut, to the disappointment and
mortification of Governor Trumbull, who laid the blame on the
influence of Dr. Peters, the episcopal clergyman of these two towns.
Hence the Governor spread the report that Dr. Peters was a dangerous
enemy to America, by his correspondence with Lord North and the
bishops of England, and ought to be driven out of his native country
for the safety of it. Governor Trumbull began and effected this by his
Windham mobs, and the mobs of the tea-destroyers in Boston harbour.
This is the true cause of Dr. Peters leaving America, and not because
he was an enemy; for he was never an enemy to any man in his life.
This statement Governor Trumbull spread by his letters to the
ministers in Windham, where he resided, and added that it could be
proved by copies of letters in the Doctor’s house, if sought for
suddenly. This letter was read at the meeting on Sunday, the 14th of
August, 1774, which caused a large number of the hearers to unite in
the afternoon and ride to Hebron, and, after midnight, to surround the
house of Dr. Peters, awaking him and his family in great surprise.
Dr. Peters opened the window, and desired to be informed what was the
occasion of such a multitude assembling? The answer was, “To search
your house! Open your doors!”
Dr. Peters said: “I know you not, but will open my doors very soon.”
Having put on his clothes, he opened his doors and gate, when ten men
came into his house. Dr. Peters begged them to be seated, and they sat
down. They then said: “We have waited upon you, sir, to search your
house from top to bottom, to find your correspondence with the English
bishops, Lord North, and other people in Great Britain.”
Dr. Peters replied: “Your demand is new and extraordinary; but here
are my keys and library, and you can search my house, but I hope you
will not destroy my papers.”
They searched, and read all his correspondence with the bishops and
people in England and Europe, and on Monday, before noon, reported to
the multitude that they had “seen and read the correspondence held by
Dr. Peters with the people of England, and found nothing against the
liberty and rights of America; and, as we have been misinformed, let
us return home;” and off they went.
This did not satisfy Governor Trumbull. He therefore sent another mob
from Windham, armed with guns, swords, and staves, to visit Dr.
Peters, and require his signature to eighteen articles which he (the
Governor) had written, and his son David, one of the commanders of the
mob, presented to Dr. Peters, who read and returned it, saying: “Sir,
I cannot sign it without violating my conscience, the laws of my God,
and my oath to my King.”
David Trumbull replied: “My father told me you might sign it with
safety, and it would save you and your house.”
Dr. Peters replied he would not sign it to save his life, and all the
world, from destruction.
David Trumbull said: “Then you must take the consequences.”
His mob then fired balls into the house, and with stones, bricks, and
clubs broke the doors, windows, and furniture, wounding his mother,
the nurse of his infant son, and his two brothers, and seizing him,
tore off his hat, wig, gown, and cassock, stripping off his shirt,
made him naked, (except his breeches, stockings, and shoes,) struck
him with their staves and spat in his face, and then placed him upon a
horse and carried him more than a mile to their liberty-pole, where
they threatened to tar and feather him, and hang him up by the hands,
unless he would sign the eighteen articles.
Dr. Peters said: “I am in your power; you can soon finish my mortal
existence, but you cannot destroy my immortal soul; and, to save it, I
refuse to sign any one of those articles.”
The mob now cried: “Send for the Rev. Dr. Pomeroy to pray for this
stubborn old tory, before we send him to his own place.”
A sergeant and twelve men were ordered to call on Dr. Pomeroy and
desire him to attend and pray for this wicked old tory Peters.
Dr. Pomeroy answered: “I will not attend, nor give any countenance in
murdering the best man in Hebron.”
The sergeant reported Dr. Pomeroy’s answer. Then an order was given to
the mob to go and bring Dr. Pomeroy to the liberty-pole, to be dealt
with according to his demerits. The mob went, but could not find Dr.
Pomeroy.
By this time the mob had drunk sufficiently, and the two commanders
(David Trumbull and Major Wright) stood near Dr. Peters. The Hebron
people had now collected, and were prepared to take Dr. Peters out of
the hands of the mob. Three bold troopers rode up to the commander,
and said: “We have come to kill you, or deliver Dr. Peters. Resign
him, or die!”--placing their pistols at the commanders’ breasts. They
said: “Take him away, and be silent.” They then instantly led him
away.
Major Wright mounted his horse, and cried to his mob, “Silence! We
have done enough to this old tory priest for one day, and in four days
we will return and subdue his obstinate temper and finish this day’s
work. Make ready and follow me to Lebanon.”
The mob obeyed, and on their way they saw the wife of John Manee, Esq.
sister to Dr. Peters, at whom they discharged three musket-balls,
which missed her. The mob huzzaed, and cried out, “We are dam’d
sorry!”
The troopers carried Dr. Peters into the house of David Barber, Esq.
where they put on his clothes, and conducted him home to his
half-ruined house.
The next day Dr. Peters went in his carriage and called on Governor
Trumbull, and demanded his protection against the Windham mobs.
The Governor replied: “I was once Governor of the people, but they
have taken all power out of my hands into their own; and you must
apply to them for protection, and it is in your power to gain it.”
Dr. Peters asked his Honour to tell him by what means.
The Governor said: “By signing the paper they presented to you
yesterday, which you refused to sign, and so brought on you their just
resentment.”
Dr. Peters replied: “Sir, do you think it my duty to sign the eighteen
articles your son David, at the head of a mob, demanded me to sign?”
The Governor answered: “Yes, by all means.”
Dr. Peters: “Do you wish to have me justify the outrageous action of
casting into the sea the teas, the property of English merchants?”
The Governor replied: “Yes; and all friends of America will do it.”
Dr. Peters: “Did your Honour mean to have me guilty of perjury and
high treason, by signing those eighteen articles, which you wrote and
gave to your son David for me to sign?”
The Governor replied: “Why do you say I wrote those eighteen
articles?”
Dr. Peters answered: “Because I read them, and well know your
handwriting; and your son David, Major Wright, and Mr. Croker, told me
so, and that you had sent them to demand my signature to the paper. I
told them I dare not and could not sign them without committing
perjury and high treason, and violating my own conscience and God’s
laws.”
The Governor replied: “There is no treason in saying that George the
Third, King of England, is a ‘Roman Catholic,’ a ‘tyrant,’ and an
‘idiot,’ and has forfeited the crown; that no true friend of America
ought to obey him, or any of his laws.”
Dr. Peters here arose and took leave of the Governor, with the Hon.
William Hillhouse and Capt. David Tarbox, who had been present during
the interview, and, when out of the house, declared they were
astonished at the words and conduct of the Governor.
Dr. Peters then rode to the Judges of the Supreme Court sitting at
Hertford, Col. Eliphalet Dyer being one of the Judges, and desired the
Court to protect him from the mob at Windham, who had ill-used him,
and threatened to take his life in four days if he did not sign his
name to a paper containing eighteen treasonable articles.
The Court replied: “We are ready to do our duty, when the King’s
Attorney shall exhibit an indictment against the rioters.”
The Attorney arose, and told the Court that it was the duty of the
Grand Jury to exhibit the indictment, and not his.
Thus ended the protection of the Supreme Court of Connecticut.
From thence Dr. Peters drove in his carriage to Newhaven, forty miles
west from Hertford, and so shunned a third visit of the Windham mob.
Here the Doctor applied to the Hon. James Hillhouse for protection,
who said: “My house is your protection; yet I want protection myself
against the mobs of Colonel Wooster and Dr. Benedict Arnold, who are
mobbing the Sandemanians for having spoken against the outrageous
conduct of the destroyers of the teas in Boston harbour. But as you
decline my offer, I advise you to put up at the house of the Rev. Dr.
Hubbard, and, if any disturb you, warn them to keep out of the yard
and house upon pain of death; and if they break the gate, shoot them,
and kill as many as enter the yard. I will raise men, and come to your
assistance.”
The Rev. Dr. Hubbard gave up his house to Dr. Peters, and, on hearing
that Arnold and Wooster had said they would visit Peters and Hubbard
as soon as they had finished with the Sandemanians, Dr. Hubbard
removed his wife and children to a neighbour’s house, and Dr. Peters
told him he would pay for all the damage that might be done to his
house. Dr. Peters fastened the gate, and obtained twenty muskets,
powder, and balls, and, loading the muskets, with his servants and a
friend waited for the mob’s coming.
At ten o’clock in the evening Dr. Arnold and his mob came to the gate,
and found it shut and barred. He called out to open the gate, and Dr.
Peters answered: “The gate shall not be opened this night but on pain
of death!”--holding a musket in his hand.
The mob cried: “Dr. Arnold, break down the gate, and we will follow
you, and punish that tory Peters!”
Arnold replied: “Bring an axe, and split down the gate!”
Dr. Peters said: “Arnold, so sure as you split the gate, I will blow
your brains out, and all that enter this yard to-night!”
Arnold retired from the gate, and told one of his fellows to go
forward and split the gate. The mob then cried out: “Dr. Arnold is a
coward!”
Arnold replied: “I am no coward; but I know Dr. Peters’ disposition
and temper, and he will fulfill every promise he makes; and I have no
wish for death at present.”
The mob then cried: “Let us depart from this tory house!”
In half an hour after appeared another mob, under the command of Col.
David Wooster, and ordered the gate to be opened.
Dr. Peters told Wooster not to open that gate unless he was ready to
die, and whoever came this night into the yard, or house, he would
shoot, at the same time showing his musket.
Wooster then said to his mob: “Let us go on, and leave this episcopal
tory, who has madness enough to kill any man, and we will see him
to-morrow.”
The mobs raised a liberty-pole, and kept watch all night over Dr.
Peters; but some friends took his horses over the water to Branford,
where Dr. Peters and his servant went the next day in disguise, and
from there to Saybrook, and thence to Hebron, where they arrived at
midnight on Saturday, and found ten men watching his return; who soon
informed the Windham mobs, who prepared on Sunday to pay a visit to
Dr. Peters on Sunday night.
The Doctor preached in the church to a numerous congregation in the
morning. At 11 o’clock a friend arrived from Windham and informed the
Doctor that a large mob would be at his house by midnight, and advised
him to abscond, and not attend church in the afternoon.
Dr. Peters desired him to be silent, and attended church in the
afternoon, when the assembly was much increased, and the Doctor
preached an affectionate sermon from these words: “O that my head was
water, and my eyes fountains of tears. I would weep day and night for
the transgressions of my people.” The discourse drew tears from every
eye, and the congregation was dismissed, after a most excellent
prayer. Many people attended the Doctor to his house, and quietness
remained till darkness came on, when several persons were observed
around the house as spies.
The Doctor then ordered a servant to take a valuable horse and ride to
the west two miles, and then turn and ride to the east until he
reached Carter’s tree, and there abide until the Doctor came to him.
Dr. Peters then told his mother, to prevent a civil war between the
Windham mob coming and the people of Hebron, he must leave her, and go
to Boston for protection. He then walked out into his garden in the
dark, and thence, unsuspected, across the fields to his servant and
horse. Mounting, he told his servant to go home, and tell no person
where he saw him last. He then rode off for Boston, 100 miles, and
reached there at 5 P. M. the next day, and had an interview with
General Gage and Admiral Graves, who gave him ample protection.
The Windham mob went to the east border of Hebron, and three spies met
them, and told them Dr. Peters had gone off to the west--likely to
New-York. The mob therefore returned home.
Dr. Peters remained in Boston some weeks, and hearing that the ship
Fox was soon to sail for England, he went off in the night and walked
ten miles, when the stage-coach overtook him and carried him to
Portsmouth.
Sir John Wentworth, Governor of Newhampshire, and the Hon. Col.
Atkinson, called upon him and invited him to dine, and begged him to
preach on Sunday, as their church was vacant by the death of Dr.
Browne. Dr. Peters replied: “I would readily comply with your request,
but for fear of letting the tea-destroyers of Boston know where I am;
and you know their malice against me by the newspapers.”
Sir John replied: “They have no influence in Portsmouth, and we can
and will protect you against those public enemies.”
Dr. Peters consented, and preached in their church on the following
Sunday.
All was quiet till Wednesday, at noon, when a man rode up to the door
and called the hostler to take his horse and feed him. He then came in
and called for dinner. He saw Dr. Peters, but did not know him, and
asked him if he belonged to the house.
The Doctor said “Yes.” He then gave him a Boston newspaper, in which
was an advertisement, signed John Hancock, promising 200_l._ to any
person taking up the Rev. Samuel Peters and delivering him to a
Committee of Safety, he having “retreated from Boston in the night,
and will do mischief wherever he goes, being a most bitter enemy to
the rights and liberty of America.”
The man asked the Doctor: “Have you seen that wicked old priest?”
The Doctor replied: “The landlord was at church, and a stranger
preached last Sunday; perhaps he can tell his name. I will go and call
him.”
The Doctor went and told the landlord what the stranger was in pursuit
of, and wished to see him.
The landlord told his servant to run and tell the ferryman to say to
any one inquiring after a clergyman, that he had carried over a man in
black clothes last Monday, who looked like a clergyman, and who said
he was going to Casco Bay, and from thence to London in a mast-ship.
The servant soon did his errand, and the landlord went with the Doctor
to the stranger at dinner, who wished to know if he could inform him
whether Priest Peters had been in Portsmouth.
The landlord replied: “Yes; he preached in our church last Sunday, and
it was said he was going to Casco Bay, to take passage to London in a
mast-ship.”
The stranger said: “I am in pursuit of him, and four other men coming
from Boston will be here soon, and we will have him in custody. I will
follow him to Casco Bay, or hell, to take him. Tell my friends so when
they arrive.”
He then mounted his horse and rode to the ferry. Asking the ferryman
if he had carried over Priest Peters, he answered: “I cannot tell. I
carried over a man in black clothes last Monday, who was going to
Casco Bay.”
The stranger said: “Mr. Ferryman, shoot me over quick, and I will give
you five shillings.” The ferryman soon got his five shillings, and the
stranger rode off with speed seventy miles, and returned without his
prize.
His four companions arrived in the evening, and caused the bells to be
rung and the mobs to assemble, who searched the Governor’s house and
the town to find Dr. Peters, and gain Hancock’s reward of 200_l._, but
found not the Doctor, who was well secured in a cave on the seashore,
where he remained fourteen days.
The Casco Bay news enraged the mob, and they again searched the
Governor’s house, the town, and Captain Norman’s ship, the Fox,
placing a guard on board to prevent him taking passengers or sailing
for London. They searched the fort three times for the Doctor, but
found him not, and placed sentinels in every part of the town, by day
and night, to discover him.
The news of the situation of Dr. Peters reached Boston. General Gage
and Admiral Graves sent an armed ship of sixteen guns to take him from
the cave and carry him to Boston, or any other place he might select.
The ship arrived in the night, and took the Doctor on board.
The captain asked him if he should carry him to Boston, or Halifax?
The Doctor said he preferred London, in the ship Fox, Commander
Norman, lying in the river Piscataqua, but that the mob would not
permit him, or the ship, to sail.
The captain replied: “I will see to that!” and sailed into the river,
hailed the ship Fox, and asked if she was ready to sail. The answer
was, “Yes.” The captain then said: “Let down a chair.” It was done,
and he and his men went on board the ship Fox, and called for the
master. He appeared, and the captain asked: “What men are those on
your decks?”
The master replied: “The committee of safety sent on board by the mob
of the town of Portsmouth.”
The captain said: “I commit to your care this worthy and venerable
clergyman, Dr. Samuel Peters; conduct him to your cabin, and carry him
safe to England;” and then, turning to the Committee of Safety, he
ordered them to quit the ship in five minutes, or he would throw them
overboard into the river. “Your company is not wanted here. I will
guard the ship.”
The committee of safety instantly fled into their boats, and went on
shore.
The captain ordered the master to hoist his anchors and sails and go
to sea. The master obeyed the order, and, October 27, 1774, sailed
down the river, the captain following with his ship. The mob on shore,
behind some rocks, fired three cannon at the war-ship, who returned
their shots, which silenced the mob, and they ran away.
The captain guarded the ship Fox out to sea, clear of the land, and
then took leave of her and returned to Boston.
Captain Norman arrived in Portsmouth, December 21, 1774, and carefully
executed his orders--put Dr. Peters on shore, who next day reached
London, where he was graciously received by the Lord-Archbishop of
Canterbury, Dr. Cornwallis, and the Lord-Bishop of London, Dr.
Terrick, and the Ministry. He had also the honour of kissing the hand
of his Majesty, King George the Third.
General Gage and Admiral Graves, two years after, sent, in the
Somerset man-of-war, the only daughter of Dr. Peters to England, who
was at boarding-school at Boston, (she having seen the battle of
Bunker’s Hill,) to save her from future evils, and comfort her father
in his retreat from the tyranny of the mobs in his native country.
Thus suffered the venerable and exemplary Dr. Samuel Peters, only for
obeying his conscience, his God, his king, and the laws of his native
country, by censuring the rioters and destroyers of the teas, the
property of the East-India Company.
He was highly respected, in England as well as in America, by all
pious, benevolent, scientific, and moral christians of all
denominations; and he never knew he had an enemy, (until Gov. Jonathan
Trumbull, of Connecticut, vouchsafed to support the atrocities of the
mobs,) as appears by his benevolent conduct in England to his enemies
of New-England, who had ill-treated him two years before the rebellion
was commenced.
After the war began many of the Windham mob, who spat in the Doctor’s
face and grossly insulted him otherwise, were brought prisoners into
England, and were in great distress. They then applied to the Doctor
for help, (knowing his character in America,) and they never applied
in vain; he always helped them, and in many instances obtained their
release. They returned home and reported that Dr. Peters was like
Joseph in Egypt, and had delivered them out of all their troubles.
“Dr. Peters,” they said, “fed us when we were hungry, clothed us when
naked, visited us in prison, and delivered us out of our distress. He
never reproached us for what we had done to him and his family. When
we confessed to having abused him, he replied, ‘God hath sent me here
before you to save your lives; it was not you that sent me here. Haste
ye; go home, and sin no more.’”
Notwithstanding such reports were spread through New-England by the
redeemed captives, the destroyers of the teas, and their mobs,
continued their malicious and false sayings in the newspapers against
the Doctor, of whom no man in New or Old-England ever knew one crime
of his from his birth; but, on the contrary, was known for his actions
of charity, goodwill, and kindness, to all of the human family.
In June, 1806, the Doctor paid a visit to Hebron, his native town, and
was received with acclamations of great joy by the inhabitants, the
children of his contemporaries, who were all dead in thirty-one years
during his absence (except ten persons). He remained in Hebron six
weeks, and then paid a visit to Hertford, the capital of Connecticut
State, once his faithful parish, and now the seat of bishops. He was
kindly and joyfully received by the inhabitants, with whom he spent
some time with great pleasure, and from thence returned to New-York,
which he made his home.
The Rev. Messrs. Mansfield and Veits were cast into gaol, and
afterwards tried for high treason against America. Their real offence
was charitably giving victuals and blankets to loyalists flying from
the rage of drunken mobs. They were fined and imprisoned, to the ruin
of themselves and families. The Rev. Messrs. Graves, Scovil, Debble,
Nichols, Leaming, Beach, and divers others, were cruelly dragged
through mire and dirt. In short, all the clergy of the Church were
infamously insulted, abused, and obliged to seek refuge in the
mountains, till the popular frenzy was somewhat abated.
In July, 1776, the Congress, having declared the independence of
America, ordered the Commonwealth to be prayed for, instead of the
King and royal family. All the loyal episcopal churches north of the
Delaware were shut up, except those under the protection of the
British army, and one in Newtown, in Connecticut, of which last the
Rev. Mr. John Beach was the rector, whose gray hairs, adorned with
loyal and christian virtues, overcame even the madness of the _Sober
Dissenters_.
This faithful disciple disregarded the congressional mandate, and,
praying for the King as usual, they pulled him out of his desk, put a
rope about his neck, and drew him across the Osootonoc River at the
tail of a boat, to cool his loyal zeal, as they called it; after which
the old confessor was permitted to depart, though not without
prohibition to pray longer for the King. But his loyal zeal was
insuperable. He went to church and prayed again for the King, upon
which the _Sober Dissenters_ again seized him, and resolved upon
cutting out his tongue; when the heroic veteran said: “If my blood
must be shed, let it not be done in the house of God.” The pious mob
then dragged him out of the church, laid his neck upon a block, and
swore they would cut off his head, and insolently cried out: “Now, you
old devil, say your last prayer!” He prayed thus: “God bless King
George, and forgive all his and my enemies.” At this unexpected and
exalted display of christian patience and charity the mob so far
relented as to discharge him, and never molest him afterwards for
adhering to the liturgy of the Church of England and his
ordination-oath; but they relaxed not their severities towards the
other clergymen, because, they said, younger consciences are more
flexible.
I cannot conclude this work without remarking what a contrast to the
episcopal clergy of Connecticut, and especially the illustrious
examples of the venerable Beach and Peters, was offered to many of
those that were in the provinces south of the Delaware! In
Connecticut, where they suffered everything but death for tenaciously
adhering to their ordination-oaths, there some of them, with more
enlarged consciences, were not ashamed to commit perjury in prayer and
rebellion in preaching. Though, be it remembered, these expressions
were decent when compared with those of the fanatics in New-England.
The following prayer, used by them before Congress after the
declaration of independence, is likely to gratify the curiosity of my
readers. It brought the clergymen into disgrace merely by its
moderation:
“O Lord, our heavenly Father, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who
dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers of the earth, and
reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all kingdoms,
empires, and governments: look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, upon
these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the
oppressor, and thrown themselves upon Thy gracious protection,
desiring henceforth to be dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they
appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they look up
for that countenance and support which Thou alone canst give. Take
them, therefore, heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them
wisdom in council and valour in the field. Defeat the malicious
designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness
of their cause, and, if they still persist in their sanguinary
purposes, O let the voice of Thy unerring justice, sounding in their
hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their enervated
hands in the day of battle. Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and
direct the councils of this honourable Assembly. Enable them to settle
things upon the best and surest foundation; that the scenes of blood
may soon be closed; that order, harmony, and peace may effectually be
restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and
flourish amongst Thy people. Preserve the health of their bodies and
the vigor of their minds; shower down upon them, and the millions they
represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in
this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to
come. All this we ask in the name, and through the merits, of Jesus
Christ Thy Son, our Saviour. Amen.”
[42] Which is taken from a manuscript written by the Doctor
himself and using his own language. This manuscript came
into my hands only a few weeks ago, with many other
documents relating to the Revolutionary War.--ED. NOTE.