Chapter IX: Preface (9)

“GREAT SOVEREIGN: Great was that day when the Lord, who
sitteth upon the floods, and sitteth King forever, did
divide his and your adversaries from one another, like the
waters of Jordan forced to stand upon an heap, and did
begin to magnify you, like Joshua in the sight of all
Israel, by those great actions that were so much for the
honour of God and the deliverance of the English dominions
from popery and slavery; and all this, separated from
those sorrows that usually attend the introduction of a
peaceable settlement in any troubled state: all which doth
affect us with the sense of our duty to return the highest
praise unto the King of Kings and Lord of Hosts, and bless
him who hath delighted in you, to set you upon the throne
of his Israel, and to say, Because the Lord loved Israel
forever, therefore has he made you king, to do justice and
judgment, &c.; also humble and hearty acknowledgement for
the great zeal that by your Majesty has been expressed in
those hazards you have put your royal person to, and in
the expense of so great a treasure in the defense of the
Protestant interest. In the consideration of all which,
we, your Majesty’s dutiful and loyal subjects of your said
colony, are encouraged humbly to intimate that we, with
much favour, obtained a Charter from Charles II., of happy
memory, bearing date April 23, 1662, in the fourteenth
year of his reign, granted to the Governor and Company of
his Majesty’s Colony of Connecticut, the advantages and
privileges whereof made us indeed a very happy people;
and, by the blessing of God upon our endeavours, we have
made a considerable improvement of your dominions here,
which, with the defense of ourselves from the force of
both foreign and intestine enemies, has cost us much
expense of treasure and blood; yet in the second year of
the reign of his late Majesty, King James II., we had a
_quo warranto_ served upon us by Edward Randolph,
requiring our appearance before his Majesty’s court in
England; and although the time of our appearance was
elapsed before the serving the said _quo warranto_, yet we
humbly petitioned his Majesty for his favour and the
continuance of our Charter, with the privileges thereof;
but we received no other favour but a second QUO WARRANTO:
and we well observed that the Charter of London, and of
other considerable cities in England, were condemned, and
that the Charter of Massachusets had undergone the like
fate, plainly saw what we might expect; yet as we not
judged it good or lawful to be active in surrendering what
had cost us so dear, nor to be altogether silent, we
employed an attorney to appear in our behalf, and to
prefer our humble address to his Majesty, to entreat his
favour quickly upon it; but as Sir Edmund Andros informed
us he was empowered by his Majesty to regain the surrender
of our Charter, if we saw meet to do so, and to take
ourselves under his government, we withstood all these
motions, and in our reiterated addresses we petitioned his
Majesty to continue us in the full and free enjoyment of
our liberties and property, civil and sacred, according to
our Charter. We also petitioned that if his Majesty should
not see meet to continue us as we were, but was resolved
to annex us to some other government, we then desired that
(inasmuch as Boston had been our old correspondents, and
people whose principles and manners we had been acquainted
with) we might be annexed rather to Sir Edmund Andros his
government than to Colonel Dungan’s, which choice of ours
was taken for a resignation of our government; though that
was never intended by us for such, nor had it the
formalities in law to make it a resignation, as we humbly
conceive; yet Sir Edmund Andros was commissioned by his
Majesty to take us under his government: pursuant to
which, about the end of October, 1687, he, with a company
of gentlemen and grenadiers to the number of sixty or
upward, came to Hertford (the chief seat of this
government), caused his commission to be read, and
declared our government to be dissolved, and put into
commission both civil and military officers through our
colony, as he pleased, when he passed through the
principal parts thereof.

“The good people of the colony, though they were under a
great sense of injuries they sustained hereby, yet chose
rather to be silent and patient than oppose, being,
indeed, surprised into an involuntary submission to an
arbitrary power; but when the government we were thus put
under seemed to us to be determined, and we being in daily
fear and hazard of those many inconveniences that will
arise from a people in want of a government; being also in
continual danger of our lives by reason of the natives
being at war with us, with whom we had just fears of our
neighbouring French to join, not receiving any order or
directions what method to take for our security, we were
necessitated to put ourselves into some form of
government; and there being none so familiar to us as that
of our Charter, nor what we could make so effectual for
the gaining the universal compliance of the people, and
having never received any intimation of an enrolment of
that which was interpreted a resignation of our Charter,
we have presumed, by the consent of the major part of the
freemen assembled for that end, May 9, 1689, to resume our
government according to the rules of our Charter, and this
to continue till further order; yet, as we have thus
presumed to dispose ourselves, not waiting orders from
your Majesty, we humbly submit ourselves herein,
entreating your Majesty’s most gracious pardon; and that
what our urgent necessity hath put upon us may no ways
interrupt your Majesty’s grace and favour toward us, your
most humble and dutiful subjects, but that in your
clemency you would be pleased to grant us such directions
as to your princely wisdom may seem meet, with such
ratifications and confirmations of our Charter, in the
full and free enjoyment of all our properties, privileges,
and liberties, both civil and sacred, as therein granted
to us by your royal predecessor, King Charles II., which
may yet further insure it an inheritance to us and our
posterities after us, with what further grace and favour
your royal and enlarged heart may be moved to confer upon
us; which, we trust, we shall not forget nor be
unprofitable under; but as we have this day, with the
greatest expressions of joy, proclaimed your Majesty and
Royal Consort King and Queen of England, France, and
Ireland, with the dominions hereto belonging, so we shall
ever pray that God would grant your Majesties long life,
and prosperously to reign over all your dominions, and
that the great and happy work you have begun may be
prospered here, and graciously rewarded with a crown of
glory hereafter.

“ROBERT TREAT, _Governor_.

“Per order of the General Court of Connecticut.

“[Signed] JOHN ALLEN, _Secretary_.”

[29] Dr. Douglas was a naturalist, and a physician of
considerable eminence in Boston, where he never attended any
religious worship, having been educated in Scotland with
such rancorous hatred against episcopacy, that, with his
age, it ripened into open scepticism and deism. However, his
many severities against the Episcopalians, New Lights, and
Quakers, procured him a good name among the Old Lights, and
the mongrel christians of New-York, whose policy and
self-interest have always domineered over conscience and
morality. For these reasons, his brother Smith, in his
History of New-York, frequently quotes him, to prove his
futile assertions against New-England, New-Jersey, and
Pensylvania.

[30] Perhaps their success was facilitated by the
consideration, that the quit-rent payable to the Crown in
New-York is 2_s._ 6_d._ per 100 acres, but only 9_d._ in
Newhampshire. The same may be said, with still more reason,
in regard to the lands acquired by New-York from
Massachusets-Bay and Connecticut, where the quit-rent
is--nothing.

[31] In 1680, the number of Indians, or aborigines, in the
whole Province of Connecticut was 4000. This was allowed by
the General Assembly. How much greater their number was in
1637, may be estimated from the accounts given by Dr.
Mather, Mr. Neal, Mr. Penhallow, and Mr. Hutchinson, of the
deaths of Englishmen in the Indian wars, for the space of
forty-three years. It has been computed, that from 1637 to
1680, upon an average, one hundred Englishmen were killed
yearly in those wars, and that there were killed, with sword
and gun, and smallpox, twenty Indians for every one
Englishman. If this calculation is just, it appears that the
English killed of the Indians, during the above-mentioned
period, 86,000, to which number the 4000 Indians remaining
in 1680 being added, it is clear that there were 90,000
Indians in Connecticut when Hooker began his holy war upon
them; not to form conjectures upon those who probably
afterwards abandoned the country. This evinces the weakness
of the Indian mode of fighting with bows and arrows against
guns, and the impropriety of calling Connecticut an howling
wilderness in 1636, when Hooker arrived in Hertford. The
English in one hundred and thirty-six years have not much
more than doubled the number of Indians they killed in
forty-three years. In 1770 the number of Indians in
Connecticut amounted not to 400 souls.

[32] Many years afterward the author’s attention was called
to this statement; he replied, as to the expression above,
by saying, he meant that the pressure of the stream was so
great that a crowbar, not having sufficient specific gravity
to sink, would actually be carried down the stream upon its
surface. As incredulous as this may appear, we have it
substantiated by no less a person than the late eminent
engineer, John A. Roebling, who built the suspension-bridge
over the river at the Niagara Falls, in the following letter:

“SUSPENSION BRIDGE, _April 28, 1855_.

“SAMUEL WILKESON, Esq.

“DEAR SIR: I received a copy of _The Democrat_, with your
account of my attempting to sound the river. After you
left, another attempt was made, with a similar iron, of
about forty pounds’ weight, attached to a No. 11 wire, all
freely suspended, so as not to impede the fall of the
weight. I then let the weight fall from the bridge, a
height of 225 feet. It struck the surface fairly, with the
point down--must have sunk to some depth, but was not
longer out of sight than one second, when it made its
appearance again upon the surface, about 100 feet down
stream, and skipped along like a chip, until it was
checked by the wire. We then commenced hauling in slowly,
which made the iron bounce like a ball, when a cake of ice
struck it, and ended the sport.

“I am satisfied that no metal has sufficient gravity to
pierce that current, even with the momentum acquired by a
fall of 226 feet. The velocity of the iron, when striking,
must have been about equal to 124 feet per second, and,
consequently, its momentum near 5,000 pounds. Its surface,
opposed to the current, was about fifty superficial
inches. This will give an idea of the strength of that
current, and, at the same time, hint at the Titan forces
that have been at work to scoop out the bed of the Niagara
River.

“I am now satisfied that our friend, the English captain,
was sounding in vain.

“Yours respectfully and truly,
“JOHN A. ROEBLING.”
--ED. NOTE.

[33] Of the separation from the standing churches an account
has been given, and of the disorders and oppressions of
those times when they commenced. Churches of this character
were formed in New London, Stonington, Preston, Norwich,
Lyme, Canterbury, Plainfield, Windsor, Suffield, and
Middletown. Some of these churches and congregations were
nearly as large as some of the standing churches. There were
ten or twelve churches and congregations of this
denomination, first and last, in the colony. Some of them
carried their enthusiasm to a greater extent than others. In
New London they carried it to such a degree that they made a
large fire to burn their books, clothes, and ornaments,
which they called their idols, and which they now determined
to forsake, and utterly to put away.

This imaginary work of piety and self-denial they undertook
on the Lord’s-day, and brought their books, necklaces, and
jewels, together in the main street.

They began by burning their erroneous books, dropping them,
one after another, into the fire, pronouncing these words:
“If the author of this book died in the same sentiments and
faith in which he wrote it, as the smoke of this pile
ascends, so the smoke of his torment will ascend forever and
ever. Hallelujah! Amen.”

But they were prevented from burning their clothes and
jewels. John Lee, of Lyme, told them his idols were his wife
and children, and that he could not burn them; it would be
contrary to the laws of God and man; that it was impossible
to destroy idolatry without a change of heart and of the
affections.--ED. NOTE.

[34] Mr. Hooker died while this work was in course of
publication.--ED. NOTE.

[35] The Rev. Mr. Dean went to England and took orders for
the church at Hebron, but died at sea on his return, about
the year 1745. The Rev. Mr. Punderson, of Groton, then
preached to them, and administered the sacrament, from 1746
to 1752. The people of Hebron were very unfortunate with
respect to the gentlemen who went to England for orders in
their behalf. A Mr. Cotton, in 1752, received orders for
them, but he died, on his passage for New-England, with the
small-pox. Mr. Graves, of New-London, served them from 1752
to 1757. In 1757 one Mr. Usher went for orders in their
behalf; he was taken by the French, on his passage to
England, and died in captivity.

The Rev. Samuel Peters was ordained their priest in August,
1759, and the next year returned to New-England. He
continued priest at Hebron until the commencement of the
Revolutionary War, when he was driven from his country by
the mobs of Windham, instigated by Governor Trumbull.--ED.
NOTE.

[36] The following is a portion of a communication to some
paper in Connecticut, part of which has been destroyed:

“MR. PRINTER: You have shewn no partiality in your paper
among contending parties, but have given all rational
systems, at least all popular plans, a chance in the world
by your medeocritical channel. What I am desirous of
communicating to the public is very popular: It is, to put
the Quacks Club in the East upon a reputible footing, as
the licensed Physiognomers in the West.

“At a meeting held in Connecticut, October, 1767, it was
resolved:

“First: We Etiologists, viz. John Whiggot, Esq. President,
Adam Kuncnow, Michel Nugnug, Shazael Bulldunce, Committee
for said Club of Quackism. That we may serve each other in
our Occupation, we have appointed a meeting to be upon the
first Tuesday of every month, for the year ensueing, at
the house of Mr. Abram Bruntick, in Green Lane, nigh the
Crow Market, straight forward from the sign of the Goose,
at the sign of the Looking Glass.

“Second: To lay some plan to support Dr. Leaffolds Latina
Anatomy.

“Third: To choose a Proluctor, able to defend the high
pretensions made by these mercurial sons in the West
against your art in Pharmacy, Chemistry, and Physic, in
the East.

“Fourth: To make some Laws for admission of young Quacks
into this most popular Club.”

No doubt the above was a burlesque upon the law that had
passed the year before, or rather upon the one the General
Assembly refused to pass.--ED. NOTE.

[37] The episcopal church in Stratford is the oldest of that
denomination in the State. But episcopacy made very little
progress in Connecticut, until after the declaration of
Rector Cutler, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Whitemore, and Mr. Brown,
for episcopacy, in 1722. Numbers of Mr. Johnson’s and Mr.
Whitemore’s hearers professed episcopacy with them, and set
up the worship of God, according to the manner of the Church
of England, in the West and North-Haven. Mr. (afterward Dr.)
Johnson was a gentleman distinguished for literature, of
popular talents and engaging manners. In 1724, after
receiving episcopal ordination in England, he returned to
Stratford, and, under his ministry to that and the
neighboring churches of that denomination, they were
increased.--ED. NOTE.

[38] An early provision was therefore made by law in
Massachusetts and Connecticut for the support of the
ministry. In Connecticut all persons were obliged by law to
contribute to the support of the Church as well as of the
Commonwealth.

All rates respecting the support of ministers, or any
ecclesiastical affairs, were to be made and collected in the
same manner as the rates of the respective towns.

Special care was taken that all persons should attend the
means of public instruction. The law obliged them to be
present at public worship on the Lord’s-day, and upon all
days of public fasting and praying, and of thanksgivings
appointed by civil authority, on penalty of a fine of five
shillings for every instance of neglect. The Congregational
churches were adopted and established by law; but provision
was made that all sober, orthodox persons dissenting from
them should, upon the manifestation of it to the General
Court, be allowed peaceably to worship in their own way.

It was enacted, “That no person within this Colony shall in
any wise embody themselves into Church estate without
consent of the General Court and approbation of neighbouring
elders.”

The law also prohibited that any ministry or Church
administration should be entertained or attended by the
inhabitants of any plantation in the Colony, distinct and
separate from, and in opposition to, that which was openly
and publicly observed and dispensed by the approved minister
of the place; except it was by the approbation of the Court
and neighboring churches. The penalty for every breach of
this act was 5_l._--ED. NOTE.

[39] The following will show that a Connecticut mob of
_Sober Dissenters_ is not inferior to a London mob of
drunken Conformists, either in point of ingenuity, low
humour, or religious mockery. The stamp-master was declared
by the mob at Hertford to be dead. The mob at Lebanon
undertook to send Ingersoll to his own place. They made
their effigies, one to represent Mr. Grenville, another
Ingersoll, and a third the devil. The last was dressed with
a wig, hat, and black coat, given by parson Solomon
Williams, of Lebanon. Mr. Grenville was honoured with a hat,
wig, and coat, a present from Mr. Jonathan Trumbull, who was
afterwards chosen Governor, (and who afterwards wrote the
letter to General Gage, as appears in a preceding note.) Mr.
Ingersoll was dressed in red, with a lawyer’s wig, a wooden
sword, and his hat under his arm, by the generosity of
Joseph Trumbull. Thus equipped, the effigies were put into a
cart, with ropes about their necks, and drawn towards the
gallows. A dialogue ensued between the criminals. Some
friendship seemed to subsist between Mr. Grenville and the
devil, while nothing but sneers and frowns passed the devil
to Ingersoll; and the fawning reverence of the latter gave
his infernal Highness such offence, that he turned up his
breech and discharged fire, brimstone, and tar in
Ingersoll’s face, setting him all in a blaze; which,
however, Mr. Grenville generously extinguished with a
squirt. This was many times repeated. As the procession
advanced, the mob exclaimed, “Behold the just reward of our
agent, who sold himself to Grenville, like Judas, at a
price!” In this manner the farce was continued till
midnight, at which time they arrived at the gallows; where a
person in a long shirt, in derision of the surplice of a
Church clergyman, addressed the criminals with republican
Atticisms, railleries, &c., concluding thus: “May your
deaths be tedious and intolerable, and may your souls sink
quick down to hell, the residence of tyrants, traitors, and
devils!” The effigies were then turned off, and, after
hanging some time, were hoisted upon a huge pile of wood and
burnt, that their bodies might share a similar fate with
their souls. This pious transaction exalted the character of
Mr. Trumbull, and facilitated his election to the office of
Governor; and, what was of further advantage to him, his mob
judged that the bones of Ingersoll’s effigy merited
christian burial according to the rites of the Church of
England, though he had been brought up a _Sober Dissenter_,
and resolved, therefore, to bury his bones in Hebron.
Accordingly, thither they repaired, and, after having made a
coffin, dug a grave in a cross-street, and made every other
preparation for the interment, they sent for the episcopal
clergyman there to attend the funeral of the bones of
Ingersoll the traitor.

The clergyman[40] told the messengers that neither his
office nor his person were to be sported with, nor was it
his business to bury _Sober Dissenters_ who abuse the Church
while living. The mob, enraged at this answer, ordered a
party to bring the clergyman by force, or send him to hell
after Ingersoll. This alarmed the people of the town, who
instantly loaded their muskets in defence of the clergyman.
Thus checked in their mad career, the mob contented
themselves with a solemn funeral procession, drums beating
and horns blowing, and buried the coffin in the
cross-street, one of the pantomimes bawling out, “We commit
this traitor’s bones to the earth--ashes to dust and dust to
ashes--in sure and certain hope that his soul is in hell with
all tories and enemies in Zion.” Then, having driven a stake
through the coffin, and each cast a stone upon the grave,
they broke a few windows, cursed such clergymen as rode in
chaises and were above the control of God’s people, and went
off with a witless saying, viz. “It is better to live with
the Church militant than with the Church triumphant.”

[40] The Episcopal clergyman was the Rev. Samuel Peters.--ED.
NOTE.

[41] This Mr. Dyer had been in England, had petitioned for,
and, through Dr. Franklin’s interest, obtained a new office
at the port of New-London, viz. that of Comptroller, but
afterwards had thought proper to resign that office, in
order to be made a Judge of the Superior Court and one of
the Council; and, forsooth, that a stranger only might serve
the King of Great Britain in the character of a publican in
Connecticut.