184 A PEEP AT 



also a full length portrait of Benjamin West, by Sir 

 Thomas Lawrence ; a portrait by Raeburn ; a St. 

 John, by Spagnolletto ; the Children of Reubens, and 

 many other beautiful pictures. The Rev. Dr. Rob- 

 bins, Congregational Minister, presented the Histori- 

 cal Society with a valuable library of books. This 

 venerable old gentleman is a library in himself, and is 

 greatly respected by all the citizens of Hartford. The 

 finest and most beautiful Churches I have seen in 

 America are at Hartford. The first Church estab- 

 lished in this city was of the Congregational order. 

 The first Episcopal Church was established in 1762 ; 

 the first Baptist, in 1789 ; the first Methodist Epis- 

 copal Church in 1820 ; and the first Roman Catholic, 

 in 1831. The city contains sixteen Churches, viz ; — 

 Four Congregational, and one African Congrega- 

 tional ; two Episcopalian ; two Baptist ; one Advent ; 

 two Methodist, and one African Methodist ; one 

 Roman Catholic ; one Universalist, and one Unitarian. 

 While at Hartford I went to see the " Charter Oak," 

 so celebrated in the History of Connecticut. It stands 

 in a field near Charter street, at the south part of 

 Main street. The trunk of this famous tree is 

 twenty-one feet in circumference. The cavity which 

 was the asylum of the Charter was near the roots, and 



