172 



CONNECTICUT. 



Connccti- 

 i lit. 



History, 

 &c. 



of New London county, almost the whole county of 

 \\ indham, and a part of the counties of Tolland and 

 Hartford. The Podunks inhabited East Hartford, and 

 the adjacent conntry. In 1774, there remained of the 

 i slants of these ancient nations Hot more than 

 1368 persons, who lived chiefly at Mohegan, between 

 Norwich and New London. The Indian population in 

 this state has, since that period, still continued to be so 

 rapidly on the decrease, that it has been concluded their 

 whole number does not now exceed 400. 



The first grant of Connecticut was made by the Ply- 

 mouth council to the Earl of Warwick in lb'30, who, in 

 the following year, assigned it to Lord Say and others. 

 Some Indian traders settled at Windsor in 1633. The 

 same year in which, a little before the arrival of the 

 English, a few Dutch traders had settled at Hartford, 

 and the remains of whose settlement are still visible on 

 the bank of Connecticut river, In 1634', the English 

 built the fort of Saybrook, and purchased from the Pe- 

 quot Indians the lands on the banks of that river. The 

 vight of conquest gradually extended the possessions of 

 the English, who established themselves at New Haven 

 in 1638. This new colony at first formed a distinct 

 bod)' politic, which was not united to that of Connecti- 

 cut till the year 1665. These rising colonies during 

 that interval, present the disgusting picture of religious 

 persecutions among men, whom every thing should have 

 conspired to unite. The Quakers, who were the prin- 

 cipal objects of it there as in Europe, owed to it their 

 increase. The colony at length gained considerable en- 

 largement. The Connecticut adventurers had, in 1644, 

 purchased of Mr Fenwick, agent for Lord Say, and the 

 others concerned, their right to the possession of it for 

 £1600. Tracts of land continued to be procured from 

 the Indians, and new towns Avere settled from Stamford 

 to Stonington, as well as far back into the country. In 

 1661, all the lands connected with it, which had not 

 previously been purchased by particular towns, were 

 bought of the natives, and a public surrender made of 

 them to the colony in the presence of the General As- 

 sembly. It was in the year subsequent to this, that it 

 obtained from Charles II. the charter of its liberty and 

 union. Ten years thereafter, its laws were formed into 

 a uniform code, and on every individual was imposed 

 the duty of making himself acquainted with them. A 

 copy of this code, which was reprinted in a small vo- 

 lume in 1750, and of which Dr Douglas says that there 

 can be none more natural, more equitable, more simple, 

 or more concise, was to be purchased by every family 

 at a stipulated price in silver, or for a determinate mea- 

 sure of some kind»of grain ; and the sort of knowledge 

 which was thus to be obtained, being so generally and 

 so anciently diffused in the colony, may, as has been 

 remarked, have contributed its part towards forming 

 amongst the people that litigiousness of disposition, by 

 which even to this time they continue to be distinguish- 

 ed. The fondness, whether proceeding from this, or 

 from some other cause, that is discernible among the 

 people of Connecticut, for settling even their most tri- 

 fling disputes according to law, while it paves the way 

 for a sufficient employment to a numerous body of law- 

 yers, necessarily gives but an unfavourable impression 

 of their national character. The disposition, however, 

 it is to be observed, is now by degrees subsiding, and 

 what is hardly of less consequence for the advancement 

 of internal peace and harmony, is the abatement which 

 has also taken place in the rage that formerly prevailed 

 here for theological disputation. It would have requi- 

 red perhaps a more particular observation than is. often 



given to such matters, to have ascertained whether the Coanecti- 

 earlier or the more recent character of this people in cu ' - 

 that latter respect has been materially dependent on """"V"" 

 any thing in the peculiar forms of their church govern- 

 ment. It is cf more consequence to remark, that these 

 seem, upon the whole, and in general, to be sufficient- 

 ly in unison with the republican nature of the civil 

 establishment of the state. While, according to them, 

 each congregation or church lias its separate jurisdic- 

 tion, claiming authority to choose its own minister, to 

 exercise judgment, and to enjoy religious institutions 

 within itself, they yet connect themselves in associa- 

 tions, to which is committed the power of licensing 

 candidates for the ministry, of consulting for the ge- 

 neral welfare, and of recommending, though not of en- 

 forcing, particular measures for the benefit of the 

 churches. Of such associations there are eleven in the 

 state, which are in like manner combined under one 

 more general association. The number of churches al- 

 together upon the congregational model is said to 

 amount to about 200. Though the numbers attaching 

 themselves to distinct religious sects in this state be not 

 considerable, that is not the consequence of any impe- 

 diment being placed in the way of such variety of pro- 

 fession, the principle that is acknowledged in this re- 

 spect being in fact that of making the sole ground of 

 exception, or exclusion against any particular tenets* 

 that they are inconsistent with the peace of society. 

 The public proceedings of this state are in general con- 

 ducted with calmness and candour, and there seems to 

 be every where enjoyed in it a competent share of po- 

 litical tranquillity. . Its laws, before so well adapted to 

 the condition and circumstances of a colonial govern- 

 ment, have been yet farther and very judiciously sim- 

 plified, in the revision to which they were subjected 

 since the peace. 



In the years 1675 and 1 676, great distress and con- 

 fusion were brought upon this colony, in consequence 

 of the destructive inroads of the enraged savages, with 

 different tribes of whom in the neighbourhood it was 

 then engaged in war. In 1684, it very narrow!}' es- 

 caped the loss of its charter ; but when it was intend- 

 ed that it should in this respect have been subjected 

 to the same fate, which actually befel some of the other 

 states in its vicinity, it owed its security to the artful 

 conduct of .one of the citizens, who, as the charter was 

 on the point of being delivered up, buried it under an 

 oak tree in Hartford, where, having remained till the 

 clanger was over, it was afterwards dug up and reas- 

 sumed. At the close of the revolution, Connecticut 

 ceded all her charter claims west of Pennsylvania to 

 Congress, reserving only a tract of land as wide as the 

 -state, and 120 miles in length, bounded on the east by 

 the western line of Pennsylvania, and north by lake 

 Eric, and containing nearly four millions of acres. 

 Congress accepted the cession, on which basis accord- 

 ingly the title of Connecticut to the reserved lands is 

 fully established. This state has been very happily 

 distinguished, in having, almost from the period of its 

 first establishment, had the benefit of a succession, un- 

 interrupted or nearly so, of governors, eminent in a 

 high degree at once for their religious character, and 

 their political accomplishments. Population in 1811, 

 261,727. See Morse's American Geography ; Thomp- 

 son's Alcedo, vol. i. ; and Peuchet Dictionnaire de let 

 Geogr. Commergante. (k) 



CONOBCEA, or Conoi*ea, a genus of plants of the 

 class Didynamia, and order Angiospcnnia. See Bota- 

 ny, p. 250. 



