THE TOWN OF SCARSDALE. 221 



from Rye parish to Boston colony, which is about S~> leagues, in which there are 

 abundance ind places. As for Boston colony. I never was in it, so can 



say little to it. But for Connecticut, I am and have been pretty conversant ; and 

 always was as much in all their good graces as any man. And now I am upon 

 that subject, I will give you the best account I can of that colony. It contains, 

 in length, about 1-10 miles, and has in it about 40 towns, in each of which there 

 is a Pi M >r Independent minister settled by their law ; to whom the peo- 



ple are obliged to pay. notwithstanding mam* times they are not ordained; of 

 which I have known several examples. The number of people there, are, I be- 

 lieve about 2,400 souls. They have abundance of odd kind of laws to prevent 

 any dissenting from their church, and endeavor to keep the people in as much 

 blindness and unacquaintedness with any other religion as possible ; but in a more 

 particular manner the Church, looking upon her as the most dangerous enemy 

 they have to grapple withal. And abundance of pains is taken to make the ig- 

 norant think as bad as possible of her. And I really believe that more than half 

 the people in that goverment, think our Church to be little better than the Papist. 

 And they fail not to improve every little thing against us : but I bless God for it, 

 the Society have robbed them of their best argument, which was the ill lives of 

 our clergy that came into these parts. And the truth is, I have not seen many 

 good men but of the Society's sending. 



And no sooner was that honorable body settled, and those prudent measures 

 taken for carrying on of that great work, but the people of Connecticut, doubting 

 of maintaining their ground without some further support, they with great indus- 

 try went through their colony for subscriptions to build a college at a place called 

 Seabrook. And the ministers who are as absolute in their respective parishes, as 

 the Pope of Rome, argued, prayed, and preached up the necessity of it ; and the 

 passive obedience of people, who dare not do otherwise than obey, gave even 

 beyond their ability. A thing which they call a college was prepared accordingly, 

 wherein, as I am informed, a commencement was made about three or four months 

 ago. But notwithstanding their new college here, and an old one in Boston, and 

 that every town in that colony has one, and some two ministers, and have not 

 only heard them say, but seen it in their prints, that there was no place in the 

 world where the gospel shone so brightly, nor that the people lived so religiously 

 and well as they ; j*et I dare aver, that there is not a much greater necessity 

 of having the Christian religion in its true light preached any where than amongst 

 them. Man}*, if not the greatest number of them, being little better than in a 

 state of heathenism : having never been baptized nor admitted to the communion. 

 And that you may be satisfied what I tell you herein is not spoken at random, 

 nor grounded on careless observation. Mr. Muirsou's parish is more than three- 

 fourths of it composed of two towns, viz : Rye and Bedford, which were first 

 settled under the colony of Connecticut, and of people bred and born under that 

 government ; and sometime before my coming, had a minister, one Mr. Denham, 

 and had afterwards two more, "Woodbridge and Bowers, at Eye, and one Mr. 

 Jones, at Bedford. And the people of Rye only had of this county the care to 

 provide a parsonage house. And notwithstanding all those great shows of relig- 

 ion, and that at such times as they were destitute of a minister. 



Greenwich and Stamford, the bounds of the former of which places join upon 

 theirs, and the other is not above ten miles distant, where they were always sup- 



