164 



NEW ENGLAND. 



person who kills another in a duel is not only hung, but dissected. " Any person of able body 

 and not otherwise necessarily prevented, who shall fail to attend on Sunday some place of pub- 

 lic worship for the space of three months, is hable to a fine of 10 shillings," and tything-men, 

 who are a kind of Censorcs Morum, are bound by oath to give information of all who travel 

 unnecessarily on the Sabbath, and may enter on that day the public houses, to see that order 

 and propriety are observed. Their authority is, however, chiefly exercised in the remote 

 towns, in strictly watching the demeanor of the younger people at church or meeting, where the 

 least levity is sure to bring down an immediate reprimand ; it is considered highly disreputable 

 to give this officer occasion either to "knock" or to " speak out." There are penalties for 

 every profane oath, of from one dollar to two dollars, and for the subsequent oflences, the pen- 

 alties are much increased. 



Dancing and reveling in public houses, is attended with a fine of 30 shillings on the pro- 

 prietor, and of 6 shillings on each of the company. All gaming debts are void ; and to win 

 over 20 shillings renders the winner liable on indictment to jiay double the sum to the poor of 

 the town, and incapacitates him from holding oftice for a year. It is penal to play at cards, 

 dice, or billiards in a pubhc house, or even " to expose to view any of the implements afore- 

 said, or for a person to be silting at any table with any of the said implements before him." It 

 is provided, that the following description of persons be shut up in the " house of correction," 

 viz. all rogues, vagabonds, and idle persons, going about begging, or using any subtile craft, 

 juggling or unlawful games or plays, feigning themselves to have knowledge in physiognomy, 

 palmistry, or pretending that they can tell destinies or fortunes, or discover lost or stolen 

 goods, common pipers, fiddlers, runaways, stubborn servants, or children, common railers, or 

 brawlers, and such as neglect their calhngs or employments, &c. &c. 



The same act provides, " that no negro or African, who is not a citizen of some of the 

 United States," or a subject of the Emperor of Morocco, shall tarry longer than three months 

 in the Commonwealth, on penalty of being committed to the house of correction, and whipped, 

 not exceeding ten stripes, and ordered to depart in ten days. It is provided, also, to guard 

 against all further needless delays on the part of the African, " that if he shall not so depart, the 

 same process shall be had, and punishment inflicted, and so toties quoties.''^ It is proper to add, 

 however, that these laws, though unrepealed, are, in point of fact, obsolete. It is enacted, in a 

 better spirit, that the overseers of the poor " shall provide for strangers in distress." The poor 

 of a town are, however, often set up at auction in the country, for the term of a year ; that is, 

 the lowest bidder, or he that will support them for the least sum, takes them or any of them, 

 for that term. This is disgraceful ; though it is not said that the poor are sold, but that they 

 are "bid off." 



26. History. Driven from England by persecution, the Puritans came to America, and 

 laid the foundation of the Plymouth colony in 1620. This was the beginning of the settlement 

 of New England. The colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut were peopled almost en- 

 tirely from Massachusetts, and the governments of N. Hampshire and Maine were, in the early 

 times, united to that settlement. Veimont had a somewhat different origin, and was settled 

 partly by the way of the river Hudson and Canada. The first colonists of New England 

 encountered a powerful opposition from the Pequod and Narraganset Indians, who inhabited 

 Rhode Island and Connecticut. In 1637, the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Con- 

 necticut united their forces in a war against the Pequods, and a vigorous campaign was carried 

 on, in which the Indians were defeated in several battles, and one of their fortified towns was 

 taken and burnt. These misfortunes struck the savages with terror, and for nearly 40 years 

 afterwards, they gave no molestation to the English settlers. 



It was not long after the preceding events, that the New England colonies again unhed for 

 their common defence. In 1643, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven 

 entered into a league, offensive and defensive against the Dutch, French, and Indians, who 

 \Tienaced them with hostilities. But the most memorable occasion upon which they acted in 

 concert, was that of Philip's war. Philip, or Metacom, as he was called by his own people, 

 was an Indian chief of great courage and talent, and the deadly enemy of the whites. By his 

 intrigues and persuasions, he succeeded in forming a confederacy for the extn^pation of the 

 English settlers. In the summer of 1675, the war broke out ; the frontier towns were sud- 

 denly attacked, the inhabitants slaughtered, the houses burnt, and many parts of the country 

 laid waste. These ravages continued the whole summer and autumn, and more than 600 

 buildings were burnt to the ground. It was late in the year before any sufficient force could 



