CONNECTICUT. 



209 



7. Population at different periods. 



1790, . . . 238,141 1820, . . . 275,202 



1800, . . . 251,002 1830, . . . 297,650 



1810, . . . 262,042 1840, 



8. Indiojis. There remain about 400 of the aborigines in Connecticut. The Mohegans 

 are 300 in number, and have 4 or 5,000 acres of land, situated on the Thames, between New 

 London and Norwich. At North Stonington are 50 Pequods, who possess 300 acres. At 

 Groton is another settlement. The State government has the care of them. They manu- 

 facture brooms, baskets, mats, &c., but are generally in a wretched condition, and are little 

 disposed to receive instruction. 



9. Government. The present constitution of Connecticut was adopted in 1818 ; before this 

 time the State was governed according to the colonial charter. The legislature is called the 

 General Assembly., and consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. The representa- 

 tives are chosen in towns, according to numbers, and the senators by a general ticket. All 

 elections are annual, and the quahfications for voting amount to universal sufirage. The execu- 

 tive branch consists of a Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, chosen by the people. There is 

 no religious test in office. Connecticut sends 6 representatives to Congress. 



10. Religion. The CongregationaHsts have 270 ministers, and about 30,000 communicants ; 

 the Baptists 100 ; the Methodists 80 ; the Episcopalians 60. There ai-e a few Unitarians, 

 some Universahsts, Catholics, and Shakers. 



11. Education. Connecticut has two colleges. Yale College, at New Haven, is one of 

 the oldest in the United States. It was founded in 1701, and before its estabhshment in this 

 place, was for a time fixed at Killingworth, and afterwards at Saybrook. It comprises at 

 present several buildings for students, a chapel, and other buildings for the laboratory, minera- 

 logical cabinet, Trumbull gallery, &c. The observatory is built upon the model of the Tower 

 of the Winds at Athens. The library contains 11,500 volumes, and the collection of minerals 

 is the finest in the United States. A theological school and a medical institution are connected 

 with the college. The officers are a president and 30 teachers. The students are upwards 

 of 400. There is also a law school of high standing, attached to the institution. Washington 

 College., at Hartford, was founded in J 826. It is under the direction of the Episcopal clergy. 

 The buildings are two handsome stone edifices. The fVesleyan University, at Middletown, is 

 a flourishing institution, established by the Methodists. At Hartford rs the Asylum for the 

 Deaf and Dumb, the first of the kind established in the United States. It has ample funds 

 derived from lands granted by Congress. The indigent deaf and dumb of the New England 

 States are sent hither at the expense of the several State governments. The course of instruc- 

 tion was begun in 1817. The number of pupils is about 130. Schools of high character 

 exist in almost every large town. With the means of common education, this State is more 

 amply provided than any other in the Union. The Connecticut School Fund, arising from 

 the sale of western lands belonging to the State, amounts to above 2,000,000 dollars. The 

 income of this fund is appropriated by the constitution of the State, to the support of primary 

 schools, and is divided among the difl^erent counties, in proportion to the number of children. 



12. History. Connecticut was originally a colony of Massachusetts ; the Plymouth settlers 

 despatched a company in 1633, who established themselves at Windsor, on Connecticut river. 

 The Dutch from New York had previously built a fort at Hartford, and considered the English 

 as intruders, although Lords Say, Seal, and Brook, with other persons, had obtained a grant 

 of the territory from the Plymouth Company in England. Other settlers shortly arrived from 

 Massachusetts, and laid the foundation of Hartford, in 1636. At first, the authority of Massa- 

 chusetts was acknowledged, but in January, 1639, a separate government and constitution were 

 agreed upon at Hartford, and the claim of the Plymouth colony was purchased. Another 

 colony was soon after planted at New Haven, by emigrants from England. Both these colonies 

 were involved in constant disputes with the Dutch settlers at New York ; but in 1650 a treaty 

 of partition was concluded, vv'hich removed all differences, and during the war between England 

 and Holland, which immediately followed, the colonies agreed to remain at peace. A roya! 

 charter was granted to Connecticut by Charles the Second ; this comprehended New Haven, 

 but for several years the people of that settlement refused to consent to an union. Their 

 reluctance was overcome in 1665, and from that period one government prevailed in Connecti- 

 cut. James the Second annulled the charter in 1686, and Andros, who had been appointed 

 Governor of New England, was sent to assume the government. He repaired with a bodv 



