USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > A historical discourse delivered in Norwich, Connecticut, September 7, 1859, at the bi-centennial celebration of the settlement of the town > Part 6
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So long ago as the beginning of the last century, the fame of Mason was extolled in verse, by Roger Wolcott, afterward governor of Con- necticut, in a volume entitled " Poetical Meditations, being the Improve- ment of some vacant hours." (New London, printed and sold by T. Green. 1725. 18mo.) A complete copy of this rare poem is in the college library at New Haven. A copy was lately offered for sale in London, at £7 17s 6d.
NOTE F.
THE ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS OF NORWICH.
On account of the imperfection of the early records of the town, much difficulty has been experienced in making a complete list of the early settlers of Norwich. The following list was given in Miss Caulkins's Norwich history. "This makes," she remarks, "the number of settlers
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thirty-eight, though it has been generally supposed that but thirty-five signed the town purchase."
Rev. James Fitch,
William Hide,
Major John Mason,
Morgan Bowers,
Lieut. Thomas Tracy,
Robert Wade,
Lieut. Thos. Leffingwell,
John Birchard,
John Pease,
John Tracy,
John Post, Thomas Bingham,
John Baldwin,
Thomas Waterman,
Jonathan Royce,
Stephen Giffords,
Robert Allyn,
John Bradford,
Francis Griswold,
Christopher Huntington,
Nehemiah Smith,
Simon Huntington,
Thomas Howard,
Thomas Adgate,
John Calkins,
John Olmstead,
Hugh Calkins,
Stephen Backus,
Ensign William Backus,
Thomas Bliss,
Richard Egerton,
John Reynolds,
Thomas Post,
Josiah Reed,
John Gager,
[Richard Wallis, ]
Samuel Hide,
[Richard Hendys. ]
Rev. E. B. Huntington, of Stamford, who planned to write the history of the town, and who published some of the preliminary chapters in the Norwich Spectator, 1844, prepared a list of the proprietors in 1659, which differs slightly from that above given.
NOTE G.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. JAMES FITCII,
THE FIRST MINISTER IN NORWICH.
Rev. James Fitch, the first minister in Norwich, was a native of Boeking, a small town near Braintree in Essex Co., England, famous chiefly for its woolen manufactures, the "Boeking" of our shops. He was born Dec. 24, 1622, but nothing now appears in respect to his pa- rentage.
At the age of sixteen years, in 1638, he removed to New England, landing. it has been conjectured, at New Haven. Ile took up his abode in Hartford, and there for seven years pursued a course of study under
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the guidance of those learned and godly men, Rev. Thomas Hooker and Rev. Samuel Stone. These two clergymen, who came to America in 1633, had been scholars in Emanuel College, Cambridge, and had re- ceived Episcopal ordination in England. Both were persecuted for their non-conformity, and Hooker was originally driven to Holland, where he was the intimate friend of Dr. Ames, the celebrated author of the Me- dulla Theologia. While living in England, Hooker maintained in his own hired house near Chelmsford," a school of which John Eliot, who afterwards became known as " the apostle of the Indians, " was usher. It may be that Fitch, the boy of Boeking, then first came under the in- fluence of that most remarkable man whose zeal in laboring for the abo- rigines of New England he was afterward to emulate. There can hardly be a question that he was a friend of Hooker's in England, and that as soon as his youth would allow he hastened to join his former counsellor in the wilderness of Connecticut. Under the instruction of two such men as the first ministers of Hartford, continued during the period now appropriated to collegiate and theological education, it is not strange that Fitch became a thorough scholar and a hearty Christian, meriting the epithets which have been quoted from the Magnalia, f " the Holy and Acute."
In 1646, Mr. Fitch became the pastor of a church in Saybrook. Two clergymen, Rev. John Higginson and Rev. Thomas Peters, had before ministered to the little company who gathered round the fort which Win- throp built and Mason commanded at the mouth of the Connecticut ; but a meeting-house was not erected, nor a religious society organized until Mr. Fitch was called to the pastoral office. Dr. Trumbull states that although Hooker and Stone were present at the ordination of Fitch, the laying on of hands was by the brethren.
For fourteen years the ministry thus commenced was continued wit'ı- out interruption. In 1660, the greater part of his people removed with him to Norwich, where he continued to be their pastor, until near the close of the century the infirmities of age compelled him to rest. Not long afterward he removed to Lebanon, where he died in 1702, at the age of eighty, having been for fifty-four years the minister, in Saybrook and Norwich, of the same religious congregation.
That care for the Indians # which led him to master their language, hold
* Mather's Magnalia, iii., 59.
+ Magnalia, iii., 200.
# V. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., First Sec. i., 208.
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religious meetings for their benefit, relieve the temporal wants which their vices brought upon them, and even to give three hundred acres of good land from his own estate to those who were persecuted for their faith, evinces his apostolic zeal as a missionary of the Cross.
All the allusions to his labors in the records of the General Court, the letters and sermons from his own pen which have come down to us, and the traditions of the church and town alike testify to his industry, ability, and faithfulness as the minister of a church of Christ and as the leader in a newly-founded commonwealth.
His tomb-stone, which is still standing in Lebanon, bears the following inscription : -
REMEMBER ETERNITY.
IN HOC SEPULCRO DEPOSITE SUNT RELIQUIE VIRI VERE REVERENDI D: IACOBI FITCII : NATUS FUIT APUD BOCKING IN COMITATU ESSEXIZE IN ANGLIA ANNO DOMINI 1622 DECEMBR 24 - QUI POSTQUAM LINGUIS LITERATIS OPTIME INSTRUCTUS FUISSET IN NOVANGLIAM VENIT ATAT. 16 ET DEINDE VITAM DEGIT HARTFORDLE PER SEPTENNIUM SUB INSTITU- -TIONE VIRORUM CELEBERIMORUM D: HOOKER ET D : STONE POSTEA MUNERE PASTORALI FUNCTUS EST APUD SAY- -BROOK PER ANNOS 14 ILLINC CUM ECCLESLE MAIORI PARTE NORVIĆUM MIGRAVIT ET IBI CETEROS VITÆE ANNOS TRANSEGIT IN OPERE EVANGELICO IN SEN- -ECTUTE VERO PRZE CORPORIS INFIRMITATE NECES- -SARIO CESSABAT AB OPERE PUBLICO : TANDEMQUE RECESSIT LIBERIS APUD LEBANON UBI SEMIANNO FERE EXACTO OBDORMIVIT IN IESU ANNO 1702 NOVEB# 18 ETAT 80 VIR, INGENII ACUMINE, PONDERE JUDICII, PRUDENTIA, CHARITATE, SANCTIS LABORIBUS, ET OMNIMODA VITÆ SANCTITATE PERIT- IAQUOQUE ET VI CONCIONANDI NULLI SECUNDUS.
Mr. Fitch was twice married. By his first wife, Abigail, daughter of Rev. Henry Whitefield, first minister of Guilford, " a gentleman of good extraction by his birth, " he had four daughters and two sons, James, (the benefactor in 1701 of Yale College) and Samuel.
By his second wife, Priscilla, daughter of Major John Mason, he had
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one daughter and seven sons, Daniel, John, Jeremiah, Jabez (the min- ister of Portsmouth, N.II., ) Nathaniel, Josiah, and Eleazar.
The following writings of Mr. Fitch have appeared in print :
1. A sermon on the death of Anne, wife of Major Mason, preached in 1672. (A copy of this sermon is preserved in the Pastor's Library of the First Church in Norwich.)
2. An Election sermon preached in 1674, entitled " An holy connec- tion between Jehovah's being a Wall of Fire to his people and the glory in the midst thereof." Cambridge, 1674. 20 pp. 4º. (A copy of this sermon, with the title page unfortunately gone, is in the College Library at New Haven.)
3. An Explanation of the solemn advice recommended by the council in Connecticut colony to the inhabitants in that Jurisdiction, Respecting the Reformation of those Evils which have been the Procuring Cause of the late Judgments upon New England. Boston, 1683. 18º.
4. The covenant Which was Solemnly renewed by the Church in Norwich, in Connecticut Colony in New England, March 22, 1675. (See note H., p. 94.)
5. A brief Discourse, Proving that the First Day of the Week is the Christian Sabbath ; Wherein also the Objections of the Anti-Christian Sabbatarians of late risen up in Connecticut Colony, are refuted.
(The three writings last named are in one volume, as previously stated, a copy of which is owned by Geo. Brinley, Esq., of Hartford.)
In addition to the above-mentioned publications, made in the life-time of Mr. Fitch, several of his letters have been recently printed, to wit :
1. A Letter to D. Gookin, on the efforts made to Christianize the Mohegans, dated Nov. 20, 1674. (Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections. First series, i. 208.)
2. Letter to the Worshipfull Mr. Allyne, at Hartford, July, 1675, asking aid in resisting King Philip's army. (Trumbull's Col. Records of Conn., ii. 336.)
3. Part of a letter to the council in Hartford, dated noon, March 13, 1675-6. (Ibid., ii. 417.)
4. Letter to the Worshipfull Capt. John Allyne at Hartford, dated 20th May, 1676, expressing a willingness "to go forth with the armie." (Ibid., ii. 447.)
5. Letter to the General Court, dated May 4, 1678, respecting Uncas and the surrenderers. (Ibid, ii. 592.)
6. Letter to Capt. John Allyne, May 5, 1678, enclosing the letter last mentioned. (Ibid, ii. 591.)
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NOTE H.
THE COVENANT WHICH WAS SOLEMNLY RENEWED BY THE CHURCH IN NORWICH IN CONNECTICUT COLONY IN NEW ENGLAND, MARCH 22, 1675.
In this Calamitous Year 1675, the year of Jacob's trouble in the Wilderness, in which the Lord doth scourge New England by the Out- rage of the Heathen ; a year never to be forgotten.
And we who are in Church state, being called by our Pious Rulers. with other Congregations in this Colony, and in Conscience of our duty moved to seek the Lord by Fasting and Prayer : and having considered the Particulars contained in the Writing sent from our Rulers to the several Churches in this Colony, and which we ought to keep in Record for succeeding Generations, in which they do advertise us of those sins, for which the fierce wrath of the Holy One of Israel is poured out upon New England ; first by Blastings of the Fruits of the Earth, but in this year by cutting off the Lives of many by the Sword, and laying wast some Plantations, and threatening ruine to the whole.
Although to wonderment we have been hitherto preserved in the midst of the Heathen, yea, somewhat by means of some Heathen; but we feeling in this day of the Lords searching our Jerusalem as with a Candle, we cannot clear ourselves (though through Grace) both we and ours have been preserved from those many gross acts of Profaneness, and Drunkenness, Uncleanness, and such like Scandals specified in that Writing, and do desire humbly to be thankful for some progress of Con- verting Work in some of the rising Generation among us: But while we do behold many unconverted Souls in this destroying year, and the same sins working in us the causes of them, as in others; and a great degree of dangerous neglects of that which ought to be for the prevention of Apostacie, and that the departings of the Glory of God from a People are by little and little, and not total at once : We do see cause to judge and cast down ourselves at the Footstool of the Lord, being covered with shame. And seeing true repentance doth not end only in confession, but is restless for Reformation, and solenin Covenanting with our God is a means (through his Grace) in order to Reformation, as we find in the 10th of Ezra, and other Holy Scriptures and pious Examples : We do therefore this Day Solemny Covenant to Endeavor uprightly by depend- ance upon the Grace of God in Christ Jesus our only Saviour.
First, That our Children shall be brought up in the Admonition of
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the Lord, as in our Families, so in publick ; that all the Males who are eight or nine years of age, shall be presented before the Lord in his Congregation every Lords Day to be Catechised, until they be about thirteen years in age.
Secondly, That those who are about thirteen years in age, both Males and Females, shall frequent the meeting appointed in private for their instruction, and to accustome them timely to the exercise of Church Dis- cipline, and these to continue belonging to this meeting, so long as they abide under Family Government of parents or others, or until they are come to the enjoyment of full communion with the Church.
Thirdly, That those who are grown up, so as that they are in that respect, left to be at their own dispose, shall be required to take hold of the Covenant of their Fathers holding forth qualifications suitable for that solemn duty, or at least that they hold forth a conscientious endeavor in the use of means to prepare for the same ; and if they be negligent they shall be admonished of their sin ; and if obstinate they shall be cut off from the Congregation of the Lord by that Dreadful Ordinance of Excommunication.
Fourthly, Whereas the indulgence of Parents in bearing with the evil Behaviours of their children, their disobedience, unmannerly gestures, prodigality, and vain and unseemly Fashions, or other things not becom- ing those who are given to the Lord, is too manifest, and we are prone through fear or favour, or not observance to neglect admonishing such, the Church doth appoint some Brethren to take notice of such children, and timely, meekly, wisely, and faithfully to admonish them, and their Parents, as the matter shall require, and if private means doth not prevail, then to manage the complaint orderly in other steps.
Fifthly, Whereas the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Seal of Communion, ought often to be celebrated ; for the prevention of neglect we do determine (God granting opportunity) that we will be in the use of that ordinance once in every six weeks.
Sixthly, Whereas it is too often seen, that many, through fear, or favour, or sense of inability, do behave themselves to their Brethren, as if they were not concerned in that great Duty of Admonishing their Brother for offensive behaviours, unless it be in cases wherein they themselves suffer wrong, and hence love decayeth, and offences abound, and Christ's Government, in works denied : We do solemny promise, that we will in any way wise rebuke, and not suffer sin to rest upon our Brother, but deal faithfully according to Christs Order.
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And seeing we feel by woeful Experience how prone we are soon to forget the works of the Lord, and our own Vows; we do agree and determine, that this Writing or Contents of it, shall be once in every Year read in a Day of Fasting and Prayer before the Lord, and his Congregation ; and shall leave it with our Children, that they do the same in their solemn dayes of mourning before the Lord, that they may never forget how their Fathers ready to perish in a strange Land, and with sore grief and trembling of heart, and yet hope in the tender mercy, and good will of him, who dwelt in the burning Bush, did thus solemnly renew their Covenant with God : And that our Children after us, may not provoke the Lord and be cast off as a degenerate Offspring, but may tremble at the Commandment of God, and learn to place their hope in him, who although he hath given us a Cup of Astonishment to drink. yet will display his Banner over them, who fear him.
NOTE I.
REV. JOHN WOODWARD (the second Pastor in Norwich).
Rev. JOHN WOODWARD, a native of Dedham, Mass., was graduated at Harvard College in 1693 ; was ordained at Norwich, Dec. 6, 1699; was married in 1703 to Mrs. Sarah Rowell, on which occasion " houseing and lands " were liberally provided for him by the town ; was dismissed in consequence of a controversy in his church respecting the Saybrook Plat- form, Sept. 13, 1716, after which he ceased to preach, and retired to a farm which he owned in East Haven, where he spent the rest of his life, and died in 1746. (Sprague's Annals, vol. 1.)
REV. BENJAMIN LORD, D.D., (the third Pastor in Norwich).
Rev. BENJAMIN LORD, eldlest child of Benjamin and Elizabeth Lord, was born at Saybrook in the year 1693. He graduated at Yale College in 1714, and was two years, from 1815 to 1817, a tutor in the same in- stitution, during which time he studied theology. In the early part of 1716 he was preaching as a candidate in Norwich, and was ordained over the church in that place, Nov. 20, 1717. He was an early friend of re- vivals of religion, of which one occurred as early as 1721. He was chosen a member of the corporation of Yale College in 1740, and held the place till 1772. In 1774, his alma mater conferred on him the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1767 he preached his half century ser-
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mon, then 74 years of age. In 1781 he preached his 64th anniversary sermon. In his 87th year he lost his eye-sight, but continued to preach till within six weeks of his death, which occurred March 31, 1784, at the age of 90. (Sprague's Annals, vol. i.)
NOTE K.
THE SEPARATES.
Those who are interested in the Separate movement of eastern Con- necticut, are referred to an admirable article in regard to it, by Rev. R. C. Learned, of Berlin, in the New Englander, vol. xi., p. 195, 1853, - and to Rev. F. Denison's Notes on the Baptists in Norwich, Conn., Dr. Trumbull's Hist. (vol. ii., p. 168 et seq.,) Bacon's Hist. Discourses at New Haven, Hovey's Life of Isaac Backus, and Tracy's Great Awaken- ing.
NOTE L.
THIRTY YEARS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION.
I am unable to expand, as I hoped to do, the allusion to events which preceded the American Revolution. Many of them are spoken of in Miss Caulkins's History, to which the reader is especially referred for an entertaining account of the meeting at Peck's Tavern. In the recent and interesting Memoir of Governor Trumbull, by Hon. I. W. Stuart, of Hartford, will be found an account of the memorable Mohegan Con- troversy which so long engrossed the attention of the Colony. The life of Samson Oecum, the Mohegan preacher, will be found in Dr. Sprague's Annals, and also an account of the Indian Charity School which was established by Dr. Wheelock. Upon several other points I have col- lected original documents which may hereafter be published.
NOTE M.
A sketch of Mr. N. Niles will be found in Dr. Sprague's Annals. vol. i., p. 716, and another, less extended, in Duyckinck's Cyclopedia of American Literature, vol. i., p. 440.
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The words of his famous ode are as follows :
Why should vain mortals tremble at the sight Of death and destruction in the field of battle, Where blood and carnage clothe the ground in crimson, Sounding with death groans ?
Death will invade us by the means appointed, And we must all bow to the king of terrors; Nor am I anxious, if I am prepared, What shape he comes in.
Infinite Goodness teaches us submission, Bids us be quiet under all his dealings; Never repining, but for ever praising God our Creator.
Well may we praise Him; all His ways are perfect; Though a resplendence infinitely glowing, Dazzles in glory on the sight of mortals, Struck blind by luster !
Good is Jehovah in bestowing sunshine ; Nor less his goodness in the storm and thunder: Mercies and judgments both proceed from kindness - Infinite kindness !
Oh, then exult, that God forever reigneth ! Clouds which around Him hinder our perception, Bind us the stronger to exalt his name, and Shout louder praises !
Then to the wisdom of my Lord and Master, I will commit all that I have or wish for: Sweetly as babes sleep will I give up my life up When call'd to yield it.
Now Mars, I dare thee, clad in smoky pillars, Bursting from bomb-shells, roaring from the cannon, Rattling in grape shot, like a storm of hail stones, Torturing Ether!
Up the bleak Heavens let the spreading flames rise, Breaking like Etna through the smoking columns, Low'ring like Egypt o'er the falling city, Wantonly burnt down.
While all their hearts quick palpitate for havoc, Let slip your blood-hounds, nam'd the British lions : Dauntless as death-stares, nimble as the whirlwind, Dreadful as demons !
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Let oceans waft on all your floating castles, Fraught with destruction horrible to nature; Then, with your sails fill'd by a storm of vengeance Bear down to battle!
From the dire caverns made by ghostly miners, Let the explosion, dreadful as volcanoes,
Heave the broad town, with all its wealth and people, Quick to destruction !
Still shall the banner of the King of Heaven Never advance where I'm afraid to follow : While that precedes me, with an open bosom, War, I defy thee !
Fame and dear freedom lure me on to battle, While a fell despot, grimmer than a death's head, Stings me with serpents, fiercer than Medusa's, To the encounter.
Life for my country and the cause of freedom, Is but a trifle for a worm to part with : And if preserved in so great a contest, Life is redoubled.
NOTE N. CAPTAIN ROBERT NILES.
In 1856, through the instrumentality of Hon. L. F. S. Foster, U. S. Senator, a recognition of the services of Captain Robert Niles was made by Congress, in a liberal appropriation to his surviving daughter. The petition on which this appropriation was made, and the remarks of Mr. Foster in advocating the claim, (Dec. 24, 1855, April 25, 1856,) will be found in the Congressional Globe, first session 34th Congress. The first speech of Mr. Foster presents so complete a survey of the patriotic services of Captain Niles, that I re-print it entire.
Remarks of Mr. Foster, of Connecticut, in the Senate, Dec. 24, 1855, on the Revolutionary Services of Capt. Niles.
"I ask leave to present the petition of Hannah F. Niles of Norwich, in the State of Connecticut. The petition sets forth substantially that the petitioner is the sole surviving daughter and child of the late Cap- tain Robert Niles, of Norwich, in Connecticut, now deceased, and his
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sole heir at law ; that prior to the war of the Revolution the father of the petitioner, Captain Niles, was engaged in the merchant service as a shipmaster, and had acquired so high a reputation in his profession, that immediately after the breaking out of the war in the spring of 1775, Colonel Mott, the chief officer of engineers at Fort George, Ticonderoga, made a request to Governor Trumbull, then Governor of the colony of Connecticut, that Captain Niles might be ordered to that post with a view of his taking command of one of the armed vessels on the lake- a very important service connected with the defense and protection of that post ; that subsequently, in the same year, in the fall of 1775, Captain Niles was commissioned in the service of the Colonies, and ordered to the command of the schooner Spy, an armed vessel belonging to the colony of Connecticut, and ordered to cruise on the coast of the colony for its protection, under a commission signed by Jonathan Trumbull. then Governor of the colony - a name closely associated with the name of George Washington, and with the history of our Revolution. The commission thus signed by him, and dated August 7th, 1775, is ap- pended to the petition.
"The petitioner further represents that in April, 1776, Captain Niles was ordered with his vessel to join the fleet of Admiral Hopkins, cruis- ing in the service and under the authority of the Government of the United States ; that during the years 1776 and 1777 Captain Niles con- tinued in the command of the Spy and of another vessel called the Dol- phin, and while in the command of these vessels performed very impor- tant services by capturing various prizes on the coast, which he brought into port, and which were applied for the service of the country and the army, then destitute and in great want; that he was also engaged in the transportation of provisions and stores for the army at different points along the coast between New England and Virginia ; that in the month of June, 1778, Captain Niles was employed by the Government of the United States to carry out an official copy of the ratification of the treaty then recently made between the United States and France ; that he successfully performed this service, and carried the treaty from the United States to France, and delivered it to Dr Franklin, then our resident Minister at Paris; and he returned home to his country and made report of his voyage and services to the proper authorities. This is a brief statement of the services set forth in the petition by Miss Niles. They are set forth, Mr. President, without any ostentation or display. She asks at the hands of the Senate that some compensation
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may be made to her for these services of her father. I may say a word in addition to the facts thus detailed in the petition. Captain Niles died in the year 1818, and died in extreme poverty. He never received any- thing from the Government except the depreciated pay with which the Government then attempted to discharge its debts, unless the single sum of fifty dollars, which was paid a short time previous to his death, under one of the acts of Congress which had then recently been passed. He died before any other payment under the law became due. The services which he rendered, and which are thus imperfectly and briefly detailed in the petition, were of a most important character, not as brilliant, it is true, as some that were rendered ; but the carrying out and delivery of the treaty between our Government and France must certainly be reckoned as among the most important services which could then be ren- dered. Our Government at that time considered it a matter of so much importance, that there were three several copies of the treaty dispatched by three different vessels. Captain Niles was the only man of the three who succeeded in crossing the ocean and in delivering the treaty; both the other vessels were captured by the enemy. Captain Niles succeeded in landing at Brest, in twenty-seven days after he sailed from the harbor of Stonington, in Connecticut, running the gauntlet though the Eng- lish fleet off Brest, where he was chased for a long time by two English frigates ; but he landed in safety. He found the French fleet waiting for the copy of the ratification of the treaty, in order to sail for this coun- try, and immediately after he landed that fleet sailed, and succor came to our shores."
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