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4 THE General Court came together the following day (July 9), and approved the action of Governor Winthrop and the Council. They unanimously passed a resolution protesting against " Major Andros's challenge and attempts to sur- prise the main fort of the colony ; " and they expressed themselves as ready to "use their utmost power and en- deavor (expecting therein the assistance of Almighty God) to defend the good people of the Colony from the said Major Andros's attempts " (Conn. Rec., ii. 262).
5 THIS episode is related by Dr. Trumbull (Hist. Conn. i. 330). Such conversations are matters of tradition ; but the colonial records tell us that Major Bull was instructed not to allow Andros's men to land except for refreshment, and that they were to come unarmed, and make but a short tarry. He was to " keep the king's colors standing, under his Majesty's lieutenant, the governor of Connecticut; and if any other colors were set up, he was not to suffer them to stand." The Connecticut authorities were not altogether pleased that a more vigorous protest had not been made. They could have wished that "he [Andros] had been interrupted in doing the least thing, under pretence of his hav- ing any thing to do to use his Majesty's
name in commanding there so usurp- ingly, which might have been done by shouts, or sound of drum, etc., without violence " (Conn. Rec., ii. 584).
6 " THE Council did further commis- sionate Major Treat to take the conduct of our army, and to take special care of the Reverend Mr. Bulkly and Mr. Noyes : and they also commanded all the cap- tains and lieutenants of the army to be tender and careful of Major Treat, that he be not exposed to too much hazard, and that they allot him a sufficient guard to attend his person at all times; with an advice that they avoid whatever may be provoking to God, and that they be- have themselves valiantly and courage- ously " (Conn. Rec., ii. 388).
7 THE site of this fort is in the town of South Kingston, R.I., about eighteen miles north-east of Stonington. During the fight, captains Gallup of New Lon- don, and Marshall of Windsor, were killed outright. Captain Seeley of Strat- ford received wounds that proved mor- tal; and the same fate overtook Captain John Mason of Norwich, son of the leader against the Pequots. Samuel Hall of Fairfield petitioned the General Court for compensation for clothes lost in the " swamp fight." " When Captain Mason was shot down," he wrote, "I was just before him when he fell down, and shook him by the hand, I being shot down in that very place, so that he fell very near me. But Captain Mason got up again and went forth, and I lay bleed- ing there in the snow; and hearing the word commanded to set fire on the wig- wams, I considered I should be burned if I did not crawl away. It pleased God to give me strength to get up and get out, with my cutlass in my hand, not- withstanding I had received at that time four bullets, two in each thigh, as was manifest afterwards" (Conn. Rec., iii. 5).
"The Connecticut troops, 'much dis- abled with tedious storms, and no lodg- ings, and frozen and swollen limbs," were withdrawn by their commander
86
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
to Stonington " (Palfrey, Hist. N. E., iii. 181).
8 JOHN TALCOTT of Hartford was placed in command of a force of three hundred and fifty men, that marched early in June, 1676, to Hadley and Brook-
field, where they surprised and routed parties of Indians. Other companies, from Windsor, Stonington, Norwich, and New London, went to the relief of the Massachusetts settlements earlier in the year.
87
AT THE CLOSE OF KING PHILIP'S WAR.
1680.]
CHAPTER XV.
1680-1686.
REPORT TO THE ENGLISH BOARD OF TRADE.
W HILE Connecticut, during "King Philip's War," hap- pily escaped the horrors of savage attack and bloodshed within her borders, there was sorrow in many homes from which brave fathers and sons had gone, never to return alive. The necessary equipment of her militia, and the cost of building and repairing forts and palisades about the settle- ments, with other expenses, left the colony burdened with a heavy debt. Such burdens, that had fallen with a crushing weight upon Massachusetts and Plymouth, did not, however, retard the progress and prosperity of Connecticut. There is on record a report made, four years after Philip's war, by the Governor and Secretary to the Lords of the Committee for Trade and Plantations. The militia is stated to consist of 2,507 foot-soldiers, besides " one troop of sixty horse."
Mention is made of a "small fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River." "As for our Indian neighbors," they go on to say, " we compute them to be about five hundred fighting men. We are strangers to the French, and know nothing of their strength or commerce. Our chief trade for procuring clothing is by sending what provisions we raise to Boston, where we buy goods. The trade with our Indians is worth nothing, because their frequent wars hinder their getting peltry. . .. Our buildings are generally of wood ; some are of stone or brick ; and some of them are of good
88
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1680.
strength and comely, for a wilderness. . . . The commodi- ties of the country are provisions, lumber, and horses. . . . We have no need of Virginia trade, as most people plant so much tobacco as they need. We have good materials for ship-building."
The value "of our annual imports probably amounts to £9,000. We raise no saltpetre. Our wheat hath been much blasted, and our pease spoiled with worms, for sundry years past. We have about twenty petty merchants ; some trade to Boston, some to the Indies, and other colonies ; but few foreign merchants trade here. . . . There are but few ser- vants, and fewer slaves; not above thirty in the colony. There are so few English, Scotch, or Irish come in, that we can give no account of them. . . . The people are strict Congregationalists ; a few, more large Congregationalists ; and some, moderate Presbyterians. There are about four or five Seven-day men, and about as many Quakers. . . We have twenty-six towns, and there are twenty-one churches in them ; and in every one there is a settled minister, except in two newly planted. The stipend, which is more or less according to duty, is from £50 to £100. Every town main- tains its own poor. But there is seldom any want, because labor is dear, being from two shillings to two shillings and sixpence a day for a laborer ; and because provisions are cheap. . . . Beggars and vagabonds are not suffered, but, when discovered, they are bound out to service : vagabonds who pass up and down are punished by law."
For several years the chronic dispute between Rhode Island and Connecticut, regarding the boundary-line, caused much ill-feeling. Connecticut, at one time, made serious prepa- rations to drive out the intruding Rhode-Islanders at the point of the bayonet. This vigorous menace was not with- out effect ; and two years afterwards, the colonial commis- sioners appointed by the king, after a careful hearing of the case, set aside the claim of Rhode Island.1
89
ACCESSION OF KING JAMES.
1685.]
X
But the boundary trouble was by no means at an end. Edward Randolph, agent of the English Lords of Trade, an ambitious and mercenary man, who for some time had sought to gain the royal favor by pouring into the ears of the king and his counsellors false reports regarding the Massachusetts colonies, appeared before the commissioners, and urged an old claim of the Duke of Hamilton against Connecticut for lands.2 Randolph had heretofore professed special friendship and good will towards the colony, because of its loyalty ; but the opportunity of serving a duke, and making a little money, was too great a temptation to resist ; and it is possible that the reception Andros had received at Saybrook led him to doubt the quality of the loyalty that had found such fine expression in words.
Although the case was finally decided in favor of Connec- ticut, it remained open for many years, and caused much annoyance.
With the death of Charles II., and the accession of James II. to the English throne, the New-England colonies con- tinued a struggle for their civil rights and liberties that cul- minated, nearly a century afterwards, in the war of the Revolution and the independence of the United States. The part which Connecticut acted in that struggle is one of which her children may well be proud. Before the death of Charles, designing men had influenced the easy-going and pleasure- loving monarch to sanction acts that had seriously encroached upon the rights of the colonies. With reckless thoughtless- ness, if nothing worse, he had placed his signature to patents of lands that had long before been given to others. In truth, he seems to have had but a slight conception of the geography of the New World, and very likely signed papers that broke faith with former agreements without realizing the wrong he was doing. He was a man easily influenced by his favorites, and he was ready to gratify their wishes with slight regard to the effect it might have upon the rights of others.
90
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1685.
James II. was in almost every respect the opposite of his brother. Fond of authority, narrow and bigoted in his opinions, he looked with ill-concealed hatred upon those who sought liberty of thought and conscience for themselves and others. The New England that was springing up in the wilderness beyond the sea, appeared to him a refuge of Puritanism, where the seeds of hostility to royal authority that had begun to take root should be ruthlessly destroyed. Emissaries like Randolph, by outrageous misrepresentations, had succeeded in arousing the prejudices and ill will of Charles II. to such an extent that the charters of some of the colonies had already been taken away. Connecticut was very wise and shrewd in her political action, and professions of loyalty ; and during the lifetime of Winthrop she was favored with a friend at court, who always held a high place in the esteem and good feeling of the king.
It is difficult to believe that Charles realized the injustice he was doing when he gave the patent to his brother, that, in direct violation of other titles, included a large portion of Connecticut. Be this as it may, his brother, while Duke of York, showed the same spirit and purpose that actuated him when he came to the throne.
As soon as the tidings reached New England that the duke had been proclaimed king under the title of James II .. Connecticut hastened to send him a loyal address, expressing sentiments of condolence and congratulation, and humbly asking for a continuance of past favors. This letter reached England about the same time as did Edward Randolph, the malignant slanderer of the colonies. Heretofore he had brought his accusations, for the most part, against Massa- chusetts, but he now thought it was a favorable time to attack Connecticut. In an elaborate paper he charged the colony with the crime of independent government, disloyalty to the laws of the mother country, and hostility to the Estab- lished Church of England.
91
THE WRIT OF QUO WARRANTO.
1686.]
Randolph was not a mischief-maker without a purpose. He had not, year after year, crossed and recrossed the stormy Atlantic simply for the pleasure of retailing a stock of false stories regarding the colonies. Beneath his hatred of Puri- tan life and institutions, dwelt the ambition that hoped for personal advancement in the breaking up of the colonies, and uniting them under the rule of a governor-general. When James II. came to the throne, this plan had been almost ac- complished, and he was eager to complete it.
The charges made by Randolph were immediately referred by the king to his attorney-general, with orders to issue a quo warranto 3 against the governor and colony of Connecti- cut. In July of the following year (1686), a special session of the General Assembly was called, to consider what it was best to do.
The ink was scarcely dry upon the letter in which they humbly asked the king's favor, when Randolph sent word from Boston that he was the bearer of the writ.4 Two weeks later he came to Hartford, and, in person, demanded the surrender of the charter of the colony. It was a dark hour, but the leading citizens of the Commonwealth were firm in their determination to take advantage of every means to delay action. More wise and politic than Massachusetts, they refrained from any aggressive assertion of their rights, and appointed Mr. Whiting as their agent to present their petition to the king.
1 THIS was a very tangled dispute, because it was mixed up with other claims by Massachusetts and the Ather- ton Company. Connectieut at this time urged its claim to the Narragansett country, not only because it was in- cluded in the grant of the charter, but also for the reason, that, while they had given blood and treasure to save the country in Philip's war, Rhode Island had held aloof, and done nothing. They felt that they had a right to hold the
Narragansett land as some slight com- pensation for the expense they had assumed.
2 AT the time of the dissolution of the Council for New England (1635), the members tried to divide the property among themselves. A portion of the territory of Connecticut was set off to the Marquis of Hamilton. This action was illegal, because the council long be- fore had granted away its property. The marquis lost his life in the civil war, but
92
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
after the restoration, his daughter, whose husband had been created Duke of Hamilton, asked the king to give her possession of her father's alleged estate in America.
3 QUO WARRANTO. A writ requir- ing their appearance at a certain date and place, to show by what authority they exercised certain powers and privi- leges.
4 " His Majesty intends," writes Randolph, " to bring all New England under one government; and nothing is now remaining on your part, but to think of an humble submission and a dutiful resignation of your charter, which if you are so hardy as to offer to
defend at law, whilst you are contend- ing for a shadow, you will in the first place lose all that part of your colony from Connecticut to New York, and have it annexed to that government, a thing you are certainly informed of already; and nothing will prevent, but your obviating so general a calamity to all New England by an hearty and timely application to his Majesty with an hum- ble submission. : . . Sirs, bless not your- selves with vain expectation of advantage, and spinning out of time by delay. I will engage, though the weather be warm, the writs will keep sound and as good as when first landed " (Conn. Rec., iii. 352-353).
93
ANDROS ARRIVES AT BOSTON.
1686.]
CHAPTER XVI.
1686-1689.
ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS.
T the time Randolph made his demands, Massachusetts A
was governed by a council of which Joseph Dudley was president. This gentleman sent a letter to Governor Treat, advising the surrender of the charter, and proffering his ser- vices in behalf of the colony. The offer was declined, even at the risk of being annexed to New York. In the midst of these perplexities, Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Boston, bearing his commission as governor-general of New Eng- land. The slight hope the colonists still cherished of securing justice from the English courts was at an end.
Sir Edmund sent word that he expected the immediate surrender of the charter. His letter expressed a very ear- nest desire to serve the interests of his friends in Connec- ticut ; but we can imagine his memory still recalled his interview, some years before, with Captain Bull at Say- brook. The General Court was at once convened ; and by its direction a letter was addressed to the English secretary of state, earnestly pleeding for the preservation of the privi- leges that had been granted to them. For the first time they admitted the possibility that their petition might be denied, and in that case requested to be united to Massachu- setts. This was construed by Sir Edmund as a virtual sur- render ; but as the days went by, he saw that he had mistaken the spirit and purpose of the colony.
94
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1687.
Andros finally decided to go in person to Connecticut. He arrived at Hartford the last day of October, attended by a retinue of sixty officers and soldiers. The Assembly, then in session, received him with every outward mark of respect. After this formal exchange of courtesies, Sir Edmund publicly demanded the charter, and declared the colonial government dissolved. Tradition relates that Gov- ernor Treat, in calm but earnest words, remonstrated against this action. His feeling swept on in a tide of eloquence as he recalled the story of the carly settlers, and the hardships they had endured to secure the liberties granted to them by the charter that was as dear to them as life.
The debate was continued until the shadows of the carly autumnal evening had fallen. After candles were lighted, the governor and his council seemed to yield ; and the box supposed to contain the charter was brought into the room, and placed upon the table. Suddenly the lights were extin- guished. Quiet reigned in the room, and in the dense crowd outside the building. The candles were soon relighted ; but the charter had disappeared, and after the most diligent search could not be found. The common tradition has been, that it was taken under cover of the darkness by Captain Joseph Wadsworth, and hidden by him in the hollow trunk of a venerable and noble oak-tree standing near the entrance- gate of Governor Wyllys's mansion. The charter taken by Captain Wadsworth was probably the duplicate,1 and remained safely in his possession for many years. There is reason to believe, that, some time before the coming of Andros to Hartford, the original charter 2 had been carefully secreted; and the tradition of later times makes it probable, that, while the duplicate charter that was taken from the table was hidden elsewhere,3 the original charter found a safe resting-place in the heart of the tree that will always be remembered as " The Charter Oak." 4 This tree is said to have been preserved by the early settlers at the request of
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95
ANDROS ASSUMES AUTHORITY.
1687.]
the Indians. "It has been the guide of our ancestors for centuries," they said, " as to the time of planting our corn. When the leaves are the size of a mouse's ears, then is the time to put it in the ground."
The record of the Court briefly states that Andros, having been conducted to the governor's seat by the governor him- self, declared that he had been commissioned by his Majesty to take on him the government of Connecticut. The com- mission having been read, he said that it was his Majesty's pleasure to make the late governor and Captain John Allyn members of his council. The secretary handed their com- mon seal to Sir Edmund, and afterwards wrote these words in closing the record: "His Excellency Sir Edmund Andros, Knight, Captain - General and Governor of his Majesty's Ter- ritory and Dominion in New Eng- land, by order from his Majesty, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the 31st of October, 1687, took into his hands the govern- CHARTER OAK. ment of this colony of Connecticut, it being by his Majesty annexed to the Massachusetts and other colonies under his Excellency's government. FINIS."
Andros soon disclosed a hand of steel beneath the velvet glove of plausible words and fair promises. His feeling was very bitter towards the ministers of the New-England churches. The fact that they were leaders of society, and held in universal esteem and respect, made them the special objects of his hatred.
Connecticut suffered less, however, than the other colo- nies, from the arbitrary rule of Andros. Governor Treat, as a member of his council, was in a position to exercise a quiet but thoughtful influence that proved a source of protec- tion to his fellow-citizens, and fostered a spirit of patient
* See page 106.
96
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1687.
endurance. Happily, the darkness of these hours was soon relieved by the dawn of a morning of joy and prosperity.
1 THE DUPLICATE CHARTER of the colony, which was secured by Captain Joseph Wadsworth of Hartford, was safely kept and preserved by him until May, 1715. The original charter, which now hangs in the secretary's office at Hartford, is engrossed on three skins: the duplicate was written on two. So much of the duplicate as remains, being about three-fourths of the second skin, is now in the library of the Connecticut Historical Society, where it was placed by IIon. John Boyd, late secretary of this State. The story of its preservation, as told by Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, is as follows : " In 1817 or 1818, while Mr. Boyd was preparing for college at the Hartford Grammar School, he boarded in the family of the Rev. Dr. Flint of the South Church. Coming in one day from school, he noticed on the work- stand of Mrs. Bissell, the doctor's mother- in-law, a dingy piece of parchment, covered over on one side with black- lettered manuscript. In answer to his inquiries, Mrs. Bissell told him, that, hav- ing occasion for some pasteboard, her friend and neighbor, Mrs. Wyllys, had sent her this. Mr. Boyd proposed to procure her a piece of pasteboard in ex- change for the parchment, to which Mrs. Bissell consented. It was not, however, until six or eight years had elapsed, that Mr. Boyd examined the parchment with care, when for the first time he learned what its contents were."
The General Assembly held in Hart- ford in May, 1715, in its record says, " Upon consideration of the faithful and good services of Captain Joseph Wads- worth of Hartford, especially in secur- ing the Duplicate Charter of this Colony in a very troublesome season when our
Constitution was struck at, and in safely keeping and preserving the same ever since unto this day, this Assembly do, as a token of their grateful resentment of such his faithful and good service, grant him out of the Colony treasury twenty shillings." This bill, it appears, originated in the Lower House, and gave Captain Wadsworth four pounds. The Upper House thought the sum too large, and it was finally cut down to twenty shillings. Evidently the part that the good captain acted has become exagger. ated with the romance of tradition.
2 ORIGINAL CHARTER. The minutes of the General Court held in Hartford, June 15, 1687, notes that " Sundry of the Court desiring that the Patent or Charter be brought into the Court, the Secretary sent for it, and informed the Governor and Court that he had the charter, and shewed it to the Court; and the Govern- or bid him put it into the box again, and lay it on the table, and leave the key in the box, which he did forthwith."
This is certainly a very peculiar inci- dent; and in view of after-events, it looks as if the leaving of the box on the table made it very easy for some one to remove the precious parchment else- where.
3 THE tradition was handed down from an early date in the Wadsworth family, that the duplicate charter was hidden in the house of Captain Wads- worth.
4 THE old oak was blown down dur- ing a severe gale in the month of August, 1856. That part of the trunk of the tree in which the charter is sup- posed to have been hidden, is preserved among the historical collections at the Athenæum building in Hartford.
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97
AFTER THE REVOLUTION OF 1688.
1689.]
CHAPTER XVII.
1689-1693.
GOVERNMENT RESUMED UNDER THE CHARTER.
TN May, 1689, a ship arrived in Boston Harbor, bringing welcome tidings. James II. had taken flight before the gathering storm of national wrath that threatened his de- struction ; and William, Prince of Orange, having landed in England, had entered upon his noble and beneficent reign.
Boston had never witnessed a day of excitement like this. The signal-fires were kindled on Beacon Hill; and the peo- ple poured in from the country, eager to give vent to their hatred of Andros and his friends.
If the excitement over the good news was less intense in Connecticut, the joy was as great. With thankful hearts the people congratulated themselves upon the wise and pa- tient manner in which they had clung persistently to the charter of their liberties, and, in the last extremity, saved it from the hands of the tyrant whose power was now broken. Governor Treat and the old magistrates having resumed the government, a meeting of the Assembly was called. In a letter, overflowing with a spirit of devout thanksgiving for their deliverance, they told King William the story of the wrongs that had been inflicted upon them by the oppressor. Having never surrendered the patent given them by Charles II., they informed his Majesty that they had taken the lib- erty of resuming the reins of government until they could learn his good pleasure.
98
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1690.
Connecticut was anxious to secure a formal confirmation of the charter, but this was never granted.1 The law offi- cers of the Crown, however, gave an opinion that the acts of usurpation on the part of Andros were illegal, and the charter intact. Efforts were afterwards made to destroy it, and to annex the colony to New York, but in vain. Con- necticut was to enjoy the proud distinction of having never surrendered her charter, until the war of the Revolution joined the destinies of the Commonwealth with that of the United States.
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