them the valley of the Connecticut. It lay at their feet, beneath the shadow of the low-browed hills. It lay holding its silvery river in its embrace, like a strong bow half bent in the hands of the swarthy hunter, who still called himself lord of its rich acres." The 29. These settlers had come to a delightful region, but they were surrounded by perils. Their neighbors, the Dutch, were unfriendly, for they looked upon them as intruders; but their worst foes were the hostile tribe of Indians called Pequod War. Pequods or Pequots. With these (in 1637) they were compelled to wage a fierce war; but Indian cunning and ferocity were no match for European courage and skill. What could clubs and arrows avail against muskets and armor? The Pequods were defeated and completely broken up as a tribe. Of the few that survived and surrendered, some were enslaved by the English, the others were sent to the Narragansetts and Mohegans. 30. Two colonies were already in Connecticut. A third, "remarkable for the religious spirit that marked its laws," was founded at New Haven, by Theophilus Eaton, a man of large fortune, and John Davenport, a distinguished Puritan minister (1638). A title to the lands was obtained by a treaty with the natives. Annual elections were held, and Eaton was chosen governor annually till his death-a period of twenty years. The New A Sabbath in New The 31. “The first house for public worship in New Haven was commenced in 1639. That such a house should be built was decided in the town meeting. It was fifty feet square, having a tower surmounted with a turret. men were seated on one side of the house; the women on the other. Every one, according to his office or his age, or his rank in society, had his place assigned to him. In this temple the fathers of New Haven maintained the worship and ordinances of God for about thirty years. Let us go back to one of their ancient Sabbaths. You see in the morning no mo Haven in the olden times. 1639 A Sabbath in New Haven. 71 tion, save as the herds go forth to their pasture in the common grounds, driven by the herdsmen. At the appointed hour, the drum having been beaten both the first time and the second, the whole population, from the dwellings of the town and from the farms on the other side of the river, come together in the place of prayer. 32. The sentinel is placed in the turret to give the first alarm in the event of an attack by the Indians. Those who are to keep ward, the military guard, go forth, pacing two by two the still green lanes. In this rude and unfurnished structure is devotion true and pure. Through a long course of exercises, which would weary out the men of our degenerate days, these hearers sit or stand. They love the word that comes from the lips of their pastor. They love the order of this house. To them, each sermon, every prayer, every tranquil Sabbath is the more precious for all that it has cost them. As the day declines they retire to their dwellings, and close the Sabbath with family worship." 1 66 The founder Island. 66 33. Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was a fugitive from English persecution.' Landing at Boston, the year next after Winthrop had taken up his abode there, he soon incurred the enmity of those in power, of Rhode for on every occasion he held firmly to the doctrine that the civil power should have no control over the religious opinions of men. After a two years' residence at Plymouth he went to Salem, and there he became the pastor of the church. His efforts, however, to separate the affairs of State from the affairs of the Church so excited the hostility of the authorities, that they resolved to banish him from the colony. His flight 34. "His immediate departure, in a ship then ready to sail for England, was resolved upon. An order was sent for him to come to Boston, which he declined to do. A boat was then despatched to take him by force, and place to him on board the ship. Warned by the previous Rhode Island. "order, he had already escaped three days before, no one knew whither. Leaving his wife and two infant children, he set out alone in midwinter to perform that arduous journey of which, thirty-five years later, he wrote, 'I was tossed for one fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean.' 35. Happily for the world, and most fortunately, as the event soon proved, for the people of New England, he eluded the vigilance of his pursurers. Driven from the society of civilized man, Williams turned his steps southward, to find among heathen savages the boon of charity which was re The people of the Connecticut colony-Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield-met at Hartford in 1639, and united in forming a government. In 1644, Saybrook joined the Connecticut colony. The two colonies, Connecticut and New Haven, were formed into one in 1665, under a royal charter granted by Charles II. 1663 Early History of Rhode Island. fused at home. 73 The now venerable Massasoit,1 who, sixteen years before, had first welcomed the weary Pilgrims to his shores, and with whom Williams, during his residence at Plymouth, had contracted a friendship, received with open arms the lonely and twice-exiled Puritan. From him Williams obtained a grant of land, where he built a home and commenced planting. 36. But this was not to be his home. He was soon advised by his friend, Governor Winslow of Plymouth, that, as his plantation was within the limits of the Plymouth colony, he should remove. This he resolved to do; and, in company with five others, who appear to have followed him from Salem., he embarked in his canoe to find at length a resting place on the free hills of Providence. Sailing up what was then a broad and beautiful sheet of water, skirted by a dense forest, their attention was attracted by a spring close on the margin of the stream, where they landed, and commenced a settlement, to which, in gratitude to his Supreme Deliverer, Williams gave the name of Providence (1636)." 66 Early history of Rhode Island. 37. A deed from the Narragansett Indians soon made Williams the owner of a large tract of land. To this asylum for those "distressed for conscience" many fled. They came from England as well as from Massachusetts; and to those whom he thought most in want “ he gave away his lands until he gave all away." The affairs of the colony, so long as the population was not large, were managed by the settlers at their town meetings. New settlements in a short time were made, which were united under one government by a charter obtained by Williams from the English Parliament (1644). Not long after Charles the Second ascended the throne, he gave to Rhode Island another and better charter (1663). This, Andros, the governor of all New England when James the Second was king, tried to take away; but he was foiled, and it continued to be The name as given by Arnold is Ous-a-me'-quin. the great foundation law of Rhode Island for threescore years and a century. Union of colonies. 66 38. The first union of any of the American colonies, "for mutual help and strength," took place in 1643. "A general confederation of the New England colonies had been proposed, and in agitation several years. The cirNew England cumstances of the English nation and the state of the colonies at this time made it a matter of urgent necessity. The colonies had extended their settlements upon the rivers, and had made them in a more scattering manner than was at first designed. No aid could be expected from the mother country. The Dutch had so extended their claims, and were so powerful and hostile, as to afford a just ground of general alarm. All the plantations were compassed by numerous tribes of savage men. The Narragansetts appeared hostile, and there were the appearances of a general combination among the Indians to extirpate the colonies. 39. Commissioners from the colonies of Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth were sent to Boston to confer with the commissioners of Massachusetts. A spirit of harmony and mutual condescension prevailed, and articles of union were adopted for the four colonies. This was of the highest consequence to the colonists. It made them formidable to the Dutch and Indians, and respectable among their French neighbors. It was happily adapted to maintain harmony among themselves. It was one of the principal means for the preservation of the colonies during the wars in which England was engaged. It was the grand source of mutual defence in Philip's war. The union lasted more than forty years, until the abrogation of the charters of the New England colonies by King James the Second." 40. "The rise in England of the people called Quakers' was one of the most remarkable results of the Protestant revolution. "Twelve of their number, converts of George Fox, the first Quaker in the world, came to Boston. They |