next year, 1788, Barlow left Hartford to go abroad; he remained in Europe for seventeen years, and when he returned took up his residence in Washington. Finally, going abroad as Ambassador to France, he died in Poland, while following Napoleon then engaged in his Russian campaign. Richard Alsop and Theodore Dwight, Senior, were admitted into the coterie of the Hartford Wits, and wrote much of the Echo, and a few lines in this series were also contributed by Drs. Mason F. Cogswell and Elihu H. Smith. The Echo was a sort of Yankee Dunciad. It contained many local allusions, as to the Blue Laws, the Windham Frogs, etc., and was also the vehicle of much political satire on the Democrats. Theodore Dwight, one of the Echo poets, was editor of the Connecticut Mirror, and also secretary of the famous Hartford Convention.

No political subject has ever been the theme of more gross misrepresentation or more constant reproach than the assembly of delegates from the New England States which met at Hartford in December, 1814. After the war of 1812 had continued two years, our public affairs were in a deplorable condition. The

army intended for defending the sea-coast had been sent to the borders to attack Canada; a British squadron was lying in the Sound to blockade the harbors on the Connecticut coast, and to intercept our coasting trade; the banks, south of New England, had suspended the payment of specie; our shipping lay in our harbors, embargoed, dismantled, and perishing; the Treasury of the United States was nearly exhausted, and a general disheartenment prevailed throughout the country. In this situation of affairs a number of gentlemen in Massachusetts believed that a convention of prominent men might do good. Many petitions from numerous towns in Massachusetts were received, stating the sufferings of the country in consequence of the embargo and the war, and Governor Strong summoned a special meeting of the Massachusetts Legislature in October, 1814, when a resolution was passed appointing delegates to a convention to be held in Hartford. The Connecticut Legislature was in session at the same time, and received a communication from the Massachusetts body, requesting them to join in appointing delegates to the convention. This they did, and seven

delegates were 1814, the convention, numbering twenty-six delegates, representing Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont, met in the council chamber of the State House, now the City Hall of Hartford. Among the delegates were men of such assured position as Harrison Gray Otis, George Cabot, William Prescott, the father of the historian, and Stephen Longfellow, the father of the poet, from Massachusetts; Chauncey Goodrich, Governor John Treadwell, Roger Minot Sherman, and James Hillhouse, of Connecticut. Their deliberations continued for three weeks, and their sittings were held with closed doors, a fact which was brought up against them by their political adversaries as evidence of dark and nefarious designs. During the sessions a small body of recruits for the army, then in Hartford, were paraded in a threatening manner by the officer in command. The proceedings resulted in the adoption of a report and the passage of resolutions recommending amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Among the recommendations was one proposing that representative and direct

sent. On December 15,

taxation should be apportioned according to the respective numbers of free persons in the States, excluding slaves and Indians. This document was immediately published, and was read with great eagerness. Those who expected to discover sentiments of a seditious and treasonable nature were disappointed. The report expressed an ardent attachment to the integrity of the republic, and its sentiments were liberal and patriotic. A short time after the publication of this document the news of the declaration of peace was received. The people, without waiting to hear the provisions of the treaty, showed their joy by bonfires and illuminations, a striking commentary upon the character of the war and the general feeling about it. The war being over, the work of the Hartford Convention was no longer needed, and the jarring interests of the State and Federal governments were harmonized.

During the last century the chief business. of Hartford was the trade with the West Indies. There was also some trafficking with Ireland and with Lisbon, timber being exported to the first named, and fish to the latter. From 1750 to 1830, Hartford not only imported goods from the West Indies, but