PENN TOWNSEND.

477

frequent; he might be called a Joshua, for his family religion, and a very Daniel for his almost unexampled affection for the House of God.

He was early admitted a member of the Old Church in Boston, in the communion whereof he continued to the end a pillar and ornament.

He seemed to be marked out for eminent distinctions by an uncommon piety in his early youth.

In his political principles, he was a true Englishman; loyal to the throne, and tender of the subject, and withal an equal friend to the cause of Liberty. He was a discreet patron of our envied privileges, whether civil, ecclesiastic or academical

Nothwithstanding he devoted much time to the public service he paid strict attention to his private business. The total of his property, real and personal, was £6748 18s. 6d. He feared God, honored the king, and loved the brotherhood.

JOHN TREADWELL.

GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT, 1809-1811.*

JOHN TREADWELL was born at Farmington, Conn., Nov. 23, 1745; died Aug. 19, 1823.

"His father was a mechanic of a competent fortune. Both his parents were pious, both lived to an advanced age."

In Mr. Treadwell's autobiography, in which he puts himself in the third person, he says:—" "He was early initiated in the arts of industry, and the intervals of school hours and vacations were not suffered to be wasted in frivolous amusements, but were carefully applied to the labors of the farm; and he was trained to simple and frugal habits."

He prepared for college under the instruction of the minister of the place, Rev. Timothy Pitkin; entered Yale in 1763, and graduated in 1767. While in college, he was thorough in his studies, unambitious of distinction, and rather solid than brilliant. "It was enjoined by the statutes of the institution, that throughout the course, each class should recite the Westminster Confession of Faith.' 'Locke on the Human Understanding,' and 'Edwards on the Will,' were among the text books."

He read law with Judge Hosmer, of Middletown, but did not practice. His father was advanced in life, and needed his society and aid. He accordingly remained at home, "laboring on the farm in the summer, and keeping a village school in the winter."

He was appointed Judge of the County Court for the County of Hartford in 1795, was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1798, was chosen Governor as the successor of Trumbull in 1809, and was succeeded by Griswold in 1811.

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* Lanman; Panoplist"; Durfee's "Memoir," by D. Olmsted.

History of Williams College";

JOHN TREADWELL.

479

"Governor Treadwell, in his religious views, was Calvinistic. He is remembered to have said, that his scheme of faith was forever settled by reading 'Edwards on the Will.'

"If, as some have imagined, Mr. Treadwell was by nature cold and selfish, he had certainly by grace a tender heart, and the most enlarged benevolence. These qualities were manifested, first, towards the world of mankind, imparting great fervor to his prayers for the conversion of the world, and animating his incessant labors for that object; and, secondly, towards every creature susceptible of happiness, not excepting even the lower animals. "As long as he possessed the means, his charities flowed in a continual stream."

The following are the details of the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Mr. Treadwell becoming the first President.

In the summer of 1806, Samuel J. Mills and others, students of Williams College, met together in a neighboring grove for a prayer meeting. As a shower was approaching, they left the grove, and took shelter for their meeting under a hay-stack. The subject of conversation under the stack, before and during the shower was, the moral darkness of Asia. Mills proposed to send the Gospel to that dark and heathen land; and said that we could do it if we would. All agreed with the idea except Mr. Loomis, who contended that it was premature; that if missionaries should be sent to Asia they would be murdered; that Christian armies must subdue the country before the Gospel could be sent to the Turks and Arabs. In reply, it was said that God was always willing to have his Gospel spread through the world; that if the Christian public was willing and active, the work would be done. "Come," said Mills, "let us make it a subject of prayer, while the dark clouds are going, and the clear sky is coming." All prayed except Loomis, and Mills made the last prayer. Two years after, a Foreign Missionary Society was formed in the college, "for the purpose not of sending others, but of going to the heathen."

.

At the General Association of Massachusetts convened at Bradford, June 27, 28, and 29 of 1810, the following paper was presented. "The undersigned, members of the Divinity College