Indians had told them of the beautiful river, and had said that its banks were more fertile than the rugged soil of the Massachusetts shore. The first party of settlers, in 1635, suffered greatly in their first winter; and some of them waded back through the snows before spring. But in the spring a much larger party went westward, under guidance of a celebrated minister, Thomas Hooker. They drove their cattle before them; they had no guide but their compass; they hardly travelled ten miles a day through the forests; and Mrs. Hooker, who was an invalid, was borne on a litter: but they, too, reached the river at last. In 1639 the first constitution for the Connecticut Colony was made, permitting all men to vote who had taken the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth. The name of the colony was taken from that of the river; and it is said to mean "Long River." While this colony was being established, another large party came from England, in 1638, and founded a second settlement farther south, at what they called New Haven. This colony had for a long time no laws but the Bible, and allowed none but church-members to vote. In this respect it was like the Massachusetts Colony in early times; but religious controversies were milder in the Connecticut settlements, and there was very little persecution for opinion's sake.

The troubles with the Dutch of New Netherlands continued until 1664, when the whole province of New Netherlands itself passed into the hands of the English, and its name was changed to New York. After that time, there was no more trouble from Dutch neighbors. The New Haven Colony was, during the next

the two

colonies.

year, united with the Connecticut Colony; and they Union of both went on prospering, being only visited by such troubles as attacked all the New England colonies together. These troubles must be told in a separate chapter. We shall there see how the people of New England lived, down to the time of the American Revolution, which combined all the scattered colonies into one nation.

CHAPTER X.

Similarity of New England colonies.

New England village on Sunday morning.

COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND.

E must remember that although the New Eng

Wamus colonies had jealousies and differences,

yet they were in many respects alike. They were composed almost wholly of Englishmen and Protestants; and most of their pioneers had come from motives of conscience, as well as for their worldly advantage. Their leaders were men of strict morality, and they aimed to have no others among them. In the very first year of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Governor Endicott broke up a settlement at "Merry Mount," composed of people who led gayer and idler lives than he approved; and this same John Endicott cut the red cross out of the English flag, because he thought it meant superstition. The other New England colonies were not so stern in their discipline as was Massachusetts; but the habits of that age would seem to us very peculiar, and they had their influence even in the more liberal colonies, such as Rhode Island.

If we could carry ourselves back to those days, and were to approach a New England village about nine o'clock on Sunday morning, we should hear some one beating a drum, or sounding a horn, or blowing a conch-shell, or possibly ringing a bell, to call people

to worship. As we came nearer still, we should see a flag waving from a little log-built church, or "meeting-house." Entering the village, we should observe a strong fence of stakes around this meeting-house, and a sentinel in armor standing near it; and we should see some of the men, as they went in, leaving their muskets under his care. We should, perhaps, find a cannon or two planted near the meeting-house; and we should also notice some strange

wooden frames not far off, these being the stocks and the pillory, put there to punish offenders. Looking at this church itself, we should see that it had very few glass windows, and that these had very small and thick panes, diamond-shaped, and set in leaden frames. We should observe that the other windows had oiled paper instead of glass; and we should see

between the windows the heads of wolves that had been killed and displayed there during the past year.

services

If we were to look inside the little church, we should Church not find families sitting together, as now; but they would be distributed according to age, or sex, or rank. In those days the old men sat together in one place in church, the young men in another, the young women in another. The boys all sat on the pulpit-stairs and gal

Puritan dwellings.

Each of these con

lery-stairs, guarded by constables.
stables had a wand, with a hare's foot on one end, and
a hare's tail on the other. These were to keep people
awake. If any woman went to sleep, the constable
touched her on the forehead with the hare's tail; but,
if a small boy nodded, he was rapped with the other
end, not quite so gently. No doubt the wand was often
used; for the services were sometimes three or four
hours long, the sexton turning the hour-glass before
the minister at the end of every hour. The only
music consisted of singing by the congregation, from
a metrical version of the Psalms, called "The Bay
Psalm Book." The whole number of tunes known to
the people did not exceed ten; and few congregations
could go beyond five. This was the Puritan form of
religious service. And people were not allowed to
stay at home from it; for men called tithing-men were
sent about the town to look for those who were absent.
Men were fined for every unnecessary absence; and, if
they stayed away a month together, they might be put in
the stocks, or into a wooden cage.

Looking round at the houses of the Puritan village, we should see that the older ones were made of earth or logs, one story high, with very steep roofs, covered with thatch. Entering any of these, we should find the fireplaces made of rough stones, and the chimneys either of boards, or of short sticks crossing each other, and smeared with clay. Here and there we should see newer and better houses, made of wood and brick, two stories high in front, and one story behind; or houses of stone, like this of which a picture is given, and which represents the house of Rev. Mr. Whitfield at