The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut by M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.

M >> M. Louise Greene, Ph. D. >> The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut

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[l] Manufactures in Connecticut (abridged from the U. S. marshal's
report in the autumn of 1810, cited in _Niles' Register_, vi,
323-333) were represented by 14 cotton mills, 15 woolen mills. (By
1815 New London county alone had 14 woolen mills and 10 cotton.) These
had increased to 60 cotton in 1819, and to 36 woolen. Flax cloth,
blended or unnamed cloths, and wool cloth,--all these made in
families,--amounted to a yearly valuation of $2,151,972; hempen cloth,
$12,148; stockings, $111,021; silks (sewing and raw), $28,503; hats to
the value of $522,200; straw bonnets, $25,100; shell, horn, and ivory
in manufactured products, $70,000. Looms for cotton numbered 16,132;
carding machines, 184; fulling mills, 213, and there were 11,883
spindles.

In iron, wood, and steel: 8 furnaces, with output of $46,180; 48
forges, $183,910; 2 rolling and slitting mills, 32 trip-hammers,
$91,146; 18 naileries, $27,092; 4 brass foundries, 1 type foundry,
brass jewelry, and plaited ware, $49,200; metal buttons, 155,000
gross, or $102,125; guns, rifles, etc., $49,050.

Among other manufactories and manufactures there were 408 tanneries,
$476,339; shoes, boots, etc., $231,812; the tin plate industry,
$139,370; 560 distilleries, $811,144; 18 paper mills, $82,188;
ropewalks, $243,950; carriages, $68,855, and the beginnings of
brick-making, glass-works, pottery, marble works, which, with the
state's 24 flaxseed mills and seven gunpowder mills, brought the sum
total to approximately $6,000,000.

Still the great impetus to manufacturing, which completely
revolutionized the character of the state, followed the Joint-stock
Act of 1837, with its consequent investment of capital and rush of
emigration, resulting in later days in a development of the cities at
the expense of the rural districts.

[m] Gilbert Brewster, the Arkwright of American cotton machinery, Eli
Whitney, with his cotton gin and rifle improvements, and John Fitch,
with his experiments with steam, are the most distinguished among a
host of men who made Yankee ingenuity and Yankee skill proverbial.

[n] "Era of Good Feeling, 1817-1829. The best principles of the
Federalists, the preservation and perpetuity of the Federal
government, had been quietly accepted by the Republicans, and the
Republican principle of limiting the powers and duties of the Federal
government had been adopted by the Federalists. The Republicans
deviated so far from their earlier strict construction views as in
1816 to charter a national bank for twenty years, and to model it upon
Hamilton's bank of 1791 which they had refused to re-charter in
1811,"--A. Johnson, _American Politics_, pp. 80, 81.

[o] "This was for the support of missions outside the state. The
Domestic or State Home Missionary Society undertook the buiding up of
places within the state that were without suitable religious care. The
former finally absorbed the latter when its original purpose was
accomplished. Then, there was the Litchfield County Foreign Mission
Society, founded in 1812, the _first _auxiliary of the American
Board, which began its career in 1810, and was incorporated the same
year that its youngest branch was organized."--Lyman Beecher,
_Autobiography_, i, 275, 287-88 and 291.

[p] Organized in New Haven in October, 1812, with Dr. Dwight as
chairman. Members of the committee upon organization included nearly
all the prominent men of that day, both of the clergy and of the
bar. A list is given in Lyman Beecher, _Autobiography_, i, 256.

[q] "We really broke up riding and working on the Sabbath, and got the
victory. The thing was done, and had it not been for the political
revolution that followed, it would have stood to this day.... The
efforts we made to execute the laws, and secure a reformation of
morals, reached the men of piety, and waked up the energies of the
whole state, so far as the members of our churches, and the
intelligent and moral portion of our congregation were
concerned. These, however, proved to be a minority of the suffrage of
the state."--Lyman Beecher, _Autobiography_, i, 268.

"In Pomfret the Justice of the Peace arrested and fined townspeople
who persisted in working on Sunday, and held travellers over until
Monday morning."--E. D. Lamed, _History of Windham_, ii, 448.

[r] "The odium thrown upon the ministry was inconceivable. ... The
Congregational ministers agreed to hold back and keep silent until the
storm blew over. Our duty as well as policy was explanation and
self-defence, expostulation and conciliation."--_Autobiography_,
i, 344.

[s] "Aristides," March 26, 1826, and "Episcopalian," March 13, issues
of the _American Mercury_.

"When the Episcopal Church petitioned the legislature in vain, as she
did for a series of years, for a charter to a college, he (the
Rev. Philo Shelton of Fairfield) with others of his brethren
_proposed a union with the political party, then in a minority_,
to secure what he regarded a just right. And the first fruit of the
union was the charter of Trinity (Washington) College, Hartford. He
was one of a small number of clergymen who decided on this measure,
and were instrumental in carrying it into effect; and it resulted in a
change in the politics of the State which has never yet been
reversed."--_Sprague's Annals of American Pulpit_ (Episcopal), v,
35.

[t] Total vote for governor 21,759. Mr. Goddard received 9421
votes.--J. H. Trumbull, _Hist. Notes_, p. 36.

[u] The law apportioned one third of the money to the
Congregationalists; one seventh to Yale; one seventh to the
Episcopalians; one eighth to the Baptists; one twelfth to the
Methodists, and the balance to the state treasury.--Cited in
_Connecticut Courant_, November 8, 1816. _Acts and Laws_,
pp. 279, 280.

[v] The first installment, $50,000, was paid into the Treasury in
June, 1817. The Methodists, and later the Baptists, accepted their
share, but not until political events had removed some of their
objections.

See the _Mirror_, February 16, 1818. It was not until 1820 that
the final acceptance of the money took place.

J. H. Trumbull, _Hist. Notes_, p. 36, foot-note, gives the
following figures. By November, 1817, $61,500 had been received and
apportioned: Congregationalists, $20,500.00; Trustees of the Bishop's
Fund, $8,785.71; Baptist Trustees, $7,687.50; Methodist Trustees,
$5,125.00; Yale College, $8,785.71, and a balance still unappropriated
of $10,616.08.

[w] Legal returns gave Wolcott 13,655
Smith 13,119
Scattering 202 13,321
------ ------
334

"The correction of errors increased the majority to 600, which the
Federalists conceded.--J. H. Trumbull, _Hist. Notes_, p. 38,
footnote.

[x] Governor Wolcott's speech, _Connecticut Courant_, May 20,
1817; also _Niles' Register_, xii, pp. 201-204.

[y] "In our climate, three fireplaces are occasionally necessary to
the comfortable accommodation of every family."--Governor's speech.

[z] Published 1795.

[aa] A vindication of the calling of the Special Superior Court at
Middletown... for the trial of Peter Lung... with observations, &c,
Windham, 1816.

[ab] The legislature had also interfered with decisions regarding the
Symsbury patent. See E. Kirby, _Law Reports,_ p. 446.

[ac] A summary of the Connecticut constitution, taken from _Niles's
Register,_ asserts that the General Court has sole power to make
and repeal laws, grant levies, dispose of lands belonging to the state
to particular towns and persons, to erect and style judicatories and
officers as they shall see necessary for the good government of the
people; also to call to account any court, magistrate, or other
officer for misdemeanor and maladministration, or for just cause may
fine, displace, or remove, them, or deal otherwise as the nature of
the ease shall require; and may deal or act in any other matter that
concerns the good of the state except the election of governor,
deputy-governor, assistants, treasurer and secretary, which shall be
done by the freemen at the yearly court of election, unless there be
any vacancy by reason of death or otherwise, after an election, when
it may be filled by the General Court. This court has power also, for
reasons satisfactory to them, to grant suspension, release, and jail
delivery upon reprieves in capital and criminal cases.

The elections for the assistants and superior officers are annual; for
the representatives, semi-annual. The sessions of the General Court
are semi-annual. The Governor and the speaker have the casting vote in
the Upper and Lower House, respectively.

The Superior Court consists of one chief judge and four others, and
holds two sessions in each county each year. Its jurisdiction holds
over all criminal cases extending to life, limb, or banishment; all
criminal cases brought from county courts by appeal or writ of error,
and in some matters of divorce.

The county court consists of one judge and four justices of the
quorum, with jurisdiction over all criminal cases not extending to
life, limb, or banishment, and with original jurisdiction in all civil
actions where the demand exceeds forty shillings. Justices of the
Peace, in the various towns, have charge of civil actions involving
less than forty shillings, and criminal jurisdiction in some cases,
where the fine does not exceed forty shillings, or the punishment
exceed ten stripes or sitting in the stocks. Judges and Justices are
annually appointed by the General Court, and commonly reappointed
during good behavior, while sheriffs are appointed by the governor and
council without time-limit and are subject to removal. Recently
county courts determined matters of equity involving from five pounds
to two hundred pounds, the Superior Court two hundred pounds to
sixteen hundred, and the General Assembly all others.

Probate districts, not coextensive with the counties, exist, with
appeal to the Superior Court.

In military matters, the governor is the captain-general of the
militia, and the General Court appoints the general officers and field
officers, and they are commissioned by the governor. Captains and
subalterns are chosen by the vote of the company and of the
householders living within the limits of the company, but must be
approved by the General Court and commissioned by the governor before
they can serve. All military officers hold their commissions during
the pleasure of the General Assembly and may not resign them without
permission, except under penalty of being reduced to the ranks.--
_Niles' Register,_ 1813, vol. iii, p. 443, etc. Corrected
slightly by reference to Swift's _System of Laws._

[ad] Banks and insurance companies began to organize about 1790 to
1810.

[ae] In 1818, for the first time, a dissenter, Mr. Croswell, rector of
Trinity Church, New Haven, preached the Election Sermon.

[af] Messrs. Pitkin, Todd, G. Lamed, Pettibone, and Wiley. Of these,
the first had been twenty times state representative, five times
speaker of the House, and for thirteen years had been representative
in Congress.

[ag] The first seven sections of the Bill of Bights according to the
final revision are:--

Sec. 1. That all men when they form a social compact, are equal in
rights; and that no man, or set of men are entitled to exclusive
public emoluments or privileges from the community.

Sec. 2. That all political power is inherent in the people, and
all free governments are founded on their authority, and
instituted for their benefit; and that they have, at all times, an
undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their form of
government, in such a manner as they may think expedient.

Sec. 3. The exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship, without discrimination, shall forever be free to all
persons in this state; provided, that the right, hereby declared
and established, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of
licentiousness, or to justify practices inconsistent with the
peace and safety of the state.

Sec. 4. No preference shall be given by law to any Christian sect
or mode of worship.

Sec. 5. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his
sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of
that liberty.

Sec. 6. No law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the
liberty of speech or of the press.

Sec. 7. In all prosecutions or indictments for libels, the truth
may be given in evidence; and the jury shall have the right to
determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court.

[ah] Mr. Trumbull asserts that "writers and historians are in error
when attributing to Mr. Morse of Suffield (the Baptist minister
aforementioned) the drafting of the Article on Religious Liberty. The
drafting committee were Messrs. Tomlinson and Stow, and the first
clause, as reported, seems to have been taken with slight alteration
from Governor Woleott's speech to the General Assembly, May, 1817,
namely, 'It is the right and duty of every man publicly and privately
to worship and adore the Supreme Creator and Preserver of the Universe
in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience.'"
--J. H. Trumbull, _Notes on the Constitution_, pp. 56, 57.

[ai] The second section remained unchanged.

[aj] Seven hundred copies were distributed among the towns.

[ak] By later amendments, judges of the Supreme Court of Errors and
the Superior Court are nominated by the governor and appointed by the
General Assembly. Judges of probate are now elected by the electors in
their respective districts; justices of the peace in the several towns
by the electors in said towns; and sheriffs by their counties.

[al] By amendment of 1901, the vote for governor, lieutenant-governor,
secretary, treasurer, comptroller, and attorney-general was changed
from a majority to a plurality vote, the Assembly to decide between
candidates, if at any time two or more should receive "an equal and
the greatest number" of votes.

[am] "It cut the churches loose from dependence upon state support--It
threw them wholly on their own resources and on God." "The mass is
changing," wrote Dr. Beecher. "We are becoming another people. The old
laws answered when all men in a parish were of one faith."--Lyman
Beecher, _Autobiography,_ i, pp. 344, 453.

[an] Lyman Beecher.

APPENDIX

NOTES

CHAPTER I. THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY CONGREGATIONALISM.

1, H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism as seen in Literature, p. 49.

2, Robert Browne, A True and Short Declaration, p. l.

3, H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism as seen in Literature, p. 70.

4, Report of Conference April 3, 1590, quoted in F. J. Powicke, Henry
Barrowe, p. 54.

5, W. Walker, Creeds and Platforms, p. 12.

6, Ibid., pp. 14, 15; also H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism as seen in
Literature, pp. 96-104.

7, Robert Browne, A Treatise on Reformation without Tarrying, pp. 4,
7,12.

8, Robert Browne, A True and Short Declaration, p. 7; Book which
Sheweth, pp. 117-148.

9, Robert Browne, Book which Sheweth, Questions 55-58.

10, Ibid., Def. 35-40; Henry Barrowe, Discovery of False Churches,
p. 34, and The True Description in Appendix IV of F. J. Powicke's
Henry Barrowe.

11, Robert Browne, Book which Sheweth, Def. 53 and 54.

12, Henry Barrowe, Discovery of False Churches, p. 48.

13, Henry Barrowe, Discovery of False Churches, pp. 166, 275; Robert
Browne, Book which Sheweth, Def. 51; A True and Short Declaration,
p. 20; The True Confession of Faith, Article 38.

14, H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism as seen in Literature, pp. 221,
232; also John Brown, Pilgrim Fathers of New England, pp. 22-25.

15, The True Confession, Art. 39.

16, "The Seven Articles," of which the following is the text:--

(1) "To ye confession of fayth published in ye name of ye Church
of England and to every artikell thereof wee do w'th ye reformed
churches wheer wee live & also els where assent wholly.".

(2) "And as wee do acknowlidg ye doctryne of fayth theer tawght so
do wee ye fruites and effeckts of ye same docktryne to ye
begetting of saving fayth in thousands in ye land (conformistes &
reformistes) as ye ar called w'th whom also as w'th our brethren
wee do desyer to keepe speirtuall communion in peace and will
pracktis in our parts all lawful thinges."

(3) "The King's Majesty wee acknowlidg for Supreme Governor in his
dominion in all causes, and over all parsons [persons] and ye none
maye decklyne or apeale his authority or judgment in any cause
whatsoever, but ye in all thinges obedience is dewe unto him,
either active, if ye thing commanded be not against God's woord,
or passive yf itt bee, except pardon can bee obtayned."

(4) "Wee judge itt lawfull for his Majesty to apoynt bishops,
civill overseers, or officers in awthoryty onder hime in ye
severall provinces, dioses, congregations or parishes, to oversee
ye churches, and governe them civilly according to ye Lawes of ye
Land, uutto whom ye ar in all thinges to geve an account and by
them to bee ordered according to Godlyness." (This is not an
acknowledgment of spiritual--superiority or authority, only the
recognition that as church officers were also magistrates, the
king could appoint them as his civil servants.)

(5) "The authority of ye present bishops in ye land wee do
acknowlidg so far forth as ye same is indeed derived from his
Majesty untto them and as ye proseed in his name, whom wee will
also therein honor in all thinges and hime in them."

(6) "Wee believe ye no sinod, classes, convocation or assembly of
Ecclesiastical Officers hath any power or awthority att all but ye
same by ye Majestraet given unto them." (Intended to be a denial
of Presbyterianism.)

(7) "Lastly wee desyer to geve untto all Superiors dew honour to
preserve ye unity of ye spiritt w'th all ye feare God to have
peace w'th all men what in us lyeth and wherein wee err to bee
instructed by any." (Text of Points of Difference and Seven
Articles in W. Walker, Creeds and Platforms, pp. 75-93.)

CHAPTER II. THE TRANSPLANTING OF CONGREGATIONALISM.

17, The Commons prayed, "that no man hereafter be compelled to make or
yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without
common consent by Act of Parliament. And that none be called to make
answer, or to take such oaths, or to be confined or otherwise molested
or disputed concerning the same, or for refusal thereof. And that no
freeman may in such manner as is before mentioned be imprisoned or
detained."--Extract from the Petition of Right. See J. R. Green, Short
History of the English People, pp 486, 487.

18, E. H. Byington, The Puritan in England and New England, pp. 486,
487.

19, See Gott's Letter in Bradford's Letter-Book, Mass. Hist. Soc.,
iii, 67,68.

20, G. L. Walker, History of the First Church in Hartford, p. 154.

CHAPTER III. CHURCH AND STATE IN NEW ENGLAND.

21, Thomas Hooker, Survey of Church Discipline, chap. 3, p. 75; also
Mass. Col. Rec., iii, 424; J. Cotton, Way of the Churches, pp. 6, 7.

22, J. Cotton, Way of the Churches, pp. 6, 7; Plymouth Col. Rec., ii,
67; Mass. Col. Rec., i, 216, iii, 354; Hartford Town Voter, in
Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vi, 32; Conn. Col. Rec., i, 311, 545.

23, Plymouth Col. Laws, ed. 1836, p. 258; Conn. Col. Rec., i, pp. 96,
138, 290, 331, 389, 525.

24, J. Cotton, A Discourse about Civil Government in a New Plantation
whose Design is Religion (written many years since), London, 1643,
pp. 12, 19. (This is a misprint in the title-page, for the author was
John Davenport.)

25, Mass. Col. Rec., i, 87.

26, J. Cotton, Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, pp. 50, 53.

27, Mass. Law of 1636; Conn. Col. Rec., i, 341.

28, Conn. Col. Rec., i, 525.

29, G. F. Ellis, Puritan Age in Massachusetts, p. 34.

30, Winthrop, i, 81.

31, Mass. Col. Rec., i, 142.

32, Winthrop, i, 287; H. M. Dexter, Ecclesiastical Councils of New
England, p. 31.

33, J. A. Doyle, Puritan Colonies, ii, 70.

CHAPTER IV. THE CAMBRIDGE PLATFORM AND THE HALF-WAY COVENANT.

34, C. Mather, Magnalia, ii, 277.

35, Horace Bushnell, in Discourse on Christian Nurture, p. 25.

36, Cotton Mather, Magnalia, ii, 179.

37, Results of Half-Way Covenant Convention, Prop. 4. See W. Walker,
Creeds and Platforms, p. 296.

38, W. Walker, Creeds and Platforms, p. 295. See Question 7, of
Results.

39, Conn. Col. Rec., i, 386, 426.

40, Conn. State Papers (Ecclesiastical), vol. i, Doc. 106. Quoted in
the Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register, x, p. 116.

41, Beardsley, Hist, of the Church in Connecticut, i, 101; Perry,
Hist, of Epis. Church in the United States, i, 283, 284.

42, Conn. Col. Rec., i, 437, 438.

43, G. L. Walker, Hist, of First Church in Hartford, p. 200.

44, Record of the United Colonies, i, 506.

45, G. L. Walker, Hist, of First Church in Hartford, p. 209.

46, L. Bacon, Coatr. to Eccl. Hist, of Connecticut, p. 29.

47, E. Stiles, Christian Union, p. 85; J. A. Doyle, Puritan Colonies,
ii, 69; Conn. Col. Rec., i, 545; ii, 290 and 557.

48, Conn. Col. Rec., vii, 33; viii, 74.

CHAPTER V. A PERIOD OF TRANSITION.

49, Thomas Prince, Christian History, i, 94.

50, Preface to Work of the Reforming Synod.

51, C. Mather, Magnalia, Book v, p. 40.

52, C. Mather, Ratio Discipline, p. 17.

53, C. M. Andrews, Three River Towns, p. 86. See also Bronson, Early
Government, in New Haven Hist. Soc. Papers, iii, 315;
Conn. Col. Rec., 290-293, 321, 354.

54, Conn. Col. Rec., v, 67.

55, L. Bacon, Contr. to Ecel. History, p. 33.

56, Conn. Col. Rec., v, 87.

CHAPTER VI. THE SAYBROOK PLATFORM.

57, Saybrook Platform.

58, L. Bacon, Thirteen Historical Discourses, pp. 190, 191.

59, S. Stoddard, Instituted Churches, p. 29.

60, Trumbull, Hist, of Connecticut, i, 406; T. Clap, Hist, of Yale
College, p. 30.

61, Trumbull, Hist, of Connecticut, i, 406.

62, L. Bacon, Thirteen Historical Discourses, p. 190.

63, H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism as seen in Literature, pp. 489,
490.

64, Conn. Col. Rec., v, 87.

65, Ibid., v, 50.

66, A. Johnston, Connecticut, p. 232.

CHAPTER VII. THE SAYBROOK PLATFORM AND THE TOLERATION ACT.

67, John Bolles, A Relation of the Opposition some Baptist People met
at Norwich in 1761.

68, Ibid., p. 7.

69, Quaker Laws. The New Haven Laws against Quakers deal thus
fiercely:--

"_Whereas_ there is a cursed sect of heretics lately risen up
in the world, which are commonly called Quakers, who take upon
them that they are immediately sent of God and infallibly assisted
by his spirit, who yet write and speak blasphemous opinions,
despise governments and the order of God, in church and
commonwealth... we do hereby order and declare

"That whosoever shall hereafter bring, or cause to be brought,
directly or indirectly, any known Quaker or Quakers, or other
blasphemous heretics, into this jurisdiction, every such person
shall forfeit the sum of 600 pounds to the jurisdiction, except it
appear that he wanted true knowledge or information of their being
such... and it is hereby ordered that what Quaker or Quakers
soever come into this jurisdiction, from foreign parts or places
adjacent, if it be about their civil, lawful occasions to be
quickly despatched among us, which time of stay shall be limited
by the civil authority in each plantation, and that they shall not
use any means by words, writings, books, or any other way, to go
about to seduce others, nor revile nor reproach, nor any other way
make disturbance or offend. They shall upon their first arrival,
or coming in, appear to be brought before the authorities of the
place and from them have license to put about and issue their
lawful occasions, and shall have one or more to attend upon them
at their charge until such occasions of theirs be discharged, and
they return out of the jurisdiction which if they refuse to do,
they shall be denied such free passage and commerce and be caused
to return back again, but if this first time they shall offend in
any of the ways as before expressed, and contrary to the intent of
this law, they shall be committed to prison, severely whipped,
kept to work, and none suffered to converse with them during their
imprisonment, which shall be no longer than necessity requires,
and at their own charge sent out of the jurisdiction."

For a second offense, they were to be branded, as well as to be
committed to prison. For a fourth offense, they were to have their
tongues bored through with hot irons. Their books, papers, etc., were
to subject their possessors to a fine of 5 pounds, and entertaining or
concealing a Quaker was to be punished by a fine of 20s.; while
undertaking to defend any of their heretical opinions was doubly
fined.--New Haven Col. Kec., ii, 217, 238,363.

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