THE YOUNGER WINTHROP. of planting Connecticut. the motive to his actions.1 2 53 had, moreover, that largeness, that he respected learn- 1661 ing, and virtue, and genius, in whatever sect they might be found. No narrow bigotry limited his affections or his esteem; and when Quakers had become the objects of persecution, he was earnest and unremitting in argument and entreaty, to prevent the effusion of blood. Master over his own mind, he never regretted the brilliant prospects he had resigned, nor complained of the comparative solitude of New London; a large library 3 furnished employment to his mind; the study of nature, according to the principles of the philosophy of Bacon, was his delight; for "he had a gift in understanding and art;" and his home was endeared by a happy marriage, and "many sweet children." His knowledge of human nature was as remarkable as his virtues. He never attempted impracticable things; but, understanding the springs of action, and the principles that control affairs, he calmly and noiselessly succeeded in all that he undertook. The New World was full of his praises; Puritans, and Quakers, and the freemen of Rhode Island, were alike nis eulogists; the Dutch at New York, not less than all New England, had confidence in his integrity; 5 Clarendon and Milton, Newton and Robert Boyle, became his correspondents. If he had faults, they are 6 1 "And zealous care for their posteritie, Of all his acts, the primum mobile." Wolcott. 2 Bishop's N. E. Judged. "Did not John Winthrope, the Governor of the jurisdiction of Connecticote, labor with you, that ye would not put them to death? And did he not say unto you, that he would beg it of you on his bare knees, that ye would not do it?" p. 157. # 4 3 Winthrop, ii. 20. 7 4 Roger Williams's Letters, in Knowles. 5 Albany Records, iv. 405, and xviii. 188, 189. 6 MSS. in my possession. 7" Mr. Winthrop, my particular acquaintance." R. Boyle's letter, in Mass. Hist. Coll. xviii. 49. Dedication of vol. xl. of the Transactions of the Royal Society. CHAP. forgotten. In history he appears by unanimous conXI. sent,1 from early life, without a blemish; and it is 1661. the beautiful testimony of his own father, that "God gave him favor in the eyes of all with whom he had to do." In his interview with Charles II., there is reason to believe, he was able to inspire that naturally benevolent monarch with curiosity; perhaps he amused him with accounts of Indian warfare, and descriptions of the marvels of a virgin world. A favorable recollection of Charles I., who had been a friend to his father's father, and who gave to his family an hereditary claim on the Stuarts, was effectually revived. His personal merits, sympathy for his family, his exertions, the petition of the colony, and, as I believe, the real good will of Clarendon,―for we must not reject all faith in generous feeling,-easily prevailed April to obtain for Connecticut an ample patent. The courtiers of King Charles, who themselves had an eye to possessions in America, suggested no limitations ; and perhaps it was believed, that Connecticut would serve to balance the power of Massachusetts. 1662. 20. The charter, disregarding the hesitancy of New Haven, the rights of the colony of New Belgium, and the claims of Spain on the Pacific, connected New Haven with Hartford in one colony, of which the limits were extended from the Narragansett River to the Pacific Ocean. How strange is the connection of events! Winthrop not only secured to his state a peaceful century of colonial existence, but prepared the claim for western lands. Under his wise direction, the careless benevolence of Charles II. provided in advance the school fund of Connecticut. 1 Thurloe, i. 763; "a person of signal worth, as all reports present.” CONNECTICUT OBTAINS A CHARTER 1 XI. 55 With regard to powers of government, the charter CHAP was still more extraordinary. It conferred on the colonists unqualified power to govern themselves. 1662 They were allowed to elect all their own officers, to enact their own laws, to administer justice without appeals to England, to inflict punishments, to confer pardons, and, in a word, to exercise every power, deliberative and active. The king, far from reserving a negative on the acts of the colony, did not even require that the laws should be transmitted for his inspection; and no provision was made for the interference of the English government in any event whatever. Connecticut was independent except in name. Charles II. and Clarendon thought they had created a close corporation, and they had really sanctioned a democracy. To the younger Winthrop, probably because he had preserved a loyal spirit in Connecticut, Charles II. had written, "the world shall take notice of the sense I have of your kindness, and how great an instrument you have been in promoting the happiness of your country;" and the disinterested man asked favors only for the community of which he was a member. 1 After his successful negotiations, and efficient concert in founding the Royal Society, Winthrop returned to America, bringing with him a name which England honored, and which his country should never forget, and resumed his tranquil life in rural retirement. The amalgamation of the two colonies could not be effected without collision; and New Haven had been unwilling 1 MS. letter in my possession. Savage has printed and remarked on the letter, in a note on Winthrop, 1. 126. Compare Maidston to Winthrop, in Thurloe, i. 763; and better in Mass. Hist. Coll. xxi. 185. The CHAP. to merge itself in the larger colony; the wise moderaXI. tion of Winthrop was able to reconcile the jarrings, and blend the interests of the united colonies. The universal approbation of Connecticut followed him 1662 throughout all the remainder of his life; for twice 1676. seven years he continued to be annually elected to the office of her chief magistrate.' to And the gratitude of Connecticut was reasonable. The charter which Winthrop had obtained secured to her an existence of tranquillity which could not be surpassed. Civil freedom was safe under the shelter of masculine morality; and beggary and crime could not thrive in the midst of severest manners. From the first, the minds of the yeomanry were kept active by the constant exercise of the elective franchise; and, except under James II., there was no such thing in the land as an officer appointed by the English king. Connecticut, from the first, possessed unmixed popular liberty. The government was in honest and upright hands; the little strifes of rivalry never became heated; the magistrates were sometimes persons of no ordinary endowments; but though gifts of learning and genius were valued, the state was content with virtue and single-mindedness; and the public welfare never suffered at the hands of plain men. Roger Williams had ever been a welcome guest at Hartford; and "that heavenly man, John Haynes," would say to him, "I think, Mr. Williams, I must now confesse to you, that the most wise God hath provided and cut out this part of the world as a refuge and receptacle for all sorts of consciences." 2 There never existed a persecuting 1 Compare further on the younger Winthrop, Savage, in Winthrop, i. 64, and 126; Eliot's Biog. Dict. Roger Wolcott, in Mass. Hist. Coll. iv. 262-298. 2 Mass. Hist. Coll. i. 280. CONNECTICUT. XI 57 spirit1 in Connecticut; while "it had a scholar to their CHAP minister in every town or village." Education was. cherished; religious knowledge was carried to the highest degree of refinement, alike in its application to moral duties, and to the mysterious questions on the nature of God, of liberty, and of the soul. A hardy race multiplied along the alluvion of the streams, and subdued the more rocky and less inviting fields; its population for a century doubled once in twenty years, in spite of considerable emigration; and if, as has often been said, the ratio of the increase of population is the surest criterion of public happiness, Connecticut was long the happiest state in the world.2 Religion united with the pursuits of agriculture, to give to the land the aspect of salubrity. The domestic wars were discussions of knotty points in theology; the concerns of the parish, the merits of the minister, were the weightiest affairs; and a church reproof the heaviest calamity. The strifes of the parent country, though they sometimes occasioned a levy among the sons of the husbandmen, yet never brought an enemy within their borders; tranquillity was within their gates, and the peace of God within their hearts. No fears of midnight ruffians could disturb the sweetness of slumber; the best house required no fastening but a latch, lifted by a string; bolts and locks were unknown. acter. There was nothing morose in the Connecticut charIt was temperate industry enjoying the abundance which it had created. No great inequalities of condition excited envy, or raised political feuds; 1 So Douglas, ii. 135. "I never heard of any persecuting spirit in Connecticut; in this they are egre. giously aspersed. 8 VOL. II. 2 Trumbull, i. 451, gives the number of inhabitants at 17,000, in 1713. There were, probably, as many as 17,000, and more, in 1688. |