Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1854-03-27
For the Grant County Herald.
Blue Laws OF Connecticut.

| DIR. Eduor-Dear Sir-Under the above
caption, last week, you favored us with wha
purports to be a veritable copy of certain Laws
said to have been once in force in the good ole
State of Connecticut. You clipped it of course
from some paper which you supposed good au.
tbority; which paper, or the one in which it
Originally appeared, processes to give the ex-
tract fom the .SHistory of Connecticut
But ii very carefully avoids saying by whom
the said History was written. The book, sir,
was libel written on the State, and the said
s'Blue Laws in it sheer fabrication bu
| they have been spoken of and printed, in one
shape or other SO often, that many take it for
granted such laws were once in force. If So
they are to be found on the Statute Books OF
the State but there is no lawyer would ven
ture his credit by affirming they were there.
offer premium of the best horse [ have to
any lawyer who will produce copy of the
Statutes, containing the so-called "Biue Laws''
printed under the authority of the State OF
Conn.
Lest any OF the foreigners and youth around
US, who are not versed in American History,
Ishouid obtain an erroneous impression Of a SIS
ter state, allow me a space, If you please, for
an antldote to the extract which you transfer
red to your paper, in the shape of another ex-
tract, which / give from work on Congrega-
Itionaisin, by Rev. Z. K. HAwLEY, of Nor
walk, Conn.,. PIP. 81, published by Leavitt &
Co., New York:
E'Blue Laes Of Connecticut. doth our law
Judge any man before it hear him, and know
what he doeth p John, CHI. vii, " 81. This
Question OF Nicodemus is based alike in COM
mon sense and common justice and yet how
few principles have been oftener violated than
this, by the stale and slanderous misrepresen-
tations which are so commonly heard, of the
Fathers of New Eng and-the founders of the
institutions which are the pre-eminent glory
of our land. They were men who lived not
for themselves. They not only lived and la
bored, but they died for posterity. We have
been permitted to enter into their labors and
yet there are those who can ridicule aud re-
proach their memories, even while revealing
upon the fruit of their toll
Who has not heard OF the "Blue Laws of
C.nnecticut'? Those who know little of the
history OF their country, are frequently fami-
liar with fables, and are ready to point TO them
as characteristic Of our ancestors.
What then was the origin of the book which
bears the above title? It was the fictitious
production Of oqo for the sole purpose
of casting odum and contenpt upon the prin-
ciples and institutions of thosesWhom he SLAM
ders. The author of that book filled it with
tales, and pretended facts, which nevershaa an
existence, except in his own imagination.~4
But who was the author Of that book p
An Episcopal clergyman, who had labored to
propagate the principles of Episcopacy among
La people that, with the true Puritan spirit,
refused to bow their necks to the yoke which
had been cast off by their fathers and when
the Revolutionary contest commenced, he Join
ed the enemies of liberty, and then wrote a
book filled with caricatures Of Puritanism and
which was worthy to stand on the same Shelf
with 'The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. .
But SO often has this book been quoted, that
mu.titudes suppose it to contain the verltable
laws of Connecticut.'
| have, Mr.. Editor, in my library, book
written by another Episcopal clergyman, for
the purpose of bringing the Methodists into
contempt and ridicule and if possible, it is
more absurd and wicked than the s1Blue Law''
book. II is entitled s'The Spiritual Quixote. .
And have yet another, written by another E.
plscopal c'ergyman, entitled ssPresbyterian Ell
oquence," written for the purpose Of bringing
the Presbyterians of Scotland into contempt.
The three books together, viz s'The Blue
Laws of Connecticut,' ''The Spiritual Quix-
ote,o and presbyterian Eoquence,'' go to ex-
hibit the spirit of bitterness which has existed
against ali who have refused to submit 10 do
minant hierarchy. We should not endorse
that spirit, in these days of advanced liberty,
but seek to promote and cultivate better.
A PURITAN WATcHMAN.
Fer the Grant County Herald.
EsEA 'E'rWEWEE EE moan