Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-07-04


displayed at funerals. Now. some
People have been SO uffoc..d by those
exiravagant displays, cf which We
have all at least heard, that thew
prefer not to have any flowcrs, or
only very few, on such occasions.
Perhaps some caricatnrist of tho Pc.
ters stamp will yet make good
story about their asceticism and ha.
tired OF flowers. He will say perhaps
that this asceticism proceeded so far
that even IN newspaper announce
ments of funerals, the words. mo
flowers were not unfrequently 30
be seen.
Another Of these misconceptions
is that in TIE legislation of tho New
Haven colony there was something
peculiarly severe. Mr.. Peters gives
bis readers the idea that the laws
were so severe that they were called
'blne-a bloody-laws.' Now,
what the peculiar shade Of blue ID
which can be properly designated az
'hloody. We are unable to state. But
with reference to this charge that
the legislation of New Haven was
characterized by any pvcu lar sever.
lty We feel disposed, instead of max.
ing serious reply, TO follow the ex-
ample OF the Rev. DR.. Cox. on an oc.
casion when his country was attack.
ed in his presence, when he was in
k0gland, by violent hater of Re-
publican institutions, who expressed
10 no measured terms bis contempt
Tor the government Of country
where. as he said, the nose Of the
President of the United States had
been pulled in public place without
any Punishment having been inflie,-
ed on the rufiiauIy assailant. In.
stead of attempting to enhghten the
Engiishmen by informing h,m that
IL was al insane man who had OF.
tempted to take that liberty with
The nose OF Andrew johnson on the
deck OF a public steamboat, and tina,
the old general had given the poor
man sound thrashing with his cane
before it was ascertained what was
his condition, Doctor Cox gravely
admitted tho fact and said tina, il
was indeed so. But he added III
have read the history of England
Alright, your countrymen some years
ago. cut off the head of one of their
kings; and think | would rather
have my nose pulled than my head
cut off.
So for the benefit OF the simple
people who have been misled by Mr..
Peters and others Of his stamp. we
will content ourselves with remind
ing them that in England, in tho
reign OF a king who was living not
more than a hundred years before
New Havoc was sottlod, they boiled
people IN death and hnndred
yeats after tho corner stone of the
little Comm wealth of Davenport
and Eaton WIS laid, thoy boiled peo-
pie in Germany in not Oil And
they were not thrown into the vessel
at once, but with pulley, or rope
under the arm pits they were lot
down in'o tho oil by degrees, first
the feet and next tho legs, and so
the flesh was boiled from the bones
of the man while he was still alive.
Il wonii appear that all tho 'severo'
people were not in the New Haven
colony. II its laws had been ten
times more severe than they really
were, we should DO able TO match
them with something worse 10 the
contemporary Legislation of Eng
land. We have Mr.. Trumbulps
book At our elbow, ana we can
quote chapter and verse and continue
lo match avery act of savarity In
New Haven by something more So
we're in Ensland as long as it is
thought TO be necessary. TO begin,
We make the following quotation
When Connecticut and New Haven we're
forming their first codes, larceny above tie
value of twelve pence was capital crime in
England.
1t would be enough To say that az
late as 1919 two hundred and TWEEN
ty-tree offenses in England werc
punished by death, one hundred and
seventy six of which were without
beneft Of clergy. Now, Connecti-
cut, by her code in 1912, mark tho
year,--imposed the penalty of death
on twelve offenses only. New Ha-
ven added two or three to the mum.
be- c. capital laws, but with such
reservation as 10 leave the execution
of the supreme penalty to the discre-
ton of the courts Yet Mr.. Peters
had the impotence to talk of the
severity" of the people of the col
ony OF New Haven. We are re-
minded of the lines of Hosea Bige-
low:
"'Taint known kird OF cattle
That sketchcd with moldy corn"
We have commenced our work, it
is with some feeling of qualification
that tho publication of new edition
of Mr.. Peters book gave an opporiu.
nifty to point out some Of the popular
misconceptions with regard TO tho
people of Connecticut and New Ha-
ven. But as We have proceeded, this
feeling has changed TO one of humil.
ia,ion that there should have been
any necessity for il. lndeed. Mr..
Bancroft says: "Thors is no State
in the Union, and l know not any in
the world, in whose early history, it
| MS q citizen, could find moro of
which to Le proud, and less that
should wish TO blot"
The men who settled New Haven
and Connecticut were some Of tho
ablest, most wealIh by, tho best ac-
quaintcd with affairs Of all tho early
colonists. They camo TO this coun-
try with plans perhaps more enlight-
ened aud more thoroughly digested
than those ofany oihcr body of col
oniets in the whole country. They
had views respecting the origin and
object of civil government which
were far in advance Of The age in
which they lived, and which in the
progress Of time have now come to
be recognized as the true views
They proposed to lay the foundations
OF a State 10 which they could carry
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