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

knows what sort of men John Eliot,
John Hamden, and John Ppm were.
We'll the leading men who settled
|, New England were of that class Of
men. They were their relatives and
their personal friends.
For further evidence that these
early colonists were of good birth,
look at their names, see how large
| number of them are names of historic
importance in England; 81 how
many OF them are Norman ames /;
go into the towers and chateaux of
Normandy, among the cultured fam
lilies there, and the features which are
most common there are the features
| which are SO familiar among the
same class of persons in New Eng
land to-day The more one studies
the subject, the more will he be con-
WINGED of the truth of what was said
by one of the old Puritans THE
wheat of three Kingdoms was sifted
to plant New England Now, there
was difference even among the ear
ly colonists of New England, and
among them the colonists of Connect
icut and New Haven, whom Mr.. Pet.
ers makes fhe butts of his ridicule,
were conspicuous for their wealth and
for the number of those among them
who belonged to families of distinc-
ton at home. There are bat few of
the leading families OF the state to-
day who are not able to trace their
pedigree to the historic families of
England, and who do not still' pre-
serve the armorial bearings which
were used by their ancestors in Eng
land, many OF which 90 back hun
dreds of years before the settlement
of this country, to the times of the
Norman conquest
Another OF these inisapprchensions
| is that the first settlers of New Haven
| and Connecticut were set of men
who were ignorant Of affairs. How
conspicuously false such an idea is
appears from the fact that although
they had left England and were out
OF sight, they were not forgotten in
their distant homes in the wilderness,
and their reputation was such that no
| small number of them were invited to
return to England aud occupy high
| positions there of influence and an-
thorlty. The way, also, in which
they met the many difficulties Incl
dent to the planting of colony and
establishing a government i'll these
ends OF the earth shows they were
not ordinary men. From the super
structure which has been raised. it is
not difficult to infer how broad, and
deep, and solid were the foundations
which they laid. They drew up, in
1859, the first written constitution
| known in history, which has proved
to be the model for all the constitu
tons which have been made on this
continent, including that under which
the people Of the United States 1--we to
day. Look, too, at the men them
selves. We cannot delay to describe
individuals with any particularly
but there was Governor Haynes, the
first governor of Connecticut, "a
gentleman of fortune, the owner of an
elegant country-seat in Essex which
he gave up, undeterred by the priva.
tons incident to founding a new state
in the wilderness. There was Cover.
nor Eaton, first governor of New
Haven,-a London merchant, who
had acquired wealth by trade in ine
Baltic, and who had represented his
sovereign, Charles l., al the court Of
the King of Denmark; there was
Governor Hopkins, another London
merchant, of princely generosity, who
had also made fortune by trade if
the Baltic. Having had occasion to
return to England, he was retained
there by an appointment to the office
of Commissioner of the Admiralty
and of the Navy; there was Geser
nor Winthrop, an accomplished schoi
ar and gentleman, who, before he
came to this country, had enjoyed OPP.
portunities, which were then very
rare, OF extensive foreign travel, and
who, on the occasion of his being sent
to England on colonial business, by
his engaging manners aud courtly
bearing, extorted even from Charles
III. memorable expressions Of interes,
and good will /; there we're the two
great preachers at Hartford and
New Haven,-Thomas Hooker and
John Davenport,-who had not their
superiors as preachers and theolog
ians in England itself, and who were
SO highly esteemed there that they
were invited TO return to England by
numerous members Of the House o.
arliament, to assist in the great rev
oution then commenced aud ia prog.
ress there was Ludlow, the mos,
accomplished lawyer in the colonies
there was John Mason, who had
gained such reputation as soldier il
his campaigns in Holland with LORD
Fairfax, that he was offered the com
nilsson of major-general in the Eng
lish army, if he would return to Eng
land and Desborough of New Haven
who accepted the offer made to him
and returned and served as a major
| general; there, too, at later period
was Governor Salstonstall, of whom
the British officers who came to thi
country always spoke with admiration
as fitted to shine at the court of St
James. Now, in ability, in the prac
tical wisdom of all their political &C
ton, in the dignity ot-their state pa
| pers, in their knowledge of the worlC
in all its aspects, these men, AM
and many others who figure in th
early history of New Have and Con
| necticut, do not suffer one whit il
comparison with the men who secur
ed our independence iu 1776, or lai,
the foundations of our. present nationa
government in 1881.
| Another OF these misconceptions j
that these early colonists were ascot
| les. This too is memorably false. A
people they were social and dispose
always, In the intervals of labor, {
engage in whatever sports were j
season, and to enjoy whatever deiica
cies they could find for their tables
Those who are misled by the stal
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