The records of the State of the year 1693 state that

the courtier ancestor by a pair of rash lit- | Winthrop, major-general in the Indian tle scissors, which changed the relic of wars, was for many years Governor of stately awkwardness into a jaunty "jock- Connecticut. ey" or jacket, which, worn over an India muslin, must have been "marvellous becoming" to Miss Patty. The waistcoat has been restored as nearly as possible to its original shape, but it still bears the snippings of the scissors which adapted it to the softer outlines of the feminine form. The "jockey" must have figured at a dance, for dancing was about the only amusement. There was no theatre or opera here; no "art atmosphere," as at Newport. The popular sports, the dance excepted, were of a grim nature. Popeday was annually celebrated on the 5th of November, the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Two effigies were exhibited, one representing the pope and the other the devil, each with a head of hollow pumpkin, illuminated from within by a candle, the pope wearing a paper tiara and the archfiend a pair of horns. procession passed through the principal

Generall Fitz John Winthrop to be their agent to "This Court by their vote made choyse of Major goe ouer for England and to endeauoure to present our addresse to their Maties and to obteeyn in the best way and maner he shall be capeable a confirmation of our charter priuiledges. The Court grants estate in the Colony to defray the charge of sending a rate of a penny upon the pound of all the rateable an agent to England, and if any can not pay money they haue liberty to pay doble in wheat, rye, pease, or indian. Rev. Gurdon Saltonstall is invited to go to England with Gen'l Winthrop." This was the event selected by Walcott as the basis of a heroic poem, from which The we make quotation. It

streets, the effigies being borne on men's opens thus:

shoulders. Songs were sung, and it halted frequently to levy contri

butions of money or refreshments from every house of any importance. The day closed with the burning of the two figures, while the crowd danced around the pyre.

In 1729 the first approach to a circus visited the town-a lion drawn in an ox-cart. The previous autumn it had travelled from New York to Albany. While in New London the illustrious stranger was lodged in Madam Winthrop's stable.

Deer were hunted on Fisher's Island. A rec

"Learned Winthrop then by general consent
Sat at the helm to sway the government,
Who prudently the people doth advise
To ask the king for chartered liberties.
All like his counsel well, and all reply,
Sir, you must undertake our agency.'

ord remains of a famous hunting party in 1739, in which Colonel Saltonstall brought down a doe and Mr. George Mumford two bucks, one of which was immediately sent by a carrier to Mr. Wanton at Newport. Fisher's Island remained through six generations the property of the Winthrops. The Winthrop mansion still stands, and This family is the one most celebrated in is an exceedingly interesting one; the the early annals of the town. Fitz-John "best room" is panelled, and the fire

place surrounded with tiles of Scriptural | jokes. The Quakers came and sat in his design. Another building that escaped church with their broad-brims on, their "the burning" is the old " Manwaring wives bringing their spinning-wheels and house." The family deserted it on the spinning in the aisles.

approach of the British, and returning after their departure, found a wounded Hessian lying upon the floor. The "General Huntington house"-an imposing mansion, but not so old as those already mentioned-was modelled after Washington's residence at Mount Vernon. There remains little record of schools; probably Yale College supplied the needs of higher education. Nathan Hale, the martyr spy, taught a boys' school here before the Revolution.

A

Gurdon Saltonstall, another facetious minister, resigned his functions as a preacher for the office of Governor. religious sect arose professing allegiance to Christ only, and acknowledging no authority in the civil law. Among other peculiarities of their creed was the right to contract marriage without the sanction of the civil authorities. A man named Gorton was their leader. He appeared before Governor Saltonstall one day, as his Excellency was peacefully The church history of these early times smoking his long pipe, and announced abounds in interesting episodes. The that he was married to a woman whom Rev. Mather Byles, so well remembered as he had brought with him, and that withthe son of the wittiest of clergymen after out the sanction of the law. The GovSwift, was first settled in New London. ernor serenely removed his pipe, and askBut he found his parish little to his liked, "And thou art determined to have ing. The people were given to practical this woman to thy wife?"

"I am," replied Gorton.

"And you, madam, have taken this man for your husband?"

"That I have, Sir," was the prompt reply.

"Then," exclaimed the Governor, "by the authority and in accordance with the laws of the State of Connecticut, I pronounce you legally man and wife." "Gurdon, thou art a cunning creature," replied the discomfited Gorton.

All the religious sects then known in America were represented in New London. Here were to be found the

"Churchman,. . . .fond of power;

The Quaker, sly; the Presbyterian, sour;

The smart Freethinker, all things in an hour."

It was in New London, says Trumbull, that the Separatists, or Baptists, carried their enthusiasm to such a degree that they made a large fire to burn their books, clothes, and ornaments, which they called their idols. This imaginary work of piety and self-denial they undertook on the Lord's day, and brought their clothes, books, necklaces, and jewels together in the main street. They began with burning their erroneous books, but were prevented from destroying their clothes and jewels.

Among the scientific inventions of the period, one that seems to foretell Jules Verne's dream of submarine navigation claims our attention. It was called the American Turtle, and was so arranged as to be propelled under water toward the enemy's ships, where an infernal machine could be attached which would blow up the ship five hours afterward. Only the electric light, which the commander of the Nautilus made so useful, was lacking.

How many luckless expeditions for bur- | ton Mr. Gardiner trembled and hesitated ied treasure have been carried on along when ordered by the Earl of Bellmont to these shores, stimulated by the history of give up the chests. Kidd's visit to Gardiner's Island, just across the Sound, in his black-flag sloop Antonio, which he commanded after sinking his first ship, the Adventure.

How

A favorite haunt of Captain Kidd's was at Block Island, at a lonely house occupied by Mercy Raymond, whose husband was much of the time absent at New Lon

66

brought a strange lady, whom he called his wife, and whom Mercy Raymond boarded for a considerable time. When he finally departed he bade Mercy hold out her apron, which he filled with handfuls of gold and jewels.

like an old romance is the account of Mrs. | don. Here, the legend says, Captain Kidd Gardiner's roasting a pig for the pirate prince, and cooking it so very nice" that he made her a present of enough cloth of gold to make dresses for her two daughters, while her frightened husband was made the unwilling guardian of the iron chests buried in the swamp, with the injunction that he must answer for their safe-keeping with his head. No wonder that even after Kidd was secured at Bos

The lamentable ballad of Captain Kidd, which we subjoin, gives his name as Robert, but more authentic records assert that it was William: