American Scenes, and Christian Slavery: A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United StatesDavies, Ebenezer
History
American Scenes, and Christian Slavery: A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States
Davies, Ebenezer
Slavery -- United States; United States -- Description and travel
On Monday morning we were taken to see the cemetery, outside of the
city. Formerly the Green was used as a burying-ground; but in the
latter part of last century this field of ten acres was levelled and
inclosed for the purpose; and in 1821 the monuments, with the exception
of the humble stones of the three judges, were removed hither. The
broken tablets and half-legible inscriptions, which constituted the
memorials of the fathers and founders of this colony, were peculiarly
interesting. On the 18th of April, 1638, those men kept their first
Sabbath here. The people assembled under a large spreading oak, and Mr.
Davenport, their pastor, preached to them from Matt. iv. 1: "Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil." His subject was the temptations of the wilderness; and he
recorded the remark, that he had enjoyed "a good day." The following
year they met in a large barn, and in a very solemn manner proceeded to
lay the foundation of their civil and religious polity. Mr. Davenport
introduced the business with a sermon on "Wisdom hath builded her
house; she hath hewn out her seven pillars." The most ancient record of
this event is a curiosity in the history of civil government. It thus
begins:--"The 4th day of the 6th moneth, called June, all the free
planters assembled together in a general meetinge, to consult about
settling civil government according to God, and about the nomination of
persons that may be found by consent of all fittest in all respects for
the foundation work of a church, which was to be gathered in Quinipiack
[the Indian name of the place]. After sollemne invocation of the name
of God in prayer," &c., they resolved--Alas! for that resolve! it
admitted a wrong principle, and was productive, for more than 150
years, of the most withering and blighting effect upon that religion
which they aimed to foster--they resolved among other things, "That
church members only shall be free burgesses; and that they only shall
chuse magistrates and officers among themselves, to have the power of
transacting all publique civil affairs of this plantation," &c.
But why record their errors while standing over their tombs? _De
mortuis nil nisi bonum_. Take them for all in all, they were men whom
we delight to honour. Here are some of their memorials, dated so far
back as 1657. Here too is the resting-place of Dr. Dwight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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