“For as much as it hath pleased the Almighty God, by the wise disposition of his divine providence, so to order and dispose of things, that we, the inhabitants, and residents of Windsor, Hartford and Weathersfield, are now dwelling in and uppon the river of Conneticut, and the lands thereunto adjoining; and well knowing, when a people are gathered together, the word of God requires, that, to the maintienence of the peace and union of such a people there should bee an orderly and decent government established, according to God, to order and dispose of the affaires of the people at all seasons, as occasions shall require; doe therefore associate and conjoine ourselves to bee as one publique State or Commonwealth; and doe for ourselves and our successors, and such as shall be adjoined to us at any time hereafter, enter into combination, and confederation together, to meinteine and preserve libberty, and the purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus, which we now profess; as also the discipline of the churches which, according to the truth of said gospell is now practiced amongst us, as allso in all our civil affaires to be guided, and governed according to such lawes, rules, orders and decrees, as shall bee made, ordered, and decreed, as followeth.” Then follows the constitution in eleven well considered sections, making provision for the three departments—legislative, judicial and executive. We freely confess our admiration of this wonderful document, but can not, for want of room, print it. This is the less necessary as it evidently formed the basis of the charter of 1662, and its leading provisions have been copied, with some modifications, into the constitutions of the several States, and of the United States. As the first written constitution formed for and adopted by a free people, for their own government, it is a marvel of excellence. Written without a model, it asserts for its authors a more comprehensive and thorough statesmanship than is usually attributed to the leaders in colonial politics at that early day. The most peculiar feature of their civil polity was that only the righteous were to be in authority, and all power was vested in members of the church; and the conservative influence of religion variously confessed. The church and state were separate, yet, not inconsistently, we find an article headed: “MAINTENANCE OF MINISTRY.”