n, Lieutenant-Governor of the
Massachusetts Province, 2 vols. 8vo. The history of Hutchinson, which
I have several times quoted in the chapter to which this note relates,
commences in the year 1628, and ends in 1750. Throughout the work there
is a striking air of truth and the greatest simplicity of style: it
is full of minute details. The best history to consult concerning
Connecticut is that of Benjamin Trumbull, entitled "A Complete History
of Connecticut, Civil and Ecclesiastical," 1630-1764, 2 vols. 8vo,
printed in 1818 at New Haven. This history contains a clear and calm
account of all the events which happened in Connecticut during the
period given in the title. The author drew from the best sources, and
his narrative bears the stamp of truth. All that he says of the
early days of Connecticut is extremely curious. See especially the
Constitution of 1639, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 100; and also the Penal Laws of
Connecticut, vol. i. ch. vii. p. 123.

"The History of New Hampshire," by Jeremy Belknap, is a work held in
merited estimation. It was printed at Boston in 1792, in 2 vols.
8vo. The third chapter of the first volume is particularly worthy of
attention for the valuable details it affords on the political and
religious principles of the Puritans, on the causes of their emigration,
and on their laws. The following curious quotation is given from a
sermon delivered in 1663:--"It concerneth New England always to remember
that they are a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade. The
profession of the purity of doctrine, worship, and discipline, is
written upon her forehead. Let merchants, and such as are increasing
cent. per cent., remember this, that worldly gain was not the end and
design of the people of New England, but religion. And if any man among
us make religion as twelve, and the world as thirteen, such an one hath
not the spirit of a true New Englishman." The reader of Belknap will
find in his work more general ideas, and more strength of thought, than
are to be met with in the American historians even to the present day.

Among the Central States which deserve our attention for their remote
origin, New York and Pennsylvania are the foremost. The best history
we have of the former is entitled "A History of New York," by William
Smith, printed at London in 1757. Smith gives us important details of
the wars between the French and English in America. His is the best
account of the famous confederation o