r the Green, as it is commonly called. This is a
large open space like a park, surrounded on all sides with rows of
stately elms, and is considered one of the most beautiful spots in the
United States. And now we are in a position to take a full view. Three
churches, arranged side by side on this open space, at a few rods from
each other, stand before us. The central one has the most imposing
aspect. It is a large Grecian building; having a portico, supported by
four massive columns, from which rises a lofty bell-tower, ending in a
spire. The combination of the belfry or spire with the Grecian style is
a violation of propriety; but _I like it_. This is the "first"
Congregational Church--that in which Dr. Bacon ministers. That
church--not the building--is coeval with the colony, and can trace back
its history for more than 200 years. It was formerly a State Church.
Congregationalism was for ages the "standing order," or the established
religion, in Connecticut! All the people were taxed for its support;
and no man could have any share in the administration of the civil
government, or give his vote in any election, unless he was a member of
one of the churches. It was not till forty years after the separation
of Church and State in Virginia, where the establishment was Episcopal,
that the example was followed in Connecticut. Happily, however, in 1816
all parties that differed from it--Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists,
Universalists, &c., combined together, gained a majority in the
legislature, and severed the connection between Congregationalism and
the State! There are old men now living who then anxiously and piously
"trembled for the Ark of the Lord." They have, however, lived to see
that the dissolution of the union between Church and State in
Connecticut, as in Virginia, was to the favoured sect as "life from the
dead." The Congregationalist of the one, and the Episcopalian of the
other, would alike deprecate being placed in the same position again.
But this is a digression.

We are still looking at these churches. The church on our right, which
is about the same size and of the same architectural character as the
other, though not quite so showy, is the "second" Congregational
Church, commonly called the North Church--that in which Mr. Button now
ministers. This church originated in the "great awakening" in 1740, was
formed in 1742, and has a history of more than a century in duration.
It arose from dissatisfacti