In 1772 the Rev. Mr. Moyley, a missionary from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, at Litchfield, was presented by the Grand Jury for marrying a couple belonging to his parish, after the banns had been duly published, and consent of parents obtained. The Court mildly fined Mr. Moyley 20l. because he could not show any other license to officiate as a clergyman than what he had received from the Bishop of London, whose authority the Court determined did not extend to Connecticut, which was a chartered government. One of the Judges said: “It is high time to put a stop to the usurpations of the Bishop of London, and to let him know that, though his license be lawful, and may empower one of his curates to marry in England, yet it is not so in America; and if fines would not curb them in this point, imprisonment should.”
The second county in the Kingdom of Connecticote, and the most mountainous in the whole province, is Litchfield, which produces abundance of wheat, butter, cheese, iron ore, &c., and has many iron works, foundries, and furnaces. It contains the following fourteen towns:
Litchfield is watered by two small rivers. An elegant
meeting-house and decent court-house, with steeple and bells, ornament the square, where three roads meet. The best street is one mile long. It resembles Dartford. The township is twelve miles square, and forms five parishes, one of which is episcopal.
Though Litchfield is the youngest county of Connecticut, yet in 1766 it set an example to the rest worthy of imitation. The province had always been greatly pestered by a generation of men called “quacks,” who, with a few Indian nostrums, a lancet, a glister-pipe, rhubarb, treacle-water mixed with Roman bombast of vena cava and vena porta, attacked fevers, nervous disorders, and broken bones, and, by the grace of perseverance, subdued Nature, and helped their patients to a passage to the world of spirits before they were ready. The surgeons and physicians who were not quacks formed themselves into a society for the encouragement of literature and a regular and wholesome practice. But their laudable endeavours were discountenanced by the General Assembly, who refused to comply with their solicitations for a charter; because the quacks and the people said, “If the charter were granted, the learned men would become too rich by an monopoly, as they did in England.” The answer to this question was, “Would it not be better to permit a monopoly to preserve the health and lives of the people, than to suffer quacks to kill them and ruin the province?” The reply proved decisive in that fanatical Assembly, viz. “No medicine can be serviceable without the blessing of God. The quacks never administer any physic without the prayers of the minister.” One doctor proposed the trial of a dose of arsenic—whether it would
not kill any one who would take it, though twenty ministers should pray against it. He was called a profane man, the petition was rejected, and quackery remains triumphant.[36]
New-Milford lies on the Osootonoc River. A church and meeting, with steeples and bells, beautify the town, which resembles Fulham. The township, twelve miles square, forms five parishes, of which two are episcopal.
Woodbury lies on the same river, and resembles Kentish-town. The township, twelve miles square, is divided into seven parishes, three of them episcopal. In this town lives the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, who is a good scholar and a great preacher. He has attempted to shew a more excellent way to heaven than was known
before. He may be called the Athenian of Connecticut, for he has published something new to the christian world. Zuinglius may learn from him.
The following towns lie also on the Osootonoc, viz. Sharon, Kent, Salisbury, New Fairfield, Cornwall, Goshen, and Canaan; and all of them resemble Finchley. Each township is ten miles square.