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 CONNECTICUT Wesleyan university (Methodist), at Middle- town, was established in 1831 ; number of in- structors, 10; students, 163; volumes in li- brary, 20,000. The theological institute of Connecticut (Congregational), established in 1834 at East Windsor, and subsequently re- moved to Hartford, has 3 professors, 25 stu- dents, and 7,000 volumes in library; whole number of alumni, 290. The theological de- partment of Yale college (Congregational), or- ganized in 1823, has 7 professors, 55 students, and 865 alumni ; amount of endowment, $308,- 000. Berkeley divinity school at Middletown (Episcopal), organized in 1855, has 10 professors, 38 students, and 149 alumni ; endowment, $40,- 000. In 1866 the number of students in the col- leges and professional schools of the state was 883 ; in 1867, 946 ; in 1868, 960 ; in 1869, 1,016 ; in 1870, 1,037; in 1871, 1,048. . Of the latter, 179 were inhabitants of Connecticut, and 69 Connecticut students in 1871 were in colleges of other states. There are public libraries in 64 towns, which receive state aid under the act of 1856 providing for state library appro- priations. The principal libraries of the state, exclusive of those connected with colleges, &c., number 13, and contain 66,280 volumes. Ac- cording to the census of 1870, the total num- ber of libraries was 63, having 285,937 vol- umes. These included the state library, with 12,000 volumes; 5 school, college, &c., with 142,000 volumes; 1 historical and scientific, with 14,000; and 56 circulating, with 117,937. The number of newspapers and periodicals was 71, with an aggregate circulation of 203,725 ; copies annually issued, 17,454,740. Of these there were 16 daily, circulation 35,730; 1 semi- weekly, circulation 800; 43 weekly, circula- tion 107,395 ; 2 semi-monthly, circulation 900; 7 monthly, circulation 56,400; 1 bi-monthly, circulation 1,150; and 1 quarterly, circulation 1,350. In 1870 the state contained 826 reli- gious organizations, having 902 edifices, with 338,735 sittings, and property valued at $13,- 428,109. The statistics were as follows: DENOMINATIONS. 1 111 5 4 200 189 2 5 4 184 8 1 7 1 1 44 7 1 2 1 14 115 5 3<>0 "I 3 3 18S 1 io 2 1 24 7 1 i i IB I ! Baptist, regular . . . 44,075 1,075 750 188,175 50.962 350 1,850 1,240 63,975 85 3,875 1,300 250 26,418 1,380 300 600 225 6,850 $1,366,800 12,100 6,500 4,728,700 3,275,534 1,500 105,000 23,500 1,834,025 1,850 195,366 100,000 6,000 1,429,500 8,700 5,500 13,500 6,000 809,100 " other Christian Congregational. Episcopal, Protestant Friends'. . Jewish Lutheran Methodist Miscellaneous New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) Presbyterian, regular. Reformed Church in America (late Dutch Reformed) Reformed Church in the United States (late German Reformed) Roman Catholic. . Second Advent. . . Shaker Spiritualist Tlnitarian. . Universalist The Connecticut river and the seacoast ad- jacent to its mouth were first explored by the Dutch from New Netherlands, who laid claim to the territory. The counter claim of the English was based upon the patent of Con- necticut granted in 1631 to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, Sir Eichard Saltonstall, and as- sociates, by the earl of Warwick, to whom with others the first patent of New England had been granted by James I. in 1620. In 1633 the Dutch made a settlement at Hartford, but in a few years sold out to the English. Early in 1636 permanent settlements were made at Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, by companies from Massachusetts, bearing a com- mission from the general court of that colony investing certain of their number with legis- lative and judicial power to govern the new plantation. The first court was held April 26, 1636, at Hartford. In the following year the three towns organized themselves into an independent government for self-protection against the Pequots, declared war against that tribe, and completely annihilated its power. In 1638 New Haven was settled by a distin- guished company of emigrants from England who had landed at Boston the preceding year. The peculiar feature of the civil polity adopted by them was that all civil power should be vested in members of the church. A constitu- tion for the government of the colony of Con- necticut was perfected and approved by a gen- eral vote of the people, Jan. 14, 1639; the first example in history of a written constitution organizing a government and defining its pow- ers. It formed the basis of the charter of 1662, and its leading features have been copied into the constitutions of the several states and of the United States. After stating that the word of God requires human governments, and that the object of such governments is to maintain and preserve the moral and civil wel- fare of the people, it makes provision for the three departments of government, the legisla- tive, judicial, and executive, which were all to be filled by persons to be appointed by and to derive their power from the people. The freemen (and all might be made freemen who had been admitted inhabitants by the towns themselves) were to meet annually in April,, at a court of elections, for the choice of so many magistrates and other public officers as should be found requisite, one of whom was to be designated as governor. All elections were by ballot. The governor was voted for first, and elected by a plurality vote ; then the ma- gistrates, subsequently called assistants, were voted for in a similar manner. The governor, or executive, sat with the magistrates in their judicial capacity, and both the governor and magistrates sat with the deputies elected by the several towns in a legislative capacity. As the deputies constituted a majority of the general assembly, the legislative power was substan- tially in the hands of the people, while the gov- ernor and magistrates could advise as to neces-