Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/599

 CUTLER 595 strained by a timely vision to join the frater- nity. In 664 he was chosen prior of Melrose, and some years later was transferred to the charge of the monastery of Lindisfarne, or the "Holy island," a few miles S. of Berwick. His fondness for austerity of life was not satis- fied by the comparative ease of this large es- tablishment, and after a few years he retired to the isle of Fame. It was barren, without wood or water ; but the industry of the her- mit opened springs and covered the ground with fields of grain. The fame of his holiness brought many visitors, among them Elfleda, daughter of the Northumbrian king Oswy, with whom he usually conversed through a window. For more effectual isolation he dug a trench around his cabin. But in 684, yield- ing to the prayers of King Egfrid and the Northumbrians, he accepted the bishopric of Hexhatn, which he soon exchanged for that of Lindisfarne, and at the end of two years re- signed his episcopal office, and retired to end his life in his hut in the isle of Fame. When the Danes came, the monks of Lindisfarne bore his relics with them in their flight from place to place, until they found a final resting place for them on the banks of the Wear; and around his shrine, a convent, cathedral, and city arose, called Dunholme (Durham). The legends and relics of St. Cuthbert remained for ages the chief treasure of Durham cathedral. He received the name of the " Thaumaturgus of Britain." No intercession was deemed so powerful by the peasantry of the north of England, and pilgrimages were made to his shrine. His body, which according to Bede had been found incorrupt 11 years after its burial, continued for ages to enjoy that mirac- ulous fame. His coffin was opened in 1827, and the skeleton found enveloped in five silken robes. The Roman Catholic church celebrates on Sept. 4 the festival of the translation of St. Cuthbert's relics from Lindisfarne to Durham ; in some parts of Northumberland the day is still observed. St. Cuthbert of Durham is to be distinguished from Cuthbert the Benedic- tine monk, who was a pupil of Bede, attended him in his last hours, and wrote a memoir of his life. Another Cuthbert was archbishop of Canterbury for 18 years from 740 to 758. CUTLER. I. Manasseh, an American clergy- man, born at Killingly, Conn., May 3, 1742, died at Hamilton, Mass., July 28, 1823. He graduated at Yale college in 1765, engaged in the whaling business, and opened a store at Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard. While thus employed he studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts in 1767. But this profession was not congenial, and he deter- mined to study theology. He removed to Ded- ham, was licensed in 1770, and preached six months as a candidate at the Hamlet parish, then a part of Ipswich, but which was incor- porated as the town of Hamilton in 1793. Over this parish he was ordained, Sept. 11, 1771. On the breaking out of the revolution he espoused the cause of the colonies with great vigor, and in September, 1776, received a commission as chaplain. Toward the close of the revolution, as the physician of the Ham- let parish was employed in the army, Mr. Cutler studied medicine, and for several years administered to the bodily as well as spiritual maladies of his flock, for the former services receiving little or no compensation ; yet not- withstanding these arduous labors, he soon be- came noted for his scientific tastes and attain- ments. In 1781 he was elected a member of the American academy, and in the volume of memoirs published by that society in 1785 are papers from his pen bearing the following titles: "On the Transit of Mercury over the Sun, Nov. 12, 1782;" "On the Eclipse of the Moon, March 29, 1782, and of the Sun in the following April;" "Meteorological Observa- tions, 1781, '82, '83;" "An Account of some of the Vegetable Productions naturally grow- ing in this part of America ;" and in the third volume of the memoirs appeared " Remarks on a Vegetable and Animal Insect." His botan- ical paper was the first attempt at a scientific description of the plants of New England. He examined and described according to the Lin- nsean system 350 species of plants found in his neighborhood. In 1784 he with six others as- cended the White mountains ; this party are said to have been the first white men who ever reached the summit. With Dr. Peck's assist- ance he prepared the chapter on trees and plants in Belknap's "History of New Hamp- shire." In 1786 he became a member of the Ohio company, founded by officers of the army for the purpose of having their bounty lands located together ; and he and Major Winthrop Sergeant visited the seat of government, and made a contract for 1,000,000 acres of land N. W. of the Ohio river, obtaining also a grant of 500,000 acres more, as an allowance for bad lands and incidental charges. By order of the directors Cutler on his return immediately pre- pared to fit out an expedition. He had a large wagon built and covered with black canvas, on which were painted in white letters the words " Ohio, for Marietta on the Muskingum." The circumstances under which it left New England and reached that then uncultivated wilderness have placed this exploring wagon historically by the side of the Mayflower. Forty-five men were engaged to accompany it, and to help to settle and defend the new country for three years. They started from Cutler's house in December, 1787; and their number having been increased to 60, they commenced the settlement of Ma- rietta, April 7, 1788, under Gen. Rufus Put- nam. Cutlqr started in a sulky for Ohio, which he reached in 29 days by a route of 750 miles. He examined the fortifications and mounds in the neighborhood, which he considered were the work of a nation more civilized and power- ful than any existing tribe of Indians. After remaining a short time at Marietta, he returned to New England. In 1795 Washington tendered