11. Men stealers shall suffer death. (Re-enacted in 1665.) 12. Whoever sets a fire in the woods and it burnes a house, shall suffer death; and persons suspected of this crime shall be imprisoned without benefit of bail.

13. Adultery shall be punished with death. (Re-enacted in 1665.)

14. The Judge shall determine controversies without a Jury.

15. * No one shall be a freeman or give a vote unless he be converted, and a member in full communion of one of the churches allowed in this Dominion.

16. No man shall hold any office, who is not sound in the faith, and faithful to his Dominion; and whoever gives a vote to such a person, shall pay a fine of £1; for a second offence, he shall be disfranchised.

17. Each Freeman shall swear by the blessed God, to bear true allegiance to this Dominion, and that Jesus Christ is the only King. (Before 1656.)

18. No Quaker or dissenter from the established worship of this Dominion, shall be allowed to give a vote for the election of Magistrates or any officer.

19. No food or lodging shall be afforded to a Quaker, Adamite, or other Heretic.

20. No one to cross a river, but with an authorized ferryman. (Barber.)

21. No one shall run on the sabbath day, or walk in his garden, or elsewhere, except reverently to and from meeting. (Barber.)

22. No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep house, cut hair or shave, on the sabbath day. (Barber.)

23. No woman shall kiss her child on the sabbath or fasting day. (Barber.)

24. The sabbath shall begin at sun set on saturday.

✦ This law was never enacted or in force in the Conn. Colony.

25. To pick an ear of corn growing in a neighbours garden, shall be deemed theft.

26. A person accused of trespass in the night shall be judged guilty, unless he clear himself by his oath.

27. When it appears that an accused has confederates, and he refuses to discover them, he may be racked.

23. No one shall buy or sell lands without permission of the selectmen.

29. A drunkard shall have a master appointed by the selectmen, who are to debar him from the liberty of buying and selling.

30. Whoever publishes a lie to the prejudice of his neighbor, shall sit in the stocks, or be whipped fifteen stripes. (Various acts upon this subject.)

31. No minister shall keep a school. (Barber.)

32. Every rateable person, who refuses to pay his proportion to the support of the minister of the town or Parish, shall be fined by the Court £2, and £4 every quarter, until he or she pay the rate to the minister. (Other acts to enforce collection of parochial taxes.)

or

33. Whoever wears clothes trimmed with gold, silver, bone lace, above two shillings by the yard, shall be presented by the grand jurors, and the selectmen shall tax the offender at £300 estate. (Several acts governing the attire of the subjects.)

34. A debtor in prison, swearing he has no estate, shall be let out and sold to make satisfaction. (Altered in 1656.) 35. Whoever brings cards or dice into this dominion, shall pay a fine of £5. (Barber.)

36. No one shall read common prayer, keep Chrismas, or Saints days, make minced pies, dance, play cards, or play on any instrument of music, except the drum, trumpet and jews harp. (Barber.)

37. No Gospel minister shall join people in marriage.

The magistrates only shall join in marriage, as they may do it with less scandal to Christs Church.* (Barber.)

38. When Parents refuse their children convenient marriages, the magistrates shall determine the point. Re-enacted with alterations.

39. The Selectmen finding children ignorant, may take them from their Parents and place them in better hands, at the expense of their parents. Record.

40. Fornication shall be punished by compelling marriage, or as the Court may think proper.

Record. 41. A wife shall be deemed good evidence against her husband.

42. Married persons must live together, or be imprisoned. 43. No man shall court a maid in person or by letter, without first obtaining consent of her parents; £5 penalty for the first offence; £10 for the second; and for the third, imprisonment during the pleasure of the Court.

44. Every male shall have his hair cut round according to a cap. † (Barber and Peters.)

45. A man that strikes his wife shall be fined £10. A woman that strikes her husband, shall be punished at the Courts discretion.

It is said by Peters in his History of Connecticut, that these Laws were the Laws made by the people of New Haven, previous to their incorporation with Saybrook and Hartford Colonies, and as he says, was verry properly term

*October, 1694.-This court doe for the satisfaction of such as are conscienciously desireous to be marryed by the ministers of their plantations, doe grant the ordyned ministers of the severall plantations in this colony, liberty to joyne in marriage such persons as are qualified for the same according to law.

† A cap to go round the head was used, drawn close to the head, and the hair then cut by the cap. A pumpkin severed in the middle and placed on the head was often used as a substitute for the cap in the season of them, as tradition says. The Levitical Laws forbid cutting the hair, or rounding the head.

ed blue Laws, ie. bloody Laws, for says he, they were all sanctified with ex-communication, confiscation, fines, banishment, whipping, cutting off the ears, burning the tongue, and death. He farther adds, that this code of Laws, denominated Blue Laws, by the neighboring Colonies, were never suffered to be printed. This is about all the evidence extant, that these were a part of the Blue Laws, or that a code of Blue Laws ever existed, and which, I confess, from the general character of his history of Connecticut, I do not very much rely upon it for its correctness. Barber has also a part of the same Laws in his late History of Connecticut, who, I conclude, has little or no better evidence to prove them the Blue Laws of Connecticut than his dependence upon Peters for the fact. As Peters wrote his history after Gov. Eaton's code of Laws, and as many of the blue laws published by him, are similar to those in several instances formed or compiled by Eaton, and as there is no record of many of those Laws published by Peters, I have been jealous at least, that those which are similar to Eaton's Laws, were taken by Peters from Eaton's code, and then added some disgraceful laws, to stigmatize the inhabitants of the Colony, which appears to have been his object throughout his whole history. But still, I have treated the laws published above, as being of a more ancient date than the code by Eaton, and yet I give little credit to them except where they agree with the Laws of Eaton, or the Colony Record,

BLUE LAWS OF N. HAVEN COLONY.

The following ancient Laws of the N. Haven Colony, are the Laws to which I referred in the Preface of this work, (as the Blue Laws, if such laws were ever extant in either of the Colonies.) They are a brief compilation of Gov. Eaton's Code.

1. If any woman change the natural use into that which is against nature, (as Rom. 1; 26,) she shall be put to death. Jude 7. (1656.)

2. O****** shall be punished with death if the case considered with the aggravating circumstances, shall according to the mind of God revealed in his word, require it. Gen. 38; 9. (1656.)

3. If any man married or single, commit Adultery with a marryed or espoused wife, the Adulterer and Adulteress shall surely be put to death. Lev. 18; 20. Lev. 20; 10. Deut. 23; 24. (Re-enacted 1656.)

4. If any person steale a man, or mankind, that person shall surely be put to death. Exod. 21; 16. (Re-enacted 1655.)

5. If any person conspire and attempt any invasion against this jurisdiction, he shall be put to death. Num. 16; 2. Rom. 32. Sam. 18; 2. Sam. 20. (Re-enacted 1656.)

6. If any person knowing of such conspiracy, shall conceal it 24 hours, he shall be put to death. (1656.)

7. If any child above 16 years old, shall curse, or smite his, her, or their parents, such child or children, shall be put to death. Exod. 21; 17. Levit. 20; 9. Exod. 21; 15; unless it be proved that the Parents have been verry unchristianly negligent in the education of such child, &c. (Eaton.)

If any man rauish a maid or single woman, above the age of ten years, and commit the crime by force, he shall be severely and grievously punished as the Court of Magistrates shall determine. (1656.)

9. If any person commit Burglary, or rob any person, he shall be branded on the right hand with the Letter Bfor 2nd offence, shall be branded on his left hand, and whipt, and for the third offence, he shall be put to death. Judg. 18:7.

10. If any person shall commit Burglary, or rob on the Lord's day, he shall be burned and whipt, and for a second offence, he shall be burnt on his left hand, whipt, stand on the Pillory, and wear a halter in the day time, visibly about