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Postgraduate Orthopaedics:
Viva Guide for the FRCS
(Tr & Orth) Examination
Postgraduate Orthopaedics:
Viva Guide for the FRCS
(Tr & Orth) Examination

Edited by
Paul A. Banaszkiewicz FRCS (Glas) FRCS (Ed) FRCS (Eng)
FRCS (Tr & Orth) MClinEd FAcadMed
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Queen Elizabeth Hospital and North East NHS Surgical Centre (NENSC)
Gateshead, UK

Associate Editor

Deiary F. Kader MBChB FRCS (Ed) FRCS (Glas)

FRCS (Tr & Orth) MFSEM (UK)
Visiting Professor in Sport and Exercise Sciences
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Queen Elizabeth Hospital and North East NHS Surgical Centre (NENSC)
Gateshead, UK
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town,
Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK

Published in the United States of America

by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107627369

© Cambridge University Press 2012

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2012

Printed and Bound in the United Kingdom by the MPG Books group

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British

Library

ISBN 978-1-107-62736-9 Paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Every effort has been made in preparing this book to provide

accurate and up-to-date information which is in accord with
accepted standards and practice at the time of publication. Although
case histories are drawn from actual cases, every effort has been made
to disguise the identities of the individuals involved. Nevertheless,
the authors, editors and publishers can make no warranties that the
information contained herein is totally free from error, not least because
clinical standards are constantly changing through research and
regulation. The authors, editors and publishers therefore disclaim all
liability for direct or consequential damages resulting from the use of
material contained in this book. Readers are strongly advised to pay
careful attention to information provided by the manufacturer of any
drugs or equipment that they plan to use.
Contents
List of contributors vi
Foreword viii
Preface ix

Section 1 – The FRCS (Tr & Orth) Oral Section 4 – Hand and Upper Limb/
Examination Children’s Orthopaedics
1 General guidance for the FRCS (Tr & Orth) 1 11 Hand and upper limb 149
Tom Symes and Paul A. Banaszkiewicz John Harrison and Santosh Venkatachalam
12 Children’s orthopaedics 159

Section 2 – Adult Elective Orthopaedics Sattar Alshryda and Akinwande Adedapo

and Spine Section 5 – Applied Basic Science

2 Hip structured oral questions 13
13 Anatomy and surgical approaches 201
Paul A. Banaszkiewicz and Rahul Kakkar
Tom Symes
3 Knee structured oral questions 43
14 Pathology 208
Michael Maru and Deiary F. Kader
Sunit Patil
4 Foot and ankle structured oral
questions 55 15 Biomaterials and biomechanics 223
N. Jane Madeley and Neil Forrest Iain McNamara and Andrew P. Sprowson

5 Spine structured oral questions 69 16 Tissues of the musculoskeletal system 231

Alexander D. L. Baker Andrew P. Sprowson and Iain McNamara

6 Shoulder and elbow structured oral 17 Evidence-based practice 241

questions 86 Sattar Alshryda and James Mason
Asir Aster 18 Imaging and investigative techniques 257
7 Orthopaedic oncology 100 Rajesh Kakwani and Mike Newby
Thomas B. Beckingsale
Section 6 – Diagrams for the FRCS
Section 3 – Trauma (Tr & Orth)
8 Lower limb trauma 111 19 Diagrams for the FRCS (Tr & Orth) 267
Mohammed Al-Maiyah and Ali S. Bajwa Asir Aster and Muthu Jeyam
9 Upper limb trauma 126 Illustrations for Viva 277
Gunasekaran Kumar Asir Aster and Muthu Jeyam
10 Pelvic and spinal trauma 135
Gunasekaran Kumar and Sherief Elsayed
Index 281
The colour plate section is found between
pages 150 and 151.
v
 Contributors

Mr Akinwande Adedapo MBBS FRCS (Eng) Mr Neil Forrest MRCS FRCS (Tr & Orth)
FRCS (Glas) Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen, UK
James Cook University Hospital,
Middlesborough, UK Mr John Harrison MSc FRCS (Ed) FRCS (Tr & Orth)
MFSEM (UK)
Mr Mohammed Al-Maiyah MBChB FICMS Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK
FRCS Msc Orthop FRCS (Tr & Orth)
James Cook University Hospital, Mr Muthu Jeyam MBBS FRCS M.Phil
Middlesborough, UK FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Hope Hospital, Salford, UK
Mr Sattar Alshryda MRCS FRCS (Tr & Orth)
MSc PhD Mr Deiary F. Kader MBChB FRCS (Ed) FRCSGlas
Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK FRCS (Tr & Orth) MFSEM (UK)
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK
Mr Asir Aster MBBS FRCS (Surg) MSc (Ortho Eng)
FRCS (Tr & Orth) Mr Rahul Kakkar MBBS MRCS MS (Orth)
Hope Hospital, Salford Royal NHS Foundation FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Trust, UK Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK
Mr Ali S. Bajwa MBBS MRCS (Ed) MSc Orth Mr Rajesh Kakwani MS (Orth) MRCS MCh (Orth)
MPhil (Cantab) DSEM (UK) MFSEM UK Dip SEM FRCS (Orth)
FRCS (Tr & Orth) Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK
James Cook University Hospital,
Middlesbrough & Friarage Hospital Mr Gunasekaran Kumar FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Northallerton, UK Royal Liverpool University Hospital,
Liverpool, UK
Mr Alexander D. L. Baker FRCS BSc MBChB MRCS
MSc FRCS (Tr & Orth) Mr Iain McNamara MA (Cantab) BM BCh (Oxon)
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, MRCP FRCS (Tr & Orth) MD
Royal Preston Hospital, UK Orthopaedic Research Unit,
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Mr Paul A. Banaszkiewicz FRCS (Glas) FRCS (Ed)
FRCS (Eng) FRCS (Tr & Orth) MClinEd FAcadMed Miss N. Jane Madeley FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, UK
Mr Thomas B. Beckingsale FRCS (Tr & Orth) Mr Michael Maru MBChB MRCS MSc
Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Glasgow, UK
Mr Sherief Elsayed MB BCh MRCS (Eng) FRCS
(Tr & Orth) Professor James Mason DPhil MSc BSc (Hons)
Centre for Spinal Studies & Surgery, Director of Research, School of Medicine and Health
Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK Durham University, UK

vi
 List of contributors

Mr Mike Newby FRCR Mr Tom Symes MBChB MSc FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, UK
Mr Sunit Patil MSc FRCS (Tr & Orth) Mr Santosh Venkatachalam MBBS MS (Orth)
Specialist Registrar, Northern Deanery, Newcastle DNB (Orth) MRCS (Ed) FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Upon Tyne, UK Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, UK
Mr Andrew P. Sprowson MD FRCS (Tr & Orth)
Clinical Sciences Research Institute, Coventry, UK

vii
 Foreword

Exam success depends as much upon technique as it I also like the first chapter that attempts to remove
does upon knowledge. In this respect Postgraduate much of the mystique from the viva process and helps
Orthopaedics: Viva Guide for the FRCS (Tr & Orth) candidates to benchmark just what is expected of
Examination is a logical and, no doubt will become, a them to pass this examination.
most welcome addition to the highly successful text, I only wish that texts like this had been available in
Postgraduate Orthopaedics. Its strength relies on the my day since so many of us struggled to come to
first-hand experience of surgeons who have recently terms with what the exam was all about and made
sat and successfully passed the FRCS (Tr & Orth) exam- the mistake of thinking that pure knowledge of ortho-
ination. Each chapter has a totally different feel, in part paedics was the key to success: if only!
due to the topics covered, but more importantly to the
style with which each of the viva scenarios has been Professor Alan J. Johnstone
written. This eclectic approach keeps the text refreshing Orthopaedic Trauma Unit
and also reflects the personal experiences of candidates Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
undergoing the stress of this examination; sentiments Aberdeen, UK
that a heavily edited text would have lost.

viii
Preface

This book has been written specifically to guide We have tried to pitch the oral dialogue at the
candidates better through the FRCS (Trauma and standard of a good to outstanding pass believing that
Orthopaedic) viva exam or structured oral examin- more is better than less. By way of comparison we
ation, as the Intercollegiate Specialty Board (ISB) occasionally include a poor substandard answer from
prefers to call it. a candidate. More often you learn more from the viva
The oral exam is regarded by many as a poor answers that go wrong than from questions that don’t
relative of the clinicals; the intermediate and short challenge you.
cases being the most difficult part of the exam to pass Each chapter has a slightly different style reflecting
and the section most candidates tend to fail. differing authors’ focus and opinions regarding the
Despite this the oral part of the exam should not keys for success in the examination. We think this
be underestimated. The often-heard mutterings that makes the book more interesting and believe this
the orals are fairly straightforward to pass can lull approach is more challenging as it forces you to think
candidates into a false sense of security. a bit more for yourself and will help you to define and
Candidates with good core knowledge may still refine your viva tactics.
end up failing one or more oral sections if technique For better or worse we have continued to use
is poor. examiner/candidates discussion in the oral sections.
The book takes the form of the major four oral Even more so with the viva, it is the back-and–forth
sections of the examination, namely adult elective dialogue between examiner and candidate that candidates
orthopaedics, trauma, hand and upper limb/children’s need to focus on.
orthopaedics and applied basic science. There is an Finally we wish you well in the examination and
introduction section on general guidance and a chapter hope that this book will provide you with invaluable
dealing with common diagrams that you may be asked tactics and tips for success in the oral section of the
to draw out in the examinations. FRCS (Tr & Orth) exam.

ix
 Section 1 The FRCS (Tr & Orth) Oral Examination
Chapter
General guidance for the FRCS (Tr & Orth)

1 Tom Symes and Paul A. Banaszkiewicz

The FRCS (Tr & Orth) exam sets out to provide an Remember that advice is always a personal issue
assessment of the knowledge and skills and the ability for each individual candidate and what works best for
to use these to the required standards of a consultant you may not necessarily work well for the candidate
orthopaedic surgeon working in the National Health sitting next to you.
Service in the UK. It is a significant career hurdle to Be a bit sceptical and question in your own mind
pass and involves an intensive 6–12-month period of the value of any guidance that you might receive. It
study during which time everyday life and activities could be completely wrong or include tactics and
increasingly assume secondary importance to passing plans you have tried before which just don’t work
‘the exam’. for you. Work out in detail your own individual viva
The viva exam or ‘structured oral examination’ as tactics, before exam day, and stick to this strategy.
the Intercollegiate Specialty Board (ISB) prefers to call During the exam only change your game plan if it is
it is an important component of this exam. Whilst absolutely crystal clear you have adopted the wrong
most candidates are more fearful of the clinical com- exam approach but this shouldn’t be the case if you
ponent, the oral section is never as clear-cut or have done your homework correctly!
straightforward as some examiners (or consultant The FRCS (Tr & Orth) examination is the final
non-examiners) would have us believe. hurdle at the end of higher surgical training. It usually
This general introduction provides an overview of enables the successful candidate to apply for his or her
how to improve your score and pass the oral exam Certificate of Completion of Training and therefore a
with flying colours. consultant post. In turn it leads to largely unsuper-
Careful tactical planning is required beforehand as vised surgical practice.
on the days of the exam it is usually too late to alter The FRCS is split into two sections, with part 1
your game plan and poorly thought-out tactics may comprising the written exam and part 2 the clinicals.
lead to your downfall. Part 2 in turn is divided into clinical cases and the
We have avoided the temptation of solely focusing structured oral interviews or vivas. Half of the marks
on what successful candidates believe are the import- for the part 2 section are allocated in the clinical cases
ant tips and tricks that will get you through the oral and half in the vivas.
exams. We have additionally looked at the exam pro- The examiners are not looking for a narrow
cess itself and what it sets out to test. The logic is that inflexible candidate but rather a safe surgeon with
if you understand how and why the exam acts as an broad knowledge and sound basic principles that
assessment tool you will increase your chances of they would trust as a consultant colleague. It is with
success. this standard in mind that the viva should be
At most revision exam courses current or past approached.
examiners and recently successful candidates give a The viva examination is a test not only of know-
5–10-minute talk on the key features needed to pass ledge but of the ability to convey the required infor-
the exam. Most advice is fairly reasonable but opin- mation to the examiners in a confident and coherent
ions and views may occasionally be counterproduc- way that persuades them you are a safe orthopaedic
tive and best ignored. surgeon.

Postgraduate Orthopaedics: Viva Guide for the FRCS (Tr & Orth) Examination, ed. Paul A. Banaszkiewicz and
Deiary F. Kader. Published by Cambridge University Press. © Cambridge University Press 2012.

1
 Section 1: The FRCS (Tr & Orth) Oral Examination

All the basic knowledge required for the orals 2. Practise with colleagues
should have been acquired in preparation for the Rehearsing your viva technique with colleagues who
Part 1 exam. This does not mean, however, that are also taking the exam is an excellent way of build-
you can relax and assume that you can give a good ing confidence. Try to simulate the exam scenario by
verbal answer based on this knowledge. We have all sticking to one topic and making the questions get
been in trauma meetings when, put on the spot by a harder and harder. Revising with colleagues of a simi-
consultant, we have seen colleagues clam up and lar ability is great but be careful one ‘hotshot’ doesn’t
deliver a rushed, illogical answer when the trainee try to dominate the group and render the exercise
knows the answer but cannot present his or her futile by answering all the questions. It is less about
thoughts clearly. knowing all the answers, rather more being able to
The focus for preparation should therefore be on think on your feet, applying basic principles to
practising technique and formulating logical answers questions and constructing logical and if possible
to any possible questions. Quite a task! evidence-based answers. Remember it’s an exam
about common sense and making sensible decisions.
If you come out with something outrageous and can’t
How to improve your viva technique back it up, you will fail.
Before the exam
1. Know your stuff 3. Practise with an examiner
In general your knowledge needs to be broad and If there is an examiner in your region who is happy to
basic rather than narrow and very detailed so that conduct a practise viva then jump at the chance. He or
you can talk about anything on the curriculum. she knows the structure and standard of the exam and
Having said this, drawing up a list of important this will give you an idea of the level you have to
topics in each section of the viva is a good idea so you achieve.
can focus your viva practice. It is relatively easy to
predict what topics will come up in the viva (but be
prepared for the odd surprise!). For example, in the 4. Practise with your trainer
paediatric viva you are likely to be asked about devel- You spend a lot of time with your trainer, so ask him
opmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), slipped upper or her to grill you in theatre, in trauma meetings and
femoral epiphysis (SUFE), clubfoot, septic arthritis of in clinic, and use opportunities running up to the
hip and Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease (LCPD). For the exam to get used to answering questions on a wide
trauma viva you must know hip fractures, ankle frac- range of topics. Consultants are busy and don’t always
tures and wrist fractures very well but basic principles seem to have time for formal teaching but there are
of fracture management will also be tested. In the usually a few minutes between cases in theatre for a
basic science viva surgical approaches are often asked short session.
and knowledge of the structure of cartilage, bone,
meniscus and tendon is essential.
There are a number of drawings and diagrams 5. Practise with your partner, dog, mirror. Practise,
that you can be asked to reproduce. You may be asked practise, practise!
to draw the brachial plexus or a stress–strain curve You don’t always have colleagues taking the exam at
and label it – if practised these are easy, but they are the same time or an understanding boss but you can
also easy to make mistakes with if you are not familiar give your partner some prompts and then practise
with them. talking orthopaedics. The dog may have more
There are a number of websites with example viva patience than your long-suffering other half! Joking
questions. Don’t try to answer them all. It is better to aside, the more time you spend verbalising your
try to answer a few from each section well to practise answers the better you will get at giving a good
the technique of constructing a logical structured answer. Practice highlights mannerisms that you
answer. can try to avoid in the exam and provides an experi-
http://www.bota.org.uk/cms.php?id=137 ence that you can draw on when it comes to the real
http://frcsorthexam.co.uk/viva_topics.html thing.

2
 Chapter 1: General guidance for the FRCS (Tr & Orth)

6. Go on a course conducted by non-specialists, that is, a hand surgeon

There are an increasing number of exam/viva prepar- may ask you questions about adult elective ortho-
ation courses and these can give excellent viva prac- paedics and a hip surgeon may examine you on
tice. Many of the courses are very expensive and really paediatric orthopaedics. This is in an attempt to
not worth the money, but some provide you with a standardize the difficulty of the questions so that
real insight into the exam – ask your colleagues for specialists do not focus on the minutiae of their topic
recommendations. and lose the big picture.

7. Know what to expect Marking

Having knowledge about how the exam works and The scoring system is out of 8. A score of 6 is a pass, 7
how the vivas are divided up helps you prepare and is very good and 8 is excellent but difficult to achieve.
you will feel more confident when it comes to the real A 5 is a close fail and 4 a poor fail. If you score 5 on
thing. Ask colleagues who have recently taken the one table you can make it up on the others. The
exam what they were asked, the standard of question- marking system is described in detail later in this
ing, whether they were asked to reference studies etc. chapter.

On the day Question format

Before the exam The examiners often use objects in their questions.
The viva part of the exam takes place one or two days They may have a laptop with a photo of an implant, a
after the clinical cases. Half the candidates will be histology slide or even an anatomical dissection.
examined on one day and half on the second. The There may be laminated photos of X-rays or CT
time in between is stressful and difficult to spend scans. There may be orthopaedic hardware on the
productively as you mull over your performance in table to look at, such as a trauma implant. You must
the clinical cases. Try not to convince yourself you be able to explain how plates, screws and nails work.
have failed, as you probably haven’t and need a confi- The structure of the viva has changed from spot
dent performance in the vivas. diagnoses of pictures, X-rays and quick-fire questions
Often several different surgical specialties hold to a fairly predictable set of three or four main topics
exams on the same day so there will be lots of trainees from each examiner. This means the questions start
milling around. Listen for when you are to enter the (relatively) simple and become progressively more
examination hall. difficult until you will probably not be able to answer.
Before each viva you line up in groups of eight and If you cannot answer the first question, you are in
are then led into the hall where you sit at lines of trouble and the examiners can ask you a reserve
tables. question but this will probably result in you scoring
The viva is in four sections: a 4. If you answer 10 questions on the topic very well
Adult elective orthopaedics and spine and only get stuck on question number 11 you are
Trauma doing well and probably heading for a 7. The exam-
Paediatric orthopaedics and hand surgery iners will push you if you are doing well, usually until
the point where you either say you don’t know or
Applied basic sciences related to orthopaedics
guess. Examiners can usually detect guesswork so it is
You have 30 minutes for each oral. Some candidates generally better to admit defeat at this point and move
will have all four in close succession; others will have on to a new topic.
long gaps between them.
Listen to the question
In the examination hall Listen closely to the wording of the question.
There are two examiners per desk and sometimes a If you are asked about management of a patient,
third who is mainly assessing the examiners. One of start with history, examination, investigation and
the examiners will ask questions for 15 minutes and treatment. If the question is ‘What implant would
then they swap over. The oral interviews are you use?’ don’t talk about all the different options,

3
 Section 1: The FRCS (Tr & Orth) Oral Examination

state what you would do and back it up with reasons implant of choice. If you have time to read the last
and evidence. If you are asked ‘What would you do?’ few editions of JBJS then this may come in useful but
don’t say ‘My boss did this’, you must give an opinion concentrate on the high-quality studies.
and justify it. When answering the question don’t try Recently there has been a focus in the orthopaedic
to make up an answer if you really don’t know. The literature on national joint registries, and knowing
examiners will see through this and will know imme- the basics of how these are organized and the results
diately. Be honest, if you don’t know just admit it and (at least of the England and Wales registry) is a good
they will move on so you have a better chance. If you idea.
try and blag it you may become unstuck!
You may not understand the question and in this Viva voce and the new structured
scenario you are perfectly justified to ask the exam-
iner to repeat it. oral examination
The ISB makes a clear distinction between the trad-
itional viva voce and the new structured oral
Answering the question examination.
Before you answer the question take a few seconds to The viva voce was the traditional form of oral
compose yourself, mentally construct a checklist of exam, where one or more examiners fired random
the main points you want to make and then start questions at a candidate in a face-to-face interview
calmly with your answer. This avoids blurting out or discussion. Each candidate might receive a differ-
the first thing that comes into your head and gives ent exam with regard to the assessment content, item
the examiners the impression you are giving a con- difficulty and examiner leniency. The occasional
sidered response. If you do come out with something examiner could be quite unpleasant and demoraliz-
nonsensical, just admit that you said the wrong thing ing to candidates who were struggling with their
and correct it. performance. One or two senior examiners seemed
If you are confident on a topic keep talking, keep to take a perverse pleasure in asking impossible basic
to the question that was asked and show off! Avoid science questions and failing as many candidates as
going off on a tangent since you don’t score points for possible.
this. If you can direct the answer onto a topic you This has all changed with the introduction of
know well, try to do this. Once you have finished your blueprinting, structure and careful standard setting.
answer stop and keep quiet. Try to avoid the tempta- The current exam is a fair, consistent, valid and reli-
tion to add extras on the end of your answer, this able method of assessment.
sounds like you are waffling and can annoy the exam- The importance of probing the higher cognitive
iners. It can also bring you into an area you really processes of candidates has been emphasized by
didn’t want to talk about, which is bad. The examiners the ICB and sampling of the curriculum is more
may cut you off; it can happen whether you are doing robust.
well or not so don’t let this put you off. Just concen- An assessment blueprint confirms that the exam
trate on the next question. tests a representative sample of all the appropriate
Remember that the examiners are looking to pass curriculum outcomes and a representative sample of
the candidate that sounds like a safe, new consultant. all the curriculum content.
This means that you need to give sensible answers but The complex nature of assessment in high-stakes
not be a world expert on anything in particular. You exit exams, and the need for high validity and reliabil-
should approach the answer as if it is your first week ity, make the assessment blueprint an essential tool
as a consultant. for examination planning and ensure content validity
of the exam.
The latest education evidence is applied to assess-
Quoting references ment methods and continually updated to ensure best
We suggest trying to remember the main author, educational practice.
journal title and year of a few important papers, for Political correctness is better observed these days.
example long-term results of the joint replacement The examiners have to remind the candidate which
you use and joint registry survival data for your oral they are sitting in order to give them time to

4
 Chapter 1: General guidance for the FRCS (Tr & Orth)

settle and must be polite at all times. They are not process. This is used for feedback purposes for unsuc-
allowed to give much candidate feedback at all such as cessful candidates. Notes need to be objective, fair,
‘well done’ or ‘excellent’ and certainly no harassment balanced and informative and deal with what was
of candidates is ever allowed and will be stopped by actually said by candidates, rather than a vague sub-
the co-examiner. jective statement that may be difficult to defend if a
A good robust discussion is a grey area; it may failed candidate challenges the decision. Comments
quickly turn into a robust argument and is probably need to be factually correct, phrased in a professional
best avoided. manner and no comment should be made that the
Examiners are not testing a candidate’s ability to examiner would not be prepared to make to the
stand up to rapid quick-fire questions and excessive candidate in person.
probing. This was the norm in the late 1990s and The examiners independently assess the perform-
could bring out the best in a candidate – has political ance in each of the six questions. The two examiners
correctness gone too far these days? do not confer and as such any accusations that one
In truth these methods were old fashioned and examiner may exert undue pressure on the other
more often terrified and stressed candidates into per- during the marking process is avoided.
forming poorly. It is important not to be too discouraged or down-
hearted should an oral exam question go particularly
badly. You must leave it behind you, remain focused
Practicalities of the oral exam and hope that you can redeem the situation by
The viva or structured oral examination consists of answering the other oral exam questions well. The
four 30-minute orals: trauma, adult elective ortho- same sentiments apply if, say, the trauma or adult
paedics, children’s orthopaedics/hand and upper limb general orthopaedics oral goes poorly. Again, stay
and applied basic sciences. Each viva section lasts 30 focused and put things behind you as sometimes
minutes during which time you will be asked six you can lose all sense of perspective in gauging how
questions. well or otherwise you are performing. There are clas-
Examiners are encouraged to keep their own dis- sic stories of candidates thinking that they have badly
cussion to a minimum to allow candidates the max- failed an oral only to gain a good pass but then failing
imum opportunity to speak and score marks. the subsequent oral as they were too distracted with
Questions are set at the level of a newly appointed worries that followed them into the next oral exam.
consultant at day one in a District General Hospital. Today there is really no excuse for carrying forward
The questions consist of a default question, compe- negative sentiments from one oral into another. At
tency question and advanced question. the very worst, examiners are only allowed to give you
The FRCS (Tr & Orth) is a structured blueprinted neutral feedback even if you have performed
exam. The material on which candidates are to be extremely badly. At the beginning of the millennium
tested is made available to examiners on each morn- examiners frequently made very discouraging and
ing of the exams. negative comments during an oral exam if you were
Each oral exam is divided into two halves lasting performing poorly. Candidates were left in little
15 minutes each. One examiner asks three questions doubt that they were going to be failed in that section
of approximately 5 minutes ‘to read minutes’ dur- of the exam.
ation whilst the other examiner makes notes. At the
first bell (15 minutes) the examiners reverse roles and
a further three questions are asked. Marking system
Each pair of examiners will decide between them-
A closed marking system is used from 4 to 8 and this
selves which half of the oral exam (and three ques-
equates to the following:
tions) they are going to take with the exception of the
children’s orthopaedics/hand and upper limb section
4 – Poor fail.
in which an examiner is already allocated to each
5 – Fail.
specialty well in advance of the exams.1
6 – Pass.
The examiner who is not asking questions will be
7 – Good pass.
writing detailed notes, which inform the marking
8 – Exceptional pass.

5
 Section 1: The FRCS (Tr & Orth) Oral Examination

Examiners assess nine trainee characteristics during The same ATLS and/or radiograph talk with each oral
the standardized oral examination. viva question.
1. Personal qualities. Difficulty in prioritising, large gaps in knowledge,
2. Communication skills. poor deductive skills, patchy performance, struggled
3. Professionalism. to apply knowledge and judgement. Confused or dis-
4. Surgical experience. organized answer. Poor higher-order thinking.
6 – Satisfactory performance. Covered the basics
5. Organizational and logical, step-wise sequencing
well, safe and would be a sound consultant. No con-
of thought processes, ability to focus on the
cerns. Performance acceptable but not anything
answers quickly.
special or outstanding.
6. Clinical reasoning and decision making.
Good knowledge and judgement of common
7. Ability to handle stress.
problems. Important points mentioned, no major
8. Ability to deal with grey areas in practice and errors and requires only minor prompting.
complex issues. 7 – Good performance. Would make a good con-
9. Ability to justify an answer with evidence from the sultant. Articulate and to the point. Able to quote
literature. papers, knows various guidelines and publications.
This list has been simplified into three domains. Coped well with difficult topics/problems. Goes
beyond the competency questions. Logical answers.
Overall professional capability/patient care Strong interpretation/judgement but wasn’t able to

Personal qualities, professionalism and ethics, quote or use the literature effectively. Good support-
surgical experience, ability to deal with grey areas. ing reasons for answers.
No prompting needed for answers but prompting
Knowledge and judgement required for the literature.
8 – Potential gold medal or prize-winning per-

Knowledge, ability to justify, clinical reasoning.
formance. Smooth, articulate and polished. Able to
Quality of response succinctly discuss controversial orthopaedic issues in
a sensible way. Excellent command of the literature.

Communication skills, organization and logical
Switched on and makes the examiners feel very
thought process. Assess questions, answers and
reassured. Looks and talks the part.
prompting (QAP).
Stretches the examiners, no prompting necessary.
Confident, clear, logical and focused answers.
Marking in detail The marking system should allow exceptional can-
4 – Unsafe and potentially dangerous. A very poor didates to be identified and should in theory allow
answer. Gross basic mistakes and poor knowledge. feedback to be given to unsuccessful candidates.
Should not be sitting the exam. The examiners have The two examiners give separate independent
severe reservations about the candidate’s performance marks without conferring with each other.
and are essentially flagging this up. Too ignorant of The marking system may be reviewed in the
the fundamentals of orthopaedic practice to pass. future and one suggestion is to reduce the choice to
Difficult to salvage even if other marks are 7 or 8, poor fail, fail and pass in an attempt to reduce poten-
which is probably unlikely if the candidate is scoring a tial bias and variability. Any change to the marking
4 in the first instance. system will throw up a number of conflicting issues
Did not get beyond the default questions, fails in and opinions and may not necessarily improve on the
all/most competencies. Poor basic knowledge/judge- current method.
ment/understanding to a level of concern. Within a 2-hour period (120 minutes) eight exam-
5 – Some hesitancy and indecisiveness. The iners can independently assess each trainee on a total
answer is really not good enough with too many of 24 topics. This generates 48 test scores, which
deficiencies. Too many basic errors and not getting should provide a reliable and valid measure of a candi-
to the nub of the issue. Wandering off at tangents and date’s ability in terms of the educational domains
not staying focused on the question. Misinterpreting being assessed, namely professionalism/patient care,
the question, wrong examination advice for tactics. knowledge and judgement and quality of response.

6
 Chapter 1: General guidance for the FRCS (Tr & Orth)

Viva tactics wisdom suggests it may convey the subliminal

impression that you are unprofessional and may
It very rapidly becomes apparent to the examiners how
affect your overall mark.
well a candidate has prepared for the structured oral
You should wear something conventional, smart
examination. Usually within the first two minutes or so
and comfortable that you have worn before. Dressing
a score is formulated and tends to stay constant. It is
formally focuses the mind for the task ahead. If you are
unusual for a candidate to significantly change their
neat and tidy in appearance, perhaps your thoughts
performance throughout the remainder of the oral viva.
will be well ordered too. Forget loud or novelty ties. In
The viva should start easy and progress depending
the end you are not in the exam to score fashion points
on how a candidate performs. The questions are never
or use it to make a visible statement on your value
asked to trick a candidate. An examiner’s perform-
system – you just want to pass the exam.
ance is constantly scrutinized and any erratic or
Examiners are also aware that the stress of the
unduly harsh or lenient marking is flagged up and
examination may make candidates do strange things.
fed back to the examiners.
The examiners will make every effort to put you at
Unless a candidate is doing exceptionally well they
ease and relax you. The occasional grimace or bizarre
will not be asked difficult or obscure questions.
facial expression will be pardoned. However we
A candidate who is performing poorly is never put
remain unconvinced that you would pass the exam
through this ordeal.
if you repeatedly behave in an odd or weird manner.

If you don’t know an answer to a question say so
and the examiners can move on to a different
question. Easier said than done if the question is at Winding up the examiners
the beginning of a topic and is straightforward. Forget it as it is not worth the effort and you are at a
Not knowing the answer is going to go down like a significant disadvantage in terms of outcome.
lead balloon with the examiners. With only three
Don’t ask me that question.
topics per examiner in the oral you can’t afford to
I’ll probably know the answer when you tell me it.
stall at the first hurdle with a topic and have
Do not say ‘in my experience’. It is highly likely
nothing to say. If this scenario could occur it is that your experience is minimal.
perhaps wiser to delay sitting the exam to the next
What I think you are trying to ask me is . . .
scheduled set of exams.

Can I interest you in the complications of elbow

If you wish to clarify a question then do so. Don’t replacements?
however keep clarifying every single question with

Just get on with it.
the examiners, as this will annoy them immensely.

No thank you, stop interrupting me, I wish to

If you are challenged about an answer take the hint finish my answer.
you may be wrong even if you think you are right.

I am having a bad day I don’t like oral exams.
That said, some examiners suggest standing your

I think you have got a bit mixed up with the answer.
ground if you are convinced you are correct. The
decision depends very much on the context of the
That’s not right, you are wrong.
question and how well you are doing and what sort
I don’t think we are on the same wavelength.
of rapport you have developed with the examiners.
I think we have a problem with communication.
If you are the ‘irritating I know everything Examiners are advised not to respond to inappropri-
candidate type’ then perhaps better not to argue. ate behaviour by the candidate. However they can

Try to quote papers if you are able to as this will only be tolerant and open minded up to a point and
impress the examiners and boost your marks. the overall impression you are creating will not be
reassuring.
Appearance and affect
Does it matter if you dress unconventionally, in poor Examiner conduct
taste or even unkempt and scruffily? It shouldn’t Each examiner is encouraged to be polite and put
matter and most examiners would deny it would candidates at ease. They are not allowed to examine
influence their marking. However, conventional a candidate that they know on a personal basis or if

7
 Section 1: The FRCS (Tr & Orth) Oral Examination

the candidate has worked for them in the recent past. examiners would definitely want to avoid the poten-
Examiners are reminded that excessive stress is tial embarrassment of a candidate being more
unpleasant and damages a potentially good candi- informed on a topic than they are.
date’s performance. All candidates are treated the It is better not to argue with the examiners but if
same and the mark is based on performance only your answer reflects current thinking on a subject and
and not behaviour. is at odds with the examiner explain the evidence and
up-to-date thinking. You may get the sense that the
examiner is unhappy with your answer mainly
Oral exam questions because it does not match with what is written on
On average you will spend 5 minutes on each oral the sheet so have the confidence to explain the new
viva topic. Should a question have a somewhat limited thinking. Offer your considered reasoning of the issue
scope or your knowledge is poor you will spend a little without being patronizing or causing embarrassment
less time on it, but consistency demands that the to the examiner.
examiners divide the time more or less equally. The The other concern with the format of the struc-
oral vivas are structured so that the examiners have tured oral is that it may lack fluency and spontaneity.
no choice of questions. In the past the oral viva Some examiners may simply introduce the question
consisted of as many questions as the examiner before initiating a discussion with only occasional
wanted to ask the candidate. The oral viva could reference to the answer sheet. This is usually because
include upwards of 15 topics with a spot diagnosis they are experienced, are familiar with the material
and very brief discussion of management of the con- and have the self-assurance to allow the oral to run a
dition shown. more spontaneous course. They are confident enough
Previously examiners in the hands oral were all in their own ability to access the answers. An exam-
hand surgeons and likewise in the children’s oral all iner who is less certain of an answer, less comfortable
examiners were paediatric orthopaedic surgeons. It is with the topic and who is less certain of the criteria
now highly unlikely an examiner is able to examine against which the answers are to be judged is likely to
you in their chosen subspecialty. The aim is to avoid spend more time referring to the answer sheet. Then
them asking you excessive depth in an area of special again the examiner may be particularly pedantic in
interest or area of expertise. The aim of the exam is to their interpretation of how a structured viva should
test your knowledge to the level of a day one ortho- be conducted or be paranoid that the examiner asses-
paedic consultant in a District General Hospital and sor will pull them in and reprimand them for straying
not to the chosen expert subspecialty level of the exam- too far from the structured oral examining process.
iner. Thus a hip surgeon may have to ask you about You may be able to detect clues as to what type of
hand topics or a shoulder surgeon about paediatric examiner you have by how he/she phrases the ques-
orthopaedic topics. The examiners may not necessarily tion. If the examiner looks down onto a sheet and
be ignorant on these subjects but it is fair to say your reads the question from it without looking up at you
own clinical experience may well be more recent and and making eye contact they are in the second
well informed than theirs. This should give you some category. These examiners want facts, and ideally the
confidence to speak with experience but don’t overdo it facts that are listed on the answer paper.
and rub up the examiners the wrong way. You can refine your answering technique to
It has been suggested that the structured nature of improve your performance and the overall impres-
the exam reduces the likelihood of an examiner being sion that you create. Some candidates may need a lot
able to question you in excessive depth about a sub- of prompting whilst others can get into a rhythm and
ject. This is especially so as the examiner is only likely quickly impress examiners with their knowledge.
to have general rather than subspecialty interest in Examiners like a candidate who can take control and
the subject. We would counter this with saying that make life easy for them.
it is surprising how much ground one can cover in Most candidates usually require a bit of help from
5 minutes. In addition it is surprising how much an the examiner. If you have a reasonable knowledge of a
examiner will know outside their area of interest. The subject then with oral examination practice you can
vast majority of examiners are conscientious and keep train yourself to deliver the information with more
themselves up to date with orthopaedics. Also, facility and polish.

8
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
Ministers among the Representatives; whereupon they cried out,
“This is a presbyterian popedom.” Now Magistrates joined with other
Churches which they had long persecuted; and the Connecticut Vine
was rent more and more every day. The Ministers kept the power,
but not always the office, of the Governor, whilst the weaker party
paid the cost. One party was called Old Light, the other New Light:
both aimed at power under pretence of religion; which-ever got the
power, the other was persecuted. By this happy quarrel, the various
sectarians were freed from their persecutions; because each
contending party courted their votes and interest, to help to pull
down its adversary. This has been the religious-political free system
and practice of Connecticut since 1662.
In speaking of the religious phrenzies and persecutions in
Connecticut under the sanction of the charter, I must notice the
words of an eminent Quaker, who, as a blasphemer, had been
whipped, branded, burnt in the tongue, set on the gallows,
banished, and, upon return, sentenced to be hanged. “Dost thee not
think,” said he to his Judges, “that the Jews, who crucified the
Saviour of the World, had a Charter?”
Many have been the disputes between Connecticut and the
neighbouring Colonies concerning their several boundaries, and
much blood has been spilt on those occasions. On the north and
east, where lie the Massachusets and Rhode-Island, Connecticut
has, in some degree, been the gainer; but has lost considerably on
the west and south, to the engendering violent animosity against the
loyal New-Yorkers, to whom it will probably prove fatal in the end.
The detail is briefly as follows:
The Dutch settlers on New-York Island, Hudson’s river, and the west
end of Long Island, being subdued by Colonel Nichols in September,
1664, the royal Commissioners, after hearing the Deputies from
Connecticut in support of the charter granted to that province
against the Duke of York’s patent, ordered, in December following,
that Long-Island should be annexed to the government of New-York,
and that the West boundary of Connecticut should be a line drawn
from the mouth of Mamaroneck river north-north-west to the line of
the Massachusets. This settlement, although it infringed their
charter, was peaceably acquiesced in by the people of Connecticut;
and not complained of by those of New-York till 1683, when they set
up a claim founded upon a Dutch grant, said to be made in 1621, of
all the lands from Cape Cod to Cape Henlopen. In furtherance of
their pretensions, they had recourse to invasion and slander. Of the
latter Mr. Smith has given a specimen in his History of New-York,
where he says that the agreement in 1664 “was founded in
ignorance and fraud;” because, forsooth, “a north-north-west line
from Mamaroneck would soon intersect Hudson’s river!” Could any
one of common-sense suppose the Dutch on the banks of Hudson’s
river, who no doubt were consulted upon the occasion, less
acquainted with the course of it, than persons residing on the banks
of the Connecticut? Extraordinarily absurd as such an insinuation
might be, the people of Connecticut were aware of its probable
weight with the Duke of York, whose patent grasped half their
country; and therefore, knowing by whom a contest must be
decided, they consented to give up twenty miles of their land east of
Hudson’s river, hoping that would content a company of time-serving
Jacobites and artful Dutchmen. But neither were they nor their
Patron satisfied; and the agreement was suspended till 1700, when
it was confirmed by William III. About twenty years afterwards,
however, the New-Yorkers thought the times favourable to further
encroachments; and at length, in 1731, they gained 60,000 acres
more, called the Oblong, from Connecticut, purely because they had
Dutch consciences, and for once reported in England what was true,
that the New-England colonists hated Kings, whether natives or
foreigners. Mr. Smith, indeed, p. 238, says, referring to Douglas’s[29]
Plan of the British Dominions of New-England in support of his
assertion, that “Connecticut ceeded these 60,000 acres to New-York,
as an equivalent for lands near the Sound surrendered to
Connecticut, by New-York.” Mr. Smith, and all the New-York cabal,
know, that there never were any lands in the possession of the New-
Yorkers surrendered to Connecticut: on the contrary, Connecticut
was forced, by the partiality of sovereigns, to give up, not only Long-
Island and the above-mentioned twenty miles east of Hudson’s river,
but also the Oblong, without any equivalent. How New-York could
surrender lands and tenements which they never had any right to or
possession of, is only to be explained thus: whereas the people of
New-York did not extend their eastern boundary to Connecticut river,
they therefore surrendered to Connecticut what they never had;
which is like a highwayman’s saying to a Gentleman, Give me ten
guineas, and I will surrender to you your watch in your pocket.
Thus by degrees has Connecticut lost a tract of land sixty miles in
length and above twenty in breadth, together with the whole of
Long-Island; and this in the first place by a stretch of royal
prerogative, and afterwards by the chicanery of their competitors,
who have broken through all agreements as often as a temporising
conduct seemed to promise them success. Whenever, therefore, a
favourable opportunity presents itself, it is probable, that Messrs.
Smith and Livingston, and other pateroons in New-York, will find the
last determination also to have been “founded in ignorance and
fraud,” and will be pushing their claim to all the lands west of
Connecticut river; but the opportunity must be favourable indeed,
that allows them to encroach one foot farther with impunity.
Another stroke the people of Connecticut received about 1753 has
sorely galled them ever since, and contributed not a little to their
thirst of revenge. The Governor of New-York was then appointed
“Captain-General and Commander in Chief of the militia, and all the
forces by sea and land, within the Colony of Connecticut, and of all
the forts and places of strength within the same.” This violation of
the Charter of Connecticut by George II. was very extraordinary, as
the reins of Government were then in the hands of protestant
dissenters, whose supposed veneration for the House of Hanover
operated so powerfully, that the American protestant dissenting
ministers were allowed to be installed teachers, and to hold synods,
without taking the oath of allegiance to the English King, at the
same time that papists, and even members of the Church of
England, were not excused that obligation. The aggravating
appointment above mentioned added no celebrity to the name of
George II. in New-England; nor, however excusable it may appear in
the eyes of those who with me question the colonial pretensions of
the people of Connecticut, was it, upon the ground they have been
allowed to stand by the English government, justifiable in point of
right, nor yet in point of policy, were the true character of the New-
Yorkers fully known. This argument may be used on more occasions
than the present.
But Connecticut hath not been the only sufferer from the restless
ambition of New-York. Twenty miles depth of land belonging to the
Massachusets and Newhampshire provinces, which formerly claimed
to Hudson’s river, were cut off by the line that deprived Connecticut
of the same proportion of its western territory. With this acquisition,
surely, the New-Yorkers might have been content; but very lately
their wisdom, if not their “fraud,” has prevailed over the “ignorance”
of Newhampshire; which has sustained another amputation of its
territory, eighty miles in width and two hundred miles in length; viz.
all the land between the above-mentioned twenty-mile line and
Connecticut river. The particulars of this transaction are interesting.
Benning Wentworth, Esq. Governor of Newhampshire, by order of
his present Majesty, divided, in 1762, the vast tract of land just
mentioned into about 360 townships, six miles square each. These
townships he granted to proprietors belonging to the four provinces
of New-England, one township to sixty proprietors; and took his fees
for the same, according to royal appointment. Every township was,
in twelve years time, to have sixty families residing in it. In 1769
there were settled on this piece of land 30,000 souls, at a very great
expence; and many townships contained 100 families. The New-
Yorkers found means to deceive the King, and obtained a decree
that the East boundary of New-York, after passing Connecticut and
Massachusets-Bay, should be Connecticut river.[30] This decree
annexed to the jurisdiction of New-York the said 360 townships; but
was quietly submitted to by the proprietors, since it was his
Majesty’s will to put them under the jurisdiction of New-York, tho’
they found themselves 150 miles farther from their new capital New-
York, than they were from Portsmouth, their old one. Had the New-
Yorkers rested satisfied with the jurisdiction, which alone the King
had given them, they might have enjoyed their acquisition in peace;
and New-England would have thought they had possessed some
justice, though destitute of religious zeal. But the Governor and
General Assembly of New-York, finding their interest in Old-England
stronger than the interest of the New-Englanders, determined at
once, that, as the King had given them jurisdiction over those 360
townships, he had also given them the lands in fee simple. Sir Henry
More, the Governor, therefore, in 1767, began the laudable work of
regranting those townships to such people as lived in New-York, and
were willing to pay him 600l. York currency for his valuable name to
each patent. It is remarkable that Sir Harry made every lawyer in the
whole province a patentee; but totally forgot the four public lots, viz.
that for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, those for the
church, the first clergyman, and school in each township, which had
been reserved in Governor Wentworth’s grants. Death stopped his
career; but Colden, the Lieutenant-Governor, filled up the measure
of his iniquity, by granting all the rest on the same conditions. Sir
Henry More had taken care to grant to his dear self one township,
settled with above 80 families, before he died. Colden did the same
for himself. The virtuous William Smith, Esq. of New York, had a
township also; and Sir Henry More left him his executor to drive off
the New-England settlers. This, however, he attempted in vain. The
polite New-Yorkers, having the jurisdiction, betook themselves to
law, to get possession of the lands in question, which they called
their own; and sent the posse of Albany to eject the possessors; but
this mighty power was answered by Ethan Allen, and the old
proprietors under Governor Wentworth, who was a King’s Governor
as well as Sir Henry More:—the Mynheers of Albany were glad to
have liberty to return home alive.—See here the origin of Ethan
Allen!—of the Verdmonts, and the Robbers of the Green Mountains;
a compliment paid by the New-Yorkers to the settlers under
Governor Wentworth;—who, on that amiable gentleman’s death, had
no friend of note left in England, and were therefore under the
necessity of defending themselves, or becoming tenants to a set of
people who neither feared God nor honoured the King, but when
they got something by it.—The New-Yorkers had the grace, after
this, to outlaw Ethan Allen, which rendered him of consequence in
New-England; and it would not surprise me to hear that New-York,
Albany, and all that the Dutchmen possess in houses east of
Hudson’s River, were consumed by fire, and the inhabitants sent to
Heaven, in the style of Dr. Mather, by the way of Amsterdam. I must
do the New-Englanders the justice to say, that, though they esteem
not highly Kings or Lords, yet they never complained against his
Majesty for what was done respecting Verdmont; on the contrary,
they ever said the King would reverse the obnoxious decree,
whenever he should be acquainted with the truth of the case, which
the New-Yorkers artfully concealed from his knowledge.
There are in the four New-England provinces near 800,000 souls,
and very few unconnected with the settlements on Verdmont; the
property of which was duly vested in them by Wentworth, the King’s
Governor, whose predecessors and himself had jurisdiction over it
also for 106 years. They say, what is very legal and just, that his
Majesty had a right to annex Verdmont to the government of New-
York, but could not give the fee of the land, because he had before
given it to the New-Englanders. It appears very unlikely that those
hardy sons of Oliver will ever give up Verdmont to the New-Yorkers
by the order of Sir Henry More, or any other Governor, till compelled
by the point of the sword. The Mynheers have more to fear than the
New-Englanders, who will never yield to Dutch virtue. Van Tromp
was brave; Oliver was brave and successful too.
Mather, Neal, and Hutchinson, represent religion to have been the
cause of the first settlement of New-England; and the love of gold as
the stimulus of the Spaniards in settling their colonies in the
southern parts of America; but, if we should credit the Spanish
historians, we must believe that their countrymen were as much
influenced by religion in their colonial pursuits as were our own.
However, in general, it may be said, that the conduct of both parties
towards the aborigines discovered no principles but what were
disgraceful to human nature. Murder, plunder, and outrage, were the
means made use of to convert the benighted savages of the
wilderness to the system of Him “who went about doing good.” If we
may depend on Abbé Nicolle, the Spaniards killed of the Aytis, or the
savage nations, in the Island of Hispaniola, 3,000,000 in seventeen
years; 600,000 in Porto Rico, and twenty times these numbers on
the continent of South-America, in order to propagate the Gospel in
a savage and howling wilderness! The English colonists have been as
industrious in spreading the Gospel in the howling wilderness of
North-America. Upwards of 180,000 Indians, at least, have been
slaughtered in Massachusets-Bay and Connecticut,[31] to make way
for the protestant religion; and, upon a moderate computation for
the rest of the colonies, on the continent and West-India Islands, I
think one may venture to assert, that nearly 2,000,000 savages have
been dismissed from an unpleasant world to the world of spirits, for
the honour of the protestant religion and English liberty.
Nevertheless, having travelled over most parts of British America, I
am able to declare, with great sincerity, that this mode of converting
the native Indians is godlike in comparison with that adopted by the
Africans.
These miserable people are first kidnapped, and then put under
saws, harrows, and axes of iron, and forced through the brick-kiln to
Molock.
Nearly half a million of them are doomed to hug their misery in
ignorance, nakedness, and hunger, among their master’s upper
servants in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. The
number of these wretches upon the Continent and Islands is scarce
credible; about 100,000 in Jamaica alone; all toiling for the tyrant’s
pleasure; none seeking other happiness, than to be screened from
the torture rendered necessary by that curious American maxim,
that men must be willing to die before they are fit for the Kingdom
of Heaven. However, what Mussleman, African, or American, would
not prefer the state of a christian master, who dreads death above
all things, to the state of those christian converts? Christianity has
been cursed, through the insincerity of its professors; even savages
despise its precepts, because they have no influence on christians
themselves. Whatever religious pretensions the Spanish, French, or
English may plead for depopulating and repeopling America, it is
pretty clear that the desire of gold and dominion was no impotent
instigation with them to seek the western continent. The British
leaders in the scheme of emigration had felt the humiliating effects
of the feudal system; particularly the partial distributions of fortunes
and honour among children of the same venter in the Mother
Country. They had seen that this inequality produced insolence and
oppression, which awakened the sentiments of independence and
liberty, the instinct of every man. Nature then kindled war against
the oppressors, and the oppressors appealed to prescription. The
event was, infelicity began her reign. Both parties invoked religion,
but prostrated themselves before the insidious shrine of Superstition,
the life of civil government, and the sinews of war; that expiates
crimes by prayers, uses ceremonies for good works, esteems
devotion more than virtue, supports religion without probity, values
honesty less than honour, generates happiness without morality, and
is a glorious helmet to the ambitious.
They enlisted vassals with her bounty to fight, burn, and destroy one
another, for the sake of religion. Behold the sequel! The vassals
seemed more to themselves than the Egyptian masters and laws,
both in the elder and younger brothers; yet, after all, Superstition
told them they enjoyed liberty and the rights of human nature.
Happy deception! The Spartan Magnates, tributary to the Turks, are
jealous of their liberties; while the American Cansey, near Lake
Superior, enjoy liberty complete without jealousy. Among the latter,
the conscious independence of each individual warms his thoughts
and guides his actions. He enters the sachemic dome with the same
simple freedom as he enters the wigwam of his brother: neither
dazzled at the splendour nor awed by the power of the possessor.
Here is liberty in perfection! What christian would wish to travel
4000 miles to rob an unoffending savage of what he holds by the
law of Nature? That is not the God or Dominion that any christian
ever sought for. The first settlers of America had views very different
from those of making it a christian country; their grand aim was to
get free from the insolence of their elder brethren, and to
aggrandise themselves in a new world at the expense of the life,
liberty, and property of the savages. Had the invaders of New-
England sown the seeds of christian benevolence, even after they
had eradicated the savages and savage virtues, the world would not
have reproached them for cherishing that all-grasping spirit to
themselves, which in others had driven them from their parent
country. But the feudal system, which they considered an
abominable vice in England, became a shining virtue on the other
side of the Atlantic, and would have prevailed there, had the people
been as blind and tame in worldly as they were in spiritual concerns.
But they had too long heard their leaders declaim against the
monopoly of lands and titles, not to discover that they themselves
were men, and entitled to the rights of that race of beings; and they
proceeded upon the same maxims which they found also among the
Indians, viz. that mankind are by nature upon an equality in point of
rank and possession; that it is incompatible with freedom for any
particular descriptions of men systematically to monopolise honours
and property, to the exclusion of the rest; that it was a part
despicable and unworthy of one freeman to stoop to the will and
caprice of another on account of his wealth and titles, accruing not
from his own, but from the heroism and virtue of his ancestors, &c.,
&c.
The vox populi established these maxims in New-England; and
whoever did not, at least outwardly, conform to them, were not
chosen into office. Nay, though not objectionable on that score, men
very seldom met with reappointments, lest they should claim them
by hereditary right. Thus, the levelling principle prevailing, equals
were respected and superiors derided. Europeans, whose manners
were haughty to inferiors and fawning to superiors, were neither
loved nor esteemed. Hence an English traveller through Connecticut
meets with supercilious treatment at taverns, as being too much
addicted to the use of the imperative mood when speaking to the
landlord. The answer is, “Command your own servants, and not me.”
The traveller is not obeyed, which provokes him to some
expressions, that are not legal in the Colony, about the impertinence
of the landlord, who being commonly a Justice of the Peace, the
delinquent is immediately ordered into custody, fined, and put in the
stocks. However, after paying costs, and promising to behave well in
future, he passes on with more attention to his “unruly member”
than to his pleasures. Nevertheless, if a traveller softens his tone,
and avoids the imperative mood, he will find every civility from those
very people, whose natural temper are full of antipathy against all
who affect superiority over them. This principle is, by long custom,
blended with the religious doctrines of the province; and the people
believe those to be heretics and Americans who assent not to their
supremacy. Hence they consider the kingly Governors as the short-
horns of Antichrist, and every Colony in a state of persecution which
cannot choose its own Governor and magistrates.
Their aversion to New-York is inconceiveably great upon this
account, as well as others I have mentioned. Their jealousies and
fears of coming under its jurisdiction make them heroes in the cause
of liberty, and great inquisitors into the characters and conduct of
kingly Governors. They have selected Mr. Tryon as the only English
Governor who has acted with justice and generosity in respect to the
rights, liberties, and feelings of mankind, while, they say, avarice,
plunder, and oppression have marked the footsteps of all the rest.
This character Mr. Tryon possessed, even after he had subdued the
regulators in North-Carolina, and was appointed Governor of New-
York. Some persons assert, indeed, that he secured the good will of
Connecticut by recommending, in England, the Livingstons,
Schuylers, and Smiths, as the best subjects in New-York. However,
Mr. Tryon was undoubtedly entitled to good report; he was humane
and polite; to him the injured had access without a fee; he would
hear the poor man’s complaint, though it wanted the aid of a
polished lawyer. Besides, Mr. Tryon did not think it beneath him to
speak to a peasant in the street, or to stop his coach to give the
people an opportunity to let him pass. His object was not to make
his fortune, nor did he neglect the interests of the people. He
embellished not his language with oaths and curses, nor spent the
Sabbath at taverns. ’Tis true, Mr. Tryon went not to meeting; but he
was forgiven this offence because he went to church, the people of
New-England having so much candour as to believe a man may be a
good sort of man if he goes to church, and is exemplary in his words
and deeds. I have not the honour of being known to Mr. Tryon, but
from what I know of him, I must say, without meaning to offend any
other, that he was the best Governor, and the most pleasing
gentleman, that I ever saw in a civil capacity in America; and that I
cannot name any Briton so well calculated to govern in Connecticut,
with ease and safety to himself, as he is. One reason for this
assertion is, that Mr. Tryon has a punctilious regard for his word: a
quality which, though treachery is the staple commodity of the four
New-England provinces, the people greatly admire in a Governor,
and which, they say, they have seldom found in royal Governors in
America.
Of the share Connecticut has taken, in common with her sister
colonies, in co-operating with the Mother Country against her natural
enemies, it is superfluous to say anything here, that being already
sufficiently known.
I shall therefore proceed to a description of the country, its towns,
productions, &c. together with the manners, customs, commerce,
&c. of the inhabitants, interspersing such historical and biographical
anecdotes as may occur to me in the relation, and having a
tendency to elucidate matter of fact or characterize the people.
The dimensions of Connecticut, according to the present allowed
extent, are from the Sound on the south to the Massachusets line on
the north, about sixty miles; and from Biram River and New-York
line, on the west, to Narraganset-Bay, Rhode-Island, and
Massachusets-Bay on the east, upon an average about one hundred
miles. It is computed to contain 5,000,000 acres.
Many creeks and inlets, bays and rivers, intersect the coast. Three of
the last, dividing the colony into as many parts, I shall particularly
notice. They all run from north to south.
The eastern river is called the Thames, as far as it is navigable,
which is only to Norwich, fourteen miles from its mouth. Then
dividing, the greatest branch, called Quinnibaug, rolls rapidly from its
source 100 miles distant through many towns and villages, to their
great pleasantness and profit. On it are many mills and iron-works,
and in it various kinds of fish, but no salmon, for want of proper
places to nourish their spawn.
The middle river is named Connecticut, after the great Sachem to
whom that part of the province through which it runs belonged. This
vast river is five hundred miles long, and four miles wide at its
mouth; its channel, or inner banks, in general, half a mile wide. It
takes its rise from the White Hills, in the north of New-England,
where also springs the river Kennebec. About five hundred rivulets,
which issue from lakes, ponds, and drowned lands, fall into it; many
of them are larger than the Thames at London. In March, when the
rains and sun melt the snow and ice, each stream is overcharged,
and kindly hastens to this great river, to overflow, fertilize, and
preserve its trembling meadows. They lift enormous cakes of ice,
bursting from their frozen beds, with threatening intentions of
ploughing up the frighted earth, and carry them rapidly down the
falls, where they are dashed in pieces and rise in mist. Except at
these falls, of which there are five the first sixty miles from its
mouth, the river is navigable throughout. In its northern part are
three great bendings, called Cohosses, about one hundred miles
asunder. Two hundred miles from the Sound is a narrow of five yards
only, formed by two shelving mountains of solid rock, whose tops
intercept the clouds. Through this chasm are compelled to pass all
the waters which, in the time of the floods, bury the northern
country.
At the upper Cohos the river spreads twenty-four miles wide. For five
or six weeks ships of war might sail over the lands that afterward
produce the greatest crops of hay and grain in all America. People
who can bear the sight, the groans, the tremblings, and surly motion
of water, trees, and ice, through this awful passage, view with
astonishment one of the greatest phenomenons in Nature. Here,
water consolidated without frost, by pressure, by swiftness, between
the pinching, sturdy rocks, to such a degree of induration that an
iron crow cannot be forced into it; here, iron, lead, and cork, have
one common weight; here, steady as time, and harder than marble,
the stream passes irresistible, if not swift as lightning; the electric
fire rends trees in pieces with no greater ease than does this mighty
water. The passage is about four hundred yards in length, and of a
zigzag form, with obtuse corners.[32]
At high water are carried through this straight masts and other
timber with incredible swiftness, and sometimes with safety; but
when the water is too low, the masts, timber, and trees, strike on
one side or the other, and, though of the largest size, are rent, in
one moment, into shivers, and splintered like a broom, to the
amazement of spectators. The meadows, for many miles below, are
covered with immense quantities of wood thus torn in pieces, which
compel the hardiest travellers to reflect, how feeble is man, and how
great that Almighty who formed the lightnings, thunders, and the
irresistible power and strength of waters!
No living creature was ever known to pass through this narrow,
except an Indian woman, who was, in a canoe, attempting to cross
the river above it, but carelessly suffered herself to fall within the
power of the current. Perceiving her danger, she took a bottle of rum
she had with her, and drank the whole of it; then lay down in her
canoe, to meet her destiny. She marvellously went through safely,
and was taken out of the canoe some miles below, quite intoxicated,
by some Englishmen. Being asked how she could be so daringly
imprudent as to drink such a quantity of rum with the prospect of
instant death before her, the squaw, as well as her condition would
let her, replied, “Yes, it was too much rum for once, to be sure; but I
was not willing to lose a drop of it: so I drank it, and you see I have
saved all.”
Some persons assert that salmon have been caught above this
narrow, while others deny it. Many have observed salmon attempt to
pass in the time of floods, which certainly is the best and likeliest
time, as, from the height of the water, and the shelving of the rocks,
the passage is then broader; but they were always thrown back, and
generally killed. It is not to be supposed that any fish could pass
with the stream alive. Above this narrow there is plenty of fish both
in summer and winter, which belong to the lakes or ponds that
communicate with the river: below it are the greatest abundance
and variety caught or known in North-America. No salmon are found
in any river to the westward of this.
Except the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, the Connecticut is the
largest river belonging to the English plantations in the New World.
On each shore of it are two great roads leading from the mouth 200
miles up the country, lined on both sides with the best-built houses
in America, if not in the world. It is computed, that the country on
each bank of this river, to a depth of six miles, and a length of 300,
is sufficient for the maintenance of an army of 100,000 men. In
short, the neighbouring spacious and fertile meadow, arable, and
other lands, combined with this noble river, are at once the beauty
and main support of all New-England.
The western river is navigable and called Stratford only for ten miles,
where Derby stands; and then takes the name of Osootonoc. It is 50
miles west from Connecticut River, and half a mile wide. It rises in
the Verdmonts, above 200 miles from the sea, and travels 300 miles
through many pleasant towns and villages. The adjacent meadows
are narrow, and the country in general very hilly. With some expence
it might be made navigable above 100 miles. It furnishes fish of
various kinds, and serves many mills and iron-works.
Two principal bays, named Sassacus or New-London, and Quinnipiog
or Newhaven, run five or six miles into the country, and are met by
rivers which formerly bore the Sachems names.
It has already been observed, that Connecticut was settled under
three distinct independent Governors; and that each Dominion, since
their union in 1664, has been divided into two counties.
The Kingdom of Sassacus, Sachem of the Pequods, a warlike nation,
forms the counties of New-London and Windham, which contain
about 10,000 houses, and 60,000 inhabitants. Sassacus was brave
by nature. The sound of his coming would subdue nations, at the
same time that Justice would unbend his bow, and Honour calm the
thunder of his tongue. Dr. Mather, Mr. Neal, and others, have
endeavoured to blast his fame by proving him to have been the
aggressor in the bloody wars which ended in his ruin. They have
instanced the murder of Captain Stone and others, to justify this war,
but carefully concealed the assassination of Quinnipiog, the
treachery of Mr. Elliot (the Massachusets-Bay Apostle of the Indians),
and the infamous villainy of Hooker, who spread death upon the
leaves of his Bible, and struck Connecticote mad with disease. They
also conceal another important truth, that the English had taken
possession of lands belonging to Sassacus, without purchase or his
consent. Besides, Sassacus had too much sagacity to let christian
spies, under the appellation of gospel missionaries, pass through his
country. He had seen the consequences of admitting such ministers
of christianity from Boston, Hertford, &c. among his neighbouring
nations, and generously warned them to keep their gospel of peace
from his dominions. The invaders of this howling wilderness, finding
their savage love detected, and that the Pequods were not likely to
fall a sacrifice to their hypocrisy, proclaimed open war with sword
and gun. The unfortunate Sassacus met his fate. Alas! he died, not
like Connecticote, nor Quinnipiog, but in the field of battle; and the
freedom of his country expired with his final groan. This mighty
conquest was achieved by the colonists of Connecticut, without the
aid of the Massachusets; nevertheless, Mr. Neal and others have
ascribed the honour of it to the latter, with a view of magnifying
their consequence—ever Mr. Neal’s grand object.
The country of New-London abounds chiefly with wool, butter,
cheese, and Indian-corn; and contains eight towns, all which I shall
describe.
New-London has the river Thames on the east, and the bay of its
own name on the south, and resembles Islington. Its port and
harbour are the best in the colony. The church, the meeting, and
court-house, are not to be boasted of; the fort is trifling. The houses
in this, as in all the towns in the province, are insulated, at the
distance of three, four, or five yards one from the other, to prevent
the ravages of fire. That of John Winthrop, Esq. is the best in the
province. The township is ten miles square, and comprizes five
parishes, one of which is episcopal. Abimeleck, a descendant of the
first English-made king of Mohegin, resides with his small party in
this township. He is a king to whom the people pay some respect,—
because they made him so.
The people of this town have the credit of inventing tar and feathers
as a proper punishment for heresy. They first inflicted it on quakers
and anabaptists.
New-London has a printing press, much exercised in the business of
pamphlets, sermons, and newspapers. It is employed by the
Governor and Company, and is the oldest and best in the colony.
Newhaven, Hertford, and Norwich, also, have each a printing press;
so that the people are plentifully supplied with news, politics, and
polemical divinity.—​—A very extraordinary circumstance happened
here in 1740. Mr. George Whitefield paid them a visit, and preached
of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come, which
roused them into the belief of an heaven and an hell. They became
as children weaned and pliable as melted wax, and with great
eagerness cried out, What shall we do to be saved? The preacher,
then in the pulpit, thus answered them, “Repent—do violence to no
man—part with your self-righteousness, your silk gowns, and laced
petticoats—burn your ruffles, necklaces, jewels, rings, tinselled
waistcoats, your morality and bishops books, this very night, or
damnation will be your portion before the morning-dawn.” The
people, rather thro’ fear than faith, instantly went out on the
common, and prepared for heaven, by burning all the above
enumerated goods, excepting that of self-righteousness, which was
exchanged for the preacher’s velvet breeches.—Vide Dr. Chancy.[33]
Groton, across the bay from New-London, resembles Battersea. The
township is ten miles square, and forms four parishes, one of which
is episcopal. This town was the residence of the valiant Sassacus,
Sachem of the Pequod nation.
Stonington lies on Narraganset-Bay, is the east corner of
Connecticut, and consists of three parishes. The township is 8 miles
square.
Preston, on Quinnibaug river, forms three parishes, one of which is
episcopal. The township is 8 miles square.
Norwich, on the Thames, 14 miles from the sea, is an half-shire with
New-London. The town stands on a plain, one mile from Chelsea, or
the Landing. Its best street is two miles long, and has good houses
on both sides, five yards asunder from each other. In the centre is a
common, of the size of Bloomsbury Square, in which stand a
beautiful court-house, and a famous meeting with clocks, bells, and
steeples. The township is fifteen miles square, and forms 13
parishes, one episcopal. Chelsea, or the Landing, resembles Dover.
[Here land is sold at fifteen shillings sterling by the square foot.]—
This town is famous for its trade; for iron-works, grist, paper,
linseed, spinning and fulling mills; also for a furnace that makes
stone ware.—​—Some peculiarities and curiosities here attract the
notice of Europeans:—1, a bridge over Quinnibaug, 60 yards long,
butted on two rocks, and geometrically supported; under which pass
ships with all their sails standing:—2, the steeple of the grand
meeting-house stands at the east end:—3, the inhabitants bury the
dead with their feet to the west.—The following couplet was written
by a traveller, on the steeple:
“They’re so perverse and opposite,
 As if they built to God in spite.”
The reasons for the singular custom of burying the dead with their
feet to the west, are two, and special: first, when Christ begins his
millenarian reign, he will come from the west, and his saints will be
in a ready posture to rise and meet him: secondly, the papists and
episcopalians bury their dead with their feet to the east.
Was I to give a character of the people of Norwich, I would do it in
the words of the famous Mr. George Whitefield, (who was a good
judge of mankind,) in his farewel-sermon to them a short time
before his death; viz. “When I first preached in this magnificent
house, above 20 years ago, I told you, that you were part beast,
part man, and part devil; at which you were offended. I have since
thought much about that expression, and confess that for once I
was mistaken. I therefore take this last opportunity to correct my
error. Behold! I now tell you, that you are not part man and part
beast, but wholly of the devil.”
Lyme stands on the east side of Connecticut River, opposite
Saybrook; and resembles Lewisham. The township is 16 miles long,
and 8 wide; and forms four parishes.
Saybrook is situated on the west side of Connecticut river, 20 miles
west from New-London, and resembles Battersea. The township is
twenty miles long and six wide, and forms four parishes. This town
was named after the Lords Say and Brook, who were said to claim
the country, and sent, in 1634, a Governor and a large number of
people from England to build a fort and settle the colony. See p. 17.
It was principally owing to this fort that Hertford and Newhaven
made good their settlements: it prevented Sassacus from giving
timely aid to Connecticote and Quinnipiog.
Saybrook is greatly fallen from its ancient grandeur; but is,
notwithstanding, resorted to with great veneration, as the parent
town of the whole colony. The tombs of the first settlers are held
sacred, and travellers seldom pass them without the compliment of a
sigh or tear. On one mossy stone is written,
“Here pride is calm’d, and death is life.”
In 1709, this town was honoured by a convention of contending
independent divines, who were pleased with no constitution in
church or state.—This multitude of sectarians, after long debates,
published a book, called The Saybrook Platform, containing the
doctrines and rules of the churches in Connecticut. The only novelty
in this system is, that Christ has delegated his ministerial, kingly, and
prophetical power, one half to the people, and the other half to the
ministers. This proposition may be thought in Europe a very strange
one; but, if it be recollected, that the people in the province claimed
all power in heaven and on earth, and that the ministers had no
other ordination than what came from the people, it will appear, that
the ministers hereby gained from the people one half of their power.
From this article originated the practice of the right hand of
fellowship at the ordination of a minister. No one can be a minister,
till he receives the right hand of the messenger who represents six
deacons from six congregations. The conclusion of this reverend and
venerable body is, “The Bible is our rule.”
Mr. Neal says, p. 610, “That every particular society is a compleat
church, having power to exercise all ecclesiastical jurisdiction,
without appeal to any classis:—they allow of synods for council and
advice, but not to exercise the power of the keys.”
If Mr. Neal had taken the trouble to read the History of the Church of
Massachusets-Bay, written by the Reverend Mr. John Wise, a
minister of that church, he would have found that the contrary to all
he has advanced is the truth. The people of that province held the
keys from 1620 to 1650: then the ministers got possession of them
by their own vote, which was passed into a law by the General
Assembly. The vote was, “There cannot be a minister, unless he is
ordained by ministers of Jesus Christ.” Thus commenced ordination
by ministers in New-England. The people were alarmed at the loss of
the keys, and asked the ministers who had ordained them? The
ministers answered, The people. Then, replied the people, we are
the ministers of Jesus Christ, you are not ministers; and we will keep
the power. A violent contest ensued between the people and the
ministers; but the latter, by the help of the General Assembly,
retained the power of the keys, and instituted three ecclesiastical
courts, viz. 1, the minister and his communicants; 2, the
associations; and 3, the synod. There lies an appeal from one to the
other of these courts, all which exercise so much ecclesiastical
power that few are easy under it. The first court suspends from
communion, the second re-hears the evidence, and confirms or sets
aside the suspension; the synod, after hearing the case again,
excommunicates or discharges the accused. From the last judgment
no appeal is allowed by the synod. The excommunicated person has
no other resource than petitioning the General Assembly of the
province, which sometimes grants relief, to the great grief of the
synod and ministers. But the representatives commonly pay dear for
overlooking the conduct of the synod at the next election.
The people of Connecticut have adopted the same mode of discipline
as prevails in Massachusets-Bay, but call the synod a Consociation.
To show that the synods are not quite so harmless as Mr. Neal
reports, I will give an instance of their authority exercised in
Connecticut in 1758. A Mr. Merret, of Lebanon, having lost his wife,
with whom he had lived childless forty years, went to Rhode-Island,
and married a niece of his late wife, which was agreeable to the
laws of that province. By her having a child, Mr. Merret offered the
same for baptism to the minister of whose church he was a member.
The minister refused, because it was an incestuous child; and cited
Merret and his wife to appear before himself and his church upon an
indictment of incest. Merret appeared; the verdict was, “Guilty of
incest.” He appealed to the Association, which also found him guilty
of incest. He again appealed to the Consociation, and was again
found guilty of incest. Merret and his wife were then ordered to
separate, and make a public confession, on pain of
excommunication. Merret refused; whereupon the minister read the
act of excommunication, while the deacons shoved Merret out of the
meeting-house. Being thus cast out of the synagogue, and debarred
from the conversation of any one in the parish, it was well said by
Mr. Merret: “If this be not to exercise the power of the keys, I know
not what it is.” The poor man soon after died with a broken heart,
and was buried in his own garden by such christian brethren as were
not afraid of the mild puissance of the Consociation.
Mr. Neal says, also, p. 609, after evincing his jealousy at the growth
of the Church of England in New-England: “If the religious liberties
of the plantations are invaded by the setting up of spiritual courts,
&c., they will feel the sad effects of it.” In this sentiment I agree with
Mr. Neal; but, unluckily, he meant the bishops courts, and I meant
the courts of synods, composed of his “meek, exemplary, and
learned divines of New-England,” but who are more severe and
terrible than even was the Star-Chamber under the influence of
Laud, or the Inquisition of Spain. The ecclesiastical courts of New-
England have, in the course of 160 years, bored the tongues with
hot needles, cut off the ears, branded the foreheads of, and
banished, imprisoned, and hanged more quakers, baptists, adamites,
ranters, episcopalians, for what they call heresy, blasphemy, and
witchcraft, than there are instances of persecution in Fox’s book of
Martyrology, or under the bishops of England since the death of
Henry VIII. And yet Mr. Neal was afraid of spiritual courts, and
admired the practice of New-England churches, who only
excommunicated offenders, delivering them over to the civil
magistrates to torture and ruin. If I remember right, I once saw the
Inquisition of Portugal act after the same manner, when the priest
said, “We deal with the soul, and the civil magistrate with the body.”
Time not having destroyed the walls of the fort at Saybrook, Mr.
Whitefield, in 1740, attempted to bring them down, as Joshua
brought down the walls of Jericho, to convince the gaping multitude
of his divine mission. He walked several times round the fort with
prayer, and rams’-horns blowing; he called on the angel of Joshua to
come and do as he had done at the walls of Jericho; but the angel
was deaf, or on a journey, or asleep, and therefore the walls
remained. Hereupon George cried aloud: “This town is accursed for
not receiving the messenger of the Lord; therefore the angel is
departed, and the walls shall stand as a monument of sinful people.”
He shook off the dust of his feet against them, and departed, and
went to Lyme.
Killingsworth is ten miles west from Saybrook, lies on the sea, and
resembles Wadsworth. The town is eight miles square, and divided
into two parishes. This town is noted for the residence of the Rev.
Mr. Elliot, commonly known as Dr. Elliot, who discovered the art of
making steel out of sand, and wrote a book on husbandry, which will
secure him a place in the Temple of Fame.
Windham, the second county in the ancient kingdom of Sassacus, or
colony of Saybrook, is hilly; but the soil being rich, has excellent
butter, cheese, hemp, Indian-corn, and horses. Its towns are twelve.
Windham resembles Rumford, and stands on Winnomantic River. Its
meeting-house is elegant, and has a steeple, bell, and clock. Its
court-house is scarcely to be looked upon as an ornament. The
township forms four parishes, and is ten miles square.
Strangers are very much terrified at the hideous noise made on
summer evenings by the vast number of frogs in the brooks and
ponds. There are about thirty different voices among them, some of
which resemble the bellowing of a bull. The owls and whippoorwills
complete the rough concert, which may be heard several miles.
Persons accustomed to such serenades are not disturbed by them at
their proper stations; but one night in July, 1758, the frogs of an
artificial pond, three miles square, and about five from Windham,
finding the water dried up, left the place in a body, and marched, or
rather hopped, towards Winnomantic River. They were under the
necessity of taking the road and going through the town, which they
entered about midnight. The bull-frogs were the leaders, and the
pipers followed without number. They filled the road, forty yards
wide, for four miles in length, and were for several hours in passing
through the town unusually clamorous.
The inhabitants were equally perplexed and frightened: some
expected to find an army of French and Indians; others feared an
earthquake, and dissolution of Nature. The consternation was
universal. Old and young, male and female; fled naked from their
beds, with worse shriekings than those of the frogs. The event was
fatal to several women. The men, after a flight of half a mile, in
which they met with many broken shins, finding no enemies in
pursuit of them, made a hault, and summoned resolution enough to
venture back to their wives and children, when they distinctly heard
from the enemy’s camp these words: Wight, Hilderkin, Dier, Tete.
This last, they thought, meant treaty, and, plucking up courage, they
sent a triumvirate to capitulate with the supposed French and
Indians. These the men approached in their shirts, and begged to
speak with the general; but, it being dark and no answer given, they
were sorely agitated for some time betwixt hope and fear: at length,
however, they discovered that the dreaded inimical army was an
army of thirsty frogs going to the river for a little water.
Such an incursion was never known before nor since; and yet the
people of Windham have been ridiculed for their timidity on this
occasion. I verily believe an army under the Duke of Marlborough
would, under like circumstances, have acted no better than they did.
In 1768 the inhabitants of Connecticut River were as much alarmed
by an army of caterpillars as those of Windham were at the frogs;
and no one found reason to jest at their fears. Those worms came in
one night and covered the earth, on both sides of the river, to an
extent of three miles in front and two in depth. They marched with
great speed, and eat up everything green for the space of one
hundred miles, in spite of rivers, ditches, fires, and the united efforts
of 1,000 men. They were, in general, two inches long, had white
bodies covered with thorns, and red throats. When they had finished
their work they went down to the river Connecticut, where they
died, poisoning the waters, until they were washed into the sea. This
calamity was imputed by some to the vast number of logs and trees
lying in the creeks, and to cinders, smoke, and fires, made to
consume the waste wood for three or four hundred miles up the
Connecticut River; while others thought it augurated future evils,
similar to those of Egypt. The inhabitants of the Verdmonts would
unavoidably have perished with famine, in consequence of the
devastation of these worms, had not a remarkable Providence filled
the wilderness with wild pigeons, which were killed by sticks as they
sat upon the branches of the trees, in such multitudes that 30,000
people lived on them for three weeks. If a natural cause may be
assigned for the coming of the frogs and caterpillars, yet the visit of
the pigeons to the wilderness in August has been necessarily
ascribed to the interposition of infinite Power and Goodness. Happy
will it be for America, if the smiling providence of Heaven produces
gratitude, repentance, and obedience, amongst her children!
Lebanon lies on the west side of Winnomantic River. The best street,
which has good houses on both sides, is one mile long and one
hundred yards wide. An elegant meeting-house, with steeple and
bell, stands in the centre. The township is ten miles square, and
forms four parishes. This town was formerly famous for an Indian
school, under the conduct of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, whose great
zeal for the spiritual good of the savages in the wilderness induced
him to solicit a collection from England. Having met with success, his
school at Lebanon became a college in the province of
Newhampshire, where he has converted his godliness into gain, and
promises fair to excuse government from the expense of a
superintendent of Indian affairs.
Coventry lies on the same river; the houses are straggling. The
township is ten miles square, and consists of two parishes. Here are
two ponds, the one three and the other four miles long, and half as
wide, well filled with mackerel and other fish.
Mansfield lies east of Coventry, on Winnomantic and Fundy Rivers;
the houses are scattered. The township is eight miles square, and
divided into two parishes.
Union and Wilmington lie on Winnomantic River, forming two
parishes. Each township is six miles square.
Ashford lies on the Fundy, in a township ten miles square, and forms
three parishes. The people of the town have distinguished
themselves by a strict enforcement of the colony-laws against
heretics and episcopalians, for not attending their meeting on the
Sabbath.
Woodstock lies on Quinnibaug, and resembles Finchley. The
township is ten miles square, and divided into three parishes.
Woodstock had the honour of giving birth to the Rev. Thomas
Bradbury Chandler, D. D., a learned divine of the Church of England,
and well known in the literary world.
Killingsley lies east of Woodstock. The township, twenty miles long
and six wide, forms three parishes.
Pomfret stands on Quinnibaug River, and resembles Battersea. The
township is twelve miles square, and forms four parishes, one of
which is episcopal. Fanaticism had always prevailed in the county of
Windham over christian moderation: where, about the year 1770,
after many abuses, the episcopalians found a friend in Godfree
Malebone, Esq. who built on his own estate an elegant church,
which was patronized by the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, who appointed a clergyman.
We read that David slew a lion and a bear, and afterwards that Saul
trusted him to fight Goliath. In Pomfret lives Colonel Israel Putnam,
who slew a she-bear and her two cubs with a billet of wood. The
bravery of this action brought him into public notice; and it seems he
is one of fortune’s favourites. The story is as follows: In 1754 a large
she-bear came in the night from her den, which was three miles
from Mr. Putnam’s house, and took a sow out of his pen. The sow,
by squeaking, awoke Mr. Putnam, who hastily ran to the poor
creature’s relief; but, before he could reach the pen, the bear had
left it, and was trotting away with the sow in her mouth. Mr. Putnam
took up a billet of wood and followed the screaming of the sow, till
he came to the foot of the mountain where the den was. Dauntless
he entered the horrid cavern, and, after walking and crawling on his
hands and knees for fifty yards, came to a roomy cell, where the
bear met him with great fury. He saw nothing but the fire of her
eyes, but that was sufficient for our hero; he accordingly directed his
blow, which at once proved fatal to the bear, and saved his own life
at a most critical moment. Putnam then discovered and killed the
two cubs; and having, though in Egyptian darkness, dragged them
and the dead sow, one by one, out of the cave, he went home, and
calmly reported to his family what had happened. The neighbors
declared, on viewing the place by torchlight, that his exploit
exceeded those of Samson or David. Soon after, the General
Assembly appointed Mr. Putnam a lieutenant in the army marching
against Canada. His courage and good conduct raised him to the
rank of Captain the next year. The third year he was made a Major,
and the fourth a Colonel. Putnam and Rogers were the heroes
through the last war. Putnam was so hardy, at a time when the
Indians had killed all his men and completely hemmed him in upon a
river, as to leap into the stream, which in a minute carried him down
a stupendous falls, where no tree could pass without being torn to
pieces. The Indians reasonably concluded that Putnam, their terrible
enemy, was dead, and made their report accordingly at Ticonderoga;
but soon after a scouting party found their sad mistake in a bloody
rencontre. Some few that got off declared that Putnam was yet
living, and that he was the first son of Hobbomockow, and therefore
immortal. However, at length the Indians took this terrible warrior
prisoner, and tied him to a tree, where he hung three days without
food or drink. They did not attempt to kill him, for fear of offending
Hobbomockow; but they sold him to the French at a great price. The
name of Putnam was more alarming to the Indians than cannon,
and they never would fight him after his escape from the falls. He
was afterwards redeemed by the English.
Plainfield and Canterbury lie on Quinnibaug River, opposite to one
another, and have much the appearance of Lewisham. Each
township is eight miles square, and forms two parishes.
Voluntown lies on a small river, and resembles Finchley Common.
The township is fifteen miles long and five wide, and forms three
parishes, one of which is Presbyterian. This sect has met with as
little christian charity and humanity in this hair-brained country as
the Anabaptists, Quakers, and Churchmen. The Sober Dissenters of
this town, as they style themselves, will not attend the funeral of a
Presbyterian.
The Kingdom of Connecticote forms two counties, viz. Hertford and
Litchfield, which contain about 15,000 houses and 120,000
inhabitants. The county of Hertford excels the rest in tobacco,
onions, grain of all sorts, hay, and cider. It contains twenty-one
towns, the chief of which I shall describe, comparing the rest to the
towns near London.
Hertford town is deemed the capital of the province; it stands forty
miles from Saybrook, and the same distance from Newhaven, on the
west bank of Connecticut River, and is formed into squares. The
township is twenty miles from east to west, and six in breadth,
comprising six parishes, one of which is episcopal.
The houses are partly of brick and partly of wood, well built, but, as
I have observed in general of the towns in Connecticut, do not join.
King’s Street is two miles long and thirty yards wide, well paved, and
cut in two by a small river, over which is a high bridge. The town is
half a mile wide. A grand court-house, and two elegant meetings,
with steeples, bells, and clocks, adorn it. In 1760 a foundation of
quarry-stone was laid for an Episcopal church in this town, at the
expense of nearly 300l., on which occasion the episcopalians had a
mortifying proof that the present inhabitants inherit the spirit of their
ancestors. Samuel Talcott, Esq. one of the Judges of the County
Court, with the assistance of a mob, took away the stones, and with
them built a house for his son. What added to so meritorious an
action, was its being justified by the General Assembly and the
Consociation. In 1652 this town had the honour of executing Mrs.
Greensmith, the first witch ever heard of in America. She was
accused, in the indictment, of practising evil things on the body of
Ann Cole, which did not appear to be true; but the Rev. Mr. Stone,
and other ministers, swore that Greensmith had confessed to them
that the devil had had carnal knowledge of her. The Court then
ordered her to be hanged upon the indictment. Surely none of the
learned divines and statesmen studied in the Temple or Lincoln’s
Inn! It should seem that every Dominion or township was possessed
of an ambition to make itself famous in history. The same year
Springfield, not to be outdone by Hertford, brought Hugh Parsons to
trial for witchcraft, and the jury found him guilty. Mr. Pincheon, the
Judge, had some understanding, and prevented his execution till the
matter was laid before the General Court in Boston, who determined
that he was not guilty of witchcraft. The truth was, Parsons was
blessed with a fine person and genteel address, insomuch that the
women could not help admiring him above every other man in
Springfield, and the men could not help hating him; so that there
were witnesses enough to swear that Parsons was a wizzard,
because he made the females love and the men hate him.
In Hertford are the following curiosities: 1. A house built of American
oak in 1640, the timbers of which are yet sound, nay, almost
petrified; in it was born John Belcher, Esq. Governor of
Massachusets-Bay, and New-Jersey. 2. An elm, esteemed sacred, for
being the tree in which their Charter was concealed. 3. A wonderful
well, which was dug sixty feet deep without any appearance of
water, when a large rock was met with. The miners, boring this rock
in order to blast it with powder, drove the auger through it, upon
which the water spouted up with such great velocity that it was with
difficulty the well was stoned. It soon filled and ran over, and has
supported, or rather made, a brook for above one hundred years.
The tomb of Mr. Hooker is viewed with great reverence by his
disciples. Nathaniel, his great-grandson, a minister in Hertford,
inherits more than all his virtues, without any of his vices.[34]
Weathersfield is four miles from Hertford, and more compact than
any town in the colony. The meeting-house is of brick, with a
steeple, bell, and clock. The inhabitants say it is much larger than
Solomon’s Temple. The township is ten miles square; parishes four.
The people are more gay than polite, and more superstitious than
religious. This town raises more onions than are consumed in all
New-England. It is a rule with parents to buy annually a silk gown
for each daughter above seven years old, till she is married. The
young beauty is obliged, in return, to weed a patch of onions with
her own hands; which she performs in the cool of the morning,
before she dresses her beefsteak. This laudable and healthy custom
is ridiculed by the ladies of other towns, who idle away their
mornings in bed, or in gathering the pink, or catching the butterfly,
to ornament their toilets; while the gentlemen, far and near, forget
not the Weathersfield ladies’ silken industry.
Weathersfield was settled in 1637 by the Rev. Mr. Smith and his
followers, who left Watertown, near Boston, in order to get out of
the power of Mr. Cotton, whose severity in New-England exceeded
that of the bishops in Old-England. But Mr. Smith did not discard the
spirit of persecution as the sole property of Mr. Cotton, but carried
with him a sufficient quantity of it to distress and divide his little
flock.
Middletown is ten miles below Weathersfield, and beautifully situated
upon the Connecticut, between two small rivers one mile asunder,
which is the length of the town and grand street. Here is an elegant
church, with steeple, bell, clock, and organ; and a large meeting
without a steeple. The people are polite, and not much troubled with
that fanatic zeal which pervades the rest of the colony. The township
is ten miles square, and forms four parishes, one episcopalian. This
and the two preceding towns may be compared to Chelsea.
The following towns, which lie on the Connecticut River, are so much
alike that a description of one will serve for the whole, viz. Windsor,
East Windsor, Glastenbury, Endfield, Suffield, Chatham, Haddam,
and East Haddam. Windsor, the best, is cut in two by the river Ett,
which wanders from the northward 100 miles, through various
meadows, towns, and villages, and resembles Bedford. Township ten
miles square, forming three parishes. It was settled in 1637 by the
Rev. Mr. Huet and his associates, who fled from religious slavery in
Boston, to enjoy the power of depriving others of liberty.
The following towns, lying back of the river towns, being similar in
most respects, I shall join also in one class, viz. Hebron, Colchester,
Bolton, Tolland, Stafford, and Sommers.
Hebron is the centre of the province, and it is remarkable that there
are thirty-six towns larger and thirty-six less. It is situated between
two ponds, about two miles in length and one in breadth, and is
intersected by two small rivers, one of which falls into the
Connecticut, the other into the Thames. A large meeting stands on
the square, where four roads meet. The town resembles Finchley.
The township is eight miles square; five parishes, one is episcopal.
The number of houses is 400; of inhabitants, 3,200. It pays one part
out of seventy-three of the governmental taxes, and is a bed of
farmers on their own estates. Frequent suits about the Indian titles
have rendered them famous for their knowledge in law and self-
preservation. In 1740 Mr. George Whitefield gave them this laconic
character: “Hebron,” says he, “is the stronghold of Satan; for its
people mightily oppose the work of the Lord, being more fond of
earth than heaven.” This town is honoured by the residence of the
Rev. Dr. Benjamin Pomeroy, an excellent scholar, an exemplary
gentleman, and a most thundering preacher of the New-Light order.
His great abilities procured him the favour and honour of being the
instructor of Abimeleck, the present king of Mohegin. He is of a very
persevering, sovereign disposition, but just, polite, generous,
charitable, and without dissimulation. Avis alba. Here also reside
some of the descendants of William Peters, Esq. already spoken of,
among whom is the Rev. Samuel Peters,[35] an episcopal clergyman,
who, by his generosity and zeal for the Church of England, rendered
himself famous both in New and Old-England, and in some degree
made an atonement for the fanaticism and treason of his uncle
Hugh, and of his ancestor on his mother’s side, Major-General
Thomas Harrison, both hanged at Charing-Cross in the last century.
Colchester has to boast of the Rev. John Buckley for its first minister,
whose grandfather was the Rev. Peter Buckley, of Woodhill, in
Bedfordshire in Old-England; who, after being silenced by the bishop
for his misconduct, went to New-England in 1635, and died at
Concord in 1658.
John Buckley was a great scholar, and, suffering prudence to govern
his hard temper, he conciliated the esteem of all parties, and became
the ornament of the Sober Dissenters in Connecticut. He was a
lawyer, a physician, and divine. He published an ingenious pamphlet
to prove that the title of the people to their lands was good, because
they had taken them out of the state of nature. His argument
satisfied many who thought their titles were neither legal, just, nor
scriptural; indeed, it may seem conclusive, if his major proposition
be granted, that the English found Connecticut in a state of nature.
His son John was a lawyer and physician of great reputation, and
was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court very young. He and his
father were suspected to be not sound in faith, because they used in
their prayers, “From battle and murder, and from sudden death,
good Lord deliver us, for the sake of thine only Son, who commands
us thus to pray, Our Father,” &c., &c. Peter Buckley was possessed of
a gentleman’s estate in Bedfordshire, which he sold, and spent the
produce among his servants in Massachusets-Bay. His posterity in
Colchester, in Connecticut, are very rich, and, till lately, were held in
great esteem, which, however, they lost by conforming to the
Church of England.
There is nothing remarkable to be observed of any of the other
towns I have classed with Hebron, except Stafford, which possesses
a mineral spring that has the reputation of curing the gout, sterility,
pulmony, hysterics, &c., &c., and therefore is the New-England
“Bath,” where the sick and rich resort to prolong life and acquire the
polite accomplishments.
Herrington, Farmington, and Symsbury, lying on the west of
Hertford, and on the river Ett, will finish the county of Hertford.
Herrington is ten miles square, and forms two parishes.
Farmington resembles Corydon. The township is fifteen miles square,
and forms eight parishes, three of which are episcopal. Here the
meadow-land is sold at 50l. per acre.
Symsbury, with its meadows and surrounding hills, forms a beautiful
landscape, much like Maidstone, in Kent. The township is twenty
miles square, and consists of nine parishes, four of which are
episcopal. Here are copper mines. In working one, many years ago,
the miners bored half a mile through a mountain, making large cells,
forty yards below the surface, which now serve as a prison, by order
of the General Assembly, for such offenders as they choose not to
hang. The prisoners are let down on a windlass into this dismal
cavern, through a hole which answers the triple purpose of
conveying them food, air, and—I was going to say—light, but that
scarcely reaches them. In a few months the prisoners are released
by death, and the colony rejoices in her great humanity and the
mildness of her laws. This conclave of spirits imprisoned may be
called with great propriety the Catacomb of Connecticut. The light of
the sun and the light of the Gospel are alike shut out from the
martyrs, whose resurrection-state will eclipse the wonder of that of
Lazarus. It has been remarked by the candid part of this religious
colony, that the General Assembly and Consociation have never
allowed any prisoners in the whole province a chaplain, though they
have spent much of their time and public money in spreading the
gospel in the neighbouring colonies among the Indians, Quakers,
and episcopalians, and though, at the same time, those religionists
preach damnation to all people who neglect to attend public worship
twice every Sabbath, fasting, and thanksgiving days, provided they
are appointed by themselves, and not by the King and Parliament of
Great Britain. This well-founded remark has been treated by the
zealots as springing more from malice than policy.
I beg leave to give the following instances of the humanity and
mildness the province has always manifested for the episcopal
clergy.
About 1746, the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, of Symsbury, refusing to pay a rate
imposed for the salary of Mr. Mills, a dissenting minister in the same
town, was, by the collector, thrown across a horse, lashed hands and
feet under the creature’s belly, and carried many miles in that
humane manner to gaol. Mr. Gibbs was half dead when he got there;
and though he was released by his church wardens, who, to save his
life, paid the assessment, yet, having taken cold in addition to his
bruises, he became delirious, and has remained in a state of insanity
ever since.
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
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