DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT, SS.

L. S. BE IT REMEMBERED; That on the eighteenth day of Janua

ry, in the forty-fifth year of the independence of the United States of America, Frederick Butler of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit, A Complete History of the United States of America, embracing the whole period from the discovery of North America, down to the year 1820. In three volumes. By Frederick Butler, A. M. Author of "A Catechetical Compend of General History," "Sketches of Universal History," and "Farmer's Manual." "Qui transtulit sustinet." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act 66 for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the CC times therein mentioned."

CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,

CHARLES A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut.

ROBERTS AND BURR, PRINTERS.

.2-13-28 3 vols.

PREFACE.

TO shew that one supreme eternal God created the universe, and by His almighty fiat, spake all worlds into existence, with all beings that inhabit them; that His superintending providence preserves and governs all things, that His wisdom regulates and controuls all events, that the smallest as well as the largest, are equally the objects of His care; "not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His notice, and even the hairs of our heads are all numbered," was the great object of my Sketches of Universal History.

To illustrate this great truth, I have there traced the history of the family of man, from the creation to the flood, and from the flood down to the present time, and shewn the special government of God, as displayed to the world, in the rise and fall of states and empires: all which events have fulfilled a succession of general as well as a particnlar prophecies, predicted by the prophets, hundreds and thousands of years before they were accomplished.

To shew the same superintending power, wisdom, and government of God, in planting his church in this wilderness of the west, and thus laying the foundation of a great nation, which has grown up and taken its rank amongst the free and enlightened nations of the earth, is also the great design of this work.

To illustrate this design, I have traced the rise and progress of navigation, by the way of Introductory Remarks, through a period of about 3500 years, down to the time of the discovery of America by Columbus; the settlement of Hispaniola, and the conquest of Mexico and Peru by Cortes and Pizarro.

I have also traced the causes that led to, and promoted the settlement of America, in the discovery of the mariner's compass, the invention of gun-powder, and the rise of the reformation in Europe under John Wickliffe, and the art of printing, and shewn how God caused this coincidence of events, to promote his great designs in the settlement of the United States of America.

In executing this plan, I have commenced the work with the discovery of North America, and the settlement of New-England, and carried forward the five New-England States, both individually and collectively, in the first volume, down to the peace of 1763, because this confederacy became more immediately involved in the wars with the French and Indians, in Canada and Nova-Scotia.

I have commenced the second volume, with the discovery and settlement of the States south of the Hudson River, and carried them forward, both individually and collectively, down to the peace of 1763, because they became more immediately involved in the wars of the west and south.

I have commenced the third volume with the causes that led to the revolutionary war, and the declaration of independence, from which eventful epoch, the United States are carried forward collectively, in their national character, down to the present time. The western States are considered in their place, as they became incorporated with the nation, with a general sketch of their rise and progress.

With a steady eye to the special designs of God in laying the foundation of a great nation, in the wilds of America, and in bringing forward the United States to that elevated rank they now possess amongst the free and enlightened nations of the earth, so far as I have been able to trace these designs; as well as to promote the best good of my country, I have entered upon the arduous labours before

me; and have prosecuted my purpose with an unbiassed enquiry after truth, and a faithful narrative of facts, without regarding the sentiments of any man or set of men, either civil or ecclesiastical; but with the profoundest deference to the opinions of the wise and good of whatever name or station.

Those principles of civil and religious liberty, which formed the basis of the wise and virtuous institutions of our fathers, and laid the foundation of the United States of America, originated in the Puritan Church, and were unknown to any former age of the world, and have never been enjoyed by any other people, either before or since, and probably never will be until the great millennial day. Driven into exile by the persecutions of their own country, our fathers planted the pure principles of the Gospel in the wilds of America, in their civil and religious, and literary institutions, and these combined, became the palladium of the church in the wilderness, and have now become the palladium of the nation.

The almost perpetual wars that harrassed and distressed the early settlements in America, led the colonies to feel their mutual dependence, and cultivate that mutual intercourse with each other, that became necessary for mutual support and defence; this led to a general diffusion of these principles of civil and religious liberty, until they became incorporated with all the other colonial governments, and thus laid the foundation of that national government which the United States now enjoy; which is the perfection of ages, and the admiration of the world.

In treating of the causes that led to, as well as the causes that promoted the settlement of, the United States, in their incipient stages, I have shewn in minute detail, who were the enemies of these civil and religious principles that form the basis of the American character and government, and how by their cruel and unrelenting per

secutions they strove to destroy them in their infancy, and blot them out from the world; also how God caused this wrath of man to praise him, and overruled the whole for the - best good of his church, and the best interest of this nation. Infidelity, also, during the French revolution, raised the standard of persecution, and with her thousand wiles sought to overthrow the wise and virtuous institutions of our fathers, and thus destroy the church in the wilderness, and even the government itself, that glory of the nation; but even this refuge of lies, God has swept away, and caused it to become the instrument of strength and support to that very government she had plotted to destroy.

In tracing those successive events, that have rolled on the United States of America, to their national union, independence, and glory, I have noticed that succession of heroes, statesmen, and divines, whose joint co-operations, under God, have rendered them the instruments of carrying forward the work. Those illustrious characters have acted well their parts in this glorious drama, and most of them have passed off the stage: but their illustrious deeds are recorded in the temple of immortal fame, and their names can never die.

Religion, patriotism, and valour, supported by industry and economy, joined to resolution, perseverance, and enterprise, marked the characters of our fathers. These virtues combined, made this wilderness blossom like the rose, and this savage desert become vocal with the praises of our God led them to resolve, that as the Bible was the standard of their faith and practice, they would take the Bible for the standard of their civil government, until they could find a better.

Under this standard, they planted a system of civil, religious, and literary institutions, the most free, pure, and perfect ever before known; protected by a system of military discipline, the most independent in that all important