Whose jealous love of his native state, led him, in defense of her
good fame, to make some strictures upon a statement relative to
_bundling_, in my _History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor,
Conn._, which strictures (made and taken in the kindest spirit of
personal friendship) set me upon the further investigation of this
interesting subject.

This Essay,

The result of that investigation, and the justification
(as I claim) of my original statement, is
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR




PREFATORY.


In the _History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Conn._, published in
1859, speaking of the influence of the old French wars upon the
religious, moral and social life of New England, I used this language:

"Then came war, and young New England brought from the long Canadian
campaigns, stores of loose camp vices and recklessness, which soon
flooded the land with immorality and infidelity. The church was
neglected, drunkenness fearfully increased, and social life was sadly
corrupted. _Bundling_--that ridiculous and pernicious custom which
prevailed among the young to a degree which we can scarcely