Every citizen of old Monmouth has just cause to be proud of the fact that the original patentees were among the first in America to guarantee toleration to all settlers in religious matters. In Rhode Island, while Roger Williams advocated "a free, full and absolute liberty of conscience," it is charged that Roman Catholics were excepted in the charter of 1663. The much vaunted toleration act of Maryland limited toleration to "all who believed in Jesus Christ." William Penn did not arrive in America until October, 1682, nearly eighteen years after the Monmouth patentees declared that every settler should have FREE LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE WITHOUT ANY MOLESTATION OR DISTURBANCE WHATSOEVER IN THE WAY OF THEIR WORSHIP.

This section of New Jersey is exceptionally rich in reminiscences of the past, extending from the colonial times down to the present. The geographical situation of Monmouth County has always exposed its eastern portion to the furious sweep of storm and tempest, and at the same time, left it open to the ravages of the enemy, whenever involved in foreign war. This was peculiarly the case in the war of 1812, when the British cruisers lay off the coast, and held such a constant menace over the section, that none of the citizens were drafted, but were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to repel invasion.

JUDGE JOHN S. FORMAN, a former Judge of Monmouth county, a hale old man of vigorous frame, whose memory ran back almost four score years, had a wide and accurate knowledge of the history of Monmouth for a century previous and whose father blew a fife at the Battle of Monmouth, in June, 1778, related the following: "I was then only a lad of thirteen or fourteen years," said the Judge. "I have often heard my father describe the battle. The day was fearfully hot, and my father was blowing with all his might, when the battle became fiercer and fiercer, and it drew more of his attention than did the music. While he stood thus, his uncle, Colonel Samuel Forman, mounted upon a white horse, halted within a short distance, and began giving orders to some officers near him. His nephew, still holding his fife to his mouth, stood with idle fingers, staring and listening, and forgetful entirely of his own duty. All at once the Colonel spurred his charger up to the young man, and making a sweep at him with his sword thundered out, 'You little rascal, if you don't fill that fife and keep time, I'll run you through.' Young Forman 'kept time' until the whistling of the bullets and the thunder of the cannon ended and "Washington drove the British from the field.

"It was a favorite custom of the English cruisers to send a barge ashore, at some point on the coast, kill and dress a number of cattle, and take the beef back to the ship with them. On one of these occasions, when a barge was aiming for Barnegat, two fishermen were engaged on shore. One of them naturally enough took to the woods, and kept out of sight until they were gone. The other was a well-remembered character, known as George Havens, supposed by many to be underwitted, but, as is often the case, with a certain vein of shrewdness and cunning that more than once made him a match for those who were supposed to be more highly endowed than he, he determined to wait and see the British, quite confident that he could pull through any trouble into which he was likely to get. Havens had a thin, squeaking voice, and when the English landed, he made them a low obeisance, as if delighted to meet them. Gathering around the old man, they instantly besieged him with questions. They wished to know whether there was any American force near at hand, and pointing to the masts of some vessels that could be seen several miles up the bay, they gave him to understand that they meant to burn them, and unless he piloted them across to the bay, he would be shot. Havens, with mouth and eyes wide open, listened to all they had to say, and then, his face lit up, as he replied that they were correct. He had often found the nests of sea gulls himself, in the sand along shore, it being their custom to lay two, three and sometimes four eggs. The exasperated foragers plied him with other questions, but a deafer man than Havens was never seen. To every inquiry he returned the most ridiculous answers, and when they ordered him to help kill and dress some of the cattle browsing near, he still was unable to comprehend their meaning. When they were ready to embark, the old man was frightened to hear them discuss whether they should take him along as a prisoner or not. The officer in charge was desirous of carrying him aboard ship, as were a number of his subordinates; but, after quite an extended debate, they concluded that he was too deaf to be of any use, and he was left.

"The American coasters hiding in the rivers and inlets were constantly on the lookout for a chance to slip out and run up to New York, with their cargoes of wood and material that were in great demand. During a storm I have frequently stood on the beach, and looking out to sea, have been unable to detect a single sail. It is then that all prudent navigators make haste to get out of sight of the Jersey coast. It was on such occasions as these, that the little American vessels stole cautiously out of the inlet, and crowded all sail for New York. It was assuming great risk, but, if successful, they were sure of making a handsome profit on their cargo, and all were eager to take the chance.

"I was down in the meadows," said the Judge, "one day in the month of July, 1813, when I noticed that a British brig that had been standing on and offshore for a number of weeks, had all sail crowded on, and was heading almost directly in. As the white foam curled away from her prow, it was easy to see that she was coming with great speed, or there was some mischief afoot. A glance northward told what it meant. Two of our sloops, after making the run into New York, were creeping down the coast, hoping to reach shelter unobserved, when the brig sighted them and instantly spread every stitch of canvass for the purpose of cutting them off. Well knowing their peril, the coasters ran with desperate haste for Squan Inlet, certain that if they could once get in there, all danger would be at an end. Thus all three were heading toward the same point, and at one time they were about equi-distant. The sloops were much the faster, and had everything been favorable, would have effected their escape; but, when they turned to run into the inlet, the water was too low. There was a heavy thump, and, as the bows lurched upward, we could see that both were immovably grounded. The crews were in the boats in a twinkling, and in a few minutes later landed safely.

"The brig approached as close as was prudent, and then opened fire upon the helpless sloops. The shots were well directed, and the hull and rigging were splintered and battered until it seemed as if they were totally destroyed. Some of the shots passed over the bluff, and struck a mile or two inland. They fell all about the house of Uncle Tommy Cook, and one of them, I recollect, just grazed the top of his barn and ploughed up the field beyond. They were not chary of their shots either, but kept hammering away at the sloops, until certain they were destroyed, they withdrew to watch for other daring coasters that might be prowling along shore. After they were out of the way, and the tide had risen, we got the sloops over the bar and up the inlet, where they were repaired and used for years afterward. Three thousand two hundred pounds of shot were picked up in the shape of cannon balls. I remember that we expected the British would land that night, and there were a hundred and eighty of us under arms, and on the lookout. We would have given a good deal to induce them to do so, but they were all very timid about venturing on shore, and preferred to drop a shot now and then upon us, from their men-of-war, or to land only long enough to steal a few cattle and make off again."

Among revolutionary incidents is one giving an account of the shooting of a notorious horse thief and tory named Fenton. He was a sort of Modoc, who was in constant communication with the British, and took a devilish pleasure in leading them against his neighbors, many of whom were utterly ruined through his treachery. A couple of Americans concealed themselves under some hay and barrels in a wagon, while a third, under the guise of an honest farmer, rattled off down the road by a house where Fenton was reported to be. Not suspecting the trap set for him, the miscreant summoned the wagon to halt, set down his gun, and started out to take possession of the stores that he supposed were in the vehicle. He had just thrown one foot over the fence, when the two men in concealment rose up and shot him dead. Judge Form an stated to me that his father's housekeeper was standing only a few feet away at this moment, and saw the wretch meet his doom in the manner described.