Description

Colton (1789-1857) was born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, graduated from Yale in 1812 after which he completed a three-year course of study at Andover Theological Seminary in two years, and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1816.. His ministry included various locations in western New York but in 1826, after the untimely death of his wife and suffering a weakening voice, he relinquished preaching and made a long tour of the United States. He then went to England in 1831 as correspondent for the New York Observer where he remained for four years. After returning to the US he took orders in the Episcopal Church but soon resumed the journalistic profession and distinguished himself as a writer of political tracts and articles advocating the principles of the Whig party. He was the author of a number of books and in 1852 became professor of political economy at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, a position he held until his death. This work was first published in 1839.