Trumbull,  with  many  other  worthy  men,  was  committed  to
the  idea  that  extreme  measures  in  dealing  with  existing  difficulties
were  unnecessary  ;  that  it  was  neither  wise  nor  expedient  to  sepa-
rate from  Great  Britain,  and  he  personally  thought  the  troubles
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country  ought  to  be  settled
"  ^y  gentle  and  insensible  methods  rather  than  by  power  and  force."

His  private  opinions  were  quickly  set  aside,  however,  when
the  declaration  of  war  came ;  and  from  that  time  Trumbull  was
laboring  day  and  night  for  the  cause  for  which  the  colonies  were
making  such  a  sacrifice.
A  correspondence  soon  ensued  between  Governor  Trum-
bull   and    General    George    Washington.      It    gradually    assumed

lOI


T"  h   e        Governors       of       Connecticut

a  close    personal   cast,    which   was   continued   after   the    Revolu-
tion.
In  August,  1776,  when  Washington  wrote  Governor  Trum-
bull concerning  the  weakness  of  the  Continental  army,  the  latter
immediately  called  together  the  council  of  safety  and  supplemented
the  live  Connecticut  regiments  already  in  the  field  by  nine  more,
which  proved  to  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  cause.
