The right persons to tell, he believed, would be Dr. Benjamin West, whose pamphlet on the late transit of Venus proved him a scholar and keen thinker; Reverend James Manning, President of the College; ex-Governor Stephen Hopkins, who had been a member of the Philosophical Society at Newport, and was a man of very broad perceptions; John Carter, publisher of the Gazette ; all four of the Brown brothers, John, Joseph, Nicholas and Moses, who formed the recognized local magnates; old Dr. Jabez Bowen, whose erudition was considerable, and who had much firsthand knowledge of Curwen’s odd purchases; and Captain Abraham Whipple, a privateersman of phenomenal boldness and energy who could be counted on to lead in any active measures needed.