Exhibit 23.5


                       Shatswell, MacLeod & Company, P.C.
                          Certified Public Accountants

                                 83 Pine Street
                     West Peabody, Massachusetts 01960-3635
                            Telephone (978) 535-0208
                            Facsimile (978) 535-9908


                    CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS

          We consent  to the  incorporation  by  reference  in the  registration
statement  on Form S-4 of Webster  Financial  Corporation  of our  report  dated
January 29, 1999,  relating to the  consolidated  balance  sheets of New England
Community  Bancorp,  Inc. and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 1998 and 1997, and
the related consolidated  statements of income,  changes in stockholder's equity
and cash flows for each of the years in the  three-year  period ending  December
31, 1998,  which  report is included in the  December 31, 1998 annual  report on
Form 10-K of New England Community Bancorp, Inc.

                                     /s/ Shatswell, MacLeod & Company, P.C.

                                     SHATSWELL, MacLEOD & COMPANY, P.C.


West Peabody, Massachusetts
September 27, 1999




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