The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-12-25
The New England Celebration.

The recent celebration in this city OF the ami
versary Of the Landing Of the Pilgrims, on the
shores Of Plymouth, exhibited some points Of in
terest, which are worthy Of attention. At all
events, the occasion presents an opportunity of
correcting some errors, and announcing some not
altogether unimportant truths, which indepen-
dent journalist, may not with proprety refrain
from improving.
The Grafton at the Tabernacle has been highly
lauded by some of the newspapers, and is, very
unjustly in our opinion, pointed to as the
principal feature in the celebration. In CON-
mon, however, with these set oratorical efforts,
laboriously manufactured ~ uiJrI, II 10 .~Iy
impressive, commonplace, and powerless effort.
In its style, it certainly presents an admirable spe
cimen Of the sophomore order OF composition.
One can hardly suppose, indeed, after perusing it,
that it is the production of gentleman grown up
to mans estate, whose mind has been matured by
patient study, and whose imagination has settled
down into respectable sobriety. The orator APP
pears to be quite bewildered He founders wildly
about amid Of fine words and pompous
phrases, apparently without any chance OF getting
to dry land, very much like the unfortunate Hiber-
MAN traveller who has lost his way in wilderness
of bog. We cannot for the life Of us make out
what the poor man is driving at. He is evidently
laboring hard to reach some. point, but what that
point is not of his auditors is in the slightest
danger Of discovering. Almost every imaginable
subject, SCIENCE place, person. or thing, Is touched
upon in this Grafton. Organic and inorganic chem
lstry-the art Of printing climatology-
der-geoogy-the Bible-the ague-Milton-the
Observation-Disclosures Battle OF Water
loo-the Pyramids Observation-Disclosures
phons Cloud-Prmeval Italy-Botany-H Hide
brand-Pusey ism-the "Heroic John Ball'-Bag-
dad-Steam Power-Sir Thomas Biowne-Per-
gamus-the Mechanic Arts-Plutarch-th Giaour
--China--Astronomy- -lndia--ssTenibIe Albu-
guerque"-St. Simon Stytes-and hundred
other SUBJECTS are alluded to, and discussed with
fuency and rhetorical flourish, which we are
at all surprised to learn, completely nonplussed
the reporters. King David the interchangeable song
writer of the Hebrews, excaims-
my tongue is like the pen S.
OF one that swift doth write,
But Mr.. Marsh's tongue, itappears, completely out
all the stenographers that in this case was
Just impossible to catch either the sound or the
sense, it is said to be to catch weaze asleep,
or Yankee mapping. Mr. Marsh, however, as
full of kindness as OF words, generously handed
the MSS to the Courier r Enquirer, SO that that
eminenty exciting sheet administered yesterday
treble its periodical allowance of lead.
But it is not the style alone, Of Mr.. Marsh's ora
ton, which is liable to censure. His historical al
lusons are somewhat suspicious, and his philoso-
phical conclusions are altogether erroneous He
falls into precisely the same error, which Mr..
Choate and all the New England " natives are so
prone to fall on these occasions. He glorifies the
Puritans at the expense Of others and Of the truth.
They gravely assert that to the Purtans, Europe
and America are indebted for civil freedom -
Every man who has read history to any pur-
pose, knows that this is not true. The seeds
OF that goodly harvest which began to rpen at the
era of the Reformation had been sown long before
and sown by the Church OF Rome. She it was
that from the third to the fifteenth century kept
alive not only the christian faith but christian civil
hzatlon and civil freedom BY her institutions the
humanizing and refining influence of Christianity
was constantly kept in action throughout that
long penod She was the great agent of ci-
vIlization-the patroness Of the arts and of
sclence-and the great preparer of the way for
the advent Of that era OF more active and indie
pendent thought in religion, politics, and every
thing which began in the sixteenth century. Ii
was the Romish church which successfully re.
sisted In Europe the inundation of that ocean of
ignorance, barbarism, and Mahomedanism, which
swept from Asia every trace of the old Roman
civilization. Professionalism did not introduce
new civilization, new religion, nor new spirit
OF civil liberty. But it breathed fresh energy into
the Old II was, in TACT, the natural growth of the
seeds previously sown. II was the first assump-
ton by the many Of that which the few had hither
TO maintained fhe right to think and act &C.
cordinely.
But. again, Mr., Marsh, and his fellow New
Ens!andsr, forget that their forstashsn were 40,