The New York herald., 1850-12-22

marhsble inveations with which the seni-histori-
cal writers of our times have been pleased to deal
New England men are liable to overate the cha |
racter of the Pilgrims. They commence by At
tributing to the origin Of the expedition impulses
aims, purposes and hopes, which are rather the
offspring of their own imagination than of the real
desires and intentions of those who first sought to
establish colony on the shores Of this continent.
Going from this point of error, they follow it up
with other misconceptions and Representations,
in which true historical data lost in whirlpool
of motives assigned to the. hardy pioneers of the
wilderness OF course, it Is not an easy task to
assail such a mass Of deceptions, so conventionay
used by the flaterers of the past; but still, we have
the right to dissent even from the NEST vulgar of
popular errors, and to form more rigid estimate
Of the characters of men, who, IT they had less
godlness than has been attributed TO them, lad
certainly zeal enough to carry forward their enter
prise against the terrible conflict OF difficulties
The Pilgrim Fathers were not unwise in the con-
ceptionl or in the execution OF their project. They
came to these shores, led on by that spirit of
venture, and that hope of reward, which had
stimulated the English mind in many other
anterior periods of earnest adventure and foreign
peril. They did not come with the sword, be-
cause they did not come with numbers. They
did not come with brute force, and fleets, and
armies, because they did not come with the Insig.
MIA of a governmen. They came as they best
could; and they used Al { best and the safest
means to sustain themselves in a country new TO
them and to the whole civilized world Sill, they
came as conquerors. They acted as such They
rejoiced in their victories; and if they did not
commit many outrages as Cortez and Pzarro
in the South, who, under the banner of the cross,
Ievelled in the blood of innocence, still they
animated by as little respect for the rights of the
aboIigines, as the Spanish adventurers. As their
power increased, they displayed the motives and
ambitions of their hearts, and If individual purity
and sincerity at first revolted against barbanty, at
last it was swallowed up in one conventional de-
sire TO overyhelm not only the red man, but the
bold pioneer, who had a truly honest heart, and
we'll. balanced head. But the outline of the tact
is sufficient. Our purpose is only to refer to the
earliest day of our history; and to that latest one,
which brings US, in single vessel, from the ul-
terror shore Of the continent, upwards of two mil
lions of dellars in gold, as the result of a
terprse by the progeny of those who landed on
Ply mouth Rock.
The results, then, of the earliest and of the latest
steps on this continent under the auspices OF the
same race, similar in kind, though not in de-
gree. We have just high and honorable mo-
tives in our enterprises TO. day, forefathers
had in theirs, when they breasted the waves of
the Atlantic in the gallant May ayAower; and il may
be written of the Californians, two hundred years
hence, that they, too, were pious pilgrims, who
established school houses and churches and bene-
violent associations. Indeed, as gold will cover
multitude Of sins, we know not but that the history
of the race in California may be more highly CO.
ored than il has been with respect to the progress
of the earlier pilgrims of Plymouth Rock.
Were we TO attempt to deduce moral from the
remarkable progress of the Anglo Saxon people OF
this continent, from the time of their advent to
these shores TO the present hour, we fear we
should not be very complimentary to the Fourth
Of July orators of New England, or to those who
celebrate the twenty second day of December at
and, for this reason, that we think il
may be Justly commended that the New England
has not improved in lberality or in hu-
man righteousness, since persecution was a part of
the policy of the original settlers. Events, within
the last twenty years, have shown disposition on
the part of the North, and of those who have made
new States from her population, to inaame, to
worry and TO trespass on the rights of the weaker
are politically united has been growing evil;
and, up TO a very recent period, we have seen
powerful political organization attempting to plunge
ihe South either into series Of disasters, or to
force il into an independent, and, consequently,
into tn nntagonistical position with the North.
This, we contend, is evidence of the same
bigotry that marked the early career Of the Ply
mouth Bay colony. From that point it has It's
origin; and, till New England men learn to aspre-
ria he If heir fhevS md
from that tyranny of opinion which is the worst
form of power, we shall not be able 10 congratulate
the country in its general political and commercial
progress. Al the same time, we do not despair of
better state OF things. Every day seems TO be
bringing us nearer TO that position in which we
shall suspect the morality aud justice OF political
parties; and we believe that our progress will be
marked by nothing more strongly than by the
presence and control OF a great conservative
majority, able TO defend the Union against all
dangers.