New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-12-22

hss moreover, en- snops;ed bsrssu nom the suprens-
scy Of the See Of Rome, and the POPULAR mind va
intsnty ssssged equ4y 10 the pursuit Of tbeelogti
knaIos and defense Of public and private rights. :,
twas the age Of Spenser, Shakespeare, Bacon ana
Milton. Poetry had rissn from lyric besu.y 70 epic
dignity; history, from fabulous chronicles TO Pnio,
FORKS, to things and laws Reasoning from these cir,
cum stances, seemed that the svowed progress OF
society was assured, and that civil and religious o-
erty about to be established on broad and enduf
Ing found stors.
Nevertheless, reaction had already begun, whose
force Is even yet unspent- The See Of Rme 'oos
alarm from the movement OF the ReiormsnontJ 9nI
combined with Kings against nations Henry ,,n'
srcgated 10 hmself the very same spr M ~
Christian liberty be had wrested fro the PoPei ana
with singular caprice employed it in compelling con-
for1nity TO the CDR aith and worship o. Rome
conducted by ecclesias,ics who derived their sp,
pontments from himself, and held them a. ms
own pleasure. The reign of Mary inaugurs'eai
that relapse TO- Rome, which the espnces oi
,s the but the
claim to spiritual supremacy. The people reeb'eu al
these eccles sstical usurpstioDs Of the Tudon ana
they, 10 retaliation, boldly attempted to supyeI. Ine
COZ suiiopal authority OF Parliament EbEsSeth, un,
der the advice of sagscious Statesmen, and supported
by temporlzDg churcbmen, resored TO the 'avoi'se.
pedjeDt Of politician s-comproms &c. Compromise - .
iestibe and often necessary ode Of Adjusting coz
be tx,epded to the subveion of the natural rights or
the moral duties Of subjects or citizens. Even Wnere
a compromise Ia proper in itself, 1t derives al 10
srer 9th from The fair and full consent OF all the pres
whom IT biDds Elizabeth caused the Komsa I az,
olic creed discipline and ritual to be revised and alto
geher recas under the direction OF leaders Oh some Oh
The conflicting rests; and thus new system gas pro-
duced, wbioh was claid ed, stood midway netweeh
Il ur compromisipg Church of Rome and equally I'M
con promising lstitndnarian Professionalism. The new
system was established by law, and hierarchy was
prointed by The crown to whose care il was commit
ted. Absolute ard even active CONFORMITY
was commanded. to be enforced BY pains ,r, tna
mails acting without appeal and 10 deroganoa
of the CT nmon law The lew system, whatever might
be lis religious and ecolesiastical harmony with the
Di, inc precsps was in is civil aspec, mere poli.-
icsl Institution. 1t was offensive and odious to
re alous people, who, though divided into opposing
rects, sgrted In regarding the political authority as
.umed by tie State O. sacrilegious usurpanon Inc
friends of civil liberty also condemned as turning oil
tie balteies that had been won from the Rom.a See,
In tie name of Liberty, against the very fortress
OF Liberty itself Nevertheless, portion OF the clergy,
WHO had now become dependent on the State, mem
political setaiioD, placemen and walters for places,
the tnid the vensl and the frivolous, ealy gave In
their sien and The compromise daily gained wlder
sequiesceroe through the appliances Of political se,
duc,iOn prescription and perse cutien Tie Church OF
England Yves built on that COZ promise. Incorporated
into the Constitution with such auxiliary political DOW
ers it must necessarily augment the infuenc, OF the
throne and be subveive equally Of the civil and re-
Isious liberties of the people.
A conservative power-a new conservative power
was necessary to prevent that fatal contamination.
That power appeared in the form OF body OF obscure
religious sectsIh s-nen of monsstic8l devoutnes,
yet retaining the habits Of domestic and social me-
Simple, but not unearned; unambiious; Ieither rich
enough to forget their God nor yet poor erough 10
debase their souls content with mechanical and agri
cultural occupations in villages and rural districts yet
COZ scious of the liberty with which Christ nad mace
them FREE and therefore bold enough to confront ecce
si.sicsl and even royal authority In the capital Ssri'
Gus as became their religious profession, they grew,
under persecution, to be grave formal and aus'ere.
Chosen emifsGies Of God, as they believed, they
willir ely became outcssts smong men. Divinely
constituted defo.ales of pure and sbounding truth,
as they thought they ounced So their own rule OF
conduct that article of faith no exercise OF eccles
attical authority, no rue OF discipline, ana not
even shred Of ceremonial OF sscrsmens, sn s,,
the Scriptures % Interpreted by Themselves IN the
free exeici.e of their own consoiences, Illuminated by
the holy Spirit. God, although benevolent Father,
of ais revealed will and would punish conscious neg
lect of s comm sndments. Thee were the Puritsns
and The world comprehsnded them not. They refused
TO scaut see in the compromise because II Involved
.ureIdtr of ural rights, and violation Of psnci-
pies Of duty toward God. Nevertheless, they were
true Christian and therefore they declined to get up
their osa convictions as standard for others who
subtcrbed TO IT, Christian faith and freely so we'd to
ali their fellow subjects the same broad religious
liberty which they claimed for themselves. They
persisted In mol conformity. The more hardly
pressed, the more firmly they persisted. The more
firm their persistence, the more severe AID unrelent-
ing was the persecution they endured. More than
hundred years. virtually oulswed as citizens
Church. ibe Puritans bore VI Ainchipgy their unwaver
irc testimony sgairs. the compromise, before mags
trates and councils, in the pblory under stripes, in
marches, In camps, in prison. In flight, In exile, among
cs ntious odiery and dissolu'e companions Ia neigh
boring lanes; on the broad and then unexpore1 ocean,
when The mariners Loot their reckoning, and the ships
supplies became scanty and her eesrus opened to the
waves; known coasts, homel. 3, houseless, and
fsmishipg 10 the eaHess fore surrounded by Toe and
snow fearful of savage beasts and corfo ating savage
men. The CON premise policy failed Civil and relig
ious liberty not overcome; 1t rose erect; 1t tr
unpbedi 1t Is stu gaining new snd .iier and more
tsop 90 often wasted upon them before, that where
mankind stand upon their convictions OF moral right
and duty in disobedence to civil authority, there is
no middle course of dealing with them, between the
persecution thai fyterminses and the federation th
satisfies. Tbs Puritans were Tot exteminaed, they
were not satisfied.
The Purians thus persisted and prevailed beosuse
they had adopted one true singular, and sublime prin
cipie of civil conduct, namely that the subject in
every State has natural right 10 religious liberty Of
cor science. They knew too well the weakness Of hu
man guarantees Of civil liberty, aud the failty Of civil
barriers against tyranny. They therefore did not al
feet 10 derive the right of liberation om the common
law or the statutes Of ne realm, or Magns Cnsrta
even from tina. imaginary contest between the sove-
reign and the subject which some pnelcist hsd abou.
that time invented az basis for civil rights. They
rytorted directly to law, broader, older and more
stable than ell these-s law universal IN its spplics-
ton ard in its obligation established BY the Creator
and Judge Of all men, and therefore paamoun. to all
human constitutions. Algernon Sidney, Locke, and
Bacon, and even Hooker-chosen and sblest cham.
pion Of the Church Of Epgsnd-demonsusted the
existence of this law, deriving the evidences of it,
sp6 of lie universal nature and application, from nst
seventeenth century Blscis.one, Vstiel and Mon.
esnnien have built upon their Iespectge aystems Of