The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1863-02-26

ped Presby terians. They fined man for
using the Episcopal prayer book. All this
is matter of history.
But the reply is. "This was the fault of
the times" Ofcourse. then the argument
is given up. They were really no better
than the wicked, these pious Puritans,
But it was not the fault Of the. times. They
were behind the time. They per.ecuted.
after all the world ceased to persccute.
Tney were hanging and Sitting tongues
for fifty years against the worlds remons
frances. The last death for religion in OLD
England took place in 1919, before the
landing on Plymouth Rock. In 1860,
forty eight years after. the Puritans were
hanging Qnakers in New England. Before
they left Europe. death for religion had
ceased Europe had given up fire and iag-
got. and these delightful Purilans came
hither, aBd revived and stuck to the cast
off barbarities of the Old World. In 1920,
in Massachusetts,, they enacted law of
death against Roman Catholic. In 1714,
they sent formal protest against the
"Quebec act" by which the British Par
lament tolerated that religion in Canada
In England if man absented himself
from public worship he was fined one shil
ling, in Massachusetts, lie was fined five
and in Plymouth. where the Crock" is, he
was fined ten. For non-conformity 10 es-
tab'ished Congregationaism the fine was for
ty shillings month, aud if the men were
''incorrigible" the law said death. The
people of England demonstrated. Even
Purtans in England. Vaue remonstra-
ted Salstonstall demonstrated, "These rig
id ways have laid you low in the hearts of
the faithful in England Mark the ans
wer-l thoroughly Puritan--''God forbid
our love Tor truth should grow so cold that
we should Tolerate such errors" In this
; prosecuting policy says Judge Story,
''our ancestors persevered against every
remonstrance Ia home and abroad Their
own words are ''Toleration is sin in ru
: iers.' The facts of history are that the
5 Puritans of New England prosecuted when
: the world was crying OFT in horror; that
they defended their bitter bigotry and mar
d row bloodthirsiy intolerance when the
= whole civilized world had dropped perse
, cba
Msther wrote the last words that were ev
u er written in the English tongue in defense
Of religious persecution. The last blood
shed by Saxon hands for religions sake
they shed, one hundred years after Eng
; land had dropped that DEVILS work forev-
: er. And the only blood ever shed on this
ii continent for religions sake was shed in
: Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies. Il
/ is time that fact WAS distinctly known.
The Roman Catholics in Maryland, the
u y EPiscopalians in Virginia, he Quakers il
II Pennsy lvania, the Dutch in New York
y did establish practice ''liberty of con
: science" but never the Puritans of New
England. The bt:erest fault they ever
| found with Charles II. was that ne inte
II fered, ~ royal pardon, to save from IL e
i stake sor>e Anabaptlsts whom the Puri
4 tans were bound to burn. That, in rhei
: eyes, was the crime of bis life. 1hey tol
{ crate. Why Sorry says that in 1916 iv,
i SiXhs Of all The inhabitants Of MasSachu
II setts were disfranchsed, not 20 be tried a:
} fresmen, or have freemel.'s rights. lecsust
: the law of that colony required every voter
: to be congregrstionalists.
, l have examined historically those two
points, and there Is the result. To the
Puritans we do not owe our toleiation
: nor our separation OF church and State
| ain not aware that we owe them any o
our American ideas. The only presse
gagged on this contnen, Purtans gagged
The most restricted suilerage exercised
was in Puritan Massachusetts. The mar
> rowest and most illiberal repression o
: opinion has been there. They. and only
they. came to this country with ideas
which our American life has swept ut.erl,
away. The notions every American con
/, demns. the practices every American in
stinctselv abhors, are all Puritan notions
and Puritan practices, and came over r
the May flower.
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