The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1863-01-08
About New England.

About New England,
1t is too late to quarrel about the merits ant
demerits Of the Puritan ancestry of the New
Englanders Of to-day. Their place in history ha
been assigned 10 them by the verdict of tn,
world. and whenever or wherever the record i,
examined for what they said and VIVA THEY did
lOr their faults and their virtues, for their short
c0mlngs and their great doings-he who does not
! ,aAU pild9 N tie Possession Of such blood as
flowed in their veins, and in the Inheritance oI
| the principles that were he basis OF their action,
is either incapable Of 4ppreciatng or understand
lns what IS rob!e in the race, or is knave who,
10 serve purpose, would deny that the world is
lighted by the sun 81 n00D.lay. 1t is, We say,
too late to quarrel about the charac sr ef the Pa.
ritans, because, were history dumb, there stand
the SIX States Of New Eaglazd, everlasting mon
umonts OF the .erpetuation OF me, memory of the
great qualities OF the men who built on d Puritan
basis. And Ia spite Of the old story by which
the ploasel@ oil The Mayhower have been aseaiI-
ed; IN spite Of that kind Of criticism which, in
sneenbg at long prayerp, torgets the goodness of
the men who made Them, end that in estimating
characters, takes account of The blemishes only
and converts the pecuHariles of an er4 into the
UOlFisheU
herelE in spite Of despotic reaction agans, what
New England Eas taught and lived, the fact re.
, mains, and is now confessed by all the world
That nowhere does Gods sun shine upon anv
political community containing an equal number
Of people ameng whom liberty is 80 secure:
Among whom law aad justice are 90 impartial.
y administered;
Among whom property is so well guarded
WIN sarju ,e 4
fused
Among whom there is such care for the growth
and development Of the religious sentiment;
Among whom there are so few poor
Among whom there ia such unlr;ng. compre-
hensive and healthy philanthropy;
Among whom there ia such an amount Of
wealth so equally distributed
Among whom there is such promise Of physical
progress;
Among whom the ownership of land 10 fee
simple is 80 uniyei sal
Among whom LABOR 10 30 much respected and
SO we'll rewarded
Among whom progress, in all thatlpurifies aud
enaobles MANKIND, is SO rapid
Among who women are 80 honored or 40 yir.
tuous;
Among whom government bears so easjly and
Among whoa happiness in the State, in the
family, and in the individual is SO firmly founded
on an ndestructiols basis
And of the New England States, Massaehu-
settS whom slavemongers most hate, and whom
the hrelings Of despotsm most abuse, is the fore.
most in development-the highest type OF
Christian community and a pure democracy
which the would ever saw. Massachusetts, and
New Eng laad are only the partial fruition of the
seed that the Purians planted. But we submit tina,
the men out Of whose principles an d policy such
States have grewn, are entitled to the worlds
gratitude and the worlds respect.
New England had great faults in the beginning
which she has not fully outsrown and in her
progress che has picked up new ones that mar the
work the Puritans did. But new and old are
both subordinate to the virtues of the New Eng.
and character, which have carried fervent love
Of liberty and prompt obedience to law, well-de-
Veloped religious sentiment, and pious regard for
education, healthy enterprise and high CONNER
'la integrity, as seed-germs which will hereafter
bear sweet fruit into every nook and corner of the
country in which we live. In her care for the
masses, she has Sometimes trenched upon the
rights of individuals In her zeal for the absolute
light, she has been, if that be possible, often too
ntoleEant of the law and custom that consecrated
losEy wrong. In her love of what she believed
vas the pure and only faith, che was too severe
lpOn those who departed from the standard that