The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-02-25

- hAGso4Q4tu vail ftACll
by their IVA names they were in America tn,
cruel seslets Of bitteF Refseelsions, the MIR
edioas tocsusetiey protested so differently
the more odious sill because they wera 70
proved in theirppw1,goneration BY better and
noblsr mon, ike WiI6ans, Who were their vic.
tina We're there not so much of suffering
and maiice attendant upon such into eraGeo
We might dismiss it all into that
-.Limbo bread and large. and called y
Ths-Paradiss Of fools l. E@aLm
All that relieves New England from tbs
blacknesS Of Ihese lFeprcachee, is her splendid
zeal aud sacrifices for independence in the
subsequeLt century, Though it is by no means
clear that she would not have rebeled against
the best government on earth, or even a COM
nonwealthS Of angels not according to her own
notions, yefthe mother country gave her cause
and she vindieatcd it with q spirit.
The boast that the Pilgrims were the fathers
OF Democratic liberty in this country, is alb
solutely untrue, uafess their prosecutions which
led to it, may be considered. the cause of such
libertye1eley me 20 call in Certain facts to
prove. what [ all0ge :-New-Plymouth which
remained aseparaseT from Massachusetts, Bay
until 1908, IL pointed to, as the exemplar in
this great workofhuman progress. The tu,h
is, that R!Tnsoush recei-e ed its privileges in o
mercantile line, IN the London, Virginia,
aud Afterwards fion the Plymouth Com pany
of adventuren0 THEY left England, because
they had not the stamina to remain and con
tend, like the HgmPdeus, Snyders and Millions,
for their English privileges, Bradferd BrsBs-
ter and Carver may have been godly men; but
there were nen5i in dhe Mayaower who wished
= larger libertyathst their leaders, were willing
to accord The famous "Compact9" signed in
the czbih zef.the ship, I1th November, 1920.
was fofccds from the supcriors by their infori
ors. So says the historian (Elliot, 1919 /
quotsf2.s Z ~ hl2s ?. ~
"The me1sofs birth and education among
the Pilgrims, and they we're few, did not in
tend q Democracy. They had no faith in it,
The social distinction between "Mr." and
"GoodmanJ still continued! Not until Will
taus and C~oddiDgton, respectively. at Proyi-
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS RI. established the
first Democracy in America, with the majority
of lie reeneDs TO make the laws, and npon the
basis tlist no man should be made ~crininal
for "doctriqnsSS WAS rhereany 1rus political OF
real liberty in New England In Massachusetts
according TO Judge Story, Eve sixths of the
people were disffsschised, because they were
net msnbers Of thesehursh The cods of anti.
Democratic sumptuary law i the most abo
minable ever snaetsd, non merely for its harsh
ness q 44penaity,, bur for It's east discrimina-
tion. sssftseezns copied from tie Geutoo code.
Indeed, weskno8. as DR. Homes has said, thar
there IL yet In NeshEngiand the Brahrin and
sSoetsrrcasies There Il an old law that men
might be Whipped forty iashes;s but gentspasu
never except. I'M very fagrant cases. The ak
.cesses Of apparel Nefe1pfoEided against rigor-
ouslys osMeHof mean condition were not al.
lowed t0sdfess in gold or silver lace, or but
tons, or psintz az their knees, or walk in great
boots, laughter, or women of the same rank
to wear sIks. hoods or scarf. In Harvard COZ.
1ege penalties were melted o~utiaupon the same
Gentoo code OF caste. This was Democracy
in MassaehusettG sdn8Ris CoiDmenweaith the
directors of a eompSnys usufped the power of
rulers and MAGISTRATES. The elders of the
church upheld Them John Cotton wrote
with pious horror that sDemocracy was not
ordained Ms ft for the government either of
church. aoE Commonwealth; as for, monarchy
and sristoeracy they are both OF them clearly
approved and directed by the Scriptures"
Tit frcemen rose against both church and
rulers, and a long contest. the freemen
succeeded but they. toe, broke the charter.
No one was allowed TO be a freeman but a curch
member aud the State relapsed into q bigoted
church ojgarchy. Then began a new con-
test for supremacy. The church of course,
took aide with the. oligarcby, the .Puritar
leaders still struggling against the growth of
civil liberty. The republican cast into which
the government was finally moulded, was
forced upon it. by the freemen, in spite of the
elders and magistrates. The very genius of
their religion DISTINGUISHED the people, and.
strange asst may seem the people disfranchis-
ed by the church. owed then their final eman-
~ciparieh into Democratic Iberty TO the com
pulsory interposition OF. Charles II. In the
sew enteepth century Puritanism muzzled the
press and sealed the lips of it's victims and en-
emies,Ijast as In the nineteenth the same in
veterate foe cf Democracy has done the same
Al.--- III Iz.l1l o.
refused TO consider the Demoeratie Gospel of
Love, chung TO the old Testament with its Ax
talioais for its codes sFamilsits and Baptists,
Quakers and delnded peopli who gathered
sticks for a FIRE on a Sunday, were all punish
ed by tho harsh Jewish code. All other crimes
not punished by the law already enacted.
wereato be attended to, according to the old
Bible, rs the fanatic interpreted it, the "high-
or laE" Of their " private judgement being
the interpreter, This is the boastcd Pilgrim
Democracy.
Do We wonder that crimes of the most dis
gushing and heinors character abvunded here?
In 1859 the s4ders In Synod bewailed the
great and visible decay Of goodness. Apos-
tactics and ds~rsnsracies- profaneness, oebauch
~ eursine, s.esfipg, lying, gambling, Sab
cleanliness constitute the frighfful pictures of
she rule Of Puritanism bef,re . hall century
of rule In Massachusetts By striving to max
the ehurah political they did not make the
Stats nfeligions. The s~iDailcsr privileges of
citizenship was only obtained through grace
and ssintship, and hence, general hypocrisy
and Generalization we're the results
It Is not within The scope Of this address to
show hesnhese men of GudItreated the Indi,
ans. Their. doerrines. fhst lands unooecupied
by a~grisalrure it waste be theirs to take, sra
cum, doasieiipn, cedn oct nPanh," was dc
duced from the Jewish code5just as they held
and traded in slaves. by the same code. What
q civilization is thI to be commended 10 the
acc eptance today, aof twenty millions of pep
plet The rules for our guidance in national
froublc can nevnr cozse from such a source
What has New England done for the coun-
try ? Much every way, as Governor Andrew
boasts, but chiefly as | think She has sent
to us, as to New York, many liberal minded,
noble men She has given US Douslas, Eeheers