The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1866-12-05
MecHnley,s Description OF f,he pnr,t.n.,

They mistook their own indignant feel
ings for emotions of piety encouraged il
themselves, by reading and meditation. q
disposition to brood over their wrongs
and, when they had worked themselves in
to hating their enemies, imagined they
u were only hating the enemies of Heaven
In the Now Testament, there was little in
decd which, even when perverted by the
most disngcnuous exposition, could seem
to countenancc the indulgence of malcvo-
lent passions. at -#..
But the Old Testament contained the
history of a race selected by God to be wit
nessess OF Ills unity and ministers of His
vengeance, and specially commanded by
Him to do many things which, if done
without his special command would have
been atrocious. In such history it was
not difficult for fierce and gloemy spirits to
| ind much that might be restored to suit
their wishes. The extreme Puritans,
therefore, began to feel for the Old Testa-
ment preference which, perhaps. they
did not distinctly avow even to themselves.
but which showed itself in all their scnti-
ments and habits. They paid to the He
brew language respect which they refus-
Ell to that tongue in which the discourse of
Jesus and the epistes of Paul have come
down to us. They baptized their children
ny the names not of Christian saints, but
OF Hebrew patriarchs and warriors.
In defiance Ofthe express and reiterated
declarations Of Luther and Calvin, they
turned the weekly festival by which
the church had, from the primitive
times, commemorated the resurrection
OF her Lord, into Jewish Sabbath
They fought for principles of Jurisprudence
IN the Mosaic law, and for precedents to
guide their ordinary conduct in the books
OF Judges and Kings. Their thoughts and
dlscourscs ran much on acts which were
assuredly not recorded as examples for our
imitation. The prophet who hewcd in
pieces captive king, the rebel general
who gave the blood of a queen to the dogs,
the matron who in defiance of plightcd
faith and of laws of eastern hospitality.
drove the nail into the brain of the fu-i- |
tive ally who had just fed Mt her board.
and who was sleeping under the shadow
OF her tent-wcre proposed as models to
Christians suffering under the tyranny of
princes and preates.
Morals and manners were subjected to a
code resembling that of the synagogue
when the synagogue was in its worst state.
The dress, the language, the department.
the studies, the amusements of the rigid
sect were regulated on the principles re-
sembling those of the Pharisees, who,
proud of their washed hands and broad
phylacterics, taunted the Redeemer as Il
SabbatE-breaker and wine-bibber. 1t was
sin to hang garlands on May-pole, to
drink friends health, to fly hawk, to
hunt stag, to play at chess, to wear love-
locks, to put starch in ruff, to touch the
virgins, to read the Fairy Queen. Rules
such as these-rules which would have
appeared insupportable to the free and Joy
Gus spirit Of Luther. and contemplate to
the serene and philosophical intellect of
Zuingel, threw over all life more than
monastic gloom.
The learning and cloquencc by which
the great Reformers had been cminently
distinguished, and to which they had been
in no small measure indebted for their sue
cess, were regarded by the new school of
Protestants with suspicion, if not with
aversion. Some prccisians scrupled about
teaching the Latin grammar. because the
names of Mars, Bacchus and Apollo oc-
Cured in it. The fine arts were all pre-
scribed. The solemn peal Of the organ
was superstitious. The music of Ben. /
Johnsons Takes was dissolute. Half the
fine paintings in England idolatrous and
the other half indecent!
The Puritan was at once known from
other men by his gait, his garb, his lank
hair, and the sour solemnity of his face,
the upturned whites of his eyes, the nasal
twang which he spoke, and, above all, his
peculiar dialect. lie employed, on every
occasion. the imagery and style of scrip
ture. Hebrewism violently introduced in
to the English language, and metaphor
borrowed from the boldest lyric poetry of
a remote age and country, and applied to
the common concerns of English life,
were the most striking pcculiarities of
this cant, which moved, without cause, the
derision both of prelates and libertines.