The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1867-11-21
THE PURLTANs.

and cur article was only drawn out by .
the preference given to them, over the rest
Of our citizens, by that paper
In defining the term Puritan, we did /
10; AMI % not mean to attack the whole /.
people Of Hew England. Certainly not,
Puritauism has been "a sternly resisted by
Now EngiaaIcrs, ami Democratic govern
ment as well vindicatcd by citizens Of
New England, as by any others. We
might 90 further, and say that in no por-
ZION of our Union, except in New England,
has death and banishment been endured
for conscience sake.
The May Flower colony and their suc-
cessOrs sought the wilds of the west that
they might "worship God according 20
the dictates of their own consciences."
But when others sought the same shore
for the same purpose, they refused to
tolerate them. When members of the
Church of England emigrated they were
refused the ''rights Of conscience" When
Roger Williams, a Baptist, was found
among them, though his character was Of
the purest, his life the most exemplary,
he was deliberately banished from among
them and compelled to found new col
ony
Nay, worse. ! Quaker and a Catho-
lie wcro. found among these saints, and
the one was b1nued-the other bauished.
Besides all this, a large number of obnox-
ious persons were burnt as witches. For
all these Wei known facts we appeal to
the history o. New England, as written
by the sons Of the Puritans.
Their government was, indeed, a The
ocracy-a perfect Union Of Church and
State. Each person was required to cons
tribute a certain amount to the church,
and laws were enacted to compel attend
ance at church. CourtshiP on the Sab
bath was prohibited, and all the details
of social life were regulated by statute.
This is Puritanism in the United States
and in the settlement of Virginia, at James
town, by the Episcopalians--ofM Maryland,
at Baltimore, By the Catholics-of Penn~
sylvania, at Philadelphia, by the Quakors
-yoH can find no such stains upon the
pages Of history as are to be found in the
Pnritanism Of New England.
In the foregoing we have no reference
to The Ga1c--! .-o.a'ijy of the inhabitants,
Lu- merely to the laws and institutions
which they ordained for the government
of their people. The state of morals is
as high in New England as anywhere else,
but it is with the intolerance Of the lau~
making power that we have TO do. Why,
recently, in L4inc, a man was fined Leavi-
y for drinking his own cider, Another
eteP would punish him for eating his own
apples, and one step further would prevent
him rom growing them.
But il seems to US, he AHe7lsu.tag
yields the question when It attributes the
radical defeat to the various i5qg By which
II was loaded, It is the weakness Of Pa
ri.auism 10 establish by law s'what you
shall eat and What you shall drink, and
"AerewI;hal you shall DC clothed" and
how you shalt travel, ne aeII rs who shall
travel, eat, drink, sleep and vote with
you,
1t l. recorded Of thc Redeemar Of man
kind, that lie went into field Of corn
with his disciples on tie Sabbath, and
plucked the ears of corn and ate them
Ii that bad happened in New England,
no power bat Cmnipotence could have
kept them out Of the Quarter Sessions.
1he Atleglaniaq reduces our article TO
todr propositions, and disposes Of them no /
doubt satisfactorily to itself We said. /.
what every one knows, that The term Pu> (
'1faa had Its origin in England How
that contradicts the historical fact that q .
portion OF them emigrated to New Erg, |
land, and from that time to tho present
gave tone to its laws and institutions.
none but our neighbor could discover.
1t IS a misnomer TO cali the Puyitans
Democrats" we agree, either ''proyious to
Inc accession Of Cromwell to the English
THRONE or It any other time, but they
Pr?jessed Democracy. and we have shown,
with sufficient clearness, that in power
they were and are tyrannical We might
say, en- passaHt, that if we were as good
caVillers as our neighbors, we would deny
his statement of the Accession Of Crom-
well to the English throne,' as there was
no throne in Cromwelrs time lie was
simply Prntocfor