Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-10-25
NEW ENGLAND.
The English Company for the PrOPa-
gnIiOn of the Gospel in New England
and the Puritan Heather.


and the Puritan Heather.
A notable event has taken place in Lon
don. An English Company "for the PropaS
CATION of the Gospel in New England"
has authorized its Board of Commissioners
to sell "the Manor of Criswell, and all 9TH
er Manors and hereditaments in the county
Of Suffolk. belonging 10 the Company"
These various properties are TO be sold
forthwith, by private contract, for the stipu-
lated sum of six hundred thousand dollars.
What the object Of the Company IL, in
turning its lands and tenements into hard
cash, Of course we do not know. 1t may be
that it has been found utterly useless to
make any fuEther attempt to propagate the
Gospel among people 30 self opinionated
rs those Of New England. Il may be that
the piety and purity Of the New Eaglanders
are of so exalted a kind, their reverence
for the Gospel so ferveat and sincere, and
their obedience to its precepts so dutiful
and thorough, as TO render its propagation
among them as much a work of superero-
cation "a TO paint lily, or TO gid refined
gold
There is, however, a third hypothesis
which, after ali, may perhaps be the cor
rect one. 4 TesurVsy Of the field OF opera
lions may have stimulated the Company
10 make another attempt TO carry out the
gracious purposes for which il was Origi-
Hally organized. Recent evenls may have
led 10 the discovery that PuTiianism and
piety are by 80 means synOnymOu. terms.
Indeed, New ErglaudeIs themselves have
not been slow 10 confess that too much IA
miliarity with Gospel pTecep!s has led, if
not to contempt OF them, yet to practices
that are entirely opposite. Henry Ward
BeeCher, who believes in Congregational
ism, and Theocraiic rule, and the dignity
Of Deaoonship, has sOlGnnly put it on re-
cord that There Is more unlOvely wicked
ness 10 be found in a New England viii
lage" than in any other civilized place
whilst Mr.. L. 7. WhiPple, a popular New
England lecturer has thus analysed the
character Of the people whom, from life
long association, he knows so well.
The leading defect Of the Yankee he
remarks, with a quiet causticity, that burns
AT once TO the bone, Consists in the gulf
that separates his moral opinions from bis
moral principle His talk about virtue in
the abstract wou,i Psss as sound in nation
Of slinta; bat he still contrives that his
interests shall not suffer by the rigidity of
his ma1ims. Your true Yankee" he goes
on to say, "has 4 spruce, clean, Pecksniiiian
way of doing a wrong that is inimitable.
Believing, after 4 certain fashion, in Justice
and rctribution, he sill thinks that a sly,
shrewd, keen, supple gentleman like him
self can dodge, in a quiet way, the moral
laws Of the universe, without any particu-
lar pother being made about IT,"
Here, then, we have a graphic descrip-
lion Of the Two principal classes into which
society in New England is mainly divided
the villagers with their ''unlovely wick.
educss," and the multitude of busy, enter
prising PecksailTs, on whose lips moral
pTtcepis are familiar as Household
Words" bgt who "contrive that their in
terCsts shall not suffer by the rigidity of
their maxims.' We do not know whether
Mr.. Whipple when he drew this compound
OF piCty and hypocrisy, Of sanity virtue
in the abstract, and of intense, uEscrupu-
lOus sclnshnCss in the concrete, was himself
aware Of the ''unloyely wickedness," as
Mr.. BeeCher euphemistically styles it, Of
the character he has so strongly depicted
aud so ably generalized. He INDUCES in
10 reflections which might have afforded
Is a clue TO his opinion in the matter. Nor
NGaH aAlNAN a. lNd4 AAEGu VI luELls 4At leA7
CUutented hlmselfwith bringing out, sharp
ly chiselCd as it were, in bold relief, the
average New Highlander. As his keen, OBJ
servant eye found him, so his skilled hand
has drawn the outlines, and filled up the
details.
Now, il il possible that with the more
enlightened knowledge obtained from the
sources we have quoted, az well as from
others equally available, the London Com
pauy for the Propagation of the Gospel in
New England may have deemed it neces.
sary, in entering afle'h upon missionary
iabors in that section, TO supply lis agents
with abundant pecuniary means. That
the teaching OF the Gospel among the Par
itan heather would prove more acceptable
when CERTIFIED by the free uae of 'the
Almighty Dollar" than by the adoption OF
! The primitive method in use among the
9 Apostles and their sell.denying followers,
Is scarcely 4 matter for conjecture. 1t il
true, a religions belief that requires to be
sustained by subsidies, is rot exactly OF
that quality which fuds ia best illustra,
ton IN The practice Of the higher virtues
vet the counterfeit Is so freely accepted
now-a-dsys, fer the genuine thing, that il
will pass current with the many, and j
Tunishment WA found an effective incen
tive to piety, when the Blue Laws Of Con
uscticGt were IN force, surely far NOR,
astounding r,sua-iD the way Of outward
conformity at .ea-t-mjght be expected
from a system Of peCuuiary rewards VI
iTust, therefore, At the London Compan,
lor the Propagation Of the Gospel in Ne'
Enrlabd really doSs propose 10 get net
missionary enterprise on foot, he six hun
bred thousand dollars for which its proT
.rly ia 10 be sold will be speedily forth
coming. Il, too the fund so raised
intended to he put TO the uses We have il
dicl,ed, Let us also hope-though the hop
We coni,zs, is "a faint one-that tile mission
aries will get the worth Of their money
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