Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-09-08
New England Puritauism--Its Latest
Manifestations.

onn- that woman Beecher, for its authe
'hry has absolutely startled the world. b
'osl we can and do say that Mrs. Beech
stowe meant to give the world a SO
ers sation and that she has not been
cen successful as she intended and believ,
on she should be. No matter. The n
oock tempt has been made. If the rakin
1ay up of the ashes Of the dead aud III
inc ViilIiying OF great names have brougl
req money into the Golfers of Fields
&C. Osgood and into the pocket of Mr.,
no Beecher Stowe we have every reaso
aid 70 believe that they will be satisfied
ms Like tho Pharisees OF old they hay
uone their work and they have ba,
~ we have no desire at present TO o.,
,ne INTO this dirty business. We canno
IA say there is blood on the hands q
~ either Mrs. Stowe or the proprietor
AZ AZ OF the atlantic Monthly; but If tbcr,
= Is anything worse than murder II Is
:" according 10 the common Judgment OF
mankind IN all ages, TO disturb the
" dead or to villily their memory. and
=" OF such sin or sins Mrs. Stowe and The
~ proprietors of the atlantic lUoufAIU
~ have been guilty. Byron may have
"a been as bad us Mrs. Stowe makes him.
= :, out she has failed TO prove il. This
y y however, is not the main point. She
4 mas numerically, and without rood
" reason unless money be good reason.
done piece of work which is as filthy
as any work can be. II il pays, Mrs.
|, bcecher Stowe and her publishers will,
we suppose, be satisfied.
. 10 US this whole affair is interesting
! from another point of view. IL ian
New England piece of business. Fields
. a 20. is-a New England house Tho
Deechers are New England family.
ana Mrs. Stowe is one of the most
iliustrious of the Beechers New Enc
land has long claimed for itself the
right TO be regarded as the moral
representative Of the United States
| Why notg Was it not founded bv
The Pilgrim FathersY Was it moi
the original home Of the pur;tans on .
this Continent ! Was il not there I,
where the prosecuted non.conformists !
OF England founded an orthodoxy /
which was more rigid and more intol. I
Grant than any system which the !
world had yet knownY Severe and \
uncompromising as Old Englapd. had !,
Plymouth Rock Old England, under b
the Pnritans, had its martyrs, but il K
did not burn either Quakers or Indi. Il
W. al =
the principles which guided the New Il
England settlers developed hardy,
thrifty, industrious race, whose power RI
is felt TO this day over the length and e
breadth of the American Continent Fl
As in the case Of the Jews of old, Il
severity has bred force, and that force 81
has impressed itself in many ways 81
during the last hundred years, and b
many times for good. The impress G
Of New England is upon the nation, p
and ia the character which New Eng a
land has given us we are largely b
known to the outsid6'worldA We are y
gradually and surely emarcipatipg,c,
ourselves from the tbraldom of this u
ancient tyranKS we are compelling a
the world TO look at us in different a
and more agreeable light; but the n
Yankee character is still the character h
which is attributed by outside nations v
to the American people. This general n
truth is proof of force. But who can "
say that New England has any longer a
a claim TO high moral distinction Z d
Who can say that she is any longer
what she would have the world believe d
she is Who dare deny that she is s
living on past reputaiionY And, d
unless il be a something fitted to com. b
mand respect TO burn and Otherwise a
destroy innocent and unoffending men s
and women, because they claimed G
little indcpendency Of thought and c
action, who cares to lay claim to any a
of the early glory of New England I! I
We think unkindly of Spain because S
of the lnquisilion. We have reasons b
OF similar kild TO think unkindly Of I
the New Englanders, If we have 4
inherited good from them we ought E
10 be grateful; but we have a perfect t
right TO ask whether our Indebtedness t
would not have been greater II their ]
principles aud their policy had been v
nobler. wiser aud less selfish a
One thing at least is certain-Puri- !
tauism in New England as in Old
England, has, though less violently, I
begottcn a reaction, and that reaction
has been against, not in favor, OF
morality. Puritanic rule has lasted
! longer in the New World than in the
Old, for reasons which it would not
be difficult TO give Into these, how
ever, we shall not now enter. Suffice
il TO say that when, ut the death OF
| Cromwell, the reins were let loose, i'm
morality set in like torrent. Never
has England known such witkedness
as that which followed the Restora.
tion. Truthfully docs Macaulay put
il when he says :---"Tho nation resem-
bled the dcmoniac in the New Testa-
ment. The PuVitans boasted that the
unclean spirit was cast out. The
houss was empty, swept and garnish.
ed, and for time the expelled tenant
wandered through dry places, seeking
rest and finding none. Tho force OF
the CAOItlet0 was clthts AhN uN'N
returned to his abode, and returned
, not alone He took to him seven
. other spirits more wicked than him
r self They entered Ia and dwclt
= together, and the second possession |
was worse than the first" As VIC
have said already, the evils Of Puritan |
! ism have developed themselves with
less violence in New Englan than
\ thcy did in tho Mother Country, for
1 certain very obvious reasons The
o fruit of Puritanism, however has long
y been visible among us, and If the de-
velopmont has been slow u has al least
n been certain and unmistakable. New
A England orthodoxy was severe and
y uncompromising. but the New Eng
4 land churches, in spite of their severi-
. ty, have broken many from their
q ancient moorings. The Trinitarian
q theolovy has but few adhercnts in the