Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-09-08
Character of the PurItans.

= = The history of Massachusetts, has
now been traced through period Of hun
dred and thirty years. A few words on the
Character of the Pqritans may be apprO-
priately added. They were in the begin
ming a vigorous and hardy people, firm set
in the principles of honesty, and the prac-
tices Of virtue. They were sober, industri-
Gus, frugal; resolute, jealous and stead
fast. They esteemed honor above prefer
ment, and truth more than riches. Loving
home and native land, they left both for
the sake of freedom; and finding freedom
they cherished it with the zeal and devo-
tion of martyrs. Without influence, they
became influential without encouragement,
great. Despised, and Knocked and hated,
they rose above their revilers. In the school
of evil fortune they gained the discipline
of patience. Suffering without cause
brought resignation without despair; them
selves the victims Of persecution, they be-
came the founders Of a colony-a common
wealth-a nation. They were the children
of adversely and the fathers Of renown.
The gaze of the Puritan was turned ever
to posterity. He believed in the future
his affections and hopes were with the
coming ages. For ms chlIdreh ne toiIeu
and sacrificed; for them the energies Of his
life were freely exhausted. The system Of
free schools is the enduring monument Of
his love and devotion. The printing press
is his memorial Almshouses and asylums
are the tokens Of his care for the unfortu-
nate. With him the outcast found sympa-
thy and the wanderer home. He was the
earliest champion of civil rights, and a
builder Of the Union.
The fathers of New England have been
accused of bigotry. The charge is true; it
is the background of the picture. In mat
tiers of religion they were intOlerant and su-
perstitious; their religious faith was gloomy
and-foreboding; human life was deemed a
sad and miserable journey; to be mistaken
was to sin; to fail in trifing ceremonies
was reekoned grievous crime. In the
shadows of such belief the people became
austere and melancholy. Escaping from
the splendid formality Of the State Church,
they set up colder and severer form Of
worship; and the form was made Of iron.
Dissenters themselves, they could not toll
crate the dissent of others. 70 restrain and
punish error seemed right and necessary.
Williams and Hutchinson were banished (;
the Qualers were prosecuted and the witch
es hanged. But Puritanism contained
within itself the power to correct its own
abuses. Within the austere and gloomy
taDrlc dWelI une very soul ana genius OF
''Free Thought" Under the iee-bound
rigors Of the faith flowed a current which
no fatalism could CONCEAL, no superstition
poison. The heart of mighty, tumultous,
Iiberty-lovipg life throbbed within the cold,
stiff body of Journalism. A powerful vital
ity, which no disaster could subdue, or per-
secutiOn quench, warmed and energized
and quickened. The tyranny Of Phipps.
the malice of Paris, and the bigotry of
Mather are far outweighed by the sacrifices
of Winthrop. the benefcence OF HarvGrd'
and the virtues of Sir Henry Vane. The
evils of the system may well be forgotten
in the glory Of its achievement; Without
tbe PuTitans, America would have been
delusion and liberty only name.
Ridpath'S History Ofthe y. S.