The sun., 1879-03-23
SOME NEW BOOKs.
a s,r,h,nr Page Of New England History.

N iliuNl WlltI tllfit Ol TtNNiS Lilln LUO
puthor sncms to have contemplated will scan
with lively interest tho picture Of New England
liic two centuries ago set forth with vigor and
felicity in The Ne0 PUit1n. by JAMES 3. PIKE
NlarUersL Hero wo have q truthful EXPOSE
tion Of colonial thought and manners at a most
eventiul epoch. drawn w n back ground to the
story of nm ancestor OF tho writer who. though
himself Puritan Of the straghtest orthodoxy
seems to have defended tho Quakcrs. withstoOd
clerical domination. and resoluicly opposed, al
extromc personal risk. the witchcrait pcrsccu-
tion. Surely no apology la needed for narra-
tive imbued with the subtle charm Of paradox,
which reveals sturdy apostle Of tolcration in
IN age when intolerance was virtue, and
which traces the shifting fortunes OF one whose
ouispoken humanity exposed him to the charge
OF hcrcsy. II not OF treason. II the present
descendants OF the Puritans are conspicuous
for tho liberal and generous sentiments which
were signay wanting In the settlers Of Mnssa-
chusctts Bay; II they may with reason boast
themselves TO bo kindlicr and therefore wiser
than we're their fathers. we may trace the
wholesome change to seeds planted In the hour
Of rgor and innnticism by such men rs Robert
Pike. Nor will IL be accounted light commen-
dution OF this man. heretofore too little known,
that the poet Whittier has called him ono Of the
saCcst and worihicst ia u colony made up Of
pious and sHgacious men, ana indeed the most
remarkable parsonage OF the place and time.
Robert Pike came from England to the colony
OF Massachusetts Bay in 1875. and the young
scttlcr-he was then nineteen years cld-began
TO till the soil in the valley Of the Merrimac
River on what was then. and remained for almost
half century. n remote and dangerous from
tier. Here his long and active life was passed
not untrouhcd with sharp controversy. ecccsi-
astical and civil but crowned upon tho whole
W IN tho al "a Of I'll
citizen. until the stawart emigrnnt who might
have seen the son Of Mary Stuart died I'm the
reign Of Mary Stuarts ercat- eroat-grand.
daughter As mag strate and officer in FREE
qu"nt military service, as the representative Of
his district for arg" part Of the century in the
General Court ana later on the higher plane Of
the Governors Council. he played no insigniil-
cant part in the social religious. and political
movement OF his time, nnd. viewed merely in
his outward posture and relations. might bc
mistaken for a typo Of tho Puritan colonist
But as regards the elevation and breadth Of his
moral nature. he was so far from being IL tyne
thn, he stands forth the unique and admirable
exponent Of views cherished indeed 10y Roger
Williams in exile, but avowcd by no man else
within the orthodox pale and tho civil iuris-
dicion OF Massachusetts Bay. Thrice in his
life Il seemed 10 turn upon the casting OF u die
wh,ihcr Robert Pike also like many of his
ncighhors. must not fare forth into the wider
ness and purge the auatcrc commonwealth Of
tolerant doctrines which itaccOuutcd little short
OF basphcmy. II Is chiefly his part in three
remarkable contcsts which iustines his bioa-
rapher in rating him above the generality Of
his contemporaries and in inviting tho candid
attention Of posteritv. The first was his ar
ra!gnment conviction. nninG. and disfran-
chssmcnt in 1858 by the General Court OF
Massachusetts for his hostile criticism on its
notion toward the Quakers. The second was
his resistance in 1875 to the dogmatc authority
OF the clergy In the person Of his pastor the
weil-known John Wheelwright and his ex-
communication therefor; while the third was
his opposition TO the Salem witchcraf prosecu.
tons OF 1902, and his triumphant argument
against them. What Is most aston shing is the
ftrt that he was never reputcd in other respects
an ccccntris or advanced thinker in politics or
theology He affected no superior cnlighton-
mcnt. He accepted the promises OF his ago.
"; from them he deduced and vehemently ad-
vocated principles Of civil and ecclesiastical
liberty well nigh century before their general
recognition in the colonial or even the Euro
pean world.
II is impossible to appreciate the attitude Of
opfnion. ana his authentic eXponents I'm the loe-
isi1tion Of his province without glnnce at the
spirit OF his time That persecution OF the
Quakcrs which he boldly denounced WAS moi
only In accordance with the universal practice
oi all English speaking communities but the
sole exception offered throughout a century aud
half 10y tho principle OF liberation affirmed IN
Maryland was sustained for only a few decades
The planters OF New England were English.
men of the seventeenth century not social sci
entsts and law reiormcrs Of the nineteenth
Although they were seceders. most of them
were porn ana nurtured In the Church Of Eng
mhd and that body. certainly had been at no
pains to teach by precept or example the excel.
Ienee OF liberation. Whether its leaninps
were Catholic or Protestant Calyinistic. or Ar.
nenlah. pndeF Henry Edward. or Mary. Eliza
ho,b I,,,os ""sri-A taa Anglican Com
munion held fast at least one article OF fai,.,.
namely, the obligation Of the State to rcpress
heresy. to enforce conformity and to give effect
TO ecclesiastical ccnsurcs by penal lnws by
fines Imprisonment banishment or DEATH
How can we blame the Congregational churches
OF Massachusetts Bay for following precedent
set by the Church OF England? 1t may be said
that having themselves diyargol from their pa
rent church. they should have dealt less hnrshly
with further divergence. But what was the
posture Of the English Establishment. between
tn Church Of Rome on the one hand and non
conformity on the other? 1t was affirmed By
the doNors Of that faith. in the reign Of James
L. with tue most serene and absolute con
tompt Of logic and cons stcncy, shat to
o~ercso the right OF private judgment 90 far rs
10 quit the CAur.h Of ROME. which had gov
rrncd Chr,s'endom for centuries was the duty
Q. cvery Cfisinn. but to exercise it 80 far AS to
TER with the Thiriy-nne Articles nut out not
one hun3reA years before by national church
Nat did not pretend TO be infallible and 10y
trachers tfat laid no claim 70 !ns"i'-''-,1i war
s''''' ,t punished in some instances by tho
stoke in all othor- by co4nscatlon. 10y tho lash
ana shears Of the hnuEman. AMI by the pest-
lcntal dungeon within the walls Of which was
death. Aor let 1t be- imagined that such stat
u; q. urou which tho blue laws Of Now England
Wcr' in an sohrioty aud good faith framed, were
. lIum carried ont in the mildcr and more en-
lightoned atmosphere of the mother country.
Elizabeth caused two Baptisls to be burned at
Smthnrld. and two Socnians whose opinions
W. need not say. coinciled substantially with
those OF the modern Unitarians. were sent To-
the stake by James |. Two Brownists, who may
be- rorkunrd the urOtO- martyrs Of the COngre-