The New York herald., 1879-12-24

that is valuable in our institutions and that
the greatness of our country is wholly due
to them. New England has, indeed, done her
part, but her sons go further than facts
will warrant in setting up for the Puritans
pretentious and preposterous claim to
primacy in intellect over the rest of the
country. The customary exaggerations
having just been rehearsed in this city it
may not be out of place to inquire whether
the other parts of the country have not
something which may be put into the
opposite scale to redress the balance.
We will not disparage the Puritans; their
virtues have our sincerest admiration. They
were sturdy, morally heroic, God-fearing,
but morose and narrow-minded people, who
never finched. They did their duty ac-
cording to the lights given them and left
fighty gasconading and other worldly VAN
tiles to their descendants The claim that
New England stands to the country in the
relation of the head to the rest of the body
is later invention, for which the robust
and genuine old Puritans cannot be held
responsible.
It is not true that New England has done
the chief part in shaping our institutions
and making our history. Among the high
est names in our annals New England can
claim but one-that of Franklin. But no
great American was more free from the
Puritan spirit than the naturally scepti-
cal Franklin. He emancipated himself
from Puritanism in boyhood and took an
evident pleasure in telling, in his charm
ing autobiography, the story Of his
asking his father to say grace over
the barrel of pork instead of re-
peating the ceremony at each meal.
Though born in Boston he emigrated from
that city in early youth. The influences
by which his character was formed did not
come from the Puritans. He had q native
largeness of mind which revolted against
the narrowness of that sect, and, though
intensely patriotic, his mode of thinking
was cosmopolitan. With the exception of
Franklin all our first class men have been
born out Of New England-meaning by
first class men those who have left great
mark on events.
The highest of our great names-that of
Washington-was borne by a Virginian.
The Declaration of Independence expressed
the general determination of the country,
but it was drafted by Jefferson. The great
est event Of our history, the formation of
the federal constitution, was not of New
England origin. The minds which gave
inspiration and impetus to that most i'm
portant movement we're supplied by New
York and Virginia. In the framing and ad-
vocacy of the constitution New England
has no names which can be ranked
with those of Madison, Hamilton
and Jay. The government was set in opera
ton and its practical methods shaped by
statesmen among whom New England had
no distinguished representative. Washing
ton, Hamilton, jefferson and Madison were
the controlling minds during the critical
period when the new government was set
in operation and tested. Chief Justice
Marshall, the greatest of our jurists, laid
the foundation stones and reared the struc-
ture of our federal Jurisprudence. The
vast additions to our territory, by which
our country was expanded to imperial
dimensions, were made by Jefferson against
the resolute opposition of New England.
Descending to later periods, we find that
the great names and the great things have
not been of New England paternity. New
England opposed the second war with
Great Britain, which brought great har-
.xo.x IS ~ot;ocol rapo,yp and oDco,aJ ~, q
war with Mexico, which enlarged our
national area. Neither General Scott nor
General Taylor, the heroes of the Mexican
war. any more than General jackson. the
hero Of the second war with England, were
New Englanders. The New Englanders
great men of affairs. The most illustrious
names of our civil war tell the same story.
President Lincoln was neither q Yankee
nor Puritan. The great generals of the
recent war were not furnished by New
England.
In other department of exertion New
England has been equally eclipsed. Who
of her sons can be named with De Witt Clin.
ton or Robert Fulton? She has given us
great orators, but none who equalled
Patrick Henry in native genius, and for
spoken as distinguished from written elo-
quence Clay was esteemed by his contem-
poraries O more effective speaker than
Webster. We have not space to pursue this
line of illustration, but trust we have said
enough to prove that the New England
boasts are not supported by history.
The News from Maine.
Our despatch from Augusta gives the
latest features of the political situation at
the capital of Maine. What was said and
done at the private consultation of repub-