Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-16
THEN AND ROW


/ prophet Is not without honor, save in his
Own country. Matthew 1857
ever two hundred years ago, in this
.aalsh Of December, q band of men land
ea u The desoIate coast Of New England.
TteJ came as pioneers to prepare the way
fol higher civilization, freer and more
Intelligent worship Of God.
Itl they accom- plish the work they set
themselves to do: Do they deserve the
h24or and lasting respect of mankind
Am0ng some classes it is considered a
mark Of critical acumen if not of superior
Intelligence to impeach their good name,
the motives that actuated them and the
work they bequeathed to their descend
ants. To claim that the Pilgrim Fathers
wsrs hypocrites and their religion bigotry.
TO Justly judge of any man
or class of men, the time
in which they lived, the prevailing modes
OF thought, and the laws then in force
most be carefully considered.
The Puritans fed from persecution and
in 2rjsonment for religious opinions, to an
unknown land and to unknown dangers,
pretering to brave the perils of the seas
ara all that might await them in new
country if freedom to worship God could
b. glined for themselves and children.
Certainly we must admire their courage
ana heroism whatever their faith. A mere
handful Of men, women and children, some
Of gentle birth and training, leaving home
ans aative land with brave hearts and IN
dasnted courage, to make new
homes in a wilderness
Inhabited only by saVages end wild beasts
foE their faith. How ever severe our
criticism of'their work, no one can honest
i Geny that the motive which brought
them to the bleak shores of New England
was inc determination to ''Worship God
according to the dictates of their own
coaeci8nces." They battled with the cold
ana frost, with want and hunger, with
fever and death, but worked on, building
homes and schools and churches, never
failering or turning back, although during
the first winter one-half their number
succumbed to cold and want, ''yet not one
spoke of going back to England" In the
first years of the settlement they set apart
foundation of school where their "young
men could receive the same goodbye train
ing as in their beloved Cambridge" and
from SO small beginning arose Harvard,
the ines. educati onal Institution in Amer
Tea.
Their persecution of other scots OF
Christians, and legal murder OF persons
= &C oh
come Of the training and traditions of the
mother country. All over Europe at that
time there was @ firm belief in witchcraft,
ana IN Scotland alone over four Thousand
persons suffered death in ten years on
charge of witchoraft. Was it strange that
the Puritans executed twenty for the same
thing: How deeply they repented and
mourned for their errors their historians
be..r record. Gao brave old judge, Sam
uel 5ogell, who afterwards wrote against
slavery. kept a day of fasting and prayer
every year, beseeahing Heaven for par
dor.
The Puritans of England and the Pill
grlms of Salem were brethren hegotteD by
the tyranny and corruption of the court
and church of England.
Their laws, severe and unwise as thew
were, were theirs by adoption rather
than creation Their colony was
strictly a religious colony, and all their
avs vera aim Mustered to one end, s'to
make sober and virtuous people, fearing
above allthings to Go wrong"
Their lives were as pure and true as the
lives of any body of men who ever lived
During their sojourn in Holland, tn g
Dutch magistrates said of them, sThese
English have lived among US now these
twelve years, and yet We have never had
any suit or accusation against them" For
four years there was not case of theft
among the Puritans, and liar was alb
horred by the whole community, and
hardly dar ed to show his head.''
We may ridioule the laws by which
they infringed personal liberty and as
sumed the direction of family matters,
such as making scoldins and tale bearing
raformatory offences, and lying
ana dishonesty penal crimes; the law pro,
hibiting the chewing of tobacco by minors
and by others more than once day and
then ten miles from any dwelling house:
the Sabbatarian laws which required every
person to attend church or pay fine for
unnecessary absence: but are we superior
to them in morality wisdom? Con-
trast the vice and arimes of too day with
tbs virtuous sober lives, of the Massachu-
sets. colony.
The value of any system of education OF
government is in its effect upon the people
whe are taught or governed. The pill
grims, schooled by persecution and hard
ships, relying upon God, founded system
of schools and laws of which truth and
virtue were the cornsr stone. They erred
in their methods, but they lived in The
time of Charles First. and such errorl
were common Said re-
cent speaker, SIN The days