The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-12
PURITANS AND CATHOLICS.
A Comparison Of the History of the Two
in America by Rev. A. Alerding.
The Lecturesn plymouth Rock and Mary
land, Delivered by Him Last Egening,
at st. Joseph's Catholic Church.

on plymouth Rock and Maryland" He spoke
substantially as follows
iJohn Culinary Shea, the historian Of The
Catholic Church in the United States compiled
as the fruit of thirty years study from col
lection of over two thousand books, pamphlets.
papers and periodicals bearing on the Catholic
Church in this country, is the man I follow in
examining the first establishment of the exer-
else Of religious liberty on American soil. The
question / propose TO answer Is, VINO
deserves the credit of having proclaimed and
practiced liberty of conscience in this eountrys
Was it Puritan New England or Catholic Mary
land2 desire to propagate the arguments and
facts upon which rest the claims of tie Catholic
Church in this country to having first proclaimed
and exercised liberty OF conscience for herself
and for all others Shea tells US that works on
New England history exceed those of all other
parts of the country. These are all in the main
pervaded by the same spirit of eulogy and praise
or carefully studied justification and apology.
The general histories of the United States, for
instance Bancroft's and Hildreth's, have all been
written from New England point of view To
one who wishes to obtain accurate historical in
formation on New England the study of Peter
divers work. entitled The Puritan Common
wealth., becomes indispensably necessary, as it
leads the inquirer to sources overlooked or sup
pressed in New England histories generally.
The character of the New England people is
different from that of any other. They all came
from one part of England. all permanently inn
bued with Protestant ideas and most stubbornly
insisting on their recognition. Leaving England
they had unity of purpose which gave them
the unity of distinct and peculiar character
not elsewhere found. These facts explain TO
some degree the exclusiveness Of New England
ers and the persistent dogeedness with which
they everywhere seek to force Their views on
communities not 80 stubborn as they are. These
Plymouth Rock people were all British subjects
AS such they owed obedience to England and
could not go beyond the charter which they had
- Al -
and enforce laws and establish church not ap-
proved by English authority An answer con-
sistent with that conscientious allegiance which
subjects owe their rulers and the honorable
character of the Puritan settlers is not
found outside Of Puritan New England
history. The psthods they adopted in
establishing government in their midst were
ingenious They coolly ignored the parent au-
thority from which alone they could claim to
have authority, and conferred their government
in the church membership. They did this in a
sxRanner most refreshing TO read about They
claimed The right to receive or exclude from
membership whomsoever they pleased. The re-
jected party was simply set adrift, and the place
was made SO hot for him by some more equally
ingenious legislation that he became generally
visions runs thus Nor shall any person being
a member of any church which shall be gathered
without such notice given or appreciation had. or
who is not member of some church in
and churches of this colony be ad
mtted to the freedom Of this jurisdiction. ,
Stripped of its verbiage this meant you must
belong to the Congregational Church or leave
the colony. Other churches were not permitted
in New England The early struggles of the
Episcopslians In Connecticut furnish ample evil
dence or this point. The cases all occur after
Connecticut was covered by royal charter and
formally recognized the fact that it was subject
to English law In 1740 Episcopal people were
- - e. -
tional meeting. Bancroft apologies for this
odious exclusiveness. He would
have Us believe that Puritans were justified by
laws of self preservation that they were sinned
against more than shining
Before we accept Bancroft's apology let us
see here the opinions of the Puritans themselves
and the representatives of New England Puri-
tansm. There we may learn who it was that
waged war of extermination.' johnson said:
There is no room in Christ's army for tolera-
tlonists.' Cotton declared that federation made
the world anti Christian Sheppard. in an cleo
ton sermon styled An Eye Salve. maintained
it to be 'Satan's policy to plead for indefinite
and boundless liberation President Cakes
says: i look upon liberation as the irst-born of
ali nominations God forbid said Dudley,
our love for the truth should be grown so cold
that we should tolerate errors. | die no hber-
tine' Ward sums 1t up thus: To say that
men ought to have liberty of conscience is i'm
pious ignorance.
moreover. tolerance b
in anyone who advocated or practiced it. and it
Was punished as such. The story of Nicholas
Upsall is heartrending. | have not time to tell
it in all of it's horrible details. He had the au
dacity to disaoprove of the law against the
Quakers. He was one of the wealthiest of the
Massachusetts colony. This aged prisoner was
driven into the wilderness at the beginning of
winter, and while in Punishment his property
was confiscated by way of fines for not being in
his place in the Westinghouse in Boston on the
c. L. ff1- fhroA ,1ar
he returned, and was again cast into prison.
Mrs. Hutchinson driven forth to perish by
the hands of the Indians because she denounced
the necessity of good works for conversion and
Justification.
ABOUT 1914 the Baptists were banished from
the Massachusetts colony. The Quakers, too
were condemned to exile. In 1856 Mary Fisher
and Ann Austin seized vessel before
they could land and imprisoned, the windows of
kheir cell being boarded up. 1t cost fine of five
pounds to speak to them, and this was not the
Spanish Inquisiton, either. The Quakers re-
NAMED in spite of penal laws. Mary Clark was
scourged Holden, Copeland and Downdey were
whipped and imprisoned. Lawrence and Cas-
sandra Southwick were imprisoned for harbor.
ing Quakers. The undesirable immigrants
were mutilated. One ear was cut off, then the
other, then the tongue was bored with
hot iron. Still more penal laws
VIM. Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson
were condemned to be hanged for rebellion, Sc
Notwithstanding their being sentenced to ban
ishment on pain of death The execution took
place on Boston Common, Oct. q. 1867 the bod
les swinging from a tree which, tradition says.
was that afterwa-d known as Liberty tree 1t
was the first execution under the penal law for
religion that had yet taken place within the lin
it's Of this country. The cry of these murdered
Quakers reached the throne of ENGLAND, and it
was ordered that liberty shall be given to all
sorts and sects of men, But. as Bancroft says
truly the royal order could not erase the stains
which indelibly rest upon the Puritan church of
Massachusetts,
"Flogging fines. Acknowledgement WERE how.
ever again resorted to in the year 1867, this time
in the case of Baptists. Palfrey, the Puritan
apologist, coolly remarks, These Puritans had
right to choose their company Such reasoning
would Justify brigands and murderers. / have
not said q word about the treatment of Catho-
lies had considered it almost superfuous to
state that there was no more room for Catholics
in New England than there was for the devil