, 1890-03-29
THE PURITANs
J.. C.. Baird's Lecture at ne Presby-
terian Church

The second high schooListorical review
entertainment was hd at the Presby-
terrain church last evening, when the
auditorium was cr@ded. The lecture OF
the evening was , Hon. j. c. Baird on
English Puritay and the Early Settle
ment of New Egland." 1t was an elo-
quent effort, reIete with concise express
sions of origial thought. Here are some
excerpts:
1t will b. recalled that the word pill
grill" coIes FROM the Latin word "pere-
grinus. meaning "a visitor of foreign
lands. 1t was a name that was early
apried to those persons who, with re
lnglous intent, visited some place reputed
u possess some especial holiness. as
pllgrimages to the site OF the holy sep.
ulchre, etc.
Who, but the O~muipotent himself,
could have seen the future destinies of
the new world shaped by the coming OF
two handsful of Englishmen-one at
jamestown in 1907. and the other at
Plymouth in 1920. The movements
different lines and for diverse causes, are
AhauSu IdlCu Ill ptdCC alu COuphidbifC
poverty. One for wealth, for power, for
glory. The other for security, for refuge,
for prayer These composed the real be-
Again, nay friends, the Puritans had
violated a principle of immigration, as
rigid and Interchangeable as the laws Of the
universe. They had gone eastward.
Westward the star of Empire takes its
way"
Realizing that a new creed must needs
have new soil under the existing condi
tions of society, the Puritans resolved to
found a colony in the new world.
Some of them wished to settle in Vir
ginia; Others preferred the land then re-
Gently discovered by Hcndrick Hudson.
They feared renewal of persecution in
Virginia, by the cavaliers of 1908, so they
decided tor the Hudson river where a
tract of land was granted them. So to
the Hudson we're they destined.
Before they had set sail, however.
Governor Hudson had heard. with alarm
of the important project. There is said
to be in the Astor library. in New York.
the original letter written by Governor
Hudson, to the captain of the Mayhower,
in which the governor offered the captain
one thousand pounds not to land the
cargo of pilgrims at Manhattan, as he had
been advised they were chiefly a bad
lot"
But man proposes and God disposes. u
When the Mayfower drifted too near
Cape Cod and was endangered by the
shoals and rocks on every hand, the Puri-
tains resolved to turn back to the Cape
for safety. Had they kept their course
farther out to sea they would rave finally
landed at Manhattan As it was, they
came to anchor in a little harbor in Cape
Cod where Provinctown now stands
This was on November llth, 1920. And
there began a rich volume of history that
has no parallel.
Poets have vainly attempted to describe
the true emotions of that little band of
exiles as they came to anchor on a wild,
dreary and inhospitable shore, strangers
in a strange land" These exiles had
suffered for religions sake; they were
willing to risk greater suffering. Humble
and patient. poor and needy. their coming
was certainly not such as to awe the red
men into fearful submission.
No greater hardships were ever visited,
perhaps, upon any band of adventurers
than those which beset the pilgrims. The
cold, bleak winter rendered necessary com
forts and foo which they did not possess.
Exposure and hardy toll and privation:
dissemated their ranks and disease threat
ened to sweep them all away. But they
never dispaired. The men and womer
who had dared to brave an unknown
world remained undaunted in peril.
Time forbids detail of their growth anC
progress. The pilgrims grew from further
immigration and from among themselves
so that in the years following they spreac
over New England and redeemed it from
the rule of the savage. Meeting house,
surplanted the wigwam and well bull
villages crowded out the tepees Of the In
dian.
1t vas but natural tina: there should b,
dissention among the pilgrim fathers
But they builded wiser than they knew
Before they left the Mayhower they drew
up a compact by which they agreed to be
g%overnored. 1t was their constitution; 1t i
not too much to say that 1t was the fore
runner of the constitution of the United
States, itself an instrument that is con
coded by the learning of the world to b,
the wisest document ever penued by man
The pilgrims established a commonwealth
prior to tine common wealth of Cromwell
So complete was the system of govern
ment then adopted that it never required
change.