The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-12-23

Aney were the f1rsC Cranks Wnen lnde
pendence of Religious Thought was
Crankiness-Their Ideas of the Earthly
Life and the Lurid University Below
Dinner of the New England Society of
New York.
NEW YORK. December 22.-Oyer 400
gentlemen attended the S6th annual din
ner of the New England Society here to-
night. A more representative lot of Amer
leans never gathered together In social
bonds. The master of ceremonies was j.
P. Morgan, and on either side of him sat,
among others. Hon. VIM. a. Miller, Hon.
Frank Hiscoek. Chauncey M. Depew.
Isaac 81. Bromley, Gen. Horace Porter,
DR.. Parker Morgan. l. 81. Bailey, D.G Ap-
pleton. Rev. Joseph I'll. Twitchell, Gen.
Howard and Hon. Calvin r. Pratt. The
speech of the evening was by Chauncy NJ.
Depew, In response to the toast ''The
Crankiness of the Puritans." Mr.. Depew
said, In brief: The crank has become the
most prominent feature OF our civilization.
The newspapers are incomplete without
daily chronicles of his achievements. The
editor of the Century Dictionary, a Yam
kee of Yankees, Is compelled to admit the
word "eranK" Is not found In AnglO-SaxOn
or early English. but, like most good things
which the Puritan possesses, came from
the Dutch. The 0ld-fashioned way was to
lock up people who endangered life
or property or did deeds Of
violence on either for the statutory
period. The new idea sends them to an
asylum to come out In few months to the
glory of the professional gentlemen who
wrought the wonderful cure and to the
terror of the community who are the vic
Tins of these experiments. The most i'm
p0rtant article of the Puritan faith was in
dividual responsibility. He believed in
roasting sinner here as a preparatory
course for matriculati0n into the lurid
university below, where, according to his
view. no superiority in athletics would
ever secure graduation. The Dutch defini-
tion OF crank was person who, when
possessed Oflan idea, never failed to keep 1t
before the world and il necessary be very
disagreeable In urging IL upon mis-
contemporaries and who never doubted
himself The Dutchmen invented the
word after the Puritan settlement in H0l-
land. The Stuart kings prosecuted the
Purltans because they would not accept
the religion of the throne. The Puritao,
who was ready TO fight aud willing to die
for the privilege OF worshipping God as he
thought right, was the phenomenal crank
OF the period. he was beyond dispute the
m0ss disagreeable human being to all that
constituted social and political power of
his day. In the unequal contest OF the
hour he and his cO-rettgi0nists were perse-
cuted, imprisoned, executed or exiled. But
his fight was not for time, but Tor eterDi-
ty. The Stuart kings are dead, their
thrones are taken from their sons and their
power transferred to house alien in blood
and faith, but the sons of the Puritans gov
ern half of the world and their principles
are vital and eueIgiZing forces with the
other nalf. For 271 years the fight has
been hot between cranks and kings. The
monarchs are forgotten and their king
doms and principalities merged or lost. but
the leaders of the Pilgrim band are for the
new world the can0niZed saints of civil
and religious liberty.
In the Keystone State.
PHILADELPHIA, December %. - The
New England Society of Pennsylvania
gave its annual dinner tonight. Nearly
200 persons sat at the tables. Among those
who responded to t0astS were HOn. Red
field Proctor, United States Senator from
Vermont, William L. Davis. president of
the Plymouth Society of New England,
President Hatton of Princeton College,
and Hon. James P. Brooks of Pittsburg.