The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-12-17
THE TWO NEW ENGLANDs.

During the present week the descendants
OF New England in the larger cities of the
country will celebrate 'Forefathers' day.
with banquet and speech. The country pro-
duces no more eloquent orators than those
who annually turn aside to extol early New
England. and properly. because the coun-
try owes much to the character and insti-
tutions Of early New England. The day
they celebrate Is the anniversary Of the
landing of the pilgrim fathers at Plymouth;
but the dominant spirit of early New Eng
land was that of the Puritans. Doubtless
the former were really the wiser and bet
ter men. but the wiser and better are never
SO numerous as those who are not so good,
consequently, the Puritans dominated the
Massachusetts colonies. which, more than
the other colonies gave them their peculiar
character. In many respects they were the
best men of their times. Their religion was
reality. and 1t made them strong and
even severe characters. AS much as men
ever did, they lived for their religion. True,
ligious freedom as they saw it; and, as
they saw It, any religion but theirs was
soul-destroying and must be suppressed
Frequently the orator. on these comment
orative occasions. in eloquent fights of the
imagination, claims that the Puritans came
here TO establish civil and religious free
dom IT is a beautiful claim hut III lacks
the element of evidence to support It. Pur-
itanism for nearly a century theoc-
racy. and for many years its clergy was
as intolerant a hierarchy as ever perse-
cuted hereto. 1t resorted to imprisonment.
Punishment and death to repress and pun
ish heresy to quite as late period as other
ecclesiastics. In 1860, when Charles III was
restored to the British throne. on complaint
of the Quakers he directed Governor Endi-
colt to cease prosecuting that sect. which
was done. Thereafter no man was banished,
imprisoned or whipped for any sort of
heresy.
At the present time people in the newer
country speak of New England blue laws
if any such existed now. The Puritan
element still exists in New England. but
years ago the descendants Of the early Pur-
itans were the leaders in promulgating re-
ligious opinions as radically liberal as those
of their fathers were positive and severe.
reaction are equal in the world of mind
well as in the realm of matter, the New
England which was the home Of the strict
Calvinistic Edwards theology has become
the center of the liberal religious thought
OF to-day. The strictest sect of New Eng
land Congregationalism at the present time
Is more liberal than Presbyterianism in the
West Andover. which is. perhaps. the most
influential theological seminary in New
England, has president and a faculty
teaching dogmas for which they would have
been expelled fifty years ago. and banished
If not hanged, in the days of Mather. There
fore, 1t is in no sense true that New Eng
land stands the representative of the
strictest Calvinism at the present time, but
is the center of what is called the most lib
eral and progressive religious thought of
the age. The causes which have led to this
radical change would be a more interesting
theme for discussion than the wearisome
reiteration of the fiction that the sole pur-
pose of either pilgrim or Puritan in coming
to New England was to establish popular
government and civil liberty.