The morning call., 1894-03-07

ger could move from their convictions nor
airy master enSlave.
England threw her colonists much upon
themselves, and the savage effectually CO.
operated in developing them into strong,
self-reliant men. Both were cruel teachers.
but the product was that high type OF
American manhood that finally Overcame
both. The men and women who came To
these distant and dangerous shores were
individualized by the very act of coming,
and every incident of pioneer life had the
same tendency. The savage introduced a
new human valuation that took no account
OF titles or ancestry. but only of achieve
ment The leader was the man in front.
The Indian wars exercised the co!onists in
arms introduced into every cabin, an
effective weapon in the use of which even
the boys became skillful. During the
French and Indian war the colonies fur
nlshed q. 900 men for the English army. The
loot OF the hunter was free. for there were
o game preserves or game keepers in the
American forests.
The frontier has now disappeared and
TIE loss of il is a calamity. 1t meant cheap
or tree land to the landless, adventure for
The restless. a new chance in life for the
beaten. school for the development of a
Tree, unconventional, American manhood
and Womanhood; the exercise in govern
ment and public affairs of our ambitious
young men; the healthy distribution of
POPNiotAObs tuG klcSCIhdllOu VI Il lNeNOiu-
tlonaIy type of men, for the men of 20
were froEtiersmen.
Inc indian also nightly stimulated the
community idea. Organization, the next
lesson In our civil development, lie en-
forced under frightful renaties Every
man neighbor and every man his neigh
boris keeper was the condition of existence
in the feeble and exposed settlements. The
town meeting for consultation and the viii
lage DlockhOuse for The defense and safety
were the klndergartenS of the republic. In
the town meetings the man who had some
thing to say was heard without waiting for
his "betters." though be were only the
co0Oier or the tTuant bow. who had seen
Inc prints Of moccasins in the adjacent
woods.
Life and living we're reduced TO the
simplest elements, and in the northern
colonies the long. severe winters and the
ungenerous soil conditioned both upon in
dustry and an economy that was near to
parslmony. Men who conducted their
households upon lines of the strctest econ
omy were sure 10 be watcbful of public
expenditures and resentful of the smallest
exacton that was not supported by pub
lie necessity and laid by lawful auth ority.
Public assemblages of the body of The
people, an indispen sable incident of free
government, were practically coincident in
Time with the landing of the cOlonists.
Ihey did not have their origin in any study
OF the rise OF man or of the theories of free
government. They were spontaneous;
they grew out of the situation as naturally
as blowing and seeding.
What more natural than that those infant
communities, finding themselves without
recourse to the old sources OF civil authori-
ty and direction and feeling the necessity
Of concurrence in and submission to some
rules OF order and living. should assemble
the whole body OF the people for delibera-
ton and give the sanction of the free con-
currence of all, or the controlling weight
of majority. to rules that were to be
binding upon all? Especially was this
natural TO EDgli shmen. GuiZot saws:
when there scarcely remained traces of
popular assemblages, the Remembers OF
them. of the right of free men to deliberate
and transact their business together, re-
sided in the minds of men as primitive
tradition and as thing which might come
about again" The town meeting was ade-
quate when the subjects TO be dealt with
were of a municipal character. But, as
settlements we're multiplied and common
interests were developed. representative
assemblies, composed of chosen delegates
from the towns, were needed and the need
produced them. Professor Seeley says the
colonial assemblies were not formally
instituted, but grew up 10y themselves, be-
cause it was in the nature of Englshmen
to assemble"
The unreal OIL IrlDal attacks drew towns
and even colonies into consultation and
cooperation. The first union among the
New England colonies, made in 1913, re-
cited that, whereas. we live encompaSsed
of people of several nations and strange
languages, which hereafter may prove in
furious TO us or our p0ster!ty; and for as
much as the natives have formerly CON-
mitJed sundry inSolences and outrages
upon several plantations of the English.
and have of late combined themselves
against us we, therefore, do con-
ceve it our bouuden duty, without delay,
to enter into present consolation among
ourselves for mutual help and strength in
all our future conceTnments."
They did not await the approval of the
crown. Edward WinslOw well said: iii
we in America should forbear TO unite for
defense against the common enemy till we
have leave from England, our throats
might be all cut before The messenger
could be half seas over"
Nearness TO the savage and remotenesS
from England were both favoring condi-
tions in the development of hardy citi-
zenshlp and of the great republic. IL our
ancestors had found this continent IN
peopled and the ocean passage had been
what ii is to-day how different the story
would have been. Necessity rather than
philosophy was their instructor in civics.
The cOlonists could not know in time the
pleasure of the crown, and so they pleased
themselves and the habit grew. In the
absence OF the anointed ruler count of
hands was natural suggestion.