The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-15
NEW ENGLAND PILGRIMS
DAY CELERRATED
 BY CONGREGATIONAL CLUB.


 The New Haven Congregational club celebrated Forefathers' day yesterday in a patriotic and fitting manner at the Davenport church. The celebration commenced at 6 o'clock last evening, when the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers spent @ pleasant hour in re- newing pleasant acquaintances. At 63O o'clock the descendants of the said Pil- grims partook of supper.
 At 7:30 o'clock there was a largely attended meeting, at which speeches were made by Judge Simeon E. Bald win, Rev. Newman Smyth, D. D., Prof, George P. Fisher, D. D., and Calvin N. Kendall, superintendent of schools. Beautiful and appropriate music was furnished by the Davenport choir with Daniel A. Jones, D. D. S., leader
 Rev. Frank R. Luckey, the president of the club, presided. Prayer was of fered by Rev, pr. TWitchell.
 The president, Rev. Frank R. I.uckey, then introduced the first speaker, Judge Simeon E. Baldwin, who spoke on "The Influence of English Politics on the American Puritan" in part, as follows:
 The spirit of political liberty in Eng land followed that of civil liberty. The American Puritan was but a small DOT ton of the whole number of Puritans. He was supported by the aid and sym pathy Of the Puritans of England in his emigration to the rev world.
 We are told by Cotton Mather that there was a reaction against Puritan ism at about the time of the Long par liament. We are not surprised that many Puritans were driven by the the hardships of the new world to re- turn to England. Many there were who thus returned from the New Fla ven and other colonies, and there were few emigrants who came here to take their places.
 The tendency of this isolation was to provincialize the American Puritan, and while tending to throw the Ameri- can Puritan more into independence and union with his fellow colonies it also made him more austere, severe and | intolerant Not that we are to blame them for their intolerance, for they came here to enjoy their own religious worship as they pleased.
 | The restoration in England was at once felt in a depression of public and private morals here as well as there, and in the deterioration of the Puritan church into formalsm.
 | The political relations of England and America were severed by the Revo- lution of 1776 But the president S message in the past few days has told us of another plant of political union between tho two countries. I refer, of course, to the plan for international ar- bitratlon of difficulties growing out of 1 the Venezuelan difficulties. (Ap- plause.) This seems to me the most | remarkable advance ever made in 1 Christian civilization; that two coun- r.es formerly so widely separated by the Revolution are now brought to- gether again in union for the set clement of difficulties on Christian basis I believe that this plan of po- litical union will prove successful. believe it has been made possible by the influence of the Puritan or Eng fish politics (Applause.)
 D. A. Jones sang as a baritone solo, 'In the Time of Trouble He Will Hide Me" very acceptably, after which the next speaker Rev Newman Smyth, D. D., spoke on "The Puritan Magis- trate and the Puritan Preacher He said, in substance:
 There seems to have been three stages through which the state and church passed in their relation to each other in this colony, two of which seem to have been merely transitory. The | first stage was that of the church state, in which all the affairs of the state were controlled by the church A second passing stage was a condi' tion of affairs which I might describe as a. state-church, a time which Judge Baldwin has just described as a time of spiritual deadness. It was g. time when the legislature busied itself ir | legislation for the church, an example of which is found i'll the regulations oi the relations of what is now my own church and what is now the United church, enacted by the legislature.
 We have now reached a stage of free state and free church, but we are con. fronted with the question whether we are to progress still anothe" stage and have a complete separation of all in i terest between the state and church when the legislator wil! be freed from the morality of the church as well as oi it's other forms of restraint. And tho preacher in time will be freed from al duty in regard to the proper conduct of the state.
 Prof. George P. Fisher, D. D., spoke on the "Divine Authority of Magis. trates."
 When I was invited to speak on this occasion on this subject my attention was called to the high place of divine authority of the magistrates, whicl was am ost remarkable quality of the Puritans, it was more remarkable be- cause of the fact that they denied the divine right of kins. After that doc. Urine was swept away by the death ol Charles I, they still retained their rev. erence for magistrates, finding theil { sanction from the scriptures them selves.
 If We had a magistracy which fell
 that they had a commission from God and they were doing His will, wha 0 reverence it would inspire! What al immense educational advantage i would be for the young. How much i l 1,cir,s npt .,1nb z