The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-22

blINu' y nOlN zeal inspired tntW anu an
Omnipotent Power directed them II Is
no rash assertion to say that never be-
fore In history had such body Of mon
controlled by such high and worthy mo-
tives, voluntarily eNiled themselves in a
wilderness.
KING AND PEOPLE.
with the assembling Of the new par
lament and the final Joining of the is
sue between king and people i'm Old
England, the migration to America
ceased, but by that time four thousand
men were laying the foundations of New
England pitiful handful as numbers
go, but Il mighty host when the reckon
ing is made of purpose, intelligence. ana
devotion, and the story of their achieve
ment is the story of the progress OF
political ideas and principles. It was for
these that they had sacrificed their early
homes and faced unknown hardships ana
dangers, and it was to these that they
gave the fun ViEor of their splendid man
hood. 1t is not within my province to
trace the successive stages of the growth
OF popular government and free institute
tions in the western world, but SIMPLY
to indicate the place of the Puritan In
the furtheranCc of this righteous cause.
OF all the colonists he alone represented
and incarnated supremely tho spirit of
came the dominant influence in shaping
the life that was to issue at last in the
strength and glory of a great nation,
illustrating before all the world a "gov-
crnmcnt of the people. and by the people.
and for the people"
But I have not yet indicated sufficiently
why the Puritan gained this controlling
influence. 1t was because the whole man
went into the work of conserving and
establishing human rights. First of all
he loved the cause. 1t represented his
supreme affection. that for which he was
ready to lay down his life If to US he
seems lacking in affection toward wife
and children, We must not forget his
devotion to an idea. All the sentiment
he had seemed to wrap itself about gov
crnmcntal ideal. He clothed it with
beauty and adorned il with flowers. He
became its knight, its bold champion. it's
chivalrouS defender. To those who aC-
Cept the popular conception of the Puri-
tan as grim visagcd and stern such Il
picture may seem homogeneous, but no
cause ever yet triumphed that was not
enshrined in the human heart idcali2cd
and worshipped. our humanity Is so con-
Stituted that no life ever yet became sub
timely heroic without the inspiration of
some profound and abiding sentiment,
and | am convinced that we do not un-
derstand the Puritan and cannot account
lbi MS influence until We recognize the
<nightliness of his devotion to prin-
cplc of governments the presence be-
meath that hard exterior of Il sentiment
beautiful and strong, uplifting and on
noblinG. But this is not all. Not only
did the Puritan give his heart 10 the
cause of political rights. but he gave it
his intellect also. lie thought and stud
led, he planned and discussed. His mind
may not have been prolific in ideas. but
such ideas as it produced were lusry and
practical They had the fibre Of con-
Victors and the potency of large results.
Nha' they lacked i'm tropical luXuriancc
they gained i'm hardness
PURITAN MIND
The Puritan brain was never calculated
to astOnish and captivate, but it was ne
cultariy fitted to convince and to compel
respect Nothing is more evident in the
early history Of New England than the
vigorous thought that was applied to
Questions of government. The town meet
nS was a place of debate whore mind
met mind and argument clashcd with
argument. Matters of public policy were
determined not by the purchase OF votes
or the will of dictator, but by the con-
quest of opinion, the assent of intclli-
gent fIeemcn. The literature of that per-
iud Was pre-cminently political. The best
thought of the best minds the best
thought of all minds was given to civil
rights and duties, privileges ana rrspon-
siblities
But beyond this the Puritan conscience
was enlisted. That conscience which has
been the jest of the thOughtlcss and an
offense to the consciencelcss. was the
mighticst force that went to the making
oi America. With all its narrowneSS and
bigotry it was stll the moral sense
which felt its way through all questions
Of Il day to some eternal principle be-
meath. II was the moral energy that
brushed away the sophistries Of rNpedi-
rncy and laid broad and deep the foGnda-
tions of Righteousness. The Puritan's
conscience Thank God for it, Without
II his love of liberty would have been a
mockery, his theories OF govo rnmcnt a
delusion. 1t is not i'm the power of mind
or heart, or both alone 10 build undur-
lngly. The test Of conscience is the
tuuchstone Of reality, and it is the dcath-
less glory of the Puritan, the secret of
his supreme control over the dcstinirs
of this republic, that he brought mind
ana heart and conscience to the work of
creating state.
The whole man expressed itself in his
citizenship. That, as nothing else tells
why he has been dominant for America,
gentlemen, is dedicated to citizenship
That defines in "A word it's history and
It's mission. 1t stands before the world
as the highest representative of puliti-
cal system that gives each individual
an equal share of authority and rcspou-
slhility in government. Its wealth and
IFS intelligence are but agencies to con-
serve the rights, the privileges the rs-
Sential dignity Of man as man apart
from all other considerations This, at
least, is the American ideal. This the
principle that voices itself i'm our con-
Sutulion and speaks in all the strug-
giles of the past But the idea is stiu
unrealized in all its fulness, the princl-
pie Nindicatcd by experience glorilied by
sacrifice is not yet established as firm
ly in practice as it is in belief. With
all our theories Of human rights evidence
OF injustice and oppression still confronts
us. 1t is doubtless inevitable that il
should be so, for in all civil and social
evolution practice never measures nm TO
theory; and II is just because Of this
that the work Of patriots Is never fin
lshed, Each successive stage of progress
brings new problems calling for new de-
votion.
THEORY OF CITIZENSHIP.
Moreover wherever there is life there
Is growth. A vital principle is AN expand
ing prinCiplc--that is the proof of its
vitality. The theory of citizenship is
larger today than yesterday. Beginning
with declaration of rights ii has devel-
oped into declaration Of oblication.
From the principle of independence il has
advanced 10 the principle of cooperation
The inalienable right Of the individual,
the life, liberty ana the pursuit of han.
piness, has been merged into the no less
lnalienable duty of the individual to share
his life, liberty and happiness This is
the new ana larger meaning of citiZen-
ship, coming 10 expression in the social
struggles of the present; and IL is no
less an advance upon the former con-
ception than that was an advance upon
the conception of Tory England before
the days of the commonwealth.