New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-02

ean nv obtectins TO the surplice ended by anath-
ematizing the whole ceremony Of the Church.
condemninC the churches themselves as the
structures Of disguised paganism. and revert
ing to meeting houses Of the plainest aspect
wherein the prayers were extempore ana the
sermons endless. In most directions TINS
struggle for simplicity in religious AFFAIRS was
an advance upon the notions Of the earlier Re-
formers. But in one case. that or Sunday OBJ
servance, the Puritans went back to Catholic
practice and intensified IT, DR.. Eggleston has
perhaps put his history into the fire OF con-
troversy that still RACES at times. But he insists
that neither Luther nor Calvin cared for Sab
bath strictness They tried to break the tradi-
ton of the old Church in this respect. while the
English Purtans insisted preserving and
strengthening 1t. Thus the struggle at every
point in the English Church went to the very
bottom Of the structure. The Separatists had
gone off by themselves in little groups; the Puri
tans would neither leave the Church nor con-
form to the requirements of it's prelates. AS
James /. by his oostnacy, made Virginia free so
now. when he had the option of making England
Puritan and Presbyterian or Prelatical and
Anglican, he abandoned his Scottish training
and took sides with the bishops. He was logical.
The battle against the bishops. as he foresaw.
to be so in the reign of his son. But America
again entered into the question.
The Puritans. without losing anything at
home, began their exodus to the New World.
taking lesson at almost every step from the
experience Of their Separatist forerunners. At
the very outset they bargained for control Of
their own religious affairs. Theoretically the
Government held with Bacon that heretics could
not be allowed to found a colony. Practically It
conceded the business OF the South Carolina
Quaker's remark that n dssenter could kill bears
and wolves Just as well as a Churchman. James
would wink at the practices OF the Puritans In
New-England but he would not give them the
seal of his appreciation. upon which the exiles
consoled themselves with the thought that
scale as broad as {. house fore" would not hold
him to a promise even II he made one. 1t was
enough to be let alone. and to make sure OF this
they silently at the earliest opportunity trans
ferred their charter and their whole government
to the colony They carried with them not merely
the zeal Of the rustcs Of Nottinghamshre but
the poltica! astuteness OF the Anglo-Norman
race. The Pilgrims gave them an example or
the victory over nature In new country, but
they came ready to organize nation And the
nation, considering all the limitations OF the
time was at their heels. BY the time the Parlia-
mentary war broke out in England. Massa-
chusetts BAY was a we-settled region But it
had departed further and further from the ten
denotes that were growing strong In England.
Dr. Eggleston points to the little colony Of Pill
grims as a dominant force in the whole life OF
New-England. Following their example New
England cut itself Off completely from the Eng
lish Church, and Puritanism became a synonyme
for Congregatonalism.