The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-01

a few years ago in book by tho late Douglas
Campbell, entitled The Puritan In England
Holland and America" In Mr.. Fishes opinion.
this work In inspired. not so much by love for
Holland ns by hatred for England which the
author Inherited from Scotch-lIs ancestors
II tho abuse OF England were omitted, the two
bulky octavos would shrink into ono small duo.
decimo and the clenness and force Of the argu-
ment would DO enhanced. Mr. Campbell contends
that, in the century Of American development
before tho Scotch1rish came the dominant in
hucncc hero was Dutch; he docs not deny that
the Dutch were comparatively few In number,
but he maintains that their ideas and institutions
prevailed to such an extent that the Republic
OF the United States is far more a child Of the
Dutch Republic than Of England Mr. Fisko
deems IL matter for regret that historic inquiry
should be conducted with such an animus lie
would not dispute that tho influence Of tho Neither
lands upon the formation Of the United States
has been great In many ways In the two vol
umes before us which arc devoted 10 the plant
ing OF our middle colonies. the kind and degroc
OF that influence como UP now and then for dis
cussion. In the meantime, tho author would
lot drop word Of caution as 10 the method 10
DO pursued in arriving at conclusions He would
set the inquirer on guard against tho common
fallacy OF installing post hoe for proptsr hoe Thus
II. in the sixteenth century, we find FREQ public
schools In operation in tho Netherlands but not
In England We must beware Of inferring too
hastily that tho FREQ schools In New England
in tho seventeenth century wcrc introduced or
copied from Holland. different explanation
Is possible One OF tho cardinal requirements
Of Calvinism has always been elementary edu
cation for everybody. In matters Of religion,
all souls arc equally concerned. and each indi-
vidual Is ultimately responsible for himself Tho
Scriptures arc the rule Of life, and accordingly,
each individual ought TO be able TO read them
for himself without dependence upon priests
Hence II Is ono Of tho prime duties OF q congro-
CATION to insist that all its members shall know
how TO read, and to provide them with the re-
quisfto instruction. In accordance with this
Calvinistic Idea. some form OF universal and com
pulsory elementary education sprang up during
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries wherever
Calvinism had become dominant; in tho Protes-
tant parts Of France and Switzerland, in Scot
land In tho Netherlands and In Now England
Obviously then, II might be held that free schools
In Now England were natural development
Of Calvinism, and do not necessarily imply any
especially close relation with Holland.
IL.
In considering the contributions which were un-
quesuonably made by tho Low Countries 10 civili-
zation in America, Mr.. Fiske begins by consider
ing their contributions to civilization In England
These he finds many and important There
IL no doubt that the commercial and social re-
lations between Britain and the Continent wcro
greatly multiplied and strong thened by tho Nor
man Conquest In particular. the relations with
Flanders grow closer, and We find a party Of
Ir,y f,ar
and obtaining permission from William Rufus
to make o settlement In England. This was
accomplished about 1112 under Henry l.. who
planted the new colony in Pembrokeshire to servo
as buffer az ainst tho Welsh Thence, II Fabyan
is correctly informed they spread into other
parts Of the island, aud already they wero known
as skillful weavers, In so much that about 1850,
David l. OF Scotland induced by special privi-
leRes some OF them To come and settle north OF
tho Tweed. long time. however, was yet 10
elapse before England was TO become manu-
featuring country. For the next two hundred
years, all the better grades Of woolen cloth came
from the Flemish cities The ultimate intro
duction Of skilled labor on . large scale into Eng
land. especially 90 far textile fabrics wcro
concerned, was due mainly TO tho immigration
of workmen from the Netherlands This migra-
ton began to assume considerable proportions
this Netherland population was into the East
Anglican counties Of Norfolk and Suffolk. In tho
reign Of Henry v. the cloth industries wero mainly
centred In Norfolk, whose capital Norwich,
then ranked as tho second city In tho kingdom.
Another Norfolk town. Worated, has fallen into
oblivion, in spite Of its splendid Gothic church,
but the namo OF the thread first made there Is
known to oil the world From East Anglia,
tho making Of cloth gradually extended south
westward to Winchester and Salisbury. and north
westward into Cheshire. until, by tho time OF
James the share of tho West in IL had begun
TO predominant. The company Of Merchant
Adventures devoted exclusively 10 tho expor-
tation OF manufactured woolens was chartered
In 1907 For three centuries II was a body OF
much importance, and after It's typo were con-
structed some Of the greatest OF modern mercan-
tile companies.
Thus tho Flemish influence upon medieval
England was, commercially, Of great siEnin-
canoe. Mr.. Fiske, however. sees much more
in It than spinning and weaving One cannot
long study he thinks. the period OF the Reforma-
ton. say from Henry VIII to Oliver Cromwell.
without observing that the eastern counties were
the stronghold Of democratic ideas and OF puri-
tanism. Tho contrast with tho West was illus
trated in the two universities: Oxford was High
Church and Tory. while Cambridge was Liberal
md moro or less Puritan. During the Civil War.
the Eastern Counties Association furnished the
backbone OF the Parliamonts army Three
of the oldest county names In America, Norfolk,
Suffolk and Essex, remind US that large ma
orty Of the earliest settlers OF New England
came from those Old World counties
HI.
From the foregoing group Of facts Mr. Fiske do
iuces the extreme probability that the beginnings
If Puritansm In England were intimately related |
10 the influence exerted upon England by the
On general principles. 1t would not
strange that the eastern side of the island look
ng toward the Continent should have exhibited |
EARLIER symptoms OF progreesiveness than the west
side. backed by tho Wild mountains Of Wales |
The facts hitherto Cited however, arc supple |
nented by others Of even greater Importance. |
which belonged TO tho latter half Of the sixteenth
century. We refer 10 tho consequences OF tho |
OF Protestants In the Low Countries,
md the subsequent war for liberation. The first |
,feot OF these events was migration OF Neither
anders to England on larger scale than had