Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1912-01-19

religion, perhaps 1t was because no hos
tile, political or social forces opposed
him. In England under Cornwell, he
fought for political control, as the in
strument by means of which he might
reform religion and society.
With the same original attitude of
mind. the New England Puritan's field
for application was more limited. and
this narrowed field of work together
with partial isolation from the thought
of the old world and stern contest with
hostile savages and an American will
derness, resulted in "middle PERIOD
of New England Puritanism, marked by
all its sterner, its less lovely, features.
And by this limited period, the Puritan,
living in three centuries and on two
continents, has too often been judged.
To my mind, the Puritan possessed
three great qualities:
l. Strong idealism, combined with
moral vision and faith. This was his
"Puritanism.
2. Energy and will to act upon his
beliefs. Here he differed from other
Englishmen IN degree, rather than in
kind, because of the power of his in
spiration.
3. Anglo-Saxon-or better Germanic
capacity and desire to learn and grow.
Here his ties were wider than the Eng
fish nation itself
His idealism alone would have left
him mere dreamer.
His idealism and his energy to act
upon the basis of partial knowledge
might have left him narrow and intoler-
ant; and in some periods of his history,
such tendency was strong.
But his Germanic ancestry, his ca
pacity and desire to learn and grow,
kept him from narrow fossiization.
During the narrowest thought period
of his New England history, the Puri-
tan continued to establish schools and
colleges, the very agents which would
save him from himself What more,
indeed, can be required of any man than
this: to act earnestly up to the highest
truth he knows today, and to search for
a higher truth upon which he may act
tomorrow?
If my analysis is correct, such were
the mental forces and aptitudes which
the Puritan brought to the shores of
Massachusetts and which his children
have carried across the continent in less
than three centuries.
The effects in American history, It the
resulting changes in American thought.
have undoubtedly been many and
varied. They range all the way from
great contributions to that complex
which we call our national character, to
the odds and ends which mark the
operation of mental and moral force
upon masses of men. 1t is not an UNI
favorable criticism of Puritanism, it is
rather tribute, when one points out
that the greater New England area IN
America has been, in peculiar way,
the area of "isms," odd fancyings
of abnormal minds in the grip of
powerful thought force. They are the
accidental by products of that greater
process-the working out of the normal.
legitimate effects of Puritanism in
American life.
l will not weary you with my presen-
tation of facts in American History
which show the results of Puritanism.
Such studies involve the settlement of
many doubtful points, and one is often
insure of the results when obtained,
for he is attempting to solve a highly
complex and subtle problem on the
basis of partial evidence, the record in
detail of the thought contributions of
the Puritan will form the profounder
history of New England to be writer
by some historian of the future. Per
haps the historian has not yet lived who
could write it clearly.
Let me take refuge instead in the
congratulations to which the examina
ton of special facts seem to lead.
Surely one can select. reduce to sim
plest terms, and assert with safety that
the Puritan has contributed substan-
TALLY in religion, to freedom and in
dividuality; in politics, to democracy
and in education, to wide dispersion of
knowledge. Such modest claim would
surely be conceded by both advocates
and critics. And the simplicity of the
statement need not cause one to under
estimate its Importance. The fact that
such fundamental principles have been
merged so completely into peoples
thought, that the statement of them
seems commonplace, is good evidence OF
great accomplishment.
Just how much has been the Puritan 3
share of achievement in each of the
three lines have indicated as examples,
in comparison with that of other build
ers of America, would be question for
long debate. But if he has contributed
substantially, he has built well.
Such, then, in briefest sketch, has
been the American area within which
the Puritan has worked, and such have
been some of the forces with which he
has labored. to results which We can
partly trace.
The past is his in honor. The present
and future are for his descendants, and
we, by location if not all by ancestry,
can claim a Puritan heritage.