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Pumcipi.Es ow Party, . . ..... • • • • • ¦ • l
Formation oi* Parties, .: . ... . ... .... « 3
Religion promote© by : Parties, ;. . . . ". v * • • ->$>.'¦
Science advanced by Parties, . . . . - . . . .-.6
Party Action, and its Import ance, . . .' . . ¦ . .9
The Whig Party, . . ... :.' ;.-. . -¦ Z-. ,'¦¦ • .;'¦¦¦• • •; • • 13
The Democratic Party, . ... . . . . ... ¦:..., .16
Objects of History, . . . . . . . . - . . . 20
Ancient History, I|jtWpretation or Language,. Uncer
tainties or History, . . ". .¦;. ¦ .* V . 21,22
Republics of Greece and RoMe; , ¦;,  24
Republic of Rome,  .27
Human Progress, . . . . . . . * . . . . . . 34
France, .  „ 35
Origin and Growth of Nations, ........ 39
England,  40
Protectorate of Cromwell, . . . . . . : s. ... 43
Democracy in England,  . ., . . .49
Design of the Work,  57
Vox Populi Vox Dei, . .,,'>.  ^;ci» 58
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
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HISTOEY OF DEMOCRACY.

INTRODUCTORY.
PRINCIPLES OF PARTY.
What thinking and acting are to the individual, party is to society.
Party is the great engine of human progress. It is a combination of
men of similar views, and kindred sympathies, for moral or political suprem
acy. It leads to the war of knowledge upon ignorance, the conflict of
holiness against sin, the struggles of freedom against tyranny. It is to
be found in man as an individual, swayed by the opposing passions of the
soul, whether for good or evil, and by the objects of choice, whether yielding
to or resisting the spirit of temptation.1 ' It is to be found in the numerous
associations of society for influence, controlling customs, advancing fashions,
and modifying, limiting or extending, the social or domestic duties. It divides
the church in regard to the sacred teachings of the Holy Scriptures ; and
sects spring up to defend their varying creeds, each opposing each, and each
opposing all.2 The votaries of science have their favorite schools and classics,
and party zeal is made to quicken the conceptions of genius. Bold and
righteous men rise up as partisans against the world, pledged as martyrs to
reformation. The people of every nation divide and subdivide in regard to
their national rights and interests, and we sometimes have the sublime spec
tacle of parties made up of emperors, kings and presidents; of empires,
monarchies and republics, discussing the great principles of national law,
intervention, and the balance of power.
A world without party would be incapable of progress. To believe in a
world incapable of progress, is practical atheism. What the science of
mechanics is to matter, party is to knowledge. The one leads to the
improvement of material things, the other to the advancement of society.
1 Homans 7 : 15—23.
2 " All things are double one against another ; and he hath made nothing imperfect. One
thing establisheth the good of another ; and who shall he filled with beholding his glory ? "
— Ecclesiasticus 42 : 24, 25. 1

2 PRINCIPLES OE PARTY.
With a knowledge of the former, an Arkwright and a Fulton can enrich a
people ; and with a just realization of the latter, a Franklin and a Washing
ton can bless a nation.
Party may be denominated the manifold form of moral power in action.
Its elements are to be found "in the principles of human nature. It is
moved by the unyielding forces of instinctive impulse and ambition, and
sustained by the illimitable resources of interest and of opinion. While it is
temporarily perverted to subserve the cause of wrong and error, it perma
nently aids in opening the paths of truth. It has an onward and a conserv
ative power, and whatever is conceived by one mind is sure to find its
antagonistic principle in the mind of another.
No science, no great truth, is ever permitted to find favor without opposi
tion., or credence without contest. Truth is passed through the conflict of
opinion, as the oaks of the forest are nursed by the tempest and the whirl
wind, every storm extending the roots and adding vigor to the branches.
To oppose truth is to challenge attention, and to denounce it is to unfold its
beauty and. to establish its power.
It may be profitable, for a moment, to consider the various sources of party
spirit, and to endeavor to understand in what way parties are made to sub
serve the great cause of humanity.
Man is both the agent of power and the subject of want. He is moved
by passions, elevated by sentiments, and controlled by opinions. He first
becomes the pupil of parents, heir to their errors, as well as the recipient of
their knowledge. He is early trained as a partisan ; and often the child is
seen to play the dogmatist with all the confidence of a philosopher, and all
the zeal of a cardinal. He soon becomes familiar with the household words
of cliques, creeds and platforms, and practises leadership by organizing
imitation parties among his mates at the village school. Indeed, the little dis
tinctions of boyhood often rise up, as formidable to children as the difiiculties
of nations appear to men. Their party lines are defined by the boundaries
of a neighborhood, or by sectional districts, indicated, it may be, only by the
cardinal points of the compass. Still, their young hearts leap in the strife of
contest, though they have no interests at stake, and are conscious of no
motive above that of mastering their antagonists.1 This is no fiction, as, we
1 D'Aubigne speaks of a sect in Germany, Switzerland and England, who believed in the
necessity of returning to the simplicity and innocence of childhood, that the truth is revealed
by the Spirit to babes. They affected all the manners and sports of children. A recent trav
eller in the Western States says " that he saw, on one occasion, about a thousand men and
women in a grove, rolling- hoops, flying kites, playing ball, shooting marbles, leaping, running,
Wrestling, boxing, rolling and tumbling in the grass ; the women caressing dolls, and men
astride of 'sticks for horses, and the whole company intently engaged in all the sports of child
hood." At last he ventured to ask what it meant. They told him they professed to be little
children, to whom the Lord had promised his kingdom; and affected some surprise that he
seemed not to have known that it was written, " Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God."

FORMATION OF PARTIES. 8
doubt not, most of our readers will be able to testify from personal experi
ence. It shows not only that the elements of party are to be found in the
constitution of things, but that they exist in harmony with the funda
mental powers of the mind.1
Men are governed by motives, and their motives are characterized by
individual peculiarities. They are selfish or liberal, cruel or benevolent, just
or unjust, timid or bold, safe or dangerous, oppressive or patriotic, according
to the standard which each erects within himself, as his private or public
rule of duty. But men cannot act alone. Every faculty of the mind is
adapted to exert its peculiar power in society. All have something to ask,
something to give, and something to do. Want is the basis of business, gain
the incentive to enterprise. The various combinations of the mental faculties
result in the great diversity of tastes, genius and capacity, which give employ
ment and an interest to all. To possess the means of living, the comforts
and pleasures of life, is a necessity of our existence. Hence, the institution of
property,3 which is based upon the innate sense of acquisition. To be ena
bled to enjoy the fruits of one's own labor without hindrance or robbery, to
protect the weak against the strong, the just against the unjust, is the object
of government. To insure equity and the rights of opinion, are the objects
of laws and their administration. We thus find man standing in a two-fold
position, — as an individual in his private relations, and as a citizen of the
commonwealth or nation, bound to sustain its interests, its laws, and its
government in the administration of them.

FORMATION OF PARTIES.
It was a remark of Burke, made in the British Parliament, in his cele
brated reply to Fox, on the subject of the French Revolution, " that he who
calls in the aid of an equal understanding doubles his own." It is on
this simple principle that parties are formed. Men of kindred views, sym
pathies and interests, join together for the promotion of a common cause.
It may be from motives of ambition, to reach a position of power ; 3 from
mercenary considerations, or from a profound sense of public duty. It may
relate to subjects of science, schemes of interest, or the great themes of
religion, or of government. As government is the practical business of
to-day, and of all time, — and while we propose to modify its organization,
1 Animals, birds, fishes and insects, frequently combine for attack, or for purposes of defence
against a common enemy.
2 Sir James Mackintosh defines property to be "legal possession."
3 It is said that when it was known that a breach between Fox and Burke must occur,
Sheridan wrote a short note to Carlton House for instructions. "Follow Fox," was the
laconic reply.

4 FORMATION OF PARTIES.
the laws or the mode of their administration, it is constantly exercising its
power and authority,- — generally there can be but two great political par
ties, the one in possession of the legal prerogatives of government, and
the other opposed to the continuance of the ruling dynasty. The reasons
for this are obvious. The people can have at the same time but one govern
ment ; and if a party were to subdivide on questions of minor importance, it
would fail to command sufficient strength ever to be placed in power. The
struggle, therefore, is constantly and chiefly between those who conduct and
favor the administration of government in accordance with certain avowed
principles, and those who claim a superior rule in a different or in an
opposite policy.1 It is true, other parties will occasionally rise up ; but
they usually come from the varying ranks of moral reformers, and seek to
engraft some new feature on the general system, with a total disregard of
theoretic harmony, or the teachings of practical experience. As their objects
are partial or limited, prospective or impracticable, their position is usually
one of remote influence, but not of control.
In all ages parties have been viewed as indispensable to intelligent exist
ence. The sublime conceptions of Milton have opened to the wondering gaze
of man the dread portals of heaven, where the King of kings is braved by
rebellious angels. " The wisdom of God," said John Knox, " compelled the
very malice of Satan, and such as were drowned in sin, to serve to his glory,
and to the profit of his elect." The- pious monarchs of the Crusades, who
had sufficient zeal to leave their kingdoms to aid in the sublime work of
redeeming the holy sepulchre, could not labor together in harmony even
upon the spot where the Prince of Peace was crucified.
Cortes found parties in ancient Mexico. "As he proceeded in his enter
prise, he clearly perceived," says Prof. Smyth, "that, though he had a
powerful monarch and an immense empire to oppose in Montezuma and
Mexico, still that he should find allies as he went along, and that, therefore,
success was at least not impossible." " It was with the greatest pleasure,"
said Cortes, "that I saw their dissensions and animosities, for a way was
1 " He that is not with me is against me ; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth
abroad."— Mat. 12: 30.
This principle is too obvious to need much elucidation. " Those who stand neuter," says
an old writer (1773), "are neither preferred nor trusted, by reason that one of the parties
is always in power, and -has nothing more at heart than the advancing of its friends, or
gaining some of its adversaries. Consequently there can be no posts or offices for men
from whom the prevailing party can expect no manner of service. Moreover, how can a
man be neuter between two parties, each of whom represent their adversaries as designing
those evils which are most apt to fill men with fears — I mean, the destruction of the religion
they profess, and the dissolution of a government which alone, in their opinion, can render
: subjects happy .' A man must be insensible, not to be moved with such, dangers, when con
vinced of their reality." — Dis. on Rise, Progress, &c, Whigs and Tories, &c. Pamphlet,
p. 69.

RELIGION PROMOTED BY PARTIE3. 5
thus opened me for their subjection. According to the proverb, ' From the
mountain proceeds what burns the mountain;' and 'the kingdom,' says
the Gospel, ' that is divided against itself, cannot stand.' "
The mythological gods of the ancients had their divisions, wars, and revo
lutions. In Homer we find a scene described, of men, heroes and gods, mixed
together in battle. The voice of Mars, the terrific shouts of the fight, the
thunders of Jupiter, and the tempests of Neptune, combined to shake the
whole battle-field, and the tops of the surrounding mountains. Even Pluto
himself, " whose habitation was in the very centre of the earth, was so
affrighted at the shock that he leapt from his throne." 1

RELIGION PROMOTED BY PARTIES.
In regard to the momentous subject of religion, in all countries where
freedom of opinion is tolerated, parties are numerous, and doctrines still more
so.2 Christianity is the only system of religion, it- is 'asserted by Kliefoth,
which has what can be called doctrines.3 Mahometanism has its Koran ;
but the Koran is the book of no sect, and has but one interpretation. The
Hindoos have their Vedas ; but, as these books are written in the Sanscrit,
which is now a dead language, and only understood by the priests pr brahmins,
they are subject entirely to their control. The ancient Greeks and Romans
had their mythologies ; but they spake one language, which admitted of no
diversity of construction. Plato did not speculate upon the gods, nor upon
the articles of the Grecian faith. The state religion of the Chinese does not
consist of doctrines, which are to be taught, learned and believed, but of rites
and ceremonies ; and its ritual is contained in the statistics ahd code of the
empire.4 What is asserted of these nations may be said in respect to the
Zendavesta of Persia, and of the sacred teachings of all pagan countries,
where governments claim a sacred origin, and where mysteries control the
religious affections of the people.
But it is not so in Christian nations, where the Bible is free, and
1 See Addison's Spectator, No. 333.
s " The parties affected are innumerable almost, and scattered over the face of the earth,
far and near ; and so have been in all precedent ages, from the beginning of the world to
these times, of all sorts and conditions." This was the language of Robert Burton, two
hundred and fifty years ago.  inat. Mel:, vol. n., p. 487.
3 Neander, in hia History of the Church, has shown how the doctrinal questions which
agitated the church of the first centuries were quite different from those discussed in the
middle ages ; the former being mostly theological, and the latter anthropological.
4 When a Chinese is asked how many systems of philosophic or religious belief exist in his
eouhtry, he answers, Three — namely, Fw,the doctrine of Confucius ; Fo, or Budhism; and
.the sect of Toon, or " Rationalists." Confucianism is the state religion of China. — Davis'
China, vol. H., p. 79.

6 SCIENCE ADVANCED. BY PARTIES.
opened to all in their native language. The sublime injunction of Christj to
preach the Gospel to the heathen of every land, has been more or less prac
tised in almost every age. From the earliest periods of the Christian era to
the present time, history has recorded numerous examples of extraordinary
sacrifices to obey the holy requisition. We have only to look at the charts
of the various missionary" institutions of modern times, to see that, however
much the sects may differ among themselves, they all agree in the common
duty of extending the great, blessings of Christianity.1 In the contemplation
of the infinite theme of man's religious nature and duties, it would be pre
sumption to limit investigation, or to impose upon a single sect the labprs
which all sects are appointed to accomplish. The field is the world, and eaeh
sect represents but a single laborer, appointed to do a special work in the
great cause of humanity. So vast a subject, of such infinite relations, may
well command the holy zeal and activity of a thousand parties, and each' to
render service alike important, though unlike that of others. . The fountain
of eternal truth is inexhaustible, and its waters will gush forth to slake the
thirst of every people, approaching the living stream, from every clime.
SCIENCE ADVANCED BY PARTIES.
To the concentrated powers of party we may trace many of the most
important advancements of science. In all ages of ignorance, the possession
of genius has been viewed either as a supernatural gift, and classed with the
mysteries of superstition, or as treason . to the state. The jealousy of
unenlightened power burns with an unquenchable intensity. It crushes all
that it cannot, control. It strikes dpAvn what it cannot understand. It is
blinded by new lights, and dismayed by the increase of knowledge. It has
no conception of life, except in the means of death ; no confidence in truth
beyond the fetters and cells of a loathsome prison. It perjured the sour of
Copernicus,2 administered hemlock to Socrates,3 shed the blood of Seneca,4
paralyzed the tongue of Galileo,5 and banished Aristotle.6
In the absence of despotism, where the will of the people is subjected to the
control of ignorance and superstition, — where tradition and zeal, unite the
1 According to Butler's Chart, published in 1851, the number of Home and Foreign Mis
sionary Societies (Protestant), of all denominations, in the world, is 56 ; number of Missiona
ries, 6046 ; number of assistants, 16,057 ; number of church-members, 388,963 ; number of
hearers, 1,701,180 ; total income, $3,936, 801. Number of Bibus Societies, 68 ; income,
$1, 297,257. Number of copies of the Bible issued in 1850, 2,219,835 ; number of copies
issued since the commencement of the century, 70,115,861. "We have no means of knowing
the number of Catholic Missionaries, but it must be very great.
2 Copernicus, the astronomer, lived in the beginning of the seventeenth century. . His
system was looked upon as a most dangerous heresy. He was thrown into prison by Pope
Urban VHI., and was not permitted to come out until he had recanted his opinions.
s, i, s, 6, see p_ y_

SCIENCE ADVANCED BY PARTIES. 7
passions, and give to prejudice the high prerogatives of judgment,— men of
science have been made the victims of relentless opposition and malignant
speculations. Harvey1 lost his living; Jenner2 was :a blasphemer; Pascal3
was a heretic ; Acosta,4 an atheist ; Dr. Faustus, a co-partner of Satan ;
Fulton was the subject of ridicule ; and all anatomists who engaged in the
3 Socrates, a native of Athens, was pronounced by the oracle at Delphi the wisest of mankind.
He was accused of corrupting the Athenian youth, of making innovations in the religion of
the Greeks, and was summoned before the tribunal of the five hundred. He was condemned,
by a majority of three voices, to drink hemlock. He died 400 years B. C, in the 70th year of
his age.
4 Seneca, the philosopher, was the early preceptor of Nero. He was mentioned as being
concerned in the conspiracy of Piso, when Nero was emperor, and he was ordered to choose
the means and destroy himself. He bled himself to death.
5 Galileo was twice brought before the Inquisition. The first time, u, council of seven car
dinals pronounced a sentence, " That to maintain the sun to be immovable, and without local
motion, in the centre of the world, is an absurd proposition, — false in philosophy, heretical
in religion, and contrary to the testimony of Scripture. That it is equally absurd and false
in philosophy to assert that the earth is not immovable in the centre of the world ; and, con
sidered theologically, equally erroneous and heretical." Under a threat of imprisonment, he
retracted his opinions ; but he could not suppress the truth. In 1663, now seventy yeara
old, he was again brought before the Inquisition, and forced solemnly to disavow his own
convictions. 6 Although the accusations against Aristotle were frivolous, yet he was condemned, and
only escaped punishment by a voluntary banishment. " I am not willing," said he, " to give
the Athenians an occasion of being guilty of injustice a second time against philosophy," —
alluding, doubtless, to the case of Socrates.
1 In 1619, William Harvey, an English physician, published his important work on the
circulation of the blood. It was powerfully opposed, for some time ; but Harvey lived to see
'his doctrine fully established. The people, however, were so prejudiced against his theory,
that they refused to employ him as a physician.
2 Dr. Jenner made the first experiment in vaccination, by transferring the pus from the
pustule of a milk-maid, who had caught the cow-pox from the cows, to a healthy child, in
May, 1796. He published the result in 1799. In 1802, the British Parliament voted £10,000
to Dr. Jenner, for the discovery. Although regarded by many as an impious attempt to
oppose the decrees of Divine Providence, vaccination was practised throughout all Europe
prior to 1816.
3 Pascal was attacked by Father Noel,, the Rector of the Jesuit's College, at Paris, on
account of his pneumatic experiments, as if guilty of a very alarming heresy. This was in
1647. 4 Acosta, the celebrated Spanish author, was the first philosopher who endeavored to
account for the different degrees of heat in the old and new continents by the agency of the
windswhich blow in each, — a theory wbich was afterward adopted by Buffon. In the
course of these discussions, Acosta frequently comments upon the opinion of Aristotle, and
other ancient philosophers, that the middle zone of the earth was so much scorched by the
rays of the sun as to be destitute of moisture, and totally uninhabitable. This notion seems
to have held its ground in the schools even after the discovery of South America had disclosed
the magnificent scenery and stupendous rivers of the tropical regions. It appears to have
been thought a sort of impiety to question a dogma of such ancient date, and sanctioned by
the assent of all the school divines. The exposing of this ancient error in geography was one
of the circumstances which brought upon Sir Walter Raleigh the charge of general scep
ticism and atheism.

8 SCIENCE ADVANCED BY PARTIES.
business of dissection were denounced as guilty of sacrilege.1 Even as late
as the year 1598, Daniel Hoffman, Professor of Divinity of the University
of Helmstadt, maintained that philosophy was the mortal enemy of religion ;
that truth was divisible into two branches, — the one philosophical, the other
theological; and that what was true in philosophy was/a/se in theology.
All systems of philosophy denounced as erroneous or heretical, true or
unsafe, immediately become subjects of attention among the people, and
ofearnest thought and discussion among thinking men and professors. Fired
by pride and ambition, or impelled by blind devotion to time-honored theories,
the disputants proclaim their positions, and commence the war of controversy.
The lines of party are drawn, with a brilliant display of spirit engendered
by the contest, and each division has its champions and followers.
In whatever degree the controversy becomes marked by reason or intelli
gence, by superstitious bigotry or ignorance, it assumes the character of a
scientific investigation, or falls to the level of a bitter conflict of passion and
incoherent declamation of opinions. Struggles for victory are always in
proportion to the means employed, compared with the power to be opposed.
The spirit of truth is clothed with the invincible powers of conscience and
knowledge. Weakness in numbers is supplied by irrepressible resolution,
ignorant men become violent, and fanatics desperate; and,. as ultimate vic
tory is ever on the side of truth, the result conforms to the immutable laws
of Providence. Adaptation of natural means to legitimate ends, of efficient
remedies to existing evils, is a fundamental law of God.
As in the physical world it requires a brilliant light to dispel a midnight
darkness, — so, in the moral, it requires the intellect of a Bacon to assert the
dignity of learning, the patriotism of Washington to triumph in the great
cause of freedom, and the divine attributes of Christ to lift up and cheer
a sinful world. The condition of want and the corresponding necessity, of
means constitute the measure of the work to be accomplished.
To meet with opposition in the prosecution of a good cause, to be perse
cuted for devotion to God or duty, to be denounced or banished for patriot
ism, or a fearless declaration of truth, — quickens our energies, ennobles our
aims, enlarges our resources of strength, and advances an ordinary courage
to a holy and unconquerable resolution. We speak our convictions with a
livelier interest and stronger hope ; we enlist others to join their strength
and enthusiasm with ours ; we perfect our knowledge, we master our subject,
we improve our means of persuasion, from a passionate sense of duty, and
a deep concern for those who still mysteriously claim it as a privilege to be
left in a state of mental destitution.
1 The dissection of dead bodies was, at no very late period, looked on as sacrilege ; and
the Emperor Charles V. ordered a consultation of the theologians of Salamanca, to determine
whether, in point of conscience, a body might be dissected in order to obtain a knowledge of
its structure.

PARTY ACTION. 9
Turning to the great departments of law1 and medicine,2 we there find
that reforms are chiefly made by the spirit of party. A desire for improve
ment is the natural spirit of an active mind ; but this is opposed by the
lovers of rest from labor, and by those who claim an exemption from the
responsibility of doubting theories of the past.3
The rivalry of genius in the study of the fine arts is another element of
nature akin to party spirit. Each of the great masters has his own style
of composition, or beauty, — and each has his followers, throughout the
civilized world.
It is only necessary to read the history of such men as Donatello, Roubi-
liac, Michael Angelo, Peter Mignard, Le Brun, Mozart, Rossini, and other
celebrated sculptors, painters, and composers of music, to be convinced of the
great influence exerted by the spirit of emulation among artists.
PARTY ACTION, AND ITS IMPORTANCE.
However much we may vary the analysis of human motives, and however
we may combine them with the passions, and trace them to their ultimate
results in action, we shall invariably find the greatest activity springing from
considerations and feelings linked with the opinions or labors of others. There
is but little excitement within ourselves. We are made for society. The idea
of an isolated abstraction of personality would be an incomprehensible prop
osition. We cannot think of ourselves, and, at the same time, exclude all
thought of others.
All thoughts, acts and language, indicate an actual mutuality, relationship
or antagonism. We live to agree, to oppose, or to compete. We may be
actuated by the debasing motives of rebellion to the rule of right, or lifted
up by elevating aspirations after surpassing excellence. We have our pref
erences, jealousies, prejudices and antipathies.
1 A very able article upon the abstract and historical schools, from the pen of Legare, may
be found in the New York Review, vol. v., p. 280.
- 2 The Medical Schools, or sects, have been very numerous. The dogmatic, empiric, meth
odic, eclectic, pneumatic, mechanic, dynamic, &c. &c, to say nothing of those of modern
times. 3 The expeditions of discovery made by Prince Henry, son of John, King of Portugal,
excited the inveterate prejudices of his countrymen. The systematic philosophers were
alarmed lest their favorite theories should be perverted by the acquisition of real knowledge.
The military beheld with impatience the increase of fame that was obtained by a profession
they had always considered as inferior to their own ; the nobility dreaded opening a source
of wealth which might equalize the ascendency of rank ; and the indolent and splenetic
argued that it was presumption to search for a passage to the southern extremity of Africa,
which the wisest geographers had pronounced to be impracticable. It was even hinted, as a
probable consequence, that the mariners, after passing certain latitude, would be changed
into blacks, and thus retain forever a disgraceful mark of their temerity. — Clark's Pro
gress of Maritime Discovery.

10 PARTY ACTION.
As men combine for intellectual action, there is aii accumulative aggregate
of passions which give an element to a mass, which we fail to discover
in the individual. As the snow-flake is to the avalanche, or the drop to the
upheavings of the mighty ocean, so is man to the multitude, combined by the
sympathies of motive and interest.1 The "passions constitute the moving
energies of the soul. They are life to mind, and activity to purpose. They
impart energy to thought. What air, fire and water, are to machinery, the
passions are to intellect. Their mission is a high and mighty one, though
their perversions are terrible. The excess of each is fearfully added to the
excess of all. If We look to the extravagant pleasures of the imagination',
the bright promises«of hope, the joyous -throngs of sentiment, which cluster
and cling to every new-born thought, whatever cause it comes to help; the
pure and unaffected grace of conscience, the glowing love and uncomprom
ising spirit of truth and justice, the lightning zeal of patriotism,—- all con
spire to move a people in the achievement of a common good, with irresistible
impetuosity. Then, if we turn to the opposite extreme, where tyranny rules and liberty
weeps in chains ; where misnamed justice is but the beast in robes, and relir
gion wears a crown of thorns ; where truth is heresy, and love is treason ;
where hate is joined to malice, cruelty to fear, and outrage to force, — we find
an array of elements more fearful than the throes of earth, or the upliftings
of the sea.
Such are the mighty forces of party. Mind opposed to mind, passion to
passion, zeal to zeal, and force to force. It is the war of life against death,
truth against error, virtue against vice, love against sin, and of patriotism in
the defence and extension of freedom and equal rights. To disclaim its
necessity is a perversion of knowledge, and to deny its power a confession
of ignorance. Like all other great instruments of good, party spirit commits
its ignoble deeds, and in its excessive sway often tramples down the flowers
which grow in the battle-field. Like the tornado, it sometimes leaves deso-
1 This community of feeling may be regarded as the special and extraordinary workings
of the mind in common. All the great interests of society have been, at different periods, the
subjects of it. Society and nations have been advanced by revolution's, the crusades, and
chivalry ; the sciences, by the superstitions of astrology, and the wild dreams of the alche
mists ; and the thousands of speculations, which were significantly termed, in the early part
of the eighteenth century, " bubbles," and which
"Turned nothing into all things,"
have tended to mark a distinct and perceptible line between the practicable and impracticable
objects of industry ; oftentimes promoting the public good at the expense of individual folly,
sacrifice and extravagance. These bubbles were so numerous in the time of Geo. I. (1720)
that the interference of Parliament became necessary ; and the king published a proclamation
declaring them to be "unlawful and common nuisances," and five hundred pounds was
made the penalty for buying or selling a share in any of them. — See Pari. Deb , vol. vu.,
p. 654.

PARTY ACTION. H
lation in its track, and the joys of social or domestic life are withered by its
blighting breath. But great powers are the instruments of great events.
They are fitted to remove great evils, or to accomplish immeasurable good.
They belong, to humanity, destined to infinite progression, and not to the
ephemeral period of individual existence. They may, indeed, disturb the
hour, but bless the generation ; or they may break the circle, yet save the
nation.1 If we Were to measure the value of blessings according to the degrees of
their abuse, or susceptibility to danger in the misapplication of principles,
we should soon arrive at the startling conclusion, that power does not belong
to the condition of man, and that all action is but another term for danger.
Such views come from an imperfect moral vision. They are the offspring
of. ill-balanced or debilitated minds. They are false to the true dignity of
man. They mistrust his nature, his destiny, and the reign of his Creator.
They indicate a slothful selfishness, which would reduce the plans of infinite
wisdom to the insignificant sphere of individual timidity, or sickly passiveness.
Thus a general survey has been taken of the principles involved in the
subject of this work. This course seemed to be particularly necessary,
inasmuch as there are many men, of unexceptionable character, who do not
appear fully to appreciate the necessity, as well as the great importance, of
party.2 Some, indeed, claim distinction for a stoic indifference to public
affairs, and an honorable name for. the negative virtue of neutrality.3 Such
views may be in harmony with the hermit's remorse, or with the Timons of
Athens, who " Hate all, curse all ;"
but they dishonor the man who claims to be a citizen, and loves the service
of his country.
1 Washington, in his Farewell Address, in speaking of party spirit, says it " is inseparable
from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists
under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but
in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst
enemy." — Sparks's Washington, vol. xii., p. 224. He condemned the excesses of party
spirit, but admitted the necessity of party. — See his Letter to Hamilton, vol. i., p. 476.
Franklin came to the conclusion, as early as in 1731, "Thatthe great affairs of the world,
the wars and revolutions, are carried on and^ effected by parties ; " and he proposed to organ
ize a new party, to be called the " United Party for Virtue." — Sparks's Franklin, vol. j..,
p. 118.
Madison says, "An extinction of parties necessarily implies either a universal alarm for
the public safety, or an absolute extinction of liberty." — Federalist, p. 323.
s Lord Chatham, in his earlier days, declaimed against party distinctions, and refused to
be known as a member of either party ; but, as he increased in experience, he reversed this
opinion. As he saw more clearly the practical working of the constitution, he became con
vinced of the necessity of party connections in a free country ; and, during the latter years
of his life, he was frequent and energetic in his declarations that he was a democrat.
3 Or as Hume significantly terms it, an "indolent acquiescence in received opinions."
Dr. Paley says that, "in political, above all other subjects, the arguments, or rather the

12 PARTY ACTION.
Viewed with a careful judgment, the subject is a most sacred one. Clearly
to understand the rights of man and the legitimate means of their defence; ; to
guard against culpable neglect, or stolid indifference, in respect to matters of
publie concern ; to resist the encroachments or abuses of power, are the incum
bent duties of all who are capable of appreciating the true dignity of principle,
and claim an exemption from the conditions of slavery.1 The true bearings
of the subject, in its diversified relations, cannot be well understood, without
some degree of attention to fundamental principles. We have only glanced
at the vast frame^work of the moral edifice of the Creator, as connected with
our inquiries ; and have briefly attempted to point out the rudiments of the
great subject, so that our readers may be persuaded to pursue the study for
themselves, and do something to develop the momentous theme.
It is not the object of this work to encourage the love of party, to the
neglect of other duties. Such a view involves the obvious absurdity of
counting the part as greater than the whole. Its purpose is rather to
claim for party, in the wide range of human agency, that consideration tp
which it is justly entitled, by its great importance.
Inquiries will now be directed with more special reference to the object
cf this wprk — the history of Democracy. And yet it -remains to be
stated in what sense we intend to employ a term which so long has heen
used to designate a particular kind of government, or the great party liber
ally representing the wishes and the interests of the people. As the same
party has been known by many different names in different ages,2 and as
party names seldom indicate principles, we shall adopt the designations
acknowledged by the two great political parties of the United States, the
Democratic and the Whig ; and endeavor to show that, though each may
vary in the externals of dress, and exhaust the vocabulary of names, it has
always been, and still is, relatively and fundamentally the same.
conjectures, on each side of a question, are often so equally poised, that the wisest judgments
may be held in suspense." These he calls " subjects of indifference," which means, if any
thing, a neutrality characterized by apathy. "To call anything indifferent in religion,"
says an able writer, " is to own that it has nothing to do with religion." Among the laws
of Solon there was one rendering all those infamous who attempted neutrality in times of
public danger. The following lines are taken from a poem, entitled " The Art of Politicks,"
published in 1729 : *
* The middle way the hest we sometimes call,
But it is in Politicks no way at all.
A Trimmer 's what both parties turn to sport,
By country hated, and despised at court."
1 It is one of the advantages of free governments, says Sir James Mackintosh, that they
excite, sometimes to an inconvenient degree, but, upon the whole, with the utmost benefit,
all the generous feelings, all the efforts for a public cause, of which human nature is
capable. 2 See Table of Parties, — Appendix A, — at the close of the work.

THE WHIG PARTY. 13

THE WHIG PARTY.
The Whig1 Party, in the United States, represents the conservative
principle. What the centripetal force is to the planet, this principle is to the
soul. The party prescribes to itself a narrow circle, and centralizes its objects.
It assumes to be the conservator of light, and claims the prerogative of stand
ing between the great source of its rays and the vast multitudes of men upon
whom they were made to shine. It holds back, withdraws and turns back,
in its policy. It is timid, doubting and selfish. It claims rule in proportion
1 The adherents of Charles the First were called cavaliers, and their opponents roundheads.
In the time of Charles the. Second, the former were denominated tories, and the latter whigs.
" The origin of these distinctions is this : At that time a sort of Irish banditti, or robbers, who
kept in the mountains and isles formed by the vast bogs of that country, were called tories,
and were known by the name of rapparees. As the king's enemies accused him of favoring
the Irish rebellion, which broke out about that time, they gave his adherents the name of tories.
These, on the other hand, to be even with their enemies, who were closely united with the
Scots, called them whigs, a name of reproach used in Scotland." — Dissert, on Rise,
Progress, Views, fyc, of, the Whigs and Tories. Pamphlet, 1773, p. 16.
The democratic party of England is still termed the whig party. When this term was
thrown off by the democrats of America, with a view to return to their proper designation, the
conservatives assumed the title. It had a democratic origin and reputation, and the con
servative of the United States became clothed in the antiquated garb of democracy. When
alluding, therefore, to the whigs of England, we shall designate them as democrats, standing,
as they do, in the same relation to the tory party of England as the democrats of America
stand to the whigs of America.
In speaking of party names in the United States, in an address delivered in 1842, John
Quincy Adams says : " The struggle was long and acrimonious for the name of republicans,
assumed by both parties, but claimed as exclusive by one of them ; and when Mr. Jefferson
had settled that all were republicans, his own party, dissatisfied with the decision, cast off
the appellation for which they had so steadily contended, and called themselves democrats."
" Were I permitted," continues Mr. Adams, " to select a name for the party to which I
should wish to belong, it would be that of constitutionalist." p. 31. This might do in a
country where a monarchy refused a constitution ; but in the United States, where all are in
favor of one, the term would indicate union, rather than party.
The term "federalist" could not continue to represent party principles, when, as Mr.
Jefferson said fifty years ago, " all are federalists." It implied a false distinction, and was
misused by the aristocracy.
" From the time of the adoption of the federal constitution, in 1788," says Judge Ham
mond, " till about the time of the election of Gen. Jackson, in 1828, the party opposed to the
federalists was known as the republican party. For a long time the word democrat, or dem
ocratic, was used as a term of reproach. The republicans were by the federalists called
democrats, as synonymous with the word Jacobin. Aud, indeed, it was intended to convey
the idea that the republican party, in principle and practice, was nearly allied to the Jaco
binic, clubs of France. On. the other hand, the republicans, with a view to cast odium on
their opponents, called the federalists aristocrats." — Hammond's Political Hist, of JYew
York, vol. I., p. 586.
A complete Table of Political Parties will be found in Appendix A.

14 THE WHIG PARTY
to its knowledge, forgetting that it is blinded by its possession of wealth, and
deceived by its inordinate love of power. "It begs the whole question in dis
pute."1 Practically it believes that man was made for government, and not
government for man. Its adherents have but a faint conception of a com
munity of interests, or of the universality of progress. In their hearts they
have a record of brass for every error and excess of liberty, but on their
tongues a sponge to blot out the foulest and blackest treacheries of despot
ism." 2 When in power, they Stop the great wheels of advancement, as if they
were the legatees of. a deceased nation, instead of being the agents to do the
business of its government for the future goodof the people: The party is pro
fessedly and confidently paternal in its measures, but it admits of rio limit to
the period of minority. It seeks to exert a perpetual guardianship, that the
people may be cared for, but not trusted- It becomes exhausted by its sole
reliance on the resources of its artificial and constructive policy, and divided
on questions of expediency as to means for continuing or reestablishing its
strength or ascendency. The element of rivalry exerts a greater power than
its love of harmony for the common good. It is not only false to principle,
but faithless to its own men. They, are sacrificed to secure a -trifling expe
dient of temporary pohcy, and present availability in retaining power is prized
above a future permanent good.
If it may be permitted to use the expression, without offence, the back of
the party is ever turned upon the present and the future. The party dwells
on the events of the past; and is so. intently fixed in its gaze upon what has
been, with a view to the mere reproduction of measures of former times, and
without much consideration of the change of circumstances, that they forget
to move onward, or to leave the track of power, until crushed by the party
engines of their opponents. It has more reverence for the past acts of men
than confidence in the government of God vested in the instincts and expe
rience of the people.3
The mission of the party is not to be denied because we do not yield to
its claims, or concede to it the honor of the first position, as to importance,
in the advancement of the great interests of humanity. Facts are simply
stated, too well authenticated to be doubted by any considerate man who is
conversant with the teachings of history.4 This negative principle is not
1 Sir James Mackintosh, Speech on Reform Bill, Works, vol. in., p. 658.
2 Sheridan's reply to Burke, Pari. Deb., vol. xxx., p. 395.
3 Pulteney (in the time of Geo. n.) was of the opinion " that the trunk of the tree in the
government should be formed of democrats, but the tories might be inoculated or engrafted
upon it." — Pari. Deb., vol. xii., p. 531.
4 When Lord North complained of the misrepresentations of the opposition, he was thus
answered by Burke : "He says that his words, have been misrepresented, and his meaning
perverted ; and I am inclined to believe that, if any meaning at all has been imputed to Mm

THE WHIG PARTY. 15
peculiar to political organization. It pervades, as has been seen, all the
departments of human knowledge, and is ever known by its uniform hostility
to most of tho new movements of science and of national progress. If it
EVER SUCCEEDS IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT, IT IS BECAUSE IT
DEPARTS FROM ITS OWN PRINCIPLES.
Although the party is not. characterized by the active elements of progress,
all will admit that it serves as a stimulant to increased exertions on the part
of its opponents, and to greater thoroughness in the attainments of science.
It helps to gain what most it dreads.1 A large portion of its members doubt
less act from high considerations of duty, and are seized with conscientious
amazement at failures which they cannot comprehend ; and we should regret
to have our remarks, which are applicable only to constitutional powers and
acquired habits of discernment, misapplied to the motives of men. It may
be permitted to doubt a man's judgment, and to mistrust his ability to serve
the public, and to speak of him as a weak and dangerous agent, — as Col.
Barre, in the British Parliament, spoke of the conduct of Lord Forth, in
his ministerial capacity, as being "most indecent and scandalous,"2 — while
the first part of the charge may be true. His own words have no meaning, and therefore
their meaning cannot be perverted. If words have been imputed to him that have a mean
ing, he has certainly suffered wrong, and I hope that gentlemen will for the future be more
cautious how they commit such offences against ministers of state." — Pari. Deb., vol. xvr.,
p. 720. If the whigs are misrepresented by any of the language here employed to define
their position, the error may find a sufficient explanation in the language of Burke.
1 The principle of conservatism has a defence in the laws of growth. The holding back
of reform sometimes gives strength and maturity which can come in no other way so well.
On this ground it was that Fox, in alluding to the defeat of the, ministers who attempted to
crush the American colonies, made the remark " that though he could not thank God for the
many calamities which had overtaken the unhappy land in consequence of the fatal system
by which the king and people had been deluded, still he considered it as beneficial that the
triumph (of the democratic party) had not been sooner." — Pari. Deb., vol. xxu., p. 1097.
2 This language was highly resented by Lord North. He characterized Col. Barre as
' ' brutal and insolent, " and a great uproar in Parliament was the consequence. He was called
to order by the speaker and the opposition, and was required to make an apology. He made
two attempts before he succeeded to the satisfaction of Parliament. He finally confessed that
"it was a wonder he should ever lose his temper, considering how often he was obliged to
hear hard words applied to him personally." "Col. Barre," said Mr. Townshend, "had
attacked the minister on public grounds, and in a warrantable parliamentary manner ; yet
the -minister, a servant of the public and servant of that house, had dared to call an honor
able member of that house 'insolent and brutal,' for speaking what he and every other
member had a right to say to any one of the king's ministers."
Col. Barre expressed great respect for the noble lord as a private gentleman, but claimed a
wide distinction between the courtesies of private life and the high responsibilities of a public
position.— Pari. Deb., vol. xxu., p. 1048 — (1782).
In speaking of Mr. Pitt (1782), Mr. Fox makes the same distinction. He reprehended Mr.
Pitt for resting the sincerity of a ministerial declaration on the purity of his own private
character. " Such conduct," said Mr. Fox, " was by no means parliamentary ; nor could it
in this instance have much weight. His private character had no reproach ; but his character
was to be tried. As a minister, he had no character." — Pari. Deb., vol. xxu., p. 276.

16 THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
it would be far from the design of any one to impeach his personal integrity,
or to question the purity of his private character.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
The Democratic Party1 represents the great principle of progress. It
is onward and outward in its movements. It ,has a heart for action, and
motives for a world. It constitutes the principle of diffusion, and is to
humanity what the centrifugal force is to the revolving orbs of a universe.
What motion is to them, Democracy is to principle. It is the soul in action.
It conforms to the providence of God. It has confidence in man, and an
abiding reliance in his high destiny. It seeks the largest liberty, the great
est good, and the surest happiness. It aims to build up the great interests
of the many, to the least detriment of the few. It remembers the past, with
out neglecting the present. It establishes the present, without fearing to
provide for the future.2 It cares for the weak, while it permits no injustice
to the strong. It conquers the oppressor, and prepares the subjects of tyr
anny for freedom. It melts the bigot's heart to meekness, and reconciles
his mind to knowledge. It dispels the clouds of ignorance arid superstition,
and prepares the people for instruction and self-respect. It adds wisdom to
legislation, and improved judgment to government. It favors enterprise
that yields a reward to the many, and an industry that is permanent. It is
the pioneer of humanity — the conservator of nations. It fails only
WHEN IT CEASES TO BE TRUE TO ITSELF. VOX POPULI VOX DEI has
proved to be both a proverb and a prediction.3
It is a mistake to suppose that Democracy may not be advanced under
different forms of government. Its own, it should be remembered, is the
highest conventional form, that which precedes the lofty independence of the
1 Democracy is compounded of two Greek words, — "Demos," people, and "Kratos," gov
ernment : The government of the people.
2 ' ' Often , ' ' says the son of the late Judge Story ( whose father was in early life a democrat) ,
' ' in speaking of this subject (democracy) , I have heard him say, ' I like as much to see a young
man democratic as an old man conservative. When we are old, we are cautious, and slow
of change, if we have benefited by experience. When we are young, we hope too much, if we
are generous and pure.' " — Life and Letters of Judge Story, vol. I., p. 99.
Condorcet, although an aristocrat by genius and by birth, became a democrat from phi
losophy. — Lamartine.
3 A few years since, a whig member of the United States Senate sneeringly asked senator
Allen, of Ohio, the question, " What is Democracy? " The following was the prompt reply:
"Democracy is a sentiment not to be appalled, corrupted, or compromised. It knows no
baseness ; it cowers to no danger ; it oppresses no weakness ; destructive only of despotism,
it is the sole conservator of liberty, labor, and property. It is the sentiment of freedom, of
equal rights, of equal obligations, — the law of nature pervading the law of the land."

STANDARD OF DEMOCRACY. 17
individual spoken of by the apostle to the Hebrews, who will need no gov
ernment but from the law which the Lord has placed in his heart.1
In one respect all nations are governed upon the same principle ; that is,
each adopts the form which it has the understanding and the power to sus
tain. There is in all a greater and a lesser power, — and it requires no pro
found speculation to decide which will control. A tyrannical dictator may
do more to advance the true interests of democracy than a moderate sov
ereign who is scrupulously guided by an antiquated constitution ; for the
tyrant adds vigor to his opponents by his deeds of oppression.2
The frequent question as to what form of government is best, is often
answered without any reference to condition or application of principles.
There can be properly but one ansWer, and yet the application of that answer
may lead to great diversity of views.
When it is asserted that the democratic form of government is unques
tionably the best, it must be considered that the answer not only designates
the form preferred, but implies a confident belief in, the advanced condition
of the people who are to be the subjects of it. It premises the capacity for
self-control, and a corresponding degree of knowledge in regard to the rights,
balances and necessities; of society. It involves a discriminating appreciation
of the varied duties of the man, the citizen, and the legislator. It pre
supposes a reasonable knowledge of the legitimate means and ends of govern
ment, enlarged views of humanity, and of the elements of national existence.3
The democratic form of government is the best, because its standard of
¦ ' " For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith
the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people : and they shall not teach every man his
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord : for all shall know me, from
tne least to the greatest." Hebrews 8 : 10, 11.
2 " It has been observed," says Sir James Mackintosh, " that if the illustrious and long-
flourishing republic of the United Provinces erected statues to the authors of its liberty, the
first would be due to Cardinal Granvelle, whose tyrannical principles provoked the spirit of
resistance, and the second to the Duke of Alva, who attempted to carry Granvelle's principles
into effect."
3 "What, sir," asked Patrick Henry, in the Virginia Convention, 1788, " is the genius
of democracy ? Let me read that clause of- the bill of rights of Virginia which relates to
this : (3d clause) That government is or ought to be instituted for the common benefit, pro
tection, and security of the people, nation, or community ; of all the various modes and
forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of hap
piness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the dangers of mal-administration ;
and that whenever any government shall be found inadequate, or contrary to those princi
ples, or contrary to those purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable,
unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter; or abolish it, in such manner as shall be
judged most conducive to the public weal." : — Elliot's Deb., vol. in., p. 77.
In the same convention, Judge Marshall said, " What are the favorite maxims, of democ
racy ? A strict observance of justice and public faith, and a steady adherence to virtue.
These, sir, are the principles of a good government," — lb., vol. in., p. 223.

18 DEMOCRACY.
moral requisition is the highest. It claims for man a universality of inter
est, liberty, and justice. It is Christianity, with its mountain beacons and
guides.1 It is the standard of Deity, based in the eternal principles of truth,
passing through and rising above the yielding clouds of ignorance, into the
regions of infinite wisdom. As we live on, this "pillar of the cloud by day
and the pillar of fire, by night" will not be taken from before1 the peo
ple,2 but stand immovable, immeasurable, and in the brightness of its glory
continue to shed increasing light on a world and a universe.
The great objects of knowledge and moral culture of the people are
among its most prominent provisions.3 Practical religion and religious free
dom are the sunshine of its growth and glory. It is the sublime and mighty
standard spoken of by the Psalmist, who exclaims, in the beautiful language
of poetical conception :
" The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high ; who hum-
bleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth !
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the
dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of
the people." I(l
To say that man is not in a condition to realize or to appreciate such a
standard, is to admit its necessity. To object to its lofty requisitions, is to
establish its authority. The standard for a world- should be in harmony with
the attributes of Deity, above and beyond the present wants of humanity.
To say that an ignorant and immoral people are capable of self-govern
ment, is asserting that government may be administered without knowledge
and without justice. Such a proposition is admitted by no one, and is,
therefore, inadmissible in all discussions as to what form of government is
best.6 1 " Democracy," says the late Mr. Legare,"in an article published in the New York Review,
" in the high and only trite sense of that much-abused word, is the destiny of nations, because
it is the spirit of Christianity." — Vol. v., p. 297.
2 Ex. 13 : 21.
3 " There have been periods," says Lord Brougham, " when the-country heard with dismay
that 'the soldier was abroad.' That is not the case now. Let the soldier be ever so much
abroad, in the present age, he can do nothing. There is another person abroad ; a less
important person, — in the eyes bf some, an insignificant person, — whose labors have tended
to produce this state of things : the schoolmaster is abroad ; and I trust more to the school
master, armed with his primer, than I do to the soldier, in his full military array, for
upholding and extending the liberties of my country."
4 Ps. 113 : 4—8.
5 When Sicily was taken possession cf by Great Britain, the Sicilian government was formed
after the model of the British. The result of this experiment is contained in the following
quotation from Travels in Sicily, Greece and Albania, by Rev. Mr. Hughes :
" JVo words can describe the scenes which daily occurred, upon the introduction of the
representative system in Sicily. The House of Parliament, neither moderated by discretion

DEMOCRACY. 19
Democracy is a permanent element of progress, and is present every
where, whatever may be the temporary form of the ruling power. Its
inextinguishable fires burst forth in an empire, and its welcome lights cheer
the dark domains of despotism.1 While tyrants hate the patriot, and exile
him from their contracted dominions, the spirit of democracy invests him as
a missionary of humanity, and inspires him with an eloquence which moves
a world. Its lightning rays cannot be hidden,— its presence cannot be
banished. Dictators, kings and emperors, are but its servants; and, as
man becomes elevated to the dignity of self-knowledge and control, their
ministration ceases. Their rule indicates an imperfect state of society, and
may be regarded as the moral props of the builder, necessary only to sus
tain a people in their different periods of growth. One cannot speak of
them lightly, nor indulge in language that should seem to deny their
fitness as the instruments of good in the hands of Providence. Their true
position may be best gathered from the prediction which is based upon a.
knowledge of the past and present condition of man, — that all kingdoms
and empires must cease, whenever a people have a knowledge of their rights,
and acquire the power of a practical application of principles. This is the
work of time. It is the work of constant, repeated trial. The child that
attempts to step an hundred times and falls ; the new-fledged bird that tries
its feeble wings again and again before it is able to sweep the circle of the
sky with its kindred flock, indicate the simple law upon which all strength
depends, whether it be the strength of an insect, or the strength of a nation.
Because a people do not succeed in changing their form of government,
even after .repeated trials, we are not to infer that they are indulging in
impracticable experiments, nor that they will be disappointed in ultimately
realizing the great objects of their ambition. Indeed, all failures of this class
are indicative of progressive endeavor. They imply an increasing knowl-
nor conducted with dignity, bore the resemblance of a receptacle for lunatics, instead of a
council-room for legislators ; and the disgraceful scenes so often enacted at the hustings in
England were here transferred to the very floor of the senate. As soon as the president had
proposed the subject for debate, and restored some degree of order from the confusion of
tongues which followed, a system of crimination and recrimination invariably commenced by
several speakers, accompanied with such furious gesticulations and hideous contortions of coun
tenance, such bitter taunts and personal invectives, that blows generally ensued. This was
the signal for universal uproar. The president's voice was unheeded and unheard ; the
whole house arose ; "partisans of different antagonists mingled in the affray, when the ground
was literally covered with combatants, kicking, biting, scratching, and exhibiting all the
evolutions of the old Pancratic contests. Such a state of things could not be expected to last
a long time ; indeed, this constitutional synod was dissolved in the very first year of its cre
ation, and martial law established." — Vol. I., pp. 5 — 7.
This statement, though said to be authentic, bears the marks" of prejudice and exaggera
tion. Results are given with an assumptive statement of causes.
1 It is what Lord Bolingbroke denominated "the spirit of liberty," in contradistinction
" to the spirit of dominion."

20 THE OBJECTS OF HISTORY.
edge of the true dignity of man, and a growing disposition to engage in new
and more and more difficult endeavors. These endeavors are but the exer
cise of a nation, and without them no people can ever command the elements
of national existence and of self-control. But inquiries in regard to so
extensive a subject should be shaped within more practical limits.
THE OBJECTS OF HISTORY.
In writing a history, whether it be of science, man, or of nations, the
mind is influenced by certain definite motives in respect to the development
of principles. The study of events, and the frequent repetition of the same
phenomena connected with mind, condition or happiness, should result in
opening to the understanding certain fundamental principles, which discover
not only the great objects of life, but the surest means of their accomplish
ment. To assert, therefore, the following propositions, will not be deemed
too formal by the reader, when he is assured that the chief motive in their
assertion is to insure distinctness and simplicity. They are stated consec
utively, that their logical relations may more readily be seen.
I. That man is capable of infinite progress, as the agent of- knowledge
and the seeker of power. II. That his sphere of action embraces (1st),
Duties to himself and society, (2d), Duties to the nation of his nativity,
(3d), Duties to the world, and (4th), Duties to God. III. That the prop
osition premising capacity for progress, comprehends certainty. IV. That
certainty of fact implies certainty of means. V. That certainty of means
implies knowledge and certainty of success; and, VI. That certainty of
success is a fact proved both by the history of nations and by the condition
of man.
In view of these propositions, to be considered as one of a collective and
relative character, it is proposed to give a brief review of history, to show
that the destiny of man is that of perpetual advancement in knowledge, free
dom and happiness, and that Democracy is the great instrument by which
these ends are to be accomplished.
It is a singular perversity of intellect, which has characterized almost every
age, that, while physical results are traced with a confidence and certainty
that give no place to doubt, the moral world is practically looked upon as
subjected to no rule but that of chance, and without any recognition of fun
damental laws.
If we turn to the physical sciences, we find each defined with a distinct view
of their elements and objects. There is no ambiguity or uncertainty. A prop
osition is either proved to be true, or shown to be false. Why may not a
more exact method be adopted in the study of history, so as to insure an
accurate knowledge of events as causes, and arrive at a similar result, that

mosaic history. 21
the inquirer-may bo able to solve with more clearness the great problems of
man's capability and destiny? To show that virtue is indissolubly con
nected with happiness, crime with misery, and industry with thrift and con
tent? To show that the spirit of liberty is an eternal principle, and that
nations are destined to be blessed by its unconquerable presence ? To show
that it is the nature of knowledge to disarm tyranny, and to dispel supersti
tion ? To show that life if but a warfare between the elements of good and
fcvil, and that confidence in God is victory on the side of humanity? To
show that nations ruled by wisdom must prosper, and that nations governed
by a disregard to' justice must fall? To show that kings and emperors are
to become as nothing — the people everything?1— -and that whatever we
think or do should be in harmony with the great plan of Divine Providence,
as to what we are, and are to be ?
THE MOSAIC ACCOUNT OF CREATION,
though brief and allegorical, breathes the spirit of love in its teachings of
gradual development. From chaos to order, from substance to form, from
darkness to light, from light to beauty, and from organized matter to pro
duction, may be seen the diversified elements of a world springing into
harmonious being and living action.
In alluding to early history, reference cannot be made with so much con
fidence to events, which are but imperfectly stated, as to the spirit of history
itself. Its recitals are poetic, and knowledge may be gathered from the lofty
sentiment which pervades them. It has been well remarked by an author
of much merit that, " All that can make man happy upon earth, and bear
him rejoicing up to heaven, has its beginning and its end in the worship of
his Creator." 2 The Hebrew knew no government but that of God, and was
influenced by no power but that of divinity. " Wherever the Israelite
turned, he was reminded," says an intelligent writer, "of the presence of his
God and of his King. His King was in heaven, his God was on earth."3
The history of Moses is an important source of instruction, in so far as it
relates to the condition of society in its earliest periods. In it is found a
vivid description of an oppressive government, of a people struggling for
liberty, and of a government party employing all the engines of its authority
to oppose the party of freedom, which is designated as the party of the Lord.
There the reader finds a lawgiver of supernatural energies, asking wisdom
of his Maker to dispense to the people, that they might understand their
rights, their duties and necessities. He consults them with- a lively concern,
1 In reference to France, the Abbe Sieyes asked this question : "What is the tiers-etat ? "
And. he answered/" Nothing." — " What ought it to be ? " — " Everything."
. .» Eliot's Roman Liberty. 3 lb.

22 UNCERTAINTIES OF HISTORY.
and predicts with truthful precision the blessings which flow from obedience
to just laws, from habits of industry, and the inevitable penalties which
await all who are wilfully indifferent to their requisitions.
Some profit might' be derived from a study of Egypt, China, and
other ancient empires, by noting, so far as we should be able to do
from the uncertain sources of history, the various causes. of their growth,
changes or decay; but we are admonished by the limits of "this work to con
fine our remarks to such nations as will best illustrate the great topics to
be discussed. These early periods are alluded to chiefly for the purpose of
claiming for the subject under, consideration the most extended inquiry,
with the conviction .that the reader will find ample historical evidence tend
ing to prove that the elements of national existence before the Christian era
are constantly being reproduced by the people and rulers of modern times,
though in new and advanced combinations.1

INTERPRETATION OF LANGUAGE — UNCERTAINTIES OF HISTORY.
It is well remarked by Thierry that " the situation of civilized men varies
and renews itself incessantly. Every century that passes over a people
leaves a different mode of life, different interests, different wants,' frpm what
it found. But in this succession of different states language does not change
so rapidly as things, and it is rare that new facts meet at any given point
with new signs that express them."2
The importance of this practical view can hardly be overestimated. The
modes of expression employed by rude and ignorant nations are generally
hyperbolical ; and when we consider' that every age, from the earliest to the
latest periods, has its own standard of justice and refinement, its own schools
of thought, and its own habits and customs, corresponding to the varying
peculiarities of people, government and institutions, we cannot long be at a
loss to account for the prolific sources of the uncertainties of history. In
the transmission of knowledge from the ancient philosopher and orator to
modern times, the scholar of each succeeding period is ambitious to afford to
his generation an improved translation, a more polished diction of the clas-
1 " In ancient times," says M. Guizot, " at every great epoch, all societies seem cast in
the same mouhl : it is sometimes pure monarchy, sometimes theocracy or democracy, that
prevails ; but each in its turn prevails completely. Modern Europe presents us with exam
ples of all systems, of all experiments of social organization ; pure and mixed monarchies,
theocracies, republics, more or less aristocratic, have thus thrived simultaneously, one beside
the other ; and, notwithstanding their diversity, they have all a certain resemblance, a certain
family likeness, which it is impossible to mistake." — Hist. Civ. of Europe, vol. I., p. 24. In
this diversity of form we find the elements of progress. As society advances, diversity lessens,
and unity is approached.
2 Hist. Essays, p. 25.

ANCIENT AND MODERN GREATNESS. 23
sics, adding glory' to the heroes and wisdom to the philosophers of history.
The goodness of the great becomes magnified, the learning of the sage exag
gerated, and the patriotism bf the lawgiver exalted. The story of the
battle-field, the loves of the poets, the burning eloquence of the rostrum, and
the stately dignity of a Plato, a Lycurgus, a Caesar, or a Pompey, and the
glowing descriptions of regal splendor, are too often made the standards of
present moral endeavor, and the ornaments of modern descriptions of great
ness. A man of slight knowledge among the ancients was more the prodigy
of his period than the most learned man of modern times.
In speaking of great men, M. Guizot seems to have surrendered his usual
extraordinary powers of analysis to the counsels of his fears, when he says,
" From the time when labor has been free, and subject to the same laws for
all, the number of men who have raised themselves to the first ranks in the
liberal professions has not sensibly increased. It does not appear that there
are now more great-lawyers or physicians, more men of science or letters of
the first order, than there were formerly. It is the men of the second order,
and the obscure and idle multitude, that are multiplied."1
M. Guizot seems to forget that, as the masses of society are elevated by
the increasing means of genius and education, and as the professors of learn
ing -become more numerous, the standard of greatness is much higher than
formerly. The possession of knowledge in ancient times was deemed almost
as one of the prerogatives of sovereignty, or as within the sphere of theocratic
rule. If a philosopher arose from the ranks of the common people, he was
directly claimed as the companion for princes. Men of science seldom con
descended to teach the ignorant, except to excite their sentiment of wonder,
and the ignorant esteemed it presumption to aspire to a knowledge of the
mysteries of mind. It must not be supposed that the spreading light of
¦ Christian civilization renders less certain or difficult the extraordinary devel
opments of genius, so much as it tends to advance the common mind to the
dignity of enlightened endeavors and intelligent appreciation.
It is to Jbe admitted that the hallucinations of history sometimes shine
with a borrowed light, and add to the spirit of ambitious endeavor. . In
actual ignorance of the powers of Demosthenes and Cicero, the orators of all
coming time may hold them up as models, to be reached, — though many of
modern times may have surpassed them in eloquence, and died without a
name for posterity. Darkness is a necessary condition to the appreciation
of light ; and When sunshine is perpetual, it ceases to be prized as a bless
ing,2 thus showing that the sources of mental activity exist less in what we
see and possess, than in what we think and feel of what has been or may be.
1 Democracy in France, p. 32.
2 In latitudes where the temperature of the climate is uniform, and the sky clear, a cloud
or a storm is hailed with enthusiastic demonstrations of joy.

24 REPUBLICS OF GREECE AND ROME.
Impressed with such considerations of allowance, we may speak of the
REPUBLICS OF GREECE AND ROME,
and not commit the common error of measuring, their sources of power,
or causes of decay, by a standard of a doubtful scale.
The language of politics remains essentially unchanged, though varied in
application. What sovereignty, submission, government, people, were to
Athens or Rome, they are essentially to the nations of to-day. , These words
indicate the relations, but not the conditions, of power. The relations of duty
are perpetual, but capacity may be adjusted to a low or to a high standard.
If we study the harmony of history, so far as it relates to' Ancient Greece
and Rome, we cannot fail to discover a state of society so entirely different
from that of modern times, that we are led to exercise great care in biiilding
theories upon comparisons. It is sufficient for our present purpose to allude
to the indisputable fact that the republics of Greece and Rome commenced
their growth with the rudest elements of society, and gradually add»d to
their sources of power, prosperity and character, by means of a special
domestic activity in combination with a liberal policy -in regard to foreigners.
They were advanced by the spirit of democracy; and though they were
occasionally interrupted, by departures from the principle, in their periods
of decline, still, all their great and glorious conquests may be traced to the
patriotism of the people responding to the demands of a liberal government.
A careful study of history does not end in wonder why the republics of
Greece and Rome were not saved by democracy, but in the logical conviction
which comes from knowledge that their civilization was too limited, too par
tial and too feeble, to be continued, except in dissolution, and in renewed
combinations of a higher life and a more extended philosophy.
Ite is to be observed that the different cities of Greece were made up by
men of different origin, tastes and endowments. Each class had its peculiar
sphere of activity ; each developed a different portion of the human faculties,
and each produced its own proper results; and all found decay in the univer
sal law of death, to the partial or artificial conditions of ignorance, and to
the rule of injustice.
The people of Athens were quick and bold, but they were deficient in
the elements of endurance. They were in some degree intellectual, but
their tastes tended rather to the refinements of art than to solid attainments.
They were industrious, and loved peace ; but the products of their labor
were dissipated by licentious habits and luxurious living. What was
designed by Providence to give the comforts of life to a nation proved fatal
to them as a people.1 If they were -sometimes patriotic, they were often
1 Aristotle' said of the Athenians, " That they have both wheat and laws : the wheat they
make use of, the laws not."

REPUBLICS OF GREECE. 25
treacherous ; and though evidently of a pacific disposition, compared with
other people of the same period, they were broken into numerous factions,
and failed to realize that unity of character and purpose so necessary to the
permanency of national power. They announced their laws and administered
justice with an apparent show of respect for the will of the people ; but they
permitted no citizen to propose reform without incurring the risk of being
rendered infamous by failure ; and if they had any conception of equal rights
defined by law, they were shamefully faithless to their own avowed princi
ples, by a resort to ostracism; to remedy an evil arising from jealousy by a
total disregard of the most obvious rights of humanity. Their concentration
of genius upon the fine arts gave them a golden age, which will ever stand
as a shining monument to their matchless achievements. But their sculp
tors and painters quarried but a single vein of the human mind ; and their
productions of skill and beauty served rather to increase their pride and
vanity than to extend the domain of wisdom. It has been said, that " while
the object of Milton's Paradise Lost is to vindicate the ways of God to man,
the ignoble subject of Homer's Iliad is the rage of Achilles." Their pas
sions were alive to the externals of nature, to the /personal relations of indi
viduals.; but they accomplished but little towards maturing a judgment that
could either point out or supply the legitimate wants of society, or compre
hend the government of a nation.1
In noticing the Republic of Laced^mon, it will not be attempted to
examine the ingenious theories of writers in regard to the origin of the
peculiar government instituted by Lycurgus, all of them being worthy of
perusal, though no one having the merit of presenting an analysis not liable
to some objection.
Lycurgus was doubtless influenced by what he deemed to be the results
of experience. He was of the eclectic school, and evidently endeavored to
select the best features of the governments of foreign nations which he
visited, and to reject whatever he supposed had resulted in more evil than
good.2 In his studies he saw national strength in a hardy and a military
race. To him the physical world controlled the moral, — and yet he acknowl
edged a power above it. He saw that unity of character could only come
from isolation, and that the foreign element rendered a people doubtful. He
'"It is customary," says an intelligent writer, "to contrast the fall of Athens with
her greatness at one time, and to attribute that fall to her democracy. It seems to be
forgotten, that, but for her democracy, she never would have had a place from which to
fall." 2 Plutarch says, that Lycurgus, on returning, after an absence of many years, which
he had spent in Crete, Egypt, Africa, Spain, and Asia, in conference with the learned
men of all these countries, and in the study of their laws and governments, conceived the
great design'of entirely new modelling the laws and constitution of his country, then in the
utmost disorder and imperfection 4

26. REPUBLIC OF LACED^MON.
saw that commerce engendered selfishness, which was inconsistent with
patriotism; and that money, though a convenient servant, was a corrupting
and debasing master.1 As he considered his mission to , be that of a ruler
and lawgiver, the state was paramount to all other interests. He sought
for sources pf strength* in- system which only come from character. He cir
cumscribed His views to embrace only what concerned his own nation, leaving
a similar independence to others. The individual was lost in the republic.
He not only sought to control the elements of power, but to shut1 out, or
literally to close, the conjectured sources of weakness, as if human nature
could be expelled from the human breast. The romance pf love was
regarded as unmanly; the domestic affections, selfish. The. fine arts and the
refinements of society were looked upon as beneath the dignity of the state,
and whatever bore the features of effeminacy was held in public contempt.
A cursory view of his system shows that he saw danger in the partialities- of
parental love, danger in the affections of woman, and danger in whatever did
not directly tend to the perfecting of the physical man, to the power ©f
the citizen, to the skill and bravery of the soldier, and the unity of the
republic.2 Such a system of government was not established without, great and
original energies of mind, nor without great difficulty.3 It exhibits a theory
which embraces contradictory elements ; and, while it provides with a careful
hand for the exercise and cultivation of a portion of the human faculties, it
proscribes and prohibits the activity of all the rest But half of the man is
recognized and acknowledged. The visible results. of the Creator's might
were looked upon as causes, — hut the spirit of his love, which clothes a world
1 As money is a conventional power, and exists only by legislation, for the convenience
of society, as a certificate of value, Lycurgus sought to protect it .from abuse, by keeping it to
its legitimate uses. His money was but a small improvement upon the ancient system of
barter. The sum of ten mina — equal tojabout one hundred and fifty dollars— - would, in
the Spartan money, as Plutarch tells us, fill a large apartment, and could not be trans
ported without a yoke of oxen.
2 Children at Sparta were not considered as belonging:to the individual parents, but to the
state. After the performance of the first maternal duties, the youth were educated at the
charge of the public ; and every citizen had as much authority over .his neighbor's children
as over his own. Slaves, in the same manner, were a species of common property. Every
man might make use of -his neighbor's slaves, and hunt, as Xenophon informs lis, not only
with his neighbor's servants, but with his dogs and horses. .
3 Although it was said by Plato that Lycurgus " appeared like a god among men," still
his regulation of the diet of the citizens excited such commotion that, in a popular tumult, he
had one of his eyes beaten out.
" It is false," says Thierry, " that assembled men ever gave themselves up to one amongst
them, permitting him to arrange, and, as it is expressed, to constitute them in his own way."
It is remarked by Ferguson, that " we must somewhat mistrust what tradition teaches us
respecting ancient legislators and founders of kingdoms. The plans which are supposed to
have proceeded from them were, probably, only the consequences of an anterior situation."

REPUBLIC OF ROME. 27
in beauty, was undiscovered. More confidence was shown in the physical
than in the moral nature of man ; and, while all the benefits were demanded
which help to build up a state, the nation was counted nothing beyond its
own sphere. The state claimed to encourage and protect the true interests
of man, and yet esteemed the objects of. life as beneath its dignity. It
mistook the ultimate formations of society for the social and domestic duties
of life; and, while it was alive to everything which promised protection and
defence, it discovered the singular absurdity of having nothing to defend.
The republic of Lacedaemon was more like a standing army, permanently
encamped, than a nation • and the people more like soldiers than citizens.
Thus we have another example of a republic based upon a limited portion of
the human faculties. It made but a partial provision for the whole nature
of man, and the neglected faculties rebelled against the unnatural outrage.1
The people of Athens "were false to humanity, by their exclusive devotion
to the fine arts and poetry, as if luxuries were the sole objects of life; and the
Lacedaemonians committed a similar error, by opposing, though from motives
of an opposite character, all the refinements of society, — as if war was to be
the final destiny of nations. Both stand as representatives of extreme
experiments to illustrate the results of opposite causes; and both afford
examples to prove that no nation can continue permanently to exist and
prosper while it neglects to provide for the development of all the funda
mental faculties of man.

REPUBLIC OF ROME.
If we turn to Ancient Rome, we find a people early inspired by motives
of ambition to control, and who were favored by unusual endowments of
courage and firmness. Its early kings are represented as men of great
energy; and, though the territory said to have been marked out by
Romulus was small, still their policy had no limits, and they seem to have
had an intuitive perception of -many of those elements of growth which give
power to a people and greatness to a nation.
Their ambition was not satisfied by the control of a domestic policy, and
1 Still there were two parties. . The return of the Heraclidse gave two kings to Lacedsemon.
In th.e partition of their conquests, Sparta fell to the share of Eurysthenes and Procles, the
sons of Aristodemus, who" agreed to a joint dommion, which should descend, in the same man
ner, to their posterity. The sovereignty, split into two branches, remained thus divided for
about niue hundred years. Condillae remarks that the throne seemed preserved in the line of
the Heraclidaj only with, the view of preventing any citizen from aspiring to it ; and two kings
were, in reality, less dangerous to liberty than one, since they constantly kept alive two oppo
site parties, each restraining the other's ambition, and thus preventing all approach to
tyranny.

28 REPUBLIC OF ROME.
they early discovered a spirit to extend their possessions and -to add to their
population. They appear to have been divested of the natural -prejudices
peculiar to the races, and to have relied with great confidence upon a common
union of people, of different origin, customs, and languages. They received
into fellowship strangers1 of every grade who manifested a disposition to
dwell among them ; and they were surrounded by numerous colonies, or,
more' properly speaking, petty settlements, or towns, which were gradually
subdued, and counted as so many glorious conquests.2 The people were
divided into two great classes, — the patripians3 and the plebeians; or, as
some assert, but not with much claim to accuracy, the conquerors and the
conquered.4 However obscure the early history of Rome may be considered, it is
obviously certain that the original settlers were" not only characterized by a
singular unity of purpose and feeling, but by an intuitive knowledge of
/principles. Romulus, it is said by the historian, was particular to show
marked "respect for immortality obtained by merit;" and when he gave to
the rude and uninformed people a body of laws, he added to the dignity of
his own carriage by assuming the ensigns of sovereignty, that the occasion
might be remembered and respected.
Livy claims for the Romans great purity and magnanimity of charac-
1 Tacitus, vol. I., p. 7.
2 " History of Civilization of Europe," by M. Guizot : vol. I., p. 27.
s The patricians were the first order, or nobility, of the Roman people, When the consti
tution of Rome was monarchical, they elected the king ; and after the expulsion of the
Tarquins, all the great officers of the state — as consuls, praetors, &c. — were chosen from
their body, for many generations. Of the patricians, also, the senate was composed ; but, in
after times, both this tind the great -magistracies were thrown open to the plebeians. The
plebeians, though personally independent, in early times had no political power. The gov
ernment was entirely in the hands of the patricians, who, with their clients and the king,
formed the original people. The plebeians gradually gained ground, till, in the last ages of
the republic, they participated in all the affairs of the government.
4 Lucius Tarquinius is said to have afforded the first instance of making way to the crown
by paying court to the people, and to have made a speech composed for the purpose of
gaining the affections of the populace, — telling them that " it was np new favor which he
solicited ; if that were the case, people might indeed be displeased, and surprised ; that he was
not the first foreigner, but the third (alluding to Tatius and Numa), who aimed at the gov
ernment of Rome." — Baker's Livy, vol. i., p. 26.
When Caius Flavius, son of Cneius, grandson of a freedman, — a notary, in low circum
stances, originally, — was appointed curule adile, it excited great indignation in most of
the nobles, who laid aside their gold rings and bracelets in consequence of it, — a truly aristo
cratic indignation! "From that time," says Titus Livius, "the statewas split into two
parties. The uncorrupted part of the people, who favored and supported the good, held one
side ; the faction of the rabble, the other." It is not a little remarkable that Livy, in
making this remark, should have forgotten the eloquent speech of .Caius Canuleius, given
in his own work, who triumphantly exhibits the achievements of this " faction of the rabble."
(See Baker's Livy, vol. i., p. 136.)

REPUBLIC OF ROME. 29
ter, and a profound respect for justice. Perhaps this language might be
regarded, at the period in which he wrote, as truthful and applicable ; but
not in the sense which would be implied by the use of such terms at the
present day. The same author, in speaking of Cincinnatus, says, " He was
the sole hope of the empire of Rome;" and this was at a period when the
pompously announced empire did not extend more than twenty miles beyond
the city ! x To have been so long the mistress of the world, is a fact that will
account for much of the extravagance of history, and for many of the dis
crepancies of historians. During a portion of the period of her glorious rule,
she may have been, comparatively speaking, the first in virtue, as well as the
first in arms. Admitting such to be the fact, it is not to be inferred that the
civilization of ancient Rome was anything more than a mere germ of what
civilization is in modern times. We speak of civilization in the enlarged sense
of the term, — as embracing the objects of life, and the knowledge of things.2
It is giving to the ancient Romans an enviable position, to concede an early
conception of the grand outline of man's future greatness. That they extended
the domain of mind, and exercised a greater number of the human faculties
than any people of a previous period, is certainly true. But their labors were
rudimental in the formation of nations ; and, though highly suggestive, they
are to be looked upon as parts of a great whole, detached from the original
framework of their period, and showing how much was left to decay in their
decline, and how little to remain as the monuments of their genius and
greatness. There is no nation of ancient times, perhaps, which better illustrates the
sources of prosperity and adversity than the Republic of Rome. Its long-
continued existence, and sovereign sway, — its universal control of nations,
as well as of people, — placed within its reach all the diversified elements
of power, and gave the Romans the means of testing the value of every
new thought, and of trying every variety of experiment peculiar to their
times. They lived to see the growth of habits which generations accumulate,
and to reap the reward of obedience to natural laws, or to suffer the penalties
which are sure to follow their violation.3
It is a remark of a learned historian, that " No nation has afforded a more
striking example than the Romans have done of the necessity of good morals
1 Dionysius of Halicarnassus discredited his own authority, by confessing the motives
which led to his extravagant expressions in regard to the Romans. He desired to make a
popular history, and one that would flatter the pride of the Romans, as well as inspire his
own countrymen, the Greeks, with a high idea of the dignity of their conquerors.
2 See " Republic of United States of America," &c, p. 13.
3 "It is most evident, to all such as are in the least acquainted with the Greek and
Roman hmories," says a writer in the seventeenth century, " that bribery and corruption
were the chief causes of the overthrow of those free governments." — Pari. Deb., vol. v.,
p. 930.

30 ANCIENT ROME.
to the preservation of political liberty, and the happiness of the people."1
This opinion is but the repetition of the advice of Phocion to Aristias.
" Accustom your rSind," said he, " to discern the prosperity of nations, that
recompense whish the author of nature has affixed to the practice of virtue;
and in their adversity, the chastisement which he has thought proper to
bestow on vice." 2
The proposition that virtue is indispensably necessary to the permanent
prosperity of a nation is theoretically admitted by all. But, in stating this,
it should not be forgotten to add another, embracing, the equal necessity of
knowledge. A virtuous blind man may walk over a precipice; an honest -,
traveller may lose his way ; and an athletic wrestler, untrained in the art of
swimming, may sink, powerless, in the flood. So a well-disposed people may
abuse their privileges, and lose their liberties, through ignorance, — from want
of knowledge of the requisite means to sustain them. In all such examples,
the causes of failure maybe mostly traced to defective knowledge of the
natural laws.
Because the republic of Rome was independent as a nation, it does not
follow that the Romans were free as a people. The sources of national
existence may spring from the arbitrary exercise of individual power, from
the conventional combinations of different races, or from the development of
individual faculties. France, Russia, Austria, are independent nations ; but
their people are far from being free. Mexico, and the republics of South
America, are nominally independent nations ; but they stumble from consti
tutional weakness, and are weighed down by the shackles of ignorance, and
blinded by the delusions of superstition.
The fabled origin of Rome sufficiently indicates the spirit and pride of her
people. Her founder was the reputed son of Mars ; and how true the
' people were to the god of war may be seen in the fact that the temple of
Janus was closed but once during a period of eight hundred years.3
If the Romans were brave, it must be confessed that they were turbulent ;
and, if patriotic, that their highest motives were those of conquest. Their
examples of magnanimity were but exhibitions of power ; and their acts of
justice, condescensions of grace. Their zeal for freedom was but an unlim
ited confidence in the power of the strongest, and their philanthropy a pride,
engendered in the scant benevolence of a clan, a class, or a party.
1 Tytler.
2 Lord Bolingbroke says, "The grandeur of Rome was the work of many centuries, the
effect of much wisdom, and the price of much blood."
3 This temple was closed only during the time of peace. It was during the interval between
the war against the Cantabri and the Dalmatian expedition of Tiberius, that Augustus closed
the temple of Janus. It had been closed only twice during the whole period of Rome's exist
ence, — once in the reign of Numa, and the second time, after the first Punic War, in the
consulship of T. Manlius Torquatus. — JViebuhr's Rome, vol. v., p. 89.

ANCIENT ROME. 31
It is a proverbial speech, " that the corruptions of the- best things are the
worst;" and Lord Bolingbroke makes an application of it to the republic of
Rome. Although the proverb may be true to a limited degree, yet it not
only fails to explain itself, but conveys an error by implication. Things do
not become the worst because they have been the best ; for this would be a
confusion of language, premising an evil consequence as the effect of a good
cause. The best things fail, because they are not sustained by other things
to correspond. One good thing is not sufficient to form a character, or to
save a nation. The best and worst things of a nation grow together, as the
wheat and the tares of the planter. But the mastery of the good or the evil
is only seen at the harvest-time.1 If the worst things prevail, the best are
excluded, and a nation ceases. If the best things prevail, the worst are
abated, and the nation is seen to be one of progress.
A survey of the vast field of the past, as represented by history, in which
the ruins of the Roman empire lie scattered and covered by the dust of
centuries, cannot fail to discover the crumbling fragments of tyranny, feroc
ity, ignorance, childish frivolity, inordinate appetite and infamy, mixed with
the huge piles of departed power and grandeur. The founder .taking the
blood of a brother ; 2 a daughter in exultation riding over the dead body of
a vanquished father ; 3 the wife of a ruler spitting upon the trunkless head
of a Cicero, and piercing his lifeless tongue with a bodkin ; * a senate
abased by the childish act of driving a nail into the sacred temple to stay
an epidemic ; the Carib gladiator desecrating the earth by his unholy
vows, and pledging devotion to all that is revolting and monstrous ; 5
1 Matt. 13 : 25—30.
2 When Romulus began to lay the foundations of Rome, and marked with a furrow the place
where he wished to erect the walls, their slenderness was ridiculed by Remus, his brother,
who leaped over them with the greatest contempt. This greatly irritated Romulus, and.
Remus was immediately put to death, either by the hand of his brother or one of his work
men. 3 This was Tullia, a daughter of Servius Tullius, Ring of Rome. She married Tarquin the
Proud, after she had murdered her first husband, Aruns ; and consented to see Tullius assas
sinated, that Tarquin might be raised to the throne. It is said that she ordered her chariot to
be driven over the body of her aged father, which had been thrown, all mangled and bloody,
in one of the streets of Rome.
4 Cicero was overtaken while attempting to flee. His head was cut off, and carried, with his
hands, to Antony. Fulvia, the wife of Antony, took the head in her lap, spit upon it, and,
drawing out the tongue, pierced it several times with a bodkin.
5 These gladiators were taught not only the use of their arms, but likewise the graceful pos
tures of falling; when they were wounded, and the finest attitudes in which to die. Their
food was of such a nature as to enrich and thicken their blood, jbo that it might flow more
slowly through their wounds, and thus give to the spectators a prolonged exhibition of their
dying agonies. On entering their profession, these miserable beings were accustomed to tate
the following oath.: " We swear that we will suffer ourselves to be bound, scourged, burned,
or killed by the sword, or whatever elseEumolpus ordains ; and thus, like fkee-born gladi
ators, we religiously devote both soul and body to our master." What an indication of the
religion of Rome !

32 ANCIENT ROME.
rulers that were degraded by lust ahd violence, and patricians that were
debased by cupidity and bribery ; a nation continuing for a period of five
hundred years without a practical knowledge of the divisions 6f time; x
a people demanding death to their best men, and fife and authority for
their worst ; 2 Caesar provoking a vomit that he might gorge at the supper-
table of Cicero;3 great Scipio playing with the pebbles and shells on the
banks of the Lucrine ; 4 and, as if necessary to complete the humbling pic
ture, we see a people rejoicing in the infamy of an emperor,5 — an emperor
taking the life of his mother,6 singing to the furious flames that were con
suming the capital, and a government so lost to all pride and decency as to
sell the control of the empire to the highest bidder, by public auction.'
The "worst things" had prevailed, and the best had been excluded.
Something more was wanting than faithfulness to what they had. . .From
the beginning, they were'-destitute of the vital elements to be foundpnly in
Christianxivilization. But, if we look to the means' employed by the Romans to advance the
grandeur and power of the republic, we shall find them chiefly represented in
the unsleeping spirit of democracy.8 We shall find how the willingness of
1 Extraordinary as it may appear to us, it is certain that the Romans were, for nearly five
centuries, utterly ignorant of the day by hours, and knew no other distinction but that of
morning, mid-day, and evening. — Tytler, voL I., p. 443.
2 " Rome was governed by the arbitrary will of the worst of her own citizens, of both sexes;
by Caligula, Nero, Messalina, Agrippina, Poppasa, Narcissus, Calistus, Pallas, — by princes
who were stupid or mad." — BoHngbroke on Parties, p. 275.
3 When Julius Caesar paid a reconciliating visit to Cicero by inviting himself to sup with
him, he took care to let Cicero know that he had taken a vomit beforehand, and was resolved
to make a most enormous meal ; and Cicero tells us lie kept his word, which, for his own
part, he took very kindly, as a mark of Caesar's great politeness. — Cic. Epist. ad. Attic,
13, 52.
4 Cic. de Oratore, lib. ii.; c. 6.
5 Poppsea, a woman of great beauty, but abandoned morals, had been seduced from her hus
band by Otho, who in his turn prostituted her to the emperor, to serve his own purposes of
ambition. She soon gained such an ascendency over' Nero, that he was induced to divorce
his wife Octavia, to make way for her to the throne ; and such was at this time the infamous
Servility of the Roman senate, that a panegyric was pronounced in praise of the emperor, and
a deputation sent to congratulate him on this auspicious event. — Tytler, vol. I., p. 487.
6 Nero.
7 After Pertinax was openly murdered in the palace; Sulpicianus, the father-in-law of Per-
tinax, demanded the empire from the praetorians, who replied to him that he should have his
chance for it at a fair auction, as they had resolved to bestow it on the highest bidder. Didius
Julianus, a wealthy senator, was present when the intelligence was delivered. - He was per
suaded instantly to repair to the prsetorian camp, and bidding at once a considerable sum
beyond the offer of Sulpicianus, he was immediately proclaimed emperor, and the senate did
not scruple to sanction, the infamous proceeding. Didius reigned sixty-six days.
8 The progress of the democratic party is admirably given by Caius Canuleius, in a speech
to the Romans, as given by Livy, vol. I., p. 136.

ANCIENT ROME. 33
the higher classes to grant, was surpassed by the energy of the lower to win,
the extension of liberty in Rome.1
The history of Rome is filled with the conflicts of party. The party lines
were deeply drawn from the first, and the plebeians were left to struggle
alone against oppression, until there arose a rivalry between the kings and
the patricians, and then the people were courted by both for influence. If
we turn to their legislation, we find the people gradually gaining their rights
and establishing them. On the one hand, the senate, sustained by a powerful
aristocracy, began by controlling the institutions of religion, the science
of government, the objects of industry, the means of wealth, the preroga
tives of peace and war, and the immunities of freedom. On the other, the
people, made up of every variety of nation and language, — at first, ignorant
of their rights, and still more so of the means necessary to secure them ;
willing and brave as soldiers, and proud as' citizens ; though unconscious of
their importance to the republic, still ready to serve in all enterprises tending
to add to its glory, — soon discovered that they had comforts to defend, privi
leges to secure, rights to understand, prerogatives to assert, and a conscious
dignity which inheres in self-knowledge, and glows in the spirit of freedom, —
to guard, defend, and to hold as sacred. They soon found, what the people
of every nation have been destined to realize, not only the necessities of their
political condition, but that they were opposed by a party of men who
claimed distinctions on account of their rank, wealth and power, and who
professed to be allied to the gods. Their advancement in knowledge, and
developments of sentiment by the exciting circumstances of a growing state,
gave definiteness to their will and form to their wishes. Their petitions for
reform, were strenuously opposed by the conservative party ; but the democ
racy of the people prevailed. Their early expectations were modest, but
every gain of power revealed new views of right ; and a history of their
continued petitions is but the record of the means employed to build up
the glory of the Republic. Added to these sources of strength and
partisan activity, we should not omit to estimate the foreign element which
pressed from without, and gave to the party conflicts at home a greater
unity, and freed the state in a great degree from the annoyance of numeri
ous factions to which they were liable, on account of the great diversity of
people who inhabited their territory, having separate or peculiar interests.
There is no better monument to the glory of the democracy of ancient
times than the Roman laws, which still have a living influence in the councils
#f all nations.2
1 Eliot's " Liberty of Rome."
2 "It might, indeed, be affirmed," says D'Aguesseau, "that justice has fully developed
her mysteries only to the Roman lawyers. Legislators rather than jurisconsults, mere indi
viduals in the shades of private life, have had the merit, by the superiority of their intelli
gence, to give laws to all posterity." 5

34 HUMAN PROGRESS.
It is not our purpose to speak of the particular causes of the fall of Rome ;
for even a brief recital of their origin, nature and subsequent workings, is
precluded by our limits. The seeds of decay were planted at an early period
of the nation ; and, while it was not within the limits of a Caesar's ambition
or a Nero's wickedness to destroy, it was not given to the eloquence of a
Cicero or the questionable patriotism of a Cassius or Brutus to save the
Roman empire.
The fall of the empire was the close of one political state, to be followed
by others adapted to the moral wants and conditions of the world. Chris
tianity began a new and distinct formation.1
HUMAN PROGRESS.
If we trace the progress of man, even frem his earliest condition, we shall
find him passing through separate and distinctive periods of growth, appar-:
ently in succession, though in mutual correspondence, and each suited to the
special development either of a class of faculties, or tending „to mature a
new phase of society. The period may be one of war, religious sentiment,
political conflict, national consolidation or dissolution, or of social or moral
reform. A great .interest or a prominent feature of humanity is thus taken up,
made the subject of universal discussion, developed for the instruction of an
inquiring world, and sufficiently advanced to serve as a permanent element
of future progress. It stands as a block rough hewn, suited to repair the
great temple of society, and adapted to the wants of a coming period. The
mind then returns, in its ceaseless activity, to bring forward another princi
ple, another class of faculties, — still another and another, — each advance
ment creating a new necessity for others. These processes, apparently so
partial, seeming alternately to favor and to neglect the momentous interests
of man, often afford a temporary triumph to the sceptic, and confound the
hmited minds of the superficial and ignorant.
The progress of humanity may be likened to the successive necessities
of repairing the ancient homestead of our fathers. We are unwilling to
disturb the old framework, and yet the decay pf parts imperatively calls fer
repairs. But every attempt to add and to beautify discovers defects- by
comparison, and the skill of the mechanic and artist stands in permanent
requisition. u It was at the very time that the Roman empire fell to pieces and disap*
peared," says M. Guizot, "that the Christian church ralhed, and definitely
formed herself. Political unity perished, — religious unity arose."
1 Guizot says that " Christianity was an essentially practical revolution, — not a mere
scientific, speculative reform,"

FRANCE. 35
We cannot pause to make exceptions to the eloquent language of Guizot,
although we may be permitted to ask a taore permanent place for religion
than is implied by his language. Religious influence may not always be vis
ible to the eye of philosophy, — but it is a false philosophy that assigns to it
an occasional place. It is true the church may be false to the principle
upon which it professes, to be based ; and in this view probably it is that M.
Guizot alludes to the visible recovery of her true position. Our assent can
be given to no theory that for a moment precludes the eye of Deity, or gives
to the rule of chance a sway above that of Providence. The light of religion
may be temporarily obscured by gusts of passion and the fearful throes of
revolution, as that of the sun may be by the clouds of the tornado and tem
pest; but its power never rests, — its glorious splendor never ceases. Its
work is certain, and never finished. Its mission is to stay the weak, to lead
the strong, and to control the mighty. Its light is graduated to every degree
of mental vision, its form to every condition of society, and its inexhaustible
treasures are held for the use of every age and nation. The form of its
activity is but the husk ; but its principle is that of unity itself, — sub
duing, enlarging and ever purifying the sources of happiness, and elevating
the true dignity of man. The church became the practical form of its man
ifestation, adapted to an advanced civilization ; and we find its holy ministers
in the priests and bishops, after the dissolution of the Roman empire, clothed
with authority as the principal municipal magistrates to regenerate society,
reorganize states, and to build up nations.1 It has ever been thus with
early political growth. Society has been preserved and guided by the
unerring hand of theocracy. FRANCE.
It. would, indeed, be a profitable study, in connection with our subject, to
trace the progress of France from the earliest dates to its great and changing
periods of development, and to note the different stages of civilization and the
varying forms of liberty ; to see the paternal instrumentalities of the church,
and the long-continued training of feudalism in preparing a barbarous and
ignorant people, of different origins and habits, for nationality; to point
out the gradual and timid rise and bold maturity of royalty, the constantly
changing aspects of aristocracy, the mission of papacy, and the important
results of the crusades and chivalry, — but these are topics only to be glanced
at, not treated of within the narrow limits of a preliminary chapter.
Such a course of study will still develop the great fact, that all forms of
society, all forms of human action, by whatever name they are known, are
1 " This is a glorious and powerful fact," says M. Guizot, " and one which, from the fifth to
the thirteenth century, has rendered immense services to humanity."

36" FRANCE."
but tributary streams to the great ocean of democracy. They help to swell
the mighty flood on whose bosom humanity rests, and by whose flowing
and ebbing tides the ruins of tyranny are to be swept away, and the unspeak
able blessings of freedom to be gathered in. France is a beautiful and pro
lific field for the reaper; and the history of her kings and emperors, her
bishops, priests, monks, knights, philosophers, statesmen and patriots, indi
cates the progressive changes of power, the growing strength of the people,
and the ultimate ascendency of democracy.
Democracy in France has been successively protected against its conserva
tive enemy, in different shapes, and under divers garbs and names, by. its
own inherent power, being allied with the mayors of the palace, the church,
the pope, and even with royalty itself. Its own spirit is unchangeable,
approaching to and receding from the centralization of power, and alter
nately melting despotism and diffusing light to the extremities of society.
We find its principles acknowledged iii the bulls of the Popes, and set forth
with remarkable clearness by some of the most distinguished bishops of
France, and exemplified by practical examples.
An examination of the capitularies of Charlemagne, Louis le Debonnaire,
Charles le Chauve, Louis le Beque, Carloman, Eudes, and Charles le Simple,
and the legislation of the succeeding reigns, will discover a gradual yield
ing to democratic influence, invariably showing that progress is always in
proportion to the degree of justice extended to the people. We do not speak
of the special and dictatorial edicts of usurpers, who, while they plan oppres
sion for others, prepare for their own destruction and a further extension of
liberty ; but of the legislation which stands the test of enlightened public opin
ion without respect to party, and upon subjects which have ceased to be open
questions. France, like all other nations, has had its periods of tyranny and
anarchy. But these conditions are temporary, or apparent, and may be
regarded as preparatory to a freer play of " the powerful spring of democ
racy."1 The spirit of democracy was manifested in the reign of Charlemagne, in
crushing the remnants of barbarism, and preparing for the people a higher
form of civilization. We see it in the communes of Cambrai, Laon, Noyon,
Beauvais, and St. Quentin, in the ninth and twelfth centuries. We see it
in "the revolutions that for eight hundred years have swept over France,
taking their rise, by feeble and imperceptible gradations, from the foot of
Philip's throne, and swelling from age to age, to be precipitated in unmeas-
urable proportions into the midst of our own epoch."2
What nobler democrats can be found in modern times than the people of
1 It was a remark of Mitford, " that democracy, though a wretched regulator, was a pow
erful spring." " Democracy may be furious," said Napoleon, "but it has some heart, it
may be moved. As, to aristocracy, it is always cold and unforgiving." 2 Dumas.

FRANCE. 37
Laon, in the twelfth century, who, alone, led on to revolution in defence of
their rights, and struck down their traitor bishop? Six hundred years later,
when the people had acquired a common consciousness of nationality, a com
mon pride, and a more general knowledge of their common rights, we see its
mighty power rising. superior to the accumulated weight of oppression, and
with the terrible fury of popular indignation, upheaving society from its
very base, and scattering death and desolation throughout the land.1
Again and again, but with abated passion and destructiveness, in 1830 and
1848,2 France became the field of revolutionary horrors, and the dignity of
1 The oppressions of government were so great that they led the people of France to doubt
the existence of Deity. They could not reconcile a kind and superintending providence with
so much tyranny and suffering. The French National Convention, October 16, 1793, decreed
that " death is an eternal sleep." The atheism of the people did not produce the revolution,
but the wickedness of the rulers made the people atheists.
"Human thought," says Lamartine, "like God, makes the world in its own image.
Thought was revived by a philosophical age. It had to transform the social world. The
French Revolution was therefore in its essence a sublime and impassioned spirituality. It
had a divine and universal ideal. This is the reason why its passion spread beyond the fron
tiers of France, Those who limit, mutilate it. It was the accession of three moral sover
eignties : The sovereignty of right over force ; the sovereignty of intelligence over prejudices ;
the sovereignty of people over governments ; revolution in rights ; equality. Revolution in
ideas ; reasoning substituted for authority. Revolution in facts ; the reign of the people.
A gospel of social rights. A gospel of duties, a charter of humanity. France declared itself
the apostle of this creed. In this war of ideas France had allies everywhere, and even on the
thrones themselves." — Hist. Girondists, vol. I., p. 19.
The victories of the French republic were celebrated in America. On the 24th January,
1793, Chandler Robbins, D. D., delivered an address to the inhabitants of Plymouth, Mass.,
assembled to celebrate the victories of the French republic over their invaders. He selected
for a text " that remarkable passage " in Daniel, second chapter, twentieth and twenty-first
verses : " Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever ; for wisdom and might are his.
He changeth the times and the seasons, He kemoveth kings." At this time (1793) Great
Britain, Russia, Spain, Prussia and the Emperor of Germany, made a treaty for the purpose,
among other things, of closing their ports, " and prohibiting the exportation of all military
or naval stores, corn, grain, and provisions, from their ports, for the ports of France." They
further engaged " to take all other measures in their power for injuring the commerce of
France," &c. — Lyman's Diplomacy, vol. i., p. 177.
" The French Revolution has produced incalculable blessings to that country. Before
that revolution, one-third of the property of the kingdom was in the hands of the clergy, the
rest in the hands of the nobility. Where the interest of one individual has been sacrificed,
the interests of thousands have been promoted. After dining with that friend of universal
liberty, the patriotic La Fayette, he once invited me to walk upon the top of his house, that
commanded a view of- all the surrounding country. Before the revolution, said he, all the
farms and hamlets you see were mine. I am now reduced to a thousand acres ; and I exult
in the diminution, since the happiness of others is promoted by participation." — Speech of
Gen. Root, Jf. Y. Hammond's Polit. Hist. JV. Y., vol. n., p. 45.
2 " The year 1793," says M. Dumas, " gave birth to a revolution, but not to a republic ;
this latter word was adopted in hatred of royalty, and not as descriptive of existing institu
tions. The revolution of 1830," he continues, " did not exceed its commission ; it attained
only what it was destined to attain ; it destroyed what it was destined to destroy. A revo-

§8 NAPOLEON.
man was asserted by the stern rebukes of democracy. But in the great mission
of Napoleon, the world -was startled at the mighty strides of its power, in ex
tending the area of national freedom. What ancient Rome was to the world,
Alexander to the fourth century (B. C), Charlemagne to the ninth (A. D.),
Napoleon was to the nineteenth,— an instrument to sever the present from the
fetters of the past. Insecurity at home, national apathy and a growing con
tempt for the rights of the people among the European powers, rendered neces
sary the scourge of a conqueror, the sway of a despot, whose deeds afid rule
should subdue the insufferable spirit of tyranny, and teach hereditary sover
eigns, resting on the merits of birth, a liberal policy and a becoming humility.
Such missions benefit a generation, though their excesses are fatal to their
projectors.1 The rule of Napoleon had its grandeur and great benefits ; yet
when he fell, he had ceased to be a friend to freedom.2
. His spirit still pervades the nation whose glory it was his ambition so long
to advance. With fever heat it races through "the veins of the multitude,
reviving the glories of the past as painted on the memory, and leapsj with
frenzied dreaming, at objects which weakness fancies, but which genius
cannot see.
Who but a blood relation can cure the national epidemic ! — bleed the
nation, and reduce the vapors of the Napoleonic fever! stand forth in the
form and name of the illustrious dead, — substituting imbecility for greatness,
folly for wisdom, treason for magnanimity, cowardice for mercy, perjury for
justice, mockery for a constitution, spies for a press, a guard-house for free
dom, an army for patriotism, and a despotism for a church ! Whoever shall
be able to do this will free the people of France from this blind infatuation
for deeds without motives, and immortalize himself by being foremost volun
tarily to help a nation by disgrace and infamy. His elevation to power
would draw all eyes to the pitiful abortion of a nominal succession without
the sanction of law, and his fall would be like that of the ignoble remains pf
lution believed to be new, but which was the offspring of 1793. A revolution which lasted
only three days, because it had only the wreck of aristocracy to exterminate."
1 In twenty-eight years, Alexander the Great and all his relations were deceased.
2 "Napoleon appeared," says M. Dumas, "with his two-fold propensity for despotism
and -war, — his two-fold nature, popular and aristocratic. He was behind the ideas of France,
but in advance of the ideas of Europe ; ' a man of resistance as to his own people, but of pro
gression as to others." * * "He fell in 1815, and scarcely three years had rolled away
ere the revolutionary fields were ready for the harvest. In 1818, the Grand Duchies of Baden
and Bavaria claimed and obtained a constitution. In 1819, Wurtemburg claimed a consti
tution and obtained it. In 1820, revolution and constitution of Naples and Piedmont. In
1821, insurrection of the Greeks against Turkey. In 1823, institution of the states in
Prussia." .
"Democratic France," to use the language of M. Guizot, " owes much to the Emperor
Napoleon. He gave her two things of immense value : Within, civil order strongly consti
tuted ; without, national independence firmly established."

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF NATIONS. 39
a rocket, — the frame-work of a departed splendor, divested of its functions,
and returned to the earth in its own inherent darkness. The French nation
would then be exempted from the entailment of error unaccompanied by
genius, and democracy would reign triumphant on the continent of Europe.
The name of Napoleon would still live in the monuments of his glory, but
the race would be extinct in the ruins of his successor.1
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF NATIONS.
In pursuing our remarks touching the origin, growth and peculiarities, of
different nations, our purpose, we would repeat, is briefly to afford to the
reader such hints as will lead him to study principles, and give such illus
trations as shall tend to show, in some degree, the practical uses of history.
Historical narrative is not our object. It is but a small matter to know that
such men as Confucius, Plato, Bacon or Franklin, lived, unless some definite
knowledge is attained of their respective periods, their sources and means of
influence, and a just estimate is made of the value of what they accomplished
and of what they taught. The same view is true in regard to nations. They
are embodied in history, and stand as perpetual lessons open to all man
kind, and should be studied with a distinct and practical object. They
should be viewed in their beginnings, maturity and change. They should
be understood in their diversity and unity of character, each being regarded
as a combination of causes, and forming a necessary element, or power, in
the universal mechanism of humanity. As individuals, they exist succes
sively and together, and pass through the various relations of want and
plenty, of weakness, strength and independence, subserving the beneficent
purposes of Deity, and leaving their indestructible results to be gathered and
continued by the races which are to follow them.
It is a remark of Hume, that "those who cast their eye on the general
revolutions of society will find that, as almost all improvements of the human
mind had reached nearly to their state of perfection about the age of Augus
tus, there was a sensible decline from that point or period, and men thence
forth relapsed gradually into ignorance and barbarism."
With all deference be it said, such views are calculated to mislead. They
indicate haste, carelessness, or a defective philosophy. To suppose that bar-
harism necessarily follows the highest state of improvement of which the
human mind is capable, would be fatal to the admission of the fundamental
and acknowledged principles of progress. It is a superficial view of the
subject, and the error arises from failing to distinguish between the real and
apparent aspects of society. He commits an error both in fact and in philos-
1 These predictions -were substantially made when Louis Napoleon was proposed as a can
didate for the presidency.

40 ENGLAND.
ophy. He asserts the perfection of a very imperfect people, and assumes the
fact as the ultimate cause of barbarism. The contrary proposition is more in
accordance with the nature of man and the teachings of history ; for nations
decline in consequence of their' ignorance and imperfections, their periods
being limited or extended according to the degree of their obedience to the
natural laws. The dissolution of a nation is the yielding of an inferior to a
superior power, and may be regarded as the transition state of man from a
lower to a higher civilization. But .this point has .been illustrated in another
place. . ENGLAND.
The beginning and the gradual growth of England afford one of the most
instructive chapters in history. It particularly belongs to our subject. A
territory removed from the changing, turmoils and inroads of a variously
populated continent ; surrounded by the depths of a vast ocean, and forti
fied by its cliffs, and its shelving strands ; possessing a soil, a climate, and
a vegetation, adapted to the wants of man ; a hardy people" of native vigor
and rude simplicity, favored by possessions which moved the ferocious spirit
of the pirate, and fired the ambition of warriors, whose wild and lofty con
ceptions sought to command the tides and to charge the surges of the sea,—
ancient Britain became a field for contest, a site for a mighty nation.1 The
isolated position of the island2 exempted it from the inferior portions of the
tribes of a continent, and only tempted the bold and migratory bands of
adventurers from abroad. However insignificant it may seem to have been,
as represented by historians, all admit that it was sufficiently important to
tempt great Csesar, — and it was confessed by the conquering army that the
inhabitants of the island made a brave and formidable resistance.
At this time, it was estimated by the Romans that there were about forty
tribes on the island. , Each tribe had its chief, and enjoyed an independence
based upon its courage and resources of physical strength. For about
five hundred years, Britain remained a Roman province. During this
period, it was subjected to a series of trials, calculated to develop, in an
extraordinary degree, all the energies and resources of the human mind.
1 " Ninety years after the expedition of Caesar (A. D. 36), the Britons seemed to be threat
ened by Caligula, at the head of an army on the coast of Gaul. But that giddy youth, intox
icated by boundless power, seeking only an occasion for one of his most insane freaks, com
manded his troops to charge the ocean, and to load themselves with shells, which were the
ornaments of his triumph over that boisterous enemy, on his entrance into Rome." — His-
tory of England, by Sir James Mackintosh, p. 16.
It is said that Canute, in the zenith of his greatness, in the eleventh century, seated him
self in a chair, in the midst of his courtiers, on the sea-shore, and, as the greatest of sea-
kings, commanded the tide, which was flowing, not to advance towards him. — lb., p. 35.
2 Britain was discovered to be an island A. D. 85.

ENGLAND. 41
Ruled by a foreign power, divided among themselves, surrounded by the
Picts, Scots, Welsh and Irish, and constantly liable to incursions of the
Saxons, Danes and Normans, — barbarians who deemed peace disgraceful, —
they were impelled alike by their domestic and foreign relations to guard
against enemies from every quarter, and gradually to study and to under
stand the means, the safety, and the necessity of union.
It was said by Sir Benjamin Rudyard, in the British Parliament, in
1642, that England could not engage in a war as they could on the conti
nent, for they had " to fight in a cockpit, and were surrounded by the sea." 1
This necessity proved to be the source of national strength and deeply-
marked identity to England ; and the island may be regarded with more
justice as the nursery of 'nations than as " a cock-pit to fight in."
The conquest of the Britons by Caesar gave them an idea of. a superior
state of society, of an efficient government in unity, of national relations, of
new means of warfare ; and the growing importance of a ceaseless vigilance
led them to adopt habits of the utmost activity, to discover new agents of
power, and new means of defence. The insular situation of Britain so often
tempted the commander to assume the purple, that it was called an island
fertile in usurpers. 2
As character was advanced by the continual exercise of a prudential
system, and the impulses of a rude ambition, the number, of petty tribes and
chiefs was reduced, and leaders of enlarged views were placed in power.
The consecrated groves of the Druids, which had so long resounded with the
cries of human victims, were cut down, ahd the cromlech gave way to an
altar reared to the Lord. The Pope asserted his rule, and raised the
standard of the cross ; a higher religion prevailed, and Britain ceased to be a
province. The Saxon with his title to nobility, the Dane with his skill and
cunning, and the Norman with his pomp, power and refinements, came, at
different intervals, to. subdue and be subdued, and reduced to elements of the
English race and character. Thus England may be traced from her ancient
tribes of Britain to kingdoms, from kingdoms to the Heptarchy, from the
Heptarchy to the monarchy of Egbert, from the Saxon rule to that of
William the Conqueror, and thence to the contests with Scotland, Ireland
and Wales, up to the period of union. Every period illustrates new strength,
and a broader platform for humanity.
With William came feudalism, that schoolmaster of nations, classifying
people, as teachers classify pupils, for drill and discipline.3
1 " We must fight as in a cock-pit; we are surrounded with the sea. We have no stronger
holds than our own skulls and our own ribs, to keep out enemies ; so that the whole king
dom will suddenly be but one flame." — Pari. Deb., vol. in., p. 80.
2 Sir James Mackintosh.
3 Feudal laws were introduced into England, to a limited extent, by the Saxons, about
6

42 ENGLAND.
These several stages of advancement have been pointed out, to show how
slow is the growth of a nation, how various are the causes necessary to
mature its character ; and with a desire to persuade the, reader to turn to
these periods of history, that, he may see the gradual, though certainryield-
ing of the conservative to the democratic party.
Although Hume regards the period of the Heptarchy as a barren one,
and hardly Worthy to be studied, yet there is enough in it to illustrate the
various principles which are ever discoverable as the active means of
progress. In the history of the reduction of the kingdoms of Kent, North
umberland, East- Anglia, Mercia, Essex and Sussex, to the kingdom of
Wessex, under Egbert, we find the diversified causes of success, and the
neglects which lead to dissolution and decay. A glance at the history of the
subsequent power and events of England will discover similar but more
important results.
The gradual progress of knowledge leads to the conventional or revolu
tionary progress of rights. The sovereignty" of a nation is based upon a
government endowed with prerogatives for self-protection, and invested with
sufficient power to secure equal rights and justice -to the people.1 'These
rights become classified according to the knowledge and condition of the
people who are -to be the subjects of them. They may be subdivided for
purposes of individual aggrandizement or oppression, or with motives to
security against usurpation, or centralization of power. The former sub
division takes place in periods of ignorance, when men' are incapable of
extended action or training, as in ,the times of feudalism ; arid the latter,
when they become enlightened, and have enlarged conceptions of the great
interests of humanity, and are impelled by ambitious motives to excel, or by
a sense of duty to provide all requisite means for their advancement or
protection. During the reign of Alfred,. England was divided into counties, the
trades of building houses and ships were introduced, schools were estab
lished, learned men were invited to become residents from other countries, a
A. D. 600. William the Conqueror extended the system, and divided England into sixty
thousand two hundred and fifteen military fiefs, all held of the crown, the possessors of which
were obliged, under pain of forfeiture, to take up arms ahd repair to his standard on the first
signal. 1 In a debate in the House of Commons, 1628, on the Petition of Right, Mr. Alford said,
" Let us look into the records, and see what they are ; what is * Sovereign Power' ? Bodin
saith, That it is free from any conditions. By this we shall acknowledge a regal as well as
legal power. Let us give that to the king the law gives him, and no more."
Mr. Pym said, "lam not able to speak to this question, for I know not what it is. All our
petition is for the laws of England, and this power seems to be another distinct power from
the power of the law. I know how to add sovereign to the king's person, but not to his
power ; and we cannot ' leave ' to him a ' sovereign power ; ' for we never were possessed of
it," &c— (See Pari. Deb., vol. n., p. 356.)

PROTECTORATE OF CROMWELL. 43
code of laws was prepared providing for the trial by jury, and other
improvements were attempted of a social and moral nature; but these
endeavors to elevate a rude and ignorant people were but the germs of civil
ization, to be matured and developed in subsequent generations. Alfred stood
almost alone in the great work of reform ; and though his immediate suc
cessors did not apparently accomplish much, still his reign constituted an
important element among the means of future advancement.
After feudalism had accomplished its work, and the people of England
were fitted to become subjects of a king or citizens of a nation, they were
claimed as vassals by the nobility; and hence the bloody wars of tlie barons
against their legitimate sovereigns. It was the reluctant, though necessary
yielding of numerous petty sovereignties, which were inconsistent with the
sovereignty of a nation, on the basis which has been stated. Details are left
to be sought from works of history. We can only speak of some of the great
events in the beginning, or in the results of important eras. It might be inter
esting to speak of the Papal controversies, of the rule and abolition of Papacy
in England ; of foreign invasions, of domestic wars, of assemblies resembling
Parliaments, of holy leagues, of the teachings of Wickliff, the plans and plots
of Wat Tyler, Jack Cade, Guy Faux, and many other similar combinations,
as affording singular and remarkable examples of party zeal and hate : but
our limits again admonish us to be content with a more general survey, and
we proceed briefly to consider the

PROTECTORATE OF OLIVER CROMWELL.
A national event is the result of a great diversity of causes. These causes
are sometimes of a remote as well as of recent origin. In alluding, there
fore, to the reign of Charles the First, and to the Protectorate of Cromwell,
we speak of cause and effect, or of events which stand in that relation. The
arbitrary and unconstitutional government of Charles led to the bold and
unconstitutional measures of Cromwell. Not that the one justifies the other,
but helps to explain it.
Something may be learned by noting the peculiarities of these two men,
and by following them in their public acts and influence's. Charles was
evidently ignorant of the people which he was called upon to govern ; no
man understood them and their wants better than Cromwell. Charles was
unfortunate in his advisers ; Cromwell had been trained in the practical
school of the democratic party, and felt confirmed in his positions of duty, not
only by some of the purest patriots1 of the nation, but by his own strong
1 The celebrated John Milton was Latin secretary to Cromwell. Sir Heneage Finch said,
in Parliament (December 17,1660,) that Milton "deserved hanging." — Pari. Deb., iv.,

44 PROTECTORATE OF CROMWELL.
convictions.1 Charles was inconsiderate in his demands, and unscrupulous
in the choice of means to attain his ends ; Cromwell had the zeal of a secta
rian, and military firmness as a politician to resist oppression, and did not
hesitate to employ an available force to effect what he deemed to be for the
good of the nation. Charles regarded the prerogatives of royalty as para
mount to the rights of the people, and claimed a confidence in advance of
performance ; Cromwell counted the- people as superior to the king as the
source of power, and first entitled to be trusted by courtesy." Charles
looked upon Parliament as a party to be gained to royalty, and Cromwell
claimed it as the government of the people. Charles forgot the constitution,
and became angry .with his Parliament because they opposed his ill-advised
requisitions ; Cromwell. saw no safety in a king, or in a Parhament against
law, and supplanted both. Charles had given the nation ample reasons to
doubt his purposes, and the value of his judgment, by a reign of injustice
and oppression for above twenty years ; and, during the same period, Crom
well had proved his title to considerations of confidence and respect, by a
uniform course of usefulness.2 If Cromwell controlled the army, whose tend
encies were democratic,3 Charles controlled more dangerous men, 'whose
counsel was subversive of the constitution. If the friends of Charles claimed
support because he was king, the people favored Cromwell because he con-.
tended for their rights.4 If Charles saw an usurper in Cromwell, Cromwell
p. 162. The University of Oxford ordered the political works of Buchanan, Milton and Bax
ter, to be publicly burned in the court of the schools.
1 It is said that if the government had refused to make concessions to the liberal party,
before the period of his power, Cromwell had decided to sell his property and emigrate to
New England.
2 Cromwell sat in the Long Parliament for the town of Cambridge, and concurred with
that assembly in restoring silenced ministers ; in the impeachment of Strafford, Laud, and
other civil and ecclesiastical delinquents ; in putting an end to the courts of High Commis
sion and the Star Chamber ; in passing the triennial bill ; and in adopting its resolutions
concerning proclamations, ship-money, and the duties at the ports, &c. — Vaughan' s Crom
well, vol. I., p. 23.
3 See Petition of Army to Parliament. — Pari. Deb., vol. in., p. 1563.
4 " But the bold democratic temper manifested by a large portion of the army was not con
tent with the death of the king. During the next four months it required the most decisive
measures on the part of the Parliament, and all the promptitude and vigor that Fairfax anil
Cromwell could bring to the enterprise, to suppress the mutinous detachments which pre
sented themselves in different parts of the country." — Vaughan' s Cromwell, vol. i., p. 78.
" Cromwell and his officers," says Lord Clarendon, " took upon them to preach and pray
publicly to their troops ; and the common soldiers, as well as the officers, did not -only
pray and preach among themselves, but went into the pulpits in all the churches and
preached to the people, who quickly became inspired with the same spirit, women as well as
men taking upon them to preach, pray," &c. -^"Vol. v., p. 42.
" I am to tell thee, Christian reader," says Dr. Featley, — in his preface to his " Dipper
Dipped," published in 1647, p. 1, — "this new year of new changes, never heard of in
former ages ; namely, of stables turned into temples '(and I will beg leave to add, temples

PROTECTORATE OF CROMWELL. 45
protested against the acts of a perjured king. Charles mangled the Parlia
ment, and the army of Cromwell removed its remains. In Charles we have
an example how much good a king may avoid, and in Cromwell how much
good a subject may accomplish. Charles attempted to sail the ship of state
on a dangerous coast, without a responsible pilot, involved in a mutiny of
factions ; x Cromwell took the helm, dropt the anchor, and waited for a chart
to sail by. Charles claimed to act as king only under the authority of
God ; 2 Cromwell had faith in God that the- people would be protected. Both
were acting without the consent of the nation ; but it must be considered that,
while one, in violation of the oath of a sovereign, was heedless of its true
interests, the other was guilty only of the assumption of power to save them.
If Cromwell was " a scourge of God,"3 Charles had prepared the nation for
its infliction ; and if Charles was mild as a tyrant, Cromwell was moderate
as a despot. Charles was beheaded to insure justice tp the people; the bones
of Cromwell were gibbeted to insure existence to royalty.4
But we should exercise Tjharity for both, — for Charles, in badly character
izing his age, and for Cromwell, in being a subject of it. Both men were
surrounded by factions ; both formed coalitions for power, without reference
to principles ; and both sought for permanent rule, and both failed of success.
And yet this age was a spring season of humanity. The seed scattered
by the reformers of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, had
germinated, and began to put forth a^hardy growth of principles.
The oaks of freedom had begun to drop their acorns, and the Puritans6
turned into stables, as was that of St. Paul's and many more) , stalls into quires, shop-boards
into communion-tables, tubs into pulpits, aprons into linen ephods, and mechanics of the low
est rank-into priests of the high places," &c. — (See Pari. Deb., vol. in., p. 1231.)
'Pari. Deb.', vol. ii., p. 660. - 2 Pari. Deb., vol. ii., p. 434.
3 It was the common remark in Paris, that Mazarin, the prime minister- of Louis XIV".,
" had less fear of the devil than of Oliver Cromwell."
4 Resolutions for taking up the bodies of Cromwell, &c, were passed December 8, 1660.
The order, as entered in both the journals, stands thus, namely : — " Resolved by the Lords and
Commons assembled in Parliament, That the carcasses of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, John
Bradshaw, Thomas Pride (whether buried in Westminster Abbey, or elsewhere) , be, with all
expedition, taken up, and drawn upon a hurdle to Tyburn, and there hanged up in their cof
fins for some time, and after that buried under the said gallows," &c. — Pari. Deb., vol. iv.,
p. 158. This order was executed January 30, 1661 ; and " their heads were afterwards set
upon poles on the top of Westminster Hall."
5 Dr. Burwell, in a brief speech on the " Bill for granting ease to Dissenters," discussed in
Parliament, 1672-3, said, " A Puritan was ever a rebel." — Pari. Deb., vol. iv., p. 574.
In 1640, Dr. Chaffin added to the litany these words : " From all lay-Puritans, and all lay-
Parliament-men, good Lord* deliver me." The doctor having been sent for, by the sergeant-
at-arms, the question was put to Parliament whether, for these words, he should be committed
prisoner to the tower. The house decided in the negative, 190 against 189. It was ordered,
however, that he should be called to the bar and receive a sharp reprehension and admonition,
and be required to make public explanation.
"The Puritans," says Bancroft (vol. i., p. 296), "desired permission • occasionally to

46 ' CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
were born to scatter them in a distant soil. The Presbyterians, with their
prganized strength; the Independents, breathing their lefty individuality;1
the Baptists, asserting their rites ef purity ; and the Quakers, moved by a
brotherly love, — came forward, each to claim the ascendency, and all to
oppose the national church and the papacy.2 Resting upon the broad and
holy basis of the Bible, government became the prerogative of each ; man,
the subject* of redemption ; liberty, the atmosphere .of the spul ; and the
world, the great battle-field for victory. There seemed to be no home but in
the bosom of God, no safety but in the harness prepared- for a holy war, and
no happiness but in the faith which each proposed, and all endeavored to
establish and promulgate. What elements for society, what pioneers for
progress, what instruments to be tuned and harmonized by a government,
and what subjects to honor a king ! Each claimed the favor and sunshine
of Heaven, and all appeared to realize the strength and majestic presence of
Deity. Zeal became patriotism, and toleration treason. Charity was trans
formed into indulgence, and hope into a wicked dream. All war was abhor
rent to the. Quaker, but that of opinion," — all peace sinful to otherSj but that
of conformity. A thousand kings could not control such a nation in unity,
assemble, and, at their meetings, to have the liberty of free discussions ; but the king, prompt
to discover that concessions in religion would be followed by greater political liberty, inter
rupted the petition. ' You are aiming at a Scot's presbytery, which- agrees- with monarchy
as well as God and the devil. Then Jack, and Tom, and Will, and Dick, shall meet, and at
their pleasure censure me and my council, and all our proceedings. Then Will shall stand up
and say, It must be thus ; then Dick shall reply, and say, Nay, marry, but we will have it
thus ; and, therefore, here I must once more reiterate my former speech, and say, Le. roi
s'avisera, — the king alone shaii decide.' Turning to the bishops, he avowed his belief that
the hierarchy was the firmest support of the throne. Of the Puritans, he added, ' I will make
them conform, or I will hurry them out of the land, or else worse, — only hang them, that 's
all.' "
'.The Presbyterians and Independents were nearly equally divided in Parliament, at one
time. In a test vote, in the Commons, 1648, they stood fifty-seven each, and the speaker
turned the scale. — Pari, Deb., vol. in., p. 959.
2 Another party, called " the fifth.monarchy men," are thus noticed by Archdeacon Echard :
" While the affairs of the nation seemed to be in peace and tranquillity, in the beginning .of
the new year 1660-1, there happened a strange and unparalleled action in London, which
strengthened the belief of those secret plots and conspiracies mentioned by the Lord Chancel
lor." (See Pari. Deb., vol. iv., p. 186.) This was occasioned by a small body of Fifth-
monarchy men, who, hating all monarchy and the appearance of it, had formerly made an
attempt against Cromwell's government, but escaped beyond expectation. The head of them
was one Thomas Venner, some time a wine-cooper, who, by the king's indulgence, held a con
venticle in Coleman-street, where he and others used to preach to them out of the Prophecies of
Daniel and the Revelations, and from thence drew strange inferences, persuading their congre
gations " to take up arms for King Jesus, against the powers of the earth, the king, the Duke
of York, General Monk," &c, assuring them f that no weapons formed against them should
prosper, nor a hair of their heads be touched ; for one should chase a thousand, and two put
ten thousand to flight," &c. &c. They declared war against the whole world, particularly
against all monarchies.

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 47
— a thousand Cromwells could not restrain the terrible volcanoes of its
diversity.1 But, in considering the period of Cromwell, we must not commit the errors
of isolation. Between the identity of a nation and that of an individual there
is a general similitude. Individual identity is connected with the exercise
of the same faculties, during their different periods of development, in the
attainment of skill and knowledge. The identity of a nation admits of the
enlargement of powers already possessed, — of new powers to be acquired, as
well as the practical results of a previous experience. It is of an accumu
lative, as well as of a distributive character. Old laws, based upon error, or
rendered nugatory by change, are repealed by legislation, or by moral con
sent, and new laws take their place.2 The new laws of a people are the true
index of their progress. The great questions in regard to the rights and
happiness of man are perpetual ; and on most of these, nations, as well as
individuals, are, and ever will be, divided. Not that the same questions are
continued in a permanent form, but they arise in new propositions of an
enlarged philosophy. The development of principles is followed by a con
dition in conformity. If religious toleration be favored, it will be protected
in the same degree in which it is understood. If civil liberty be appreciated,
its. own inherent spirit extends its sympathies and fortifies its domain. As
the area of freedom is extended, its guardians ahd their duties are multiplied.
Society is its medium, and man theJbrm of its manifestation. Nations' are
the aggregates of its power, and progress the unchangeable law of its will.
Thus the attainments of the few become the attainments of the many, and
what is mastered by the individual is extended to the masses.
One of thefirst perceptible indications of a progressive religious liberty in
England was in the sixth year of the reign of William the Conqueror (1072),
who, at the instigation of the. Pope, summoned a national synod, to determine a
dispute between the sees of Canterbury and York, respecting supremacy ; and
the discussion of questions of this class, and of the succession of royalty, made
the chief business of the early Parliaments. The first clear account we have
'Ludlow's one idea was, "that the nation should be governed by its own consent."
Cromwell replied, "I am as much for government by consent as any man"; but where shall
we find "that consent ? — amongst the Prelatical, Presbyterian, Independent, Anabaptist, or
Levelling parties ? " To this question his opponent had no satisfactory answer to return, and
it pointed to a difficulty which overwhelmed the republican party as soon as they began to
deal with it. — Vaughan' s Cromwell, vol. I. , p. 100.
2 The acts of Parliament were first promulgated 16 John, 1215. For a great period of
years the number of acts passed has been annually large. Between the 4th and 10th of George
IV., one thousand one hundred and twenty-six acts were wholly repealed, and four hundred
and forty-three repealed in part. Of these acts, one thousand three hundred and forty-four
related to the kingdom. at large, and two hundred and twenty-five to Ireland solely. — World's
Progress, p. 148.

48 CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
of the representatives of the people forming a House of Commons was in
the 43 Henry III., 1-258, when it was settled, by the statutes at Oxford,
that twelve persons should be chosen to represent the commons in the three
Parliaments, -which, by the sixth statute, were to be held -yearly.1 The
general representation, by knights, citizens and burgesses, took place 49
Henry HI., 1265.2 Church and State, in England, have always labored
together. The first religious contest was between the government of Eng
land and the Church of Rome. When the rule of the pontiff ceased, parties
of Protestants began to rise ; and religious liberty has been discussed, in
every variety of form, for more than four hundred years'. The holy field
for the sacred contests of men became extended by the union of Catholic
Ireland and Presbyterian Scotland. The history of this sacred vein of
man's nature in the three kingdoms of Great Britain is a great subject by
itself, and it has been much discussed by the ablest and the purest minds.
It requires but a glance, however, to see the slow but onward march of
religious -freedom in England. We have only to read the doings of the
Courts of High Commission, and to note the " test acts," " acts for abolishing
diversity of opinions," "five-mile acts," "conventicle acts," "acts against
occasional conformity," debates on "exclusion bills," "rights of the Cath
olics," "and similar way-marks to be found on record, and then to look at
the present toleration laws of the nation, in order to be fully convinced of
the great and glorious changes which have been accomplished by the conflicts
of religious zeal and controversy in England.
The liberal and conservative parties still travel together, proposing and
rejecting, renouncing and adjusting ; but, while each has its common centre,
and revolves, as it were, on its own axis, both have an orbit of a more extended
revolution, whose centre of influence is the sun of progress, — the opening
light of truth. In history we may find the battle-fields and the landmarks
of ancient defences which have been successively conquered, surrendered and
abandoned, by opposing parties ; and the party" car of freedom, that is des
tined to return the soul in true life to its Maker, moving on in its illimitable
track, displaying the trophies of its victories, and exposing to view the hid
eous remains of error, which, " to be hated, needs but to be seen."
Civil liberty assumed a regular form in the charters, and in the Parliament,
which was the first to enact laws fOr the people. Religious freedom precedes
civil liberty. Religious and political independence are distinct conditions,
and the separate results of the exercise of the different classes of faculties.
We do not speak of the individual, but of the nation. The nation is trained
and led by the hand of Deity, before it is placed in the keeping, of intellect.
It was the early doctrine of the conservative party, that " nations perish
1 Burton's Annals. 2 Dugdale's Summonses to Pari., edit. 1685. — Diet. Dates.

¦ DEMOCRACY OF ENGLAND. 49
when they change."1 When control was absolute and but little doubted,
participation in government was counted a labor, and distinction conferred by
arbitrary power a tax. Books were looked upon as the special property of
the aristocracy, and the people knew no bill of rights but the will of the
sovereign. The charter was the promise of royalty to the people. It began
with simple exceptions to the rule of royal sway, by way of special favor.
Favors by royal courtesy soon became rights by guarantee. Rights by
agreement then were acknowledged to be rights by inheritance, and we soon
find these rights secured by the laws of Parliament and by a constitution.
The first great period in the history of rights was marked by their recital in
the Magna Charta granted by John ; the second, the beginning of the elect
ive franchise ; the third, the parliamentary power to enact laws acknowledged
by the king and people ; and the fourth, the colonial system, or the granting
of charters to take possession of a distant territory, with certain specific and
delegated powers to administer the affairs of a separate government of sub
servient relations.2
In considering the claims of the democracy on the one hand, and the reluc
tant concessions of the conservative party in power on the other, we are
constantly impressed with the lively activity of party interest, and the uncon
querable spirit of party jealousy, in the nice adjustments of new conditions.
When democracy centred in the Commons, the conservatives looked for strength
in the peers of the realm. When royalty and the Lords became weak, and the
Commons strong, they sought a balancing power in assumed prerogatives, —
Dispensing Acts, Proclamations, Monopolies; and in the "Courts of High
Commission" and " Star-chamber" it was assumed that the yielding of new
privileges, which the people were fitted to enjoy and appreciate, was the
supposed evil of too much freedom, and was to be remedied only by the
1 Governments perish when they change, was the remark of Cardinal Soderini to Adrian
TT., who was disposed to be a reformer of abuses.
2 In speaking of the ancient constitution of England, Hume says : " By the ancient consti
tution is meant that which prevailed before the settlement of our present plan of liberty.
There was a more ancient constitution, where, though the people had, perhaps, less liberty
than under the Tudors, yet the king had also less authority : the power of the barons was a
great check upon him, and exercised great tyranny over them. But there was still a more
ancient constitution, namely, that before the signing of the charters, where neither the people
nor the barons had any regular privileges ; and the power of the government, during the reign
of an able prince, was almost wholly in the king. The English constitution, like all others,
has been in a state of continual fluctuation." — Vol. iv., p. 345.
"Before the Revolution, the favorites of our monarchs were often driven away from the
sovereign, fined, imprisoned, or executed ; and the democratic part of our constitution, on
these occasions, rushed forth (if I may be allowed the expression) to teach the monarchical
part its proper duties in its own rude and unceremonious manner." — Smyth, p. 543
The right of granting money to the crown by the Commons has not been disputed since
1671. To this power of the popular branch a distinguished writer of England attributes
" all the reforms of the constitution." 7

50 MAGNA CHARTA — HABEUS CORPUS ACT.
usurpation of power. When the Commons had their seasons of comparative
feebleness, and government was controlled by the irresponsible "hand of arbi
trary power, sustained by the corruptions of rank ahd wealth, then the pre
rogative of Parliament to grant supplies, and the energies and determination
of the people to insist upon their lawful rights by new appointments and new
elections, were exerted to the utmost; and the evils,' which had a tongue in
every form and a spirit in every soul of anguish, were abroad at noon-day
and in the dread hours of midnight, in actuality, to be felt, to be seen, and tp
be remedied. Before, the government remedy Was clothed in the forbidding
habiliments of usurpation, and the supposed evils of yielding power by the
few became the sufferings of the many. Now, the loathsome garments of
oppression were not only to be cast off and destroyed by repeal, but govern
ment itself was to be clothed anew in a legitimate dress, the prerogatives of
royalty reduced, the people restored to their rights, surrounded by new safe
guards, and invested with a larger liberty. Thus the success of the con
servative party becomes the means of abridging its own power, and the
source of evidence to prove its own errors, while the success of democracy
enlarges its own sphere of authority, and proves by its own acts its title to
truth and sovereignty. The record of repeal proves to be. the record of
reform. The tests of security are to be found in the confirmations of old
compacts which have been gained by long-continued struggles, and by new
enactments demanded by the rise of new interests.
Magna Charta had been confirmed above thirty times before the Common
wealth of Cromwell. The " Right of Petition," discussed in the early part
of the reign of Charles the First, resulted in the habeas corpus act of Charles
the Second.1 The frequent suspension, without any late attempt to repeal
this act, shows the settled state of the nation in respect to its acknowledged
importance. The establishment of an independent judiciary and the trial by
jury, as a security tp the administration of justice, were marked out and
gained by the democratic party, and ultimately confirmed by the intelligent and
honest of all parties, as supplying the obvious wants of humanity. What
the Magna Charta was to the thirteenth century, the constitution, as gathered
and proclaimed at the time of the revolution of 1688, was to the seven
teenth. A constitution of a nation is security to the people, as a compact
between parties. It is unquestionable evidence of agreement. It may be
honored by observance, or dishonored by violation. To be efficient, it must
be understood and appreciated. If framed by the wisdom which comes frem
1 The Habeas Corpus Act, in the reign of Charles the Second, was obtained only by
repeated, persevering, unwearied exertions of the Earl of Shaftesbury, after a struggle of
many years. The king would have gladly vetoed the bill, — but he feared to oppose the
popular will. At a subsequent period, he favored its repeal ; but even the tory party from
the country were almost unanimous in sustaining it.

ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. 51
experience, it serves to indicate and to fortify the achievements of the past,
and to secure a unity of action in the adjustment of opposite or varying
interests of the future.1
The elective franchise originated among competitors for control ; and what
was first used by the aristocracy to gain power by contrivance, was discovered
to be a right lodged by Deity in the bosom of a people. Every man invested
with a capacity to seek and to ask found a title-deed within himself, and
claimed to have it acknowledged and recorded as by authority.
The conservative party of England has disputed these titles with a two
fold power of resistance. They have denied to the ignorant the power of
knowledge, and the light of truth to discover the evidence of this right, and
they have yielded to its claims when proved, as yet, only a partial record and
most reluctant assent.2 A distinct and detailed history of the elective fran
chise and representative system, as advanced in England, would make a most
instructive chapter, and tend to prove the vital importance of the democratic
party to the great and growing interests of a nation.3
1 The freedom of speech and the freedom of the press were early regarded as the great
sources of danger by the conservative party. The want of confidence in the possession of
power, without any conception of principles upon which to base it, is much like the courage
of the travelling coward in the dark, who sees an enemy in every object, and an , attack in
every motion. As they cannot have a light, to enable them to do the good which they intend,
without exposing the evil which is in preparation, they claim darkness for a defence, and igno
rance for security. But the achievements of the democratic party for freedom of speech, and
for the free action of that mighty engine of truth, the Press, have been great and per
manent. Hume says that " the liberty of the press did not even commence with the Revolu
tion. It was not till 1694 that the restraints were taken off, to the great displeasure of, the
king and his ministers, who, seeing nowhere, in any government during present or past ages,
any example of such unlimited freedom, doubted much of its salutary effects." — Vol. vi.,
p. 372.
2 " The total population of England and Wales," says a writer in the Westminster Review
of January, 1852, "in 1841, was 15,906,741 ; and of these 4,127,175 were males above
twenty years of age. The age abstract does not give the numbers except for periods of five
years, so that the number above the legal age of twenty-one cannot be given. But, allowing
for the additional year, it may with safety be estimated that one-fourth of the population
consists of males who have reached the age of twenty-one. The population of England and
Wales, on 31st of March, 1851, was 17,922,768, of which the fourth is 4,480,692, the num
ber of electors that would be if the suffrage were universal in the general acceptation of that
term. " The number of inhabited houses in England and Wales in 1851 was 3,280,961 ; so that
household suffrage would admit to the franchise about a million and a fifth fewer persons
than universal suffrage.
" The total number of registered electors in 1849-50, in England and Wales, was
887,816 ; that is to say, the House of Commons is elected by only one-fifth of the grown-up
male population of the country.
"There are, therefore, 2,393,145 more inhabited houses than electors, and 3,592,876
more men than electors."
3 See Historical Tables, Appendix B.

52 FREEDOM OF PARLIAMENT.
Then, again, the same principles are strikingly illustrated in the., con
ventional history of England, — the history of the British. Parliament. The
independent exercise of individual rights is one thing, — the freedom of Par
liament quite another.
What has been said of the origin of elections is equally applicable to Parlia
ments. As elections took place before their freedom was secured, so Parlia
ments were summoned to assemble a long period before their independence
was protected by constitutional authority. What was deemed necessary by
royalty, as a defence, soon became the strong arm of government, able to
resist dictation, and to frame laws. Parliaments began as the agents of power,
but soon found themselves in the more exalted station of chosen' guardians
of the rights of the people. They began as the servants of the king, and
found by degrees that they were the protectors of a nation. , As> this mighty
power developed its growing strength, the king and the aristocracy sought
to control its doings, or to crush the exercise of its authority. Here again
are to be found the two great parties organized for conventional war, each
forming, as it preferred, or as it was able, coalitions with the Pope, the church,
or the king ; the one asking a greater freedom, and the other resisting, in
every conceivable way, the granting of such a danger.
To say nothing of the party divisions of society as marked by natural dis
positions and by circumstances of condition, it is easy to see in the government
of Great Britain peculiarities which favor an aristocracy, and which tend to
perpetuate the conservative feeling, and to oppose the democratic.
To use the language of the Earl of Shaftesbury (1675) : " You have in
our English government the House of Commons, affording the sense, the
mind, the information, the complaints, the grievances and the desires, of all
those people for whom they serve throughout the whole nation. The people
are thus secure; no laws can be made, nor money given, but what them
selves, though at home, fully consent and agree to. The second estate in
this government is the Lords, who are the council, the wisdom and judgment,
of the nation, to which their birth, education and constant employment, being
the same in every Parliament, prepare and fit them. The last and supreme
of all is the king, — one who gives life and vigor to the proceedings of the
other two ; the will and desires of the people, though approved by the wis
dom and judgment of the Lords, are abortive, unless he bids them to be an
act. Human reason can hardly contrive a more excellent government."
Such was the language of a member of the House of Lords when in his
liberal mood, and who demanded frequent Parliaments as due to the people,
and who was among the foremost to show the absurdity of the doctrine of
" the divine right of kings." And yet it will be seen that the language is
parental and ^conservative. Rank, prerogative and wisdom, are supposed to be
combined in the King and Lords, while the people are regarded rather as the

HOUSE OF "lords. 53
source of evidence of what is wanted, than the source of power of what is to
be done.
The People, the Commons, the Lords and the King, make the governmental
pyramid, said the Rev. Dr. Chalmers, of Scotland.1 He considered the
figure as emblematic of strength and permanency. So it is. But it must
be a pyramid of growth, »not of predetermined structure. It must have its
roots, its life-blood, and its soil. These are to growth what people are to
government. The people constitute the basis, and the superstructure will be
found to change according to their will. Change is but another word for
growth. It is to throw off old formations, and to build up new ones. Not
at the expense of parts or of proportions, nor at the sacrifice of any funda
mental principle, but in conformity to laws of human progress. The King
of England began as an absolute sovereign, subject to no exceptions to his
rule. He is still the representative of royalty, but he has been compelled to
part with most of his power.2 He has divided it with the nobility, the Com
mons and the people, according to his fancy, judgment, or necessities. Not,
at any time, for the purpose of lessening his authority, but with the obvious
motives of yielding a minor power to save a greater. So far from being the
king that he was, the dispenser of all power, he is reduced to the position of
having no power, — his prerogatives making the exceptions to the rule.
The Lords are still the representatives of aristocracy; but their subservient
relations to the king in his weakness, their sickly means of increase, their
doubtful standing in the affections of the people, and their fears of the
Commons, are not only sources of embarrassment to such- action as they
may believe due to themselves, but of influences which tend rather to
diminish than add- to their strength, rather to lessen their importance than
add to the dignity of their rank. They have long ceased to be the exclusive
" wisdom and the judgment of the nation ;" and we find the titled nobility
and the Right Reverend Bishops of his Majesty's High Council " humbly" 3
asking concurrence of the Commons, during the reign of Charles the Second,
nearly two hundred years ago. Even more. This branch of the govern
ment, made up by fictitious distinctions, and subject to the contingencies of
ambition controlled by wealth, or weakness entailed by birth, was denomi-
1 This was a remark made to the author in' 1835.
2 The late Duke of Sussex, in 1835, in making a comparison between the prerogatives of
the King of England and the President of the United States, expressed an opinion that the
President had more power than the King. — lb.
3 " An accident happened this day in the House of Commons (Dec. 21, 1660), which occa
sioned some merriment amongst them. The Lords sent down two messengers with some bills
they had passed, with some amendments ; to which, the bearers said, ' The Lords humbly
desired the concurrence of that House.' When these were withdrawn (the MS. Diary says),
a hearty laughter ensued at the word humbly, and some moved to have it So put down in the
journals, as a precedent." — Pari. Deb., vol. iv., p.163.

54 HOUSE OF COMMONS.
nated by Pulteney, in the time of George the Second, the "Hospital of
Invalids;"1 and Lord Chesterfield, in his letters to his son (1766), in
speaking of Pitt's '¦'¦fall up-stairsZ when he was made Earl of Chatham,
called the House of Lords the "Hospital of Incurables."2 Burke, in the
House of Commons (1772), did not add much to the dignity of these compli
ments, when he said, " The Lords do not know what is going forward in this
house; and, what is worse, they do not understand the principles of the con
stitution." 3
With the metaphor of the pyramid before us, if we descend to the Commons,
we find a body of men of great diversity of character, and doubtless elected
to their places by the influence of high as well as questionable motives, by
the influence of rank, wealth and interest. They stand professedly in
direct relation to the people, or more so than either the King or the Lords.
The beginning of the Commons was but a nominal relation between the
great men and their followers. The barons were sought by the king, the
people by the barons. From an assembly which had of itself no power, and
which was organized with no motive but to secure and dispense the power of
others, the Commons have become the guardians of the national purse ; and
thus the masters of the Lords and King. And yet the Commons are far
from being independent. Placed between a permanent authority, which has
ceased to grow in correspondence with its own pbwer, and a constituency
liable to all the inroads of bribery and corruption, its growth, has been slow,
and the means of an independent influence variable. But it is a living body.
It has ever been the chief source of life to the government, and it will prove
to be the perpetual safeguard to the people." It will be continued with
increased means to reform itself. As the people rise in capacity and wis
dom, their strength will impart new vigor and character to the Commons.
Its growing power will tend to' shoAV that an improving people cannot rest with
out an improving government. The pyramid will still be wanted ; but if
the body and apex sink, while the base increases, where shall we look to find
its grandeur, or to discover its beauty !
The ceaseless sources of life that have added to the power and dignity of the
Commons, the democracy of England, will in due time begin a new develop
ment. The representative system will be extended, and an hereditary mon
archy will give place to an elective government. The pyramid will then
stand as a tower of strength; its parts will grow in harmony, controlling the
sources of its own existence by the means of constant and unceasing renewal.
But let us look at the Commons, connected as it has been, and still is, with
royalty and the Lords. It is still in the process of growth. It has been
bought and sold as a slave ; it has reared its head and ruled as a master.
1 Pari, Deb., vol. xn., p. 1120. 2 Pari. Deb., vol. xvi., p. 234.
3 Pari. Deb., vol. xvn.,.p. 513.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. 55
The army has treated it with indignity as a prisoner, and submitted to its
control as a commander. It has seen the glory and efficiency which come
from unity, and has been distracted by the direful factions of diversity. It
has been a monopolist, and the subject of monopoly. It has connived at
treason, and denounced patriotism. It has dethroned its royal master, been
the sacrifice of its own weakness, and the violater of its own laws. It has
proved alternately the friend of liberty, and the instrument of oppression.
Indeed, not unlike individuals, either alone or combined with others, the
King, the Lords, and the Commons, have had their seasons of legitimate power,
patriotism, tyranny, treason and hopeless imbecility. Each, by turns, has
been the subject of vehement abuse, complaint, contempt and ridicule.1
But what has the transcendent and absolute power of Parliament accom
plished, in its complicated fluctuations? Everything that has rendered
England happy at home, or respected abroad. The rights of the people
have been defined and secured by its discussions and enactments. And, what
is of immeasurable importance, it has assigned limits to the pretensions of
royalty, and established precedents for correcting its own abuses. Even its
weakness has been made to serve the people, and its follies have increased
the activity of the common mind. We cannot sufficiently dwell upon the
great and strongly marked difference between the beautiful results of a
democratic policy and those of an opposite character which distinguish the
conservative party. With a just legislation in view of the wants of the
people, industry has been encouraged, comforts multiplied, knowledge dif
fused, and commerce extended. Condemned almost to a perpetual minority,
the liberal party of one generation have immortalized themselves as the law- .
givers of the next. What democracy early proposed, truth has accom
plished. The victories of toryism ended in defeat, and the defeats of democ
racy ended in victory. The temporary gains of the tory party have
proved to be the permanent glory of the democratic.
But our purpose is to speak more of classes of events than of the events
themselves. We wish simply to point out some of the principal streams of
active causes which flow to a common centre, in the ideal world, as rivers to
the ocean, again to be dissipated, and again to be returned, thus yielding life
and means to the unceasing progress of humanity.
We return to the period of the seventeenth century, as one of crises, transi
tions and offsets, and where we find the accumulated results of centifries of
individual and conventional progress, in active conflict. The struggles and
restrictions of royalty, the pretensions of the nobility, the rights of the
1 Parliaments have been characterized by every variety of name. " Long," " Short,"
"Rump," "Purged," "Pensionary," "Angelic," " Mad," " Diabolical," "Doubting,"
" Bat," " Barebones," " Praise God Barebones," " Wonder-working," " Weak and Heady,"
" Healing and Blessed," &c, &c. See Appendix C.

56 RESULTS OF REVOLUTIONS.
people, and the birth and growth of Parliament; the expanding of the
church, the privileges of conscience, the exclusion of papacy, and the toler
ation of sects, — • all these -questions," ahd their innumerable and complicated
correlatives, had been discussed with a burning zeal, which many generations
had contributed to augment to an intense flame, and which were precipitated,
in every possible variety of shape and fragment, into this period of startling
interest, when Charles the First, Oliver Cromwell, Charles the Second,
James the Second and William the Third,1 were made the fearful instru
ments of adjustment.
The common mind of England was overwhelmed with the controversies
connected with the church and the government ; and Cromwell rose up, the
controller of sects, and William the Third2 became the political arbiter of the
people. The first revolution foreshadowed the coming might of the people ;
the second, the sure decay of royalty. The first prepared the way for civil
and religious liberty ; the second seeured these blessings in a permanent form,
for another period of growth. The first took down, the second built up. The
former enlarged the area of freedom, the latter occupied it.
It would be interesting and instructive to trace democracy as developed in
the Italian Republics, in Germany, Spain, Russia, &c. ; but the limits of the
present number preclude all allusicn to these nations. They will be noticed
incidentally in future -numbers, as affording illustrations of principles.
Thus we have endeavored to give a brief view of principles, as a necessary
introduction to the work which is proposed. It is designed simply as a sug
gestive sketch, imperfect, it must be confessed, but made in the hope that it
will prove an humble aid to the reader in considering the important topics
which are to follow. Such a review of the past appeared to be imperatively
demanded by the nature of the undertaking, in order that the student might
1 " The Bill of Rights was, in fact, a new Magna Charta, — a new Petition of Right, — a
new enrolment of the prerogatives, if I may so speak, of the democratic part of the constitu
tion, — which, though consented to by William, an elected prince, and perhaps even thought
necessary to his own justification and security, could only have been extorted by force from
any reigning hereditary monarch ; and, in point of fact, was not procured by the English
nation, on this occasion, till the regular possessor of the crown had ceased to wear it, and
till the country had appeared in a state of positive and successful resistance to his authority. ' '
— Smyth's Modern Hist, p. 352.
2 William had his position of responsibility; and, like all agents of power; had his bitter
enemies. The news of his death was received in France with such joy that the court and
people could hardly contain themselves without breaking out into the most furious transports,
as was done at Rome, to such a. degree of extravagance that Cardinal Grimani, the imperial
minister, complained of it to the Pope, as an affront to his master, the emperor, who was the
deceased king's friend, ally, and confederate. But little notice was taken of it. They were
so afraid in France that the news would not prove true, that the person who first brought it
to Calais was seized, by the governor's order, and kept in prison till it was confirmed. —
Pari. Deb., vol. vi., p. 9.

DESIGN OF THE WORK. 57
with more clearness understand the origin of national causes, and be able to
follow them out in their consequent relations, so widely displayed in the
events of our own country and times., Our aim is that of inquiry ; and while
we may fail to present new views, or prove to be the unfortunate instrument
of distorting old ones, it is possible that we may be the means of inducing
some attention to important facts, or subjects^ and of inciting the activity of
more gifted minds to pursue a further, investigation, and thus give birth to
works of wider range, clearer views, and of more extended erudition.

DESIGN OF THE WORK.
It is designed that the work shall embrace a complete survey of the differ
ent political parties, and of the measures adopted by the colonial administra
tions, and by the government of the United States, since the declaration of
independence. It will necessarily embrace a great variety of statistics ; and
it is the design of the author to render it a standard reference book, in which
may be found a record of the great political events of the country, fully
authenticated and properly classified.
It is our purpose to consider all the great topics which Americans, as colo
nists and republicans, have discussed and decided, during a period of more than
two hundred years. , It will be our endeavor to illustrate the origin, nature,
and permanency of democratic principles. The work will be, in fact, a com
plete political history of the colonies and of our republic, tracing the unpar
alleled success of the latter to democratic sources. It will not be speculative,
but strictly a philosophical and popular history, based upon acknowledged facts.
The tendency of such a work, it is believed, will be to individualize the
great democratic party ; to give it an' identity of being which all would
recognize and realize ; to give it a high standard of principle, sentiment and
action ; to create a common pride in the achievements of the past, and to give
confidence in all that is to come.
While England has generally been ruled by the conservative party, and
slowly redeemed by the democratic, it has been the happy lot of America to
enjoy a higher freedom, because the conservative principle has been made
subordinate to the rule of democracy. The democratic party has been the
dominant party of the United States. The- glory of the democracy may be
seen in the progress and in the institutions of the country; and a just and
comprehensive view of the subject will embrace the character of men, meas
ures and results. A party that is advanced and sustained by the eternal
principles of truth and justice should have a common consciousness, a com
mon strength, and a common pride. It should be able to feel itself, and to
have an abiding confidence in its own high destiny. A review of its acts,

58 VOX POPULI VOX DEI.
and of the master minds which have honored its ranks, will -help to accom
plish such an end. It is hoped that it may serve to lead the democrats to
respect their party for what it has done, and to respect a consistency in
themselves as its accountable members. If rightly viewed, it will secure
concentration of thought and action, and give to all party movements an
elevation of motive, and an efficiency, which would render success as beautiful
as it would prove uniformly certain.
To close this preliminary, without a renewed expression of confidence in
the principles which we have humbly endeavored to point out, as made visi
ble in the providence of God ; or, to omit all notice of the sacred feature
of our subject, VOX POPULI VOX DEI,
would be doing violence to our convictions of duty, and our sentiments of
propriety. The cause of democracy rests upon the immutable basis of eternal truth.
Man is acknowledged to be the responsible agent of power, and the subject
of the exalted relations of thought, freedom and holiness. He is invested by
his Maker with those attributes of instinct and discernment which give per
petuity to the race, safety to the nation, and dignity to the ' objects of life.
Religion has been admirably characterized by M. Dumas as "the nurse
of the people." This is a sentiment of transcendent truth and beauty.
It is proved by innumerable facts, which may be found in history, and may
be seen magnificently illustrated in the constantly transpiring events of
nations. In all ages of the world, and among all the tribes and nations of the earth,
the rule of Deity has been acknowledged above every other power, and supe
rior to every other principle.1 We do not speak of its form of manifestation, nor
shall we presume to fathom Infinite Wisdom in the control of the mysterious
agents by which its power is exerted. These are questions too vast for the
feeble capacities of the human mind. It is not for us to draw the line between
good and evil, as done by man, and seen by God ; to elevate the king,
and crush the peasant ; to exalt the philosopher, and proscribe the savage ;
to rank the Christian and exclude the pagan, as the means of progress, or as
the obstacles of universal improvement. It is not for us to sit in judgment
on the inward workings of the soul, to dictate its flights, to question its pre-
1 Cicero says : " I never thought any religion to be despised : I have always considered the
foundation of our state to be laid in religious institutions ; and that, without the fear of
Heaven, the republic would never have arrived to its present flourishing condition," — Cic
ero De Natura Deorum, Lib. in.

VOX POPULI VOX DEI. 59
rogatives, or to measure its unseen dominions. It is not for us to scan the
sublime and ultimate destinies of nations, nor the fearful wonders of Provi
dence, which overrule a Pharaoh, educe love from the hate of a Pilate, and
transmute the wickedness of rulers into dispensations that bless a people, or
advance a world. These are themes to be contemplated as we look upon a
balanced universe, poised by the Almighty hand that made it, to; be seen only
in the trackless visions of speechless wonder, but not to be comprehended by
the philosophy of a finite mind.
What more can the creature ask than an all-pervading love, that sustains a
bounteous world, and opens to the growing mind of man the golden flood
gates of ineffable light, truth and beauty ! That, while it permits desolation,
points to new sources of joy; that, while it gives "rain and sunshine" to
the oppressor, adds new energies to the spirit of freedom ; that, while it sub
merges the common mind in the darkness of ignorance, inspires an unquench-
ible thirst for knowledge ; that, while the wicked are permitted to rule, girds
the righteous with invincible strength ; and that, while it has darkened the
disk of its glory with the conditions of death, has opened new and inexhaust-
able fountains of life, and placed within the reach of man the means of happi
ness, and within the reach of nations the means of freedom.
Whether men follow counsels which free them from slavery, or take them
from freedom, they are the continued subjects of divine care. A righteous
people may dethrone a wicked king, or a self-elected ruler may rise up to
scourge a wicked people, — whatever and whichever the events may be, the
popular voice is either hushed in meek submission to the sway of superstition,
a state of zeal and of ignorance, or speaks with the thundering tones of
enlightened confidence in the justice of God, and in the freedom of man. •
The Israelites became the followers of Moses because he was the servant
of the Lord. Jesus of Nazareth was worshipped by the shepherds of Beth
lehem because he was the Son of God, and the Cross has become the sacred
emblem of unconquerable might. The Egyptians began their history with
dynasties of gods and heroes, and the government of Persia was based upon
the teachings of the sacred book. The Titans, a band of adventurers from
Phoenicia, became the sacred teachers of the ancient Greeks. Lycurgus had
no confidence in his own powers of persuasion to induce the Spartans to con
form to his government, without the aid of the Delphian Oracle.1 Pisistratus
had no hope in usurpation, but by counterfeiting the gods ; and Hippias could
be dethroned only by bribing them. Plato says " that his countrymen derived
all their knowledge of divine things from the ancients, who, as he affirms, were
wiser, and lived nearer to the gods." Alexander the Great claimed to be a
1 The Delphian Oracle, tutored, it may be supposed, to the purpose, declared Xycurgus the.
friend and favorite of the gods ; and proclaimed to Sparta that from him she should derive
the most perfect government on earth.

60 VOX POPULI VOX DEI.
descendant of Jupiter, and gained a control over the Egyptians by acknowl
edging an affinity between their deities and those of Greece. The Roman
Senate was looked upon with religious awe, because it was believed to be the
medium of supernatural power ; and the tribunes became invested with the
same agency, but to serve the people and enlarge their liberties.1 The Pope
claimed to act in accordance with a charter from "Heaven ; and Pepin and
Charlemagne, of France, joined with the Sovereign Pontiff to secure the
civil and religious rule of nations.2 The Benedictines3 of Italy were reverenced
by kings, and the powerful possessors of wealth, as the representatives of
Deity, and were regarded as the mediators between man and his Maker. The
ancient Britons bow'ed to the ferocious rule of the Druids • the Anglo-SaxOns
to that of the Cross; and when the. Duke of Normandy was prepared to
invade England, he was joined by the power of the Holy See of Rome, and we
find his warriors at prayers to the God of nations to command the elements;
and to bless his arms.4 The Sultan of Turkey swears to govern according
1 The tribunes were elected annually, like the consuls. At first, they were five in number ;
but afterwards their number was increased to ten. They had the power of suspending, by a
single veto, the execution of any decree of the senate which they judged prejudicial to the
people. They were not allowed, however,- to interfere in the deliberations of that body, nor
permitted ever to enter the senate-house. The persons of these magistrates were declared
sacred ; but their authority was confined within the bounds of the city and a mile beyond the
walls. The division of such a power with the people, in any degree, was an important con
cession on the part of the senate.
2 Pepin sent an embassy to Rome, to Zachary the Pope, proposing it as a question to his Holi
ness whether he or Childeric had the best title to the throne. Zachary had formed the
scheme of erecting a temporal dominion in Italy, and.wished, for that purpose, to employ the
arms of France to wrest the kingdom from the Lombards. An opportunity now offered of
securing the friendship of Pepin. The Pope decided the question by declaring that it was
conducive to the honor of God, and the interests of the church, that Pepin, who already exer
cised the office of King, should possess the title also.
Charlemagne frequently visited Italy, both to establish his own power in that country,
which was endangered by the partisans of the descendants of the Lombard kings, and .to
defend the authority of the popedom, which was firmly devoted to his interests. — Sec Tyt
ler, vol. n., pp. 59, 73.
3 Benedict, the founder of this order, was an Italian by birth. He had studied at Rome,
and soon distinguished himself by his talents, as well as superior sanctity. While quite
young, he retired to a cave, at Subiaco, where he remained for some years. Some neighbor
ing hermits chose him for their head, or superior ; and the donations which they received
from the devout and charitable very soon enabled them to build a large monastery. The
reputation of Benedict increased daily ; and he began to perform miracles* which attracted
the notice of Totila, the Gothic King of Italy.
4 The Norman fleet and army had been assembled, early in the summer, at the mouth of
the small river Dive, and all the troops had been instantly embarked ; but the winds proved
long contrary, and detained them in that harbor. The authority, however, of the duke, the
good discipline maintained among the seamen and soldiers, and the great care in supplying
them with provisions, had prevented any disorder, when at last the wind became favorable,
and enabled them to sail along the coast till they reached St. Valori. There were, however,

VOX POPULI VOX DEI. 61
to the injunctions of Mahomet, because he is believed to be the only teacher
from heaven ; and the Emperors of the Celestial Empire have no influence,
except as they are believed to be the representatives of Deity.
It has been said that the clergy, in the dark ages, discovered the power
sought to be exerted by Archimedes, — the aid of another world to move the
one they livad in. . But this power is always present, though clothed in the
varying forms of a progressive condition. Whether we follow it in the mighty
gatherings at Placentia, or in the moving multitudes led on by Peter the Her
mit, and by kings, in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, to rescue
the Holy Sepulchre from the Infidels ; 1 ¦ whether we embark with the spirit
of a Columbus, a Cortes, a Pizarro, or with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower,
— we can find no people bold enough to challenge its authority, — no people
strong enough to withstand its rule. Indeed, it is the only rule universally
acknowledged by man, although sometimes opposed by his wisdom. A change
of religious belief is but a change of form, and not of principle. Superstition
is but religious zeal without knowledge, and error but the evidence of igno
rance of the practical uses of knowledge.
The religious principle in man is as mighty in its sway as it is indestruct
ible in its nature. Its existence does not depend upon the feeble enactments
several vessels lost in this short passage ; and, as the wind again proved contrary, the army
began to imagine that Heaven had declared against them, and that, notwithstanding the
Pope's benediction, they were destined to certain destruction.
These bold warriors, who despised real dangers, were very subject to the dread of imagin
ary ones ; and many of them began to mutiny, some of them even to desert their colors, when
the duke, in order to support their drooping hopes, ordered a procession to be made with the
relics of St. Valori, and prayers to be said for more favorable weather. The wind instantly
changed ; and, as this incident happened on the eve of the feast of St. Michael, the tutelar
saint of Normandy, the soldiers, fancying they saw the hand of Heaven in all these circum
stances, proceeded with the greatest alacrity. — See Hume, vol I., p. 146.
1 " Peter, commonly called the Hermit, a native of Amiens, in Picardy, had made the pil
grimage, to Jerusalem. Being deeply affected with the dangers to which that act of piety
now exposed the pilgrims, as well as with the instances of oppression under which the eastern
Christians labored, he entertained the bold, and, in all appearance, impracticable project, of
leading into Asia, from the furthest extremities of the west, armies sufficient to subdue those
potent and warlike nations which now held the holy city in subjection. He proposed his
views to Martin II., who filled the papal chair, and who, though sensible of the advantages
which the head of the Christian religion must reap from a religious war, and though he
esteemed the blind zeal of Peter a proper means for effecting the purpose, resolved not to
interpose his authority till he saw a greater probability of success. He summoned a council
at Placentia, which consisted of four thousand ecclesiastics and thirty thousand seculars, and
which was so numerous that no -hall could contain the multitude, and it was necessary to hold
the assembly in a plain. The harangues of the-Pope, and of Peter himself, representing the
, dismal situation of their brethren in the east, and the indignity suffered by the Christian
name in allowing the holy city to remain in the' hands of infidels, here found the minds of
men so well prepared, that the whole multitude suddenly and violently declared for the war,
and solemnly devoted themselves to perform this service, so meritorious, as they believed it,
to God and religion." — Hume.

62 INFLUENCES AND RESULTS OF DEMOCRACY.
of nations, nor upon the persuasive powers of its ministers. These are but
the humble instruments of its development. With its presence and power,
the world becomes a field of indescribable : interest and glory ; but, in its
absence,— could the mind be withered to such a thought, — ¦ the world would
cease to be a place of being, and -man would fall to the senseless level of
chaotic matter. ,
It is the breathings of democracy, as taught by the Bible, that have subjected
that sacred book to the indignity of guards and proscriptions. The Bible has
given power to the popes and priests, and freedom to the people. It prepared
the Puritans for religious liberty, and the people of the American colonies
for independence.1 ... When we contemplate, in the landing of the Pilgrims at
Plymouth, the beginning of a mighty nation ; their confidence in God and
liberty, their struggles, hardships and sufferings, their jealous vigilance of
rights, and their visions of growth and greatness,^— we may hear, in the
prayers and exhortations which were echoed in the wilderness, the divine
proclamation, " That the voice of the people is the voice of God."
If we follow the growth of the colonies, and trace their sources of strength,
diversities of power, stability of purpose, wonderful foresight of danger,
strength of endurance, means of protection, love of freedom, and uncom
promising spirit to defend it, we cannot fail to see, in the birth of Wash
ington,2 and in his elevation to power ; in the birth of Franklin, Adams,
Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and the sacred band of their associates,*—
endowed as they were with extraordinary powers of discernment, prudence
and courage, — another illustration of the glorious truth, That the voice
OF THE PEOPLE IS THE VOICE OF GOD.
1 A Bible Society was constituted in Russia, 23d January, 1813, and had for its president,
under the protectorship of the emperor, Prince Alexander Galitsin, minister of religious
worship and public instruction. The activity of the society was very great. Its seat was at
St. Petersburg ; but it had, moreover, throughout the whole extent of the empire, 289 com
mittees or auxiliary societies. Donations amounted to 3,711,109 roubles. It caused the
Scriptures to be translated and printed, or at. least to be circulated, in 41 idioms, of those
which are spoken in Russia, apart from the national Sclavonic language, especially by the
numerous Finnish and Ural tribes. It distributed 448,109 copies. In 1825 it printed
70,000 more. It was soon found, however, to encourage the spirit of democracy; and, on
the 24th of April, 1826, an ukase, enacting the suppression of the Russian Bible Society,
proceeded from the supreme authority. — Court and Government of Russia, by J. H.
Schniizler, vol. ii., p. 489.
2 What a, sublime democratic triumph does the following correspondence indicate ! The
ruins of an Empire to perpetuate the glory of a Republic, and a voluntary tribute of the
Supreme Pontiff to aid in rearing a monument in honor of the achievements of the people !
c "Ligation des Etats Unis d'Amerique, pres le
X Saint Siege, Rome, Dec. 24, 1851.
" Sib: I have the honor to inform you that I have been apprized by his Holiness the
Pope, through Cardinal Antonelli, the Secretary of State of the Roman government, of his

INFLUENCES AND RESULTS OF DEMOCRACY. 63
If we leave the infant republic in charge of the patriot who fought its
battles and achieved its independence, and turn to behold the mighty nation
that it has become, by the unconquerable spirit and wise administration of
democracy ; and to contemplate the hope in humanity which it has inspired,
we are again led to acknowledge and to admire the beauty and exalted force
of the sacred maxim, That the voice of the people is the vojce of
God.
It was a conception of the poet, of great and fearful import, that
" An undevout astronomer is mad ; "
and, with a similar conviction and feeling in respect to the magnitude of the
subject which this work "is intended to elucidate, we cannot close without
adding that, whoever has studied man in the true dignity of his nature, or
intention to contribute a block of marble toward the erection of the national monument to the
memory of Washington. The block was taken from the ancient Temple of Peace, adjoining the
palace of the 'Caesars, and is to receive the inscription of ' Rome to America.' As soon as
the work is completed, the necessary measures will be taken to forward it to you.
" I am, sir, very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, "Lewis Cass, Jr."
Addressed to the Secretary of the National Monument Society, Washington.
" Washington, Feb. 4, 1851.
"Sik: Your letter of the 24th of December last, informing me that you had been
* apprized by his Holiness the Pope, through Cardinal Antonelli, the Secretary of State of
the Roman government, of his intention to contribute a block of marble towards the erection
of the national monument to the memory of Washington,' has been laid before the Board of
Managers of the Washington National Monument Society of this city, and they have
instructed me to communicate, through you, to his Holiness the Pope, their sincere gratifica
tion at the information thus furnished of his intention to contribute a block of marble from
the ruins of the Temple of Peace, at Rome, to be placed in the monument now in the course
of erection in honor of the illustrious Washington.
, " I am requested to assure you that it will be not only interesting, but acceptable as an
offering from ' Rome to America ; ' and especially so as forming a part of an ancient struc
ture, dedicated to peace, in the vicinity of the palace of the Csesars, to be placed in jux
taposition with blocks of stone which have been presented by the modern and free states
of the American confederacy. It will be regarded as a manifestation of respect paid to patri
otism and private virtue, to the name and character of one whom the civilized world holds
in the highest estimation, and to a nation whose annals he has rendered glorious.
"The monument now in course of erection will, it is believed, from its magnificence, do
honor to the great patriot and statesman, as well as to his countrymen, by whose voluntary
contributions it is to be erected.
" The Board of Managers respectfully request you ip tender their thanks to his Holiness
for his very acceptable contribution, and to inform him that it shall be placed in a con
spicuous position in the monument. " I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
" Your obedient servant,
" Geo. Watterston, Secretary.
"Lewis Cass, Jr., United States Charge d' Affaires, Rome."

64 INFLUENCES AND RESULTS OF DEMOCRACY.
the sublime destiny of nations, without becoming a friend to democracy ; or
whoever has studied democracy without realizing the elevating emotions of
adoration to his Maker, — ; has failed to discover the paramount objects of life,
and the most exalted privileges which inhere -in the exercise of the rights of
a true citizen.
. The triumphs of Democracy constitute the way-marksj of the world. Thay
demand no extraneous element of endurance for permanency, no fictitious
splendor for embellishment, no borrowed greatness for glory. Originating
in the inexhaustible sources of power, moved by the spirit of love and lib
erty, and guided by the wisdom which comes from the instincts and experi
ence of the immortal soul, as developed in the people, democracy exists in
the imperishable principle of progress, and registers its achievements in the
institutions of freedom, and in the blessings which characterize and beautify
the realities of life. Its genius is to assert and advance the true dignity of
mind, to elevate the motives and affections of man, and to extend, establish,
protect and equalize, the common rights of humanity.

i'illiSiP^1

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Printed, liy J C Bicttra. S" V

Engraved expressly for this work

AMERICAN COLONIES.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Political History is the record of events in their relations as national
causes. Its objects are to discover the sources of national prosperity, and
the instrumentalities by which that prosperity has been achieved, whether by
party or otherwise. The end of such a study obviously consists in a just
application of principles as developed by a common experience. It compre
hends man as a being of intelligence, principles as the standard of action,
laws and institutions as the exponents of practice, governments as the agents
of power, and nations as aggregated results. A rudimental key to the sub
ject is to be found in a knowledge of the faculties of the human mind.1 Let
the mind be studied. The events first to be' considered, in the political
history of the United States, are ; those which happened in England in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and ;which led to the colonization of the
American continent. But, in order that we may have distinct views of
national formations, let us first ^endeavor to understand
THE PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION. '' *
The world of truth pervades eternity. God is its centre; humanity the
means of its development. To man is given the double power of an inward
and outward vision. He can look upon the events of the past, reproduced
' So constituted is the mind of man, that his views enlarge, and his desires and wants
increase, in full proportion to the facilities afforded for their gratification ; and, indeed, with
augmented rapidity, so that no sooner has the successful exercise of his powers accomplished
any considerable simplification or improvement of processes subservient to his use or comfort,
than his faculties are again on the stretch to extend the limits of his newly acquired power ;
and having once experienced the advantages which are to be gathered by availing himself
of some of the powers of nature to accomplish his ends, he is led thenceforward to regard
them all as a treasure placed at his disposal, if he have only the art, the industry, or the
good fortune, to penetrate those recesses which conceal them from immediate view. Having
once learned to look on knowledge as power, and to avail himself of it as such, he is no longer
content to limit his enterprises to the beaten track of former usage, but is constantly led
onward to contemplate objects which, in a previous stage of his progress, he would have
regarded as unattainable and visionary, had he even thought of them at all. It is here that
the investigation of the hidden powers of nature becomes a mine, every vein of which is
pregnant with inexhaustible wealth, and whose ramifications appear to extend in all direc
tions wherever human wants or curiosity may lead us to explore. These remarks of Herschel
on "the general nature and advantages of the study of the physical sciences" suggest a
method of study quite as applicable to other topics. Between the developments of mind and
the growth of nations there is an instructive correspondence of cause and effect.
9

66 PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION.
¦*. "*,
by the memory of the reflective powers ; gather the results of an experience,
which spring from a life, a generation, or from the aggregate ages already
transpired. He can look forward with an eye of hope that is illumined by a
living faith, aided by the knowledge which shapes conviction, by the light
of revelation which insures imm'ortality, and by the sentiments of the soul
which elevate the mind to the great objects of existence, and prepare it for
the untrodden paths of the future.
Men limit the sources of influence to the narrow circle of individual exist
ence, and live content under the control of selfish purposes; or they exert
the powers of a higher nature, seeking a further knowledge, a superior
good, a wider sphere, a sublimer philosophy.
The inward view is reflection. It refines and perfects whatever has been
observed and realized. It is the reviewing or comparing power of the mind.
It compounds, compares, and divides the elements of knowledge, and theo
rizes from a consciousness that comprehends the present and the past. With
gifted minds the faculties of reflection systematize knowledge, develop^ prin
ciples, and advance science.
The outward view is perception. It is the mind looking out from itself,
inspired by its instincts, and directed by its capacities, hopes and aspirations.
With a comprehensive glance at the common experience of .the past ; with
a lively sense of an advancing age, of new wants and present .duties, the
perceiving mind explores the future, and, with its clear conceptions of what
is possible, leads the way to new discoveries, and illustrates the means of
their attainment. The separate exercise of the reflective faculties makes the
abstract student. The .separate exercise of the perceptive faculties makes the
speculative pioneer. Between the two extremes is to be found the variety
of character which makes up the world. Added to these sources of mental
activity, are to be -found the impelling forces of moral and religious senti
ment, combined with an unyielding adherence' to self-imposed convictions,
and guarded by propensities, which accumulate a power necessary to advance
ment, and secure a control necessary to protection.
Bacon1 and Franklin were pioneers of knowledge, combining with won
derful power and simplicity, the results of the past with new provisions for
1 Lord Bacon was the first who taught the proper method of studying the sciences ; that
is, he pointed out the way in which we should begin and carry on our pursuit of knowledge,
in order to arrive at the truth. As, in a great army, there are some whose office it is to
construct bridges, to cut paths along mountains, and to remove various impediments, so
Lord Bacon may be said to have cleared the way to knowledge, to have marked out the road
to truth; and to have left future travellers little else to do than follow his instructions. He
was the miner and sapper of philosophy, the pioneer of nature ; and he eminently promoted
the dominion of man over. the material world. He was born in the year 1561. Before his
time the scholastic philosophy of Aristotle prevailed. — British Library of Useful Knowl
edge. .--

PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION. 67
the future. In Newton1 and La Place2 are seen those great teachers so rev
erently invoked by Virgil,3 but who came not till Naples had been honored by
the dust of the illustrious poet for more than sixteen hundred years.4 In view
of modern times, the fifteenth century was made glorious by the great pioneer
of Discovery,8 and the seventeenth by the immortal pioneers of Democracy.
Honor to the pioneer ! He is entitled to reverence as the early agent of
Providence in all those great changes of life which constitute the improve
ment of the world. We speak of the pioneer in an enlarged sense, — as the
discoverer of new regions, new agents, new beauties, and new combinations
in the natural, as well as new truths in the moral world. He seems to be
endowed with an instinct superior to reason, a gift from his Maker to extend
the limits of knowledge, and the great purposes of divine beneficence.
We find him in the wilderness, self-exiled from the refinements of civil
ization, inviting labor, enduring hardships, incurring dangers, a willing
neighbor to the savage.6 He is to be found upon the ocean, in the frail-
1 Sir Isaac Newton was born in 1642 (0. S.) He died in 1727. He was of obscuYe origin,
and employed when young as a market-boy; He was a democrat, and was twice elected a
member of Parliament. He was a candidate a third time for a place in Parliament, but his
democracy was adverse to his reelection.
2 La Place was the son of a farmer, and was born in 1729. He died in 1827. By the time
he was twenty-one years of age he had mastered the discoveries of all the philosophers who
preceded him, and was prepared to build on them a splendid superstructure of his own.
3 As rendered by Drtden :
-" Ye sacred Muses, with whose beauty fired,
My soul is ravished, and my brain inspired,
Whose priest I am, whose holy fillets wear-*
Would you your poet's first petition hear, —
Give me the ways of wandering stars to know,
The depths of heaven above, and earth below }
Teach me the various labors of the moon,
And whence proceed the eclipses of the sun ;
Why flowing tides prevaU upcSn the main,
And in what dark recess they shrink again ;
"What shakes the solid earth, what cause delays
The summer nights, and shortens winter days."
* Virgil was born at Mantua in the first consulship of Pompey the Great, 69 B. C. He
died in the fifty-first year of his age.
5 Columbus was the son of a Genoese pilot ; a pilot and seaman himself ; and at one period
of his career was compelled to beg his bread at the doors of the convents in Spain. " But
he carried within himself," says a distinguished writer, " and beneath a humble exterior, a
spirit for which there was not room in Spain, in Europe, nor in the then known world ; and
which led him on to a height of usefulness and fame, beyond that of all the monarchs that
ever reigned." All Europe was awakened by the discoveries of Columbus, and the family
of the Cabots was among the warmest in insisting on further maritime adventure. There
was a romance in the idea. of discovering unknown realms. The world was to be enlarged ;
every kingdom of nature was to be more productive. Enthusiasm pervaded all classes. Se
bastian Cabot, who was just arrived at, manhood, after alluding to the feelings of his country
men, said, " By this fame and report, there increased in my heart a great flame of desire to
attempt some notable thing." — Life of Cabot (Sparks' Series), by Hayward.
6 The celebrated Daniel Boone, at the age of fifty-two years, having seen some adventurers
returning from an expedition up the Missouri, who described the country bordering on

68 PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION.
constructed bark, without instructions from man, ploughing the trackless
deep, with no chart of his destined shores but that of faith. Behold him in
the icy regions of the poles, though aided by the light of science, yet still the
same unyielding and self-sacrificing spirit, reaching forward to burst the
boundaries of his view. See him in the laboratory and in the work-shop, in
the observatory and in the field- He is to be heard in the pulpit and in the
halls of legislation, and read in the public prints. He is to be found in the
caverns of the earth, in the depths of the sea, in the Vaults of the ancients,
in the crater of the volcano, on the summit of the loftiest mountain, and
borne by the chariot of science and art above and beyond the tempests of the
sky. Behold him, too, in the missions of the . gospel to distant lands ; see
him struggling in the cause of freedom, earnest and bold in all reforms, and
a ministering angel of sympathy in the cause of suffering humanity. Every
age has had its great and shining lights, suited to its period, and every nation
its gifted spirits.1
The colony2 is the offspring of the mind in its outward view. Without a
disposition to leave his native soil, man would accomplish but a small por
tion of his appointed work. The earth would become a superfluous wilder
ness, inventive genius would seek in vain for objects of activity, and the
dexterous hand would be trained to no skill. Population would become so
dense as to smother endeavor, production would stagnate, and industry
could promise no reward. Enterprise would react upon enterprise", as the
reverting stream "destroys the water-fall; and the activity of man would in
crease his wants, and lessen his power to supply them. Mental vigor would
be dissipated by the sameness of action, the love of gain would degenerate
into rapacity, and society in its natural ramifications would be broken down
that river in glowing colors, resolved once more to seek a new home in the solitude of Mis
souri. Being inquired of as to what induced him to leave all the comforts of home, and so
rich and flourishing a country as his dear Kentucky, which he had discovered and helped to
win from the Indians, for the wilds of Missouri, — ' ' Too crowded ! too crowded ! I want more
elbow-room," he replied. This was in 1798. He died in 1818. Lord Byron says of him :
" Of all men, saving Sylla, the Man-slayer,
Who passes for in life and death most lucky
Of the great names which in our faces stare,
The General Boone, backwoodsman of Kentucky,
Was the happiest among mortals any-where ;
.For, killing nothing but a bear or buck, he
Enjoyed the lonely, vigorous, harmless days
Of his old age in wilds of deepest maze."
1 Republic U. S.
2 Colony (in Latin Colonia, a word derived from the Latin verb colo, colere, to till or cul
tivate the ground) originally signified a number of people transferred from one country or
place to another, where lands were allotted to them. The people themselves were called Coloni,
a word corresponding to our term colonists. The meaning of the word was extended to sig
nify the country or place where colonists settled, and is now generally applied to any settle
ment or land possessed by a sovereign state upon foreign soil. — Cyclopedia of Political

PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION. 69
by- the accumulated excesses of passion.1 Hence, in the love of travel and
adventure; in the restless spirit of romance which longs for new scenes and
courts new dangers ;2 in the unsatisfied cravings of aselfish nature, — the love
of gain, whether manifested by the individual, the tribe, or the nation ; in
the wild and unconquerable enthusiasm of the artist, the student, or in the
indomitable zeal of the fanatic, — is to be found a perpetual source of new
agents, and a continued evidence of God's unbounded love.
Men as colonists are influenced by different motives. In this is to be seen
the interesting fact, that the diversity of things is adapted to a corresponding
diversity of faculties.
The learned Sismondi, in making a comparison between the ancient and
modern colonies, laments the humiliating necessity of being compelled to
favor the motives and practices of the ancients, as superior to those of the
moderns. " It will be thought," discourses this profound philosopher, " that a picture
of the progressive civilization of the modern world by the colonies of Europe
would not yield in grandeur to that of ancient colonization. In fact, during
the three last centuries, Europeans have sent colonies into almost every part
of the habitable world. They have subjugated countries infinitely surpassing
in extent those they have left, and they have founded empires and republics
1 It has been sensibly remarked by one of our ablest modern writers on statistical affairs,
says Lord Selkirk (in his work on the colonial policy of Great Britain, published in 1816),
that whoever has thoroughly investigated the commercial and colonial system, cannot have
failed to notice how the different branches of human activity are gradually and successively
developed, each at its proper period. . To illustrate this point, this writer adds (Gentz's
State of Europe before and after the French Revolution), that when agriculture and manu
factures have arrived at a certain degree of perfection, the desire of foreign commerce is
naturally awakened ; that, although the object of this propensity may be retarded or accel
erated by adverse or favorable circumstances, the persevering activity of mankind will sooner
or later accomplish it; — that it will at length gain access to distant or unexplored regions,
and succeed in its unremitted endeavors to connect all parts of the earth ; that the produce
of remote countries becomes a new spur to industry ; and that industry so excited explores
and cultivates those lands, so that the productions of new regions operate to increase the
activity and to multiply the commercial relations of the old ; that this gives new life even to
the interior of more civilized countries, and multiplies the objects of traffic ; that industry
produces riches, and riches reproduce industry ; and thus commerce at length becomes the
foundation and the cement of the whole social edifice.
2 Those who have once tasted the pleasure of roving at large through woods and over
mountains can never afterwards feel happy under the restraints of society. Curiosity and the
love of action, no less than their wants, must have continually urged the earliest inhabitants
of the globe to explore all the varieties of its surface. Pastoral tribes feel an interest in
learning the nature of the country in the vicinity of their encampments, the extent of its pas
tures, and the rivers which flow through and refresh it. * * * When men in the pro
gress of their migrations reach the sea-coast, the love Of gain, as well as of adventure, soon
impels them to launch upon the waves, and direct their course to distant countries. — His
tory of Maritime and Inland Discovery, by Dr. Lardner.

70 PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION.
proportionably larger than those of the Old World. Nevertheless, we cannot
for a moment compare in our minds the colonies of the ancients and those of
the moderns, without the first impression, even before reflection, informing
us that the colonies of the ancients renewed the human race, tempered it
afresh, and began political existence with all the advantages of youth ; ours,
on the contrary, are born old, with all the jealousies, all the troubles, all the
indigence, all the vices, of old Europe: that the colonies of the ancients,
in every point of civilization, constantly rose above those who had given birth
to them ; that ours as constantly descend below their founders : that our
colonies, already so large, are destined to become larger ; but that in vain
will be sought for in them .the virtues, the patriotism, the vigor, which
belonged to the first age of the world.
" More attentive observation makes us feel still greater differences. The
Greeks, and before them the Egyptians, founded a colony that it might be
complete in itself; we, that it may be a part of another empire. They had
constantly in view the welfare of the colonists'; we, the advantage of the
mother country. They wished the colony to suffice to itself, with respect to
its subsistence, defence, internal government, and all the principles of its
development ; we wish it to be dependent in every way, to subsist by com
merce, and that this should enrich the mother country ; that it should be.
defended by her arms, obedient to her orders, governed by her lieutenants,
and that these new citizens should even receive their education only from
their elder brothers.
" A profound study of the colonies makes us perceive another difference,
still more afflicting. The colonies of the Egyptians, of the Phoenicians, of the
Greeks, and even of the Bomans, brought benefits to the countries where
they were established; ours, calamities. The first, by their contact, civ
ilized the barbarians ; the modern Europeans have, wherever they have set
tled, destroyed all civilization foreign to their own manners ; they have
barbarized (if this expression may be allowed) the nations whom they call
barbarous, by forcing them to renounce all the arts of life which they had
themselves invented. They have, in their turn, barbarized themselves ; for
here Europeans have descended to the manners of pastoral nations, there to
that of hunters ; everywhere, in all their transactions with the aborigines,
tbey have sullied themselves, by deceit, by abuse of force, and by cruelty ;
everywhere they have gone back in the arts they brought from Europe,
their agriculture has become half savage, all their tools more rude, all their
knowledge more incomplete, distinguished men more rare; and the, general
level of intelligence, as well as of morality, has descended, instead of ris-
ing."1 1 Essays on Political Economy, by M. De Sismondi, p. 249.

PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION. 71
No one would willingly speak lightly of the views of M. de Sismondi, and
It is with feelings of deference that we make exceptions to his compari
sons. His statements are loosely made, and his conclusions are at vari
ance with the rules of reason. Acknowledged facts are misused, and the
elements of common knowledge omitted. While he is bent upon pointing
out- the differences in result, he forgets to consider the differences in cause.
Indeed, cause and effect are frequently transposed, by mistaking the condi
tions of success for the cause of failure. In hardly any respect are the
cases which he presents parallel. It may be said, with much truth, that in
almost all respects they are different. It must be remembered that every age
of the world has its peculiar features, wants and means. Races stand in dif
ferent relations, character demands different aids, society different processes,
and nations different laws and boundaries. The empires of the ancients were
as fragments compared to those of modern times. Fragment'sought fragment,
as in the sky the floating cloud attracts cloud before the coming rain. Sep
arately they are comparatively nothing, but when combined a great design
is accomplished. The people lived as parts of a natien, and nationality was
unknown in the modern sense of the term. They had no definite concep
tions of an organized government, of territorial, boundaries,1 of a general and
a systematized interest, or of the rights of nations. That they entertained
vague notions in respect to all these subjects, no one will deny. The
*
1 " The Greeks," playfully writes Thomas Campbell, " called Homer the father of Geog
raphy. Homer is a mighty painter in song ; his tablet embraces heaven, earth and hell, —
the habitations of gods and men, of the living, and the dead. He is, therefore, better than a
geographer ; but still, we can scarcely hail him as a patriarch of science. His .chorographie
fidelity is, no doubt, striking, in portions of Asia, and in the whole of Proper Greece; but it
relaxes_very much when he gets out of the limits pf Greece, and beyond the Asiatic territories
of the Trojan-allies. He represents Italy as an island, he shows no acquaintance with the
Caspian Sea, and he makes so gratuitous a coinage of strange countries in the Odyssey, that
the antiquaries disputing about some of their localities remind me of a person who, when
he was told that Napp.er Tandy had been taken, desired anxiously to be informed whereabouts
Napper Tandy lay. He was told that the object of his inquiry was apt to shift its latitude
and longitude, and was at that time probably floating at sea. The same thing may be said of
countries that only floated in Homer's imagination. * * * * Homer imagined
the world to be encircled by the ocean, as may be seen by his description of the sculpture on
Achilles' shield. The sun, according to Homer, issued every morning from a beautiful east
ern bay in the ocean, in a chariot drawn by four horses, and, having crossed the ether, and
reached the opposite oceanic stream (for it does not appear that the poet imagined it to be
boundless) , Apollo there bathed his horses at night, and baited for a time. It is plain that
he could not have stopped the live-long night, as he had to be back in time to mount his coach
in the morning ; but in what manner he got back Homer has not explained. The moon, we
are left to suppose, performed the same evolution. As to the constellations, Homer speaks of
their bathing themselves in the -ocean ; but he particularly excepts from this general rule
of refreshment the Greater Bear, who had a surly aversion to take the water, much to the
advantage of mariners, to whom Bruin served in the place of a compass." — Metropolitan
Magazine, vol. i., p. 7.

72 PRINCIPLES OF COLONIZATION.
position taken here is, that history furnishes no conclusive evidence that
they either theorized with completeness, or practised with much reference
to ¦ system.1 A profound study of the subject should lead to opposite con
clusions. The doings of nations cover vast periods of time, and he that
would solve the grand phenomena of their slow but certain progress, of
their destructive sway and growing power, must not mistake the means. of
advancement for permanent results, nor poise the pains of the moment
against the blessings' of eternity. '
• Colonization belongs to humanity. It is an outward condition of advance
ment. It began with the existence of man. It is a progressive process,
and develops some new feature at every step. It is allied with no policy but
that of principle;, it stops short. of no result but that which is in harmony
with human progress. It precedes the action of government, and changes
or outlives its original relations of dependence.
To the Egyptian and Phoenician colonists the ancient Greeks were
indebted for their knowledge of agriculture, mining, commerce, and naviga
tion. By them they were also taught the arts of weaving, writing, and
coining. These colonists were influenced chiefly by motives of a commercial
character. To similar motives, to their practice of banishment, and to a
superabundant population, may be traced the earlier Greek colonies.2 The
colonies of the Carthaginians in the interior, as well as on the coast of
Africa, Sicily and Spain, are said to have been those of conquest, and
chiefly for the purpose of keeping the country in subjection. This doubtless
was an important object, but if the inquiry be made what were the motives
of conquest, we are again directed to those of interest, or of personal adven
ture or distinction. The colonial system adopted by ancient Rome was of a
two-fold nature : to secure the conquered part of Italy, and to satisfy the
claims of its indigent citizens by a division of lands more favorable to their
plans of industry.3
1 It was even as late as the fifteenth century A. D., that Pope Alexander VI. " appointed
that a line, supposed to be drawn from pole to pole, a hundred leagues to the westward of
the Azores, should serve as a limit between the Portuguese and Spaniards ; and bestowed all to
the east of this imaginary line upon the Portuguese, and all to the west of it upon the Span
iards. The Pope, as the vicar and representative of Jesus Christ, was supposed to have the
fight of dominion over the kingdoms of the earth."
2 The Etruscans, according to Dionysins of Halicarnassus, consecrated to a particular god
all the youth of a certain age, furnished them with arms, and, after the performance of a
solemn sacrifice, dismissed them to conquer for themselves a new country.
At the end of three hundred years the Greeks were more advanced than their instruct
ors, the Egyptians. "The community of, interest," says Sismondi, "the close approxima
tion of all the citizens, their constant action on one another, made the colonies of antiquity
resemble a school of mutual instruction. What one knew all knew, all practised, all taught
to the natives."
3 The Roman Provincial system must not be confounded with their Colonial system. A Ro
man province, in the latter sense of that term, meant a country which was subjected to the

ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. 73
As the world progresses, the sphere of motives becomes enlarged, The
faculties are more fully developed, they are exercised in new combina
tions, and knowledge is seen in an extended application.1 In Christianity
man found still higher aims and nobler duties, and was moved by an intenser
zeal. The Spanish colonists in Mexico, Peru, Cuba and Paraguay; the
Portuguese in Brazil and India ; the French and English everywhere, may
be spoken of as having been influenced by all the motives which character
ized the ancients, and by the sublimer requisitions of Christianity.2
To form definite and accurate opinions of the colonies in North America,
which now make a portion of the United States, it is necessary that we
should turn back and study the period of their birth, the events connected
with their growth, and mark the developments of their progress, as illustra
tive of great and vital principles.
ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
America was discovered by Columbus in 1492.3 For more than a cen
tury it continued a wilderness, the object of an indefinite curiosity, the sub-
dominion of Rome, and governed by a praetor, propraetor, or pro-consul, sent from Rome, who
generally held office for a year, but sometimes for a longer period.
A distinction should be made between Roman colonies and Latin colonies. The citizens
who went out to form a Roman colony retained all their civic rights. The members of Roman
colonies which were called Latin (Colonias Latinos) had not the Roman citizenship ; they
voluntarily renounced part of their civic rights, in consideration of a grant of lands. —
Cyclopedia of Political Knowledge, Src.
1 " It is a very ordinary subjeot of complaint against democratic commonwealths," says
Lord Brougham, " that they always maltreat their provinces and their colonies." But, after
reviewing briefly the colonial history of the republics of Greece, Rome, Carthage and of the
Dutch, he concludes, " Upon the whole, it seems reasonable that there is nothing in the dem
ocratic" polity peculiarly incompatible with ' the wise and humane management of colonial
affairs," &c. — Political History, vol. in., p. 135.
2 Robert Cushman, in his reasons and considerations touching the lawfulness of removing
out of England into the parts of America, 1621, refers to the following passages in the Bible
as authorizing and even commanding colonization, — Gen. 12 : 1, 2; and 35 : 1. Also, 17 : 8.
Matt. 2 : 19. Psalm 105 : 13. Josh. 5 : 12. Heb. 1 : 1, 2. 2 Cor. 5 : 1,2, 3.
3 Columbus supposed Hispaniola to be the ancient Ophir, which had been visited by the
ships of King Solomon, and that Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts pf Asia. On
the Sth of March, 1495, Henry VII. of England granted a commission to John Cabot, an
enterprising Venetian, who had settled in Bristol, and to his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian and
Sanctius, empowering them, or either of them, to sail under the banner of England towards
the east, north or west, in order to discover countries unoccupied by any Christian state, and
to take possession of them in his name. In May, 1496, Cabot, with his second son, Sebas
tian, sailed from Bristol in a small squadron, consisting of one ship furnished by the king,
and four barks fitted out by merchants of that city ; and, steering almost due west, discov
ered the islands of Newfoundland and St. John's, and soon afterward reached the continent
of North America. — Marshall's American Colonial History.
But the student will be inclined to give some consideration to the Ante-Columbian Dis
coveries. An Icelandic historian, Torfseus, has claimed for his ancestors the glory of having
10

74 ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
ject of mere speculation. It was visited occasionally by navigators, with
dreamy and fluctuating motives of discovery ; but its importance was meas-
' ured only by the standard of the natives who ranged its hills and forests, and
not by that of European civilization. It was not understood, — it was not
wanted. It may have had charms for the zealot who was a lover of gold, and
for the bold adventurer, who cared for no happiness but that of excitement, and
for no object but that of renown. To the mass of the people in- the old coun
try, the newly-discovered continent appeared more like a distant star than a
territory for a civilized race, — an object of wonder, and- perhaps of admira
tion, but altogether too remote for serious contemplation. Their wants
were circumscribed by the limits of their knowledge and condition, and their
grievances were remedied by expedients adapted to the narrow frame-work
of the age in which they lived.
But England, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Holland, were
beginning to assume distinct formations in a national point of view, and
mind commenced a new era by giving birth to motives which enlarged the
circles of enterprise, multiplied the objects of life, and elevated the purposes
of existence.1 Nations were seen as individualities, freedom was claimed as
a natural right, government as a protection, and religion the holy cause of
each and all. Towards these momentous topics the universal mind became
directed. Nations became the observers of nations, public practice was reduced
to national law, and discovery became the subject of competition. Gain, the
great incentive to commercial enterprise and success, the fruitful source of
jealousy and renewed endeavor, combined to produce magnificent schemes
and golden encouragements. The claims of science were asserted by the
philosopher, the divine right of kings was questioned by the government,
the sway of the Pope was resisted by royalty, and the prerogatives of con
science were declared by the people. The moral tides of nations had begun to
flow and ebb, and society to enlarge its boundaries.
The political atmosphere of England at this time was filled with the spray
discovered the New World. (Torfmi Historia Vinlandia Antiques. Hafniee, 1705.) A
learned work has recently been published by the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, at
Copenhagen, giving an account of the voyages made to America by the Scandinavian North
men, during the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. The
accounts of these early voyages are published from authentic manuscripts, which date back as
far as the tenth century. The work is entitled, "Antiquitates Americance sive Scriptores
Septentrionales Rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America. Hafnia, 1837." — See App.
R. I. Hist. Coll., vol. iv.
1 An extraordinary impulse was given, about this period, to the progress of European civ
ilization, by the simultaneous invention — or, at least, introduction from the East  of the
mariner's compass, gunpowder and artillery, an improved system of arithmetic, and the art
of printing. Combined with these were a renewed study of the Roman law, the cultivation of
Greek literature, the restoration of the fine arts, and the opening of new paths of industry
and commercial enterprise. — Taylor's JVatural History of Society.

ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. 75
of party strife ; communities were distracted by' the convulsive throes of
religious passion, disloyalty, and universal mistrust.1
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries constituted a period of division,
trial and experiment. Church and state were struggling together in a common
cause, slowly fortifying the government ' against the returning tides of
Papacy,2 and laboring with distracted purposes to assert a unity in the midst
of influences which were springing from the desperate contests between public
authority and individual opinion, — between the rights of conscience and the
claims of government. They stood side by side, each supporting the other,
but both in fearful apprehension of separate positions.
The public mind became engaged in determining the boundary-lines of
humanity. Toleration was either exalted as a virtue, or stigmatized as a
crime.3 The compatibility of two governments appeared as clear as that of
1 The early part of the seventeenth century was denominated ' 'an age of vipers, and monsters
of all sorts."— Pari. Deb., vol. n.,p. 660 (1640). In the House of Lords, 1641, Bishop Hall
speaks with great feeling of ' ' the woful and lamentable condition of the poor Church of Eng
land , your dear mother. " " My lords, " he continues, ' ' this was not wont to be her style. We
have heretofore talked of the famous and flourishing Church of England, but now your lord
ships must give me leave to say that the poor Church of England humbly prostrates herself at
your lordships' feet (next after his sacred majesty) , and humbly craves your compassion and
present aid. My lords, it is a foul and dangerous insolence this, which is now. complained of
to you ; but it is only one of a hundred of those which have been of late done to this church
and government. The Church of England, as your lordships cannot choose but know, hath
been and is miserably infested with papists on one side, and schismatics on the other.
* * * Alas ! my lords, I beseech you consider what it is that there should be in
London and the suburbs and liberties no fewer than fourscore congregations of several sec
taries, as I have been too credibly informed, instructed by guides fit for them, coblers, taylors,
fellwnakers, and such like trash, which all are taught to spit in the face of their mother, the
Church of England, and to defy and revile her government."— Pari. Deb., vol. n., p. 989.
2 In 1620 Sir Jerome Horsey moved, in the House of Commons, " that four or six of that
House might be appointed to search the vaults and cellars under the Parliament-house, twice
a week. He feared another Gunpowder Plot. Sir James Perrot moved (1620) " that, all the
members of the House might take the communion, which was the touchstone of their faith."
— Pari. Deb., vol. ±., p. 1184.
3 In the sixteenth century the Inquisition, and its kindred spirits everywhere, had concen
trated the gaze of the world upon the single subject of toleration, — the freedom of opinion.
Enormities were committed which made humanity shudder, and mind began to question the
soundness of a theory which could not be reduced to practice without an aggregation of cru
elties " which robbed horror itself of its sway over the soul." John Loui3 VivCs, a Spaniard
of great learning and reputation, bewails the fate of moderate and charitable Catholics in
Spain. In a letter to Erasmus, dated May 18th, 1534, he says : " We live in hard times, in
which we can neither speak nor be silent without danger." In the forty-three years of the
administrations of the first four Inquisitors-general, which closed in the year 1524,
they committed eighteen thousand human beings to the flames, and inflicted inferior
punishments on two hundred thousand persons more, with various degrees of severity.
" Some of these occurrences in Spain," Sir James Mackintosh very properly remarks,
" and the numerous executions in the Netherlands, must have been well known in Eng
land about the period of the death of Mary, and could not fail to affect the state of
opinion in that island, so much that a writer of English history cannot with justice exclude

76 ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
two systems of religion. Opinions were scrutinized as conclusive evidence of
innocence or of malignity, and nonconformity reduced to action was war upon
the state. The subject of rights was severed from the fortified securities of
the past, and became a topic for private and public discussion. What reason
did not accomplish was left to be- snatched by the competing hands of bigotry,
and what was not protected by justice became the mangled prey of corrupted
factions. Each faction had its separate interests, theories, instruments, and
ends ; and what could not be gained by concession was claimed by virtue of
fanatic preeminence. Property was viewed as the rightful source of strength
to the strongest, weakness the evidence of wrong, and resistance to oppres
sion as a fearful heresy, or a dangerous rebellion. The people became the
victims, successively, of an oppressive government, of religious frenzy, of
insurrections, and of anarchy. They were either cramped by monopolies,1
or stretched by levellers.2 Either above the throne, or beneath its ruins.
Alternately the subjects of paralyzing fears and elevating hopes, they fol
lowed their varying leaders to the clubs or private assemblies, participated
in- the secret plots, or rushed to join the gathering mob.
The fruits of industry, instead of yielding comforts and protection to the
laborer, sharpened the rapacity of the tax-gatherer, and aggravated the
grievances of oppression. Traders became bankrupts ; mechanics, beggars.
Mothers, wives and daughters, left the quiet but comfortless sphere of home,
all mention of them in his narrative ; especially when the memorable circumstances are con
sidered, which we learn from the weighty testimony of the Prince of Orange, that the
Spanish and French monarchs meditated the extension over all Christendom of such a tri
bunal as the Inquisition had already shown itself to be, by its exercise of authority in Spain. ' '
The return of exiles from the seats of Calvinism in Switzerland, at the moment of Queen
Elizabeth's accession to the throne, and the accumulated results of great teachers (Wickliffe,
Huss, and Calvin) of the fifteenth century, combined to produce the events just noticed of
the sixteenth, and in this period the people were still further prepared for the revolutions
which occurred in the seventeenth.
1 In 1601 a most interesting debate took place in the House of Commons on a bill against
monopolies. One member said that a monopolist might well be termed the. whirlpool of the.
prince's profit. Another member (the mover of the bill) said that it presented " no new
invention," but was in accordance with the legislation of " their forefathers more than three
hundred years before." Sir Robert Wroth said: " There have been divers patents granted
since the last Parliament; these are now in being, namely, the patents for currants, iron, pow
der, cards, ox shinbones, train-oil, transportation of leather, lists of cloth, ashes, aniseed,
vinegar, sea-coals, steel, aquavitse, brushes, pots, salt-petre, lead, accidences, oil, calamin-
stone, oil of blubber, fumachoes, or dried piltchers in the smoak, and divers others." Upon
reciting of the patents, Mr. Hackwell stood up and asked, "Is not bread there?"
"Bread," quoth one. "Bread!" quoth another. "This voice seems strange," quoth
another ; " this voiee seems strange," quoth a third. " No," quoth Mr. Hackwell, " but if
order be not taken for these, bread will be there before the next Parliament." — Pari. Deb.,
vol. I., p. 923. The evils of monopoly were sadly multiplied in England, and the subject has
always been a prominent one in Parliament.
2 The Levellers insisted on an equal distribution of power and property, and disclaimed all
dependence and subordination.

ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. 77
to join in tumultuous processions, bearing prayers to Parliament for relief
from starvation.1 Young men, and boys, deprived of thriving masters, left
their work-shops • unenlivened by the din of labor, to find relief in the
excitements of riot, rapine and destruction. What nature failed to present
in shapes of forbidding reality, disordered imagination supplied in hideous
phantoms of superstition. The spirit of witchcraft still lurked in the dark
recesses of the human soul, and the voices of unholy tongues floated on the
midnight air, and the cramps and twinges of invisible hands were felt in
the weak and trembling nerves of the distempered.2 The government
itself was thrown from its centre by contending parties, each controlling, in
its turn, the business of a people, the interests of a nation. The rule of
Britain was in process of change. The king, wanting in justice, ceased, to
be acknowledged as the legitimate sovereign, and, like the humblest of his
subjects, was made responsible for his misdeeds and errors.8 The Parliament,
1 On February 4th, 1641, Sergeant-major Skippon applied to the House to know what was
to be done with a crowd of women who had appeared at the doors with a petition to the Com
mons for the redress of grievances; they telling him " That where there was one now there
would be five hundred the next day ; and that it was as good for them to die here as at
home." Butler alludes most probably to this circumstance in the following couplet :
" The Oyster-women locked their fish up,
And trudged away to cry ' No Bishop.' "
Hudibras, Part I., canto 2.
" The House advised him to speech them fair," so says the record, " and send them home
again: but this day they were as good as their words; they came down in great numbers, and
presented a petitionto the Commons, which was received and read." It is stated that " the
petition was presented by Mrs. Anne Stagg, a gentlewoman, and brewer's wife, and many
others with her of like rank and quality." Mr. Pym was appointed to reply to the " good
women; " which he did withbecoming courtesy, promising that members of Parliament would
exert their utmost power to protect them, their husbands, and their children, and closed his
short address by entreating them to return home, and there to give Parliament the benefit of
their prayers. In 1643 several thousand women appeared at the Parliament-house with a
petition, demanding peace. Sir John Hippisley, and two or three other members, were
appointed to return for answer " That the House were no enemies to peace, and that they did
not doubt, in a short time, to answer the ends of their petition ; and desired them to return to
their habitations." This answer proved unsatisfactory, and they were not prevailed upon to
leave until the troops were called to force them. The troops at first, in firing, used nothing
but powder ; but they were ridiculed by' the women, who threw brickbats at them. Bullets
were then fired, and several women killed; when the crowd slowly' dispersed, crying out
louder and louder, as they retired, " Give us those traitors that are against peace, that we
may tear them to pieces ! Give, us that dog Pym!" &c. Pym was out of favor. — Pari.
Deb., vol. ii., p. 1073; vol, in., pp. 160, 234, 235.
2 " Demonology was a favorite topic with King James. He demonstrated, with eru
dition, the reality of witchcraft ; through his solicitation it was made, by statute, a
capital offence. He could tell ' why the devil doth work more with ancient women than with
others ; ' and hardly a year of his reign went by but some helpless crone perished on the
gallows, to satisfy the vanity and confirm the dialectics of the royal author." — Bancroft's
Hist. U. S., vol. I., p. 293.
3 At the time of the overthrow of Charles the First, the feeling of the people was that of

78 ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.
as master or slave, was moulded into every variety of form, and placed in
every variety of position. Free to control, or fettered by humiliating
restraints; banished by the usurpations of royalty, or paralyzed by dis
union, — the Parliaments of this period were the great engines of experiment.
Exponents of public opinion, they became the theatres of its fluctuating
violence, illustrating the great principle that the possession of power is
permanent only where there is purity of motive, conformity in practice.
At this time the religious principle constituted the life-blood of the gov
ernment. The fear of God was seen everywhere in theory, however wanting
in practice.1 Clothed with authority, and combined with every variety of men
tal development, condition and interest, this enduring element added zeal to
purpose, energy to action, and persistence to will. Every party was known
by its ecclesiastical standard. Conformity was required by all, but conceded
by none. Great questions had been reached. New political problems were
to be solved: Truths were to be defined, and doubts dissipated: Could
freedom of opinion be tolerated, and the state preserved 7 Was conscience a
principle of divine origin, or an opinion subject to human laws 1 Did not
the possession of power imply the relation of responsibility for its uses ; and
why should the great and increasing evils of heresy be permitted to sadden
the righteous, or to weaken their hands in the holy cause with which they had
been intrusted 1 What was the church 1 What was the state ? Was the
state a part of the church, or the church a part of the state ? Or, were they
independent of each other? These questions, and such as these, unnum
bered in "name and nature, were asked and answered, both by government
and by the people. They had been known only as the questions of learned
men and reformers. They were now the topics of a nation. Religious lib
erty was defined by government, — it was claimed by the people. Civil lib-
intense hate against a king and monarchy. The Commons ordered a new seal to be engraved,
on which that assembly was represented, with this legend, " On the first year of freedom, by
God's blessing restored, 1648." , The forms of all public business were changed from the
king's name to that of the keepers of the liberties of England. The Commons intended, it is
said, to .bind the Princess- Elizabeth apprentice to a button-maker; the Duke of Gloucester
was to be taught some other mechanical employment. The king's statue in the Exchange
was thrown down, and on the pedestal these words were inscribed, " Exit tyrannus, regum
ultimus." The tyrant is gone, the last of the kings. It was sarcastically- pretended that
some of the republicans, in reciting the Lord's prayer, would not say " Thy kingdom come,"
but always, "Thy commonwealth come." — Hume, vol. v., p. 383.
1 During the commonwealth of Cromwell, Parliament voted that they had no occasion for a
chaplain. They sometimes voted to spend a whole day in " seeking the Lord " in prayer.
Their method was, that as soon as about a dozen members were met, they began with prayer,
and ,so continued praying, one after another, till there was a sufficient number assembled to
make up a House, and then the speaker took the chair. — Pari. Deb., vol. in., p. 1410.
In the time of Charles the First, when the Puritanical party had become strong, two cler
gymen of that sect, Marshall and Burgess, were 'chosen to preach before Parliament, and
they entertained the members with discourses seven hours in length ! So it is said by Hume,
vol. v., p. 142.

THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND. ' 79
erty was defined by the church, — it was claimed as the prerogative of Par
liament. Privilege was defined by the Lords, — it was claimed by the Com
mons. The people by degrees had begun to think for themselves, — to realize
the dignity of the human mind, the principle of human rights.
On these momentous questions parties were formed. As the power of
the government was the greatest seemingly within the reach of man, all
sought to control its mighty agency, ; — each to advance an impulse, a theory,
an interest, or all of these. Religious freedom was deemed incompatible
with civil liberty. Government would not yield to the citizen, because its
power exempted it from the necessity; and the citizen refused submission to
government, except so far as it represented faithfully the objects of its cre
ation. Each had become the keeper of the other.
These inquiries had agitated the public mind, more or less, since the mid
dle of the fourteenth century. Progress had been slow, but certain -: results
had been small, but glorious. What had been looked upon as too insignificant
for formal recognition, had become, comparatively speaking, in the seven
teenth century, a powerful party.
THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND.
From the rights of the citizen the Puritan1 proceeded to examine the
rights of government. He doubted all authority but divine revelation, and
questioned all laws but those of Christ and. the prophets. The Bible was his
statute-book and constitution, his text-book of science and economics. It
was received by all Christians as the book of God, and the Puritan received it
in its entireness with reverence and sincerity. He asked for no other guide,
he favored no other view, he acknowledged no other authority. He saw
sacrilege in comparison, and eternal danger in doubt and hesitation. He
sought to understand the destiny of man, by studying him as the child of
God. He found duty portrayed in the requisitions of his Maker, and dis
covered a source of rewards greater than could be commanded by human
governments.2 He believed that all men Nwere looked upbn with equal favor
'The name Puritan was first applied in England in 1550, "to cast contempt the
more," says Governor Bradford, " upon the sincere servants of God." A writer quoted by
Prince says, "They are called Puritans who would have the church thoroughly reformed;
that is, purged from all those inventions which have been brought into it since the age of the
apostles, and reduced entirely to the scripture purity." The Plymouth colonists were called
Pilgrims, a'name given them by Hutchinson. Although this name is much used, and is
endeared by many associations, still, with motives to convenience, the early colonists will
generally be designated in the present work as Puritans.
2 In his lectures on Modern History, Professor Smyth gives advice to his auditors, which
all Americans will readily approve. His language is : " You should learn to understand the
character of the Puritan as soon as possible ; you must never, lose sight of it, while reading
this particular portion of history" (the time of Queen Elizabeth). As the professor could
not give in his course of lectures the details ef history in a sufficient degree to convey a

80 THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND.
by the Creator, as the subjects of salvation ; and that all laws not in conform
ity with this principle of impartial love were unauthorized and unjust. He
saw in the countenance of the peasant the divine image stamped with lines
proper idea of the times, he selects a specimen in the character of Peter Wentworth, a Puri
tan, and member of Parliament, and gives the substance of a speech which he delivered, and
of his examination before a committee of Parliament. He continues : " Wentworth was one
of the most intrepid and able assertors of the privileges of the House, and being a Puritan,
he was irresistibly hurried forward, not only by a regard for the liberties of the subject, but
by religious zeal. Here, therefore, in Wentworth, we have immediately presented to us a
forerunner of the Hainpdens and Pyms,_and, in Elizabeth, of Charles, the great actors that
are to appear in the ensuing scenes :
"Elizabeth, after stopping and controlling the debates and jurisdiction of the House on
different occasions, at last commissioned the speaker to declare, in consequence of a bill
relating to rites and ceremonies in the church having been read three times, that it was the
queen's pleasure ' that, from henceforth, no bills concerning religion should be preferred or
received into this House, unless the same should be first considered and approved by the
clergy.' This was in 1575.
" Wentworth, and, indeed, other members, had on former occasions not been wanting to the
duty which they owed their country ; but this interference of the queen produced from him,
some time afterwards, a speech which has not |)een overlooked by Hume, and is in every
respect memorable. Far from acquiescing in the ideas which Elizabeth had formed of the
prerogative of the prince, and of the duties and privileges of the Parliament, expressions like
the following are to be found in his harangue. You will observe the mixture of religious
and patriotic feelings : ' We are assembled to make, or abrogate, such laws as may be to
the chiefest surety, safe-keeping, and enrichment of this noble realm of England, ....
I do think it expedient to open the commodities [advantages] that grow to the prince and
whole state by free speech used in this place.' This he proceeded to do on seven different
grounds ; and he concluded, 'That in this House, which is termed a place of free speech,
there is nothing so necessary for the preservation of the prince and state as free speech ; and
without this, it is a scorn and mockery to call it a Parliament-house ; for, in truth, it is
none, but a very school of flattery and dissimulation, and so a fit place to serve the devil
ahd his angels in, and not to glorify God and benefit the commonwealth.' And again : — 'So
that to avoid everlasting death, and condemnation with the high and mighty God, we ought
to proceed in every cause according to the matter, and not according to the prince's mind.
 The king ought not to be under man, but under God and under the law, be
cause the law maketh him a king ; let the king, therefore, attribute that to the law which
the law attributeth unto him, — that is, dominion and power ; for he is not a king in whom
will, and not the law, doth rule, and therefore he ought to be under the law.' And again :
— ' We received a message, that we. should not deal in any matters of religion, but first to
receive from the bishops. Surely this was a doleful message ; for it was as much as to say,
' Sirs, ye Bhall not deal in God's causes ; no, ye shall in no wise seek to advance his glory.'
 We are incorporated into this place to serve God and all England, and not to be
time-servers, as humor-feeders, as cancers that would pierce the bone, or as flatterers that
would fain beguile all the world, and so worthy to be condemned both of God and man.
 God grant that we may sharply and boldly reprove God's enemies, our prince's
and state ; and so shall every one of us discharge our duties in this our high office wherein
he hath placed us, and show ourselves haters of evil and cleavers to that that is good, to the
setting forth of God's glory and honor, and to the preservation of our noble queen and com
monwealth.' " The speech is not short, and he goes on to conclude thus : — ' Thus I have holden you long
with my rude speech ; the which since it tendeth wholly, with pure conscience, to seek the

THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND. 81
•
of beauty, as strongly and deeply as in that of the king ; and in the sweet
smile of the humble orphan a soul as precious as any to be found within the
palace-gates. In every human form he recognized a brother, in every kin-
advancement of God's glory, our honorable sovereign's safety, and to the sure defence of this
noble isle of England, and all by maintaining of the liberties of this honorable council, the
fountain from whence all these do spring, my humble and hearty suit unto you all is, to
accept my good-will, and that this, that I have here spoken out of conscience and great zeal
unto my prince and state, may not be buried in the pit of oblivion, and so no good oome
thereof.'" The examination before the oommittee of Parliament is here given entire, as printed in the
Parliamentary Debates, vol. i., p. 793. Although of considerable length for a note, no con
siderate reader will desire to see it abridged.
" Committee. Where is your late speech you promised to. deliver in writing? Went
worth. Here it is, and I deliver it upon two conditions : the first is, that you shall peruse it
all, and if you can find any want of good-will to my prince and state in any part thereof, let
me answer all as if I had uttered all. The second is, that you shall deliver it unto the queen's
majesty; if her majesty, or you of her privy-council, can find any want of love to her majesty
or the state therein also, let me answer it. Committee. We will deal with no more than
you uttered in the House. Wentworth. Your honors cannot refuse to deliver it to her
majesty; fori do send it to her majesty as my heart and mind, knowing it will do her majesty
good ; it will hurt no man but myself. Committee. Seeing your desire is to have us deliver
it to her majesty, we will deliver it. Wentworth. I humbly require your honors so to do.
Then the speech being read, they said, — Committee. Here you have uttered certain rumors of
the queen's majesty; where and of whom heard you them ? Wentworth. If your honors ask
me as counsellors to her majesty, you shall pardon me ; I will make you no answer ; I will do
no such injury to the place from whence I came ; for I am now no private person, — I am a
public, and a counsellor to the whole state, in that place where it is lawful for me to speak
my mind freely, and not for you, as counsellors, to call me to account for anything that I
do speak in the House ; and therefore, if you ask me as counsellors to her majesty, you shall
pardon me, I will make no answer ; but if you ask me as committees from the House, I will
make you the best answer I can. Committee. We ask you as committees from the House.
Wentworth. I will then answer you ; and the willinger for that mine answer will be in
some part so imperfect as of necessity it must be. Your question consisteth of these two
points, Where and of whom I heard these rumors ? The place where I heard them was the
Parliament-house ; but of Whom, I assure you, I cannot tell. Committee. This is no an
swer, to say you cannot tell of whom ; neither will we take it. for say. Wentworth. Truly
your honors must needs take it for an answer, when I can make you no better. Committee.
Belike you have heard some speeches, in the town, of her majesty's misliking of religion and
succession ; you are loth to utter of whom, and did use speeches thereupon. Wentworth. I
assure your honors I can show you that speech, at my own house, written with my hand two
or three years ago. So that you may thereby judge- that I did not speak it of anything that
I heard since I came, to town. Committee. You -have answered that, but where heard you
it, then ? Wentworth. If your honors do think I speak for excuse-sake, let this satisfy you ;
I protest before the living God I cannot tell of whom I heard these rumors ; yet I do verily
think that I heard them of a hundred or two in the House. Committee. Then of so many
you can name some. Wentworth. No, surely, because it was so general a speech, I marked
none ; neither do men mark speakers commonly when they be general ; and I assure you, if I
could tell, I would not. For I will never utter anything told me, to the hurt of any man,
when I am not enforced thereunto, as in this case I may choose.. Yet I would deal plainly
with you, for I .would tell your- honors so ; and if your honors do not. credit me, I will volun
tarily take an oath, if you offer me a book,- that I cannot tell of whom I heard those rumors.
11

82 THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND.
dred spirit a fellow-laborer. He saw in man a being created for eternity,
a candidate for redemption, and alike the agent of power and the subject of
a just obedience.
But, if you offer me an oath of your authorities, I will refuse it ; because I will do nothing to
infringe the liberties of the House. But what need- 1 to use these speeches ? I will give you
an instance, whereupon I heard these rumors to your satisfying, even such a one as, if you
will speak the truth, you shall confess that you heard the same as well as I. Committee.'
In so doing we will be satisfied. What is that ? Wentworth. The last Parhament [by
which it may be conceived he meant and intended that Pari, in An. 13 Reg. Eliz.] he that
is now speaker [namely, Robert Bell, Esq., who was also speaker in the first session of this
present Pari, in An. 14 Reg. ejusdem] uttered a very good speech for the calling in of cer
tain licenses granted to four courtiers, to the utter undoing of six or eight thousand of the
queen's subjects. This speech was so disliked of some of the council, that he was sent for ;
and so hardly dealt with, that he came into the House with such an amazed countenance,
that it daunted all the House in such sort, that for ten, twelve, or sixteen, days, there was
not one in the House that durst deal in any matter of importance. .And in those simple mat
ters that they dealt in, they spent more words and time in their preamble, requiring that
they might not be mistaken, than they did in the matter they spake unto. This inconveni
ence grew unto the House by the council's hard handling of the said good member, whereupon
this rumor grew in the House. ' Sirs, you may not speak against licenses : the queen's
majesty will be angry, — the privy-council, too, will be angry ; ' and this rumor I suppose there
is not one of you here but heard it as well as I. I beseech your honors discharge your con
sciences herein as I do. Committee. We heard it, we confess, and you have satisfied us in
this ; but how say you to the hard interpretation you made of the message that was sent into
the House ? [The words were recited.] ' We assure you we never heard a harder interpre
tation of a message.' Wentworth. I beseech your honors; first, was there not such a
message sent unto the House .' Committee. We grant that there was. Wentworth. Then
I trust you will bear me record that I made it not ; and I answer you that so hard a message
could not have too hard an interpretation made by the wisest man in England. For, can
there by any possible means be sent a harder message to a council gathered together to serve
God than to say, ' You shall not seek to advance the glory of God ' ? I am of this opinion,
that there cannot be a more wicked message than it was. Committee. You may not speak
against messages, for none sendeth them , but the queen's majesty. Wentworth. If the
message be against the glory of God, against the prince's~safety, or against the liberty of this
Parliament-house whereby the state is maintained, I neither may nor will hold my peace. I
cannot in so doing discharge" my conscience, whosoever doth send it. And I say that I
heartily repent me for that I have hitherto held my peaee in these causes, and I do promise
you all, if God forsake me not, that I will never during life hold my tongue, if any message
is sent wherein God is dishonored, the prince perilled, or the liberties of the Parliament
impeached ; and every one of you here present ought to repent you of these faults, and to
amend them. Committee. It is no new precedent to have the prince to send messages.
[Then were two or three messages recited, sent by two or three princes.] Wentworth. Sirs,
said I, you do very evil to allege precedents in this order. You ought to allege good pre
cedents to comfort and embolden men in good doing, and evil precedents to discourage and
terrify men to do evil. Committee. But what meant you to make so hard interpretation of
messages > Wentworth'. Surely I marvel what you mean by asking this question. Have I
hot said so hard a message could not have tod hard an interpretation ; and have I not set
down the reason that moved me in my speech, that is to say, that for the receiving and
accepting that message God has poured so great indignation upon us, that he put into the
queen's heart to refuse good and wholesome laws for her own preservation ; which caused
many loving and faithful hearts, for grief, to burst out with sorrowful tears ; and moved all

THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND. 83
Their motives were both religious and political. When the state became
a party in defence of the church, the sectaries combined against the state.
The friends of religious reform became politicians, and statesmen ecclesias-
Papists, traitors to God, to her majesty, and to every good Christian government, in their
sleeves to laugh the whole Parliament-house to scorn ? Have I not thus said ? and do not
your honors think it did so ? Committee. Yes, truly. But how durst you say that the
queen had unkindly abused herself against the nobility and people ? Wentworth. I beseech
your honors, tell me how far you can stretch these words of her unkindly abusing and oppos
ing herself against her majesty's nobility and people. Can you apply them any further
than I have applied them ; that is to say, in that her majesty called the Parliament of pur
pose to prevent traitorous perils to her person, and for no other cause ; and in that her
majesty did send unto us two bills willing us to take our choice pf that we liked best for her
majesty's safety, and thereof to make a law promising her royal consent thereunto ; and did
we not first choose the one, and her majesty refused it? Yet did not we, nevertheless, receive
the other ? And, agreeing to make a law thereof, did not her majesty in the end refuse all
our travels ? And did not the lord-keeper, in her majesty's presence, in the beginning of
the Parliament, show this to be the occasion that we were called together ? And did not her
majesty in the end of the Parliament refuse all our travels ? Is not this known to all here
present, and to all the Parliament-house also ? I beseech your honors discharge your con
sciences herein, and utter your knowledge simply as I do ; for in truth herein her majesty
did abuse her nobility and subjeots, and did oppose herself against them by the way of
advice. Committee. Surely we cannot deny it ; you say the truth. Wentworth. Then I
beseech your honors show me if it were not a dangerous doing to her majesty in these two
respects : — First, in weakening, wounding, and discouraging the hearts of her majesty's lov
ing and faithful subjects,. thereby to make them the less able or the more fearful and unwill
ing to serve her majesty another .time. On the other side, was it not a raising up and
encouraging the hearts of her majesty's hateful enemies to adventure any desperate enter
prise to her majesty's peril and danger ? Committee. We cannot deny but that it was very
dangerous to her majesty in those respects. Wentworth. Then why do your honors ask
how I dare tell a truth, to give the queen warning to avoid her danger ? I answer you thus,
I do thank the Lord my God, that I never found fear in myself to give the queen's majesty
warning to avoid her danger ; be you all afraid thereof, if you will, for I praise God I am not,
and I hope never to hve to see that day ; and yet I will assure your honors that twenty
times and more, when I walked in my grounds, revolving this speech to prepare against this
day, my own fearful conceit did say unto me that this speech would carry me to the place
whither I shall now go, and fear would have moved me to have put it out ; then I weighed
whether in good conscience, and the duty of a faithful subject, I might keep myself out of
prison, and not to warn my prince from walking in. a dangerous course ; my conscience said
unto me that I qould not be a faithful subject, if I did more respect to avoid my own danger
than any prince's danger. Herewithal I was made bold, and went forward as your honors
heard ; yet when I uttered those words in the House, that there was none without fault, — -'no,
not our noble queen, — I paused and beheld all your countenances, and saw plainly that those
words did amaze you all ; then I was afraid with you for company, and fear bade me to put
out those words that followed ; for your countenances did assure me that not one of you
would stay me of my journey ; yet the consideration of a good conscience, and of a faithful
subject, did make me bold to utter it in such sort as your honors heard ; with this heart and
mind I spake it, and I praise God for it ; and if it were to do again, I would with the same mind
speak it again. Committee. Yea, but you might have uttered it in better terms ; why did
you not so ? Wentworth. Would you have me to have done as you of her majesty's privy-
council do, to utter a weighty matter in such terms as she should not have understood ? To
have made a fault, then, it would have done her majesty no good ; and my intent was to do

84 THE PURITANS IN ENGLAND.
tics. All were full of zeal, confidence and activity. Self-reliance was a
prevailing feature of the age. All were doubted, but no one doubted him
self. The expansion of the religious principle burst the boundaries of the
civil" power. It was like the flood that overflows the banks, and spreads
beyond the prescribed limits of past experience. Government was not
prepared for the shock, and was lifted up and carried forward to new
foundations. The creative power of mind, the cheering hopes of the soul,
the fierce and impulsive propensities of man's common nature, were all cen
tred in the service of the religious sentiment. Society was overwhelmed
with new views, feelings, and aspirations. Government lost its force and
authority, industry its reward, and home its securities. Families became insen
sible to the ties of kindred blood ; the golden bands of friendship tarnished
and crumbled ; the silken cords of love untwined and fell asunder ; and all
seemed entranced in gazing upon a heavenly vision which opened the Book
of Life, and displayed the glad tidings of another world, an eternal home
for the repentant sinner. The interests of earth faded into insignificant
shadows before the melting blaze of truth presented by the hand of Almighty
Power. Society looked out from its convulsive bosom to seek a freedom in
harmony with its spiritual necessities. The spirit of religion became too
mighty for the narrow limits of civil liberty in England. Democracy, com
bining religious zeal with patriotism, self-respect with the spirit of sacrifice,
led the Puritans to seek a home in the wilderness, ahd to establish a church
among the heathen.
In their view, civil liberty was of no account without religious principle,
and, based on religious principle, a government became an institution of God
for the advancement of humanity. In England they saw a people divided
and disheartened by the accumulated wrongs of the past, and in America a
new land of promise.
Thus, in the midst of a distracted people and changing government, was
erected by. the Puritans the standard of Democracy. They fearlessly
asserted its glorious truths, and claimed for man that civil position in society
for which he was so marvellously fitted by his Maker, and the exercise of all
those privileges promised him in the Holy Bible. Here was the great
her good. Committee. You have answered us. Wentworth. Then I praise God for it; and,
as I made a courtesy, Mr. Seckford spake these words : Cpmmiitee. Mr. Wentworth will
never acknowledge himself to make a fault, nor say that he is sorry for anything that he doth
speak; you shall hear none of these things come out of his mouth. Wentworth. Mr. Seck
ford, I will never confess that to be a fault, to love the queers majesty, while I live; neither
will I be sorry for giving her majesty warning, to avoid danger, while the breath is in my
body. If you do think it a fault to love her majesty, or to be sorry that her majesty should
have warning to avoid her danger, say so; for I cannot. Speak for ' yourself, Mr. Seckford.
" Mr. Wentworth was committed to the Tower."

THE PURITANS IN AMERICA. 85
issue between the democratic and conservative parties of England, in the
seventeenth century.
. "There were," says M. Guizot, "two national wants in England at. this
period : on one side was the need of religious revolution and liberty in the
heart of the reformation already commenced, and on the other was required
political liberty in the heart of pure monarchy, then in progress ; and in the
course of their progress these two wants were able to invoke all that had
already been done in either direction. They combined. The party who wished
to pursue religious reformation invoked political liberty to the assistance of
its faith, and conscience against the king and bishops. The friends of polit
ical liberty again sought the aid of popular reformation. The two parties
united to struggle against absolute power in the temporal and in the spiritual
orders, a power now concentrated in the hands of the king."
In the brief space given to the consideration of the origin and gradual
formation of the democratic party in England, which resulted in peopling
the American continent, and. led to the revolutions which elevated Crom
well, and which caused the downfall of James II., it will be quite impos
sible to do more than classify events in a general way.
The quotation from Guizot properly refers to a period of more than a
century. National events can -be studied with profit only in the extended
relations of national existence. The revolution of Cromwell was the result
of a combination of numerous religious sects, the growth of several genera
tions, and for a time united by the oppressive acts of a tyrant king. The
next movement had more of a political character, and a closing period is to
be found in the revolution of 1688. It was the succeeding wave of progress,
in England, to that of 1643.
The Puritans embarked in the Mayflower, as the representatives of
Democracy. They knew its history in England ; their fathers had bequeathed
to them its responsibilities.1 They had fought its battles, formed just concep
tions of the blessings which it was calculated to yield and foster, and beheld
with clear convictions the dangers to be pointed out and avoided, and the
new safeguards to be secured and established.

THE PURITANS _ IN AMERICA.
The political survey of the colonies here proposed is a general one, and
extends from the settlement of the Pilgrims, at Plymouth, 1620, to the
1 It is even admitted by Hume, who could approve of no government but that of a mon
archy, that " so absolute, indeed, was the authority of the crown (in the time of Elizabeth),
that the precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved by the Puritans
alone ; and it was to this sect, whose principles appear so frivolous and habits so ridiculous,
that the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution."

86 THE PURITANS IN AMERICA.
time of the Revolution and Declaration of Independence, 1776. During
this period of one hundred and fifty-six years, thirteen colonies had arisen.
.Each colony had its own peculiar origin, growth and character, and is to be
considered as a distinct pohtical element. The object of the present general
view is to become, in some degree, acquainted with those fundamental prin
ciples which guided our fathers in founding the American nation. Such a
method of inquiry appears necessary to a clear understanding of the great
outlines of the general subject. In the discussion of topics contemplated in
this work, of course, a frequent return to the events of the colonies for illus
tration will be necessary ; and whatever is omitted in the general survey
will appear in its appropriate connection, in chapters devoted to the consid
eration of national measures.
Much has been said and written in respect to the motives which constituted
the moral strength of the Puritans. What enabled them to withstand the
cruel treatment of a jealous government, and to survive the bitter persecu
tions, which subjected them to almost every species of humiliation and
suffering 1
The details of events through which they voluntarily passed, the scenes
of mental agony and physical prostration which marked their gloomy way;
their extraordinary foresight and •courage, their, inward content, and their
outward prudence and watchfulness, cannot be considered without intense
interest, nor without lasting profit.1 Their simple story has been the theme
of the ablest minds ; their deeds and relations, their opinions and institu
tions, make up the pages of unnumbered volumes ; and yet, we still pause
1 In obedience to the queen , in 1593, a law was passed entitled An Act to keep Her Majesty's
Subjects in Obedience. At this time the Puritans had greatly increased, and the sufferings which
followed in the wake of the execution of this act were frightful. The prisons were filled, many
families were banished, and some were put to death. It was declared by Sir Walter Raleigh,
in Parliament, that there were not less than twenty thousand Puritans, divided into several
congregations, in Norfolk and Essex and in the vicinity of London alone. Among the Puritan
ministers were Smith, Jacob and Ainsworth, the last, one of the most learned men of the age.
-Smith was confined in prison a year before he was even heard, and members of his church
" were shut up in close rooms, not being allowed the liberty of the prison." " Here," says
Neale, " they died like rotten sheep ; some of the disease of the prison, some for want, and
others of infectious disorders." "These bloody men " (thelligh Commissioners), according
to Barrow, in his supplication, " will neither allow us meat, drink, fire, lodging, nor suffer
any whose heart, the Lord would stir up for our relief to have any access to us ; by which
means seventeen or eighteen have perished in the noisome jails, within these six years. Some
of us had not one penny when we were sent to prison, nor anything to procure a mainte
nance for ourselves and families but our handy labors and our trades ; by which means not
only we, but our families and children, are undone and starved." " That which we crave
for us all is the liberty to die openly in- the land of our nativity. If we deserve death, let
us not be closely murdered, — yea, starved to death, with hunger and cold, and stifled in
loathsome dungeons. ' ' — See Neal's History of the Puritans.

LOVE OF NATIVE LAND. 87
and reflect in wonder, in view of how little has been said, and how much
remains to be studied and truly understood.
The Puritans were men. They were actuated by human motives. They
understood the objects of life ; they saw and realized the necessities of exist
ence. They appreciated comforts, but not at the expense of duty. They
honored the spirit of loyalty, but not at the expense of principle. Govern
ment was looked upon by them as a means of security, not of restraint.
They saw in God a King above royalty, and in the Bible an authority above
that of Parliament. They desired to live a godly life, but as citizens of a
just government.
They had not been indifferent observers of the glowing descriptions of
navigators who had visited the continent ; ' and it would be a libel upon their
memory to ' suppose that they were insensible to the material qualities and
charms of the New World, as connected with their personal tastes, wants,
hopes, and propensities. They were distracted by no plans of socialism, nor
were they troubled with any agrarian theory, or transcendental speculations.
They were religious men, endowed with an extraordinary degree of common
sense. They loved truth, without despising gain. The love of gain is an
instinct of nature. It is a fundamental faculty. It characterizes every soci
ety. It is a part of man's condition, — an element of the world's progress.
The Puritans had it, — all have it. It cannot be disguised, — it should not
be disowned. It is a noble instrument, though a despicable end. It is a
convenient servant, but a degrading master.

LOVE OF NATIVE LAND.
The Puritans left behind a country that was still dear to them for the
many comforts and delights in which they had been permitted to participate,
and they could not divest themselves of the natural pride which had made a
part of their existence from the cradle, as connected with the events of their
country's joys, their country's glory.
The soil of their native land had been consecrated by the gladsome sports
of childhood, the privileges of youth, and by noble contests of successful
manhood. There is an instinct implanted in the human heart which seems
to hallow the atmosphere of infancy, and renders sacred the early scenes of
existence. The first objects of sight, hearing and touch, become interwoven
1 Columbus himself, in one of his letters to Ferdinand and Isabella, ^describes the Ameri
cans and their country thus : " This country excels all others, as far as the day surpasses
the night in splendor. The natives love their neighbor as themselves ; their conversation is
the sweetest imaginable ; their faces always smiling ; and so gentle, so affectionate, are they,
that I swear to your highnesses there is. not a better people in the world." At the present
day such a statement requires no comment. — Smith's Description of New England.

88 POLITICAL RELATIONS OF THE PURITANS.
with the joyous and crowding thoughts of the young mind, and the associa
tions then formed constitute the spirituality of national feeling. ,
" Mother country " is no unmeaning phrase. It indicates a relation with
out which no citizen could be known, no nation. could endure. It indicates
a sentiment which lights up the eye of patriotism, nerves the strong arm of
the warrior, fills the heart of the philanthropist, and distinguishes the man
of public spirit from the grovelling creature of a sordid mind. A being
insensible to its generous enthusiasm, or indifferent to its noble control, is
looked upon by society, with horror and indescribable contempt.
To suppose that the Puritans were destitute, in any degree, of this inborn
sentiment, is to allow an exception to a general' law of human nature. To
suppose even that, they were indifferent to its influence, is to do them a gross
injustice, by appearing to forget their frequent and ardent declarations to the
contrary. Their love of home was as sincere as their sense of duty was
powerful. They could neither conceal the one nor withstand the other.
They were made up as men of extraordinary parts, deficient in none. They
desired .to stand upright before God; and they preferred freedom in the wilds
of America to oppression in England, though they looked back upon their
native land with tears and lamentations, as their great exemplar before them
had turned weeping towards Jerusalem.

POLITICAL RELATIONS OF THE PURITANS.
The Puritans now stand iii new relations, — the inhabitants, of the western
hemisphere. They are still regarded in the light of subjects of Great Britain,
though invested with new and transatlantic powers; and separated from the
immediate control of old ones, by an assumed act of royalty. Their condition
was one of stern realities. Wishes and common wants were swept away by
dire necessities, and their recollections of the past were shut out by constant
and fearful apprehensions for the future. They stood alone. If the king
granted them charters and patents, he promised them no army or fleet for
protection ; and if they had his prayers and blessings, it'was not because
they were of any value, but because they cost him nothing. Royalty had
condescended to exercise a doubtful power, by giving them permission hum
bly to endeavor to take care of themselves, in the forests of a heathen land,
— doubtless gratified more by a faint hope that a new source of revenue had
been opened to the nation, by a class of troublesome subjects, than by any
motive of service entertained either for their profit or for their happiness.1
1 " It has often been observed by me, " says John Adams, ' ' and it cannot be too often repeated,
that colonization is casus omissus at common law. There is no such title known in that law.
' By common law, I mean that system of customs, written and unwritten, which was known and
in force in England in the time of King Richard the First. This continued to be the case down

POLITICAL RELATIONS OF THE PURITANS. 89
With a view distinctly to trace and understand the causes that have made
the colonies what they are, it is necessary that we should have a clear idea
of their moral and political beginning. By what authority did the Puritans
land on the shores of the American continent ? "What rights did they claim,
and what were their principles'? Did they look to Great Britain for a gov
ernment, or were they self-inspired to make their own laws, and to control
their own destiny 1 or, were they to be the subjects of two governments,
— one of their own, and another imposed upon them by the king and Parlia
ment? These and similar questions crowd upon the reflecting mind, when
turned to contemplate the desolate landing of the Pilgrim Fathers upon
the Plymouth rock.
The Puritans seemed to be solemnly impressed with the great responsibil
ity of their position, both in respect to themselves and posterity. They were
here as Christian eitizens, in a state of nature, free to make a beginning
according to their own convictions of duty. It was an opportunity ' not to
be neglected, compromised, or postponed. The representatives of Democracy
on board of the Mayflower, before landing, united upon the following
Compact :
"In the name of God, amen ! We, whose names are underwritten, the
loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace of God,
of Great Britain, France and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c, hav
ing undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian
faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony
in northern parts of Virginia,2 do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually,
in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves
to the reign of Elizabeth and King James I. In all that time, the laws of England were con
fined to the realm, and within the four seas. There was no provision made in this law for gov
erning colonies beyond the Atlantic, or beyond the four seas, by authority of Parliament; no,
nor for the king to grant charters to subjects to settle in foreign countries. It was the king's.
prerogative to prohibit the emigration of any of his subjects, by issuing his writ ne exeat regno;
and, therefore, it was in the. king's power to permit his subjects to leave the kingdom. * *
" So that our ancestors, when they emigrated, having obtained permission of the king to
come here, and being never commanded to return into the realm, had a clear right to have
erected in this wilderness a British constitution, or a perfect democracy, or any other form
of government they saw fit. They, indeed, while they lived, could not have taken arms
against the King of England without violating their allegiance ; but their children would not
have been born within the king's allegiance, would not have been natural subjects, and con
sequently not entitled to protection, or bound to the king." — Life and Writings of John
Adams, by Charles F. Adams, vol. iv., p. 121. JVovanglus, No. viii.
1 " Man's extremities are God's opportunities," was a saying quoted in Parliament more
than two hundred years ago.
2 " The Pilgrims, by coming so far north, had got beyond the limits of the Virginia Com
pany, and accordingly their patent was of no value. On the return of the Mayflower, in May,
1621, the Merchant Adventurers applied in their behalf to the president and council of New
England for a grant of the territory on which they had unintentionally settled. This, it seems,
was readily accorded." — Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, p. 114.
12 «

90 POLITICAL RELATIONS OF THE PURITANS.
together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation,
and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, consti
tute and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances; acts, constitutions, and
offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for
the general good of the colony ; unto which we promise all due submission
and obedience.
"In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names, at Cape
Cbd, the llth of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord,
King James, of England, France'and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scot
land the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini 1620." l
This compact has been the subject of extravagant comment, both of appre
ciation and of disparagement. Some writers have discovered much and
extraordinary wisdom in it, while others have been unwilling to admit that
it was entitled to particular notice. It is quite possible that most men would
agree in respect to the measure of its importance, if they were to view it in
the same relations as to the past and future. The Puritans had left a land
remarkable for its published laws, declarations, protests, and proclamations ;
where government inhered in hereditary distinctions, and where human rights
and immunities were defined and engrossed with great formality on parchment.
The simplicity of common sense was a rare quality in the Lords and Bishops,
and no one will claim that it was a distinguishing feature of the Commons.
The public documents of England were characterized more by a tedious
1 The following are the names subscribed to the compact, namely :

Mr. John Carver t 8

* John Turner 3

William Bradford t 2

Francis Eaton t 3'

Mr. Edward Winslow t 5

* James Chilton t 3

Mr. William Brewster t 6

* John Crackston 2

Mr. Isaac Allerton t 6

Join Billington t 4

Capt. Miles Standish t 2

* Moses Fletcher 1

John Alden 1

* John Goodman 1

Mr. Samuel Fuller 2

* Degory Priest 1

* Mr. Christopher Martin t 4

* Thomas Williams 1

* Mr. William Mullens t 5

Gilbert Winslow 1

* Mr. William White t 5

* Edmund Margeson

Mr. Richard Warren 1

Peter Brown 1

John Howland

* Richard Britterige

Mr. Stephen Hopkins t 8

George Soule

* Edward TiUy t 4

* Richard Clarke 1

* John Tilly t 3

Richard Gardiner 1

Francis Cook 2

* John Allerton 1

* Thomas Rogers 2

* Thomas English 1

* Thomas Tinker t 3

Edward Dotey

* John Ridgdale t 2

Edward Leister

* Edward Fuller t 3

In number, 100.

[The number in each family is denoted by the figures ; those marked with an asterisk (*) died before the end
of March ; those with an obelisk (t) brought their wives with them.]

OBJECT OF POLITICAL HISTORY. 91
verbosity than an acceptable perspicuity; and there had been an apparent ambi
tion on the part of the framers of laws to excel rather in habits of mysterious
expression, than in that plain choice of words which appears to have a dis
tinct object, and proceeds with directness to state it. It is to be regretted
that American legislation is encumbered with similar evils, most of which
may be traced to English sources. In view, therefore, of what the Puritans
had been accustomed always to see at home, in all important public matters ;
— in view of what was still more important to themselves in their future rela
tions, — it must be confessed that the compact cannot be considered other than
an extraordinary document. It may be termed, with great truth, a conserva
tive beginning, comprehending a progressive democracy. It marked with
boldness the circle of freedom, and recognized the great principles of justice
and equality. It turned back upon the past with all due expressions of loy
alty, without any concessions of right, and placed the general good of the
people on the broad foundations of a simple outline, which could be seen by
all, and misunderstood by none. That they should have been the authors
of an act so important, and upon the meaning of which, for a period of more
than two hundred years, there has been no division, is a fact worthy of serious
remark, if not to be justified as a sufficient cause of wonder.1

INSTRUCTION, NOT SELF-AGGRANDIZEMENT, THE OBJECT OF POLITICAL
HISTORY.
In studying the institutions of a country with a desire to understand the
various causes, whether latent or open, real or apparent, that have conspired
to build them up ; in all endeavors to trace and define the motives of their
founders, our studies frequently lead to emotions of wonder, when the discovery
is made that an extraordinary degree of human wisdom is proved, beyond all
question, in their works. What was projected in outline and executed with
success, is ascribed to clearness of judgment in the application of principles.
A succession of measures, sustaining a progressive principle, is looked upon
as a specimenof consummate wisdom. An accident, or an undesigned event,
1 Li speaking of this compact, John Quincy Adams says : "This is perhaps the only instance
in human history of that positive original social compact which speculative philosophers have
imagined as the only legitimate source of government. Here was a unanimous ami personal
assent, by all the individuals of the community, to the association by which they became a
nation. It was the result of circumstances and' discussions which had occurred during their
passage from Europe, and is a full demonstration that the nature of civil government,
abstracted from the political institutions of their native country, had been an object of their
serious meditation. The settlers of all the European colonies had contented themselves with
the powers conferred upon them by their respective charters, without looking beyond the seal
of the royal parchment for the measure of their rights and the rule of their duties." — Ora
tion, delivered Dec. 22, 1802.

92 DEMOCRACY NO NEW SYSTEM OF MODERN TIMES.'
which ends in beneficial results, is clearly a smile from Heaven,— a providen
tial dispensation. These habits of remark are not- mentioned for the purpose
of making exceptions to those acts of the riiind which favor motives, and
claim for the past all the -glory which in truth and candor belongs to it. In
no respect would we exert an influence to lessen the exercise of a just and
wholesome veneration for the labors and achievements of those pioneers of
principle who accomplish much, but who seldom live to see the maturity
of their plans, or to realize the objects of their wishes. Such a purpose
would be as unnatural as it would prove to be indefensible. Justly to appre
ciate the motives of those who are no longer present to speak for themselves,
is a sacred duty; Still, while the principle of duty is acknowledged, it
becomes the humble inquirer to approach the subject rather as one of instruc
tion than of self-aggrandizement, — rather as the source of evidence of a
divine control, than of the truth- of those propositions of philosophy which,
in view of the ordinary events of life as Ordered by Deity, gives precedence
to accident, or mistakes the infinite for the finite. ' Our subject is one of
principles, not of men ; of ideas, hot of things.1 In men and things illus
trations are to be found which may tend to sustain a theory, or to expose a
fallacy. But in all investigations which have for their aim the development
of truth, as leading to a bettes and a higher practice, that error of con
founding original causes with human motives should be carefully avoided.
It must be remembered that

DEMOCRACY IS NO NEW SYSTEM OF MODERN TIMES.
It has been asserted and defended in all ages. In ages of mental dark
ness it has been as the distant light to the feeble vision of the ignorant, — a
goal to be reached, but not yet practically realized.2 Its broad dimensions
and unfathomable depths were defined with as much clearness by the ancient
prophets as they are by the wisest of to-day. The attributes of Deity have
encircled a universe from eternity with their inextinguishable light; and all
ipeeple have reverently acknowledged their power, though but few have been
able to gaze upon so brilliant a glory,3 or practically to combine their sublime
aspects with the affairs of humanity.
1 "Ideas once generated live forever," says a distinguished writer.
2 "It is absurd to expect, but it is not absurd to pursue, perfection," is a remark of Sir
James Mackintosh.
3 " There is only one cure," says Macaulay, " for the evils which newly-acquired freedom
produces, and that cure is freedom. When a prisoner' leaves his cell, he cannot bear the
light of day; he is unable to discriminate colors, or recognize faces ; — but the remedy is not
to remand him to his dungeon, but to accustom him to the rays of the sun. The blaze of
truth and liberty may at first dazzle and bewilder nations which have become half blind in

CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST LIBERTY. 98
The designs of men, who are the slaves of debasing appetites and unholy
motives of ambitious control, may sometimes bear a semblance of success ;
but their power is like the cable of sand to stay the ship, or the bursting
bubble to hide the sun,- when placed within the influence of the attributes
of Infinite Wisdom.
By slow degrees only has man been able to note the scale of so high a
standard. His conceptions of the possible gradually become the incentives
to new endeavors, and what seemed beyond the reach of human capacity
becomes in process of time a visible reality in practice. It is thus that the
outward world is made to conform to the loftiest requisitions of the inward
mind, and that the end of being is made manifest by the great events of
Providence. •
With high conceptions of the infinite, and with zealous convictions of a
practical Democracy in regard to the finite, the Puritans took possession of
the American continent ¦ not having the power to realize, even in the remotest
degree of distinctness, the magnitude pf the great work of which they were
but the humble beginning. In making choice of the Western continent
for a home, they acted in conformity to the instincts and sentiments of their
nature, guided by. an enlightened judgment. They erected the Democratic
standard ' without a single abatement of its lofty streamers, and commenced
A CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST LIBERTY.
This was natural. It is always so with people who attempt to enlarge
their national freedom. The great idea of liberty, when left to act upon the
popular mind, opens to the beholder a new world in its entirety, where
motive apprehends no sin, where jealousy has withered no passion. All are
filled with a hope to do right ; none are conscious of -a weakness that will lead
to the commission of wrong. It is an opportunity seized upon with all the
avidity which moves the soul let loose from arbitrary confinement, and
inspires it to enjoy the utmost freedom, and to concede it.
But, while.it leaves the pure in heart to rejoice for a time in new privi
leges, it affords the corrupt and selfish a license to indulge in the commission
of new crimes. It was so with ancient empires, where the people rushed
forward to sustain the leaders of revolution, where all was promised and
but little realized. It has been so in all the revolutions of France.; and in
the house of bondage ; but let them gaze on, and they will soon be able to bear it. La a few
years men learn to reason ; the extreme violence of opinion subsides ; hostile theories correct
each other ; the scattered elements of truth cease to conflict, and begin to coalesce ; at length
a system of justice and order is educed out of the chaos."
1 Judge Haliburton says : " They were all dlmocrats, and alike hostile to the church and
state they had so cheerfully abandoned at home." — Rule and Misrule of the English in
America, p. 37.

94 CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST LIBERTY.
no country, perhaps, has the great principle- of freedom been more beauti
fully and truthfully analyzed- than by the gifted minds of that powerful
nation. It has been so in Germany, where popular will is smothered by the
cowardly alliances of impotent sovereigns, and where constitutions are flatr
tered into embryo, and strangled.at their birth. It was so in the vast domin
ions of the great Czar, where the unfortunate Pestel and Ryleieff,1 and
their confederates, became inspired by the democratic teachings of the Bible,
and formed their secret liberty clubs throughout the empire, resolved to
subvert the government, and establish one of equal rights.
In reference to this principle of unreserved occupancy, it is often re
marked that, if revolutionists would attempt less, they, would accomplish
more. This has- often* been said of France. But how the exertion of a
lesser power is to surpass that of a greater,, is far from being explained in
the terms of such a proposition. In all rebellions there is a declaration of
right, and a public discussion of principles. The gain from such movements
is one of knowledge ; and, as an element of progress, is of far greater conse
quence than the slight concessions of arbitrary power.
This disposition of the human mind to extend its control to the entire
limits of its own conceptions is one of incalculable importance. It fills
with human effort the entire circle of moral duty ; and new truths are early
discovered, that they may be prepared to meet the wants of coming periods.
In the settlement of the American continent, the colonists were placed in
new relations, which they began immediately to define, and to surround with
their best means of defence. With just motives in regard to safety, they
claimed all without resort to violence they had the power to protect, and
they required all they had the power to enforce. They came out as a party
to enjoy the "blessings of Democracy, but soon became a commonwealth sub
ject to party divisions. . They h^ad exchanged the humble position of indi
vidual responsibility for that of public control ; and what had been claimed
for themselves as a right in England soon became dangerous to grant to
others as a privilege in America. With the accumulated results of experi
ence, and with their views of public duty, the Puritans possessed all those
stern elements of character requisite for the settlement of a new country.
They were as well established in their determination what to avoid, as they
1 Ryleieff was a poet, and a great admirer of Washington, and of the institutions of the
United States. He undertook to complete the Catechism of the Free Man, commenced by N.
Mouravieff ; and he wrote both prose and verse in favor of freedom. Seditious songs of his
composing were circulated among the people. At the time of execution, three. of the five con
spirators fell to the ground, the rope being, badly adjusted. Although stunned, at first, by
the fall, Ryleieif walked with a firm step, but could not help uttering this painful exclama
tion, — " Must it be said that nothing succeeds with me, not even death ! " According to
some witnesses, he also exclaimed, "Accursed" country, where they know neither how to
plot, to judge, nor to hang."

CONDITIONS OF NATIONAL EXISTENCE. 95
were firm in executing the plans chosen and approved by their judgment.
They were democratic republicans in principle, and they were resolved to be
truly so in practice. But the great subject involved in a profitable consid
eration of the colonies is that of

THE CONDITIONS OF NATIONAL EXISTENCE.
What are the elements of national power, of national greatness ? In what
do they consist, and on what do they depend?'
The American colonists of the seventeenth century, and many of their suc
cessors of the eighteenth, have long been tenants of the tomb, sleepers in
the dust. Their bodily presence has crumbled with the humble slabs which
mark their graves; but their children's children, their country and their
country's institutions, have become the hope of humanity, the glory of the
world. In their stead millions tread the continent. The Indian, whose sway was
the dread of the Puritans, and whose range was coextensive with the con
tinent, now knows no country, counts no tribe, forms no nation. His race
has ceased to make a part of humanity, except in subserviency to civilization.
His"bunting-grounds have been shorn of their wildness, and the eye of the
surveyor has scaled the mountain heights, and fathomed all the streams.
Their water-falls have been harnessed by the hand of industry to subserve
the interests of man, and their broad lakes and rivers bear upon their bosom
the freighted wealth of nations. The forests have fallen before the wood
man's axe ; and where beasts were tenants, the mighty powers of civilization
preside. Where the trail of the native marked the secluded soil of the wil
derness, the terrific engine of the railroad moves with resistless force and
impetuous speed, translating the hill to the valley, the mountain to the
ocean, and the population of the country from city to city, giving to all
frequent opportunities to witness the unnumbered scenes of industry, beauty
and munificence, which everywhere mark the land. Where humble settle
ments struggled to find the means of existence, states have risen out-rivalling
ancient empires, and the vast continent, which was then visited by the few
of almost every nation, has become the territory of a people whose govern
ment rests upon the illimitable basis of that Democracy recognized by the
Puritans, ahd whose institutions have become the wonder of the civilized
world^ and the dread of despotism.
Who does not join, with a sense of unconquerable amazement, in the
inquiries, — Whence these mighty results? Where are the sources of such
boundless streams of causation ? In what form can men behold the princi
ples which have given birth to such examples of benevolence and grandeur,
to such harmonious designs of duty and noble activity ?

96 HABITS OF APPLICATION AND PRUDENCE EARLY ESTABLISHED.
It is not to the possession of wealth that we are to look, for this was death
to the greatness of Spain. The colonists were poor. It is not to be
ascribed to the principle of monarchy ; for, with all her kings and queens, and
illustrious statesmen, Great Britain has yet to discover the true causes of
popular discontent, the sources of public prosperity. The colonists were
republicans. It is hot to the acquisitions of philosophy in the lands of a
Kant, or of a Cuvier, that the mind is to be directed for a solution of such
questions; for their countries have been the scenes of frequent revolution, and
still remain as significant examples of how little* human misery is lessened by
human learning. The colonists were working men.1 Nor can an answer
be found in the mighty army of Russia, where martial law is government;
nor in the Celestial Empire, where ignorance is safety, and activity treason.
These nations are still bound by the strong chains of despotism, sustained by
a multitudinous soldiery ; and vast masses of human beings linger in hopeless
indifference to the highest emotions of the soul, and passively submit to
suffering as the birthright of freemen. The colonists were their own pro
tectors, their own teachers.
Where, then, shall the common mind be directed for instruction on this
exalted theme ? Where find the primary influences that prepare the mind
for that lofty exercise of the virtues which dignify and adorn individual
character, and enlarge the motives that hold sacred the rights of a citizen,
and with extended arms of power encompass and protect, with equal cer
tainty, the great interests of a nation ? Where, but to the eternal source of
truth and justice? Where wisdom adapts itself to the constitution of things,
heeding the lessons of the past, relying upon knowledge, protecting the
present by a government of laws, and, jealous of rights, providing for the
future by the institutions of education and religion? Where motives are
characterized by divine attributes of love and integrity, and truth is illus
trated by examples of the self-sacrificing spirit of devotion to duty, clothed
with a power that knows no glory but in the happiness of its subjects?
Influenced by such motives and principles, the Puritans began their work.

THEIR HABITS OF APPLICATION AND PRUDENCE WERE EARLY ESTABLISHED.
They knew no pride but ^in duty, no ambition but in sacrifice. Their
hopes had long. been chastened by the strong arm of an oppressive govern
ment, and their anticipations were circumscribed by an experience that
indulged in no extravagant promises. Wants, were limited to the narrow
1 " As for this poor Relation, I pray you to accept it as being writ by the several actors
themselves, after their plain and rude manner. Therefore doubt nothing of the truth
thereof. If it be defective in anything, it is their ignorance, that are better acquainted with
planting than writing." — Robert Cushman's Letter from Plymouth, in 1621.

FORMATION OF CHARACTER AIDED BY EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 97
compass of stern necessities, and pleasures restrained within the sober
bounds of duty.1 The idea of luxury was banished from the mind, as
incompatible with its necessities ; and habits of idleness and of frivolity were
looked upon with a horror next to that of death to the body, or dissolution
to the state.8 They promptly rejected all speculative propositions, and dis
countenanced all doubtful experiments. They looked upon loss of any kind
with fearful apprehensions. Their possessions were small, their numbers
few, their visible power insignificant. Time and mind were their only capi
tal, opportunity their only privilege.3 A constant activity, a perpetual
vigilance, a self-reliance that centred in God, a firmness that yielded to
nothing but death, were the undeyiating and only conditions upon which they
could be saved and continued. In their boldness they were cautious ; in
their prudence, courageous. With what indomitable pertinacity they adhered
to their plans and executed their purposes, may be seen in the numerous
events recorded by the historian.4

FORMATION OF CHARACTER AIDED BY EXTERNAL OBJECTS. .
But, in the estimate of human character, it is not to be forgotten that man
is constantly surrounded, influenced and controlled, by agencies which
inhere in the constitution of things. Man stands not alone. He may be
the "tenth or ten- thousandth " link in the great chain of the moral
universe. He seems to will as he likes, but he cannot always act as he wills.
He is prone to beheve himself the primary agent of power, when he is but
the humble subject of submission. Law pervades all the faculties of his
being, all the circumstances of life. These are controlled by laws, and
according to laws they are governed and exercised. Placed in relation to
external objects, man is everywhere favored or opposed by the phenomena of
existence. He breathes an atmosphere adapted to his bodily wants. He
1 Josselyn, who visited New England in 1638, says: " July 10, 1 went ashore upon Noddle's
Island, to Mr. Samuel Maverick, the only hospitable man in all the country, giving enter
tainment to all comers gratis." In 1635, the General Court manifested its high displeasure
at his extravagance. — Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, p. 322.
2 " There is a generation which think to have more in this world than Adam's felicity in
innocency, being born, as they think, to take their pleasures and their ease. Let the roof
of the house drop through, they stir not ; let the field be overgrown with weeds, they care
not ; they must not foul their hand, nor wet their foot. It 's enough for them to say, Go
you, — not, Let us go, — though never so much need. Such idle drones are intolerable in a
settled commonwealth, much more in a commonwealth which is but as it were in the bud." —
Robert Cushman's Discourse to the Colonists, 1621.
s Want of punctuality was made a penal offence.
4 Read "Histoky op the Uniteo States, from the Disco-vert op the American Con
tinent," by George Bancroft. This writer discusses national topics with great ability.
and eloquence. 13

98 NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY.
treads the earth subject to all its laws. He thinks and acts in harmony with
his spiritual being; and whether the agent or subject of power, — the observer
of objects or the object observed, — the man, the citizen, the ruler, or the
ruled, — he finds himself but an humble part of the mighty whole, the active
or the passive element of society. From the cradle to the grave, he passes
through all the social and national relations of good and evil, power and
want. He is both a contributor and a receiver of benefits. He is alike the
subject of favor and of adversity, of pleasure and of pain. He succeeds or
he fails, in the execution of his plans, according to the measure of his wis
dom or the folly of his habits ; and his life is one of ease or of hardships,
according to the age in which he lives, or the principles by which he is gov
erned. In whatever position he stands, -the great work of Providence is
advanced with irresistible force, to the accomplishment of the designs of divine
beneficence. Oppression, adversity, hardships and suffering, with their
appalling train of unwelcome events, are transformed by the hand of Deity
into sources of moral strength and spiritual endurance,
In all these relations of trial the Puritans were placed. They were tested
and proved in relation to the simple elements of things. They commenced
with the first principles of social and national growth, and guarded the
sources of influence in their earliest risings. The comparatively sterile and
rock-bound soil of New England, and the severity of the climate, rendered
labor a necessity ; and thus were established permanent habits of industry.
With no conventional aid to sustain them, they sought out the resources of
individual existence, and found an aid in every circumstance, an ally in
every object. They had faith in G°d and nature, and by God and nature
they were sustained, exalted, and advanced.
NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY.
The chief element of national existence is sovereignty. It is political
independence, an efficient state of self-direction in a government. It is com
prised in the condition of ability, — an ability that is equal to the control of
internal and external governmental emergencies. It comprehends the man,
the citizen, the nation, and all their relations of duty and alliances of power.
It is the embodiment of conventional power in its greatest efficiency; and,
while it is alive to all the conditions by which it is preserved, it yields
nothing to the spirit that seeks to abridge its prerogatives. The compact
of individuals may recognize the principle, but the reality is a result of
the slow process of successful endeavor and defence.
In sovereignty, properly understood, are to be found all the great princi
ples ; which inhere in the spirit of liberty. Its degrees range from the indi
vidual to the nation, from the smallest conventional forms of organization to

NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. 99
government itself in its mightiest functions. The completeness of the
whole depends upon the completeness of its parts.
The colonists did much to develop this great principle. Let the principle
be carefully studied, in its various conditions of advancement. Still, with
this idea of sovereignty in regard to the American settlements, "the colonists
acknowledged the King of Great Britain as their lawful sovereign. The
admission, however, was merely technical. It was not even theoretical.
Many of the colonists had long been democratic republicans. They were so
still. It must be remembered that republicanism is not always democracy,
although it would be difficult to find an example of democracy that was
opposed to republicanism. The one relates to form, the other to principle.
This view does not involve the necessity of doubting their loyalty, because
they had not yet discovered that the feeling of sovereignty, which they had
realized, was inconsistent with their allegiance as subjects of a monarchy.
They had not yet been entirely persuaded- of the practicability of a republic ;
and, while religious liberty was to them a subject of paramount importance,
they were not disposed to test the question of form, where they had prom
ised themselves the enjoyment to be realized in the practice of principle.
Sovereignty that is based upon the exercise of absolute power is consolida
tion. Though consolidation strictly refers to the uniting of parts which have
already existed, Still the term may be used, perhaps, as significant of abso
lutism. It has but a single reliance. It is self relying upon self. If it
- fails in self, it has no alternative but to fall. It is the will of a single mind
reduced to the narrow scale of individual wisdom.
Sovereignty that is based upon Democracy is subordinate to fundamental
principles. Every form of power is a warrant of security. Great interests
have each their safeguard, and what protects one protects all. It commences
with the individual. It is self-knowledge, self-control. It extends to the
family and to the social circle. In them it is the entire fulfilment of duty
in the private relations of life. With a regulating hand it advances with the
common interests of society, and towns ' and cities, as such, become each its
1 " We may, however, be sure of one point," says Lord Brougham. " Democracy is much
more natural to towns or cities than to country districts ; and here it may be observed that
in general popular governments, either on the aristocratic or democratic model, have at all
periods of the world been more usually established in the towns than in the country."
De Tocqueville says :-=-" Local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free
nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science ; they bring it
within the people's reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it." These admis
sions are in harmony with a well-established fact, that the people are democratic in the
same degree that they are justly informed. To say that "local assemblies" and "town-
meetings " constitute the strength of a nation, is to assert, in other words, that the people
themselves are the source of national strength, which is true. These frequent neighborhood
meetings give opportunities for mutual instruction, and hence their great importance.
The town government was derived from the authority of Scripture. In the "Abstract

100 NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY.
own master and protector. That is, in the settlement of certain interests,
they exercise a supreme authority, admitting of no appeal. Still enlarging
its circles of control to meet the wants and emergencies of society, towns and
cities are formed into states, and states into empires. Treaties are negotiated,
alliances are formed, and national law defined and promulgated, and thus the
civilized world is subdivided by man, in view of his wants, interests, and
necessities. These classifications are not arbitrary, — they inhere in nature.
They are the legitimate results of natural causes, and exist in harmony "with
the natural laws. What self-resj3ect is to the individual, and duty to private
life, sovereignty is to the town, to the state, to the empire. It is a primary
law of moral and political existence, and is to conventional power what iden
tity is to person. It is found to be limited or extended, according to the
capacities of the individual or the people. In relation to progress, it is either
complete or incomplete ; that is, nominal or real. Language is inadequate for
definition. And in this connection the great distinction should be observed
which exists between religious and political independence. The sovereignty
of the religious world centres in God, and is perfect. Political sovereignty is
conventional, and centres in man ; and is more or less complete, according to
the degree of his perfection. It is a sovereignty of progress, a sovereignty
that recognizes the necessity of improvement, but which surrenders no pre
rogative of principle.
It forms a most beautiful as well as instructive subject, to see with what
completeness the elements of national existence combined to aid the Puritans.
All nations and nature opened sources of life, interest and strength to the
New England colonies.
The power of the Indians insured union to the white man, and their
divisions gave allies. Territory was as free to the pilgrim as air to the out
cast. This is a primary condition to independence. Without territory,
equitably divided among men in the commencement of a community, inde
pendence is impossible. It is the foundation of interest, as interest becomes
the leading element in the foundation of power. It gives to every man, town,
state and nation, a boundary-line to protect, a class of interests to promote.
Genius becomes graduated to the sphere of its incentives, and industry con
fines its labors to the limits of human motives. All become workers with
distinct objects in view, and each class of men accomplish not only a private
end, but a common good.
Here was to be seen what has proved to be of incalculable value to the
American Union, — the-great principle of state sovereignty, ordinarily denom
inated State Rights.1 The party lines in respect to this subject were early and
of Laws and Government," proposed by John Cotton, in 1655, the following passages are
quoted : Deut. 16 : 18 ; Exod. 18 : 21, 22 ; Jer. 36 : 10—12.
1 In this connection allusion can only be made to the elements of this important subject
It will be fully considered in another place.

THE EXERCISE OF EQUAL RIGHTS. 101
deeply drawn. The perpetual topics of discussion, to be found in all nations,
in reference to land titles and boundary-hnes, were, prominent ones in the
colonies. The contest was confined to no company, to no section. All
became alike involved. The influence of interest was combined with that
of national pride, and what was wanting in reason was more than supplied
by prejudice. National rivalries and antipathies, with all the bitterness of
accumulated hate, had their sway in the business of defining the charters
and patents of the king, and in adjusting conflicting titles, — difficulties
which designing men had contrived, or ignorance had permitted. What a
spectacle to behold ! Insignificant and yet distinct bands of citizen adven
turers, just arrived and scattered in a wilderness, and already engaged in
earnest controversies concerning territorial rights ! Every civilized nation
had its representative in some active position. It is true, the different colo
nists were not here to act by authority of the government of their respective
nations. They were invested with a superior power. The uncompromising
spirit of nationality, incorporated, as it were, in the passions of the indi
vidual, was everywhere alive, native responding to native, and each appeal
ing to the government of his home for protection. In all these conflicts, the
natives of England, Scotland, Francej Sweden and Holland, were more or less
concerned, and entered into combinations characterized by local interest and
national peculiarities, as various as the lights and shades of the setting sun
depicted upon the rocks and dells of the mountain-side.
No colony was exempt from these territorial difficulties, and it is to be
hoped that no state is to be found where the results of these early contests
are not permanently preserved in an immovable attachment of the people to
the democratic doctrine of state sovereignty. State sovereignty is to the nation
what the breakwater is to the city upon the sea-side. It is defence against
accumulated force indefinitely exercised. Its prerogatives consist in the
absolute control of its own rights as a state, in the exercise of its own power
as a sovereignty. When viewed in their relations to government, the differ
ence between a freeman and slave is not greater than that existing between
a sovereign state and a subordinate department of a consolidated confed
eracy. - Without a bill of rights, there can be no sure freedom of person ;
without state sovereignty, protected by a constitution, there can be no security
to a republic. An indispensable condition to sovereignty is to be found in

THE EXERCISE OF EQUAL RIGHTS.
No one will contend that equal rights can spring from unequal beginnings.
In old countries the difficulty of such a beginning must be obvious to all.
It is, indeed, an inadmissible supposition. It is an event impossible. It is
beyond the reach of law, without involving the dangers of revolution ; and

102 EQUALITY IS BEST COMMENCED IN POVERTY.
it is beyond the reach of revolution, without ending in anarchy. * The
unequal results of imperfect laws and institutions, — the diversified conditions
of men, as traceable to the varied capacities of mind, — are not to be levelled
by the hand of government, nor harmonized by the inefficient theoretical'
influences of social communities.1
Practical industry thrives best where competition is most active, and suc
cess is most certain where individual enterprise is most encouraged. If
every man acts for himself, provided his standard of duty is in harmony
with the good of others, he is adding character to society, and wealth to the
state. EQUALITY IS BEST COMMENCED IN POVERTY.
In this relation, poverty is an indispensable condition to equal rights. It
is to capacity what territory is to persons. It is an open field for endeavor,
equally free to all, though all are not endowed with equal ability to cultivate it.
Every man according to his talents. Poverty has the powerful and inventive
aid of necessity. It hinders no motive but that of extravagance ; it favors
no act but that of economy. It has no promises of greatness for ambition,
no golden bribe for corruption. To pride and jealousy it offers no fuel for
the flame of passion, and envy is disarmed by the meekness of its bearing.
But the reader must not confound the poverty of possession with the pov
erty of sentiment. A man may stand forth in the true dignity of his nature,
honoring God, helping man, comprehending and enjoying the true luxuries
of life, the happiness .of virtue, the independence of integrity, the delights
of religion, and be unable to command the wealth sought by commerce,
or which misers grasp with a death-like selfishness. He is poor in pos
session, but rich in the best gifts of humanity. On the other hand, a man
may look upon material wealth as the great object of existence. His ambi
tion may be graduated to the grovelling scale of gain, without regard to
principle, control, or good. He may be as rich as a Girard, or an Astor,
but in spirit poorer than the meanest beggar that sues for charity in the
streets of the metropolis.
In a miser's view the Puritans were poor. As nature's noblemen, none
1 France is in a condition of unequal development. In some respects the nation is in advance
of all others ; but it must be admitted that in other important particulars it is comparatively
deficient. The family and the town organizations are wanting. While Paris is France,
France must be cramped by Paris. The popular will, like an unguarded ocean, engulfs
the boundaries of right. The tides of impulse and ignorance still defy the limits of judgment.
The Socialists have their great errors, but their extravagance may command attention where
prudence would not be heard. They are working to supply an evident want, but they ask
too much. With an honest intent to supply a part that is wanting, they commit the serious
error of proposing to do it at the expense of the whole, already established. ' Great evils
require special and extraordinary remedies. Even when much is asked, but little is gained.

EQUALITY IS BEST COMMENCED IN POVERTY. 103
could boast of greater riches.1 They sought for aid in industry, character,
and religion. With these, success was certain ; without these, impossible.2
Their chief aim, when embarking fbr America, seemed to be comfortably to
provide for the voyage, and to insure a safe beginning in the wilderness.
They had no common fundj except in a very limited supply of the actual
necessaries of life ; and what was wanting in such property with a portion of
the company was equalized by the skill and capacity of the planter and the
mechanic. All rights being equal in regard to territory and property, there
was no obstacle to an agreement that all rights should be equal in respect to
privilege. The sovereignty of this little body politic was purely democratic,
based upon the general good. All had a voice in its exercise; or, in other
words, each individual exercised a sovereignty within himself, subjected only
to the control of the majority. The majority principle is simply a rule of
practicability, securing to a body of men an opportunity of action, numer
ically, according to the theory of entire equality. It is a practical adjust
ment of differences, after all have had an equal chance for influence. No
person is counted more than one ; no person can be counted less. A more
perfect foundation for a democratic sovereignty cannot be conceived. The
sovereignty of the individual, however humble, is complete ; and, in the exer
cise of the majority principle, the sovereignty of the body politic is pre
served.3 A considerate regard was extended to the weak in position, by
1 Gov. William Bradford, it is said, was th<! richest man in Plymouth Colony, when he
died. The amount of his property was about nine hundred pounds. He died in 1659. The
next in rank for wealth was Miles Standish, who died in 1656. His property was estimated
at about four hundred pounds. Wages at this time, it must be considered, were very low;
and, as there was but little money in the colonies, all valuations_ were graduated to a low
standard. In 1.638 it was enacted " that a laborer shall have twelve pence a day and his
dyett, or eighteen pence a day without dyett, and not above, throughout the government."
This law was repealed in 1639. Edward Gray is recorded, by Dr. Thacher, as the richest man
in the colony. He lived a century later. He acquired an estate worth twelve hundred and
fifty pounds.
2 It is an old saying, that " virtue perfectionates herself by resisting assaults." " This is
one of the reasons," says Montaigne, "why Epaminondas refused riches which fortune pre
sented to him by very lawful means. " "In order, ' ' said he, " to contend with poverty ; " — in
the extreme of which he maintained himself to the last. The choice of Epaminondas was one
of judgment, but the position of the Puritans was that of necessity imposed by Providence.
3 Let us dwell with M. Guizot for the moment, which he asks, and consider his attempt to
prove a contradiction upon Rousseau. In his fifth lecture on the civilization of France, he
says : " Most of yon, of course, have read the Contrat Social of Rousseau ; the sovereignty
of number, of the numerical majority, is, as you know, the fundamental principle of the work ;
and Rousseau, for a long time, follows Out the consequence of it with inflexible rigor. A time
arrives, however, when he abandons them with great effect. He wishes to give his funda
mental laws, his constitution, to the rising society. His high intellect warned him that such
a work could not proceed from universal sufirage, from the numerical majority, from the
multitude. 'A God,' said he, ' must give laws to men.' . . . It is not magistracy, — it
is not sovereignty. . . . It is a particular and superior function, which has nothing in
common with the human empire. And hereupon he sets up a sole legislator, a sage ; thus

104 EQUALITY IS BEST COMMENCED IN POVERTY.
equalizing their condition ; 1 and the planter was favored in a manner that
insured a permanency in the settlement. The wants of the family were
violating his principle of the sovereignty of number, in order to turn to an entirely different
principle, — to the sovereignty of intellect, to the right of superior reason." '
But, unfortunately, M. Guizot, in his endeavor to prove an inconsistency in the philosophy
of Rousseau,, commits the double error of misconstruction and misapprehension: He gives
supremacy to a nominal logic, at the expense of actual reason. The sovereignty of number is
a theory based upon the sovereignty of intellect. To view the subject in any other light, is
an absurdity for which Rousseau is not responsible. Guizot does not seem to comprehend
how the multitude can ever be raised to the dignity which belongs to intelligence. But this
subject will be discussed more at length in a future chapter.
'The conditions upon which the Pilgrims contracted with the Merchant Adventurers of
London, as they were*called, for their transportation to America, indicate the exhausted state
of their pecuniary means, and w,ould probably never have obtained their assent, under cir
cumstances not imposed by absolute necessity. We place these conditions before the reader,
that a just estimate may be formed of the " hard terms " upon which the emigration of our
fathers depended, which were as follows :
1 . The adventurers and planters dp agree, that every person that goeth, being sixteen years
old and upward, be rated at ten pounds, and that ten pounds be accounted a single share.
2. That he that goeth in person, and furnisheth himself out with ten pounds, either in
money or other provisions, be accounted as having twenty pounds in stock, and in the division
shall receive a double share.
3. The persons transported and the adventurers shall continue their joint stock and part
nership the space of seven years, except some unexpected impediments do cause the whole
company to agree otherwise ; during which time all profits and benefits that are gotten by
trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means, of any other person or persons,
shall remain still in the common stock until the division.
4. That at the coming there they shall choose out such a number of fit persons as may fur
nish their ships and boats for fishing upon the sea ; employing the rest in their several facul
ties upon the land, as building houses, tilling and planting the ground, and making such
commodities as shall be most useful for the colony.
5. That at the end of the seven years, the capital and the profits, namely, the houses, lands,
goods and chattels, be equally divided among the adventurers. If any debt or detriment
concerning this adventure *
6. Whosoever cometh to the colony hereafter, or putteth anything into the stock, shall at
the end of the seven years be allowed proportionally to the time of his so doing.
7. He that shall carry his wife, or children, or servants, shall be allowed for every person,
now aged sixteen years and upward, a single share in the division ; or, if he provide them
necessaries, a double share ; or, if they be between ten years old and sixteen, then two of ¦
them to be reckoned for a person, both in transportation and division.
8. That such children that now go and are under the age of ten years have no other share
in the division than fifty acres of unmanured land.
9. That such persons as die before the seven years be expired, their executors to have their
parts or share at the division, proportionably to the time of their life in the colony.
10. That all such persons as are of the colony are to have meat, drink and apparel, and all
provisions, out of the common stock and goods of the said colony.
These conditions, as we have observed, were reluctantly assented to, on the part of those
concerned in the enterprise of emigration ; but Mr. Cushman, their principal agent, as Gov.
Bradford observes, " answered the complaints, that unless they so ordered the conditions,
the whole design would have fallen to the ground ; and necessity, they said, having no law,
they were constrained to be silent."
* Some additional article was probably intended to be inserted.

THE PRINCIPLE OF INTEGRITY. 105
anticipated and provided for in view of population and uncertain contingen
cies ; and what is usually placed at the mercy of interest was counted as a
matter of serious public concern.
But, in considering the importance of the principle of equal rights as
established by the Puritans, there is another element to be estimated in this
connection, and that is

THE PRINCIPLE OF INTEGRITY.
Were the Puritans honest 1 Was their practice in harmony with their
professions 1 In other words, were they sincere 1 Without this element,
democracy is nothing. Without integrity, sovereignty can have no lasting
existence. This is in the nature of things. Honesty has within itself the
elements of self-preservation; dishonesty, the sure elements of self-destruction.
What government is to a nation, as a protective institution, integrity is to
government as a sustaining principle. It is the great principle of certainty,
— the moral presence of man placed in the sublime relations of simple truth.
It will not be expected that any attempt should be made to prove the
integrity of the Puritans, or to defend their acts. Should such a course be
deemed necessary in any connection, it is quite certain that it is not embraced
within the design of the present work. Besides, whoever has informed him
self of their history with so little profit as to institute such an inquiry, is not
likely to be influenced by mere expressions of opinion, when facts of an
extraordinary nature have failed to produce conviction.
If viewed in connection with the events of a generation, integrity
is a principle that cannot be mistaken. The grandeur of its development
exists in its moral greatness, in sustaining man with an undeviating
certainty in the successive positions of progressive humanity. It marks
the world of mind, as the planets mark the heavens. It is the basis
of eternal order. It sheds a light by which it may be seen, and travels
wide and open paths, which are perpetual. It is the continuity and
permanency of moral principle, — the joining the present with the past,
and the past with the future; or, in the language of philosophy, it may
be denominated moral identity. It gave permanency to the will of the
Puritans, and character to their motives. As an element of sovereignty, its
importance can hardly be over-estimated. A slight deviation from its strict
requisitions, in the beginning, would soon have proved fatal to the success
of the colonists. In respect to all local questions this principle governed.
The exercise of its influence, combined with habitual firmness, gave to them
that peculiar austerity of character for which they became so distinguished.
They permitted no deviation from their rules of practice, when not sanc
tioned by acknowledged tests of integrity. Their business was conducted
14

106 POPULAR EDUCATION.
in strict conformity to its requisitions ; their habits were controlled in
view of their professions, and their fashions were scrutinized with the
same exact observance of moral harmony. When applied to government
and combined with firmness, it was the spirit of integrity that enabled them
to withstand the encroachments of power, so frequently attempted by Eng
land. They were strict constructionists, — even more. They were true not
only to the letter of their charters and patents, but to the spirit of their
language, the circumstances of their origin, and to the great principles of
Democracy. Admitting, then, what all candid men must be willing to concede, that
they were democrats in principle, the further inquiry remains to be answered,
whether they were true to Democracy in practice. Were their institutions
of justice, education and religion, calculated to sustain the sovereignty, the
elements of which have just been considered? Were their laws of a charac
ter suited to the period, and of consistent tendencies?
It is a common error to speak :of the institutions of a country as original
sources of character. Their influence is not to be denied, nor their import
ance undervalued. Let them simply be understood in their obvious rela
tions. .,
Institutions are shaped according to character already existing. They are
good or pernicious, efficient or feeble, according to the wisdom with which
they are projected and sustained. They indicate the true character of a
people. What motives are to action, character is to institutions. In the
one we find the cause ; in the other, the corresponding effect. The institu
tions of the colonists were not the sources of their success or strength, so
much as they were the results of their Democracy. This may be said with
singular propriety of their schools, and establishments for

POPULAR EDUCATION.
In no degree did the colonists relax their exertions in view of sustaining
the great principles which they had so explicitly declared, and which were
gaining strength in every advancement of knowledge. They began rapidly
to discover the great power of knowledge. They evidently noticed progress
in themselves at an early period, and it was natural that they should note
the causes of prosperity which arose within the limits of a common ex
perience. Not being conscious of ignorance, they could not suddenly be
influenced by new considerations, even in regard to the importance of educa
tion. The age in which they lived1 was thought by some to be a learned
1 When Glanville was elected Speaker of the House of Commons (1640) , he referred, in
his Speech to the King, to the great learning of that age. He said, "It is a learned age
wherein we live, under your majesty's most peaceful and flourishing government : and your

POPULAR EDUCATION. 107
one. They saw enough, however, to be persuaded that schools for the peo
ple were as necessary for the security of posterity as reproduction is indis
pensable to the continuance of the race.1
House of Commons, as it is now composed, is not only the representative body, but the ab
stracted quintessence of the whole commonality, of this your noble realm of England ; there
be very many amongst them much- fitter for this place than I am ; few or none, in my opin
ion, so unfit as myself." — Pari. Deb., vol; n., p. 536.
1 Livingston, in his Introduction to the Penal Code of Louisiana, gives credit to the early
colonists of New England for establishing free schools such as had never been attempted
in modern Europe.
The first free school in America was founded in 1621, in Virginia. The early proceedings
of the colonists in regard to eduoation have not been preserved. They extended their educa
tional care even to the children of the Indians. Governor Cradock recommended to Mr.
Endicott, in 1628, " that he train up some of the Indian children to reading and religion."
In 1635,/ree schools were commenced in Boston. A college was established in Cambridge
in 1638 ; that, " so schollars might there be educated for the service of Christ and his churches
in the work of the ministry, and that they might be seasoned in their tender years with such
principles as brought their blessed progenitors into this wilderness." It was recommended
to the several colonies, in 1645, to raise, by way of voluntary contribution, one peck of corn, or
twelve pence money, or other commodity, of every family, " that so the college may have some
considerable yearly healp towards their occasions. ' ' The foundation of the college, and the
instruction of all the children in the English tongue, the capital laws, and the grounds and
principles of religion, were among the first objects of attention in the Massachusetts colony.
The college was sustained with energy, by frequent enactments, as an institution of the first
importance, in every point of view. In 1642 the legislature gave their earnest attention to
domestic education, and passed laws making the duty an imperative one. Common schools
were established by law in Massachusetts in 1647. Since that time, not to keep and maintain
the schools required by law has been an indictable offence. The following is an act of 1647 :
" It being one chief project of Satan to keep men from the knowledge of the Scripture, as
in former times keeping them in unknown tongues, so in these latter times by persuading
from the use of tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be
clouded and corrupted with false glosses of deceivers ; to the end that learning may not be
buried in the graves of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our
endeavors ;
"It is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof, that every township
within this jurisdiction , after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty house
holders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their tojvns to teach all such children as
shall resort to him to read and write, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or
masters of such children, or. by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major
part of those that order the prudentials of the town shall appoint ; provided that those who
send their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught
for in other towns.
" And it is further ordered, that where any town shall increase to the number of one hun
dred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar-school, the master thereof being
able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university ; and if any town neglect
the performance hereof above one year, then every such town shall pay five pounds per
annum to the next such school, till they shall perform this order."
The legislation of the colonies in respect to eduoation was continued with consistent views
and unabated interest to the period of the Revolution.- The colonists shared the spirit of
Milton, who said, "I call, . therefore, a complete and generous education that which fits a
man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously, all the offices, both private and public,
of peace and war."— See Coll. of JV. H. Hist. Soe, vol. iv. ; Felt's Annals of Salem ;
Colonial Records of Connecticut.

108 POPULAR' EDUCATION.
In education is to be found another and a very important condition neces
sary to the continuance and completeness. of state sovereignty. The district
school is a democratic institution, and, when considered in its near find remote
bearings, is a subject of the greatest magnitude. It is to man what the orb
of day is to the world, — a light that leads, and a power that saves. It may
be termed the life-guard of thought and sentiment,-^ that principle of Democ
racy which opens to the soul new avenues to the future, and prepares the
means for their immediate occupancy.
The axiom that "knowledge is power" is* no new discovery. For
six thousand years, at least, it lias been known to the few ; and the con
sciousness of the existence of this magnificent truth has been one of the
chief reasons why it has been kept from the many.
It is not well to turn upon the past witi> an arrogant spirit, to analyze the
dark ages of man; as if they had been, permitted, and hot controlled, by Provi
dence ; as if it were possible that Almighty Power could cease for an instant
in its beneficence, or fail to assert and develop the sublime and mighty rela
tions of divine truth. This is not the spirit of philosophy, of patriotism, or
of religion. Rather let the pages of the past be read as -the lessons coming
from Infinite Wisdom, illustrating the glories of truth by the absence of
knowledge, the power of knowledge by the examples of ignorance, the bless
ings of knowledge by the practical results of its application. In God's own
time, the destiny of man will be developed by human agencies, which, while
they display his goodness, will elevate the soul ; and while they exalt his
power, will add energy to all the faculties.
The ancients, with extraordinary foresight of the power of knowledge, pro
claimed, with oracular solemnity, that self-knowledge was of divine origin,
Truth profound !
How great the task ! how infinite the theme !
Self-knowledge comprehends a consciousness of the varied powers of mind ;
their wants as connected with condition, their nature as the agents of con
trol, and an acquaintance with external objects, as the aids of human pro
gress. Without self-knowledge, man remains ignorant of man. Rights would
exist only in abstract propositions, and duty would be a theory subordinate
to arbitrary power.
Historians of all nations are too much accustomed to speak of education as
having been within the reach of the people. They employ language that is
calculated to mislead the reader, and to perplex the thinker. They fail to
make a distinction between individual examples of learning and a diffused intel
ligence among the people ; between the love of knowledge and the possession

POPULAR EDUCATION. 109
of it. It is true the ancients prized it with as much enthusiasm as the mod
erns do ; but what would be counted much in one period, would be deemed
insignificant in another. What was once called general diffusion, embracing
only those who could read and write, and were in position, would be charac
terized in the present day as education for the aristocracy.
In ancient Rome, in the earlier ages of the confthonwealth, it is asserted
by historians1 that the Roman matrons appreciated teaching as an honor.
The general prosperity and peace of China have been ascribed to educational
causes.2 Guizot and others, say, that from the first to the eighth centuries
schools were everywhere numerous in France.3 Charlemagne is represented
as a most ardent friend to education, — and yet he was unable to write his
own name.
Prescott gives a glowing account of "Arabian scholarship, in the tenth
and succeeding centuries, under a despotic government and a sensual reli
gion." * Alfred of England, in the ninth century, is said to have enjoined
by law all freeholders, possessed of two hides of land or more, to send their.
children to school ; and it is added that he had the satisfaction to see great
changes in the face of affairs, before his death.5 Peter the Great is recorded
as having established "schools in all the towns and little villages of Russia,
where the peasants learned to read and write, which the very gentry could
hardly do before." 6 And it is added by another writer, that the Emperor
Alexander did much, in his reign, "to promote general education; and estab
lished several new universities, with large numbers of subsidiary schools."7
These writers are not quoted with any disposition to make improper
exception to their authorities, which seem to warrant such statements, but
with a purpose to induce a more careful study of the nations referred to, in
regard to the actual condition of the people. Historians owe it to them
selves and to philosophy so to impart knowledge as not to violate the pre
rogatives of moral power. As a precocious child, properly trained, is not
1 Tytler, and others. 2 Davis' China, vol. I., p. 201.
3 Civilization in Europe, vol. i., p. 349. * Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. I., p. 285.
6 Hume, vol. I., p. 75. 6 Eustaphieve's Reflections, &c, p. 73.
7 The intelligence of the troops and the people of Russia may be infemed from an anecdote
related by Schnitzler. At the time of the great revolt at St. Petersburg, soon after the acces
sion of Nicholas to the throne, a revolution was attempted by Ryleieff and others, to which
allusion has already been made. The ostensible plan- was to place Constantine upon the
throne, which he had voluntarily surrendered in favor of Nicholas, and to insist upon a con
stitution. When the moment had arrived for declaring their standard, " to the cry ' Hurrah
for Constantine ' was added that of ' Hurrah for the constitution. ' The last word bears in
RuSs a feminine termination, — Constitouizia, — and the ignorant men who heard it coupled
with that of Constantine supposed it referred to his wife ! The word republic, had it been
pronounced, would not have been better understood. And the more reasonable cry which
escapes in smothered sighs from many a Russian heart, ' Triumph to the cause of law and
justice, and down with absolutism ! ' would not, if uttered to that audience, have been more
intelligible." — Secret History of Russia, vol. I., p. 240.

110 POPULAR EDUCATION.
expected to be a dull man, so a nation that is early favored with extensive
means of education is not expected to linger in the dark shades of ignorance
as it advances to maturity. The practical teachings of the parable of the
traveller, who gave a different number of talents to each of his servants, are
as applicable to true philosophy as to religion.1
The power of truth is certain. Knowledge is its great lever. Whatever
else is clouded by the uncertainties of life, the light of knowledge has its
conditions of progress, which may be calculated with as much moral accuracy
as the elements of physical power. It is only necessary to look with scru
tiny to the present state of England, France, Russia and China, to be per
suaded that at no time whatever have the common people of those nations
been blessed wijh a common-school education. They all have much to
accomplish before arriving at such a position. The power of knowledge is
still monopolized, and the people, though blessed with occasional glimpses of
privileges which belong to them, are kept down by the machinery of govern
ments, suited only to control an ignorant population.
As the stream is dependent upon its source, so all events, of whatever
name or nature, are made subservient to truth. It has been eloquently said
that " Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself." 2 Its presence prepares for
its continuance. Its advancement discovers new agents, new labors, new
duties. Its actual possession elevates all that has dignified man in the past,
and gives birth to hew conceptions and new motives, >jn view of the future.
The education of Prussia, which opens the portals of truth to the subject, as
a showman exhibits for pay, — that affords to the man a nominal possession of
knowledge, without a title to the dignity which belongs to its uses, — is like
giving light to the eyes of the blind, while manacles still fetter the limbs of '
the body.3 Yet, thanks to the monarch who acts with confidence, according
to. the light which surrounds him.4 . He is preparing a crown for his royal
descendants, which will outrival the brightness of the diamond", — the glo
rious wreath of freedom, — and which no power on earth can place upon the
head but the hand of Democracy.
If it were a safe proposition for the Lord-Bishop of Durham, in 1603,
1 Matthew 25 : \t, 15.
2 Sir James Mackintosh.
3 The position of the Prussian subject, in relation to his sovereign, is much like that
which Solicitor Coke acknowledged to be his, when, as Speaker of the House (1592-3), he
addressed her majesty Queen Elizabeth, and said, "For as in the heavens a star is. but
'opacum corpus,' until ithath received light from the sun, so stand I. ' corpus opaCum,'
a mute body, until your highness' bright shining wisdom hath looked upon me, and allowed
me."— Pari. Deb., vol. i., p. 860. '
4 An intelligent writer says :" It was the successful assertion, by Martin Luther, of the
right of individual conscience, the great principle of religious liberty, which led to the estab
lishment of the parochial schools in Germany,' the germs of the present school system of
Prussia."

POPULAR EDUCATION. Ill
that "correction without instruction is but a tyranny," it requires but little
prophetic boldness to predict that with instruction tyranny must ultimately
cease ; 1 and, it may be added, crime essentially diminished.2
Tyranny, which appears in the name of principle, has but a temporary
mission, a" transitory control. Its palaces become its sepulchres, its retreats
of safety become its own dungeons of confinement. While it subserves a
collateral end, it is inherently, self-destructive.
All men, whether tyrants or patriots, love the power pf knowledge. All
bow to the magic spell of genius, to the sovereignty of mind. By all they
are reverenced, but with opposite motives. By the tyrant, that he may
increase his security, in being able to command the resources of those whom
most he dreads ; by the patriot, that he may extend to all that freedom
which most he loves and craves. The man of ambition prizes no titles above
the honors of a university ; the people esteem no greatness above that which
is to be seen in the defender of their rights, by his masterly exhibitions of
knowledge. The miser, who habitually .pinches the flesh with every exer
tion to sustain its vitality without the expenditure of his money, indulges
in his first act of extravagance when he buys a roll of parchment upon which
to record a will that conveys a title of all his savings to those institutions
established to honor mind, and to multiply the means of knowledge. Such
are the instincts of humanity in regard to those great principles of progress
which are developed by education, and with which alliances by every class
of mind are sought, to secure a fame that alone can be immortal.
The humble Peter Wentworth, when he claimed the right to exert his
powers of knowledge in the House of Commons, in 1575, became the terror
of her majesty, and of her majesty's councillors. God help to keep in
eternal remembrance this ancient and faithful democrat ! 3 How little has
been done in the Old World, for the past three hundred years, to secure the
freedom,$f;. speech claimed by this honest commoner, is sadly illustrated by
the despite, of France ^and Austria, who still multiply their soldiers, invest
r
¦Pari. Deb., vol. i., p. 985.
2 Of the nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine committed to the jails and
houses of correction in Massachusetts, in 1850, only three thousand one hundred and seventy-
five, or less than one-third, could read and write, — and that, too, while only one in a hun
dred of the people could not read and write ; making about ten thousand per cent, in favor
of education. Similar calculations in respect to the convicts of the different states show
similar results, though the percentage in favor of education is much greater in Massachu
setts than in any other state. In view of such facts, the warden of the Ohio penitentiary, in
a special report on prison discipline, made in 1851, said: "When it is considered that a
very fruitful cause of crime is early orphanage, poverty and ignorance, the importance of
penitentiary school-masters will be rendered at once apparent." European statistics illus
trate the same great truth, that crime can be lessened only by means of intellectual aiid
moral culture. — See " Western Journal," August, 1852, in which an article may be
found on this subject, written by M. Tarver, Esq., the senior editor.
3 See page 79.

112 POPULAR EDUCATION.
cowards with authority, muzzle the press, and banish their statesmen and
philosophers. They tremble more in the active presence of a few of their
gifted sons, than if they were threatened by all the armies of the world
combined. In the one case, hope gives them many chances of success ; in
the other, none. It is easy to be seen, however, that in all the changes of
tyranny darkness slowly recedes before the light of truth, and the people
begin to see where they stand, what they are, what they are to do, and to
grasp the power which is revealed by knowledge.
But knowledge and wisdom, without integrity and justice, are only partial
agents of reform. It was a sublime truth of Solomon, that " the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of knowledge."1 This was the prevailing sentiment
of the Puritans, when they evinced a greater confidence in their principles
than in the strength of an army, and saw in their schools more enduring
security for the defence of their rights than in the erection of walls and
fortifications.2 In no respect, and in no condition, is the time misspent
which is given to the contemplation of their modest yet profoundly wise
beginning, in regard to the great subject of education.
But, as state sovereignty is sustained by the means of education, so far as
a knowledge of principles and moral power is concerned, it is yet further
dependent upon its agency in opening and enlarging the sources of national
wealth, and stimulating the incentives to national enterprise. As knowledge
is a nation's power, so industry is a nation's wealth. What education is to
knowledge, knowledge is to industry. The one prepares the power, the
other uses it.
The diversified products of the earth, their varied secondary combinations
by the hand of art, their applications in the business of life, and fitness to
meet the growing wants of society and of nations, are perpetual sources of
great questions, which impose upon man the most sacred obligations to
acquire practical habits of study. His position is one of vast responsibility.
The lessons have been placed before him by an Almighty hand, rand the
treasures which each reveals can be possessed only by means of education.
The farmer is the tender of Nature's great machinery of production. -• His
duties are not limited by his interests, his labors are not confined to his own
wants. He belongs to a state which has its peculiarities of soil, climate
and of production. He belongs to a Union made up of independent states,
each having its own distinguishing ability, and each its own class of wants.
He belongs to a world filled with men of different capacities, interests and
passions, and fitted for labor as various as the tastes and necessities of man
are numerous. To each and all of these he owes a duty, from the perform-
1 Proverbs 1 : 7.
s It was a true remark of WiUiam Penn, " That which makes a good constitution must
keep it ; namely, men of wisdom and virtue, — qualities that because they descend not with
worldly inheritance, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education."

POPULAR EDUCATION. 113
ance of which each and all derive a benefit. How noble is the stewardship,
—how imperative the necessity of knowledge!
The mechanic and the manufacturer has each his circle of labor and
skill. As the farmer should understand the philosophy of nature in the pro
cess of her productions, so should the mechanic and the manufacturer under
stand the philosophy of the productions of art. These are illimitable. Their
origin may be traced either to the necessities of man, or to a knowledge of
his wants and peculiar tastes. The arts and sciences are to be practically
mastered ; the elements are to be made his humble servants in relieving
labor ; the conditions of men are to be studied ; the fashions are to be noted
as they change, and the war .of competition, that life-energy of enterprise, is
to be waged with prudence, and yet with unremitting activity.
Hand in hand then come the merchant and the navigator. They are the
great agents to supply the wants of the world. Every country is to be
studied ; every people is to be visited, consulted, understood and supplied.
They gather for distribution, carrying to distant lands the products of their
own country, and returning laden with the fruits and commodities bf other
zones, with fabrics made with other hands. History becomes a business
topic, geography a directory, and man is found to be a subject of study, as
an important element in successful enterprise. Commerce has been reduced
to system, and is justly considered a national power.
In view of all these operations, of the unnumbered and changing copart
nerships between mind and matter, between the elements and machinery,
between the wants of one people and the wants of another, between the
necessities and the luxuries of life, between the duties and the profits of
business, another class of men, and by no means the least important,
apply themselves to the study of forces, the philosophy of motion, of natural
agents, the true economy of the mechanic powers. Inventive genius has
been the helper of all nations, in all ages ; but in no period has it accom
plished so much as within that of the brief existence of American independ
ence. In no country are its applications so various, so practically useful,
as in the United States of America.
The farmer plants, reaps and gathers, by machinery. The mechanic saws,
planes, bores and drills, by machinery. And by machinery the manufac
turer produces all those refinements of taste which give variety and elegance
to the textures of cotton, wool and silk, and beautiful forms to the woods
and metals. By the aid of the magnetic telegraph, steam,1 and the power-
1 What shall be said of the magnetic telegraph, if Lamartine be admired for his apprecia
tion of the art of printing? " Guttemberg," says he, "without knowing it, was the
mechanist of the New World. In creating the communication of ideas, he had assured the
independence of reason. Every letter of his alphabet which left his fingers contained in it
more power than the armies of kings and the thunders of pontifis. It was mind which he
15

114 POPULAR EDUCATION. f
press, editors can gather news of the day from the extremes: of the American
continent before they dine, and before they sleep scatter their reeking sheets
to millions of their expectant readers. Merchants exercise an omniscient
supervision of the great markets of the nation, and the surplus commodities
of the day are taken to a distant state by the all-receiving cars, or carried
by the steamships of the ocean to other continents, to other lands.
Mind is practically omnipresent. The boundaries of discovery no man
will presume to limit ; the possible achievements of art and science no mind
is so reckless as to attempt to predict.
That "fact is stranger than fiction," is a saying now confirmed by ordi
nary experience. Indeed^ language has become quite inadequate to the
description of realities, and all people press, from the confines of the civilized
world, to the mighty gatherings of a world's fair, to witness the wonders of
invention, and to enlighten the darkness of an honest incredulity.
This is but a slight outline sketch of the world in its present state of
activity. Men, states and nations, have alike become competitors in the
great objects of industrial enterprise. Self-protection is seen to He in self-
knowledge. Self-knowledge is found to embrace man placed in relation to
the external world, and in the responsible positions of subject and agent) as
connected with a transitory and an eternal destiny. The elements of his
nature have been considered in respect to the ends of government and of
existence; the means. of advancement have been studied in view of arriving
at those conditions of safety which arise from knowledge, and of avoiding
those conditions of danger, suffering and degradation, which result from
ignorance and moral indifference.
, In ascribing honor to the Puritans for their comprehensive views of the
great importance of education, no more than simple justice is done to their
principles of Democracy. Though they expected but little, they prepared
for much ; though their modesty was surpassed only by the earnestness of
their piety, the aspirations of their highest ambition have been exceeded, and
splendidly illustrated, in the events which followed them. What their
descendants have accomplished and realized, has already become the theme
of inquiry and amazement throughout the world. If by tnem education was
looked upon as an important element to security, it cannot be viewed by the
present generation otherwise, than as a necessity. It has ever been, in all
ages, a leading feature of Democracy, without which but little could be
accomplished, either for freedom or for happiness. The cause of educa
tion and Democracy should, in all countries, be considered identical; not
for the few, but for the many; not for the rich alone, but for the poor;
furnished with language. These two powers were the mistresses of man, as they were here
after of mankind." — Hist, of the Girondists, vol. i., p. 21.

LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS. • 115
the best that can be commanded, and for all. Let the district school, the
high school and the college, rise up everywhere throughout the broad domain
of the American continent, as living monuments sacred to the memory of
the Puritans who founded them, and as great instruments to preserve the
liberty of their descendants.
Education may be regarded literally as the night-watch of freedom, the
guardian angel of Democracy. It gradually discovers to the state the great
sources of its power, the dangers of ignorance, the impenetrable safeguards
of its sovereignty. It imparts a necessary knowledge of conditions without
the observance of which no people can permanently thrive, or intelligently
prosper. It enables the citizen clearly to understand the declarations of a
constitution upon which rests the great American Union, and to take
that comprehensive survey of men and things which recognizes a sovereignty
in every state, and in all the states a NATION, thatj in its functions of power
and grandeur, knows "no north, no south, no east, no west," and sees
nothing in its objects " but a sacred maintenance of the common bond,
AND TRUE DEVOTION TO THE COMMON BROTHERHOOD."1

THE LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS
was of a nature to command implicit obedience. It simply consisted in the
application of Bible authority to the varying conditions of the colonies. To
them the Bible was government. They raised no questions, and permitted
no liberties of construction. It was not their government, but the govern
ment of God. It was not a government for discussion, but one of blessed
privileges and obedience ; and as such was to be defended against the inroads
of impious men in the colonies, and against dangerous heretics from abroad.
The church was deemed the sacred depositary of the safeguards of liberty,
and was guarded with a watchfulness that knew no rest, and with a spirit
that entertained no compromise. Theocratic rule is one of sentiment. It is
based upon wisdom already acknowledged. It admits of no discussion. This
is its nature. The wisdom of the Bible was viewed by the Puritans as a
revelation from God, and as sufficient for humanity, in all its wants and
changes. This wisdom declared the principles of Democracy, and it was
seized upon with inexpressible delight, as in harmony with all the higher
sympathies of our common nature. What truth could be more glorious than
that of equal rights 1 What happiness more complete than religious free
dom 1 What protection more sure than a democratic sovereignty ? What
end more noble than the universality of privilege ? Beyond this their imag-
1 Franklin Pierce.

116 LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS.
ination could not go. More than this their hopes had never promised,, nor
could their conceptions realize. They considered the Democracy of the
Bible as self-protective, and that all its laws were adjusted to its
principles. Still, with these views 'as they supposed unalterably fixed, they did not
hesitate to give form to scriptural authority, as connected with. their wants
and growing interests. Their first compact was a legislative act. In 1623,
trial by jury was ordained by the court.1 Their mechanics were forbidden
to work for strangers.2 In 1627, lands were equally divided by an act of
the court.3 And, prior to 1636, a few other laws were made ; but they
were not of a character to illustrate any new principle, nor to show any
departure from principles already acknowledged.
There was one law, however, enacted in 1632,4 which is worthy, of
remark, as tending to prove that the Puritans were not much influenced by
love of distinction. It was made a penal offence to decline office. To decline
offlce was not a new fact in history; but the fact, whenever found, is an
instructive one. The element of ambition in the administration of govern
ment, whether present or absent, is always to be noted. Actuated by motives
of ambition, man becomes an uncertain agent. With considerations in view
of personal aggrandizement, it cannot be supposed that he is capable of being
just to the rights and interests of others. Generally deficient in self-knowl-

1 " It was ordained 17 day of December An" 1623, by the court then held, that all criminal
facts, and all matters of trespasses and debts between man and man, should be tried by the
verdict of twelve honest men,- to be empanelled by authority in forme of a jury, upon their
oath." This was reenacted in 1636 and 1658.
2 "It was further decreed, the day and year abovewritten (29th March, 1626), for the
preventing of such abuses as do and may arise amongst us, that no handy-craftsmen of what
profession soever, as taylors, shoemakers, carpenters, joyners, smiths, sawyers, or whatso
ever, wch do or may reside or belong to this plantation of Plimouth, shall use their science or
trades at home or abroade, for any strangers or foreigners, till such time as the necessity of
the colony be served, without the consent of the Governo' and Councill ; the breach thereof
to be punished at their discretion."
3 See Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth, edited by Brigham, p. 29.
4 " It was enacted by public consent of the freemen of this society of New Plymouth, that
if now (January, 1632) or hereafter any were elected to the office of governor, and would not
stand to the election, nor hold and execute the office for his year, that then he may be amerced
in twenty pounds sterling fine ; and in case refused to be paid upon the lawful demand of the
ensuing governor, then to be levied out of the goods or the chattels of the said person so
refusing. " It was further ordered and decreed, that if any were elected to the office of councell and
refused to hold the place, that then he be amerced in ten pounds sterling fine ; and in case
refused to be paid, to be forthwith levied.
"It was further decreed and enacted, that incase one, and the same person should be
elected gov' a second year, having held the place the foregoing year.it should be lawful
for him to refuse, without any amercement ; and the company to proceed to a new election,
except they can prevaill with him by entreaty. "_ — Brigham's Plymouth Laws, p. 30.

LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS. 117
edge, his ignorance of others may be conjectured without danger of doing
injustice. Human ambition, as generally understood, is unfavorable to integ
rity. What is not favorable to integrity is unfavorable to independence.
It is quite true that many reasons may be assigned for declining office.
It is to be admitted that all men, more or less, are ambitious, — some in
one pursuit, some in another. That the colonists may have had the ambition
to become the possessors of wealth, and that all offices were looked upon by
them as taxes upon persons, and not designed as distinctions of honor. But
such a construction of motive is not warranted by the facts of history.
In times of feudalism, indifference to office may be accounted for by the
jealousy existing between the nobles and the king. The power of the one is
proposed to be increased by lessening the power of the other. In a badly-
regulated monarchy, office may not be desired by a subject who is adverse to
the government of the king. The honor is more than balanced by a required
sacrifice of principle. Where government is absolute, and the sovereignty
of the nation is controlled by a single mind, men of high character and proper
self-respect may not be pleased with distinctions which are merely nominal,
nor with positions that are of a doubtful dignity. In such examples, office
may well excite aversion and disgust. With a Democracy the case is far dif
ferent. There is an individual and state sovereignty to be protected. All
have an equal interest ; and, had the usual motives of ambition prevailed
with the Puritans, their laws would soon have become unequal, foreign con
trol would have increased, and the sovereignty declared by the compact would
have been broken by struggles for place. The absence of this troublesome
element, in the early formation of democratic institutions, is conclusive evi
dence of incorruptible integrity.1
In 1636 the colonists began to have distinct conceptions of human legisla
tion. They recited the compact of 1620, and reviewed their position in ref
erence to England.2 They declared their reasons for legislation, and cited
1 Much has been said, and with great truth and justice, by the Democratic press of the United
States, in respect to the patriotism of Fkanklin Pierce, now a candidate for the presidency, in
so promptly responding to the call of his country in the late war with Mexico. His course
evinced a spirit that marked its own path, and made its own record. He became the citizen
soldier, and, while he achieved all that distihguished the officer, he omitted nothing that could
dignify the man. Such facts are honorable, and their moral force cannot be increased by
embellishment. They speak their own language, and suggest their own commentary. Anfl
yet, his military exploits are but insignificant events when compared to the character nega
tively indicated by his retirement from public station. His independence in regard to the
honors of office discloses a judgment, that contributes nothing to the flattery of self, and an
integrity that promises nothing to others but in -conformity to the requisitions of truth,
merit and duty.
2 Whereas at his Malic" court held the 4th and 5th pf Octob' in the 1 2th yeare of the raigne
of our soveraign Lord Charles by the grace of God King of Engl. Scotl. Fr. and Irel. defender
of the Faith &c, it was ordered that Mr. William Brewster, Mr. Raph Smith, Mr. John Done
and John Jenny for the town of Plymouth ; Jonathan Brewster and Christopher Wadsworth

118 LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS.
their authority for enacting laws. They began to systematize their colonial
government, to define private rights, public duties, and to provide penal secu
rities. Property and trade became the subjects of regulation, alliances of
offence and defence were made with the Indians,1 a militia was established,
and peace and war were provided for by statute. Towns were invested with
authority to make laws, and grand juries were organized as the moral super
visors of the people. Benevolence extended to the poor the overflowing hand
of charity, and misfortune found protection on the statute-book of the Puri
tans. Justice was administered with as much impartiality to the Indian as
to the colonists, and equity was a principle as clearly registered in their laws
as it was beautifully illustrated in their uniform execution.
Sympathy for the Indian has been a constant theme for the poet, the leg
islator, and divine. His claims to the soil of the continent, the sacredness
of his home in the forest, his struggles for -ascendency, and the rapid decline
of his race, have justly excited the spirit of the benevolent writer ; and good
for Duxburrough and James Cudworth and Anthony Annable for Scituate should be added
to the Gov' and assistants as comittees for the whole body of this comonweale, should meet
together the 15th of Novb' at Plymouth above menconed, and there to peruse all the laws,
orders and constitucons of the plantacons within this government that so those that are still
fitting might be established ; those that time hath made unnecessary might be rejected ; and
others that were wanting might be prepared, that so the next court they might be estab
lished. Now being assembled according to the said order and having read the combinacon made at
Cape Cod the llth of Novb' 1620 in the yeare of the raigne of our late Sov. L. Ring James
of Engl. Fr. and Irel. the eighteenth and of Scotland the fifty-fourth as also our letters pa
tents confirmed by the honourable councell, his said Ma"' established and granted the 13 of
January 1629 in the fifte year of the raigne of our Sov. Lord King Charles and finding that
as free borne subjects of the state of Engl, we hither came endewed wch all and singular the
priviledges belong to such in the first place, we thinke good that it be established for an act.
That according to the and due priviledge of the subject aforesaid no imposicon law of
ordnance be made or imposed upon or by ourselves or others at present or to come but such as
shall be made or imposed by consent according to the free liberties of the state and kingdoine
of Engl, and no otherwise, &c. Dated at New Plymouth, Nov. 15, 1636.
1 The following treaty was made with Massasoit, March, 1621 :
I. That neither he nor any of his should injure or do hurt to any of their people.
II. That if any of his did any hurt to any of theirs, he should send the offender that
they might punish him.
III. That if anything were taken away from any of theirs, he should cause it to be
restored ; and they should do the like to his.
IV. That if any did unjustly war against him, they would aid him ; and if any did war
against them, he should aid them.
V. That he should send to his neighbor confederates, to inform them of this, that they
might not wrong them, but might be likewise comprised in these conditions of peace.
VI. That when his men came to them upon any occasion, they should leave their arms
(which were their bows and arrows) behind them.
VII. Lastly : That so doing, their sovereign lord, King James, would esteem him as his
friend and ally. — Morton's Memorial, p. 54, Davis' edition.

LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS. 119
men of every land have looked, with melancholy interest upon the hand of
fate, which has seemed to guide him to a premature grave and to a myste
rious oblivion. But, while we honor the sentiment of benevolence, the
higher reason must not be disregarded.
The natural world is filled with causes which man is fitted to develop and
to know. The secret springs of vegetation; the healthful condition of
vegetable life ; the uses of things that grow and of inanimate substances ;
the objects of beauty and enjoyments of sense ; the numberless purposes of
animal life ; the laws of matter and the elements of mechanical power ; — in
fine, whatever exists upon, within, around, above and beyond the globe, and
the globe itself, — are subjects enjoined upon man for him to master, to control
without abuse, and to advance in the great scale of perfection.
With views such as these, who can believe that the red man was the true
inheritor of the American continent 1 — that such a magnificent country,
with its vast capabilities, should be destined to the mere objects of animal
life ? — that it was to be the destiny of the savage to grovel forever with the
beasts ; to study destruction instead of life and growth ; to roam over the land
without a knowledge of its beauties, or of its latent treasures ? Was this
earth clothed in matchless beauty and endowed with rich treasures, adapted
to humanity, forever to revolve in its orbit without development ? Was it
created without design, without destiny 1 To argue such questions, would
be subjecting Providence to the trial of reason, judgment to the rule of
doubt, and it would imply a total want of that awe and reverence which
should ever characterize the spirit of inquiry, when the works of Infinite
Wisdom are the subject of contemplation. The Indian was the steward of
one talent. He buried it," and made no interest. "From him that hath
not,, shall be taken away even that which he hath." The white man is
endowed with more talents, and they involve corresponding responsibili
ties.1 1 It is an error to suppose that the colonists were unmindful of the interest of the Indian.
Such an idea has prevailed to some extent, but it is not sustained by the facts of history.
In 1633 the Legislature of Massachusetts passed an act for settling the Indians' title to
lands in this jurisdiction. It prohibited the purchase of lands from the Indians, without
license from the General Court. It declared and ordered, that what lands any of the Indian*
in this jurisdiction have possessed and improved, by subduing the same, they have a just
right to ; and, for the further encouragement of the hopeful work amongst them for the civ
ilizing and helping them forward to Christianity, if any of the Indians shall be brought to
civility, and shall come among the English to inhabit in any of their plantations, and shall
live civilly and orderly, that such Indians shall have allotments among the English, accord
ing to the customs of the English in the like case. It further ordered, that if, upon good
experience, there shall be a competent number of Indians brought on to civility, so as to be
capable of a township, upon their request, they shall have grants of lands undisposed of, for
a plantation, as the English have ; and still further orclered, that if any plantation or person
of the English shall offer injuriously to put any of the Indians from their hunting-grounds

120 LEGISLATION OF THE PURITANS.
Principle has its alliances with every form of wisdom ; wisdom has its
aids in every source of knowledge. Convictions of truth constitute knowl
edge; knowledge constitutes power. Men act from what they believe, and
from what they know; and the certainty of action is coeval with the
certainty of knowledge.
These propositions were as true two hundred years ago as they are to-day.
The Puritans of the seventeenth century were as wise, according to their
knowledge, as the Americans are in the nineteenth ; and their early legisla
tion bears the marks of rapid progress.
In 1658, they reached another period for revising their laws. Their orig
inal motives are still recited, but they show them enlarged. The principle
of Democracy is set forth with increased confidence. They appear to be con
scious of having arrived at a position which really had not 'been anticipated,
and they deemed an explanatory address important to the occasion. This
document is well worthy of repeated perusal.1
or fishing-places, upon their complaint and proof, they shall have relief in any of the courts
amongst the English, as the English have. — Holmes' Annals, vol. ±., p. 217.
The upright and respected Gov. Winslow, in a letter dated at Marshfield, May 1, 1676,
observes : "I. think I can clearly say, that before these present troubles broke out, the Eng
lish did not possess one foot of land in this colony, but what was fairly obtained by honest
purchase of the Indian proprietors. We first made a law that none should purchase or
receive of gift any land of the Indians, without the knowledge and allowance of our court ;
and lest yet they should be streightened, we ordered that Mount Hope, Pocasset, and several
other necks of the best land in the colony, because most suitable and convenient "for them,
should never be bought out of their hands." -r- See Hubbard's Narrative, and Hazard, col.
n., 531—534.
John Adams was asked concerning the treatment of the Indians in New England, and he
replied that he believed it to have been just. " In all my practice at the bar," said he, " I
never knew a contested title to lands but what was traced up to the Indian title." — Holmes'
Annals, vol. n., p. 151.
1 The document was in the shape of an Address : To our Beloved Brethren and Neigh
bours the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New-Plymouth ; The Governor, Assistants,
and Deputies Assembled att the. General Court of that Jurisdiction, held att the Towne
of Plymouth, the 29th of September 1658, wisheth Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus
Christ. It was the great priviledge of Israeli of old, and soe was acknowledged by them, Nehemiah
the 9th and 13. That God gave them right judgements and true Lawes ; for God being the
God of Order, and not of Confusion hath comaunded in his word, and j?ut man into a capaci-
tie in some measure to observe and bee guided by good and wholsome Lawes ; which are
soe fare good and wholsome, as by how much they are derived from and agreeable to the
ancient Platforme of Gods Lawe ; for although sundry particulares in the Judiciall law0 which
was of old enjoyed to the Jews, did more espetially (att least in some Circumstances) befitt
theire Pedagogye, yet are they for the mayne soe exemplary, being grounded on Principles
of Morall Equitie, as that all men Christians espetially, ought aiwaies to have an eye therunto,
in the framing of theire Politique Constitutions ; And although several of the Heathen Na
tions whoe were ignorant of the time God and of his Lawe, ha"Ve bine famous in theire times,
for the Enacting and Execution of such Lawse as have proved .profitable for the Government
of theire Comon-wealthes in the times wherein they lived ; Notwithstanding theire excel-

THE GENERAL FUNDAMENTALS. 121
The next revision of laws took place in 1671. Here again Democracy is
reasserted with a formality belonging to the proper dignity of principles,
under the imposing title of "The General Fundamentals."1
The peculiar feature of this document, as compared to the previous ones,
is, that in addition to the recital of principles, illustrations are given of their
ency appeered soe fare as they were founded upon grounds of Morall Equitie, which hath its
Originali from the Law of God. And accordingly wee whoe have bine Actors in the framing
of this smale body of the Lawes, together with other useful Instruments whoe are gone to
theire rest, can safely say both for our selves and them, that wee have had an eye primarily
and principally unto the aforsaid Platforme ; and 2c°ndaryly, unto the right improvement of
the liberties granted unto us, by our Superiors the State of England att the first begining of
this infant Plantation ; which was to Enact such Lawes as should most befitt a State in the
Non-age thereof ; not rejecting or omitting to observe such of the Lawes of our Native Coun
trey, as would conduce unto the good and growth of so weake a begining as ours in this
wilderness, as any impartiall eye not fore-staled with prejudice, may ezely discern in the
peruresall of this smale Book of the lawes of our Collonie ; the premises duely considered,
might work every consienciouse sperit to faithfull Obedience : And although wee hold and
doe afeirme that both Courts of Justice and Magistrates, whoe are the minnesters of the
Lawe are essentially Civill ; notwithstanding wee conceive, that as the Magistrate hath his
power from God, soe undoubtedly hee is to improve it for the honer of God, and that in the
uphoalding of his worship and service, and against the contrary, with due respect also to bee
had unto those that are really consienyous, though differing and decenting in som smaller
matters ; But if any really or in pretence of conscience shall professe that which eminently
tendeth to the Inundation of Civell State, and violation of naturall Bonds, or the overthrow
of the Churches of God or of his Worship, that heer prudence is to bee improved in the
Enacting and Execution of lawes.
It hath bine our Indeaver in the framing of our lawes, that nothing should bee found
amongst them, but what will fall under the same particulares, wee have likewise reduced
them to such order, as they may most conduoe to our.utilitie, and profit ; possibly it may bee
that weakness may appeer in the composure of sundry of them for want of such plenty of
able Instruments as others are furnished withall : However lett this suffice the gentle Reader
that our ends are, to the utmost of our power in these our Indeavours, to promote the comon
good both of church and State, both att pesent and for future ; and therfore so fare as we
have aimed att the Glory of God ; and common good, and acted according to God ; Bee not
found a Resister but Obedient, lest therby thou resist the Ordinance of God, and soe incurr
the displeasure of God unto Damnation. Rom. 13. 2.
By order of the General Court. NATHANIEL MORTON Clarke.
1 The Generall Fundamentals. I. Wee the Associates of New-Plimouth, comeing hither
as Freeborn Subjects of the State of England, endowed with all and singular ; the Priviledges
belonging to such being Assembled ; Do enact, Ordain and Constitute ; That ¦ no Act, Impo
sition, Law or Ordinance, be made or imposed upon us, at present or to come ; but such as
shall be made or imposed by consent of the Body of Freemen or Associates, or their Repre
sentatives legally Assembled : which is according to the free Liberties of the State of
England. n. And for the well-governing this Corporation ; It is also Resolved and Ordered, That
there be a Free Election Annually, of Governour, and Assistants by the Vote of the Freemen
of this Corporation ; and that none shall presume to impose themselves or any other upon
us, but such as are so chose, according to the priviledge granted us by Charter.
16

122 THE GENERAL FUNDAMENTALS.
proper application. In 1685 another revision was found necessary, and some
further principles, considered as fundamental, were declared.
The acts and laws of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, from 1692 to
HI. That Justice and Right be equally and impartially Administred unto all, not sold,
denied or causelessly deferred unto any.
IV. It is also Enacted, that no person in this Government shall be endamaged in respect
of Life, Limb, Liberty, Good name or Estate, under colour of Law, or countenance of Author
ity, but by virtue or equity of somei express Law of the General Court of this Colony, the
known Law of God, or the good and equitable Laws of our Nation suitable for us, being
brought to Answer by due process thereof.
V. That all Trials, whether Capital, Criminal, or between Man and Man, be tried by Jury
of twelve good and lawful Men, according to the commendable custome of England ; except
the party or parties concerned, do refer it to the Bench, or some express Law doth refer it to
their Judgement and Tryal, or the Tryal of some other Court where Jury is not ; in which
case the party agrieved may appeal, and shall have Tryal by a Jury.
And it shall be in the liberty of both Plaintiffe and Defendant or any Delinquent, that is
to be tryed by a Jury, to chalenge any of the Jurors, and if the chalenge be found just and
reasonable by the Bench, it shall be allowed him; and others without just exception shall be
impannelled in their room : And if it be in case of Life and Death, the Prisoner shall have
liberty to except against six or eight of the Jury; without giving any reason for his excep
tion. VI. That no Man be Sentenced to Death without Testimonies of two witnesses at least, or
that which is equivalent thereunto, and that two or three Witnesses being of competent Age,
Understanding and of good Reputation, Testifying to the case in question, shall be accounted
and accepted as full Testimony in any case, though they did not together see or hear, and so
Witness to the same individual Act, in reference to circumstances of time and place ; Pro
vided the Bench and Jury be satisfied with such Testimony.
VII. And It is provided, as the supposed Priviledge of our Charter, that all persons of the
age of twenty one years, of right Understanding and Memory, whether Excommunicated,
Condemned or other, having any Estate properly theirs to dispose, shall ha,ve full power and
liberty to make their reasonable Wills and Testaments, and other lawful Alienations of their
Lands and Estates ; Be it only here excepted, that such as are Sentenced for Treason against
the Kings Majesty, the State of England, or the Commonweal ; shall forfeit to the King pr
Colony their personal Estate, their Lands being still at their disposal.
VIII. That whereas the great and known end of the first comers, in the year of our Lord,
1620, leaving their dear Native Country, and all that was dear to them there ; transporting
themselves over the vast Ocean into this remote waste Wilderness, and therein willingly con
flicting with Dangers', Losses, Hardships and Distresses sore and not a few ; WAS, that with
out offence, they under the protection of their Native Prince, together with the enlargements
of his Majesties Dominions, might with the liberty of a good conscience, enjoy the pure Scrip
tural Worship of God, without the mixture of Humane Inventions and Impositions : And that
there children after them might walk in the Holy wayes of the Lord ; And for which end
they obtained leave from King James of happy Memory and his Honorable Council, with fur
ther Graunts from his Gracious Majesty Charles the first and his Honourable Council, by Let
ters Patents, for sundry Tracts of Land, with many Priviledges therein contained for their
better incouragement to proceed on in so Pious a Work, which may especially tend to the
propagation of Religion, &c. as by Letters Patents more at large appeareth, and with further
assurance also of the continuance of our Liberties and Priviledges, both Civil and Religious,
under the Royal Hand and Seal of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second : And whereas
by the good Hand of our God upon us, many others since the first comers are for the same
pious end come unto us, and sundry others rise up amongst us, desirous with all good con-

CHARTERS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 123
1776, do not present any new development of legislative principle worthy of
particular remark. As the other New England States were at first peopled
from Massachusetts, her laws were the root of theirs.1 The usurpation of
Andros, the' loss of the charter, and the modified government2 which followed,
were circumstances of party. These will be noticed in another connection.
science to walk in the faith and order of the Gospel ; whereby there are many churches
gathered amongst us walking according thereunto.
And whereas (by the Grace of God) we have now had near about fifty Years Experience,
of the good consistency of these churches, with Civil Peace and Order, and also with spirit
ual Edification, together with,the welfare and tranquility of this Government ;
It is therefore for the honor of God and the. propagation of Religion, and the continued wel
fare of this Colony Ordered by this Court and the Authority thereof, That the said Churches
already gathered, or that shall hereafter be orderly gathered, may and shall from time to
time by this Government be protected and encouraged, in their peaceable and orderly walk
ing, and the Faithful, Able, Orthodox, Teaching Ministry thereof, duely encouraged and pro
vided for ; together with such other Orthodox able Dispensers of tiie Gospel, which shall or
may be placed in any Township in this Government, where there -is or may be defect of
Churoh Order.
IX. And finally, it is Ordered and Declared by this Court and the Authority thereof, That all
these foregoing Orders and Constitutions, and so Fundamentally essential to the just Rights,
Liberties, Common good and special end of this Colony, as that they shall and ought to be
inviolable preserved.
1 Dane's Digest of American Law.
2 The revolution in England forms an epoch in American history. The effects of it were
the most sensibly felt in the colony of Massachusetts. When the colonists resumed their
charter in 1689, they earnestly solicited its reestablishment, with the addition of some neces
sary powers ; but the king could not be prevailed on to consent to that measure, and a new
charter was obtained. Sir William Phips arrived at Boston in May, with this charter, and a
commission, constituting him governor. He was soon after conducted from his house to the
town-house by the regiment of Boston, the militia companies of Charlestown, the magistrates,
ministers, and principal gentlemen of Boston and the adjacent towns. The charter was first
published, and then the governor's commission. The venerable old charter . governor Brad
street next resigned the chair. After the lieutenant-governor's commission was published,
the oaths were administered; and the new government thus became organized.
- The province, designated by the new charter, contained the whole of the old Massachusetts
colony, to which were added tlie colony of Plymouth, the province of Maine, the province of
Nova Scotia, and all the country between the province of Maine and Nova Scotia, as far
northward as the river St. Lawrence ; also Elizabeth islands, and the islands of Nantucket
and Martha's Vineyard. . Under the old charter,' all the magistrates and officers of state were
chosen annually by the General Assembly; by the new charter, the appointment of the gov
ernor, lieutenant-governor, secretary, and all the officers of the admiralty, was vested in the
crown. Under the old charter, the governor had little more share in the administration than
any one of the assistants. He had the power of calling the General Court; but he could not
adjourn, prorogue, or dissolve it. To such acts the vote of the major part of the whole court
was necessary. The governor gave commissions to civil and military officers; but all such
officers were elected by the court. Under the new charter, there was to be an annual meet
ing of the General Court on the last Wednesday in May ; but the governor might discretion-
ally call an assembly at any other times, and adjourn, prorogue, and dissolve it, at pleasure.
No act of government was to be valid without his consent. He had, with the consent of the
council, the sole appointment of all military officers, and of all officers belonging to the courts
of justioe. Other civil officers were elected by the two houses; but the governor had a nega-

124 SPEECH OF WILLIAM PENN.
The modification, though retarding in some degree the progress of the col
onists, had the effect to direct their attention, with an increased interest, to
the study of their rights, and to add strength to previous resolutions in
regard to their defence. The spirit of intolerance,1 which has been so fre
quently charged against the legislation of the colonists, will be considered in
another chapter, where party issues will be traced to their original sources.
tive on the choice. No money could issue out of the treasury, but by his warrant, with the
advice and consent of the Council. Under the old charter, the assistants or councillors were
elected by the votes of all the freemen in the colony ; and were not only, with the governor,
one of the two branches of the legislature, but the supreme executive court in all civil and
criminal causes, excepting those cases where, by the laws, an appeal to the General Court was
allowed. The new charter provided that, on the last Wednesday of May annually, twenty-
eight councillors should be newly chosen by the General Court or assembly. The representa
tives, under the old charter, were elected by freemen only. Under the new charter, every
freeholder of forty shillings sterling a year was a voter, and every other inhabitant who had
forty pounds sterling personal estate. The new charter contained nothing of an ecclesiastical
constitution. With the' exception of Papists, liberty of conscience, which was not mentioned
in the first charter, was by the second expressly granted to all. Writs having been imme
diately issued on the governor's arrival, the General Court met on the Sth of June. An act
was then passed, declaring that all the laws of the colony of Massachusetts Bay and the col
ony of -New Plymouth, not being repugnant to the laws of England, nor inconsistent with the
charter, should be in force, in the respective colonies, until the 10th of November, 1692,
excepting where other provision should be made by act of assembly. — Holmes' Annals.
1 The spirit manifested by William Penn, in regard to legislation, is worthy of "especial
notice. He seemed to lament the necessity of government, and, while he claimed a control
as governor, he appeared unwilling to admit that the liberties of the people were in any
degree abridged. In a speech, delivered April 1, 1700, at a meeting of the Provincial Coun
cil of Pennsylvania, he said :
" Friends, Tho' this be a Coionie of 19 years standing, & not inferiour to anie of its age,
yet wee have much to do to establish its constituon & Courts of Justice; there are in it some
Laws obsolete, others hurtfull, others imperfeet, y' will need improvm1, & it will be requisit to
make some new ones ; wee cannot go to slow to make, nor too fast to execute them when
made, & y' w' diligence & discretion, a few well made & duly executed, will better ans' ys
ends of governm' yn a greater bulk unexecuted. You friends are ye people's choice &
my Council ; you'll see what Laws are fitt to be Left outt & what to be made, & you wl mee,
are to prepare & propose ym. I say this the father becaus bf a false notion some have gott
y' becaus you are my Council yrfor you are not y" people's repsentatives. The ablest men
have always been chosen to be of ye Council to prepare Laws, & ye Assembly to consent to
ym ; wee are two bodies yet but One power, the one prepares, ye other consents. Friends, If
in the Censtituon by Charter, there be anie thing y' jarrs, alter itt ; if you want a law for
this or that, prepare itt; I advise you not to trifle wt govern'. I wish there wer no need of
anie, but since Crimes prevail govrm' is made necessarie by man's degeneraon; Itt's not an
end but a means; hee y' thinks itt an end aims att profitt to make a trade on't. Hee
who thinks itt to be a means understands ye true end of goverm'. Friends, away w* all
pties, & Look on yo'selves & what is good for all,' as a body politick, first as und' ye king
& Crown of England, .& next as und' me, by Lres patent from y' Crown. Att y° Late
election att Philadelphia, I was grieved, to hear some make itt a matter of religion,
no its humane & moral relating to trade, traffique & publick good, consisting in virtue &
justice; where these are maintained there is government indeed. Study peace, & be att
unitie, ey ye good of all, & I desire to see mine no otherwise than in yB publick's prosperitie.
The last Ass. wee made 2 Laws, the one ag' piracie, ye other ag' forbidden trade. I hear they

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 125

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS.
Although the colonies were subjected to the nominal sovereignty of Great
Britain, yet most of the early influences, privileges, restraints and institutions,
established around them, were of their own choice and making. While they
were willing to avail themselves of whatever advantages the mother country
could extend to them, they did not hesitate to reject what their judgment could
not approve, when proposed for their adoption ; and their distance from all
civilized nations was a circumstance favoring exemption from home rule, and
stimulating that free exercise of all the faculties of the mind, in the discussion
of their rights, which soon began to give them new traits of character, and
which have been continued to their descendants.
Diversity of privileges, of interests, and of experience, was secured to
them in the different forms in which Great Britain extended her laws and
protection to the different colonies. The form of each became the study of
have not satt easie on y° backs of some, but I hope, wee having yrin been carefull of England,
wee shall have thanks for making ym before wee had orders so to do, and after so manie cal
umnies & complaints wee have been Loaded with, I hope these two Laws will in some degree
wash us clean ; what concerns myself I also Leave wt you to Consider. I have been now
19 years yo' pror & Governo', & have att my chairge maintained my deputie, qrby I have
much worsted my estate, & hope itt wiR be no wonder to any to hear mee make this Lection
of itt. Some say I come to gett monie & be gone, phapps they that say so, wish itt so. I
hope I or mine shall be wt you, while I or they Live — The disasters of my absence have been
mine as well as yours, & as I'm used shall make suteable returns. I have latelie two packetts
from Whitehall, an original & a duplicate ; also one to my Cosen Markham, & two from
Secrie Vernon, & am Commanded by ye Lords Justices to make Laws ag' piracie and illegal
trade. I am glad wee have prevented their Commands in doing it before they came."
Thereafter, a motion being made by a member of Council, that they might have a new
Charter : Then ye pror & Gor ask't whether they thought the Charter was Living, dead or
asleep ; is it vacated by ye act of Settlement, or in what state is itt. A member made ans',
that they never Look't on't to be void or dead, becaus att Go' Fletcher's coming, wee made
a salvo of it in ye assemblie books, & another salvo of it in ye frame of govrmt, as to its fun
damentals, but ye Circuinstantialls of itt as to time, place and number, and rotation, wee
could not reassume. Our bussines now is to do good, y" Go' being here to confirm itt, & he
having in his Charter, power to call us as hee pleases, ye manner is but circumstance, the
meetting is essential; Letts take what's fitt & good both in ye charter & frame, & Lett's make
a Constituton y' may be firm & Lasting to us & ours ; This makes no breach on the old Laws,
but will confirm what's reasonable, both in ym, ye charter & frame.
Then ye Gor said : The act of settlem' served till I came; now I'm come, It Cannot bind
me ag' my owne act, the charter it being my grant, & the people my wittness by y' accept-
aon of it, and tho' some violence cannot be resisted, yet when the violence is taken off, y*
Charter returns, & how can it return but by writt.
Therafter y pror & Gor resolved ye whole members of Council into a grand Comittee, to
meet hora tertia, p. m., to ready" Charter & frame of governm1, & to keep what's good in
either, to lay aside what's inconvenient & burdensome, & to add to both what may best suit
y° Comon good, & if you be under any doubt He solve itt, .& psent to mee what you do yria
to-morrow morning for my perusall.
Adjourned to 2d April, 1700. — Minutes of the Provincial Council, vol. I., p. 568.

126 COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS.
all the others, and the results of each were separate, exhibiting the true
causes of success or of failure.
The governments originally formed in the different colonies x were of three
kinds, namely, the provincial, the proprietary, and the charter.2
1. The provincial governments had no fixed constitution, but derived all
their authority from commissions issued ,from time to time by the crown.
They were subject to the pleasure of the king. A governor and council
were appointed, and these were invested with general executive powers, and
were authorized to convene a general assembly of the representatives of the
freeholders and planters of the province. The assembly was the lower and
the council the upper house. The governor was invested with a veto power
upon all their proceedings, and had the power to prorogue and dissolve them,
The legislature had power to make all local laws and ordinances, not repug
nant to the laws of England. Under this form of government, New Hamp
shire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and
Georgia, were governed as provinces, at the commencement of the American
Revolution ; and some of them had been so governed from an early period of
their settlement.
2. The proprietary governments were grants by letters-patent, from
the crown, to one or more persons, as proprietary or proprietaries, conveying
to them not only the right of the soil, but also the general powers of govern
ment within the territory so granted, in the nature of feudatory principalities
or dependent royalties ; possessing within their own domains nearly the same
authority which the crown possessed in the provincial governments, subject,
however, to the control of the king. The governor was appointed by the
proprietary or proprietaries, and the legislature was organized and convened
according to his or their pleasure. The executive functions and prerogatives
were exercised by him or them, either personally or by the governor, for the
time being. At the time of the Revolution, only three governments existed
in this form, namely, Maryland, held by Lord . Baltimore, as proprietary,
and Pennsylvania and Delaware, held by William Penn, as proprietary.
3. Charter governments were political corporations, created by letters-
patent, which conferred on the grantees and their associates the soil within
their territorial limits, and all the high powers of legislative government.
1 The colony of Virginia was the earliest in its origin, being settled in 1606. The colony
of Plymouth (united with Massachusetts in 1692) was settled in 1620 ; the colony of Mas
sachusetts, in 1628 ; the colony of New Hampshire, in 1629 ; the colony of Maryland, in 1632 ;
the colony of Connecticut, in 1635 ; the colony of Rhode Island, in 1636 ; the colony of New
York, in 1662 ; the colonies of North and South Carolina, in 1663 ; the colony of New Jersey,
in 1664 ; the colony of Pennsylvania, in 1681 ; the colony of Delaware, in 1682 ; the colony
of Georgia, in 1732. These dates refer to permanent settlements made under distinct and
organized governments, and not to the earlier and disconnected settlements of the colonies.
2 See Republic U. S. The charters will be inserted in the Appendix.

COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 127
The charters contained a fundamental constitution for the colony, distribut
ing the powers of government into three great departments, — legislative,
executive and judicial, — providing for the mode in which these powers should
be vested and exercised. The charter governments existing at the time of
the Revolution were Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
It was a remark of the late Judge Story, that " notwithstanding these dif
ferences in their original and actual political organization, the colonies, at
the time of the American Revolution, in most respects, enjoyed the same gen
eral rights and privileges." Although we may not dissent from this general
remark, still it must be admitted that these differences are sufficiently marked
to be noticed as distinct and separate causes ; and though their effects may
have been blended in a common experience, we cannot but regard them as
sources of different results, and, as such, leading in some degree to diversity
of character. The provincial government was the absolute sovereignty of the crown,
transferred at pleasure from an island to the continent, without any guarantee
as to favor or permanency.
The proprietary government gave an interest in the soil, but that inter
est was secured to individuals, and the relations between the people and the
proprietaries were those of dependence.
The charter government was a division of powers between two great par
ties according to fixed conditions, each party having certain defined and
reserved rights, the subordinate government being independent only under a
constitution. It will be perceived that in these forms of government there are three dis
tinct degrees of liberty ; and yet the scale is graduated to a common head, —
the British crown, — and to which all acknowledged their allegiance.
"In all of these," says Judge Story, "express provision was made that
all subjects and their children inhabiting in the colonies should be deemed
natural-born subjects, and should enjoy all the privileges and immunities
thereof. In all of them the common law of England, as far as it was appli
cable to their situation, was made the basis of their jurisprudence." Not
that the entire system was introduced into any one colony, but only such
portions of it as each found adapted to its own wants, and were applicable to
its own situation. Of this each colony judged for itself.
It is further remarked by the same author, that "although the colonies
had a common origin and common right, and owed a common allegiance, and
the inhabitants of all of them were British subjects, they had no direct polit
ical connection with each other. Each colony was independent of the others,
and there was no confederacy or alliance between them. They were
excluded from all political connection with foreign nations, and they followed
the fate and fortunes of the parent country in peace and war. Still, the

128 COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS.
colonists were not wholly alien to each other. On the contrary, they were
fellow-subjects, and, for many purposes, one people. Every colonist had a
right, if he pleased, in any other colony, to trade therewith, and to inherit
and hold lands therein."
Having thus taken a rapid survey of principles, the inquiries still remain
to be pursued, — In what way, and by what means, were these principles
applied by the colonists, and what were their natural or legitimate results 1
These subjects will be considered in another chapter.

/

"Engraved, expressly foi this -work

PERIODS OF PARTY — RESULTS OF PARTY PRINCIPLES.
It is much with parties as it is with men, — they have their distinctive
principles, periods of thought, periods of development, periods of action,
periods of failure, and periods of success. Whatever is true is successful or
progressive; whatever is just is permanent or certain.' Every period of
development is limited or extended according to the nature or magnitude of
the truth to be made manifest, and is closed by results wliich are recognized
by a common judgment, and incorporated into a common experience.
As every period" is characterized by its peculiar events and opinions, it is
found to be marked by corresponding and systematic endeavors. Its plans
are matured, tested and completed; and, as representative men are to be
seen in individuals, representative parties may be found in communities.
Parties are permanent in their nature, but progressive in their action, —
organizing and reorganizing in regard to the necessity of new wants, or the
adoption of new truths. The church has its periods of reformation, correct
ing abuses and reconstructing creeds ; but the principles of religion remain
.the same. Science stands like a mountain of truth, to be levelled and
applied to the condition of man by the schools of intellect, each having its
periods and generations of partisan activity. Governments have their periods
of activity, either to illustrate the evils of absolutism, or the benefits of
freedom ; while the principles of Democracy remain unchanged. Industry
has its questions of protection ; commerce its questions of extension ; terri
tory its questions of control or division; and currency its complicated ques
tions of adjustment ; — each interest, and each question of every, interest,
requiring a particular period for experimental demonstration, and passing
through the ordeal of party.
The improvement of man does not imply a change of nature, nor does
progress necessarily indicate a change of principle. The same principle
admits of numberless applications ; the same idea is continued, and placed in
new and instructive relations. As the generations of men mark the periods
of a race, so the tests of experience mark the periods of mind.
The events of life, whether of a private or of a public nature, are to be
classified, and considered as illustrative of wisdom or of folly, according as
they are shaped by a sound judgment, in view of a common good, or by a
reckless habit, guided by no motive above that of a sordid interest or a
17

130 PERIODS OF PARTY.
passive indifference. Where wisdom prevails, society is elevated or advanced ;
where folly or ignorance rules, society becomes depressed or degraded.
Reference is not made to individual examples, nor to limited periods of time,
but to the prevalent habits of a people, by which they become characterized
through successive an*d uninterrupted generations. Without a general suc
cess, decay is certain ; without a greater regard for truth than error, advance
is impossible. A community thrives and prospers by its industry and
frugality, or it becomes~weakened or ruined by its idleness and shameless
neglect of duty. A nation increases its power by the adoption of just prin
ciples of government, and becomes respected ; or it falls by following the
counsels of imbecile rulers, and becomes the subject of misrule and the object
of contempt.
It is thus with political parties. Although they are formed to-day, as it
were, of men of similar views, sympathies, tendencies of disposition and of
mind, they have their perpetual succession. * They are not to be considered
as transitory combinations in respect to particular questions of polity or
interest, — of a certain people in a particular age,--- but as permanent repre
sentatives of fundamental principles.2 Party is not without its pedigree;3
and the occasional departures from great immutable principles afford the
most conclusive evidence of the fact. These distinctions are given in a
former chapter.
As political parties are formed with distinct and direct regard to measures
of national tendency and results, they should be tried by a standard pf cor
responding extent, embracing principles which comprehend the causes and
indicate the conditions of things. Party measures, designed for national '
advancement, sometimes require long periods of time for development..
Prejudices are to be overcome, interests adjusted, opinions revised, and new
habits of thought and practice tested and established. All this is the slow-
work of time ; and to be persuaded that such a process is constantly going
on among the people, it is only necessary to review the events and opinions
of the past, and compare them with those of the present. The inquirer will
not only see great changes of opinion, but will discover that principles always
remain the same. He will find that party, like the atmosphere which sur-
1 It is a remark of Bancroft, that " The contest of parties'is the struggle, not between per
sons, but between ideas ; and the abiding sympathy of nations is never won but by an appeal
to the controlling principles of the age." — Vol. m., p. 322.
3 In a speech, delivered in the House of Lords- (1770), on the seizure of Falkland's
Island, Lord Chatham uses the following language in regard to distinctions : "I know I
shall be accused of attempting to revive distinctions. My Lords, if it were possible, I would
abolish all distinctions. I would not wish the favors of the crown to flow invariably in one
channel. But there are some distinctions which are inherent in the nature of things. There
is a distinction between right and wrong, between Whig and Tory." — Cor. Earl of Chat
ham, vol. iv., p. 17.
¦ 3 See Appendix A.

POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE COLONIES. 131
rounds the globe, and visits its surface with every degree of power, from the
gentle zephyr to the furious tempest, has its fixed laws and boundaries. The
same law that vibrates the strings of the iEolian lyre prostrates the forest ;
the same vital element that affords life to the invisible mite is alike indis
pensable to the man. In reviewing
THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE COLONIES,
it will be necessary to consider their peculiar relations. The difficulties
of such a study cannot be appreciated by any one who has not attempted
to analyze historically the colonial events and measures of America.
Though these remarks must be general, it is hoped that they may be
sufficiently definite to enable every reader to classify and apply the facts
afforded by history. When facts are but slightly and imperfectly recorded
by the historian, it is more profitable to select such for illustration and
instruction, with a distinct standard of principle in view, than to vex and
fatigue the mind with disconnected details, which mean nothing and teach
nothing. *¦
The principles of the colonists, and the events of their emigration, have
been briefly considered ; and the inquiry now arises, — In what way their
principles were practically applied, and by what means their institutions were
gradually established, and permanently sustained 1 In arriving at the con
clusion that they were led to people the New World by the spirit of Democ
racy, the reader will naturally be prepared to find that they were animated
and encouraged by the same spirit in the wilderness. In this he will not be
disappointed. Although the Puritans could not divest themselves of human-*
ity, nor free themselves from that diversity of disposition which is incident
to all society, however limited, yet they were placed in position as a dominant
party, and were enabled to control the results of an independent judgment,
and to direct them in channels of their own choice, and shaped to ends of
1 The intelligent author of "Rule and Misrule of the English in America" has alluded to
the " want of continuity " in American Colonial History. He says : " The early settlements
made by the English in America were effected either by individual speculators or associated
companies. They were in general situated at a distance from each other, having at first little
or no connection, either political, social or commercial, among themselves, and deriving but
trifling assistance, and less protection, from the mother country. They grew up into power
ful colonies, in neglect and obscurity, with u. rapidity and vigor that astonished Europe.
They were without precedent in the previous annals of England, and the political agitation
of the public mind in the present state unhappily afforded no opportunity for establishing
their relation on a proper foundation, or arranging a consistent and uniform plan for their
government. Theaecounts we have of them, therefore, are detached, and their interest is
destroyed for want of continuity. Every plantation has had its annalist ; but the narratives
are too local, too minute, and too similar in their details, to be either interesting or instruct
ive."

132 PARTY RELATIONS OF THE C0L0NI3T3.
their own conception. As their numbers were insignificant at the beginning,
they were viewed indifferently as subjects, though with sufficient concern to
require from them one-fifth part of all- the gold that they should find ; and,
as a security rather that the crown might share with them a portion of their
profits, though in no way to be held for their losses, they were required to
be true to their sovereign, and to the acts of Parliament.1 They were
regarded as troublesome levellers. — a faction of heretics. — and were in no
respect, for a single moment, counted as a party, or the nucleus of a party.
They were going where they could neither make allies for power, nor con
verts for influence. As for themselves, in view of the established church,
no subjects could stand worse ; and government indulged in no serious hopes
that they would ever become better.2 Their professions of principle were
looked upon as dangerous and delusive assumptions, and their untiring zeal
as the infection of Satan. Hence, the further removed, the safer for the
faithful. Nevertheless, this insignificant bapd represented the Democratic
Party of Great Britaiu ; — not its interests, but its principles ; not its sub
serviency, but its independence. The colonists were party-men in England ;
they did not cease to be party-men in America. 3 As they brought with
them no important interests to defend, they employed their mental energies
in fortifying their principles. As they looked to no Parliament for protec
tion, they feared no Parliament for restraint. They were alone, and, at the
beginning, united ; and yet in no degree did they abandon their habits of
party vigilance, or lessen their spirit of party jealousy. Separated and
essentially freed from the iron control of a powerful government sustained
by a powerful party, they erected a new standard of advancement, by imme-
cliately reducing their principles to practice, and by establishing and occu
pying new outposts, to guard their rights against future dangers. Relieved
from the crushing weight of arbitrary power, they were able to stand upright
before their Maker in their native strength, and to study with a manly spirit
the grandeur of their new position, and to realize those expanding views
which truth inspires and freedom permits. Placed in new relations, new
objects were presented for contemplation; laboring in unincumbered posi
tions, enlarged obligations imposed new duties. Withdrawn from the over
shadowing influence of a ponderous monarchy, and sheltered from the glare
of royalty, they were, for the first time, enabled to look upon the simple
framework of Democracy, and to study with uninterrupted composure its
1 See charters, in Appendix.
2 " I had rather live like a hermit in the forest," said King James, " than be a king over
such a people as the pack of Puritans are that overrules the lower House. ' '
3 It is not deemed necessary, in these general remarks, to make a distinction between those
who settled at Plymouth and those who settled at Massachusetts Bay. Although different in
station and means, most of them were of the same political views.

EXCLUSIVE POLICY OF THE COLONISTS. 133
foundations", its columns of support, its braces, its symmetry, its beauties and
its wants. Exempted from the pressure of the Courts of High Commission,
and from the sleepless eye of a Bishop's Bench, they could now study the
prophets with boldness, and the apostles with unrestrained devotion. Their
church, now placed upon a hill, and viewed away from the dim cathedral-
light of power and ceremony, appeared more beautiful than ever in the broad
sun-light of heaven; — presenting new aspects of truth, and familiar truths
in new relations of sublimity. Endowed with different capacities, and blessed
by attainments varying, in degree and kind ; representing different races,
nations, habits and motives ; placed in new points of observation, and left to
the free exercise of their reflective faculties, — it is not surprising that some
of the colonists should think more and feel less, while others would feel less
and think more, and thus begin a new line of division, and manifest still the
spirit of party in adjusting new issues, or in the new application of acknowl
edged principles. Such a result was natural ; and, when viewed in reference
to all the circumstances of their condition, their wants and their hopes, it
will be found to have been their greatest source of safety, their surest means
of progress. As their relation to Great Britain was still one of a party
nature, and they were liable to the inroads of further emigration, their party
discipline, within their narrow circle, became, of necessity, not only of the
strictest kind, but in its nature exclusive. In them intolerance became a
virtue, — an imperative condition of existence. That is, they could permit
no habits, no opinions, no discussions, but such as were safe for them in
their critical and unfortified position. To have conceded less would have
been difficult ; to have conceded more, dangerous. l They commenced by
1 "The character and education of the leading men, both of Plymouth and Massachusetts,
was such as to fit them for the enterprise which they Undertook, — to form a religious and
political society, founded in the equal rights of men, and in obedience to God as their supreme
law-giver and governor. Their distinguishing trait of character was a sacred regard for
divine revelation, united with the conviction that civil government was essential to social
order and justice. But republican or democratic principles were recognized in their full
extent. The whole body of the freemen were to choose magistrates, and make the laws in
person, or by their deputies ; and every attempt to evade this principle was early opposed
and suppressed. Their zeal for religion, and for the support of Christianity, was generally
wisely tempered by their knowledge of human nature, and of the importance of civil authority.
The condition of their native country had served to prepare them to be political as well as
religious guides. Brewster, Bradford, Winslow and Prence, of Plymouth, and Winthrop,
Bellingham, Ludlow, Dudley, Nowell, Pelham, Pynchon and Bradstreet, were qualified, from
their knowledge and experience, to direct the affairs of civil government. If they differed, in
some of their enactments and policy, from the old governments of Europe, it was not through
ignorance or fanaticism, but from a reference to their peculiar situation, and from a supreme
regard to the divine, authority. All the freemen were on a level, and, therefore, had equal
rights ; and a less strict discipline than was adopted towards strangers and intruders would
have subjected the infant colony to confusion and misrule, if not to an entire overthrow." 
Bradford's Mass.; p. 31.

134 CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLE, CONSERVATIVE PARTY.
making sure a democratic platform, and within its limits they were ready for
labor and for action. Here they desired to stop, that they might build up
to the standard which they had already erected. They had no time for
change, or for mental contest among themselves. They were sufficiently
agreed to be united in their chief purposes, and content to be controlled by a
compact that secured to them equal rights and equal privileges. Democracy
was to be preserved, rooted, cultivated, and strengthened, so that it might be
applied to more extended interests, and be employed to open new sources of
light and influence.1
It may be well in this connection to note the distinction to be observed
between the conservative principle and the- conservative party. The con
servative principle is one of the conditions of growth — growth of every kind.
It is the union or concentration of parts which belong together, and which
make a perfect whole. The great error of the conservative party consists
in the misapplication of the conservative principle. To limit, when extension
is demanded ; to be silent, when silence is treason ; and to withdraw or turn
back, when progressive action is needed.2. In Democracy, this principle
leads to the maturity of measures, which in themselves are of a progressive
nature, each measure requiring a particular period for development or com
pletion. It protects individual rights against conventional" control ; it pro
tects the town against the encroachments of the state ; it protects the state
against ihe nation, — and -the nation against the world. It protects experi
mental measures against premature judgment, and private interests from the
abyss of public indifference. As the spirit of progress is the natural barrier
to consolidation, it is the abuse of this principle which leads to it. While it
1 The horror of toleration in th* early part of the seventeenth century was hardly to be
limited. Bossuet, in France, the illustrious champion of the Church of Rome, the Scotch
Commissioners in London, the English Presbyterian clergy in their official papers, — all were
violently opposed to the introduction of a " sinful and ungodly toleration in matters of relig
ion." " My judgment," said the moderate Baxter, " I have always freely made known. I
abhor unlimited liberty, or toleration of all." The distinguished Edwards, who lived at a
later period, said, " Toleration will make the kingdom a chaos, a Babel, another Amsterdam,
a Sodom, an Egypt, a Babylon. Toleration is the grand work of the devil, his master-piece
and chief engine to uphold his tottering kingdom. It is the most compendious, ready, sure
way to destroy all religion, lay all waste, and bring in all evil. It is a most transcendent,
cathohc and fundamental evil. As. original sin is the fundamental sin, having the seed and
spawn of all sins in it, so toleration hath all errors in it, and all evils." — See Verplanck's
Discourses, pp. 23, 24. Surrounded by such an atmosphere in the world of mind, a commu
nity more tolerant than the colonists would have been crushed by the external pressure of the
spirit of control.
2 The errors of the two great parties are thus defined by Lord Bolingbroke, who, in speaking
of the Whigs (Democrats) and Tories of England, says : "Both (parties) saw their errors.
The Tories stopped short in the pursuit of a bad principle. The Whigs reformed the abuse
of a good one." Without any reference to the particular application of this remark, it affords
some idea of the difference between the errors of the Democratic party and the errors of the
Conservative party, so far as they may be classified.

VIRGINIA AND MASSACHUSETTS MOTHERS OF STATES. 135
tends to unite the parts in their natural harmony, in particular things, it is
the spirit of progress which recognizes a system of which all these things are
but parts. Applied with judgment, it becomes a maturing process ; when
adopted as a leading principle, it reduces the parts, and fails to produce a
perfect whole.
The beginning and the slow growth of the American colonies discover
every variety of circumstance and character necessary to a causative diver
sity, and in these may be found all those elements of humanity which lead
to party formations, and tend to develop the true sources of national success.
It required but little of the learning of Lord Bacon to enjoin patience on
" all who would plant colonies ;" but, to understand the laws and conditions
of their fluctuating growth, would seem to demand the aid of his genius.
Virginia and Massachusetts have been aptly designated as the mothers of
States. This significant appellation is not without truth ; and it becomes
a subject of interesting inquiry, in what respect and in what degree it is an
instructive one. With various motives, and under various impelling influ
ences, the people of Virginia extended their settlements on the Ohio and the
Tennessee.1 The intolerance of Massachusetts helped the growth of the
Plymouth Colony; banished Williams to become the founder of Rhode
Island;2 diverted Davenport, Eaton and Hopkins, to Quinnipiac,3 where-
¦Bancroft, vol. iv., p. 168.
2 Roger Williams arrived in America on the 5th of February, 1630-31. He was settled as
a minister of the gospel at Salem and at Plymouth. He was soon accused of heresies, and was
repeatedly summoned to appear before the General Court, at Boston. In July, 1635, at a
meeting of the General Court, he was charged as having uttered the following " dangerous
opinions," namely, " That the magistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first table,
otherwise than in such cases as did disturb the civil peace ; 2, That he ought not to tender
an oath to an unregenerate man ; 3, That a man ought not to pray with such, though wife,
child, &c. ; 4, That a man ought not to give thanks after the sacrament, nor after meat,
&c." These dangerous opinions excited much feeling, and elicited much discussion ; and the
result was a vote of banishment, at a meeting of the Court held in October of the same year.
The sentence was in these terms : " Whereas Mr. Roger Williams, one of the elders of the
church of Salem, hath broached and divulged divers new and dangerous opinions against the
authority of magistrates, and also writ letters of defamation, both of the magistrates and
churches here, and that before any conviction, and yet maintaineth the same without any
retraction; it is therefore ordered that the said Mr. Williams shall depart out of this jurisdic
tion within six weeks now next ensuing, which if he neglect to perform, it shall be lawful
for the governor and two of the magistrates to send him to some place out of this jurisdic
tion, not to return any more without license from the Court." He became the founder of
Rhode Island. — See "Winthrop, vol. i., pp. 151 — 171.
3A new company for emigration was formed in England in the year 1636, chiefly through
the efforts of Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport, and Edward Hopkins. They appear to have
determined, before leaving England, o'n no particular place for settlement ; but sailed for
Massachusetts, and arrived June 26, 1637, reserving the selection of a place of abode till
after their arrival. Inducements were held out to the company to fix their residence in Bos
ton; and, likewise, to unite with the original colony at Plymouth ; but they most probably

1S6 EFFECTS OF PARTY SPIRIT.
Connecticut was commenced ; and sent Wheelwright, who was excluded for
his dangerous heresies of non-conformity, to begin a settlement at the falls
of Squamscot, — the germ of -New Hampshire.1
Thus it will be found that party spirit, in its extreme acts of exclusion, is
not without its benefits ; and while one principle is fortified and sustained by
unity, another may be equally promoted by discord and diversity.
If the settlement of a vast continent were surrendered entirely to the
influence of the social principle, and made to depend upon the harmony of
views, it is obviously certain that it could never be accomplished. All dis
senters would be compelled to leave ; and, those who were united in so partial
a manner would seek the narrowest limits, and study the narrowest policy.
Sources of enterprise and wealth would remain undiscovered, and many of
the means of advancement in the refinements of society would, remain
unknown. But, in adopting this conclusion, the reader is not to infer that it
warrants any purpose of intentional non-conformity. For such a construc
tion breaks down all proper, distinction between the will of man and the
events of Providence. Such a truth indicates the proper course of study, ^-
the investigation of things according to their nature,- — the understanding of
man, with a distinct knowledge of his faculties, and of the laws by which
they are governed. The adoption of any other one principle, to be followed
out, according to its distinctive nature, would be attended with like delusive
results. Although single ideas require special means for development, it
cannot be expected, by any considerate man, that they are to be successfully
advanced except in harmony with the general condition and wants of society.
In tracing the events of freedom, as recorded in the various histories of
the American colonies, and in attempting to point out some of the party
means by which that freedom has been preserved, enlarged and continued, it
is not with any motive to commit the error complained of - by Sir James
Mackintosh, — to establish the " pedigree of freedom," 2 — but rather to show,
entertained, from the first, a wish to begin, if possible, a new settlement. It is certain that
they were not altogether pleased with the state of things in either of the colonies already
planted. After visiting various places, jthey decided in favor of Quinnipiac, now New Haven,
— for which place they sailed from Boston on the 30th of March, 1638, and in about a fort
night arrived in safety. — See Prof. Kingsley's Historical Discourse, 1838.
'In 1638, the Antinomian controversy, at Boston, had occasioned a violent strife and
schism. It terminated in banishing from that colony the principal persons who bore that
name of reproach. Conspicuous among the exiles were the learned and truly pious Wheel
wright, and his famous sister, Anne Hutchinson. They had before purchased some lands
of the Indians at Squamscot Falls, and now came, with the few friends who followed them
into banishment, and began a plantation. They called it Exeter ; and here was laid the
foundation of New Hampshire. — See Barslow's History of New Hampshire, p. 40 ; Trum
bull's Connecticut, vol. i., p. 6. i
5 *' A pleader at the Old Bailey who would attempt to aggravate the guilt of a robber or a
murderer, by proving that King John or King Alfred punished robbery- and murder, would

SURVEY OF COLONIAL EVENTS. 137
that in no period of time have nations been exempted from party spirit, and
that the great and progressive cause of liberty has been in the keeping of the
Democratic party. Imperceptibly small it may have been, at times, but
always present, — in a spark to kindle, or in a blaze on the hill-tops of a
nation, — to gladden everywhere the mighty heart of humanity.
But let us take a rapid survey of colonial events, scattered upon the pages
of imperfect records ; and as the waters of the bubbling spring and mountain
brook glisten on their way to the majestic river, so let us endeavor to catch
an occasional glimpse of those gushes of freedom which shine between the dark
intervals of tyranny, and finally widen and unite in 'the broad, deep and
uninterrupted stream of liberty, — to be seen in the enjoyment of equal rights,
and in the dispensation of impartial justice. As the tendency of all matter
is downward, attracted by unalterable laws which unite and functionize its
properties, so the tendency of the spirit of freedom is upward,- outward and
onward, gradually releasing the soul of man from the weight of its fetters,
and preparing it for still higher duties, a more exalted happiness. . Every
blow struck by the Democratic Party severs a link from that ignoble chain so
long ago forged by tyrants, and guarded by their successors.
As the colonies sprang up at different periods, and are to be traced to dif
ferent and opposite pauses ; as they pursued each a separate course before
they were united or independent, and as they all submitted, more or. less, to
the control of Great Britain, it is quite obvious that history can disclose but
little unity in party movements, where no issues were made on national
topics as such, — no policy declared in which all could have an interest, or
upon which all could have a right to exert an influence. But, as the colo
nists had some motives in common, as emigrants from the same country, a
only provoke derision. A man who should pretend that the reason why we have right to prop
erty is, because our ancestors enjoyed that right four hundred years ago, would be justly
contemned. Yet so little is plain sense heard in the mysterious nonsense which is the cloak
of political fraud, that the Cokes, the Blackstones, and the Burkes, speak as if our right to
freedom depended on its possession by our ancestors ! In the common cases of morality, we
should blush at such an absurdity. No man would justify murder by its antiquity, or stig
matize benevolence for being new. The genealogist who should emblazon the one as coeval
with Cain, or stigmatize the other as upstart with Howard, would be disclaimed even by the
most frantic partisan of aristocracy. This Gothic transfer of genealogy to truth and justice
is peculiar to politics. The existence of robbery in one age makes its vindication in the next ;
and the champions of freedom have abandoned the stronghold of right for precedent, which,
when the most favorable, is, as might be expected from the ages which furnish it, feeble,
fluctuating, partial and equivocal. It is not because we have been free, but because we have
a right to be free, that we ought to demand freedom. Justice and liberty have neither birth
nor race, youth nor age. It would be the same absurdity to assert that we have a right to
freedom because the Englishmen of Alfred's reign were free, as that three and three are six
because they were so in the camp of Genghis Khan. Let us hear no more of this ignoble and
ignominious pedigree of freedom ! " — Works, vol. in., p. 135.
18

138 EVENTS INFLUENCING' COLONIAL GROWTH.
similarity of spirit will be found to have influenced them when called upon
to act under similar circumstances, and in view of like interests.
In England, the Democrats were opposed and almost paralyzed by a
powerful party. In removing to America, they were freed from that
atmosphere of oppression which had surrounded them. There, they had
endeavored to live in the full enjoyment of institutions which belonged to
them in common with all British subjects. Here, they began with purposes
which, though they were not denned with distinct particularity in their own
minds, yet evinced an evident and determined disposition to favor republican
principles, and to organize a Democratic party. In tracing-such a result to
its original sources, it will be proper to notice the acts and discussions which
gradually gained concessions from the crown, and nationalized the colonists.
That the colonists had distinct motives in respect to their natural rights, and
to the formation of a government in harmony with their views, and such as
would efficiently advance and protect them, is unquestionably true. Not
that ministers had motives to such an end, — for, although it may be admitted
that they were occasionally influenced by a benevolence of feeling, and made
concessions which they deemed merely parental, there is no evidence that
they favored republican tendencies, or the interests of America, beyond the
narrow limits of the crown. If England were just, it was expected that
America would be generous ; if England were liberal, what could America do
less than to be magnanimous '?
The events and circumstances which immediately favored the Puritans
have been considered. These were for a time of a limited nature, connected
with character, locality and society. They constituted the beginning of a
new communi'ty in a new country. The succeeding process was the formation
of colonial interests in more extended relations. These were mediately
affected by events of a national tendency, and which favored every possible
variety of exercise and development.
The great diversity of motive and character of the emigrants ; the various
and distracted counsels by which the different companies were governed, and
their detached operations in respect to the sources of power ; the troubles of
Ireland and Scotland ; the numerous impeachments and contests of Parlia
ment ; the tyranny and caprices of royalty ; the revolutions of Cromwell and
James II. ; the wars of Great Britain against Spain, Holland and France, —
the peace of Utrecht ; x the solemn perturbations of church and state ; " new
lights," and new plans of colonial governments ; the eloquence and sway of
"'The treaty of peace concluded at Utrecht," says Bancroft, "was momentous in its
character and consequences. ' It closed the series of universal wars for the balance of power,
and, establishing the territorial relations of the states adjoining France on a basis which
endures even now, left no opportunity for future wars, except for commerce or opinion. " —
Vol. m., p. 226.

FOREIGN CONTROL OF COLONIES. 139
master-minds of the seventeenth century, led by the lofty spirit of Chatham,
were events and influences which contributed powerfully to the increasing
ability of the American colonies, and tended to open to the vision of the
gifted statesman new and extended views of national polity.
These, and similar events, extending through a long period of time, though
foreign and external in their origin and direction, were prolific in positions
of activity, and gave to the colonists opportunities for the exercise of mind
in reference to public affairs, which were quite important, when considered
in connection with their condition and future wants. They had a foreign
policy to study, without its usual responsibilities. They were observers of
troubles, foreign to their own, without being the subjects of them. They
had constant accessions of men of character, thrown off by the convulsions of
Europe, whose energies added spirit and vigor to the public mind. They
could look upon revolutions with all the loyalty of subjects, and experience
the elations of joy incident to success, and not leave their fire-sides, nor
suffer the painful transitions from realities to the emotions of hope and fear.
They could look upon the results of wisdom detached from the follies of
failure, and calmly admire the dignity of character, exempted from the preju
dices which surrounded and helped to produce it.
But this position of a passive nature was not of long duration ; for, when
the interests1 of the colonies were increased, and attracted the notice and
consideration* of the king and council, or the Parliament,2 they found them
selves within the circle of national control, and both the subjects and repre
sentatives of principle.3 The formation of private and public opinion led to
1 " An order was issued, in October, 1621, commanding ' that no tobacco, or other pro
ductions of the colonies, shall thenceforth be carried into foreign parts till they are first landed
in England, and the custom paid ; ' the Privy Council assigning these remarkable reasons :
1 That the king, weighing the great advantage which this crown and state might receive from
a well-ordered plantation in Virginia, granted several, immunities to the colonies, as not
doubting but that they would apply themselves to such courses as might most firmly incor
porate that plantation into his commonwealth ; that to suffer, therefore, a foreign trade, is as
inconsistent with the view in the planting of Virginia as with just policy or the honor of the
state.' The deputy and council, offering some reasons to show the impropriety and hardship
of this order, were told, in the stern language of those days, ' that they were not to dispute,
but to obey.' Here, then, were, for the first time, disclosed all those principles of policy,
with regard to the colonial trade, which were carried into execution, by an act of the legis
lature, at a subsequent "day. " — Chalmers' Annals, p. 53.
2 The king invested the general superintendence of the colonies in a council, in England,
" composed of a few persons of consideration and talents." — Chalmers, p. 15.
3 The King of England, " informed of great distraction and disorder in the plantations of
New England," referred the subject to the consideration of his Privy Council. This was in
1632. The council, after examination, passed a resolution, that the appearances were so fair,
and hopes so great, that the country would prove beneficial to the kingdom, and profitable to
the settlers, as that the adventurers " had cause to go on cheerfully with their undertakings,"
with an assurance that, if things were conducted according to the design of the patent, his
Majesty would not only maintain the liberties and privileges heretofore granted, but supply

140 ACTIVITY OF COLONISTS.
formal declarations of motive in respect to the best organization of society ;
and questions arose in all those minor details which are usually to be seen in
the affairs of practical life. The exercise of the prerogatives of royalty were
watched in the wilderness, and the measures of Parliament were discussed in
the rude domicile of the farmer and mechanic.1 Toleration was condemned
by rival bigots,. and Episcopacy was discovered and proscribed in its scattered
adherents. Titles were weighed, and nobility measured. 2 The earth was
anything further which might tend to the good government, prosperity and comfort, of his
people in those plantations. — Holmes' Annals, vol. I., p. 213.
In 1834, an Order' in Council was passed, at London, requiring Mr. Cradock, a chief
adventurer, then present before the. board, "to cause the letters patents for New England to
be brought to the board." A special commission was giv«n to the Archbishop of Canterbury
and eleven other, persons, for governing the American colonies. An order was_also sent, by
the king's commissioners, to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and other haven towns, to
stop the promiscuous and disorderly departure out of the realm to America.
Under date of July, 1634, Governor Winthrop writes, in his journal (137), " Mr. Cradock
wrote to the governor and his assistants, and sent a copy of the councils, whereby we were
required to send over our patent. Upon long consultation whether we* should return answer
or not, we agreed, and returned answer to Mr. Cradock, excusing that it could not be done
but by a General Court, which was to be holden in September next. ' '
January 19, 1635, the colony of Massachusetts prepared to counteract this order. The
ministers, considered at the time as the fathers of the commonwealth, were consulted by the
magistrates. At the request of the governor and assistants, all the ministers in the colony,
excepting one, met at Boston, to consider two cases, one of which was, What we ought to do,
if a general governor should be sent out of England ? They unanimously agreed that, if such
a governor were sent, the colony ought not to accept him, but to defend its lawful possessions,
if able ; " otherwise, to avoid or protract."
1 In the contest between the King and Parliament, in 1644, the colonies of New England
took an early and sincere part on the side of Parliament. In 1644, the General Court passed
an ordinance declaring " that what person soever shall, by word, writing or action, endeavor
to disturb our peace, directly or indirectly, by drawing a party under pretence that he is for
the King of England, and such as join with him against the Parliament, shall be accounted as
an offender of a high nature against this commonwealth, and to be proceeded with, either
capitally or otherwise, according to the quality and degree of his offence ; provided always
that this shall not be extended against any merchant, strangers and shipmen, that come
hither merely for trade or merchandise, albeit they should come from any of those parts that
are in the hands of the king, and such as adhere to him against the Parhament ; carrying
themselves here quietly, and free from railing, or nourishing any faction, mutiny or sedition,
among us, as aforesaid." — Marshall, p. 117.
2 In 1636, "several of the English peers," says Bancroft, "especially Lord Say and Seal,
— a Presbyterian, a friend to the Puritans, yet with but dim perceptions of the true nature of
civil liberty, — and Lord Brooke, — a man of charity and meekness, an early friend to toler
ance, — had begun to inquire into the character of the rising institutions, and to negotiate
for such changes as would offer them inducements for removing to America. They demanded
a division of the General Court into two branches, that of assistants and of representatives, — a
change which was acceptable to the people, and which, from domestic reasons, was ultimately
adopted ; but they further required an acknowledgment of their own hereditary right to a
seat in the upper house. The fathers of Massachusetts were disposed to conciliate these pow
erful friends. They promised them the honors of magistracy ; but, as for the establishment
of hereditary dignity, they answered, by the hand of Cotton, ' Where God blesseth any branch

QUESTIONS OF INTEREST- AXD OF RIGHTS. 141
studied in regard to its probable uses, and lands were divided by theories
representing the selfish, the benevolent, the speculative, the just and the unjust.
The rivers and the seas were surveyed in reference to the fishermen of all
nations, and the forests allotted to the furrier-huntsmen. The delicate subject
of taxation was scanned in every variety of form natural to a hard-working
people, jealous of their rights. Man looked upon man as his equal, and began
to question the truth of the fearful assumption that petitions may be made
to God, but not to Parliament. The right of petition was discussed and
conceded. Men were counted as beings capable of speaking for themselves ;
and the representative principle became the subject of study and applica
tion.1 Martial law was pronounced of doubtful tendency," and the civil
power was tested with a nice discrimination in respect to the extent of man's
perversity, as compared with his love of right. The army, as a permanent
establishment, was viewed with fearful distrust,3 and the militia system
excited the jealous to suspect a foreign policy of promotion ; and American
officers felt that a colonel upon the continent was as good as a colonel
beyond the Atlantic. i Monopolies were formed, based upon every interest
that promised any reward ; and questions of experiment racked the ingenious,
and deluded both the credulous and incredulous. Inter-colonial interests
indicated division-lines of separate communities, and questions of regulation
were topics of discussion in the different colonies, as balance of power became
the absorbing problem of the nations of Europe.
Thus questions for consideration arose with every advance of interest in the
colonies ; and, while every increase of property gave additional importance to
the particular colony where it was improved, it developed a corresponding
of any noble or generous family with a spirit and gifts fit for government, it would be a taking
of God's name in vain to put such a. talent under a bushel, and a sin against the honor of
magistracy to neglect such in our public elections. But if God should not delight to furnish
some of their posterity with gifts fit for magistracy, we should expose them rather to reproach
and prejudice, and the commonwealth with them, 'than exalt them to honor, if we should call
-them forth, when God doth not, to public authority.' And thus the proposition for establish
ing hereditary nobility was defeated." — Vol. i., p. 384.
1 The first representative assembly in America was in Virginia, in 1619. The second was
in Massachusetts, in 1634.
2 Reference is made to Virginia.
* The danger and impolicy of a standing army was early doubted, in the debates of Par
liament, by the Democracy of England.
1 "In anticipation of approaching hostilities," (with the French, 1755) says Hildreth,
" a general order gave to all officers commissioned by the king or the commander-in-chief
precedence over such as had only colonial commissions, — an order which created great dis
gust, and occasioned much trouble in America. New clauses introduced into the annual
Mutiny Act subjected the colonial soldiers, when acting in conjunction with regular troops,
to the rigid rules of the regular service, and required the Colonial Assemblies to provide
quarters and certain enumerated supplies for the regular troops within their jurisdictions. ' '
— Vol. ii., p. 448.

142 SOURCES OF CIVIL POWER.
spirit and judgment in the people concerning its control. To individual
interest was added the conventional ambition engendered by the rivalry of
separate colonies; and colonies began to define their relations of right as
neighboring communities, and their positions of power as national sover
eignties. General interests of the continent were early viewed as subjects
in common to be adjusted, and union for cooperation was a form of action as
natural as it proved to be efficient. The government of the mother country,
looking upon colonial enterprise as national gain, and colonial power as an
increase of national strength* sought to regulate the one, and to control the
other, by orders in council, or by legislation. Paternal grants gave way to
royal suspicion, and parliamentary encouragement to parliamentary restric
tions. In these various relations the colonies were placed, — each having its party
divisions peculiar to its own condition, and all having a common interest in
the subject of foreign control, upon which the people divided in respect to
continental policy.
It has been seen that, at the time of the Revolution, most of the colonies
weje governed as royal provinces. Eight of the thirteen were of this class.
Two only remained of the proprietary form, while three had continued under
charters. It is doubtful whether history affords more instructive examples to illus
trate the various forms of development of Democratic principles than may be
found in the settlement and progress of the American colonies. All
THE SOURCES OF CIVIL POWER
are "opened for inspection j~ the various motives which lead to party organiza
tion are made apparent ; and moral and political seasons of seed-time and
harvest are passed in review, discovering the true principles of action, — the
unalterable conditions of truth. ¦
It may be said, for purposes' of historical convenience, that power springs
from three sources. The first and highest is conscience, around which are
to be found, as servants, all the sentiments and faculties of the human mind ;
the second is property, or the possession of means to control the agency of
others ; and the third is of a conventional nature, and rests upon traditionary
privileges, — such as inhere in the idea of royalty. 1 It is with the possession
1 M. Guizot indulges in some ingenious speculations with respect to the nature of royalty.
He says : " whenever society advances towards its modern and definitive character, royalty
seems to extend and prosper ; so that when the work is consummated, — when there is no
longer any, or scarcely any other important or decisive influence in the great states of Europe
than that of the government and the public, — royalty is the government." — Hist. Civ. of
Europe, vol. i., p. 162. He says, too, "It is evident that royalty has played a prodigious

SOURCES OF CIVIL POWER. 143
of moral or traditionary power as it is with the possession of property, — it is
prized to the extent of its ability to control ; and, as traditionary power
precedes conventional agreement, property is often made subservient to roy
alty. Sometimes royalty bends its neck to be loaded with a golden yoke,
and the two powers unite both as rivals and allies.
As but few men can be rich and independent of labor, it follows that
most men are comparatively poor, and subject to the primeval conditions
imposed upon Adam. As but few men can be rulers, or the dictators of
society, it follows that most men stand in the relations of subject or citizen.
As the dispensers of royalty and property are naturally inclined and impelled
to be selfish and conservative, their systems of operation are found to be
generally narrow and partial, — their concessions of right slight and reluctant.
In relation to these two classes, either singly or combined, the people are
placed, as subjects, constituents, or debtors. That the people, who embody
and develop the great principle of Democracy, constitute the real sovereignty
of a state, may be regarded quite obvious, from the fact that, without them,
royalty is but a name, and property a solecism. To speak of a king without
subjects, of a Croesus without a market, or of a market without a people,
would be to ridicule the objects of language ; and yet these terms indicate
the great sources of power. Without industry, and the wants of men, wealth
is nothing. Without the institutions of government to regulate the rights of
men, royalty is nothing. With Democratic institutions, man is every
thing, and nominal distinctions yield to the dignity of character. Royalty,
existing as the absolute disposer of human rights, is a tyranny. Wealth con
centrated in the hands of the few, is a monopoly. If these conditions concur
and unite in the same nation, the people are liable to be made^both slaves
and beggars. The transition of power from these uncertain sources, con-
part in the history of European civilization," &c. One would suppose that Guizot referred to a
principle which could be defined with some distinctness. Not so. For he enumerates several
different kinds of royalty, and the reader is at a loss to gather an exact idea of his meaning.
The fact that a man is made king, or emperpr, shows simply that he is chief ruler, either by
consent, or by the aid of force ; but it does not explain upon what principle, or upon what
conditions, he has been made so. The same may be said of the president of a republic. The
distinction between a hereditary and an elective chief magistrate does not relieve the diffi
culty ; it only speaks of a fact that precedes the result; and the result remains still to be
explained. Royalty simply refers to a form of government, without any reference to the
principles upon which it is based, or to the limits of their exercise. If hereditary, it may be
termed an idea of necessity, incident to a state of ignorance, or to an imperfect state of soci
ety, where judgment is content with traditionary authority. If elective, the result is either
a free republic, — this form best representing the voice of the people, — or a monarchy, or
an empire, with the promise of a constitutional government which concedes freedom to the
subject, and thus secures Iris vote. When the people know enough, and society is properly
organized in reference to the representative principle, royalty can have no existence. Hence
its existence is merely incidental, — a result, it may be, of the exercise of sound principles, or
the result of the entire want of principle.

144 SOURCES OF CIVIL POWER.
trolled by the few, and its diffusion among the people, — the rightful heirs,
— is human progress. This is accomplished by Democracy, - which con
tinually claims a greater freedom, a more permanent industry, ja wider range
for commerce.
That the fluctuations of party must be continual and various, will appear
when we consider the relative condition of these sources of power, to which.
allusion has already been made. Under a monarchical government there are
usually three parties of interest : the king and nobility,- and all those who
are satisfied to be their mere dependents ; the rich, who control the available
wealth of the country ; and the people, of all professions, who have a com
mendable ambition to acquire the comforts of life, and to enjoy equal oppor
tunities for advancement.
As royalty combines with the representatives of property, or of principle,
so parties are formed for good, for pecuniary profit or monopoly. Some
times the love of duty and the love of money unite in the same persons. In
a constitutional government, like that of England, the conventional power is
again divided and subdivided, combined and modified, in an infinite variety
of ways. The King, the Lords, and the Parliament, have their struggles
for prerogative, their conditions of strength and weakness, and their forced
coalition necessities.
When the king and the titled gentry suppose that the power of wealth
will be equal to their wants, they seek alliance with the holders of property
against the people. In such cases there are exchanges of property for power
and privilege by agreement. When they see the sources of revenue in the
industry and enterprise of the people, and discover the great truth that
freedom from restraint in the legitimate pursuits of life adds to the public
revenue, then royalty takes the laborer by the hand, and unites with the con
stituted agents of the people in justly regulating popular rights. Industry
yields more, and money less. The rich sometimes worship at the shrine of
popular will, when mind fails to honor the holder of gold, or when the integ
rity of all public men is doubted because a few men know themselves to be
dishonest. To all these sources of power, with their numerous combinations, may be
traced the different governments of the American colonies, and the varying
policy of the English monarchs and Parliaments in regard to them, during
their entire period of settlement.
While the first successful settlements were made by the lovers of freedom
for freedom's sake, most of the colonies originated in motives of gain or of
speculation. It is an interesting fact, that, however men combine to secure
a common end, provided that end be one of general interest, and of vital
importance to society, they arrive, by degrees, at the same points of truth.
though by different means, more or less rapidly, and from different positions,

SOURCES OF CIVIL POWER. 145
There seems to be — to borrow a term of physical science — a moral centre
of gravity, where all truth tends, however and wherever it is first promul
gated. The light of truth shines upon all impartially, like that of the polar
star, which as safely guides the Feejee Islander in his 'canoe as the admiral
of the royal navy in the broad Atlantic.
Political parties of the colonies were associations of men formed for specific
purposes, and directed by the same dispositions of ambition, honor and interest,
which actuate men at the present day. * Then, although the sources of power
were the same, there was no permanent unity of purpose in party movements,
or government policy, such as exists in nations. If people were cheered by
successful results to-day, to-morrow might teem with the events of adversity,
beyond the power of a prudential foresight to remedy. Subject to uncertain
changes of princes, governors, proprietors and Parliaments, they could not well
take part in the political divisions of England without opposing or neglecting
the interests of the colonies ; and to organize parties in America seemed like
disloyalty to the British government. Still, with all these eccentricities in
the orbits of political rule, Democracy held but one language, claimed but
one condition," and served but one master. " God and Liberty" was inscribed
upon its banner, and sanctified in the hearts of the people. The compact of
the Pilgrims became the political creed of the continent, and the Democratic
Party was organized for its defence. To this was opposed a conservative
party, combining the spirit of royalty with the cupidity of wealth. From
this remark it is not to be inferred that the Democratic party was free from
the perversities of human nature, or that it was favored by a total exemption
from error. Nor is it to be inferred that royalty was without its benevo
lence, or government without its justice, or wealth without its munificence.
No. These sources of power existed then as now, and always will continue
to exist, in the providence of God, for the good of man. Reference is made
to their nature, to their general tendencies, and to the surest means to direct
and control them. The Democratic party sought constantly to lessen the
power of the few, to be extended to the many. Colonial governments, based
upon monied power, proved a failure. Proprietary governments surrendered
to the crown, and demonstrated that schemes of interest succeed only as
schemes of interest ; that the private ends of particular persons, or companies,
seldom harmonize to meet the public wants, or to promote the public good.
To say the least, royalty was allied to. a national system, and the colonies
could be better protected as the parts of a nation than as mere corporations,
— more bent upon increasing the means of a company than capacitated to
advance the prosperity of a people.
1 The question of obedience was a question of liberty, and gave birth to the parties of prerog
ative and of freedom. Such is the origin of the parties which continued to divide Massachu
setts till the establishment of actual independence. — Bancroft, vol. n., p. 75.
19

146 FIRST SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA.
But, to illustrate principles which have been stated in general terms, it
may be well to glance at the origin of each particular colony, so that the
colonies may be studied in classes, as they stood at the time of the Revolu
tion, and in view of a common standard. To commence with the royal
provinces, the first to be noticed is — . ,
VIRGINIA, i
The first settlers of this colony were adventurers, — a company of men
influenced by various and opposite motives, and subjected to conditions of a
necessitous as well as of a humiliating nature. 2 Their voyage to this con
tinent was one of ^discord; and, though they viewed the new country with
admiration, their settlement was made without proper judgment, and became
1 The first permanent settlement made in America was Virginia, under a charter granted
to Sir Thomas Gates and his associates, by James the First, iu 1606. That charter granted
territories, then commonly called Virginia, lying on the sea-coast between the thirty-fourth
and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, and the islands adjacent Within one hundred miles,
which were not belonging to or possessed by any Christian prince or people. --> The associates'
were divided into two companies, one of which was required to settle between the thirty-fourth
;and forty-first degrees of north latitude, called the South Colony, and the other between the
thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, called the North Colony. They were
snot to settle within an hundred miles of one another. By degrees, the name of Virginia was
confined to the South Colony. The North Colony assumed the name of the Plymouth Com
pany, from the residence of the original grantees ; and New England was founded under their
auspices. Each colony had exclusive propriety in all the territory within fifty miles from the
first seat of their plantation. A new charter was given to the' settlers of Virginia in 1609,
and. a third in 1612. A representative government was established, and the first colonial
assembly was convened at Jamestown, June 29, 1619. A written constitution was granted
by the London proprietors to the colonists in 1621. In 1624 the charter was vacated by
authority of the king, who took the colony into his own hands. A governor and council were
appointed by the crown, but the assemblies 'continued. On the breaking out of Cromwell's
war in England, the Virginians remained faithful to the king, and a fleet was sent by Par
liament to subdue them. In 1652 the colonists were compelled to acknowledge the authority
of the Parliament. On the restoration of Charles II. , Virginia became again- a royal colony,
and so remained till the period of the American Revolution.
2 " The original planters of that most ancient colony are said, by contemporary writers, to
have been," says Chalmers, "poor gentlemen, tradesmen, serving-men, libertines, and such
like, — ten times more fit to spoil a commonwealth than either to begin or maintain one. ' ' —
Political Annals, p. 69. "
The persons named in the charter of Virginia (1606) were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George
Somers, Richard Hakluyt, and Edward Maria Wingfield. For every sum of twelve pounds ten
shillings the contributor was entitled to an hundred acres of land, and as much more when the
first lot was cultivated. The company fitted out three vessels, under the command of Christo
pher Newport. In these vessels one hundred and five men embarked, destined to form the first
colony in Virginia. Of this number, forty-eight were "gentlemen," twelve laborers, four
carpenters, and a few other mechanics. The rest were soldiers and servants. In reply to
complaints of the company (in 1608), Sir Thomas Smith, the treasurer, wrote that it were
better to send out^ thirty working-men than a thousand like the present colonists. — See Hil-
dreth's U. S., vol. i., pp. 99, 108.

CHARACTER OF JAMES I. 147
the scene of disagreement, suffering and death. J Whether King James con
sidered himself as the father or the husband2 of the colony, it is quite certain
that he proved himself to be not only the king in abstracto, but failed to
recognize in practice his'own theory of a king in concreto. 3 Pacific without
a knowledge of national rights ; indulging in a monarch's pride, without a
corresponding sense of a monarch's dignity ; obstinate, without the capacity
of an intelligent firmness ; — this royal law-giver, in his self-complacency,
extended his paternal verbosity to the American continent. The emigrants
left- their native shores without a knowledge of the instructions by which
their interests were to be regulated, and without a knowledge of the govern
ors to whom these instructions had been committed.* His majesty placed
his will under seal, to be made known only in the wilderness. Thus com
menced " the most ancient administration of yirginia," a "pure aristocracy."
With such a master, no one need be in much doubt as to the probable
character of the agents of his choice to execute his will. The only hope to
be countenanced, in such a case, would be, that the king might occasionally
mistake his man, and thus by accident serve his people. With such a begin
ning, it was obvious that success could only commence with failure.5 Re
strained by the paralyzing rule of martial law, and distracted by seditions
1 The population in 1609 was near five hundred persons ; which number, in the course
of six months, was reduced, by idleness, vice and famine, to only sixty, .of- all ages and
sexes. — See Bancroft, vol. I., p. 139, and Chalmers. In 1611 the colony numbered seven
hundred men. In 1619 there was an addition to the population of the colony of twelve hun
dred emigrants, among whom were ninety young women, who were disposed of, for the cost
of their passage, as wives to the planters.
2 King James I., in his speech to his first Parliament -(1603S), speaking of the union of the
different kingdoms of Great Britain, said : " ' What God hath conjoined then let no man sep
arate.' I am the husband, and all the whole island is my lawful wife ; I am the head, and
it is my body ; I am the shepherd, and it is my flock : I hope, therefore, no man will be so
unreasonable as to think that I, that am a Christian king under the gospel, should be a
polygamisti and husband to two wives ; that L, being the head, should have a divided and
monstrous body ; or that, being the shepherd of so fair a flock (whose fold hath no wall to
fence it but the four seas), should have my flock parted in two." — Pari. Deb., vol. I., 977.
1 "An abstract king," said King James, " had all power ; but a concrete king was bound
to observe the, laws of the country which he governed." — Works, p. 533.
4 These instructions, and the names of those persons who were to compose the future gov
ernment of Virginia, were sealed up in a tin box. It was ordered that this box should not be
opened until after their arrival.
5 During five years next after their ianding, the colonists were ordered to trade jointly ;
that the fruits of the general industry should be placed in a public magazine, whence every
one should be supplied agreeably to the directions of the Council. But when men are not to
profit they will labor little ; and when all are fed from a common granary, few will concern
themselves how it is filled ; — and with this reasoning the- Virginian story exactly' corre
sponds. The emigrants were too often in want of food, and all the energy of martial law
became necessary to promote diligence and preserve peace. There appear to have been, more
over, two capital defects in the institution of the settlement. First, the colonists had neither
women nor property — the two objects whieh the heart3 of men desire the most : women to
smooth the asperities of life, and property to interest and invigorate. — Chalmers, p. 33.

K3 EARLY PARTIES IN VIRGINIA.
incident to such a rule ; subjected to arbitrary and frequent changes, to the
attacks of savages, and severed from ties and influences of a domestic nature,
—the colonists experienced all the desolations of terror, famine aud want. But
with the increase of numbers, and by the accession of character 1 and resulting
causes, the colony recovered in some degree from the shocks of misfortune,
and became impatient to enjoy once more the freedom of their native country.
To meet this feeling, the governor, Sir George Yeardley, in 1619, called a
General Assembly, composed of representatives from the different plantations
of the colony, and permitted them to assume and exercise the high functions
of legislation. This was the first legislative assembly in America. v
But the want of success in enterprise lessened the spirit of concentration,
and the colonists became divided on questions of political control. Unsuc
cessful corporations ever disagree in regard to the true causes of failure, —
and struggles for ascendency are directed by professed determinations to
•arrive at success, either by a continuance of a policy already begun, or by
the adoption of new and different measures as remedies for the evils of the
past. The conservative party favored the prerogatives of the crown, as the
chief source of power ; while the people, looking to their own good,, and the
growth of the colony, as the chief objects of their associated endeavors and
interests, favored industry in its legitimate relations, and property in its right
ful hands.2 As the decrees of the Privy Council in respect to Virginia were
opposed by the Democrats in Parliament, it was natural that the colonists
should take positions according to their judgment, their prejudices, or inte
rests. Public meetings for business 3 afforded opportunities for exchanges of
opinion, and the affairs of the colony were discussed with the utmost free
dom. Such a freedom gave energy to the people, and added to the spirit of
enterprise. But the party that relies upon management, and upon the exer
cise of arbitrary power, for its advancement, is never to be satisfied by the
evidences of prosperity. To witness their reality, excites its grasping dispo
sition to control results ; to realize their absence, is to arouse its spirit of
1 From 1629 to 1640, some of the Puritans from Plymouth and Massachusetts emigrated to
Virginia. 2 (1624.) " The governor shall not lay any taxes or impositions upon the colony, their
lands or commodities, other way than by the authority of the General Assembly, to be levyed
and ymployed as the said Assembly shall appoynt." — See Bancroft, vol. i., p. 190.
3 "The meetings of the company," says Bancroft, "which now consisted of a thousand
adventurers (1623), of whom a hundred or more usually appeared at the quarter courts, were
the scenes for freedom of debate, where the patriots, who in Parliament advocated the cause
of liberty, triumphantly opposed the decrees of the Privy Council on subjects connected with
the rights of Virginia. The unsuccessful party in the company naturally found an ally in the
king, — it could hope for success only by establishing the supremacy of his prerogative ; and
the monarch, dissatisfied at having intrusted to others the control of the colony, now desired to
recover the influence of which he was deprived by a charter of his own concession. Besides,
he disliked the freedom of debate." "The Virginia courts," said Gondemar, the Spanish
envoy, to King James, " are but a seminary to a seditious Parliament." — Vol. I., p. 186.

EARLY PARTIES IN' VIRGINIA. 149
arrogance in assumptions of wisdom that concede nothing to the wisdom of
others. The royalists cared for nothing but for place, and for selfish oppor
tunities of gain. They influenced the king by exciting his jealousy, and
insured his active cooperation by admissions which were gratifying to his
vanity. He was induced to interfere with their elections, in the belief that
his commands would be regarded as laws ; to appoint commissioners to inves
tigate causes of alleged grievances, which had been fabricated by reckless
partisans ; — in fact, without descending to fictitious details, he was made to
believe that the dignity of the crown could only be secured by taking away
rights which had been conceded, and by recovering a control which had been
surrendered. The royal assumptions of power were opposed with a becoming spirit of
indignation by the people ; but they had no ability to succeed in such a con
test, and the company was dissolved. Virginia ceased to be a proprietary
government.1 Although but little can be learned from the many events
which transpired during so short a period, still, enough was seen to satisfy
the honest that freedom was a condition of success. " The spirit of liberty
had planted itself deeply among the Virginians ; " 2 and if they were not per
mitted directly to favor its outward expansion, no earthly power could deprive
them of its inward workings, and the consequent enlargements of mind.
To understand the political character of the colony, it is necessary to study
the sources of its power, the character of its society, and the nature of its indus
try. It was viewed by the people and government of England as a plantation
for raising tobacco:3 It was favored by government for the revenue which it
1 The colonial government was modelled after that of the mother country ; the governor,
council and burgesses, of Virginia, corresponding, in their respective functions, to the king,
lords and commons, of England. There were, however, the following diversities : during the
first year of the colony, when it was under the government of the Virginia Company, the
governor, council and burgesses, sat together in the same room, and formed a single body,
called "The Grand Assembly." The same thing afterwards took place during the greater
part of the time of the Commonwealth. The governor and council, too, in tljeir judicial
character, exercised original as well as appellate jurisdiction ; and appeals from their decision
lay to the General Assembly. These appeals were abolished in 1683, by an exercise of the
royal prerogative ; but the judicial functions of the governor and council, constituting the
General Court, continued throughout the regal government. The number of councillors was
limited to sixteen, though their places were seldom all filled ; and they were selected by the
crown from those of the inhabitants who were recommended by their wealth, station and loy
alty. The House of Burgesses, in the year 1743, consisted of eighty members, to wit :
seventy-six from thirty-eight counties, three from the towns of WiUiamsburgh, Jamestown,
and Norfolk, and one from William and Mary College. — Tucker's Jefferson, i., p. 19.
2 Bancroft's U. S., vol. i., p. 90.
3 " The use of tobacco had been introduced into England by some of the first adventurers to
America, twenty years before the settlement of Jamestown. The use of it rapidly extended
in England, and the more rapidly, perhaps, from the endeavors made by the reigning mon
arch to prejudice his subjects against it. A demand for tobacco being thus created, and it
being already a product of Virginia, the settlers soon began to cultivate it for market ; and,

150 INDUSTRY OF VIRGINIA,
yielded ; and all measures of control, proposed by the king or by the Parlia- •
ment were based upon pecuniary motives, — either to increase the means of
the crown, or to favor court favorites who were ready to cross the Atlantic
for purposes of speculation. The industry of the people being confined to
a single staple, and that staple being made the currency of the country, and
subject to the control of factors who stood in the double relation of buyers
and sellers, the colonists were reduced to a narrow scale of enterprise.
They were neither permitted to originate nor continue any course of means
necessary to the formation of society or to the establishment of a self-pro
tecting prosperity.1 As government agents, the officers of the crown were
but little more than directors of a corporation, directing their energies to
promote a single object. They were rather speculators than citizens, rather
servants than laborers. The .colony was subjected not only to all the with
ering influences of a partial employment of the human faculties, but it was
sustained by no.community foreign to itself. Its activity was confined to a
circle whose enlargement produced no change, and whose utmost extent
reached no variety of motive, and promised no additional reward. Indeed,
its increase of enterprise was more like that of machinery than of mind ; and
under the encouragement of the very high price it then bere„it so engrossed their attention
to the neglect of their corn, that they sometimes suffered severely from scarcity. It long
continued almost the sole article of export ;¦ and,, both from its furnishing the means of remit
tance to England, and from the inadequate supply of the previous metals, which they felt in
common with all young and growing communities, it bec&me the general measure of value,
and principal currency of the colony. The members of assembly, the jministers of the estab
lished church, the clerks of courts, and sheriffs, were all paid in tobacco. The payment of
¦ the county and parish levies, and most off the public taxes, was made in the same commodity.
But, as it fluctuated in price, rates were sometimes fixed by the colonial legislature, and
sometimes left to the discretion of the county courts, by which ¦ the prices of pork, maize,
wheat, and other articles of general consumption, might be paid in this local currency. The
quantity of exported tobacco gradually increased with the growth of the colony, until in 1758
it reached seventy thousand hogsheads,* equal to seventy millions of pounds, since which
time the product has somewhat diminished..' '
In speaking of Charles I. in connection with the colony of Virginia, Bancroft says, " Vir
ginia was esteemed by the monarch as a country producing tobacco ; its inhabitants were
valued at court as planters, and prized according to the revenue derived from the staple of
their industry." — Hist. U. S., vol. i., p. 194,
1 " Whereas many ships, laden with tobacco and other merchandises, have- thence carried
the same directly to foreign countries, whereby his majesty loseth the duties thereupon due,
there being nothing answered in Virginia, you shall be very careful that no vessel depart
thence loaded with those commodities, before bond, with sufficient sureties, be taken to his
majesty's use, to bring the same into his majesty's dominibns, and to carry a lading from
thence, that the staple of those commodities may be made here ; whereby his majesty, after
so great an expense upon that plantation, and so many of his subjects transported thither,
may not be defrauded of what is justly due for customs on the goods. The bonds to be trans
mitted, that delinquents may be proceeded against." — Extract from Instructions to Sir
Wm. Berkeley : Chalmers, p. 131.
* The hogshead, which has been a very varying quantity, from three hundred and fifty pounds to fifteen hun
dred pounds or more, then averaged one thousand pounds.

WANT OF ENTERPRISE. 151
while many inhabitants were added for labor, but few were added for character.
The more wealthy portion of the inhabitants, who had the means to command
the refinements and influences^ education, and of society, became distin
guished for their lofty spirit of personal independence, and unbounded hospi
tality.1 In a country where all the products 'of a beneficent God were spring
ing forth in their luxuriant beauty and abundance ; where nature favored
the diversity of motive, action, industry and genius ; where life seemed
pregnant with causes to develop character, to establish the solid founda
tions and to cultivate the refinements of society, — from the rising to the
setting of the sun, for many generations, the Virginians could look upon
little except their gloomy tobacco-fields, and think upon little except their
foreign tobacco market.2 Enterprise had no heart, happiness no sentiment,
and character was made subservient to government. Home was divested of
its atmosphere, and country of its responsible exercises. Population sought
shelter as the woodman seeks his temporary hut in the receding forest ; the
soil was planted and abandoned, as if made for desolation ; and society moved
in fragments upon the face of the earth, planting and raising a solitary
weed, — as if man were created for abuse, and nations had been appointed
1 " The inhabitants are very courteous to travellers, who Deed no other recommendation
than the being human creatures. A stranger has no more to do, but to inquire upon the
road where any gentleman or good housekeeper lives, and there he may depend upon being
received with hospitality. This good-nature is so general among their people, that the gen
try, when they go abroad, order their principal servant to entertain all visitors with every
thing the plantation affords. And the poor planters, who have but one bed, will very often
sit up, or lie upon a form or couch all night, to make room for a weary traveller to repose
himself after his journey." — History and Present State of Virginia (1705), p. 76.
2 In a work entitled "The History and Present State of Virginia, &c," by "A Native
Inhabitant of the Place," published in London, 1705, the reader will find a variety of facts
in respect to the productiveness of the country, and the great want of enterprise. He says,
" All sorts of English grain thrive and increase there, and yet they don't make a trade of
any of them ; " and thinks, " if it should please God to send them an unseasonable year,
there would not be found in the country provision sufficient to support the people for three
months extraordinary." * * " The sheep increase well, and bear good fleeces; but they gen
erally are suffered to be torn off their backs by briers and bushes, instead of being shorn, or
else are left rotting upon the dung-hill with thfar skins." Beeves might be raised " to great
perfection," "but there is not an hundred acres of marsh drained throughout the whole
country." " Hogs swarm like vermin, and are often counted as such, insomuch that when an
inventory of any considerable man's estate is taken by the executors, the hogs are left out."
After speaking of many other products neglected, and by official discouragements, he adds :
"Thus they depend altogether upon the liberality of nature,- without endeavoring to
improve its gifts by art or industry. They sponge upon the blessings of a warm sun and a
fruitful soil, and almost grutch the pains of gathering in the bounties of the earth. I should
be ashamed to publish this slothful indolence of my countrymen, but that I hope it will rouse
them out of their lethargy, and excite them to make the most of all those happy advantages
which nature has given them ; and if it does this, I am sure they will have the goodness to
forgive me."

152 DISCOURAGEMENTS TO INDUSTRY. tr
executors to such an end.1 So entirely engrossed were the people of Vir
ginia in a single occupation, that they failed to make a distinction between
the desolations of famine and the superabundance of the harvest. A large
crop was fatal to the price, and a small crop encouraged idleness.2 They
could neither eat nor wear tobacco. With tobacco they could neither build a
house, nor replenish a pantry, grade a road, nor build a bridge. Exchange
was a necessity. The foreign- market was the director of their enterprise, the
measure of their means, and the dispenser of their gains. Virginia was the
plantation, — England the home and the storehouse of the planter. The inhab
itants of the colony were not expected even to clothe themselves,3 or to provide
the ordinary comforts of life, except by aid of the mechanics and manufacturers
of England; and all trade with foreigners was strictly forbidden. Under such
circumstances, what could be expected either for man or for society'? Where
men scattered over a large extent of territory with entire reference to their
peculiar business, there could be but few subdivisions of society, such as give
birth .to towns ; and where a people transferred all the results of their labors
to a foreign land, motives to establish institutions for progress ' could exist
only in a very slight degree. Religion became a subject of conformity for
convenience, and popular education was looked upon as a delusion.
The reign of Charles I. and the administration of Cromwell were marked
by so many events of a distracting nature, that but little time or attention
could be given to the colonies in a foreign land. So far as the colonies were
connected with revenue, they were attentively considered ; further than this,
but little was done to add to their means or to encourage their spirit.* Occa
sional letters of instruction were given, and proclamations made, — but these

1 As this plant requires land of the greatest fertility, and its finer sorts are produced only
in virgin soil, which it soon exhausts, its culture has been steadily advancing westwardly,
where fresh land is more abundant, leaving the eastern region it has impoverished to the
production of Indian corn, wheat, and other grain. Its cultivation has thus generally ceased
in the country below the falls of the great rivers ; and, in its progress to tije. west, the centre
of the tobacco region is now two hundred miles from the coast. — Tucker's Life of Jefferson,
vol. I., p. 13.
2 The " low price of tobacco," says Bancroft (under the period of 1680), "left the planter
without hope. The Assembly had attempted', by legislation, to call towns into being, and
cherish manufactures. With little regard to colonial liberties, it also petitioned the king to
prohibit by proclamation the planting of tobacco in the colonies for one year. The first
measure could not countervail the navigation acts ; with regard to the second, riots were
^substituted for the royal proclamation, and mobs collected to cut up the fields of the tobaccO-
.plants."— Vol. n., p. 248.
3 When ' the people of Virginia, after the colony had been settled for nearly a century,
^attempted, to manufacture coarse fabrics suitable for clothing, Nicholson, the governor,
advised that it should be forbidden by an act of Parliament.
4 Tobacco was heavily taxed in England, and, with a view to gain a revenue from the
entire consumption, the people of England and Wales were forbidden to raise it, and, if they
had any plants growing, to destroy them.

ARISTOCRACY OF VIRGINIA. 158
evinced rather a business policy than a national system. To this exemption
from foreign control Virginia was indebted for much of that independent
spirit which was manifested in after times, and which led to those declara
tions of freedom which have so distinguished her sons. After the Restora
tion, 1660, the government of Virginia was more arbitrary, and more consist
ently conservative.
"The political sentiments of the planters," says Tucker,1 "were mani
fested very differently in their relations with each other, and in the concerns
of the whole province with the mother country. Whilst, in the latter rela
tion, they, with few exceptions, showed themselves zealous assertors of their
civil rights, in the colony itself there was exhibited a strong aristocratical
spirit, which several circumstances had contributed to produce. The great
number of indented servants, who for near a century constituted the largest
portion of their agricultural labor, and who were subjected to a rigor of
authority not known in England, had always divided the colonists into two
distinct classes ; and if many of the degraded caste, after their term of ser
vice was expired, had, by thrift and good management, acquired land, and
even wealth, yet their former condition was not forgotten, and it was only in
the second or third generation that the original line of distinction was effaced.
The introduction of slaves tended to increase and confirm this inequality.
The wealthy planter, living on a large estate, where he saw none but obliged
guests or obsequious slaves, — commonly invested, moreover, with powers
legislative, judicial, or military, and sometimes with all united, — was likely
to have a high sense of persOnal dignity and self-importance. ' Their form of
civil polity, and the prevailing religion, endowed as it was with exclusive
privileges, contributed, in some degree, to the same end. The aristocratic
feeling, thus produced, variously manifested itself in the colonial laws. The
whole public expenditure was defrayed by a capitation tax, levied on all
males, bond or free, above sixteen years of age, and all female slaves above
the same age, — by which every other difference in property, except as to
slaves, was disregarded ; and as to a part of the tax, the poorest man paid as
much as the richest, since the expense of making and repairing the public
roads was borne equally by all males over sixteen; the right of suffrage
was limited to freeholders, except during a part of the time of the Common- •
wealth, and a few years afterwards; slaves were regarded as real estate,
for the purpose of being annexed to the land, and of transmitting an undi
vided inheritance to the heir ; and, lastly, in 1705, a law was passed to take
away from the courts the power of defeating entails, as had been the prac
tice in the colony, and was still permitted in England.
" The high wages of the members of Assembly may be" regarded as a
1 Life of Jefferson, vol. i., p. 20.
20

154 " DEMOCRACY OF VIRGINIA.
further evidence of the same aristocratic injustice. Their compensation,
during the reign of Charles the First, was one hundred and fifty pounds of
tobacco a day, besides the expense of horses ahd a servant, amounting to
about one hundred pounds more. After, allowing both for the lower money
price of tobacco at that period and the greater value of the precious metals,
this daily compensation must be deemed equal to eight or ten dollars at the
present time ; and as it was paid by the several counties to their respective
members, we cannot wonder that it was one of the grounds of popular com
plaint in the insurrection of 1676, under Nathaniel Bacon.1 In 1677 this
complaint seemed to the commissioners sent from England so well founded,
that, on their recommendation, the wages of the members were greatly
reduced. " Persons thus clothed with power and authority, and accustomed to its
exercise, were not likely to prove the most submissive of subjects ; and
though there was probably always a court and a country party in Virginia,
as well as in England, yet by far the larger part of the aristocracy of the
colony sided with the whigs in all the disputes With the crown, or its colo
nial representative, the governor. Indeed, the spirit of resistance to illegal
or oppressive exertions of the royal prerogative seems never to have been
long dormant, from the year 1624, when Virginia ceased to be a proprietary
government, until the period of separation.
" The annals of the colony, meagre as they unfortunately are, afford
¦ abundant evidence of this firm and independent spirit. Thus, in 1631, the
Council and the House of Burgesses united in the bold step of sending the
governor, Sir Matthew Harvey, a prisoner to England, to be tried for the
tyrannical acts of his administration. In 1657, when the colony, which had
espoused the royal cause, capitulated to the force sent out by Cromwell, his
commissioners expressly stipulated with the House of Burgesses that the
people of Virginia ' should have and enjoy such freedom and privileges as

1 Although the immediate cause of the people's taking up arms, iu that civil commotion, was
to defend themselves against the Indians, who were then ravaging the frontier, and who found
impunity in the tardy and indecisive measures of an aged governor, yet after they had taken
, the means of redress into their own hands, and returned from their expedition against the
Indians, other causes of popular discontent in the laws themselves were the subject of loud
complaint, and became the reason or afforded a pretext for Bacon to keep his force embodied,
and finally to assume the attitude of open war. One of the grievances complained of was,
that all the revenue was raised by a poll tax, by which the wealthy landholder contributed
nothing, except so far as he was an owner of slaves. This injustice was the more felt on
account of the recent increase of taxes for the purpose of purchasing up the improvident
grant made by Charles the Second to two court favorites. They also complained of the high
wages of the members of Assembly, and the high fees of other public officers, — all indicating
that the power of the government was exercised for the benefit of the few at the expense of
the many.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN VIRGINIA. 155
belong to the freeborn people of England ; that trade should also be as free
in Virginia as in England ; and that no tax, custom or imposition, should be
laid in Virginia, nor forts nor castles erected therein, without the consent of
the Grand Assembly.'
" In 1673, Charles the Second having granted the whole province of Vir
ginia to the Lords Culpepper and Arlington for thirty-one years, with the
power to grant waste lands, receive quit-rents, form new counties, erect
courts, and exercise similar acts of sovereignty, the colonists took alarm, and
employed agents in England to apply to the crown,^rst for leave to purchase
up this grant, and then for a new charter, which would secure the colony
not only from the repetition of similar grants, but from other invasions of
their rights. The application to the king's privy council by the colony's
agents set forth ten provisions, which they asked that their new charter
should contain ; one of which was, ' that no tax or imposition should be laid
on the people of Virginia but by the Grand Assembly.' After the negotia
tion of more than a year, the king, in conformity with the recommendation
of his council, consented to all the requests, and directed a charter to'be pre
pared accordingly. But either before the charter was executed, or, as some
say, after execution, but before delivery, the news of Bacon's rebellion
caused it to be stopped, and another substituted, in which, to the great dis
appointment of the colonists, the most important provisions, including the
one respecting taxation, were omitted.
" In 1677, the House of Burgesses made a spirited opposition to an inva
sion of their privileges by the agents of the crown. The commissioners who
had been sent out from England to investigate the circumstances of Bacon's
rebellion, and who had been invested with a general power of sending for
persons and papers, had demanded the journals of the house. This demand
the Burgesses peremptorily refused ; and their clerk being afterwards com
pelled by the commissioners to surrender them, the house, at its next session,
after reciting this ' act of illegal violence,' declared their belief that ' his
majesty would not grant ' this power to the commissioner, for they ' find not
the same to have been practised by any of the Kings of England ; ' they
did, therefore, ' take the same to be a violation of their privileges,' They
asked, moreover, for. satisfactory assurances that ' no such violation of their
privileges should be offered for the future.'
" This declaration of the Assembly, Charles, in his instructions to Lord
Culpepper, the Governor of Virginia, stigmatizes as ' seditious,' and requires
him to have erased from their proceedings.
" From this time until the Revolution of 1688, the Governor of Virginia
and the Assembly seem to have been in a state of continual collision. The
popular and the government parties were more distinctly marked, and in a
higher state of irritation against each other, than at any previous period ;

156 DEMOCRACY PREVAILS IN VIRGINIA.
occasioned partly by the mutual injuries inflicted during Bacon's insurrec
tion, and yet more by the vindictive course of the governor and the royalists
which succeeded it, and partly from the more liberal notions of popular rights
and constitutional law, which the progress of knowledge, and the discussions
provoked by the arbitrary measures of the house of Stuart, had produced in
every part of the British dominions.
"In the year 1685 these bickerings rose to their greatest height. The"
Governor of Virginia, Lord Howard, had, by proclamation, declared, that
since an act of -1682, which repealed another act of 1680, had not received
the royal assent, the act supposed to be ' repealed was still in force. The
House of Burgesses, conceiving that the power now asserted might, by sus
pending the exercise of the royal negative on the colonial laws, be used to
revive laws that had been long disused, and -which every one supposed to
have been repealed, made.such a spirited remonstrance against this and other
offensive acts of the government, that the governor prorogued the Assembly.
" The reigning monarch, James the Second, in a letter to Lord Howard,
passes a harsh censure on these ' irregular and tumultuous ' proceedings of
the house, the members of which, for thus presuming to question the negative
voice intrusted to the governor, he does not hesitate to charge with ' disaf
fected and unquiet dispositions,' and with purposely protracting their time on
account of their wages ; and he therefore directs the governor to dissolve the
Assembly. As the high wages of the members had long been a subject of
complaint, the governor condescended to touch this popular string, by direct
ing the king's letter ' to be publicly read in every county court, that the
inhabitants and Burgesses may be made sensible how displeasing such obsti
nate proceedings were to his majesty.'
" This disagreement continued until 1689, when, on the accession of Wil
liam and Mary, the liberal principles of the revolution prevailed, and pro
duced a more conciliatory course towards the colonies. From this time until
1764, when the sjamp act was proposed, there was no collision between
either the crown or its representative and the Assembly of sufficient
importance to attract the notice of historian, except the illegal fee for patents
claimed by Governor Dinwiddie, in 1754. This the Assembly voted 'illegal
and oppressive.' They even sent an agent to England expressly to procure
its repeal."
During the whole period of her colonial existence, the affairs of govern
ment were designedly shaped to no instructive end. But in this colony
the perversity of man had become a lesson of wisdom, and royalty was per
mitted fully to demonstrate its own pitiful nature. Democracy so com
mended itself to the intelligent aristocracy of Virginia that they embraced its
principles, and the errors of monarchy served to illustrate its great and per-

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 157
manent truths. The great statesmen of Virginia were the pupils both of
experience and philosophy. The settlement of

SOUTH CAROLINA,1
although commenced with avowed purposes of extending the gospel to the
heathen, was conducted with a liberal spirit and an active eye to business.
Men of every nation, sect and profession ; of every class and condition ; the
unfortunate, the indigent, and the outlaw, — were invited with earnest
encouragements, and influenced by substantial inducements, to emigrate to
this favored territory. The soil and climate were represented as favorable
to all the objects of industry; the bounty offered by the proprietors to
emigrants was an important consideration to the poor and oppressed of foreign
nations, — and the population of Carolina rapidly increased. Here met the
Cavalier and Puritan, with repressed recollections; the English and the
French, still swayed by national antipathies. Men of sober and severe habits
of mind and body were joined by the thoughtless, who had been more accus
tomed to observe the requisitions of fashion than of principle ; and the man .
who counted labor as a blessing, however well supplied with the comforts of
life, had for his companions those who, however destitute, had always viewed
it as a curse. Here' were represented the industry and frugality of Holland,
the cheerfulness of Ireland, the- firmness of England, the intelligence of
Scotland, and the endurance of Switzerland ; citizens, with reasonable
motives to enterprise ; speculators, with extravagant hopes and reckless pur
poses ; and exiles, sobered by misfortunes and paralyzed by oppression.2
1 The first attempt at settlement in South Carolina we have any account of was by some
colonists from Virginia, in 1660, who landed on Port Royal Island-; but they soon abandoned
the enterprise. Ten years after (1670) a few emigrants from England, under Colonel Wil
liam Sayle, landed at the same place, and commenced a settlement : but, for some cause or
other, they continued here only a few months, and then removed eastwardly, and perma
nently located themselves .on the banks of Ashley river, above Wappo creek. Here, on the
first high land, they laid the foundation of a town, which, in honor of their king, they named
Charleston. Two years afterwards the settlers found it expedient to remove to the opposite
side of Ashley river, where the present city of Charleston was founded (1672). Upon the
restoration of Charles II., this country (Carolina) was granted by him, in the year 1663, to
Edward, Ear\ of Clarendon, and others, with extraordinary privileges, as in 1665 this charter
was enlarged. It was divided into. North and South Carolina in 1729. — Mills' Statistics,
South Carolina.
2 " To increase population seemed to be a primary object," says Ramsay. "There is no
evidence of any plan to procure settlers of any uniform description, either as to politics or
religion, further'than that a decided preference was given to Protestants. The emigrants
were a medley of different nations and principles." "From England the colony received
both Roundheads and- Cavaliers ; the friends, of the Parliament, and the adherents to the
royal family. Young men reduced to misery by folly and excess ; restless spirits, fond of
roving ; groups of settlers, from their attachment to particular leaders, — were to be found

158 locke's plan of government.
With such a population in the beginning, — with a government marked out
by one of the greatest minds of the age, and administered by men of active
habits and strong theoretic convictions, — it becomes a subject of deep inte
rest to learn the results, as embodied in the character of the community, or
to be found in its organization.
That the colony suffered from this diversity of condition and character is
certain, — though it was in some considerable degree compensated by the
activity to which it naturally led. It was rather the diversity of differences
than the harmony of parts ; the application of theory, without due regard to
fundamental principles. Yet, while this diversity was unfavorable to the
permanency of a proprietary government, it must be admitted that its tend
encies to freedom were strong and direct. The doings of the government
were closely observed by the various classes of people, and with varying
motives. Such a government is too near the people to have the influence of
royalty ; too narrow in its policy to have the confidence of the Democracy.
Proprietors cannot divest themselves of their private interests, and what may
be proposed- as a public measure, is examined as a private bargajn. It is not
in the nature of any man to be long an acceptable governor while his princi
ples of government are made subordinate to pecuniary interests. The wants
of men as citizens are of a much higher character than the wants of men as
animals. When Locke,1 therefore, framed a government of succession with-
among the early settlers. In 1671, under the auspices of Sir John Yeamans, there was a
small colony from Barbadoes ; soon after, a valuable addition from the Dutch settlement of
Nova-Belgia ; in 1679 King Charles n. ordered two small vessels to be provided at his
expense, to transport to Carolina several Protestants, who proposed to raise wine, oil, silk,
&c. ; in 1685 the revocation of the edict of Nantes contributed much to its population, and
from these French emigrants have sprung families of the highest respectability. Besides the
French refugees who came directly from France, there was a considerable number which,
after a short residence in the northern countries of Europe and of America,, particularly from
New York, repaired to this colony. In 1696 a Congregational church from Dorchester, Mass.,
with their minister, Rev. Jos. Lord, settled in a body near the head of Ashley river. From
1730 to 1750 great additions were made to the population. Contracts were made, bounties
offered, free lands assigned, and other inducements held out to allure settlers from all nations.
They came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, Holland and Germany. Numbers
of Palatines arrived every year. In 1755 there was a large number of exiles from Nova
Scotia. The insecurity of life, liberty and property, in revolutionary France, and the indis-
* criminate massacre of Frenchmen in St. Domingo, drove several hundreds, near the close of
the eighteenth century, to the shores of Carolina."
1 The proprietors, anxious to improve their property, with the aid of the celebrated John
Locke, framed a constitution and laws for the government of their colony. These were in
substance as follows : " The eldest of the eight proprietors was always to be the palatine,
and at his decease was to be succeeded by the eldest of the seven survivors. -This palatine
was to sit as president of the palatines' court, of which he and three more of the proprietors
made a quorum, and had the management and execution of the powers of their charter.
This court was to stand in room of the king, and give their assent or dissent t'o all laws made
by the legislature of the colony. The palatine was to have power to nominate and appoint

locke's plan of government. 159 «
out a proper estimate of the chances of change against the chances in favor
of character ; when he adopted the assumption that a proprietary interest
could be a permanent basis of government, even when subjected to the dicta
tion of an uncertain Parliament, or a capricious king, — he certainly omitted
to exercise his usual powers of discrimination, and failed to avail himself of
that variety of knowledge in regard to man and "nature for which he was so
distinguished.1 The want of a proper application of principles to. a condition
of things as they exist; the absence of a disposition in the rulers to recog
nize the peculiar wants and wishes' of the people to be governed, — are errors
which never fail to produce consequences alike fatal to the peace and pros
perity of society. As pride is a natural element in the character of man,
self-respect is a sentiment which should be looked for in the peoplg. To
attempt to crush, or to abase it, is to degrade men, without any certainty of
control, even if successful ; while to develop and direct so elevating a senti
ment, not only exalts the common standard of dignity, but leads to corre
sponding developments of mind, which demand action and application.
the governor, who, after obtaining the royal approbation, became his representative in Caro
lina. Each of the seven proprietors was to have the privilege of appointing a deputy to sit as
his representative in Parliament, and to act agreeably to his instructions. Besides a gov
ernor, two other branches, somewhat similar to the old, Saxon constitution, were to be estab
lished ; an upper and lower house of assembly : which three branches were to be called a
parliament, and to constitute the legislature of the country. The parliament was to be
chosen every two years. No act of the legislature was to have any force unless ratified in
open parliament during the same session, and even then to continue no longer in force than
the next biennial parliament, unless in the mean time it be ratified by the hands and seals of
the palatine and three proprietors. The upper house was to consist of the seven deputies,
seven of the oldest landgraves and cassiques , and seven chosen by the assembly. As in the
i/ther provinces, the lower house was to be composed of the representatives from the different
counties and towns. Several officers were also to be appointed, such as an admiral, a secre
tary, u, chief-justice, a surveyor, a treasurer, a marshal and register, — and, besides these,
eaoh county was to have- a sheriff and four justices of the peace. Three classes of nobility
were to be established, called barons, cassiques, and landgraves, — the first to possess twelve,
the second twenty-four, and the third forty-eight thousand acres of land, and their posses
sions were to be inalienable. Military officers were also to be nominated ; and all inhabit
ants, :from sixteen to sixty years of age, as in the times of feudal government, when regu
larly summoned, were to appear under arms, and in time of war to take the field.
With respect to religion, three terms of communion were fixed. First, to believe that there
is a God. Secondly, that he is to be worshipped. And, thirdly, that it is lawful, and the
duty of every man, when called upon by those in authority, to bear witness to the truth.
Without acknowledging which, no man was permitted to be a freeman, or to have any estate
or habitation in'Carolina. But persecution for observing different modes and ways of wor
ship was expressly forbidden ; and every man' was to be left full liberty of conscience, and
might worship God in that manner which he thought most conformable to the divine will and
revealed word. — See Ramsay's S. C, vol. I., p. 31.
1 " Several of our American writers," says Bancroft, " have attempted to exonerate Locke
from his share in the work which they condemn ; but the constitutions, with the exception I
have named, are in harmony with the- principles of his philosophy, and with his theories on
government." — Read Bancroft, vol. ii., p. 144.

160 REVOLUTIONARY MEASURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
The people of Carolina appeared well to understand their own business
wants ; and when they saw in their rulers the spirit of injustice, and a policy
characterized by all the elements of selfishness and iniquity, they lost all
confidence in the integrity of property agents, and all respect for the motives
of those who confessed themselves to be their followers. Alive to that inde
pendent,- spirit which is engendered by a companionship of men bringing
together the sentimental nationalities of their various homes; moved by
interests which had been nursed into life by hardships, and fostered by sacri
fices ; sustained by the tests of experience, and warned by examples of
treachery,— they sought, for relief in revolutionary measures without being
false to the king, and expressed a greater confidence in a government that
counte* them as a part of a nation than in a government that would degrade
the colony to the narrow limits of a corporation. J
1 The most numerous party in the country were dissenters from the established church of
England. The Cavaliers were highly favored by the proprietors, and were generally pre
ferred to offices of trust. The Puritans, on the other hand, viewed them with great jealousy.
Several of the first emigrants, unaccustomed to rural labors and frugal simplicity, were
pampered citizens, whose wants luxury had increased and rendered impatient of fatigue.
By such the sober lives and rigid morals of the Puritans were made the objects of ridicule.
The Puritans retaliated by opposing their influence among the people. The odious terms of
distinction which had prevailed in the mother country were revived and propagated. The
same scenes of debate and contention which had taken place in England, before and after the
restoration of Charles II., were acted over again on the little theatre of Carolina, — but with
out bloodshed or legal prosecution. Disputes between the proprietors and settlers
were of an early origin. The first contest was respecting advances for the encourage
ment of the settlers. The economy of the proprietors and the necessities of the settlers
could not easily be compromised. The one thought that they had already done too
much ; the other, that they had not received enough. To the latter, requesting a supply of
cattle to be sent out to them, the proprietors replied, as a reason for their refusal, " that they
wished not to encourage graziers, but planters." It is from this epoch that we may date the
prosperity of Carolina ; because she was then taught the important lesson, : — " That she
must altogether depend on her own exertions."
Two parties arose ; one in support of the prerogative and authority of the proprietors, the
other in defence of the rights and liberties of the people. In this situation, no governor could
long support his authority. From 1682 to 1686 there were no less than five governors.
Rigorous measures led to riots, gentle means to contempt. Resort to martial law exasperated
the people to such a degree against the governor, that, in 1690, at a meeting of the represent
atives, a bill was passed for disabling Landgrave James Colleton from holding any office or
exercising any authority, civil or military, within the province. He was banished by the
people. He was followed by a usurper who rendered himself infamous by acts of injustice, —
publicly tried before the assembly, found guilty and baniShed from the country. The colony
was agitated by various questions of right and interest till 1719, when a revolution took place
which changed the proprietary to a regal system of government. The people accused the pro
prietors of being false to their own declarations, false to the great interests of religion, false to
the demands of justice, false to the best interests of the colony and to the principles of freedom.
They held a convention, appealed to the crown, invited the governor to leave or join them,
and thus established a new government. Royalty unconsciously responded to the demands of
Democracy. — See Ram-say's Hist. S. C, vol. I.

NORTH CAROLINA. 16.1
After South Carolina1 had become a royal province, and the people had
assimilated in tastes, habits and character, the government was conducted
1 Carolina was divided into two colonies, North and South, in 1719. The first settlement in
North Carolina was at Cape Fear, by people from Massachusetts, in 1661. The most numer
ous settlers in the north-western part of Carolina were Protestants, chiefly Presbyterians,
from the north of Ireland. Bethabara was first settled by a company of Moravians, in 1753.
Their numbers increased, and Bethany was begun in 1759, three miles from Bethabara. In
1763 they had built a church, and settled a teacher. Upon the arrival of the first Moravian
colony directly from Europe, they began to build Salem, which was intended for a manufac
turing town. They were joined by companies from Massachusetts and Maryland. In 1749,
Neal M'Neal arrived at Wilmington, with his family and near six hundred colonists, young
and old, from the Highlands, Scotland. They settled chiefly in Cumberland county ; but
some of them settled in Anson, and others in Bloden. Another company of Highlanders
arrived in 1754, and some afterwards. They came chiefly from Argyleshire ; many of them
from Ila or Jura.
North Carolina was " insulted and depressed," says Williamson, " by the weak or vicious
administration of wicked judges and- worthless governors." " The laws that were made to
support a religious establishment," says the same author, " retained their force ; for they
were supported by the spirit of party. Learning was neglected, because it was of no party. ' '
The government of this colony was convulsed at different periods by riots and insurrections,
and all the miseries of misrule visited upon the people. The most arbitrary acts were
resorted to by the government to defraud the people of their property, and to deprive them
of their rights. " The Regulating insurrection (1772) had its origin in the abuse of power,"
says Williamson, " and the depravity of civil officers. The laws had not been respected by
men whose duty it was to see them executed. Sheriffs who collected the taxes, in many cases,
were greatly in arrears ; and the public accounts were in a state of shameful disorder. In
that situation of public affairs, it was not difficult to persuade illiterate and ignorant
men that taxes should not be paid which probably would never be converted to public use."
The terms of agreement adopted by the " Regulators " indicate integrity of purpose,
if not judgment in respect to -proper means for their accomplishment. They united for
" regulating public grievances of power, in the following particulars ; with others of the like
nature that may occur. 1. That we will pay' no more taxes until we are satisfied they are
agreeable to law and applied to the purposes therein mentioned, unless we cannot help it, or
are forced. 2. That we will pay no officer any more fees than the law allows, unless we are
obliged to it ; and then to show our dislike, and bear an open testimony against it." They
then agree to hold meetings of conference, in order to consult their representatives on the
amendment of such laws as may be found grievous or unnecessary ; to choose more suitable
men than they had done for burgesses and vestry-men ; and to petition the houses of assem
bly, governor, council, king and parliament, &c, for redress of grievances, for the full
enjoyment of their constitutional rights and privileges. They agreed to abide by the decisions
of a majority of their number, and took oath of their solemn determination to be faithful to
the end. And yet, Williamson says :
" The ' Regulators ' in North Carolina were universally royalists, commonly called tories,
during the Revolution War. Many people of rank and fortune in the other colonies, who held
public employments, or chanced to be otherwise connected with government, adhered to the
royal cause ; but in North Carolina we could hardly discover among the royalists a man who
might be deemed respectable from his fortune, his learning or his influence in society ;
hardly a man who had ever sustained u. commission civil or military. The tories were a
poor, ignorant race. A regiment of those people was commanded by a colonel who could not
read. He was called Fanning the Unlearned. Their politics were founded on hatred of the
people who had corrected them, not on principle." — Williamson's North Carolina, vol. ii.,
p. 164. 21

162 NEW YORK.
with more extended views, and colonial interests were sustained as a part of
public policy. These changes were followed by evidences of public and pri
vate prosperity, which, though limited, gave to the people a long period of
content. The population of the colony increased,- industry received its
reward, and society its gratifications. But the heart of the colony was in
England. South Carolina had not yet become the home of the people. It
was only a country for a successful business ; and, while their trade was pros
perous, the people gave but little attention to the current questions of govern
ment. They sent a large portion of their children to England and Scotland to
be educated ; and, while they discovered a growing taste for the refinements
of society, they were slow to mature for themselves the < broad foundations of
society itself. Still, their quiet enjoyment of rights, — where the discussion
of rights was not made necessary for pecuniary protection ; their disposition
to acquire knowledge under circumstances of exemption from the response
bilities, of public duty, were sources of influence calculated to give freedom to
mind, and the spirit of independence to man. Men, when permitted, unmo
lested, to study the events of history, and the blessings and honors of patriot
ism, are certain to be patriots when placed in power. This truth was con
firmed by the spirited sons of South Carolina at the time of the Revolution.
-Their intelligence gave them an abiding confidence in Democracy.
NEW YORKi
was commenced with no higher purposes than those of business. The pro
prietors were conservative Dutchmen ; and, true to their proverbial reputa-
Perhaps" if the historian had said that their politics were founded on a spirit of general
distrust of those who had ruled over them, he would have done them more justice. The
people of South Carolina had been relieved by royalty, although they saw no reason after
wards to be true to their protector. The people of North Carolina, it seems, proved true to
the power in which they had most confidence ; but that power was unable to save them. It
was not because they were opposed to popular rights that they favored royalty, but for the
opposite reason, that they believed that popular rights would be protected by royalty. North
and South Carolina did not begin to prosper, says Chalmers, " until blessed with a simple
form of government ; when the one acquired the manufacture of naval stores, the other the
production of rice and indigo : which have made both, in modern times, populous, wealthy
and great." — Annals, p. 552.
1 The North River was discovered by Henry Hudson, a commander in the Dutch service,
in 1609. It was named in honor of its discoverer. The Dutch sent out ships to trade with
the natives in 1610. Argall, an English commander, captured, in 1613, a few humble dwell
ings which the Dutch had built on the island of Manhattan -, and this was the beginning of
New York. In 1615 the Dutch settled Albany, which they called Fort Orange. The whole
country claimed by them in virtue of Hudson's discoveryreeeived the name of the New Neth
erlands. Manhattan Island was called New Amsterdam. In 1625 a settlement was com
menced at Brooklyn, on Long Island. The Dutch claimed the whole country from Cape Cod
to Cijpe Henlopen. It was claimed -by the English on the plea of prior discovery by Cabot.

DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. 163
tion, they favored no theory but that which gave preeminence to capital, and
unconditional servility to labor. The Dutch West India Company,1 by
whose facilities the settlement was made, and by whose authority the colonists
were directed, was an organization as destitute of political character as its
members were dead to the great objects of existence. The government of
In 1643 the Dutch became involved with the India.ns, and in 1651 with the Swedes, who had
settled on the Delaware. The Swedes were compelled to submit. In 1664 Charles II., as the
English had never abandoned their claim to the country, made a grant of it to his brother,
the Duke of York. The government of England was established over the whole colony in
October, in 1664, without opposition, and its name was changed to New York. In a war
between England and Holland, in 1673, the colony was reconquered by the Dutch, but was
restored in the following year. In 1683 a colonial Assembly established a constitution, which
was styled a charter of liberties.
1 The charter establishing the Dutch West India Company bears date the 3d of June,
1621. -It was modelled after that granted, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, to
the celebrated East India Company.
" The central power of this vast association was divided among five branches, or chambers,
established in the different cities of the Netherlands, the managers of which were styled Lords
Directors. Of these, that of Amsterdam 'was the principal; and to this was intrusted the
management of the affairs of New Netherland. The general supervision and government of
the company were, however, lodged in a board, or assembly, of nineteen delegates, eight
(increased, in 1629, to nine) of whom were from the chamber at Amsterdam, four from Zea
land, two from Meuze, and one from each of the chambers at Friesland, the North Depart
ment, Groenengen. The nineteenth was appointed by their High Mightinesses the States
General.
• " Apart from the exclusive trade of the coast of Africa, from the tropic of Cancer to the
Cape of Good Hope, and of the coast of America, from the Straits of Magellan to the extreme
north, this company was authorized to form alliances with the chiefs of the native Indian
tribes, and obligated to'advance the settlement of their possessions, encourage population, and
do everything that might promote the interests of those fertile countries, and increase trade.
lo protect their commerce and dependencies, they were empowered to erect forts and fortifi
cations ; to administer justice and preserve order ; maintain police, and exercise the govern
ment generally of their transmarine affairs ; declare war and make peace, with the consent
of the States General ; and, with their approbation, appoint a governor, or director-general,
and all other officors, civil, military, judicial and executive,- who were bound to swear alle
giance to their High Mightinesses, as well as to the company. The director-general and his
council were invested with all powers, judicial, legislative -and -executive, subject, some sup
posed, to appeal to Holland ; but the will of the company, expressed in their instructions, or
declared in "their marine or military ordinances, was to be the law in New Netherland,
excepting in cases not especially provided for, when the Roman law, the imperial statutes of
Charles V., the edicts,.,resolutions, and customs of Fatherland, were to be received as the
paramount rule of action.
" The States General engaged, among other things, to secure to the company freedom of
navigation and traffic within the prescribed limits, and to assist them with a million of guild
ers — equal to half a million of dollars ; and in case peace should be disturbed, with sixteen
vessels of war and four yachts, fully armed and equipped ; the former to be at legist three
hundred, and the latter of eighty tons burden. But these vessels were to be maintained at
the expense of the company, which was to furnish, unconditionally, sixteen ships and four
teen yachts, of like tonnage, for the defence of trade and purposes of war, which, with aU
merchant vessels, were to be commanded by an admiral appointed and instructed by their
High Mightinesses." — O' Callaghan, vol. i., p. 90.

164 HOLLAND AND NEW NETHERLAND. •
Holland was as parsimonious in the expenditure of its power as the Dutch
were reluctant to part with their stivers. The promises of the one, which
proposed nothing but opportunity, were made consistent by the other, which
afforded no position above that of labor.1 The nation, and its wealthy men,
as monopolists, were in co-partnership. The nation granted no power that
implied the risks of responsibility, — the monopolists promised nothing for
character, that involved expense, beyond the lowest price and rudest condition.
The avowed object of the colony was to extend the trade of the country that
had given it so mean an existence. The people were counted as mere appur
tenances to the corporation, a"nd Democracy was but another word for impo
sition, and public sentiment a term of imbecility. Sovereignty became the
travelling-guest of precarious fortune, and the rights of men were sold to the
highest bidder. Religious opinions of all kinds were tolerated, — not from a
sense of justice, but from a heartless indifference. Freedom of trade was
forbidden. Everything for profit, nothing for principle, was their practical
motto. Emigrants from all countries were invited to the colony, with every
encouragement, apparently, that the persecuted would find peace, the unfor
tunate comfort, and the industrious wealth. The invitation was not without
its effect, and it was accepted by many.2 But they soon found themselves
in one of Holland's work-shops, claimed as subjects of taxation, and assigned
to posts of labor that increased the power of the monopoly, added to the
hopes of the stock-holders in the Netherlands, and multiplied the restraints'
of government. With a single eye to the business of the company, working-
men were preferred, as best able to serve the colony ; and when they arrived
they were permitted to elect between burthensome employments or pauper
ism, — between a subordinate station or oppression. The commands of the
company were absolute. All emigrants were required to promise obedience,
without reference to time or conditions. To prevent free discussion, town-
meetings were forbidden; and the people were deliberately advised that
their good consisted in believing that Holland was the world, and that the
Dutch West India Company. were its agents ; that money was national glory,
and that Holland was its ultimate depository. Industry was looked upon as so
much labor done, with utter indifference as to the means, whether by man or
horse ; and education was prized just so far as it increased the productiveness
of the laborer without adding to his wages. New Netherland was valued
for the products of its country, and its natural sources of wealth ; and the
people Were regarded as workmen employed, but not as men entitled to the
privileges of citizenship.
The reader will be at no loss what to anticipate from such a policy. The
1 Charter to Dutch West India Company, in Appendix. s See Appendix.

OPPRESSIONS IN NEW NETHERLAND. 165
company could neither do justice to its own interests, nor protect the inter
ests of others. x It was false to its masters, and oppressive to its servants.
It was a benevolent dispensation of Providence that such a specimen of self
ishness was given to the continent. It will ever afford an instructive example,
to be contrasted with experiments of a different and opposite character in the
other colonies. It will serve to show how indifferent to the public good a
corporation is apt to be, in its attempts to increase its wealth, though the
people employed may suffer from all the degradations of poverty, ignorance and
vice. It will tend to illustrate the truth, that money without character is but
an insignificant power, when compared to character without 'money. The
oppressions of the company soon began to produce their natural consequences.
The people divided. The passively indifferent, such as had experienced none
of the delights of freedom, received their wages with an unmeaning silence.
Some, those who had been frequent victims of misfortune, and whose broken
courage failed them, were pressed, with their dependents, into the void of
pauperism. Others, still influenced by hope, and sustained by physical
vigor, decided upon a change, and left for Maryland and Virginia. Others,
still, with an abiding spirit of self-determination, remained, to insist, to agi
tate, and to conquer. Their remonstrances and declarations recite the griev
ances inflicted by tyranny, and the remedies to be found in Democracy. 2
! New Netherland cost the company, as it appears from their books, over half a million of
guilders ($220,000), from the year 1626 to 1844 inclusive. — O'Callaghan, vol. ±., p. 350.
2 In May, 1653, Captain John Underhill, who had been the leader of the Dutch forces in
the Indian war, hoisted the British Parliament colors, and issued " an address to the Com
monalty of the Manhattans, on behalf of as many of the English and Dutch as were interested
therein," declaratory of the motives " which impelled them to abjure the iniquitous govern
ment of Peter Stuyvesant over the inhabitants living and residing on Long Island in Amer
ica, and maintaining the justice and lawfulness of defending themselves and their rights, in a
manner becoming a free people, against the oppressive administration of the said govern
ment." This paper was couched in these bold and unscrupulous terms :
" I. We have^transported ourselves hither at our own cost ; and many among us have
purchased their lands from the Lidians, the right owners thereof. But a great portion of the
lands which we occupy being as yet unpaid for, the Indians come daily and complain that they
have been deceived by the Dutch secretary, called Cornelis, whom they have characterized,
even in the presence of Stuyvesant, as a rogue, a knave and a liar ; asserting that he him
self had put down their names in the book, and saying that this was not a just and lawful
payment, but a pretence and fraud similar to that which occasioned the destruction of Thomas
Hutchinson, Mr. Collins, and nine other persons.
" II. He hath unlawfully retained from several persons their lands, which they had pur
chased from the natives, and which were confirmed to them under the hand and seal of the
previous governor.
" HI. He hath unlawfully imposed taxes, contrary to the privileges of free men ; namely,
six stivers per acre, chimney-money and head-money ; the tenth part of all our grain, flax,
hemp and tobacco ; the tenth part of butter and cheese from those who pasture cattle ; exces
sive duties on exported goods — fifteen stivers for a beaver ; all which taxes are to be paid
by the poor farmer, to maintain a lazy horde of tyrants over innocent subjects.
" IV. He hath, in violation of liberty of conscience, and contrary to hand and seal, enforced

166 OPPRESSIONS IN NEW NETHERLAND.
Men were bold, and parties violent.1 Seeing tho source of their difficulties,
the people had confidence in their ability to remove them. They began to
articles (of belief) upon the people, ordering them otherwise, against the laws of God and
man, to quit the country within two months.
" V. He hath imprisoned both English and.Dutch, without trial setting them at liberty
again, after a popish inquisition, to their great sorrow, damage and loss of time, himself not
having any Patent from King James of England, the right grantor thereof.
" VI. He hath, also, imposed general laws forbidding the inhabitants to sell their goods,
or to brew their grain, without the approbation of his government.
" VII. He hatbi neglected to avenge English and Dutch blood shed by the Indians since the
peace. "VIII. He hath treacherously and undoubtedly conspired^ as proved, to murder all the
English. " IX. He hath been guilty of barbarous cruelty towards Mr. Jacob Wolfertsen and his
wife, at the time of the birth of their child.
" X. He hath acted treacherously towards Thomas Newton ; for, notwithstanding the gov
ernment had promised him safe and secure conduct, he hath ordered his arrest and surren
dered him.
" XI. He hath been guilty of the unheard-of act of striking with his cane an old gentle
man, a member of his council, and hath publicly threatened every freeman who does not
conform to his pleasure.
"XH. He hath, moreover, imposed magistrates on freemen without election and voting.
This great autocracy and tyranny is too grievous for any brave Englishman and good Chris
tian any longer to tolerate. In addition to all this, the Dutch have proclaimed war against
every Englishman, living wherever he may wish or like.
'.' The above grounds are sufficient for all honest hearts, that seek the glory of God and
their own peace and prosperity, to throw off this tyrannical yoke. Accept and submit ye,
then, to the Parhament of England, and beware ye of becoming traitors to one another for
the sake of your own quiet and welfare. " Written by me, John Underhill."
Underhill was ordered to quit the province forthwith. — O' Callaghan, ii., p. 224. '
In December, 1653, the people called a, convention to deliberate upon their rights and
privileges, and demanded that no new laws should be enacted without their consent. Ban-.
croft gives the substance of their remonstrance and petition, from the Dutch originals, drafted
by George Baxter. They say : " The States General of the United Provinces are our liege
lords ; we submit to the laws of the United Provinces ; and our rights and privileges ought to
be in harmony with those of the Fatherland, for we are a member of the state, and hot a
subjugated people. We, who have come togetherfrom various parts of the world, and are a
blended community of various lineage ; we, who have, at our own expense, exchanged our
native lands for the protection of the United Provinces; we, who have transformed the wilder
ness into fruitful farms, — demand that no new laws shall be enacted but with consent of the
people, that none shall be appointed to office but with the approbation of the people, that
obscure and obsolete laws shall never be revived."
Here is an example of Democracy" from Holland (1653), and the Governor, SiuryjaANT,
fairly represented the opposite party. In his reply, he said : "Will you set your names to
the visionary notions of the New England man ? Is no one of the Netherlands' nation able
to draft your petition ? And your prayer is so extravagant, — you might as well claim to
send delegates to the assembly of their High Mightinesses themselves !
" Laws will be made by the Director and Council. Evil manners produce good laws for
their restraint ; and therefore the laws of New Netherlands are good.
1 See note 1, next page.

DEMOCRACY OF HOLLAND AND ENGLAND. 167
realize a proper self-respect ; to discover the responsible relations of industry
as connected with mind ; and to discern that, in addition to the duties of
clothing and feeding their bodies, they had souls to exercise, characters to
form, and a society to redeem and perpetuate. The sun of liberty was shin
ing upon the continent ; geographical lines could not intercept its light. It
radiated from the south and from the north, and New Netherland could not
long .remain in darkness. Democracy had been planted there from New
England ; and the Puritan and Dutch Republican rejoiced together; recog
nizing the great truths that industry harmonized with moral duty, that
wealth was nothing without character, and that duty and character could be
nothing without freedom.2,
" Shall the people elect their own, officers ? — If this rule become our oynosure, and the
election of magistrates be left to the rabble, every man will vote for one of his own stamp.
The thief will vote for a thief ; the smuggler for a smuggler ; and fraud and vice will become
privileged. " The old laws remain, in force ; directors will never make themselves responsible to sub
jects."— Vol. n., p. 306.
O'Callaghan makes a slight exception to the translation of Bancroft. He says: "The
Director-general does not call Baxter ' a New England man ;' he calls him plainly an English
man, as distinguishing him from a Dutchman, without any reference to New England." —
Hist. New Netherland, vol. n. , p. "248.
1 " Traitor," " villain," " liar," were epithets flung at the Director-general with unspar
ing hand ; and, notwithstanding the banishments and heavy fines were imposed on the libel
lers, many threatened him with rougher usage when he should " take off the coat with which
he was decorated by the lords his masters." — 0' Callaghan, i., p. 395.
2 O'Callaghan thinks that Bancroft does injustice to the Dutch in supposing that they
derived their ideas of ' ' popular freedom ' ' from the Puritans. He says : " For more than a
century previous to the period of which we now write, three hundred manors in the province
of Holland alone enjoyed all the rights of free municipalities, and exercised civil and criminal
jurisdiction, to a limited extent. In removing to another hemisphere the Dutch lost not their
affection for .their native country and its institutions. They brought with them the names of
those places to which they were most attached, and, in the course of time, transferred also to
their new homes the municipal system which we have described above, and with which they
were most conversant.
" Those colonists who shall form within their limits such a settlement of people as to con
stitute hamlets, villages, or even cities, shall obtain in such case middle and low jurisdiction,
and the same rights as manors in the province of Holland ; and shall, in like manner, be
capacitated also to bear and use the names and titles thereof. And the qualified persons of
such cities, villages and hamlets, shall, in such case, be authorized to nominate for the office
of magistrates a double number of persons, wherefrom a selection shall seasonably be made
by the Director and Council, the appointment of a schout, secretary and court-messenger,
remaining to the company ; with the understanding that the jurisdiction shall be holden in
fief by the respective colonists and founders of cities and villages, to be disposed of and
renewed, in case of the demise of those who shall be named, in manner hereinbefore stated.
And justice shall be administered therein according to the style and order of the province of
Holland, and the cities ahd manors thereof, to which end the courts there shall follow, as far
as the same is possible, the ordinances received here in Amsterdam.
" It was, then, to that republican state — to the wise and beneficent modifications of the
feudal code which obtained there, and not to ' the Puritan idea of popular freedom ' intro
duced by emigrants from Connecticut, as some incorrectly claim — that New Netherland and

168 DEMOCRACY OF HOLLAND AND ENGLAND.
But New Netherland had its root in Holland, — the other colonies, in
England. Holland had reached its period of unity ; England had commenced
its period of extension and diversity. Holland was conservative, England
democratic. Holland was a trader ; England, a missionary of truth. Eng
land enjoyed a unity in sovereignty, and represented a principle ; Holland
based its sovereignty on property, and was content to receive an interest.
Cromwell saw the discordant elements in the Dutch colony ; but it was left
to be removed by Charles II., and in time to be governed both by a royalist
and a papist.
The colony commenced with a gross abuse of a noble principle. The
tyranny of wealth allows no grace. It appeals to the lowest motives, and ex
tends but little favor to the generous affections or to the refinements of mind.
Its attentions to society, as such, are but acts of condescension and com
placency. The company soon saw that their plans were in no proportion to
their wishes ; and, still having more confidence in property than in principle,
they enlarged their errors, but failed to correct them. 1 Small proprietors,
the several ¦ towns within its confines were indebted for whatever municipal privileges they
enjoyed. The charters under which they were planted, the immunities which they obtained,
were essentially of Dutch, and not of Connecticut origin ; and those who look to New England
as the source of popular privileges in New Netherland fall, therefore, into an error, sanc
tioned neither by law nor by history." — Vol. I., p. 392.
With a little modification, both are right. O'Callaghan virtually admits the truth of Ban
croft in giving the causes of the failure of the Dutch colony, and when he compares it with
those of the English, and in assigning to the English so leading a part. Bancroft confirms the
historical accuracy of O'Callaghan, when he says, " British officials sent home complaints of
' the Dutch Republicans ' as disloyal." — Vol. iv., p. 145. The Democrats of England were
in advance of those of Holland ; but when they met in New Netherland they breathed the
same atmosphere, loved the same soil, moved in the same light, honored the same principles,
shared the same dangers, fought the same battles, and rejoiced in the same victories.
1 Seven years had now nearly elapsed since the incorporation of the West India Company,
and five since that body had been in active operation, yet nothing had been done to carry out
that part of the charter which obliged them to advance settlements and encourage population
in those fertile countries in North America committed to their charge. A few servants of the
company, connected with the trading-posts which served as a rendezvous for the neighboring
Indians, were the only inhabitants, it may be said, of the extensive country claimed as New
Netherland. Not a particle of the soil was reclaimed, save what scantily supplied the wants
of those attached to the three forts which were erected within the limits of this rich and vast
territory ; and the only exports were the spontaneous products of the forests. Experience
had demonstrated, in the interim, that no benefits had accrued to the company from this
plantation, under the present system of management, except what the peltries produced.
The mode of life pursued by the people was very irregular, the expenses of the establishment
excessively high, and the results not as flattering as anticipated. These considerations hav
ing been frequently brought before the XIX,, it was finally determined that the resources of
the country under their jurisdiction would be most efficiently developed by the planting of
" colonies," or seignorial fiefs or manors, there.
A meeting of the Assembly of the XIX. accordingly took place early this year. It was
attended by commissioners from their High Mightinesses the States General, and directors
and assessors on the part of the principal partners ; and a draft of a " charter of privileges

PATR00NS OF NEW YORK. 169
with their industry, had not succeeded ; it now remained to be seen what
could be done by large proprietors, with their wealth. They conceded to
an aristocracy what belonged to the people ; and they soon found rivals in
patroons,1 who consented to agreements because these established them in
power, and not because of any general good intended for society or for man.
And thus, as will be seen in the charter,2 were " transplanted to the free soil
and exemptions," which was considered alike serviceable to the company and advantageous to
the patroons, masters, and private individuals, who should plant colonies in New Netherland
under its provisions, having been submitted, was referred forthwith to a committee for exam
ination, which was instructed to report to a future meeting. — O' Callaghan, vol. i., p. 110.
1 In 1652 it was said that " the patroons have become so daringly enterprising as not only
to abuse their privileges, but to presume to exclude the inhabitants of New Netherland from
trading in their colonies, which is not only contrary to the law of nature, but opposed to the
laws and customs of the land." — O' Callaghan, vol. u., p. 189.
8 Articles reported by a committee to the Assembly of XIX., who, on the seventh day of
June, 1629, agreed to these important, concessions, which were duly ratified by the States
General, and published in the following terms :
"FREEDOMS AND EXEMPTIONS
GRANTED BY THE . ASSEMBLY OF THE XIX. OF THE PRIVILEGED WEST INDIA COMPANY, TO ALL
SUCH AS SHALL PLANT ANY COLONIES IN NEW NETHERLAND :
" I. Such members of the said company as may be inclined to settle any coionie in New
Netherland shall be permitted to send in the ships of this company going thither three or
four persons to inspect the situation of the country, provided that they, with the officers- and
ship's company, swear to the articles, so far as they relate to them, and pay for provisions
and for passage, going and coming, six stuyvers per diem ; and such as desire to eat in the
cabin, twelve stuyvers, and to be subordinate and give assistance like others, in caBes offens
ive and defensive ; and if any ships be taken from the enemy, they shall receive, pro rata,
their proportions with the ship's company, each according to his quality ; that is to say, the
colonists eating out of the cabin shaU be rated with the sailors, and those who eat in the
cabin with those of the company's men who eat at table and receive the lowest wages.
" II. Though, in this respect, shall be preferred such persons as have first appeared and
desired the same from the company.
" IH. All such shall be acknowledged Patroons of New Netherland who shall, within the
space of four years next after they have given notice to any of the Chambers of the Company
here, or to the Commander or Council there, undertake to plant a coionie there, of fifty souls,
upwards of fifteen years old ; one-fourth part within one year, and within three years after
the sending of the first, making together four years, the remainder, to the full number of
-fifty persons, to be shipped from hence, on pain, in case of wilful neglect, of being deprived
of the privileges obtained ; but it is to be observed that the company reserve the island of the
Manhattes to themselves.
" IV. They shall, from the time they make known the situation of the places where they
propose to settle colonies, have the preference to all others of the absolute property of such
lands as they have there chosen ; but in case the situation should not afterwards please them,
or that they should have been mistaken as to the quality of the land, they may, after remon
strating concerning the same to the Commander and Council there, be at liberty to choose
another place.
" V. The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shall and may be permitted, at such places
as they shall settle their colonies, to extend their limits four miles* along the shore, that is,
* Equal to sixteen English miles.
22

170 PATROONS OF NEW YORK.
of America," says O'Callaghan, "the feudal tenure and feudal burdens of
continental Europe, a fact.remarkable principally as a characteristic of the era
on one side of a navigable river, or two miles * on each side of a river, and so far into the
country as the situation of the occupiers will permit ; provided and conditioned that the
company keep to themselves the lands lying and remaining between the limits of colonies, to
dispose thereof, when and at such time as they shall think proper, in such manner that no
person shall be allowed to come within seven or" eight miles t of them without their consent,
unless the situation of the land thereabout were such that the Commander and Council, for
good reasons, should order otherwise ; always observing that the first occupiers are not to be
prejudiced in the right they have obtained, other than, unless the service of the Company
should require it, for the building of fortifications, or something of that sort ; remaining,
moreover, the command of each bay, river, or island, of the first-settled coionie, under the
supreme jurisdiction of their High Mightinesses the States General, and the company ; but
that, on the next colonies being settled on the same river or island, they may, in conjunction
with the first, appoint one or more council, in order to consider what may be necessary for
the prosperity of the colonies on the said river and island.
" VI. They shall forever possess and enjoy all the lands lying within the aforesaid limits,
together with the fruits, rights, minerals, rivers and fountains thereof; as .also the chief
command and lower jurisdictions, fishing, fowling and grinding, to the exclusion of all
others, to be holden from the company as, a perpetual inheritance, without it ever devolving
again to the company, and in case it. should devolve, to be redeemed and repossessed with
twenty guilders per coionie, to be paid to this company, at the chamber- here, or to their com
mander there, within a year and six weeks after the same occurs, each at the chamber where
he originally sailed from ; and further, no person or persons whatsoever shall be privileged
to fish and hunt but the Patroons and such as they shall permit ; and in case any one should '
in time prosper so much as to found one or more cities, he shall have power and authority to
establish officers and magistrates there, and to make use of .the title of his coionie, according
to his pleasure and to the quality of the persons.
"VEL There shall likewise be granted to all Patroons who shall desire the same, venia
testandi, or liberty to dispose of their aforesaid heritage, by testament.
" VIII. The Patroons may, if they think proper, make use of. all lands, rivers and woods,
lying contiguous to them, for and during so long a time as this company shall grant them to
other patroons or particulars.
"IX. Those who shall send persons over to settle colonies shall furnish them with proper
instructions, in order that they may be ruled and governed conformably to the rule of gov
ernment made, or to be made, by the Assembly of the Nineteen, as well in the political as in
the judicial government ; which they shall be obliged first to lay before the directors of the
respective colleges.
"X. The Patroons and Colonists shall be privileged to send their people and effects
thither, in ships belonging to the company, provided they take the oath, and pay to the com
pany for bringing over the people as mentioned in the first article : and for freight of the
goods five per cent, ready money, to be reckoned on the prime cost o'f the goods here ; in
which is, however, not to be, included such creatures and other implements as are necessary
for the cultivation and improvement of the lands, which the company are to carry over with
out any reward, if there is room in their ships. But the Patroons shall, at their own expense,
provide and make places for them, together with everything necessary for the support of the
creatures. " XI. In case it should not suit the company tp send any ships, or in those going there
should be no room ; then the said Patroons, after having communicated their intentions, and
after having obtained consent from the company in writing, may send their own ships or vessels
• * Or eight English miles. t Thirty-two English miles.

PATROONS OF NEW YORK. 171
in which it was produced. It bears all the marks of the social system which
prevailed at the time, not only among the Dutch, but among the other nations
thither : provided, that in going or coming they go not out of their ordinary course ; giving
security to the company for the same, and taking on board an assistant, to be victualled by
the Patroons, and paid his monthly wages by the company ; on pain," for doing the contrary,
of forfeiting all the right and property they have obtained to the coionie.
" XH. Inasmuch as it is intended to people the island of the Manhattes first, all fruits
and wares that are produced on the lands situate on the North River, and lying thereabout,
shall, for the present, be brought there before they may be sent elsewhere ; excepting such
as are from their nature unnecessary there, or such as cannot, without great loss to the
owner thereof, be brought there ; in which case the owners thereof shall be obliged to give
timely notice in writing of the difficulty attending the same to the company here, or the com
mander and council there', that the same may be remedied as the necessity thereof shall be
found to require.
"XUI. All the Patroons of colonies in New Netherland, and of colonies on the island of
Manhattes, shall be at liberty to sail and traffic all along the coast from Florida to Terra
Neuf, provided that they do again return with all such goods as they shall get in trade to the
island of Manhattes, and pay five per cent, for recognition to the company, in order, if possi
ble, that after the necessary inventory of the goods shipped be taken, the same may be sent
hither. And if it should so happen that they could not return, by contrary streams or other
wise, they shall, in such case, not be permitted to bring such goods to any other place but to
these dominions, in order that under the inspection of the directors of the place where they
may arrive they may be unladen, an inventory thereof made, and the aforesaid recognition
of five per cent, paid to the company here, on pain, if they do the contrary, of the forfeiture
of their goods so trafficked for, or the real value thereof.
" XIV. In case the ships of the Patroons, in going to, or coming from, or sailing on the
coast from Florida to Terra Neuf, and no further, without our grant, shall overpower any
of the prizes of the enemy, they shall be obliged to bring, or cause to be brought, such prize
to the college of the place from whence they sailed out, in order to be rewarded by them ; the
company shall keep the one-third part thereof, and the remaining two-thirds shall belong to
them, in consideration of the cost and risk they have been at, all according to the .orders of
the company.
" XV. It shall be also free for the aforesaid Patroons to traffic and trade all along the
coast of New Netherland and places circumjacent, with such goods as are consumed there,
and receive in return for them all sorts of merchandise that may be had there, except beavers,
otters, minks, and all sorts of peltry, which trade the company reserve to themselves. But
the same shall be permitted at such places where the company have no factories, conditioned
that such traders shall be obliged to bring all the peltry they can procure to the island of
Manhattes, in case it may be, at any rate, practicable, and there deliver to the Director, to
be by him shipped hither with the ships and goods ; or, if they should come here, without
going there, then to give notice thereof to the company, that a proper account thereof may
be taken, in order that they jnay pay to the company one guilder for each merchantable
beaver and otter skin ; the property, risk, and all other charges, remaining on account of
the Patroons, or owners.
"XVI. All coarse wares that the colonists of the Patroons there shall consume, such as
pitch, tar, weed-ashes, wood, grain, fish, salt, hearthstone, and such like things, shall be
brought over in the company's ships, at the rate of eighteen guilders ($7.20) per last ; four
thousand weight to be accounted a last, and the company's ship's crew shall be.obliged to
wheel and bring the salt on board, whereof ten lasts make a hundred. And in case of the
want of ships, or room in the ships, they may order it over at their own cost, in ships of
their own, and enjoy in these dominions such liberties and benefits as the company have

172 PATROONS OF NEW YORK.
which had adopted the civil law. The ' colonies ' were but transcripts of the
' lordships ' and ' seigneuries ' so common at this period, and which the
granted ; but in either case they shall be obliged to pay, over and above the recognition of
five per cent. , eighteen guilders for each hundred of salt that is carried over in the company's
ships. " XVII. For all wares which are not mentioned in the foregoing article, and which are
not carried by the last, there shall be paid one dollar for each hundred pounds weight ; and
for wines, brandies, verjuice and vinegar, there shall be paid eighteen guilders per cask.
" XVIII. The company promises the colonists of the Patroons that they shall be free from
customs, taxes, excise, imposts, or any other contributions, for the space of ten years ; and
after the expiration, of the said ten years, at the highest, such customs as the goods are taxa
ble with here for the present.
" XIX. They will not take from the service of the Patroons any of their colonists, either
man or woman, son or daughter, man-servant or maid-servant ; and though any of them
should desire the same, they will not receive them, much less permit them to leave their
Patroons, and enter into the service of another, unless on consent obtained from their Patroons
in writing ; and this for and during so many years as they are bound to their Patroons ; after
the expiration whereof, it shall be in the power of the Patroons to send hither all such colo
nists as will not continue in their service, and until then shall not enjoy their liberty. And
all such colonists as shall leave the service of his Patroon and enter into the service of
another, or shall, contrary to his contract, leave his service ; we promise to do everything in
our power to apprehend and deliver .the same into the hands of his Patroon, or attorney, that
he maybe proceeded against, according to the customs of this country, as occasion may
require. "XX. From all judgments given by the courts of the Patroons for upwards of fifty guil
ders ($20) there may be an appeal to the company's commander and council in New Neth
erland. " XXI. In regard to such private persons as on their own account, or others in the service
of their masters here (not enjoying the same privileges as the Patroons), shall be inclined to
go thither and settle ; they shall, with the approbation of the Director and council there, be
at liberty to take up as much land, and take possession thereof, as they shall be able prop
erly to improve, and shall enjoy the same in full property either for themselves or masters.
" XXII. They shall have free liberty of hunting and fowling, as well by water as by land,
generally, and in public and private woods and rivers, about their colonies, according to the
orders of the Director and council.
" XXIII. Whosoever, whether colonists of Patroons for their Patroons, or free persons for
themselves, or other particulars for their masters, shall discover any shores, bays, or other
fit places for erecting fisheries, or the making of salt ponds, they may take possession thereof,
and begin to work on them in their own absolute property, to the exclusion of all others.
And it is consented to that the Patroons of colonists may send ships along the coast of New
Netherland, on the cod fishery, and with the fish they catch to trade to Italy, or other neutral
• countries, paying in such cases to the company for recognition six guilders ($2.40) per last ;
and if they should come with their lading hither, they shall bfe at liberty to proceed to Italy,
though they shall not, under pretext of this consent, or from the company, carry any goods
there, on pain of arbitrary punishment ; and it remaining in the breas.t of the company to
put a supercargo, on board each ship, as in the eleventh article.
" XXIV. In case any of the colonists should, by his industry and diligence, discover any
minerals, precious stones, crystals, marbles,-or such like, or any pearl fishery, the same shall
be and remain the property of the Patroon or Patroons of such colony ; giving and ordering
the discoverer such premium as the Patroon shall beforehand have stipulated with such colo
nist by contract. And the Patroons shall be exempt from all recognition to the company for
the term of eight years, and pay only for freight, to bring them over, two per cent., and

PATROONS OF NEW YORK. 173
French were establishing, contemporaneously, in their possessions north of
New Netherland, where most of the feudal appendages of high and low juris
diction, mutation fines, preemption rights, exclusive monopolies of mines,
minerals; water-courses, hunting, fishing, fowling, and grinding, which we
find enumerated in the charter to patroons, form part of the civil law of the
country at the present day. But, however favorable the feudal tenure may
be to a young country, and to agriculturists of small capital, whose interest
it might be to husband their scanty means, in order the quicker and more
effectually to enable them to reclaim their wild land, it cannot be denied that
the charter before us had many faults and many imperfections. ' While it
secured the right of the Indian to the soil,' says Moulton, ' and enjoined
schools and churches, it scattered the seeds of servitude, slavery and aristoc
racy. While it gave to freemen as much land as they could cultivate, and
exempted colonists from taxation for ten years, it fettered agriculture by
restricting commerce and prohibiting manufactures.' "
Here was another element of aristocracy to be tested on the continent, and
to be made subordinate to Democracy. It was a necessary specimen to be
exhibited in its results. The experiment found safety in its limits ; a,nd all
the good that could come from it was realized without any of its dangers.
after the expiration of the aforesaid eight years, for recognition and freight, the one-eighth
part of what the same may be worth.
" XXV. The company will take all the colonists, as well free as those that are in service,
under their protection, and the same against all outlandish and inlandish wars and powers,
with the forces they have there, as much as lies in their power, defend.
"XXVI. Whosoever shall settle any coionie out of the limits of the Manhattes Island,
shall be obliged to satisfy the Indians for the land they shall settle upon, and they may extend
or enlarge the limits of their colonies if they settle a proportionate number of colonists
thereon. "XXVII. The Patroons and colonists shall in particular, and in the speediest manner,
endeavor to find out ways and means whereby they may support a minister and schoolmaster,
that thus the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool, and be neglected among
them ; and that they do, for the first, procure a comforter of the sick there.
" XXVin. The colonies that shall happen to lie on the respective rivers or islands (that is
to say, each river or island for itself) shall be at.liberty to appoint a deputy, who shall give
information to the commander and council of that Western quarter of all things relating to
his coionie, and who are to further matters relating thereto, of which deputies there shall be
one altered, or changed, in every two years ; and all colonies shall be obliged, at least once
in every twelve months, to make exact report of their coionie and lands thereabout, to the
commander and council there, in order to be transmitted hither.
" XXIX. The colonists shall not be permitted to make any woollen, linen or cotton cloth,
nor weave any other stuffs there, on pain of being banished, and as perjurers to be arbitra
rily-punished. " XXX. The company will use their endeavors to supply the colonists with as many blacks
as they conveniently can, on the conditions hereafter to be made ; in such manner, however,
that they shall not be bound to do it for a longer time than they shall think proper.
" XXXI. The company promises to finish the fort on the island of the Manhattes, and to
put it in a posture of defence without delay."

174 BASIS OF THE EMPIRE STATE.
Its temporary inconveniences are of but little consequence when compared to
the extent of its practical influences.
The Dutch West India Company were faithful to the property element
from first to last. They first attempted to serve themselves, and then the
aristocracy. They were first disappointed, and then mastered. The people,
who had been, counted nothing by either party, soon had the power to destroy
the controlling influence of both ; and what began in oppression ended in the
blessings of Democracy. Thus was laid the broad basis of the Empire State.
The property influence -ranged upon the entire scale of enterprise, from the
profits of the meanest laborer to the income of the feudal lord. The "Dutch
Republicans" asserted the dignity of citizenship, and the patroons soon real
ized that they could ask for nothing higher. Such a beginning afforded
noble opportunities to test the conquering 'principles of Democracy, and to
exhibit its glorious triumphs in every form of unparalleled prosperity. The
massive machinery of monopoly, sustained by the government of a proud and
persevering republic, was made to yield to individual enterprise ; and what
was designed to fill the strong coffers of Holland became the gain of its
humblest sons and their most worthy descendants. Their characteristics are
briefly given by Chancellor Kent. He says : " They were grave, temperate,
firm, persevering men, who brought with them the industry, the economy,
the simplicity, the integrity and the bravery, of their Belgic sires ; and with
those virtues they also imported the lights of the Roman civil law, and the
purity of the Protestant faith."
But New York was surrendered to be dismembered by a papist, and by a
papist to be blessed with the institutions of freedom. 1 A portion of the ter-
1 In 1683, Thomas Dongan, a papist, was appointed governor of New York, "with instruc
tions to convoke a free legislature." — See Bancroft, n., 414.
The assembly consisted of seventeen members, and never exceeded twenty-seven down to
the commencement of the Revolutionary War. It exercised a discretionary power as tothe
grant of supplies for the support of government. This was a constant source of difference
between the assemblies and the governors, — the latter invariably wishing for a permanent
provision. Fletcher began the struggle in 1696, and it continued as long as England
appointed governors for New York. — See Dunlap, i., 134.
On the 17th of October, 1683, " about seventy years after Manhattan was first occupied,"
says Bancroft (n., 414), " about thirty years after the demand of the popular convention by
the Dutch, the representatives of the people met in assembly ; and their self-established
' Charter of Liberties ' gave New York a place by the side of Virginia and Massachusetts.
"The 'Charter of Liberties' declared 'supreme legislative power' shall forever be and
reside in the governor, council and people, met in general assembly. Every freeholder and
freeman shall vote for representation without restraint. No freeman shall suffer but by
judgment of his peers ; and all trials shall be by a jury of twelve men. No tax shall be
assessed, on any pretence whatever, but by the consent of the assembly. No seaman or
soldier shall be quartered on the inhabitants against their will. No martial law shall exist.
No person, professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, shall at any time be anyways disquieted
or questioned for any difference of opinion."

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 175
ritory, before the conquest, had been assigned, by the Duke of York, to Lord
Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, and called New Jersey.
New Jersey was soon characterized by the godly government of the Puri
tans ; and the people of New York, after passing through many changes,
asserted the Democratic platform in tlieir charter of liberties. Both colonies
had the political benefit of repeated contests between England and Holland,
and both colonies had opportunities to study political economy in the exam
ples of practice to be seen in the people of different religious creeds, and to
discover that where Democracy prevailed toleration and prosperity followed
as consequences.
The party contests of New York, after its surrender to. the English, were
in keeping with the character of the people already established. Collisions
between the royal governors and the colonial assemblies were constant, bitter,
and exciting. Merchants1 and large landholders2 saw their true interests in
Democracy,3 and the property power and the people became allies.
But there were other experiments in colonization based upon the property
element, and in New England. The character of Massachusetts was tested
as the proprietor of Maine;' and the contrast between her government and
that of Holland over New York affords an instructive lesson in history.
NEW HAMPSHIRE"'
was made the subject of sale and mortgage by speculators ; but character
had been established before interest, and rights were prized above property.
1 In a letter to the. Board of Trade, 1752, Clinton says, " The faction in this province con
sists chiefly of merchants." — " Entire disregard of the laws of trade."
2 The large landholders — whose grants, originally prodigal, irregular and ill-defined,
promised opulence for generations — were equally jealous of British authority, which threat
ened to. bound their pretensions, or question their titles, or, through Parliament, to impose a
land tax. — Bancroft, iv., p. 147.
3 (1691.) Dunlap says, "Jacob Leisler, a simple burgher and merchant, becomes a dig
nified object, when the choice of his fellow-burghers, freeholders of New York, place him as
their commander-in-chief, in opposition to tjie lieutenant-governor of the tyrant and bigot
James, for the purpose of preserving civil liberty. Party, which is indispensable to popular
government, may be said, if not to have had its birth at the time in New York, at least to
have taken its ' form and pressure ' as it exists in this day. We see in that party of which
Leisler was the head the germ of our present democratic representative government." —
Hist. N. Y., vol. I., p. 210.
The error of tracing the origin of parties to circumstances, instead of principles, is a
common one. This will be made obvious in a future chapter, that will be devoted to notices
of distinguished Democrats of all ages, with a classification of subjects upon which they have
acted. It will be given in the Appendix.
4 New Hampshire was discovered by Captain John Smith, in 1614. In 1623 the first set
tlement was made at Dover and Little Harbor, near Portsmouth, under a grant obtained of
the Plymouth Company, in 1622, by Gorges and Mason. The territory comprised in the
grant was called Laconia, and it embraced a part of the present State of Maine. In 1629

176 EARLY SETTLEMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
A few hardy adventurers were the pioneers of this region, who, though not
impelled by the zeal of the Puritan, were well fitted for the labors of the
forest, and the dangers of a wilderness inhabited by the savage. They were
soon to be helped, however, by the - persecutions of Scotland and Massachu
setts ; and the dissenters of two hemispheres met to embrace among the
granite hills.
" The first settlers of New Hampshire," says Barstow, " were a few mer
chant adventurers.1 They were not distinguished for literature or religion.
They did not come, like the Pilgrims,
' Breaking the depths of the desert's gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer. '
Yet they were, like them, a bold and hardy few. Forsaking their English
homes in quest of better fortune, they opened a path over the ocean, and
chose the wildest solitudes of nature for the scene of their experiment.
Their energy and perseverance, their fortitude and courage, made them the
terror of the Indians, and fitted them for the struggles of freedom against
oppression. They were obliged to fight and conquer a savage foe. They
gained their subsistence by a constant warfare against the obstacles of
nature. They went out to the field of toil with arms in their hands. While
the name of New Hampshire was given to this territory. In 1641 the people placed them
selves under the government of Massachusetts, and thus remained till 1680, when New
Hampshire became a separate royal province. In 1686 the authority of Andros was extended
over the province ; but when he was deposed, the people of New Hampshire took the govern
ment into their own hands. In 169Q they again placed themselves under Massachusetts ;
were separated again in 1692, and once more annexed in 1699. In 1741 Massachusetts and
New Hampshire were severed for the last time.
1 In the council of Plymouth there were two men whose fame belongs to New Hampshire.
These were Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. In 1622 they resolved to unite
their fortunes. They procured a joint grant of the province of Laconia. This comprised all
the land between the rivers Merrimac' and Sagadahock, extending back to the great lakes
and the river St. Lawrence. In 1629 Laconia was divided between Mason and Gorges. The
wild region east of Piscataqua was relinquished to Gorges, and took the name of Maine ;
while the tract west of this river, and extending back into the country sixty miles, was con
firmed to Mason. He had resided in the county of Hampshire, England, and he called this
grant New Hampshire. Both Gorges and Mason were deluded by golden dreams, and
attempted no settlement but with motives to wealth, and did not even establish a govern
ment. Previous to the surrender of the patent of New England to the king, Gorges and
Mason had taken care to secure to themselves some portion of the expiring interest. That
of Mason comprehended both of his former patents ; and, in September following, Gorges
sold to him a tract of land on the north-east side of the Piscataqua.
Mason died in 1635 ; and in 1692 his heirs sold their title, to New Hampshire to Samuel
Allen, of London, who was appointed governor. He did not come to America till 1698, and
his administration lasted but one year. He revived the Masonian claim.; and, after his
death, his son again in 1715, but without success. The death of the son relieved the people
of this long and distracting controversy — See Barstow' s New Hampshire.

NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MASSACHUSETTS. 177
with their axes they bowed the woods, their firelocks leaned against the near
est trees. Their swords hung at their sides. In the character of these men
avarice and romance were blended.
"After them came a band of the persecuted. They were driven from a
neighboring colony ' for conscience' sake.' These shared the perils of the
others. Their character took its impress from the troubled scenes in which
their lives were passed. Their days, also, were devoted to the fields of toil
and battle. Their descendants were nurtured from childhood in the midst
of hardships. They were taught in the school of adversity. Resolution,
firmness of purpose and patient endurance, impress themselves on their char
acter, and mark their history.
"The next and most brilliant period of New Hampshire colonization is
that which is connected with the history of Scotland. The border romances,
the songs of the bard, the Covenanter's honest faith, and all the proud recol
lections and glorious memories of the land of Burns, were to be transported
to the wild woods of New Hampshire. They came with the settlers of
Londonderry."1 In 1641, when New Hampshire was united to Massachusetts, " four dis
tinct governments had been formed on the several branches of the Piscata
qua. These combinations were but voluntary. agreements. They might be
invaded by capricious leaders,- or dashed asunder by the first wave of popular
discontent. The people were too much divided to form any general plan of
government, and the distracted state of the mother country cut off all hope
of the royal attention. In this state of. things, the minds of the more con
siderate men were turned to a union with Massachusetts. The affair was
agitated for more than a year ; and, on the 14th of April, 1641, it was con
cluded by an instrument of union, subscribed in the presence of the General
Court. Thus did Massachusetts spread her jurisdiction over the Piscataqua
settlements. Her laws now took immediate effect in New Hampshire, and
the histories of the two plantations, for a period of thirty-eight years, become
blended together. The population of New Hampshire at this time did not
exceed one thousand, which was about one-twentieth of the whole population
of the American Colonies. When the act of union took place, one extraor
dinary concession was made to New Hampshire. By a law of Massachu
setts, a test had been established which provided that none but church-mem
bers should vote in town affairs, or sit as members of the General Court.
This gospel requisite was dispensed with in favor of New Hampshire mem
bers, and her freemen were permitted to vote in town affairs, and her depu
ties to sit in the General Court, without regard to religious qualifications; an
amazing stride in liberality, — a stretch of toleration, which some declared
1 Barstow, p. 6.
23

178 or: sessions in new Hampshire.
to amount to absolute atheism, and others looked upon as the entering wedge
of impiety, destined to sunder the goodly bands of society. It sent a shud
der through the whole body of the church.
"Under the new order of things, Wheelright1 was no longer safe. His
sentence of banishment was still in force ; and when the laws of Massachu
setts took effect in New Hampshire, he was obliged to make another remove
to escape the sword of persecution. Attended by a few faithful followers,
he withdrew to Wells, in Maine, and there gathered a small church. He
was afterwards permitted to return, and exercise his ministry at Hampton."2
The proprietors of this territory had not learned to distinguish between
ownership in land and the rights of man. They saw no sovereignty but in
property, and claimed a jurisdiction coextensive with geographical bounda
ries, regardless of the occupants of the soil. The character of this sover
eignty was soon summarily exemplified by the English government in the
decision that the unoccupied lands only were subject to their control, and that
all questions of title to the soil which had been improved must be submitted
to the colonial courts. Thus England -acknowledged a sovereignty in the
Democracy of New Hampshire, and the claimants of Mason found themselves
simply citizens among others, and placed upon the common level of equal
rights. To give form to the,colony, with a view to cooperate with the pro
prietors, and to adjust their interests'as connected with those of the people,
New Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts, and made a royal prov
ince. A governor was appointed, and conditions declared in respect to govern
ment. The conditions of the king and the proprietary were defined,' and the
rights of the people explained, but not conceded. Royalty asserted a sover
eignty in an alliance with the representatives of property, and a party was
organized to execute the narrow purposes of the unholy coalition.3 The peo
ple were distracted by frequent lawsuits, judges were blinded by corruption,
juries packed,4 and even the old machinery of ecclesiastical power was turned
1 Wheelright and Cromwell were at the university together. When Cromwell was Lord
Protector, Wheelright visited England, and was received very kindly by his old acquaintance.
" I remember the time," said Cromwell, turning to the gentlemen then about him, " when
I have been more afraid of meeting Wheelright at football than of meeting any army since
in the field." — Barstow, p. 54.
2 Barstow, p. 53.
3 In 1682, when the claim of Mason was revived, " by a deed, Mason surrendered to the
king one-fifth part of all quit-rents, for the support of the governor, and gave to Cranfield
(who had been appointed governor, and who had no motives above those of speculation) a
mortgage of the whole province for twenty-one years, as collateral security for the payment
of his salary." — Bancroft, ii., 117.
4 In a petition (1685) from " loyal subjects " of New Hampshire to his majesty, they say
" that they had, for more than fifty years, been peaceably possessed of the lands lately chal
lenged by Mr. Mason," &c. — Belknap, i. App. xcii.

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. 179
upon its rusted pivots, to aid men who could neither dispense justice as the
agents of the throne, nor comprehend the reasonableness of its connection
with their particular interests. But the people were alive to the full exercise
of their rights, and the spirit of Democracy asserted self-government with
an independence that was in harmony with their character, though at war
with the self-complacent enemies of popular liberty.1 A Democratic party
was organized, associations formed, and party contests were of frequent occur
rence among the people and in the assembly. Property soon became subor
dinate to principle, and conservatism gradually surrendered to Democracy.
New Hampshire was surrounded and filled with circumstances favorable
to growth, strength, and independence. Its proximity to Massachusetts, and
the lofty training to which it was so long subjected by so powerful a neigh
bor ; its uninterrupted beginning and early establishment in the great prin
ciples of Democracy ; the unanimity of its people in defending their rights
against the encroachments of the king and his agents, — were sources of
enlarged views, inspiring encouragements, and confirming resolutions.
But in singular contrast with the experiment of the Dutch West India
Company in New Netherland, another and a nobler principle remained to be
tested in the last of the thirteen colonies, GEORGIA.2
This was purely an experiment of benevolence, — a colony to be based
upon "charity, that beautiful and winning grace, that diamond cincture,
which binds together the fair sisterhood of virtues." It was a noble tribute
to the brightest features of humanity, and a magnificent test of public sen
timent in England.
" That for the last two yeare's and upward dureing the whole management of Mr. Mason's
suits at law against your majesty's subjects, there hath been generally one jury returned to
serve all the said issues with little alterations and almost constantly one foreman (who for
that end wee are apt to feare) was early complied with by Mr. Mason for all the lands in his
own possession formerly, with addition of several other lands to his ojvne proffitt." — Bel
knap, i., xcii., xciii. App.
1 In 1680 a general assembly was convened at Portsmouth. The rights of the colony were
asserted by a solemn decree, the first in their new code : " No act, imposition, law, ordinance,
sh*.ll.be valid, unless made by the assembly and approved by the people." Thus did New
Hampshire seize the earliest moment of its separate existence to express the great principle
of self-government, and take her place by the side of Massachusetts and yirginia. The
code was disapproved in England, " both for style and matter ; and its provisions were
rejected as incongruous and absurd." — Bancroft, li., 116.
2 In 1729 a project was formed for the settlement of a colony upon the unoccupied territory
between the rivers Savannah and Altamaha, to be called Georgia. Upon application, George
II. granted a oharter, in 1732, to the company, consisting of Lord Percival and twenty oth
ers, among whom was the celebrated Oglethorpe, and incorporated them by the name of the
Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in America. In 1752 the charter was surren
dered to the crown, and Georgia became a royal province.

180 GREAT SCHEME OF BENEVOLENCE.
That the first successful colony should be a company of exiles, and
that the last emanation of the colonizing spirit of Great Britain to America
should be an act of good-will towards the unfortunate, presents a phase in
life as beautiful as it is extraordinary. The Earl of Chesterfield may have
deemed a parliamentary connection between royalty and charity " indecent,"
but such a fastidious sensibility would hardly be sustained by public opinion,
either in its fretful moods or reflective moments.1
Men have not yet ceased to theorize, and to try experiments narrowed to
a small fraction of their elements, and adding still to the experience of the
past, that no theory will be confirmed by the practical tests of time, unless
framed with distinct purposes, comprehending, all the faculties of the mind
in their greatest activity in relation to external objects. The faculties are to
be trained and developed together. They are to be applied to the discern
ment of things, of people, and" of nations, as they exist together. Isolation
in philosophy is an absurdity. Nothing is to be studied by itself. AH
things were made for some purpose, and bear to one another a certain rela
tionship which teaches the great truth of adaptation in the parts, and a har
mony in the whole. A single idea, a single faculty, may travel forward in
advance of its natural company, it may be, to "prepare, the way for its
companions or contemporaries, but it either has to wait their arrival,, or to
return to their circle, before it can enter into a full and complete demonstra
tion to show its truth or practical importance. The subdivision of labor
gives to every man the work for which he is peculiarly fitted. The world is
infinite in its variety, and no part of this variety can be neglected or detached
with impunity. The composition of progress is a unity, — and as the plan
ets throw off from their surface occasional fragments, to be returned toward
their centres by the laws, of gravitation, so progress, in. the Sights of mind.
springs from the active in society, to be returned to the common bosom of
thought. i An appropriation bill was proposed iu Parliament (1733), in which several different
objects were provided for, and, among them,, one for granting the Princess Royal a mar
riage portion, another for the new colony in Georgia, &c. When under discussion in the
House of Lords, the Earl of Chesterfield said, " My Lords, I do not rise up to oppose the bill
now before us ; but I think it is incumbent upon me to declare that it is, in my opinion, a
most indecent thing to provide for the Princess Royal of England in such a manner : — it is
most disrespectful to the royal family to provide a marriage portion for so illustrious a branch
of that family in such a bill of items. Here is, imprimis, five hundred thousand pounds for
the current service of the year. Item, ten thousand pounds by way of charity for those dis
tressed persons who are to transport themselves to the colony of Georgia. Item, so much by
way of charity for repairing an old church, &c." But the Earl of Chesterfield was not alone
in his horror of such a monstrous contiguity of dissimilar items. The Earl of Winchelsea
said, " I cannot but take notice of that part of the bill by which eighty thousand pounds is
granted as a portion for the Princess Royal. It is so unbecoming a thing to see that grant
made in such a hotch-potch bill," &c. " I am sorry to see her name so much as mentioned
in such a riffraff bill," &c. — Pari. Deb., vol. ix., p. 120.

ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF OGLETHORPE. 181
In 1729, " a committee was appointed by Parliament " to inquire into the
state of the jails of the kingdom, and to report the same, and their opinions
thereupon, to the house." " This committee," says Stevens, •*' raised on
the motion of James Oglethorpe, Esq.,1 in consequence of the barbarities
1 The family of Oglethorpe was one of the most anoient in England. It may be traced
backwards eight hundred years, to the Norman conquest. William Oglethorpe, the great
grandfather of James, the founder of Georgia, was a member of the household of King Charles
the First. His grandfather was page to Charles II. ; ahd his father, Sir Theophilus, was
with the Duke of Monmouth in the battle of Bothwell Bridge, was an officer of distinction
under the Duke of York, and afterwards first equerry and major-general of the army of
King James n. Though politically an adherent to the fortunes of James, he was so unkindly
used on account of his religion — being a decided Protestant — that he soon returned to Eng
land, and purchased a seat called Westbrook Place, near the town of Godalming, in Surrey,
whither he retired from the jealousies of courts and the toils of party strife. On this elegant
estate James Oglethorpe was born, on the 21st of December, 1688, a year memorablcfor the
revolution which gave to England that democratic bill of rights which has been justly styled
"her second Magna Charta." He was the seventh in a family of nine children, most of
whom became eminent for their station or service. At the age of sixteen, James was entered
at Oxford University, and six years after was commissioned aa ensign in the English army.
He was early promoted, and early acquired a high reputation in the art of war. In 1722 he
was elected member of Parliajnent for Hazlemere, the same borough which had been so
long represented by his father, his brother Lewis, and his brother Theophilus i and for
thirty-two years he was returned by successive elections to the House of Commons. During
this period he was placed on important committees, and had much influence. He was distin
guished for readily yielding his name, and influence, and fortune, to schemes of charity and
philanthropy. It is an interesting fact in his history, that he lived to see his infant colony become a great
and free state. Among the earliest to call on John Adams, the first ambassador of the United
States to the court of St. James, was Oglethorpe. On the 22d of February, 1765, he was
made general of all his majesty's forces, and for many years before he died was at the head
of the army list as the oldest general officer of Great Britain. The assertion has been fre
quently made, though the. authority is not conclusive, that, being the senior of Sir William
Howe, he had offered to him the command of the forces destined to subjugate America in the
war of the Revolution, but that he declined the appointment, assuring the ministry that " he
knew the Americans well ; that they never would be subdued by arms, but that obedience
would be seoured by doing them justice." That his political sympathies were with the
Americans, may be learned incidentally from the circumstance, that, on meeting in London
with Governor Bernard, of Massachusetts, who had been most active in planning and exe
cuting "deep and studied affronts to that province," then straggling for civil rights and
immunities, and whom the American-hating court had honored with a baronetcy for his ser
vices to regal tyranny, Oglethorpe personally expressed to him " the utmost disgust and
abhorrence of his conduct."
Though Oglethorpe had his defects of character and his enemies, he did not go unhonored
and undefended even in his own age. Poets such as Pope, and Thomson, and Goldsmith,
and Brown, sung his praises ; moralists such as Johnson, the Abbe Raynal, Wharton, and
Hannah More, testified to his virtues ; divines such as Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, and
Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, and Benson, and the Wesleys, did honor to his goodness ; gene
rals such as Prince Eugene, and the Duke of Marlborough and field marshal, acknowledged
his abilities ; and statesmen such as the Duke of Argyle, and Lord Peterborough, and
Edmund Burke, lauded his distinguished merits.
From the council-fires of the mountain Indians, from the lowly huts of the enfranchised

182 MISERIES OF ENGLAND.
which had fallen under his own observation while visiting some debtors in
the Fleet and Marshalsea prisons, consisted of ninety-six persons, and Ogle
thorpe was m'ade its chairman. A more honorable or effective committee
could scarcely have been appointed. It embraced some of the first men in
England, — among them thirty-eight noblemen, the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer, the Master of" Rolls, Admiral Vernon, and Field Marshal Wade.
They entered upon their labors with zeal and diligence, and not only made
inquiries through the Fleet prison, but also into the Marshalsea, the prison
of the King's Bench, and the jail for the county of Surrey. It was this
committee which Thomson eulogized, in his poem of Winter, as
• The generous band
Who, touched with human woe, redressive searched
Into the horrors of the gloomy gaol.'
For in these abodes of crime and misfortune they beheld all that ' the poet
had depicted : ' The freeborn Briton to the dungeon chained,' marked ' with
inglorious stripes : ' the ' lean morsel snatched from the starving mouth ; '
1 the tattered weed torn from cold wintry limbs; ' and ' lives crushed out by
secret, barbarous ways, that for their country would have toiled and bled.'
Nor in this instance did the poetry exceed the fact ; for one of her own
authors has well said, 'No modern nation has ever enacted or inflicted
greater legal severi tie's upon insolvent debtors than England.' ' For the
encouragement of that ready credit by which commercial enterprise is pro
moted, they armed the creditor of insolvent debtors with vindictive powers,
by the exercise of which freeborn Englishmen, unconvicted of crime, were
frequently subjected, in the metropolis of Britain, to a thraldom as vile and
afflicting as the bondage of negro slaves in the West Indies.' This commit
tee, besides redressing the grievances connected with prison discipline, also
reported a bill for the relief of insolvent debtors ; thus not only remedying
present abuses, but preventing their recurrence, by legislative enactment."
With philanthropic motives ranging beyond parliamentary duty, Ogle
thorpe, joined by Lord Percival and a few other noblemen and gentlemen,
addressed a memorial to the Privy Council, stating " that the cities of Lon
don, Westminster, and parts adjacent, do abound with great numbers of
indigent persons,, who are reduced to such necessity as to become burden
some to the pubhc, and who would be willing to seek a livelihood in any of
debtors in Savannah, from the cells of the prisons of England, from the firesides made cheer
ful by his bounty, rose a tribute to his worth more grateful to his soul than all the distinc
tions which royalty could confer or senates confirm. He died, of a sudden illness, at his
seat, Cranham Hall, on the 30th of June, 1785, aged ninety-seven. — See. History of
Georgia, by Wm. B. Stevens, M.D., vol. I., a work of ability and interest, and from which
most of these particulars are compiled.

CHARTER OF GEORGIA. 183
his majesty's plantations in America, if they were provided with a passage,
and means of settling there." The memorialists promised to take upon
themselves the entire charge of this affair ; to erect a province into a proprie
tary government, provided the crown would grant them a portion of the
land bought in 1729 by Parliament from the lords proprietors of South Car
olina, lying south of the Savannah river, together with such powers as shall
enable them to receive the charitable contributions and benefactions of all
such persons as are willing to encourage so good a design."
A charter was granted on the 9th of June, 1732, "giving to the projected
colony the name of the monarch who had granted to them such a liberal
territory for the development of their benevolence."1
Although this charter will be inserted at length in the Appendix, it is but
proper that some description of it should be given in this connection, to-
enable the reader to judge of its peculiarities; and with this view the follow
ing quotation is made from the work of Stevens :
" By the provisions of this charter, which commenced with a recital of
the causes which led to the proposed colonization, this body was entitled, for
twenty-one years, to all the legal rights and immunities of a body corporate.
They were to meet yearly, on the third Thursday in the month of March.
when new members were to be elected. They were to have a common
council, of fifteen members ; and when the members of the corporation were
increased, the common council was also to be augmented to twenty-four.
The offices of president, of the trustees, and chairman of the board of com
mon council, were to be rotary by election. The members of the corporation!
were debarred from holding any office of profit, or receiving any salary, fees,
perquisite or profit, whatsoever. They were authorized to take subscriptions.
and collect moneys ; and were required to lay, annually, before the chancel
lor, or speaker, or commissioners for the custody of the great seal of Great
Britain, an account of all moneys and effects by them received or expended.
They were empowered to make constitutions, laws and ordinances, for the
government of their province ; to set, impose and inflict reasonable pains and
penalties upon offenders. It granted to them ' all those lands, countries and
1 In the London Magazine for October, 1735, are the following lines, " On giving the name
of Georgia to a part of Carolina." — Stevens' Georgia, p. 63.
" While, ripening slow, the future purpose lay,
And conscious silence planned the opening way,
Kind o'er the rising schemes an angel hung,
And dropped this counsel from his guardian tongue r
Wish you , this way, the royal pair Inclined ?
To Carolina be a Georgia joined }
Then shall both colonies sure progress make,
Endeared to either for the other's sake ;
Georgia shall Carolina's favor move,
And Carolina bloom by Georgia's love."

184 CHARTER OF GEORGIA.
territories situate, lying and being in that part of South Carolina, in Amer
ica,' between the Savannah and Altamaha; and westerly, from the heads! of
the said rivers, respectively, in direct lines, to the Pacific, and the islands
within twenty leagues of the coasts. It gave them permission to transport
and convey out of Great Britain into the said province of Georgia, to be
there settled, as many subjects, or foreigners willing to become subjects, as
shall be willing to inhabit there. It also declared, that ' all and every the
persons ' ' born within the said province, shall have ahd enjoy all liberties,
franchises and immunities, of free denizens, as if abiding and born within
Great Britain.' It also established and ordained that there shall be liberty
of conscience allowed in the worship of God to all persons inhabiting, or who
shall inhabit, or be resident within the province ; and that all such persons,
except papists, shall have a free exercise of religion, so . they be contented
with the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of the same, not giving offence or
scandal to the government. It was further provided, that no grant of land
should be made to any one of the corporation, or to any one in trust for any
member of the same ; and no grant of land to any other individual was to
exceed five hundred acres. They were authorized, also, to establish judica
tories, courts of record, or other necessary courts, embracing all cases which.
could come within the limits of colonial judiciary, whether criminal or civil,
capital or venial. It decreed, that no act of the common council or corpora
tion should be effectual and valid, unless eight members, including the chair
man, should be present. It permitted this board to appoint whatever magis
trates, civil or military, by land or sea, the province required, except such
as were connected with the revenue department. It required them to defend
the province by all military means, both by sea and land, against either
internal or external foes. It constituted the Governor of South Carolina chief
commander of the Georgia militia ; and, finally, declared that at the expira
tion of twenty-one years, such a government should be established as should
then be judged : best, in which the governor, and all officers, civil and mih
tary, should be nominated and appointed by the king.
" This was the great legal instrument which lay at the political foundation
of Georgia. Its provisions were commensurate with its design, and its priv
ileges were as ample as the benevolence which called it into' being. It gave
to those over whom it stretched its fostering care the privileges of freeborn
Britons — the privileges of English law, and, with one exception, the privi
leges of religious liberty. Nor was this exception the result so much of
England's Protestantism as England's politics. It was but transferring to
the charter of Georgia some of the civil disabilities which then lay upon
Romanists in the mother country, — disabilities growing out of civil rather
than ecclesiastical relations. The exception was wrong in the abstract ; but,
interposing itself as Georgia did between the Protestant colonies on the

OBJECTS OF SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. 185
north, and the French and Spanish possessions on the south, it was deter
mined to draw around it such an ecclesiastical cordon as should effectually
prevent any Romish intrigues or ascendency in a colony thus singularly
situated. " The charter revealed two purposes as the object of this colonization —
the settling of poor but unfortunate people on lands now waste and des
olate ; and the interposing of this colony as a barrier between the northern
colonies and the French, Spanish and Indians, on the south and west."
The movement of Oglethorpe and his associates was of so extraordinary a
nature that the reader will readily understand the importance of a full
knowledge of their motives, and of the means by which they proposed to
accomplish their beneficent as well as their national ends. Their purposes
were of a democratic nature, — but their plans of operation were either too
great or too small to harmonize, and their principles either too partial or
too conservative for progress.
"But," continues the same able writer, "the colony was not to be con
fined to the poor and the unfortunate. The trustees granted portions of five
hundred acres to such as went over at their own expense, on condition that
they carried over one servant to every fifty acres, and did military service in
time of war or alarm. Thus the materials of the new colony consisted of
three classes ; the upper, or large landed proprietors ahd officers, — the middle,
or freeholders, sent over by the trustees, and the servants indented to that
corporation or to private individuals. ¦
" Subsidiary to the great design of philanthropy was the further purpose of
making Georgia a silk, wine, oil, and drug growing colony. 'Lying,' as the
trustees remark, ' about the same latitude with part of China, Persia, Pales
tine, and the Madeiras, it is highly probable that when hereafter it shall be
well peopled and rightly cultivated, England may be supplied from thence
with raw silk, wine, oil, dyes, drugs, and many other materials for manufac
tures, which she is obliged to purchase from southern countries.' The
secretary of the trustees, in his official account of the ' Reasons for Estab
lishing the Colony of Georgia,' says: 'The Italian, French, Dutch, Indian,
and China silks, imported, thrown and Wrought only (including what are
clandestinely run), may, on the most moderate computation, be reckoned to
cost us five hundred thousand pounds per annum ; which may all be saved
by raising the raw silk in Georgia, and afterwards working it up here, now
we have attained the arts of making raw silk into organzihe, and preparing
it for our weavers, who can weave it into all sorts of wrought silks in as
great perfection as any nation of the world ; so that we only want the staple
(or raw silk) and to have it at a reasonable rate. With this Georgia will
abundantly supply us, if we are not wanting to ourselves, and do not neglect
the opportunity which Providence has thrown into our hands. The saving
24

186 EXPECTATIONS OF OGLETHORPE.
this five hundred thousand pounds per annum is not all ; but our supplying
ourselves with raw silk from Georgia carries this further advantage along
with it, that it will provide a new or additional employment for at least
twenty thousand people in Georgia for about four months in the year, during
the silk season, and at least twenty thousand more of our poor here, all the
year round, in Working the raw silk, and preparing such manufactures as
we send in return, or to purchase the said raw silk in Georgia, to which
country our merchants will trade to much greater advantage than they can
expect to do in Italy ; and yet the exportation to this place will (as I said
before) be, in all probability, preserved.'
"Oglethorpe, also, in his ' New and Accurate Account,' writes, 'We shall
be their market for great quantities of raw silk ; perhaps for wine, oil,- cotton,
drugs, dyeing stuffs, and many other lesser commodities. They have already
tried the vine and the silk-worm, and have all imaginable encouragement to
expect that these will prove most valuable staple commodities to them. The
raw silk which Great Britain and Ireland are able to consume will employ
forty or fifty thousand persons in that country. Nor need they be the
strongest or most industrious part of mankind : it must be a weak hand
indeed that cannot earn bread where silk- worms and white mulberry-tree's
are so plenty. The present medium of our importation of silk will not be
the measure hereafter of that branch of trade, when the Georgians shall enter
into the management of the silk-worm. Great Britain will then be able to
sell silk manufactures cheaper than all Europe besides ; because the Geor
gians may grow rich, and yet afford their raw silk for less than half the
price that we now pay for. that of Piedmont. The peasant of Piedmont,
after he has tended the worm and wound off the silk, pays half of it
for the rent of the mulberry-trees and the eggs of the silk-worm ; but in
Georgia the working hand will have the benefit of all his labor. This is fifty
in a hundred, or cent, per cent, difference in favor of the Georgians; which
receives a great addition from another consideration, namely, the Georgian
will have his provisions incomparably cheaper than the Piedmontese, because
he pays no rent for the land that produces them — he lives upon his own
estate. But there is still another reason why Great Britain should quickly
and effectually encourage the production of silk in Georgia, — for, in effect, it
will cost us nothing : it will be purchased by the several manufacturers of
Great Britain, and this, I fear, is not our present case with respect to Pied
mont, especially if (as we have been lately told) they have prohibited the
importation of woollen goods in that principality.'
" Wine was to be raised in sufficient quantities, not only for part of. our
consumption at home, but also for the supply of our other plantations;
instead of our going to Madeira for it. Flax, hemp and potashes, were to be
produced in such abundance that the balance of trade with Russia was to be

VARIOUS MOTIVES OF TRUSTEES. 187
reduced one hundred and thirty thousand pounds ; and indigo, cochineal,
olives, dyeing woods, and drugs of various kinds, were to be as abundant as
the demand for their consumption.
" Incident to their primary design was the expectation of thereby reliev
ing the mother country of a body of indigent paupers and unfortunate debt
ors. It was argued, that these people were not only unprofitable, but abso
lutely an expense to the government ; that their detention in England was a
physical, moral and pecuniary loss to the nation ; while their emigration to
America not only freed the country from those who would otherwise be
burdensome to its charities, but made them profitable to themselves, to
Georgia, and to England itself; and Livy was quoted, to show that the
Romans often sent some of their citizens abroad for the very increase of her
power. ^
" Thus, the poor-rates were to be reduced, the parishes relieved, the work
houses emptied, the debtors' prisons thrown open, and even the population
of the kingdom advanced, by the plantation of Georgia.
" The extension of Christianity was another aim which they kept in view.
They reasoned, that the good discipline established by the society would
reform the manners of those miserable objects who should be by them sub
sisted ; and the example of a whole colony, who should behave in a just,
moral and religious manner, would contribute*greatly towards the conversion
of the Indians, and taking off the prejudices received from the profligate
lives of such as have scarcely anything of Christianity but the name.
" Such were the principal purposes of the trustees in settling Georgia.
Extravagance was their common characteristic ; for, in the excited visions of
its enthusiastic friends, Georgia was not only to rival Virginia and South
Carolina, but to take the first rank in the list of provinces depending on the
British crown. Neither the El Dorado of Raleigh nor the Utopia of More
could compare with the garden of Georgia ; and the poet, the statesman and
the divine, lauded its beauties, and prophesied its future greatness."
' ' The trustees having selected from the throng of emigrants thirty-five
families, numbering in all about one hundred and twenty-five ' sober, indus
trious and moral persons,' chartered the Ann, a galley of two hundred tons,
Capt. John Thomas, and stationed her at Deptford, four miles below Lon
don, to receive her cargo and passengers.
" On the 16th November, 1732, they were visited by the trustees 'to see
nothing was wanting, and to take leave ' of Oglethorpe ; and, having called
the families separately before them in the great cabin, they inquired if they
liked their usage and voyage, or if they had rather return, giving them even
then the alternative of remaining in England, if they preferred it ; and,
having found but one man who (on account of his wife, left sick in South-
wark) declined, they bid Oglethorpe and the emigrants an affectionate fare-

188 INTERESTING INCIDENTS.
well." The ship sailed the next day, from Gravesend, bound for the
continent of America.
It would be interesting and even profitable to follow the exciting events in
detail which attended the early settlement of Georgia. To rejoice with the
Israelite in his confidence that charity was about to end his wanderings ; x to
join the holy procession of the pious Salzburgers, and unite with them in
their hymns of praise ; 2 to dwell upon the spirit of the Puritans, who sought
the land of good- will to establish it with their faith, and to cheer it with the
blessings of Democracy ; 3 to sympathize with the sufferers from Acadia, and
to witness their dispersion by a religious zeal that recognized no charity ;
to accompany the benevolent trustees in their visits of love to Germany, to
relieve the persecuted Protestant, : — and to the highlands of Scotland, that
they might secure a bold and hardy race, and withal a v virtuous and indus
trious people ; to mark the throbbings of the mighty heart of humanity in
the countless deeds of patient charity which from the confines of civilization
seemed to centre in this great scheme of benevolence,- — but these are beyond
the limits of the present work.
It will be remembered that "the design of the trustees comprised three
points : to provide an asylum for the poor debtor and. persecuted Protestant,
to erect a silk, wine and drug growing colony ; and to relieve the mother
country of an overburdened population." " It was not long, however, before
their credulity was chastened into soberness by a series of disastrous calam
ities. The noble feature of benevolence was never indeed relinquished, even
1 Among the early emigrants to Georgia were forty Jews, direct from London, who were
sent out by authorized agents of the company, as consistent with the provisions of the char
ter, which gave freedom to all religions, except that of the Church of Rome. The trustees
expressed fears lest the publiemight suppose that they designed to " make a Jews' colony of
Georgia." They desired Oglethorpe " to use his endeavors to prevent their settling with any
of the grantees." He did not respond to a request so discordant to the spirit of charity;
" for to have done so," says Stevens, " would have been to strip the colony of its most moral,
worthy and industrious citizens.".
2 See Stevens, p. 105.
3 When missionaries were wanted, at an early period, in South Carolina, Joseph Lord, " who
was then teaching school in Dorchester, Mass., offered to go thither ; and on the 22d of Octo
ber, 1695, those designing to emigrate with him were embodied in a church, over which he
was solemnly consecrated pastor.- The churches of Eoston, Milton, Newton, Charlestown and
Roxbury, by their delegates or pastors, assisted in the services. Sixty years before, Dor
chester had planted the first church in Connecticut ; and now she had gathered another, to
send to the far distant borders of the south:" This church fcontinued and prospered in Caro
lina until 1752, when a majority of the members decided to remove to Georgia. " The
accession of such a people," says Stevens, " was an honor to Georgia, and has ever proved
one of its richest blessings. The sons of that colony have shown themselves worthy of its
sires; their sires were the moral and intellectual nobility of the province." They carried
with them their New England habits, and established in Georgia the institutions of Democ
racy. — See Stevens, p. 386.

RESULTS OF COLONIAL EXPERIMENT. 189
though the recipients proved unworthy of the bounty ; for, as early as 1735,
the trustees declared that ' many of the poor, who had been useless in Eng
land, were inclined to be useless also in Georgia.' And, though a strict
scrutiny was made into the character and condition of each emigrant, most
of the early settlers were altogether unworthy of the assistance they received.
Once in Georgia, they were . disappointed in the quality and fertility of the
lands ; were unwilling to labor ; hung for support upon the -trustees' store ;
were clamorous for privileges to which they had no right ; and fomented
discontent and faction, where it was hoped they would have lived together in
brotherly peace and charity. The benevolence of the trustees met no ade
quate return of gratitude ; and their labors for the welfare of the colony only
provoked the obloquy and murmurs of those to whom had been opened the
prison-doors of England, and to whom had been granted an asylum in
Georgia. The too sanguine hopes of the trustees as to the commercial value
of the colony were also destined to disappointment. The wine which was to
supply all the plantations, and to cultivate which they had employed a vigne-
ron from Portugal, and planted in their garden the choicest cuttings from
Madeira, resulted in only a few gallons, and was then abandoned. The
drugs and exotics, which, at a great expense, they had procured and planted
in the same place ; the olive trees from Venice, barilla-seed from Spain,
the kali from Egypt, the eubebs cardimas, the caper plant, the madder
root, and other like articles, — were mostly destroyed by the snow and frost
shortly after they were planted. The hemp and flax, which were to sustain
the linen manufactures of Great Britain, and throw the balance of trade with
Russia into England's favor, never came to a single ship-load ; and indigo,
though there were one or two plantations of it near St. Simons and on the Alta
maha, was never generally introduced, and its culture soon abandoned."
In respect to the success which attended their persevering efforts to pro
duce silks, Stevens says : " At an expense, including passages of servants,
provisions from the public store, bounty on cocoons, salaries, machines, basins,
and filatures, of nearly fifteen hundred pounds, the trustees had succeeded
in raising, up to the date of their surrender of the charter, not one thousand
pounds of raw silk, — a most costly experiment for so poor a colony, showing
the airiness of that dream in which they expected to save five hundred thou
sand pounds to England, and employ forty thousand of her subjects. ' They
looked for much, and, lo ! it came to little.'
" Nor were they more fortunate in relieving the mother country of her
surplus indigent population. They did not, it is true, entertain the extrava
gant speculations of the Earl of -Eglinton, who subsequently proposed to the
king to introduce a hundred thousand settlers into Georgia and the Floridas,
but they expected soon to locate twenty thousand persons in their territory,
and build it up at once into a great commercial colony. It was estimated at

190 SURRENDER OF CHARTER.
the time, that, at a very small calculation, four thousand individuals were
annually imprisoned for debt in England ; and, though the scheme looked
directly to the melioration and relief of this unfortunate class, yet what a
paltry result, compared with such magnificent promises !
" During the first eight years, the trustees sent over on their bounty only
nine hundred and fifteen British subjects; and the entire number trans
planted to Georgia by their benefactions during their corporate existence did
not exceed twelve hundred British, and one thousand foreign Protestants ;
ahd yet, in this time, they had received from private benefactions over
seventeen thousand six hundred pounds, and from parliamentary grants over
one hundred and thirty-six thousand six hundred pounds: Of those sent
over by the charity of the trustees, two-thirds left the colony, and but a very
few proved worthy of their benefactions. Thus, one by one, all the grand
hopes of the trustees came to naught, every high expectation was laid low,
and they were taught, by a dear-bought experience, that, however easy it
was to plan a colony, its, -was quite another thing to carry it out into successful
execution. " But not only were the trustees destined to behold the blasting of their
agricultural and commercial views ; they were also made to feel the ill effects
of their well-designed but badly-adjusted scheme of colonial legislation.
They began wrong, when they resolved to make the tenure of their lands a
grant in tail male. Instead of stepping forth in advance of their age, as
they might have done, they retired behind it, going back to the middle ages,
to feudal times, and drew thence, from the laws of the Salian Franks, this
rule, as repugnant to reason as to justice."
As the period of the charter was about to expire, the trustees made
arrangements that it might be surrendered with proper care and delibera
tion. A committee of twelve persons was appointed by the common council
of the trustees, on the 25th -of April, 1751, at the head of whom was the
Earl of Shaftesbury, "to adjust with the administration the proper means
for supporting and settling the colony for the future, and to take from time
to time all such measures as they shall find necessary for its well-being."
The surrender took place on the 23d of June, 1752 ; " and the corporation
which had planted and nurtured Georgia ceased to exist."1
When Oglethorpe was moved by the generous sympathies of humanity to
take the prisoner by the hand, to lift up the fallen, to encourage the sad, to
give joy to the desperate, to sustain the persecuted and the oppressed, and
conceived the practicability of establishing a colony of such wounded spirits
in the wilds of America, and had a confidence in the goodness and generosity
of men to the remarkable extent that they would furnish the means for- so
1 Stevens, p. 258.

ERRORS OF TRUSTEES. 191
noble a project* — he doubtless deemed the nature of the cause a sufficient
guarantee of its success, and that he would be sustained by a community
impressed by the grandeur of his motives, to be continually renewed by the
redeeming power of gratitude. Their motto, on one side of their corporation
seal, — -."Non sibi sed aliis" — "Not for themselves, but others," —
expressed a beautiful truth and a fatal error. Not to include themselves,
was a striking defect in so great a plan. On the other side of the seal were
represented two figures reposing on urns, — emblematic of the boundary
rivers, — having between them the genius of " Georgia Augusta," with a cap
of liberty on her head, a spear in one hand, the horn of plenty in the other.
"But the cap of liberty was, for a time at least,*' says Bancroft, "a false
emblem; for all executive and legislative power, and the institution of
courts, were, for twenty-one years, given exclusively to the trustees, or their
common council, who were appointed during good behavior."
The errors of the trustees have been denominated as those of "parsimo
nious benevolence." But this view mistakes sentiment for judgment. It
was their benevolence that opened so many avenues to the enduring streams
of charity, — but it was their judgment that failed to distinguish between a
condition of success and a remedy for failure. Their desire to serve others
was surpassed only by the firmness of their convictions of confidence in
themselves. By extending a generous spirit to those who had proved them
selves wanting in judgment, they were doubtless impressed with the necessity
of a prudent control.
The subjects of Oglethorpe's benevolence had passed through a large por
tion of the period of human existence, and had been prostrated. They had
arrived at positions in society which either proved the want of capacity or
the want of integrity. If -honest, they were schismatics, or unfortunate
men. If incapable, charity could aid them, but benevolence could not give
them capacity. If dishonest, benevolence could cheer them in a temporary
resolution, but could not give them integrity. If schismatical, charity could
clothe the naked ahd feed the hungry, but benevolence could neither repress
the opinions of the wilful, nor calm the impulsive and conflicting passions of
the fanatical. The unfortunate could doubtless be rallied by the tender
encouragements of good will ; and unquestionably some of every class would
exert themselves to the utmost in whatever promised success, — but what
could be expected from an aggregation of feebleness, and from the discordant
elements of every variety of failure, but results that such a combination is
calculated to produce 1 With what significance may the question often be
asked, " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles 1 "
What though some might still bring into action motives that had never
been corrupted, combined with improved dispositions, renewed resolutions
fortified by prudence and strengthened by example, — yet each would be

192 CAUSES OF FAILURE.
loaded with his neighbor's defect or weakness, and the many that could not
succeed at home, in a much stronger framework of society, as individuals,
would fall, almost of necessity, when brought together in an atmosphere of
endeavor so inferior to the one which they had left.
It is true that Oglethorpe joined with his motives of benevolence the
objects of industry, — but one would have supposed that he could not avoid
seeing that men, who had not even succeeded in taking care of themselves,
would hardly be able to reach that point for the first time under circum
stances so peculiar, and to travel beyond it to Buch an extent as to add
wealth to the nation. It is quite true, he had counted, and not without
reason, upon the cooperation of the best and ablest minds, everywhere, to
aid him in the great work of reformation, and in the business of elevating or
reestablishing character, — but he began with an element of mistrust, by
proposing an end which fell short of the dignity of man, and based his exper
iment upon conditional results. He neither promised the privileges of
citizenship nor the responsibilities of legislation. His charity addressed his
subjects as men, but his judgment disposed of them as paupers, or as objects
of commiseration. A stream will not flow that has not an open outlet that
tends to the bosom of its home ; nor will the best influences of society recover
a degraded man, when they do not tend to give him entire freedom in all
that constitutes a proper self-respect, and in all that shall recognize in him a
member of society fitted for its duties and made eligible to its honors.
If the benevolence of Oglethorpe failed as the leading element of enter
prise, it succeeded in teaching the great truth, that humanity has the benefit
of generous projects as well as of selfish ones. And that, while avarice,
with its mistakes and excesses, may hasten the accumulation of wealth,
benevolence may have its share of error in opening patriotic avenues for its
disbursements. The propensity to acquire does nothing but accumulate ;
benevolence extends and distributes. In the single action of either, excess
is the result. What is true of these powers is true of all the others; and, to
repeat a remark which has already been made,, and whicli cannot be tod con
stantly regarded, success is a result which comes from the activity of all the
faculties in harmony with their objects and with one another.

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THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND i
presents a variety of facts, so different in character, compared to those of
the other colonies, that the reader will be amply compensated by studying
1 The first settlement of Maryland was made by Captain William Clayborne, 1631, with a
party of men from Virginia, on Kent Island, in Chesapeake Bay. But the charter under
which the colony was permanently established was granted to Cecilius Calvert, second Lord
Baltimore, by Charles I. , and was dated June 20th, 1632. The province covered by this grant
had been partially explored by Sir George Calvert, the father of Cecilius, four years before.
It was named in the charter Terra Marise, — Mary's Land, — in honor of the Queen Henrietta
Maria. In 1635 the first legislative assembly was organized, composed of one house ; but,
in 1639, was divided into two branches, or rather species of representation, namely, bur
gesses elected by the»people, and the other called by special writ. When convened, they sat
in one chamber. In 1650 the legislature was divided into two houses. On the death
of Charles I., the Puritans of Maryland insisted upon an immediate recognition of the
Commonwealth. The authorities, however, representing the Lord Proprietary, proclaimed
Charles II. the rightful sovereign of England. But the Puritans had a majority in the
assembly. In 1652 commissioners from England visited Maryland, removed Gov. Stone, the
representative of Lord Baltimore, and completely established the authority of the Common
wealth. In 1654-5, Lord Baltimore made repeated efforts to restore the proprietary govern
ment. After three years of civil commotion, during the most of which time the Puritan
party governed the colony, the power of the proprietary was restored.
In 1660, twenty-six years from the foundation of the colony, the population of Maryland
was 12,000 ; in 1665, 16,000 ; and in 1671 it had increased to 20,000.
At the time of the Revolution in England, 1688, the government, by the desire of the Puri
tans, was assumed by King William ; and, in 1691, Sir Lionel Copley was appointed gov
ernor. In 1715 the government was restored to the' family of the proprietary, having been
administered by the governors holding under the king's appointment twenty-four years. At
this period the population was estimated at 40,000. The prosperity of Maryland was
checked by the almost exclusive occupation of the farmers and planters in raising tobacco, to
the neglect of more important crops for food. In 1694 and 1695 a destructive disease broke
out among the stock of the farmers, aud 25,429 cattle and 62,375 hogs perished.
In 1714 Charles Lord Baltimore, the hereditary proprietary, died at the age of eighty-four.
His son, Benedict Leonard Calvert, succeeded, bat lived only long enough to have his rights
acknowledged. He died in April, 1715. The principal obstacle to the recognition of the
claim of this family was now removed ; for the complaints on which it had been deprived of
the government in 1691 were, many of them, founded in the fact that the proprietary was a
Papist, and the young heir, upon whom the titles and possessions of the Lords Baltimore
devolved, had been educated a Protestant. In 1715, therefore, the authority of the proprie
tary was restored. From this period until the breaking, out of the French War, in 1753, the
history of Maryland is not marked by any great event. Its local annals are filled with rela
tions of the disputes and contentions which took place between .the proprietary and the peo
ple ; the one struggling to maintain or extend his hereditary aud prescriptive privileges, and
25

194 SIR GEORGE CALVERT.
its particular history.1 The intolerance of Virginia gave birth to Maryland.3
the other to establish their liberties, to confirm their ancient rights, or to acquire new ones.
In all these struggles are discernible the germs of the revolution of 1776. — See History and
Statistics of Maryland, by J. C. G. Kennedy, Sup. of the Census.
1 Read Bancroft, Chalmers, Bozman, Hildreth, Kennedy's Discourse on the Life and
Character of George Calvert, &c. ; Streeter's Discourse, " Maryland Two Hundred Years
Ago." 1852.
2 In 1621 Sir George Calvert obtained a grant from King James of that part of the island of
Newfoundland which lies between the Bay of Bulls on the east coast thereof, and Cape St. Mary's
on the south, which was erected into a province^and called Avalon. Here he commenced a set
tlement, erected granaries and store-houses, and in 1622 set up a salt-work. In 1625 he vis
ited in person the colony. A residence there soon satisfied him fiat the country was not eligible
for colonization. He expended on this settlement twenty-five thousand pounds. As he doubt
less had received full information in regard to the colony of Virginia, and favorable accounts
of the climate and soil of the country bordering on the Chesapeake, he was induced, in 1628, to
visit that, colony in search of some more desirable situation. Whether a jealousy of his colo
nial views, or those general prejudices against the Papists, which were now more prevalent
than ever, even in the mother country, operated with the Virginians, his visit was received
by them most ungraciously. What renders this reception of him somewhat more surprising
is, that the colonists of Virginia had not emigrated from England to evade religious persecu
tion. The Church of England was then the established religion in Virginia, and Puritanism
had not been hitherto encouraged among them. It is true that those in- England who were
denominated high churchmen, as Archbishop Laud and others, were accused by the Puritans
of being inclined to Popery ; but it is to be remembered that Charles professed to be alike
opposed to Popery and Puritanism.
Immediately on the arrival of Lord Baltimore in Virginia, the assembly of that province
caused the oaths of allegiance and supremacy to be tendered to him and his followers. He
rejected them ; proposing, however, at the same time, a form of oath which he declared him
self ready to accept. As these oaths were prescribed by particular statutes, it was not in the
power of the assembly to dispense with them after being tendered. In this state matters
rested, the assembly contenting itself with laying the whole transaction before the privy
council in England.
This incident would seem to show that the assembly did not look upon Lord Baltimore in
the light of a mere casual visitor. They subjected him to what amounted almost to an indig
nity, in requiring him to take the oaths, who had been a secretary of state, who was one of
their own patentees in the London Company, and who was a public-spirited nobleman, some
what distinguished for his enterprise in the cause of colonization ; who, in addition to all
this, was on. the best terms with the reigning sovereign at home. He very soon afterwards
departed from the James river, to pursue a much more agreeable voyage up the Chesapeake.
Under these circumstances he entered the Potomac, examined the country upon its left bank,
and projected the settlement of Maryland. — See Bozman, p. 231, Historical Discourse of
Kennedy, 19, 20.
A more recent author alludes to the arrival and reception of Lord Baltimore in Virginia,
with a different judgment. He says :
" The arrival of a visitor so distinguished caused some excitement at James City; and the
authorities inquired why he, the governor of another colony, had abandoned that and come
to theirs. ' To seek a plantation and a dwelling-place among yon,' was his lordship's reply.
' Very willingly,' answered they, ' provided you will take the oaths of allegiance and suprem
acy, as we have done, and which we are obliged, by the royal order, to exact from every per
son who becomes a member of this colony. ' A modified form of the oath was proposed by
him, as one which his obligations as a Catholic would allow him to take ; but tne governor
and council, moved, without doubt, by that jealousy of Catholicism which was felt by the col-

VIEWS AND POLICY OF CALVERT. 195
The charter recognized a representative government,1 and conceded popular
liberty and religious freedom. Sir George Calvert 2 was a Catholic, a states-
onists, as well as by the people of the mother country (though professing to act solely upon
the royal instructions), declined to admit into their oommunity u man, however distin
guished, ' who was unwilling to acknowledge all the eminences belonging to his majesty,'
and prayed him to make provision to depart from the colony by the next ship that sailed for
England. He complied with their request ; but not before he had examined the broad bay
of * Chesapiack,' the islands that stud its surface, the beautiful rivers which flow into it,
especially from tho west, and the rich, inviting country, which, almost without an inhabit
ant, except a few savage tribes, spread out upon its borders.
" From this remark must be excepted, however, a large island in the bay, on which Capt.
Wilham Clayborne, a member of the Council of Virginia, and a man of great energy and
untiring enterprise, had established a trading settlement, and to which he had given the
name of Kent ; as also an island in the mouth of the Susquehanna river, on which he had
placed an advance post to facilitate his trading operations, — both of which he had pur
chased of the native chiefs, besides taking up lands upon each, according to the custom of
the country at that period.
" Leavmg his lady and servants behind, Lord Baltimore proceeded to England, hoping
that, by personal appeal, the king might be induced to relax in his favor the -regulation in
regard to emigrants in Virginia, and accept of a modified form of oath ; but he was disap
pointed. His application was ineffectual, and he found himself under the necessity of fitting
out a vessel (February, 1630), and sending her to Virginia, to convey his lady and servants
to England." — "Maryland Two Hundred Years Ago," by S. F. Streeter, p. 11, ]2.
1 Although Charles I. had, but a few years before he granted the charter of Maryland to
Lord Baltimore, dissolved, his Parliament, and had at that time formed the resolution, as
some historians allege, of never calling another, and of governing without them, yet a very
strong provision is to be found in that instrument for a free government, — a representative
legislature. See the 7th section. But in the 8th section a clause is inserted which, by a lat
itude of construction, might be interpreted to give powers repugnant to the conditions of the
preceding section. — See Bozman, I., p. 289.
2 According to Anthony Wood, in his Athense Oxonienses, Calvert was born in 1582, at
Kipling, in the Chapelry of Bolton, in Yorkshire, and was the son of Leonard Calvert and
Alice, daughter of John Crossland. Some date his birth in the year 1580. The family of
Calvert is said to be descended from an ancient and noble house of that name in the Earldom
of Flanders, whence they were transplanted into the northern parts of England. The fam
ily was one of wealth. In 1597 Calvert took a Bachelor's degree at Oxford, and then visited
the continent of Europe to complete his studies. Sir Robert Cecil, the Lord Treasurer, after
wards Earl of Salisbury, early became his friend. About the year 1604-5, he married
Anne, the daughter of George Mynne, of Hertfordshire, and grand-daughter of Sir Thomas
Wroth, of Durance, in Enfield, Middlesex. His eldest son, born in 1606, was named for his
distinguished friend, Sir Robert Cecil. About the year 1606 he was appointed private sec
retary to the prime minister, an office which he held for several years. In 1609 his name
appears as one of the patentees in the new charter which was then given to the company
for planting Virginia ; and, in 1620, it is again enumerated in Captain Smith's list of
members. The Earl of Salisbury died in 1612 ; after which event Calvert seems to have enjoyed a
liberal share of the favor and regard of King James, who, in 1617, promoted him to the post
of clerk of the privy council, and invested him with the honor of knighthood. In 1619 he
was appointed principal secretary of state, which place he held until 1624, when he resigned
it, according to Fuller, for the following -reason : " He freely confessed himself to the king
that he was then become a Roman Catholic, so that he must be wanting to his trust, or vio-

196 CHARTER OF MARYLAND.
man of comprehensive views, and versed in the changing motives of men and
of governments. He anticipated the claims of prerogative and of freedom,
and endeavored to provide for them in advance. Actuated by the Christian
spirit of disarming the Protestant by concession, he was tolerant in his plans,
and liberal in his views of pohcy. His theory for a government in America
was in advance of his own expressed views and practice at home.1 He
secured from his royal master the recognition of Democracy without pledging
himself to its principles, and framed a government which, while " it promised
freedom to the people, reserved the power of control to its officers.2 But he
was not destined to witness the results of a charter which authorized a free
dom so independent of the crown. He died " before a patent could be finally
adjusted and pass the seals," and his son, Cecil Calvert, succeeded to his
honors and fortunes.3
" Whatever were the real causes," says Chalmers, ," which procured this
remarkable grant, the ostensible motives were declared to be ' a laudable zeal .
for extending the Christian religion and the territories of the empire.' The
son was heir of his father's intentions, as well as fortunes; and in June,
1632, the charter of Maryland was confirmed by the king, and Cecil was
created absolute proprietary, saving the allegiance and sovereign dominion
due to the crown. He was empowered, with assent of the freemen, or their
delegates, whom he was required to assemble for that purpose, to make laws
of what kind soever for the province, ' so that they be not repugnant but
agreeable to the jurisprudence and rights of the realm of England.' He was
the authorized executive of the assembly. Power was given to the proprie
tary, with the assent of the people, to impose subsidies there, upon just
cause and in due proportion, which were granted to him forever : and
there was a covenant on the part of Charles, that , neither he nor his sue-
late his conscience, in discharging his office. This, his ingenuity," adds Fuller, " so highly
affected King James, that he continued him privy councillor all his reign, as appeareth in his
council-books, and soon after created him Lord Baltimore, of Baltimore in Ireland." Chal
mers says he was officially one of the committee of council for the affairs of the plantations. 
See Kennedy's Discourse.
1 In politics Sir George Calvert was of the court party (in the reigns of James I. and
Charles I.), opposed to the country party, — designations which were changed in the reign
of Charle3 II. to Tory and Whig. As one of this party, he was the advocate of the high
kingly prerogative, as contradistinguished from the privilege of the legislative body, — a
champion of executive power against the power of Parliament. Graham says of him, that
" he was a strenuous assertor of the supremacy of that authority from the exercise of which '
he expected to derive his own enrichment." " And, as principal manager of the interest of
the court," says Chalmers, " we have heard him opposing the bill for a free fishing, because
supposed contrary to the royal authority ; and insisting, with that confidence which convic
tion always inspires, that the American territory, being gotten by conquest, ought to be
governed by prerogative as the king pleases." — Book i., p. 201. See Kennedy's Hist.
Discourse, p. 22.
2 Chalmers, p. 201. 3 Bancroft, I., 245.

TREATMENT OF INDIANS IN MARYLAND. 197
cessors should at any time impose, or cause to be imposed, any tallages on
the colonjsts, or their goods and tenements, or on their commodities, to be
laden within the province. Thus was conferred on Maryland that exemp
tion forever, which had been granted to other colonies for years. This
region was erected into a palatinate, and the proprietary was invested with
all the royal rights of the palace, as fully as any Bishop of Durham had
ever enjoyed." He was authorized to appoint officers, repel invasions, sup
press rebellions, and to erect forts ; but with an express saving of that
right, which the commons had so long contended for, of fishing within
the various bays, harbors and creeks, of the province. And, what appeared
to be an act of extraordinary condescension on tho part of his majesty, the
charter finally provided that, should any doubts arise concerning the true
meaning of it, such an interpretation should be made which most favored the
proprietary, and was not inconsistent with allegiance due to the crown, or the
demands of the Christian religion. There was no condition in the charter
which required " the proprietary to transmit the acts of the assembly to the
king, for approbation or dissent ;" nor any saving of the royal interference in
the government of the province. These essential omissions induced the
commissioners of plantations to represent to the commons, in 1733, " that
Maryland is under no obligation, by its constitution, to return authentic
copies of its laws to the sovereign for confirmation, or disallowance ; or to
give any account of its proceedings." "Nothing can afford more decisive
proof," continues Chalmers, "than these material omissions, that Sir George
Calvert was the chief penman of the grant. For the rights of the propri
etary were carefully attended to, but the prerogatives of the crown and the
rights of the nation were in a great measure overlooked or forgotten."1
For some reason unknown, Lord Baltimore abandoned his purpose of con
ducting the emigrants in person, and appointed his brother, Leonard Calvert,
to act as his lieutenant.2 On the 22d of November, 1633,3 the lieutenant,
and about two hundred. gentlemen of considerable fortune and rank,1 sailed
from England in the ship Ark, and in a Pinnance, Dove, for the Potomac,
where they arrived, February 24, 1634, at Point Comfort, in Virginia ; and
where, in obedience to the express letters of King Charles, they were
welcomed by Gov. Harvey, of Virginia, with courtesy and humanity.5
Animated by a just sense towards the aborigines, he secured their favor
by respecting their rights, and purchased of them a territory which they
were already preparing to leave.6 " The Indian women," says Bancroft,
1 Political Annals, p. 203.
2 Bancroft, I., p. 245. 3 Ibid. * Chalmers, p. 207. 6 Bancroft, I. , 246.
6 The native inhabitants, having suffered from the superior power of the Susquehannas,
who occupied the district between the bays, had already resolved to remove into places of
more security in the interior, and many of them had begun to migrate before the English
arrived. — Ibid., i., 246. •

198 MOTIVES OF LORD BALTIMORE.
"taught the wives of the new comers to make bread of maize. The war
riors of the tribe instructed the huntsmen how rich were the forests»of Amer
ica in game, and joined them in the chase. And, as the season of the year
invited to the pursuits of agriculture, and the English had come into possession
of ground already subdued, they were able at once to possess corn-fields and
gardens, and prepare the wealth of successful husbandry. Virginia, from its
surplus produce, could furnish a temporary supply of food, and all kinds of
domestic cattle. No sufferings were endured ; no fears of want were excited.
The foundation of the colony of Maryland was peacefully and happily laid.
Within six months it had advanced more than Virginia had done in as many
years. The proprietary continued, with great liberality, to provide every
thing that was necessary for its comfort and protection, and spared no cost to
promote its interests, — expending, in the two first years, upwards of forty
thousand pounds sterling. But far more memorable was the character of the
Maryland institutions. Every other country in the world had persecuting
laws. ' I will not,' — such was the oath for the Governor of Maryland, — ' I
will not, by myself or any other, directly or indirectly molest any person
professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of religion.' " 1
It is remarked by Kennedy2 that "the glory of Maryland toleration is in
the charter, not in the act of 1649. In settling the colony under this char
ter, it is true that Cecil, the second Lord Baltimore, gathered \he colonists
chiefly from the Roman Catholics. It was quite natural that, in making up
his first adventure, the proprietary should have gone amongst his friends and
kinsmen, and solicited their aid in his enterprise. It is to their credit that
they joined him in it ; and much more to their credit that they faithfully
administered the charter, by opening the door of emigration to all Christians,
with an assurance of equal rights and privilege." 3 " This happy enterprise,"
continues the same author, " could not have succeeded under any other cir
cumstances than those which existed. If Charles had been a Catholic prince,
a Catholic proprietary would have procured a charter for the establishment
of a Catholic province. If Calvert had been a Protestant nobleman, a Prot
estant prince would have granted him a charter for a Protestant province.
In either case it would have been proscriptive. Both of these predicaments
were abundantly exemplified in the history of that period. Exclusiveness,
intolerance, persecution of opposing sects, were the invariable characteristics
iVol. i.,p. 248.
2 Discourse on Life and Character of George Calvert, &c, p. 42.
3 Lord Baltimore invited the Puritans of Massachusetts to emigrate to Maryland, offering
them lands and privileges, and ' ' free liberty of religion ; ' ' but Gibbons, to whom he had for
warded a commission, was " so wholly tutored in the New England discipline," that he
would not advance the wishes of the Irish peer ; — and the people, who subsequently refused
Jamaica and Ireland, were not now tempted to desert the Bay of Massachusetts for the
Chesapeake. — Bancroft, I., 253. •

CATHOLICISM AND COLONIZATION. 199
of early American colonization. It was to the rare and happy coincidence
of a wise, moderate and energetic Catholic statesman asking and receiving a
charter from a Protestant monarch, jealous of the faith, but full of honora
ble confidence in the integrity of his servant, that we owe this luminous and
beautiful exception of Maryland to the spirit of the colonization of the
seventeenth century."
But, with every disposition to favor the motives of Lord Baltimore, it
must be admitted that there is much reason for believing that the king's con
fidence was based upon his lordship's well-known devotion to his majesty's
service, and that neither he nor the king was disposed to trust the people in
the exercise of an independent judgment. They could well afford to trust
the people, if the .people would but first place entire confidence in them ; and
they could safely propose Democratic institutions, provided those institutions
were to be governed by laws of their own proposing. It is but just that
they should be commended for -their confidence in Democracy ; but it cannot
be disguised that, while they had no misgivings in respect to their own
liability to err, they had but little faith in the executive judgment of others.
The very beginning of the government affords a key to the motives of both
parties.1 The liberality of the charter warranted the expectation of a free-
1 In 16S8, when it was proposed in the assembly to consider again the laws sent by the
Lord Proprietor, three questions appear to have been stated. " 1st. Whether the laws should
now be read again in the house ; or, 2d. Whether they should be put to the vote immediately,
without further reading ; or, 3d. Whether the subject should not be postponed to a future
day, when a greater number of members might attend." On the question, " whether they
should be received as laws, or not," the president, and Mr. Lewger (the secretary), " who
counted by proxies fourteen voices," voted in the affirmative. All the rest of the assembly
voted in the negative, " being thirty-seven voices," including probably their proxies.
" The grounds and reasons of their objections to these laws," says Bozman, " do not appear
on the journal ; but certain it is that a very warm opposition, among a large majority of the
freemen, was made to their reception. Neither are we able, at this day, to judge of the merit
br demerit of these laws sent in by the proprietor, by a perusal of them, as no copies of them
are to be found on our records. Did the duty of the historian allow him to mention his con
jectures, a plausible supposition might be made, that the dispute about the reception of these
laws was dictated more by a political contest for the right of propounding laws to be enacted
by the assembly than any other cause. We may suppose, on the other hand, also, that his
rejection of tbe laws said to have been made by the colonists in 1635 was founded on this
disputable right. "—i., 311, 312, 313.
In illustration of this early contest between the Lord Baltimore and his colonists, relative
to the right of propounding laws for the assembly to enact, it may be observed that about the
same time (1634) a dispute, somewhat similar to it, took place between the Lord Deputy of
Ireland and the Irish House of Lords. It will appear, perhaps, a, little extraordinary to
Americans (in the present state of their political sentiments) when they are informed that an
Irish statute, made in the 10th Henry 7th, commonly called Sir Edward Poyning's law, was
enacted (as the statute expresses it) " at the request of the commons of the land of Ireland;"
and was, during the 16th and 17th centuries, considered by the people of Ireland as the Irish
Magna Charta, by which " no parliament was to be holden thereafter in the said land, but at
such season as the king's lieutenant and council there first do certify the king, under the great

200 CATHOLICISM AND COLONIZATION.
dom consistent with the dignity of self-government ;' and, when the people
assembled to express their wishes and to act the part of legislators, they
were met by a paternal policy, and opposed by the conservative wisdom of an
aristocracy. The proprietary began by assuming that he could better pro
vide for their wants than they could provide for themselves ; and, when he
asked their assent to laws which he had framed for their adoption, he doubt
less supposed that while he flattered their hopes by an agreement in princi
ples, they would not be reluctant in sanctioning his plans by which those
principles were to be reduced to practice.1
That Catholics should participate in the colonizing spirit of the age, and
desire to establish communities in the new country favorable to the Church
of Rome, was perfectly natural and reasonable. To succeed in such an
undertaking required careful study. Not so much in deciding upon the best
plan, as in finding out the only one of a practicable nature that could be exe
cuted. The identity of Catholicism was surrendered on the altar of tolera
tion, and Papists were trusted by Protestants because Protestants were
favored by Papists.2 But this was not all. The jealousy of the people was
seal of that land, the causes, and considerations, and all such acts, as to them seemeth should
pass in the same Parliament, and such causes, considerations and acts, affirmed by the king and
his council (in England), and his license thereupon, as well in affirmation of the said causes
and acts as to summon the said Parliament, had and obtained." The Irish House of Peers
contended (1634) that, being the king's hereditary council, they could originate statutes to be
sent to England for the king's approbation, according to the statute ; but Lord Wentworth
(the then lord lieutenant of Ireland) protested against the proposition. And, indeed, the
words of the statute seem clearly to have justified his idea. — (See Leland's History of Ire
land, vol. ii., p. 108, and the Appendix thereto, vol. in., p. 20 ; also 4 Inst, 352.) Thus
Lord Baltimore, an Irish peer, might have been led to construe his charter, like Poyning's
law, vesting him with the prerogative of first propounding to the assembly such laws as were
to be enacted ; but, whether he ever meant to contend for such a prerogative or not, it is cer
tain that the assembly, after this session of 1637-8, ever afterwards exerted the right of
framing their own laws, to be subsequently approved and assented to by the Lord Proprietor.
— Bozman, i., p. 382, note.
1 " In the early history of the United States," says Bancroft, " nothing is more remarka
ble than the uniform attachment of each colony to its franchises ; and popular assemblies
burst everywhere into life with a consciousness of their importance, and an immediate
capacity for efficient legislation. The first assembly of Maryland had vindicated the juris
diction of the colony; the second had asserted its claims to original legislation ; the third,
which was now convened (1639), examined its obligations. And, though not all its acts
were carried through the forms essential to their validity, it yet displayed the spirit of the
people and the times, by framing a declaration of rights." — Vol. i., p. 250.
2 "A close survey of the tendency of political affairs, and the state of religious feeling in
England and in his province, now determined the proprietary to change his colonial policy,
and to transfer the government of Maryland from the hands of the Catholics, who had held
it since the first settlement, to those of Protestants. Accordingly, in the summer of 1648
(June 20th) he set his seal to new conditions of plantation, in which he inserted the restrict
ive clause, concerning religious fraternities, that the fathers had successfully opposed, six
years before. These were followed by a commission (August, 1648) appointing to the gov
ernment of Maryland Captain William Stone, a Protestant and a gentleman of standing, who

INFLUENCE OF TRUTH. 201
to be quieted by proposing to them a greater liberty than any one had asked ;
and their confidence and affection were to be secured by a constant and faith
ful oversight in regard to their true interests, more than they had been
accustomed to see. Such appears to have been the enlightened policy of
Lord Baltimore. He gained a victory by surrender, and acquired a confi
dence by concession ; but his successors were mastered by principles which he
endeavored to control, and they were led to the adoption of practices which
he honestly endeavored to avoid. As darkness vanishes before the tide of
light, so bigotry melts in the presence of truth, and the spirit of oppression
is powerless when met by the strong arm of Democracy.
A policy of wisdom is never barren of beneficial results.1 But, if Lord
Baltimore was just in his plans and liberal in his concessions, he failed to
make a distinction between motives of benevolence and the influences of
public opinion, — between his own dispositions and opinions and 'the prob
able views of his successors. Catholics may die, but Papacy remains.
Protestantism may sleep, but only to be awakened by new events calcu
lated to encourage activity. Reaction can only come from action. Men
are excited to do to-day what yesterday was anticipated by no one ; and
what is true of man in this respect, as an individual, is particularly true
had for some years been high sheriff of Southampton county, in Virginia, and who had
recently contracted to introduce five hundred settlers, of English or Irish descent, into the
province. The commission to Governor Stone and the accompanying papers are remarkable,
as indicating the first, steps. of Lord Baltimore in a system of politic deference to the pre
vailing religious and political opinions of the times, an entire remodelling of the laws, and a
legislative recognition of the principles of toleration previously practised in the colony, and
then upheld by the Independents alone in England, but not even by them extended to the
Roman Catholics.
"The honor of originating this measure has long been the subject of controversy, and
claimed alike by Catholics and Protestants. By the former, on the ground that the instruc
tions and laws which embodied that divine principle emanated from Lord Baltimore ; by the
latter, because the laws were enacted by a Protestant Assembly, over whom and whose con
stituents they were to be enforced. My investigations into the origin of these laws have con
vinced me that' they originated, primarily, neither with Lord Baltimore nor the Assembly ;
that their provisions sprang from no congenial principles at that day active in either the
Catholic or Protestant divisions of the church ; that they were drawn up in deference to the
progressive doctrines and increasing political strength of .the Independents in England, as
well as to meet the wants of the mixed population of the province ; and their adoption was
an act prompted far less by feelings of religious benevolence than by civ.il necessity. If this
view be correct, neither Catholics nor Protestants, as sects, at the. present day, have any
especial ground for self-laudation on the subject, nor any reason for attempting to make cap
ital, in opposition to each other, out of what was done by their predecessors in Maryland two
hundred years ago." — Streeter's Discourse, p. 39.
This quotation is given that the views of the writer may be known, and not because his
reasoning is regarded as entirely conclusive.
1 " It is a singular fact," says Bancroft, " that the only proprietary charters, productive
of considerable emolument to their owners, were those which conceded popular liberty." —
Vol. I., p. 242. 26

202 CHARLES II. AND MARYLAND.
of communities and of nations. Lord Baltimore reasoned well in regard to
his own colony and himself, but badly in respect to the permanent source of
his power and the nature of his relations to the other colonies. He failed to
quiet claims made by Protestants in a Protestant country. He rested upon a
fatal confidence as secure against enemies who never appreciated his motives,
but only watched an opportunity to crush him ; and he relied upon a sover
eignty which, while it conferred an independence upon others, had not the
control of its own.1 The sovereignty of Charles I. was diffused in the com
monwealth. The sovereignty of Charles II. was gathered and compounded
by an indignant monarch ; and the elements which had centred in his father,
and newly combined in the loose conceptions of the son, were taken with a
discriminating hand. The official identity of the Lord Proprietor had been
lost in the changes of government, and in the progress of things.2
1 Charles Calvert, who governed the province from 1661 with a high reputation for virtue
and abilities, succeeded his father as proprietary in 1676. He immediately convened an
assembly, in which he presided in person. They carefully revised the whole code of laws.
They repealed the unnecessary; they explained the obscure ; they confirmed the salutary.
So says Chalmers. Yet, when the proprietary visited England he was saluted with com
plaint. The Bishop of London represented to the committee of plantations the deplorable
state of Maryland with regard to religion ; that, while the Roman Catholic priests were
endowed with valuable lands, the Protestant ministers of the Church of England were utterly
destitute of support, whereby immorality reigned triumphant there. Lord Baltimore, in jus
tification of himself and the province, cited the act of 1649 concerning religion, which had
been confirmed in the year 1676 as a perpetual law, and which tolerated and protected every
sect of Christians, but gave special privileges to none. He asserted that four ministers of the
Church of England were in possession of plantations which afforded them a decent subsistence ;
but that, from the various religious tenets of the members of assembly, it would be extremely
difficult, if not impossible, to induce it to consent to a law that should oblige any sect to
maintain other ministers than its own. However satisfactory and decisive was this answer,
it seems not to have procured perfect acquiescence. The committee declared that they thought
fit there should be some maintenance for the clergy of the church. For a season complaints
were silenced, but soon again he was accused of "partiality to Papists." It was in vain for
him to represent that the laws of his province gave equal encouragement to men of every
sect, without favoring any ; that he had endeavored to divide the offices of his government as
nearly equal among Protestants and Roman Catholics as their different abilities would per
mit ; that he had given almost the whole command of the militia to the former, who were
intrusted with the care of the arms and military stores. The ministers of Charles II. , to throw
the imputation of Popery from their own shoulders, commanded " that all offices should be
put into Protestant hands. ' ' Lord Baltimore was accused of obstructing the custom-house offi
cers in the collection of parliamentary duties. Charles II. complained bitterly that he should
obstruct his service, and discourage the officers of the customs in the execution of their duty,
after the many favors which had been heaped upon him and his father. In 1689 an associa
tion in arms was formed for the defence of the Protestant religion, and for asserting the
right of King William and Queen Maryto that province and all the English dominions. John
Coode was placed at the head of this association. The king transmitted orders to those who
had thus acquired power, to exercise it in his name for the preservation of peace. — See
Chalmers' Annals, p. 364-374.
2 " When the throne and the peerage," says Bancroft, " had been subverted in England, it
might be questioned whether the mimic monarchy of lord Baltimore should be permitted to

DEMOCRACY OF LORD BALTIMORE. 203
Maryland had been settled as if a colony or state could exist and thrive
without adapting itself to external and surrounding conditions. It stood
upon a basis too narrow for a continental policy, and relied upon theories too
partial for humanity. It was checked by the pressure of party principles
external to itself, and what existed in harmony with the spirit of the land
was saved, fostered, and sustained. Maryland became subject to Protestant
control, and preserved to the last, through struggles incident to subserviency, '
those democratic features of government which were established by its founder,
and which prepared the way for a union favorable to independence. It was
with a lively sense of the great truths of Democracy that Lord Baltimore
proposed so broad a basis for the government of Maryland, although he could
hardly understand in what way it was to be administered without a conserva
tive control. As a Papist, he could see a nation without a Pope,1 as a lord
i , \
continue. When hereditary power had ceased in the mother country, might it properly exist
in the colony > It seemed uncertain if the proprietary could maintain his position ; and the
scrupulous Puritans hesitated to take an unqualified oath of fealty, with which they might
be unable to comply. Englishmen were no longer lieges of a sovereign, but members of a
commonwealth (1650) ; and, but for the claims of Baltimore, Maryland would equaUy enjoy
the benefits of republican liberty. Great as was the temptation to assert independence, it
would not have prevailed, could the peace of the province have been maintained. But who,
it might well be asked, was the sovereign of Maryland ? Her " beauty and extraordinary
goodness " had been to her a fatal dowry ; and Maryland was claimed by four separate aspi
rants. Virginia was ever ready to revive its rights to jurisdiction beyond the Potomac, and
Clayborne had already excited attention by his persevering opposition. Charles II., incensed
against Lord Baltimore for his adhesion to the rebels and his toleration of schismatics, had
issued a commission to Sir William Davenant. Stone was the active deputy of Lord Balti
more, and Parliament had already appointed its commissioners. — Vol. I., pp. 258-259.
1 A proclamation had been issued by Leonard Calvert, the governor, in 1638, to prohibit
all unseasonable disputations in point of religion, tending to the disturbance of the public
peace and quiet of the colony, and to " the opening of faction in religion." Captain Corn
waleys, a Catholic gentleman, one of the most distinguished and authoritative persons in the
province, had two Protestant servants, by the name of Gray and Sedgrave. These two chanced
to be reading aloud together Smith's sermons, a Protestant book, and were overheard by Wil
liam Lewis, an overseer in the employment of Cornwaleys. Lewis was a zealous Catholic ;
and it happened that the servants, when overheard by him, were reading a passage to which
he took great exception. It charged the Pope to be Antichrist, and the Jesuits to be anti
christian ministers. Lewis, it seems, supposed this was read aloud to vex him ; whereupon,
getting into a passion, he told them "that it was a falsehood, and came from the devil, as
all lies did : and that he that writ it was an instrument of the devil, and he would prove it ;
and that all Protestant ministers were the ministers of the devil ;" — and he forbade them
reading more.
Without going further into the particulars, it will be sufficient to relate that the two ser
vants prepared a formal complaint against the overseer, to be submitted to the governor and
council ; that Captain Cornwaleys himself gave the case another direction, by sending it into
court, of which Governor Calvert, Cornwaleys, and Mr. Lewger, the Secretary of Province,
were the members ; that this court summoned all the parties before it, heard the whole case,
and fined Lewis five hundred pounds of tobacco, and ordered him to remain in prison until
he should find sureties for his good behavior in future. — See Bozman.
In commenting upon this anecdote, Kennedy says that "it very strikingly displays the

204 PENNSYLVANIA.
he could see a people without a nobility ; but as a man, he was not practi
cally prepared to comprehend either the dignity of his nature, or the justice
of equal rights. Catholicism and Protestantism joined hands with a concili
atory spirit on the continent, and Papacy became identified with Democracy
in America.
But the principles of Democracy remained to be still further illustrated by
a Quaker, in the settlement of PENNSYLVANIA.!
Sectarian zeal had had its seasons of contest, intolerance its victims, and
war its desolations. Religion in its benignity, and patriotism in its lofty aims,
had blessed. the continent with examples of mutual forbearance and exalted
freedom. It now remained for the spirit of peace, in its " modest stillness
and humility," to exert its sway in a sovereignty of brotherly love.. William
patriarchal character 'of the government, and its extreme solicitude to keep all religious bick
erings and discontents out of the province." It must be considered, however, that " extreme
solicitude ' ' may arise from different and opposite motives. Calvert could not have been indif
ferent to the fact that his settlement was in a Protestant country, and favored by a Protestant
king. His solicitude would naturally spring rather from his sense of weakness, than from
any want of disposition to favor his own religion, provided he had the necessary power. —
See Kennedy's Hist. Discourse, p. 44.
1 Pennsylvania was originally settled by different detachments of planters under various
authorities, Dutch, Swedes and others, which at different times occupied portions of land oh
South or Delaware river. The ascendency was finally obtained over these settlements by
the Governors of New York, acting under the charter of 1664, to the Duke of York.
It continued in a feeble state until William Penn, in March, 1681, obtained a patent, from
Charles II. , by which he became proprietary of an ample territory, which, in honor of his
father, was called Pennsylvania. The boundaries described in the charter were on the east
by Delaware river from twelve miles distance northwards of Newcastle town, to the forty-third
degree of north latitude, if the said river doth extend so far northward ; but if not, then the
said river so far as it doth extend ; and, from the head of the river, the eastern bounds are
to be determined by a meridian line to be drawn from the head of said river unto the said
forty-third degree of north latitude. The said lands to extend westward five degrees in lon
gitude, to be computed from the said eastern bounds, and the said lands to be bounded on the
north by the beginning of the forty-third degree of north latitude ; and on the south by a
circle drawn at twelve miles distance from Newcastle, northward and westward, to the begin
ning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude ; and then by a, straight line Westward to the
limits of the longitude above mentioned. " This impossible boundary,", says Bancroft,
" received the assent of the agents of the Duke of York and Lord Baltimore."
A new frame of government was, with the consent of the General Assembly, established in
1683. In 1692 Penn was deprived of the government of Pennsylvania by William and Mary,
but it was again restored to him in the succeeding year. A third frame of government was
established in 1696. This again was surrendered, and a new final charter of government
was, in October, 1701, with the consent of the General Assembly, established, under which
the province continued to be governed down to the period of the American Revolution. — See
Story's Commentaries.

WILLIAM PENN. 205
Penn desired " all good men's love.," as afterwards James Oglethorpe com
manded all good men's charity.
William Penn 1 was better prepared than Lord Baltimore could have been
l William Penn was descended from an ancient family, of the same name, in the fifteenth
century, at the village of Penn, in Buckinghamshire, England. Further traces of this fam
ily are to be found in Penlands, Penn-street, Penn-house, Penwood, — all of them the names
of places in the same county. From William Penn, at Penn's Lodge, who died March 12,
1591, eames Giles Penn. Giles, it is known, was a captain in the royal navy. He was, also,
for some time* English consul in the Mediterranean. He had a son William, born in 1621,
who entered the navy and became a distinguished officer. He commanded, at a very early
age, the fleet whioh Oliver Cromwell sent against Hispaniola. After the restoration of Charles
H. , he was commander under the Duke of York in that great and terrible sea-fight against
the Dutch, under Admiral Opdam, in the year 1665, where he contributed so much to the
victory, that he was knighted. He was ever afterwards received with all the marks of private
friendship at court. The following extract is taken from an inscription which is to be seen
on his monument, erected by his wife, in Radcliffe church, in the city of Bristol :
" He was made oaptain at the years of twenty-one, rear admiral of Ireland at twenty-
three, vice-admiral of Ireland at twenty-five, admiral to the Streights at twenty-nine,
vice-admiral of England at thirty-one, and general in the first Dutch war at thirty-two ;
whence returning anno 1655, he was Parliament man for the town of Weymouth ; 1660
made commissioner of the admiralty and navy, governor of the town and fort of Ring-
sale, vice-admiral of Munster, and a member of that provincial council ; and anno 1664
was chosen great captain commander under his royal highness in that signal and most
evidently successful fight against the Dutch fleet." He died at Wanstead, in the county
of Essex, September 16, 1670, aged forty-nine years. He married Margaret, the daughter
of John Jasper, a merchant of Rotterdam, in Holland ; and they had one son, William,
who was born in London, in the parish of St. Catharine, on Tower Hill, October 14, 1644.
The admiral, trained only to the arts of war, has been more distinguished in the annals
of history as the father of the Quaker than as the " great captain " in the fleet of his sover
eign, — more known as the ancestor of a democrat than as a knight of royalty, or friend at
oourt. It is not a little remarkable that one who so early and constantly employed himself
iu the strifes of battle should be parent to a son who, from his days of youth to the end of
his life, opposed all war, and favored no policy but that of peace.
The son was sent to Christ's Church College, Oxford, when he had arrived at the age of
fifteen years ; and he early distinguished himself by his great attention to the college exer
cises, and by his aversion to show and ceremony. ¦ When Charles II. ordered that the surplice
should be worn by the students, according, to the custom of ancient times, young Penn was
so opposed to the execution of the orderthat he, with his friend Spencer (afterwards the Earl
of Sunderland), and some others, combined and fell upon those students who appeared in
surplices, and tore them everywhere over their heads. For this outrage, he and.several of
his associates were expelled.
His father could not be otherwise than displeased with his son's conduct, although he was
more troubled with his inclination to associate with religious people, and avoid fashionable
life. The admiral was fearful that his son would not be fitted to fill that station in life which
was before him. He was prompted by feelings of parental pride to save him from the dis
grace of being religious in any way but that prescribed by the church. He had recourse to
argument. This failing, he proceeded to blows. Meeting with no success by blows, he turned
him out of doors. Passion had mastered the parent. The parent relented, — the son was
forgiven. He was then (1662) sent to Paris. -It was supposed that French manners might
correct the growing gravity of his mind. While there, it is related of him, that he was
attacked one evening in the street -by a person who drew his sword upon him in consequence

206 WILLIAM PENN.
to provide a more perfect system of government, having observed and studied
the experience of colonies already established. It is true he was but little
of a suppcsed affront. A conflict ensued. William disarmed his antagonist, but proceeded
ho further, sparing his life when he could have taken it. He remained in Paris a short time,
but soon left for Saumur, whither he went to avail himself of the conversation and instruction
of the learned Moses Amyrault, a Protestant minister of the Calvinistic denomination, and
Professor of Divinity at Saumur. Amyrault was highly respected both by the Catholic and
the Protestant. With this learned divine he read the fathers, studied theology and the
French language. As he was about to visit Italy he received a letter from his father, desir
ing him to return home, to take care of his affairs during his absence in the war against the
Dutch. On his return, on the suggestion of his father, he became a student of Lincoln's
Inn, where he remained about a year, until he was compelled to leave, on account of the great
plague in London. This was in 1665, in which year he became of age.
When he returned from the continent, his father mistook his cheerful temper and polished
manners for change of mind. On his return, however; in 1666, he discovered his mistake.
William found no pleasure but in the society of religious people. ' Having flattered himself
that he was successful before in changing the habits of his son, he again attempted to sub
due him to his wishes. He was now sent to Ireland, — not for instruction so much as diver
sion. It was supposed that he might be led to dismiss his grave tendencies of mind at the
lively court of the Duke of Ormond, who was then Lord Lieutenant. Not so. His father then
tried the effects of a business commission. He owned large estates in Ireland, and William
was intrusted with the sole management of them, much to his own relief and to the satisfaction
of the father. Still, he was a Quaker, and attended Quaker meetings. He was arrested at one
of these meetings, in 1667, on the plea of a proclamation issued in 1660 against tumultuous
assemblies. He was committed to prison, but soon released, to return again to his unhappy
father. He was now a confirmed Quaker. His father saw it, and told him " that he would
trouble him no more on the subject of his conversion, if he would only consent to sit with his
hat off in his own presence, and in that of the king and the Duke of York." What terms of
surrender for a father to make to an only son ! William loved and respected his father, but
he could not be induced to favor " hat-worship." Only in the service of his Maker could'he
justify himself in the act of uncovering the head, according to the practice enjoined by St.
Paul. The admiral heard his answer, but it enraged him. He again banished his son from
his presence ; little thinking that, by such an act, he was claiming a position for royalty and
himself, in the affections of another, equal to that conceded by the Christian world to the
Almighty Ruler of the universe !
In 1668 William became a preacher and a writer. For his writings he was sent to the
Tower. He was told by the Bishop of London that he would be imprisoned for life, unless he
would renounce his heresies. " My prison shall be my grave," was his independent reply.
Stillingfleet was appointed by Charles II. kindly to reason with him. " The Tower is to me
the worst argument in the world," was his emphatic message to' the king. He was released,
but still to be active in aiding his persecuted brethren, and in declaring the truth according
to his convictions of duty. He was now (1669) reconciled to his father. In his last days
his father was led to admire what he had too often condemned in his son. In 1670 he was
again sent to the Tower, and to Newgate, for preaching. He was tried at the Old Bailey, and
acquitted. During this celebrated trial he appeared with great dignity, asserted his rights
with clearness and accuracy, inspired the jury with a confidence that was authorized by
Magna Charta, and put to shame the judges who sought only to deprive him of his liberty
without reference to law. (See some account of this trial in Clarkson's Penn, vol. i., p. 53 ;
Bancroft, n., 371.)
In 1671, while in Newgate, he actively employed his pen in behalf of the cause of freedom.
When liberated from prison, he travelled into Holland and Germany, to spread his religious
views. He returned to England in 1672. He now entered into the married state. He took

WILLIAM PENN. 207
influenced by others, except to manifest an earnest desire to avoid their errors ;
and, as these were more studied in their results than in their causes, he as
often failed in rendering his own theories complete as he succeeded in cor
recting the theories of others. He was a confident believer in funda
mental principles, but he did not appear to comprehend the slow conditions
of progress. " Things do not change," says he, in a letter to a friend.
" Causes and effects are ever the same ; and they that seek to over-rule the
eternal order fight with the winds, and overthrow themselves." And yet,
but few at an early age attempted more, or found less to commend in the
wisdom of the past. The consciousness of his own high motives of integ
rity led him to adopt extravagant views of man's present capability; but his
sentiments were in advance of his knowledge, and his philosophy was not kept
in harmony with his prayers. It could not be said that he was ignorant of
practical life, for few enjoyed superior opportunities as the subject of incident,
or as the observer of things. Government in its various forms, administered
both by its official dignitaries and by proxy, became with him an absorbing
topic ; and his constant intercourse with men of every class of mind, condi
tion and rank, enabled him to become familiar not only with the elements of
power to be found in the bosom of society, but with the wants of humanity.
He was early tested by parental austerity, and, by his uncompromising spirit
of allegiance to his Maker, he frequently became the subject of governmental
proscription and oppression. He had position by birth, and opportunities of
influence by wealth. He seemed to realize, with unspeakable delight, the
sublime truth that " God is love; " and in this universal truth he saw both
the duty and destiny of man. With "an inward submission of the soul to
the will of God," he earnestly sought to check the inordinate desires of the
flesh. Self-denial was his principle of action ; and whatever he attempted
to do was adjusted to the standard of right, and without regard to conse
quences. Expediency made no part of his theory in politics, morals, or
religion.1 He gave utterance to his convictions without disguising them, and
for his wife Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of Sir William Springett, of Darling, in
Sussex. She was esteemed a woman of extraordinary worth and beauty. From this period
to 1676, when he first takes an interest in the colonial affairs of America, and" to 1680, when
he plans the colony of Pennsylvania, he spent most of his time in travelling, preaching, and
writing. His writings were on religious and national topics ; and they discover much mental
activity, much research, and a spirit of great sincerity. As the remainder of his life is briefly
given in other portions of this chapter, so far as it is deemed necessary to illustrate the early
history of his colony, this note is not extended further than to give the period of his death.
In 1718, " after a continued and gradual declension for about six years," he died at Rush-
comb, July 30th, aged 73 years. — See Clarkson.
l In his dedication of the Memoirs of the Life of William Penn to Lord Holland, Thomas
Clarkson denominates him * the first statesman who, banishing political expediency, founded
his public conduct solely on the principles of justice, by which he furnished a model of gov
ernment capable of producing to his own people a superior degree of morality and happi
ness," &c.

208 NEW JERSEY.
when he acted he prized more an inward $eace than an outward popularity.
His excesses were those of benevolence, and to these may be traced most of
his errors.
When Penn projected the settlement of Pennsylvania, he was not without
some experience in the business of colonization. He had served for several
years as a trustee in the management of West New Jersey, and in 1681 he
became a joint proprietor of East New Jersey.1 Whether he was led to
1 In 1676 Penn was appointed as a,n adviser in the colonial concerns of New Jersey. Lord
Berkeley-, who was joint proprietor of New Jersey, with Sir George Carteret, had, in the pre
ceding year, sold his half-share of it to John Fenwick in trust for Edward Byllinge. A dis
pute arose between the latter parties, and Penn was appointed arbitrator, and, by means cf
the most exemplary perseverance, amicably adjusted their differences. He was afterwards
induced to become a trustee, and subsequently a joint proprietor.
New Jeksht was a part of the territory granted to the Duke of York, and was by him
granted in June, 1664, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, with all the rights, royal
ties and powers of government, which he himself possessed. The proprietors, for the better
settlement of the territory, agreed in February, 1664-5, upon a constitution or concession
of government.
This constitution continued until the province was divided, in 1676,_between the proprie
tors. By that division East New Jersey was assigned to Carteret, and West New Jersey to
those who had purchased of Berkeley. Penn was one of the number. Carteret then explained
and confirmed the former concessions for the territory thus exclusively belonging to himself.
The proprietors, also, of West Jersey prepared another set of concessions for the settlers .within
that territory. They contain very ample privileges to the people.
Whether these concessions became the general law of the province seems involved in some
obscurity. - There were many difficulties and contests for jurisdiction between the governors
of the Duke of York and the proprietors of the Jerseys ; and these were not settled until after
' the duke, in 1680, finally surrendered all right to both by letters-patent granted to the
respective proprietors. In 1681 the governor of the proprietors of West Jersey, with the con
sent of the General Assembly, made a frame of government embracing some of the funda
mentals in the former concessions. There was to.be a Governor and Council, and a General
Assembly of representatives of the people. The General Assembly had the power to make
laws, to levy taxes, and to appoint officers. Liberty of conscience was allowed, and no persons
rendered incapable of office in respeot of their faith and worship. 'West Jersey continued to
be governed in this manner until the surrender of the proprietary government, in. 1702.
Carteret died in 1679, and, being sole proprietor of East Jersey, by his will he ordered it
to be sold for payment of his debts ; and it was accordingly sold- to William Penn and eleven
others, who were called the Twelve Proprietors. The number of proprietors was afterwards
increased to twenty-four ; and to these the Duke of York, in March, 1682, made his third and
last grant of East Jersey. Very serious dissensions soon arose between the two provinces
themselves , as well as between them and New York. A quo warranto was ordered by the
crown, in UB86, to be issued against both provinces. East New Jersey immediately offered to
be annexed to West New Jersey, and to submit to a governor to be appointed by the crown.
Soon afterwards the crown ordered the Jerseys to be annexed to New England, and the pro
prietors of East Jersey made a formal surrender of its patent, praying only for a new grant
securing the right of soil. Before this request could be granted, the revolution of 1688 took
place, and they passed under the allegiance of a new sovereign.
From this period both of these provinces were in a state of great confusion, and remained
so until the proprietors of both made a formal surrender of all their powers of government,
but not of their lands, to Queen Anne, April, 1702. The queen immediately reunited both

NEW JERSEY. 209
plan a new colony with a view to a*separate control, to test a theory, to grat
ify a benevolence, " to serve God's truth and people," to civilize the Indians,
provinces into one, and by commission appointed a governor over the same. — See Story's
Commentaries. " In New Jersey," says Bancroft, " had the proprietary power been vested in the people,
or reserved to one man, it would have survived ; but it was divided among speculators in
land, who, as a body, had gain, and not freedom, for their end.
" In April, 1688, ' the proprietors of East New Jersey had surrendered their pretended
right of government,' * and the surrender had been accepted. In October of the same year
the council of the proprietaries, not of the people, of West New Jersey, voted to surrender to
the secretary-general for the dominion of New England ' all records relating to government.'
Thus the whole province fell, with New York and New England, under the consolidated gov
ernment of Andros. At the Revolution, therefore, the sovereignty of New Jersey was merged
in tho crown ; and the leading maxim, soon promulgated by the lords of trade, that the
domains of the proprietaries might be bought and sold, but not their executive power, weak
ened their attempts at the restoration of their authority.
"Will you know with how little government a community of husbandmen may be safe?
For twelve years the whole province was not in a settled condition. From June, 1689, to
August, 1692, East New Jersey had no government whatever, being, in time of war, without
military officers, as well as without magistrates ; and afterwards commissions were issued by
two sets of proprietors, of which each had its adherents, while a third party, swayed by dis
gust at the confusion, and also by disputes about land-titles, rejected the proprietaries alto
gether. In the western moiety, Daniel Coxe, as largest owner of the domain, claimed exclu
sive proprietary powers ; yet the people disallowed his claim, rejecting his deputy, under the
bad name of a Jacobite. In 1691 Coxe conveyed such authority as he had to the West Jersey
Society ; and, in 1692, Andrew Hamilton was accepted in the colony as governor under their
commission. Thus did West New Jersey continue, with a short interruption in 1698, till the
government was surrendered. But the law officers of the crown questioned even the tempo
rary settlement, and the lords of trade claimed New Jersey as a royal province, and they
proposed a settlement of the question by ' a trial in Westminster Hall on a feigned issue.'
The proprietaries, threatened with the ultimate interference of Parliament, in respect to prov
inces ' where,' it was said, 'no regular government had ever been established,' resolved
rather to resign their pretensions. In the first year of Queen Anne, the surrender took place
before the privy council.
" It is worthy of remark, that the domain, ceasing to be connected with proprietary powers,
remained, under the rules of private right, safe to its possessors, and was never confiscated.
After the Revolution, even to the present time, their rights have been respected like other
titles to estates. So true it is that the separation of private property from political questions
tends to its security.
" The surrender of ' the pretended ' rights to government being completed, the two Jerseys
were united in one province ; and the government was conferred on Edward Hyde, Lord
Cornbury, who, like Queen Anne, was the grandchild of Clarendon.
" New Jersey never again obtained a charter. The royal commission and the royal instruc
tions to Lord Cornbury constituted the form of its administration. To the governor
appointed by the crown belonged the power of legislation, with consent of the royal council
and the representatives of the people. A freehold, or property qualification, limited the elect
ive franchise. The governor could convene, prorogue or dissolve the assembly at his will,
and the period of its duration depended on his pleasure. The laws were subject to an imme
diate veto from the governor, and a veto from the crown to be exercised at any time. The
governor, with the consent of his council, instituted courts of law, and appointed their offi-
* Smith, 568, 211.
27

210 MOTIVES OF WILLIAM PENN.
or was moved by all these considerations, it is quite certain that he was actu
ated by high and disinterested motives in so extensively employing his means
for the purchase of territory in the New World. - " The views of William
Penn," says Proud, "in the colonization of Pennsylvania, were most mani-
ifestly the best and most exalted that could occupy the human mind, —
namely, to render men as free and happy as the nature of their existence
could possibly bear, in their civil capacity ; and, in their religious state, to
cers. The people took no part in constituting the judiciary. Liberty of conscience was
granted to all but Papists, but favor was invoked for the Church of England. At the same
time, its prosperity was made impossible, by investing the governor with the right of present
ation of benefices.
"In suits at law the governor and council formed a court of appeal. If the value in
dispute exceeded two hundred pounds, the English privy council possessed ultimate jurisdic
tion. Two instructions mark, one a declining bigotry, the other an increasing interest.
' Great inconvenience,' says Queen Anne, ' may arise by the liberty of printing in our prov
ince ' of New Jersey : and therefore no printing-press might be kept, — 'no book, pamphlet,
or other matters whatsoever, be printed without a license.' And, in conformity with English
policy, especial countenance of the traffic ' in merchantable negroes ' was earnestly enjoined.
Thus the courts, the press, the executive, became dependent on the crown, and the interests
of free labor were sacrificed to the cupidity of the Royal African Company.
" One method of influence remained to the people of New Jersey. The assembly must fix
the amount of its grants to the governor. The queen did not venture to prescribe, or invite
Parliament to prescribe, a salary; still less, herself to concede it from colonial resources.
Urgent that all appropriations should be made directly for the use of the crown, to be audited
by her officers, she wished a fixed revenue to be settled ; but the colonial deliberations were
respected, and the wise assembly, which never established a permanent revenue, often
embarrassed its votes of supplies by insisting on an auditor of its own.
" The freemen of the colony were soon conscious of the diminution of their liberties. For
absolute religious freedom, they obtained only toleration ; for courts resting on enactments
of their own representatives, they now had courts instituted by royal ordinances ; — and the
sense of their loss quickened their love of freedom by an undefined sentiment of having suf
fered a wrong. By degrees they claimed to hold their former privileges by the nature of an
inviolable compact. The surrender of their charter' could change the authority of the pro
prietaries, but not impair their concessions of political liberties. Inured to self-reliance and
self-government, no thought of independence sprung up among them ; but the Quakers and
Puritans of East and West New Jersey, cordially joining to vindicate their common liberties,
never feared an encounter with a royal governor, and were ever alert to resist encroachments
on their rights.
' ' Retaining its own legislature, New Jersey was, for a season, included in the same gov
ernment with New York. The first governor of West New Jersey had been the peaceful
Thomas Olive, who, as a magistrate, had quietly dispensed justice seated on a stump in his
fields, and, as a governor, had been content with twenty pounds a year. Did hopes dawn of
a brighter day with a kinsman to the queen as governor of the united royal province ? In
the administration of Olive there had been tranquillity and contentment, — the happiness of
a blameless community under its own guardianship. Would more even justice be adminis
tered by one so nearly allied to the nobility and the throne of England ? " — Vol. m., 46.
It may be remarked that such men as Olive cultivated the principles of Democracy ; and that
royalty, without intending it, rendered them available by placing the province in a position
of pohtical activity.

WILLIAM PENN AND- CHARLES II. 211
restore them to those lost rights and privileges with which God and nature
had originally blessed the human race."
At the period when Penn petitioned for land in America, his relations to
the crown were peculiar. His father had advanced sums of money, from
time to time, for the good of the naval service, and a portion of his salary
also remained unpaid. These sums, including interest, now amounted to
sixteen thousand pounds. How far he was influenced by considerations con
nected with these claims, or in what degree the king was moved to favor a
petition which would cancel so considerable a debt, does not clearly appear in
history. He is recorded as the petitioner for the grant, and as the proposer
of conditions to cancel his debt for land, although his majesty Charles II.
has the credit of a persisting condescension in naming the province.1 The
petition was opposed, but the charter was granted.2 For a considerable
period the influence of Penn at court was great. Quakerism was a peaceful
element. Its dissent was passive, — its activity defensive.
"The moral power of ideas," says Bancroft,3 "is constantly effecting
changes and improvements in society. No Quaker book has a trace of scep
ticism on man's capacity for progress. Such is the force of an honest pro
fession of truth, the humblest person, if single-minded and firm, ' can shake
all the country for ten miles round.'4 The integrity of the inner light is an
invincible power. It is a power which never changes. Such was the mes
sage of Fox to the Pope, the kings and nobles of all sorts. It fathoms the
world, and throws down that which is contrary to it.5 It quenches fire ; it
daunts wild beasts ; it turns aside the edge of the sword ; it out-faces instru
ments of cruelty ; it converts executioners. It was remembered with exult
ation that the enfranchisements of Christianity were the result of faith, and
not of the sword ; and that truth in its simplicity, radiating from the foot
of the cross, has filled a world of sensualists with astonishment, overthrown
their altars, discredited their oracles, infused itself into the soul of the mul
titude, invaded the court, risen superior to armies, and led magistrates and
1 It was the intention of Penn to have had it called New Wales ; but the under-secretary,
who was a Welshman, opposed it. He then suggested Sylvania, on account of its woods ; but
they would still prefix Penn to it. He offered the under-secretary twenty guineas to give up
his prejudices, and to consent to change the name ; for he feared lest it should be looked upon
as vanity in him, and not as a respect in the king, as it truly was, to his father, whom he
often mentioned with great praise. Finding that all would not do, he went to the king him-
Belf to get the name of Penn struck out, or another substituted ; but the king said it was
passed, and that he would, take the naming of it upon himself. — Clarkson's Penn, ±., 108.
2 William Penn had powerful friends in North, Halifax and Sunderland ; and a pledge
given to his father on his death-bed obtained for him the assured favor of the Duke of York.
Sustained by such friends, and pursuing his object with enthusiasm, he triumphed over " the
great opposition" which he encountered. — Bancroft, ir., 362.
3 Vol. ii., 350. * Fox, 112 ; Penn, i., 347, 348. 5 Fox, 176.

212 INNER LIGHT THE RULE OF CONDUCT.
priests, statesmen and generals, in its train, as the trophies of its strength
exerted in its freedom. 1
" Thus the Quaker was cheered by a firm belief in the progress of society.
Even Aristotle, so many centuries ago, recognized the upward tendency in
human affairs; a Jewish contemporary of Barclay declared that progress to
be a tendency towards popular power ; George Fox perceived 2 that the Lord's
hand was against kings ; and one day, on the hills of Yorkshire, he had a
vision that he was but beginning the glorious work of God in the earth ;
that his followers would in time become as numerous as motes in the sun
beams ; and ttait the party of humanity would gather the whole human race
in one sheep-fold.3 Neither art, wisdom, nor violence, said Barclay,4 con
scious of the vitality of truth, shall quench the little spark that hath appeared.
The atheist, — such was the common opinion of the Quakers, — the atheist
alone denies progress, and says in his heart, All things continue as they were
in the beginning.5
" If, from the rules of private morality, we turn to political institutions,
here also the principle of the Quaker is the inner light. He acquiesces in
any established government which shall build its laws upon the declarations
of 'universal reason.'6 But government is a part of his religion;7 and
the religion that declares ' every man enlightened by the divine light '
establishes government on universal and equal enfranchisement.
" 'Not one of mankind,' 8 says Penn, "is exempted from this illumina
tion.' — ' God discovers himself to every man.' He is in every breast, —
in the ignorant drudge, as well as in Locke or Leibnitz. Every moral
truth9 exists in every man's and woman's heart, as an incorruptible seed.
The ground may be barren,10 but the seed is certainly there. Every man is
a little sovereign to himself.11 Freedom is as old as reason itself, which is
given to all,12 constant and eternal, — the same to all nations.13 The Quaker
is no materialist.14 Truth and conscience are not in the laws of countries ;
they are not one thing at Rome and another at Athens ; they cannot be
abrogated by Senate or people.15 Freedom and the right of property were
in the world before Protestantism.15 They came not with Luther ; they do
not vanish with Calvin. They are the common privilege of mankind.
"The Bible enfranchises those only to whom it is carried; Christianity,
those only to whom it is made known ; the creed of a sect, those only within
its narrow pale. The Quaker, resting his system on the inner light, redeems
l Penn, i., 347. 6 Penn, i., 202. « lb. 168, 169.
2 Fox, 175. 7 Fox, 72. 12 Penn, m., 183 ; Etj. 1., 203.
3 Fox, xxv. 8 penn, 1., 320. " Barclay, 183.
* Barclay, 54G. 9 Penn, 1., 323. 1* Penn, 11., 552.
* Besse, 11., 523. w Barclay, 295, 299. M Barclay, 183.

w Barclay, 295, 299. M Barclay,
16 Penn, 1, 221; lb. 11., 294 ; lb. 1., 221.

QUAKERISM A DEMOCRACY. 213
the race. Of those who believe in the necessity of faith in an outward reli
gion, some have cherished the mild superstition that, in the hour of dissolu
tion,1 an angel is sent from heaven ' to manifest the doctrine of Christ's pas
sion ; ' the Quaker believes that the heavenly messenger is always present
in the breast of every man, ready to counsel the willing listener.
"Man is equal to his fellow-man. No class can, 'by long apprentice
ship ' or a prelate's breath, by wearing black or shaving the crown,2 obtain
a monopoly of moral truth. There is no distinction of clergy and laity.
" The inner light sheds its blessings on the whole human race. It knows
no distinction of sex. It redeems woman by the dignity of her. moral nature,
and claims for her the equal culture and free exercise of her endowments.
As the human race ascends the steep acclivity of improvement, the Quaker
cherishes woman as the equal companion of the journey.3
" Men are equal.4 The Quaker knows no abiding distinction of king and
subject. The universality of the inner light ' brings crowns to the dust,5
and lays them low and level with the earth.' ' The Lord will be king; there
will be no crowns but to such as obey his will.' With God a thousand years
are indeed as one day; yet judgment on tyrants will come at last,6 and may
come ere long.
" Every man has God in the conscience ; the Quaker knows no distinction
of castes ; he bows to God, and not to his fellow-servant. ' All men are
alike by creation,' says Barclay;7 and it is slavish fear which reverences
others as gods. ' I am a man,' 8 says every Quaker, and refuses homage. The
most favored of his race,9 even though endowed with the gifts and glories
of an angel, he would regard but his fellow-servant and his brother. The
feudal nobility still nourished its pride. ' Nothing,' says Penn,10 ' nothing of
man's folly has less show of reason to palliate it.' — ' What a pother has this
noble blood made in the world ! ' — ' But men of blood have no marks of honor
stampt upon them by nature.' The Quaker scorned to take off his hat
to any of them ; he held himself the peer of the proudest peer in Christen
dom. With the eastern despotism of Diocletian, Europe had learned the
hyperboles of eastern adulation ; but, ' My Lord Peter and My Lord Paul
are not to be found in the Bible ; My Lord Solon or Lord Scipio is not
to be read in Greek or Latin* stories.' And the Quaker returned to the
simplicity of Gracchus and Demosthenes, though ' Thee and Thou proved a
sore cut to proud flesh.' u This was not done for want of courtesy, which ' no
religion destroys ; ' but he knew that the hat was the symbol of enfranchise
ment, worn before the king by the peers of the realm, in token of equality ;
i Barclay, 7. 4 Barclay, 169, 305, 312. 7 Barclay, 541. " i., 430.
2 Barclay, 309, 310, 811. 5 Fox, 175. 8 lb. 504. n Fox.
3 Fox, 59. 6 Besse, n., 523. 9 lb. 505.

214 PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS.
— and the symbol, as adopted by the Quaker, was a constant proclamation
that all men are equal.
" Thus the doctrine of George Fox was not only a plebeian form of phi
losophy, but also the prophecy of political changes. The spirit that made to
him the revelation was the invisible spirit of the age, rendered wise by tra
dition, and excited to insurrection by the enthusiasm of liberty and religion.
Everywhere in Europe, therefore, the Quakers were exposed to persecution.1
Their seriousness was called melancholy fanaticism ; their boldness, self-will ;
their frugality, covetousness ; their freedom, infidelity'; their conscience,
rebellion. In England, the general laws against dissenters, the statute
against Papists, and special statutes against themselves, put them at the
mercy of every malignant informer. They were hated by the church and _
the Presbyterians, by the peers and the king. The codes of that day
describe them as ' an abominable sect ; ' — ' their principles as inconsistent
with any kind of government.' During the Long Parliament, in the time
of the Protectorate, at the Restoration, in England, in New England, in the
Dutch colony of New Netherlands, everywhere and for wearisome years they
were exposed to perpetual dangers and griefs. They were whipped, crowded
into jails among felons, kept in dungeons foul and gloomy beyond imagina
tion, fined, exiled, sold into colonial bondage. They bore the brunt of the
persecution of the dissenters. Imprisoned in winter without fire, they per
ished from frost. Some were victims to the barbarous cruelty of 'the jailer.
Twice George Fox narrowly escaped death. The despised people braved
every danger to continue their assemblies. Haled out by violence, they
returned. When their meeting-houses were torn down,2 they gathered openly
on the ruins. They could not be dissolved by armed men ; and, when their
opposers took shovels to throw rubbish on them, they stood close together,
' willing to have been buried alive, witnessing for the Lord.' They were
1 " The behavior of the Quakers," says Bishop Burnet, " was very extraordinary, and had
something in it that looked like the spirit of martyrdom. They met at the same place and
hour as in times of liberty, and when the officers came to seize them none of them would stir.
They went all together to prison. They stayed there till they were dismissed ; for they would
not petition to be set at liberty, nor pay the fines set upon them, nor so much as the prison-fees.
When they were discharged, they went to their meetihg-house again, as before ; and when
the doors were shut up by order, they assembled in great numbers" in the street before the
doors, saying that they would not be ashamed nor afraid to disown their meeting together in
a peaceable manner to worship God ; — but, in imitation of the prophet Daniel, they would
do it more publicly, because they were forbid. Some called this obstinacy, others firmness ;
but by it they carried their point, the government being weary of contending against so much
perverseness." It has been truly remarked that, had Bishop Burnet " concluded with the
word perseverance, instead of perverseness, his description had been less objectionable, as
being nearer the truth." — Neal's Puritans, in., 170.
2 Barclay, 483, 484, 356.

RELIEF TO QUAKERS. 215
exceeding great sufferers for their profession, and in some cases treated worse
than the worst of the race." J
But their sufferings, though great for a season, were not without their
permanent compensations. "The Quakers had," says Macaulay, "since
the Restoration, in spite of much ill-usage, submitted themselves meekly to '
the royal authority ; for they had, though reasoning on premises which the
Anglican divines regarded as heterodox, arrived, like the Anglican divines,
at the conclusion that no excess of tyranny on the part of the prince can
justify active resistance on the part of a subject. No libel on the govern
ment had ever been traced to a Quaker. In no conspiracy against the gov
ernment had a Quaker been implicated. The society had not joined in the
clamor for the Exclusion Bill ; and had solemnly condemned the Rye-house
Plot as a hellish design, and a work of the devil. Indeed, the Friends then
took very, little part in civil contentions; for they were not, as now, congre
gated in large towns, but were generally engaged in agriculture, a pursuit from
which they have been gradually driven by the vexations consequent on their.
strange scruple about paying tithe. They were, therefore, far removed from
the scene of political strife. They also, even in domestic privacy, avoided, on
principle, all political conversation ; for such conversation was, in their opin
ion, unfavorable to spirituality of mind, and tended to disturb the austere
composure of their deportment." * * *
"It happened, moreover, that it was possible to grant large relief to
the Roman Catholic and to the Quaker without mitigating the suffering
of the Puritan sects. A law which was then in force imposed severe
penalties on every person who refused to take the oath of supremacy, when
required to do so. This Jaw did not affect Presbyterians, Independents, or
Baptists, for they were all ready to call God to witness that they renounced
all spiritual connection with foreign prelates and potentates ; but the Roman
Catholic would not swear that the Pope had no j urisdiction in England, and
the Quaker would not swear to anything. .On the other hand, neither the
Roman Catholic nor the Quaker was touched by the Five Mile Act, which,
of all the laws in the statute-book, was perhaps the most annoying to the
Puritan nonconformists." 2
Although it may be admitted that royal favors were granted with some
reference to public interests, yet it would hardly be denied that those interests
were too often seen through the refracting medium of favoritism and selfish
ness. The fact that the king insisted, upon a name that was complimentary
to the father of Penn indicated a gratified mind, and that the arrangement
was quite m* accordance with his majesty's wishes. This supposition is more
reasonable than to suppose that Penn was equally satisfied in surrendering
so large a debt for a questionable property.
1 Fox, Pref., vu. , 10. 2 1.. 467-8.

216 DELAWARE.
He called the territory his country. " After many waitings, watchings,
sohcitings and disputes in council," he writes, "my country was confirmed
to me under the great seal of England. God will bless and make it the
seed of a nation. I shall have a tender care of the government, that it will
be well laid at first."
On the 8th of April, 1681, he issued the following proclamation to his
vassals and subjects : 1
" My friends : I wish you all happiness here and hereafter. These are to
1 Pennsylvania included the principal settlements of the Swedes ; and patents for land had
been made to Dutch and English by the Dutch West India Company, and afterwards by the
Duke of York.
To perfect his territory (1682), Penn desired to possess the bay, the river, and the shore
of the Delaware, to the ocean. The territories, or three lower counties, now forming the State
of Delaware, were in possession of the Duke of York ; and, from the conquest of New Neth
erlands, had been esteemed an appendage to his province. His claim, arising from conquest
and possession, had the informal assent of the king and the privy council, and had extended
even to the upper Swedish settlements. It was not difficult to obtain from the duke a release
of his claim on Pennsylvania ; and, after much negotiation, the lower province was granted
by two deeds of feoffment. From the forty-third degree of latitude to the Atlantic, the west
ern and southern banks of Delaware river and bay were under the dominion of William Penn.
— Bancroft, ii., 363, 367.
The territories were divided into three counties, and were called Newcastle, Kent and Sus
sex, and at this time were inhabited principally by Dutch' and Swedes. Hi 1682, with the
consent of the people, an act of union with the province of Pennsylvania was passed, and an
act of settlement of a frame of government in a General Assembly, composed of deputies from
the counties of Delaware and Pennsylvania. By this act the counties were, under the name
of territories, annexed to the province, and were to be represented in the General Assembly,
governed by the same laws, and to enjoy the same privileges, as the inhabitants of Pennsyl
vania. Difficulties soon after arose between the deputies" of the province and those of the
territories ; and, after various subordinate arrangements, a final, separation took place
between them, with the consent of the proprietary, in 1703. From that period down to the
American Revolution, the territories were governed by a separate legislature of their own,
pursuant to the liberty reserved to them by a clause in the original charter, or frame of
government. "The lower counties," says Bancroft, "became at once almost an independent democ
racy ; for, as the authority of the proprietary was one of sufferance merely (1708), and was
often brought into question, the executive power intrusted to the Governor of Pennsylvania
was too feeble to limit the power of the people. Delaware had its own legislature, its own
tribunals, its own executive offices, and virtually enjoyed' an absolute self-government." —
hi., 44.
The proper boundaries between the domains of Lord Baltimore and William Penn were
considered before the committee of trade, and in 1685 the present limits of Delaware were
settled by compromise. This decision formed the basis of an agreement between the respect
ive heirs of the two proprietaries in 1732. Three years afterwards, the subject became a
question in chancery; in 1750 the present boundaries were deoreed by Lord Hardwicke. Ten
years afterwards they were, by agreement, more accurately defined ; and, in«l761, the line -
between Maryland and Pennsylvania towards the west was run by Mason and Dixon. (See
Bancroft, vol. n., p. 394.) Day says (Hist. Coll., p. 28), "In 1767 Charles Mason and
Jeremiah Dixon, two distinguished mathematicians and astronomers, were employed to run
the line, and erect stone pillars at conspicuous points." Hence the so famous " Mason and
Dixon's Line."

CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND CONCESSIONS. 217
lett you know that it hath pleased God in his providence to cast you within
my lott and care. It is a business that, though I never undertook before,
yet God has given me an understanding of my duty, and an honest minde to
doe it uprightly. I hope you will not be troubled at your chainge and tho
king's choice ; for you are now fixt at the mercy of no governour that comes
to make his fortune great. -You shall be governed by laws of your own
makeing, and live a free, and, if you will, a sober and industrious People. I
shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person. God has furnisht
me with a better resolution, and has given me his grace to keep it. In short,
whatever sober and free men can reasonably desire, for the security and
improvement of their own happiness, I shall heartily comply with. I
beseech God to direct you in the way of righteousness, and therein prosper
you and your children after you. I am your true friend."
" Such," says Bancroft, " were the pledges of the Quaker sovereign, on
assuming the government. It is the duty of history to state that, during
his long reign, these pledges were redeemed."
In July, 1681, the proprietor published "certain conditions, or conces
sions,1 to adventurers," planned a form of government, and appointed William
1 Certain Conditions, ok Concessions,
Agreed upon by William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of the Province of Pennsyl
vania, and those who are the adventurers and purchasers in the same province, the eleventh
of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-one.
First. That so spon as it pleaseth God that the above said persons arrive there, a quan
tity of land or Ground plat shall be laid out for a large Town or City in the most convenient
place upon the River for health and navigation ; and every purchaser aud adventurer shall
by lot have so much land therein as will answer to the proportion which he hath bought or
taken up upon rent, But it is to be noted that the surveyors shall consider what Roads or
Highways will be necessary to the Cities, Towns, or through the lands. Great roads from City
to City not to contain less than forty feet in breadth shall be first laid out and declared to be
for highways before the Dividend of acres be laid out for the purchaser and the like observa
tion to be had for the streets in the Towns and Cities, that there may be convenient roads
and streets preserved not to be encroached upon by any' planter or builder that none may
build irregularly to the damage of another. Da this custom governs.
Secondly. That the land in the Town be laid out together after the proportion of ten thou
sand acres of the whole country, that is two hundred acres, if the place will bear it: How
ever that the proportion be by lot and entire so as those that desire to be together, especially
those that are by the catalogue laid together, may be so laid together both in the Town
and Country.
Thirdly. That when the Country lots are laid out, every purchaser from one thousand to
Ten thousand acres or more, not to have above One thousand acres together, unless in three
years they plant a family upon every thousand acres ; but that all such as* purchase together,
lie together ; and if as many as comply with this Condition, that the whole be laid out
together. Fourthly. That where any number of purchasers, more or less, whose number of acres
amounts to Five or tSn thousand acres, desire to sit together in a lot or Township, they shall
have their lot or Township cast together, in such places as have convenient Harbors or navi
gable rivers attending it, if such can be found, and in case any one or more Purchasers plant
28

218 CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND CONCESSIONS.
Markham, a relative, to take possession of the country, and prepare the way
for emigrants. Three ships were freighted, and & considerable number,
not according to agreement, in this concession to the prejudice of others of the same Township
upon complaint thereof, made to the Governor or his deputy, with assistance they may award
(if they see cause) that the complaining purchaser may, paying the survey money, and pur
chase money, and Interest thereof, be entitled, inrolled and lawfully invested in the lands so
not' seated.
Fifthly. That the proportion of lands that shall be laid out in the first great Town or
City, for every purchaser, shall be, after the proportion of Ten acres, for every Five hundred
acres purchased, if the place will allow it.
Sixthly. That notwithstanding there be no mention made in the several Deeds made to
the purchasers, yet the said William Penn does accord and declare, that all Rivers, Rivulets,
Woods and Underwoods, Waters, Watercourses, Quarries, Mines and Minerals, (except mines
Royal,) shall be freely and fully enjoyed and wholly by the purchasers into whose lot they
fill. Seventhly. That for every Fifty acres that shall be allotted to a servant, at the end of his
service, his Quitrent shall be two shillings per annum, and the master or owner of the Ser
vant, when he shall take up the other Fifty acres, his Quitrent shall be Four shillings by the
year, or if the master of the servant, (by reason in the Indentures he is so obliged to do,)
allot out to the Servant Fifty acres in his own Division, the said master shall have on demand
allotted him from the Governor, the One hundred acres, at the chief rent of Six shillings per
annum. Eighthly. And for the encouragement of such as are ingenious, and willing to search out
Gold and silver mines in this province, it is hereby agreed that they have liberty to bore and
dig in any man's property, fully paying the damage done, and in case a Discovery should be
made, that the discoverer have One Fifth, the owner of the soil (if not the Disfcoverer) a
Tenth part, the Governor Two fifths, and the rest, to the public Treasury, saving to the king
the share reserved by patent.
Ninthly. In every hundred thousand acres, the Governor and Proprietary by lot reserv-
eth Ten to himself, which shall lie but in one place.
Tenthly. That every man shall be bound to plant or man so much of his share of Land
as shall be set out and surveyed within three years after it is so set out and surveyed, or
else it shall be lawful for new comers to be settled thereupon, paying to them their survey
money, and they go up higher for their shares.
Eleventhly. There shall be no buying and selling, be it with an Indian, or one among
another of any Goods to be exported but what shall be performed in public market, when
such place shall be set apart or erected, where they shall pass the public Stamp or Mark. If
bad ware and prized as good, or deceitful in proportion or weight, to forfeit the value as if
good, and full weight and proportion to the public Treasury of the Province, whether it be
the merchandise of the Indian or that of the Planters.
Twelfthly. And forasmuch as it is usual with the planters to over-reach the poor natives
of the Country in Trade, by Goods not being good of the kind, or debased with mixtures, with
which they are sensibly aggrieved, it is agreed, Whatever is sold to the Indians, in considera
tion of their furs, shall be sold in the market place, and there suffer the test, whether good or
bad ; if good to pass ; if not good, not to be sold for good, that the natives may not be
abused nor provoked.
Thirteenthly. That no man shall by any ways or means, in word or' deed, affront or wrong
any Indian, but he shall incur the same. penalty of the Law, as if he had committed it
against his fellow-planters ; and if any Indian shall abuse, in Word or-Deed, any planter of
this province, that he shall not be his own Judge upon the Indian, but he shall make his
complaint to the Governor of the province, or his Lieutenant or Deputy, or some inferior mag-

PENN OPPOSED TO MONOPOLIES. 219
mostly Quakers, accompanied Markham to America. An association J was
formed at London and Bristol, — the "Free Society of Traders," — who
purchased lands, with distinct views to agriculture, manufactories, and for
carrying on the lumber trade and whale fisheries.
Penn himself did not leave England till August 30, 1682. He sailed in
the ship Welcome, accompanied by near a hundred persons ; and, after a long
and trying passage, " rendered gloomy by frequent death," arrived at New
castle on the 27th day of October, 1682.
" The news spread rapidly," says Bancroft, " that the Quaker king was
at Newcastle ; and, on the day after his landing, in presence of a crowd of
istrate near him, who shall, to the utmost of his power, take care with the king of the said
Indian, that all reasonable Satisfaction be made to the said injured planter.
Fourteenthly. That all differences between the Planters and the natives, shall also be
ended by Twelve men, that is, by Six planters and Six natives, that so we may live friendly
together as much as in us lieth, preventing all occasions of Heart burnings and mischief.
Fifteenthly. That the Indians shall have liberty to do all things relating to improvement
of their Ground, and providing sustenance for the families, that any of the planters shall
enjoy. Sixteenthly. That the laws as to Slanders, Drunkenness, Swearing, Cursing, Pride in
apparel, Trespasses, Distresses, Replevins, Weights and measures, shall be the same as in
England, till altered by law in this province.
Seventeenthly. That all shall mark their hogs, sheep and other cattle, and what are not
marked within three months after it is in their possession, be it young or old, it shall be for
feited to the Governor, that so people may be compelled to avoid the occasions of much strife
between Planters.
Eighteenthly. That in clearing the ground, care be taken to leave One acre of trees for
every five acres cleared, especially to preserve oak and mulberries, for silk and shipping.
Nineteenthly. That all ship masters shall give an account of their Countries, Names,
Ships, Owners, Freights and Passengers, to an officer to be appointed for that purpose, which
shall be registered within Two days after their arrival ; and if they shall refuse so to do that
then none presume to trade with them, upon forfeiture thereof; and that such masters be
looked upon as having an evil intention to the province.
Twentiethly. That no person leave the Province without publication being made thereof
in the market place, Three weeks before, and a certificate from some Justice of the peace, of his
clearness with his neighbors and those he has dealt withal, so far as such an assurance can
be attained and given ; and if any master of a ship shall contrary hereunto receive, and
carry away any person that hath not given that public notice, the said master shall be liable
to all debts owing by the said person, so secretly transported from the province. Lastly, that
these are to be added to or corrected by ahd with the consent of the parties hereunto sub
scribed. Sealed and delivered in the presence of WILLIAM PENN, and others.
1 Penn was opposed to monopolies. In 1681 he was offered, by a company of traders, six
thousand pounds and as annual revenue for a monopoly of the Ihdian traffic between the
Delaware and the Susquehanna. His answer was prompt and noble. " I will not abuse the
love of God," said he, " nor act unworthy of his providence, by defiling what came to me
clean. No ! let the Lord guide me by his wisdom, to honor his name and serve his truth and
people, that an example and a standard may be set up to the nations ; " and he adds to a
friend, " There may be room there, though not here, for the Holy Experiment." — Bancroft,
n., 365.

220 GROWTH OF COLONY — NEW PRINCIPLES OF ACTION.
Swedes, and Dutch, and English, who had gathered round the. court-house
his deeds of feoffment were produced. The Duke of York's agent surren
dered the territory by the solemn delivery of earth and water, and Penn,
invested with supreme and undefined power in Delaware, addressed the
assembled multitude on government, recommended sobriety and peace, and
pledged himself to grant liberty of conscience and civil freedom." 1
But, as the colony increased in numbers, new principles of action were
developed. "After the predominance in England of the Protestant succes
sion, by the Revolution of 1688, the Quakers were no longer ^compelled to
go to America to avoid persecution ; while a new set of men, bent more upon
making their fortunes than upon the defence or promotion of high religious
principle, were induced to emigrate. These were either of the Church of
England or Presbyterians from Scotland and Ireland, and were not averse
to bearing arms. The adventurous traders of New England, too, trained in
the school of Puritan republicanism, were also coming to seek their gains in
the genial climate of the south. Among these was the boy Benjamin Frank
lin, the new master-spirit of Pennsylvania, who arrived in October, 1723.
The Mennonists, or German Baptists, — a sect which adhered to the princi
ple of non-resistance, — persecuted in Europe, and driven from one country
to another, sought the toleration of Penn's colony, and emigrated between the
years 1698 and 1717, — many, in the latter year, settling in Lancaster,
Berks, and the upper part of Chester county. The Dunkards, also a non-
resistant sect, began to emigrate about the year 1718, and subsequently
established a sort of monastery and convent at Ephrata, in Lancaster county.
The Lutheran Germans, who, on the other hand, were not averse to fighting
when oocasion required it, began now to emigrate in great numbers, settling
principally in Berks and Lancaster counties. Amid this great diversity of
races, languages, sectarian and political prejudices, were early planted the
seeds of strife that agitated the province for more than fifty years, and
terminated only in the American Revolution." 2
In respect to the subject of government, Penn considered man as the dep
uty of his Maker, not only qualified by skill and capacity for so great a
charge and trust, but religiously bound to be honest, and to do justice.
With him, government was made a part of his religion, and he recognized
in its institution and end divine control. He studied the subject with an
evident desire to frame a system that should meet the numerous contingencies
incident to the nature of man. Goodness was pronounced the safest basis,
and the practice of virtue the safest policy. He attempted to solve the
great problem as to the best form of government, by admitting the most
important element which is peculiar to one and common to all, and stated a
condition which was self-evident, but which failed to explain itself in its
l n., 380. 2 Day's Hist. Coll., p. 380.

DEMOCRACY OF THE QUAKERS. 221
forced connection.1 He clearly saw in Democracy the true principles of gov
ernment, but he sought to reduce those principles to practice by monarchical
means.2 Instead of viewing the form of government as a result of the con
dition of the people, he preferred to show that the success of government
depended upon the goodness of man, without reference to form. In some
degree this was true. But, in premising that it was necessary that the peo
ple should be a party to the laws, he omitted to estimate their necessary
share of power in such a position. People are not to be satisfied with a nom
inal position, which admits of their agency in theory, but denies it in prac
tice. In adopting the property power of control, he decided merely a ques
tion of interest, but not of principle, in relation to rights. He doubtless
was governed by liberal, and it may have been by magnanimous motives ;
but such motives require to be limited by considerations of a prudential
nature, to say nothing of their inapplicability to questions of a public pol
icy.3 Individual interest may sometimes run parallel to public interest ; but
to rely upon a permanent parallelism between two interests so dissimilar in
their' nature, would seem to imply either a want of judgment or the want
of knowledge. To say that Penn was either ignorant, or deficient in powers
of discernment, viewed in relation to the age in which he lived, would be an
act of great injustice to his memory.* He was a close student of history,
i See 3d division of his Preface, p. 224, quoted in this chapter.
2 The Quaker proprietaries in England declared for Democracy, but not with revolutionary
motives against monarchy. Their language to the few who had emigrated (in 1676) is thus
quoted »by Bancroft : " The concessions are such as Friends approve of. We lay a founda
tion for after ages to understand their liberties as Christians and as men, that they may not
be brought into bondage, but by their own consent ; for we put the powek in the people."
The charter and fundamental laws of West New Jersey were perfected and published March
3, 1677. " They are written with almost as much method as our present constitutions, and
recognize the principle of democratic equality as unconditionally and universally as the Qua
ker society itself. — Vol. n., 357. Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and West New Jersey, and
Rhode Island, and in some measure North Carolina, were Quaker states. — lb. ii., 402. " But
for the hereditary office of proprietary, Pennsylvania had been a representative democracy."
— ii., 389. It might be added, perhaps with equal truth, that with a hereditary proprietary
a representative democracy would be impossible.
3 " That Penn was superior to avarice, was clear from his lavish expenditures to relieve the
imprisoned ; that he had risen above ambition, appeared from his preference of the despised
Quakers to the career of high advancement in the court of Charles II. But he loved to do
good ; and could passionate philanthropy resign absolute power, apparently so favorable to the
exercise of vast benevolence? ' I purpose,' said he, 'for the matters of liberty, I purpose
that which is extraordinary, to leave myself and successors no power of doeing mischief, —
that the Will of one man may not hinder the good of a whole country.' " — lb., vol. n.,
p. 366.
La his great devotion to the inner light, he expressed more confidence in principles than
fears of failure in practice. His spiritual freedom was endangered by his proprietary inter
ests. The greater good was left subordinate to the inferior agent.
* When Penn published his book, entitled " Some Fruits of Solitude, in Reflections and
Maxims relating to the Conduct of Human Life," he had seen much of the world. He had

222 WILLIAM penn's views of government.
and a skilful logician. He manifested even a solicitude to avail himself of
all the aids which God had given him, in his own powers and consciousness,
and to learn from the experiments of men and nations the conditions of suc
cessful endeavor. But he started with an error, and this error produced its
natural fruit. Tares had been sown with the wheat, and why should the
reaper look forward to an unmixed crop 1 The liberality of his administra
tion could not alter the nature of the principles of his frame of goverment, as
to property ; his concessions to freedom could not change the source of power
as to sovereignty ; and he lived to realize the difference always to be found
existing between resolution and practice in the individual, and between democ
racy- and feudalism in society.1 He had failed to understand the mission of
feudalism, and to discover that society was in advance of those necessities
which gave it birth. Sovereignty was claimed by the people ; and, so far from
gaining their consent to have it otherwise lodged by liberal measures, it will
appear obvious, in the very nature of things, that liberal measures which
concede equal rights, and provide for the impartial execution of justice, pre
pare the public mind more and more for the realization of those blessings
which can spring only from institutions of Democracy. It is not enough
for man, however good, ' to make promises to the people ; for, if the people
have been led to believe that they are to be trusted, they are not likely to be
ignorant of the fact that even the right of making promises alone belongs to
them, and not to him.
But, when Penn has explained his own views on government, it may seem
like presumption not to introduce them without preliminary remarks.- The
following is the language of the " Preface to the Frame of Government "
which he prepared for the " Province of Pennsylvania : "
' ' When the great and wise God had made the world, of all his creatures
it pleased him to choose man his deputy to rule it; and, to fit him for so
great a charge and trust, he did not only qualify him with skill and power,
but with integrity to use them justly. This native goodness was equally his
honor and his happiness ; and, whilst he stood here, all went well. There
travelled in his own country and in Ireland. He had visited France, Holland, and Germany.
He had lived in America, then reputed a new quarter of the globe. He had surveyed,
therefore, men under different tongues,' colors, climates, manners, religions, and govern
ments. He had tasted both the sweet and bitter fruits of prosperity and adversity. — See
Clarkson, n., 38.
1 " The relations of Penn to his colony," says Bancroft, "were two-fold ; he was their
sovereign, and he was the owner of the unappropriated domain." — in., 42. And further,
" Divesting himself and his successors of all power to injure, he had founded a Democracy.
By the necessity of the case, he remained its feudal sovereign ; for it was only as such that
he could have granted or could maintain the charter of colonial liberties. His resignation
would have been a surrender of the colony to the crown. But time and the people would
remove the inconsistency." — Vol. in., 43, 44. But " the necessity of the case " does not
alter the principle, and to speak of " inconsistency " is to admit the discovery of error.

WILLIAM PENN'S VIEWS OF GOVERNMENT. 223
was no need of coercive or compulsive means. The precept of divine love
and truth in his bosom was the guide and keeper of his innocency. But
lust prevailing against duty, made a lamentable breach upon it ; and the
law that before had no power over him, took place upon him and his disobe
dient posterity, that such as would not live conformable to the holy law
within should fall under the reproof and correction of the just law without,
in a judicial administration.
" This the apostle teaches in divers of his epistles. The law (says he)
was added because of transgression. In another place, knowing that the
law was not made for the righteous man, but for the disobedient and
ungodly, for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers, for whore
mongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, and for men-stealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, &c. But this is not all ; he opens and car
ries the matter of government a little further : Let every soul be subject to
the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be
are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth
the ordinance of God ; for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Wilt thou, then, not be afraid of the power 1 Do that which is good, and
thou shalt have praise of the same. He is the minister of God to thee for
good. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but for
conscience' sake.
" This settles the divine right of government beyond exception, and that
for two ends. First, to terrify evil doers ; secondly, to cherish those that do
well, — which gives government a life beyond corruption, and makes it as
durable in the world as good men shall be. So that government seems to
me a part of religion itself, — a thing sacred in its institution and end. For,
if it does not directly remove the cause, it crushes the effects of evil, and is
as- such (though a lower yet) an emanation of the same divine power that
is both author and object of pure religion, — the difference lying here, that
the one is more free and mental, the other more corporal and compulsive, in
its operations. But that is only to evil-doers ; government itself being oth
erwise as capable of kindness, goodness and charity, as a more private soci
ety. They weakly err that think there is no other use of government than
correction, which is the coarsest part of it. Daily experience tells- us that
the care and regulation of many other affairs more soft and daily necessary
make up much the greatest part of government ; and which must have fol
lowed the peopling of the world, had Adam never fell, and will continue
among men on earth under the highest attainments they may arrive at, by
the coming of the blessed second Adam, the Lord from heaven. Thus much
of government in general, as to its rise and end.
" For particular frames and models, it will become me to say little; and,
comparatively, I will say nothing. My reasons are : first, that the age is

224 WILLIAM PENN'S VIEWS OF GOVERNMENT.
too nice and difficult for it, there being nothing the wits of men are more
busy and divided upon. 'Tis true, they seem to agree in the end, to wit,
happiness ; but in the means they differ, as to divine, so to this human felic
ity. And the cause is much the same ; not always want' of light and knowl
edge, but want of using them rightly. Men side with their passions against
their reason, and their sinister interests have so strong a bias upon tlieir
minds, that they lean to them against the good of the things they know.
" Secondly, I do not find a model in the world that time, place and some
singular emergencies, have not necessarily altered ; nor is it easy to frame a
civil government that shall serve all places alike.
" Thirdly, I know what is said by the several admirers of monarchy, aris
tocracy and democracy, which are the rule of one, a few, and many, and are
the three common ideas of government, when men discourse on that subject.
But I choose to solve the controversy with this small distinction, and it
belongs to all three. Any government is free to the people under it (what
ever be the frame) where the laws rule, and the people are a party to those
laws ; and more than this is tyranny, oligarchy, and confusion.
"But, lastly, when all is said, there is hardly one frame of government
in the world so ill-designed by its founders, that, in good hands, would not
do well enough ; and story tells us, the best in ill ones can do nothing that
is great or good. Witness the Jewish and Roman states. Governments,
like clocks, go from the motion men give them ; and, as governments are
made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore gov
ernments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men
be good, and the government cannot be bad ; if it be ill, they will cure it.
But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor
to warp and spoil it to their turn.
" I know some say, let us have good laws, and no matter for the men that
execute them. But, let them consider that, though good laws do well, good
men do better ; for good laws may want good men, and be abolished or
invaded by ill men ; ¦ — but good men will never want good laws, nor suffer
ill ones. 'T is true, good laws have some awe upon ill ministers ; but that
is where they have not power to escape or abolish them, and the people are
generally wise and good. But a loose and depraved people (which is to the
question) love laws and an administration like themselves. That, therefore,
which makes a good constitution must keep it, namely, men of wisdom and
virtue, — qualities that, because they descend not with worldly inheritances,
must be carefully propagated by a virtuous education of youth, for which
after ages will owe more to the care and prudence of founders and the suc
cessive magistracy, than to their parents, for their private patrimonies.
"These considerations of the weight of government, and the nice and
various opinions about it, made it uneasy to me to think of publishing the

FRAME OF GOVERNMENT. 225
ensuing frame and conditional laws,1 foreseeing both the censures they will
meet with from men of differing humors and engagements, and the occasion
they may give of discourse beyond my design.
i The Frame.
TO ALL PEOPLE to whom these presents shall come. WHEREAS King Charles the
Second, by his letters patents, under the great seal of England, for the consideration therein
mentioned, hath been graciously pleased to give and grant unto me, William Penn (by the
name of William Penn, Esq., son and heir of Sir William Penn, deceased), and to my heirs
and assigus forever, all that tract of land or province, called Pennsylvania, in America, with
divers great powers, preheminences, royalties, jurisdictions, and authorities, necessary for
the well-being and government thereof : NOW KNOW YE that for the well-being and gov
ernment of the said province, and for the encouragement of all the freemen and planters
that may be therein concerned, in pursuance of the powers aforementioned, I the said Will
iam Penn have declared, granted, and confirmed, and by these presents, for me, my heirs
and assigns, do declare, grant and confirm unto all the freemen, planters and adventurers, of,
-in and to the said province, these liberties, franchises, and properties, to be held, enjoyed and
kept by the freemen, planters and inhabitants of the said province of Pennsylvania, forever.
Imprimis'. That the government of this province shall, according to the powers of the
patent, consist of the' Governor and freemen of the said province, in form of a Provincial
Council and General Assembly, by whom all laws shall be made, officers chosen, and public
affairs transacted, as is hereafter respectively declared. That is to say,
Second. That the freemen of the said province shall, on the twentieth day of the twelfth
month which shall be in this present year, one thousand six hundred eighty and two, meet
and assemble in some fit place, of which timely notice shall be beforehand given, by the gov
ernor or his deputy, and then and there shall choose out of themselves seventy-two persons of
most note for their wisdom, virtue and ability, who shall meet on the tenth of the first month'
next ensuing, and always be called and act as the Provincial Council of the said province. ¦
Third. That at the first choice of such Provincial Council, one-third part of the said
Provincial Council shall be chosen to serve for three years next ensuing ; one-third part for
two years then next ensuing, and one-third part for one year then next following suoh elec
tion, and no longer; and that the said third part shall go out accordingly. And on the
twentieth day of the twelfth month as aforesaid, yearly forever afterward, the freemen of
the said province shall in like manner meet and assemble together, and then choose twenty-
four persons, being one-third of the said number, to serve in Provincial Council for three
years. It being intended, that one-third part of the whole Provincial Council (always consist
ing and to consist of seventy-two persons, as aforesaid) falling off yearly, it shall be yearly
supplied by such new yearly elections, as aforesaid ; and that no one person shall continue
therein longer than three years : and in case any member shall decease before the last elec
tion during his time, that then, at the next election ensuing his decease, another shall be
chosen to supply his place for the remaining time he was to have served, and no longer.
Fourth. That after .the first seven years, every one of the said third parts that goeth
yearly off shall be uncapable of being chosen again for one whole year following ; that so all
may be fitted for government, and have experience and care and burden of it.
Fifth. That the Provincial Council, in all cases of matters of moment, as their arguing
upon bills to be passed into laws, erecting courts of justice, giving judgment upon criminals
impeached, and choice of officers, in such manner as is herein after mentioned, not less than
two-thirds of the whole Provincial Council shall make a quorum ; and that the consent and
approbation of two-thirds of such quorum shall be had in all such cases and matters of moment.
And, moreover, that in all cases and matters of lesser moment twenty-four members of the
said Provincial Council shall make a quorum, the majority of which twenty-four shall and
may always determine in such cases and causes of lesser moment.
29

226 FRAME OF GOVERNMENT.
" But next to the power of necessity (which is a solicitor that -will take
no denial) this induced me to a compliance, that we have (with reverence to
God, and good conscience to men) to the best of our skill contrived and
Sixth. That in this Provincial Council the governor or his deputy shall or may always
preside, and have a treble voice ; and the said Provincial Council shall always continue, and
sit upon its own adjournments and committees.
Seventh. That the Governor and Provincial Council shall prepare and propose to the
General Assembly hereafter mentioned all bills which they shall at any time think fit' to be
passed into laws within the said province, ; which bills shall be published and affixed to the
most noted places in the inhabited parts thereof thirty days before the meeting of the Gen
eral Assembly, in order to the passing them into laws, or rejecting of them, as the General
Assembly shall see meet.
Eighth. That the Governor and Provincial Council shall take care that all laws, statutes
and ordinances; which shall at any time be made within the said province, be duly and dili
gently executed.
Ninth. That the Governor and Provincial Council shall at all times have the care of the
peace and safety of the province, and that nothing be by any person attempted to the subver
sion of -this frame of government.
' Tenth. That the Governor and Provincial Council shall at all times settle and order the
situation of all cities, ports and market-towns, in every county, modelling therein all public
buildings, streets and market-places, and shall appoint all necessary roads and highways in
the province.
Eleventh. That the Governor and Provincial Council shall at all times have power to
inspect the management of the public treasury, and punish those who shall convert any
part thereof to any other use than what hath been agreed upon by the Governor, Provincial
Council and General Assembly.
Twelfth. That the Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and order all public
schools, and encourage and reward the authors of useful sciences and laudable inventions, in
the said province.
Thirteenth. That, for the better management of the powers and trust aforesaid, the Pro
vincial Council shall from time to time divide itself into four distinct and proper committees,
for the more easy administration of the affairs of the province, which divides the seventy-two
into four eighteens, every one of which eighteens shall consist of six out of each of the three
orders or yearly elections, each of which shall have a distinct portion of business, as follow
eth : first, a committee of plantations, to situate and settle cities, ports, market-towns and
highways, and to hear and decide all suits and controversies relating to plantations. Sec
ondly, a committee of justice and safety, to secure the peace of the province, and punish the
maladministration of those who subvert justice to the prejudice of the public or private
interest. Thirdly, a committee of trade and treasury, who shall regulate all trade and com
merce according to law, encourage manufacture and country growth, and defray the public
charge of the province. And fourthly, a committee of manners, education, and arts, that
all wicked and scandalous living may be prevented, and that youth may be successively
trained up in virtue and useful knowledge and arts : the quorum of each of which commit
tees being six, that is, two out of each of the three orders or yearly elections as aforesaid,
making a constant and standing council of twenty-four, which will have the power of the
Provincial Council, being the quorum of it, in all cases not excepted in the fifth article ; and
in the said committees and standing Council of the province, the governor or his deputy shall
or may preside as aforesaid ; and in the absence of the governor or his deputy, if no one is
by either of them appointed, the -said committees or Council shall appoint a president for
that time, and not otherwise ; and what shall be resolved at such committees shall be
reported to the said Council of the province, and shall be by them resolved and confirmed

FRAME OF GOVERNMENT. 227
composed the FRAME and LAWS of this government, to the great end of
all government, namely, to support power in reverence with the people, and
to secure the people from the abuse of power, that they may be free by
before tlie same shall be put in exeontion ; and that these respective committees shall not sit
at one and the same time, except in cases of necessity.
Fourteenth. And to tbe end that all laws prepared by the Governor and Provincial Coun
cil aforesaid may yet have the more full concurrence of the freemen of the province, it is
declared, granted, and confirmed, that at the time and plaoe or places for the choice of a
Provincial Council as aforesaid, the said freemen shall yearly choose members to serve in
General Assembly as their representatives, not exceeding two hundred persons, who shall
yearly meet on the twentieth day of the second month, which shall be in the year one thou
sand six hundred eighty and three following, in the capital, town, or city of the said
province, where during eight days the several members may freely confer with one another ;
and, if any of them see meet, with a, committee of the Provincial Council (consisting of
three out of each of the four committees aforesaid, being twelve in all) which shall be at
that time purposely appointed to receive from any of them proposals for the alteration or
amendment of any of the said proposed and promulgated bills : and on the ninth day from
their so meeting, the said General Assembly, after reading over the proposed bills by the
clerk of the Provincial Council, and the occasion and motives for them being opened by the
governor or his deputy, shall give their affirmative or negative, which to them seemeth best,
in such manner as hereinafter is expressed. But not less than two-thirds shall make a quo
rum in the passing of laws and choice of such' officers as are by them to be chosen.
Fifteenth. That the laws so prepared and proposed as aforesaid, that are assented to by
the General Assembly, shall be enrolled as laws of the province, with this style : By the
Governor, with the assent and approbation of the freemen in Provincial Council and
General Assembly.
Sixteenth. That for the better establishment of the government and laws of this prov
ince, and to the end there may be an universal satisfaction in the laying of the fundamentals
thereof, the General Assembly shall or may for the first year consist of all the freemen of
and in the said province, and ever after it shall be yearly chosen, as aforesaid; which num
ber of two hundred shall be enlarged as the country shall increase in people, so as it do not
exceed five hundred at any time : the appointment and proportioning of which, as also the
laying and methodizing of the choice of the Provincial Council and General Assembly in
future times, most equally to the divisions of the hundreds and counties, which the country
shall hereafter be divided into, shall be in the power of the Provincial Council to propose,
and the General Assembly to resolve.
Seventeenth. That the Governor and the Provincial Council shall erect, from time to time,
standing courts of justice in such places and number as they shall judge convenient for the
good government of the said province. And that the Provincial Council shall, on the thir
teenth day of the first month yearly, elect and present to the governor or his deputy a double
number of persons to serve for judges, treasurers, masters of rolls, within the said province
for the year next ensuing ; and the freemen of the said province in the county courts, when
they shall be erefcted, and till then in the General Assembly, shall, on the three and twentieth
day of the second month, yearly, elect and present to the governor or his deputy a double
number of persons to serve for sheriffs, justices of the peace, and coroners, for the year next
ensuing; out of. which respective elections and presentments the governor or his deputy
shall nominate and commissionate the proper number for each office the third day after the
said presentments; or else thefirst named in such presentment for each office shall stand
and serve for that office the year ensuing.
Eighteenth. But forasmuch as the present condition of the province requires some imme
diate settlement, and admits not of so quick a revolution of officers ; and to the end the said

228 FRAME OF GOVERNMENT. *¦
their just obedience, and the magistrates honorable for their just administra
tion: for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obedience without lib
erty is slavery. To carry this evenness is partly owing to the constitution",
province may with all convenient speed be well ordered and settled, I William Penn do there
fore think fit to nominate and appoint such persons for judges, treasurers, masters of the
rolls, sheriffs, justices of the peace, and coroners, as are most fitly qualified for those employ
ments ; to whom I shall make and grant commissions for the said offices respectively, to hold
to them to whom the same shall be granted for so long a time as every such person shall
behave himself in the office or place to him respectively granted, and no longer. , And upon
the decease or displacing of any of the said officers, the succeeding officer or officers shall be
chosfen as aforesaid.
Nineteenth. That the General Assembly shall continue so long as may be needful to
impeach criminals fit to be there impeached ; to pass bills into laws, that they shall think fit
to pass into laws, and till such time as the Governor and Provincial Council shall declare
that they have nothing further to propose unto them for their assent and approbation ; and
that declaration shall be a dismiss to the General Assembly for that time, which General
Assembly shall be notwithstanding capable of assembling together, upon the summons of the
Provincial Council, at any time during that year, if the said Provincial Council shall see
occasion for their so assembling.
Twentieth. That all the elections of members or representatives of the people, to serve in
Provincial Council and General Assembly, and all questions to be determinated by both or
either of them, that relate to passing of bills into laws, to the choice of officers, to impeach
ments made by the General Assembly, and judgment of criminals upon such impeachments
by the Provincial Council, and to all other cases by them respectively judged of importance,
shall be resolved and determined by the ballot ; and, unless on sudden and indispensable
occasions, no business in Provincial Council, or its respective committees, shall be finally
determined the same day that it is moved.
Twenty-first. That at all times, when and so often as it shall happen, that the Governor
shall or may be an infant, under the age of one and twenty years, and no guardians or com
missioners rfre appointed in writing by the father of the said infant, or that such guardians
or commissioners shall be deceased; that during such minority, the Provincial Council shall,
from time to time, as they shall see meet, constitute and appoint guardians or commissioners,
not exceeding three; one of which three shall preside as deputy and chief guardian, during
such minority, and shall have and execute, with the consent of the other two, all the power
of a governor, in all the public affairs and concerns of the said province.
Twenty-second. That as often as any. day of the month, mentioned in any article of this
charter, shall fill upon the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord's day, the busi
ness appointed for that day shall be deferred till next day, unless in case of emergency.
Twenty-third. That no act, law, or ordinance whatsoever, shall at any time hereafter be
made or done, by the governor of this province, his heirs or assigns, or by the freemen in the
Provincial Council or the General Assembly, to alter, change, or diminish the form or effect
of this charter,, or any part or clause thereof, without the consent of the governor, his heirs
or assigns, and six parts of seven of the said freemen in Provincial Council- and General
Assembly. And Lastly. That I the 3aid William Penn, for myself, mylieirs and assigns, have sol
emnly declared, granted and confirmed, and do hereby solemnly declare, grant and confirm,
that neither I, my heirs nor assigns, shall procure or do any thing or things whereby the
liberties in this charter contained and expressed shall be infringed or broken ; and if any
thing be procured by any person or persons contrary to these premises, it shall be held of no
force or effect. In witness whereof, I the said William Penn have unto this present charter

LAWS AGREED UPON IN ENGLAND. 229
4
and partly to the magistracy : where either of these fail, government will
be subject to convulsions ; but where both are wanting, it must be totally
of liberties set my hand and broad seal, this five and twentieth day of the second month,
vulgarly called April, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and eighty-two.
William Penn.
laws agreed upon in england.
First. That the charter of liberties, deolared, granted and confirmed, the five and twen
tieth day of the second month, called April, 1682, before divers witnesses, by William Penn,
Governor and Chief Proprietary of Pennsylvania, to all the freemen and planters of the said
province, is. hereby declared and approved, and shall be forever held for fundamental, in the
government thereof, according to the limitations mentioned in the said charter.
Second. That every inhabitant in the said province, that is or shall be a purchaser of one
hundred acres of land or upwards, his heirs and assigns, and every person who shall have
paid his passage, and taken up one hundred acres of land, at one penny an acre, and have
cultivated ten acres thereof, and every person that hath been a servant or bondsman, and is
free by his service, that shall have taken up his fifty acres of land, and cultivated twenty
thereof, and every inhabitant, artificer, or other resident in the said province, that pays scot
and lot to the government, shall be deemed and accounted a freeman of the said province ;
and every such person shall and^may be capable of electing or being elected representatives
of the people in Provincial Council or General Assembly in the said province.
Third. That all elections of members or representatives of the people and freemen of the
province of Pennsylvania, to serve in Provincial Council or General Assembly, to be held
within the said province, shall be free and voluntary : and that the elector that shall receive
any reward or gift, in meat, drink, moneys or otherwise, shall forfeit his right to elect ; and
such person as shall, directly or indirectly, give, promise, or bestow any such reward as
aforesaid, to be elected, shall forfeit his election, and be thereby incapable to serve as afore-'
said. And the Provincial Council and General Assembly shall be the sole judges of the
regularity or irregularity of the elections of their own respective members.
Fourth. That no money or goods shall be raised upon or paid by any of the people of
this province, by way of a public tax, custom or contribution, but by a law for that purpose
made ; and whosoever shall levy, collect or pay any money or goods contrary thereunto,
Bhall be held a public enemy to the province, and a betrayer of the liberties of the people
thereof. Fifth. That all courts shall be open, and justice shall neither be sold, denied or delayed.
Sixth. That in all courts all persons of all persuasions may freely appear in their own
way, and according to their own manner, and there personally plead their own cause them
selves, or, if unable, by their friends. And the first process shall be the exhibition of the
complaint in court, fourteen days before the trial ; and, that the party complained against
may be fitted for the same, he or she shall be summoned no less than ten days before, and a
copy of the complaint delivered him or her, at his or her dwelling-house. But before the
complaint of any person be received, he shall solemnly declare in court that he believes in
his conscience his cause is just.
Seventh. That all pleadings, processes and records in courts, shall be short, and in Eng
lish, and in an ordinary and plain character, that they may be understood, and justice
speedily administered.
Eighth. That all trials shall be by twelve men, and, as near as may be, peers or equals,
and of the neighborhood, and men without just exception. In cases of life, there shall be
first twenty-four returned by the sheriff for a grand inquest, of whom twelve at least shall
find the complaint to be" true ; and then the twelve men, or peers, to be likewise returned by
the sheriff, shall have the final judgment. But reasonable challenges shall be always admit
ted against the said twelve men, or any of them.
Ninth. That all fees in all cases shall be moderate, and settled by the Provincial Council

230 LAWS AGREED UPON IN ENGLAND. 0.
subverted : then where both meet, the government is like to endure. Which
I humbly pray and hope God will please to make the lot of this of Pennsyl
vania. Amen."
and General Assembly, and be hung up in a table in every respective court ; and whoso
ever shall be convicted of taking more shall pay two-fold, and be dismissed his employment,
one moiety of which shall go to the party wronged.
Tenth. That all prisons shall be workhouses for felons, vagrants, and loose and idle per
sons ; whereof one shall be in every county.
Eleventh. That all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital
offences, where the proof is evident, or the presumption great.
Twelfth. That all persons wrongfully imprisoned or prosecuted at law shall have double
damages against the informer or prosecutor.
Thirteenth. That all prisons shall be free, as to fees, food, and lodging.
Fourteenth. That all lands and goods shall be liable to pay debts, except where there is
legal issue, and then all the goods and one-third of the land only.
Fifteenth. That all wills and writing, attested by two witnesses, shall be of the same
force as to lands as other conveyances, being legally proved within forty days, either within
or without the said province.
Sixteenth. That seven years' quiet possession shall give an unquestionable right, except
in cases of infants, lunatics, married women, or persons beyond the seas.
Seventeenth. That all briberies and extortions whatsoever shall be severely punished.
Eighteenth. That all fines shall be moderate, and saving men's contenements, merchan
dise or wainage.
Nineteenth. That all marriages (not forbidden by the law of God, as to nearness of
blood and affinity by marriage) shall be encouraged ; but the parents or guardians shall be
first consulted, and the marriage shall be published before it be solemnized ; and it shall be
solemnized by taking one another as husband and wife, before credible witnesses, and a cer
tificate of the whole, under the hands of parties and witnesses, shall be brought to the proper
register of that county, and shall be registered in his office.
Twentieth. And, to prevent frauds and vexatious suits within the said province, that all
charters, gifts, grants, and conveyances bf land (except leases for a year or under), and all
bills, bonds and specialities, have five pounds, and not under three months, made in the said
province, shall be enrolled or registered in the public enrolment office of the said province
within the space of two months next after the making thereof, else to be void in law. And
all deeds, grants, and conveyances of land (except as aforesaid) , within the said province,
and made out of the said province, shall be enrolled or registered as aforesaid, within six
months next after the making thereof, and settling and constituting an enrolment office or
registry within the said province, else to be void in law against all persons whatsoever.
Twenty-first. That all defacers or corrupters of charters, gifts, grants, bonds, bills,
wills, contracts and conveyances, or that shall deface or falsify any enrolment, registry or
record, within this province, shall make double satisfaction for the same ; half whereof shall
go to the party wronged, and they shall be dismissed'of all places of trust, and be publicly
disgraced as false men.
Twenty-second. That there shall be a register for births, marriages, burials, wills, and
letters of administration, distinct from the other registry.
Twenty-third. That there shall be a register for all servants, where their names, time,
wages, and days of payment, shall be registered.
Twenty-fourth. That all lands and goods of felons shall be liable to make satisfaction to
the party wronged twice the value : and, for want of lands or goods, the felons shall be bond
men to work in the common prison or work-house, or otherwise, till the party injured be
satisfied. Twenty-fifth. That the estates of capital offenders, as traitors and murderers, shall go

CHARACTER OF WILLIAM PENN. 231
To understand clearly the opinions of Penn in regard to government, it
is requisite that we should have distinct views of his character. What were
one-third to the next of kin to the sufferer, and the remainder to the next of kin to the
criminal. Twenty-sixth. That all witnesses, coming or called to testify their knowledge in or to
any matter or thing in any oourt, or before any lawful authority within the said province,
shall there give or deliver in their evidence or testimony, by solemnly promising to speak the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, to the matter or thing in question. And
in case any person so called to evidence shall be convioted of wilful falsehood, such person
shall suffer and undergo such damage or penalty as the person or persons against whom he or
she bore false witness did or should undergo ; and shall also make satisfaction to the party
wronged, and be publicly exposed as a, false witness, never to be credited in any court, or
before any magistrate, in the said province.
Twenty-seventh. And to the end that all officers chosen to serve within this province.
may with more care and diligence answer the trust reposed in them, it is agreed that no
such person shall enjoy more than one public office at one time.
Twenty-eighth. That all children within this province, of the age of twelve years, shall
be taught some useful trade or skill, to the end none may be idle, but the poor may work to
Uve, and the rich, if they becomepoor, may not want.
Twenty-ninth. That servants be not kept longer than their time, and such as are care
ful be both justly and kindly used in their service, and put in fitting equipage at the expira
tion thereof, according to custom.
Thirtieth. That all scandalous and malicious reporters, backbiters, defamers and spread
ers of false news; whether against magistrates or private persons, shall be accordingly severely
punished, as enemies to the peace and concord of this province.
Thirty-first. That, for the encouragement of the planters and traders in this province,
who are incorporated into a society, the patent granted to them by William Penn, governor
of the said province, is hereby ratified and confirmed.
Thirty-second. ******** *

Thirty-third. That all factors or correspondents in the said province wronging their
employers shall make satisfaction, and one-third over, to their said- employers : and in case
of the death of any such factor or correspondent, the committee of trade shall take care to
secure so much of the deceased party's estate as belongs to his said respective employers.
Thirty-fourth. That all treasurers, judges, masters of the rolls, sheriffs, justices of the
peace, and other officers and persons whatsoever, relating to courts or trials of causes, or any
other service in the government ; and all members elected to serve in Provincial Council and
General Assembly, and all that have right to elect such members, shall be such as profess
faith in Jesus Christ, and that are not convicted of ill fame, or unsober and dishonest con
versation, and that are of one and twenty years'of age at least ; and that all such, so quali
fied, shall be capable of the said several employments and privileges as aforesaid.
Thirty-fifth. That all persons living in this province, who confess and acknowledge the
one almighty and eternal God, to'be the creator, upholder and ruler of the world, and that
hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall in no
ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion or practice in matters of faith
and worship, nor shall they be compelled at any time to frequent or maintain any religious
worship, place or ministry, whatever.
Thirty-sixth. That according to the good example of the primitive Christians, and for
the ease of the creation, every first day of the week, called the Lord's day, people shall
abstain from their common daily labor, that they may the better dispose themselves to worship
God according to their understandings.

232 CHARACTER OF WILLIAM PENN.
his motives, and in what way did he endeavor to accomplish his-ends ? The
Opinions of an individual are usually self-explanatory, and their meaning is
generally to be found in the terms employed by their author to express
them. They may have been uttered with holy or ignoble motives, with
benevolent or evil purposes, with a lofty or a grovelling spirit, and yet be
read and understood alike by all. A good man may commit errors, — a bad
man may speak the truth. A wise man may have his follies, — a foolish one
his wit. In these cases opinion is either at war with character, or character,
as a subject, has no connection with the matter upon which an opinion has
been expressed. Truth is independent of intentions. Character is inde
pendent of science. Science is independent of opinions. These general
propositions, like all others, have their exceptions. An exception is to be
found in Penn. His theories of government, his system of conduct, and his
views of public policy, were all characterized by his individual peculiarities.
These peculiarities were innate. In order to understand his plans, these must
be studied ; in order to do justice to his character, his motives should be
understood and appreciated.3

i

Thirty-seventh. That as careless and corrupt administration of justice draws the wrath
of God upon magistrates, so the wildness and looseness of the people provoke the indignation
of God against a country : therefore, that all such offences against God as swearing, curs
ing, lying, profane talking, drunkenness, drinking of healths, obscene words, incest, sod
omy, rapes, whoredom, fornication, and other uncleanness (not to be repeated) ; all trea
sons, misprisions, murders, duels, felonies, seditions, maims, forcible entries, and other
violences, to the persons and estates of the inhabitants within this province : all prizes, stage
plays, cards, dice, May-games, masques, revels, bull-baitings, cock-fightings, bear-baitings
and the like, which excite the people to rudeness, cruelty, looseness and irreligion, shall be
respectively discouraged, and severely punished, according to the appointment of the gov
ernor and freemen in Provincial Council and General Assembly, as also all proceedings
contrary to these laws, that are not here made expressly penal.
Thirty-eighth. That a copy of these laws shall be hung up in the Provincial Council,
and in public courts of justice ; and that they shall be read yearly, at the opening of every
Provincial Council and General Assembly, and courts of justice, and their assent shall be
testified by their standing up, after the reading thereof.
Thirty-ninth. That there shall be at no time any alteration of any of these laws, with
out the consent of the governor, his heirs or assigns, and six parts of seven of the freemen,
met in Provincial Council and General Assembly.
Fortieth. ' That all other matters and things not herein provided for, which shall and may
concern the public justice, peace or safety of the said province ; and the raising and imposing
taxes, customs, duties, or other charges whatsoever, shall be and are hereby referred to the
order, prudence and determination of the governor and freemen in Provincial Counoil and
General Assembly, to be held from time to time in the said province.
Signed and sealed by the governor and freemen aforesaid, the fifth day of the third month,
called May, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two.
1 Penn had no occasion to follow the custom of the Oriental monarchs, who, for a long
time, were in the habit of hiding themselves in gardens and palaces, to avoid the conversa
tion of mankind, that they might be known to their subjects only by their edicts. The real
ity of a beautiful character commends an opinion, if it does not sustain it. This was doubt-

CHARACTER OF WILLIAM PENN. 233
The complexity of his public position rendered him alike the subject of
suspicion, complaint, and jealousy. He was a Quaker ; but, as a Christian,
he placed himself in friendly relations to all 1 who opposed his sect, or viewed
his brethren with compassion or contempt. He had the confidence of Roy
alty,2 Papacy, and Protestantism. At peace with all from principle, he
endeavored to serve all alike, who were governed by considerations of policy.
He wished to be loyal to the king, without doing injustice to the subject. He
desired to serve the humblest, without opposing the highest. He looked on
every form of government as entitled to respect for what it professed to be ;
and, while he was ever ready to advise with all who approached him, he nei
ther claimed the right to denounce what he could not approve, nor the privi
lege to participate in measures which met with his approbation. He was
neutral in all things, except in his relations to Deity.3 In respect to these
he compromised with none.
That one who should attempt to do so much, and assume so little, should
be misapprehended and misrepresented, is in accordance with all human expe
rience. A " charity that beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endureth all things," * is not of frequent occurrence, nor is it readily
less the view of Sir Matthew Hale, who, for a long time, it is recorded, concealed the
consecration of himself to the stricter duties of religion, lest, by some flagitious and shame
ful actions, he should bring piety into disgrace. His confidence in example seems to have
been mastered by his doubts of his moral strength. Milton, in a letter to a learned stranger,
by whom he had been visited, with great reason congratulates himself upon the consciousness
of being found equal to his own character, and having preserved, in a private and familiar
interview, that reputation which his works had procured for him. — See Dr. Johnson's
Essays, ±., 133.
l " Possessing an extraordinary greatness of mind," says Bancroft, " vast conceptions,
remarkable for their universality and precision, and ' surpassing in speculative endowments,'
— conversant with men, and books, and governments, with various languages, and the forms
of political combinations, as they existed in England and France, in Holland and the princi
palities and free cities of Germany, — he yet sought, the source of wisdom in his own soul.
Humane by nature and by suffering, familiar with the royal family, intimate with Sunder
land and Sidney, acquainted with Russell, Halifax, Shaftsbury and Buckingham, as a mem
ber of the Royal Society, the peer of Newton, and the great scholars of his age, he valued the
promptings of a free mind more than the awards of the learned, and reverenced the single-
minded sincerity of the Nottingham shepherd more than the authority of colleges and the
wisdom of philosophers. And now, being in the meridian of life, but a year older than was
Locke, when, twelve years before, he had framed a constitution for Carolina, the Quaker
legislator was come to the New World to lay the foundations of states." — n., 376.
2 When near his end, Admiral Penn sent one of his friends to the Duke of York, to desire
of him, as a death-bed request, that he would endeavor to protect his son as far as he con
sistently could, and to ask the king to do the same. Both expressed themselves as his sincere
friends, promising their influence in his behalf on all proper occasions.
8 Peter the Great was quite curious to know why Quakers did not pay respect to great per
sons, when in their presence, by taking off their hats ; and what use they could be in any
kingdom, seeing that they would not bear arms and fight. — Clarkson, i. , 6.
* 1 Cor. 13 : 7.
30

234 ' DEFENCE OF WILLIAM PENN.
understood. To be at the same time a companion to the king, an instru
ment of power at court, a friend to the people, an adviser to opponents, a
pacificator in war, a firm and undeviating opposer of war in seasons of peace,
is literally to honor the example of St. Paul, who was willing to be made all
things to all men, that he might by all means save some.1 No man was
truly more independent, — but few more meek or humble. The world wa3
only honored when right, though never deserted when wrong.
To defend Penn, in extenso, against the charges and insinuations of Chal
mers,2 or against the dubious compliments of Macaulay,3 is not within the
l 1 Cor. 9 : 18—23. .
2 See Annals, pp. 640, 642, 648, &c.
3 " To speak the whole truth concerning him," says Macaulay, " is a task which requires
some courage, for he is rather a mythical than a historical person. Rival nations and hostile
sects have agreed in canonizing him. Ungland is proud of his name. A great commonwealth
beyond the Atlantic regards him with a reverence similar to that which the Athenians felt
for Theseus, and the Romans for Quirinus. The respectable society of which he was a mem
ber honors him as an apostle. By pious men of other persuasions he is generally regarded
as a bright pattern of Christian virtue. Meanwhile admirers of a very different sort have
sounded his praises. The French philosophers of the eighteenth century pardoned what they
regarded as his superstitious fancies, in consideration of his contempt for priests, and of his
cosmopolitan benevolence, impartially extended to all races and to all creeds. His name has
thus become, throughout all civilized countries, a synonyme for probity and philanthropy,"
— Macaulay, vol. i., p. 507.
" Nor is this reputation," he adds, " altogether unmerited. Penn was, without doubt, a
man of eminent virtues. He had a strong -sense of religious duty, and a fervent desire to
promote the happiness of mankind. On one or two points of high importance he had notions
more correct than were in his day common, even among men of enlarged minds ; and, as the
proprietor and legislator of a province, which, being almost uninhabited when it came into
his possession, afforded a clear field for moral experiments, he had the rare good fortune of
being able to carry his theories into practice without any compromise, and yet without any
shock to existing institutions. He will always be mentioned with honor as the founder of a
colony who did not, in his dealings with a savage people, abuse the strength derived from
civilization ; and as a lawgiver, who, in an age of persecution, made religious liberty the cor
ner-stone of a polity. But his writings and his life furnish abundant proofs that he was not
a man of strong sense. He had no skill in reading the characters of others. His confidence
in persons less virtuous than himself led him into great errors and misfortunes. His enthu
siasm for one great principle sometimes impelled him to violate other great principles which
he ought to have held sacred. Nor was his integrity altogether proof against the temptations
to which it was exposed in that splendid and polite, but deeply-corrupted society, with which
he now mingled. The whole court was in a ferment with intrigues of gallantry and intrigues
of ambition. The traffic in honors, places and pardons, was incessant. It was.natural that
a man who was daily seen at the palace, and who was known to have free access to majesty,
should be frequently importuned to use his influence for purposes which a rigid morality
must condemn. The integrity of Penn had stood firm against obloquy and persecution. But
now, attacked by royal smiles, by female blandishments, by the insinuating eloquence and
delicate flattery of veteran diplomatists and courtiers, his resolution began to give way.
Titles and phrases, against which he had often borne his testimony, dropped occasionally
from his lips and his pen. It would be well if he had been guilty of nothing worse than
such compliances with the fashions of the world. Unhappily, it cannot be concealed that he
bore a chief part in some transactions condemned not merely by the rigid code of the society

CHALMERS AND MACAULAY. 235
province of the present work. It is but just, however, that their views
should be considered and understood by the political student, inasmuch as
the subject of their remarks belongs to the political history of America.
Chalmers was a tory ; and the reader of his allusions to Penn will be at no
loss to discover his disposition to prepossess others in respect to opinions which
he had the assurance to hint, without showing a corresponding ability either
to commend or to prove.
Macaulay endeavors to practise a courage which he supplicates as neces
sary to his" task ; and yet, his admissions and concessions are more favorable
to Penn than his statements and conclusions are against him. Because Penn
could not succeed in all cases where he was an earnest adviser of the right,
it does not follow that he should be made responsible for the wrong to which
he gave no sanction. He filled no official station, and was only one of many
advisers at court ; and it is not pretended by any writer that he assumed to
exert more than his share of influence. At no time the originator of iniqui
tous plans, it is not a generous spirit that would render him accountable for
their execution, when his only connection with their authors sprang from the
high and commendable motive of meliorating evils which he had not the power
¦ to prevent. It is with no purpose to exempt him from the common lot of
'humanity, the liability to commit errors, that a high position is claimed for
him as a man of talents, and that opinions are expressed favorable to his
undoubted integrity. Such conclusions are warranted by the facts of his
tory, and they are in harmony with those peculiar manifestations of mind for
which their subject became so distinguished. But an instructive defence of
Penn is to be found in his own letter to Popple.1 It was not written with
to which he belonged, but by the general sense of all honest men. He afterwards solemnly
protested that his hands were pure from illicit gain, and that he never received any gratuity
from those whom he had obliged, though he might easily, while his influence at court lasted,
have made a hundred and twenty thousand pounds. To this assertion full credit is due.
But bribes may be offered to vanity as well as to cupidity, and it is impossible to deny that
Penn was cajoled into bearing a part in some unjustifiable transactions, of which others
enjoyed the profits." — Read Macaulay, and Forster's reply, in pamphlet published by Henry
Longstreth, Philadelphia.
1 William Popple was Secretary to the Lords Commissioners for the Affairs of Trade and
Plantations. The following extracts from the letter of Popple will enable the reader to judge
of its nature. These extracts are made from the commencement and the close of the letter, as
showing the wishes of the writer, the other portion being a recital of various speculations
and charges alluded to by Penn in his reply. The letter was addressed " to the Honorable
William Penn, Esq., Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania.
"Honored Sib :
" Though the friendship with which you are pleased to honor me doth afford me sufficient
opportunities of discoursing with you upon any subject, yet I choose rather at thisjnme to
offer unto you in writing some reflections which have occurred to my thoughts in a matter of
no common importance. The importance of it doth primarily and directly respect yourself
and your own private concernments ; but it also consequently and effectually regards the

236 LETTER OF WILLIAM PENN.
any calculating motives in regard to policy. It was simply an offering to
friendship, and made without compromising the true dignity of principle. It
is given at length as an act of justice to its author, as a key to his charac
ter, and as a document fraught with instruction.1 It asserts "an impartial
liberty of conscience; " and, 'if his requisitions upon humanity are deemed
in some respects incompatible with the necessities of an efficient government,
or are regarded as impracticable in the nature of things, it will not be denied
that he affords a shining example of a democratic spirit, which, if not always
connected with truth, may sometimes tend to alleviate the evils of error,
without adding to the means of its perpetuation.
On receiving this letter, Penn did not take time to consult friends, to study
expediency, nor to inquire how he might best define his position and conciliate
public opinion. The reply was immediately written and sent to his worthy
friend.king, his government, and even the peace and settlement of this whole nation. I entreat you,
therefore, to bear with me, if I endeavor in this manner to give somewhat more weight unto
my words than would be in a transient discourse, and leave them with you as a subject that
requires your retired consideration.
" You are not ignorant that the part you have been supposed to have had of late years in
public affairs, though without either the title or honor or profit of any public office, and
that especially your avowed endeavors to introduce among us a general and inviolable liberty
of conscience in matters of mere religion, have occasioned the mistakes of some men, pro
voked the malice of others, and in the end have raised against you a multitude of enemies,
who .have unworthily defamed you with such imputations as I am sure you abhor. This, I
know, you have been sufficiently informed of, though I doubt you have not made sufficient
reflection upon it. The consciousness of your own innocence seems to me to have given you
too great a contempt of such unjust and ill-grounded slanders ; for, however glorious it is
and reasonable for a truly virtuous mind, whose inward peace is founded upon that rock of
innocence, to despise the empty noise of -popular reproach, yet even that sublimity of spirit
may sometimes swell to a reprovable excess. To be steady and immovable in the prosecution
of wise and honest resolutions, by all honest and prudent means, is indeed a duty that admits
of no exception ; but, nevertheless, it ought not to hinder that, at the same time, there be
also due care taken of preserving a fair reputation. ' A good name,' says the wise man, ' is
better than precious ointment. '****»¦**
" I could not but be much affected to see any such person fall innocently and undeservedly
under such unjust reproaches as you have done. It is a hard case, and I think no man that
has any bowels of humanity can reflect upon it without great relentings.
"Since, therefore, it is so, and that something remains yet to be done — something more
express, and especially more public, than has yet been done — for your vindication, I beg
of you, dear sir, by-all the tender efficacy that friendship, either mine or that of your friends
and relations together, can have upon you ; by the due regard which . humanity, and even
Christianity, obliges you to have to your reputation ; by the duty you owe unto the king ; by
your love to the land of your nativity, and by the cause of universal religion and eternal
truth, let not the scandal of insincerity, that I have hinted at, lie any longer upon you ; —
but let the sense of all these obligations persuade you to gratify your friends and relations,
and to'serve your king, your country and your religion, by such a public vindication of your
honor as your own prudence, upon these suggestions, will now show you to be most necessary
and most expedient."
1 See Appendix.

CONTESTS IN REGARD TO RIGHTS AND INTERESTS. 237
"It is now above twenty years," says he, "I thank God, that I have
not been very solicitous what the world thought of me ; for, since I have
had the knowledge of religion from a principle 1 in myself, the first and
main point with me has been to approve myself in the sight of God through
patience and well-doing, so that the world has not had weight enough with
me to suffer its good opinion to raise me, or its ill opinion to deject me.
And if that had been the only motive or consideration, and not the desire of
a good friend in the name of many others, I had been as silent to thy letter
as I used to be to the idle and malicious shams of the times; but, as the;
laws of friendship are sacred with those that value that relation, so I confess
this to be a principal one with me, not to deny a friend the satisfaction lie
desires, when it may be done without offence to a good conscience."
That a colony founded by a man of such noble views and sentiments, so
distinguished for his charity and love of peace, should be made the field for
perpetual contests in regard to rights and interests, is a curious, and, it may
be added, an instructive fact. To travel through its history is denominated
by Franklin "a disagreeable journey." It acquired for itself the unenvia
ble reputation of being the most unmanageable colony in America.2 Its
1 He means the spirit in man, which is illuminated by the spirit of God, so that the more
the former bows itself for instruction to the latter, the more the man advances, both inwardly
and outwardly, to a holy life. — Clarkson.
2 Gov. Morris, in his message to the Assembly, 1755, thus concludes :
"Jn fine, gentlemen," said he, " I must remind you that, in a former message, you said
you were a plain people, that had no joy in disputation. But let your minutes be examined
for fifteen years past, not to go higher, and in them will be found more artifice, more time
and money spent in frivolous controversies, more unparalleled abuses of your governors,
and more undutifulness to the crown, than in all the rest of his majesty's colonies put
together. And, while you continue in such a temper of mind, I have very little hopes of
good, either for his majesty's service, or for the defence and protection of this unfortunate
country." — Sparks' Franklin, in., 408.
The passage alluded to by the governor, in regard to the members of the Assembly being
" a plain people," was in the following language : " On the whole, while we find the governor
transforming our best actions into crimes, and endeavoring to render the inhabitants of
Pennsylvania odious to our gracious sovereign and his ministers, to the British nation, to all
the neighboring colonies, and to the army that is to come to protect us, we cannot look
upon him as a friend to this country. We are plain people, unpractised in the sleights and
artifices of controversy, and have no joy in disputation. We wish the governor of the same
disposition ; and when he shall, as we hope he will, on better consideration, alter his conduct
towards us, and thereby convince us that he means well to the province, we may then be
able to transact the public business together with comfort both to him and ourselves ; of
which, till then, we have small expectation." — lb., in., 354.
And, in direct reply to his charges, the Assembly say :
"The minutes are printed, and in many hands, who may judge, on examining them,
whether any abuses of governors and undutifulness to the crown are to be found in them."
* * * " As to frivolous controversies, we never had so many of them as since our present
governor's administration, and all raised by himself ; and we may venture to say that, during
that one year scarce yet expired, there have been more ' unparalleled abuses ' of this people

238 franklin's historical review of Pennsylvania.
early history was written by Franklin, and first published in London in
1759.1 It is written with the1 earnest spirit natural to an American, and
must be classed as one of Franklin's most masterly productions.
Numerous extracts from pubhc documents and the Assembly journals are
given as the basis of-remark ; and no one, who is acquainted with the extraor
dinary comprehensiveness and clearness of the views of Franklin, requires
to be told that the conclusions drawn from the premises are not only philo
sophical, but highly interesting and instructive.2 The Democracy of Frank
lin was as earnest and true as his genius was practical and brilliant.
and their representatives in Assembly than in all the years put together since the settlement
of the province." — lb., in., 408.
1 This was entitled " An Historical Review of Constitution and Government of Pennsylva
nia, from its origin, so far as regards the several points of controversy which have from time
to time arisen between the several Governors of Pennsylvania and their several Assemblies.
Founded on authentic documents." — lb., m., 105 — 567.
2 In speaking of this " Historical Review," by Franklin, Sparks says :
" The controversies, which existed for many years, between the proprietary governors and
the Assemblies of Pennsylvania, are not without interest as an important branch of the gen
eral history of the country, and as showing the determined spirit of the people in their strug
gles for liberty. As a member of the Assembly for many years, and one of the leaders,
Franklin had taken a conspicuous part against the proprietaries ; and, when it was at last
resolved by the popular party to apply to the king in council for a redress of their grievances,
he was appointed their agent to manage the affair. He went to England, for that purpose, in
the summer of 1-757. To aid the object of his mission, to counteract the powerful efforts
made against the petition by the friends of the proprietaries, and to remove the prejudices
then existing in England unfavorable to the people of Pennsylvania, he drew up and pub
lished this book in London. It produced a strong impression, and called forth elaborate
answers from his opponents. It was the subject of a commendatory article in the Monthly
Review for July, 1759. In his remarks upon it the writer says : ' It must be confessed that
the Pennsylvanians have, in our author, a most zealous and able advocate. His sentiments
are manly, liberal, and spirited ; his style close, nervous, and rhetorical. His introduction
is well calculated to warm his readers in behalf of liberty, of which he boasts his clients to
have been the brave assertors. By a forcible display of oppressions they have sustained, he
inclines into pity their condition ; by an enumeration of their virtues, he endeavors to remove
the idea which many have conceived of their unimportance.'
" In the Critical Review for August of the same year, the book fell into the hands of the
opposite party ; and, although it is treated with respect, yet it is censured for the tone it
assumes in regard to the demands of the Pennsylvanians. 'Nay,' says the reviewer, 'our
author seems to carry his notions of liberty and independence so high, as to admit of no
check or control from the government of his mother country.' * * *
" The value of the work, as an historical composition, will be estimated differently, according
to the bias of the reader's rnind in regard to the disputed points on which it treats. It was
professedly written to sustain the aims of a party, and in this light it cannot be looked upon
as free from partiality. A large portion of the work, however, consists of pacts, stated with
precision, and with such minuteness of citation as to verify their accuracy. These pacts
cannot be controverted. The reasonings and deductions from them would, of course, take
a direction in conformity with the author's personal convictions and designs.
" Every page bears witness to his sincerity, and to the deep interest he felt in the cause of
liberty and justice, which his countrymen had intrusted to his charge. *. * * The author
is accused of having touched the name of the great founder of Pennsylvania with too rude a

PARTY CONTROVERSIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 239
The controversies between the proprietaries, governors and successive
Assemblies of Pennsylvania, — controversies which so often embarrassed, dis
band. If it be so, time has repaired the injury. Facts mugt have tlieir own weight, because
they are unchangeable and ever-during ; but the memory of William Penn oannot be tar
nished by unfounded imputations, nor his oharaoter wounded by misdirected darts of party
zeal." — lb., ni., 107.
Franklin had no motive to asperse the character of Penn. He simply and boldly vindi
cated the rights of the people, and at the same time clearly pointed out the Bources of their
troubles. Proprietary government was the subject of his remark ; and that he cannot bo
justly complained of for any excess of Democracy may be inferred from the nature of the
remedy which he approves as calculated to relieve the people, — "a measure," he says,
"that had often been proposed in former Assemblies, — a measure that every proprietary
province in America had, from the same causes, found themselves obliged to take, - — and a
measure that had happily succeeded wherever it was taken. I mean the recourse to an
immediate royal government."
When Franklin, by a small majority, lost his seat in the Assembly, which he had held for
fourteen years, having been annually elected, it was found, when the Assembly met, notwith
standing this defeat, that his friends and the friends of his measures outnumbered the pro
prietary party. He was again appointed to resume his agency in England, and to take
charge of a petition to the king. The minority protested, giving their reasons against his
appointment. Tq this protest he made a reply, written at the moment the author was pre
paring to leave for Europe, (iv., p. 143.) The following extract will tend to illustrate his
true position and motives :
" But I have, you say, a ' fixed enmity to the proprietaries,' and ' you believe it will preclude
all accommodation of our disputes with them, even on just and reasonable terms.' And why do
you think I have a fixed enmity to the proprietaries ? I have never had any personal difference
with them. I am no land-jobber, and therefore have never had anything to do with their
land office or officers. If I had, probably, like others, I might have been obliged to truckle
to their measures, or have had like causes of complaint. But our private interests never
clashed, and all their resentment against me, and mine to them, has been on the public
account. Let them do justice to the people of Pennsylvania, act honorably by the citizens of
Philadelphia, and become honest men. My enmity, if that 's of any consequence, ceases
from the ' very moment,' and, as soon as I possibly can, I promise to love, honor, and
respect them." — lb., vol. iv., p. 150.
That he held his opinions of proprietary governments and proprietary governors irrespect
ive of persons, will be seen by the pertinent language of the following paragraph :
"It is by this time apparent enough, that, though the proprietary and popular interests
Spring from one and the same source, they divide as they descend ; that every proprietary
governor, for this reason, has two masters, — one who gives him his commission, and one
who gives him his pay ; that he is on his good behavior to both ; that, if he does not fulfil
with rigor, every proprietary command, however injurious to the province or offensive to the
Assembly, he is recalled ; that if he does not gratify the Assembly in what they think they
have a right to claim, he is certain to live in perpetual broils, though uncertain whether he
shall be enabled to live at all ; and that, upon the whole, to be a governor upon such terms,
is to be the most wretched thing alive." — lb., vol. in.., 187.
He could see more nationality in a king who protected property as a sovereign, than in a
governor who protected property as an owner. He could see more safety in a ruler who
derived his strength from his subjects, that he might be able to sustain them in their just rights,
than in a governor whose power was based on his interests, and whose highest motives would
not unfrequently be those of mere policy. He became afterwards, as all men know, an active
partisan against the king and his government. He was not opposed to the king and his

240 PARTY CONTROVERSIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.
tracted and endangered J;he public service, — were so numerous,1 complicated
and tedious, that a recital of their details could hardly be justified in this
advisers personally, but to their oppressions. In both cases he showed himself to be a true
Democrat, and in both cases a true friend to the people.
In his article entitled " Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of our Public Affairs "
(1764) , Franklin, in speaking of the disputes between the proprietaries and the people, says :
" It is a fact known to us all that such disputes there are, and that they have long sub
sisted, greatly to the prejudice of the province, clogging and embarrassing all the wheels
of government, and exceedingly obstructing the public defeace, and the measures wisely con
certed by our gracious sovereign for the common security of the colonies. 'I may add it as
another fact, that we are all heartily tired of these disputes.
" It is very remarkable that disputes of the same kind have arisen in all proprietary gov
ernments, and subsisted till their dissolution. All were made unhappy by them, and found
no relief but in recurring finally to the immediate government of the crown. Pennsylvania
and Maryland are the only two of the kind remaining, and both at this instant agitated by
the same contentions between proprietary interest and power and popular liberty. Through
these contentions the good people of that province are rendered equally unhappy with our
selves ; and their proprietary, perhaps, more so than ours ; for he has no Quakers in his
Assembly to saddle with the blame of those contentions, nor can he justify himself wjth the
pretence that turning to the church has made his people his enemies.
" Pennsylvania had scarce been settled twenty years (not even so long) when these dis
putes began between the first proprietor and the original settlers. They continued, with
some intermissions, during his whole life. His widow took them up, and continued them
after his death. Her sons resumed them very early, and they still subsist." * * * " I
suspect, therefore, that the cause is radical, interwoven in the constitution, and so become
the very nature of proprietary governments, and will therefore produce its effects as long as
such governments continue." * * * — lb., vol. iv., pp. 79, 80.
" Our wise first proprietor and founder was fully sensible of this ; and, being desirous of
leaving his people happy, and preventing the mischiefs that he foresaw must in time arise
from that circumstance, if it was continued, he determined to take it away, if possible,-during
his own lifetime. They accordingly entered into a contract for the sale of the proprietary
right of government to the crown, and actually received a sum in part of the consideration.
As he found himself likely to die before that contract (and with it his plan for the happi
ness of his people) could be completed, he carefully made it part of his last will and testa
ment, devising the right of the government to two noble lords, in trust, that they should
release it to the crown." — lb., p. 125.
The colonial expenditures of Penn, his many acts of private munificence, his occasional
subjection to the note-shavers, had so impaired his means, that, in 1709, he was compelled to
borrow six thousand six hundred pounds, — about thirty thousand dollars, — and secure the
loan by a mortgage of the province. This loan was mostly made up by his religious brethren,
The transaction alluded to by Franklin was with -Queen Anne, 1712, for the transfer of the
government of the province and territory to the crown, for which he was to receive twelve
thousand pounds. A bill for the purpose was introduced into Parliament, and a small por
tion of the money advanced. The " noble lords" referred to were Earls of Oxford, Mor
timer, and Pawlet.
1 In opposing the petition for a royal government, " the wiser and better part of the 'rov-
ince " (self-styled), the proprietary party, venture to say, " that this province (except from
the Indian ravages) enjoys the most perfect internal tranquillity." After showing the
unpardonable error of such a remark, Franklin concludes with the following characteristic
expression: "Almost as well might ships, in an engagement, talk of 'the most perfect
tranquillity' between two broad-sides." — lb., iv., 137.

TROUBLES OCCASIONED BY THE ABSENCE OF PENN. 241
connection, either as a gratification to historical curiosity, or as affording any
new illustration of principles. The language of Franklin was no exaggera
tion, when he denominated the review of their history " a disagreeable jour
ney." The Assembly, deputy governor and council, were in positions of
perpetual variance.1 Tho protracted absence of Penn 2 from the province
rendered a deputy governor necessary and nearly permanent ; and, although no
laws had been proposed to the Assembly but with the most open and liberal
motives of 'the proprietary, yet the exercise of his reserved discretion was
inconsistent with his declaration of principles. The deputy, it is true,3 was
clothed with his master's power, but not invested with his master's spirit.
He was advised of his wishes, but he was not equal to the exertion of his
will. He could represent his firmness, but not his charity. He could
declare his Democracy, but he could not practise its principles. He had his
instructions in his pocket, but the throbbings of the generous heart that dic
tated them were separated from the motives by which they were approved ;
and the soul of the author was lost in the agent, or in the cupidity of his
successors. ,
The deputy governor, in his endeavors literally to heed the bond of the
flesh, disregarded the voice of the spirit ; and, while there was no want of
earnestness to follow the letter, there appeared to be but little capacity to com
prehend the principle. The original charter was discussed, amended, practi
cally annulled, and renewed.- New charters were framed, with new conditions,
new promises, and impracticable privileges. The laws of Pennsylvania were
declared in opposition to the constitution of England, and the birthright of
1 The following manifestation, on the part of the Assembly, addressed to Gov. Morris,
affords a specimen of their, occasional spirit of independence :
" We are now to take our leave of the governor ; and, indeed, since he hopes no good from
us, nor we from him, it is time we should be parted. If our constituents disapprove our
conduct, a few days will give them an opportunity of changing us by a new election ; and,
could the governor be as soon and as easily changed, Pennsylvania would, we apprehend,
deserve much less the character he gives it, of an unfortunate country." These words were
not uttered with any desire to irritate the governor, nor with any inward satisfaction that
they could be used with impunity. They were used in reply to language of a much more
exceptionable character, on the part of the governor to the representatives of the people.
2 In a letter to a friend in America, 1689, he says : " Europe looks like a sea of trouble.
Wars are like to be all over it, this summer. I strongly desire to see you before it be spent,
if the Lord will ; and I can say, in his sight, that to improve my interest with King James
for tender consciences, and that a Christian liberty might be legally settled, though agamst
my own interest, was that which has separated me from you chiefly."
In alluding to the absence of Penn, Franklin says : " His nursling colony was yet in the
cradle while it was thus deserted ; consequently stood in need of all expedients to facilitate '
its growth, and all preservatives against disorders."
3 " Plantation-governors," says Franklin, " were frequently transient persons, of broken
fortunes, greedy of money, destitute of all concern for those they governed, often their ene
mies, and endeavoring not only to oppress but defame them, and thereby render them obnox
ious to their sovereign, and odious to their fellow-subjects." — Sparks' Franklin^ia., 447.
31

242 CONTESTS BETWEEN THE GOVERNORS AND ASSEMBLIES.
the British subject was lost in the executive of the province. The rights
of the people were invaded by the deputy governor under cover of proprie
tary instructions ;x and, from the first to the last, the democratic Assemblies
acted more on the defensive than with any factious motives unfavorable to
progress. Official communications were embittered by criminations and
recriminations, and the usual courtesies of discussion gave way to the abu
sive epithets of passion. The governor was accused of bribery,2 the Assem
bly of treason.3 The one was characterized as ^indecent, the Other as dis-
l The right of proprietaries to give private instructions to their deputies was a subject
much discussed in the Assembly of Pennsylvania. The absurdity of such an assumption,
where a charter had been granted and received, and where laws were to be enacted in accord
ance with the provisions of that charter, and not against the spirit of the constitution of
England, is almost self-evident. On this subject, the Assembly thus conclude a message to
the governor :
" Upon the whole, from what we have said, we presume it evidently appears that pro
prietary instructions and restrictions upon their governors, as they have, occasionally been
made a part of the public records at different times, have been judged and resolved by our
governor, council and the representatives of the people, either — 1. Inconsistent with- the legal
prerogative of the crown settled by act of Parliament. 2. Or, a positive breach of the char
ter of privileges to the people. 3. Or, absurd in their conclusions, and therefore impracti
cable. 4. Or, void in themselves. Therefore, whenever the governor shall be pleased to
lay his proprietary instructions before us for our examination, arid if then they should
appear to be of the same kind as heretofore, his good judgment should lead him to conclude
that such ' considerations in life ' as our allegiance to the crown, or the immediate safety of
the colony, &c, are sufficient inducements for him to disobey them-, notwithstanding any
penal bonds to the contrary, we shall cheerfully continue to grant such further sums of money
for the king's use as the circumstances of the country may bear, and in a manner we judge
least burthensome to the inhabitants of this province." — lb., in., 316.
2 In reply to the governor concerning the expediency of showing a due regard to the pro
prietaries and their interest, the"Assembly comment as follows : " That is, as we understand
it, though the proprietaries have a deputy here, supported by the province, who is, or ought
to be, fully empowered to pass all laws necessary for the service of the country; yet, before
we can obtain such laws, we must facilitate their passage by paying money for the proprieta
ries which they ought to pay, or in some other shape make it their particular interest to pass
them. We hope, however, that if this practice has ever been begun, it will never be contin
ued in this province ; and that, since we have an undoubted right to such laws, we shall
always be able to obtain them from the goodness of our sovereign, without" going to market
for them to a subject." — lb., in., 242.
3 The deputy governors constantly assumed the authority to dictate to the Assembly the
manner of raising money and making appropriations. The Assembly as constantly resisted
the exercise of such a power. In reply to Gov. Hamilton respecting this right, the Assembly
employed the following emphatic language : "The House are not inclined to enter into any
dispute with the governor on the subject of his proposed amendments to the money bill, as
the representatives of the people have an undoubted right to judge and determine not only
of the sum to be raised for the use of the crown, but of the manner of raising it."
At a subsequent period, when Gov. Morris allowed his passion to cloud his judgment in the
discussion of this subject with the Assembly, he said : ' ' The offering money in a way and
upon terms that you very well knew I could not, consistent with my duty to the crown, con
sent to, is, in my opinion, trifling with the king's commands, and amounts to a refusal to

PROPRIETARIES CLAIM EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION. 243
respectful. The advice of the Assembly was opposed when offered, and
disregarded when asked. Governors became dictators, and demanded action
upon information which they withheld, and instructions in secret became
laws by proclamation. They discovered haste in the violation of principle,
and apathy in responding to the requisitions of duty. The government
became "eccentrical and unnatural."1 Immoralities were said to abound
everywhere, and vice was encouraged by examples of the rulers, instead of
being checked by their authority.2 The conservative party was content with
no control but that of tyranny ; and the spirit of royalty was invoked, as
more liberal than that of Mammon. It had no grace to offer, — it saw
nothing to approve. Freedom was either too great, or restraint too little.
Justice was either too distant, or government too weak. In its policy monop
olies were the first to be protected, — the people the last to be considered.
Liberty was to be made subservient to property. All property was to be taxed
but that of the proprietaries,3 and protection was to be extended to the rich
give at all ; and I am satisfied will be seen in this light by my superiors ; who, by your bill
above-mentioned, which I shall lay before them, and by the whole of your conduct since you
have been made acquainted with the designs of the French (against the English colonies),
will be convinced that your resolutions are and have been to take advantage of your coun
try's danger to aggrandize aud render permanent your own power and authority, and to
destroy that of .the crown. That it is for this purpose, and to promote your scheme of future
independency, you are grasping at the disposition of all public money, and at the power of
filling all the offices of government, especially those of the revenue," &e. — • Sparks' Frank
lin, in., 342.
i lb., nr., 422.
2 In their long statement of grievances to the proprietary (1704) the Assembly say : "And
wo further entreat that effectual care be taken for the suppression of vice, which, to our great
trouble, we have to acquaint thee, is more rife and common amongst us since the arrival of
thy deputy and son, especially of late, than was ever known before. Nor are we capable to
suppress it, whilst it is connived at, if not .encouraged, by authority ; the mouths of the more
sober magistrates being stopped by the said late order about 'oaths, and the governor's licens
ing ordinaries not approven by the magistrates of the city of Philadelphia, and the roast
chiefly ruled by such as are none of the most exemplary for virtuous conversation." " The
loose conduct and dissipated life of Evans " (deputy governor 1703-4 to 1708-9), says Hil-
dreth, " who had as a companion of his revels William Penn the younger, the proprietary's
eldest son, gave the complainants a decided advantage. Penn ascribed his son's ruin to his
residence in Pennsylvania ; and that son publicly renounced Quakerism, giving for a reason
the ingratitude of the colonists towards his father." — n., 244.
3 When it was represented by the deputy governors that a tax was necessary for the defence
of the province against immediate and threatening dangers, they claimed that the proprieta
ries should be exempted from paying their proportion of it. " The Assembly," says Frank
lin, " found the proprietaries in possession of an immense estate, in lands and quit-rents.
This estate was as much endangered as any other estate, and was to be defended in common
with the rest. They did not think the immensity of it gave it any title to any exemption of
any kind, and they found no such exemption specified in any of their charters.
" Proceeding, therefore, by the rules of reason and equity, as well as policy, they taxed
the whole land alike ; and subjected the proprietaries, as landholders, to a proportional share
of all the claims and impositions which their deputy would have exempted them from as govr

244 ASSEMBLY PERMANENTLY DEMOCRATIC.
at the expense of the poor. The majority were to have no honor ; the peo
ple no position in comparison with gentlemen of rank; and representatives
were to be reduced, and yet no qomplaints were deemed reasonable, — no
petitions for reforms respectable.
But this dismal exhibition of party warfare, — of an oligarchy against a
Democracy, — -had its cheering aspects, its redeeming principles, its happy
results. Though severely tried by the tyranny of the governors, the people were
patient, true, and firm.1 Their good will was above the influences of pas
sion, and their sense of justice superior to a vindictive policy.' The Assem
bly was permanently democratic. Prompt to cooperate in all measures of
reform, to require the administration of justice, to protect the rights and
interests of the colonists, to hold sacredly the prerogatives of conscience, —
the charter of the colony, and the magna charta of England, — they did not
ernors-in-chief, and' was so strenuous for imposing on the people alone ; — and this one bitter
ingredient was mors in olid, — death in the pot." — in., 371.
"On one side was the proprietary family," says Day, "with their feudal prerogatives,
their manors of ten thousand acres, their quit-rents and baronial pomp, alienated in their
sympathies from the colony, preferring the luxuries of aristocratic life in England to the unos
tentatious manners of the New World, ruling the colony by capricious deputies, and ever
refusing to be taxed for the common defence of the country. On the other side was a hardy
and enthusiastic band of colonists, free in this New World to develop the great principles of
civil liberty, then just dawning upon the human mind ; willing to bear their share of the
pecuniary burdens of the frontier wars against the encroachments of the French, provided
the proprietaries would consent to be equally taxed ; a part of them burning to take up arms
in defence of the colony, while the Quakers and other non-resistant sects were equally zealous
to promote peace. ' ' — Hist. Coll. Pa.
It was decided, in 1762, that the proprietary estates should be taxed. Thus was taken
away a source of contention which had embroiled the Assembly and governors for many years.
This was accomplished chiefly by the influence of Dr. Franklin, during his first mission to
England. l " It is apparent," says Franklin, " the Assemblies of that province (Pennsylvania) have
acted from the beginning on the defensive only. " * * * "It is apparent, on the other
hand, that these proprietaries have acted an offensive part ; have set up unwarrantable
claims ; have adhered to them by instructions yet more unwarrantable ; have availed them
selves of the dangers and distresses of the province, and made it-their business (at least, their
deputies have) to increase the terrors of the times, purposely to unhinge the present system ;
and, by the dint of assumptions,, snares, menaces, aspersions, tumults and every other unfair
practice whatsoever, would have either bullied or wheedled the inhabitants out of the privi
leges they were born to-; nay, they have actually avowed this perfidious purpose, by avowing
and dispersing those pamphlets in which the said privileges are insolently, wickedly and
foolishly, pronounced repugnant to government, the sources of confusion, and such as, hav
ing answered the great end of causing an expeditious settlement, for which alone they were
granted, might be resumed at pleasure, as incompatible with the dictatorial power they now
challenge and would fain exercise.
" And, this being the truth, the plain truth, and nothing but the truth, there is no need to
direct the censures of the public, which, on proper information, are always sure to fall in the
right place." — Sparks' Franklin, in., 528, 529.

WHAT THE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA TEACHES. 245
hesitate boldly to declare their principles, to oppose monopolies, to repel the
presumptions of aristocracy, and at all times to prefer essential liberty to tem
porary safety.1 They were true to the best good of their country and to them
selves, and their posterity will not fail to be true to them. That they occa
sionally committed errors is not to be denied. Comparatively, their errors
were slight and seldom. They were rather those of passion, provoked by
acts of oppression, than of a selfish spirit against common equity or the
acknowledged principles of justice.
The history of Pennsylvania demonstrates how much may be accomplished
by pure good will, and at the satne time how much may be lost by mistaking
good-nature for benevolence, and a theoretic peace for security. The colony
was subject to perpetual «hange in legislation ; the adjustments of one day
became the topics of dispute the next ; and what was wanting in magnitude
of interest was amply supplied by the niceties of distinction. The govern
ment had been formed in the confidence that virtue would be chosen for its
beauty, peace for its enjoyments, and prosperity for its comforts. But the
passions of men exist independent of conventional laws. However high the
standard of moral purpose, men will be found to stand in relation to all the
degrees of the scale, and to represent, in every variety of combination, all
the natural tendencies of the soul. As, in the natural world, the rising sun
may beam upon a vaulted sky in peace with all the elements, and ride, at its
setting, upon the clouds of the tempest, — so, in the universe of truth, the
holiest resolutions, with a successful beginning, may encounter error, in the
end, for which they were not adapted to combat, and obstacles of a nature
beyond their power to remove. In his endeavors to save the colony from
the annoyances of individual cupidity, and the convulsions of party spirit,
Penn widened the source of their origin by adopting a theory which was in
advance of experience, and multiplied new issues by attempting to avoid old
ones. His truth was above his wisdom, and his wisdom was above his
knowledge. He desired more than he understood, and accomplished less
than he designed. His spiritual habits of faith in the goodness of God
inspired a benevolent confidence in the goodness of man. He excited jeal
ousy by his equanimity of temper, and by attempting to avoid contention he
encountered the spirit of mistrust. In his conceptions of the conditions of
national existence, he failed to discover that a causative diversity was com
patible with national unity. His plans were too great for his means of exe
cution, and his hopes in the agency of others were measured by the standard
i In an address from the Assembly to Deputy Gov. Morris occurs the following happy pas
sage : " Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
" There is not in any volume," says Franklin, " the sacred writings excepted, a passage
to be found better worth the veneration of freemen than this ; nor could a lesson of more util
ity have been laid at that crisis before the Pennsylvanians." — Vol. in., p. 429.

246 DEMOCRACY IN MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA.
of endeavor which existed as a shining light within himself. While living,
the government of his colony was chiefly administered by agents of question
able wisdom ; and when dead, by kindred successors, more mercenary in char
acter than skilled in public affairs or distinguished for private virtue.
But, as Maryland exhibited Democracy to be controlled by a Papist, as
the originator of measures for the consideration of the people,— r Pennsylvania
gave an example of Democracy in a Quaker, by whom the people were
empowered to make legislative propositions for the action of his judgment,
and the exercise of his prerogative. In the one case sovereignty diverged.
from a single mind to the people ; in the other, it converged from the people
to a single mind.1 In Maryland toleration was a policy ; in Pennsylvania, a
principle. One attempted to practise Democracy without admitting a the
ory that harmonized its principles; the other endeavored to enforce a theory
embracing elements which rendered its execution impracticable. s Both exper
iments developed the same truths, and exposed the same errors, though in
processes commenced in opposite directions, and combining different elements.
The people of Maryland, in seeking their interests, felt the restraining hand
of their sovereign lord at the beginning, and political progress was slow ;
the people of Pennsylvania began with the utmost freedom in the business
of their settlement, but did not discover the limits of their sovereignty, in the
person of their proprietary, until they combined to exercise their rights, and
-to demand a field for activity in some proportion to their magnitude. Sover
eignty in both cases was based upon property, and weighed down by heredi
tary conditions ; and laws, however proposed, were subject to the negative
of the governor. The founders of both colonies were democratic in their
views, but their confidence in theory was greater than their hopes in prac
tice. So far. however, as their practice was in harmony with the principles
of Democracy, their plans succeeded, and the people were prosperous and
happy. In Maryland the Protestant, was taught toleration by a Papist, and
in Pennsylvania the necessity of a military defence was taught by a Quaker.
1 "But for the hereditary office of proprietary," says Bancroft, " Pennsylvania had been
a representative Democracy. In Maryland, the council was named by Lord Baltimore ; in
Pennsylvania, by the people. In Maryland, the power of appointing magistrates, and all, even
the subordinate executive officers, rested solely with the proprietary; in Pennsylvania, Wil
liam Penn could not appoint a justice or a constable. Every executive officer, except the
highest, was elected by the people or their representatives, and the governor could perform no
public act but with the consent of the council. Lord Baltimore had a revenue derived from
the export of tobacco, the staple of Maryland ; and his colony was burdened with taxes. A
similar revenue was offered to William Penn, and declined ; and tax-gatherers were unknown
in his province." * * *
Penn " established a Democracy, and was himself a feudal sovereign. The two elements
in the government were incompatible ; and, for ninety years, the civil history of Pennsylvania
is but the account of the jarring of these opposing interests, to which there could be no happy
issue but in popular independence." — ii., 389, 393.

MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND. • 247
Sectarians combined to promote intellectual freedom ; and, while the friends
of peace and war united in counsel to lessen the domain of passion, they
harmonized conflicting opinions in respect to the active prerogatives of prin
ciple. War, in the defence of just rights, was seen to be the conservator
of peace ; feudalism surrendered to royalty, and the splendid presumptions
of royalty gave way to the plain and undisguised truths of Democracy. In
the unnumbered conflicts of party, the triumphs of the people were as
glorious as they proved to be complete.
In regard to
MASSACHUSETTS,! CONNECTICUT,2 AND RHODE ISLANDS
the three colonies which, at the time of the Revolution, were under charter
governments, little will be said in this connection. The principles of the
1 The first settlement within the territory of Massachusetts was made by the Pilgrims, at
Plymouth, December 21, 1620. This settlement was called Plymouth Colony, and afterward
Old Colony, to distinguish it from the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which was for a time
a distinct government. The settlement of the Province of Massachusetts Bay commenced
in 1628, the birth-year of Salem. La 1629 a royal charter was granted to this colony. In
1630 Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Cambridge and Watertown, were settled. In 1634 a
representative government was established. In 1643, in consequence of the dangers which
threatened the English settlements from the hostilities of the Indians, Dutch and French, the
colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, formed themselves into a
confederacy, by the name of the United Colonies of New England. This union continued
forty years. In 1652 the Province of Maine was detached from Massachusetts, but was
restored in 1677. In 1680- New Hampshire was detached from Massachusetts. In 1686 the
charter of Massachusetts was taken away by James II., and Sir Edmund Andross was sent
out from England as Governor of all New England. He proved to be such a tyrant that the
people of Boston deposed him in 1689, and sent him to England. The Provisional Govern
ment assembled June 5, 1689, which was administered under a Council of Safety till 1692,
when a new government was organized under a new charter, dated October 7, 1691. This
charter, granted by William and Mary, extinguished the Old Colony government, and united
Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, Nova Scotia, under one administration.
2 The territory of Connecticut was granted by the Council at Plymouth to the Earl of
Warwick, in 1630. It was transferred in 1631 to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooks and oth
ers. In 1633 the Dutch of New Amsterdam built a fort at Hartford, and the English from
Plymouth established a trading-house at Windsor the same year. In 1635 a party from
Massachusetts Bay settled at Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield. In 1638 Eaton, Daven
port and others, from Boston, began the settlement of New Haven, where they established a
separate government. In 1639 the towns on the Connecticut which bad been under the gov
ernment of Massachusetts established a government of their own. In 1650 a treaty was
made with the Dutch by which the boundaries between the English settlements and the ter
ritories of New Amsterdam were adjusted. In 1662 a royal charter was granted to the col
ony of Connecticut, and New Haven became united to it in 1665. In 1687 Andross went to
Hartford, and demanded the charter ; but it was conveyed away and hidden in a tree, which
was afterwards called Charter Oak. The Governor of New York attempted to establish his
authority over the militia of this colony, but was promptly resisted by the people.
3 Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams. Williams was banished by Massachusetts
in 1635, and in 1636 he obtained a grant of land from the Indians, and commenced a settle-

248 DEMOCRACY OF NEW ENGLAND.
Puritans have already been noticed, and the issues of party will appear in
almost every question of policy that was discussed by the colonies in com
mon. The progress of Democracy in New England may be seen in the dif
ferent charters granted at successive periods.1 A government by charter2
implies distinct purposes and character. In these examples, afforded by the
charters of the New England colonies, the evidence was not without its real
ity. When a monarch concedes freedom, upon principle, to men of principle,
he lights a fire that can never be quenched, — he surrenders a power that
can never be returned.
The great heart of democratic principles was in New England,3 and from
this point they extended to every portion of the Continent. Still the object
of suspicious fears in England, the people of Massachusetts began their set
tlement doubting both the king and the Parliament. They asserted a sover
eignty in their physical weakness, and defended it in the might of their prin
ciples. This sovereignty was multiplied and explained in Rhode Island i and
ment the same year. It was named the Providence Plantation. A perfectly democratic
government was established. In 1638 Portsmouth was settled by William Coddington and
others from Massachusetts. Newport was settled vin 1639. The Providence and Rhode
Island Plantations, having no charter, were not admitted into the New England confederacy
till ] 643. A charter was obtained of Parliament, in 1644, which united the two plantations
under one government. In 1647 the first General Assembly met at Portsmouth. Charles H.
granted a new charter in 1663.
1 See Appendix.
2 See page 127.
3 The name of New England was first given, in 1614, by the famous Captain John Smith, to
North Virginia, lying between the degrees of forty-one and forty-five. New England was sup
posed (1621) to be an island, by Cushman and Winslow. Even as late as 1724, the inefficient
minister of British America, the Duke of Newcastle, had letters from the department
addressed to "the island of New England." (See Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, pp.
80, 255 ; Bancroft, iv., p. 19.) New England, as referred to in the text, is intended to
embrace only Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.
* The following " simple instrument,", says Professor Knowles, " which combines the prin
ciples of a pure Democracy and of unrestricted religious liberty, was the basis of the first
government in Providence," doubtless drawn up by Roger Williams :
" We, whose names are here underwritten, being desirous to inhabit in the town of Provi
dence, do promise to submit ourselves, in active or passive obedience, to all such orders or
agreements as shall be made for public good of the body, in an orderly way, by the major
consent of the present inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together into a town
ship, and such others whom they shall admit into the same, only in civil things."
In 1637-8, when John Clarke and others.(nineteen in all) were required to leave Massachu
setts, and decided to settle at Aquetneck (now Rhode Island), they made the following decla
ration : " We, whose names are underwritten, do swear, solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah,
to incorporate ourselves into a body politic ; and, as he shall help us, will submit our persons,
lives and estates, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and to
all those most perfect and absolute laws of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be
guided and judged thereby."
The first General Assembly met May 19, 1647. They agreed upon a body of laws, chiefly
taken from the laws of England. In the introduction of this code, the form of government

FATHERS OF CONNECTICUT REPUBLICANS. 249
Connecticut ; x and the democrats who were sent away to promote the internal
harmony of Massachusetts became the champions of liberty in new circles
adopted is called " Demooratioal ; that is to. say, a government held by the free and vol
untary consent of all or the greater part of the free inhabitants." This code of civil regu
lations thus ooncludes : " Otherwise than thus, what is herein forbidden, all men may walk
as their consciences persuade them, every one in the name of his God. And let the lambs of
the Most High walk, in this colony, without molestation, in the name of Jehovah their God,
for ever and ever."
" I have acknowledged '>(it was the declaration of Roger Williams), (" and have and shall
endeavor to maintain) the rights and properties of every inhabitant of Rhode Island, in
peace ; yet, since there is so much sound and noise of purchase and purchasers, I judge it
not unreasonable to declare the rise and bottom of the planting of Rhode Island in the fount
ain of it. It was not the price nor money that could have purchased Rhode Island. Rhode
Island was obtained by love," &c. — See Knowles' Roger Williams.
The second charter (see Appendix), granted by Charles.II., 1663, declared that " no per
son within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be anywise molested, punished or
disquieted, or called in question for any differences in opinion, in matters of religion, and
do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony."
Cotton Mather says (Magnalia, b. vn., c. in., § 12, 1695) that Rhode Island colony " has
been a colluvies of Antinoinians, Familists, Anabaptists, Antisabbatarians, Arminians, Socin-
ians, Quakers, Ranters, — everything in the world but .Roman Catholics and true Christians,
though of the latter, I hope, there have been more than of the former among them."
Rhode Island will be considered in another connection.
1 "The fathers of Connecticut," says Trumbull, "as to politics, were republicans. They
rejected with abhorrence the doctrines of the divine right of kings, passive obedience, and
non-resistance. With Sidney, Hampden and other great writers, they believed that all civil
power and government was originally in the people. Upon these principles they formed their
civil constitutions." — Vol. u, p. 284.
The charter "conferred on the colonists," says Bancroft, "unqualified power to govern
themselves. They were allowed to elect all their own officers, to enact their own laws, to admin
ister justice without appeals to England, to inflict punishments, to confer pardons, and, in a
word, to exercise every power, deliberative and active. The king, far from reserving a neg
ative on the acts of the colony, did not even require that the laws should be transmitted for
his inspection ; and no provision was made for the interference of the English government in
any event whatever. Connecticut was independent except in name. Charles II. and Gar*
endon thought they had created a close corporation, and they had really sanctioned a Democ
racy." — Vol. n., p. 55.
Trumbull intimates that they were early troubled with apprehensions of consolidation. He
says: "One of the principal reasons which these colonists assigned for .their removing to
Massachusetts was, that they should be more out of the way and trouble of a general Governor
of New England, who, at this time (1638), was an object of great fear in all the planta
tions." — (Vol. I., p. 96.) Professor Kingsley says : "Thefirst emigrants to Connecticut
considered themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, till, after the settlement of
three towns, they formed themselves into an independent body politic. The first planters of
New Haven recognized in their acts no human authority foreign to themselves. They appear
to have studiously avoided any mention of their native country, or any allusion to the ques
tion of allegiance to the King of England. This matter they left to be determined afterwards,
as circumstances should render a decision expedient or necessary." * * * " Soon after
their arrival at Quinnipiac, at the close of a ' day of fasting and prayer,' they formed and
subscribed what they denominated a 'plantation covenant.' By this instrument they
engaged, ' that as in matters that concern the gathering and ordering of a church, so also in all
32

250 VIGILANCE OF DEMOCRACY.
of sovereignty, and stood, as it were, the sentinels of Democracy, to guard
the outposts of the Puritans. The vigilance of Democracy is ever in advance..
of its dangers.1 Its jealousies give birth to its securities, and its action per
manency to possessions. When the people of Massachusetts began to dis
cover new sources of enterprise in extension of territory,2 and safety in
toleration, they ceased to be conservative for protection, and no longer
delayed their public avowal of confidence in Democracy for progress. Con
fident in principles, they looked for power in possessions.
In their frequent controversies with the British government, its agents,
and party adherents, they were not backward in declaring their rights, nor
timid in expressing their opinions. Their controversies not only concerned
their own interests, but interests which were common to all the other
colonies. In most respects, what concerned one concerned all. Colonial
public offices which concern civil order, as choice of magistrates and officers, making and
repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, they would
all of them be ordered by the rules which the Scripture held forth to them.' " * * *
" The government thus instituted was, in fact, a pure Democracy, professedly controlled by
the great principles of justice and equity, as these principles are illustrated in the book of
Revelation." * * * " Property was not required to constitute a voter. Personal char-
actor, as developed in church-membership, was the only ground on which any individual was
admitted to the exercise of political power." According to " the New Haven code, the
clergy, so far from having any civil power, could not even perform the marriage ceremony,
this being placed exclusively in the hands of. the magistrates. The church was organized on
principles strictly independent, — a sort of spiritual Democracy, in which, if there were any
lords, they were 'lords brethren.' " — See Kingsley's Hist. Discourse, 1838.
How Connecticut acquired the reputation of an intolerant legislation, it is difficult to say.
It is an error of early origin, and its injustice was asserted by intelligent writers more than
a century ago. " It may be said, without fear of contradiction," says Professor Kingsley,
" from any one who knows whereof he affirms, that no example can be produced, in the whole
history of Christian nations, where a community unanimous in their religion, and urged by
so many inducements to maintain it, have changed their laws, and made every concession
desired, more promptly, fully and cheerfully, than the people of Connecticut." — (Hist. Dis.,
p. 51.) The colonial records of Connecticut fully justify the strong language of Professor
Kingsley. ..
i It is an interesting fact, and worthy to be noted, that Cradock proposed, as early as 1629,
that "the chief government of the Plantation (of Massachusetts Bay), together with the
patent, should be settled in New England." After several deliberate discussions (in Lon
don), such a" removal was voted. That they feared opposition to such a movement, may be
inferred from the circumstance that they were " desired privately and seriously to consider "
the subject, " and to set down their particular reasons in writing pro et contra, and to produce
the same at the next General Court." — See Young's Chronicles of Mass., p. 85.
Another example of foresight and prompt action on the part of the Pilgrims, in 1624, was
the case of " the minister, Mr. John Lyford, whom a faction of the adventurers send (accord
ing to Gov. Bradford) to hinder Mr. Robinson." Lyford was suspected, watched, and
detected in a correspondence adverse to the harmony of the colony. — lb., p. 20.
2 In 1639 " the government of Massachusetts," says Marshall, " induced by the rapidity
with which the colony had attained to its present strength to form sanguine hopes of future
importance, instituted an inquiry into the extent of their patent, with a view to the enlarge
ment of territory." — Hist, of the Colonies, p. 108.

RELIGIONISTS AND NOT POLITICIANS. 251
policy gradually became continental, and what commenced in the private
circles of the church was transferred to the halls of legislation. Local
parties, in respect to interest, were abated ; and Democracy began to unite
its forces as a party of principle, in respect to freedom. Democracy had
commenced the settlement of the continent ; it remained for Democracy to
extend its principles and to defend them. The progress of Democratic
principles, and the accumulating evidence of an organized party in America,
were facts hardly perceptible to the conservatives of England ; and as they
counted strength in numbers, they entertained no fears. Some prophesied,
but no one believed. Some became accusers, but few doubted. Some
looked for trouble, but no one predicted resistance. All knew of disputes,
but no one anticipated rebellion.1
It is certainly to be regarded as a favorable circumstance to the cause of
freedom, that the colonists were at first looked upon as religionists, rather
than politicians ; and that they frequently had test questions, 'in respect to
control, which neither secured the sympathy nor excited the hostility of
the King, the Church, or the Parliament.
Indeed, the colonists were early reported to government as intolerant
conservatives, and but few could have indulged even in moderate apprehen
sions that their excesses in claiming too much freedom were of any particular
consequence anywhere.
It was well understood that there Was no particular affection between the
Stuarts and the colonists, and a mutual watchfulness between them was to
be expected. The colonists were no admirers of monarchy, and they had
given frequent occasions for suspicion that they favored republican tendencies.
The existing relations between the Church of England and the Puritans
were such as to promise no peace where power was in the process of accu
mulation.2 Each party had its secret friends to report the doings of its
1 Jer. Dummer, who wrote " A Defence of the New England Charters," first published in
1721, in reply to apprehensions which had been expressed, "that their (the colonies')
' increasing numbers and wealth, joined to their great distance from Great Britain, will give
them an opportunity, in the course of some years, to throw off their dependence on the
nation, and declare themselves a free state, if not curbed in time, by being made entirely
subject to the crown," — thus writes : " Whereas, in truth, there is nobody, though but little
acquainted with these, or any of the northern plantations, who does not know and confess
that their poverty and the declining state of their trade is so great at present that there is
far more danger of their sinking, without some extraordinary support of the crown, than of
their ever revolting from it. So that I may say, without being ludicrous, that it would not
be more absurd to place two of his majesty's beef-eaters to watch an infant in the cradle,
that it don't rise to cut its father's throat, than to guard these weak infant colonies to
prevent their shaking off the British yoke. Besides, they are so distinct from one another
in their forms of government, in their religious rites, in their emulation of trade, and conse
quently in their affections, that they never can be supposed to unite in so dangerous an
enterprise." — p. 72.
* " Considering the subject from the historical point of view," says Bancroft, " it must be

252 INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTION OF CHARTER.
opponents; and both parties were subject to the, misrepresentations and
exaggerations of zealous men, whose errors, if not in saying too much, could
hardly be in saying too little.
The people of Massachusetts did not hesitate to give that construction to
their charter which promised most for their own good. They, had not been
protected by a monarchy, — why should they be scrupulous in continuing its
power 1 They had regarded themselves as the servants of God, — could it
be expected that they would recognize a rival master in a king 1 1 If the
king and Parliament complained of the assumption of power, the colonists
stood upon the justice of their position. If the king asserted his preroga^
tive\ the colonists claimed that it was inconsistent with their freedom ; if he
manifested a formal interest in their welfare, they appealed to principles ; if
he expressed a paternal relationship, they were grateful for his condescen
sion. Distance was an obstacle which rendered frequent communication
impossible ; and while monarchy relied upon royalty in England, Democracy
was building its home in the hearts of the people of America.
From the first to the last, the colonists found in their charter sufficient
authority to warrant the establishment of a separate government; and on no
occasion did they consent to modify their views of construction, their con
ceptions of duty, or neglect to embrace all proper opportunities for the
improvement of their position.
It was believed by some that no treaties should be made, except by the
people,2 and it was claimed that the people alone should direct and distribute
the executive, judicial and representative powers of the colony. Governors
were publicly subjected to be questioned, advised and censured, by the people ;
the ministers of the gospel were reminded of their errors, and magistrates
of their duties. "The people were prized as the riches of -the country;"
and the remark which was made in Parliament, in the time of George II.,
"that they who have no property have the strongest property in liberty,"
was a' truth well known and fully applied in practice.
The people declared war against the Indians, and declined war against
the Dutch. They enacted laws with a bold spirit, exercised ecclesiastical
observed that the establishment of Episcopacy in New England, as the religion of the state,
was impossible ; since the character of the times was a guarantee that the immense majority
of emigrants would prove its uncompromising opponents." — Vol. I., p. 344.
1 " Submission," it was argued when it was proposed to alter the charter, 1683, " would be
an offence against the majesty of Heaven ; the religion of the people of New England and the
court's pleasure cannot subsist together." * * * " Better suffer than sin. It is better
to trust the God of our fathers than to put confidence in princes." — See Bancroft, n.,
pp. 125, 126.
2 John Eliot, the benevolent apostle of the Indians, and author of "The Christian Com
monwealth," a work condemned for its democracy, claimed for the people a voice in making
treaties. — See Bancroft, vol. n., p. 72.

PARTY PRUDENCE OF THE COLONISTS. 253
authority, coined money, and denied the right of appeal to the king1 and
Parliament. Aristocracy was rebuked with fearlessness ; and, when spirits
were too turbulent for discipline, they were summarily shipped to England.
And yet, with such undisguised claims to authority, they based all their
hopes in the Christian faith, technically honored their king, but bent the
knee to none but God. ¦ But in their boldness the colonists were prudent.
They well comprehended the loyalty of necessity, and made no impracticable
attempts to hasten the growth of their plans. They avoided, as far as
possible, all discussions that were of doubtful issue. They looked upon
Parliament as an expensive friend ; and seldom honored that . body by
petitions for favor, fearing that the obligation would be remembered to their
damage, should their prayers be answered.2 To some things proposed by
government they yielded, though not without an explanation of terms, and
where there was no actual compromise of principle. The troubles and revo
lutions of the parent country were studied, with a cautious participation in
their causes, though not without fearful apprehensions, or pleasing anticipa
tions, according to their wishes or their judgment, of their final issues. At
all times respectful, they claimed with serious deliberation the full measure
of their rights ; and at all times courteous, they declined obedience to requisi
tions which they believed to be wrong. It may be truly said of them that
they were graced with " the pride of submission, and dignity of obedience."
They could receive the commissioners of the crown with all the ceremony
due to their station, and yet impress them with a sense of their littleness,
and the utter futility of their authority.3 They could ship a troublesome
1 It was accounted perjury and treason to speak of appeals to the king. — Burdett's Letter
to Laud, 1637.
a When some of the friends of Massachusetts, in England, suggested a petition in behalf
of that colony to the Long Parliament, soon after its meeting, it was, at first, declined ; " on
consideration," says Winthrop, "that if we should put ourselves under the protection of
Parliament, we must then be subject to all such laws as they should make, in which course,
though they should intend our good, yet it might prove very prejudicial to us."
3 In 1664, Charles II. issued a commission, empowering Richard Nichols and three others
"to hear and determine complaints and appeals, in causes, as well military and civil as
criminal, within New England, and to proceed in all things for settling the peace and
security of the country."
This commission was resisted by Massachusetts with extraordinary resolution, as a viola
tion of their charter. The General Court " immediately resolved, in words," says Chalmers,
" which show what impression the arrival of the royal officers had made, to bear true
allegiance to his majesty, and to adhere to a patent, so dearly obtained, and so long enjoyed
by undoubted right in the sight of God and man." A communication was made to the king,
stating " the grievances of the colony with the force of men who feared that the power of
the commissioners might be improved ' to the subversion of their all.' " And it concluded
in this rapturous strain : " Let our government live, our patent live, our magistrates live,
our laws and liberties live, our religious enjoyments live, — so shall we all yet have further
cause to say, from our hearts, let the king live forever."
The commissioners were not only openly opposed by proclamation, made by authority and .

254 PARTY PRUDENCE OF THE COLONISTS.
governor home without contempt of the throne, and refuse to drink. his
majesty's health and hear no breathing of treason. They could hunt the
fugitive judges, who had assisted in sending royalty to the scaffold, with the
earnestness of "hounds," and like "lobsters"1 succeed in finding them.2
preceded by the sound of trumpet, but they .were required, with great seriousness, to behave
themselves with all proper respect for the laws. It is said that they were accustomed to
enjoy themselves with a few friends at a tavern in Ann-street, Saturday nights. This was
contrary to a law which required the strict observance of Saturday night as a part of the
Lord's day. A constable attempted to break them up, but was beaten and driven off by
Sir Robert Carr and his servant. Mason, another constable, immediately proceeded to the
tavern ; but the party had gone to the house of a merchant near by. Mason went in, staff
in hand, and reproached them for resisting an officer, and for such examples of immorality ;
telling them it was well that they had changed their quarters, or otherwise he should have
arrested them all. "What," said Carr, "arrest, the king's commissioners?" "Yes,"
answered Mason, " the king himself, had he been there."
The democratic reception of the commissioners in America was the cause of amazement in
England. "We are all amazed," said the chancellor (Clarendon), "you demand a revoca
tion of the commission, without charging the commissioners with the least matter of crimes
or exorbitances." Boyle echoed the astonishment : " The commissioners are not accused of
one harmful thing, even in your private letters." "A century later," says Bancroft,
" and there were none in England who did not esteem the commission an unconstitutional
usurpation." — See Bancroft, n., p. 83; Chalmers' Annals, p. 387.
The commission was not without its good results. It had a tendency to lead the colonists
to settle differences at home, and to study their relations with England. Although some of
the weaker colonies submitted with an apparent loyalty, the permanent effect of the commis
sion was favorable to freedom.
i See Pari. Deb., vol. iv., p. 635.
2 When the royal mandate was received by the Governor of Massachusetts requiring the
apprehension of Whalley and Goffe, a feigned search was made for those unhappy men. A
commission was given to Thomas Kellond and Thomas Kirk, two zealous young royalists, to
go through the colonies, as far as Manhadoes, and make a careful and universal search for
them. They proceeded with despatch as far as Hartford, where they were nobly entertained
by Gov. Winthrop. He assured them that the judges made no stay in Connecticut, but went
directly to New Haven. He gave them a warrant and instructions similar to those which
they had received in Massachusetts. All was done with a show of promptness. They arrived
next day at Guilford, and opened their business to Deputy Gov. Leet. They acquainted him
that they had reasons for believing that the regicides were then in New Haven. They desired
immediately to be furnished with powers, horses and assistance, to arrest them. The governor
and the principal men of Guilford viewed the judges as among the excellent in the earth, and
had no disposition to betray them. They found means to delay the officers until next day,
when horses were furnished ; but the governor utterly declined giving them any powers before
he had consulted his council. The judges were apprized of every transaction respecting
them, and they and their friends took their measures accordingly. After meeting his council,
the governor declared that they could not act without calling a general assembly of freemen.
The officers complained, with earnest professions of loyalty, and said that his majesty would
highly resent the concealment and abetting of such traitors and regicides. They demanded
whether he and his council would own and honor his majesty. The governor replied, " We
do honor his majesty, but have tender consciences, and wish first to know whether he will
own us." After the officers had used their best skill to discover the fugitives, by watching
and by searching houses, they gave up the pursuit. The whole business was managed by
the governor and the people with admirable judgment, and, without any open disloyalty to

TEMPER OF GREAT BRITAIN TOWARDS THE COLONIES. ' 255
They could beat the drum with respectful impunity in the presence of an
unlawful officer who had been sent to rule over them,1 and immerse his
majesty's commissioners in utter darkness without intending personal dis
respect.2 Strangers were watched, and watches were set with prayer. New acces
sions to the throne were declared with a discriminating convenience, and
addresses of congratulation were alike tempered with uncompromising inde
pendence and confident submission.
To convey to the reader, in a few words, an adequate idea of the variety
of disposition, power and temper, manifested by Great Britain towards the
colonies during a long period of time, would be quite impossible. The most
that can be attempted, in remarks which are but introductory to the political
history of the United States, will be to give such connecting links as shall
best serva to illustrate the continuity of Democratic principles in the
American colonies before the period of the Revolution.
his majesty, they succeeded in protecting their distinguished visitors. — See Trumbull's
Con., i., p. 243.
1 Col. Benjamin Fletcher, Governor of New York in 1692, received a commission which
was viewed by the colonists as entirely inconsistent with the charter rights and safety of the
colonies. He was vested with plenary powers of commanding the whole militia of the prov
inces. When he visited Hartford, and insisted on the command of the Connecticut militia,
the Assembly not only refused consent, but Gov. Treat declined receiving a commission from
him. " The train-bands of Hartford assembled," says Trumbull, " and, as the tradition is, while
Capt. Wadsworth, the senior officer, was walking in front of the companies, and exercising
the soldiers, Col. Fletcher ordered his commission and instructions to be read. Capt. Wads
worth instantly commanded, ' Beat the drums !.' and there was such u, roaring of them
that nothing else could be heard. Col. Fletcher commanded silence. But no sooner had
Bayard made an attempt to read again, than Wadsworth commands, 'Drum, — drum, I
say ! ' The drummers understood their business, and instantly beat up with all the art and
life of which they were masters. 'Silence! silence!' says the colonel. No sooner was there
a pause, than Wadsworth speaks, with great earnestness, 'Drum, drum, I say ! ' and, turn
ing to his excellency, said, ' If I am interrupted again, I will make the sun shine through
you in a moment ! ' He spoke with such energy in his voice, and meaning in his countenance,
that no further attempts were made to read, or enlist men." — Vol. I., p. 393.
2 When Sir Edmund Andross, with his suite and a body of troops, visited Hartford, to
demand the charter of Connecticut, the Assembly was in session. Tbe governor and
Assembly had no disposition to treat their distinguished visitor with any disrespect, although
they were keenly alive to the injustice of his mission. The important affair was debated and
kept in suspense until the evening, when the charter was brought and laid upon the table,
where the Assembly was sitting. By this time, great numbers of people were assembled, and
men sufficiently bold to enterprise whatever might be necessary or expedient. The lights
were instantly extinguished, and one Captain Wadsworth, of Hartford, in the most silent
and secret manner carried off the charter, and secreted it in a large hollow tree, fronting
the house of the Hon. Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of the colony. The people
appeared all peaceable and orderly. The candles were officiously relighted ; but the patent
was gone, and no discovery could be made of it, or of the person who had conveyed it away.
— See Trumbull, vol. i., p. 371.

256 POLICY OF GREAT BRITAIN TOWARDS THE COLONIES.
Although the political ' importance of America was not early seen by the
English government, the political rights of the colonists soon attracted
attention in England. The king complained that Protestants were banished
to become republicans, and, though Puritans were hopeless subjects, he
preferred them to rebellious ones. Still he saw nothing to fear, and but
little to control ; and the influence of the crown alternated "between a liberal
policy and a conservative one. National affairs at home were of more
pressing importance, and the colonists were seldom noticed, except when ,
they were occasionally brought" forward for consideration by interested
persons, who had a favor to ask, a complaint to make, or a jealous apprehen
sion of danger to express. Fanaticism was sometimes watched -with a
paternal feeling of mingled pity and vexation, and measures were ordered
for regulating the Puritans in America with similar motives that orders at
home were given for keeping the peace. A colonial system had not been
conceived in England.
When, however, it was discovered that the colonists were exercising an
influence to unite in the defence of common interests, and that they freely
expressed opinions favorable to a separate government, — the crown, doubtless
moved by a disposition to rebuke assurance, commenced a conservative
control. Liberalized charters were modified or cancelled, and the acts of
government were directed with an evident purpose to prevent danger by
recalling power that had been conceded, — "and the right to dictate was fully
exercised by the king and the council. Still, with an utter indifference to
principles, or profoundly ignorant of consistency in action, the English
government- pursued, at the same time, a different policy with different
colonies. .Each colony had its own peculiar conditions of existence and
control : and perhaps no two of the whole number enjoyed the same degree
of favor.

HISTORY .OF DEMOCRACY.
As it is a requisition of the author of the History of Democracy, that his name shall not be made
public, .the publishers have deemed it proper to append some of the letters which have been received
from distinguished gentlemen, who advised and enoouraged the preparation of the work, and who
have confidence in his ability faithfully to execute so important a task.

Extracts of a Letterfrom the late Bon.
' Washington, March Stli, 1849,

Levi Wood
bury, dated
Dear Sir, — Understanding that you feel some in
terest in an Historical work, relating to the principles
and praotice of the Democratic party, I take the lib
erty to say, that, in my view, such a work deserves
decided encouragement.
In proper hands, and with appropriate research and
discrimination, it may throw important light on our
national annals, and on tlie true character, tendency
and influences of Republican principles on all govern
ment, and on the sooial happiness and progress of the
human race. * * *
I am not aware of any person more likely to under
take and to perform the above work satisfactorily than
Hie author of the recent publication, — " The Republic
of the United States of America."
Respectfully, LEVI WOODBURY.*
Hon. Edmund Bukke, Washington City.
Letter from the Hon. Geokge M. Dallas, late Vice
Presidtms of the United States, dated Philadelphia,
May 10$, 1852.
GentlBmen, — The History of. our Democracy, the
first Number of which I have , been kindly permitted
to examine; can not fail to attract universal attention
and approval. It traces parties- up to their seminal
principles with 'dear logic and philosophic candor;
marks their divergences, ramifications, and steady
tendencies, illustrated from all the past experienceof
men and governments, with affluence, force, and in
terest; — 8Bd vindicates, eloquently, in the true spirit
of moral order and religion, the great cause of Hu
manity's peace and progress. No nobler purposes
oould animate tho writer; and this embodied result of
ability, patient thought, elevated senttarehtvand labo
rious research, entitle iim, in my humble judgment,
to the grateful thanks of hie countrymen.
I am, very respectfully, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant
G. M. DALLAS.

Letter from the Ron. James Buchanan, of Perm.,
Man-hlSlh, 1862: ' -
Gentlemen, — Learning that you are about to pub
lish a History of the Democratic party, by the Author
of " The Republic of the United States," it affords
me pleasure to express to you my opinion of his qual
ifications, for the performance of a task so important.
I have been .well acquainted with, him for several
• years, and- believe that he possesses patient and un-
". tiring industry, a sound and discriminating judgment
in the investigation of facts, and the ability to present.
them in a style clear, distinct, and interesting. I an
ticipate asthe result of his labors, a -work containing
much new and useful information. Which will be well
calculated to make a most favorable impression on the
country, and to strengthen and extend the power and
influence of the Democratic party.
Yours, very respectfully,
JAMES BUCHANAN.

Extract of a Letterfrom the Hon. William L. Marcy,
dated Albany, May Wth, 1862.
"Judging from the ability exhibited in 'The Re
public of the United States of America,^ by the same
author, published a few years since, it is reasonable
to expect that the forthcoming work, ' The History of
Democracy in the United States,' will be ofre of great
interest, as well as of great usefulness, .in diffusing an

Extract of a Letter from, Gen. Cass, dated Washing
ton, March Uh, 1862.
" I am glad to see that the History of the Democra
cy of the United States is about to be put to press..
It is a work muoh wanted, and will fill a gap hereto
fore existing in our political annals; and, from what I
know of the objects and plan, as well as of the.talents
and research of the Author, and of his attachment to
the principles of the party, I have no doubt we shall
have a history deserving the confidence and support
of every Democrat."
1 LEWIS CASS.

Letterfrom the Bon. John B. Welles, U. 8. Senator
from California, dated Washington, May 10th, 1862.
Gentlemen, — I understand that you are about to
issue from your press, a work written hj» the Author
of " The Republic of the United States of America,"
&c, under the title of " History of the Democracy of
the United States."
I beg leave to say, that I have had the pleasure of
perusing a portion of this work iu manuscript, and_
have no hesitation in saying it will be found one of
the most interesting publications of tlie age. The
Author (already favorably known to the. public) has
undoubtedly bestowed much time and attention to his
subject, and in my opinion has treated it in a most
masterly manner. ...
No One can read his pages without increasing his
attachment to democratic principles, nor can he fail
to see that the maintenance of our free institutions
depends upon sustaining them. He shows conclu
sively, that they are inseparably connected with the
happiness of the people,— that that democracy which
constitutes the vital principle of one of the political
parties of this country, is the principle, of progress, of
law, of order, of civilization, — that principle' which
extends our patriotism, liberalizes the feelings; ex
pands the heart, and makes man what God intended
he should be, bis noblest work,— that, if our govern
ment rigidly adheres to these principles, it will be
established upon an immovable basis, and fanaticism,
whether it comes from the North or from the South,
shall not prevail against it.
The educated men of the country, who are. inst
commencing their busy career upon the stage of Jife,
will find this work of incalculable value, and, whilst
they admire the beauty and simplicity of democratic
principles as portrayed by the Author, they will not
fail to discover, that the elevation of our race, the
fraternity of the republic, depend upon their main
tenance. ... ',..:,
As a democrat sincerely devoted to the principles
of his party, I commend this work to the confidence
and patronage of my countrymen.
I am, Gentlemen, very respectfully,
Tour obedient servant,
JOHN B. WELLER.

I cheerfully unite with Senator Weller in the senti
ments and opinions which he has expressed in his
16 May 16th, 1862. "' "' ' *%U HOUSTON.
Extract of a Letter from the Hon. Robert J. Walker,
dated Neil Tork, Sept. llth, 1850.
In alluding to the " History of Democracy," jn
which work he has evinced a deep interest, and said
much to encourage the author to undertake, he says,
" I promise myself a great treat when the work is
finished. The task is great, but so will be the har
vest of fame."

accurate knowledge of our system cf government and
ite beneficial effects, upon the welfare of mankind."
Letters of similar import have been received from, other distinguished Democrats, from every sec
tio^of Ae countiV; but their publication is deemed unnecessary.  .  ._

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY
IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
Embracing also a corfiplete review of the different Political Parlies, and of the measures
adopted by the Colonies, and by the Government of the United States since the Declaration
of Independence. It will necessarily embrace a great variety of Statistics, and it is the
design of the author to render ii a standard reference book, in which may be found a
record of the great political events of the country, fully authenticated and properly class
ified. BY THE AUTHOR OF
"THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
This work will embrace all the great topics, which our people and government have discussed and
decided, during a period of more than two hundred years. Tt will illustrate the origin, nature, and
permanency of Democratic principles. It will be, in fact, a complete political history of the Gplonies
and of our Republic, tracing the "unparalleled success of the latter to Demooxatic sources. It will not
be speculative, but strictly a philosophical and popular history, based upon acknowledged facts. -
The tendency of such a work will be to individualize the great Democratic Party; to give- it an
identity of being which all will recognize and realize; to give it a high standard of. principle, senti
ment, and action;- to create a common pride in the achievements of the past, and to give confidence
in all that is to come.
The glory of the Democracy may be seen. in the progress, and in the institutions of our country ; and
a just and comprehensive view of the subject should embrace the character of men, measures, and
results. A party that is advanced and sustained by the eternal principles of truth and justice, should
have a common consciousness, a common object, a common strength, and a common pride. It should
be able to know itself, and to have an abiding confidence in its own high destiny.
An acquaintance with its acts, and with the master minds which have honored its ranks, will ac
complish this great end. It will lead the Democrats to respect their party for what it has dope, and to
respect consistency in themselves as its accountable members. It will secure ooncentration of thought
and action, and give to all party movements an elevation of motive, and an efficiency which will
render success as beautiful as it must prove uniformly certain.
With a view to secure an extensive circulation, the work will be published in numbers. Each num
ber will contain sixty-four royal octavo pages, with a fine engraved portrait, and be furnished at 25
cents per number.
The work will be comprised in thirty numbers; and no labor or expense will be spared to render it
worthy the subject, the object, and tjie great party whose principles it is dSMgned to develop and
illustrate. "*** ¦
CASE, TIFFANY & Co., Publishers.
Hartford, Conn., June 1, 1852.
The first number will be published in July, 1852, and, after a lapse of a few weeks, the subsequent numbers will be issued
at stated periods.
£ty Agents for this work are wanted in the different States ; and applications, with references in regard to capacity,
standing and responsibility, are solicited.
THE SUBSCRIBERS HAVE IN PRESS AND WILL SOON ISSUE, A
GAZETTEER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Comprising a concise general view of the United States, and particular descriptions of the several
states, territories, counties, districts, cities, towns, villages, ibith the population according to the cen
sus of 1850/ their mountains, valleys, islands, capes, bays, harbors, lakes, rivers, canals, railroads,
Sec. ; with the governments , and literary and other pubhc institutions of the country; also *f» min
eral springs, waterfalls, caves, beaches, and other fashionable resorts ; to which are, added valuable
statistical tables, a map of the United States, coats of arms of the several states, and a fine steel
portrait of the author. Compiled by John Hayward, author of the New England Gazetteer, and
several other geographical and statistical works.
The work will contain between 8 and 900 octavo pages in double columns, printed with a new and
beautiful type cast especially for the work, on good paper and bound in full sheep in a neat and sub
stantial manner.
The work will be sold exclusively by subscription, and agents are wanted to circulate the book
throughout all sections of the United Stages. For information in regard to agency address the pub
lishers. CASE, TIFFANY & CO.
Hartford, Conn.

BY CASE, TIFFANY & CO., HARTFORD, CONN.

COKTTE3KTTS. NO. 2.
AMERICAN COLONIES.
Political History,  65
Principles of Colonization,  65
Origin of the American Colonies,  73
The Puritans in England,  79
The Puritans in America,  85
Love of native land,  87
Political relations of the Puritans,  88
Instruction, not self aggrandizement, the object of
Political History,  91
Democracy is no new system of modern times, . . 92
Contest for the greatest liberty,  93
The conditions of Rational existence,  95
Puritans' habits of application and prudence early
established,  96
Formation of Character aided by external objects, 97
National Sovereignty,  98
Exercise of Equal Rights,  101
Equality is best commenced in Poverty, .... 102
Principles of integrity, ,  105
Popular Education,  106
Legislation of the Puritans,  115
Colonial Governments,  125
 ¦ i^> » 
NOTICE.
In consequence of the illness of the author, the past summer, the third number
of the History will not be published till January 1st, 1853. After that period,
it is the design of the publishers to issue a number the first of every month.
The first Embex£ishmeNts of the work will be portraits of the Presidentaof
the United States, in successive order.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
CASE, TIFF AN Y & CO.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY. ,^.
As It is a requisition of the author of the Histoht op Demoosaot, that his name shall not be made
public, the publishers have deemed it proper to append some of the letters which have been received
ftom distinguished gentlemen, who advised and encouraged the preparation of the work, and who
have oonfldence in his ability faithfully to execute so important a task.
Extracts of a Letterfrom the late Hon. Levi Wood-

burt, dated Washington, March 8ft, 1849.
Dear SiRy— Understanding that you feel some in
terest in an Historical work, relating to the principles
and practice of the Democratic party, I take the lib
erty to say, that, in my view, such a work deserves
decided encouragement.
In proper hands, and with appropriate research and
discrimination, it may throw important light on our
national annals, and on the true character, tendenoy
and influences of Republican principles on all govern
ment, and on the social happiness and progress of the
human race. # * *
I am not aware of any person more likely to under
take and to perform the above work satisfactorily than
the author of the recent publication, — " The Republic
of the United States of America."
Respectfully, LEVI WOODBURY.
Hon. Edmund Burke, Washington City.
Letter from the Bim. George M. Dallas, late Vice
President of" the United States, dated Philadelphia,
May 10th, 1862.
Gentlemen, — The History of our Democracy, the
first Number or which I have been kindly permitted
to examine, can not fail to attract universal attention
and approval. It traces parties up to their seminal
principles with clear logio and philosophic candor;
marks their divergences, ramifications, and steady-
tendencies, illustrated from all the past experience of
men and governments, with affluence, foroe, and in
terest;— and vindicates, eloquently, in the true spirit
of moral order and religion, the great cause of Hu
manity's peace and progress. No nobler purposes
could animate the writer; and this embodied result of
ability, patient thought, elevated sentiment, and labo
rious research, entitle him, in my humble judgment,
to the grateful thanks of his countrymen.
I am, very respectfully, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
G. M. DALLAS.

Letterfrom the Hon. James Buchanan, of Penn.,
March ISth, 1852.
Gentlemen, — Learning that you are about to jiub-.
Hsh a History of the Democratic party, by the Author
of " The Republic of the United States," it affords
me pleasure to express to you my opinion of his qual
ifications for the performance of a task so important.
I have been well acquainted with him for several
years, and believe that he possesses patient and un
tiring industry, a sound and discriminating judgment
in the investigation of facts, and the ability to present
them in a style clear, distinct, and interesting. I an
ticipate as the result of his labors, a work containing
much new and useful information, which will be well
calculated to make a most favorable impression on the
country, and to strengthen and extend the power and
influence of the Democratic party.
Yours, very respectfully,
' James buchanan.

Extract of a Letterfrom (he Hon. William L. Marot,
dated Albany, May 20ft, 18B2.
" Judging from the ability exhibited in 'The Re
public of the United States of America,1 by the same
author, published a few years since, it Jf/easonable
to expect tibat the forthcoming work ' The History of
Democracy in the United States, will be one of great
mterest as well as of great usefulness, in drftusmg an
«Ste knowledge o?our system of govemmentand
its beneficial effects, upon the welfare of mankind
Letters of similar import have been recei^
tion of the country 5

Extract ¦of a Letter from Gen. Cass, dated Washing
ton, March 6ft, 1862.
" I am glad to see that the History of the Democra
cy of the United States is about to be put lib press.
It is a work much wanted, and will fill a gap hereto
fore existing in our political annals; and, from what I
know of the objeots and plan, as well as of the talents
and research of the Author, and of his attachment to
the principles of the party, I have no doubt we shall
have a history deserving tiie confidence and Bupport
of every Democrat." LEWIS CASS.

Letter from- ike Hon. Johk B. Weller, U. B. Senator
from California, dated Washington, May 10ft, 1862.
Gentlemen, — I understand that you are about to
issue from your press, a work written by the Author
of " The Republic of the United States of America,"
&c, under the title bf " History of the Democracy of
the United States."
I beg leave to say, that I have had the pleasure of
perusing a portion of this work in manuscript, and
have no hesitation in saying it will be found one of
the most interesting publications of the age. The
Author (already favorably known to the pubhc) has
undoubtedly bestowed much time and attention to his
subject, and in my opinion has treated it in a most
masterly manner.
No one can read his pages without increasing his
attachment to democratic principles, nor can he fail
to see that the maintenance of our free institutions
depends upon sustaining them. He shows conclu
sively, that they are inseparably connected with the
happiness of the people, — that that democracy which
constitutes the vital principle of "one of the political
parties of this country, is the principle of orogresSj of
law, of order, of civilization, — that principle which
extends our patriotism, liberalizes the feelings, ex
pands the heart, and makes man what God intended
he should be, his noblest work,— that, if our govern
ment rigidly adheres to these principles, it will be
established upon an immovable basis, and fanaticism,
whether it comes from the North or from the South,
shall not prevail against it.
The educated men of the country, who are just
commencing their busy career upon the stage of life,
will find this work of incalculable value, and, whilst
thev admire the beauty and simphcity of democratic
they .will not

principles as portrayed by the Author,
Jail to discover, that the elevation of our race, the
fraternity of the republic, depend upon their main
tenance. ...
As a democrat sincerely devoted to the principles
of his party, I commend this work to the confidence
and patronage of my countrymen.
I am, Gentlemen, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN B. WELLER.

I cheerfully unite with Senator Weller in the senti
ments and opinions which he has expressed m his
letter. Very truly.
May 16th, 1852. SAM

HOUSTON.

Extract of a Letterfrom the Hon. Robert J. Walker,
dated New York, Sept. 17ft, 1860.
In alluding to the " Bistory of Democracy," in
which work he has evinced a deep interest, and said
much to encourage the author to undertake, he says,
" I promise myself a great treat when the work is
finished. The task is great, but so will be the har
vest of fame."
ved from other distinguished Democrats, from every see-

but their publication is deemed unnecessary.

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY
IN THE.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;
Embracing also a complete review of the different Political Parties, and of the measures
adopted ly the Colonies, and by the Government of the' United States since the Declaration
of Independence. It will necessarily embrace a great variety of Statistics, .and it is the
design of the author to render it a standard reference' book, in which may be found a
record of the great political events of the country, fully authenticated and properly class
ified, BY THE AUTHOR OF
"THE REPUBLIC OE THE1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,"
This work will, embrace all the" great topics," which our people and government have discussed and
decided, during a period of more than two hundred years. It -will illustrate the origin, nature, and
permanency of Democratic principles. It will be, in fact, a complete political history of the Colonies
and of our Republic, tracing the unparalleled success of the latter to Democratic sources. It will not
be speculative, but strictly a philosophical and popular history, based upon acknowledged facts.
The tendency of such a work will be to individualize the great Democratic Party ; to give it an
identity of being which all will recognize and realize; to give it a high standard of principle, senti
ment, and action ; to create a common prido in the achievements of the past, and to give confidence
in all that is to come. .."-.-
The glory of the Democracy may be seen in the progress, and in the institutions of our country ; and
a just and comprehensive view of the subject should embrace the character of men, measures, and
results. A party that is advanced and sustained by the eternal principles of truth and justice, should
have a common consciousness, a common object, a common strength, and a common pride. It should
be able to know itself, and to have an abiding confidence in its own high destiny.
An acquaintance with its acts, and with the master minds which have honored its ranks, wiU ac
complish this great end. It will lead the Democrats to respect their party for what it has done, and to
respect consistency in themselves as its accountable members. It will secure concentration of thought
and action* and give to all party movements an elevation of motive, and an efficiency which will
render success as Beautiful as it must prove uniformly certain.
With a. view to secure au extensive circulation, the work will be published in numbers. Each num-.
ber will contain sixty-four royal octavo pages, with a fine engraved portrait, and be furnished at ff&jft
cents per number. . ""''*'
The work will be comprised in thirty numbers; and no labor or expense will be spared to render it
worthy the subject, the object, and the great party whose principles it is designed to develop and
illustrate. CASE, TIFFANY & Co., Publishers.
Hartford, Conn., June 1, 1852.
Tbe first number will be published in July, 1853, and, after al apse of a few weeks, the subsequent numbers will be issued
at stated periods;
JJ^" Agents for this work are wanted in the New England States; and applications, with references in retard
to capacity, standing and responsibility, are solicited.
THE SUBSCRIBERS HAVE IN PRESS AND WILL SOON ISSUE, A .
GAZETTEER OF THE .UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Comprising a concise general view of the United States, and particular , descriptions of the several
states, territories, counties, districts, cities, towns, villages, idtK the population according to the cen
sus of 1830/ their mountains, valleys, islands, capes, bays, harbors, lakes, rivers, Canals, railroads,
Sec. ; with the governments , and literary and other public institutions of the country; also its min
eral springs, waterfalls, caves, beaches^ and other fashionable resorts; to which, are added valuab1^.
statistical tables, a map of the United States, coats of arms of the several states, and a fine steel
portrait of the author. Compiled by John Hayward, author of the New England Gazetteer^ and
several other geographical and statistical works. - \
The work will contain between 8 and 900 octavo pages in double columns, printed with a new and
beautiful type cast especially for the work, on good paper and bound in full sheep in a neat and sub
stantial manner.
The work will be sold exclusively by subscription, and agents are wanted to oirculate the book
throughout all sections of the United States. For information in regard to agency address the pub
lishers. CASE, TIFFANY &, CO.
Hartford, Conn.

PRICE 25 CTS.

mwm of tig Miroofi

¦^K^®MhS>^'&"

PUBLISHED BY CASE, TIFFANY & COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN.

OOKTTESNTS.
> NO. 3.
PERIODS OF PARTY, RESULTS OF PARTY PRINCIPLES, - - 129
THE POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE COLONIES, 131
THE SOURCES OF CIVIL POWER, ----- U2
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES—
Virginia, ---- --... . 146
South Carolina,  157
North Carolina, - - - 161
New York,  ...... 162
New Hampshire,  - ... 175
Georgia, -- ... ---179

TO POST MASTERS.
According to a decision of the Post Master General, The History of Democ
racy is rated as a Periodical. The postage to any part of the United States is
3 cents.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
CASE, TIFFANY & CO.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY.

As it is a requisition of the author of the History of Democracy, that his name shall not bis;made,
publio, the publishers have deemed it proper to append some of the letters which have been received
from distinguished gentlemen, who advised and encouraged the preparation of the work, and/who
have confidence in his ability faithfully to execute so important a task.

Extracts of a Letterfrom ifte late Bon. Levi Wood-
buky, dated Washington, March Sth, 1849.
Dear SiRjggU^erstandhig that you feel some in
terest in an3pSw|p<yB work, relating to the principles
and practic|f<Jlw|piibemooratio party, I take the lib
erty to say, that, in my view, such a work deserves
decided encouragement. •
In proper hands, and with appropriate research and
discrimination, it may throw important light on our
national annals, and on the true character, tendency
and influences of Republican principles on all govern
ment, and on the social happiness and progress of the
human race. * * #
I am not aware of any person more likely to under
take and to perform the above work satisfactorily than
tho author of the recent publication, — " The Republic
of the United States of America."
Respectfully, LEVI WOODBURY.
Hon. Edmund Burke, Washington City.
Letter from the Hon. Geoege M. Dallas, late Vice
President of (he United States, dated Philadelphia,
MaylOth,libZ. Gentlemen,— The History of our Democracy) the
first Number of which I have been kindly permitted
to examine, can not fail to attract universal attention
and approval. It traces parties up to their seminal
principles with clear logic and philosophic candor;
marks their divergences, ramifications, and steady
tendencies, illustrated from all the past experience of
men and governments, with affluence, force, and in
terest ; — and vindicates, eloquently, in the true spirit
of moral order and religion, the great cause of Hu
manity's peace and progress. No nobler purposes
could animate the writer ; and this embodied result of
¦ ability, patient thought, elevated sentiment, and labo
rious research, entitle him, in my humble judgment,
to the grateful thanks of his countrymen.
X am, very respectfully, Gentlemen, r
Your most obedient servant,
G. M. DALLAS.

Letter from the Hon. James Buchanan, of Perm.,
MarthlZth, 1852.
Gentlemen,— Learning that you are about to pub
lish a History of the Democratic party, by the Author
of " The Republic of the United States," it affords
me pleasure to express to you my opinion of his qual
ifications for the performance of a task so important.
I have been well acquainted with him for several
-years, and believe that he possesses patient and un
tiring industry, a sound and discriminating judgment
in the investigation of facts, and the ability topresent
them in a style clear, distinct, and interesting. I an
ticipate as the result of his labors, a work containing
much new and useful information, which will be well
calculated to make a most favorable impression on the
-eountry, and to strengthen and extend the power and
influence of the Democratic party.
^^^Mif'BU&ANAN.

Mctract of a Letterfrom (he Hon. William L. Makcy,
dated Albany, May 20tfi, 1852.
" Judeing from the ability exhibited in 'The Re-
. *aam?p_ Vr_ "..j ct.lM if Amnrina.' by the same

Extract of a Letter from Gen. Cass, dated wwtfmg*
ton, March &(h, 1862. "te>$t
" I am glad to see that the History of the Democra
cy of the United States is about to be put to press.
It is a work much wanted, and will fill a gap hereto
fore existing in our political annals ; aiid, from what I
know of the objects and plan, as well as of the talents
and research of the Author, and of his attachment to
the principles of the party, I have no doubt we shall
have a history deserving the confidence and support
of every Democrat." LEWIS CASS.

Letterfrom the Hon. John B. Weller, U. S. Senator
from California, dated Washington, May 10th, 1852.
Gentlemen, — I understand that you are about to
issue from your press, a work written by the Author
of " The Republic of the United States of America,"
&c, under the title of " History of the Democracy of
the United States." .
I beg'leave to say, that I have had the pleasure of
perusing a portion or this work in manuscript, and
have no hesitation in saying it will be found one of
the most interesting publications of the age. The
Author (already favorably known to the pubhc) has
undoubtedly bestowed much time and attention to his
subject, and in my opinion has treated it in a most
masterly manner.
No one cau read his pages without increasing his
attachment to democratic principles, nor can he fail
to see that the maintenance of our free institutions
depends upon sustaining them. He shows conclu
sively, that they are inseparably connected with the
happiness of the people,— that that democracy which
constitutes the vital principle of one of the political
parties of this country, is the principle of progress, of
law, of order, of civibzation,— that principle which
extenus our patriotism, liberalizes the feelings, ex-
Sands the heart, and makes man what ' God intended
e should be, his noblest work,- -that, if our govern
ment rigidly adheres to these principles, it will be
established upon an immovable basis, and fanaticism,
whether it comes from the North or from the South,
shall not prevail against it. • .
The educated men of the country, who are just
commencing their busy career upon the stage of life,
will find this work of incalculable value, and, whilst
they admire the beauty and simplicity of democratic
principles as portrayed by the Author, they will not
fail to discover, that the elevation of our race, the
fraternity of the republic, depend upon their main
tenance. . . ,
As a democrat sincerely devoted to the principles
of bis party, I commend this work to the confidence
and patronage of my countrymen.
I am, Gentlemen, very respectfully,
Tour obedient servant,
JOHN B. WELLER.

I cheerfully unite with Senator Weller in tie senti
ments and opinions which he has expressed in his
letter- Very ^Im WOTTSTOV
May 16th, 1852.  SAM HOUSTON.
Extract of a Letterfrom the Hon. Robert J. Walker,
J dated Neil York, Sept. HA, 1850.
In alluding to the "History of Democracy," in
which work he has evinced a deep mterest, and said
much to encourage the author to undertake, he says,
' " I promise myself a great treat when the work is
Jnterest as wen ¦ ,u -^ ";Y~rflovernmenrand finished The task is great, but so will be the har-
^Jl^Zffecl ^ upon tne weTfare^f mankind." vest of fame."
S^^^^V0^t^e,T"d ftOT1 °ther diStiDSUiShed Dem°Crat3' fr°me^Se°-
tion of the country ;

but tbeir publication is deemed unnecessary.

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY
IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
Embracing also a complete review of the different Political Parlies, and of the measures
adopted by the Colonies, and by the. Government of the United States since ink Declaration
of Independence, lt will necessarily embrace a great variety of Statistics, and it is. the
design of the author to render it a standard sefeeence book, in which may befiriind a
record of the great political events of the country, fully authenticated and properly class
ified. * '' '
BY THE- AUTHOR: OP
"THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
This work will embrace all the great topics, which our people and government have discussed and
decided, during a period of more than two hundred years. It will illustrate the origin, nature, and
permanency of Democratic principles. It wi\l be, in fact, a complete political history of the Colonies
and of our Republic, tracing the unparalleled success of the latter to Democratic sources. It will not
be speculative, but stricfly a philosophical and popufftirhistory, based upon acknowledged facts.
The tendency of such a work will be to individwilize the great Democratic .Party; to give it an
identity of being which ah will recognize and realize ; to give it a high standard of principle, senti
ment, and action; to create a common pride in the achievements of the past, and to give confidence
in all that is to come.
The glory of the Democracy may be seen in the progress, and in the institutions of our country ; and
a just and comprehensive view of the subject should embrace the character of men, measures, and
results. A party that is advanced and sustained by the eternal principles of truth and justice, should
have a common consciousness, a common object, a common strength, and a oommon pride. It should
be able to know itself, and to have an abiding cphfidenee in its own high destiny.
An acquaintance with its acts, and with the master minds which have honored its ranks, will ac
complish this great end. It will lead the Democrats to respect their party for what it has done, and to
respect consistency in themselves as its accountable members. It will secure concentration of thought
and action, and give to all party movements an elevation of motive, and an efficiency which will
render success as beautiful as it- must prove uniformly certain.
With a view to secure an extensive circulation, the work will be published in numbers. Each num
ber will contain sixty-four royal octavo pages, with a fine engraved portrait, and be furnished 4$ 25
cents per number. i
The work will be comprised in thirty numbers; and no labor or expense will be spared to render it
worthy the subject," the object, .and the great party whose principles it is designed tp develop and
illustrate. CASE, TIFFANY is Co.., Publishers. ¦ }
Hartford, Conn., June 1, 1852.
The first number will be published in July, 1852, and, altera lapse of a few weeks, the subsequent numbers will be issued
at stated periods.
ty Agents for this work are wanted in the New England States; and applications, with references in regard
to capacity, standing and responsibility, are solicited.

THE SUBSCRIBERS HAVE JUST ISSUED
GAZETTEER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Comprising a concise general view of the United States, and particular descriptions of the several
states, territories, counties, districts, cities, towns, villages, with the population according to the cen
sus of 1850; their mountains, valleys, islands, capes, bays, harbors, lakes, rivers, canals, railroads,
ifc. ; with the governments, and literary and other public institutions of the country; also its min
eral springs, waterfalls, caves, beaches, and other fashionable resorts ; to which are added valuable
statistical tables, a map of the United States, coats of arms of the several states, and a fine steel
portrait of the author. Compiled by John Haywakd, author of the New England Gazetteer, and
several other geographical and statistical works. .
The work contains between 8 and 900 octavo pages in double columns, printed with a new and
beautiful type cast especially for the work, on good paper and bound in full sheep in a neat and sub
stantial manner.
The work will be sold, exclusively by subscription, and agents are wanted to circulate the book
throughout all sections of the United States. For information in regard to agency address the pub
lishers. *¦
CASE, TIFFANY & CO. .'.
Hartford, Conn.

PRICE 25 CTS.

Z&si

i

PUBLISHED BY CASE, TIFFANY & COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN.

OOnNTTESKTTSL NO. 4.
AMERICAN COLONIES.
MARYLAND,  193
SIR GEORGE CALVERT,  195
PENNSYLVANIA  204
WILLIAM PENN, -  205
NEW JERSEY,  208
QUAKERISM, -  211
DELAWARE,  216
CONDITIONS AND CONCESSIONS OP WILLIAM PENN, - - - 217
PENN'S FRAME OF GOVERNMENT,  - - 225
LAWS FOR PENNSYLVANIA, AGREED UPON IN ENGLAND, - - 229
MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND, - - 247

TO POST MASTERS.
According to a decision of the Post Master General, The History of Democ
racy is rated as a Periodical. The postage to any part of the United States is
3 cents.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
CASE, TIFFANY & CO.,
r1 ,;*' . in the Clerk's Office of the District HfiBI of Connecticut.

'Z' -

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY.
As it is a requisition of the author of the History of Democracy, that his name shall not be made
publio, the publishers have deemed it proper to append some of the letters which have been received
from distinguished gentlemen, who advised and encouraged the preparation of the work, and who
have confidence in his ability faithfully to execute so important a task.

Extracts of a Letterfrom the late Bon. Levi Wood-
. bury, dated Washington, March Sth, 1849.
Dear Sib,— -Understanding that you feel some in
terest in an Historical work, relating to the principles
and practice of the Democratic party, I take the lib
erty to say, that, in my view, such a work deserves
decided encouragement.
In proper hands, and with appropriate research and
discrimination, it may throw important light on our
national annals, and on tlie true character, tendency
and influences of Republican principles on all govern
ment, and on the social happiness and progress of the
human race. * * *
I am not aware of any person more likely to under
take and to perform the above work satisfactorily than
Uie author or the recent publication,— " The Republic
of the United States of America."
Respectfully, LEVI WOODBURY.
Hon. Edmund Burke, Washington City.
Letter from ike Hon. Geokge M. Dallas, late Vice
President of the United States, dated Philadelphia,
May 10th, 1862.
Gentlemen,— The History of our Democracy, the
first Number of which I have been kindly permitted
to examine, can not fail to attract universal attention
and approval. It traces parties up to their seminal
principles with clear logic and philosophic candor;
marks their divergences, ramifications, and steady
tendencies, illustrated from all the past experience of
men and governments, with affluence, force, and in
terest; — and vindicates, eloquently, in the true spirit
of moral order and religion, the great cause of Hu
manity's peace and progress. No nobler purposes
could animate the writer; and this embodied result of
ability, patient thought, elevated sentiment^and labo
rious research, entitle him, in my humble judgment,
to the grateful thanks of his countrymen.
I am, very respectfullj-j Gentlemen,
Your mostJubedient servant,
^37M. DALLAS.
Letterfrom the Hon. James Buchanan, of Penn.,
March 13ft, 1852.
Gentlemen, — Learning that you are about to pub
lish a History of the Democratic party, by the Author
of "The Republic of the United States," it affords
me pleasure to express to you my opinion of his qual
ifications for the performance of a task so important.
I have been well acquainted with him for several
years, and believe that he possesses patient and un
tiring industry, a sound and discriminating judgment
in the investigation of facts, and the ability to present
them in a style clear, distinct, and interesting. I an
ticipate as the result of his labors, a work containing
much new and useful information, which will be well
calculated to make a most favorable impression on the
country, and to strengthen and extend the power and
influence of the Democratic party.
Yours, very respectfully,
JAMES BUCHANAN.
Extract of a Letterfrom (he Hon. WrLHAM L. Makcy,
dated Albany, May 2,0th, 1852.
"Judging from the ability exhibited in 'The Re-
oublic oTthe United States of America,' by the same
juithor, published a few years since, it is reasonable
to expect that the forthcoming work ' The H.story of
Democracy in the United States,' wul be one of great
interest, as well as of great usefulness, m diffusing an

Extract of a Letter from Oen. Cass, dated Washing
ton, March h(h, 1852.
" I am glad to see that the History of the Democra
cy of the United States is about to be put to press.
It is a work much wanted, and will fill a gap hereto
fore existing in our political annals ; and, from what I
know of the objects and plan, as well as of the talents
and research of the Author, and of his attachment to
the principles of the party, I have no doubt we shall
have a history deserving the confidence and support
of every Democrat." LEWIS CASS.

Letterfrom (he Hon. John B. Weller, U. S. Senator
from California, dated Washington, May 10th, 1862.
Gentlemen, — I understand that you are about to
issue from your press, a work written by the Author
of" The Republic of the United States of America,"
&c, under the title of " History of the Democracy of
the United States."
I beg leave to say, that I have had the pleasure of
Eerusing a portion of this work in manuscript, and
ave no hesitation in saying it will be found one of
the most interesting publications of the age. The
Author (already favorably known to the public) has
undoubtedly bestowed much time and attention to his
subject, and in my opinion has treated it in a most
masterly manner.
No one can read his pages without increasing his
attachment to democratic principles, nor can he fail
to see that the maintenance of our free institutions
depends upon sustaining them. He shows conclu
sively, that they are inseparably connected with the
happiness of the people, — that that democracy which
constitutes the vital principle of one of the political
{>arties of this country, is the principle of progresSj of
aw, of order, of civilization,— that principle which
extends our patriotism, liberalizes the feelings, ex-
Eands the heart, and makes man what God intended
e should be, his noblest work, — that, if our govern
ment rigidly adheres to these principles, it will be
established upon an immovable basis, and fanaticism,
whether it comes from the North or from the South,
shall not prevail against it.
The educated men of the country, who are just
commencing their busy career upon the stage of life,
will find this work of incalculable value, and, whilst
they admire the beauty and simphcity of democratic
principles as portrayed by the Author, they will not
fail to discover, that the elevation of our race, the
fraternity of the republic, depend upon their main
tenance. As a democrat sincerely devoted to the principles
of his party, I commend this work to the confidence
and patronage of my countrymen.
I am, Gentlemen, very respeotfully,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN B. WELLER.

I cheerfully unite with Senator Weller in tlie senti
ments and opinions which he has expressed in his
letter. Very truly,
May 16th, 1852. SAM HOUSTON.
Extract of a Letterfrom the Hon. Robert J. Walker,
dated New York, Sept. 17(h, 1850.
"In alluding to the " History of Democracy?' in
which work he has evinced a deep interest, and said
much to encourage the author to undertake, he says,
" I promise myself a great treat when the work is
finished. The task is great, but so will be the har
vest of fame."

accurate knowledge oFour system of government and
ita beneficial effects, upon the welfare of mankind.
T »««-, nf similar import have been received from other distinguished Democrats, from every sec
tion of The "country ; but their publication is deemed unnecessary. 

HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY
IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
Embracing also a complete review of the different Political. Parties, and of the measures
adopted by the Colonies, and by the Government of the United States since the Declaration
of Independence. It will necessarily embrace a great variety of Statistics, and it. is the
design of the author"to render ii a standard^ reference book, in "which may be found d
record of the great political events of the country, fully authenticated and properly class
ified. BY THE AUTHOR OF .'
"THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
This work will embrace all the great topics, which our people and government have discussed and
decided, during a period of more than two hundred years. It will illustrate the origin, nature, and
permanency of Democratic principles. It will be, in fact, a complete political history of the Colonies
and of our Republic, tracing the unparalleled success of the latter to Demoeratio sources. It will not
be speculative, but strietljr a philosophical and popular history, based upon acknowledged facts.
The tendency of such a work will be to individualize i the great Democratic Party; to give it an
identity of being which.all will recognize and realize; to give it a high standard of principle, senti
ment, and action; to create a common pride -in the achievements of the past, and to give confidence
in all that is to come. '
Tlie glory of the Democracy may be seen in the progress, and in the institutions of our country ; and
a just and comprehensive view of the" subject should embrace the character of men, measures, and
results. A party that is advanced and 'sustained by the eternal principles, of truth, and justice, should
have a common consciousness, a common object, a common strength, and a common pride. It should
be able to know itself, and to have an abiding confidence in its own high destiny.'
An acquaintance with its acts, and with the master minds which have honored'fts ranks, will ac
complish this: great end. It will lead the Democrats to respect their party for what it has done, and to
respect consistency in themselves as its accountable members. It will, secure concentration of thought
and action, and give to all party movements an elevation of motive, and an efficiency which will
render success as beautiful as it must prove uniformly Certain.
With a view" to secure an extensive circulation, the work will be published in numbers. Each num
ber will cftntain sixty-four royal octavo pages, with a fine engraved portrait, and be furnished at 25
cents per number.
The work will be comprised in thirty numbers; and no labor or expense will be spared to render it
worthy the subject, the object, and the great party whose principles it is designed to develop and
illustrate. CASE, TIFFANY & Co., Publishers. J.
Haetpoed, Conn., June 1, 1852.
The first number will be published in July, 1852, and, after a lapse of a few weeks, tbe subsequent numbers wiU be issued
at stated periods.
H3P*° Agents far this work are wanted in tbe New England States ; and applications, with references in regard
to capacity, standing and responsibility, ore solicited.

THE SUBSCRIBERS HAVE JUST ISSUED
GAZETTEER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Comprising a concise general view of the United States, and particular descriptions of the several
states, territories, counties, districts, cities, towns, villages, with the population according to the cen
sus of 1850,- their mountains, valleys, islands, capes, bays, harbors, lakes, rivers, canals, railroads,
fyc; with the governments, and literary and other public institutions of the country; also its min
eral springs, waterfalls, caves, beaches, and other fashionable resorts; to which are added valuable
statistical tables, a map of the United States, coats of arms of the several states, and a fine steel
portrait of the author. Compiled by John Hayward, author of the New England Gazetteer, and
several other geographical and statistical works. .,-:
The work contains between 8 and 900 octavo pages in double columns, printed with » new and
beautiful type cast especially for the work, on good paper and bound in full sheep in a neat and sub
stantial manner.
The work will be sold exclusively by subscription, and agents are wanted to circulate the "book
throughout all sections of the United States. For information in regard to agency address the pub
lishers. CASE, TIFFANY <fc CO,
Haetpoed, Conn.