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diff --git a/6706.txt b/6706.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..006d843 --- /dev/null +++ b/6706.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13644 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Emancipation of Massachusetts, by Brooks Adams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Emancipation of Massachusetts + +Author: Brooks Adams + + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6706] +This file was first posted on January 17, 2003 +Last Updated: June 14, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMANCIPATION OF MASSACHUSETTS *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + +THE EMANCIPATION OF MASSACHUSETTS THE DREAM AND THE REALITY + +By Brooks Adams + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE TO FIRST EDITION. + + +I am under the deepest obligations to the Hon. Mellen Chamberlain and +Mr. Charles Deane. + +The generosity of my friend Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing in putting at my +disposal the unpublished results of his researches among the Zunis is in +keeping with the originality and power of his mind. Without his aid my +attempt would have been impossible. I have also to thank Prof. Henry C. +Chapman, J. A. Gordon, M. D., Prof. William James, and Alpheus Hyatt, +Esq., for the kindness with which they assisted me. I feel that any +merit this volume may possess is due to these gentlemen; its faults are +all my own. + +BROOKS ADAMS. + +QUINCY, _September_ 17, 1886. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PREFACE + +CHAPTER I. THE COMMONWEALTH + +CHAPTER II. THE ANTINOMIANS + +CHAPTER III. THE CAMBRIDGE PLATFORM + +CHAPTER IV. THE ANABAPTISTS + +CHAPTER V. THE QUAKERS + +CHAPTER VI. THE SCIRE FACIAS + +CHAPTER VII. THE WITCHCRAFT + +CHAPTER VIII. BRATTLE CHURCH + +CHAPTER IX. HARVARD COLLEGE + +CHAPTER X. THE LAWYERS + +CHAPTER XI. THE REVOLUTION + + + + +PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. + + +CHAPTER I + + +I wrote this little volume more than thirty years ago, since when I have +hardly opened it. Therefore I now read it almost as if it were written +by another man, and I find to my relief that, on the whole, I think +rather better of it than I did when I published it. Indeed, as a +criticism of what were then the accepted views of Massachusetts history, +as expounded by her most authoritative historians, I see nothing in it +to retract or even to modify. I do, however, somewhat regret the rather +acrimonious tone which I occasionally adopted when speaking of the more +conservative section of the clergy. Not that I think that the Mathers, +for example, and their like, did not deserve all, or, indeed, more than +all I ever said or thought of them, but because I conceive that equally +effective strictures might have been conveyed in urbaner language; and, +as I age, I shrink from anything akin to invective, even in what amounts +to controversy. + +Therefore I have now nothing to alter in the _Emancipation of +Massachusetts_, viewed as history, though I might soften its asperities +somewhat, here and there; but when I come to consider it as philosophy, +I am startled to observe the gap which separates the present epoch from +my early middle life. + +The last generation was strongly Darwinian in the sense that it +accepted, almost as a tenet of religious faith, the theory that human +civilization is a progressive evolution, moving on the whole steadily +toward perfection, from a lower to a higher intellectual plane, and, as +a necessary part of its progress, developing a higher degree of mental +vigor. I need hardly observe that all belief in democracy as a final +solution of social ills, all confidence in education as a means to +attaining to universal justice, and all hope of approximating to the +rule of moral right in the administration of law, was held to hinge on +this great fundamental dogma, which, it followed, it was almost impious +to deny, or even to doubt. Thus, on the first page of my book, I +observe, as if it were axiomatic, that, at a given moment, toward the +opening of the sixteenth century, "Europe burst from her mediaeval torpor +into the splendor of the Renaissance," and further on I assume, as an +equally self-evident axiom, that freedom of thought was the one great +permanent advance which western civilization made by all the agony and +bloodshed of the Reformation. Apart altogether from the fact that I +should doubt whether, in the year 1919, any intelligent and educated man +would be inclined to maintain that the twelfth and thirteenth centuries +were, as contrasted with the nineteenth, ages of intellectual torpor, +what startles me in these paragraphs is the self-satisfied assumption +of the finality of my conclusions. I posit, as a fact not to be +controverted, that our universe is an expression of an universal law, +which the nineteenth century had discovered and could formulate. + +During the past thirty years I have given this subject my best +attention, and now I am so far from assenting to this proposition that +my mind tends in the opposite direction. Each day I live I am less +able to withstand the suspicion that the universe, far from being an +expression of law originating in a single primary cause, is a chaos +which admits of reaching no equilibrium, and with which man is doomed +eternally and hopelessly to contend. For human society, to deserve the +name of civilization, must be an embodiment of order, or must at least +tend toward a social equilibrium. I take, as an illustration of my +meaning, the development of the domestic relations of our race. + +I assume it to be generally admitted, that possibly man's first and +probably his greatest advance toward order--and, therefore, toward +civilization--was the creation of the family as the social nucleus. As +Napoleon said, when the lawyers were drafting his Civil Code, "Make +the family responsible to its head, and the head to me, and I will keep +order in France." And yet although our dependence on the family system +has been recognized in every age and in every land, there has been no +restraint on personal liberty which has been more resented, by both men +and women alike, than has been this bond which, when perfect, constrains +one man and one woman to live a joint life until death shall them part, +for the propagation, care, and defence of their children. + +The result is that no civilization has, as yet, ever succeeded, and none +promises in the immediate future to succeed, in enforcing this primary +obligation, and we are thus led to consider the cause, inherent in +our complex nature, which makes it impossible for us to establish an +equilibrium between mind and matter. A difficulty which never has +been even partially overcome, which wrecked the Roman Empire and the +Christian Church, which has wrecked all systems of law, and which has +never been more lucidly defined than by Saint Paul, in the Epistle to +the Romans, "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, +sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that +do I not; but what I hate, that do I.... Now then it is no more I that +do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.... For the good that I would, I do +not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.... For I delight in +the law of God after the inward man: ... But I see another law in +my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into +captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that +I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" [Footnote: +Romans vii, 14-24.] + +And so it has been since a time transcending the limits of imagination. +Here in a half-a-dozen sentences Saint Paul exposes the ceaseless +conflict between mind and matter, whose union, though seemingly the +essence of life, creates a condition which we cannot comprehend and to +which we could not hope to conform, even if we could comprehend it. In +short, which indicates chaos as being the probable core of an universe +from which we must evolve order, if ever we are to cope with violence, +fraud, crime, war, and general brutality. Wheresoever we turn +the prospect is the same. If we gaze upon the heavens we discern +immeasurable spaces sprinkled with globules of matter, to which our +earth seems to be more or less akin, but all plunging, apparently, both +furiously and aimlessly, from out of an infinite past to an equally +immeasurable future. + +Whence this material mass comes, or what its wild flight portends, we +neither know nor could we, probably, comprehend even were its secret +divulged to us by a superior intelligence, always conceding that +there be such an intelligence, or any secret to disclose. These latter +speculations lie, however, beyond the scope of my present purpose. It +suffices if science permits me to postulate (a concession by science +which I much doubt if it could make) that matter, as we know it, has the +semblance of being what we call a substance, charged with a something +which we define as energy, but which at all events simulates a vital +principle resembling heat, seeking to escape into space, where it cools. +Thus the stars, having blazed until their vital principle is absorbed in +space, sink into relative torpor, or, as the astronomers say, die. The +trees and plants diffuse their energy in the infinite, and, at length, +when nothing but a shell remains, rot. Lastly, our fleshly bodies, when +the union between mind and matter is dissolved, crumble into dust. +When the involuntary partnership between mind and matter ceases through +death, it is possible, or at least conceivable, that the impalpable +soul, admitting that such a thing exists, may survive in some medium +where it may be free from material shackles, but, while life endures, +the flesh has wants which must be gratified, and which, therefore, take +precedence of the yearnings of the soul, just as Saint Paul points +out was the case with himself; and herein lies the inexorable conflict +between the moral law and the law of competition which favors the +strong, and from whence comes all the abominations of selfishness, of +violence, of cruelty and crime. + +Approached thus, perhaps no historical fragment is more suggestive than +the exodus of the Jews from Egypt under Moses, who was the first great +optimist, nor one which is seldomer read with an eye to the contrast +which it discloses between Moses the law-giver, the idealist, the +religious prophet, and the visionary; and Moses the political adventurer +and the keen and unscrupulous man of the world. And yet it is here +at the point at which mind and matter clashed, that Moses merits most +attention. For Moses and the Mosaic civilization broke down at this +point, which is, indeed, the chasm which has engulfed every progressive +civilization since the dawn of time. And the value of the story as an +illustration of scientific history is its familiarity, for no Christian +child lives who has not been brought up on it. + +We have all forgotten when we first learned how the Jews came to migrate +to Egypt during the years of the famine, when Joseph had become the +minister of Pharaoh through his acuteness in reading dreams. Also how, +after their settlement in the land of Goshen,--which is the Egyptian +province lying at the end of the ancient caravan road, which Abraham +travelled, leading from Palestine to the banks of the Nile, and which +had been the trade route, or path of least resistance, between Asia and +Africa, probably for ages before the earliest of human traditions,--they +prospered exceedingly. But at length they fell into a species of bondage +which lasted several centuries, during which they multiplied so rapidly +that they finally raised in the Egyptian government a fear of their +domination. Nor, considering subsequent events, was this apprehension +unreasonable. At all events the Egyptian government is represented, as +a measure of self-protection, as proposing to kill male Jewish babies +in order to reduce the Jewish military strength; and it was precisely at +this juncture that Moses was born, Moses, indeed, escaped the fate which +menaced him, but only by a narrow chance, and he was nourished by his +mother in an atmosphere of hate which tinged his whole life, causing him +always to feel to the Egyptians as the slave feels to his master. After +birth the mother hid the child as long as possible, but when she could +conceal the infant no longer she platted a basket of reeds, smeared it +with pitch, and set it adrift in the Nile, where it was likely to be +found, leaving her eldest daughter, named Miriam, to watch over it. +Presently Pharaoh's daughter came, as was her habit, to the river to +bathe, as Moses's mother expected that she would, and there she noticed +the "ark" floating among the bulrushes. She had it brought her, and, +noticing Miriam, she caused the girl to engage her mother, whom Miriam +pointed out to her, as a nurse. Taking pity on the baby the kind-hearted +princess adopted it and brought it up as she would had it been her own, +and, as the child grew, she came to love the boy, and had him educated +with care, and this education must be kept in mind since the future of +Moses as a man turned upon it. For Moses was most peculiarly a creation +of his age and of his environment; if, indeed, he may not be considered +as an incarnation of Jewish thought gradually shaped during many +centuries of priestly development. + +According to tradition, Moses from childhood was of great personal +beauty, so much so that passers by would turn to look at him, and this +early promise was fulfilled as he grew to be a man. Tall and dignified, +with long, shaggy hair and beard, of a reddish hue tinged with gray, he +is described as "wise as beautiful." Educated by his foster-mother as +a priest at Heliopolis, he was taught the whole range of Chaldean and +Assyrian literature, as well as the Egyptian, and thus became acquainted +with all the traditions of oriental magic: which, just at that period, +was in its fullest development. Consequently, Moses must have been +familiar with the ancient doctrines of Zoroaster. + +Men who stood thus, and had such an education, were called Wise Men, +Magi, or Magicians, and had great influence, not so much as priests of +a God, as enchanters who dealt with the supernatural as a profession. +Daniel, for example, belonged to this class. He was one of three captive +Jews whom Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, gave in charge to the master +of his eunuchs, to whom he should teach the learning and the tongue of +the Chaldeans. Daniel, very shortly, by his natural ability, brought +himself and his comrades into favor with the chief eunuch, who finally +presented them to Nebuchadnezzar, who conversed with them and found them +"ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in +all his realm." + +The end of it was, of course, that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream +which he forgot when he awoke and he summoned "the magicians, and the +astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king +his dreams," but they could not unless he told it them. This vexed the +king, who declared that unless they should tell him his dream with the +interpretation thereof, they should be cut in pieces. So the decree +went forth that all "the wise men" of Babylon should be slain, and they +sought Daniel and his fellows to slay them. Therefore, it appears that +together with its privileges and advantages the profession of magic +was dangerous in those ages. Daniel, on this occasion, according to the +tradition, succeeded in revealing and interpreting the dream; and, in +return, Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel a great man, chief governor of the +province of Babylon. + +Precisely a similar tale is told of Joseph, who, having been sold by +his brethren to Midianitish merchantmen with camels, bearing spices and +balm, journeying along the ancient caravan road toward Egypt, was in +turn sold by them to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. + +And Joseph rose in Potiphar's service, and after many alternations +of fortune was brought before Pharaoh, as Daniel had been before +Nebuchadnezzar, and because he interpreted Pharaoh's dream acceptably, +he was made "ruler over all the land of Egypt" and so ultimately became +the ancestor whom Moses most venerated and whose bones he took with him +when he set out upon the exodus. + +It is true also that Josephus has preserved an idle tale that Moses +was given command of an Egyptian army with which he made a successful +campaign against the Ethiopians, but it is unworthy of credit and may be +neglected. His bringing up was indeed the reverse of military. So much +so that probably far the most important part of his education lay in +acquiring those arts which conduce to the deception of others, such +deceptions as jugglers have always practised in snake-charming and the +like, or in gaining control of another's senses by processes akin to +hypnotism;--processes which have been used by the priestly class and +their familiars from the dawn of time. In especial there was one miracle +performed by the Magi, on which not only they, but Moses himself, appear +to have set great store, and on which Moses seemed always inclined to +fall back, when hard pressed to assert his authority. They pretended +to make fire descend onto their altars by means of magical ceremonies. +[Footnote: Lenormant, _Chaldean Magic_, 226.] Nevertheless, amidst +all these ancient eastern civilizations, the strongest hold which the +priests or sorcerers held over, and the greatest influence which they +exercised upon, others, lay in their relations to disease, for there +they were supposed to be potent. For example, in Chaldea, diseases were +held to be the work of demons, to be feared in proportion as they +were powerful and malignant, and to be restrained by incantations and +exorcisms. Among these demons the one, perhaps most dreaded, was called +Namtar, the genius of the plague. Moses was, of course, thoroughly +familiar with all these branches of learning, for the relations of Egypt +were then and for many centuries had been, intimate with Mesopotamia. +Whatever aspect the philosophy may have, which Moses taught after middle +life touching the theory of the religion in which he believed, Moses +had from early childhood been nurtured in these Mesopotamian beliefs and +traditions, and to them--or, at least, toward them--he always tended to +revert in moments of stress. Without bearing this fundamental premise in +mind, Moses in active life can hardly be understood, for it was on this +foundation that his theories of cause and effect were based. + +As M. Lenormant has justly and truly observed, go back as far as we will +in Egyptian religion, we find there, as a foundation, or first cause, +the idea of a divine unity,--a single God, who had no beginning and was +to have no end of days,--the primary cause of all. [Footnote: _Chaldean +Magic_, 79.] It is true that this idea of unity was early obscured +by confounding the energy with its manifestations. Consequently a +polytheism was engendered which embraced all nature. Gods and demons +struggled for control and in turn were struggled with. In Egypt, in +Media, in Chaldea, in Persia, there were wise men, sorcerers, and +magicians who sought to put this science into practice, and among this +fellowship Moses must always rank foremost. Before, however, entering +upon the consideration of Moses, as a necromancer, as a scientist, as a +statesman, as a priest, or as a commander, we should first glance at the +authorities which tell his history. + +Scholars are now pretty well agreed that Moses and Aaron were men who +actually lived and worked probably about the time attributed to them +by tradition. That is to say, under the reign of Ramses II, of the +Nineteenth Egyptian dynasty who reigned, as it is computed, from 1348 +to 1281 B.C., and under whom the exodus occurred. Nevertheless, no very +direct or conclusive evidence having as yet been discovered touching +these events among Egyptian documents, we are obliged, in the main, to +draw our information from the Hebrew record, which, for the most part, +is contained in the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible. + +Possibly no historical documents have ever been subjected to a severer +or more minute criticism than have these books during the last two +centuries. It is safe to say that no important passage and perhaps no +paragraph has escaped the most searching and patient analysis by the +acutest and most highly trained of minds; but as yet, so far as the +science of history is concerned, the results have been disappointing. +The order in which events occurred may have been successfully questioned +and the sequence of the story rearranged hypothetically; but, in +general, it has to be admitted that the weight of all the evidence +obtained from the monuments of contemporary peoples has been to confirm +the reliability of the Biblical narrative. For example, no one longer +doubts that Joseph was actually a Hebrew, who rose, through merit, +to the highest offices of state under an Egyptian monarch, and who +conceived and successfully carried into execution a comprehensive +agrarian policy which had the effect of transferring the landed estates +of the great feudal aristocracy to the crown, and of completely changing +Egyptian tenures. Nor does any one question, at this day, the reality +of the power which the Biblical writers ascribed to the Empire of the +Hittites. Under such conditions the course of the commentator is clear. +He should treat the Jewish record as reliable, except where it frankly +accepts the miracle as a demonstrated fact, and even then regard the +miracle as an important and most suggestive part of the great Jewish +epic, which always has had, and always must have, a capital influence on +human thought. + +The Pentateuch has, indeed, been demonstrated to be a compilation of +several chronicles arranged by different writers at different times, and +blended into a unity under different degrees of pressure, but now, as +the book stands, it is as authentic a record as could be wished of the +workings of the Mosaic mind and of the minds of those of his followers +who supported him in his pilgrimage, and who made so much of his task +possible, as he in fact accomplished. + +Moses, himself, but for the irascibility of his temper, might have +lived and died, contented and unknown, within the shadow of the Egyptian +court. The princess who befriended him as a baby would probably have +been true to him to the end, in which case he would have lived wealthy, +contented, and happy and would have died overfed and unknown. Destiny, +however, had planned it otherwise. + +The Hebrews were harshly treated after the death of Joseph, and fell +into a quasi-bondage in which they were forced to labor, and this +species of tyranny irritated Moses, who seems to have been brought up +under his mother's influence. At all events, one day Moses chanced to +see an Egyptian beating a Jew, which must have been a common enough +sight, but a sight which revolted him. Whereupon Moses, thinking himself +alone, slew the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. Moses, however, +was not alone. A day or so later he again happened to see two men +fighting, whereupon he again interfered, enjoining the one who was in +the wrong to desist. Whereupon the man whom he checked turned fiercely +on him and said, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest +thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?" + +When Moses perceived by this act of treachery on the part of a +countryman, whom he had befriended, that nothing remained to him but +flight, he started in the direction of southern Arabia, toward what was +called the Land of Midian, and which, at the moment, seems to have lain +beyond the limits of the Egyptian administrative system, although it +had once been one of its most prized metallurgical regions. Just at that +time it was occupied by a race called the Kenites, who were more or less +closely related to the Amalekites, who were Bedouins and who relied for +their living upon their flocks, as the Israelites had done in the time +of Abraham. Although Arabia Patrea was then, in the main, a stony waste, +as it is now, it was not quite a desert. It was crossed by trade routes +in many directions along which merchants travelled to Egypt, as is +described in the story of Joseph, whose brethren seized him in Dothan, +and as they sat by the side of the pit in which they had thrown him, +they saw a company of Ishmaelites who came from Gilead and who journeyed +straight down from Damascus to Gilead and from thence to Hebron, along +the old caravan road, toward Egypt, with camels bearing spices and +myrrh, as had been their custom since long beyond human tradition, and +which had been the road along which Abraham had travelled before them, +and which was still watered by his wells. This was the famous track from +Beersheba to Hebron, where Hagar was abandoned with her baby Ishmael, +and if the experiences of Hagar do not prove that the wilderness of Shur +was altogether impracticable for women and children it does at least +show that for a mixed multitude without trustworthy guides or reliable +sources of supply, the country was not one to be lightly attempted. + +It was into a region similar to this, only somewhat further to the +south, that Moses penetrated after his homicide, travelling alone and as +an unknown adventurer, dressed like an Egyptian, and having nothing of +the nomad about him in his looks. As Moses approached Sinai, the country +grew wilder and more lonely, and Moses one day sat himself down, by +the side of a well whither shepherds were wont to drive their flocks to +water. For shepherds came there, and also shepherdesses; among others +were the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, who came to +water their father's flocks. But the shepherds drove them away and took +the water for themselves. Whereupon Moses defended the girls and drew +water for them and watered their flocks. This naturally pleased the +young women, and they took Moses home with them to their father's tent, +as Bedouins still would do. And when they came to their father, he asked +how it chanced that they came home so early that day. "And they said, +an Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew +water enough for us, and watered the flock." And Jethro said, "Where +is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? Call him that he may eat +bread." + +"And Moses was content to dwell with" Jethro, who made him his chief +shepherd and gave him Zipporah, his daughter. And she bore him a son. +Seemingly, time passed rapidly and happily in this peaceful, pastoral +life, which, according to the tradition preserved by Saint Stephen, +lasted forty years, but be the time long or short, it is clear that +Moses loved and respected Jethro and was in return valued by him. Nor +could anything have been more natural, for Moses was a man who made a +deep impression at first sight--an impression which time strengthened. +Intellectually he must have been at least as notable as in personal +appearance, for his education at Heliopolis set him apart from men whom +Jethro would have been apt to meet in his nomad life. But if Moses had +strong attractions for Jethro, Jethro drew Moses toward himself at least +as strongly in the position in which Moses then stood. Jethro, though a +child of the desert, was the chief of a tribe or at least of a family, a +man used to command, and to administer the nomad law; for Jethro was +the head of the Kenites, who were akin to the Amalekites, with whom the +Israelites were destined to wage mortal war. And for Moses this was a +most important connection, for Moses after his exile never permitted his +relations with his own people in Egypt to lapse. The possibility of +a Jewish revolt, of which his own banishment was a precursor, was +constantly in his mind. To Moses a Jewish exodus from Egypt was always +imminent. For centuries it had been a dream of the Jews. Indeed it was +an article of faith with them. Joseph, as he sank in death, had called +his descendants about him and made them solemnly swear to "carry his +bones hence." And to that end Joseph had caused his body to be embalmed +and put in a coffin that all might be ready when the day came. Moses +knew the tradition and felt himself bound by the oath and waited in +Midian with confidence until the moment of performance should come. +Presently it did come. Very probably before he either expected or could +have wished it, and actually, as almost his first act of leadership, +Moses did carry the bones of Joseph with him when he crossed the Red +Sea. Moses held the tradition to be a certainty. He never conceived it +to be a matter of possible doubt, nor probably was it so. There was +in no one's mind a question touching Joseph's promise nor about his +expectation of its fulfilment. What Moses did is related in Exodus XIII, +19: "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for he had straitly +sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye +shall carry up my bones away hence with you." + +In fine, Moses, in the solitude of the Arabian wilderness, in his +wanderings as the shepherd of Jethro, came to believe that his destiny +was linked with that of his countrymen in a revolution which was certain +to occur before they could accomplish the promise of Joseph and +escape from Egypt under the guidance of the god who had befriended and +protected him. Moreover, Moses was by no means exclusively a religious +enthusiast. He was also a scientific man, after the ideas of that +age. Moses had a high degree of education and he was familiar with the +Egyptian and Chaldean theory of a great and omnipotent prime motor, who +had had no beginning and should have no end. He was also aware that this +theory was obscured by the intrusion into men's minds of a multitude of +lesser causes, in the shape of gods and demons, who mixed themselves in +earthly affairs and on whose sympathy or malevolence the weal or woe +of human life hinged. Pondering deeply on these things as he roamed, +he persuaded himself that he had solved the riddle of the universe, by +identifying the great first cause of all with the deity who had been +known to his ancestors, whose normal home was in the promised land of +Canaan, and who, beside being all-powerful, was also a moral being +whose service must tend toward the welfare of mankind. For Moses was by +temperament a moralist in whom such abominations as those practised in +the worship of Moloch created horror. He knew that the god of Abraham +would tolerate no such wickedness as this, because of the fate of Sodom +on much less provocation, and he believed that were he to lead the +Israelites, as he might lead them, he could propitiate such a deity, +could he but by an initial success induce his congregation to obey the +commands of a god strong enough to reward them for leading a life +which should be acceptable to him. All depended, therefore, should the +opportunity of leadership come to him, on his being able, in the first +place, to satisfy himself that the god who presented himself to him was +verily the god of Abraham, who burned Sodom, and not some demon, whose +object was to vex mankind: and, in the second place, assuming that +he himself were convinced of the identity of the god, that he could +convince his countrymen of the fact, and also of the absolute necessity +of obedience to the moral law which he should declare, since without +absolute obedience, they would certainly merit, and probably suffer, +such a fate as befell the inhabitants of Sodom, under the very eyes of +Abraham, and in spite of his prayers for mercy. + +There was one other apprehension which may have troubled, and probably +did trouble, Moses. The god of the primitive man, and certainly of the +Bedouin, is usually a local deity whose power and whose activity is +limited to some particular region, as, for instance, a mountain or a +plain. Thus the god of Abraham might have inhabited and absolutely ruled +the plain of Mamre and been impotent elsewhere. But this, had Moses +for a moment harbored such a notion, would have been dispelled when he +thought of Joseph. Joseph, when his brethren threw him into the pit, +must have been under the guardianship of the god of his fathers, +and when he was drawn out, and sold in the ordinary course of the +slave-trade, he was bought by Potiphar, the captain of the guard. "And +the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man." Thenceforward, +Joseph had a wonderful career. He received in a dream a revelation of +what the weather was to be for seven years to come. And by this dream he +was able to formulate a policy for establishing public graineries +like those which were maintained in Babylon, and by means of these +graineries, ably administered, the crown was enabled to acquire the +estates of the great feudatories, and thus the whole social system of +Egypt was changed. And Joseph, from being a poor waif, cast away by his +brethren in the wilderness, became the foremost man in Egypt and the +means of settling his compatriots in the province of Gotham, where they +still lived when Moses fled from Egypt. Such facts had made a profound +impression upon the mind of Moses, who very reasonably looked upon +Joseph as one of the most wonderful men who had ever lived, and one +who could not have succeeded as he succeeded, without the divine +interposition. But if the god who did these things could work such +miracles in Egypt, his power was not confined by local boundaries, and +his power could be trusted in the desert as safely as it could be on the +plain of Mamre or elsewhere. The burning of Sodom was a miracle equally +in point to prove the stern morality of the god. And that also, was a +fact, as incontestable, to the mind of Moses, as was the rising of the +sun upon the morning of each day. He knew, as we know of the battle of +Great Meadows, that one day his ancestor Abraham, when sitting in the +door of his tent toward noon, "in the plain of Mamre," at a spot not +far from Hebron and perfectly familiar to every traveller along the old +caravan road hither, on looking up observed three men standing before +him, one of whom he recognized as the "Lord." Then it dawned on Abraham +that the "Lord" had not come without a purpose, but had dropped in for +dinner, and Abraham ran to meet them, "and bowed himself toward the +ground." And he said, "Let a little water be fetched, and wash your +feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of +bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that you shall pass on." "And +Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave +it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and +milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and +he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." Meanwhile, Abraham +asked no questions, but waited until the object of the visit should be +disclosed. In due time he succeeded in his purpose. "And they said unto +him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he +[the Lord] said, ... Sarah thy wife shall have a son.... Now Abraham +and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age." At this time Abraham was +about one hundred years old, according to the tradition, and Sarah was +proportionately amused, and "laughed within herself." This mirth vexed +"the Lord," who did not treat his words as a joke, but asked, "Is +anything too hard for the Lord?" Then Sarah took refuge in a lie, and +denied that she had laughed. But the lie helped her not at all, for the +Lord insisted, "Nay, but thou didst laugh." And this incident broke up +the party. The men rose and "looked toward Sodom": and Abraham strolled +with them, to show them the way. And then the "Lord" debated with +himself whether to make a confidant of Abraham touching his resolution +to destroy Sodom utterly. And finally he decided that he would, "because +the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very +grievous." Whereupon Abraham intervened, and an argument ensued, and at +length God admitted that he had been too hasty and promised to think +the matter over. And finally, when "the Lord" had reduced the number of +righteous for whom the city should be saved to ten, Abraham allowed him +to go "his way ... and Abraham returned to his place." + +In the evening of the same day two angels came to Sodom, who met Lot at +the gate, and Lot took them to his house and made them a feast and +they did eat. Then it happened that the mob surrounded Lot's house and +demanded that the strangers should be delivered up to them. But Lot +successfully defended them. And in the morning the angels warned Lot to +escape, but Lot hesitated, though finally he did escape to Zoar. + +"Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire +from the Lord out of heaven." + +"And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood +before the Lord: + +"And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of +the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the +smoke of a furnace." + +We must always remember, in trying to reconstruct the past, that these +traditions were not matters of possible doubt to Moses, or indeed to any +Israelite. They were as well established facts to them as would be the +record of volcanic eruptions now. Therefore it would not have astonished +Moses more that the Lord should meet him on the slope of Horeb, than +that the Lord should have met his ancestor Abraham on the plain of +Mamre. Moses' doubts and perplexities lay in another direction. Moses +did not question, as did his great ancestress, that his god could do +all he promised, if he had the will. His anxiety lay in his doubt as to +God's steadiness of purpose supposing he promised; and this doubt was +increased by his lack of confidence in his own countrymen. The god +of Abraham was a requiring deity with a high moral standard, and the +Hebrews were at least in part somewhat akin to a horde of semi-barbarous +nomads, much more likely to fall into offences resembling those of Sodom +than to render obedience to a code which would strictly conform to +the requirements which alone would ensure Moses support, supposing he +accepted a task which, after all, without divine aid, might prove to be +impossible to perform. + +When the proposition which Moses seems, more or less confidently, to +have expected to be made to him by the Lord, came, it came very +suddenly and very emphatically. "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro +his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the +backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. + +"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of +the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with +fire, and the bush was not consumed." + +And Moses, not, apparently, very much excited, said, "I will now turn +aside, and see this great sight." But God called unto him out of the +midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here am I." +Then the voice commanded him to put off his shoes from off his feet, for +the place he stood on was holy ground. + +"Moreover," said the voice, "I am the God of thy father, the God of +Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his +face; for he was afraid to look upon God. + +And the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people ... +and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know +their sorrows. + +"And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, +and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto +a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, +and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites.... + +"Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou +mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." + +And Moses said unto God, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and +that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?..." +And Moses said unto God, "Behold, when I am come unto the children of +Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me +unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say +unto them?" + +And God said unto Moses, "_I am That I Am_;" and he said, "Thus shalt +thou say unto the children of Israel, _I Am_ hath sent me unto you." + +"And God said, moreover, unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the +children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, +the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is +my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." + +Then the denizen of the bush renewed his instructions and his promises, +assuring Moses that he would bring him and his following out of the +land of affliction of Egypt and into the land of the Canaanites, and the +Hittites, and the Amorites, and others, unto a land flowing with milk +and honey. In a word to Palestine. And he insisted to Moses that he +should gain an entrance to Pharaoh, and that he should tell him that +"the Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we +beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may +sacrifice to the Lord our God." + +Also God did not pretend to Moses that the King of Egypt would forthwith +let them go; whereupon he would work his wonders in Egypt and after that +Pharaoh would let them go. + +Moreover, he promised, as an inducement to their avarice, that they +should not go empty away, for that the Lord God would give the Hebrews +favor in the sight of the Egyptians, "so that every woman should borrow +of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of +silver, jewels of gold, and raiment," and that they should spoil the +Egyptians. But all this time God did not disclose his name; so Moses +tried another way about. If he would not tell his name he might at least +enable Moses to work some wonder which should bring conviction to those +who saw it, even if the god remained nameless. For Moses appreciated the +difficulty of the mission suggested to him. How was he, a stranger in +Egypt, to gain the confidence of that mixed and helpless multitude, +whom he was trying to persuade to trust to his guidance in so apparently +desperate an enterprise as crossing a broad and waterless waste, in the +face of a well-armed and vigorous foe. Moses apprehended that there was +but one way in which he could by possibility succeed. He might prevail +by convincing the Israelites that he was commissioned by the one deity +whom they knew, who was likely to have both the will and the power to +aid them, and that was the god who had visited Abraham on the plain +of Mamre, who had destroyed Sodom for its iniquity, and who had helped +Joseph to become the ruler of Egypt. Joseph above all was the man who +had made to his descendants that solemn promise on whose faith Moses +was, at that very moment, basing his hopes of deliverance; for Joseph +had assured the Israelites in the most solemn manner that the god who +had aided him would surely visit them, and that they should carry his +bones away with them to the land he promised. That land was the land +to which Moses wished to guide them. Now Moses was fully determined to +attempt no such project as this unless the being who spoke from the bush +would first prove to him, Moses, that he was the god he purported to be, +and should beside give Moses credentials which should be convincing, +by which Moses could prove to the Jews in Egypt that he was no impostor +himself, nor had he been deceived by a demon. Therefore Moses went on +objecting as strongly as at first: + +"And Moses answered and said, But behold they will not believe me, nor +hearken to my voice; for they will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto +thee." + +Then the being in the bush proceeded to submit his method of proof, +which was of a truth feeble, and which Moses rejected as feeble. A form +of proof which never fully convinced him, and which, in his judgment +could not be expected to convince others, especially men so educated and +intelligent as the Egyptians. For the Lord had nothing better to suggest +than the ancient trick of the snake-charmer, and even the possessor of +the voice seems implicitly to have admitted that this could hardly be +advanced as a convincing miracle. So the Lord proposed two other tests: +the first was that Moses should have his hand smitten with leprous sores +and restored immediately by hiding it from sight in "his bosom." And in +the event that this test left his audience still sceptical, he was to +dip Nile water out of the river, and turn it into blood on land. + +Moses at all these three proposals remained cold as before. And with +good reason, for Moses had been educated as a priest in Egypt, and he +knew that Egyptian "wise men" could do as well, and even better, if it +came to a magical competition before Pharaoh. And Moses had evidently +no relish for a contest in the presence of his countrymen as to the +relative quality of his magic. Therefore, he objected once more on +another ground: "I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou +hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow +tongue." This continued hesitancy put the Lord out of patience; who +retorted sharply, "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or +deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? + +"Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what +thou shalt say." + +Then Moses made his last effort. "0 my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the +hand of him whom thou wilt send." Which was another way of saying, Send +whom you please, but leave me to tend Jethro's flock in Midian. + +"And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses; and he said, Is +not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And +also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he +will be glad in his heart. + +"And he shall be, ... to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to +him instead of God." + +Then Moses, not seeming to care very much what Aaron might think about +the matter, went to Jethro, and related what had happened to him on the +mountain, and asked for leave to go home to Egypt, and see how matters +stood there. And Jethro listened, and seems to have thought the +experiment worth trying, for he answered, "Go in peace." + +"And the Lord said unto Moses,"--but where is not stated, probably in +Midian,--"Go, return into Egypt," which you may do safely, for all the +men are dead which sought thy life. + +"And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and +he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his +hand." + +It was after this, apparently, that Aaron travelled to meet Moses in +Midian, and Moses told Aaron what had occurred, and performed his tests, +and, seemingly, convinced him; for then Moses and Aaron went together +into Egypt and called the elders of the children of Israel together, +"and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: +and ... bowed their heads and worshipped." Meanwhile God had not, +as yet, revealed his name. But as presently matters came to a crisis +between Moses and Pharaoh, he did so. He said to Moses, "I am the Lord: + +"I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God +Almighty; but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.... + +"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord.... And I will +bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give +it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an +heritage: I am the Lord. + +"And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not +unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.... + +"And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold the children of Israel +have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me?" And from +this form of complaint against his countrymen until his death Moses +never ceased. + +Certain modern critics have persuaded themselves to reject this whole +Biblical narrative as the product of a later age and of a maturer +civilization, contending that it would be childish to attribute the +reasoning of the Pentateuch to primitive Bedouins like the patriarchs or +like the Jews who followed Moses into the desert. Setting aside at once +the philological discussion as to whether the language of the Pentateuch +could have been used by Moses, and admitting for the sake of argument +that Moses did not either himself write, or dictate to another, any part +of the documents in question, it would seem that the application of a +little common sense would show pretty conclusively that Moses throughout +his whole administrative life acted upon a single scientific theory of +the application of a supreme energy to the affairs of life, and upon the +belief that he had discovered what that energy was and understood how to +control it. + +His syllogism amounted to this: + +Facts, which are admitted by all Hebrews, prove that the single dominant +power in the world is the being who revealed himself to our ancestors, +and who, in particular, guided Joseph into Egypt, protected him there, +and raised him to an eminence never before or since reached by a Jew. +It can also be proved, by incontrovertible facts, that this being is +a moral being, who can be placated by obedience and by attaining to +a certain moral standard in life, and by no other means. That this +standard has been disclosed to me, I can prove to you by sundry +miraculous signs. Therefore, be obedient and obey the law which I shall +promulgate "that ye may prosper in all that ye do." + +Indeed, the philosophy of Moses was of the sternly practical kind, +resembling that of Benjamin Franklin. He did not promise his people, +as did the Egyptians, felicity in a future life. He confined himself to +prosperity in this world. And to succeed in his end he set an attainable +standard. A standard no higher, certainly than that accepted by the +Egyptians, as it is set forth in the 125th chapter of the Book of the +Dead, a standard to which the soul of any dead man had to attain before +he could be admitted into Paradise. Nor did Moses, as Dr. Budde among +others assumes, have to deal with a tribe of fierce and barbarous +Bedouins, like the Amalekites, to whom indeed the Hebrews were +antagonistic and with whom they waged incessant war. + +The Jews, for the most part, differed widely from such barbarians. They +had become sedentary at the time of the exodus, whatever they may have +been when Abraham migrated from Babylon. They were accustomed in Egypt +to living in houses, they cultivated and cooked the cereals, and they +fed on vegetables and bread. They did not live on flesh and milk as do +the Bedouins; and, indeed, the chief difficulty Moses encountered in the +exodus was the ignorance of his followers of the habits of desert life, +and their dislike of desert fare. They were forever pining for the +delights of civilization. "Would to God we had died by the hand of the +Lord in the land of Egypt, when we eat by the flesh-pots, and when +we did eat bread to the full! for ye have brought us forth into this +wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." [Footnote: Ex. +XVI, 3.] + +"We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, +and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick." These +were the wants of sedentary and of civilized folk, not of barbarous +nomads who are content with goat's flesh and milk. And so it was with +their morality and their conceptions of law. Moses was, indeed, a highly +civilized and highly educated man. No one would probably pretend that +Moses represented the average Jew of the exodus, but Moses understood +his audience reasonably well, and would not have risked the success +of his whole experiment by preaching to them a doctrine which was +altogether beyond their understanding. If he told them that the favor of +God could only be gained by obeying the laws he taught, it was because +he thought such an appeal would be effective with a majority of them. + +Dr. Budde, who is a good example of the modern hypercritical school, +takes very nearly the opposite ground. His theory is that Moses was in +search of a war god, and that he discovered such a god, in the god of +the Bedouin tribe of the Kenites whose acquaintance he first made when +dwelling with his father-in-law Jethro at Sinai. The morality of such a +god he insists coincided with the morality which Moses may have at +times countenanced, but which was quite foreign to the spirit of the +decalogue. + +Doubtless this is, in a degree, true. The religion of the pure Bedouin +was very often crude and shocking, not to say disgusting. But to argue +thus is to ignore the fact that all Bedouins did not, in the age of +Moses, stand on the same intellectual or moral level, and it is also to +ignore the gap that separated Moses and his congregation intellectually +and morally from such Bedouins as the Amalekites. + +Dr. Budde, in his _Religion of Israel to the Exile_, insists that the +Kenite god, Jehovah, demanded "The sacred ban by which conquered cities +with all their living beings were devoted to destruction, the slaughter +of human beings at sacred spots, animal sacrifices at which the entire +animal, wholly or half raw, was devoured, without leaving a remnant, +between sunset and sunrise,--these phenomena and many others of the same +kind harmonise but ill with an aspiring ethical religion." + +He also goes on to say: "We are further referred to the legislation of +Moses, ... comprising civil and criminal, ceremonial and ecclesiastical, +moral and social law in varying compass. This legislation, however, +cannot have come from Moses.... Such legislation can only have arisen +after Israel had lived a long time in the new home." + +To take these arguments in order,--for they must be so dealt with +to develop any reasonable theory of the Mosaic philosophy,--Moses, +doubtless, was a ruthless conqueror, as his dealings with Sihon and Og +sufficiently prove. "So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og +also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until +none was left to him remaining.... + +"And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon, king of Heshbon, +utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city." +[Footnote: Deut. III, 3-6.] + +There is nothing extraordinary, or essentially barbarous, in this +attitude of Moses. The same theory of duty or convenience has been +held in every age and in every land, by men of the ecclesiastical +temperament, at the very moment at which the extremest doctrines of +charity, mercy, and love were practised by their contemporaries, or even +preached by themselves. For example: + +At the beginning of the thirteenth century the two great convents of +Cluny and Citeau, together, formed the heart of monasticism, and Cluny +and Citeau were two of the richest and most powerful corporations in the +world, while the south of France had become, by reason of the eastern +trade, the wealthiest and most intelligent district in Europe. It +suffices to say here that, just about this time, the people of Languedoc +had made up their minds, because of the failure of the Crusades, the +cost of such magnificent establishments was not justified by their +results, and accordingly Count Raymond of Toulouse, in sympathy with +his subjects, did seriously contemplate secularization. To the abbots of +these great convents, it was clear that if this movement spread across +the Rhone into Burgundy, the Church would face losses which they could +not contemplate with equanimity. At this period one Arnold was Abbot of +Citeau, universally recognized as perhaps the ablest and certainly one +of the most unscrupulous men in Europe. Hence the crusade against the +Albigenses which Simon de Montfort commanded and Arnold conducted. +Arnold's first exploit was the sack of the undefended town of Beziers, +where he slaughtered twenty thousand men, women, and children, without +distinction of religious belief. When asked whether the orthodox might +not at least be spared, he replied, "Kill them all; God knows his own." + +This sack of Beziers occurred in 1209. Exactly contemporaneously Saint +Francis of Assisi was organizing his order whose purpose was to realize +Christ's kingdom upon earth, by the renunciation of worldly wealth and +by the practice of poverty, humility, and obedience. Soon after, Arnold +was created Archbishop of Narbonne and became probably the greatest and +richest prelate in France, or in the world. This was in 1225. In 1226 +the first friars settled in England. They multiplied rapidly because of +their rigorous discipline. Soon there were to be found among them some +of the most eminent men in England. Their chief house stood in London +in a spot called Stinking Lane, near the Shambles in Newgate, and there, +amidst poverty, hunger, cold, and filth, these men passed their lives in +nursing horrible lepers, so loathsome that they were rejected by all but +themselves, while Arnold lived in magnificence in his palace, upon the +spoil of those whom he had immolated to his greed. + +In the case of Moses the contrast between precept and practice in the +race for wealth and fortune was not nearly so violent. Moses, it is +true, according to Leviticus, declared it to be the will of the +Lord that the Israelites should love their neighbors as themselves, +[Footnote: Lev. XIX, 18.] while on the other hand in Deuteronomy he +insisted that obedience was the chief end of life, and that if the +Israelites were to thoroughly obey the Lord's behests, they were to +"consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine +eye shall have no pity upon them: neither" should thou serve their gods, +"for the Lord thy God is a jealous God." [Footnote: Deut. VII, 16.] And +the penalty for slackness was "lest the anger of the Lord thy God be +kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." +[Footnote: Deut. VI, 15.] There is, nevertheless, this much to be +said in favor of the morality of Moses as contrasted with that of +thirteenth-century orthodox Christians like Arnold; Moses led a crusade +against a foreign and hostile people, while Arnold slaughtered the +Albigenses, who were his own flock, sheep to whom he was the shepherd, +communicants in his own church, and worshippers of the God whom he +served. What concerns us, however, is that the same stimulant animated +Moses and Arnold alike. The stimulant, pure and simple, of greed. On +these points Moses was as outspokenly, one may say as brutally, frank as +was Arnold. In the desert Moses commanded his followers to exterminate +the inhabitants of the kingdom of Bashan in order that they might +appropriate their possessions, which he enumerated, and Moses had no +other argument to urge but the profitableness of it by which to secure +obedience to his moral law. + +Arnold stood on precisely the same platform. He did not accuse Count +Raymond of heresy or any other crime, nor did Pope Innocent III +consider Raymond as morally guilty of a criminal offence, or worthy of +punishment. Indeed, the pope would have protected the Count had it been +possible, and summoned him before the Fourth Lateran Council for that +purpose. But Arnold told his audience that were Raymond allowed to +escape there would be an end of the Catholic faith in France. Or, in +other words, monastic property would be secularized. Perhaps he was +right. At all events, this argument prevailed, and Raymond and his +family and people were sacrificed. + +Moses promised his congregation that, if they would spare nothing they +should enjoy abundance of good things, without working for them. He was +much more pitiless than such a man as King David thought it necessary to +be, but Moses was not a soldier like David. He could not promise to win +victories himself, he could but promise what he had in hand, and that +was the spoil of those they massacred. Moses never had but one appeal +to make for obedience, one incentive to offer to obey. In this he was +perfectly honest and perfectly logical. His congregation and he, finding +Egypt untenable, were engaged in a common land speculation to improve +their condition; a speculation in which Moses believed, but which could +only be brought to a successful end by obtaining control of the dominant +energy of the world. This energy, he held, could be handled by no +one but himself, and then only in case those who acted with him were +absolutely obedient to his commands, which, taken together, were +equivalent to a magical exorcism or spell. Then only could they hope +that the Lord of Abraham and Isaac would give them "great and goodly +cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, +which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, +vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not." [Footnote: Deut. +VI, 10, 11.] + +Very obviously, if the theory which Moses propounded were sound the +assets which he offered as an inducement for docility could be obtained, +at so cheap a rate, in no other way. All Moses' moral teaching amounted, +therefore, to this--"It pays to be obedient and good." No argument could +have been better adapted to Babylonish society, and it seems to have +answered nearly as well with the Israelites, which proves that they +stood on nearly the same intellectual plane. The chief difficulty with +which Moses had to contend was that his countrymen did not thoroughly +believe in him, nor in the efficacy of his motor. They always were +tempted to try experiments with other motors which were operated by +other prophets and by other peoples who were, apparently, as prosperous +as they, or even more so. His trouble was not that his followers were +nomads unprepared for a sedentary life or a moral law like his, or +unable to appreciate the value of the property of a people further +advanced in civilization than they were. The Amalekites would have +responded to no such system of bribery as Moses offered the Israelites, +who did respond with intelligence, if not always with enthusiasm. + +The same is true of the Mosaic legislation which Dr. Budde curtly +dismisses as impossible to have come from Moses, [Footnote: _Religion +of Israel to the Exile_, 31.] as presupposing a knowledge of a settled +agricultural life, which "Israel did not reach until after Moses' +death." + +All this is an assumption of fact unsupported by evidence; but quite +the contrary, as we can see by an examination of the law in question. +Whatever may have been the date of the establishment of the cities of +refuge, I suppose that it will not be seriously denied that the law of +the covenant as laid down in Exodus XX, 1, Numbers XXXV, 6, is at least +as old as the age of Moses, in principle, if not in words; and this +legal principle is quite inconsistent with, if not directly antagonistic +to, all the prejudices and regulations, moral, religious, or civil, of a +pure nomadic society, since it presupposes a social condition which, if +adopted, would be fatal to a nomad society. + +The true nomad knows no criminal law save the law of the blood feud, +which is the law of revenge, and which prevailed among the Hebrews +much earlier. In the early Saxon law it was expressed by the apothegm +"_Factum reputabitur pro volunte_." The act implies the intent. That +is to say, the tribe is an enlarged family who, since they have no +collective system of sovereignty which gives them common protection by +an organized police, and courts with power to enforce process, have no +option but to protect each other. Therefore, it is incumbent on each +member of the tribe or family to avenge an injury to any other member, +whether the injury be accidental or otherwise; and to be himself the +judge of what amounts to an injury. Such a condition prevailed among the +Hebrews at a very early period; "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and +said unto them: ... at the hand of every man's brother will I require +the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood +be shed." [Footnote: Gen. IX, 1, 5, 6.] These customs and the type of +thought which sustain them are very tenacious and change slowly. Moses +could not have altered the nomadic customs of thought and of blood +revenge, had he tried, more than could Canute. It would have been +impossible. The advent of a civilized conception of the law is the work +of centuries as the history of England proves. + +We know not how long ago it was that the law of the blood feud was fully +recognized in England, but it had already been shaken at the conquest, +and its death-blow was given it by the Church, which had begun to tire +of the responsibility entailed by the trial by ordeal or miracle, and +the obloquy which it involved, at a relatively early date. For the +purposes of the Church and the uses of confession it was more convenient +to regard crime or tort, as did the Romans; as a mental condition, +dependent altogether upon the state of the mind or "animus." Malice +in the eye of the Church was the virus which poisoned the otherwise +innocent act, and made the thought alone punishable. Indeed, this +conception is one which has not yet been completely established even in +the modern law. The first signs of such a revolution in jurisprudence +only began to appear in England some seven centuries ago. As Mr. +Maitland has observed in his _History of English Law_, [Footnote: Vol. +II, 476.] "We receive a shock of surprise when we meet with a maxim +which has troubled our modern lawyers, namely, _Reum nonfacit nisi mens +rea_, in the middle of the _Leges Henrici_." That is to say somewhere +about the year 1118 A.D. This maxim was taken bodily out of a sermon of +Saint Augustine, which accounts for it, but at that time the Church +had another process to suggest by which she asserted her authority. She +threw the responsibility for detecting guilt, in cases of doubt, upon +God. By the ordeal, if a homicide, for example, were committed, and the +accused denied his guilt, he was summoned to appear, and then, after a +solemn reference to God by the ecclesiastics in charge, he was caused +either to carry a red-hot iron bar a certain distance or to plunge his +arms in boiling water. If he were found, after a certain length of time, +during which his arms were bandaged, to have been injured, he was +held to have been guilty. If he had escaped unhurt he was innocent. +Gradually, however, the ordeal began to fall into ridicule. William +Rufus gibed at it, for of fifty men sent to the ordeal of iron, under +the sacred charge of the clerks, all escaped, which certainly, as Mr. +Maitland intimates, looks as if the officiating ecclesiastics had an +interest in the result. [Footnote: _History of English Law_, II, 599, +note 2.] At length, by the Lateran Council of 1215, the Church put an +end to the institution, but long afterward it found its upholders. For +example, the _Mirror_, written in the reign of Edward I (circa 1285) +complained, "It is an abuse that proofs and compurgations be not by the +miracle of God where other proof faileth." Nor was the principle that +"attempts" to commit indictable offences are crimes, established as law, +until at least the time of the Star Chamber, before its abolition in the +seventeenth century. Though doubtless it is the law to-day. [Footnote: +Stephen, _Digest of the Criminal Law_, 192.] And this, although the +means used may have been impossible. Moreover, the doctrine is still in +process of enlargement. + +Very convincing conclusions may be drawn from these facts. The subject +is obscure and difficult, but if the inception of the process +of breaking down the right of enforcing the blood feud be fixed +provisionally toward the middle of the tenth century,--and this date is +early enough,--the movement of thought cannot be said to have attained +anything like ultimate results before at least the year 1321 when a case +is cited wherein a man was held guilty because he had attempted to kill +his master, and the "_volunias in isto casu reputabitur pro facto_." + +Measuring by this standard five hundred years is a short enough period +to estimate the time necessary for a community to pass from the stage +when the blood feud is recognized as unquestioned law, to the status +involved in the administration of the cities of refuge, for in these +cities not only the mental condition is provided for as a legitimate +defence, but the defence of negligence is made admissible in a secular +court. + +"These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, +and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them; that every one +that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.... + +"If he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait that he +die; + +"Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him +shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of +blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. + +"But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him +anything without laying of wait, + +"Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it +upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: + +"Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger +of blood according to these judgments: + +"And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the +revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city +of his refuge, whither he was fled."... [Footnote: Numbers XXXV, 15, +20-25.] + +Here we have a defendant in a case of homicide setting up the defence +that the killing happened through an accident, but an accident not +caused by criminal negligence, and this defence is to be tried by the +congregation, which is tantamount to trial by jury. It is not left to +God, under the oversight of the Church; and this is precisely our own +system at the present day. We now come to the inferences to be drawn +from these facts. Supposing that the Israelites when they migrated to +Egypt, in the time of Joseph, were in the condition of pure nomads among +whom the blood feud was fully recognized as law, an interval of four or +five hundred years, such as they are supposed to have passed in Goshen +would bring them to the exodus. Now, assuming that the Israelites during +those four centuries, when they lived among civilized neighbors and +under civilized law, made an intellectual movement corresponding in +velocity to the movement the English made after the conquest, they would +have been, about the time when the cities of refuge were created, in the +position described in Numbers, which is what we should expect assuming +the Biblical tradition to be true. + +To us the important question is not whether a certain piece of the +supposed Mosaic legislation actually went into effect during the life +of Moses, for that is relatively immaterial, but whether the Biblical +narrative is, on the whole, worthy of credence, and this correlation of +dates gives the strongest possible evidence in its favor. Very possibly, +perhaps it may even be said certainly, the order in which events +occurred may have been transposed, but, taken as a whole, it is +impossible to resist the inference that the Bible story is excellent +history and that, due allowance being made for the prejudice of the +various scribes who wrote the Pentateuch in favor of the miraculous, +where Moses was concerned, the Biblical record is good and trustworthy +history, and frank at that;--much superior to quantities of modern +documents which we accept without question. + +Of all the achievements of Moses' life none equals the exodus itself, +either in brilliancy or success. How it was possible for Moses, with the +assistance he had at command, to marshal and move a column of a million +or a million and a half of men, women, and children, without discipline +or cohesion, and encumbered with their baggage, beside their cattle, is +an insoluble mystery. "And the children of Israel did according to the +word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and +jewels of gold, and raiment: ... And they spoiled the Egyptians. And the +children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth, about six hundred +thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude +went up also with them; and flocks and herds, even very much cattle." +They started from Ramses and Succoth. + +The position of Ramses has been identified; that of Succoth is more +questionable. Ramses and Pithom were fortified places, built by the +Israelites for Ramses II, of the Nineteenth Dynasty, but apparently +Succoth was the last halting-place before coming to the difficult ground +which was overflowed by the sea. + +The crossing was made at night, but it is hard to understand how, even +under the most favorable conditions of weather, such a vast and confused +multitude of women and children could have made the march in darkness +with an active enemy pursuing, without loss of life or material. Indeed, +even at that day the movement seemed to the actors so unparalleled that +it always passed for a miracle, and its perfect success gave Moses more +reputation with the Israelites and more practical influence over them +than anything else he ever did, or indeed than all his other works +together. "And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the +Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his +servant Moses." + +"And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron; and all the women went +after her with timbrels and with dances." Now Miriam was in general none +too loyal a follower of her younger brother, but that day, or rather +night, she did proclaim Moses as a conqueror; which was a great +concession from her, and meant much. And Moses exulted openly, as he +had good cause to do, and gave vent to his exultation in a song which +tradition has ever since attributed to him, and has asserted to have +been sung by him and his congregation as they stood by the shore of the +sea and watched the corpses of the Egyptians lying in the sand. And, if +ever man had, Moses then had, cause for exultation, for he had seemingly +proved by the test of war, which is the ultimate test to which a man can +subject such a theory as his, that he had indeed discovered the motor +which he sought, and, more important still, that he knew how to handle +it. Therefore, he was master of supreme energy and held his right to +command by the title of conquest. This was the culminating moment of his +life; he never again reached such exaltation. From this moment his slow +and gradual decline began. + +And, indeed, great as had been the momentary success of Moses, his +position was one of extreme difficulty, and probably he so understood +it, otherwise there would be no way to account for his choosing the +long, difficult, and perilous journey by Sinai, instead of approaching +the "Promised Land" directly by way of Kadesh-Barnea, which was, in any +event, to be his ultimate objective. It may well have been because Moses +felt himself unable alone to cope with the difficulties confronting him +that he decided at any cost to seek Jethro in Midian, who seems to have +been the only able, honest, and experienced man within reach. Joshua, +indeed, might be held to be an exception to this generalization, +but Joshua, though a good soldier, was a man of somewhat narrow +understanding, and quite unfit to grapple with questions involving +jurisprudence and financial topography. + +And at this juncture Moses must have felt his own deficiencies keenly. +As a captain he made no pretence to efficiency. The Amalekites were, +as he well knew, at this moment lying in wait for him, and forthwith he +recognized that he had no alternative but to retire into the background +himself and surrender the active command of the army to Joshua, a fatal +concession had Joshua been ambitious or unscrupulous. And this was but +the beginning. Before he could occupy Palestine he had to encounter and +overcome numbers of equally formidable foes, a defeat by any one of whom +might well be fatal. A man like Jethro, therefore, would be invaluable +in guiding the caravan to spots favorable for action, from whence +retreat to a place of safety would be open in case of a check. A reverse +which happened on a later occasion gave Moses a shock he never forgot. + +Furthermore, though Moses lived many years with Jethro, as his chief +servant, he never seems to have travelled extensively in Arabia, and to +have been ignorant of the chief trade routes along which wells were dug, +and of the oases where pasture was to be found; so that Moses was nearly +worthless as a guide, and this was a species of knowledge in which +Jethro, according to Moses' own statement, excelled. Meanwhile, the +lives of all his followers depended on such knowledge. And Moses, when +he reached Sinai, left no stone unturned to overcome Jethro's reluctance +to join him and to instruct him on the march north. + +More important and pressing than all, Moses was ignorant of how, +practically, to administer the law which he taught. His only idea was to +do all in person, but this, with so large a following, was impossible. +And here also his hope lay in Jethro. For when he got to Sinai, and +Jethro remonstrated with him upon his methods, pointing out that they +were impracticable, all Moses had to say in reply was that he sat all +day to hear disputes and "I judge between one and another; and I do make +them know the statutes of God, and his laws." Further than this he had +nothing to propose. It was Jethro who explained to him a constructive +policy. + +On the whole, upon this analysis, it appears that in all those executive +departments in which Moses, by stress of the responsibilities which he +had assumed, was called upon, imperatively, to act, there was but one, +that of the magician or wise man, in which, by temperament and training, +he was fitted to excel, and the functions of this profession drove him +into to intolerably irksome and distressing position, yet a position +from which throughout his life he found it impossible to escape. No +one who attentively weighs the evidence can, I apprehend, escape +the conviction that Moses was at bottom an honest man who would have +conformed to the moral law he laid down in the name of the Lord had it +been possible for him to do so. Among these precepts none ranked higher +than a regard for truth and honesty. "Ye shall not steal, neither deal +falsely, neither lie one to another." [Footnote: Leviticus XIX, 11.] And +this text is but one example of a general drift of thought. + +Whether these particular words of Leviticus, or any similar phrases, +were ever used by Moses is immaterial. No one can doubt that, in +substance, they contained the gist of his moral doctrine and that he +enforced the moral duty which they convey to the best of his power. +And here the burden lay, which crushed this man, from which he never +thenceforward could, even for an instant, free himself, and which Saint +Paul avers to be the heaviest burden man can bear. Moses, to fulfil +what he conceived to be his destiny and which at least certainly was his +ambition, was condemned to lead a life of deceit and to utter no +word during his long subsequent march which was not positively or +inferentially a lie. And the bitterest of his trials must have been the +agony of anxiety in which he must have lived lest some error in judgment +on his part, some slackness in measuring the exact credulity of his +audience, should cause his exposure and lead to his being cast out of +the camp as an impostor and hunted to death as a false prophet: a fate +which more than once nearly overtook him. Indeed, as he aged and his +nerves lost their elasticity under the tension, he became obsessed with +the fixed idea that God had renounced him and that some horror would +overtake him should he attempt to cross the Jordan and enter the +"Promised Land." Defeated at Hormah, he dared not face another such +check and, therefore, dawdled away his time in the wilderness until +further dawdling became impossible. Then followed his mental collapse +which is told in Deuteronomy, together with his suicide on Mount Nebo. +And thus he died because he could not gratify at once his lust for power +and his instinct to live an honest man. + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The interval during which Moses led the exodus falls, naturally, into +three parts of unequal length. The first consists of the months which +elapsed between the departure from Ramses and the arrival at Sinai. The +second comprises the halt at Sinai, while the third contains the story +of the rest of his life, ending with Mount Nebo. + +His trials began forthwith. The march was hardly a week old before +the column was in quasi-revolt because he had known so little of the +country, that he had led the caravan three days through a waterless +wilderness where they feared to perish from thirst. And matters grew +steadily worse. At Rephidim, "And the people murmured against Moses, and +said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to +kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" Not impossibly +Moses may still, at this stage of his experiences, have believed in +himself, in the God he pretended to serve, and in his mission. At least +he made a feint of so doing. Indeed, he had to. Not to have done so +would have caused his instant downfall. He always had to do so, in every +emergency of his life. A few days later he was at his wits' end. He +cried unto the Lord, "What shall I do unto this people? They be almost +ready to stone me." In short, long before the congregation reached +Sinai, and indeed before Moses had fought his first battle with Amalek, +the people had come to disbelieve in Moses and also to question whether +there was such a god as he pretended. + +"And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the +chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, +saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?" + +"Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim." [Footnote: +Exodus xvii, 7, 8.] + +Under such conditions it was vital to Moses to show resolution and +courage; but it was here that Moses, on the contrary, flinched; as he +usually did flinch when it came to war, for Moses was no soldier. + +"And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men and go out, fight with +Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of +God in mine hand." + +And Moses actually had the assurance to do as he proposed, nor did he +even have the endurance to stand. He made Aaron and Hur fetch a stone on +which he should sit and then hold up his hands for him, pretending the +while that when Moses held up his hands the Hebrews prevailed and when +he lowered them Amalek prevailed. Notwithstanding, Joshua won a victory. +But it may readily be believed that this performance of his functions +as a captain, did little to strengthen the credit of Moses among the +fighting men. Nor evidently was Moses satisfied with the figure that +he cut, nor was he confident that Joshua approved of him, for the Lord +directed Moses to make excuses, promising to do better the next time, by +assuring Joshua that "I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek +from under heaven." This was the best apology Moses could make for his +weakness. However, the time had now come when Moses was to realize his +plan of meeting Jethro. + +"And Jethro ... came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the +wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: ... And Moses went +out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and +they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. + +"And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto +Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that +had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.... + +"And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the +hand of the Egyptians.... Now I know that the Lord is greater than all +gods.... And Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with +Moses' father-in-law before God." + +It is from all this very plain that Jethro had a controlling influence +over Moses, and was the proximate cause of much that followed. For the +next morning Moses, as was his custom, "sat to judge the people: and +the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening." And +when Jethro saw how Moses proceeded he remonstrated, "Why sittest thou +thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?" + +And Moses replied: "Because the people come unto me to enquire of God." + +And Jethro protested, saying "The thing thou doest is not good. Thou +wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee: +for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it +thyself alone. + +"Hearken, ... I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee; Be +thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto +God." + +Then it was that Moses perceived that he must have a divinely +promulgated code. Accordingly, Moses made his preparations for a great +dramatic effect, and it is hard to see how he could have made them +better. For, whatever failings he may have had in his other capacities +as a leader, he understood his part as a magician. + +He told the people to be ready on the third day, for on the third day +the Lord would come down in the sight of all upon Mount Sinai. But, +"Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the +border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: + +"There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot +through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet +soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount." + +It must be admitted that Moses either had wonderful luck, or that he had +wonderful judgment in weather, for, as it happened in the passage of the +Red Sea, so it happened here. At the Red Sea he was aided by a gale of +wind which coincided with a low tide and made the passage practicable, +and at Sinai he had a thunder-storm. + +"And it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were +thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice +of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the +camp trembled." Moses had undoubtedly sent some thoroughly trustworthy +person, probably Joshua, up the mountain to blow a ram's horn and to +light a bonfire, and the effect seems to have been excellent. + +"And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended +upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a +furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. + +"And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and +louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. + +"And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and +the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up." +And the first thing that Moses did on behalf of the Lord was to "charge +the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of +them perish." + +And Moses replied to God's enquiry, "The people cannot come up to Mount +Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount. + +"And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come +up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people +break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. + +"So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them." + +Whether the decalogue, as we know it, was a code of law actually +delivered upon Sinai, which German critics very much dispute as being +inconsistent with the stage of civilization at which the Israelites +had arrived, but which is altogether kindred to the Babylonish law with +which Moses was familiar, is immaterial for the present purpose. What +is essential is that beside the decalogue itself there is a considerable +body of law chiefly concerned with the position of servants or slaves, +the difference between assaults or torts committed with or without +malice, theft, trespass, and the regulation of the _lex talionis_. There +are beside a variety of other matters touched upon all of which may be +found in the 21st, 22d, and 23d chapters of Exodus. + +Up to this point in his show Moses had behaved with discretion and +had obtained a complete success. The next day he went on to demand an +acceptance of his code, which he prepared to submit in form. But as a +preliminary he made ready to take Aaron and his two sons, together with +seventy elders of the congregation up the mountain, to be especially +impressed with a sacrifice and a feast which he had it in his mind to +organize. In the first place, "Moses ... rose up early in the morning, +and builded an altar, ... and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto +the Lord.... + +"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the +people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be +obedient." + +Had Moses been content to end his ceremony here and to return to the +camp with his book of the covenant duly accepted as law, all might have +been well. But success seems to have intoxicated him, and he conceived +an undue contempt for the intelligence of his audience, being, +apparently, convinced that there were no limits to their credulity, and +that he could do with them as he pleased. + +It was not enough for him that he should have them accept an ordinary +book admittedly written by himself. There was nothing overpoweringly +impressive in that. What he wanted was a stone tablet on which his +code should be engraved, as was the famous code of Hammurabi, which he +probably knew well, and this engraving must putatively be done by God +himself, to give it the proper solemnity. + +To have such a code as this engraved either by himself or by any workman +he could take into the mountain with him, would be a work of time and +would entail his absence from the camp, and this was a very serious +risk. But he was over-confident and determined to run it, rather than be +baulked of his purpose, + +"And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua; and Moses went up into the +mount of God. + +"And he said unto the elders, Tarry you here for us, until we come again +unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: and if any man have +matters to do, let him come unto them. And Moses went into the midst +of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount +forty days and forty nights." + +But Moses had made the capital mistake of undervaluing the intelligence +of his audience. They had, doubtless, been impressed when Moses, as +a showman, had presented his spectacle, for Moses had a commanding +presence and he had chosen a wonderful locality for his performance. +But once he was gone the effect of what he had done evaporated and they +began to value the exhibition for what it really was. As men of common +sense, said they to one another, why should we linger here, if Moses has +played this trick upon us? Why not go back to Egypt, where at least we +can get something to eat? So they decided to bribe Aaron, who was venal +and would do anything for money. + +"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the +mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto +him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, +the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is +become of him." + +When Aaron heard this proposition he showed no objection to accept, +provided the people made it worth his while to risk the wrath of Moses; +so he answered forthwith, "Break off the golden earrings, which are in +the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring +them unto me." + +These were the ornaments of which the departing Israelites had spoiled +the Egyptians and they must have been of very considerable value. At all +events, Aaron took them and melted them and made them into the image of +a calf, such as he had been used to see in Egypt. The calf was probably +made of wood and laminated with gold. Sir G. Wilkinson thinks that the +calf was made to represent Mnevis, with whose worship the Israelites had +been familiar in Egypt. Then Aaron proclaimed a feast for the next day +in honor of this calf and said, "To-morrow is a feast to the Lord," and +they said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of +the land of Egypt." + +"And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and +brought peace offerings: and the people sat down to eat and to drink, +and rose up to play." + +It was not very long before Moses became suspicious that all was not +right in the camp, and he prepared to go down, taking the two tables of +testimony in his hands. These stone tablets were covered with writing +on both sides, which must have taken a long time to engrave considering +that Moses was on a bare mountainside with probably nobody to help but +Joshua. Of course all that made this weary expedition worth the doing +was that, as the Bible says, "the tables were" to pass for "the work +of God, and the writing was the writing of God." Accordingly, it is +not surprising that as Moses "came nigh unto the camp," and he "saw +the calf, and the dancing": that his "anger waxed hot, and he cast the +tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. + +"And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, +and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the +children of Israel drink of it. + +"And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou +hast brought so great a sin upon them? + +"And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the +people, that they are set on mischief. + +"For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as +for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we +wot not what is become of him. + +"And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. +So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out +this calf. + +"And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them +naked unto their shame among their enemies:)" that is to say, the +people had come to the feast unarmed, and without the slightest fear +or suspicion of a possible attack; then Moses saw his opportunity and +placed himself in a gate of the camp, and said: "Who is on the Lord's +side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves +together unto him. + +"And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man +his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout +the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, +and every man his neighbour. + +"And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there +fell of the people that day about three thousand men." + +There are few acts in all recorded history, including the awful +massacres of the Albigenses by Simon de Montfort and the Abbot Arnold, +more indefensible than this wholesale murder by Moses of several +thousand people who had trusted him, and whom he had entrusted to the +care of his own brother, who participated in their crime, supposing +that they had committed any crime saving the crime of tiring of his +dictatorship. + +The effect of this massacre was to put Moses, for the rest of his life, +in the hands of the Levites with Aaron at their head, for only by having +a body of men stained with his own crimes and devoted to his fortunes +could Moses thenceforward hope to carry his adventure to a good end. +Otherwise he faced certain and ignominious failure. His preliminary +task, therefore, was to devise for the Levites a reward which would +content them. His first step in this direction was to go back to the +mountain and seek a new inspiration and a revelation more suited to the +existing conditions than the revelation conveyed before the golden calf +incident. + +Up to this time there is nothing in Jewish history to show that the +priesthood was developing into a privileged and hereditary caste. With +the consecration of Aaron as high priest the process began. Moses spent +another six weeks in seclusion on the mount. And as soon as he returned +to the camp he proclaimed how the people should build and furnish a +sanctuary in which the priesthood should perform its functions. These +directions were very elaborate and detailed, and part of the furnishings +of the sanctuary consisted in the splendid and costly garments for Aaron +and his sons "for glory and for beauty." + +"And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and +sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And +thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: And thou shalt +anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister +unto me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall surely be an +everlasting priesthood, throughout their generations. + +"Thus did Moses: according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did +he." + +It followed automatically that, with the creation of a great vested +interest centred in an hereditary caste of priests, the pecuniary burden +on the people was correspondingly increased and that thenceforward +Moses became nothing but the representative of that vested interest: as +reactionary and selfish as all such representatives must be. How selfish +and how reactionary may readily be estimated by glancing at Numbers +XVIII, where God's directions are given to Aaron touching what he was to +claim for himself, and what the Levites were to take as their wages for +service. It was indeed liberal compensation. A good deal more than much +of the congregation thought such services worth. + +In the first place, Aaron and the Levites with him for their service +"of the tabernacle" were to have "all the tenth in Israel for an +inheritance." But this was a small part of their compensation. There +were beside perquisites, especially those connected with the sacrifices +which the people were constrained to make on the most trifling +occasions; as, for example, whenever they became _unclean_, through some +accident, as by touching a dead body: + +"This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: +every oblation of their's, every meat offering of their's, and every sin +offering of their's, and every trespass offering of their's, which they +shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and thy sons. + +"In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it; it +shall be holy unto thee. + +"And this is thine.... All the best of the oil, and all the best of the +wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer +unto the Lord, them have I given thee; ... every one that is clean in +thine house shall eat of it. + +"Everything devoted in Israel shall be thine.... + +"All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of +Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy +daughters with thee, by a statute forever: it is a covenant of salt +forever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee." + +Also, on the taking of a census, such as occurred at Sinai, Aaron +received a most formidable perquisite. + +The Levites were not to be numbered; but there was to be a complicated +system of redemption at the rate of "five shekels by the poll, after the +shekel of the sanctuary." + +"And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above +them that were redeemed by the Levites: Of the first-born of the +children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and three +score and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; And Moses +gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons." + +Assuming the shekel of those days to have weighed two hundred and +twenty-four grains of silver, its value in our currency would have been +about fifty-five cents, but its purchasing power, twelve hundred years +before Christ, would have been, at the very most moderate estimate, at +least ten for one, which would have amounted to between six and +seven thousand dollars in hard cash for no service whatever, which, +considering that the Israelites were a wandering nomadic horde in the +wilderness, was, it must be admitted, a pretty heavy charge for the +pleasure of observing the performances of Aaron and his sons, in their +gorgeous garments. + +Also, under any sedentary administration it followed that the high +priest must become the most considerable personage in the community, +as well as one of the richest. And thus as payment for the loyalty to +himself of the Levites during the massacre of the golden calf, Moses +created a theocratic aristocracy headed by Aaron and his sons, and +comprising the whole tribe of Levi, whose advancement in fortune could +not fail to create discontent. It did so: a discontent which culminated +very shortly after in the rebellion of Korah, which brought on a +condition of things at Kadesh which contributed to make the position of +Moses intolerable. + +Moses was one of those administrators who were particularly reprobated +by Saint Paul; Men who "do evil," as in the slaughter of the feasters +who set up the golden calf, "that good may come," and "whose damnation," +therefore, "is just." [Footnote: Romans III, 8.] + +And Moses wrought thus through ambition, because, though personally +disinterested, he could not endure having his will thwarted. Aaron had +nearly the converse of such a temperament. Aaron appears to have had +few or no convictions; it mattered little to him whether he worshipped +Jehovah on Sinai or the golden calf at the foot of Sinai, provided he +were paid at his own price. And he took care to exact a liberal price. +Also the inference to be drawn from the way in which Moses behaved to +him is that Moses understood what manner of man he was. + +Jethro stood higher in the estimation of Moses, and Moses did his best +to keep Jethro with him, but, apparently, Jethro had watched Moses +closely and was not satisfied with his conduct of the exodus. On the +eve of departure from Sinai, just as the Israelites were breaking camp, +Moses sought out Jethro and said to him; "We are journeying unto the +place of which the Lord said, I will give it you; come thou with us, and +we will do thee good; for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. + +"And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own +land, and to my kindred." + +Not discouraged, Moses kept on urging: "Leave us not, I pray thee; +forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and +thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. + +"And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what +goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee." It +has been inferred from a passage in Judges, [Footnote: Judges I, 16.] +that Moses induced Jethro to reconsider his refusal and that he did +accompany the congregation in its march to Kadesh, but, on the whole, +the text of the Bible fails to bear out such inference, for there is no +subsequent mention of Jethro in the books which treat directly of the +trials of the journey, although there would seem to have been abundant +occasion for Moses to have called upon Jethro for aid had Jethro been +present. In his apparent absence the march began, under the leadership +of the Lord and Moses, very much missing Jethro. + +They departed from the mount: "And the cloud of the Lord was upon +them by day," when they left the camp "to search out a resting-place." +Certainly, on this occasion, the Lord selected a poor spot for the +purpose, quite different from such an one as Jethro would have +been expected to have pointed out; for the children of Israel began +complaining mightily, so much so that it displeased the Lord who sent +fire into the uttermost parts of the camp, where it consumed them. + +"And the people cried unto Moses, and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, +the fire was quenched." + +This suggestion of a divine fire under the control of Moses opens an +interesting speculation. + +The Magi, who were the priests of the Median religion, greatly developed +the practices of incantation and sorcery. Among these rites they +"pretended to have the power of making fire descend on to their altars +by means of magical ceremonies." [Footnote: Lenormant, _Chaldean Magic_, +226, 238.] Moses appears to have been very fond of this particular +miracle. It is mentioned as having been effective here at Taberah, and +it was the supposed weapon employed to suppress Korah's rebellion. Moses +was indeed a powerful enchanter. His relations with all the priestcraft +of central Asia were intimate, and if the Magi had secrets which were +likely to be of use to him in maintaining his position among the Jews, +the inference is that he would certainly have used them to the utmost; +as he did the brazen serpent, the ram's horns at Sinai, and the like. +But in spite of all his miracles Moses found his task too heavy, and he +frankly confessed that he wished himself dead. + +"Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families... and the +anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. + +"And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy +servant? ... that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? + +"Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou +shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father +beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their +fathers? + +"Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep +unto me saying, Give us flesh that we may eat. + +"I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy +for me. + +"And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I +have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness." + +Leaving aside for the moment all our childish preventions, and +considering this evidence in the cold light of history, it becomes +tolerably evident that Moses had now reached the turning-point in his +career, the point whither he had inexorably tended since the day on +which he bid good-bye to Jethro to visit Egypt and attempt to gain +control of the exodus, and the point to which all optimists must +come who resolve to base a religious or a political movement on the +manipulation of the supernatural. However pure and disinterested the +motives of such persons may be at the outset, and however thoroughly +they may believe in themselves and in their mission, sooner or later, +to compass their purpose, they must resort to deception and thus become +impostors who flourish on the credulity of their dupes. + +Moses, from the nature of the case, had to make such demands on the +credulity of his followers that even those who were bound to him by the +strongest ties of affection and self-interest were alienated, and those +without such commanding motives to submit to his claim to exact from +them absolute obedience, revolted, and demanded that he should be +deposed. The first serious trouble with which Moses had to contend +came to a head at Hazeroth, the second station after leaving Sinai. The +supposed spot is still used as a watering-place. There Miriam and Aaron +attacked Moses because they were jealous of his wife, whom they decried +as an "Ethiopian." And they said, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by +Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?" Instantly, it became evident to +Moses that if this denial of his superior intimacy with God were to be +permitted, his supremacy must end. Accordingly the Lord came down "in +the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, +and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth." And the Lord +explained that he had no objection to a prophet; if any one among the +congregation had an ambition to be a prophet he would communicate with +him in a dream; but there must always be a wide difference between such +a man or woman and Moses with whom he would "speak mouth to mouth, even +apparently, and not in dark speeches." And then God demanded irritably, +"Wherefore, then, were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" +"Afterward the cloud," according to the Bible, departed and God with it. + +Ever since the dawn of time the infliction of or the cure of disease has +been the stronghold of the necromancer, the wise man, the magician, the +saint, the prophet and the priest, and Moses was no exception to the +rule, only hitherto he had had no occasion to display his powers of this +kind. Nevertheless, among the Hebrews of the exodus, the field for this +form of miracle was large. Leprosy was very prevalent, so much so that +in Egypt the Jews were called a nation of lepers. And in the camp the +regulations touching them were strict and numerous. But the Jews were +always a dirty race. + +In chapter XIII of Leviticus, elaborate directions are given as to how +the patient shall be brought before Aaron himself, or at least some +other of the priests, who was to examine the sore and, if it proved to +be a probable case of leprosy, the patient was to be excluded from the +camp for a week. At the end of that time the disease, if malignant, was +supposed to show signs of spreading, in which case there was no cure +and the patient was condemned to civil death. On the contrary, if no +virulent symptoms developed during the week, the patient was pronounced +clean and returned to ordinary life. + +The miracle in the case of Miriam was this: When the cloud departed from +off the tabernacle, Miriam was found to be "leprous, white as snow," +just as Moses' hand was found to be white with leprosy after his +conversation with the Lord at the burning bush. Upon this Aaron, who had +been as guilty as Miriam, and was proportionately nervous, made a prayer +to Moses: "Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, +wherein we have done foolishly.... Let her not be as one dead. + +"And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech +thee." + +But the Lord replied: "If her father had but spit in her face, should +she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp seven +days, and after that let her be received in again." + +This was the Mosaic system of discipline. And it was serious for all +parties concerned. Evidently it was very serious for Miriam, who had to +leave her tent and be exiled to some spot in the desert, where she had +to shift for herself. We all know the almost intolerable situation +of those unfortunates who, in the East, are excluded from social +intercourse, and sit without the gate, and are permitted to approach no +one. But it was also a serious infliction for the congregation, since +Miriam was a personage of consequence, and had to be waited for. That is +to say, a million or two of people had to delay their pilgrimage +until Moses had determined how much punishment Miriam deserved for her +insubordination, and this was a question which lay altogether within the +discretion of Moses. In that age there were at least seven varieties +of eruptions which could hardly, if at all, be distinguished, in their +early stages, from leprosy, and it was left to Moses to say whether or +not Miriam had been attacked by true leprosy or not. There was no one, +apparently, to question his judgment, for, since Jethro had left the +camp, there was no one to controvert the Mosaic opinion on matters such +as these. Doubtless Moses was content to give Aaron and Miriam a fright; +but also Moses intended to make them understand that they lay absolutely +at his mercy. + +After this outbreak of discontent had been thus summarily suppressed and +Miriam had been again received as "clean," the caravan resumed its march +and entered into the wilderness of Paran, which adjoined Palestine, and +from whence an invasion of Canaan, if one were to be attempted, would +be organized. Accordingly Moses appointed a reconnaissance, who in the +language of the Bible are called "spies," to examine the country, report +its condition, and decide whether an attack were feasible. + +On this occasion Moses seems to have remembered the lesson he learned +at Sinai. He did not undertake to leave the camp himself for a long +interval. He sent the men whom he supposed he could best trust, among +whom were Joshua and Caleb. These men, who corresponded to what, in +a modern army, would be called the general-staff, were not sent to +manufacture a report which they might have reason to suppose would +be pleasing to Moses, but to state precisely what they saw and heard +together with their conclusions thereon, that they might aid their +commander in an arduous campaign; and this duty they seem, honestly +enough, to have performed. But this was very far from satisfying Moses, +who wanted to make a strenuous offensive, and yet sought some one else +to take the responsibility therefor. + +The spies were absent six weeks and when they returned were divided in +opinion. They all agreed that Canaan was a good land, and, in verity, +flowing with milk and honey. But the people, most of them thought, were +too strong to be successfully attacked. "The cities were walled and very +great," and moreover "we saw the children of Anak there." + +"The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south; and the Hittites, +and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains; and the +Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. + +"And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at +once, ... for we are well able to overcome it. + +"But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against +the people; for they are stronger than we. + +"And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched, +... saying, ... all the people that we saw in it are men of great +stature. + +"And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, ... and we were in our +own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight." + +Had Moses been gifted with military talent, or with any of the higher +instincts of the soldier, he would have arranged to have received this +report in private and would then have acted as he thought best. Above +all he would have avoided anything like a council of war by the whole +congregation, for a vast popular meeting of that kind was certain to +become unmanageable the moment a division appeared in their command, +upon a difficult question of policy. + +Moses did just the opposite. He convened the people to hear the +report of the "spies." And immediately the majority became dangerously +depressed, not to say mutinous. + +"And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the +people wept that night. + +"And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against +Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we +had died in the land of Egypt! Or would God we had died in this +wilderness!... + +"And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return +into Egypt. + +"Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the +congregation of the children of Israel." + +But Joshua, who was a soldier, when Moses thus somewhat ignominiously +collapsed, retained his presence of mind and his energy. He and Caleb +"rent their clothes," and reiterated their advice. + +"And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, +The land which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good +land. + +"If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and +give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. + +"Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the +land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them... +fear them not. + +"But all the congregation bade stone them with stones." + +By this time Moses seems to have recovered some composure. Enough, at +least, to repeat certain violent threats of the "Lord." + +Nothing is so impressive in all this history as the difference between +Moses when called upon to take responsibility as a military commander, +and Moses when, not to mince matters, he acted as a quack. On the one +hand, he was all vacillation, timidity, and irritability. On the other, +all temerity and effrontery. + +In this particular emergency, which touched his very life, Moses vented +his disappointment and vexation in a number of interviews which he +pretended to have had with the "Lord," and which he retailed to the +congregation, just at the moment when they needed, as Joshua perceived, +to be steadied and encouraged. + +"How long," vociferated the Lord, when Moses had got back his power of +speech, "will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they +believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? + +"I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will +make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they." + +But when Moses had cooled a little and came to reflect upon what he had +made the "Lord" say, he fell into his ordinary condition of hesitancy. +Supposing some great disaster should happen to the Jews at Kadesh, +which lay not so very far from the Egyptian border, the Egyptians would +certainly hear of it, and in that case the Egyptian army might pursue +and capture Moses. Such a contingency was not to be contemplated, and +accordingly Moses began to make reservations. It must be remembered that +all these ostensible conversations with the "Lord" went on in public; +that is to say, Moses proffered his advice to the Lord aloud, and then +retailed his version of the answer he received. + +"Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations +which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, + +"Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which +he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.... + +"Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the +greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt +even until now. + +"And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word." + +Had Moses left the matter there it would not have been so bad, but he +could not contain his vexation, because his staff had not divined his +wishes. Those men, though they had done their strict duty only, must be +punished, so he thought, to maintain his ascendancy. + +Of the twelve "spies" whom Moses had sent into Canaan to report to him, +ten had incurred his bitter animosity because they failed to render +him such a report as would sustain him before the people in making +the campaign of invasion to which he felt himself pledged, and on the +success of which his reputation depended. Of these ten men, Moses, +to judge by the character of his demands upon the Lord, thought it +incumbent on him to make an example, in order to sustain his own credit. + +To simply exclude these ten spies from Palestine, as he proposed to do +with the rest of the congregation, would hardly be enough, for the +rest of the Hebrews were, at most, passive, but these ten had wilfully +ignored the will of Moses, or, as he expressed it, of the Lord. +Therefore it was the Lord's duty, as Moses saw it, to punish them. +And this Moses proposed that the Lord should do in a prompt and awful +manner: the lesson being pointed by the immunity of Joshua and +Caleb, the two spies who had had the wit to divine the will of +Moses. Therefore, all ten of these men died of the plague while the +congregation lay encamped at Kadesh, though Joshua and Caleb remained +immune. + +Moses, as the commanding general of an attacking army, took a course +diametrically opposed to that of Joshua, and calculated to be fatal +to victory. He vented his irritation in a series of diatribes which he +attributed to the "Lord," and which discouraged and confused his men at +the moment when their morale was essential to success. + +Therefore, the Lord, according to Moses, went on: + +"But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of +the Lord. + +"Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which +I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten +times, and have not hearkened to my voice; + +"Surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, +neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: + +"But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath +followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went;..." + +Having said all this, and, as far as might be, disorganized the army, +Moses surrendered suddenly his point. He made the "Lord" go on to +command: "Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way +of the Red Sea." But, not even yet content, Moses assured them that this +retreat should profit them nothing. + +"And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I +bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard +the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me." +And the Lord continued: + +"Say unto them, As truly as I live, ... as ye have spoken in mine ears, +so will I do to you. + +"Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered +of you, ... from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured +against me. + +"Doubtless ye shall not come into the land.... + +"But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.... + +"And the men which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made +all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander +upon the land,-- + +"Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by +the plague before the Lord. + +"But Joshua ... and Caleb, ... which were of the men that went to search +the land, lived still. + +"And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel and the +people mourned greatly." + +The congregation were now completely out of hand. They knew not what +Moses wanted to do, nor did they comprehend what Moses was attempting to +make the Lord threaten: except that he had in mind some dire mischief. +Accordingly, the people decided that the best thing for them was to go +forward as Joshua and Caleb proposed. So, early in the morning, they +went up into the top of the mountain, saying, "We be here, and will go +up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned." + +But Moses was more dissatisfied than ever. "Wherefore now do you +transgress the commandment of the Lord? But it shall not prosper." +Notwithstanding, "they presumed to go up unto the hilltop: nevertheless +the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the +camp. + +"Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites, which dwelt in that +hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah"; which was +at a very considerable distance,--perhaps not less than thirty miles, +though the positions are not very well established. + +This is the story as told by the priestly chronicler, who, of course, +said the best that could be said for Moses. But he makes a sorry tale +of it. According to him, Moses, having been disappointed with the report +made by his officers on the advisability of an immediate offensive, +committed the blunder of summoning the whole assembly of the people to +listen to it, and then, in the midst of the panic he had created, he +lost his self-possession and finally his temper. Whereupon his soldiers, +not knowing what to do or what he wanted, resolved to follow the advice +of Joshua and advance. + +But this angered Moses more than ever, who committed the unpardonable +crime in the eyes of the soldier; he abandoned his men in the presence +of the enemy and by this desertion so weakened them that they sustained +the worst defeat the Israelites suffered during the whole of their +wanderings in the wilderness. Such a disaster brought on a crisis. The +only wonder is that it had been so long delayed. Moses had had since the +exodus a wonderful opportunity to test the truth of his theories. He had +asserted that the universe was the expression of a single and supreme +mind, which operated according to a fixed moral law. That he alone, of +all men, understood this mind, and could explain and administer its law, +and that this he could and would do were he to obtain absolute obedience +to the commands which he uttered. Were he only obeyed, he would win +for his followers victory in battle, and a wonderful land to which +they should march under his guidance, which was the Promised Land, and +thereafter all was to be well with them. + +The disaster at Hormah had demonstrated that he was no general, and even +on that very day the people had proof before their eyes that he knew +nothing of the desert, and that the Lord knew no more than he, since +there was no water at Kadesh, and to ask the congregation to encamp in +such a spot was preposterous. Meanwhile Moses absorbed all the +offices of honor and profit for his family. Aaron and his descendants +monopolized the priesthood, and this was a bitter grievance to +other equally ambitious Levites. In short, the Mosaic leadership was +vulnerable on every hand. Attack on Moses was, therefore, inevitable, +and it came from Korah, who was leader of the opposition. + +Korah was a cousin of Moses, and one of the ablest and most influential +men in the camp, to whom Dathan and Abiram and "two hundred and fifty" +princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, +joined themselves. "And they gathered themselves together against Moses +and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing +all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among +them: wherefore then lift you up yourselves above the congregation of +the Lord?" + +Koran's grievance was that he had been, although a Levite, excluded from +the priesthood in favor of the demands of Aaron and his sons. + +"And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face." + +And yet something had to be done. Moses faced an extreme danger. His +life hung upon the issue. As between him and Korah he had to demonstrate +which was the better sorcerer or magician, and he could only do this by +challenging Korah to the test of the ordeal: the familiar test of the +second clause of the code of Hammurabi; "If the holy river makes that +man to be innocent, and has saved him, he who laid the spell upon him +shall be put to death. He who plunged into the holy river shall take to +himself the house of him who wove the spell upon him." [Footnote: Code +of Laws promulgated by Hammurabi, King of Babylon. Translated by C. H. +W. Johns, M.A., Section 2.] And so with Elijah, to whom Ahaziah sent a +captain of fifty to arrest him. And Elijah said to the captain of fifty, +"If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume +thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed +him and his fifty." [Footnote: 2 Kings I, 10.] + +In a word, the ordeal was the common form of test by which the +enchanter, the sorcerer, or the magician always was expected to prove +himself. Moses already had tried the test by fire at least once, and +probably oftener. So now Moses reproached Korah because he was jealous +of Aaron; "and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?... This do; +Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; and put fire therein, and +put incense in them before the Lord to-morrow; and ... whom the Lord +doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of +Levi." + +But it was not only about the priesthood that Moses had trouble on +his hands. He had undertaken, with the help of the Lord, to lead the +Israelites through the wilderness. But at every step of the way his +incompetence became more manifest. Even there, at that very camp of +Kadesh, there was no water, and all the people clamored. And, therefore, +Dathan and Abiram taunted him with failure, and with his injustice to +those who served him. And Moses had no reply, except that he denied +having abused his power. + +"And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which +said, We will not come up: + +"Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that +floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou +make thyself altogether a prince over us? + +"Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk +and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou +put out the eyes of these men [probably alluding to the "spies"]? We +will not come up." + +This was evidently an exceedingly sore spot. Moses had boasted that, +because the "spies" had rendered to the congregation what they believed +to be a true report instead of such a report as he had expected, the +"Lord" had destroyed them by the plague. And it is pretty evident +that the congregation believed him. It could hardly have been by pure +accident that out of twelve men, the ten who had offended Moses should +have died by the plague, and the other two alone should have escaped. +Moses assumed to have the power of destroying whom he pleased by the +pestilence through prayer to the "Lord," and he, indeed, probably had +the power, in such a spot as an ancient Jewish Nomad camp, not indeed +by prayer, but by the very human means of communicating so virulent a +poison as the plague: means which he very well understood. + +Therefore it is not astonishing that this insinuation should have stung +Moses to the quick. + +"And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou +their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt +one of them." + +Then Moses turned to Korah, "Be thou and all thy company before the +Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow: + +"And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye +before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers." + +And Korah, on the morrow, gathered all the congregation against them +unto the door of the tabernacle. And the "Lord" then as usual intervened +and advised Moses to "separate yourselves from among this congregation, +that I may consume them in a moment." And Moses did so. That is to say, +he made an effort to divide the opposition, who, when united, he seems +to have appreciated, were too strong for him. + +What happened next is not known. That Moses partially succeeded in his +attempt at division is admitted, for he persuaded Dathan and Abiram and +their following to "depart ... from the tents of these wicked men, and +touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins." + +Exactly what occurred after this is unknown. The chronicle, of course, +avers that "the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and +their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their +goods." But it could not have been this or anything like it, for the +descendants of Korah, many generations after, were still doing service +in the Temple, and at the time of the miracle the spectators were not +intimidated by the sight, although all "Israel that were round about +them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us +up also. + +"And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred +and fifty men that offered incense." + +Notwithstanding all which, the congregation next day were as hostile and +as threatening as ever. + +"On the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured +against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of +the Lord.... + +"And they fell upon their faces." + +In this crisis of his fate, when it seemed that nothing could save Moses +from a conflict with the mass of his followers, who had renounced him, +Moses showed that audacity and fertility of resource, which had hitherto +enabled him, and was destined until his death to enable him, to maintain +his position, at least as a prophet, among the Jewish people. + +The plague was always the most dreaded of visitations among the ancient +Jews: far more terrible than war. It was already working havoc in the +camp, as the death of the "spies" shows us. Moses always asserted his +ability to control it, and at this instant, when, apparently, he and +Aaron were lying on their faces before the angry people, he conceived +the idea that he would put his theurgetic powers to the proof. Suddenly +he called to Aaron to "take a censer and put fire therein from off the +altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and +make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; +the plague is begun." + +"And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the +congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: ... +and made an atonement for the people. + +"And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was +stayed. + +"Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven +hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah." + +Even this was not enough. The discontent continued, and Moses went on to +meet it by the miracle of Aaron's rod. + +Moses took a rod from each tribe, twelve rods in all and on Aaron's rod +he wrote the name of Levi, and Moses laid them out in the tabernacle. +And the next day Moses examined the rods and showed the congregation how +Aaron's rod had budded. And Moses declared that Aaron's rod should +be kept for a token against the rebels: and that they must stop their +murmurings "that they die not." + +This manipulation of the plague by Moses, upon what seems to have been +a sudden inspiration, was a stroke of genius in the way of quackery. +He was, indeed, in this way almost portentous. It had a great and +terrifying effect upon the people, who were completely subdued by it. +Against corporeal enemies they might hope to prevail, but they were +helpless against the plague. And they all cried out with one accord, +"Behold we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh anything near +unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with +dying?" + +As I have already pointed out, Moses was a very great theurgist, as many +saints and prophets have been. When in the actual presence of others he +evidently had the power of creating a belief in himself which approached +the miraculous, so far as disease was concerned. And he presumed on +this power and took correspondingly great risks. The case of the brazen +serpent is an example. The story is--and there is no reason to doubt its +substantial truth--that the Hebrews were attacked by venomous serpents +probably in the neighborhood of Mount Hor, where Aaron died, and +thereupon Moses set up a large brazen serpent on a pole, and declared +that whoever would look upon the serpent should live. Also, apparently, +it did produce an effect upon those who believed: which, of course, +is not an unprecedented phenomenon among faith healers. But what is +interesting in this historical anecdote is not that Moses performed +certain faith cures by the suggestion of a serpent, but that the +Israelites themselves, when out of the presence of Moses, recognized +that he had perpetrated on them a vulgar fraud. For example, King +Hezekiah destroyed this relic, which had been preserved in the Temple, +calling it "Nehushtan," "a brazen thing," as an expression of his +contempt. And what is more remarkable still is that although Hezekiah +reigned four or five centuries after the exodus, yet science had made no +such advance in the interval as to justify this contempt. Hezekiah seems +to have been every whit as credulous as were the pilgrims who looked on +the brazen serpent and were healed. Hezekiah "was sick unto death, and +Isaiah came to see him, and told him to set his house in order; for thou +shalt die, and not live.... And Hezekiah wept sore." + +Then, like Moses, Isaiah had another revelation in which he was directed +to return to Hezekiah, and tell him that he was to live fifteen years +longer. And Isaiah told the attendants to take "a lump of figs." "And +they took it and laid it on the boil, and he recovered." + +Afterward Hezekiah asked of Isaiah how he was to know that the Lord +would keep his word and give him fifteen additional years of life. +Isaiah told him that the shadow should go back ten degrees on the dial. +And Isaiah "cried unto the Lord," and he brought the shadow ten degrees +backward "by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz." [Footnote: +2 Kings xx, 11.] And yet this man Hezekiah, who could believe in this +marvellous cure of Isaiah, repudiated with scorn the brazen serpent as +an insult to credulity. The contrast between Moses, who hesitated not +to take all risks in matters of disease with which he felt himself +competent to cope, and his timidity and hesitation in matters of war, +is astounding. But it is a common phenomenon with the worker of miracles +and indicates the limit of faith at which the saint or prophet has +always betrayed the impostor. For example: Saint Bernard, when he +preached in 1146 the Second Crusade, made miraculous cures by the +thousand, so much so that there was danger of being killed in the crowds +which pressed upon him. And yet this same saint, when chosen by the +crusaders four years later, in 1150, to lead them because of his power +to constrain victory by the intervention of God, wrote, after the +crusaders' defeat, in terror to the pope to protect him, because he was +unfit to take such responsibility. + +But even with this reservation Moses could not gain the complete +confidence of the congregation and the insecurity of his position +finally broke him down. + +At this same place of Kadesh, Miriam died, "and the people chode with +Moses because there was no water for the congregation." [Footnote: +Numbers xx, 8.] Moses thereupon withdrew and, as usual, received a +revelation. And the Lord directed him to take his rod, "and speak ye +unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water." + +And Moses gathered the congregation and said unto them, "Hear now, ye +rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" + +"And he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly." + +But Moses felt that he had offended God, "Because ye believed me not, +to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall +not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." + +Moses had become an old man, and he felt himself unequal to the burden +he had assumed. He recognized that his theory of cause and effect +had broken down, and that the "Lord" whom at the outset he had firmly +believed to be an actual and efficient power to be dominated by him, +either could not or would not support him in emergency. In short, he +had learned that he was an adventurer who must trust to himself. Hence, +after Hormah he was a changed man. Nothing could induce him to lead +the Jews across the Jordan to attack the peoples on the west bank, and +though the congregation made a couple of campaigns against Sihon and Og, +whose ruthlessness has always been a stain on Moses, the probability is +that Moses did not meddle much with the active command. Had he done so, +the author of Deuteronomy would have given the story in more detail and +Moses more credit. All that is attributed to Moses is a division of the +conquests made together with Joshua, and a fruitless prayer to the Lord +that he might be permitted to cross the Jordan. + +Meanwhile life was ending for him. His elder sister Miriam died at +Kadesh, and Aaron died somewhat later at Mount Hor, which is supposed +to lie about as far to the east of Kadesh as Hormah is to the west, but +there are circumstances about the death of Aaron which point to Moses +as having had more to do with it than of having been a mere passive +spectator thereof. + +The whole congregation is represented as having "journeyed from Kadesh +and come unto Mount Hor ... by the coast of the land of Edom," and there +the "Lord" spoke unto Moses and Aaron, and explained that Aaron was to +be "gathered unto his people, ... because ye rebelled ... at the water +of Meribah." Therefore Moses was to "take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and +bring them up unto Mount Hor: and strip Aaron of his garments, and put +them upon Eleazar," ... and that Aaron ... shall die there. + +"And they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. +And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his +son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar +came down from the mount." [Footnote: Numbers xx, 22-28.] + +Now it is incredible that all this happened as straightforwardly as +the chronicle would have us believe. Aaron was an old man and probably +failing, but his death was not imminent. On the contrary, he had +strength to climb Mount Hor with Moses, without aid, and there is no +hint that he suffered from any ailment likely to end his life suddenly. +Moses took care that he and Eleazar should be alone with Aaron so that +there should be no witness as to what occurred, and Moses alone knew +what was expected. + +Moses had time to take off the priestly garments, which were the +insignia of office and to put them on Eleazar, and then, when all was +ready, Aaron simply ceased to breathe at the precise moment when it was +convenient for Moses to have him die, for the policy of Moses evidently +demanded that Aaron should live no longer. Under the conditions of +the march Moses was evidently preparing for his own death, and for a +complete change in the administration of affairs. Appreciating that +his leadership had broken down and that the system he had created was +collapsing, he had dawdled as long on the east side of the Jordan as +the patience of the congregation would permit. An advance had become +inevitable, but Moses recognized his own inability to lead it. The +command had to be delegated to a younger man and that man was Joshua. +Eleazar, on the other hand, was the only available candidate for +the high priesthood, and Moses took the opportunity of making the +investiture on Mount Hor. So Aaron passed away, a sacrifice to the +optimism of Moses. Next came the turn of Moses himself. The whole story +is told in Deuteronomy. Within, probably, something less than a year +after Aaron's death the "Lord" made a like communication to Moses. + +"Get thee up ... unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is +over against Jericho; + +"And die in the Mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy +people; as Aaron, thy brother died in Mount Hor; + +"Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at +the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because ye +sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. + +"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, +... And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan. + +"And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, +according to the word of the Lord.... But no man knoweth of his +sepulchre unto this day. + +"And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was +not dim, nor his natural force abated." + +The facts, as preserved by Josephus, appear to have been these: Moses +ascended the mountain with only the elders, the high priest Eleazar, and +Joshua. At the top of the mountain he dismissed the elders, and then, as +he was embracing Joshua and Eleazar and still speaking, a cloud covered +him, and he disappeared in a ravine. In other words, he killed himself. + +Such is the story of Moses, a fragment of history interesting enough +in itself, but especially material to us not only because of the +development of the thought dealt with in the following volumes, but +of the inferences which, at the present time, it permits us to draw +touching our own immediate future. + +Moses was the first great optimist of whom any record remains, and one +of the greatest. He was the prototype of all those who have followed. +He was a visionary. All optimists must be visionaries. Moses based the +social system which he tried to organize, not on observed facts, but +on _a priori_ theories evolved out of his own mind, and he met with the +failure that all men of that cast of mind must meet with when he sought +to realize his visions. His theory was that the universe about him was +the expression of an infinite mind which operated according to law. +That this mind, or consciousness, was intelligent and capable of +communicating with man. That it did, in fact, so communicate through +him, as a medium, and that other men had only to receive humbly and obey +implicitly his revelations to arrive at a condition nearly approaching, +if not absolutely reaching, perfection, while they should enjoy +happiness and prosperity in the land in which they should be permitted, +by an infinite and supernatural power and wisdom, to dwell. All this is +not alien to the attitude of scientific optimists at the present day, +who anticipate progressive perfection. + +Let us consider, for a moment, whither these _a priori_ theories led, +when put in practice upon human beings, including himself. And, in the +first place, it will probably be conceded that no optimist could have, +or ever hope to have, a fairer opportunity to try his experiment than +had Moses on that plastic Hebrew community which he undertook to lead +through Arabia. Also it must be admitted that Moses, as an expounder of +a moral code, achieved success. The moral principles which he laid down +have been accepted as sound from that day to this, and are still written +up in our churches, as a standard for men and women, however slackly +they may be observed. But when we come to mark the methods by which +Moses obtained acceptance of his code by his contemporaries, and, above +all, sought to constrain obedience to himself and to it, we find the +prospect unalluring. To begin with, Moses had only begun the exodus when +he learned from his practical father-in-law that the system he employed +was fantastic and certain to fail: his notion being that he should sit +and judge causes himself, as the mouthpiece of the infinite, and that +therefore each judgment he gave would demand a separate miracle +or imposture. This could not be contemplated. Therefore Moses was +constrained to impose his code in writing, once for all, by one +gigantic fraud which he must perpetrate himself. This he tried at Sinai, +unblushingly declaring that the stone tablets which he produced were +"written with the finger of God"; wherefore, as they must have been +written by himself, or under his personal supervision, he brazenly and +deliberately lied. His good faith was obviously suspected, and this +suspicion caused disastrous results. To support his lie Moses caused +three thousand unsuspecting and trusting men to be murdered in cold +blood, whose only crime was that they would have preferred another +leadership to his, and because, had they been able to effect their +purpose, they would have disappointed his ambition. + +To follow Moses further in the course which optimism enforced upon him +would be tedious, as it would be to recapitulate the story which has +already been told. It suffices to say shortly that, at every camp, he +had to sink to deeper depths of fraud, deception, lying, and crime in +order to maintain his credit. It might be that, as at Meribah, it was +only claiming for himself a miracle which he knew he could not work, +and for claiming which, instead of giving the credit to God, he openly +declared he deserved and must receive punishment; or it might be some +impudent quackery, like the brazen serpent, which at least was harmless; +or it might have been complicated combinations which suggest a deeper +shade; as, for example, the outbreak of the plague, after Korah's +rebellion, which bears the aspect of a successful effort at intimidation +to support his own wavering credit. But the result was always the same. +Moses had promised that the supernatural power he pretended to control +should sustain him and give victory. Possibly, when he started on the +exodus he verily believed that such a power existed, was amenable and +could be constrained to intervene. He found that he had been mistaken +on all these heads, and when he accepted these facts as final, nothing +remained for him but suicide, as has been related. It only remains +to glance, for a single moment, at what befell, when he had gone, the +society he had organized on the optimistic principle of the approach of +human beings toward perfection. During the period of the Judges, when +"there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in +his own eyes," [Footnote: Judges xvii, 6.] anarchy supervened, indeed, +but also the whole Mosaic system broke down because of the imbecility of +the men on whom Moses relied to lift the people toward perfection. + +Eli, a descendant of Aaron, was high priest, and a judge, being the +predecessor of Samuel, the last of the judges. Now Eli had two sons who +"were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord." + +Eli, being very old, "heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; +and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the +tabernacle...." And Eli argued with them; "notwithstanding they harkened +not unto the voice of their father." + +Samuel succeeded Eli. He was not a descendant of Aaron, but became +a judge, apparently, upon his own merits. But as a judge he did not +constrain his sons any better than Eli had his, for "they took bribes, +and perverted judgment." So the elders of Israel came to Samuel and +said, "Give us a king to judge us." "And Samuel prayed unto the Lord," +though he disliked the idea. Yet the result was inevitable. The kingdom +was set up, and the Mosaic society perished. Nothing was left of Mosaic +optimism but the tradition. Also there was the Mosaic morality, and what +that amounted to may best, perhaps, be judged by David, who was the most +perfect flower of the perfection to which humanity was to attain +under the Mosaic law, and has always stood for what was best in Mosaic +optimism. David's morality is perhaps best illustrated by the story of +Uriah the Hittite. + +One day David saw Uriah's wife taking a bath on her housetop and took a +fancy to her. The story is all told in the Second of Samuel. How David +sent for her, took her into the palace, and murdered Uriah by sending +him to Joab who commanded the army, and instructing Joab to set Uriah in +the forefront of the hottest battle, and "retire ye from him that he may +be smitten and die." And Uriah was killed. + +Then came the famous parable by Nathan of the ewe lamb. "And David's +anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the +Lord liveth, the man who hath done this thing shall surely die. + +"And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man." + +And Nathan threatened David with all kinds of disaster and even with +death, and David was very repentant and "he fasted and lay all night +upon the earth." But for all that, when assured that nothing worse was +to happen to him than the loss of the son Bathsheba had borne him, David +comforted Bathsheba. He by no means gave her up. On the contrary, "he +went in unto her ... and she bare him a son, and he called his name +Solomon: and the Lord loved him." + +Again the flesh had prevailed. And so it has always been with each new +movement which has been stimulated by an idealism inspired by a belief +that the spirit was capable of generating an impulse which would +overcome the flesh and which could cause men to move toward perfection +along any other path than the least resistant. And this because man is +an automaton, and can move no otherwise. In this point of view nothing +can be more instructive than to compare the Roman with the Mosaic +civilization, for the Romans were a sternly practical people and +worshipped force as Moses worshipped an ideal. + +As Moses dreamed of realizing the divine consciousness on earth by +introspection and by prayer, so the Romans supposed that they could +attain to prosperity and happiness on earth by the development of +superior physical force and the destruction of all rivals. Cato the +Censor was the typical Roman landowner, the type of the class which +built up the great vested interest in land which always moved and +dominated Rome. He expressed the Roman ideal in his famous declaration +in the Senate, when he gave his vote for the Third Punic War; "_Delenda +est Carthago_," Carthage must be destroyed. And Carthage was destroyed +because to a Roman to destroy Carthage was a logical competitive +necessity. Subsequently, the Romans took the next step in their +social adjustment at home. They deified the energy which had destroyed +Carthage. The incarnation of physical force became the head of the +State;--the Emperor when living, the Divus, when dead. And this +conception gained expression in the law. This godlike energy found vent +in the Imperial will; "_Quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem_." +[Footnote: Inst. 1, 2, 6.] + +Nothing could be more antagonistic to the Mosaic philosophy, which +invoked the supernatural unity as authority for every police regulation. +Moreover, the Romans carried out their principle relentlessly, to their +own destruction. That great vested interest which had absorbed the land +of Italy, and had erected the administrative entity which policed it, +could not hold and cultivate its land profitably, in competition with +other lands such as Egypt, North Africa, or Assyria, which were worked +by a cheaper and more resistant people. Therefore the Roman landowners +imported this competitive population from their homes, having first +seized them as slaves, and cultivated their own Italian fields with +them after the eviction of the original native peasants, who could +not survive on the scanty nutriment on which the eastern races throve. +[Footnote: I have dealt with this subject at length in my _Law of +Civilization and Decay_, chapter II, to which I must refer the reader. +More fully still in the French translation. "This unceasing emigration +gradually changed the character of the rural population, and a similar +alteration took place in the army. As early as the time of Caesar, Italy +was exhausted; his legions were mainly raised in Gaul, and as the +native farmers sank into serfdom or slavery, and then at last vanished, +recruits were drawn more and more from beyond the limits of the empire." +I cannot repeat my arguments here, but I am not aware that they have +been seriously controverted.] + +The Roman law, the _Romana lex_, was as gigantic, as original, and as +comprehensive a structure as was the empire which gave to it expression. +Modern European law is but a dilution thereof. The Roman law attained +perfection, as I conceive, about the time of the Antonines, through the +great jurists who then flourished. If one might name a particular moment +at which so vast and complex a movement culminated, one would be tempted +to suggest the reign of Hadrian, who appointed Salvius Julianus to draw +up the _edictum perpetuum_, or permanent edict, in the year 132 A.D. +Thenceforward the magistrate had to use his discretion only when the +edict of Julianus did not apply. + +I am not aware that any capital principle of municipal law has been +evolved since that time, and the astonishing power of the Roman mind +can only be appreciated when it is remembered that the whole of this +colossal fabric was original. Modern European law has been only a +servile copy. But, regard being had to the position of the emperor in +relation to the people, and more especially in relation to the vast +bureaucracy of Rome, which was the embodiment of the vested interest +which was Rome itself, the adherence of Roman thought to the path of +least resistance was absolute. "So far as the cravings of Stoicism found +historical and political fulfilment, they did so in the sixty years of +Hadrian and the Antonines, and so far again as an individual can embody +the spirit of an age, its highest and most representative impersonation +is unquestionably to be found in the person of Marcus Antoninus.... +Stoicism faced the whole problem of existence, and devoted as searching +an investigation to processes of being and of thought, to physics and +to dialectic, as to the moral problems presented by the emotions and the +will." [Footnote: _Marcus Aurelius Antoninus_, in English, by Gerald H. +Rendall, Introduction, xxvii.] + +Such was stoicism, of which Marcus Aurelius was and still remains the +foremost expression. He admitted that as emperor his first duty was to +sacrifice himself for the public and he did his duty with a constancy +which ultimately cost him his life. Among these duties was the great +duty of naming his successor. The Roman Empire never became strictly +hereditary. It hinged, as perhaps no other equally developed system +ever hinged, upon the personality of the emperor, who incarnated the +administrative bureaucracy which gave effect to the _Pax Romana_ and the +_Romana lex_ from the Euphrates to the Atlantic and from Scotland to the +Tropic of Cancer. Of all men Marcus Aurelius was the most conscientious +and the most sincere, and he understood, as perhaps no other man in like +position ever understood, the responsibility which impinged on him, to +allow no private prevention to impose an unfit emperor upon the empire +But Marcus had a son Commodus, who was nineteen when his father +died, and who had already developed traits which caused foreboding. +Nevertheless, Marcus associated Commodus with himself in the empire +when Commodus was fourteen and Commodus attained to absolute power when +Marcus died. Subsequently, Commodus became the epitome of all that was +basest and worst in a ruler. He was murdered by the treachery of Marcia, +his favorite concubine, and the Senate decreed that "his body should +be dragged with a hook into the stripping room of the gladiators, to +satiate the public fury." [Footnote: _Decline and Fall_, chap. iv.] + +From that day Rome entered upon the acute stage of her decline, and +she did so very largely because Marcus Aurelius, the ideal stoic, was +incapable of violating the great law of nature which impelled him +to follow not reason, but the path of least resistance in choosing a +successor; or, in other words, the instinct of heredity. Moreover, +this instinct and not reason is or has been, among the strongest which +operate upon men, and makes them automata. It is the basis upon which +the family rests, and the family is the essence of social cohesion. +Also the hereditary instinct has been the prime motor which has created +constructive municipal jurisprudence and which has evolved religion. + +With the death of Marcus Aurelius individual competition may be judged +to have done its work, and presently, as the population changed its +character under the stress thereof, a new phase opened: a phase which is +marked, as such phases usually are, by victory in war. Marcus Aurelius +died in 180 A.D. Substantially a century later, in 312, Constantine +won the battle of the Milvian Bridge with his troops fighting under +the Labarum, a standard bearing a cross with the device "_In hoc signo +vinces_"; By this sign conquer. Probably Constantine had himself scanty +faith in the Labarum, but he speculated upon it as a means to arouse +enthusiasm in his men. It served his purpose, and finding the step he +had taken on the whole satisfactory, he followed it up by accepting +baptism in 337 A.D. + +From this time forward the theory of the possibility of securing divine +or supernatural aid by various forms of incantation or prayer gained +steadily in power for about eight centuries, until at length it became +a passion and gave birth to a school of optimism, the most overwhelming +and the most brilliant which the world has ever known and which evolved +an age whose end we still await. + +The Germans of the fourth century were a very simple race, who +comprehended little of natural laws, and who therefore referred +phenomena they did not understand to supernatural intervention. This +intervention could only be controlled by priests, and thus the invasions +caused a rapid rise in the influence of the sacred class. The power of +every ecclesiastical organization has always rested on the miracle, and +the clergy have always proved their divine commission as did Moses. +This was eminently the case with the mediaeval Church. At the outset +Christianity was socialistic, and its spread among the poor was +apparently caused by the pressure of servile competition; for the +sect only became of enough importance to be persecuted under Nero, +contemporaneously with the first signs of distress which appeared +through the debasement of the denarius. But socialism was only a passing +phase, and disappeared as the money value of the miracle rose, and +brought wealth to the Church. Under the Emperor Decius, about 250, the +magistrates thought the Christians opulent enough to use gold and silver +vessels in their service, and by the fourth century the supernatural so +possessed the popular mind that Constantine, as we have seen, not only +allowed himself to be converted by a miracle, but used enchantment as an +engine of war. + +The action of the Milvian Bridge, fought in 312, by which Constantine +established himself at Rome, was probably the point whence nature +began to discriminate decisively against the vested interest of Western +Europe. Capital had already abandoned Italy; Christianity was soon after +officially recognized, and during the next century the priest began to +rank with the soldier as a force in war. + +Meanwhile, as the population sank into exhaustion, it yielded less and +less revenue, the police deteriorated, and the guards became unable to +protect the frontier. In 376, the Goths, hard pressed by the Huns, came +to the Danube and implored to be taken as subjects by the emperor. After +mature deliberation the Council of Valens granted the prayer, and some +five hundred thousand Germans were cantoned in Moesia. The intention of +the government was to scatter this multitude through the provinces as +_coloni,_ or to draft them into the legions; but the detachment detailed +to handle them was too feeble, the Goths mutinied, cut the guard to +pieces, and having ravaged Thrace for two years, defeated and killed +Valens at Hadrianople. In another generation the disorganization of the +Roman army had become complete, and Alaric gave it its death-blow in his +campaign of 410. + +Alaric was not a Gothic king, but a barbarian deserter, who, in 392, was +in the service of Theodosius. Subsequently he sometimes held imperial +commands, and sometimes led bands of marauders on his own account, but +was always in difficulty about his pay. Finally, in the revolution in +which Stilicho was murdered, a corps of auxiliaries mutinied and +chose him their general. Alleging that his arrears were unpaid, Alaric +accepted the command, and with this army sacked Rome. + +During the campaign the attitude of the Christians was more interesting +than the strategy of the soldiers. Alaric was a robber, leading +mutineers, and yet the orthodox historians did not condemn him. They +did not condemn him because the sacred class instinctively loved the +barbarians whom they could overawe, whereas they could make little +impression on the materialistic intellect of the old centralized +society. Under the empire the priests, like all other individuals, had +to obey the power which paid the police; and as long as a revenue could +be drawn from the provinces, the Christian hierarchy were subordinate to +the monied bureaucracy who had the means to coerce them. + +Yet only very slowly, as the empire disintegrated, did the theocratic +idea take shape. As late as the ninth century the pope prostrated +himself before Charlemagne, and did homage as to a Roman emperor. +[Footnote: Perz, _Annales Lauressenses_, I, 188.] + +Saint Benedict founded Monte Cassino in 529, but centuries elapsed +before the Benedictine order rose to power. The early convents were +isolated and feeble, and much at the mercy of the laity, who invaded +and debauched them. Abbots, like bishops, were often soldiers, who +lived within the walls with their wives and children, their hawks, their +hounds, and their men-at-arms; and it has been said that, in all France, +Corbie and Fleury alone kept always something of their early discipline. + +Only in the early years of the most lurid century of the Middle Ages, +when decentralization culminated, and the imagination began to gain its +fullest intensity, did the period of monastic consolidation open with +the foundation of Cluny. In 910 William of Aquitaine draw a charter +[Footnote: Bruel, _Recueil des Chartes de l'Abbaye de Cluny_, I, 124.] +which, so far as possible, provided for the complete independence of his +new corporation. There was no episcopal visitation, and no interference +with the election of the abbot. The monks were put directly under +the protection of the pope, who was made their sole superior. John +XI confirmed this charter by his bull of 932, and authorized the +affiliation of all converts who wished to share in the reform. +[Footnote: _Bull. Clun._ p. 2, col. 1. Also Luchaire, _Manuel des +Institutions Francaises_, 93, 95, where the authorities are collected.] + +The growth of Cluny was marvellous; by the twelfth century two thousand +houses obeyed its rule, and its wealth was so great, and its buildings +so vast, that in 1245 Innocent IV, the Emperor Baldwin, and Saint +Louis were all lodged together within its walls, and with them all the +attendant trains of prelates and nobles with their servants. + +In the eleventh century no other force of equal energy existed. The +monks were the most opulent, the ablest, and the best organized society +in Europe, and their effect upon mankind was proportioned to their +strength. They intuitively sought autocratic power, and during the +centuries when nature favored them, they passed from triumph to triumph. +They first seized upon the papacy and made it self-perpetuating; +they then gave battle to the laity for the possession of the secular +hierarchy, which had been under temporal control since the very +foundation of the Church. + +According to the picturesque legend, Bruno, Bishop of Toul, seduced by +the flattery of courtiers and the allurements of ambition, accepted the +tiara from the emperor, and set out upon his journey to Italy with a +splendid retinue, and with his robe and crown. On his way he turned +aside at Cluny, where Hildebrand was prior. Hildebrand, filled with the +spirit of God, reproached him with having seized upon the seat of +the vicar of Christ by force, and accepted the holy office from the +sacrilegious hand of a layman. He exhorted Bruno to cast away his pomp, +and to cross the Alps humbly as a pilgrim, assuring him that the priests +and people of Rome would recognize him as their bishop, and elect him +according to canonical forms. Then he would taste the joys of a pure +conscience, having entered the fold of Christ as a shepherd and not as a +robber. Inspired by these words, Bruno dismissed his train, and left the +convent gate as a pilgrim. He walked barefoot, and when after two months +of pious meditations he stood before Saint Peter's, he spoke to the +people and told them it was their privilege to elect the pope, and since +he had come unwillingly he would return again, were he not their choice. + +He was answered with acclamations, and on February 2, 1049, he was +enthroned as Leo IX. His first act was to make Hildebrand his minister. + +The legend tells of the triumph of Cluny as no historical facts could +do. Ten years later, in the reign of Nicholas II, the theocracy made +itself self-perpetuating through the assumption of the election of +the pope by the college of cardinals, and in 1073 Hildebrand, the +incarnation of monasticism, was crowned under the name of Gregory VII. + +With Hildebrand's election, war began. The Council of Rome, held +in 1075, decreed that holy orders should not be recognized where +investiture had been granted by a layman, and that princes guilty of +conferring investiture should be excommunicated. The Council of the +next year, which excommunicated the emperor, also enunciated the famous +propositions of Baronius--the full expression of the theocratic idea. +The priest had grown to be a god on earth. + +"So strong in this confidence, for the honour and defence of your +Church, on behalf of the omnipotent God, the Father, the Son, and the +Holy Ghost, by your power and authority, I forbid the government of +the German and Italian kingdoms, to King Henry, the son of the Emperor +Henry, who, with unheard-of arrogance, has rebelled against your Church. +I absolve all Christians from the oaths they have made or may make to +him, and I forbid that any one should obey him as king." [Footnote: +Migne, CXLVIII, 790.] + +Henry marched on Italy, but in all European history there has been +no drama more tremendous than the expiation of his sacrilege. To his +soldiers the world was a vast space, peopled by those fantastic beings +which are still seen on Gothic towers. These demons obeyed the monk +of Rome, and his army, melting from about the emperor under a nameless +horror, left him helpless. + +Gregory lay like a magician in the fortress of Canossa: but he had no +need of carnal weapons, for when the emperor reached the Alps he was +almost alone. Then his imagination also took fire, the panic seized him, +and he sued for mercy. + +On August 7, 1106, Henry died at Liege, an outcast and a mendicant, and +for five long years his body lay at the church door, an accursed thing +which no man dared to bury. + +Gregory prevailed because, to the understanding of the eleventh century, +the evidence at hand indicated that he embodied in a high degree the +infinite energy. The eleventh century was intensely imaginative and the +evidence which appealed to it was those phenomena of trance, hypnotism, +and catalepsy which are as mysterious now as they were then, but whose +effect was then to create an overpowering demand for miracle-working +substances. The sale of these substances gradually drew the larger +portion of the wealth of the community into the hands of the clergy, and +with wealth went temporal power. No vested interest in any progressive +community has probably ever been relatively stronger, for the Church +found no difficulty, when embarrassed, in establishing and operating a +thorough system for exterminating her critics. + +Under such a pressure modern civilization must have sunk into some form +of caste had the mediaeval mind resembled any antecedent mind, but +the middle age, though superficially imaginative, was fundamentally +materialistic, as the history of the crusades showed. + +At Canossa the laity conceded as a probable hypothesis that the Church +could miraculously control nature; but they insisted that if the Church +possessed such power, she must use that power for the common good. +Upon this point they would not compromise, nor would they permit delay. +During the chaos of the ninth century turmoil and violence reached +a stage at which the aspirations of most Christians ended with +self-preservation; but when the discovery and working of the Harz +silver had brought with it some semblance of order, an intense yearning +possessed both men and women to ameliorate their lot. If relics could +give protection against oppression, disease, famine, and death, then +relics must be obtained, and, if the cross and the tomb were the most +effective relics, then the cross and the tomb must be conquered at any +cost. In the north of Europe especially, misery was so acute that +the people gladly left their homes upon the slenderest promise of +betterment, even following a vagrant like Peter the Hermit, who was +neither soldier nor priest. There is a passage in William of Tyre +which has been often quoted to explain a frenzy which is otherwise +inexplicable, and in the old English of Caxton the words still glow with +the same agony which makes lurid the supplication of the litany,--"From +battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord deliver us": + +"Of charyte men spack not, debates, discordes, and warres were nyhe +oueral, in suche wyse, that it seemed, that thende of the world +was nyghe, by the signes that our lord sayth in the gospell, ffor +pestylences and famynes were grete on therthe, ferdfulness of heuen, +tremblyng of therthe in many places, and many other thinges there were +that ought to fere the hertes of men.... + +"The prynces and the barons brente and destroyed the contrees of theyr +neyghbours, yf ony man had saved ony thynge in theyr kepyng, theyr owne +lordes toke them and put them in prison and in greuous tormentis, for to +take fro them suche as they had, in suche qyse that the chyldren of them +that had ben riche men, men myght see them goo fro dore to dore, for +to begge and gete theyr brede, and some deye for hungre and mesease." +[Footnote: Godeffroy of Bologne, by William, Archbishop of Tyre, +translated from the French by William Caxton, London, 1893, 21, 22.] + +Throughout the eleventh century the excitement touching the virtues +of the holy places in Judea grew, until Gregory VII, about the time of +Canossa, perceived that a paroxysm was at hand, and considered leading +it, but on the whole nothing is so suggestive of the latent scepticism +of the age as the irresolution of the popes at this supreme moment. The +laity were the pilgrims and the agitators. The kings sought the relics +and took the cross; the clergy hung back. Robert, Duke of Normandy, for +example, the father of William the Conqueror, died in 1035 from hardship +at Nicaea when returning from Palestine, absorbed to the last in the +relics which he had collected, but the popes stayed at home. Whatever +they may have said in private, neither Hildebrand nor Victor nor Urban +moved officially until they were swept forward by the torrent. They +shunned responsibility for a war which they would have passionately +promoted had they been sure of victory. The man who finally kindled the +conflagration was a half-mad fanatic, a stranger to the hierarchy. +No one knew the family of Peter the Hermit, or whence he came, but he +certainly was not an ecclesiastic in good standing. Inflamed by fasting +and penance, Peter followed the throng of pilgrims to Jerusalem, and +there, wrought upon by what he saw, he sought the patriarch. Peter asked +the patriarch if nothing could be done to protect the pilgrims, and to +retrieve the Holy Places. The patriarch replied, "Nothing, unless God +will touch the heart of the western princes, and will send them to +succor the Holy City." The patriarch did not propose meddling himself, +nor did it occur to him that the pope should intervene. He took a +rationalistic view of the Moslem military power. Peter, on the contrary, +was logical, arguing from eleventh-century premises. If he could but +receive a divine mandate, he would raise an invincible army. He prayed. +His prayer was answered. One day while prostrated before the sepulchre +he heard Christ charge him to announce in Europe that the appointed hour +had come. Furnished with letters from the patriarch, Peter straightway +embarked for Rome to obtain Urban's sanction for his design. Urban +listened and gave a consent which he could not prudently have withheld, +but he abstained from participating in the propaganda. In March, +1095, Urban called a Council at Piacenza, nominally to consider the +deliverance of Jerusalem, and this Council was attended by thirty +thousand impatient laymen, only waiting for the word to take the vow, +but the pope did nothing. Even at Clermont eight months later, he showed +a disposition to deal with private war, or church discipline, or with +anything in fact rather than with the one engrossing question of the +day, but this time there was no escape. A vast multitude of determined +men filled not only Clermont but the adjacent towns and villages, even +sleeping in the fields, although the weather was bitterly cold, +who demanded to know the policy of the Church. Urban seems to have +procrastinated as long as he safely could, but, at length, at the tenth +session, he produced Peter on the platform, clad as a pilgrim, and, +after Peter had spoken, he proclaimed the war. Urban declined, however, +to command the army. The only effective force which marched was a body +of laymen, organized and led by laymen, who in 1099 carried Jerusalem +by an ordinary assault. In Jerusalem they found the cross and the +sepulchre, and with these relics as the foundation of their power, the +laity began an experiment which lasted eighty-eight years, ending in +1187 with the battle of Tiberias. At Tiberias the infidels defeated the +Christians, captured their king and their cross, and shortly afterward +seized the tomb. + +If the eleventh-century mind had been as rigid as the Roman mind of the +first century, mediaeval civilization could hardly, after the collapse +of the crusades, have failed to degenerate as Roman civilization +degenerated after the defeat of Varus. Being more elastic, it began, +under an increased tension, to develop new phases of thought. The effort +was indeed prodigious and the absolute movement possibly slow, but a +change of intellectual attitude may be detected almost contemporaneously +with the fall of the Latin kingdom in Palestine. It is doubtless true +that the thirteenth century was the century in which imaginative thought +reached its highest brilliancy, when Albertus Magnus and Saint Thomas +Aquinas taught, when Saint Francis and Saint Clara lived, and when +Thomas of Celano wrote the _Dies Irae_. It was then that Gothic +architecture touched its climax in the cathedrals of Chartres and +Amiens, of Bourges and of Paris; it was then also that Blanche of +Castile ruled in France and that Saint Louis bought the crown of thorns, +but it is equally true that the death of Saint Louis occurred in 1270, +shortly after the thorough organization of the Inquisition by Innocent +IV in 1252, and within two years or so of the production by Roger Bacon +of his _Opus Majus_. + +The establishment of the Inquisition is decisive, because it proves +that sceptical thought had been spread far enough to goad the Church +to general and systematic repression, while the _Opus Majus_ is a +scientific exposition of the method by which the sceptical mind is +trained. + +Roger Bacon was born about 1214, and going early to Oxford fell under +the influence of the most liberal teachers in Europe, at whose head +stood Robert Grosseteste, afterward Bishop of Lincoln. Bacon conceived +a veneration for Grosseteste, and even for Adam de Marisco his disciple, +and turning toward mathematics rather than toward metaphysics he eagerly +applied himself, when he went to Paris, to astrology and alchemy, which +were the progenitors of the modern exact sciences. In the thirteenth +century a young man like Bacon could hardly stand alone, and Bacon +joined the Franciscans, but before many years elapsed he embroiled +himself with his superiors. His friend, Grosseteste, died in 1253, the +year after Innocent IV issued the bull _Ad extirpanda_ establishing the +Inquisition, and Bacon felt the consequences. The general of his order, +Saint Bonaventura, withdrew him from Oxford where he was prominent, and +immured him in a Parisian convent, treating him rigorously, as Bacon +intimated to Pope Clement IV. There he remained, silenced, for some ten +years, until the election of Clement IV, in 1265. Bacon at once wrote to +Clement complaining of his imprisonment, and deploring to the pope the +plight into which scientific education had fallen. The pope replied +directing Bacon to explain his views in a treatise, but did not order +his release. In response Bacon composed the _Opus Majus_. + +The _Opus Majus_ deals among other things with experimental science, and +in the introductory chapter to the sixth part Bacon stated the theory of +inductive thought quite as lucidly as did Francis Bacon three and a half +centuries later in the _Novum Organum_. [Footnote: Positis radicibus +sapientiae Latinorum penes Linguas et Mathematicam et Perspectivam, +nunc volo revolvere radices a parte Scientiae Experimentalis, quia +sine experientia nihil sufficienter scire protest. Duo enim simt +modi cognoscendi, scilicet per argumentum et experimentum. Argumentum +concludit et facit nos concedere conclusionem, sed non certificat neque +removet dubitationem ut quiescat animus in intuitu veritatis, nisi eam +inveniat via experientiae; quia multi habent argumenta ad scibilia, +sed quia non habent experientiam, negligunt ea, nee vitant nociva +nex persequuntue bona. J. H. Bridges, _The Opus Majus of Roger Bacon_ +(Oxford, 1897), II, 167.] + +Clement died in 1268. The papacy remained vacant for a couple of years, +but in 1271 Gregory X came in on a conservative reaction. Bacon +passed most of the rest of his life in prison, perhaps through his own +ungovernable temper, and ostensibly his writings seem to have had little +or no effect on his contemporaries, yet it is certain that he was not +an isolated specimen of a type of intelligence which suddenly bloomed +during the Reformation. Bacon constantly spoke of his friends, but his +friends evidently did not share his temperament. The scientific man +has seldom relished martyrdom, and Galileo's experience as late as 1633 +shows what risks men of science ran who even indirectly attacked the +vested interests of the Church. After the middle of the thirteenth +century the danger was real enough to account for any degree of +secretiveness, and a striking case of this timidity is related by Bacon +himself. No one knows even the name of the man to whom Bacon referred as +"Master Peter," but according to Bacon, "Master Peter" was the greatest +and most original genius of the age, only he shunned publicity. The +"Dominus experimentorum," as Bacon called him, lived in a safe retreat +and devoted himself to mathematics, chemistry, and the mechanical arts +with such success that, Bacon insisted, he could by his inventions have +aided Saint Louis in his crusade more than his whole army. [Footnote: +Emile Charles, _Roger Bacon. Sa vie et ses ouvrages_, 17.] Nor is +this assertion altogether fantastic. Bacon understood the formula +for gunpowder, and if Saint Louis had been provided with even a poor +explosive he might have taken Cairo; not to speak of the terror which +Greek fire always inspired. Saint Louis met his decisive defeat in a +naval battle fought in 1250, for the command of the Nile, by which he +drew supplies from Damietta, and he met it, according to Matthew Paris, +because his ships could not withstand Greek fire. Gunpowder, even in a +very simple form, might have changed the fate of the war. + +Scepticism touching the value of relics as a means for controlling +nature was an effect of experiment, and, logically enough, scepticism +advanced fastest among certain ecclesiastics who dealt in relics. For +example, in 1248 Saint Louis undertook to invade Egypt in defence of +the cross. Possibly Saint Louis may have been affected by economic +considerations also touching the eastern trade, but his ostensible +object was a crusade. The risk was very great, the cost enormous, and +the responsibility the king assumed of the most serious kind. Nothing +that he could do was left undone to ensure success. In 1249 he captured +Damietta, and then stood in need of every pound of money and of every +man that Christendom could raise; yet at this crisis the Church thought +chiefly of making what it could in cash out of the war, the inference +being that the hierarchy suspected that even if Saint Louis prevailed +and occupied Jerusalem, little would be gained from an ecclesiastical +standpoint. At all events, Matthew Paris has left an account, in his +chronicle of the year 1249, of how the pope and the Franciscans +preached this crusade, which is one of the most suggestive passages in +thirteenth-century literature: + +"About the same time, by command of the pope, whom they obeyed +implicitly, the Preacher and Minorite brethren diligently employed +themselves in preaching; and to increase the devotion of the Christians, +they went with great solemnity to the places where their preaching was +previously indicated, and granted many days of indulgence to those who +came to hear them.... Preaching on behalf of the cross, they bestowed +that symbol on people of every age, sex and rank, whatever their +property or worth, and even on sick men and women, and those who were +deprived of strength by sickness or old age; and on the next day, or +even directly afterwards, receiving it back from them, they absolved +them from their vow of pilgrimage, for whatever sum they could obtain +for the favour. What seemed unsuitable and absurd was, that not many +days afterwards, Earl Richard collected all this money in his treasury, +by the agency of Master Bernard, an Italian clerk, who gathered in the +fruit; whereby no slight scandal arose in the Church of God, and amongst +the people in general, and the devotion of the faithful evidently +cooled." [Footnote: Matthew Paris, _English History_, translated by the +Rev. J. A, Giles, II, 309.] + +When the unfortunate Baldwin II became Emperor of the East in 1237, the +relics of the passion were his best asset. In 1238, while Baldwin was +in France trying to obtain aid, the French barons who carried on the +government at Constantinople in his absence were obliged to pledge the +crown of thorns to an Italian syndicate for 13,134 perpera, which Gibbon +conjectures to have been besants. Baldwin was notified of the pledge +and urged to arrange for its redemption. He met with no difficulty. +He confidently addressed himself to Saint Louis and Queen Blanche, and +"Although the king felt keen displeasure at the deplorable condition of +Constantinople, he was well pleased, nevertheless, with the opportunity +of adorning France with the richest and most precious treasure in all +Christendom." More especially with "a relic, and a sacred object which +was not on the commercial market." [Footnote: Du Cange, _Histoire de +L'empire de Constantinople sous les empereurs Francais_, edition de +Buchon, I, 259.] + +Louis, beside paying the loan and the cost of transportation which came +to two thousand French pounds (the mark being then coined into L2, 15 +sous and 6 pence), made Baldwin a present of ten thousand pounds for +acting as broker. Baldwin was so well contented with this sale which he +closed in 1239, that a couple of years later he sent to Paris all the +contents of his private chapel which had any value. Part of the treasure +was a fragment of what purported to be the cross, but the authenticity +of this relic was doubtful; there was beside, however, the baby linen, +the spear-head, the sponge, and the chain, beside several miscellaneous +articles like the rod of Moses. + +Louis built the Sainte Chapelle at a cost of twenty thousand marks as a +shrine in which to deposit them. The Sainte Chapelle has usually +ranked as the most absolutely perfect specimen of mediaeval religious +architecture. [Footnote: On this whole subject of the inter-relation +of mediaeval theology with architecture and philosophy the reader is +referred to _Mont-Saint-Michel et Chartres_, by Henry Adams, which is +the most philosophical and thorough exposition of this subject which +ever has been attempted.] + +When Saint Louis bought the Crown of Thorns from Baldwin in 1239, the +commercial value of relics may, possibly, be said to have touched its +highest point, but, in fact, the adoration of them had culminated with +the collapse of the Second Crusade, and in another century and a half +the market had decisively broken and the Reformation had already begun, +with the advent of Wycliffe and the outbreak of Wat Tyler's Rebellion in +1381. For these social movements have always a common cause and reach a +predetermined result. + +In the eleventh century the convent of Cluny, for example, had an +enormous and a perfectly justified hold upon the popular imagination, +because of the sanctity and unselfishness of its abbots. Saint Hugh +won his sainthood by a self-denial and effort which were impossible to +ordinary men, but with Louis IX the penitential life had already +lost its attractions and men like Arnold rapidly brought religion and +religious thought into contempt. The famous Grosseteste, Bishop of +Lincoln, born, probably, in 1175, died in 1253. He presided over the +diocese of Lincoln at the precise moment when Saint Louis was building +the Sainte Chapelle, but Grosseteste in 1250 denounced in a sermon at +Lyons the scandals of the papal court with a ferocity which hardly was +surpassed at any later day. + +To attempt even an abstract of the thought of the English Reformation +would lead too far, however fascinating the subject might be. It must +suffice to say briefly that theology had little or nothing to do with +it. Wycliffe denounced the friars as lazy, profligate impostors, who +wrung money from the poor which they afterwards squandered in ways +offensive to God, and he would have stultified himself had he admitted, +in the same breath, that these reprobates, when united, formed a +divinely illuminated corporation, each member of which could and did +work innumerable miracles through the interposition of Christ. Ordinary +miracles, indeed, could be tested by the senses, but the essence of +transubstantiation was that it eluded the senses. Thus nothing could +be more convenient to the government than to make this invisible and +intangible necromancy a test in capital cases for heresy-Hence Wycliffe +had no alternative but to deny transubstantiation, for nothing could be +more insulting to the intelligence than to adore a morsel of bread which +a priest held in his hand. The pretension of the priests to make the +flesh of Christ was, according to Wycliffe, an impudent fraud, and +their pretension to possess this power was only an excuse by which they +enforced their claim to collect fees, and what amounted to extortionate +taxes, from the people. [Footnote: Nowhere, perhaps, does Wycliffe +express himself more strongly on this subject than in a little tract +called _The Wicket_, written in English, which he issued for popular +consumption about this time.] But, in the main, no dogma, however +incomprehensible, ever troubled Protestants, as a class. They easily +accepted the Trinity, the double procession, or the Holy Ghost itself, +though no one had the slightest notion what the Holy Ghost might be. +Wycliffe roundly declared in the first paragraph of his confession +[Footnote: Fasciculi Zizaniorum, 115.] that the body of Christ which was +crucified was truly and really in the consecrated host, and Huss, who +inherited the Wycliffian tradition, answered before the Council of +Constance, "Verily, I do think that the body of Christ is really and +totally in the sacrament of the altar, which was born of the Virgin +Mary, suffered, died, and rose again, and sitteth on the right hand of +God the Father Almighty." [Footnote: Foxe, _Acts and Monuments_, III, +452.] That which has rent society in twain and has caused blood to +flow like water, has never been abstract opinions, but that economic +competition either between states or classes, that lust for power and +wealth, which makes a vested interest. Thus by 1382 the eucharist had +come to represent to the privileged classes power and wealth, and they +would have repudiated Wycliffe even had they felt strong enough to +support him. But they were threatened by an adversary equally formidable +with heresy in the person of the villeins whom the constantly increasing +momentum of the time had raised into a position in which they undertook +to compete for the ownership of the land which they still tilled as +technical serfs. + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Now the courts may say what they will in support of the vested +interests, for to support vested interests is what lawyers are paid +for and what courts are made for. Only, unhappily, in the process of +argument courts and lawyers have caused blood to flow copiously, for +in spite of all that can be said to the contrary, men have practically +proved that they do own all the property they can defend, all the courts +in Christendom notwithstanding, and this is an issue of physical force +and not at all of words or of parchments. And so it proved to be in +England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, alike in Church and +State. It was a matter of rather slow development. After the conquest +villeins could neither in fact nor theory acquire or hold property as +against their lord, and the class of landlords stretched upwards from +the owner of a knight's fee to the king on his throne, who was the chief +landlord of all, but by so narrow a margin that he often had enough to +do to maintain some vestige of sovereignty. So, to help himself, it came +to pass that the king intrigued with the serfs against their restive +masters, and the abler the king, the more he intrigued, like Henry I, +until the villeins gained very substantial advantages. Thus it was that +toward 1215, or pretty nearly contemporaneously with the epoch when +men like Grosseteste began to show restlessness under the extortionate +corruption of the Church, the villein was discovered to be able to +defend his claim to some portion of the increment in the value of the +land which he tilled and which was due to his labor: and this title the +manorial courts recognized, because they could not help it, as a sort of +tenant right, calling it a customary tenancy by base service. A century +later these services in kind had been pretty frequently commuted into +a fixed rent paid in money, and the serf had become a freeman, and a +rather formidable freeman, too. For it was largely from among these +technical serfs that Edward III recruited the infantry who formed his +line at Crecy in 1346, and the archers of Crecy were not exactly the +sort of men who take kindly to eviction, to say nothing of slavery. As +no one meddled much with the villeins before 1349, all went well until +after Crecy, but in 1348 the Black Death ravaged England, and so many +laborers died that the cost of farming property by hired hands exceeded +the value of the rent which the villeins paid. Then the landlords, under +the usual reactionary and dangerous legal advice, tried coercion. Their +first experiment was the famous Statute of Laborers, which fixed wages +at the rates which prevailed in 1347, but as this statute accomplished +nothing the landlords repudiated their contracts, and undertook to force +their villeins to render their ancient customary services. Though the +lay landlords were often hard masters, the ecclesiastics, especially the +monks, were harder still, and the ecclesiastics were served by lawyers +of their own cloth, whose sharp practice became proverbial. Thus the +law declined to recognize rights in property existing in fact, with the +inevitable result of the peasant rising in 1381, known as Wat Tyler's +Rebellion. Popular rage perfectly logically ran highest against the +monks and the lawyers. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon de +Sudbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the Chief Justice were killed, and the +insurgents wished to kill, as Capgrave has related, "all the men that +had learned ony law." Finally the rebellion was suppressed, chiefly by +the duplicity of Richard II. Richard promised the people, by written +charters, a permanent tenure as freemen at reasonable rents, and so +induced them to go home with his charters in their hands; but they were +no sooner gone than vengeance began. Though Richard had been at the +peasants' mercy, who might have killed him had they wished, punitive +expeditions were sent in various directions. One was led by Richard +himself, who travelled with Tresilian, the new Chief Justice, the man +who afterward was himself hanged at Tyburn. Tresilian worked so well +that he is said to have strung up a dozen villeins to a single beam +in Chelmsford because he had no time to have them executed regularly. +Stubbs has estimated that seven thousand victims hardly satisfied the +landlords' sense of outraged justice. What concerns us, chiefly, is +that this repression, however savage, failed altogether to bring +tranquillity. After 1381 a full century of social chaos supervened, +merging at times into actual civil war, until, in 1485, Henry Tudor +came in after his victory at Bosworth, pledged to destroy the whole +reactionary class which incarnated feudalism. For the feudal soldier was +neither flexible nor astute, and allowed himself to be caught between +the upper and the nether millstone. While industrial and commercial +capital had been increasing in the towns, capitalistic methods of +farming had invaded the country, and, as police improved, private and +predatory warfare, as a business, could no longer be made to pay. The +importance of a feudal noble lay in the body of retainers who followed +his banner, and therefore the feudal tendency always was to overcharge +the estate with military expenditure. Hence, to protect themselves from +creditors, the landlords passed the Statute _De Donis_ [Footnote: 13 +Edw. I, c. I (A.D. 1284).] which made entails inalienable. Toward the +end of the Wars of the Roses, however, the pressure for money, which +could only be raised by pledging their land, became too strong for +the feudal aristocracy. Edward IV, who was a very able man, perceived, +pretty early in his reign, that his class could not maintain themselves +unless their land were put upon a commercial basis. Therefore he +encouraged the judges, in the collusive litigation known to us as +Taltarum's Case, decided in 1472, to set aside the Statute _De Donis_, +by the fiction of the Common Recovery. The concession, even so, came too +late. The combination against them had grown too strong for the soldiers +to resist. Other classes evolved by competition wanted their property, +and these made Henry Tudor king of England to seize it for them. + +Henry's work was simple enough. After Bosworth, with a competent police +force at hand to execute process, he had only to organize a political +court, and to ruin by confiscatory fines all the families strong enough, +or rash enough, to maintain garrisoned houses. So Henry remodelled the +Star Chamber, in 1486, [Footnote: 3 Henry 7, C 1.] to deal with the +martial gentry, and before long a new type of intelligence possessed the +kingdom. + +The feudal soldiers being disposed of, it remained to evict the monks, +who were thus left without their natural defenders. No matter of faith +was involved. Henry VIII boasted that in doctrine he was as orthodox as +the pope. There was, however, an enormous monastic landed property to +be redistributed This was confiscated, and appropriated, not to public +purposes, but, as usually happens in revolutions, to the use of the +astutest of the revolutionists. Among these, John Russell, afterward +Earl of Bedford, stood preeminent. Russell had no particular pedigree or +genius, save the acquisitive genius, but he made himself useful to +Henry in such judicial murders as that of Richard Whiting, Abbot of +Glastonbury. He received in payment, among much else, Woburn Abbey, +which has since remained the Bedford country seat, and Covent Garden +or Convent Garden, one of the most valuable parcels of real estate in +London. Covent Garden the present duke recently sold, anticipating, +perhaps, some such legislation as ruined the monks and made his +ancestor's fortune. As for the monks whom Henry evicted, they wandered +forth from their homes beggars, and Henry hanged all of them whom he +could catch as vagrants. How many perished as counterpoise for the +peasant massacres and Lollard burnings of the foregoing two centuries +can never be known, nor to us is it material. What is essential to +mark, from the legal standpoint, is that while this long and bloody +revolution, of one hundred and fifty years, displaced a favored class +and confiscated its property, it raised up in their stead another class +of land monopolists, rather more greedy and certainly quite as cruel as +those whom they superseded. Also, in spite of all opposition, labor did +make good its claim to participate more or less fully in the ownership +of the property it cultivated, for while the holding of the ancient +villein grew to be well recognized in the royal courts as a copyhold +estate, villeinage itself disappeared. + +Yet, unless I profoundly err, in the revolution of the sixteenth +century, the law somewhat conspicuously failed in its function of +moderating competition, for I am persuaded that competition of another +kind sharpened, and shortly caused a second civil war bloodier than the +Wars of the Roses. + +Fifteen years before the convents were seized, Sir Thomas More wrote +_Utopia_, in whose opening chapter More has given an account of a dinner +at Cardinal Morton's, who, by the way, presided in the Star Chamber. +At this dinner one of the cardinal's guests reflected on the thievish +propensities of Englishmen, who were to be found throughout the country +hanged as felons, sometimes twenty together on a single gallows. More +protested that this was not the fault of the poor who were hanged, but +of rich land monopolists, who pastured sheep and left no fields for +tillage. According to More, these capitalists plucked down houses and +even towns, leaving nothing but the church for a sheep-house, so that +"by covin and fraud, or by violent oppression, ... or by wrongs and +injuries," the husbandmen "be thrust out of their own," and, "must +needs depart away, poor, wretched souls, men, women, husbands, +wives, fatherless children, widows." The dissolution of the convents +accelerated the process, and more and more of the weaker yeomanry were +ruined and evicted. It is demonstrated that the pauperization of the +feebler rural population went on apace by the passage of poor-laws +under Elizabeth, which, in the Middle Ages, had not been needed and, +therefore, were unknown. This movement, described by More, was the +beginning of the system of enclosing common lands which afterward +wrought havoc among the English yeomen, and which, I suppose, +contributed more than any other single cause to the Great Rebellion of +the seventeenth century. In the mediaeval village the owners of small +farms enjoyed certain rights in the common land of the community, +affording them pasturage for their cattle and the like, rights without +which small farming could not be made profitable. These commons the land +monopolists appropriated, sometimes giving some shadow of compensation, +sometimes by undisguised force, but on the whole compensation +amounted to so little that the enclosure of the commons must rank as +confiscation. Also this seizure of property would doubtless have caused +a convulsion as lasting as that which followed the insurrection of 1381, +or as did actually occur in Ireland, had it not been for an unparalleled +contemporaneous territorial and industrial expansion. Thorold Rogers +always insisted that between 1563, the year of the passage of the +Statute of Apprentices, [Footnote: 5 Eliz. c. 4.] and 1824, a regular +conspiracy existed between the lawyers "and the parties interested in +its success ... to cheat the English workman of his wages, ... and to +degrade him to irremediable poverty." [Footnote: _Work and Wages_, 398.] +Certainly the land monopolists resorted to strong measures to accumulate +land, for something like six hundred and fifty Enclosure Acts were +passed between 1760, the opening of the Industrial Revolution, and 1774, +the outbreak of the American War. But without insisting on Rogers's +view, it is not denied that the weakest of the small yeomen sank into +utter misery, becoming paupers or worse. On the other hand, of those +stronger some emigrated to America, others, who were among the ablest +and the boldest, sought fortune as adventurers over the whole earth, +and, like the grandfather of Chatham, brought home from India as +smugglers or even as pirates, diamonds to be sold to kings for their +crowns, or, like Clive, became the greatest generals and administrators +of the nation. Probably, however, by far the majority of those who were +of average capacity found compensation for the confiscated commons in +domestic industry, owning their houses with lots of land and the tools +of their trade. Defoe has left a charming description of the region +about Halifax in Yorkshire, toward the year 1730, where he found +the whole population busy, prosperous, healthy, and, in the main, +self-sufficing. He did not see a beggar or an idle person in the whole +country. So, favored by circumstances, the landed oligarchy met with +no effective resistance after the death of Cromwell, and achieved what +amounted to being autocratic power in 1688. Their great triumph was the +conversion of the House of Commons into their own personal property, +about the beginning of the eighteenth century, with all the guaranties +of law. In the Middle Ages the chief towns of England had been summoned +by the king to send burgesses to Westminster to grant him money, but +as time elapsed the Commons acquired influence and, in 1642, became +dominant. Then, after the Restoration, the landlords conceived the idea +of appropriating the right of representation, as they had appropriated +and were appropriating the common lands. Lord John Russell one day +observed in the House of Commons that the burgesses were originally +chosen from among the inhabitants of the towns they represented, but +that, in the reign of Anne, the landlords, to depress the shipping +interest, opened the borough representation to all qualified persons +without regard to domicile. [Footnote: 36 Hansard, Third Series, 548.] +Lord John was mistaken in his date, for the change occurred earlier, but +he described correctly enough the persistent animus of the landlords. +An important part of their policy turned on the so-called Determination +Acts of 1696 and 1729, which defined the franchises and which had +the effect of confirming the titles of patrons to borough property, +[Footnote: Porritt, _Unreformed House of Commons_, I, 9, _et seq._] thus +making a seat in the House of Commons an incorporeal hereditament fully +recognized by law. On this point so high an authority as Lord Eldon was +emphatic. [Footnote: 12 Hansard, Third Series, 396.] By the time of the +American War the oligarchy had become so narrow that one hundred and +fifty-four peers and commoners returned three hundred and seven members, +or much more than a majority of the House as then organized. [Footnote: +Grey's motion for Reform, 30 _Parl. Hist._ 795 (A.D. 1793)] With the +privileged class reduced to these contemptible numbers a catastrophe +necessarily followed. Almost impregnable as the position of the +oligarchy appeared, it yet had its vulnerable point. As Burke told the +Duke of Portland, a duke's power did not come from his title, but from +his wealth, and the landlords' wealth rested on their ability to draw a +double rent from their estates, one rent for themselves, and another to +provide for the farmer to whom they let their acres. Evidently British +land could not bear this burden if brought in competition with other +equally good land that paid only a single rent, and from a pretty +early period the landlords appear to have been alive to this fact. +Nevertheless, ocean freights afforded a fair protection, and as long as +the industrial population remained tolerably self-supporting, England +rather tended to export than to import grain. But toward 1760 advances +in applied science profoundly modified the equilibrium of English +society. The new inventions, stimulated by steam, could only be utilized +by costly machinery installed in large factories, which none but +considerable capitalists could build, but once in operation the product +of these factories undersold domestic labor, and ruined and evicted the +population of whole regions like Halifax. These unfortunate laborers +were thrust in abject destitution into filthy and dark alleys in cities, +where they herded in masses, in misery and crime. In consequence grain +rose in value, so much so that in 1766 prayers were offered touching its +price. Thenceforward England imported largely from America, and in 1773 +Parliament was constrained to reduce the duty on wheat to a point lower +than the gentry conceded again, until the total repeal of the Corn Laws +in 1846. [Footnote: John Morley, _The Life of Richard Cobden_, 167, +note 5.] The situation was well understood in London. Burke, Governor +Pownall, and others explained it in Parliament, while Chatham implored +the landlords not to alienate America, which they could not, he told +them, conquer, but which gave them a necessary market,--a market as +he aptly said, both of supply and demand. And Chatham was right, for +America not only supplied the grain to feed English labor, but bought +from England at least one third of all her surplus manufactures. + +This brings us to the eighteenth century, which directly concerns us, +because the religious superstition, which had previously caused men to +seek in a conscious supreme energy the effective motor in human affairs, +had waned, and the problem presented was reduced to the operation of +that acceleration of movement by the progress of applied science which +always has been, and always must be, the prime cause of the quickening +of economic competition either as between communities or as between +individuals. And this is the capital phenomenon of civilization. For it +is now generally admitted that war is nothing but economic competition +in its acutest form. When competition reaches a certain intensity it +kindles into war or revolution, precisely as when iron is raised to +a certain heat it kindles into flame. And, for the purposes of +illustration, possibly the best method of showing how competition +was quickened, and how it affected adjacent communities during the +eighteenth century, is to take navigation, not only because navigation +was much improved during the first three quarters of that period, but +because both England and France competed for control in America by means +of ships. It suffices to mention, very succinctly, a few of the more +salient advances which were then made. + +Toward 1761 John Harrison produced the chronometer, by which longitude +could be determined at sea, making the ship independent in all parts of +the world. At the same time more ingenious rigging increased her power +of working to windward. With such advantages Captain Cook became a +mighty discoverer both in the southern and western oceans, charted New +Zealand and much else, and more important than all, in 1759 he surveyed +the Saint Lawrence and piloted ships up the river, of which he had +established the channel. Speaking of Cook naturally leads to the +solution of the problem of the transportation of men, sailors, soldiers, +and emigrants, on long voyages, thereby making population fluid. Cook, +in his famous report, read before the Royal Society in March, 1776, +after his second voyage, established forever the hygienic principles +by observing which a ship's company may safely be kept at sea for any +length of time. Previously there had always been a very high mortality +from scurvy and kindred diseases, which had, of course, operated as +a very serious check to human movement. On land the same class of +phenomena were even more marked. In England the Industrial Revolution is +usually held to date from 1760, and, by common consent, the Industrial +Revolution is attributed altogether to applied science, or, in other +words, to mechanical inventions. In 1760 the flying-shuttle appeared, +and coal began to replace wood for smelting. In 1764 Hargreaves invented +the spinning-jenny; in 1779 Crompton contrived the mule; and in 1768 +Watt brought the steam-engine to maturity. In 1761 the first boat-load +of coals sailed over the Barton viaduct, which James Brindley built for +the Duke of Bridgewater's canal, to connect Worsley with Manchester, +thus laying the foundation of British inland navigation, which before +the end of the century had covered England; while John Metcalf, the +blind road-builder, began his lifework in 1765. He was destined +to improve English highways, which up to that time had been mostly +impossible for wheeled traffic. In France the same advance went on. +Arthur Young described the impression made on him in 1789 by the +magnificence of the French roads which had been built since the +administration of Colbert, as well as by the canal which connected the +Mediterranean with the Atlantic. + +In the midst of this activity Washington grew up. Washington was a born +soldier, engineer, and surveyor with the topographical instinct peculiar +to that temperament. As early as 1748 he was chosen by Lord Fairfax, +who recognized his ability, though only sixteen years old, to survey +his vast estate west of the Blue Ridge, which was then a wilderness. +He spent three years in this work and did it well. In 1753 Governor +Dinwiddie sent Washington on a mission to the French commander on the +Ohio, to warn him to cease trespassing on English territory, a mission +which Washington fulfilled, under considerable hardship and some peril, +with eminent success. Thus early, for he was then only twenty-two, +Washington gained that thorough understanding of the North American +river system which enabled him, many years afterward, to construct +the Republic of the United States upon the lines of least resistant +intercommunication. And Washington's conception of the problem and his +solution thereof were, in substance, this: + +The American continent, west of the mountains and south of the Great +Lakes, is traversed in all directions by the Mississippi and its +tributaries, but we may confine our attention to two systems of +watercourses, the one to the west, forming by the Wisconsin and the main +arm of the Mississippi, a thoroughfare from Lake Michigan to the Gulf; +and the other by French Creek and the Allegheny, broken only by one easy +portage, affording a perfect means of access to the Ohio, a river which +has always operated as the line of cleavage between our northern and +southern States. The French starting from Quebec floated from Lake Erie +down the Allegheny to Pittsburgh, the English ascended the Potomac to +Cumberland, and thence, following the most practicable watercourses, +advanced on the French position at the junction of the Allegheny and +the Monongahela. There Washington met and fought them in 1754, and ever +after Washington maintained that the only method by which a stable +union among the colonies could be secured was by a main trunk system of +transportation along the line of the Ohio and the Potomac. This was to +be his canal which should bind north and south, east and west, together +by a common interest, and which should carry the produce of the west, +north, and south, to the Atlantic coast, where it should be discharged +at the head of deep-water navigation, and which should thus stimulate +industry adjacent to the spot he chose for the Federal City, or, in our +language, for the City of Washington. Thus the capital of the United +States was to become the capital of a true nation, not as a political +compromise, but because it lay at the central point of a community made +cohesive by a social circulation which should build it up, in his own +words, into a capital, or national heart, if not "as large as London, +yet of a magnitude inferior to few others in Europe." [Footnote: +Washington to Mrs. Fairfax, 16 May, 1798; Sparks, xi, 233.] Maryland and +Virginia abounded, as Washington well knew, in coal and iron. His canal +passing through this region would stimulate industry, and these States +would thus become the focus of exchanges. Manufacturing is incompatible +with slavery, hence slavery would gradually and peacefully disappear, +and the extremities of the Union would be drawn together at what he +described as "the great emporium of the United States." To crown all, +a national university was to make this emporium powerful in collective +thought. + +Doubtless Grenville and Townshend had not considered the American +problem as maturely as had Washington, but nevertheless, most +well-informed persons now agree that Englishmen in 1763 were quite alive +to the advantages which would accrue to Great Britain, by holding +in absolute control a rich but incoherent body of colonies whose +administrative centre lay in England, and were as anxious that London +should serve as the heart of America as Washington was that America +should have its heart on the Potomac. + +Accordingly, England attempted to isolate Massachusetts and pressed an +attack on her with energy, before the whole thirteen colonies should +be able to draw to a unity. On the other hand, Washington, and most +sensible Americans, resisted this attack as resolutely as might be under +such disadvantages, not wishing for independence, but hoping for some +compromise like that which Great Britain has since effected with her +remaining colonies. The situation, however, admitted of no peaceful +adjustment, chiefly because the imbecility of American administration +induced by her incapacity for collective thought, was so manifest, that +Englishmen could not believe that such a society could wage a successful +war. Nor could America have done so alone. She owed her ultimate victory +altogether to Washington and France. + +It would occupy too much space for me to undertake to analyze, even +superficially, the process by which, after the Seven Years' War, +competition between America and England reached an intensity which +kindled the American Revolution, but, shortly stated, the economic +tension arose thus: As England was then organized, the estates of the +English landlords had to pay two rents, one to the landlord himself, the +other to the farmer who leased his land, and this it could not do were +it brought into direct competition with equally good land which paid +but one profit, and which was not burdened by an excessive cost of +transportation in reaching its market. As freights between England and +America fell because of improved shipping and the greater safety of the +seas, England had to have protection for her food and she proposed to +get it thus: If competing Continental exports could be excluded from +America, and, at the same time, Americans could be prevented from +manufacturing for themselves, the colonists might be constrained to take +what they needed from England, at prices which would enable labor to +buy food at a rate which would yield the double profit, and thus America +could be made to pay the cost of supporting the landlords. As Cobden +afterward observed, the fortunes of England have turned on American +competition. A part of these fortunes were represented by the +Parliamentary boroughs which the landlords owned and which were +confiscated by the Reform Bill, and these boroughs were held by Lord +Eldon to be incorporeal hereditaments: as truly a part of the private +property of the gentry who owned them as church advowsons, or the like. +And the gentry held to their law-making power which gave them such +a privilege with a tenacity which precipitated two wars before they +yielded; but this was naught compared to the social convulsion which +rent France, when a population which had been for centuries restrained +from free domestic movement, burst its bonds and insisted on levelling +the barriers which had immobilized it. + +The story of the French Revolution is too familiar to need +recapitulation here: indeed, I have already dealt with it in my _Social +Revolutions_; but the effects of that convulsion are only now beginning +to appear, and these effects, without the shadow of a doubt, have been +in their ultimate development the occasion of that great war whose +conclusion we still await. + +France, in 1792, having passed into a revolution which threatened the +vested interests of Prussia, was attacked by Prussia, who was defeated +at Valmy. Presently, France retaliated, under Napoleon, invaded Prussia, +crushed her army at Jena, in 1807, dismembered the kingdom and imposed +on her many hardships. To obtain their freedom the Prussians found it +needful to reorganize their social system from top to bottom, for this +social system had descended from Frederic William, the Great Elector of +Brandenburg (1640-1688), and from Frederic the Great (1740-1786), and +was effete and incapable of meeting the French onset, which amounted, +in substance, to a quickened competition. Accordingly, the new Prussian +constitution, conceived by Stein, put the community upon a relatively +democratic and highly developed educational basis. By the Emancipating +Edict of 1807, the peasantry came into possession of their land, while, +chiefly through the impulsion of Scharnhorst, who was the first chief +of staff of the modern army, the country adopted universal military +service, which proved to be popular throughout all ranks. Previous to +Scharnhorst, under Frederic the Great, the qualification of an officer +had been birth. Scharnhorst defined it as education, gallantry, and +intelligence. Similarly, Gneisenau's conception of a possible Prussian +supremacy lay in its army, its science, and its administration. But the +civil service was intended to incarnate science, and was the product +of the modernized university, exemplified in the University of Berlin +organized by William von Humboldt. Herein lay the initial advantage +which Germany gained over England, an advantage which she long +maintained. And the advantage lay in this: Germany conceived a system of +technical education matured and put in operation by the State. Hence, +so far as in human affairs such things are possible, the intelligence of +Germans was liberated from the incubus of vested interests, who always +seek to use education to advance themselves. It was so in England. The +English entrusted education to the Church, and the Church was, by the +necessity of its being, reactionary and hostile to science, whereas the +army, in the main, was treated in England as a social function, and the +officers, speaking generally, were not technically specially educated +at all. Hence, in foreign countries, but especially in Germany which +was destined to be ultimately England's great competitor, England laid +herself open to rather more than a suspicion of weakness, and indeed, +when it came to a test, England found herself standing, for several +years of war, at a considerable disadvantage because of the lack of +education in those departments wherein Germany had, by the attack of +France, been forced to make herself proficient. This any one may see +for himself by reading the addresses of Fichte to the German nation, +delivered in 1807 and 1808, when Berlin was still occupied by the +French. In fine, it was with Prussia a question of competition, +brought to its ultimate tension by war. Prussia had no alternative as a +conquered land but to radically accelerate her momentum, or perish. And +so, at the present day, it may not improbably be with us. Competition +must grow intenser. + +With England the situation in 1800 was very different. It was less +strenuous. Nothing is more notable in England than to observe how, after +the Industrial Revolution began, there was practically no means by +which a poor man could get an education, save by educating himself. +For instance, in February 1815, four months before Waterloo, George +Stephenson took out a patent for the locomotive engine which was to +revolutionize the world. But George Stephenson was a common laborer in +the mines, who had no state instruction available, nor had he even any +private institution at hand in which the workmen whom he employed in +practical construction could be taught. He and his son Robert, had to +organize instruction for themselves and their employees independently. +So it was even with a man like Faraday, who began life as an errand boy, +and later on who actually went abroad as a sort of valet to Sir +Humphry Davy. Davy himself was a self-made man. In short, England, as +a community, did little or nothing by education for those who had no +means, and but little to draw any one toward science. It was at +this precise moment that Germany was cast into the furnace of modern +competition with England, who had, because of a series of causes, +chiefly geographical, topographical, and mineralogical, about a century +the start of her. Against this advantage Germany had to rely exclusively +upon civil and military education. At first this competition by Germany +took a military complexion, and very rapidly wrought the complete +consolidation of Germany by the Austrian and the French wars. But this +phase presently passed, and after the French campaign of 1870 the purely +economic aspect of the situation developed more strenuously still, +so much so that intelligent observers, among whom Lord Roberts was +conspicuous, perceived quite early in the present century that the heat +generated in the conflict must, probably, soon engender war. Nor could +it either theoretically or practically have been otherwise, for the +relations between the two countries had reached a point where they +generated a friction which caused incandescence automatically. And, +moreover, the inflammable material fit for combustion was, especially +in Germany, present in quantity. From the time of Fichte and Scharnhorst +downward to the end of the century, the whole nation had learned, as +a sort of gospel, that the German education produced a most superior +engine of economic competition, whereas the slack education and +frivolous amusements of English civil and military life alike, had +gradually created a society apt to crumble. And it is only needful for +any person who has the curiosity, to glance at the light literature of +the Victorian age, which deals with the army, to see how dominant a part +such an amusement as hunting played in the life of the younger officers, +especially in the fashionable regiments, to be impressed with the +soundness of much of this German criticism. + +Assuming, then, for the sake of argument, that these historical premises +are sound, I proceed to consider how they bear on our prospective +civilization. + +This is eminently a scientific age, and yet the scientific mind, as it +is now produced among us, is not without tendencies calculated to cause +uneasiness to those a little conversant with history or philosophy. For +whereas no one in these days would dream of utilizing prayer, as did +Moses or Saint Hugh, as a mechanical energy, nevertheless the search +for a universal prime motor goes on unabated, and yet it accomplishes +nothing to the purpose. On the contrary, the effect is one which could +neither be expected nor desired. Instead of being an aid to social +coordination, it stimulates disintegration to a high degree as the war +has shown. It has stimulated disintegration in two ways. First, it +has enormously quickened physical movement, which has already been +discussed, and secondly, it has stimulated the rapidity with which +thought is diffused. The average human being can only absorb and +assimilate safely new forms of thought when given enough time for +digestion, as if he were assimilating food. If he be plied with new +thought too rapidly he fails to digest. He has a surfeit, serious in +proportion to its enormity. That is to say, his power of drawing correct +conclusions from the premises submitted to him fails, and we have all +sorts of crude experiments in sociology attempted, which end in that +form of chaos which we call a violent revolution. The ordinary result +is infinite waste fomented by fallacious hopes; in a word, financial +disaster, supplemented usually by loss of life. The experience is an old +one, and the result is almost invariable. + +For example, during the Middle Ages, men like Saint Hugh and Peter +the Venerable, and, most of all, Saint Francis, possessed by dreams +of attaining to perfection, by leading lives of inimitable purity, +self-devotion, and asceticism, inspired the community about them with +the conviction that they could work miracles. They thereby, as a reward, +drew to the Church they served what amounted to being, considering the +age they lived in, boundless wealth. But the effect of this economic +phenomenon was far from what they had hoped or expected. Instead of +raising the moral standard of men to a point where all the world would +be improved, they so debased the hierarchy, by making money the standard +of ambition within it, that, as a whole, the priesthood accepted, +without any effective protest, the fires of the Council of Constance +which consumed Huss, and the abominations of the Borgias at Rome. +Perfectly logically, as a corollary to this orgy of crime and +bestiality, the wars of the Reformation swept away many, many thousands +of human beings, wasted half of Europe, and only served to demonstrate +the futility of ideals. + +And so it was with the Puritans, who were themselves the children of the +revolt against social corruption. They fondly believed that a new era +was to be ushered in by the rule of the Cromwellian saints. What the +Cromwellian saints did in truth usher in, was the carnival of debauchery +of Charles II, in its turn to be succeeded by the capitalistic +competitive age which we have known, and which has abutted in the recent +war. + +Man can never hope to change his physical necessities, and therefore his +moral nature must always remain the same in essence, if not in form. +As Washington truly said, "The motives which predominate most in human +affairs are self-love and self-interest," and "nothing binds one country +or one state to another but interest." + +If, then, it be true, that man is an automatic animal moving always +along the paths of least resistance toward predetermined ends, it cannot +fail to be useful to us in the present emergency to mark, as distinctly +as we can, the causes which impelled Germany, at a certain point in her +career, to choose the paths which led to her destruction rather than +those which, at the first blush, promised as well, and which seemed to +be equally as easy and alluring. And we may possibly, by this process, +expose certain phenomena which may profit us, since such an examination +may help us to estimate what avenues are like to prove ultimately the +least resistant. + +Throughout the Middle Ages North Germany, which is the region whereof +Berlin is the capital, enjoyed relatively little prosperity, because +Brandenburg, for example, lay beyond the zone of those main trade routes +which, before the advent of railways, served as the arteries of the +eastern trade. Not until after the opening of the Industrial Revolution +in England, did that condition alter. Nor even then did a change come +rapidly because of the inertia of the Russian people. Nevertheless, +as the Russian railway system developed, Berlin one day found herself +standing, as it were, at the apex of a vast triangle whose boundaries +are, roughly, indicated by the position of Berlin itself, Petersburg, +Warsaw, Moscow, Kiev, and the Ukraine. Beyond Berlin the stream of +traffic flowed to Hamburg and thence found vent in America, as a +terminus. Great Britain, more especially, demanded food, and food passed +by sea from Odessa. Hence Russia served as a natural base for Germany, +taking German manufactures and offering to Germany a reservoir capable +of absorbing her redundant population. Thus it had long been obvious +that intimate relations with Russia were of prime importance to Germany +since all the world could perceive that the monied interests of Russia +must more and more fall into German hands, because of the intellectual +limitations of the Russians. Also pacification to the eastward always +was an integral part of Bismarck's policy. Notwithstanding which other +influences conflicted with, and ultimately overbalanced, this eastern +trend in Germany. + +For many thousand years before written history began, the economic +capital of the world, the seat for the time being of opulence and +of splendor, and at once the admiration and the envy of less favored +rivals, has been a certain ambulatory spot upon the earth's surface, at +a point where the lines of trade from east to west have converged. And +always the marked idiosyncrasy of this spot has been its unrest. It has +constantly oscillated from east to west according as the fortunes of +war have prevailed, or as the march of applied science has made one or +another route of transportation cheaper or more defensible. + +Thus Babylon was conquered and robbed by Rome, and Rome, after a long +heyday of prosperity, yielded to Constantinople, while Constantinople +lost her supremacy to Venice, Genoa, and North Italy, following the sack +of Constantinople by the Venetians in 1202 A.D. The Fairs of Champaign +in France, and the cities of the Rhine and Antwerp were the glory of +the Middle Ages, but these great markets faded when the discovery of the +long sea voyage to India threw the route by the Red Sea and Cairo into +eccentricity, and caused Spain and Portugal to bloom. Spain's prosperity +did not, however, last long. England used war during the sixteenth +century as an economic weapon, pretty easily conquering. And since +the opening of the Industrial Revolution, at least, London, with the +exception of the few years when England suffered from the American +revolt of 1776, has assumed steadily more the aspect of the great +international centre of exchanges, until with Waterloo her supremacy +remained unchallenged. It was this brilliant achievement of London, won +chiefly by arms, which more than any other cause impelled Germany to try +her fortunes by war rather than by the methods of peace. + +Nor was the German calculation of chances unreasonable or unwarranted. +For upwards of two centuries Germany had found war the most profitable +of all her economic ventures; especially had she found the French war +of 1870 a most lucrative speculation. And she felt unbounded confidence +that she could win as easy a triumph with her army, over the French, in +the twentieth as in the nineteenth century. But, could she penetrate +to Paris and at the same time occupy the littoral of the Channel and +Antwerp, she was persuaded that she could do to the commerce of England +what England had once done to the commerce of Spain, and that Hamburg +and Berlin would supplant London. And this calculation might have proved +sound had it not been for her oversight in ignoring one essential factor +in the problem. Ever since North America was colonized by the English, +that portion of the continent which is now comprised by the Republic +of the United States, had formed a part of the British economic system, +even when the two fragments of that system were competing in war, as has +occurred more than once. And as America has waxed great and rich these +relations have grown closer, until of recent years it has become hard to +determine whether the centre of gravity of this vast capitalistic mass +lay to the east or to the west of the Atlantic. One fact, however, from +before the outset of this war had been manifest, and that was that the +currents of movement flowed with more power from America to England +than from America to Germany. And this had from before the outbreak +of hostilities affected the relations of the parties. Should Germany +prevail in her contest with England, the result would certainly be to +draw the centre of exchanges to the eastward, and thereby to throw the +United States, more or less, into eccentricity; but were England to +prevail the United States would tend to become the centre toward which +all else would gravitate. Hence, perfectly automatically, from a time as +long ago as the Spanish War, the balance, as indicated by the weight of +the United States, hung unevenly as between Germany and England, Germany +manifesting something approaching to repulsion toward the attraction +of the United States while Great Britain manifested favor. And from +subsequent evidence, this phenomenon would seem to have been thus +early developed, because the economic centre of gravity of our modern +civilization had already traversed the Atlantic, and by so doing had +decided the fortunes of Germany in advance, in the greater struggle +about to come. Consider attentively what has happened. In April, 1917, +when the United States entered the conflict, Germany, though it had +suffered severely in loss of men, was by no means exhausted. On the +contrary, many months subsequently she began her final offensive, which +she pushed so vigorously that she penetrated to within some sixty miles +of Paris. But there, at Chateau Thierry, on the Marne, she first felt +the weight of the economic shift. She suddenly encountered a division of +American troops advancing to oppose her. Otherwise the road to Paris lay +apparently open. The American troops were raw levies whom the Germans +pretended to despise. And yet, almost without making a serious effort at +prolonged attack, the Germans began their retreat, which only ended with +their collapse and the fall of the empire. + +A similar phenomenon occurred once before in German history, and it is +not an uncommon incident in human experience when nature has already +made, or is on the brink of making, a change in the seat of the economic +centre of the world. In the same way, when Constantine won the battle +of the Milvian Bridge, with his men fighting under the standard of +the Labarum, it was subsequently found that the economic capital of +civilization had silently migrated from the Tiber to the Bosphorus, +where Constantine seated himself at Constantinople, which was destined +to be the new capital of the world for about eight hundred years. So +in 1792, when the Prussians and the French refugees together invaded +France, they never doubted for an instant that they should easily +disperse the mob, as they were pleased to call it, of Kellermann's +"vagabonds, cobblers, and tailors." Nevertheless the Germans recoiled +on the slope of Valmy from before the republican army, almost without +striking a blow, nor could they be brought again to the attack, although +the French royalists implored to be allowed to storm the hill alone, +provided they could be assured of support. Then the retreat of the Duke +of Brunswick began, and this retreat was the prelude to the Napoleonic +empire, to Austerlitz, to Jena, to the dismemberment and to the +reorganization of Prussia and to the evolution of modern Germany: in +short, to the conversion of the remnants of mediaeval civilization into +the capitalistic, industrial, competitive society which we have known. +And all this because of the accelerated movement caused by science. + +If it be, indeed, a fact that the victory of Chateau Thierry and the +subsequent retreat of the German army together with the collapse of the +German Empire indicate, as there is abundant reason to suppose that they +may, a shift in the world's social equilibrium, equivalent to the shift +in Europe presaged by Valmy, or to that which substituted Constantinople +for Rome and which was marked by the Milvian Bridge, it follows that we +must prepare ourselves for changes possibly greater than our world has +seen since it marched to Jerusalem under Godfrey de Bouillon. And the +tendency of those changes is not so very difficult, perhaps, roughly to +estimate, always premising that they are hardly compatible with undue +optimism. Supposing, for example, we consider, in certain of their +simpler aspects, some of the relations of Great Britain toward +ourselves, since Great Britain is not only our most important friend, +assuming that she remain a friend, but our most formidable competitor, +should competition strain our friendship. Also Great Britain has the +social system nearest akin to our own, and most likely to be influenced +by the same so-called democratic tendencies. For upwards of a hundred +years Great Britain has been, and she still is, absolutely dependent +on her maritime supremacy for life. It was on that issue she fought the +Napoleonic wars, and when she prevailed at Trafalgar and Waterloo she +assumed economic supremacy, but only on the condition that she should +always be ready and willing to defend it, for it is only on that +condition that economic supremacy can be maintained. War is the most +potent engine of economic competition. Constantinople and Antwerp +survived and flourished on the same identical conditions long before the +day of London. She must keep her avenues of communication with all the +world open, and guard them against possible attack. So long as America +competed actively with England on the sea, even for her own trade, +her relations with Great Britain were troubled. The irritation of the +colonies with the restrictions which England put upon their commerce +materially contributed to foment the revolution, as abundantly appears +in the famous case of John Hancock's sloop Liberty, which was seized for +smuggling. So in the War of 1812, England could not endure the United +States as a competitor in her contest with France. She must be an ally, +or, in other words, she must function as a component part of the British +economic system, or she must be crushed. The crisis came with the attack +of the Leopard on the Chesapeake in 1807, after which the possibility of +maintaining peace, under such a pressure, appeared, in its true light, +as a phantasm. After the war, with more or less constant friction, the +same conditions continued until the outbreak of the Rebellion, and then +Great Britain manifested her true animus as a competitor. She waged +an unacknowledged campaign against the commerce of the United States, +building, equipping, arming, manning, and succoring a navy for the +South, which operated none the less effectively because its action was +officially repudiated. And in this secret warfare England prevailed, +since when the legislation of the United States has made American +competition with England on the sea impossible. Wherefore we have had +peace with England. We have supplied Great Britain with food and raw +materials, abandoning to England the carrying trade and an undisputed +naval supremacy. Consequently Great Britain feels secure and responds +to the full force of that economic attraction which makes America +naturally, a component part of the British economic system. But let +American pretensions once again revive to the point of causing her to +attempt seriously to develop her sea power as of yore, and the same +friction would also revive which could hardly, were it pushed to its +legitimate end, eventuate otherwise than in the ultimate form of all +economic competition. + +If such a supposition seems now to be fanciful, it is only necessary +to reflect a moment on the rapidity with which national relations vary +under competition, to be assured that it is real. As Washington said, +the only force which binds one nation to another is interest. The rise +of Germany, which first created jealousy in England, began with the +attack on Denmark in 1864. Then Russia was the power which the British +most feared and with whom they were on the worst of terms. About +that period nothing would have seemed more improbable than that these +relations would be reversed, and that Russia and England would jointly, +within a generation, wage fierce war on Germany. We are very close to +England now, but we may be certain that, were we to press, as Germany +pressed, on British maritime and industrial supremacy, we should be +hated too. It is vain to disguise the fact that British fortunes in the +past have hinged on American competition, and that the wisest and most +sagacious Englishmen have been those who have been most alive to the +fact. Richard Cobden, for example, was one of the most liberal as he +was one of the most eminent of British economists and statesmen of +the middle of the nineteenth century. He was a democrat by birth and +education, and a Quaker by religion. In 1835, just before he entered +public life, Cobden visited the United States and thus recorded his +impressions on his return: + +"America is once more the theatre upon which nations are contending +for mastery; it is not, however, a struggle for conquest, in which the +victor will acquire territorial dominion--the fight is for commercial +supremacy, and will be won by the cheapest.... It is from the silent and +peaceful rivalry of American commerce, the growth of its manufactures, +its rapid progress in internal improvements, ... it is from these, and +not from the barbarous policy or the impoverishing armaments of +Russia, that the grandeur of our commercial and national prosperity is +endangered." [Footnote: John Morley, _The Life of Richard Cobden_, 107, +108.] + +It is not, however, any part of my contention that nature should push +her love of competition so far as necessarily to involve us in war with +Great Britain, at least at present, for nature has various and +most unlooked-for ways of arriving at her ends, since men never can +determine, certainly in advance, what avenue will, to them, prove the +least resistant. They very often make an error, as did the Germans, +which they can only correct by enduring disaster, defeat, and +infinite suffering. Nature might very well, for example, prefer that +consolidation should advance yet another step before a reaction toward +chaos should begin. + +This last war has, apparently, been won by a fusion of two economic +systems which together hold and administer a preponderating mass of +fluid capital, and which have partially pooled their resources to +prevail. They appear almost as would a gigantic lizard which, having +been severed in an ancient conflict, was now making a violent but only +half-conscious effort to cause the head and body to unite with the tail, +so that the two might function once more as a single organism, governed +by a single will. Under our present form of capitalistic life there +would seem to be no reason why this fluid capital should not fuse and +by its energy furnish the motor which should govern the world. Rome, for +centuries, was governed by an emperor, who represented the landed +class of Italy, under the forms of a republic. It is not by any means +necessary that a plutocratic mass should have a recognized political +head. And America and England, like two enormous banking houses, might +in effect fuse and yet go on as separate institutions with nominally +separate boards of directors. + +But it is inconceivable that even such an expedient as this, however +successful at the outset, should permanently solve the problem, which +resolves itself once more into individual competition. It is not +imaginable that such an enormous plutocratic society as I have supposed +could conduct its complex affairs upon the basis of the average +intelligence. As in Rome, a civil service would inevitably be organized +which would contain a carefully selected body of ability. We have seen +such a process, in its initial stages, in the recent war. And such a +civil service, however selected and however trained, would, to succeed, +have to be composed of men who were the ablest in their calling, the +best educated, and the fittest: in a word, the representatives of what +we call "the big business" of the country. Such as they might handle +the railroads, the telegraph lines, the food supply, the question of +competitive shipping, and finally prices, as we have seen it done, but +only on condition that they belonged to the fortunate class by merit. + +But supposing, in the face of such a government, the unfortunate class +should protest, as they already do protest in Russia, in Germany, and +even in England and here at home, that a legal system which sanctions +such a civilization is iniquitous. Here, the discontented say, you +insist on a certain form of competition being carried to its limit. +That is, you demand intellectual and peaceful competition for which I +am unfit both by education, training, and mental ability. I am therefore +excluded from those walks in life which make a man a freeman. I become a +slave to capital. I must work, or fight, or starve according to another +man's convenience, caprice, or, in fine, according to his will. I could +be no worse off under any despot. To such a system I will not submit. +But I can at least fight. Put me on a competitive equality or I will +blow your civilization to atoms. To such an argument there is no logical +answer possible except the answer which all extreme socialists have +always advanced. The fortunate man should be taxed for all he +earns above the average wage, and the State should confiscate his +accumulations at death. Then, with a system of government education, +obligatory on all, children would start equal from birth. + +Here we come against the hereditary instinct, the creator and the +preserver of the family: the instinct which has made law and order +possible, so far as our ancestors or we have known order, as far back +as the Ice Age. If the coming world must strive with this question, or +abandon the "democratic ideal," the future promises to be stormy. + +But even assuming that this problem of individual competition be +overcome, we are as far as ever from creating a system of moral law +which shall avail us, for we at once come in conflict with the principle +of abstract justice which demands that free men shall be permitted to +colonize or move where they will. But supposing England and America to +amalgamate; they now hold or assume to control all or nearly all +the vacant regions of the earth which are suited to the white man's +habitation. And the white man cannot live and farm his land in +competition with the Asiatic; that was conclusively proved in the days +of Rome. + +But it is not imaginable that Asiatics will submit to this +discrimination in silence. Nothing can probably constrain them to +resignation but force, and to apply force is to revert to the old +argument of the savage or the despot, who admits that he knows no law +save that of the stronger, which is the system, however much we have +disguised it and, in short, lied about it, under which we have lived +and under which our ancestors have lived ever since the family was +organized, and under which it is probable that we shall continue to live +as long as any remnant of civilization shall survive. + +Nevertheless, it seems to be far from improbable that the system of +industrial, capitalistic civilization, which came in, in substance, with +the "free thought" of the Reformation, is nearing an end. Very probably +it may have attained to its ultimate stages and may dissolve presently +in the chaos which, since the Reformation, has been visibly impending. +Democracy in America has conspicuously and decisively failed, in the +collective administration of the common public property. Granting +thus much, it becomes simply a question of relative inefficiency, or +degradation of type, culminating in the exhaustion of resources by +waste; unless the democratic man can supernaturally raise himself to +some level more nearly approaching perfection than that on which he +stands. For it has become self-evident that the democrat cannot change +himself from a competitive to a non-competitive animal by talking about +it, or by pretending to be already or to be about to become other than +he is,--the victim of infinite conflicting forces. + +BROOKS ADAMS, + +QUINCY, _July_ 20, 1919. + + + + + +THE EMANCIPATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE COMMONWEALTH. + + +The mysteries of the Holy Catholic Church had been venerated for ages +when Europe burst from her mediaeval torpor into the splendor of the +Renaissance. Political schemes and papal abuses may have precipitated +the inevitable outbreak, but in the dawn of modern thought the darkness +faded amidst which mankind had so long cowered in the abject terrors of +superstition. Already in the beginning of the fifteenth century many of +the ancient dogmas had begun to awaken incredulity, and sceptics learned +to mock at that claim to infallibility upon which the priesthood based +their right to command the blind obedience of the Christian world. +Between such adversaries compromise was impossible; and those who +afterward revolted against the authority of the traditions of Rome +sought refuge under the shelter of the Bible, which they grew to +reverence with a passionate devotion, believing it to have been not +only directly and verbally inspired by God, but the only channel through +which he had made known his will to men. + +Thus the movement was not toward new doctrines; on the contrary, it was +the rejection of what could no longer be believed. Calvin was no less +orthodox than St. Augustine in what he accepted; his heresy lay in the +denial of enigmas from which his understanding recoiled. The mighty +convulsion of the Reformation, therefore, was but the supreme effort of +the race to tear itself from the toils of a hierarchy whose life hung +upon its success in forcing the children to worship the myths of their +ancestral religion. + +Three hundred years after Luther nailed his theses to the church door +the logical deduction had been drawn from his great act, and Christendom +had been driven to admit that any concession of the right to reason upon +matters of faith involved the recognition of the freedom of individual +thought. But though this noble principle has been at length established, +long years of bloodshed passed before the victory was won; and from +the outset the attitude of the clergy formed the chief obstacle to the +triumph of a more liberal civilization; for howsoever bitterly Catholic +and Protestant divines have hated and persecuted each other, they have +united like true brethren in their hatred and their persecution of +heretics; for such was their inexorable destiny. + +Men who firmly believe that salvation lies within their creed alone, and +that doubters suffer endless torments, never can be tolerant. They feel +that duty commands them to defend their homes against a deadly peril, +and even pity for the sinner urges them to wring from him a recantation +before it is too late; and then, moreover, dissent must lessen the +power and influence of a hierarchy and may endanger its very existence; +therefore the priests of every church have been stimulated to crush +out schism by the two strongest passions that can inflame the mind--by +bigotry and by ambition. + +In England the Reformation was controlled by statesmen, whose object was +to invest the crown with ecclesiastical power, and who made no changes +except such as they thought necessary for their purpose. They repudiated +the papal supremacy, and adopted articles of religion sufficiently +evangelical in form, but they retained episcopacy, the liturgy, and the +surplice; the cross was still used in baptism, the people bowed at the +name of Jesus, and knelt at the communion. Such a compromise with what +they deemed idolatry was offensive to the stricter Protestants, and so +early as 1550 John Hooper refused the see of Gloucester because he would +not wear the robes of office; thus almost from its foundation the church +was divided into factions, and those who demanded a more radical reform +were nicknamed Puritans. As time elapsed large numbers who could no +longer bring themselves to conform withdrew from the orthodox communion, +and began to worship by themselves; persecution followed, and many fled +to Holland, where they formed congregations in the larger towns, the +most celebrated of them being that of John Robinson at Leyden, which +afterward founded Plymouth. But the intellectual ferment was universal, +and the same upheaval that was rending the church was shaking the +foundations of the state: power was passing into the hands of the +people, but a century was to elapse before the relations of the +sovereign to the House of Commons were fully adjusted. During this +interval the Stuarts reigned and three of the four kings suffered exile +or death in the fierce contest for mastery. + +The fixed determination of Charles I. was to establish a despotism +and enforce conformity with ritualism; and the result was the Great +Rebellion. + +Among the statesmen who advised him, none has met with such scant mercy +from posterity as Laud, who has been gibbeted as the impersonification +of narrowness, of bigotry, and of cruelty. The judgment is unscientific, +for whatever may be thought of the humanity or wisdom of his policy, he +only did what all have done who have attempted to impose a creed on men. + +The real grievance has never been that an observance has been required, +or an indulgence refused, but that the right to think has been denied. +Provided a boundary be fixed within which the reason must be chained, +the line drawn by Laud is as reasonable as that of Calvin; Geneva is no +more infallible than Canterbury or Rome. Comprehension is the dream of +visionaries, for some will always differ from any confession of faith, +however broad; and where there are dogmas there will be heretics till +all have perished. But in their fear and hatred of individual free +thought regarding the mysteries of religion, Laud, Calvin, and the Pope +agreed. + +With the progress of the war, the Puritans, who had at first been united +in their opposition to the crown, themselves divided; one party, to +which most of the peers and of the non-conforming clergy belonged, being +anxious to reestablish the monarchy, and set up a rigid Presbyterianism; +the other, of whose spirit Cromwell was the incarnation, resolving each +day more firmly to crush the king and proclaim freedom of conscience; +and it was this doctrine of toleration which was the snare and the +abomination in the eyes of evangelical divines. + +Robert Baillie, the Scotch commissioner, while in London, anxiously +watching the rise of the power of the Independents in Parliament, with +each victory of their armies in the field wrote, "Liberty of conscience, +and toleration of all and any religion, is so prodigious an impiety that +this religious parliament cannot but abhor the very meaning of it." +Nor did his reverend brethren of the Westminster Assembly fall any whit +behind him when they rose to expound the word. In a letter of 17th May, +1644, he thus described their doctrine: "This day was the best that I +have seen since I came to England.... After D. Twisse had begun with +a brief prayer, Mr. Marshall prayed large two hours, most divinely, +confessing the sins of the members of the assembly, in a wonderful, +pathetick, and prudent way. After, Mr. Arrowsmith preached an hour, then +a psalm; thereafter, Mr. Vines prayed near two hours, and Mr. Palmer +preached an hour, and Mr. Seaman prayed near two hours, then a psalm; +after, Mr. Henderson brought them to a sweet conference of the heat +confessed in the assembly, and other seen faults to be remedied, and +the conveniency to preach against all sects, especially Anabaptists +and Antinomians. Dr. Twisse closed with a short prayer and blessing." +[Footnote: Baillie's _Letters and Journals_, ii. 18.] + +But Cromwell, gifted with noble instincts and transcendent political +genius, a layman, a statesman, and a soldier, was a liberal from birth +till death. + +"Those that were sound in the faith, how proper was it for them to +labor for liberty, ... that men might not be trampled upon for their +consciences! Had not they labored but lately under the weight of +persecution? And was it fit for them to sit heavy upon others? Is it +ingenuous to ask liberty and not to give it? What greater hypocrisy +than for those who were oppressed by the bishops to become the greatest +oppressors themselves, so soon as their yoke was removed? I could wish +that they who call for liberty now also had not too much of that spirit, +if the power were in their hands." [Footnote: Speech at dissolution of +first Parliment, Jan. 22, 1655. Carlyle's _Cromwell_, iv. 107.] + +"If a man of one form will be trampling upon the heels of another form, +if an Independent, for example, will despise him under Baptism, and will +revile him and reproach him and provoke him,--I will not suffer it in +him. If, on the other side, those of the Anabaptist shall be +censuring the godly ministers of the nation who profess under that +of Independency; or if those that profess under Presbytery shall be +reproaching or speaking evil of them, traducing and censuring of them, +as I would not be willing to see the day when England shall be in the +power of the Presbytery to impose upon the consciences of others that +profess faith in Christ,--so I will not endure any reproach to them." +[Footnote: Speech made September, 1656. Carlyle's _Cromwell_, iv. 234.] + +The number of clergymen among the emigrants to Massachusetts was +very large, and the character of the class who formed the colony was +influenced by them to an extraordinary degree. Many able pastors had +been deprived in England for non-conformity, and they had to choose +between silence or exile. To men of their temperament silence would have +been intolerable; and most must have depended upon their profession for +support. America, therefore, offered a convenient refuge. The motives +are less obvious which induced the leading laymen, some of whom were +of fortune and consequence at home, to face the hardships of the +wilderness. Persecution cannot be the explanation, for a government +under which Hampden and Cromwell could live and be returned to +Parliament was not intolerable; nor does it appear that any of them had +been severely dealt with. The wish of the Puritan party to have a +place of retreat, should the worst befall, may have had its weight with +individuals, but probably the influence which swayed the larger number +was the personal ascendancy of their pastors, for that ascendancy was +complete. In a community so selected, men of the type of Baillie must +have vastly outnumbered those of the stamp of Cromwell, and in point +of fact their minds were generally cast in the ecclesiastical mould and +imbued with the ecclesiastical feeling. Governor Dudley represented +them well, and at his death some lines were found in his pocket in which +their spirit yet glows in all the fierceness of its bigotry. + + "Let men of God in Courts and Churches watch + O're such as do a Toleration hatch, + Lest that Ill Egg bring forth a Cockatrice, + To poison all with heresie and vice." + +[Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 2, ch. v. section 1.] + +In former ages churches had been comprehensive to this extent: infants +had been baptized, and, when the child had become a man, he had been +admitted to the communion as a matter of course, unless his life had +given scandal; but to this system the Congregationalist was utterly +opposed. He believed that, human nature being totally depraved, some +became regenerate through grace; that the signs of grace were as +palpable as any other traits of character, and could be discerned by all +the world; therefore, none should be admitted to the sacrament who had +not the marks of the elect; and as in a well-ordered community the godly +ought to rule, it followed that none should be enfranchised but members +of the church. + +To suppose such a government could be maintained in England was beyond +the dreams even of an enthusiast, and there can be little doubt that the +controlling incentive with many of those who sailed was the hope, with +the aid of their divines, of founding a religious commonwealth in the +wilderness which should harmonize with their interpretation of the +Scriptures. + +The execution of such a project was, however, far from easy. It would +have been most unsafe for the emigrants to have divulged their true +designs, since these were not only unlawful, but would have been highly +offensive to the king, and yet they were too feeble to exist without the +protection of Great Britain, therefore it was necessary to secure for +themselves the rights of English subjects, and to throw some semblance +at least of the sanction of law over the organization of their new +state. Accordingly, a patent [Footnote: March 4, 1629.] was obtained +from the crown, by which twenty-five persons were incorporated under the +name of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England; +and as the extent of the powers therein granted has given rise to a +controversy which is not yet closed, it is necessary to understand the +nature of that instrument in order to comprehend the bearings of the +bitter strife which darkens the history of the first fifty years of the +colony. + +The germ of the written charter is so ancient as to be lost in +obscurity. During the Middle Ages, oppression was, speaking generally, +the accepted condition of society, no man not noble having the right +in theory, or the power in practice, to control his own actions without +interference from his feudal superior. Under such circumstances the +only hope for the weak was to combine, and most of the early triumphs +of freedom were won by combinations of commons against some noble, or +of nobles against a king. Organization is difficult for a peasantry, +but easy for burghers, and from the outset these seem to have united for +their common defense against the neighboring barons; and thus was born +the mediaeval guild. + +The ancient townsmen were not usually strong enough to fight for their +liberties, so they generally resorted to purchase; they agreed with +their lord upon a price to be paid for a privilege, and were given +for their money a grant, which, because it was written, was called a +charter. + +The following charter of the Merchants' Guild of Leicester is very early +and very simple. It presupposes that there could be no doubt about the +local customs, which are therefore not enumerated, and it shows that the +guild of Leicester existed as a corporation at the Conquest, and must +already have held property in succession and been liable to suit through +two reigns:-- + +"Robert, Earl of Mellent, to Ralph, and all his barons, French and +English, of all his land in England, greeting: Know ye, that I have +granted to my merchants of Leicester their Guild Merchant, with all +customs which they held in the time of King William, of King William his +son, and now hold in the time of Henry the king. + +"Witness: R., the son of Alcitil." + +The object of these ancient writings was only to record the fact +of corporate existence; the popular custom by which the guilds were +regulated was taken for granted; but obviously they must have had +succession, been liable to suit, able to contract, and, in a word, to +do all those acts which were afterward set forth. And such has uniformly +been the process by which English jurisprudence has been shaped; a usage +grows up that courts recognize, and, by their decisions, establish as +the common law; but judicial decisions are inflexible, and, as they +become antiquated, they are themselves modified by legislation. Lawyers +observed these customary companies for some centuries before they +learned what functions were universal; but, with the lapse of time, the +patents became more elaborate, until at length a voluminous grant of +each particular power was held necessary to create a new corporation. + +A merchants' guild, like the one of Leicester, was an association of +the townsmen for their common welfare. Every trader was then called a +merchant, and as almost every burgher lived by trade, and was also a +landowner, to the extent at least of his dwelling, it followed that the +guild practically included all free male inhabitants; the guild hall was +used as the town hall, the guild ordinances were the town ordinances, +and the corporation became the government of the borough, and as such +chose persons to represent it in Parliament, when summoned by the king's +writ to send burgesses to Westminster. + +London is a corporation by prescription and not by virtue of any +particular charter, and to this day its city hall is called by the +ancient name, Guild Hall. But with the growth of wealth and population +the original fraternity divided into craft organizations (so long +ago, indeed, that no record of its existence remains), and each trade +organized a guild, with a hall of its own; and thus it came to pass that +the twelve livery companies--the Mercers, the Grocers, the Goldsmiths, +the Drapers, the Fishmongers, and the rest--became the government of the +capital of England. + +All mediaeval institutions tended to aristocracy and monopoly, and, +accordingly, after the merchant guilds had split into these corporate +trade unions, boroughs waxed exclusive, and membership, instead of being +an incident of citizenship, grew to confer citizenship itself; thus the +franchise, being confined to freemen, and freedom or membership +having come to depend on birth, marriage, election, or purchase, the +constituencies which returned a majority of the House of Commons grew +so petty and corrupt as to threaten the existence of parliamentary +government itself, and the abuse at last culminated in the agitation +which produced the Reform Bill. + +When legal forms had taken shape, the land upon which a town stood was +not unusually granted to the mayor and commonalty by metes and bounds, +[Footnote: See Charter of Plymouth, granted 1439. _History of Plymouth_, +p. 50. The incorporation was by statute.] to them and their successors +forever, upon payment of a rent; and the mayor and common council were +empowered to make laws and ordinances for the local government, and to +fine, imprison, and sometimes whip and otherwise punish offenders, so +as their statutes, fines, pains, and penalties were reasonable and not +repugnant to law. [Footnote: _History of Tiverton_, App. 5.] The foreign +trading company was an offshoot of the guild, and was intended to +protect commerce. Obviously some such organization must have been +necessary, for, if property was insecure within the realm, it was far +more exposed without; and, indeed, in the fourteenth century, English +merchants domiciled on the Continent could hardly have been safer than +Europeans are now who garrison the so-called factories upon the coast of +Africa. + +At the Conquest, the Hanse merchants had a house in London, which +was afterward famous as the Steel Yard. They lived a strange life,--a +combination of that of the trader, the soldier, and the monk. Their +fortified warehouse, exposed to the attacks of the ferocious mob, was +occasionally taken and sacked; and the garrison shut up within was +subject to an iron discipline. They were forbidden to marry, no woman +passed the gates, nor did they ever sleep a night without the walls; +but, always on the watch, they lay in their cells ready to repulse +a storm. For many years these Germans seem to have monopolized the +carrying trade, for it was not till the thirteenth century that +Englishmen appear to have made an effort at competition. However, +about 1296 certain London mercers are said to have obtained a grant of +privileges from John, Duke of Brabant, and to have established a wool +market at Antwerp. [Footnote: Andersen's _History of Commerce_.] The +recognition of the Flemish government was of course necessary; but they +could hardly have maintained themselves without some support at home; +for, although their warehouse was abroad, they were English merchants, +and they must have relied upon English protection. No very early +documents remain; but an elaborate charter, granted by Edward IV. in +1463, proves that the corporation had then had a long legal existence. +[Footnote: Hakluyt's _Voyages_, i. 230.] The crown thereby confirmed +one Obrey, the governor, in his office during pleasure, with the wages +theretofore enjoyed; existing laws were approved; the governor and +merchants were empowered to elect twelve Justicers, who were to hold +courts for all merchants and mariners in those parts; and the company +was authorized to regulate the trade and control the traders, provided +no laws were passed contrary to the intent of that charter. + +Here, as in the Merchant Guild, the inevitable aristocratic revolution +took place, and the old democratic brotherhood became a strict monopoly. +The oppression was so flagrant that a petition was presented to +Parliament in 1497 against the exactions of the Merchant Adventurers, as +the association was then called, by which it appeared that interlopers, +trading to Holland and Flanders, were fined L40, whereas any subject +might have become a freeman in earlier times for an old noble, or about +6s. 8d.; [Footnote: 12 Henry VII. ch. vi.] and the scandal was so great +that the fine was fixed at 10 marks, or L6 l3s. 4d., by statute. +During the stagnation of the Middle Ages few traces of such commercial +enterprises are to be found, but with the sixteenth century Europe +awoke to a new life and thrilled with a new energy. Trade shared in +the impulse. In 1554 Philip and Mary incorporated the Russia Company in +regular modern form; in 1581 the Turkey Company was organized; in 1600 +the East India Company received its charter; and, to come directly to +what is material, in 1629 Charles I. signed the patent of the Governor +and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. + +Stripped of its verbiage, the provisions are simple. The stockholders, +or "freemen," as they were then called, were to meet once a quarter in a +"General Court." This General Court, or stockholders' meeting, chose the +officers, of which there were twenty, the governor, deputy governor, and +eighteen assistants or directors, on the last Wednesday in each Easter +Term. The assistants were intrusted with the business management, +and were to meet once a month or oftener; while the General Court was +empowered to admit freemen, and "to make laws and ordinances for +the good and welfare of the said company, and for the government and +ordering of the said lands and plantation, and the people inhabiting +and to inhabit the same, as to them from time to time shall be thought +meet,--so as such laws and ordinances be not contrary or repugnant +to the laws and statutes of this our realm of England." The criminal +jurisdiction was limited to the "imposition of lawful fines, mulcts, +imprisonment, or other lawful correction, according to the course of +other corporations in this our realm of England." + +The "course of corporations" referred to was well established. The +Master and Wardens of the Guild of Drapers in London, for example, +could make "such ... pains, punishments, and penalties, by corporal +punishment, or fines and amercements," ... "as shall seem ... +necessary," provided their statutes were reasonable and not contrary +to the laws of the kingdom. [Footnote: Herbert's _Livery Companies_, i. +489.] In like manner, boroughs such as Tiverton might "impose and +assess punishments by imprisonments, etc., and reasonable fines upon +offenders." [Footnote: See _History of Tiverton_, App. 5.] + +But all lawyers knew that such grants did not convey full civil or +criminal jurisdiction, which, when thought needful, was specially +conferred, as was done in the case of the East India Company upon their +petition in 1624, [Footnote: Bruce, _Annals_, i. 252.] and in that of +Massachusetts by the charter of William and Mary. + +Such was the undoubted theory, and evidently there must always have +been some practical means of checking the abuse of power by these strong +organizations. In semi-barbarous ages the sovereign took matters into +his own hands by seizing the franchise, and even the Plantagenets +repeatedly suspended or revoked the liberties of London,--often, no +doubt, for cause, but sometimes also to make money by a resale; and a +succession of these arbitrary forfeitures demonstrated that charters to +be of value must be beyond the grantor's control. Resort was had to the +courts, as a matter of course, and finally it was settled that relief +should be given by a writ of _quo warranto_, upon which the question of +the violation of privileges could be tried; and curious records still +remain of ancient litigations of this nature. + +In 1321 complaint was made against the London Weavers for injuring +the public by passing regulations tending to raise the price of cloth. +[Footnote: _Liber Customarum_, i. 416-424.] It was alleged that the +guild, with this intent, had limited the working hours in the day, the +working days in the year, and the number of apprentices the freemen +might employ; and the prayer was that for these abuses the charter +should be annulled. + +The cause was tried before a jury, who found the truth of some of the +charges; but the judgment is lost, as the roll is imperfect. + +There was danger, moreover, to the citizen from the oppression of these +powerful bodies, as well as to the public from their usurpations; and +were authority wholly wanting, argument would be almost unnecessary to +prove that some appellate tribunal must always have had jurisdiction +to pass upon the validity of corporate legislation; for otherwise any +summary punishment might have been inflicted upon an individual, though +notoriously unlawful, and the only redress possible would have been +subsequent proceedings to vacate the charter. + +Through appeals, corporations could be controlled; and by none was +this control so stubbornly disputed, or its necessity so clearly +demonstrated, as by the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in +New England. A good illustration is the trial of the Quaker, Wenlock +Christison, for his life in 1661. + +"William Leddra being thus dispatch'd, it was resolved to make an end +also of Wenlock Christison. He therefore was brought from the prison +to the court at Boston, where the governor John Indicot, and the deputy +governor Richard Billingham, being both present, it was told him, +'Unless you will renounce your religion, you shall surely die.' But +instead of shrinking, he said with an undaunted courage, 'Nay, I shall +not change my religion, nor seek to save my life; neither do I intend +to deny my Master; but if I lose my life for Christ's sake, and the +preaching of the gospel, I shall save my life.' ... John Indicot asked +him 'what he had to say for himself, why he should not die?' ... Then +Wenlock asked, 'By what law will you put me to death?' The answer was, +'We have a law, and by our law you are to die.' 'So said the Jews of +Christ,' (reply'd Wenlock) 'we have a law, and by our law he ought to +die. Who empowered you to make that law?' To which one of the board +answered, 'We have a patent, and are the patentees; judge whether we +have not power to make laws.' Hereupon Wenlock asked again, 'How, have +you power to make laws repugnant to the laws of England?' 'No,' said the +governor. 'Then,' (reply'd Wenlock,) 'you are gone beyond your bounds, +and have forfeited your patent; and that is more than you can answer.' +'Are you,' ask'd he, 'subjects to the king, yea or nay?' ... To which +one said, 'Yea, we are so.' 'Well,' said Wenlock, 'so am I.' ... +'Therefore seeing that you and I are subjects to the king, I demand to +be tried by the laws of my own nation.' It was answered, 'You shall be +tried by a bench and a jury.' For it seems they began to be afraid to go +on in the former course, of trial without a jury ... But Wenlock said, +'That is not the law, but the manner of it; for I never heard nor read +of any law that was in England to hang Quakers.' To this the governor +reply'd 'that there was a law to hang Jesuits.' To which Wenlock +return'd, 'If you put me to death, it is not because I go under the name +of a Jesuit, but of a Quaker. Therefore, I appeal to the laws of my own +nation.' But instead of taking notice of this, one said 'that he was +in their hands, and had broken their law, and they would try him.'" +[Footnote: Sewel, pp. 278, 279.] + +Yet, though the ecclesiastical party in Massachusetts obstinately +refused to admit appeals to the British judiciary up to the last +moment of their power, for the obvious reason that the existence of +the theocracy depended upon the enforcement of such legislation as that +under which the Quakers suffered, there was no principle in the whole +range of English jurisprudence more firmly established. By a statute of +Henry VI. passed in 1436, corporate enactments were to be submitted to +the judges for approval; and the Court of King's Bench always set aside +such as were bad, whenever the question of their validity was presented +for adjudication. [Footnote: Stat. 15 H. VI. ch. 6. Stat 19 H. VII. +ch. 7. Clark's Case, 5 Coke, 633, decided A. D. 1596. See Kyd on +Corporations, ii. 107-110, where authorities are collected. Child v. +Hudson Bay Co., 2 P. W. 207.] + +But discussion is futile; the proposition is self-evident, that an +association endowed with the capacity of acting like a single man, for +certain defined objects, which shall attempt other objects, or shall +seek to compass its ends by unlawful means, violates the condition upon +which its life has been granted, transcends the limits of its existence, +and forfeits its privileges; and that under such circumstances its +ordinances are void, and none are bound to yield them their obedience. + +Approached thus from the standpoint of legal history, no doubt can exist +concerning the scope of the franchise secured by the Puritans for the +Massachusetts colony. The instrument obtained from Charles I. embodied +certain of their number in an English corporation, whose only lawful +business was the American trade, as the business of the East India +Company was trade in Hindostan. To enable them to act effectively, a +tract of land in New England, between the Merrimack and the Charles, was +conveyed to them, as the soil upon which a town stood was conveyed to +the mayor and commonalty. Within this territory they were authorized to +established their plantations and forts, which they were empowered to +defend against attack, as the Hanse merchants defended the Steel Yard +in London. They were also permitted to govern the country within their +grant by reasonable regulations calculated to preserve the peace, and of +much the same character as the municipal ordinances of towns, subject, +of course, to judicial supervision. The corporation itself was created +subject to the municipal laws of England, and could have no existence +without the realm; and though perhaps even then the American wilderness +might have been held to belong to the British empire, it formed no part +of the kingdom, [Footnote: Blackstone's _Commentaries_, i. 109.] and was +altogether beyond the limits of that jurisdiction from whose customs +and statutes the life of this imaginary being sprang. Therefore, the +governing body could legally exercise its functions only when domiciled +in some English town. [Footnote: On this subject see the able paper of +Mr. Deane, in _Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings_, December, +1869, p. 166.] + +Sir Richard Sheldon, the solicitor-general, advised the king that he +was signing a charter containing "such ... clauses for ye electing of +Governors and Officers here in England, ... and powers to make lawes and +ordinances for setling ye governement and magistracye for ye plantacon +there, ... as ... are usuallie allowed to Corporacons in England." +[Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc._ 1869-70, p. 173.] And there can be +no question that his opinion was sound. + +Nothing can be imagined more ill-suited to serve as the organic law of +a new commonwealth than this instrument. No provision was made for +superior or probate courts, for a representative assembly, for the +incorporation of counties and towns, for police or taxation. In short, +hardly a step could be taken toward founding a territorial government +based upon popular suffrage without working a forfeiture of the charter +by abuse of the franchise. The colonists, it is true, afterward advanced +very different theories of construction; but that they were well aware +of their legal position is demonstrated by the fact that after some +hesitation from apprehension of consequences, they ventured on the +singularly bold and lawless measure of secretly removing their charter +to America and establishing their corporation in a land which they +thought would be beyond the process of Westminster Hall. [Footnote: +1629, Aug. 29.] The details of the settlement are related in many books, +and require only the briefest mention here. In 1628 an association of +gentlemen bought the tract of country lying between the Merrimack and +Charles from the Council of Plymouth, and sent Endicott to take charge +of their purchase. A royal patent was, however, thought necessary for +the protection of a large colony, and one having been obtained, the +Company of Massachusetts Bay was at once organized in England, Endicott +was appointed governor in America, and six vessels sailed during the +spring of 1629, taking out several hundred persons and a "plentiful +provision of godly ministers." In August the church of Salem was +gathered and Mr. Higginson was consecrated as their teacher. In that +same month Winthrop, Saltonstall, and others met at Cambridge and signed +an agreement binding themselves upon the faith of Christians to embark +for the plantation by the following March; "Provided always that before +the last of September next, the whole government, together with the +patent, ... be first by an order of court legally transferred and +established to remain with us and others which shall inhabite upon the +said plantation." [Footnote: _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. i. 28.] The +Company accepted the proposition, Winthrop was chosen governor, and he +anchored in Salem harbor in June. [Footnote: 1630] More than a thousand +settlers landed before winter, and the first General Court was held +at Boston in October; nor did the emigration thus begun entirely cease +until the meeting of the Long Parliament. + +From the beginning the colonists took what measures they thought proper, +without regarding the limitations of the law. Counties and towns had to +be practically incorporated, taxes were levied upon inhabitants, and +in 1634 all pretence of a General Court of freemen was dropped, and the +towns chose delegates to represent them, though the legislature was not +divided into two branches until ten years later. When the government had +become fully organized supreme power was vested in the General Court, a +legislature composed of two houses; the assistants, or magistrates, as +they were called, and the deputies. The governor, deputy governor, +and assistants were elected by a general vote; but each town sent two +deputies to Boston. + +For some years justice was dispensed by the magistrates according to +the Word of God, but gradually a judicial system was established; the +magistrate's local court was the lowest, from whence causes went +by appeal to the county courts, one of whose judges was always an +assistant, and probate jurisdiction was given to the two held at Ipswich +and at Salem. From the judgments entered here an appeal lay to the Court +of Assistants, and then to the General Court, which was the tribunal of +last resort. The clergy and gentry pertinaciously resisted the enactment +of a series of general statutes, upon which the people as steadily +insisted, until at length, in 1641, "The Body of Liberties" was approved +by the legislature. This compilation was the work of the Rev. Mr. Ward, +pastor of Ipswich, and contained a criminal code copied almost word for +word from the Pentateuch, but apart from matters touching religion, +the legislation was such as English colonists have always adopted. A +major-general was elected who commanded the militia, and in 1652 money +was coined. + +The social institutions, however, have a keener interest, for they +reflect that strong cast of thought which has stamped its imprint deep +into the character of so much of the American people. The seventeenth +century was aristocratic, and the inhabitants of the larger part of New +England were divided into three classes, the commonalty, the gentry, and +the clergy. Little need be said of the first, except that they were a +brave and determined race, as ready to fight as Cromwell's saints, who +made Rupert's troopers "as stubble to their swords;" that they were +intelligent, and would not brook injustice; and that they were resolute, +and would not endure oppression. All know that they were energetic and +shrewd. + +The gentry had the weight in the community that comes with wealth and +education, and they received the deference then paid to birth, for they +were for the most part the descendants of English country-gentlemen. As +a matter of course they monopolized the chief offices; and they were +not sentenced by the courts to degrading punishments, like whipping, for +their offences, as other criminals were. They even showed some wish at +the outset to create legal distinctions, such as a magistracy for +life, and a disposition to magnify the jurisdiction of the Court of +Assistants, whose seats they filled; but the action of the people was +determined though quiet, a chamber of deputies was chosen, and such +schemes were heard of no more. + +Yet notwithstanding the existence of this aristocratic element, the real +substance of influence and power lay with the clergy. It has been taught +as an axiom of Massachusetts history, that from the outset the town was +the social and political unit; but an analysis of the evidence tends +to show that the organization of the Puritan Commonwealth was +ecclesiastical, and the congregation, not the town, the basis upon which +the fabric rested. By the constitution of the corporation the +franchise went with the freedom of the company; but in order to form a +constituency which would support a sacerdotal oligarchy, it was enacted +in 1631 "that for time to come noe man shalbe admitted to the freedome +of this body polliticke, but such as are members of some of the churches +within ... the same." [Footnote: _Mass. Records_, i. 87.] Thus though +communicants were not necessarily voters, no one could be a voter who +was not a communicant; therefore the town-meeting was in fact nothing +but the church meeting, possibly somewhat attenuated, and called by a +different name. By this insidious statute the clergy seized the temporal +power, which they held till the charter fell. The minister stood at the +head of the congregation and moulded it to suit his purposes and to do +his will; for though he could not when opposed admit an inhabitant to +the sacrament, he could peremptorily exclude therefrom all those of whom +he disapproved, for "none are propounded to the congregation, except +they be first allowed by the elders." [Footnote: Winthrop's reply to +Vane, _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. i. 101.] In such a community the +influence of the priesthood must have been overwhelming. Not only in an +age without newspapers or tolerable roads were their sermons, preached +several times each week to every voter, the most effective of political +harangues; but, unlike other party orators, they were not forced to +stimulate the sluggish, or to convince the hostile, for from a people +glowing with fanaticism, each elder picked his band of devoted servants +of the church, men passionately longing to do the will of Christ, whose +commands concerning earth and heaven their pastor had been ordained +to declare. Nor was their power bounded by local limits; though +seldom holding office themselves, they were solemnly consulted by the +government on every important question that arose, whether of war +or peace, and their counsel was rarely disregarded. They gave their +opinion, no matter how foreign the subject might be to their profession +or their education; and they had no hesitation in passing upon the +technical construction of the charter with the authority of a bench +of judges. An amusing example is given by Winthrop: "The General Court +assembled again, and all the elders were sent for, to reconcile the +differences between the magistrates and deputies. When they were come +the first question put to them was, ... whether the magistrates are, +by patent and election of the people, the standing council of this +commonwealth in the vacancy of the General Court, and have power +accordingly to act in all cases subject to government, according to the +said patent and the laws of this jurisdiction; and when any necessary +occasions call for action from authority, in cases where there is no +particular express law provided, there to be guided by the word of God, +till the General Court give particular rules in such cases. The elders, +having received the question, withdrew themselves for consultation about +it, and the next day sent to know, when we would appoint a time that +they might attend the court with their answer. The magistrates and +deputies agreed upon an hour "and ... their answer was affirmative," on +the magistrates behalf, in the very words of the question, with some +reasons thereof. It was delivered in writing by Mr. Cotton in the name +of them all, they being all present, and not one dissentient." Then +the magistrates propounded four more questions, the last of which is +as follows: "Whether a judge be bound to pronounce such sentence as a +positive law prescribes, in case it be apparently above or beneath the +merit of the offence?" To which the elders replied at great length, +saying that the penalty must vary with the gravity of the crime, +and added examples: "So any sin committed with an high hand, as the +gathering of sticks on the Sabbath day, may be punished with death when +a lesser punishment may serve for gathering sticks privily and in some +need." [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 204, 205.] Yet though the clerical +influence was so unbounded the theocracy itself was exposed to constant +peril. In monarchies such as France or Spain the priests who rule the +king have the force of the nation at command to dispose of at their +will; but in Massachusetts a more difficult problem was presented, for +the voters had to be controlled. By the law requiring freemen to be +church-members the elders meant to grasp the key to the suffrage, but +experience soon proved that more stringent regulation was needed. + +According to the original Congregational theory each church was complete +and independent, and elected its own officers and conducted its own +worship, free from interference from without, except that others of the +same communion might offer advice or admonition. Under the theocracy +no such loose system was possible, for heresy might enter in three +different ways; first, under the early law, "blasphemers" might form +a congregation and from thence creep into the company; second, an +established church might fall into error; third, an unsound minister +might be chosen, who would debauch his flock by securing the admission +of sectaries to the sacrament. Above all, a creed was necessary by +means of which false doctrine might be instantly detected and condemned. +Accordingly, one by one, as the need for vigilance increased, laws were +passed to guard these points of danger. + +First, in 1635 it was enacted, [Footnote: 1635-6, March 3.] "Forasmuch +as it hath bene found by sad experience, that much trouble and +disturbance hath happened both to the church & civill state by the +officers & members of some churches, which have bene gathered ... in an +vndue manner ... it is ... ordered that ... this Court doeth not, +nor will hereafter, approue of any such companyes of men as shall +henceforthe ioyne in any pretended way of church fellowshipp, without +they shall first acquainte the magistrates, & the elders of the greater +parte of the churches in this jurisdiction, with their intenctions, and +have their approbaction herein. And ffurther, it is ordered, that noe +person, being a member of any churche which shall hereafter be gathered +without the approbaction of the magistrates, & the greater parte of the +said churches, shallbe admitted to the ffreedome of this commonwealthe." +[Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ i. 168.] + +In 1648 all the elders met in a synod at Cambridge; they adopted the +Westminster Confession of Faith and an elaborate "Platform of Church +Discipline," the last clause of which is as follows: "If any church +... shall grow schismatical, rending itself from the communion of other +churches, or shall walk incorrigibly and obstinately in any corrupt +way of their own contrary to the rule of the word; in such case the +magistrate, ... is to put forth his coercive power, as the matter shall +require." [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 5, ch. xvii. Section 9.] + +In 1658 the General Court declared: "Whereas it is the duty of the +Christian magistrate to take care the people be fed with wholesome +& sound doctrine, & in this houre of temptation, ... it is therefore +ordered, that henceforth no person shall ... preach to any company of +people, whither in church society or not, or be ordeyned to the office +of a teaching elder, where any two organnick churches, councill of +state, or Generall Court shall declare theire dissatisfaction thereat, +either in refference to doctrine or practize... and in case of +ordination... timely notice thereof shall be given unto three or +fower of the neighbouring organicke churches for theire approbation." +[Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ iv. pt. 1, p. 328.] And lastly, in 1679, the +building of meeting-houses was forbidden, without leave from the freemen +of the town or the General Court. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 213.] + +But legislation has never yet controlled the action of human thought. +All experience shows that every age, and every western nation, produces +men whose nature it is to follow the guidance of their reason in the +face of every danger. To exterminate these is the task of religious +persecution, for they can be silenced only by death. Thus is a dominant +priesthood brought face to face with the alternative, of surrendering +its power or of killing the heretic, and those bloody deeds that cast +their sombre shadow across the history of the Puritan Commonwealth +cannot be seen in their true bearing unless the position of the clergy +is vividly before the mind. + +Cromwell said that ministers were "helpers of, not lords over, God's +people," [Footnote: Cromwell to Dundass, letter cxlviii. Carlyle's +_Cromwell_, iii. 72.] but the orthodox New Englander was the vassal of +his priest. Winthrop was the ablest and the most enlightened magistrate +the ecclesiastical party ever had, and he tells us that "I honoured +a faithful minister in my heart and could have kissed his feet." +[Footnote: _Life and Letters of Winthrop_, i. 61.] If the governor of +Massachusetts and the leader of the emigration could thus describe his +moral growth,--a man of birth, education, and fortune, who had had wide +experience of life, and was a lawyer by profession,--the awe and terror +felt by the mass of the communicants can be imagined. + +Jonathan Mitchel, one of the most famous of the earlier divines, thus +describes his flock: "They were a gracious, savoury-spirited people, +principled by Mr. Shepard, liking an humbling, mourning, heart-breaking +ministry and spirit; living in religion, praying men and women." And "he +would speak with such a transcendent majesty and liveliness, that the +people ... would often shake under his dispensations, as if they had +heard the sound of the trumpets from the burning mountain, and yet they +would mourn to think, that they were going presently to be dismissed +from such an heaven upon earth." ... "When a publick admonition was to +be dispensed unto any one that had offended scandalously... the hearers +would be all drowned in tears, as if the admonition had been, as indeed +he would with much artifice make it be directed unto them all; but +such would be the compassion, and yet the gravity, the majesty, the +scriptural and awful pungency of these his dispensations, that the +conscience of the offender himself, could make no resistance thereunto." +[Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 4, ch. iv. Sub-section 9, 10.] + +Their arrogance was fed by the submission of the people, and they would +not tolerate the slightest opposition even from their most devoted +retainers. The Reforming Synod was held in 1679. "When the report of +a committee on 'the evils that had provoked the Lord' came up for +consideration, 'Mr. Wheelock declared that there was a cry of injustice +in that magistrates and ministers were not rated' (taxed), 'which +occasioned a very warm discourse. Mr. Stodder' (minister of Northampton) +'charged the deputy with saying what was not true, and the deputy +governor' (Danforth) 'told him he deserved to be laid by the heels, +etc.' + +"'After we broke up, the deputy and several others went home with Mr. +Stodder, and the deputy asked forgiveness of him and told him he freely +forgave him, but Mr. Stodder was high.' The next day 'the deputy owned +his being in too great a heat, and desired the Lord to forgive it, +and Mr. Stodder did something, though very little, by the deputy.'" +[Footnote: Palfrey's _History of New England_, in. 330, note 2. Extract +from _Journal_ of Rev. Peter Thacher.] Wheelock was lucky in not having +to smart more severely for his temerity, for the unfortunate Ursula Cole +was sentenced to pay L5 [Footnote: Five pounds was equivalent to a sum +between one hundred and twenty-five and one hundred and fifty dollars +now. Ursula was of course poor, or she would not have been sentenced to +be whipped. The fine was therefore extremely heavy.] or be whipped for +the lighter crime of saying "she had as lief hear a cat mew" [Footnote: +Frothingham, _History of Charlestown_, p. 208.] as Mr. Shepard preach. +The daily services in the churches consumed so much time that they +became a grievance with which the government was unable to cope. + +In 1633 the Court of Assistants, thinking "the keepeing of lectures att +the ordinary howres nowe obserued in the forenoone, to be dyvers wayes +preiudiciall to the common good, both in the losse of a whole day, & +bringing other charges & troubles to the place where the lecture is +kept," ordered that they should not begin before one o'clock. [Footnote: +_Mass. Rec._ i. 110.] The evil still continued, for only the next year +it was found that so many lectures "did spend too much time and proved +overburdensome," and they were reduced to two a week. [Footnote: Felt's +_Eccl. Hist._ i. 201.] Notwithstanding these measures, relief was not +obtained, because, as the legislature complained in 1639, lectures "were +held till night, and sometimes within the night, so as such as dwelt +far off could not get home in due season, and many weak bodies could +not endure so long, in the extremity of the heat or cold, without great +trouble and hazard of their health," [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 324.] and a +consultation between the elders and magistrates was suggested. + +But to have the delights of the pulpit abridged was more than the +divines could bear. They declared roundly that their privileges were +invaded; [Footnote: _Idem_, i. 325.] and the General Court had to give +way. A few lines in Winthrop's Journal give an idea of the tax this +loquacity must have been upon the time of a poor and scattered people. +"Mr. Hooker being to preach at Cambridge, the governor and many others +went to hear him.... He preached in the afternoon, and having gone on, +with much strength of voice and intention of spirit, about a quarter of +an hour, he was at a stand, and told the people that God had deprived +him both of his strength and matter, &c. and so went forth, and about +half an hour after returned again, and went on to very good purpose +about two hours." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 304.] Common men could not +have kept this hold upon the inhabitants of New England, but the clergy +were learned, resolute, and able, and their strong but narrow minds +burned with fanaticism and love of power; with their beliefs and under +their temptations persecution seemed to them not only their most potent +weapon, but a duty they owed to Christ--and that duty they unflinchingly +performed. John Cotton, the most gifted among them, taught it as a holy +work: "But the good that is brought to princes and subjects by the +due punishment of apostate seducers and idolaters and blasphemers is +manifold. + +"First, it putteth away evill from the people and cutteth off a +gangreene, which would spread to further ungodlinesse.... + +"Secondly, it driveth away wolves from worrying and scattering the sheep +of Christ. For false teachers be wolves, ... and the very name of wolves +holdeth forth what benefit will redound to the sheep, by either killing +them or driving them away. + +"Thirdly, such executions upon such evill doers causeth all the country +to heare and feare, and doe no more such wickednesse.... Yea as these +punishments are preventions of like wickednesse in some, so are they +wholesome medicines, to heale such as are curable of these eviles.... + +"Fourthly, the punishments executed upon false prophets and seducing +teachers, doe bring downe showers of God's blessings upon the civill +state.... + +"Fifthly, it is an honour to God's Justice that such judgments are +executed...." [Footnote: _Bloody Tenent Washed_, pp. 137, 138.] + +All motives combined to drive them headlong into cruelty; for in the +breasts of the larger number, even the passion of bigotry was cool +beside the malignant hate they felt for those whose opinions menaced +their earthly power and dominion; and they never wearied of exhorting +the magistrates to destroy the enemies of the church. "Men's lusts are +sweet to them, and they would not be disturbed or disquieted in their +sin. Hence there be so many such as cry up tolleration boundless and +libertinism so as (if it were in their power) to order a total and +perpetual confinement of the sword of the civil magistrate unto its +scabbard; (a notion that is evidently distructive to this people, and +to the publick liberty, peace, and prosperity of any instituted churches +under heaven.)" [Footnote: _Eye Salve_, Election Sermon, by Mr. Shepard +of Charlestown, p. 21.] "Let the magistrates coercive power in matters +of religion (therefore) be still asserted, seing he is one who is bound +to God more than any other men to cherish his true religion; ... and +how wofull would the state of things soon be among us, if men might have +liberty without controll to profess, or preach, or print, or publish +what they list, tending to the seduction of others." [Footnote: _Eye +Salve_, p. 38.] Such feelings found their fit expression in savage laws +against dissenting sects; these, however, will be dealt with hereafter; +only those which illustrate the fundamental principles of the theocracy +need be mentioned here. One chief cause of schism was the hearing of +false doctrine; and in order that the people might not be led into +temptation, but might on the contrary hear true exposition of the word, +every inhabitant was obliged to attend the services of the established +church upon the Lord's day under a penalty of fine or imprisonment; +the fine not to exceed 5s. (equal to about $5 now) for every absence. +[Footnote: 1634-35, 4 March. _Mass. Rec._ i. 140.] + +"If any Christian so called ... shall contemptuously behave himselfe +toward ye word preached, or ye messengers thereof called to dispence ye +same in any congregation, ... or like a sonn of Corah cast upon his true +doctrine or himselfe any reproach ... shall for ye first scandole be +convented ... and bound to their good behaviour; and if a second time +they breake forth into ye like contemptuous carriages, either to pay +L5 to ye publike treasury or to stand two houres openly upon a block 4 +foote high, on a lecture day, with a pap fixed on his breast with this, +A Wanton Gospeller, written in capitall letters ye others may fear & +be ashamed of breaking out into the like wickednes." [Footnote: 1646, 4 +Nov. _Mass. Rec._ ii. 179.] + +"Though no humane power be Lord over ye faith & consciences of men +and therefore may not constraine ym to beleeve or profes against their +conscience, yet because such as bring in damnable heresies tending to ye +subversion of ye Christian faith ... ought duely to be restrained from +such notorious impiety, if any Christian ... shall go about to subvert +... ye Christian faith, by broaching ... any damnable heresy, as deniing +ye immortality of ye soule, or ye resurrection of ye body, or any sinn +to be repented of in ye regenerate, or any evill done by ye outward man +to be accounted sinn, or deniing yt Christ gave himselfe a ransome for +or sinns ... or any other heresy of such nature & degree ... shall pay +to ye common treasury during ye first six months 20s. a month and for +ye next six months 40s. p. m., and so to continue dureing his obstinacy; +and if any such person shall endeavour to seduce others ... he shall +forfeit ... for every severall offence ... five pounds." [Footnote: +1646, 4 Nov. _Mass. Rec._ ii. 177.] + +"For ye honnor of ye aetaernall God, whome only wee worshippp and +serve," (it is ordered that) "no person within this jurisdiction, +whether Christian or pagan, shall wittingly and willingly presume to +blaspheme his holy name either by wilfull or obstinate denying ye true +God, or reproach ye holy religion of God, as if it were but a polliticke +devise to keepe ignorant men in awe, ... or deny his creation or +gouvernment of ye world, or shall curse God, or shall vtter any other +eminent kind of blasphemy, of ye like nature and degree; if any person +or persons whatsoeuer within our jurisdiction shall breake this lawe +they shall be putt to death." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ iii.98.] + +The special punishments for Antinomians, Baptists, Quakers, and other +sectaries were fine and imprisonment, branding, whipping, mutilation, +banishment, and hanging. Nor were the elders men to shrink from +executing these laws with the same ferocious spirit in which they +were enacted. Remonstrance and command were alike neglected. The Long +Parliament warned them to beware; Charles II. repeatedly ordered them to +desist; their trusted and dearest friend, Sir Richard Saltonstall, wrote +from London to Cotton: "It doth not a little grieve my spirit to heare +what sadd things are reported dayly of your tyranny and persecution +in New England, as that you fyne, whip, and imprison men for their +consciences," [Footnote: _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. ii. 127.] and +told them their "rigid wayes have laid you very lowe in the hearts of +the saynts." Thirteen of the most learned and eminent nonconforming +ministers in England wrote to the governor of Massachusetts imploring +him that he and the General Court would not by their violence "put +an advantage into the hands of some who seek pretences and occasions +against our liberty." [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 7, ch. iv. section 4.] +Winthrop, the wisest and ablest champion the clergy ever had, hung back. +Like many another political leader, he was forced by his party into +measures from which his judgment and his heart recoiled. He tells +us how, on a question arising between him and Mr. Haynes, the elders +"delivered their several reasons which all sorted to this conclusion, +that strict discipline, both in criminal offences and in martial +affairs, was more needful in plantations than in a settled state, as +tending to the honor and safety of the gospel. Whereupon Mr. Winthrop +acknowledged that he was convinced that he had failed in over much +lenity and remissness, and would endeavor (by God's assistance) to take +a more strict course thereafter." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 178.] But +his better nature revolted from the foul task and once more regained +ascendancy just as he sunk in death. For while he was lying very sick, +Dudley came to his bedside with an order to banish a heretic: "No," said +the dying man, "I have done too much of that work already," and he would +not sign the warrant. [Footnote: _Life and Letters of Winthrop_, ii. +393.] + +Nothing could avail, for the clergy held the state within their grasp, +and shrank from no deed of blood to guard the interests of their order. + +The case of Gorton may serve as an example of a rigor that shocked even +the Presbyterian Baillie; it must be said in explanation of his story +that the magistrates condemned Gorton and his friends to death for the +crime of heresy in obedience to the unanimous decision of the elders, +[Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 146.] but the deputies refusing to concur, the +sentence of imprisonment in irons during the pleasure of the General +Court was agreed upon as a compromise. "Only they in New England are +more strict and rigid than we, or any church, to suppress, by the +power of the magistrate, all who are not of their way, to banishment +ordinarily and presently even to death lately, or perpetual slavery; for +one Jortin, sometime a famous citizen here for piety, having taught +a number in New England to cast oft the word and sacrament, and deny +angels and devils, and teach a gross kind of union with Christ in this +life, by force of arms was brought to New Boston, and there with ten of +the chief of his followers, by the civil court was discerned perpetual +slaves, but the votes of many were for their execution. They lie in +irons, though gentlemen; and out of their prison write to the admiral +here, to deal with the parliament for their deliverance." [Footnote: +Baillie's Letters, ii. 17, 18.] + +Like all phenomena of nature, the action of the mind is obedient to law; +the cause is followed by the consequence with the precision that the +earth moves round the sun, and impelled by this resistless power his +destiny is wrought out by man. To the ecclesiastic a deep debt of +gratitude is due, for it was by his effort that the first step from +barbarism was made. In the world's childhood, knowledge seems divine, +and those who first acquire its rudiments claim, and are believed, to +have received it by revelation from the gods. In an archaic age the +priest is likewise the law-giver and the physician, for all erudition +is concentrated in one supremely favored class--the sacred caste. Their +discoveries are kept profoundly secret, and yet to perpetuate their +mysteries among their descendants they found schools which are the only +repositories of learning; but the time must inevitably come when this +order is transformed into the deadliest enemy of the civilization which +it has brought into being. The power of the spiritual oligarchy rests +upon superstitious terrors which dwindle before advancing enlightenment; +hence the clergy have become reactionary, have sought to stifle the +spirit of free inquiry, and have used the schools which they have +builded as instruments to keep alive unreasoning prejudice, or to serve +their selfish ends. This, then, has been the fiercest battle of mankind; +the heroic struggle to break down the sacerdotal barrier, to popularize +knowledge, and to liberate the mind, began ages before the crucifixion +upon Calvary; it still goes on. In this cause the noblest and the +bravest have poured forth their blood like water, and the path to +freedom has been heaped with the corpses of her martyrs. + +In that tremendous drama Massachusetts has played her part; it may be +said to have made her intellectual life; and it is the passion of the +combat which gives an interest at once so sombre and so romantic to her +story. + +In the tempest of the Reformation a handful of the sternest rebels were +cast upon the bleak New England coast, and the fervor of that devotion +which led them into the wilderness inspired them with the dream of +reproducing the institutions of God's chosen people, a picture of which +they believed was divinely preserved for their guidance in the Bible. +What they did in reality was to surrender their new commonwealth to +their priests. Yet they were a race in whose bone and blood the spirit +of free thought was bred; the impulse which had goaded them to reject +the Roman dogmas was quick within them still, and revolt against the +ecclesiastical yoke was certain. The clergy upon their side trod their +appointed path with the precision of machines, and, constrained by an +inexorable destiny, they took that position of antagonism to liberal +thought which has become typical of their order. And the struggles and +the agony by which this poor and isolated community freed itself from +its gloomy bondage, the means by which it secularized its education and +its government, won for itself the blessing of free thought and speech, +and matured a system of constitutional liberty which has been the +foundation of the American Union, rise in dignity to one of the supreme +efforts of mankind. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ANTINOMIANS. + + +Habit may be defined with enough accuracy for ordinary purposes as the +result of reflex action, or the immediate response of the nerves to +a stimulus, without the intervention of consciousness. Many bodily +functions are naturally reflex, and most movements may be made so by +constant repetition; they are then executed independently of the will. +It is no exaggeration to say that the social fabric rests on the control +this tendency exerts over the actions of men; and its strength is +strikingly exemplified in armies, which, when well organized, +are machines, wherein subjection to command is instinctive, and +insubordination, therefore, practically impossible. + +An analogous phenomenon is presented by the church, whose priests have +intuitively exhausted their ingenuity in weaving webs of ceremonial, as +soldiers have directed their energies to perfecting manuals of arms; +and the evidence leads to the conclusion that increasing complexity of +ritual indicates a densening ignorance and a deepening despotism. The +Hindoos, the Spaniards, and the English are types of the progression. + +Within the historic ages unnumbered methods of sacerdotal discipline +have been evolved, but whether the means used to compass the end has +been the bewildering maze of a Levitical code, or the rosary and the +confessional of Rome, the object has always been to reduce the devotee +to the implicit obedience of the trooper. And the stupendous power of +these amazingly perfect systems for destroying the capacity for original +thought cannot be fully realized until the mind has been brought to +dwell upon the fact that the greatest eras of human progress have begun +with the advent of those who have led successful insurrection; nor can +the dazzling genius of these brilliant exceptions be appreciated, unless +it be remembered how infinitely small has been the number of those among +mankind who, having been once drilled to rigid conformity, have not +lapsed into automatism, but have been endowed with the mental energy to +revolt. On the other hand, though ecclesiastics have differed widely in +the details of the training they have enforced upon the faithful, they +have agreed upon this cardinal principle: they have uniformly seized +upon the education of the young, and taught the child to revere the +rites in which he was made to partake before he could reason upon their +meaning, for they understood well that the habit of abject submission +to authority, when firmly rooted in infancy, would ripen into a second +nature in after years, and would almost invariably last till death. + +But this manual of religion, this deadening of the soul by making +mechanical prayers and genuflexions the gauge of piety, has always +roused the deepest indignation in the great reformers; and, un-appalled +by the most ghastly perils, they have never ceased to exhort mankind to +cast off the slavery of custom and emancipate the mind. Christ rebuked +the Pharisees because they rejected the commandment of God to keep their +own tradition; Paul proclaimed that men should be justified by faith +without the deeds of the law; and Luther preached that the Christian +was free, that the soul did not live because the body wore vestments or +prayed with the lips, and he denounced the tyranny of the clergy, who +arrogated to themselves a higher position than others who were Christian +in the spirit. On their side priesthoods know these leaders of rebellion +by an unerring instinct and pursue them to the death. + +The ministers of New England were formalists to the core, and the +society over which they dominated was organized upon the avowed basis of +the manifestation of godliness in the outward man. The sad countenance, +the Biblical speech, the sombre garb, the austere life, the attendance +at worship, and, above all, the unfailing deference paid to themselves, +were the marks of sanctification by which the elders knew the saints +on earth, for whom they were to open the path to fortune by making them +members of the church. + +Happily for Massachusetts, there has never been a time when all her +children could be docile under such a rule; and, among her champions of +freedom, none have been braver than those who have sprung from the ranks +of her ministry, as the fate of Roger Williams had already proved. In +such a community, before the ecclesiastical power had been solidified by +time, only a spark was needed to kindle a conflagration, and that spark +was struck by a woman. + +So early as 1634 a restless spirit was abroad, for Winthrop was then set +aside, and now, in 1636, young Henry Vane was enthusiastically elected +governor, though he was only twenty-four, and had been but a few months +in the colony. The future seemed bright and serene, yet he had hardly +taken office before the storm burst, which not only overthrew him, but +was destined to destroy that unhappy lady whom the Rev. Thomas Welde +called the American Jezebel. [Footnote: Opinions are divided as to the +authorship of the _Short Story_, but I conclude from internal evidence +that the ending at least was written by Mr. Welde.] + +John Cotton, the former rector of St. Botolph's, was the teacher of the +Boston church. By common consent the leader of the clergy, he was the +most brilliant, and, in some respects, the most powerful man in the +colony. Two years before, Anne Hutchinson, with all her family, had +followed him from her home in Lincolnshire into the wilderness, for, +"when our teacher came to New England, it was a great trouble unto me, +my brother, Wheelwright, being put by also." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist_. +ii. 440.] A gentlewoman of spotless life, with a kind and charitable +heart, a vigorous understanding and dauntless courage, her failings were +vanity and a bitter tongue toward those whom she disliked. [Footnote: +Cotton, _Way of New England Churches_, p. 52.] Unfortunately also for +herself, she was one of the enthusiasts who believe themselves subject +to divine revelations, for this pretension would probably in any event +have brought upon her the displeasure of the church. It is worth +while to attempt some logical explanation of the dislike felt by +the Massachusetts elders to any suggestion of such supernatural +interposition. The half-unconscious train of reasoning on which they +based their claim to exact implicit obedience from the people seems, +when analyzed, to yield this syllogism: All revelation is contained in +the Bible; but to interpret the ancient sacred writings with authority, +a technical training is essential, which is confined to priests; +therefore no one can define God's will who is not of the ministry. Had +the possibility of direct revelation been admitted this reasoning must +have fallen; for then, obviously, the word of an inspired peasant +would have outweighed the sermon of an uninspired divine; it follows, +necessarily, that ecclesiastics so situated would have been jealous of +lay preaching, and absolutely intolerant of the inner light. + +In May, 1636, the month of Vane's election, Mrs. Hutchinson had been +joined by her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright, the deprived vicar +of Bilsby. Her social influence was then at its height; her amiable +disposition had made her popular, and for some time past she had held +religious meetings for women at her house. The ostensible object of +these gatherings was to recapitulate the sermons of the week; but the +step from discussion to criticism was short, and it soon began to be +said that she cast reproach "upon the ministers, ... saying that none of +them did preach the covenant of free grace, but Master Cotton, and that +they have not the seale of the Spirit, and so were not able ministers +of the New Testament." [Footnote: _Short Story_, p. 36.] Or, to use +colloquial language, she accused the clergy of being teachers of forms, +and said that, of them all, Cotton alone appealed to the animating +spirit like Luther or St. Paul. + +"A company of legall professors," quoth she, "lie poring on the law +which Christ hath abolished." [Footnote: _Wonder-Working Providence_, +Poole's ed. p. 102.] + +Such freedom of speech was, of course, intolerable; and so, as Cotton +was implicated by her imprudent talk, the elders went to Boston in +a body in October to take him to task. In the hope of adjusting the +difficulty, he suggested a friendly meeting at his house, and an +interview took place. At first Mrs. Hutchinson, with much prudence, +declined to commit herself; but the Rev. Hugh Peters besought her so +earnestly to deal frankly and openly with them that she, confiding in +the sacred character of a confidential conversation with clergymen in +the house of her own religious teacher, committed the fatal error of +admitting that she saw a wide difference between Mr. Cotton's ministry +and theirs, and that they could not preach a covenant of grace so +clearly as he, because they had not the seal of the Spirit. The progress +of the new opinion was rapid, and it is clear Mrs. Hutchinson had only +given expression to a feeling of discontent which was both wide-spread +and deep. Before winter her adherents, or those who condemned the +covenant of works,--in modern language, the liberals,--had become an +organized political party, of which Vane was the leader; and here lay +their first danger. + +Notwithstanding his eminent ability, he was then but a boy, and the task +was beyond his strength. The stronghold of his party was Boston, +where, except some half-dozen, [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 212.] the whole +congregation followed him and Cotton: yet even here he met with the +powerful opposition of Winthrop and the pastor, John Wilson. In the +country he was confronted by the solid body of the clergy, whose +influence proved sufficient to hold together a majority of the voters +in substantially all the towns, so that the conservatives never lost +control of the legislature. + +The position was harassing, and his nerves gave way under the strain. +In December he called a court and one day suddenly announced that he had +received letters from England requiring his immediate return; but +when some of his friends remonstrated he "brake forth into tears and +professed that, howsoever the causes propounded for his departure were +such as did concern the utter ruin of his outward estate, yet he would +rather have hazarded all" ... "but for the danger he saw of God's +judgment to come upon us for these differences and dissensions which he +saw amongst us, and the scandalous imputations brought upon himself, as +if he should be the cause of all." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 207.] + +Such a flight was out of the question. The weight of his name and the +protection given his supporters by the power of his family in England +could not be dispensed with, and therefore the Boston congregation +intervened. After a day's reflection he seems himself to have become +convinced that he had gone too far to recede, so he "expressed himself +to be an obedient child to the church and therefore ... durst not go +away." [Footnote: _Idem_, i. 208.] + +That a young and untried man like Vane should have grown weary of his +office and longed to escape will astonish no one who is familiar with +the character and the mode of warfare of his adversaries. + +In that society a layman could not retort upon a minister who insulted +him, nor could Vane employ the arguments with which Cromwell so +effectually silenced the Scotch divines. The following is a specimen of +the treatment to which he was probably almost daily subjected, and the +scene in this instance was the more mortifying because it took place +before the assembled legislature. + +"The ministers had met a little before and had drawn into heads all the +points wherein they suspected Mr. Cotton did differ from them, and had +propounded them to him, and pressed him to a direct answer ... to every +one; which he had promised. ... This meeting being spoke of in the court +the day before, the governour took great offence at it, as being without +his privity, &c., which this day Mr. Peter told him as plainly of (with +all due reverence), and how it had sadded the ministers' spirits, +that he should be jealous of their meetings, or seem to restrain their +liberty, &c. The governour excused his speech as sudden and upon a +mistake. Mr. Peter told him also, that before he came, within less than +two years since, the churches were in peace.... Mr. Peter also besought +him humbly to consider his youth and short experience in the things of +God, and to beware of peremptory conclusions which he perceived him to +be very apt unto." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 209.] This coarse bully was +the same Hugh Peters of whom Whitelock afterward complained that he +often advised him, though he "understood little of the law, but was very +opinionative," [Footnote: Memorials, p. 521.] and who was so terrified +at the approach of death that on his way to the scaffold he had to drink +liquor to keep from fainting. [Footnote: Burnet, i. 162.] + +"Mr. Wilson" also "made a very sad speech to the General Court of the +condition of our churches, and the inevitable danger of separation, if +these differences ... were not speedily remedied, and laid the blame +upon these new opinions ... which all the magistrates except the +governour and two others did confirm and all the ministers but two." +[Footnote: Winthrop, i. 209.] Those two were John Cotton and John +Wheelwright, the preachers of the covenant of grace. + +Their brethren might well make sad speeches, for their cup of bitterness +was full; but they must be left to describe for themselves the tempest +of fear and wrath that raged within them. "Yea, some that had beene +begotten to Christ by some of their faithfull labours in this land" +(England, where the tract was published,) "for whom they could have laid +downe their lives, and not being able to beare their absence followed +after them thither to New England to enjoy their labours, yet these +falling acquainted with those seducers, were suddenly so altered in +their affections toward those their spirituall fathers, that they would +neither heare them, nor willingly come in their company, professing they +had never received any good from them." ... "Now the faithfull ministers +of Christ must have dung cast on their faces ... must be pointed at as +it were with the finger, and reproached by name, such a church officer +is an ignorant man, and knows not Christ; such an one is under a +covenant of works: such a pastor is a proud man, and would make a good +persecutor ... so that through these reproaches occasion was given to +men, to abhorre the offerings of the Lord." [Footnote: Welde's _Short +Story_, Pref. Sections 7-11.] + +"Now, one of them in a solemne convention of ministers dared to say to +their faces, that they did not preach the Covenant of Free Grace, and +that they themselves had not the seale of the Spirit.... Now, after our +sermons were ended at our publike lectures, you might have seene halfe +a dozen pistols discharged at the face of the preacher (I meane) so +many objections made by the opinionists in the open assembly against our +doctrine ... to the marvellous weakening of holy truths delivered ... +in the hearts of all the weaker sort." [Footnote: Welde's _Short Story_, +Pref. Sections 7-11.] + +John Wheelwright was a man whose character extorts our admiration, if it +does not win our love. The personal friend of Cromwell and of Vane, with +a mind vigorous and masculine, and a courage stern and determined even +above the Puritan standard of resolution and of daring, he spoke +the truth which was within him, and could neither be intimidated nor +cajoled. In October an attempt had been made to have him settled as a +teacher of the Boston church in conjunction with Wilson and Cotton, but +it had miscarried through Winthrop's opposition, and he had afterward +taken charge of a congregation that had been gathered at Mount +Wollaston, in what is now Quincy. + +On the 19th of January a fast was held on account of the public +dissensions, and on that day Wheelwright preached a great sermon +in Boston which brought on the crisis. He was afterward accused of +sedition: the charge was false, for he did not utter one seditious word; +but he did that which was harder to forgive, he struck at what he deemed +the wrong with his whole might, and those who will patiently pore over +his pages until they see the fire glowing through his rugged sentences +will feel the power of his blow. And what he told his hearers was in +substance this: It maketh no matter how seemingly holy men be according +to the law, if ... they are such as trust to their own righteousness +they shall die, saith the Lord. Do ye not after their works; for they +say and do not. They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the +borders of their garments; and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and +the chief seats in the synagogues; and greetings in the market place and +to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, +and ye shall be saved, for being justified by faith we have peace with +God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And the way we must take if so be we +will not have the Lord Jesus Christ taken from us is this, we must all +prepare a spiritual combat, we must put on the whole armor of God, and +must have our loins girt up and be ready to fight, ... because of fear +in the night if we will not fight the Lord Jesus Christ may come to be +surprised. + +And when his brethren heard it they sought how they might destroy him; +for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his +doctrine. + +In March the legislature met, and Wheelwright was arraigned before a +court composed, according to the account of the Quaker Groom, of Henry +Vane, "twelve magistrates, twelve priests, & thirty-three deputies." +[Footnote: Groom's Glass for New England, p. 6.] His sermon was +produced, and an attempt was made to obtain an admission that by those +under a covenant of works he meant his brethren. But the accused was +one whom it was hard to entrap and impossible to frighten. He defied +his judges to controvert his doctrine, offering to prove it by the +Scriptures, and as for the application he answered that "if he were +shown any that walked in such a way as he had described to be a covenant +of works, them did he mean." [Footnote: Wheelwright, Prince Soc. ed. p. +17, note 27.] Then the rest of the elders were asked if they "did walk +in such a way, and they all acknowledged they did," [Footnote: Winthrop, +i. 215. Wheelwright, p. 18.] excepting John Cotton, who declared that +"brother Wheelwright's doctrine was according to God in the parts +controverted, and wholly and altogether." [Footnote: Groom's _Glass for +New England_, p. 7.] He received ecclesiastical justice. There was no +jury, and the popular assembly that decided law and fact by a partisan +vote was controlled by his adversaries. Yet even so, a verdict of +sedition was such a flagrant outrage that the clergy found it impossible +to command prompt obedience. For two days the issue was in doubt, but at +length "the priests got two of the magistrates on their side, and so +got the major part with them." [Footnote: Felt's _Eccl. Hist._ ii. 611.] +They appear, however, to have felt too weak to proceed to sentence, for +the prisoner was remanded until the next session. + +No sooner was the judgment made known than more than sixty of the +most respected citizens of Boston signed a petition to the court in +Wheelwright's behalf, In respectful and even submissive language they +pointed out the danger of meddling with the right of free speech. +"Paul was counted a pestilent fellow, or a moover of sedition, and a +ringleader of a sect, ... and Christ himselfe, as well as Paul, was +charged to bee a teacher of New Doctrine.... Now wee beseech you, +consider whether that old serpent work not after his old method, even in +our daies." [Footnote: Wheelwright, Prince Soc. ed. p. 21.] + +The charge of sedition made against them they repudiated in emphatic +words, which deserve attention, as they were afterwards held to be +criminal. + +"Thirdly, if you look at the effects of his doctrine upon the hearers, +it hath not stirred up sedition in us, not so much as by accident; wee +have not drawn the sword, as sometimes Peter did, rashly, neither +have wee rescued our innocent brother, as sometimes the Israelites did +Jonathan, and yet they did not seditiously. The covenant of free +grace held forth by our brother hath taught us rather to become humble +suppliants to your worships, and if wee should not prevaile, wee would +rather with patience give our cheekes to the smiters." [Footnote: +_Idem_.] + +The liberal feeling ran so strongly in Boston that the conservatives +thought it prudent to remove the government temporarily to Cambridge, +that they might more easily control the election which was to come in +May. Vane, with some petulance, refused to entertain the motion; but +Endicott put the question, and it was carried. As the time drew near the +excitement increased, the clergy straining every nerve to bring up their +voters from the country; and on the morning of the day the feeling was +so intense that the Rev. Mr. Wilson, forgetting his dignity and his +age, scrambled up a tree and harangued the people from its branches. +[Footnote: Hutch. _Hist_. i. 62, note.] + +Yet, though the freemen were so deeply moved, there was no violence, +and Winthrop was peaceably elected governor, with a strong conservative +majority in the legislature. It so happened that just at this time a +number of the friends of Wheelwright and the Hutchinsons were on their +way from England to settle in Massachusetts. The first act of the new +government was to exclude these new-comers by passing a law forbidding +any town to entertain strangers for more than three weeks without the +consent of two of the magistrates. + +This oppressive statute caused such discontent that Winthrop thought +it necessary to publish a defence, to which Vane replied and Winthrop +rejoined. The controversy would long since have lost its interest had +it not been for the theory then first advanced by Winthrop, that the +corporation of Massachusetts, having bought its land, held it as though +it were a private estate, and might exclude whom they pleased therefrom; +and ever since this plea has been set up in justification of every +excess committed by the theocracy. + +Winthrop was a lawyer, and it is but justice to his reputation to +presume that he spoke as a partisan, knowing his argument to be +fallacious. As a legal proposition he must have been aware that it was +unsound. + +Although during the reign of Charles I. monopolies were a standing +grievance with the House of Commons, yet they had been granted and +enforced for centuries; and had Massachusetts claimed the right to +exclude strangers as interlopers in trade, she would have stood upon +good precedent. Such, however, was not her contention. The legislation +against the friends of Wheelwright was passed avowedly upon grounds of +religious difference of opinion, and a monopoly in religion was unknown. + +Her commercial privileges alone were exclusive, and, provided he +respected them, a British subject had the same right to dwell in +Massachusetts as in any of the other dominions of the crown, or, indeed, +in any borough which held its land by grant, like Plymouth. To subject +Englishmen to restriction or punishment unknown to English law was as +outrageous as the same act would have been had it been perpetrated by +the city of London,--both corporations having a like power to preserve +the peace by local ordinances, and both being controlled by the law of +the land as administered by the courts. Such arguments as those advanced +by Winthrop were only solemn quibbling to cloak an indefensible policy. +To banish freemen for demanding liberty of conscience was a still more +flagrant wrong. A precisely parallel case would have been presented had +the directors of the East India Company declared the membership of a +proprietor to be forfeited, and ordered his stock to be sold, because he +disapproved of enforcing conformity in worship among inhabitants of the +factories in Hindostan. + +Vane sailed early in August, and his departure cleared the last barrier +from the way of vengeance. Proceedings were at once begun by a synod +of all the ministers, which was held at Cambridge, for the purpose of +restoring peace to the churches. "There were about eighty opinions, some +blasphemous, others erroneous, and all unsafe, condemned by the whole +assembly.... Some of the church of Boston ... were offended at the +producing of so many errors, ... and called to have the persons named +which held those errors." To which the elders answered that all those +opinions could be proved to be held by some, but it was not thought +fit to name the parties. "Yet this would not satisfy some but they oft +called for witnesses; and because some of the magistrates declared +to them ... that if they would not forbear it would prove a civil +disturbance ... they objected.... So as he" (probably meaning Winthrop) +"was forced to tell one of them that if he would not forbear ... he +might see it executed. Upon this some of Boston departed from the +assembly and came no more." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 238.] Once freed +from their repinings all went well, and their pastor, Mr. Wilson, soon +had the satisfaction of sending their reputed heresies "to the devil +of hell from whence they came." [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 3, ch. ii. +Section 13.] Cotton, seeing that all was lost, hastened to make his +peace by a submission which the Rev. Mr. Hubbard of Ipswich describes +with unconscious cynicism. "If he were not convinced, yet he was +persuaded to an amicable compliance with the other ministers; ... for, +although it was thought he did still retain his own sense and enjoy his +own apprehension in all or most of the things then controverted (as is +manifest by some expressions of his ... since that time published,"...) +yet. "By that means did that reverend and worthy minister of the gospel +recover his former splendour throughout ... New England." [Footnote: +Hubbard, p. 302.] + +He was not a sensitive man, and having once determined to do penance, +he was far too astute a politician to do it by halves; he not only gave +himself up to the task of detecting the heterodoxy of his old friends, +[Footnote: Winthrop, i. 253.] but on a day of solemn fasting he publicly +professed repentance with many tears, and told how, "God leaving him for +a time, he fell into a spirituall slumber; and had it not been for the +watchfulnesse of his brethren, the elders, &c., hee might have slept on, +... and was very thankfull to his brethren for their watchfulnesse over +him." [Footnote: _Hypocrisie Unmasked_, p. 76.] Nor to the end of his +life did he feel quite at ease; "yea, such was his ingenuity and piety +as that his soul was not satisfied without often breaking forth into +affectionate bewailing of his infirmity herein, in the publick assembly, +sometimes in his prayer, sometimes in his sermon, and that with tears." +[Footnote: Norton's _Funeral Sermon_, p. 37.] + +Wheelwright was made of sterner stuff, and was inflexible. In fact, +however, the difference of dogma, if any existed, was trivial. The +clergy used the cry of heresy to excite odium, just as they called +their opponents Antinomians, or dangerous fanatics. To support these +accusations the synod gravely accepted every unsavory inference which +ingenuity could wring from the tenets of their adversaries; and these, +together with the fables invented by idle gossip, made up the long list +of errors they condemned. Though the scheme was unprincipled, it met +with complete success, and the Antinomians have come down to posterity +branded as deadly enemies of Christ and the commonwealth; yet nothing +is more certain than that they were not only good citizens, but +substantially orthodox. On such a point there is no one among the +conservatives whose testimony has the weight of Winthrop's, who says: +"Mr. Cotton ... stated the differences in a very narrow scantling; and +Mr. Shepherd, preaching at the day of election, brought them yet nearer, +so as, except men of good understanding, and such as knew the bottom +of the tenents of those of the other party, few could see where the +difference was." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 221.] While Cotton himself +complains bitterly of the falsehoods spread about him and his friends: +"But when some of ... the elders of neighbour churches advertised me +of the evill report ... I ... dealt with Mrs. Hutchinson and others of +them, declaring to them the erroneousnesse of those tenents, and the +injury done to myself in fathering them upon mee. Both shee and they +utterly denyed that they held such tenents, or that they had fathered +them upon mee. I returned their answer to the elders.... They answered +me they had but one witnesse, ... and that one both to be known." ... +[Footnote: Cotton, _Way of New England Churches_, pp. 39, 40.] Moreover, +it is a remarkable fact that, notwithstanding the advantage it would +have given the reactionists to have been able to fix subversive opinions +upon their prominent opponents, it was found impossible to prove heresy +in a single case which was brought to trial. The legislature chosen +in May was apparently unfit for the work now to be done, for the +extraordinary step of a dissolution was decided on, and a new election +held, under circumstances in which it was easy to secure the return of +suitable candidates. The session opened on November 2, and Wheelwright +was summoned to appear. He was ordered to submit, or prepare for +sentence. He replied that he was guilty of neither sedition nor +contempt; that he had preached only the truth of Christ, the application +of which was for others, not for him. "To which it was answered by the +court that they had not censured his doctrine, but left it as it was; +but his application, by which hee laid the magistrates and ministers and +most of the people of God in these churches under a covenant of works." +[Footnote: _Short Story_, p. 24.] The prisoner was then sentenced to be +disfranchised and banished. He demanded an appeal to the king; it was +refused; and he was given fourteen days to leave Massachusetts. So +he went forth alone in the bitter winter weather and journeyed to the +Piscataqua,--yet "it was marvellous he got thither at that time, when +they expelled him, by reason of the deep snow in which he might +have perished." [Footnote: Wheelwright, Prince Soc. ed. _Mercurius +Americanus_, p. 24.] Nor was banishment by any means the trivial penalty +it has been described. On the contrary, it was a punishment of the +utmost rigor. The exiles were forced suddenly to dispose of their +property, which, in those times, was mostly in houses and land, and go +forth among the savages with helpless women and children. Such an ordeal +might well appall even a brave man; but Wheelwright was sacrificing +his intellectual life. He was leaving books, friends, and the mental +activity, which made the world to him, to settle in the forests among +backwoodsmen; and yet even in this desolate solitude the theocracy +continued to pursue him with persevering hate. + +But there were others beside Wheelwright who had sinned, and some +pretext had to be devised by which to reach them. The names of most +of his friends were upon the petition that had been drawn up after +his trial. It is true it was a proceeding with which the existing +legislature was not concerned, since it had been presented to one of its +predecessors; it is also true that probably never, before or since, have +men who have protested they have not drawn the sword rashly, but have +come as humble suppliants to offer their cheeks to the smiters, been +held to be public enemies. Such scruples, however, never hampered the +theocracy. Their justice was trammelled neither by judges, by juries, +nor by laws; the petition was declared to be a seditious libel, and the +petitioners were given their choice of disavowing their act and making +humble submission, or exile. + +Aspinwall was at once disfranchised and banished. [Footnote: _Mass. +Rec._ i. 207.] Coddington, Coggeshall, and nine more were given leave +to depart within three months, or abide the action of the court; others +were disfranchised; and fifty-eight of the less prominent of the party +were disarmed in Boston alone. [Footnote: _Idem_, i. 223.] + +Thus were the early liberals crushed in Massachusetts; the bold were +exiled, the timid were terrified; as a political organization they moved +no more till the theocracy was tottering to its fall; and for forty +years the power of the clergy was absolute in the land. + +The fate of Anne Hutchinson makes a fit ending to this sad tale of +oppression and of wrong. In November, 1637, when her friends were +crushed, and the triumphant priests felt that their victim's doom was +sure, she was brought to trial before that ghastliest den of human +iniquity, an ecclesiastical criminal court. The ministers were her +accusers, who came burning with hate to testify to the words she had +spoken to them at their own request, in the belief that the confidence +she reposed was to be held sacred. She had no jury to whose manhood she +could appeal, and John Winthrop, to his lasting shame, was to prosecute +her from the judgment seat. She was soon to become a mother, and her +health was feeble, but she was made to stand till she was exhausted; and +yet, abandoned and forlorn, before those merciless judges, through two +long, weary days of hunger and of cold, the intrepid woman defended her +cause with a skill and courage which even now, after two hundred +and fifty years, kindles the heart with admiration. The case for the +government was opened by John Winthrop, the presiding justice, the +attorney-general, the foreman of the jury, and the chief magistrate of +Massachusetts Bay. He upbraided the prisoner with her many evil courses, +with having spoken things prejudicial to the honor of the ministers, +with holding an assembly in her house, and with divulging the opinions +held by those who had been censured by that court; closing in these +words, which sound strangely in the mouth of a New England judge:-- + + * * * * * + +We have thought good to send for you ... that if you be in an erroneous +way we may reduce you that so you may become a profitable member here +among us, otherwise if you be obstinate ... that then the court may +take such course that you may trouble us no further, therefore I would +entreat you ... whether you do not justify Mr. Wheelwright's sermon and +the petition. + +_Mrs. H._ I am called here to answer before you, but I hear no things +laid to my charge. + +_Gov._ I have told you some already, and more I can tell you. + +_Mrs. H._ Name one, sir. + +_Gov._ Have I not named some already? + +_Mrs. H._ What have I said or done?... + +_Gov._ You have joined with them in the faction. + +_Mrs. H._ In what faction have I joined with them? + +_Gov._ In presenting the petition.... + +_Mrs. H._ But I had not my hand to the petition. + +_Gov._ You have counselled them. + +_Mrs. H._ Wherein? + +_Gov._ Why, in entertaining them. + +_Mrs. H._ What breach of law is that, sir? + +_Gov._ Why, dishonoring of parents.... + +_Mrs. H._ I may put honor upon them as the children of God and as they +do honor the Lord. + +_Gov._ We do not mean to discourse with those of your sex but only this; +you do adhere unto them, and do endeavor to set forward this faction, +and so you do dishonor us. + +_Mrs. H._ I do acknowledge no such thing, neither do I think that I ever +put any dishonor upon you. + + * * * * * + +And, on the whole, the chief justice broke down so hopelessly in his +examination, that the deputy governor, or his senior associate upon the +bench, thought it necessary to interfere. + + * * * * * + +_Dep. Gov._ I would go a little higher with Mrs. Hutchinson. Now ... +if she in particular hath disparaged all our ministers in the land that +they have preached a covenant of works, and only Mr. Cotton a covenant +of grace, why this is not to be suffered... + +_Mrs. H._ I pray, sir, prove it, that I said they preached nothing but a +covenant of works.... + +_Dep. Gov._ If they do not preach a covenant of grace, clearly, then, +they preach a covenant of works. + +_Mrs. H._ No, sir, one may preach a covenant of grace more clearly than +another, so I said. + + * * * * * + +Dudley was faring worse than Winthrop, and the divines, who had been +bursting with impatience, could hold no longer. The Rev. Hugh Peters +broke in: "That which concerns us to speak unto, as yet we are sparing +in, unless the court command us to speak, then we shall answer to Mrs. +Hutchinson, notwithstanding our brethren are very unwilling to answer." +And without further urging, that meek servant of Christ went on to +tell how he and others had heard that the prisoner said they taught a +covenant of works, how they had sent for her, and though she was "very +tender" at first, yet upon being begged to speak plainly, she had +explained that there "was a broad difference between our Brother Mr. +Cotton and ourselves. I desired to know the difference. She answered +'that he preaches the covenant of grace and you the covenant of works, +and that you are not able ministers of the New Testament, and know no +more than the apostles did before the resurrection.'"... + + * * * * * + +_Mrs. H._ If our pastor would show his writings you should see what I +said, and that many things are not so as is reported. + +_Mr. Wilson._ Sister Hutchinson, for the writings you speak of I have +them not.... + + * * * * * + +Five more divines followed, who, though they were "loth to speak in that +assembly concerning that gentlewoman," yet to ease their consciences in +"the relation wherein" they stood "to the Commonwealth and... unto God," +felt constrained to state that the prisoner had said they were not able +ministers of the New Testament, and that the whole of the evidence of +Hugh Peters was true, and in so doing they came to an issue of veracity +with Cotton. + +An adjournment soon followed till next day, and the presiding justice +seems to have considered his case against his prisoner as closed. + +In the morning Mrs. Hutchinson opened her defence by calling three +witnesses, Leverett, Coggeshall, and John Cotton. + + * * * * * + +_Gov._ Mr. Coggeshall was not present. + +_Mr. C._ Yes, but I was, only I desired to be silent till I should be +called. + +_Gov._ Will you ... say that she did not say so? + +_Mr. C._ Yes, I dare say that she did not say all that which they lay +against her. + +_Mr. Peters._ How dare you look into the court to say such a word? + +_Mr. C._ Mr. Peters takes upon him to forbid me. I shall be silent.... + +_Gov._ Well, Mr. Leverett, what were the words? I pray speak. + +_Mr. L._ To my best remembrance ... Mr. Peters did with much vehemency +and entreaty urge her to tell what difference there was between Mr. +Cotton and them, and upon his urging of her she said: "The fear of man +is a snare, but they that trust upon the Lord shall be safe." And ... +that they did not preach a covenant of grace so clearly as Mr. Cotton +did, and she gave this reason of it, because that as the apostles were +for a time without the Spirit so until they had received the witness of +the Spirit they could not preach a covenant of grace so clearly. + + * * * * * + +The Rev. John Cotton was then called. He was much embarrassed in giving +his evidence, but, if he is to be believed, his brethren, in their +anxiety to make out a case, had colored material facts. He closed his +account of the interview in these words: "I must say that I did not find +her saying they were under a covenant of works, nor that she said they +did preach a covenant of works." + + * * * * * + +_Gov._ You say you do not remember, but can you say she did not speak +so? + +_Mr. C._ I do remember that she looked at them as the apostles before +the ascension.... + +_Dep. Gov._ They affirm that Mrs. Hutchinson did say they were not able +ministers of the New Testament. + +_Mr. C._ I do not remember it. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Hutchinson had shattered the case of the government in a style +worthy of a leader of the bar, but she now ventured on a step for which +she has been generally condemned. She herself approached the subject +of her revelations. To criticise the introduction of evidence is always +simpler than to conduct a cause, but an analysis of her position tends +to show not only that her course was the result of mature reflection, +but that her judgment was in this instance correct. She probably assumed +that when the more easily proved charges had broken down she would be +attacked here; and in this assumption she was undoubtedly right. The +alternative presented to her, therefore, was to go on herself, or +wait for Winthrop to move. If she waited she knew she should give the +government the advantage of choosing the ground, and she would thus be +subjected to the danger of having fatal charges proved against her by +hearsay or distorted evidence. If she took the bolder course, she could +explain her revelations as monitions coming to her through texts in +Scripture, and here she was certain of Cotton's support. Before that +tribunal she could hardly have hoped for an acquittal; but if anything +could have saved her it would have been the sanction given to her +doctrines by the approval of John Cotton. At all events, she saw the +danger, for she closed her little speech in these touching words: "Now +if you do condemn me for speaking what in my conscience I know to be +truth, I must commit myself unto the Lord." + +_Mr. Nowell._ How do you know that that was the Spirit? + +_Mrs. H._ How did Abraham know that it was God?... + +_Dep. Gov._ By an immediate voice. + +_Mrs. H._ So to me by an immediate revelation. + + * * * * * + +Then she proceeded to state how, through various texts which she cited, +the Lord showed her what He would do; and she particularly dwelt on one +from Daniel. So far all was well; she had planted herself on ground upon +which orthodox opinion was at least divided; but she now committed +the one grave error of her long and able defence. As she went on her +excitement gained upon her, and she ended by something like a defiance +and denunciation: "You have power over my body, but the Lord Jesus hath +power over my body and soul; and assure yourselves thus much, you do as +much as in you lies to put the Lord Jesus Christ from you, and if you +go on in this course you begin, you will bring a curse upon you and your +posterity, and the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." + + * * * * * + +_Gov._ Daniel was delivered by miracle. Do you think to be delivered so +too? + +_Mrs. H._ I do here speak it before the court. I look that the Lord +should deliver me by his providence.... + +_Dep. Gov._ I desire Mr. Cotton to tell us whether you do approve of +Mrs. Hutchinson's revelations as she hath laid them down. + +_Mr. C._ I know not whether I do understand her, but this I say, if she +doth expect a deliverance in a way of providence, then I cannot deny it. + +_Gov._ ... I see a marvellous providence of God to bring things to this +pass.... God by a providence hath answered our desires, and made her +to lay open herself and the ground of all these disturbances to be by +revelations. . . . + +_Court._ We all consent with you. + +_Gov._ Ey, it is the most desperate enthusiasm in the world.... + +_Mr. Endicott._ I speak in reference to Mr. Cotton.... Whether do you +witness for her or against her. + +_Mr. C._ This is that I said, sir, and my answer is plain, that if she +doth look for deliverance from the hand of God by his providence, and +the revelation be ... according to a word [of Scripture] that I cannot +deny. + +_Mr. Endicott._ You give me satisfaction. + +_Dep. Gov._ No, no, he gives me none at all.... + +_Mr. C._ I pray, sir, give me leave to express myself. In that sense +that she speaks I dare not bear witness against it. + +_Mr. Nowell._ I think it is a devilish delusion. + +_Gov._ Of all the revelations that ever I read of I never read the like +ground laid as is for this. The enthusiasts and Anabaptists had never +the like.... + +_Mr. Peters._ I can say the same ... and I think that is very disputable +which our brother Cotton hath spoken.... + +_Gov._ I am persuaded that the revelation she brings forth is delusion. + +All the court but some two or three ministers cry out, We all believe +it, we all believe it.... + + * * * * * + +And then Coddington stood up before that angry meeting like the brave +man he was, and said, "I beseech you do not speak so to force things +along, for I do not for my own part see any equity in the court in all +your proceedings. Here is no law of God that she hath broken, nor +any law of the country that she hath broke, and therefore deserves no +censure; and if she say that the elders preach as the apostles did, why +they preached a covenant of grace and what wrong is that to them, ... +therefore I pray consider, what you do, for here is no law of God or man +broken." + + * * * * * + +_Mr. Peters._ I profess I thought Mr. Cotton would never have took her +part. + +_Gov._ The court hath already declared themselves satisfied ... +concerning the troublesomeness of her spirit and the danger of her +course amongst us which is not to be suffered. Therefore if it be the +mind of the court that Mrs. Hutchinson ... shall be banished out of our +liberties and imprisoned till she be sent away let them hold up their +hands. + +All but three consented. + +Those contrary minded hold up yours. Mr. Coddington and Colburn only. + +_Gov._ Mrs. Hutchinson, the sentence of the court you hear is that you +are banished from out of our jurisdiction as being a woman not fit for +our society, and are to be imprisoned till the court shall send you +away. + +_Mrs. H._ I desire to know wherefore I am banished. + +_Gov._ Say no more, the court knows wherefore and is satisfied. +[Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ vol. ii. App. 2.] + + * * * * * + +With refined malice she was committed to the custody of Joseph Welde of +Roxbury, the brother of the Rev. Thomas Welde who thought her a Jezebel. +Here "divers of the elders resorted to her," and under this daily +torment rapid progress was made. Probably during that terrible interval +her reason was tottering, for her talk came to resemble ravings. +[Footnote: _Brief Apologie_, p. 59.] When this point was reached the +divines saw their object attained, and that "with sad hearts" they could +give her up to Satan. [Footnote: _Brief Apologie_, p. 59.] Accordingly +they "wrote to the church at Boston, offering to make proof of the +same," whereupon she was summoned and the lecture appointed to begin at +ten o'clock. [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 254.] + +"When she was come one of the ruling elders called her forth before +the assembly," and read to her the twenty-nine errors of which she was +accused, all of which she admitted she had maintained. "Then she asked +by what rule such an elder would come to her pretending to desire light +and indeede to entrappe her." He answered that he came not to "entrap +her but in compassion to her soule...." + +"Then presently she grew into passion ... professing withall that she +held none of these things ... before her imprisonment." [Footnote: +_Brief Apol._ pp. 59-61.] + +The court sat till eight at night, when "Mr. Cotton pronounced the +sentence of admonition ... with much zeal and detestation of her errors +and pride of spirit." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. 256.] An adjournment was +then agreed on for a week and she was ordered to return to Roxbury; but +this was more than she could bear, and her distress was such that the +congregation seem to have felt some touch of compassion, for she was +committed to the charge of Cotton till the next lecture day, when the +trial was to be resumed. [Footnote: _Brief Apol._ p. 62.] At his house +her mind recovered its tone and when she again appeared she not only +retracted the wild opinions she had broached while at Joseph Welde's, +but admitted "that what she had spoken against the magistrates at +the court (by way of revelation) was rash and ungrounded." [Footnote: +Winthrop, i. 258.] + +But nothing could avail her. She was in the hands of men determined +to make her expiation of her crimes a by-word of terror; her fate was +sealed. The doctrines she now professed were less objectionable, so +she was examined as to former errors, among others "that she had denied +inherent righteousness;" she "affirmed that it was never her judgment; +and though it was proved by many testimonies ... yet she impudently +persisted in her affirmation to the astonishment of all the assembly. +So that ... the church with one consent cast her out.... After she was +excommunicated her spirit, which seemed before to be somewhat dejected, +revived again and she gloried in her sufferings." [Footnote: Winthrop, +i. 258.] And all this time she had been alone; her friends were far +away. + +That no circumstances of horror might be lost, she and one of her most +devoted followers, Mary Dyer, were nearing their confinements during +this time of misery. Both cases ended in misfortunes over whose +sickening details Thomas Welde and his reverend brethren gloated with a +savage joy, declaring that "God himselfe was pleased to step in with +his casting vote ... as clearly as if he had pointed with his finger." +[Footnote: _Short Story_, Preface, Section 5.] Let posterity draw a veil +over the shocking scene. + +Two or three days after her condemnation "the governor sent [her] a +warrant ... to depart ... she went by water to her farm at the Mount ... +and so to the island in the Narragansett Bay which her husband and the +rest of that sect had purchased of the Indians." [Footnote: Winthrop, i. +259.] + +This pure and noble but most unhappy woman had sinned against the +clergy, past forgiveness here or hereafter. They gibbeted her as +Jezebel, and her name became a reproach in Massachusetts through two +hundred years. But her crimes and the awful ending of her life are +best read in the Christian words of the Rev. Thomas Welde, whose gentle +spirit so adorned his holy office. + +"For the servants of God who came over into New England ... seeing their +ministery was a most precious sweete savour to all the saints before +she came hither, it is easie to discerne from what sinke that ill vapour +hath risen which hath made so many of her seduced party to loath now +the smell of those flowers which they were wont to find sweetnesse in. +[Footnote: _Short Story_, p. 40.] ... The Indians set upon them, and +slew her and all the family. [Footnote: Mrs. Hutchinson and her family +were killed in a general massacre of the Dutch and English by the +Indians on Long Island. Winthrop, ii. 136.] ... Some write that the +Indians did burne her to death with fire, her house and all the rest +named that belonged to her; but I am not able to affirme by what kind +of death they slew her, but slaine it seemes she is, according to all +reports. I never heard that the Indians in those parts did ever before +this, commit the like outrage ...; and therefore God's hand is the more +apparently seene herein, to pick out this wofull woman, to make her and +those belonging to her, an unheard of heavie example of their cruelty +above al others." [Footnote: _Short Story_, Preface.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CAMBRIDGE PLATFORM. + + +With the ruin of the Antinomians, opposition to the clergy ceased within +the church itself, but many causes combined to prevent the bulk of the +people from participating in the communion. Of those who were excluded, +perhaps even the majority might have found it impossible to have secured +their pastor's approbation, but numbers who would have been gladly +received were restrained by conscientious scruples; and more shrank from +undergoing the ordeal to which they would have been obliged to submit. +It was no light matter for a pious but a sincerely honest man to profess +his conversion, and how God had been pleased to work "in the inward +parts of his soul," when he was not absolutely certain that he had +indeed been visited by the Spirit. And it is no exaggeration to say that +to sensitive natures the initiation was appalling. The applicant had +first to convince the minister of his worthiness, then his name was +openly propounded, and those who knew of any objection to his character, +either moral or religious, were asked to give notice to the presbytery +of elders. If the candidate succeeded in passing this private +examination as to his fitness the following scene took place in +church:-- + +"The party appearing in the midst of the assembly ... the ruling elder +speaketh in this manner: Brethren of this congregation, this man or +woman ... hath beene heretofore propounded to you, desiring to enter +into church fellowship with us, and we have not since that heard +anything from any of you to the contrary of the parties admittance but +that we may goe on to receive him: therefore now, if any of you know +anything against him, why he may not be admitted, you may yet speak.... +Whereupon, sometimes men do speak to the contrary ... and so stay the +party for that time also till this new offence be heard before the +elders, so that sometimes there is a space of divers moneths between +a parties first propounding and receiving, and some are so bashfull as +that they choose rather to goe without the communion than undergoe +such publique confessions and tryals, but that is held their fault." +[Footnote: Lechford, _Plain Dealing_, pp. 6, 7.] + +Those who were thus disfranchised, Lechford, who knew what he was +talking about, goes on to say, soon began to complain that they were +"ruled like slaves;" and there can be no doubt that they had to submit +to very substantial grievances. The administration of justice especially +seems to have been defective. "Now the most of the persons at New +England are not admitted of their church, and therefore are not freemen, +and when they come to be tryed there, be it for life or limb, name or +estate, or whatsoever, they must bee tryed and judged too by those of +the church, who are in a sort their adversaries: how equall that +hath been, or may be, some by experience doe know, others may judge." +[Footnote: _Plain Dealing_, p. 23.] + +The government was in fact in the hands of a small oligarchy of saints, +[Footnote: "Three parts of the people of the country remaine out of the +church." _Plain Dealing_, p. 73. A. D. 1642.] who were, in their turn, +ruled by their priests, and as the repression of thought inevitable +under such a system had roused the Antinomians, who were voters, +to demand a larger intellectual freedom, so the denial of ordinary +political rights to the majority led to discontent. + +Since under the theocracy there was no department of human affairs in +which the clergy did not meddle, they undertook as a matter of course to +interfere with the militia, and the following curious letter written to +the magistrates by the ministers of Rowley shows how far they carried +their supervision even so late as 1689. + + * * * * * + +ROWLEY, _July_ 24th, 1689. + +_May it please your honors,_ + +The occasion of these lines is to inform you that whereas our military +company have nominated Abel Platts, for ensign, we conceive that it is +our duty to declare that we cannot approve of their choice in that he is +corrupt in his judgment with reference to the Lord's Supper, declaring +against Christ's words of justification, and hereupon hath withdrawn +himself from communion with the church in that holy ordinance some +years, besides some other things wherein he hath shown no little vanity +in his conversation and hath demeaned himself unbecomingly toward the +word and toward the dispensers of it.... + +SAMUEL PHILLIPS. EDWARD PAISON. [Footnote: _History of Newbury_, p. 80.] + + * * * * * + +A somewhat similar difficulty, which happened in Hingham in 1645, +produced very serious consequences. A new captain had been chosen for +their company; but a dispute having arisen, the magistrates, on the +question being submitted to them, set the election aside and directed +the old officers to keep their places until the General Court should +meet. Notwithstanding this order the commotion continued to increase, +and the pastor, Mr. Peter Hubbert, "was very forward to have +excommunicated the lieutenant," who was the candidate the magistrates +favored. [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 222, 223.] Winthrop happened to be +deputy governor that year, and the aggrieved officer applied to him +for protection; whereupon, as the defendants seemed inclined to be +recalcitrant, several were committed in open court, among whom were +three of Mr. Hubbert's brothers. + +Forthwith the clergyman in great wrath headed a petition to which he +obtained a large number of signatures, in which he prayed the General +Court to take cognizance of the cause, since it concerned the public +liberty and the liberty of the church. + +At its next session, the legislature proceeded to examine the whole +case, and Winthrop was brought to trial for exceeding his jurisdiction +as a magistrate. A contest ensued between the deputies and assistants, +which was finally decided by the influence of the elders. The result was +that Winthrop was acquitted and Mr. Hubbert and the chief petitioners +were fined. [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 227.] + +In March the constable went to Hingham to collect the money, [Footnote: +1645-46, 18 March.] but he found the minister indisposed to submit in +silence. About thirty people had collected, and before them all Mr. +Hubbert demanded the warrant; when it was produced he declared it +worthless because not in the king's name, and then went on to add that +the government "was not more then a corporation in England, and ... had +not power to put men to death ... that for himself he had neither horn +nor hoofe of his own, nor anything wherewith to buy his children cloaths +... if he must pay the fine he would pay it in books, but that he knew +not for what they were fined, unlesse it were for petitioning: and if +they were so waspish they might not be petitioned, then he could not +tell what to say." [Footnote: _New Eng. Jonas_, Marvin's ed. p. 5.] + +Unluckily for Mr. Hubbert he had taken the popular side in this dispute +and had thus been sundered from his brethren, who sustained Winthrop, +and in the end carried him through in triumph; and not only this, but he +was suspected of Presbyterian tendencies, and a committee of the +elders who had visited Hingham to reconcile some differences in the +congregation had found him in grave fault. The government was not sorry, +therefore, to make him a public example, as appeared not only by these +proceedings, but by the way he was treated in the General Court the next +autumn. He was accordingly indicted for sedition, tried and convicted +in June, fined twenty pounds, and bound over to good behavior in forty +pounds more. [Footnote: _New Eng. Jonas_, p. 6., 2 June, 1646.] Such a +disturbance as this seems to have been all that was needed to bring the +latent discontent to a focus. + +William Vassal had been an original patentee and was a member of the +first Board of Assistants, who were appointed by the king. Being, +however, a man of liberal views he had not found Massachusetts +congenial; he had returned to England after a stay of only a month, and +when he came again to America in 1635, he had settled at Scituate, the +town adjoining Hingham, but in the Plymouth jurisdiction. Having both +wealth and social position he possessed great influence, and he +now determined to lead an agitation for equal rights and liberty of +conscience in both colonies at once, by petitioning the legislatures, +and in case of failure there, presenting similar petitions to +Parliament. + +Bradford was this year [Footnote: 1645.] governor of Plymouth, and +Edward Winslow was an assistant. Winslow himself had been governor +repeatedly, was a thorough-going churchman, and deep in all the +councils of the conservative party. There was, however, no religious +qualification for the suffrage in the old colony, and the complexion of +its politics was therefore far more liberal than in Massachusetts; so +Vassal was able to command a strong support when he brought forward his +proposition. Winslow, writing to his friend Winthrop at Boston, gives +an amusing account of his own and Bradford's consternation, and the +expedients to which they were forced to resort in the legislature to +stave off a vote upon the petition, when Vassal made his motion in +October, 1645. + +"After this, the first excepter [Vassal] having been observed to tender +the view of a scroule from man to man, it came at length to be tendered +to myself, and withall, said he, it may be you will not like this. +Having read it, I told him I utterly abhorred it as such as would make +us odious to all Christian commonweales: But at length he told the +governor [Bradford] he had a written proposition to be propounded to +the court, which he desired the court to take into consideration, and +according to order, if thought meet, to be allowed: To this the deputies +were most made beforehand, and the other three assistants, who applauded +it as their Diana; and the sum of it was, to allow and maintaine full +and free tollerance of religion to all men that would preserve the +civill peace and submit unto government; and there was no limitation +or exception against Turke, Jew, Papist, Arian, Socinian, Nicholaytan, +Familist, or any other, &c. But our governor and divers of us having +expressed the sad consequences would follow, especially myselfe and Mr. +Prence, yet notwithstanding it was required, according to order, to be +voted: But the governor would not suffer it to come to vote, as being +that indeed would eate out the power of Godlines, &c.... You would have +admired to have seen how sweet this carrion relished to the pallate of +most of the deputies! What will be the issue of these things, our all +ordering God onely knows.... But if he have such a judgment for this +place, I trust we shall finde (I speake for many of us that groane under +these things) a resting place among you for the soales of our feet." +[Footnote: _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. i. 174.] + +As just then nothing more could be done in Plymouth, proceedings were +transferred to Massachusetts. Samuel Maverick is a bright patch of color +on the sad Puritan background. He had a dwelling at Winnisime, that "in +the yeare 1625 I fortified with a pillizado and fflankers and gunnes +both belowe and above in them which awed the Indians who at that time +had a mind to cutt off the English." [Footnote: Mass. _Hist. Soc. +Proceedings_, Oct. 1884, p. 236.] When Winthrop landed, he found him +keeping open house, so kindly and freehanded that even the grim Johnson +relaxes when he speaks of him: "a man of very loving and curteous +behaviour, very ready to entertaine strangers, yet an enemy to the +reformation in hand, being strong for the lordly prelatical power." +[Footnote: _Wonder-Working Providence_, Poole's ed. p. 37.] + +This genial English churchman entertained every one at his home on +Noddle's Island, which is now East Boston: Vane and Lord Ley, and La +Tour when he came to Boston ruined, and even Owen when he ran off with +another man's wife, and so brought a fine of L100 on his host. Josselyn +says with much feeling: "I went a shore upon Noddles Island to Mr. +Samuel Maverick, ... the only hospitable man in the whole countrey." +He was charitable also, and Winthrop relates how, when the Indians were +dying of the smallpox, he, "his wife and servants, went daily to them, +ministered to their necessities, and buried their dead, and took home +many of their children." He was generous, too, with his wealth; and when +the town had to rebuild the fort on Castle Island much of the money came +from him. + +But, as Endicott told the Browns, when he shipped them to England, +because their practice in adhering to their Episcopal orders tended to +"mutiny," "New England was no place for such as they." One by one they +had gone,--the Browns first, and afterward William Blackstone, who had +found it best to leave Boston because he could not join the church; and +now the pressure on Maverick began to make him restive. Though he had +been admitted a freeman in the early days, he was excluded from all +offices of importance; he was taxed to support a church of which he +disapproved, yet was forced to attend, though it would not baptize his +children; and he was so suspected that, in March, 1635, he had been +ordered to remove to Boston, and was forbidden to lodge strangers +for more than one night without leave from a magistrate. Under such +circumstances he could not but sympathize with Vassal in his effort +to win for all men equal rights before the law. Next after him in +consequence was Dr. Robert Childe, who had taken a degree at Padua, and +who, though not a freeman, had considerable interests in the country,--a +man of property and standing. There were five more signers of the +petition: Thomas Burton, John Smith, David Yale, Thomas Fowle, and John +Dand, but they do not require particular notice. They prayed that "civil +liberty and freedome be forthwith granted to all truly English, equall +to the rest of their countrymen, as in all plantations is accustomed to +be done, and as all free-borne enjoy in our native country.... Further +that none of the English nation ... be banished unlesse they break the +known lawes of England.... We therefore humbly intreat you, in whose +hands it is to help ... for the glory of God ... to give liberty to the +members of the churches of England not scandalous in their lives ... +to be taken into your congregations, and to enjoy with you all those +liberties and ordinances Christ hath purchased for them, and into +whose name they are baptized... or otherwise to grant liberty to settle +themselves here in a church way according to the best reformations of +England and Scotland. If not, we and they shall be necessitated to apply +our humble desires to the Honorable Houses of Parliament." [Footnote: +_New Eng. Jonas_, Marvin's ed. pp. 13-15.] + +This petition was presented to the court on May 19, 1646; but the +session was near its close, and it was thought best to take no immediate +steps. The elders, however, became satisfied that the moment had come +for a thorough organization of the church, and they therefore caused the +legislature to issue a general invitation to all the congregations +to send representatives to a synod to be held at Cambridge. But +notwithstanding the inaction of the authorities, the clergy were +perfectly aware of the danger, and they passed the summer in creating +the necessary indignation among the voters: they bitterly denounced +from their pulpits "the sons of Belial, Judasses, sons of Corah," "with +sundry appellations of that nature ... which seemed not to arise from +a gospel spirit." Sometimes they devoted "a whole sermon, and that +not very short," to describing the impending ruin and exhorting the +magistrates "to lay hold upon" the offenders. [Footnote: _New Eng. +Jonas_, Marvin's ed. p. 19.] Winthrop had been chosen governor in May, +and, when the legislature met in October, he was made chairman of a +committee to draft an answer to Childe. This document may be found in +Hutchinson's Collection. As a state paper devoted to the discussion of +questions of constitutional law it has little merit, but it may have +been effective as a party manifesto. A short adjournment followed till +November, when, on reassembling, the elders were asked for their advice +upon this absorbing topic. + +"Mr. Hubbard of Hingham came with the rest, but the court being informed +that he had an hand in a petition, which Mr. Vassall carried into +England against the country in general, the governour propounded, that +if any elder present had any such hand, &c., he would withdraw himself." +Mr. Hubbert sitting still a good space, one of the deputies stated that +he was suspected, whereupon he rose and said he knew nothing of such a +petition. + +Then Winthrop replied that he "must needs deliver his mind about him," +and though he had no proof about the petition, "yet in regard he had so +much opposed authority and offered such contempt to it, ... he thought +he would (in discretion) withdraw himself, &c., whereupon he went out." +[Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 278.] + +The ministers who remained then proceeded to define the relations of +Massachusetts toward England, and the position they assumed was very +simple. + +"I. We depend upon the state of England for protection and immunities of +Englishmen.... II. We conceive ... we have granted by patent such full +and ample power ... of making all laws and rules of our obedience, and +of a full and final determination of all cases in the administration of +justice, that no appeals or other ways of interrupting our proceedings +do lie against us." [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 282.] + +In other words, they were to enjoy the privileges and safeguards of +British subjects without yielding obedience to British law. + +Under popular governments the remedy for discontent is free discussion; +under despotisms it is repression. In Massachusetts energetic steps were +promptly taken to punish the ring-leaders in what the court now +declared to be a conspiracy. The petitioners were summoned, and on +being questioned refused to answer until some charge was made. A hot +altercation followed, which ended in the defendants tendering an +appeal, which was refused; and they were committed for trial. [Footnote: +Winthrop, ii. 285.] A species of indictment was then prepared in which +they were charged with publishing seditious libels against the Church +of Christ and the civil government. The gravamen of the offence was the +attempt to persuade the people "that the liberties and privileges in our +charter belong to all freeborn Englishmen inhabitants here, whereas they +are granted only to such as the governour and company shall think fit to +receive into that fellowship." [Footnote: _Idem_.] The appeal was held +criminal because a denial of the jurisdiction of the government. The +trial resembled Wheelwright's. Like him the defendants refused to +make submission, but persisted "obstinately and proudly in their evil +practice;" that is to say, they maintained the right of petition and the +legality of their course. They were therefore fined: Childe L50; Smith +L40; Maverick, because he had not yet appealed, L10; and the others L30 +each; three magistrates dissented. + +Childe at once began hasty preparations to sail. To prevent him Winthrop +called the assistants together, without, however, giving the dissenting +magistrates notice, and arranged to have him arrested and searched. + +One striking characteristic of the theocracy was its love for inflicting +mental suffering upon its victims. The same malicious vindictiveness +which sent Morton to sea in sight of his blazing home, and which +imprisoned Anne Hutchinson in the house of her bitterest enemy, now +suggested a scheme for making Childe endure the pangs of disappointment, +by allowing him to embark, and then seizing him as the ship was setting +sail. And though the plan miscarried, and the arrest had to be made the +night before, yet even as it was the prisoner took his confinement very +"grievously, but he could not help it." [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 294.] + +Nothing criminating was found in his possession, but in Dand's study, +which was ransacked, copies of two petitions were discovered, with a +number of queries relating to certain legal aspects of the charter, and +intended to be submitted to the Commissioners for the Plantations at +London. + +These petitions were substantially those already presented, except +that, by way of preamble, the story of the trial was told; and how the +ministers "did revile them, &c., as far as the wit or malice of man +could, and that they meddled in civil affaires beyond their calling, and +were masters rather than ministers, and ofttimes judges, and that +they had stirred up the magistrates against them, and that a day of +humiliation was appointed, wherein they were to pray against them." +[Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 293.] + +Such words had never been heard in Massachusetts. The saints were +aghast. Winthrop speaks of the offence as "being in nature capital," and +Johnson thought the Lord's gracious goodness alone quelled this malice +against his people. + +Of course no mercy was shown. It is true that the writings were lawful +petitions by English subjects to Parliament; that, moreover, they had +never been published, but were found in a private room by means of a +despotic search. Several of the signers were imprisoned for six months +and then were punished in May:-- + + Doctor Childe, (imprisonment till paid,) L200 + John Smith, " " " 100 + John Dand, " " " 200 + Tho. Burton, " " " 100 + Samuel Maverick, for his offence in being party + to ye conspiracy, (imprisonment + till paid,) 100 + Samuel Maverick, for his offence in breaking his + oath and in appealing against ye + intent of his oath of a freeman, 50 +[Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ iii, 113. May 26, 1647. L200 was the equivalent +of about $5,000.] + +The conspirators of the poorer class were treated with scant ceremony. +A carpenter named Joy was in Dand's study when the officers entered. He +asked if the warrant was in the king's name. "He was laid hold on, and +kept in irons about four or five days, and then he humbled himself...for +meddling in matters belonging not to him, and blessed God for these +irons upon his legs, hoping they should do him good while he lived." +[Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 294.] + +But though the government could oppress the men, they could not make +their principles unpopular, and the next December after Vassal and his +friends had left the colony, the orthodox Samuel Symonds of Ipswich +wrote mournfully to Winthrop: "I am informed that coppies of the +petition are spreading here, and divers (specially young men and women) +are taken with it, and are apt to wonder why such men should be troubled +that speake as they doe: not being able suddenly to discerne the poyson +in the sweet wine, nor the fire wrapped up in the straw." [Footnote: +Felt's _Eccl. Hist._ i. 593.] The petitioners, however, never found +redress. Edward Winslow had been sent to London as agent, and in 1648 he +was able to write that their "hopes and endeavours ... had been blasted +by the special providence of the Lord who still wrought for us." +And Winthrop piously adds: "As for those who went over to procure us +trouble, God met with them all. Mr. Vassall, finding no entertainment +for his petitions, went to Barbadoes," [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 321.] +... "God had brought" Thomas Fowle "very low, both in his estate and in +his reputation, since he joined in the first petition." And "God had so +blasted" Childe's "estate as he was quite broken." [Footnote: Winthrop, +ii. 322.] + +Maverick remained some years in Boston, being probably unable to abandon +his property; during this interval he made several efforts to have his +fine remitted, and he did finally secure an abatement of one half. +He then went to England and long afterward came back as a royal +commissioner to try his fortune once again in a contest with the +theocracy. + +Dr. Palfrey has described this movement as a plot to introduce a +direct government by England by inducing Parliament to establish +Presbyterianism. By other than theological reasoning this inference +cannot be deduced from the evidence. All that is certainly known about +the leaders is that they were not of any one denomination. Maverick was +an Episcopalian; Vassal was probably an Independent like Cromwell or +Milton; and though the elders accused Childe of being a Jesuit, there +is some ground to suppose that he inclined toward Geneva. So far as +the testimony goes, everything tends to prove that the petitioners were +perfectly sincere in their effort to gain some small measure of civil +and religious liberty for themselves and for the disfranchised majority. + +Viewed from the standpoint of history and not of prejudice, the events +of these early years present themselves in a striking and unmistakable +sequence. + +They are the phenomena that regularly attend a certain stage of human +development,--the absorption of power by an aristocracy. The clergy's +rule was rigid, and met with resistance, which was crushed with an iron +hand. Was it defection from their own ranks, the deserters met the fate +of Wheelwright, of Williams, of Cotton, or of Hubbert; were politicians +contumacious, they were defeated or exiled, like Vane, or Aspinwall, or +Coddington; were citizens discontented, they were coerced like Maverick +and Childe. The process had been uninterrupted alike in church and +state. The congregations, which in theory should have included all the +inhabitants of the towns, had shrunk until they contained only a third +or a quarter of the people; while the churches themselves, which were +supposed to be independent of external interference and to regulate +their affairs by the will of the majority, had become little more +than the chattels of the priests, and subject to the control of the +magistrates who were their representatives. This system has generally +prevailed; in like manner the Inquisition made use of the secular arm. +The condition of ecclesiastical affairs is thus described by the highest +living authority on Congregationalism:-- + +"Our fathers laid it down--and with perfect truth--that the will of +Christ, and not the will of the major or minor part of a church, ought +to govern that church. But somebody must interpret that will. And they +quietly assumed that Christ would reveal his will to the elders, but +would not reveal it to the church-members; so that when there arose a +difference of opinion as to what the Master's will might be touching any +particular matter, the judgment of the elders, rather than the judgment +even of a majority of the membership, must be taken as conclusive. To +all intents and purposes, then, this was precisely the aristocracy which +they affirmed that it was not. For the elders were to order business in +the assurance that every truly humble and sincere member would consent +thereto. If any did not consent, and after patient debate remained +of another judgment, he was 'partial' and 'factious,' and continuing +'obstinate,' he was 'admonished' and his vote 'nullified;' so that the +elders could have their way in the end by merely adding the insult of +the apparent but illusive offer of cooperation to the injury of their +absolute control. As Samuel Stone of Hartford no more tersely than +truly put it, this kind of Congregationalism was simply a 'speaking +Aristocracy in the face of a silent Democracy.'" [Footnote: _Early +New England Congregationalism, as seen in its Literature_, p. 429. Dr. +Dexter.] + +It is true that Vassal's petition was the event which made the ministers +decide to call a synod [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 264.] by means of an +invitation of the General Court; but it is also certain that under no +circumstances would the meeting of some such council have been long +delayed. For sixteen years the well-known process had been going on, +of the creation of institutions by custom, having the force of law; the +stage of development had now been reached when it was necessary that +those usages should take the shape of formal enactments. The Cambridge +platform therefore marks the completion of an organization, and as such +is the central point in the history of the Puritan Commonwealth. +The work was done in August, 1648: the Westminster Confession was +promulgated as the creed; the powers of the clergy were minutely +defined, and the duty of the laity stated to be "obeying their elders +and submitting themselves unto them in the Lord." [Footnote: _Cambridge +Platform,_ ch. x. section 7.] The magistrate was enjoined to punish +"idolatry, blasphemy, heresy," and to coerce any church becoming +"schismatical." + +In October, 1649, the court commended the platform to the consideration +of the congregations; in October, 1651, it was adopted; and when church +and state were thus united by statute the theocracy was complete. + +The close of the era of construction is also marked by the death of +those two remarkable men whose influence has left the deepest imprint +upon the institutions they helped to mould: John Winthrop, who died in +1649, and John Cotton in 1652. + +Winthrop's letters to his wife show him to have been tender and gentle, +and that his disposition was one to inspire love is proved by the +affection those bore him who had suffered most at his hands. Williams +and Vane and Coddington kept their friendship for him to the end. But +these very qualities, so amiable in themselves, made him subject to the +influence of men of inflexible will. His dream was to create on earth +a commonwealth of saints whose joy would be to walk in the ways of God. +But in practice he had to deal with the strongest of human passions. In +1634, though supported by Cotton, he was defeated by Dudley, and there +can be no doubt that this was caused by the defection of the body of the +clergy. The evidence seems conclusive, for the next year Vane brought +about an interview between the two at which Haynes was present, and +there Haynes upbraided him with remissness in administering justice. +[Footnote: Winthrop, i. 178.] Winthrop agreed to leave the question to +the ministers, who the next morning gave an emphatic opinion in favor of +strict discipline. Thenceforward he was pliant in their hands, and +with that day opened the dark epoch of his life. By leading the crusade +against the Antinomians he regained the confidence of the elders and +they never again failed him; but in return they exacted obedience +to their will; and the rancor with which he pursued Anne Hutchinson, +Gorton, and Childe cannot be extenuated, and must ever be a stain upon +his fame. + +As Hutchinson points out, in early life his tendencies were liberal, but +in America he steadily grew narrow. The reason is obvious. The leader of +an intolerant party has himself to be intolerant. His claim to eminence +as a statesman must rest upon the purity of his moral character, his +calm temper, and his good judgment; for his mind was not original or +brilliant, nor was his thought in advance of his age. Herein he differed +from his celebrated contemporary, for among the long list of famous +men, who are the pride of Massachusetts, there are few who in mere +intellectual capacity outrank Cotton. He was not only a profound +scholar, an eloquent preacher, and a famous controversialist, but a +great organizer, and a natural politician. He it was who constructed the +Congregational hierarchy; his publications were the accepted authority +both abroad and at home; and the system which he developed in his books +was that which was made law by the Cambridge Platform. + +Of medium height, florid complexion, and as he grew old some tendency +to be stout, but with snowy hair and much personal dignity, he seems to +have had an irresistible charm of manner toward those whom he wished to +attract. + +Comprehending thoroughly the feelings and prejudices of the clergy, he +influenced them even more by his exquisite tact than by his commanding +ability; and of easy fortune and hospitable alike from inclination +and from interest, he entertained every elder who went to Boston. He +understood the art of flattery to perfection; or, as Norton expressed +it, "he was a man of ingenuous and pious candor, rejoicing (as +opportunity served) to take notice of and testifie unto the gifts of +God in his brethren, thereby drawing the hearts of them to him...." +[Footnote: Norton's _Funeral Sermon_, p. 37.] No other clergyman has +ever been able to reach the position he held with apparent ease, which +amounted to a sort of primacy of New England. His dangers lay in +the very fecundity of his mind. Though hampered by his education and +profession, he was naturally liberal; and his first miscalculation was +when, almost immediately on landing, he supported Winthrop, who was in +disgrace for the mildness of his administration, against the austerer +Dudley. + +The consciousness of his intellectual superiority seems to have given +him an almost overweening confidence in his ability to induce his +brethren to accept the broader theology he loved to preach; nor did he +apparently realize that comprehension was incompatible with a theocratic +government, and that his success would have undermined the organization +he was laboring to perfect. He thus committed the error of his life +in undertaking to preach a religious reformation, without having the +resolution to face a martyrdom. But when he saw his mistake, the way in +which he retrieved himself showed a consummate knowledge of human nature +and of the men with whom he had to deal. Nor did he ever forget the +lesson. From that time forward he took care that no one should be able +to pick a flaw in his orthodoxy; and whatever he may have thought +of much of the policy of his party, he was always ready to defend it +without flinching. + +Neither he nor Winthrop died too soon, for with the completion of the +task of organization the work that suited them was finished, and they +were unfit for that which remained to be done. An oligarchy, whose power +rests on faith and not on force, can only exist by extirpating all who +openly question their pretensions to preeminent sanctity; and neither of +these men belonged to the class of natural persecutors,--the one was +too gentle, the other too liberal. An example will show better than much +argument how little in accord either really was with that spirit which, +in the regular course of social development, had thenceforward to +dominate over Massachusetts. + +Captain Partridge had fought for the Parliament, and reached Boston at +the beginning of the winter of 1645. He was arrested and examined as a +heretic. The magistrates referred the case to Cotton, who reported that +"he found him corrupt in judgment," but "had good hope to reclaim him." +[Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 251.] An instant recantation was demanded; it +was of course refused, and, in spite of all remonstrance, the family was +banished in the snow. Winthrop's sad words were: "But sure, the rule of +hospitality to strangers, and of seeking to pluck out of the fire such +as there may be hope of, ... do seem to require more moderation and +indulgence of human infirmity where there appears not obstinacy against +the clear truth." [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 251.] + +But in the savage and bloody struggle that was now at hand there was no +place for leaders capable of pity or remorse, and the theocracy found +supremely gifted chieftains in John Norton and John Endicott. + +Norton approaches the ideal of the sterner orders of the priesthood. +A gentleman by birth and breeding, a ripe scholar, with a keen though +polished wit, his sombre temper was deeply tinged with fanaticism. +Unlike so many of his brethren, temporal concerns were to him of but +little moment, for every passion of his gloomy soul was intensely +concentrated on the warfare he believed himself waging with the fiend. +Doubt or compassion was impossible, for he was commissioned by the Lord. +He was Christ's elected minister, and misbelievers were children of the +devil whom it was his sacred duty to destroy. He knew by the Word of +God that all save the orthodox were lost, and that heretics not only +perished, but were the hirelings of Satan, who tempted the innocent +to their doom; he therefore hated and feared them more than robbers or +murderers. Words seemed to fail him when he tried to express his horror: +"The face of death, the King of Terrours, the living man by instinct +turneth his face from. An unusual shape, a satanical phantasm, a ghost, +or apparition, affrights the disciples. But the face of heresie is of +a more horrid aspect than all ... put together, as arguing some signal +inlargement of the power of darkness as being diabolical, prodigeous, +portentous." [Footnote: _Heart of New Eng. Rent_, p. 46.] By nature, +moreover, he had in their fullest measure the three attributes of a +preacher of a persecution,--eloquence, resolution, and a heart callous +to human suffering. To this formidable churchman was joined a no less +formidable magistrate. + +No figure in our early history looms out of the past like Endicott's. +The harsh face still looks down from under the black skull-cap, the gray +moustache and pointed beard shading the determined mouth, but throwing +into relief the lines of the massive jaw. He is almost heroic in his +ferocious bigotry and daring,--a perfect champion of the church. + +The grim Puritan soldier is almost visible as, standing at the head of +his men, he tears the red cross from the flag, and defies the power of +England; or, in that tremendous moment, when the people were hanging +breathless on the fate of Christison, when insurrection seemed bursting +out beneath his feet, and his judges shrunk aghast before the peril, we +yet hear the savage old man furiously strike the table, and, thanking +God that he at least dares to do his duty, we see him rise alone before +that threatening multitude to condemn the heretic to death. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE ANABAPTISTS. + + +The Rev. Thomas Shepard, pastor of Charlestown, was such an example, "in +word, in conversation, in civility, in spirit, in faith, in purity, that +he did let no man despise his youth;" [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 4, +ch. ix. Section 6.] and yet, preaching an election sermon before the +governor and magistrates, he told them that "anabaptisme ... hath ever +been lookt at by the godly leaders of this people as a scab." [Footnote: +_Eye Salve_, p. 24.] While the Rev. Samuel Willard, president of +Harvard, declared that "such a rough thing as a New England Anabaptist +is not to be handled over tenderly." [Footnote: _Ne Sutor_, p. 10.] + +So early as 1644, therefore, the General Court "Ordered and agreed, +yt if any person or persons within ye iurisdiction shall either openly +condemne or oppose ye baptizing of infants, or go about secretly to +seduce others from ye app'bation or use thereof, or shall purposely +depart ye congregation at ye administration of ye ordinance, ... and +shall appear to ye Co't willfully and obstinately to continue therein +after due time and meanes of conviction, every such person or persons +shallbe sentenced to banishment." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ ii. 85. 13 +November, 1644.] + +The legislation, however, was unpopular, for Winthrop relates that in +October, 1645, divers merchants and others petitioned to have the act +repealed, because of the offense taken thereat by the godly in England, +and the court seemed inclined to accede, "but many of the elders ... +entreated that the law might continue still in force, and the execution +of it not suspended, though they disliked not that all lenity and +patience should be used for convincing and reclaiming such erroneous +persons. Whereupon the court refused to make any further order." +[Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 251.] And Edward Winslow assured Parliament +in 1646, when sent to England to represent the colony, that, some +mitigation being desired, "it was answered in my hearing. 'T is true +we have a severe law, but wee never did or will execute the rigor of it +upon any.... But the reason wherefore wee are loath either to repeale +or alter the law is, because wee would have it ... to beare witnesse +against their judgment, ... which we conceive ... to bee erroneous." +[Footnote: _Hypocrisie Unmasked_, 101.] + +Unquestionably, at that time no one had been banished; but in 1644 "one +Painter, for refusing to let his child be baptized, ... was brought +before the court, where he declared their baptism to be anti-Christian. +He was sentenced to be whipped, which he bore without flinching, and +boasted that God had assisted him." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. 208, +note.] Nor was his a solitary instance of severity. Yet, notwithstanding +the scorn and hatred which the orthodox divines felt for these +sectaries, many very eminent Puritans fell into the errors of that +persuasion. Roger Williams was a Baptist, and Henry Dunster, for the +same heresy, was removed from the presidency of Harvard, and found it +prudent to end his days within the Plymouth jurisdiction. Even that +great champion of infant baptism, Jonathan Mitchell, when thrown into +intimate relations with Dunster, had doubts. + +"That day ... after I came from him I had a strange experience; I found +hurrying and pressing suggestions against Paedobaptism, and injected +scruples and thoughts whether the other way might not be right, and +infant baptism an invention of men; and whether I might with good +conscience baptize children and the like. And these thoughts were darted +in with some impression, and left a strange confusion and sickliness +upon my spirit. Yet, methought, it was not hard to discern that they +were from the _Evil One_; ... And it made me fearful to go needlessly to +Mr. D.; for methought I found a venom and poison in his insinuations and +discourses against Paedobaptism." [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 4, ch. iv. +Section 10.] + +Henry Dunster was an uncommon man. Famed for piety in an age of +fanaticism, learned, modest, and brave, by the unremitting toil of +thirteen years he raised Harvard from a school to the position which +it has since held; and though very poor, and starving on a wretched and +ill-paid pittance, he gave his beloved college one hundred acres of +land at the moment of its sorest need. [Footnote: Quincy's _History +of Harvard_, i. 15.] Yet he was a criminal, for he would not baptize +infants, and he met with the "lenity and patience" which the elders were +not unwilling should be used toward the erring. + +He was indicted and convicted of disturbing church ordinances, and +deprived of his office in October, 1654. He asked for leave to stay in +the house he had built for a few months, and his petition in November +ought to be read to understand how heretics were made to suffer:-- + +"1st. The time of the year is unseasonable, being now very near the +shortest day, and the depth of winter. + +"2d. The place unto which I go is unknown to me and my family, and the +ways and means of subsistance.... + +"3d. The place from which I go hath fire, fuel, and all provisions for +man and beast, laid in for the winter.... The house I have builded upon +very damageful conditions to myself, out of love for the college, taking +country pay in lieu of bills of exchange on England, or the house would +not have been built.... + +"4th. The persons, all beside myself, are women and children, on whom +little help, now their minds lie under the actual stroke of affliction +and grief. My wife is sick, and my youngest child extremely so, and hath +been for months, so that we dare not carry him out of doors, yet much +worse now than before.... Myself will willingly bow my neck to any +yoke of personal denial, for I know for what and for whom, by grace I +suffer." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 18.] + +He had before asked Winthrop to cause the government to pay him what it +owed, and he ended his prayer in these words: "Considering the poverty +of the country, I am willing to descend to the lowest step; and if +nothing can comfortably be allowed, I sit still appeased; desiring +nothing more than to supply me and mine with food and raiment." +[Footnote: _Idem_, i. 20.] He received that mercy which the church has +ever shown to those who wander from her fold; he was given till March, +and then, with dues unpaid, was driven forth a broken man, to die in +poverty and neglect. + +But Jonathan Mitchell, pondering deeply upon the wages he saw paid at +his very hearthstone, to the sin of his miserable old friend, snatched +his own soul from Satan's jaws. And thenceforward his path lay in +pleasant places, and he prospered exceedingly in the world, so that "of +extream lean he grew extream fat; and at last, in an extream hot season, +a fever arrested him, just after he had been preaching.... Wonderful +were the lamentations which this deplorable death fill'd the churches +of New England withal.... Yea ... all New England shook when that pillar +fell to the ground." [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 4, ch. iv. Section 16.] + +Notwithstanding, therefore, clerical promises of gentleness, +Massachusetts was not a comfortable place of residence for Baptists, +who, for the most part, went to Rhode Island; and John Clark [Footnote: +For sketch of Clark's life see _Allen's Biographical Dictionary_.] +became the pastor of the church which they formed at Newport about +1644. He had been born about 1610, and had been educated in London as +a physician. In 1637 he landed at Boston, where he seems to have become +embroiled in the Antinomian controversy; at all events, he fared so ill +that, with several others, he left Massachusetts 'resolving, through +the help of Christ, to get clear of all [chartered companies] and be +of ourselves.' In the course of their wanderings they fell in with +Williams, and settled near him. + +Clark was perhaps the most prominent man in the Plantations, filled many +public offices, and was the commissioner who afterward secured for the +colony the famous charter that served as the State Constitution till +1842. + +Obediah Holmes, who succeeded him as Baptist minister of Newport, is +less well known. He was educated at Oxford, and when he emigrated he +settled at Salem; from thence he went to Seaconk, where he joined the +church under Mr. Newman. Here he soon fell into trouble for resisting +what he maintained was an "unrighteous act" of his pastor's; in +consequence he and several more renounced the communion, and began +to worship by themselves; they were baptized and thereafter they were +excommunicated; the inevitable indictment followed, and they, too, took +refuge in Rhode Island. [Footnote: Holmes's Narrative, Backus, i. 213.] + +William Witter [Footnote: For the following events, see "_Ill Newes from +New England" Mass. Hist. Coll._ fourth series, vol. ii.] of Lynn was an +aged Baptist, who had already been prosecuted, but, in 1651, being blind +and infirm, he asked the Newport church to send some of the brethren +to him, to administer the communion, for he found himself alone in +Massachusetts. [Footnote: Backus, i. 215.] Accordingly Clark undertook +the mission, with Obediah Holmes and John Crandall. + +They reached Lynn on Saturday, July 19, 1651, and on Sunday stayed +within doors in order not to disturb the congregation. A few friends +were present, and Clark was in the midst of a sermon, when the house +was entered by two constables with a warrant signed by Robert Bridges, +commanding them to arrest certain "erroneous persons being strangers." +The travellers were at once seized and carried to the tavern, and after +dinner they were told that they must go to church. + +Gorton, like many another, had to go through this ordeal, and he speaks +of his Sundays with much feeling: "Only some part of those dayes they +brought us forth into their congregations, to hear their sermons ... +which was meat to be digested, but only by the heart or stomacke of an +ostrich." [Footnote: _Simplicitie's Defence_, p. 57.] + +The unfortunate Baptists remonstrated, saying that were they forced into +the meeting-house, they should be obliged to dissent from the service, +but this, the constable said, was nothing to him, and so he carried them +away. On entering, during the prayer, the prisoners took off their +hats, but presently put them on again and began reading in their seats. +Whereupon Bridges ordered the officers to uncover their heads, which +was done, and the service was then quietly finished. When all was over, +Clark asked leave to speak, which, after some hesitation, was granted, +on condition he would not discuss what he had heard. He began to explain +how he had put on his hat because he could not judge that they were +gathered according to the visible order of the Lord; but here he was +silenced, and the three were committed to custody for the night. On +Tuesday they were taken to Boston, and on the 31st were brought before +Governor Endicott. Their trial was of the kind reserved by priests for +heretics. No jury was impanelled, no indictment was read, no evidence +was heard, but the prisoners were reviled by the bench as Anabaptists, +and when they repudiated the name were asked if they did not deny infant +baptism. The theological argument which followed was cut short by a +recommitment to await sentence. + +That afternoon John Cotton exhorted the judges from the pulpit. He +expounded the law, and commanded them to do their duty; he told them +that the rejection of infant baptism would overthrow the church; +that this was a capital crime, and therefore the captives were "foul +murtherers." [Footnote: _Ill Newes_, p. 56.] Thus inspired, the court +came in toward evening. + +The record recites a number of misdemeanors, such as wearing the hat in +church, administering the communion to the excommunicated, and the +like, but no attempt was made to prove a single charge. [Footnote: _Ill +Newes_, pp. 31-44.] The reason is obvious: the only penalty provided +by statute for the offence of being a Baptist was banishment, hence +the only legal course would have been to dismiss the accused. +Endicott condemned them to fines of twenty, thirty, and five pounds, +respectively, or to be whipped. Clark understood his position perfectly, +and from the first had demanded to be shown the law under which he was +being tried. He now, after sentence, renewed the request. Endicott well +knew that in acting as the mouthpiece of the clergy he was violating +alike justice, his oath of office, and his honor as a judge; and, being +goaded to fury, he broke out: You have deserved death; I will not have +such trash brought into our jurisdiction. [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 33.] +Holmes tells the rest: "As I went from the bar, I exprest myself in +these words,--I blesse God I am counted worthy to suffer for the name of +Jesus; whereupon John Wilson (their pastor, as they call him) strook me +before the judgement seat, and cursed me, saying, The curse of God ... +goe with thee; so we were carried to the prison." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. +47.] + +All the convicts maintained that their liberty as English subjects had +been violated, and they refused to pay their fines. Clark's friends, +however, alarmed for his safety, settled his for him, and he was +discharged. + +Crandall was admitted to bail, but being misinformed as to the time of +surrender, he did not appear, his bond was forfeited, and on his return +to Boston he found himself free. + +Thus Holmes was left to face his punishment alone. Actuated apparently +by a deep sense of duty toward himself and his God, he refused the help +of friends, and steadfastly awaited his fate. As he lay in prison he +suffered keenly as he thought of his birth and breeding, his name, his +worldly credit, and the humiliation which must come to his wife and +children from his public shame; then, too, he began to fear lest he +might not be able to bear the lash, might flinch or shed tears, and +bring contempt on himself and his religion. Yet when the morning came +he was calm and resolute; refusing food and drink, that he might not be +said to be sustained by liquor, he betook himself to prayer, and when +his keeper called him, with his Bible in his hand, he walked cheerfully +to the post. He would have spoken a few words, but the magistrate +ordered the executioner to do his office quickly, for this fellow would +delude the people; then he was seized and stripped, and as he cried, +"Lord, lay not this sin unto their charge," he received the first blow. +[Footnote: _Ill Newes_, pp. 48, 56.] + +They gave him thirty lashes with a three-thonged whip, of such horrible +severity that it was many days before he could endure to have his +lacerated body touch the bed, and he rested propped upon his hands and +knees. [Footnote: Backus, i. 237, note. MS. of Gov. Jos. Jencks.] Yet, +in spite of his torture, he stood firm and calm, showing neither pain +nor fear, breaking out at intervals into praise to God; and his dignity +and courage so impressed the people that, in spite of the danger, +numbers flocked about him when he was set free, in sympathy and +admiration. John Spur, being inwardly affected by what he saw and heard, +took him by the hand, and, with a joyful countenance, said: "Praised be +the Lord," and so went back with him. That same day Spur was arrested, +charged with the crime of succoring a heretic. Then said the undaunted +Spur: "Obediah Holmes I do look upon as a godly man: and do affirm +that he carried himself as did become a Christian, under so sad an +affliction." "We will deal with you as we have dealt with him," said +Endicott. "I am in the hands of God," answered Spur; and then his keeper +took him to his prison. [Footnote: _Ill Newes_, p. 57.] + +Perhaps no persecutor ever lived who was actuated by a single motive: +Saint Dominic probably had some trace of worldliness; Henry VIII. some +touch of bigotry; and this was preeminently true of the Massachusetts +elders. Doubtless there were among them men like Norton, whose +fanaticism was so fierce that they would have destroyed the heretic like +the wild beast, as a child of the devil, and an abomination to God. +But with the majority worldly motives predominated: they were always +protesting that they did not constrain men's consciences, but only +enforced orderly living. Increase Mather declared: in "the same +church there have been Presbyterians, Independents, Episcopalians, and +Antipaedobaptists, all welcome to the same table of the Lord when +they have manifested to the judgment of Christian charity a work of +regeneration in their souls." [Footnote: _Vindication of New Eng._ +p. 19.] And Winslow solemnly assured Parliament, "Nay, some in our +churches" are "of that judgment, and as long as they [Baptists] carry +themselves peaceably as hitherto they doe, wee will leave them to God." +[Footnote: _Hypocrisie Unmasked_, p. 101. A. D. 1646.] + +Such statements, although intended to convey a false impression, +contained this much truth: provided a man conformed to all the +regulations of the church, paid his taxes, and held his tongue, he would +not, in ordinary circumstances, have been molested under the Puritan +Commonwealth. But the moment he refused implicit obedience, or, above +all, if he withdrew from his congregation, he was shown no mercy, +because such acts tended to shake the temporal power. John Wilson, +pastor of Boston, was a good example of the average of his order. On his +death-bed he was asked to declare what he thought to be the worst sins +of the country. "'I have long feared several sins, whereof one,' he +said, 'was Corahism: that is, when people rise up as Corah against their +ministers, as if they took too much upon them, when indeed they do but +rule for Christ, and according to Christ.'" [Footnote: _Magnalia_, +bk. 3, ch. iii. Section 17.] Permeated with this love of power, and +possessed of a superb organization, the clergy never failed to act on +public opinion with decisive effect whenever they saw their worldly +interests endangered. Childe has described the attack which overwhelmed +him, and Gorton gives a striking account of their process of inciting a +crusade:-- + +"These things concluded to be heresies and blasphemies.... The ministers +did zealously preach unto the people the great danger of such things, +and the guilt such lay under that held them, stirring the people up to +labour to find such persons out and to execute death upon them, making +persons so execrable in the eyes of the people, whom they intimated +should hold such things, yea some of them naming some of us in their +pulpits, that the people that had not seen us thought us to be worse by +far in any respect then those barbarous Indians are in the country.... +Whereupon we heard a rumor that the Massachusets was sending out an army +of men to cut us off." [Footnote: _Simplicitie's Defence_, p. 32.] + +The persecution of the Baptists lays bare this selfish clerical policy. +The theory of the suppression of heresy as a sacred duty breaks down +when it is conceded that the heretic may be admitted to the orthodox +communion without sin; therefore the motives for cruelty were sordid. +The ministers felt instinctively that an open toleration would impair +their power; not only because the congregations would divide, but +because these sectaries listened to "John Russell the shoemaker." +[Footnote: _Ne Sutor_, p. 26.] Obviously, were cobblers to usurp the +sacerdotal functions, the superstitious reverence of the people for the +priestly office would not long endure: and it was his crime in upholding +this sacrilegious practice which made the Rev. Thomas Cobbett cry out in +his pulpit "against Gorton, that arch-heretick, who would have al men to +be preachers." [Footnote: _Simplicities Defence_, p. 32. See _Ne Sutor_, +p. 26.] + +Therefore, though Winslow solemnly protested before the Commissioners at +London that Baptists who lived peaceably would be left unmolested, yet +such of them as listened to "foul-murtherers" [Footnote: "_Ill Newes_," +_Mass. Hist. Coll._ fourth series, vol. ii. p. 56.] were denounced +by the divines as dangerous fanatics who threatened to overthrow the +government, and were hunted through the country like wolves. + +Thomas Gould was an esteemed citizen of Charles-town, but, unfortunately +for himself, he had long felt doubt concerning infant baptism; so when, +in 1655, a child was born to him, he "durst not" have it christened. +"The elder pressed the church to lay me under admonition, which the +church was backward to do. Afterward I went out at the sprinkling of +children, which was a great trouble to some honest hearts, and they told +me of it. But I told them I could not stay, for I lookt upon it as no +ordinance of Christ. They told me that now I had made known my judgment +I might stay.... So I stayed and sat down in my seat when they were at +prayer and administring the service to infants. Then they dealt with me +for my unreverent carriage." [Footnote: Gould's Narrative, Backus, +i. 364-366.] That is to say, his pastor, Mr. Symmes, caused him to be +admonished and excluded from the communion. In October, 1656, he was +presented to the county court for "denying baptism to his child," +convicted, admonished, and given till the next term to consider of his +error; and gradually his position at Charlestown became so unpleasant +that he went to church at Cambridge, which was a cause of fresh offence +to Mr. Symmes. [Footnote: _History of Charlestown_, Frothingham, p. +164.] + +From this time forward for several years, though no actual punishment +seems to have been inflicted, Gould was subjected to perpetual +annoyance, and was repeatedly summoned and admonished, both by the +courts and the church, until at length he brought matters to a crisis by +withdrawing, and with eight others forming a church, on May 28, 1665. + +He thus tells his story: "We sought the Lord to direct us, and taking +counsel of other friends who dwelt among us, who were able and godly, +they gave us counsel to congregate ourselves together; and so we did, +... to walk in the order of the gospel according to the rule of Christ, +yet knowing it was a breach of the law of this country.... After we had +been called into one or two courts, the church understanding that we +were gathered into church order, they sent three messengers from the +church to me, telling me the church required me to come before them the +next Lord's day." [Footnote: Gould's Narrative, Backus, i. 369.] That +Sunday he could not go, but he promised to attend on the one following; +[Footnote: Gould's Narrative, Backus, i. 371.] and his wife relates what +was then done: "The word was carried to the elder, that if they were +alive and well they would come the next day, yet they were so hot upon +it that they could not stay, but master Sims, when he was laying out the +sins of these men, before he had propounded it to the church, to know +their mind, the church having no liberty to speak, he wound it up in +his discourse, and delivered them up to Satan, to the amazement of the +people, that ever such an ordinance of Christ should be so abused, that +many of the people went out; and these were the excommunicated persons." +[Footnote: Mrs. Gould's Answer, Backus, i. 384.] The sequence is +complete: so long as Gould confined his heresy to pure speculation upon +dogma he was little heeded; when he withheld his child from baptism and +went out during the ceremony he was admonished, denied the sacrament, +and treated as a social outcast; but when he separated, he was +excommunicated and given to the magistrate to be crushed. + +Passing from one tribunal to another the sectaries came before the +General Court in October, 1665: such as were freemen were disfranchised, +and all were sentenced, upon conviction before a single magistrate +of continued schism, to be imprisoned until further order. [Footnote: +_Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 291.] The following April they were +fined four pounds and put in confinement, where they lay till the 11th +of September, when the legislature, after a hearing, ordered them to be +discharged upon payment of fines and costs. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. +iv. pt. 2, p. 316.] + +How many Baptists were prosecuted, and what they suffered, is not known, +as only an imperfect record remains of the fortunes of even the leaders +of the movement; this much, however, is certain, they not only continued +contumacious, but persecution added to their numbers. So at length the +clergy decided to try what effect a public refutation of these heretics +would have on popular opinion. Accordingly the governor and council, +actuated by "Christian candor," ordered the Baptists to appear at the +meeting-house, at nine o'clock in the morning, on the 14th of April, +1668; and six ministers were deputed to conduct the disputation. +[Footnote: Backus, i. 375.] + +During the immolation of Dunster the Rev. Mr. Mitchell had made up his +mind that he "would have an argument able to remove a mountain" before +he would swerve from his orthodoxy; he had since confirmed his faith by +preaching "more than half a score ungainsayable sermons" "in defence of +this comfortable truth," and he was now prepared to maintain it against +all comers. Accordingly this "worthy man was he who did most service +in this disputation; whereof the effect was, that although the erring +brethren, as is usual in such cases, made this their last answer to the +arguments which had cast them into much confusion: 'Say what you will +we will hold our mind.' Yet others were happily established in the right +ways of the Lord." [Footnote: _Magnalia_, bk. 4, ch. iv. Section 10.] + +Such is the account of Cotton Mather: but the story of the Baptists +presents a somewhat different view of the proceedings. "It is true there +were seven elders appointed to discourse with them.... and when they +were met, there was a long speech made by one of them of what vile +persons they were, and how they acted against the churches and +government here, and stood condemned by the court. The others desiring +liberty to speak, they would not suffer them, but told them they stood +there as delinquents and ought not to have liberty to speak.... Two +days were spent to little purpose; in the close, master Jonathan Mitchel +pronounced that dreadful sentence against them in Deut. xvii. 8, to the +end of the 12th, and this was the way they took to convince them, and +you may see what a good effect it had." [Footnote: Mrs. Gould's Answer, +Backus, i. 384, 385.] + +The sentence pronounced by Mitchell was this: "And the man that will do +presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to +minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that +man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel." [Footnote: +_Deut._ xvii. 12.] + +On the 27th of May, 1668, Gould, Turner, and Farnum, "obstinate +& turbulent Annabaptists," were banished under pain of perpetual +imprisonment. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. ii, pp. 373-375.] +They determined to stay and face their fate: afterward they wrote to the +magistrates:-- + + * * * * * + +HONOURED SIRS: ... After the tenders of our service according to Christ, +his command to your selves and the country, wee thought it our duty and +concernment to present your honours with these few lines to put you +in remembrance of our bonds: and this being the twelfth week of our +imprisonment, wee should be glad if it might be thought to stand +with the honour and safety of the country, and the present government +thereof, to be now at liberty. For wee doe hereby seriously profess, +that as farre as wee are sensible or know anything of our own hearts, +wee do prefer their peace and safety above our own, however wee have +been resented otherwise: and wherein wee differ in point of judgment +wee humbly beeseech you, let there be a bearing with us, till god +shal reveale otherwise to us; for there is a spirit in man and the +inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding, therefore if wee +are in the dark, wee dare not say that wee doe see or understand, till +the Lord shall cleare things up to us. And to him wee can appeale to +cleare up our innocency as touching the government, both in your civil +and church affaires. That it never was in our hearts to thinke of doing +the least wrong to either: but have and wee hope, by your assistance, +shal alwaies indeavour to keepe a conscience void of offence towards god +and men. And if it shal be thought meete to afforde us our liberty, that +wee may take that care, as becomes us, for our families, wee shal engage +ourselves to be alwayes in a readines to resigne up our persons to your +pleasure. Hoping your honours will be pleased seriously to consider our +condition, wee shall commend both you and it to the wise disposing and +blessing of the Almighty, and remaine your honours faithful servants in +what we may. + +THO: GOLD WILL: TURNER JOHN FARNUM. [Footnote: _Mass. Archives_, x. +220.] + + * * * * * + +Such were the men whom the clergy daily warned their congregations +"would certainly undermine the churches, ruine order, destroy piety, and +introduce prophaneness." [Footnote: _Ne Sutor_, p. 11.] And when they +appealed to their spotless lives and their patience under affliction, +they were told "that the vilest hereticks and grossest blasphemers have +resolutely and cheerfully (at least sullenly and boastingly) suffered as +well as the people of God." [Footnote: _Ne Sutor_, p. 9.] + +The feeling of indignation and of sympathy was, notwithstanding, strong; +and in spite of the danger of succoring heretics, sixty-six inhabitants, +among whom were some of the most respected citizens of Charlestown, +petitioned the legislature for mercy: "They being aged and weakly men; +... the sense of this their ... most deplorable and afflicted condition +hath sadly affected the hearts of many ... Christians, and such as +neither approve of their judgment or practice; especially considering +that the men are reputed godly, and of a blameless conversation.... We +therefore most humbly beseech this honored court, in their Christian +mercy and bowels of compassion, to pity and relieve these poor +prisoners." [Footnote: Backus, i. 380, 381.] On November 7, 1668, the +petition was voted "scandalous & reproachful," the two chief promoters +were censured, admonished, and fined ten and five pounds respectively; +the others were made, under their own hands, to express their sorrow, +"for giving the court such just ground of offence." [Footnote: _Mass. +Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 413.] + +The shock was felt even in England. In March, 1669, thirteen of the most +influential dissenting ministers wrote from London earnestly begging +for moderation lest they should be made to suffer from retaliation; but +their remonstrance was disregarded. [Footnote: Backus, i. 395.] What +followed is not exactly known; the convicts would seem to have lain +in jail about a year, and they are next mentioned in a letter to Clark +written in November, 1670, in which he was told that Turner had been +again arrested, but that Gould had eluded the officers, who were waiting +for him in Boston; and was on Noddle's Island. Subsequently all were +taken and treated with the extremest rigor; for in June, 1672, Russell +was so reduced that it was supposed he could not live, and he was +reported to have died in prison. Six months before Gould and Turner had +been thought past hope; their sufferings had brought them all to the +brink of the grave. [Footnote: Backus, i. 398-404, 405.] But relief was +at hand: the victory for freedom had been won by the blood of heretics, +as devoted, as fearless, but even unhappier than they; and the election +of Leverett, in 1673, who was opposed to persecution, marks the moment +when the hierarchy admitted their defeat. During his administration the +sectaries usually met in private undisturbed; and soon every energy +of the theocracy became concentrated on the effort to repulse the ever +contracting circle of enemies who encompassed it. + +During the next few years events moved fast. In 1678 the ecclesiastical +power was so shattered that the Baptists felt strong enough to build a +church; but the old despotic spirit lived even in the throes of death, +and the legislature passed an act forbidding the erection of unlicensed +meeting-houses under penalty of confiscation. Nevertheless it was +finished, but on the Sunday on which it was to have been opened the +marshal nailed the doors fast and posted notices forbidding all persons +to enter, by order of the court. After a time the doors were broken +open, and services were held; a number of the congregation were summoned +before the court, admonished, and forbidden to meet in any public place; +[Footnote: June 11, 1680. _Mass. Rec._ v. 271.] but the handwriting was +now glowing on the wall, priestly threats had lost their terror; +the order was disregarded; and now for almost two hundred years +Massachusetts has been foremost in defending the equal rights of men +before the law. + +The old world was passing away, a new era was opening, and a few words +are due to that singular aristocracy which so long ruled New England. +For two centuries Increase Mather has been extolled as an eminent +example of the abilities and virtues which then adorned his order. In +1681, when all was over, he published a solemn statement of the attitude +the clergy had held toward the Baptists, and from his words posterity +may judge of their standard of morality and of truth. + +"The Annabaptists in New England have in their narrative lately +published, endeavoured to ... make themselves the innocent persons and +the Lord's servants here no better than persecutors.... I have been +a poor labourer in the Lord's Vineyard in this place upward of twenty +years; and it is more than I know, if in all that time, any of those +that scruple infant baptism, have met with molestation from the +magistrate merely on account of their opinion." [Footnote: Preface to +_Ne Sutor_.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE QUAKERS. + + +The lower the organism, the less would seem to be the capacity for +physical adaptation to changed conditions of life; the jelly-fish dies +in the aquarium, the dog has wandered throughout the world with his +master. The same principle apparently holds true in the evolution of the +intellect; for while the oyster lacks consciousness, the bee modifies +the structure of its comb, and the swallow of her nest, to suit +unforeseen contingencies, while the dog, the horse, and the elephant are +capable of a high degree of education. [Footnote: _Menial Evolution in +Animals_, Romanes, Am. ed. pp. 203-210.] + +Applying this law to man, it will be found to be a fact that, whereas +the barbarian is most tenacious of custom, the European can adopt +new fashions with comparative ease. The obvious inference is, that +in proportion as the brain is feeble it is incapable of the effort of +origination; therefore, savages are the slaves of routine. Probably +a stronger nervous system, or a peculiarity of environment, or both +combined, served to excite impatience with their surroundings among the +more favored races, from whence came a desire for innovation. And the +mental flexibility thus slowly developed has passed by inheritance, +and has been strengthened by use, until the tendency to vary, or think +independently, has become an irrepressible instinct among some modern +nations. Conservatism is the converse of variation, and as it springs +from mental inertia it is always a progressively salient characteristic +of each group in the descending scale. The Spaniard is less mutable than +the Englishman, the Hindoo than the Spaniard, the Hottentot than +the Hindoo, and the ape than the Hottentot. Therefore, a power whose +existence depends upon the fixity of custom must be inimical to +progress, but the authority of a sacred caste is altogether based upon +an unreasoning reverence for tradition,--in short, on superstition; +and as free inquiry is fatal to a belief in those fables which awed the +childhood of the race, it has followed that established priesthoods have +been almost uniformly the most conservative of social forces, and +that clergymen have seldom failed to slay their variable brethren when +opportunity has offered. History teems with such slaughters, some of the +most instructive of which are related in the Old Testament, whose code +of morals is purely theological. + +Though there may be some question as to the strict veracity of the +author of the Book of Kings, yet, as he was evidently a thorough +churchman, there can be no doubt that he has faithfully preserved the +traditions of the hierarchy; his chronicle therefore presents, as +it were, a perfect mirror, wherein are reflected the workings of the +ecclesiastical mind through many generations. According to his account, +the theocracy only triumphed after a long and doubtful struggle. Samuel +must have been an exceptionally able man, for, though he failed to +control Saul, it was through his intrigues that David was enthroned, +who was profoundly orthodox; yet Solomon lapsed again into heresy, and +Jeroboam added to schism the even blacker crime of making "priests +of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi," +[Footnote: I Kings xii. 31.] and in consequence he has come down to +posterity as the man who made Israel to sin. Ahab married Jezebel, who +introduced the worship of Baal, and gave the support of government to a +rival church. She therefore roused a hate which has made her immortal; +but it was not until the reign of her son Jehoram that Elisha apparently +felt strong enough to execute a plot he had made with one of the +generals to precipitate a revolution, in which the whole of the house of +Ahab should be murdered and the heretics exterminated. The awful story +is told with wonderful power in the Bible. + +"And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, +and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine +hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead: and when thou comest thither, look out +there Jehu, ... and make him arise up ... and carry him to an inner +chamber; then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, +Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel.... + +"So the young man ... went to Ramoth-gilead.... And he said, I have an +errand to thee, O captain.... + +"And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his +head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have +anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. + +"And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge +the blood of my servants the prophets.... + +"For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: ... and I will make the house +of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ... and the dogs +shall eat Jezebel.... + +"Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: ... And he said, Thus +spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king +over Israel. + +"Then they hasted, ... and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. So +Jehu ... conspired against Joram.... + +"But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which +the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.... + +"So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there.... + +"And Joram ... went out ... in his chariot, ... against Jehu.... And it +came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And +he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel +and her witchcrafts are so many? + +"And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is +treachery, O Ahaziah. + +"And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between +his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his +chariot.... + +"But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the +garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in +the chariot. And they did so.... + +"And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted +her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. + +"And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew +his master?... + +"And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her +blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her +under foot.... + +"And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, ... to +the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying, ... If +ye be mine, ... take ye the heads of ... your master's sons, and come to +me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time.... And it came to pass, when the +letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew +seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to +Jezreel.... + +"And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate +until the morning.... + +"So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and +all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him +none remaining. + +"And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the +shearing house in the way, Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of +Judah.... + +"And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them +at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left +he any of them.... + +"And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in +Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, +which he spake to Elijah. + +"And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab +served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much. Now therefore call +unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; +let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; +whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in +subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of +Baal.... + +"And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, +so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into +the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to +another.... + +"And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the +burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, +and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of +the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out.... + +"Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel." [Footnote: 2 _Kings_ ix., x.] + +Viewed from the standpoint of comparative history, the policy +of theocratic Massachusetts toward the Quakers was the necessary +consequence of antecedent causes, and is exactly parallel with the +massacre of the house of Ahab by Elisha and Jehu. The power of a +dominant priesthood depended on conformity, and the Quakers absolutely +refused to conform; nor was this the blackest of their crimes: they +believed that the Deity communicated directly with men, and that these +revelations were the highest rule of conduct. Manifestly such a doctrine +was revolutionary. The influence of all ecclesiastics must ultimately +rest upon the popular belief that they are endowed with attributes which +are denied to common men. The syllogism of the New England elders was +this: all revelation is contained in the Bible; we alone, from our +peculiar education, are capable of interpreting the meaning of the +Scriptures: therefore we only can declare the will of God. But it was +evident that, were the dogma of "the inner light" once accepted, this +reasoning must fall to the ground, and the authority of the ministry be +overthrown. Necessarily those who held so subversive a doctrine would +be pursued with greater hate than less harmful heretics, and thus +contemplating the situation there is no difficulty in understanding why +the Rev. John Wilson, pastor of Boston, should have vociferated in his +pulpit, that "he would carry fire in one hand and faggots in the other, +to burn all the Quakers in the world;" [Footnote: _New England Judged_, +ed. 1703, p. 124.] why the Rev. John Higginson should have denounced the +"inner light" as "a stinking vapour from hell;" [Footnote: _Truth and +Innocency Defended_, ed. 1703, p. 80.] why the astute Norton should have +taught that "the justice of God was the devil's armour;" [Footnote: _New +England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 9.] and why Endicott sternly warned the +first comers, "Take heed you break not our ecclesiastical laws, for then +ye are sure to stretch by a halter." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 9.] + +Nevertheless, this view has not commended itself to those learned +clergymen who have been the chief historians of the Puritan +commonwealth. They have, on the contrary, steadily maintained that +the sectaries were the persecutors, since the company had exclusive +ownership of the soil, and acted in self-defence. + +The case of Roger Williams is thus summed up by Dr. Dexter: "In all +strictness and honesty he persecuted them--not they him; just as the +modern 'Come-outer,' who persistently intrudes his bad manners and +pestering presence upon some private company, making himself, upon +pretence of conscience, a nuisance there; is--if sane--the persecutor, +rather than the man who forcibly assists, as well as courteously +requires, his desired departure." [Footnote: _As to Roger Williams_, p. +90.] + +Dr. Ellis makes a similar argument regarding the Quakers: "It might +appear as if good manners, and generosity and magnanimity of spirit, +would have kept the Quakers away. Certainly, by every rule of right and +reason, they ought to have kept away. They had no rights or business +here.... Most clearly they courted persecution, suffering, and death; +and, as the magistrates affirmed, 'they rushed upon the sword.' Those +magistrates never intended them harm, ... except as they believed that +all their successive measures and sharper penalties were positively +necessary to secure their jurisdiction from the wildest lawlessness and +absolute anarchy." [Footnote: _Mass. and its Early History_, p. 110] +His conclusion is: "It is to be as frankly and positively affirmed that +their Quaker tormentors were the aggressive party; that they wantonly +initiated the strife, and with a dogged pertinacity persisted in +outrages which drove the authorities almost to frenzy...." [Footnote: +_Idem_, p. 104] + +The proposition that the Congregationalists owned the territory granted +by the charter of Charles I. as though it were a private estate, has +been considered in an earlier chapter; and if the legal views there +advanced are sound, it is incontrovertible, that all peaceful British +subjects had a right to dwell in Massachusetts, provided they did not +infringe the monopoly in trade. The only remaining question, therefore, +is whether the Quakers were peaceful. Dr. Ellis, Dr. Palfrey, and Dr. +Dexter have carefully collected a certain number of cases of misconduct, +with the view of proving that the Friends were turbulent, and the +government had reasonable grounds for apprehending such another outbreak +as one which occurred a century before in Germany and is known as +the Peasants' War. Before, however, it is possible to enter upon a +consideration of the evidence intelligently, it is necessary to fix the +chronological order of the leading events of the persecution. + +The twenty-one years over which it extended may be conveniently divided +into three periods, of which the first began in July, 1656, when Mary +Fisher and Anne Austin came to Boston, and lasted till December, 1661, +when Charles II. interfered by commanding Endicott to send those under +arrest to England for trial. Hitherto John Norton had been preeminent, +but in that same December he was appointed on a mission to London, and +as he died soon after his return, his direct influence on affairs then +probably ceased. He had been chiefly responsible for the hangings +of 1659 and 1660, but under no circumstances could they have been +continued, for after four heretics had perished, it was found impossible +to execute Wenlock Christison, who had been condemned, because of +popular indignation. + +Nevertheless, the respite was brief. In June, 1662, the king, in a +letter confirming the charter, excluded the Quakers from the general +toleration which he demanded for other sects, and the old legislation +was forthwith revived; only as it was found impossible to kill the +schismatics openly, the inference, from what occurred subsequently, +is unavoidable, that the elders sought to attain their purpose by what +their reverend historians call "a humaner policy," [Footnote: _As to +Roger Williams_, p. 134.] or, in plain English, by murdering them by +flogging and starvation. Nor was the device new, for the same stratagem +had already been resorted to by the East India Company, in Hindostan, +before they were granted full criminal jurisdiction. [Footnote: Mill's +_British India_, i. 48, note.] + +The Vagabond Act was too well contrived for compassing such an end, to +have been an accident, and portions of it strongly suggest the hand of +Norton. It was passed in May, 1661, when it was becoming evident that +hanging must be abandoned, and its provisions can only be explained +on the supposition that it was the intention to make the infliction of +death discretionary with each magistrate. It provided that any foreign +Quaker, or any native upon a second conviction, might be ordered to +receive an unlimited number of stripes. It is important also to observe +that the whip was a two-handed implement, armed with lashes made of +twisted and knotted cord or catgut. [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. +1703, p. 357, note.] There can be no doubt, moreover, that sundry of +the judgments afterward pronounced would have resulted fatally had +the people permitted their execution. During the autumn following its +enactment this statute was suspended, but it was revived in about ten +months. + +Endicott's death in 1665 marks the close of the second epoch, and ten +comparatively tranquil years followed. Bellingham's moderation may have +been in part due to the interference of the royal commissioners, but a +more potent reason was the popular disgust, which had become so strong +that the penal laws could not be enforced. + +A last effort was made to rekindle the dying flame in 1675, by fining +constables who failed in their duty to break up Quaker meetings, and +offering one third of the penalty to the informer. Magistrates were +required to sentence those apprehended to the House of Correction, +where they were to be kept three days on bread and water, and whipped. +[Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 60.] Several suffered during this revival, +the last of whom was Margaret Brewster. At the end of twenty-one years +the policy of cruelty had become thoroughly discredited and a general +toleration could no longer be postponed; but this great liberal triumph +was only won by heroic courage and by the endurance of excruciating +torments. Marmaduke Stevenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyer, and William +Leddra were hanged, several were mutilated or branded, two at least are +known to have died from starvation and whipping, and it is probable +that others were killed whose fate cannot be traced. The number tortured +under the Vagabond Act is unknown, nor can any estimate be made of the +misery inflicted upon children by the ruin and exile of parents. + +The early Quakers were enthusiasts, and therefore occasionally spoke and +acted extravagantly; they also adopted some offensive customs, the most +objectionable of which was wearing the hat; all this is immaterial. +The question at issue is not their social attractiveness, but the +cause whose consequence was a virulent persecution. This can only be +determined by an analysis of the evidence. If, upon an impartial review +of the cases of outrage which have been collected, it shall appear +probable that the conduct of the Friends was sufficiently violent to +make it credible that the legislature spoke the truth, when it +declared that "the prudence of this court was exercised onely in making +provission to secure the peace & order heere established against theire +attempts, whose designe (wee were well assured by our oune experjence, +as well as by the example of theire predecessors in Munster) was to +vndermine & ruine the same;" [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 1, p. +385.] then the reverend historians of the theocracy must be considered +to have established their proposition. But if, on the other hand, it +shall seem apparent that the intense vindictiveness of this onslaught +was due to the bigotry and greed of power of a despotic priesthood, who +saw in the spread of independent thought a menace to the ascendency of +their order, then it must be held to be demonstrated that the clergy of +New England acted in obedience to those natural laws, which have always +regulated the conduct of mankind. + + +CHRONOLOGY. + + +1656, July. First Quakers came to Boston. + +1656, 14 Oct. First act against Quakers passed. Providing that +ship-masters bringing Quakers should be fined L100. Quakers to be +whipped and imprisoned till expelled. Importers of Quaker books to be +fined. Any defending Quaker opinions to be fined, first offence, 40s.; +second, L4; third, banishment. + +1657, 14 Oct. By a supplementary act; Quakers returning after one +conviction for first offence, for men, loss of one ear; imprisonment +till exile. Second offence, loss other ear, like imprisonment. For +females; first offence, whipping, imprisonment. Second offence, idem. +Third offence, men and women alike; tongue to be bored with a hot iron, +imprisonment, exile. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 309.] + +1658. In this year Rev. John Norton actively exerted himself to secure +more stringent legislation; procured petition to that effect to be +presented to court. + +1658, 19 Oct. Enacted that undomiciled Quakers returning from banishment +should be hanged. Domiciled Quakers upon conviction, refusing to +apostatize, to be banished, under pain of death on return. [Footnote: +_Idem_, p. 346.] + +Under this act the following persons were hanged: + +1659, 27 Oct. Robinson and Stevenson hanged. + +1660, 1 June. Mary Dyer hanged. (Previously condemned, reprieved, and +executed for returning.) + +1660-1661, 14 Mar. William Leddra hanged. + +1661, June. Wenlock Christison condemned to death; released. + +1661, 22 May. Vagabond Act. Any person convicted before a county +magistrate of being an undomiciled or vagabond Quaker to be stripped +naked to the middle, tied to the cart's tail, and flogged from town to +town to the border. Domiciled Quakers to be proceeded against under Act +of 1658 to banishment, and then treated as vagabond Quakers. The death +penalty was still preserved but not enforced. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ +vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 3.] + +1661, 9 Sept. King Charles II. wrote to Governor Endicott directing the +cessation of corporal punishment in regard to Quakers, and ordering the +accused to be sent to England for trial. + +1661. 27 Nov. Vagabond Act suspended. + +1662. 28 June. The company's agents, Bradstreet and Norton, received +from the king his letter of pardon, etc., wherein, however, Quakers are +excepted from the demand made for religious toleration. + +1662, 8 Oct. Encouraged by the above letter the Vagabond law revived. + +1664-5, 15 March. Death of John Endicott. Bellingham governor. +Commissioners interfere on behalf of Quakers in May. The persecution +subsides. + +1672, 3 Nov. Persecution revived by passage of law punishing persons +found at Quaker meeting by fine or imprisonment and flogging. Also +fining constables for neglect in making arrests and giving one third the +fine to informers. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 60.] + +1677, Aug. 9. Margaret Brewster whipped for entering the Old South in +sackcloth. + + +TURBULENT QUAKERS. + + + 1656, Mary Prince. 1662, Deborah Wilson. + 1658, Sarah Gibbons. 1663, Thomas Newhouse. + " Dorothy Waugh. " Edward Wharton. + 1660, John Smith. 1664, Hannah Wright. [Footnote: Uncertain.] + 1661, Katherine Chatham. " Mary Tomkins. + " George Wilson. 1665, Lydia Wardwell. + 1662, Elizabeth Hooton. 1677, Margaret Brewster. + +"It was in the month called July, of this present year [1656] when Mary +Fisher and Ann Austin arrived in the road before Boston, before ever +a law was made there against the Quakers; and yet they were very ill +treated; for before they came ashore, the deputy governor, Richard +Bellingham (the governor himself being out of town) sent officers +aboard, who searched their trunks and chests, and took away the books +they found there, which were about one hundred, and carried them ashore, +after having commanded the said women to be kept prisoners aboard; +and the said books were, by an order of the council, burnt in the +market-place by the hangman.... And then they were shut up close +prisoners, and command was given that none should come to them without +leave; a fine of five pounds being laid on any that should otherwise +come at, or speak with them, tho' but at the window. Their pens, ink, +and paper were taken from them, and they not suffered to have any +candle-light in the night season; nay, what is more, they were stript +naked, under pretence to know whether they were witches [a true touch of +sacerdotal malignity] tho' in searching no token was found upon them but +of innocence. And in this search they were so barbarously misused that +modesty forbids to mention it: And that none might have communication +with them a board was nailed up before the window of the jail. And +seeing they were not provided with victuals, Nicholas Upshal, one who +had lived long in Boston, and was a member of the church there, was so +concerned about it, (liberty being denied to send them provision) that +he purchased it of the jailor at the rate of five shillings a week, +lest they should have starved. And after having been about five weeks +prisoners, William Chichester, master of a vessel, was bound in one +hundred pound bond to carry them back, and not suffer any to speak with +them, after they were put on board; and the jailor kept their beds ... +and their Bible, for his fees." [Footnote: Sewel, p. 160.] + +Endicott was much dissatisfied with the forbearance of Bellingham, +and declared that had he "been there ... he would have had them well +whipp'd." [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 10.] No exertion +was spared, nevertheless, to get some hold upon them, the elders +examining them as to matters of faith, with a view to ensnare them as +heretics. In this, however, they were foiled. + +On the authority of Hutchinson, Dr. Dexter [Footnote: _As to Roger +Williams_, p. 127.] and r. Palfrey complain [Footnote: Palfrey, ii. +464.] that Mary Prince reviled two of the ministers, who "with much +moderation and tenderness endeavored to convince her of her errors." +[Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. 181.] A visitation of the clergy was a form +of torment from which even the boldest recoiled; Vane, Gorton, Childe, +and Anne Hutchinson quailed under it, and though the Quakers abundantly +proved that they could bear stripes with patience, they could not endure +this. She called them "Baal's priests, the seed of the serpent." Dr. +Ellis also speaks of "stinging objurgations screamed out ... from +between the bars of their prisons." [Footnote: _Mem. Hist. of Boston_, +i. 182.] He cites no cases, but he probably refers to the same woman who +called to Endicott one Sunday on his way from church: "Woe unto thee, +thou art an oppressor." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. 181.] If she said +so she spoke the truth, for she was illegally imprisoned, was deprived +of her property, and subjected to great hardship. + +In October, 1656, the first of the repressive acts was passed, by which +the "cursed" and "blasphemous" intruders were condemned to be "comitted +to the house of correction, and at theire entrance to be seuerely whipt +and by the master thereof to be kept constantly to worke, and none +suffered to converse or speak with them;" [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. +iv. pt. 1, p. 278.] and any captain knowingly bringing them within the +jurisdiction to be fined one hundred pounds, with imprisonment till +payment. + +"When this law was published at the door of the aforenamed Nicholas +Upshall, the good old man, grieved in spirit, publickly testified +against it; for which he was the next morning sent for to the General +Court, where he told them that: 'The execution of that law would be a +forerunner of a judgment upon their country, and therefore in love and +tenderness which he bare to the people and place, desired them to take +heed, lest they were found fighters against God.' For this, he, though +one of their church-members, and of a blameless conversation, was fined +L20 and L3 more for not coming to church, whence the sense of their +wickedness had induced him to absent himself. They also banished him +out of their jurisdiction, allowing him but one month for his departure, +though in the winter season, and he a weakly ancient man: Endicott the +governor, when applied to on his behalf for a mitigation of his fine, +churlishly answered, 'I will not bate him a groat.'" [Footnote: Besse, +ii. 181.] + +Although, after the autumn of 1656, whippings, fines, and banishments +became frequent, no case of misconduct is alleged until the 13th of +the second month, 1658, when Sarah Gibbons and Dorothy Waugh broke +two bottles in Mr. Norton's church, after lecture, to testify to his +emptiness; [Footnote: This charge is unproved.] both had previously +been imprisoned and banished, but the ferocity with which Norton at that +moment was forcing on the persecution was the probable incentive to the +trespass. "They were sent to the house of correction, where, after being +kept three days without any food, they were cruelly whipt, and kept +three days longer without victuals, though they had offered to buy some, +but were not suffered." [Footnote: Besse, ii. 184.] + +In 1661 Katharine Chatham walked through Boston, in sackcloth. This was +during the trial of Christison for his life, when the terror culminated, +and hardly needs comment. + +George Wilson is charged with having "rushed through the streets of +Boston, shouting: 'The Lord is coming with fire and sword!'" [Footnote: +_As to Roger Williams_, p. 133.] The facts appear to be these: in 1661, +just before Christison's trial, he was arrested, without any apparent +reason, and, as he was led to prison, he cried, that the Lord was +coming with fire and sword to plead with Boston. [Footnote: _New England +Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 351.] At the general jail delivery [Footnote: +_Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 19. Order passed 28 May, 1661.] in +anticipation of the king's order, he was liberated, but soon rearrested, +"sentenced to be tied to the cart's tail," and flogged with so severe +a whip that the Quakers wanted to buy it "to send to England for the +novelty of the cruelty, but that was not permitted." [Footnote: Besse, +ii. 224.] + +Elizabeth Hooton coming from England in 1661, with Joan Brooksup, "they +were soon clapt up in prison, and, upon their discharge thence, +being driven with the rest two days' journey into the vast, howling +wilderness, and there left ... without necessary provisions." [Footnote: +Besse, ii. 228, 229.] They escaped to Barbadoes. "Upon their coming +again to Boston, they were presently apprehended by a constable, an +ignorant and furious zealot, who declared, 'It was his delight, and he +could rejoice in following the Quakers to their execution as much as +ever.'" Wishing to return once more, she obtained a license from the +king to buy a house in any plantation. Though about sixty, she was +seized at Dover, where the Rev. Mr. Rayner was settled, put into the +stocks, and imprisoned four days in the dead of winter, where she nearly +perished from cold. [Footnote: Besse, ii. 229.] Afterward, at Cambridge, +she exhorted the people to repentance in the streets, [Footnote: +"Repentance! Repentance! A day of howling and sad lamentation is coming +upon you all from the Lord."] and for this crime, which is cited as an +outrage to Puritan decorum, [Footnote: _As to Roger Williams_, p. 133.] +she was once more apprehended and "imprisoned in a close, stinking +dungeon, where there was nothing either to lie down or sit on, where +she was kept two days and two nights without bread or water," and then +sentenced to be whipped through three towns. "At Cambridge she was tied +to the whipping-post, and lashed with ten stripes with a three-stringed +whip, with three knots at the end: At Watertown she was laid on with ten +stripes more with rods of willow: At Dedham, in a cold frosty morning, +they tortured her aged body with ten stripes more at a cart's tail." The +peculiar atrocity of flogging from town to town lay in this: that the +victim's wounds became cold between the times of punishment, and in +winter sometimes frozen, which made the torture intolerably agonizing. +Then, as hanging was impossible, other means were tried to make an +end of her: "Thus miserably torn and beaten, they carried her a weary +journey on horseback many miles into the wilderness, and toward night +left her there among wolves, bears, and other wild beasts, who, though +they did sometimes seize on living persons, were yet to her less cruel +than the savage-professors of that country. When those who conveyed her +thither left her, they said, 'They thought they should never see her +more.'" [Footnote: Besse, ii. 229. See _New England Judged_, p. 413.] + +The intent to kill is obvious, and yet Elizabeth Hooton suffered less +than many of those convicted and sentenced after public indignation had +forced the theocracy to adopt what their reverend successors are pleased +to call the "humaner policy" of the Vagabond Act. [Footnote: _As to +Roger Williams_, p. 134.] + +Any want of deference to a clergyman is sure to be given a prominent +place in the annals of Massachusetts; and, accordingly, the breaking of +bottles in church, which happened twice in twenty-one years, is never +omitted. + +In 1663 "John Liddal, and Thomas Newhouse, having been at meeting" (at +Salem), "were apprehended and ... sentenced to be whipt through three +towns as vagabonds," which was accordingly done. + +"Not long after this, the aforesaid Thomas Newhouse was again +whipt through the jurisdiction of Boston for testifying against the +persecutors in their meeting-house there; at which time he, in a +prophetick manner, having two glass bottles in his hands, threw them +down, saying, 'so shall you be dashed in pieces.'" [Footnote: Besse, ii. +232.] + +The next turbulent Quaker is mentioned in this way by Dr. Dexter: +"Edward Wharton was 'pressed in spirit' to repair to Dover and proclaim +'Wo, vengeance, and the indignation of the Lord' upon the court in +session there." [Footnote: _As to Roger Williams_, p. 133.] This +happened in the summer of 1663, and long ere then he had seen and +suffered the oppression that makes men mad. He was a peaceable and +industrious inhabitant of Salem; in 1659 he had seen Robinson and +Stevenson done to death, and, being deeply moved, he said, "the guilt of +[their] blood was so great that he could not bear it;" [Footnote: Besse, +ii. 205.] he was taken from his home, given twenty lashes and fined +twenty pounds; the next year, just at the time of Christison's trial, he +was again seized, led through the country like a notorious offender, +and thrown into prison, "where he was kept close, night and day, with +William Leddra, sometimes in a very little room, little bigger than a +saw-pit, having no liberty granted them." + +"Being brought before their court, he again asked, 'What is the cause, +and wherefore have I been fetcht from my habitation, where I was +following my honest calling, and here laid up as an evil-doer?' They +told him, that 'his hair was too long, and that he had disobeyed that +commandment which saith, Honour thy father and mother.' He asked, +'Wherein?' 'In that you will not,' said they, 'put off your hat to +magistrates.' Edward replied, 'I love and own all magistrates and +rulers, who are for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of +them that do well.'" [Footnote: Besse, ii. 220.] + +Then Rawson pronounced the sentence: "You are upon pain of death to +depart this jurisdiction, it being the 11th of this instant March, by +the one and twentieth of the same, on the pain of death.... 'Nay [said +Wharton], I shall not go away; therefore be careful what you do.'" +[Footnote: Besse, ii. 221.] + +And he did not go, but was with Leddra when he died upon the tree. On +the day Leddra suffered, Christison was brought before Endicott, and +commanded to renounce his religion; but he answered: "Nay, I shall not +change my religion, nor seek to save my life; ... but if I lose my life +for Christ's sake and the preaching of the gospel, I shall save it." +They then sent him back to prison to await his doom. At the next court +he was brought to the bar, where he demanded an appeal to England; but +in the midst a letter was brought in from Wharton, signifying, "That +whereas they had banished him on pain of death, yet he was at home in +his own house at Salem, and therefore proposing, 'That they would take +off their wicked sentence from him, that he might go about his occasions +out of their jurisdiction.'" [Footnote: Besse, ii. 222, 223.] + +Endicott was exasperated to frenzy, for he felt the ground crumbling +beneath him; he put the fate of Christison to the vote, and failed to +carry a condemnation. "The governor seeing this division, said, 'I could +find it in my heart to go home;' being in such a rage, that he flung +something furiously on the table. ...Then the governor put the court to +vote again; but this was done confusedly, which so incensed the governor +that he stood up and said, 'You that will not consent record it: I thank +God I am not afraid to give judgment...Wenlock Christison, hearken to +your sentence: You must return unto the place from whence you came, +and from thence to the place of execution, and there you must be hang'd +until you are dead, dead, dead.'" [Footnote: Sewel, p. 279.] Thereafter +Wharton invoked the wrath of God against the theocracy. + +To none of the enormities committed, during these years are the divines +more keenly alive than to the crime of disturbing what they call "public +Sabbath worship;" [Footnote: _As to Roger Williams_, p. 139.] and since +their language conveys the impression that such acts were not only very +common, but also unprovoked, whereas the truth is that they were rare, +it cannot fail to be instructive to relate the causes which led to the +interruption of the ordination of that Mr. Higginson, who called the +"inner light" "a stinking vapour from hell." [Footnote: Ordained July 8, +1660. _Annals of Salem_.] + +John and Margaret Smith were members of the Salem church, and John was a +freeman. In 1658, Margaret became a Quaker, and though in feeble health, +she was cast into prison, and endured the extremities of privation; +her sufferings and her patience so wrought upon her husband that he too +became a convert, and a few weeks before the ceremony wrote to Endicott: + +"O governour, governour, do not think that my love to my wife is at all +abated, because I sit still silent, and do not seek her ... freedom, +which if I did would not avail.... Upon examination of her, there being +nothing justly laid to her charge, yet to fulfil your wills, it was +determined, that she must have ten stripes in the open market place, +it being very cold, the snow lying by the walls, and the wind blowing +cold.... My love is much more increased to her, because I see your +cruelty so much enlarged to her." [Footnote: Besse, ii. 208, 209.] + +Yet, though laboring under such intense excitement, the only act of +insubordination wherewith this man is charged was saying in a loud voice +during the service, "What you are going about to set up, our God is +pulling down." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. 187.] + +Dr. Dexter also speaks with pathos of the youth of some of the +criminals. + +"Hannah Wright, a mere girl of less than fifteen summers, toiled ... +from Oyster Bay ... to Boston, that she might pipe in the ears of the +court 'a warning in the name of the Lord.'" [Footnote: _As to Roger +Williams,_ p. 133.] This appears to have happened in 1664, [Footnote: +Besse, ii. 234. _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 461.] yet the name of +Hannah Wright is recorded among those who were released in the general +jail delivery in 1661, [Footnote: Besse, ii. 224.] when she was only +twelve; and her sister had been banished. [Footnote: _New England +Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 461.] + +But of all the scandals which have been dwelt on for two centuries +with such unction, none have been made more notorious than certain +extravagances committed by three women; and regarding them, the +reasoning of Dr. Dexter should be read in full. + +"The Quaker of the seventeenth century ... was essentially a coarse, +blustering, conceited, disagreeable, impudent fanatic; whose religion +gained subjective comfort in exact proportion to the objective comfort +of which it was able to deprive others; and which broke out into its +choicest exhibitions in acts which were not only at that time in the +nature of a public scandal and nuisance, but which even in the brightest +light of this nineteenth century ... would subject those who should be +guilty of them to the immediate and stringent attention of the police +court. The disturbance of public Sabbath worship, and the indecent +exposure of the person--whether conscience be pleaded for them or +not--are punished, and rightly punished, as crimes by every civilized +government." [Footnote: _As to Roger Williams_, pp. 138, 139.] + +This paragraph undoubtedly refers to Mary Tomkins, who "on the First Day +of the week at Oyster River, broke up the service of God's house ... +the scene ending in deplorable confusion;" [Footnote: _As to Roger +Williams_, p. 133.] and to Lydia Wardwell and Deborah Wilson, who +appeared in public naked. + +Mary Tomkins and Alice Ambrose came to Massachusetts in 1662; landing +at Dover, they began preaching at the inn, to which a number of people +resorted. Mr. Rayner, hearing the news, hurried to the spot, and in +much irritation asked them what they were doing there? This led to an +argument about the Trinity, and the authority of ministers, and at +last the clergyman "in a rage flung away, calling to his people, at the +window, to go from amongst them." [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. +1703, p. 362.] Nothing was done at the moment, but toward winter the two +came back from Maine, whither they had gone, and then Mr. Rayner saw +his opportunity. He caused Richard Walden to prosecute them, and as +the magistrate was ignorant of the technicalities of the law, the elder +acted as clerk, and drew up for him the following warrant:-- + + * * * * * + +To the Constables of Dover, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury, Rowley, +Ipswich, Wenham, Linn, Boston, Roxbury, Dedham, and until these vagabond +Quakers are carried out of this jurisdiction. You and every of you are +required, in the King's Majesty's name, to take these vagabond Quakers, +Anne Coleman, Mary Tomkins and Alice Ambrose, and make them fast to the +cart's tail, and driving the cart through your several towns, to whip +them on their backs, not exceeding ten stripes apiece on each of them in +each town, and so to convey them from constable to constable, till they +come out of this jurisdiction, as you will answer it at your peril: and +this shall be your warrant. + +Per me RICHARD WALDEN. At Dover, dated December the 22d, 1662. +[Footnote: Besse, ii. 227.] + + * * * * * + +The Rev. John Rayner pronounced judgment of death by flogging, for the +weather was bitter, the distance to be walked was eighty miles, and the +lashes were given with a whip, whose three twisted, knotted thongs cut +to the bone. + +"So, in a very cold day, your deputy, Walden, caused these women to be +stripp'd naked from the middle upward, and tyed to a cart, and after +a while cruelly whipp'd them, whilst the priest stood and looked, and +laughed at it.... They went with the executioner to Hampton, and through +dirt and snow at Salisbury, half way the leg deep, the constable forced +them after the cart's tayl at which he whipp'd them." [Footnote: _New +England Judged_, pp. 366, 367.] + +Had the Reverend John Rayner but followed the cart, to see that his +three hundred and thirty lashes were all given with the same ferocity +which warmed his heart to mirth at Dover, before his journey's end he +would certainly have joyed in giving thanks to God over the women's gory +corpses, freezing amid the snow. His negligence saved their lives, for +when the ghastly pilgrims passed through Salisbury, the people to their +eternal honor set the captives free. + +Soon after, on Sunday,--"Whilst Alice Ambrose was at prayer, two +constables ... came ... and taking her ... dragged her out of doors, and +then with her face toward the snow, which was knee deep, over stumps and +old trees near a mile; when they had wearied themselves they ... left +the prisoner in an house ... and fetched Mary Tomkins, whom in like +manner they dragged with her face toward the snow....On the next +morning, which was excessive cold, they got a canoe ... and so carried +them to the harbour's mouth, threatning, that 'They would now so do with +them, as that they would be troubled with them no more.' The women being +unwilling to go, they forced them down a very steep place in the snow, +dragging Mary Tomkins over the stumps of trees to the water side, so +that she was much bruised, and fainted under their hands: They plucked +Alice Ambrose into the water, and kept her swimming by the canoe in +great danger of drowning, or being frozen to death. They would in all +probability have proceeded in their wicked purpose to the murthering of +those three women, had they not been prevented by a sudden storm, which +drove them back to the house again. They kept the women there till near +midnight, and then cruelly turned them out of doors in the frost and +snow, Alice Ambrose's clothes being frozen hard as boards.... It was +observable that those constables, though wicked enough of themselves, +were animated by a ruling elder of their church, whose name corresponded +not with his actions, for he was called Hate-evil Nutter, he put those +men forward, and by his presence encouraged them." [Footnote: Besse, ii. +228.] + +Subsequently, Mary Tomkins committed the breach of the peace complained +of, which was an interruption of a sermon against Quaker preaching. +[Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 386.] + +Deborah Wilson, one of the women who went abroad naked, was insane, the +fact appearing of record subsequently as the judgment of the court. She +was flogged. [Footnote: _Quaker Invasion_, p. 104.] + +Lydia Wardwell was the daughter of Isaac Perkins, a freeman. She married +Eliakim Wardwell, son of Thomas Wardwell, who was also a citizen. They +became Quakers; and the story begins when the poor young woman had +been a wife just three years. "At Hampton, Priest Seaborn Cotton, +understanding that one Eliakim Wardel had entertained Wenlock +Christison, went with some of his herd to Eliakim's house, having like +a sturdy herdsman put himself at the head of his followers, with a +truncheon in his hand." Eliakim was fined for harboring Christison, and +"a pretty beast for the saddle, worth about fourteen pound, was taken +... the overplus of [Footnote: Sewel, p. 340.] which to make up to him, +your officers plundred old William Marston of a vessel of green ginger, +which for some fine was taken from him, and forc'd it into Eliakim's +house, where he let it lie and touched it not; ... and notwithstanding +he came not to your invented worship, but was fined ten shillings a +day's absence, for him and his wife, yet was he often rated for priest's +hire; and the priest (Seaborn Cotton, old John Cotton's son) to obtain +his end and to cover himself, sold his rate to a man almost as bad +as himself, ... who coming in pretence of borrowing a little corn +for himself, which the harmless honest man willingly lent him; and he +finding thereby that he had corn, which was his design, Judas-like, he +went ... and measured it away as he pleased." + +"Another time, the said Eliakim being rated to the said priest, Seaborn +Cotton, the said Seaborn having a mind to a pied heifer Eliakim had, as +Ahab had to Naboth's vineyard, sent his servant nigh two miles to fetch +her; who having robb'd Eliakim of her, brought her to his master."... + +"Again the said Eliakim was had to your court, and being by them fined, +they took almost all his marsh and meadow-ground from him to satisfie +it, which was for the keeping his cattle alive in winter ... and [so] +seized and took his estate, that they plucked from him most of that he +had." [Footnote: _New England Judged,_ ed. 1703, pp. 374-376.] Lydia +Wardwell, thus reduced to penury, and shaken by the daily scenes of +unutterable horror through which she had to pass, was totally unequal to +endure the strain under which the masculine intellect of Anne Hutchinson +had reeled. She was pursued by her pastor, who repeatedly commanded her +to come to church and explain her absence from communion. [Footnote: +Besse, ii. 235.] The miserable creature, brooding over her blighted life +and the torments of her friends, became possessed with the delusion +that it was her duty to testify against the barbarity of flogging naked +women; so she herself went in among them naked for a sign. There could +be no clearer proof of insanity, for it is admitted that in every other +respect her conduct was exemplary. + +Her judges at Ipswich had her bound to a rough post of the tavern, in +which they sat, and then, while the splinters tore her bare breasts, +they had her flesh cut from her back with the lash. [Footnote: _New +England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 377.] + +"Thus they served the wife, and the husband escaped not free; ... he +taxing Simon Broadstreet, ... for upbraiding his wife ... and telling +Simon of his malitious reproaching of his wife who was an honest woman +... and of that report that went abroad of the known dishonesty of +Simon's daughter, Seaborn Cotton's wife; Simon in a fierce rage, told +the court, 'That if such fellows should be suffered to speak so in the +court, he would sit there no more:' So to please Simon, Eliakim was +sentenc'd to be stripp'd from his waste upward, and to be bound to an +oak-tree that stood by their worship-house, and to be whipped fifteen +lashes; ... as they were having him out ... he called to Seaborn Cotton +... to come and see the work done (so far was he from being daunted by +their cruelty), who hastned out and followed him thither, and so did old +Wiggins, one of the magistrates, who when Eliakim was tyed to the tree +and stripp'd, said ... to the whipper... 'Whip him a good;' which the +executioner cruelly performed with cords near as big as a man's little +finger;... Priest Cotton standing near him ... Eliakim ... when he was +loosed from the tree, said to him, amongst the people, 'Seaborn, hath my +py'd heifer calv'd yet?' Which Seaborn, the priest, hearing stole away +like a thief." [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, pp. 377-379.] + +As Margaret Brewster was the last who is known to have been whipped, so +is she one of the most famous, for she has been immortalized by Samuel +Sewall, an honest, though a dull man. + +"July 8, 1677. New Meeting House Mane: In sermon time there came in a +female Quaker, in a canvas frock, her hair disshevelled and loose like +a Periwigg, her face as black as ink, led by two other Quakers, and two +other followed. It occasioned the greatest and most amazing uproar that +I ever saw. Isaiah 1. 12, 14." [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ fifth +series, v. 43.] + +In 1675 the persecution had been revived, and the stories the woman +heard of the cruelties that were perpetrated on those of her own faith +inspired her with the craving to go to New England to protest against +the wrong; so she journeyed thither, and entered the Old South one +Sunday morning clothed in sackcloth, with ashes on her head. + +At her trial she asked for leave to speak: "Governour, I desire thee to +hear me a little, for I have something to say in behalf of my friends in +this place: ... Oh governour! I cannot but press thee again and again, +to put an end to these cruel laws that you have made to fetch my friends +from their peaceable meetings, and keep them three days in the house of +correction, and then whip them for worshipping the true and living God: +Governour! Let me entreat thee to put an end to these laws, for the +desire of my soul is, that you may act for God, and then would you +prosper, but if you act against the Lord and his blessed truth, you will +assuredly come to nothing, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." ... + +"Margaret Brewster, You are to have your clothes stript off to the +middle, and to be tied to a cart's tail at the South Meeting House, and +to be drawn through the town, and to receive twenty stripes upon your +naked body." + +"The will of the Lord be done: I am contented." ... + +_Governour._ "Take her away." [Footnote: Besse, ii. 263, 264.] + +So ends the sacerdotal list of Quaker outrages, for, after Margaret +Brewster had expiated her crime of protesting against the repression +of free thought, there came a toleration, and with toleration a deep +tranquillity, so that the very name of Quaker has become synonymous with +quietude. The issue between them and the Congregationalists must be left +to be decided upon the legal question of their right as English subjects +to inhabit Massachusetts; and secondarily upon the opinion which shall +be formed of their conduct as citizens, upon the testimony of those +witnesses whom the church herself has called. But regarding the great +fundamental struggle for liberty of individual opinion, no presentation +of the evidence could be historically correct which did not include at +least one example of the fate that awaited peaceful families, under this +ecclesiastical government, who roused the ire of the priests. + +Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick were an aged couple, members of the +Salem church, and Lawrence was a freeman. Josiah, their eldest son, +was a man; but they had beside a younger boy and girl named Daniel and +Provided. + +The father and mother were first arrested in 1657 for harboring two +Quakers; Lawrence was soon released, but a Quaker tract was found upon +Cassandra. [Footnote: Besse, ii. 183.] Although no attempt seems to have +been made to prove heresy to bring the case within the letter of +the law, the paper was treated as a heretical writing, and she was +imprisoned for seven weeks and fined forty shillings. + +Persecution made converts fast, and in Salem particularly a number +withdrew from the church and began to worship by themselves. All were +soon arrested, and the three Southwicks were again sent to Boston, this +time to serve as an example. They arrived on the 3d of February, 1657; +without form of trial they were whipped in the extreme cold weather and +imprisoned eleven days. Their cattle were also seized and sold to pay a +fine of L4 13s. for six weeks' absence from worship on the Lord's day. + +The next summer, Leddra, who was afterwards hanged, and William Brend +went to Salem, and several persons were seized for meeting with them, +among whom were the Southwicks. A room was prepared for the criminals in +the Boston prison by boarding up the windows and stopping ventilation. +[Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 64.] They were refused +food unless they worked to pay for it; but to work when wrongfully +confined was against the Quaker's conscience, so they did not eat for +five days. On the second day of fasting they were flogged, and then, +with wounds undressed, the men and women together were once more locked +in the dark, close room, to lie upon the bare boards, in the stifling +July heat; for they were not given beds. On the fourth day they were +told they might go if they would pay the jail fees and the constables; +but they refused, and so were kept in prison. On the morrow the jailer, +thinking to bring them to terms, put Brend in irons, neck and heels, +and he lay without food for sixteen hours upon his back lacerated with +flogging. + +The next day the miserable man was ordered to work, but he lacked the +strength, had he been willing, for he was weak from starvation and pain, +and stiffened by the irons. And now the climax came. The jailer seized +a tarred rope and beat him till it broke; then, foaming with fury, +he dragged the old man down stairs, and, with a new rope, gave him +ninety-seven blows, when his strength failed; and Brend, his flesh +black and beaten to jelly, and his bruised skin hanging in bags full of +clotted blood, was thrust into his cell. There, upon the floor of that +dark and fetid den, the victim fainted. But help was at hand; an outcry +was raised, the people could bear no more, the doors were opened, and he +was rescued. [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 66.] + +The indignation was deep, and the government was afraid. Endicott sent +his own doctor, but the surgeon said that Brend's flesh would "rot +from off his bones," and he must die. And now the mob grew fierce +and demanded justice on the ruffian who had done this deed, and the +magistrates nailed a paper on the church door promising to bring him to +trial. + +Then it was that the true spirit of his order blazed forth in Norton, +for the jailer was fashioned in his own image, and he threw over him the +mantle of the holy church. He made the magistrates take the paper down, +rebuking them for their faintness of heart, saying to them:-- + +William "Brend endeavoured to beat our gospel ordinances black and blue, +if he then be beaten black and blue, it is but just upon him, and I will +appear in his behalf that did so." [Footnote: Besse, ii. 186.] And the +man was justified, and commanded to whip "the Quakers in prison ... +twice a week, if they refused to work, and the first time to add five +stripes to the former ten, and each time to add three to them.... Which +order ye sent to the jaylor, to strengthen his hands to do yet more +cruelly; being somewhat weakened by the fright of his former doings." +[Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 67.] + +After this the Southwicks, being still unable to obtain their freedom, +sent the following letter to the magistrates, which is a good example +of the writings of these "coarse, blustering, ... impudent +fanatics:"--[Footnote: _As to Roger Williams_, p. 138.] + + * * * * * + +_This to the Magistrates at Court in Salem._ + +FRIENDS, + +Whereas it was your pleasures to commit us, whose names are +under-written, to the house of correction in Boston, altho' the Lord, +the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, is our witness, that we had +done nothing worthy of stripes or of bonds; and we being committed by +your court, to be dealt withal as the law provides for foreign Quakers, +as ye please to term us; and having some of us, suffered your law +and pleasures, now that which we do expect, is, that whereas we have +suffered your law, so now to be set free by the same law, as your manner +is with strangers, and not to put us in upon the account of one law, and +execute another law upon us, of which, according to your own manner, we +were never convicted as the law expresses. If you had sent us upon the +account of your new law, we should have expected the jaylor's order to +have been on that account, which that it was not, appears by the warrant +which we have, and the punishment which we bare, as four of us were +whipp'd, among whom was one that had formerly been whipp'd, so now also +according to your former law. Friends, let it not be a small thing in +your eyes, the exposing as much as in you lies, our families to ruine. +It's not unknown to you the season, and the time of the year, for +those that live of husbandry, and what their cattle and families may be +exposed unto; and also such as live on trade; we know if the spirit of +Christ did dwell and rule in you, these things would take impression on +your spirits. What our lives and conversations have been in that place, +is well known; and what we now suffer for, is much for false reports, +and ungrounded jealousies of heresie and sedition. These thing lie upon +us to lay before you. As for our parts, we have true peace and rest in +the Lord in all our sufferings, and are made willing in the power and +strength of God, freely to offer up our lives in this cause of God, for +which we suffer; Yea and we do find (through grace) the enlargements +of God in our imprisoned state, to whom alone we commit ourselves and +families, for the disposing of us according to his infinite wisdom and +pleasure, in whose love is our rest and life. + +From the House of Bondage in Boston wherein we are made captives by the +wills of men, although made free by the Son, John 8, 36. In which we +quietly rest, this 16th of the 5th month, 1658. + +LAWRENCE | CASSANDRA | SOUTHWICK JOSIAH | SAMUEL SHATTOCK JOSHUA BUFFUM. +[Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 74.] + + * * * * * + +What the prisoners apprehended was being kept in prison and punished +under an _ex post facto_ law, and this was precisely what was done. When +brought into court they demanded to be told the crime wherewith they +were charged. They were answered: "It was 'Entertaining the Quakers +who were their enemies; not coming to their meetings; and meeting by +themselves.' They adjoyned, 'That as to those things they had already +fastned their law upon them.' ... So ye had nothing left but the hat, +for which (then) ye had no law. They answered--that they intended no +offence to ye in coming thither ... for it was not their manner to +have to do with courts. And as for withdrawing from their meetings, or +keeping on their hats, or doing anything in contempt of them, or their +laws, they said, the Lord was their witness ... that they did it not. So +ye rose up, and bid the jaylor take them away." [Footnote: _New England +Judged,_ ed. 1703, p. 85.] + +An acquittal seemed certain; yet it was intolerable to the clergy that +these accursed blasphemers should elude them when they held them +in their grasp; wherefore, the next day, the Rev. Charles Chauncy, +preaching at Thursday lecture, thus taught Christ's love for men: +"Suppose ye should catch six wolves in a trap ... [there were six Salem +Quakers] and ye cannot prove that they killed either sheep or lambs; +and now ye have them they will neither bark nor bite: yet they have the +plain marks of wolves. Now I leave it to your consideration whether ye +will let them go alive, yea or nay." [Footnote: _Idem_, pp. 85, 86.] + +Then the divines had a consultation, "and your priests were put to +it, how to prove them as your law had said: and ye had them before you +again, and your priests were with you, every one by his side (so came +ye to your court) and John Norton must ask them questions, on purpose to +ensnare them, that by your standing law for hereticks, ye might condemn +them (as your priests before consulted) and when this would not do (for +the Lord was with them, and made them wiser than your teachers) ye made +a law to banish them, upon pain of death...." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 87.] + +After a violent struggle, the ministers, under Norton's lead, succeeded, +on the 19th of October, 1658, in forcing the capital act through the +legislature, which contained a clause making the denial of reverence +to superiors, or in other words, the wearing the hat, evidence of +Quakerism. [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, pp. 100, 101; +_Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 346.] + +On that very day the bench ordered the prisoners at Ipswich to be +brought to the bar, and the Southwicks were bidden to depart before the +spring elections. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 349.] They +did not go, and in May were once more in the felon's dock. They asked +what wrong they had done. The judges told them they were rebellious for +not going as they had been commanded. The old man and woman piteously +pleaded "that they had no otherwhere to go," nor had they done anything +to deserve banishment or death, though L100 (all they had in the world) +had been taken from them for meeting together. [Footnote: _New England +Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 106.] + +"Major-General Dennison replied, that 'they stood against the authority +of the country, in not submitting to their laws: that he should not go +about to speak much concerning the error of their judgments: but,' added +he, 'you and we are not able well to live together, and at present +the power is in our hand, and therefore the stronger must send off.'" +[Footnote: Besse, ii. 198.] + +The father, mother, and son were banished under pain of death. The aged +couple were sent to Shelter Island, but their misery was well-nigh done; +they perished within a few days of each other, tortured to death by +flogging and starvation. + +Josiah was shipped to England, but afterward returned, was seized, +and in the "seventh month, 1661, you had him before you, and at which +according to your former law, he should have been tried for his life." + +"But the great occasion you took against him, was his hat, which you +commanded him to pull off: 'He told your governour he could not.' You +said, 'He would not.' He told you, 'It was a cross to his will to keep +it on; ... and that he could not do it for conscience sake.' ... But +your governour told him, 'That he was to have been tryed for his life, +but that you had made your late law to save his life, which, you said, +was mercy to him.' Then he asked you, 'Whether you were not as good to +take his life now, as to whip him after your manner, twelve or fourteen +times at the cart's tail, through your towns, and then put him to death +afterward?'" He was condemned to be flogged through Boston, Roxbury, and +Dedham; but he, when he heard the judgment, "with arms stretched out, +and hands spread before you, said, 'Here is my body, if you want a +further testimony of the truth I profess, take it and tear it in pieces +... it is freely given up, and as for your sentence I matter it not.'" +[Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, pp. 354-356.] + +This coarse, blustering, impudent fanatic had, indeed, "with a dogged +pertinacity" persisted in outrages which "had driven" the authorities +almost to frenzy; "therefore they tied him to a cart and lashed him for +fifteen miles, and while he "sang to the praise of God," his tormentor +swung with all his might a tremendous two-handed whip, whose knotted +thongs were made of twisted cat-gut; [Footnote: _New England Judged_, +ed. 1703, p. 357, note.] thence he was carried fifteen miles from any +town into the wilderness." [Footnote: Besse, ii. 225.] + +An end had been made of the grown members of the family, but the two +children were still left. To reach them, the device was conceived of +enforcing the penalty for not attending church, since "it was well known +they had no estate, their parents being already brought to poverty by +their rapacious persecutors." [Footnote: Sewel, p. 223.] + +Accordingly, they were summoned and asked to account for their absence +from worship. Daniel answered "that if they had not so persecuted his +father and mother perhaps he might have come." [Footnote: _New England +Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 381.] They were fined; and on the day on which +they lost their parents forever, the sale as slaves of this helpless +boy and girl was authorized to satisfy the debt. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ +vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 366.] + +Edmund Batter, treasurer of Salem, brought the children to the town, +and went to a shipmaster who was about to sail, to engage a passage +to Barbadoes. The captain made the excuse that they would corrupt his +ship's company. "Oh, no," said Batter, "you need not fear that, for they +are poor harmless creatures, and will not hurt any body." ... "Will they +not so?" broke out the sailor, "and will ye offer to make slaves of so +harmless creatures?" [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 112.] + +Thus were free-born English subjects and citizens of Massachusetts dealt +with by the priesthood that ruled the Puritan Commonwealth. + +None but ecclesiastical partisans can doubt the bearing of such +evidence. It was the mortal struggle between conservatism and +liberality, between repression and free thought. The elders felt it in +the marrow of their bones, and so declared it in their laws, denouncing +banishment under pain of death against those "adhering to or approoving +of any knoune Quaker, or the tenetts & practices of the Quakers, ... +manifesting thereby theire compliance with those whose designe it is to +ouerthrow the order established in church and commonwealth." [Footnote: +_Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 1, p. 346.] + +Dennison spoke with an unerring instinct when he said they could +not live together, for the faith of the Friends was subversive of a +theocracy. Their belief that God revealed himself directly to man led +with logical certainty to the substitution of individual judgment for +the rules of conduct dictated by a sacred class, whether they claimed to +derive their authority from their skill in interpreting the Scriptures, +or from traditions preserved by Apostolic Succession. Each man, +therefore, became, as it were, a priest unto himself, and they +repudiated an ordained ministry. Hence, their crime resembled that +of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who "made priests of the lowest of the +people, which were not of the sons of Levi;" [Footnote: Jeroboam's sin +is discussed in _Ne Sutor_, p. 25; _Divine Right of Infant Baptism_, +p. 26.] and it was for this reason that John Norton and John Endicott +resolved upon their extermination, even as Elisha and Jehu conspired to +exterminate the house of Ahab. + +That they failed was due to no mercy for their victims, nor remorse +for the blood they made to flow, but to their inability to control the +people. Nothing is plainer upon the evidence, than that popular sympathy +was never with the ecclesiastics in their ferocious policy; and nowhere +does the contrast of feeling shine out more clearly than in the story of +the hanging of Robinson and Stevenson. + +The figure of Norton towers above his contemporaries. He held the +administration in the hollow of his hand, for Endicott was his +mouthpiece; yet even he, backed by the whole power of the clergy, +barely succeeded in forcing through the Chamber of Deputies the statute +inflicting death. + +"The priests and rulers were all for blood, and they pursued it.... This +the deputies withstood, and it could not pass, and the opposition grew +strong, for the thing came near. Deacon Wozel was a man much affected +therewith; and being not well at that time that he supposed the vote +might pass, he earnestly desired the speaker ... to send for him when it +was to be, lest by his absence it might miscarry. The deputies that were +against the ... law, thinking themselves strong enough to cast it +out, forbore to send for him. The vote was put and carried in the +affirmative,--the speaker and eleven being in the negative and thirteen +in the affirmative: so one vote carried it; which troubled Wozel so ... +that he got to the court, ... and wept for grief, ... and said 'If he +had not been able to go, he would have crept upon his hands and knees, +rather than it should have been.'" [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. +1703, pp. 101, 102.] + +After the accused had been condemned, the people, being strongly moved, +flocked about the prison, so that the magistrates feared a rescue, and a +guard was set. + +As the day approached the murmurs grew, and on the morning of the +execution the troops were under arms and the streets patrolled. +Stevenson and Robinson were loosed from their fetters, and Mary Dyer, +who also was to die, walked between them; and so they went bravely hand +in hand to the scaffold. The prisoners were put behind the drums, and +their voices drowned when they tried to speak; for a great multitude was +about them, and at a word, in their deep excitement, would have risen. +[Footnote: _Idem_, pp. 122, 123.] + +As the solemn procession moved along, they came to where the Reverend +John Wilson, the Boston pastor, stood with others of the clergy. Then +Wilson "fell a taunting at Robinson, and, shaking his hand in a light, +scoffing manner, said, 'Shall such Jacks as you come in before authority +with your hats on?' with many other taunting words." Then Robinson +replied, "Mind you, mind you, it is for the not putting off the hat we +are put to death." [Footnote: _New England Judged_, ed. 1703, p. 124.] + +When they reached the gallows, Robinson calmly climbed the ladder and +spoke a few words. He told the people they did not suffer as evil-doers, +but as those who manifested the truth. He besought them to mind the +light of Christ within them, of which he testified and was to seal with +his blood. + +He had said so much when Wilson broke in upon him: "Hold thy tongue, +be silent; thou art going to dye with a lye in thy mouth." [Footnote: +_Idem_, p. 125.] Then they seized him and bound him, and so he died; and +his body was "cast into a hole of the earth," where it lay uncovered. + +Even the voters, the picked retainers of the church, were almost equally +divided, and beyond that narrow circle the tide of sympathy ran strong. + +The Rev. John Rayner stood laughing with joy to see Mary Tomkins and +Alice Ambrose flogged through Dover, on that bitter winter day; but +the men of Salisbury cut those naked, bleeding women from the cart, and +saved them from their awful death. + +The Rev. John Norton sneered at the tortures of Brend, and brazenly +defended his tormentor; but the Boston mob succored the victim as lie +lay fainting on the boards of his dark cell. + +The Rev. Charles Chauncy, preaching the word of God, told his hearers to +kill the Southwicks like wolves, since he could not have their blood by +law; but the honest sailor broke out in wrath when asked to traffic in +the flesh of our New England children. + +The Rev. John Wilson jeered at Robinson on his way to meet his death, +and reviled him as he stood beneath the gibbet, over the hole that +was his grave; but even the savage Endicott knew well that all the +trainbands of the colony could not have guarded Christison to the +gallows from the dungeon where he lay condemned. + +Yet awful as is this Massachusetts tragedy, it is but a little +fragment of the sternest struggle of the modern world. The power of +the priesthood lies in submission to a creed. In their onslaughts on +rebellion they have exhausted human torments; nor, in their lust for +earthly dominion, have they felt remorse, but rather joy, when slaying +Christ's enemies and their own. The horrors of the Inquisition, the +Massacre of St. Bartholomew, the atrocities of Laud, the abominations +of the Scotch Kirk, the persecution of the Quakers, had one object,--the +enslavement of the mind. + +Freedom of thought is the greatest triumph over tyranny that brave men +have ever won; for this they fought the wars of the Reformation; for +this they have left their bones to whiten upon unnumbered fields +of battle; for this they have gone by thousands to the dungeon, the +scaffold, and the stake. We owe to their heroic devotion the most +priceless of our treasures, our perfect liberty of thought and speech; +and all who love our country's freedom may well reverence the memory +of those martyred Quakers by whose death and agony the battle in New +England has been won. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SCIRE FACIAS. + + +Had the Puritan Commonwealth been in reality the thing which its +historians have described; had it been a society guided by men devoted +to civil liberty, and as liberal in religion as was consistent with the +temper of their age, the early relations of Massachusetts toward Great +Britain might now be a pleasanter study for her children. Cordiality +toward Charles I. would indeed have been impossible, for the Puritans +well knew the fate in store for them should the court triumph. Gorges +was the representative of the despotic policy toward America, and so +early as 1634, probably at his instigation, Laud became the head of a +commission, with absolute control over the plantations, while the next +year a writ of _quo warranto_ was brought against the patent. [Footnote: +See introduction to _New Canaan_, Prince Soc. ed.] With Naseby, however, +these dangers vanished, and thenceforward there would have been nothing +to mar an affectionate confidence in both Parliament and the Protector. + +In fact, however, Massachusetts was a petty state, too feeble for +independence, yet ruled by an autocratic priesthood whose power +rested upon legislation antagonistic to English law; therefore the +ecclesiastics were jealous of Parliament, and had little love for +Cromwell, whom they found wanting in "a thorough testimony against the +blasphemers of our days." [Footnote: Diary of Hull, Palfrey, ii. 400, +401, and note.] + +The result was that the elders clung obstinately to every privilege +which served their ends, and repudiated every obligation which +conflicted with their ambition. Clerical political morality seldom fails +to be instructive, and the following example is typical of that peculiar +mode of reasoning. The terms of admission to ordinary corporations were +fixed by each organization for itself, but in case of injustice the +courts could give relief by setting aside unreasonable ordinances, and +sometimes Parliament itself would interfere, as it did upon the petition +against the exactions of the Merchant Adventurers. Now there was nothing +upon which the theocracy more strongly insisted than that "our charter +doeth expresly give vs an absolute & free choyce of our oune members;" +[Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 287.] because by means of a religious test +the ministers could pack the constituencies with their tools; but on the +other hand they as strenuously argued "that no appeals or other ways of +interrupting our proceedings do lie against us," [Footnote: Winthrop, +ii. 283.] because they well knew that any bench of judges before whom +such questions might come would annul the most vital of their statutes +as repugnant to the British Constitution. + +Unfortunately for these churchmen, their objects, as ecclesiastical +politicians, could seldom be reconciled with their duty as English +subjects. At the outset, though made a corporation within the realm, +they felt constrained to organize in America to escape judicial +supervision. They were then obliged to incorporate towns and counties, +to form a representative assembly, and to levy general taxes and duties, +none of which things they had power to do. Still, such irregularities as +these, had they been all, most English statesmen would have overlooked +as unavoidable. But when it came to adopting a criminal code based on +the Pentateuch, and, in support of a dissenting form of worship, fining +and imprisoning, whipping, mutilating, and hanging English subjects +without the sanction of English law; when, finally, the Episcopal Church +itself was suppressed, and peaceful subjects were excluded from the +corporation for no reason but because they partook of her communion, and +were forbidden to seek redress by appealing to the courts of their king, +it seems impossible that any self-respecting government could have long +been passive. + +At the Restoration Massachusetts had grown arrogant from long impunity. +She thought the time of reckoning would never come, and even in trivial +matters seemed to take a pride in slighting Great Britain and in +vaunting her independence. Laws were enacted in the name of the +Commonwealth, the king's name was not in the writs, nor were the +royal arms upon the public buildings; even the oath of allegiance +was rejected, though it was unobjectionable in form. She had grown to +believe that were offence taken she had only to invent pretexts for +delay, to have her fault forgotten in some new revolution. General +Denison, at the Quaker trials, put the popular belief in a nut-shell: +"This year ye will go to complain to the Parliament, and the next year +they will send to see how it is; and the third year the government is +changed." [Footnote: Sewel, p. 280.] + +But, beside these irritating domestic questions, the corporation was +bitterly embroiled with its neighbors. Samuel Gorton and his friends +were inhabitants of Rhode Island, and were, no doubt, troublesome to +deal with; but their particular offence was ecclesiastical. An armed +force was sent over the border and they were seized. They were brought +to Boston and tried on the charge of being "blasphemous enemies of the +true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of all his holy ordinances, +and likewise of all civil government among his people, and particularly +within this jurisdiction." [Footnote: Winthrop, ii. 146.] All the +magistrates but three thought that Gorton ought to die, but he was +finally sentenced to an imprisonment of barbarous cruelty. The invasion +of Rhode Island was a violation of an independent jurisdiction, the +arrest was illegal, the sentence an arbitrary outrage. [Footnote: +See paper of Mr. Charles Deane, _New Eng. Historical and Genealogical +Register_, vol. iv.] + +Massachusetts was also at feud in the north, and none of her quarrels +brought more serious results than this with the proprietors of New +Hampshire and Maine. The grant in the charter was of all lands between +the Charles and Merrimack, and also all lands within the space of three +miles to the northward of the said Merrimack, or to the northward of any +part thereof, and all lands lying within the limits aforesaid from the +Atlantic to the South Sea. + +Clearly the intention was to give a margin of three miles beyond a river +which was then supposed to flow from west to east, and accordingly +the territory to the north, being unoccupied, was granted to Mason and +Gorges. Nor was this construction questioned before 1639--the General +Court having at an early day measured off the three miles and marked the +boundary by what was called the Bound House. + +Gradually, however, as it became known that the Merrimack rose to the +north, larger claims were made. In 1641 the four New Hampshire towns +were absorbed with the consent of their inhabitants, who thus gained +a regular government; another happy consequence was the settlement of +sundry eminent divines, by whose ministrations the people "were very +much civilized and reformed." [Footnote: Neal's New England, i. 210.] + +In 1652 a survey was made of the whole river, and 43 deg. 40' 12" was fixed +as the latitude of its source. A line extended east from three miles +north of this point came out near Portland, and the intervening space +was forthwith annexed. The result of such a policy was that Charles +had hardly been crowned before complaints poured in from every side. +Quakers, Baptists, Episcopalians, all who had suffered persecution, +flocked to the foot of the throne; and beside these came those who had +been injured in their estates, foremost of whom were the heirs of Mason +and Gorges. The pressure was so great and the outcry so loud that, in +September, 1660, it was thought in London a governor-general would be +sent to Boston; [Footnote: Leverett to Endicott. Hutch. Coll., Prince +Soc. ed. ii. 40.] and, in point of fact, almost the first communication +between the king and his colony was his order to spare the Quakers. + +The outlook was gloomy, and there was hesitation as to the course +to pursue. At length it was decided to send Norton and Bradstreet to +England to present an address and protect the public interests. The +mission was not agreeable; Norton especially was reluctant, and with +reason, for he had been foremost in the Quaker persecutions, and was +probably aware that in the eye of English law the executions were +homicide. + +However, after long vacillation, "the Lord so encouraged and +strengthened" his heart that he ventured to sail. [Footnote: Feb. +11, 1661-2. Palfrey, ii. 524.] So far as the crown was concerned +apprehension was needless, for Lord Clarendon was prime minister, whose +policy toward New England was throughout wise and moderate, and the +agents were well received. Still they were restless in London, and Sewel +tells an anecdote which may partly account for their impatience to be +gone. + +"Now the deputies of New England came to London, and endeavored to clear +themselves as much as possible, but especially priest Norton, who bowed +no less reverently before the archbishop, than before the king.... + +"They would fain have altogether excused themselves; and priest Norton +thought it sufficient to say that he did not assist in the bloody trial, +nor had advised to it. But John Copeland, whose ear was cut off at +Boston, charged the contrary upon him: and G. Fox, the elder, got +occasion to speak with them in the presence of some of his friends, and +asked Simon Broadstreet, one of the New England magistrates, 'whether he +had not a hand in putting to death those they nicknamed Quakers?' He not +being able to deny this confessed he had. Then G. Fox asked him and his +associates that were present, 'whether they would acknowledge themselves +to be subjects to the laws of England? and if they did by what law they +had put his friends to death?' They answered, 'They were subjects to the +laws of England; and they had put his friends to death by the same law, +as the Jesuits were put to death in England.' Hereupon G. Fox asked, +'whether they did believe that those his friends, whom they had put to +death, were Jesuits, or jesuitically affected?' They said 'Nay.' 'Then,' +replied G. Fox, 'ye have murdered them; for since ye put them to death +by the law that Jesuits are put to death here in England, it plainly +appears, you have put them to death arbitrarily, without any law.' +Thus Broadstreet, finding himself and his company ensnar'd by their own +words, ask'd, 'Are you come to catch us?' But he told them 'They had +catch'd themselves, and they might justly be questioned for their lives; +and if the father of William Robinson (one of those that were put to +death) were in town, it was probable he would question them, and bring +their lives into jeopardy. For he not being of the Quakers persuasion, +would perhaps not have so much regard to the point of forbearance, as +they had.' Broadstreet seeing himself thus in danger began to flinch and +to sculk; for some of the old royalists were earnest with the Quakers to +prosecute the New England persecutors. But G. Fox and his friends said, +'They left them to the Lord, to whom vengeance belonged, and he would +repay it.' Broadstreet however, not thinking it safe to stay in England, +left the city, and with his companions went back again to New England." +[Footnote: Sewel, p. 288.] + +The following June the agents were given the king's answer [Footnote: +1662, June 28.] to their address and then sailed for home. It is +certainly a most creditable state paper. The people of Massachusetts +were thanked for their good will, they were promised oblivion for the +past, and were assured that they should have their charter confirmed to +them and be safe in all their privileges and liberties, provided they +would make certain reforms in their government. They were required to +repeal such statutes as were contrary to the laws of England, to take +the oath of allegiance, and to administer justice in the king's name. +And then followed two propositions that were crucial: "And since the +principle and foundation of that charter was and is the freedom of +liberty of conscience, wee do hereby charge and require you that that +freedom and liberty be duely admitted," especially in favor of those +"that desire to use the Book of Common Prayer." And secondly, "that +all the freeholders of competent estates, not vicious in conversations, +orthodox in religion (though of different perswasions concerning church +government) may have their vote in the election of all officers civill +or millitary." [Footnote: Hutch. Coll., Prince Soc. ed. ii. 101-103.] + +However judicious these reforms may have been, or howsoever strictly +they conformed with the spirit of English law, was immaterial. They +struck at the root of the secular power of the clergy, and they roused +deep indignation. The agents had braved no little danger, and had shown +no little skill in behalf of the commonwealth; and the fate of John +Norton enables us to realize the rancor of theological feeling. The +successor of Cotton, by general consent the leading minister, in some +respects the most eminent man in Massachusetts, he had undertaken a +difficult mission against his will, in which he had acquitted himself +well; yet on his return he was so treated by his brethren and friends +that he died in the spring of a broken heart. [Footnote: April 5, 1663.] + +The General Court took no notice of the king's demands except to order +the writs to run in the royal name. [Footnote: Oct. 8, 1662. _Mass. +Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 58.] And it is a sign of the boldness, or else +of the indiscretion, of those in power, that this crisis was chosen +for striking a new coin, [Footnote: 1662, May 7.]--an act confessedly +illegal and certain to give offence in England, both as an assumption of +sovereignty and an interference with the currency. + +From the first Lord Clarendon paid some attention to colonial affairs, +and he appears to have been much dissatisfied with the condition in +which he found them. At length, in 1664, he decided to send a commission +to New England to act upon the spot. + +Great pressure must have been brought by some who had suffered, for +Samuel Maverick, the Episcopalian, who had been fined and imprisoned +in 1646 for petitioning with Childe, was made a member. Colonel Richard +Nichols, the head of the board, was a man of ability and judgment; +the choice of Sir Robert Carr and Colonel George Cartwright was less +judicious. + +The commissioners were given a public and private set of instructions, +[Footnote: Public Instructions, Hutch. _Hist._ i. 459.] and both were +admirable. They were to examine the condition of the country and its +laws, and, if possible, to make some arrangement by which the crown +might have a negative at least upon the choice of the governor; they +were to urge the reforms already demanded by the king, especially +a larger toleration, for "they doe in truth deny that liberty of +conscience to each other, which is equally provided for and granted to +every one of them by their charter." [Footnote: Private Instructions +_O'Callaghan Documents_, iii. 58.] They were directed to be conciliatory +toward the people, and under no circumstances to meddle with public +worship, nor were they to press for any sudden enforcement of the +revenue acts. On one point alone they were to insist: they were +instructed to sit to hear appeals in causes in which the parties alleged +they had been wronged by colonial decisions. + +Unquestionably the chancellor was right in principle. The only way +whereby such powerful corporations as the trade-guilds or the East India +Company could be kept from acts of oppression was through the appellate +jurisdiction, by which means their enactments could be brought before +the courts, and those annulled which in the opinion of the judges +transcended the charters. The Company of Massachusetts Bay was a +corporation having jurisdiction over many thousand English subjects, +only a minority of whom were freemen and voters. So long, therefore, +as she remained within the empire, the crown was bound to see that +the privileges of the English Constitution were not denied within her +territory. Yet, though this is true, it is equally certain that the +erection of a commission of appeal without an act of Parliament +was irregular. The stretch of prerogative, nevertheless, cannot be +considered oppressive when it is remembered that Massachusetts was a +corporation which had escaped from the realm to avoid judicial process, +and which refused to appear and plead; hence Lord Clarendon had but +this alternative: he could send judges to sit upon the spot, or he could +proceed against the charter in London. The course he chose may have been +illegal, but it was the milder of the two. + +The commissioners landed on July 23, 1664, but they did not stay in +Boston. Their first business was to subdue the Dutch at New York, and +they soon left to make the attack. The General Court now recurred, for +the first time, to the dispatch which their agents had brought home, and +proceeded to amend the law relating to the franchise. They extended the +qualification by enacting that Englishmen who presented a certificate +under the hands of the minister of the town that they were orthodox in +religion and not vicious in life, and who paid, beside, 10s. at a single +rate, might become freemen, as well as those who were church-members. +[Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 117.] The effect of such +a change could hardly have been toward liberality, rather, probably, +toward concentration of power in the church. However slight, there +was some popular control over the rejection of an applicant to join +a congregation; but giving a certificate was an act that must have +depended on the pastor's will alone. + +The court then drew up an address to the king: "If your poore subjects, +... doe... prostrate themselues at your royal feete, & begg yor favor, +wee hope it will be graciously accepted by your majestje, and that as +the high place you sustejne on earth doeth number you here among the +gods, [priests can cringe as well as torture] so you will jmitate the +God of heaven, in being ready... to receive their crjes...," [Footnote: +_Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 129.] And he was implored to reflect on +the affliction of heart it was to them, that their sins had provoked +God to permit their adversaries to procure a commission, under the great +seal, to four persons to hear appeals. When this address reached London +it caused surprise. The chancellor was annoyed. He wrote to America, +pointing out that His Majesty would hardly think himself well used +at complaints before a beginning had been made, and a demand that his +commission should be revoked before his commissioners had been able +to deliver their instructions. "I know," he said, "they are expressly +inhibited from intermedling with, or instructing the administration of +justice, according to the formes observed there; but if in truth, in +any extraordinary case, the proceedings there have been irregular, and +against the rules of justice, as some particular cases, particularly +recommended to them by His Majesty, seeme to be, it cannot be presumed +that His Majesty hath or will leave his subjects of New England, without +hope of redresse by an appeale to him, which his subjects of all his +other kingdomes have free liberty to make." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. +465.] + +The campaign against New York was short and successful, and the +commissioners were soon at leisure. As they had reason to believe that +Massachusetts would prove stubborn, they judged it wiser to begin with +the more tractable colonies first. They therefore went to Plymouth, +[Footnote: Feb. 1664-5.] and, on their arrival, according to their +instructions, submitted the four following propositions:-- + +First. That all householders should take the oath of allegiance, and +that justice should be administered in the king's name. + +Second. That all men of competent estates and civil conversation, +though of different judgments, might be admitted to be freemen, and have +liberty to choose and be chosen officers, both civil and military. + +Third. That all men and women of orthodox opinions, competent knowledge, +and civil lives not scandalous, should be admitted to the Lord's Supper +[and have baptism for their children, either in existing churches or +their own]. + +Fourth. That all laws ... derogatory to his majesty should be repealed. +[Footnote: Palfrey, ii. 601.] + +Substantially the same proposals were made subsequently in Rhode Island +and Connecticut. They were accepted without a murmur. A few appeal cases +were heard, and the work was done. + +The commissioners reported their entire satisfaction to the government, +the colonies sent loyal addresses, and Charles returned affectionate +answers. + +Massachusetts alone remained to be dealt with, but her temper was in +striking contrast to that of the rest of New England. The reason is +obvious. Nowhere else was there a fusion of church and state. The +people had, therefore, no oppressive statutes to uphold, nor anything +to conceal. Provided the liberty of English subjects was secured to them +they were content to obey the English Constitution. On the other hand, +Massachusetts was a theocracy, the power of whose priesthood rested on +enactments contrary to British institutions, and which, therefore, would +have been annulled upon appeal. Hence the clerical party were wild with +fear and rage, and nerved themselves to desperate resistance. + +"But alasse, sir, the commission impowering those commisioners to heare +and determine all cases whatever, ... should it take place, what would +become of our civill government which hath binn, under God, the heade +of that libertie for our consciences for which the first adventurers +... bore all ... discouragements that encountered them ... in this +wildernes." Rather than submit, they protested they had "sooner leave +our place and all our pleasant outward injoyments." [Footnote: Court to +Boyle. _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. ii. 113.] + +Under such conditions a direct issue was soon reached. The General +Court, in answer to the commissioners' proposals, maintained that the +observance of their charter was inconsistent with appeals; that they had +already provided an oath of allegiance; that they had conformed to +his majesty's requirements in regard to the franchise; and lastly, in +relation to toleration, there was no equivocation. "Concerning the vse +of the Common Prayer Booke"... we had not become "voluntary exiles from +our deare native country, ... could wee haue seene the word of God, +warranting us to performe our devotions in that way, & to haue the same +set vp here; wee conceive it is apparent that it will disturbe our peace +in our present enjoyments." [Footnote: 1665. _Mass. Rec._ vol. iv. pt. +2, p.200] + +Argument was useless. The so-called oath of allegiance was not that +required by Parliament; the alteration in the franchise was a sham; +while the two most important points, appeals to England and toleration +in religion, were rejected. The commissioners, therefore, asked for +a direct answer to this question: "Whither doe yow acknowledge his +majestjes comission ... to be of full force?" [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ +vol. iv. pt. 2, p.204] They were met by evasion. On the 23d of May they +gave notice that they should sit the next morning to hear the case of +Thos. Deane et al. vs. The Gov. & Co. of Mass. Bay, a revenue appeal. +Forthwith the General Court proclaimed by trumpet that the hearing would +not be permitted. + +Coercion was impossible, as no troops were at hand. The commissioners +accordingly withdrew and went to Maine, which they proceeded to sever +from Massachusetts. [Footnote: June, 1665] In this they followed the +king's instructions, who himself acted upon the advice of the law +officers of the crown, who had given an opinion sustaining the claim of +Gorges. [Footnote: Charles II.'s letter to Inhabitants of Maine. _Hutch. +Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. ii. 110; Palf. ii. 622.] + +The triumph was complete. All that the English government was then able +to do was to recall the commissioners, direct that agents should be sent +to London at once, and forbid interference with Maine. No notice was +taken of the order to send agents; and in 1668 possession was again +taken of the province, and the courts of the company once more sat in +the county of York. [Footnote: July, 1668. Report of Com. _Mass. Rec._ +vol. iv. pt. 2, p. 401.] + +This was the culmination of the Puritan Commonwealth. The clergy were +exultant, and the Rev. Mr. Davenport of New Haven wrote in delight to +Leverett:-- + +"Their claiming power to sit authoritatively as a court for appeales, +and that to be managed in an arbitrary way, was a manifest laying of +a groundworke to undermine your whole government established by your +charter. If you had consented thereunto, you had plucked downe with +your owne hands that house which wisdom had built for you and your +posterity.... As for the solemnity of publishing it, in three places, +by sounding a trumpet, I believe you did it upon good advice, ... for +declaring the courage and resolution of the whole countrey to defend +their charter liberties and priviledges, and not to yeeld up theire +right voluntarily, so long as they can hold it, in dependence upon God +in Christ, whose interest is in it, for his protection and blessing, +who will be with you while you are with him." [Footnote: Davenport to +Leverett. _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. ii. 119.] + +Although the colonists were alarmed at their own success, there was +nothing to fear. At no time before or since could England have been so +safely defied. In 1664 war was begun against Holland; 1665 was the +year of the plague; 1666 of the fire. In June, 1667, the Dutch, having +dispersed the British fleets, sailed up the Medway, and their guns were +heard in London. Peace became necessary, and in August Clarendon was +dismissed from office. The discord between the crown and Parliament +paralyzed the nation, and the wastefulness of Charles kept him always +poor. By the treaty of Dover in 1670 he became a pensioner of Louis XIV. +The Cabal followed, probably the worst ministry England ever saw; and +in 1672, at Clifford's suggestion, the exchequer was closed and the debt +repudiated to provide funds for the second Dutch war. In March fighting +began, and the tremendous battles with De Ruyter kept the navy in the +Channel. At length, in 1673, the Cabal fell, and Danby became prime +minister. + +Although during these years of disaster and disgrace Massachusetts was +not molested by Great Britain, they were not all years during which the +theocracy could tranquilly enjoy its victory. + +So early as 1671 the movements of the Indians began to give anxiety; and +in 1675 Philip's War broke out, which brought the colony to the brink +of ruin, and in which the clergy saw the judgment of God against the +Commonwealth, for tenderness toward the Quakers. [Footnote: _Reforming +Synod, Magnalia_, bk. 5, pt. 4.] + +With the rise of Danby a more regular administration opened, and, as +usual, the attention of the government was fixed upon Massachusetts by +the clamors of those who demanded redress for injuries alleged to have +been received at her hands. In 1674 the heirs of Mason and Gorges, in +despair at the reoccupation of Maine, proposed to surrender their claim +to the king, reserving one third of the product of the customs for +themselves. The London merchants also had become restive under the +systematic violation of the Navigation Acts. The breach in the +revenue laws had, indeed, been long a subject of complaint, and the +commissioners had received instructions relating thereto; but it was not +till this year that these questions became serious. + +The first statute had been passed by the Long Parliament, but the one +that most concerned the colonies was not enacted till 1663. The object +was not only to protect English shipping, but to give her the entire +trade of her dependencies. To that end it was made illegal to import +European produce into any plantation except through England; and, +conversely, colonial goods could only be exported by being landed in +England. + +The theory upon which this legislation was based is exploded; enforced, +it would have crippled commerce; but it was then, and always had been, +a dead letter at Boston. New England was fast getting its share of the +carrying trade. London merchants already began to feel the competition +of its cheap and untaxed ships, and manufacturers to complain that they +were undersold in the American market, by goods brought direct from the +Continental ports. A petition, therefore, was presented to the king, to +carry the law into effect. No colonial office then existed; the affairs +of the dependencies were assigned to a committee of the Privy Council, +called the Lords of Committee of Trade and Plantations; and on +these questions being referred by them to the proper officers, the +commissioners of customs sustained the merchants; the attorney-general, +the heirs of Mason and Gorges. [Footnote: Palfrey, iii. 281; Chalmers's +_Political Annals of the United Colonies_, p. 262.] The famous Edward +Randolph now appears. The government was still too deeply embarrassed to +act with energy. A temporizing policy was therefore adopted; and as +the experiment of a commission had failed, Randolph was chosen as a +messenger to carry the petitions and opinions to Massachusetts; together +with a letter from the king, directing that agents should be sent in +answer thereto. After delivering them, he was ordered to devote himself +to preparing a report upon the country. He reached Boston June 10, 1676. +Although it was a time of terrible suffering from the ravages of the +Indian war, the temper of the magistrates was harsher than ever. + +The repulse of the commissioners had convinced them that Charles was +not only lazy and ignorant, but too poor to use force; and they also +believed him to be so embroiled with Parliament as to make his overthrow +probable. Filled with such feelings, their reception of Randolph was +almost brutal. John Leverett was governor, who seems to have taken pains +to mark his contempt in every way in his power. Randolph was an able, +but an unscrupulous man, and probably it would not have been difficult +to have secured his good-will. Far however from bribing, or even +flattering him, they so treated him as to make him the bitterest enemy +the Puritan Commonwealth ever knew. + +Being admitted into the council chamber, he delivered the letter. +[Footnote: Randolph's Narrative. _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. ii. +240.] The governor opened it, glanced at the signature, and, pretending +never to have heard of Henry Coventry, asked who he might be. He was +told he was his majesty's principal secretary of state. He then read it +aloud to the magistrates. Even the fierce Endicott, when he received the +famous "missive" from the Quaker Shattock, "laid off his hat ... [when] +he look'd upon the papers," [Footnote: Sewel, p. 282.] as a mark of +respect to his king; but Leverett and his council remained covered. +Then the governor said "that the matters therein contained were very +inconsiderable things and easily answered, and it did no way concern +that government to take any notice thereof;" and so Randolph was +dismissed. Five days after he was again sent for, and asked whether he +"intended for London by that ship that was ready to saile?" If so, he +could have a duplicate of the answer to the king, as the original was to +go by other hands. He replied that he had other business in charge, and +inquired whether they had well considered the petitions, and fixed upon +their agents so soon. Leverett did not deign to answer, but told him +"he looked upon me as Mr. Mason's agent, and that I might withdraw." The +next day he saw the governor at his own house, who took occasion, when +Randolph referred to the Navigation Acts, to expound the legal views +of the theocracy. "He freely declared to me that the lawes made by your +majestie and your Parliament obligeth them in nothing but what consists +with the interest of that colony, that the legislative power is and +abides in them solely ... and that all matters in difference are to +be concluded by their finall determination, without any appeal to your +majestie, and that your majestie ought not to retrench their liberties, +but may enlarge them." [Footnote: Randolph's Narrative. _Hutch. Coll._, +Prince Soc. ed. ii. 243.] One last interview took place when Randolph +went for dispatches for England, after his return from New Hampshire; +then he "was entertained by" Leverett "with a sharp reproof for +publishing the substance of my errand into those parts, contained +in your majestie's letters, ... telling me that I designed to make a +mutiny.... I told him, if I had done anything amisse, upon complaint +made to your majestie he would certainly have justice done him."... + +"At my departure ... he ... intreated me to give a favourable report of +the country and the magistrates thereof, adding that those that blessed +them God would blesse, and those that cursed them God would curse." And +that "they were a people truely fearing the Lord and very obedient to +your majestie." [Footnote: _Hutch. Coll._, Prince Soc. ed. ii. 248.] And +so the royal messenger was dismissed in wrath, to tell his story to the +king. + +The legislature met in August, 1676, and a decision had to be made +concerning agents. On the whole, the clergy concluded it would be +wiser to obey the crown, "provided they be, with vtmost care & caution, +qualified as to their instructions." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 99.] +Accordingly, after a short adjournment, the General Court chose William +Stoughton and Peter Bulkely; and having strictly limited their power +to a settlement of the territorial controversy, they sent them on their +mission. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 114.] + +Almost invariably public affairs were seen by the envoys of the Company +in a different light from that in which they were viewed by the clerical +party at home, and these particularly had not been long in London before +they became profoundly alarmed. There was, indeed, reason for grave +apprehension. The selfish and cruel policy of the theocracy had borne +its natural fruit: without an ally in the world, Massachusetts was beset +by enemies. Quakers, Baptists, and Episcopalians whom she had persecuted +and exiled; the heirs of Mason and Gorges, whom she had wronged; Andros, +whom she had maligned; [Footnote: He had been accused of countenancing +aid to Philip when governor of New York. O'Callaghan Documents, iii. +258.] and Randolph, whom she had insulted, wrought against her with +a government whose sovereign she had offended and whose laws she had +defied. Even her English friends had been much alienated. [Footnote: +Palfrey, iii. 278, 279.] + +The controversy concerning the boundary was referred to the two chief +justices, who promptly decided against the Company; [Footnote: See +Opinion; Chalmers's _Annals_, p. 504.] and the easy acquiescence of the +General Court must raise a doubt as to their faith in the soundness +of their claims. And now again the fatality which seemed to pursue +the theocracy in all its dealings with England led it to give fresh +provocation to the king by secretly buying the title of Gorges for +twelve hundred and fifty pounds. [Footnote: May, 1677. Chalmers's +_Annals_, pp. 396, 397. See notes, Palfrey, iii. 312.] + +Charles had intended to settle Maine on the Duke of Monmouth. It was a +worthless possession, whose revenue never paid for its defence; yet so +stubborn was the colony that it made haste to anticipate the crown and +thus become "Lord Proprietary" of a burdensome province at the cost of +a slight which was never forgiven. Almost immediately the Privy Council +had begun to open other matters, such as coining and illicit trade; and +the attorney-general drew up a list of statutes which, in his opinion, +were contrary to the laws of England. The agents protested that they +were limited by their instructions, but were sharply told that his +majesty did not think of treating with his own subjects as with +foreigners, and it would be well to intimate the same to their +principals. [Footnote: Palfrey, iii. 309.] In December, 1677, Stoughton +wrote in great alarm that something must be done concerning the +Navigation Acts or a breach would be inevitable. [Footnote: Hutch. +_Hist._ i. 288.] And the General Court saw reason in this emergency to +increase the tension by reviving the obnoxious oath of fidelity to the +country, [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 154.]--the substitute for the oath +of allegiance,--and thus gave Randolph a new and potent weapon. In the +spring [Footnote: Palfrey, iii. 316, 317; Chalmers's _Annals_, p. 439.] +the law officers gave an opinion that the misdemeanors alleged against +Massachusetts were sufficient to avoid her patent; and the Privy +Council, in view of the encroachments and injuries which she had +continually practised on her neighbors, and her contempt of his +majesty's commands, advised that a _quo warranto_ should be brought +against the charter. Randolph was appointed collector at Boston. +[Footnote: 1678, May 31.] + +Even Leverett now saw that some concessions must be made, and the +General Court ordered the oath of allegiance to be taken; nothing but +perversity seems to have caused the long delay. [Footnote: Oct. 2, 1678. +_Mass. Rec._ v. 193. See Palfrey, iii. 320, note 2.] The royal arms were +also carved in the court-house; and this was all, for the clergy were +determined upon those matters touching their authority. The agents +were told, "that which is farr more considerable then all these is the +interest of the Lord Jesus & of his churches ... which ought to be +farr dearer to us than our liues; and ... wee would not that by any +concessions of ours, or of yours... the least stone should be put out of +the wall." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 202.] + +Both agents and magistrates were, nevertheless, thoroughly frightened, +and being determined not to yield, in fact, they resorted to a policy +of misrepresentation, with the hope of deceiving the English government. +[Footnote: See Answers of Agents, Chalmers's _Annals_, p. 450.] +Stoughton and Bulkely had already assured the Lords of Committee that +the "rest of the inhabitants were very inconsiderable as to number, +compared with those that were acknowledged church-members." [Footnote: +Palfrey, iii. 318.] They were in fact probably as five to one. The +General Court had been censured for using the word Commonwealth in +official documents, as intimating independence. They hastened to +assure the crown that it had not of late been used, and should not be +thereafter; [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 198. And see, in general, +the official correspondence, pp. 197-203.] yet in November, 1675, +commissions were thus issued. [Footnote: Palfrey, iii. 322.] But the +breaking out of the Popish plot began to absorb the whole attention of +the government at London; and the agents, after receiving a last rebuke +for the presumption of the colony in buying Maine, were at length +allowed to depart. [Footnote: Nov. 1679.] + +Nearly half a century had elapsed since the emigration, and with +the growth of wealth and population changes had come. In March, John +Leverett, who had long been the head of the high-church party, died, and +the election of Simon Bradstreet as his successor was a triumph for the +opposition. Great as the clerical influence still was, it had lost much +of its old despotic power, and the congregations were no longer united +in support of the policy of their pastors. This policy was singularly +desperate. Casting aside all but ecclesiastical considerations, the +clergy consistently rejected any compromise with the crown which +threatened to touch the church. Almost from the first they had +recognized that substantial independence was necessary in order to +maintain the theocracy. Had the colony been strong, they would doubtless +have renounced their allegiance; but its weakness was such that, without +the protection of England, it would have been seized by France. Hence +they resorted to expedients which could only end in disaster, for it +was impossible for Massachusetts, while part of the British Empire, to +refuse obedience at her pleasure to laws which other colonies cheerfully +obeyed. + +Without an ally, no resistance could be made to England, when at length +her sovereignty should be asserted; and an armed occupation and military +government were inevitable upon a breach. + +Though such considerations are little apt to induce a priesthood +to surrender their temporal power, they usually control commercial +communities. Accordingly, Boston and the larger towns favored +concession, while the country was the ministers' stronghold. The result +of this divergence of opinion was that the moderate party, to which +Bradstreet and Dudley belonged, predominated in the Board of Assistants, +while the deputies remained immovable. The branches of the legislature +thus became opposed; no course of action could be agreed on, and the +theocracy drifted to its destruction. + +The duplicity characteristic of theological politics grew daily more +marked. In May, 1679, a law had been passed forbidding the building +of churches without leave from the freemen of the town or the General +Court. [Footnote: Mass. Rec. v. 213.] On the 11th of June, 1680, three +persons representing the society of Baptists were summoned before the +legislature, charged with the crime of erecting a meeting-house. They +were admonished and forbidden to meet for worship except with the +established congregations; and their church was closed. [Footnote: +Mass. Rec. v. 271.] That very day an address was voted to the king, one +passage of which is as follows: "Concerning liberty of conscience, ... +that after all, a multitude of notorious errors ... be openly broached, +... amongst us, as by the Quakers, &c., wee presume his majesty doeth +not intend; and as for other Prottestant dissenters, that carry it +peaceably & soberly, wee trust there shallbe no cause of just complaint +against us on their behalfe." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 287.] + +Meanwhile Randolph had renewed his attack. He declared that in spite of +promises and excuses the revenue laws were not enforced; that his men +were beaten, and that he hourly expected to be thrown into prison; +whereas in other colonies, he asserted, he was treated with great +respect. [Footnote: June, 1680. Palfrey, iii. 340.] There can be no +doubt ingenuity was used to devise means of annoyance, and certainly +the life he was made to lead was hard. In March [Footnote: March 15, +1680-1.] he sailed for home, and while in London he made a series of +reports to the government which seem to have produced the conviction +that the moment for action had come. In December he returned, +commissioned as deputy-surveyor and auditor-general for all New England, +except New Hampshire. When Stoughton and Bulkely were dismissed, the +colony had been commanded to send new agents within six months. In +September, 1680, another royal letter had been written, in which the +king dwelt upon the misconduct of his subjects, "when ... we signified +unto you our gracious inclination to have all past deeds forgotten... +wee then little thought that those markes of our grace and favour should +have found no better acceptance amoung you.... We doe therefore by +these our letters, strictly command and require you, as you tender your +allegiance unto us, and will deserve the effects of our grace and favour +(which wee are enclyned to afford you) seriously to reflect upon our +commands; ... and particularly wee doe hereby command you to send over, +within three months after the receipt hereof, such... persons as +you shall think fitt to choose, and that you give them sufficient +instructions to attend the regulation and settlement of that our +government." [Footnote: Sept. 30. _Hutch. Coll. _, Prince Soc. ed. ii. +261.] + +The General Court had not thought fit to regard these communications, +and now Randolph came charged with a long and stern dispatch, in which +agents were demanded forthwith, "in default whereof, we are fully +resolved, in Trinity Term next ensuing, to direct our attorney-general +to bring a quo warranto in our court of kings-bench, whereby our charter +granted unto you, with all the powers thereof, may be legally evicted +and made void; and so we bid you farewel." [Footnote: Chalmers's +_Annals_, p. 449.] + +Hitherto the clerical party had procrastinated, buoyed up by the +hope that in the fierce struggle with the commons Charles might be +overthrown; but this dream ended with the dissolution of the Oxford +Parliament, and further inaction became impossible. Joseph Dudley and +John Richards were chosen agents, and provided with instructions bearing +the peculiar tinge of ecclesiastical statesmanship. + +They were directed to represent that appeals would be intolerable; +and, for their private guidance, the legislature used these words: "We +therefore doe not vnderstand by the regulation of the gouernment, that +any alteration of the patent is intended; yow shall therefore neither +doe nor consent to any thing that may violate or infringe the liberties +& priuiledges granted to us by his majesties royall charter, or the +gouernment established thereby; but if any thing be propounded that may +tend therevnto, yow shall say, yow haue received no instruction in +that matter." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 349.] With reference to the +complaints made against the colony, they were to inform the king "that +wee haue no law prohibbiting any such as are of the perswasion of the +church of England, nor haue any euer desired to worship God accordingly +that haue been denyed." [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 347. March 23.] + +Such a statement cannot be reconciled with the answer made the +commissioners; and the laws compelled Episcopalians to attend the +Congregational worship, and denied them the right to build churches of +their own. + +"As for the Annabaptists, they are now subject to no other poenal +statutes then those of the Congregational way." This sophistry is +typical. The law under which the Baptist church was closed applied in +terms to all inhabitants, it is true; but it was contrived to suppress +schism, it was used to coerce heretics, and it was unrepealed. Moreover, +it would seem as though the statute inflicting banishment must then have +still been in force. + +The assurances given in regard to the reform of the suffrage were +precisely parallel:-- + +"For admission of ffreemen, wee humbly conceive it is our liberty, by +charter, to chuse whom wee will admitt into our oune company, which yet +hath not binn restrayned to Congregational men, but others haue +been admitted, who were also provided for according to his majestjes +direction." [Footnote: 1681-2, March 23.] + +Such insincerity gave weight to Randolph's words when he wrote: "My +lord, I have but one thing to reminde your lordship, that nothing their +agents can say or doe in England can be any ground for his majestie to +depend upon." [Footnote: Randolph to Clarendon. _Hutch. Coll._, Prince +Soc. ed. ii. 277] + +With these documents and one thousand pounds for bribery, soon after +increased to three, [Footnote: Chalmers's _Annals_, p. 461.] Dudley +and Richards sailed. Their powers were at once rejected at London as +insufficient, and the decisive moment came. [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 413.] +The churchmen of Massachusetts had to determine whether to accept the +secularization of their government or abandon every guaranty of popular +liberty. The clergy did not hesitate before the momentous alternative: +they exerted themselves to the utmost, and turned the scale for the last +time. [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. 303, note.] In fresh instructions the +agents were urged to do what was possible to avert, or at least delay, +the stroke; but they were forbidden to consent to appeals, or to +alterations in the qualifications required for the admission of freemen. +[Footnote: 1683, March 30. _Mass. Rec._ v. 390.] They had previously +been directed to pacify the king by a present of two thousand pounds; +and this ill-judged attempt at bribery had covered them with ridicule. +[Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ i. 303, note.] + +Further negotiation would have been futile. Proceedings were begun +at once, and Randolph was sent to Boston to serve the writ of _quo +warranto_; [Footnote: 1683, July 20.] he was also charged with a royal +declaration promising that, even then, were submission made, the +charter should be restored with only such changes as the public welfare +demanded. [Footnote: _Mass. Rec._ v. 422, 423.] Dudley, who was a man of +much political sagacity, had returned and strongly urged moderation. The +magistrates were not without the instincts of statesmanship: they saw +that a breach with England must destroy all safeguards of the common +freedom, and they voted an address to the crown accepting the proffered +terms. [Footnote: 1683, 15 Nov. Hutch. _Hist._ i. 304.] But the clergy +strove against them: the privileges of their order were at stake; they +felt that the loss of their importance would be "destructive to the +interest of religion and of Christ's kingdom in the colony," [Footnote: +Palfrey, iii. 381.] and they roused their congregations to resist. The +deputies did not represent the people, but the church. They were men who +had been trained from infancy by the priests, who had been admitted to +the communion and the franchise on account of their religious fervor, +and who had been brought into public life because the ecclesiastics +found them pliable in their hands. The influence which had moulded their +minds and guided their actions controlled them still, and they rejected +the address. [Footnote: Nov. 30. Palfrey, iii. 385.] Increase Mather +took the lead. He stood up at a great meeting in the Old South, and +exhorted the people, "telling them how their forefathers did purchase +it [the charter], and would they deliver it up, even as Ahab required +Naboth's vineyard, Oh! their children would be bound to curse them." +[Footnote: Palfrey, iii. 388, note 1.] + +All that could be resolved on was to retain Robert Humphrys of the +Middle Temple to interpose such delays as the law permitted; but no +attempt was made at defence upon the merits of their cause, probably +because all knew well that no such defence was possible. + +Meanwhile, for technical reasons, the _quo warranto_ had been abandoned, +and a writ of _scire facias_ had been issued out of chancery. On June +18, 1684, the lord keeper ordered the defendant to appear and plead +on the first day of the next Michaelmas Term. The time allowed was too +short for an answer from America, and judgment was entered by default. +[Footnote: Decree entered June 21, 1684; confirmed, Oct. 23. Palfrey, +iii. 393, note.] The decree was arbitrary, but no effort was made to +obtain relief. The story, however, is best told by Humphrys himself:-- + +"It is matter of astonishment to me, to think of the returnes I haue had +from you in the affaire of your charter; that a prudent people should +think soe little, in a thing of the greatest moment to them. + +"Which charge I humbly justify in the following particulars, and yet at +the same time confess that all you could haue done would but haue gained +more time, and spent more money, since the breaches assigned against +you, were as obvious as vnanswerable, soe as all the service your +councill and friends could haue done you here, would haue onely served +to deplore, not prevent the inevitable loss. + +"When I sent you the lord keeper's order of the 18th of June 1684 +requireing your appeareing peromptorily the first day of Michaelmas +Tearme then next, and pleading to yssue ... you may remember I sent with +it such drafts of lettres of attorney, to pass vnder your comon seale as +were essentially necessary to empower and justify such appearance, and +pleading for you here, which you could not imagine but that you +must haue had due time to returne them in, noe law compelling +impossibilities. + +"When the first day of that Michaelmas Tearme came, and your lettres +of attorney neither were, nor indeed could be return'd ... I applyd +by councill to the Court of Chancery to enlarge that time urgeing the +impossibility of hauing a returne from you in the time allotted.... But +it is true my lord keeper cutt the ground from under us which wee stood +upon, by telling us the order of the 18th of June was a surprize upon +his lordship and that he ought not to haue granted it, for that every +corporacon ought to haue an attorney in every court to appeare to his +majesties suite, and that London had such.... However certainely you +ought when my lettres were come to you, nunc pro tune, to haue past the +lettres of attorney I sent you under your comon seale and sent them me, +and not to haue stopt them upon any private surmises from other hands +then his you had entrusted in that matter; and the rather for that +the judgments of law, espetially those taken by defaults for +non appearances, are not like the laws of the Medes and Persians +irrevocable, but are often on just grounds sett aside by the court here, +and the defendants admitted to plead as if noe such judgments had been +entred vp, and the very order it selfe of the 18th of June guies you a +home instance of it. + +"And indeed I did therefore forbeare giueing you an account of a further +time being denyd, and the entry of judgment against you, expecting you +would before such lettre could haue reacht you haue sent me the lettres +of attorney vnder your corporacon seale that the court might haue been +moved to admitt your appearance and plea and waiued the judgment. + +"But instead of those lettres of attorney under your seale you sent me +an address to his late majesty, I confess judiciously drawne. But it +is my wonder in which of your capacityes you could imagine it should be +presented to his majesty, for if as a corporacon, a body politique, +it should have been putt under your corporacon seale if as a private +comunity it should haue been signed by your order. But the paper has +neither private hand nor publique seale to it and soe must be lost.... + +"In this condicon what could a man doe for you, nothing publiquely for +he had noe warrant from you to justify the accon." [Footnote: _Mass. +Archives_, cvi. 343.] + +So perished the Puritan Commonwealth. The child of the Reformation, +its life sprang from the assertion of the freedom of the mind; but +this great and noble principle is fatal to the temporal power of a +priesthood, and during the supremacy of the clergy the government was +doomed to be both persecuting and repressive. Under no circumstance +could the theocracy have endured: it must have fallen by revolt from +within if not by attack from without. That Charles II. did in fact cause +its overthrow gives him a claim to our common gratitude, for he then +struck a decisive blow for the emancipation of Massachusetts; and thus +his successor was enabled to open before her that splendid career of +democratic constitutional liberty which was destined to become the basis +of the jurisprudence of the American Union. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE WITCHCRAFT. + + +The history of the years between the dissolution of the Company of +Massachusetts Bay and the reorganization of the country by William III. +in 1692 has little bearing upon the development of the people; for the +presidency of Dudley and the administration of Andros were followed by +a revolution that paralyzed all movement. During the latter portion of +this interval the colony was represented at London by three agents, of +whom Increase Mather was the most influential, who used every effort +to obtain the reestablishment of the old government; they met, however, +with insuperable obstacles. Quietly to resume was impossible; for the +obstinacy of the clergy, in refusing all compromise with Charles II., +had caused the patent to be cancelled; and thus a new grant had become +necessary. Nor was this all, for the attorney and solicitor general, +with whom the two chief justices concurred, [Footnote: _Parentator_, +p. 139] gave it as their opinion that, supposing no decree had been +rendered, and the same powers were exercised as before, a writ of _scire +facias_ would certainly be issued, upon which a similar judgment would +inevitably be entered. These considerations, however, became immaterial, +as the king was a statesman, and had already decided upon his policy. +His views had little in common with those held by the Massachusetts +ecclesiastics, and when the Rev. Mr. Mather first read the instrument in +which they had been embodied, he declared he "would sooner part with his +life than consent unto such minutes." [Footnote: _Parentator_, p. 134.] +He grew calmer, however, when told that his "consent was not expected +nor desired;" and with that energy and decision for which he was +remarkable, at once secured the patronage. + +The constitutional aspect of the Provincial Charter is profoundly +interesting, and it will be considered in its legal bearings hereafter. +Its political tendencies, however, first demand attention, for it +wrought a complete social revolution, since it overthrew the +temporal power of the church. Massachusetts, Maine, and Plymouth were +consolidated, and within them toleration was established, except in +regard to Papists; the religious qualification was swept away, and +in its stead freeholders of forty shillings per annum, or owners of +personal property to the value of forty pounds sterling, were +admitted to the franchise; the towns continued to elect the house of +representatives, and the whole Assembly chose the council, subject to +the approval of the executive. [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ ii. 15, 16] +The governor, lieutenant-governor, and secretary were appointed by +the crown; the governor had a veto, and the king reserved the right to +disallow legislation within three years of the date of its enactment. +Thus the theocracy fell at a single blow; and it is worthy of remark +that thenceforward prosecutions for sedition became unknown among the +people of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Yet, though the clerical +oligarchy was no longer absolute, the ministers still exerted a +prodigious influence upon opinion. Not only did they speak with all the +authority inherited with the traditions of the past; not only had they +or their predecessors trained the vast majority of the people from their +cradles to reverence them more than anything on earth, but their compact +organization was as yet unimpaired, and at its head stood the two +Mathers, the pastors of the Old North Church. Thus venerated and thus +led, the elders were still able to appeal to the popular superstition +and fanaticism with terrible effect. + +Widely differing judgments have been formed of these two celebrated +divines; the ecclesiastical view is perhaps well summed up by the Rev. +John Eliot, who thus describes the President of Harvard: "He was the +father of the New England clergy, and his name and character were +held in veneration, not only by those, who knew him, but by succeeding +generations." [Footnote: _Biographical Dictionary_, p. 312.] All must +admit his ability and learning, while in sanctimoniousness of deportment +he was unrivalled. His son Cotton says he had such a "gravity as made +all sorts of persons, wherever he came, to be struck with a sensible awe +of his presence, ... yea, if he laughed on them, they believed it not." +"His very countenance carried the force of a sermon with it." [Footnote: +_Parentator_, p. 40.] He kept a strict account of his mental condition, +and always was pleased when able to enter in his diary at the end of the +day, "heart serious." He was unctuous in his preaching, and wept much +in the pulpit; he often mentions being "quickened at the Lord's table +[during which] tears gushed from me before the Lord," [Footnote: +_Parentator_, p. 48.] but of his self-sacrifice, his mercy, and his +truth, his own acts and words are the best evidence that remain. + +When the new government was about to be put in operation, an +extraordinary amount of patronage lay at the disposal of the crown; +for, beside the regular executive officers, the entire council had to +be named, since they could not be elected until a legislature had been +organized to choose them. Increase Mather, Elisha Cooke, and Thomas +Oakes were acting as agents, and all had been bitterly opposed to the +new charter; but of the three, the English ministers thought Mather the +most important to secure. And now an odd coincidence happened in +the life of this singular man. He suddenly one day announced himself +convinced that the king's project was not so intolerable as to be +unworthy of support; and then it very shortly transpired that he +had been given all the spoil before the patent had passed the +seals. [Footnote: Palfrey, iv. 85.] The proximity of these events is +interesting as bearing on the methods of ecclesiastical statesmen, and +it is also instructive to observe how thorough a master of the situation +this eminent divine proved himself to be. He not only appointed all his +favorite henchmen to office, but he rigidly excluded his colleagues at +London, who had continued their opposition, and every one else who had +any disposition to be independent. His creature, Sir William Phips, was +made governor; William Stoughton, who was bred for the church, and whose +savage bigotry endeared him to the clergy, was lieutenant-governor; and +the council was so packed that his excellent son broke into a shout of +triumph when he heard the news:-- + +"The time has come! the set time has come! I am now to receive an answer +of so many prayers. All the councellors of the province are of my own +father's nomination; and my father-in-law, with several related unto me, +and several brethren of my own church are among them. The governor +of the province is not my enemy, but one whom I baptized; namely, Sir +William Phips, one of my own flock, and one of my dearest friends." +[Footnote: Cotton Mather's _Diary_; Quincy's _History of Harvard_, +i. 60.] Such was the government the theocracy left the country as its +legacy when its own power had passed away, and dearly did Massachusetts +rue that fatal gift in her paroxysms of agony and blood. + +At the close of the seventeenth century the belief in witchcraft +was widespread, and among the more ignorant well-nigh universal. The +superstition was, moreover, fostered by the clergy, who, in adopting +this policy, were undoubtedly actuated by mixed motives. Their credulity +probably made them for the most part sincere in the unbounded confidence +they professed in the possibility of compacts between the devil and +mankind; but, nevertheless, there is abundant evidence in their writings +of their having been keenly alive to the fact that men horror-stricken +at the sight of the destruction of their wives and children by magic +would grovel in the submission of abject terror at the feet of the +priest who promised to deliver them. + +The elders began the agitation by sending out a paper of proposals for +collecting stories of apparitions and witchcrafts, and in obedience to +their wish Increase Mather published his "Illustrious Providences" in +1683-4. Two chapters of this book were devoted to sorceries, and the +reverend author took occasion to intimate his opinion that those who +might doubt the truth of his relations were probably themselves either +heretics or wizards. This movement of the clergy seems to have highly +inflamed the popular imagination, [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ ii. 24.] +yet no immediate disaster followed; and the nervous exaltation did not +become deadly until 1688. In the autumn of that year four children of a +Boston mason named Goodwin began to mimic the symptoms they had so +often heard described; the father, who was a pious man, called in +the ministers of Boston and Charlestown, who fasted and prayed, and +succeeded in delivering the youngest, who was five. Meanwhile, one of +the daughters had "cried out upon" an unfortunate Irish washerwoman, +with whom she had quarrelled. Cotton Mather was now in his element. +He took the eldest girl home with him and tried a great number of +interesting experiments as to the relative power of Satan and the Lord; +among others he gravely relates how when the sufferer was tormented +elsewhere he would carry her struggling to his own study, into which +entering, she stood immediately upon her feet, and cried out, "They are +gone! They are gone! They say they cannot--God won't let 'em come here." +[Footnote: _Memorable Providences_, pp. 27, 28] + +It is not credible that an educated and a sane man could ever have +honestly believed in the absurd stuff which he produced as evidence of +the supernatural; his description of the impudence of the children is +amazing. + +"They were divers times very near burning or drowning of themselves, but +... by their own pittiful and seasonable cries for help still procured +their deliverance: which made me consider, whether the little ones had +not their angels, in the plain sense of our Saviour's intimation.... And +sometimes, tho' but seldome, they were kept from eating their meals, by +having their teeth sett when they carried any thing to their mouthes." +[Footnote: _Idem_, pp. 15-17.] + +And it was upon such evidence that the washerwoman was hanged. There is +an instant in the battle as the ranks are wavering, when the calmness +of the officers will avert the rout; and as to have held their soldiers +then is deemed their highest honor, so to have been found wanting is +their indelible disgrace; the people stood poised upon the panic's +brink, their pastors lashed them in. + +Cotton Mather forthwith published a terrific account of the ghostly +crisis, mixed with denunciations of the Sadducee or Atheist who +disbelieved; and to the book was added a preface, written by the four +other clergymen who had assisted with their prayers, the character of +which may be judged by a single extract. "The following account +will afford to him that shall read with observation, a further clear +confirmation, that, there is both a God, and a devil, and witchcraft: +that there is no outward affliction, but what God may, (and sometimes +doth) permit Satan to trouble his people withal." [Footnote: _Memorable +Providences_, Preface.] Not content with this, Mather goaded his +congregation into frenzy from the pulpit. "Consider also, the misery of +them whom witchcraft may be let loose upon. What is it to fall into +the hands of devils?... O what a direful thing is it, to be prickt with +pins, and stab'd with knives all over, and to be fill'd all over with +broken bones? 'Tis impossible to reckon up the varieties of miseries +which those monsters inflict where they can have a blow. No less than +death, and that a languishing and a terrible death will satisfie the +rage of those formidable dragons." [Footnote: _Discourse on Witchcraft_, +p. 19.] The pest was sure to spread in a credulous community, fed by +their natural leaders with this morbid poison, and it next broke out +in Salem village in February, 1691-2. A number of girls had become +intensely excited by the stories they had heard, and two of them, who +belonged to the family of the clergyman, were seized with the +usual symptoms. Of Mr. Parris it is enough to say that he began the +investigation with a frightful relish. Other ministers were called +in, and prayer-meetings lasting all day were held, with the result +of throwing the patients into convulsions. [Footnote: Calef's _More +Wonders_, p. 90 _et seq._] Then the name of the witch was asked, and the +girls were importuned to make her known. They refused at first, but soon +the pressure became too strong, and the accusations began. Among the +earliest to be arrested and examined was Goodwife Cory. Mr. Noyes, +teacher of Salem, began with prayer, and when she was brought in the +sufferers "did vehemently accuse her of afflicting them, by biting, +pinching, strangling, &c., and they said, they did in their fits see +her likeness coming to them, and bringing a book for them to sign." +[Footnote: _Idem_, p. 92] By April the number of informers and of the +suspected had greatly increased and the prisons began to fill. Mr. +Parris behaved like a madman; not only did he preach inflammatory +sermons, but he conducted the examinations, and his questions were such +that the evidence was in truth nothing but what he put in the mouths of +the witnesses; yet he seems to have been guilty of the testimony it was +his sacred duty to truly record [Footnote: _Grounds of Complaint against +Parris_, Section 6; _More Wonders_, p. 96 (_i.e._ 56).]. And in all this +he appears to have had the approval and the aid of Mr. Noyes. Such was +the crisis when Sir William Phips landed on the 14th of May, 1692; +he was the Mathers' tool, and the result could have been foretold. +Uneducated and credulous, he was as clay in the hands of his creators; +and his first executive act was to cause the miserable prisoners to +be fettered. Jonathan Cary has described what befell his wife: "Next +morning the jaylor put irons on her legs (having received such a +command) the weight of them was about eight pounds; these irons and +her other afflictions, soon brought her into convulsion fits, so that I +thought she would have died that night." [Footnote: _More Wonders_, p. +97] + +At the beginning of June the governor, by an arbitrary act, created a +court to try the witches, and at its head put William Stoughton. Even +now it is impossible to read the proceedings of this sanguinary tribunal +without a shudder, and it has left a stain upon the judiciary of +Massachusetts that can never be effaced. + +Two weeks later the opinion of the elders was asked, as it had been of +old, and they recommended the "speedy and vigorous prosecutions of such +as have rendered themselves obnoxious," [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ +ii. 53.] nor did their advice fall upon unwilling ears. Stoughton was +already at work, and certain death awaited all who were dragged before +that cruel and bloodthirsty bigot; even when the jury acquitted, the +court refused to receive the verdict. The accounts given of the legal +proceedings seem monstrous. The preliminary examinations were conducted +amid such "hideous clamours and screechings," that frequently the voice +of the defendant was drowned, and if a defence was attempted at a trial, +the victim was browbeaten and mocked by the bench. [Footnote: _More +Wonders_, p. 102.] + +The ghastly climax was reached in the case of George Burroughs, who had +been the clergyman at Wells. At his trial the evidence could hardly be +heard by reason of the fits of the sufferers. "The chief judge asked +the prisoner, who he thought hindered these witnesses from giving +their testimonies? and he answered, he supposed it was the devil. That +honourable person then replied, How comes the devil so loath to have any +testimony born against you? Which cast him into very great confusion." +Presently the informers saw the ghosts of his two dead wives, whom +they charged him with having murdered, stand before him "crying for +vengeance;" yet though much appalled, he steadily denied that they were +there. He also roused his judges' ire by asserting that "there neither +are, nor ever were, witches." [Footnote: _Idem_, pp. 115-119.] + +He and those to die with him were carried through the streets of Salem +in a cart. As he climbed the ladder he called God to witness he was +innocent, and his words were so pathetic that the people sobbed aloud, +and it seemed as though he might be rescued even as he stood beneath the +tree. Then when at last he swung above them, Cotton Mather rode among +the throng and told them of his guilt, and how the fiend could come to +them as an angel of light, and so the work went on. They cut him down +and dragged him by his halter to a shallow hole among the rocks, and +threw him in, and there they lay together with the rigid hand of the +wizard Burroughs still pointing upward through his thin shroud of earth. +[Footnote: _More Wonders_, pp. 103, 104.] + +By October it seemed as though the bonds of society were dissolving; +nineteen persons had been hanged, one had been pressed to death, and +eight lay condemned; a number had fled, but their property had been +seized and they were beggars; the prisons were choked, while more than +two hundred were accused and in momentary fear of arrest; [Footnote: +_Idem_, p. 110.] even two dogs had been killed. The plague propagated +itself; for the only hope for those cried out upon was to confess their +guilt and turn informers. Thus no one was safe. Mr. Willard, pastor +of the Old South, who began to falter, was threatened; the wife of Mr. +Hale, pastor of Beverly, who had been one of the great leaders of the +prosecutions, was denounced; Lady Phips herself was named. But the race +who peopled New England had a mental vigor which even the theocracy +could not subdue, and Massachusetts had among her sons liberal and +enlightened men, whose voice was heard, even in the madness of the +terror. Of these, the two Brattles, Robert Calef, and John Leverett +were the foremost; and they served their mother well, though the debt of +gratitude and honor which she owes them she has never yet repaid. + +On the 8th, four days before the meeting of the legislature, and +probably at the first moment it could be done with safety, Thomas +Brattle wrote an admirable letter, [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ first +series, v. 61.] in which he exposed the folly and wickedness of the +delusion with all the energy the temper of the time would bear; had he +miscalculated, his error of judgment would probably have cost him his +life. At the meeting of the General Court the illegal and blood-stained +commission came to an end, and as the reaction slowly and surely set +in, Phips began to feel alarm lest he should Be called to account in +England; accordingly, he tried to throw the blame on Stoughton: "When +I returned, I found people much dissatisfied at the proceedings of the +court; ... The deputy-governor, [Stoughton] notwithstanding, persisted +vigorously in the same method.... When I put an end to the court, there +was at least fifty persons in prison, in great misery by reason of the +extreme cold and their poverty.... I permitted a special superior +court to be held at Salem, ... on the third day of January, the +lieutenant-governor being chief judge.... All ... were cleared, +saving three.... The deputy-governor signed a warrant for their speedy +execution, and also of five others who were condemned at the former +court.... But ... I sent a reprieve; ... the lieutenant-governor upon +this occasion was enraged and filled with passionate anger, and +refused to sit upon the bench at a superior court, at that time held +at Charlestown; and, indeed, hath from the beginning hurried on these +matters with great precipitancy, and by his warrant hath caused the +estates, goods, and chattels of the executed to be seized and disposed +of without my knowledge or consent." [Footnote: Phips to the Earl +of Nottingham, Feb. 21, 1693. Palfrey, iv. 112, note 2.] Some months +earlier, also, just before the meeting of the legislature, he had called +on Cotton Mather to defend him against the condemnation he had even then +begun to feel, and the elder had responded with a volume which remains +as a memorial of him and his compeers [Footnote: _Wonders of the +Invisible World_.] He gave thanks for the blood that had already flowed, +and "prayed to God for more." They were some of the gracious words, +inserted in the advice, which many of the neighbouring ministers, did +this summer humbly lay before our honourable judges: 'We cannot but with +all thankfulness, acknowledge the success which the merciful God has +given unto the sedulous and assiduous endeavours of our honourable +rulers, to detect the abominable witchcrafts which have been committed +in the country; humbly praying that the discovery of those mysterious +and mischievous wickednesses, may be perfected.' If in the midst of the +many dissatisfactions among us, the publication of these trials, may +promote such a pious thankfulness unto God, for justice being so far, +executed among us, I shall rejoyce that God is glorified; and pray +that no wrong steps of ours may ever sully any of his glorious works." +[Footnote: _Wonders of the Invisible World_, pp. 82, 83.] + +"These witches ... have met in hellish randez-vouszes.... In these +hellish meetings, these monsters have associated themselves to do no +less a thing than to destroy the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, in +these parts of the world.... We are truly come into a day, which by +being well managed might be very glorious, for the exterminating of +those, accursed things,... But if we make this day quarrelsome,... +Alas, O Lord, my flesh trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy +judgments." [Footnote: _Idem_, pp. 49-60.] + +While reading such words the streets of Salem rise before the eyes, +with the cart dragging Martha Cory to the gallows while she protests her +innocence, and there, at her journey's end, at the gibbet's foot, stands +the Rev. Nicholas Noyes, pointing to the dangling corpses, and saying: +"What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there." +[Footnote: _More Wonders_, p. 108.] + +The sequence of cause and effect is sufficiently obvious. Although at a +moment when the panic had got beyond control, even the most ultra of the +clergy had been forced by their own danger to counsel moderation, the +conservatives were by no means ready to abandon their potent allies from +the lower world; the power they gave was too alluring. "'Tis a strange +passage recorded by Mr. Clark, in the life of his father, That the +people of his parish refusing to be reclaimed from their Sabbath +breaking, by all the zealous testimonies which that good man bore +against it; at last [one night] ... there was heard a great noise, +with rattling of chains, up and down the town, and an horrid scent of +brimstone.... Upon which the guilty consciences of the wretches, told +them, the devil was come to fetch them away; and it so terrify'd them, +that an eminent reformation follow'd the sermons which that man of God +preached thereupon." [Footnote: _Wonders of the Invisible World_, p. +65.] They therefore saw the constant acquittals, the abandonment of +prosecutions, and the growth of incredulity with regret. The next +year Cotton Mather laid bare the workings of their minds with cynical +frankness. "The devils have with most horrendous operations broke in +upon our neighbourhood, and God has at such a rate overruled all the +fury and malice of those devils, that ... the souls of many, especially +of the rising generation, have been thereby waken'd unto some +acquaintance with religion; our young people who belonged unto the +praying meetings, of both sexes, apart would ordinarily spend whole +nights by the whole weeks together in prayers and psalms upon these +occasions; ... and some scores of other young people, who were strangers +to real piety, were now struck with the lively demonstrations of hell +... before their eyes.... In the whole--the devil got just nothing, but +God got praises, Christ got subjects, the Holy Spirit got temples, the +church got addition, and the souls of men got everlasting benefits." +[Footnote: _More Wonders_, p. 12.] + +Mather prided himself on what he had done. "I am not so vain as to say +that any wisdom or virtue of mine did contribute unto this good order +of things; but I am so just as to say, I did not hinder this good." +[Footnote: _Idem_, p. 12.] Men with such beliefs, and lured onward +by such temptations, were incapable of letting the tremendous power +superstition gave them slip from their grasp without an effort on their +own behalf; and accordingly it was not long before the Mathers were once +more at work. On the 10th of September, 1693, or about nine months after +the last spasms at Salem, and when the belief in enchantments was fast +falling into disrepute, a girl named Margaret Rule was taken with +the accustomed symptoms in Boston. Forthwith these two godly divines +repaired to her bedside, and this is what took place:-- + + * * * * * + +Then Mr. M---- father and son came up, and others with them, in the +whole were about thirty or forty persons, they being sat, the father on +a stool, and the son upon the bedside by her, the son began to question +her: + +Margaret Rule, how do you do? Then a pause without any answer. + +_Question._ What. Do there a great many witches sit upon you? _Answer._ +Yes. + +_Question._ Do you not know that there is a hard master? + +Then she was in a fit. He laid his hand upon her face and nose, but, as +he said, without perceiving breath; then he brush'd her on the face with +his glove, and rubb'd her stomach (her breast not being covered with the +bed clothes) and bid others do so too, and said it eased her, then she +revived. + +_Q._ Don't you know there is a hard master? _A._ Yes. + +_Reply._ Don't serve that hard master, you know who. + +_Q._ Do you believe? Then again she was in a fit, and he again rub'd her +breast &c.... He wrought his fingers before her eyes and asked her if +she saw the witches? _A._ No.... + +_Q._ Who is it that afflicts you? _A._ I know not, there is a great many +of them.... + +_Q._ You have seen the black man, hant you? _A._ No. + +_Reply._ I hope you never shall. + +_Q._ You have had a book offered you, hant you? + +_A._ No. + +_Q._ The brushing of you gives you ease, don't it? + +_A._ Yes. She turn'd herselfe, and a little groan'd. + +_Q._ Now the witches scratch you, and pinch you, and bite you, don't +they? _A._ Yes. Then he put his hand upon her breast and belly, viz. on +the clothes over her, and felt a living thing, as he said; which moved +the father also to feel, and some others. + +_Q._ Don't you feel the live thing in the bed? + +_A._ No.... + +_Q._ Shall we go to pray ... spelling the word. + +_A._ Yes. The father went to prayer for perhaps half an hour, chiefly +against the power of the devil and witchcraft, and that God would bring +out the afflicters.... After prayer he [the son] proceeded. + +_Q._ You did not hear when we were at prayer did you? _A._ Yes. + +_Q._ You don't hear always? you don't hear sometimes past a word or two, +do you? _A._ No. Then turning him about said, this is just another Mercy +Short.... + +_Q._ What does she eat or drink? _A._ Not eat at all; but drink rum. +[Footnote: _More Wonders_, pp. 13, 14.] + + * * * * * + +To sanctify to the godly the ravings of this drunken and abandoned wench +was a solemn joy to the heart of this servant of Christ, who gave his +life to "unwearied cares and pains, to rescue the miserable from the +lions and bears of hell," [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 10.] therefore he +prepared another tract. But his hour was well-nigh come. Though it was +impossible that retribution should be meted out to him for his crimes, +at least he did not escape unscathed, for Calef and the Brattles, who +had long been on his father's track and his, now seized him by the +throat. He knew well they had been with him in the chamber of Margaret +Rule, that they had gathered all the evidence; and so when Calef sent +him a challenge to stand forth and defend himself, he shuffled and +equivocated. + +At length a rumor spread abroad that a volume was to be published +exposing the whole black history, and then the priest began to cower. +His Diary is full of his prayers and lamentations. "The book is printed, +and the impression is this week arrived here.... I set myself to humble +myself before the Lord under these humbling and wondrous dispensations, +and obtain the pardon of my sins, that have rendered me worthy of such +dispensations.... + +"28d. 10m. Saturday.--The Lord has permitted Satan to raise an +extraordinary storm upon my father and myself. All the rage of Satan +against the holy churches of the Lord falls upon us. First Calf's book, +and then Coleman's, do set the people in a mighty ferment. All the +adversaries of the churches lay their heads together, as if, by blasting +of us, they hoped utterly to blow up all. The Lord fills my soul with +consolations, inexpressible consolations, when I think on my conformity +to my Lord Jesus Christ in the injuries and reproaches that are cast +upon me.... + +"5d. 2m. Saturday [1701].--I find the enemies of the churches are set +with an implacable enmity against myself; and one vile fool, namely, R. +Calf, is employed by them to go on with more of his filthy scribbles to +hurt my precious opportunities of glorifying my Lord Jesus Christ. I had +need be much in prayer unto my glorious Lord that he would preserve his +poor servant from the malice of this evil generation, and of that vile +man particularly." [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc._ 1855-58, pp. +290-293.] + +"More Wonders of the Invisible World" appeared in 1700, and such was the +terror the clergy still inspired it is said it had to be sent to London +to be printed, and when it was published no bookseller in Boston dared +to offer it in his shop. [Footnote: _Some Few Remarks_, p. 9.] Yet +though it was burnt in the college yard by the order of Increase +Mather, it was widely read, and dealt the deathblow to the witchcraft +superstition of New England. It did more than this: it may be said to +mark an era in the intellectual development of Massachusetts, for it +shook to its centre that moral despotism which the pastors still +kept almost unimpaired over the minds of their congregations, by +demonstrating to the people the necessity of thinking for themselves. +But what the fate of its authors would have been had the priests still +ruled may be guessed by the onslaught made on them by those who sat at +the Mathers' feet. "Spit on, Calf; thou shalt be but like the viper on +Pauls hand, easily shaken off, and without any damage to the servant of +the Lord." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 22.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +BRATTLE CHURCH. + + +If the working of the human mind is mechanical, the quality of its +action must largely depend upon the training it receives. Viewed as +civilizing agents, therefore, systems of education might be tested by +their tendency to accelerate or retard the intellectual development +of the race. The proposition is capable of being presented with almost +mathematical precision; the receptive faculty begins to fail at a +comparatively early age; thereafter new opinions are assimilated with +increasing difficulty until the power is lost. This progressive period +of life, which is at best brief, may, however, be indefinitely shortened +by the interposition of artificial obstacles, which have to be overcome +by a waste of time and energy, before the reason can act with freedom; +and when these obstacles are sufficiently formidable, the whole time +is consumed and men are stationary. The most effectual impediments +are those prejudices which are so easily implanted in youth, and which +acquire tremendous power when based on superstitious terrors. Herein, +then, lies the radical divergence between theological and scientific +training: the one, by inculcating that tradition is sacred, that +accurate investigation is sacrilege, certain to be visited with +terrific punishment, and that the highest moral virtue is submission to +authority, seeks to paralyze exact thought, and to produce a condition +in which dogmatic statements of fact, and despotic rules of conduct, +will be received with abject resignation; the other, by stimulating the +curiosity, endeavors to provoke inquiry, and, by encouraging a +scrutiny of what is obscure, tries to put the mind in an impartial and +questioning attitude toward all the phenomena of the universe. + +The two methods are irreconcilable, and spring from the great primary +instincts which are called conservatism and liberality. Necessarily the +movement of any community must correspond exactly with the preponderance +of liberalism. Where the theological incubus is unresisted it takes the +form of a sacred caste, as among the Hindoos; appreciable advance then +ceases, except from some external pressure, such as conquest. The same +tendencies in a mitigated form are seen in Spain, whereas Germany is +scientific. + +Such being the ceaseless conflict between these natural forces, the +vantage-points for which the opposing parties have always struggled in +western Europe are the pulpits and the universities. Through women the +church can reach children at their most impressionable age, while at +the universities the teachers are taught. Obviously, if a priesthood can +control both positions their influence must be immense. At the beginning +of any movement the conservatives are almost necessarily in possession, +and their worst reverses have come from defection from within; for +unless their organization is so perfect as not only to be animated by +a single purpose, but capable of being controlled by a single will, +liberals will penetrate within the fold, and if they can maintain their +footing and preach with the authority of the ancient tradition it leads +to revolution. It was thus the Reformation was accomplished. + +The clergy of Massachusetts, with the true priestly instinct, took in +the bearings of their situation from the instant they recognized that +their political supremacy was passing away, and in order to keep their +organization in full vigor they addressed themselves with unabated +energy to enforcing the discipline which had been established; at the +same time they set the ablest of their number on guard at Harvard. But +the task was beyond their strength; they might as well have tried to dam +the rising tide with sand. + +There is a limit to the capacity of even the most gifted man, and +Increase Mather committed a fatal error when he tried to be professor, +clergyman, and statesman at once. He was, it is true, made president in +1685, but the next year John Leverett and William Brattle were chosen +tutors and fellows, who soon developed into ardent liberals; so it +happened that when the reverend rector went abroad in 1688, in his +character of politician, he left the college in the complete control of +his adversaries. He was absent four years, and during this interval the +man was educated who was destined to overthrow the Cambridge Platform, +the corner-stone of the conservative power. + +Benjamin Colman was one of Leverett's favorite pupils and the intimate +friend of Pemberton. As he was to be a minister, he stayed at Cambridge +until he took his master's degree in 1695; he then sailed at once +for England in the Swan. When she had been some weeks at sea she was +attacked by a French privateer, who took her after a sharp action. +During the fight Colman attracted attention by his coolness; but he +declared that though he fired like the rest, "he was sensible of no +courage but of a great deal of fear; and when they had received two +or three broadsides he wondered when his courage would come, as he had +heard others talk." [Footnote: _Life of B. Colman_, p. 6.] + +After the capture the Frenchmen stripped him and put him in the hold, +and had it not been for a Madame Allaire, who kept his money for him, he +might very possibly have perished from the exposure of an imprisonment +in France, for his lungs were delicate. Moreover, at this time of his +life he was always a pauper, for he was not only naturally generous, but +so innocent and confiding as to fall a victim to any clumsy sharper. Of +course he reached London penniless and in great depression of spirits; +but he soon became known among the dissenting clergy, and at length +settled at Bath, where he preached two years. He seems to have formed +singularly strong friendships while in England, one of which was with +Mr. Walter Singer, at whose house he passed much time, and who wrote him +at parting, "Methinks there is one place vacant in my affections, which +nobody can fill beside you. But this blessing was too great for me, and +God has reserved it for those that more deserved it.--I cannot but hope +sometimes that Providence has yet in store so much happiness for me, +that I shall yet see you." [Footnote: _Life of B. Colman_, p. 48.] + +Meanwhile opinion was maturing fast at home; the passions of the +witchcraft convulsion had gone deep, and in 1697 a movement began +under the guidance of Leverett and the Brattles to form a liberal +Congregational church. The close on which the meetinghouse was to stand +was conveyed by Thomas Brattle to trustees on January 10, 1698, and +from the outset there seems to have been no doubt as to whom the pastor +should be. On the 10th of May, 1699, a formal invitation was dispatched +to Colman by a committee, of which Thomas Brattle was chairman, and it +was accompanied by letters from many prominent liberals. Leverett wrote, +"I shall exceedingly rejoice at your return to your country. We want +persons of your character. The affair offered to your consideration is +of the greatest moment." William Brattle was even more emphatic, while +Pemberton assured him that "the gentlemen who solicit your return are +mostly known to you--men of repute and figure, from whom you may expect +generous treatment; ... I believe your return will be pleasing to all +that know you, I am sure it will be inexpressibly so to your unfeigned +friend and servant." [Footnote: _Life of B. Colman_, pp. 43, 44.] It +was, however, thought prudent to have him ordained in London, since +there was no probability that the clergy of Massachusetts would perform +the rite. When he landed in November, after an absence of four years, +he was in the flush of early manhood, highly trained for theological +warfare, having seen the world, and by no means in awe of his old +pastor, the reverend president of Harvard. + +The first step after his arrival was to declare the liberal policy, +and this was done in a manifesto which was published almost at once. +[Footnote: _History of Brattle St. Church_, p. 20.] The efficiency of +the Congregational organization depended upon the perfection of the +guard which the ministers and the congregations mutually kept over each +other. On the one hand no dangerous element could creep in among the +people through the laxness of the elder, since all candidates for the +communion had to pass through the ordeal of a public examination; on +the other the orthodoxy of the ministers was provided for, not only by +restricting the elective body to the communicants, but by the power of +the ordained clergy to "except against any election of a pastor who +... may be ... unfit for the common service of the gospel." [Footnote: +Propositions determined by the Assembly of Ministers. _Magnalia_, bk. 5, +Hist. Remarks, Section 8.] + +The declaration of the Brattle Street "undertakers" cut this system +at the root, for they announced their intention to dispense with the +relation of experiences, thus practically throwing their communion open +to all respectable persons who would confess the Westminster Creed; and +more fatal still, they absolutely destroyed the homogeneousness of the +ecclesiastical constituency: "We cannot confine the right of chusing +a minister to the male communicants alone, but we think that every +baptized adult person who contributes to the maintenance, should have +a vote in electing." [Footnote: _History of Brattle St. Church_, p. 25, +Prop. 16.] + +They also proposed several innovations of minor importance, such +as relaxing the baptismal regulations, and somewhat changing the +established service by having the Bible read without comment. + +Their temporal power was gone, toleration was the law of the land +they had once possessed, and now an onslaught was to be made upon the +intellectual ascendency which the clergy felt certain of maintaining +over their people, if only they could enforce obedience in their own +ranks. The danger, too, was the more alarming because so insidious; for, +though their propositions seemed reasonable, it was perfectly obvious +that should the liberals succeed in forcing their church within the pale +of the orthodox communion, discipline must end, and the pulpits might +at any time be filled with men capable of teaching the most subversive +doctrines. Although such might be the inexorable destiny of the +Massachusetts hierarchy, it was not in ecclesiastical human nature +to accept the dispensation with meekness, and the utterances of the +conservative divines seem hardly to breathe the spirit of that gospel +they preached at such interminable length. + +Yet it was very difficult to devise a scheme of resistance. They were +powerless to coerce; for, although Increase Mather had taken care, +when at the summit of his power, to have a statute passed which had the +effect of reenacting the Cambridge Platform, it had been disapproved by +the king; therefore, moral intimidation was the only weapon which could +be employed. Now, aside from the fact that men like Thomas Brattle +and Leverett were not timorous, their position was at this moment very +strong from the stand they had taken in the witchcraft troubles, and +worst of all, they were openly supported by William Brattle, who was +already a minister, and by Pemberton, who was a fellow of Harvard, and +soon to be ordained. + +The attack was, however, begun by Mr. Higginson, and Mr. Noyes, of +witchcraft memory, in a long rebuke, whose temper may be imagined from +such a sentence as this: "We cannot but think you might have entered +upon your declaration with more reverence and humility than so solemnly +to appeal to God, your judge, that you do it with all the sincerity and +seriousness the nature of your engagement commands from you; seeing you +were most of you much unstudied in the controversial points of church +order and discipline, and yet did not advise with the neighboring +churches ... but with a great deal of confidence and freedom, set up +by yourselves." The letter then goes on to adjure them to revoke the +manifesto, and adjust matters with the "neighbouring elders," "that +so the right hand of fellowship may be given to your pastor by other +pastors, ... and that you may not be the beginning of a schism that will +dishonour God, ... and be a matter of triumph to the bad." [Footnote: +_History of Brattle St. Church_, pp. 29-37.] + +Cotton Mather's Diary, however, gives the most pleasing view of the high +churchmen:-- + +"1699. 7th, 10th m. (Dec.) I see another day of temptation begun upon +the town and land. A company of headstrong men in the town, the chief of +whom are full of malignity to the holy ways of our churches, have built +in the town another meetinghouse. To delude many better meaning men in +their own company, and the churches in the neighbourhood, they passed a +vote in the foundation of the proceedings that they would not vary from +the practice of these churches, except in one little particular. + +"But a young man born and bred here, and hence gone for England, is +now returned hither at their invitation, equipped with an ordination to +qualify him for all that is intended on his returning and arriving here; +these fallacious people desert their vote, and without the advice or +knowledge of the ministers in the vicinity, they have published, under +the title of a manifesto, certain articles that utterly subvert our +churches, and invite an ill party, through all the country, to throw +all into confusion on the first opportunities. This drives the ministers +that would be faithful unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and his interests in +the churches, unto a necessity of appearing for their defence. No little +part of these actions must unavoidably fall to my share. I have already +written a large monitory letter to these innovators, which, though most +lovingly penned, yet enrages their violent and imperious lusts to carry +on the apostacy." + +"1699. 5th d. 11th m. (Saturday.) I see Satan beginning a terrible shake +in the churches of New England, and the innovators that had set up a new +church in Boston (a new one indeed!) have made a day of temptation among +us. The men are ignorant, arrogant, obstinate, and full of malice and +slander, and they fill the land with lies, in the misrepresentations +whereof I am a very singular sufferer. Wherefore I set apart this day +again for prayer in my study, to cry mightily unto God." [Footnote: +_History of Harvard_, Quincy, i. 486, 487, App. x.] + +"21st d. 11th m. The people of the new church in Boston, who, by their +late manifesto, went on in an ill way, and in a worse frame, and +the town was filled with sin, and especially with slanders, wherein +especially my father and myself were sufferers. We two, with many +prayers and studies, and with humble resignation of our names unto +the Lord, prepared a faithful antidote for our churches against the +infection of the example, which we feared this company had given them, +and we put it into the press. But when the first sheet was near composed +at the press, I stopped it, with a desire to make one attempt more for +the bringing of this people to reason. I drew up a proposal, and, with +another minister, carried it unto them, who at first rejected it, but +afterward so far embraced it, as to promise that they will the next +week publicly recognize their covenant with God and one another, and +therewithall declare their adherence to the Heads of Agreement of the +United Brethren in England, and request the communion of our churches in +that foundation." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 487, App. x.] + +This last statement is marked by the exuberance of imagination for which +the Mathers are so famed. In truth, Dr. Mather had nothing to do with +the settlement. The facts were these: after Brattle Street Church +was organized, the congregation voted that Mr. Colman should ask the +ministers of the town to keep a day of prayer with them. On the 28th of +December, 1699, they received the following suggestive answer:-- + + * * * * * + +MR. COLMAN: + +Whereas you have signified to us that your society have desired us to +join with them in a public fast, in order to your intended communion, +our answer is, that as we have formerly once and again insinuated +unto you, that if you would in due manner lay aside what you call your +manifesto, and resolve and declare that you will keep to the heads of +agreement on which the United Brethren in London have made their +union, and then publicly proceed with the presence, countenance, and +concurrence of the New England churches, we should be free to give you +our fellowship and our best assistance, which things you have altogether +declined and neglected to do; thus we must now answer, that, if you +will give us the satisfaction which the law of Christ requires for +your disorderly proceedings, we shall be happy to gratify your desires; +otherwise, we may not do it, lest ... we become partakers of the +guilt of those irregularities by which you have given just cause of +offence.... + +INCREASE MATHER. JAMES ALLEN. [Footnote: _History of Brattle St. +Church_, p. 55.] + + * * * * * + +Under the theocracy a subservient legislature would have voted the +association "a seditious conspiracy," and the country would have been +cleared of Leverett, Colman, the Brattles, and their abettors; but in +1700 the priests no longer manipulated the constituencies, and there was +actual danger to the conservative cause from their violence; therefore +Stoughton exerted himself to muzzle the Mathers, and he did succeed in +quieting them for the moment, though Sewall seems to intimate that they +submitted with no very good grace: [1699/1700.] "January 24th. The Lt +Govr [Stoughton] calls me with him to Mr. Willards, where out of two +papers Mr. Wm Brattle drew up a third for an accommodation to bring on +an agreement between the new-church and our ministers; Mr. Colman got +his brethren to subscribe it.... January 25th. Mr. I. Mather, Mr. C. +Mather, Mr. Willard, Mr. Wadsworth, and S. S. wait on the Lt Govr at Mr. +Coopers: to confer about the writing drawn up the evening before. Was +some heat; but grew calmer, and after lecture agreed to be present at +the fast which is to be observed January 31." [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. +Coll._ fifth series, vi. 2.] + +Humility has sometimes been extolled as the crowning grace of Christian +clergymen, but Cotton Mather's Diary shows the intolerable arrogance of +the early Congregational divines. + +"A wonderful joy filled the hearts of our good people far and near, that +we had obtained thus much from them. Our strife seemed now at an end; +there was much relenting in some of their spirits, when they saw our +condescension, our charity, our compassion. We overlooked all past +offences. We kept the public fast with them ... and my father preached +with them on following peace with holiness, and I concluded with +prayer." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 487, App. x.] + +Yet, although there had been this ostensible reconciliation, those who +have appreciated the sensitiveness to sin, of him whom Dr. Eliot calls +the patriarch and his son, must already feel certain they were incapable +of letting Colman's impiety pass unrebuked; indeed, the Diary says the +"faithful antidote" was at that moment in the press, and it was not +long before it was published, sanctified by their prayers. The patriarch +began by telling how he was defending the "cause of Christ and of his +churches in New England," and "if we espouse such principles... we then +give away the whole Congregational cause at once." [Footnote: _Order of +the Gospel_, pp. 8, 9.] He assured his hearers that a "wandering Levite" +like Colman was no more a pastor than he who "has no children is a +father," [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 102.] he was shocked at the abandonment +of the relation of experiences, and was so scandalized at reading the +Bible without comment he could only describe it as "dumb." In a +word, there was nothing the new congregation had done which was not +displeasing to the Lord; but if they had offended in one particular +more than another it was in establishing a man in "the pastoral office +without the approbation of neighbouring churches or elders." [Footnote: +_Idem_, p. 8.] To this solemn admonition Colman and William Brattle had +the irreverence to prepare a reply smacking of levity; nevertheless, +they began with a grave and noble definition of their principles. "The +liberties and privileges which our Lord Jesus Christ has given to his +church ... consist ... in ... that our consciences be not imposed on by +men or their traditions." "We are reflected on as casting dishonour +on our parents, & their pious design in the first settlement of this +land.... Some have made this the great design, to be freed from the +impositions of men in the worship of God.... In this we are risen up +to make good their grounds." [Footnote: _Gospel Order Revived_, Epistle +Dedicatory.] + +They then went on to expose the abuse of public relations of +experiences: "But this is the misery, the more meek and fearful +are hereby kept out of God's house, while the more conceited and +presumptuous never boggle at this, or anything else. But it seems there +is a gross corruption of this laudable practice which the author does +well to censure; and that is, when some, who have no good intention of +their own, get others to devise a relation for them." [Footnote: _Idem_, +p. 9.] They even dared to intimate that it did not savor of modesty for +the patriarch "to think any one of his sermons, or short comments, can +edifie more than the reading of twenty chapters." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. +15.] And then they added some sentences, which were afterward declared +by the venerable victim to be as scurrilous as other portions of the +pamphlet were profane. + +"We are assured, the author is esteemed more a Presbyterian than a +Congregational man, by scores of his friends in London. He is lov'd and +reverenced for a moderate spirit, a peaceable disposition, and a +temper so widely different from his late brothers in London.... Did our +reverend author appear the same here, we should be his easie proselites +too. But we are loath to say how he forfeits that venerable character, +which might have consecrated his name to posterity, more than his +learning, or other honorary titles can." [Footnote: _Gospel Order +Revived_, pp. 34, 35.] + +No printer in Boston dared to be responsible for this ribaldry, and +when it came home from New York and was actually cast before the people, +words fail to convey the condition into which the patriarch was thrown. +At last his emotions found a vent in a tract which he prepared jointly +with his son. + +"A moral heathen would not have done as he has done. [Footnote: +_Collection of Some of the More Offensive Matters_, Preface.]... There +is no one thing, which does more threaten or disgrace New-England, than +want of due respect unto superiors. [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 10.]... It +is a disgrace to the name of Presbyterian, that such as he is should +pretend unto it. [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 12.]... and if our children +should learn from them, ... we may tremble to think, what a flood of +profaneness and atheism would break in upon us, and ripen us for the +dreadfullest judgments of God. [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 7.]... They assault +him [the aged president] with a volley of rude jeers and taunts, as if +they were so many children of Bethel." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 8.] +Among these taunts some struck deep, for they are quoted at length. +"'Abundance of people have long obstinately believed, that the contest +on his part, is more for lordship and dominion, than for truth.' But +there are many more such passages, which laid altogether, would make a +considerable dung-hil." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 9.] They dwelt with pathos +upon those sacred rites desecrated by these "unsanctified" "young men" +in their "miserable pamphlet." "The Lord is exceedingly glorified, and +his people are edified, by the accounts, which the candidates, of the +communion in our churches give of that self-examination which is by +plain institution ... a qualification, of the communicants. Now these +think it not enough to charge the churches, which require & expect such +accounts, with exceedingly provoking the Lord. But of the tears dropt by +holy souls on those occasions, they say with a scoff, 'whether they be +for joy or grief, we are left in the dark.'" [Footnote: _Collection of +Some of the More Offensive Matters_, p. 6.] But the suffering divines +found peace in knowing that Christ himself would inflict the punishment +upon these abandoned men which the priests would have meted out with +holy joy had they still possessed the power. + +"Considering that the things contained in their pamphlet, are a deep +apostasy, in conjunction with such open impiety, and profane scurrility +against the holy wayes in which our fathers walked, in case it become +the sin of the land, (as it will do if not duely testified against) we +may fear that some heavy judgment will come upon the whole land. And +will not the holy Lord Jesus Christ, who walks in the midst of his +golden candlesticks, make all the churches to know ... that these men +have provoked the Lord!" [Footnote: _Idem_, pp. 18, 19.] + +Yet, notwithstanding the Mathers' piteous prayers, God heeded them +not, and the rising tide that was sweeping over them soon drowned their +cries. Brattle Street congregation became an honored member of the +orthodox communion, the principles which animated its founders spread +apace, and the name of Benjamin Colman waxed great in the land. The +liberals had penetrated the stronghold of the church. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +HARVARD COLLEGE. + + +For more than two centuries one ceaseless anthem of adulation has been +chanted in Massachusetts in honor of the ecclesiastics who founded +Harvard University, and this act has not infrequently been cited as +incontrovertible proof that they were both liberal and progressive at +heart. The laudation of ancestors is a task as easy as it is popular; +but history deals with the sequence of cause and effect, and an +examination of facts, apart from sentiment, tends to show that in +building a college the clergy were actuated by no loftier motive than +intelligent self-interest, if, indeed, they were not constrained thereto +by the inexorable exigencies of their position. + +The truth of this proposition becomes apparent if the soundness of the +following analysis be conceded. + +There would seem to be a point in the pathway of civilization where +every race passes more or less completely under the dominion of a +sacred caste; when and how the more robust have emerged into freedom is +uncertain, but enough is known to make it possible to trace the process +by which this insidious power is acquired, and the means by which it is +perpetuated. A flood of light has, moreover, been shed on this class +of subjects by the recent remarkable investigations among the Zunis. +[Footnote: Made by Mr. F. H. Cushing, of the Bureau of Ethnology, +Smithsonian Institution.] + +Most American Indians are in the matriarchal period of development, +which precedes the patriarchal; and it is then, should they become +sedentary, that caste appears to be born. Some valuable secret, such as +a cure for the bite of the rattlesnake, is discovered, and this gives +the finder, and chosen members of his clan with whom he shares it, a +peculiar sanctity in the eyes of the rest of the tribe. Like facts, +however, become known to other clans, and then coalitions are made which +take the form of esoteric societies, and from these the stronger +savages gradually exclude the weaker and their descendants. Meanwhile +an elaborate ritual is developed, and so an hereditary priesthood +comes into life, which always claims to have received its knowledge by +revelation, and which teaches that resistance to its will is sacrilege. +Nevertheless the sacerdotal power is seldom firmly established without a +struggle, the memory whereof is carefully preserved as a warning of the +danger of incurring the divine wrath. A good example of such a myth is +the fable of the rebellious Zuni fire-priest, who at the prayer of his +orthodox brethren was destroyed with all his clan by a boiling torrent +poured from the burning mountain, sacred to their order, by the avenging +gods. Compare this with the story of Korah; and it is interesting to +observe how the priestly chronicler, in order to throw the profounder +awe about his class, has made the great national prophet the author of +the exclusion of the body of the Levites from the caste, in favor of his +own brother. "And they gathered themselves together against Moses and +against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing +all the congregation are holy, ... wherefore then lift ye up yourselves +above the congregation of the Lord? + +"And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face." Then he told Korah and +his followers, who were descendants of Levi and legally entitled to act +as priests by existing customs, to take censers and burn incense, and it +would appear whether the Lord would respect their offering. So every man +took his censer, and Korah and two hundred and fifty more stood in the +door of the tabernacle. + +Then Moses said, if "the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with +all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then +ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.... + +"And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their +houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their +goods. + +"They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, +and the earth closed upon them:... And all Israel that were round about +them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us +up also." [Footnote: _Numbers_ xvi.] Traces of a similar conflict are +found in Hindoo sacred literature, and probably the process has been +well-nigh universal. The caste, therefore, originates in knowledge, real +and pretended, kept by secret tradition in certain families, and +its power is maintained by systematized terrorism. But to learn the +mysteries and ritual requires a special education, hence those destined +for the priesthood have careful provision made for their instruction. +The youthful Zuni is taught at the sacred college at the shrine of his +order; the pious Hindoo lives for years with some famous Brahmin; as +soon as the down came on the cheek, the descendants of Aaron were taken +into the Temple at Jerusalem, and all have read how Hannah carried the +infant Samuel to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and how the child did +minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest. + +These facts seem to lead to well-defined conclusions when applied to New +England history. In their passionate zeal the colonists conceived +the idea of reproducing, as far as they could, the society of the +Pentateuch, or, in other words, of reverting to the archaic stage of +caste; and in point of fact they did succeed in creating a theocratic +despotism which lasted in full force for more than forty years. +Of course, in the seventeenth century such a phase of feeling was +ephemeral; but the phenomena which attended it are exceptionally +interesting, and possibly they are somewhat similar to those which +accompany the liberation of a primitive people. + +The knowledge which divided the Massachusetts clergy from other men was +their supposed proficiency in the interpretation of the ancient writings +containing the revelations of God. For the perpetuation of this lore a +seminary was as essential to them as an association of priests for the +instruction of neophytes is to the Zuni now, or as the training at the +Temple was to the Jews. In no other way could the popular faith in their +special sanctity be sustained. It is also true that few priesthoods have +made more systematic use of terror. The slaughter of Anne Hutchinson +and her family was exultingly declared to be the judgment of God for +defaming the elders. Increase Mather denounced the disobedient Colman +in the words of Moses to Korah; Cotton Mather revelled in picturing +the torments of the bewitched; and, even in the last century Jonathan +Edwards frightened people into convulsions by his preaching. On the +other hand, it is obvious that the reproduction of the Mosaic law could +not in the nature of things have been complete; and the two weak points +in the otherwise strong position of the clergy were that the spirit +of their age did not permit them to make their order hereditary, nor, +although their college was a true theological school, did they perceive +the danger of allowing any lay admixture. The tendency to weaken the +force of the discipline is obvious, yet they were led to abandon the +safe Biblical precedent, not only by their own early associations, but +by their hatred of anything savoring of Catholicism. + +Men to be great leaders must exalt their cause above themselves; and +if so godly a man as the Rev. Increase Mather can be said to have had +a human failing it was an inordinate love of money and of flattery. The +first of these peculiarities showed itself early in life when, as his +son says, he was reluctant to settle at the North Church, because of +"views he had of greater service elsewhere." [Footnote: _Parentator_, +p. 25.] In other words, the parish was not liberal; for it seems "the +deacons ... were not spirited like some that have succeeded them; and +the leaders of the more honest people also, were men of a low, +mean, sordid spirit.... For one of his education, and erudition, and +gentlemanly spirit, and conversation, to be so creepled and kept in such +a depressing poverty!--In these distresses, it was to little purpose for +him to make his complaint unto man! If he had, it would have been basely +improved unto his disadvantage." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 30.] His diary +teemed with repinings. "Oh! that the Lord Jesus, who hears my complaints +before him, would either give an heart to my people to look after my +comfortable subsistance among them, or ... remove me to another people, +who will take care of me, that so I may be in a capacity to attend his +work, and glorify his name in my generation." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 33.] +However, matters mended with him, for we are assured that "the Glorious +One who knew the works, and the service and the patience of this tempted +man, ordered it, that several gentlemen of good estate, and of better +spirit, were become the members of his church;" and from them he had +"such filial usages... as took away from him all room of repenting, +that he had not under his temptations prosecuted a removal from them." +[Footnote: _Parentator_, pp. 34, 35.] + +The presidency of Harvard, though nominally the highest place a +clergyman could hold in Massachusetts, had always been one of poverty +and self-denial; for the salary was paid by the legislature, which, +as the unfortunate Dunster had found, was not disposed to be generous. +Therefore, although Mr. Mather was chosen president in 1685, and was +afterward confirmed as rector by Andros, he was far too pious to be led +again into those temptations from which he had been delivered by the +interposition of the Glorious One; and the last thing he proposed was +to go into residence and give up his congregation. Besides, he was +engrossed in politics and went to England in 1688, where he stayed four +years. Meanwhile the real control of education was left in the hands of +Leverett, who was appointed tutor in 1686, and of William Brattle, who +was in full sympathy with his policy. Among the many powers usurped by +the old trading company was that of erecting corporations; hence the +effect of the judgment vacating the patent had been to annul the college +charter which had been granted by the General Court; [Footnote: 23 May, +1650. _Mass. Rec._ iii. 195.] and although the institution had gone +on much as usual after the Revolution, its position was felt to be +precarious. Such being the situation when the patriarch came home in +1692 in the plenitude of power, he conceived the idea of making himself +the untrammelled master of the university, and he forthwith caused a +bill to be introduced into the legislature which would certainly have +produced that result. [Footnote: _Province Laws_, 1692-93, c. 10.] Nor +did he meet with any serious opposition in Massachusetts, where his +power was, for the moment, well-nigh supreme. His difficulty lay +with the king, since the fixed policy of Great Britain was to foster +Episcopalianism, and of course to obtain some recognition for that sect +at Cambridge. And so it came to pass that all the advantage he reaped +by the enactment of this singular law was a degree of Doctor of Divinity +[Footnote: Sept. 5, 1692. Quincy's _History of Harvard_, i. 71.] which +he gave himself between the approval of the bill by Phips and its +rejection at London. The compliment was the more flattering, however, as +it was the first ever granted in New England. But the clouds were fast +gathering over the head of this good man. Like many another benefactor +of his race, he was doomed to experience the pangs inflicted by +ingratitude, and indeed his pain was so acute he seldom lost an +opportunity of giving it public expression; to use his own words of some +years later, "these are the last lecture sermons... to be preached by +me.... The ill treatment which I have had from those from whom I had +reason to have expected better, have discouraged me from being any +more concerned on such occasions." [Footnote: Address to Sermon, _The +Righteous Man a Blessing_, 1702.] + +Certainly he was in a false position; he was necessarily unappreciated +by the liberals, and he had not only alienated many staunch +conservatives by his acceptance of the charter, but he had embittered +them, by rigorously excluding all except his particular faction from +Phips's council. To his deep chagrin, the elections of 1693 went in +favor of many of these thankless men, and his discontent soon took the +form of an intense longing to go abroad in some official position which +would give him importance. The only possible opening seemed to be to get +himself made agent to negotiate a charter for Harvard; and therefore +he soon had "angelical" suggestions that God needed him in England to +glorify his name. + +"1693. September 3d. As I was riding to preach at Cambridge, I prayed +to God,--begged that my labors might be blessed to the souls of the +students; at the which I was much melted. Also saying to the Lord, +that some workings of his Providence seemed to intimate, that I must be +returned to England again; ... I was inexpressibly melted, and that for +a considerable time, and a stirring suggestion, that to England I +must go. In this there was something extraordinary, either divine or +angelical." + +"December 30th. Meltings before the Lord this day when praying, desiring +being returned to England again, there to do service to his name, and +persuasions that the Lord will appear therein." + +"1694. January 27th. Prayers and supplications that tidings may come +from England, that may be some direction to me, as to my returning +thither or otherwise, as shall be most for his glory." + +"March 13th. This morning with prayers and tears I begged of God that +I might hear from my friends and acquaintance in England something that +should encourage and comfort me. Such tidings are coming, but I know not +what it is. God has heard me." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 475, +476, App. ix.] + +His craving to escape from the country was increased by the nagging of +the legislature; for so early as December, 1693, the representatives +passed the first of a long series of resolves, "that the president of +Harvard College for the time being shall reside there, as hath been +accustomed in time past." [Footnote: _Court Rec._ vi. 316.] Now this was +precisely what the Reverend Doctor was determined he would not do; nor +could he resign without losing all hope of his agency; so it is not +surprising that as time went on he wrestled with the Deity. + +1698. "September 25th. This day as I was wrestling with the Lord, he +gave me glorious and heart-melting persuasions, that he has work for me +to do in England, for the glory of his name. My soul rejoiceth in the +Lord." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 480, App. ix.] + +Doubtless his trials were severe, but the effect upon his temper was +unfortunate. He brought forward scheme after scheme, and the corporation +was made to address the legislature, and then the legislature was +pestered to accede to the prayer of the corporation, until everybody was +wrought to a pitch of nervous irritation; he himself was always jotting +in his Diary what he had on foot, mixed with his hopes and prayers. + +"1696. December 11th. I was with the representatives in the General +Court, and did acquaint them with my purpose of undertaking a voyage for +England in the spring (if the Lord will), in order to the attainment of +a good settlement for the college." + +"December 28th. The General Court have done nothing for the poor +college.... The corporation are desirous that I should go to England on +the college's account." + +1696. "April 19th (Sabbath.) In the morning, as I was praying in my +closet, my heart was marvellously melted with the persuasion, that I +should glorify Christ in England." + +"1697. June 7th. Discourse with ministers about the college, and the +corporation unanimously desired me to take a voyage for England on the +college's account." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 476, App. ix.] + +But of what the senior tutor was doing with the rising generation he +took no note at all. His attention was probably first attracted by +rumors of the Brattle Church revolt, for not till 1697 was he able to +divert his thoughts from himself long enough to observe that all was not +as it should be at Cambridge. Then, at length, he made an effort to get +rid of Leverett by striking his name from the list of fellows when a +bill for incorporation was brought into the legislature; but this +crafty politician had already become too strong in the house of +representatives, of which he was soon after made speaker. + +Two years later, however, the conservative clergy made a determined +effort and prepared a bill containing a religious test, which they +supported with a petition praying "that, in the charter for the college, +our holy religion may be secured to us and unto our posterity, by a +provision, that no person shall be chosen president, or fellow, of the +college, but such as declare their adherence unto the principles of +reformation, which were espoused and intended by those who first settled +the country ... and have hitherto been the general profession of New +England." [Footnote: _Idem_, i. 99.] This time they narrowly missed +success, for the bill passed the houses, but was vetoed by Lord +Bellomont. + +Hitherto Cotton Mather had shown an unfilial lack of interest in his +father's ambition to serve the public; but this summer he also began +to have assurances from God. One cause for his fervor may have been +the death of the Rev. Mr. Morton, who was conceded to stand next in +succession to the presidency, and he therefore supposed himself to be +sure of the office should a vacancy occur. [Footnote: _Idem_, i. 102.] + +"1699. 7th d. 4th m. (June.) The General Court has, divers times of +late years, had under consideration the matter of the settlement of +the college, which was like still to issue in a voyage of my father to +England, and the matter is now again considered. I have made much prayer +about it many and many a time. Nevertheless, I never could have my mind +raised unto any particular faith about it, one way or another. But this +day, as I was (may I not say) in the spirit, it was in a powerful manner +assured me from heaven, that my father should one day be carried into +England, and that he shall there glorify the Lord Jesus Christ;... +And thou, O Mather the younger, shalt live to see this accomplished!" +[Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 482, 483, App. x.] + +"16th d. 5th m. (July.) Being full of distress in my spirit, as I was at +prayer in my study at noon, it was told me from heaven, that my father +shall be carried from me unto England, and that my opportunities to +glorify the Lord Jesus Christ will, on that occasion, _be gloriously +accommodated_." + +"18th d. 5th m.... And now behold a most unintelligible dispensation! +At this very time, even about noon, instead of having the bill for the +college enacted, as was expected, the governor plainly rejected it, +because of a provision therein, made for the religion of the country." + +After the veto the patriarch seems to have got the upper hand for +a season, and to have made some arrangement by which he evicted his +adversary, as appears by a very dissatisfied letter written by Leverett +in August, 1699: "As soon as I got home I was informed, that Rev. +President (I. M.), held a corporation at the college the 7th inst., and +the said corporation, after the publication of the _new settlement_, +made choice of Mr. Flynt to be one of the tutors at college.... I have +not the late act for incorporating the college at hand, nor have I seen +the new temporary settlement; but I perceive, that all the members of +the late corporation were not notified to be at the meeting. I can't +say how legal these late proceedings are; but it is wonderful, that an +establishment for so short a time as till October next, should be made +use of so soon to introduce an unnecessary addition to that society." +[Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 500, App. xvi.] + +A long weary year passed, during which Dr. Mather must have suffered +keenly from the public ingratitude; still, at its end he was happy, +since he felt certain of being rewarded by the Lord; for, just as the +earl's administration was closing, he had succeeded by unremitting toil +in so adjusting the legislature as to think the spoil his own; when, +alas, suddenly, without warning, in the most distressing manner, the +prize slipped into Bellomont's pocket. How severely his faith was tried +appears from his son's Diary. + +"1700. 16th d. 4th mo. (Lord's Day.) I am going to relate one of +the most astonishing things that ever befell in all the time of my +pilgrimage. + +"A particular faith had been unaccountably produced in my father's +heart, and in my own, that God will carry him unto England, and there +give him a short but great opportunity to glorify the Lord Jesus +Christ, before his entrance into the heavenly kingdom. There appears no +probability of my father's going thither but in an agency to obtain a +charter for the college. This matter having been for several years upon +the very point of being carried in the General Assembly, hath strangely +miscarried when it hath come to the birth. It is now again before the +Assembly, in circumstances wherein if it succeed not, it is never like +to be revived and resumed any more.... + +"But the matter in the Assembly being likely now to come unto nothing, I +was in this day in extreme distress of spirit concerning it.... After I +had finished all the other duties of this day, I did in my distress cast +myself prostrate on my study floor before the Lord.... I spread before +him the consequences of things, and the present posture and aspect of +them, and, having told the Lord, that I had always taken a particular +faith to be a work of heaven on the minds of the faithful, but if it +should prove a deceit in that remarkable instance which was now the +cause of my agony, I should be cast into a most wonderful confusion; I +then begged of the Lord, that, if my particular faith about my father's +voyage to England were not a delusion, he would be pleased to renew it +upon me. All this while my heart had the coldness of a stone upon it, +and the straitness that is to be expected from the lone exercise of +reason. But now all on the sudden I felt an inexpressible force to fall +on my mind, an afflatus, which cannot be described in words; _none knows +it but he that has it_.... It was told me, that the Lord Jesus Christ +loved my father, and loved me, and that he took delight in us, as in +two of his faithful servants, and that he had not permitted us to be +deceived in our particular faith, but that my father should be carried +into England, and there glorify the Lord Jesus Christ before his passing +into glory.... + +"Having left a flood of tears from me, by these rages from the invisible +world, on my study floor, I rose and went into my chair. There I took +up my Bible, and the first place that I opened was at Acts xxvii. +23-25, 'There stood by me an angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, +saying, Fear not, thou must be brought before Caesar.' ... A new +flood of tears gushed from my flowing eyes, and I broke out into these +expressions. 'What! shall my father yet appear before Caesar! Has an +angel from heaven told me so! And must I believe what has been told me! +Well then, it shall be so! It shall be so!'" + +"And now what shall I say! When the affair of my father's agency after +this came to a turning point in the court, it strangely miscarried! All +came to nothing! Some of the Tories had so wrought upon the governor, +that, though he had first moved this matter, and had given us both +directions and promises about it, yet he now (not without base +unhandsomeness) deferred it. The lieutenant-governor, who had formerly +been for it, now (not without great ebullition of unaccountable +prejudice and ingratitude) appeared, with all the little tricks +imaginable, to confound it. It had for all this been carried, had not +some of the council been inconveniently called off and absent. But now +the whole affair of the college was left unto the management of the Earl +of Bellamont, so that all expectation of a voyage for my father unto +England, on any such occasion, is utterly at an end." [Footnote: +_History of Harvard_, i. 484-486, App. x.] + +During all these years the legislature had been steadily passing +resolutions requiring the president to go into residence; and in 1698 +they went so far as to vote him the liberal salary, for that age, of two +hundred pounds, and appointed a committee to wait upon him. Judge Sewall +describes the interview:-- + +"Mr. President expostulated with Mr. Speaker ... about the votes being +alter'd from 250 [L.?]." ... "We urg'd his going all we could; I told +him of his birth and education here; that he look'd at work rather than +wages, all met in desiring him.... Objected want of a house, bill for +corporation not pass'd ... must needs preach once every week, which +he preferred before the gold and silver of the West-Indies. I told him +would preach twice aday to the students. He said that [exposition] +was nothing like preaching." [Footnote: Sewall's _Diary_. _Mass. Hist. +Coll._ fifth series, v. 487.] And in this the patriarch spoke the truth; +for if there was anything he loved more than money it was the incense of +adulation which steamed up to his nostrils from a great congregation. +Of course he declined; and yet this importunity pained the good man, not +because there was any conflict in his mind between his duty to a +cause he held sacred and his own interest, but because it was "a thing +contrary to the faith marvellously wrought into my soul, that God will +give me an opportunity to serve and glorify Christ in England, I set the +day apart to cry to heaven about it." [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, +vi. 481, App. ix.] + +There were limits, however, even to the patience of the Massachusetts +Assembly with an orthodox divine; and no sooner was the question of the +agency decided by the appointment of Bellomont, than it addressed itself +resolutely to the seemingly hopeless task of forcing Dr. Mather to +settle in Cambridge or resign his office. On the 10th of July, 1700, +they voted him two hundred and twenty pounds a year, and they appointed +a committee to obtain from him a categorical answer. This time he +thought it prudent to feign compliance; and after a "suitable place... +for the reception and entertainment of the president" had been prepared +at the public expense, he moved out of town and stayed till the 17th of +October, when he went back to Boston, and wrote to tell Stoughton his +health was suffering. His disingenuousness seems to have given Leverett +the opportunity for which he had been waiting; and his acting as +chairman of a committee appointed by the representatives suggests his +having forced the issue; it was resolved that, should Mr. Mather be +absent from the college, his duties should devolve upon Samuel Willard, +the vice-president; [Footnote: _History of Harvard_, i. 111; _Court +Rec._ vii. 172, 175.] and in March the committee apparently reported the +president's house to be in good condition. Stimulated by this hint, +the doctor went back to Cambridge and stayed a little more than three +months, when he wrote a characteristic note to Stoughton, who was acting +governor. "I promised the last General Court to take care of the college +until the Commencement. Accordingly I have been residing in Cambridge +these three months. I am determined (if the Lord will) to return to +Boston the next week, and no more return to reside in Cambridge; for it +is not reasonable to desire me to be (as, out of respect to the public +interest, I have been six months within this twelve) any longer absent +from my family.... I do therefore earnestly desire, that the General +Court would... think of another president.... It would be fatal to +the interest of religion, if a person disaffected to the order of the +Gospel, professed and practised in these churches, should preside over +this society. I know the General Assembly, out of their regard to the +interest of Christ, will take care to prevent it." [Footnote: _History +of Harvard_, i. 501, App. xvii.] Yet though he himself begged the +legislature to select his successor, in his inordinate vanity he did not +dream of being taken at his word; so when he was invited to meet both +houses in the council chamber he explained with perfect cheerfulness how +"he was now removed from Cambridge to Boston, and ... did not think fitt +to continue his residence there, ... but, if the court thought fit to +desire he should continue his care of the colledge as formerly, he would +do so." [Footnote: _Court Records_, vii. 229.] + +Increase Mather delighted to blazon himself as Christ's foremost +champion in the land. He predicted, and with reason, that should those +who had been already designated succeed him at Harvard, it would be +fatal to that cause to which his life was vowed. The alternative was +presented of serving himself or God, and to him it seemed unreasonable +of his friends to expect of him a choice. And yet when, as was his wont, +he would describe himself from the pulpit, as a refulgent beacon blazing +before New England, he would use such words as these: "Every ... one +of a publick spirit ... will deny himself as to his worldly interests, +provided he may thereby promove the welfare of his people.... He +will not only deny himself, but if called thereto, will encounter the +greatest difficulties and dangers for the publicks sake." [Footnote: +Sermon, _The Publick Spirited Man_, pp. 7, 9.] + +The man had presumed too far; the world was wearying of him. On +September 6, 1701, the government was transferred to Samuel Willard, +the vice-president, and Harvard was lost forever. [Footnote: _History of +Harvard_, i. 116.] + +No education is so baleful as the ecclesiastical, because it breeds the +belief in men that resistance to their will is not only a wrong to their +country and themselves, but a sacrilege toward God. The Mathers were now +to give an illustration of the degree to which the theocratic training +debauched the mind; and it is only necessary to observe that Samuel +Sewall, who tells the story, was educated for the ministry, and was +perhaps as staunch a conservative as there was in the province. + +1701, "October 20. Mr. Cotton Mather came to Mr. Wilkins's shop, and +there talked very sharply against me as if I had used his father worse +than a neger; spake so loud that people in the street might hear him.... +I had read in the morn Mr. Dod's saying; Sanctified afflictions are good +promotions. I found it now a cordial." + +"October 9. I sent Mr. Increase Mather a hanch of very good venison; I +hope in that I did not treat him as a negro." + +"October 2, 1701. I, with Major Walley and Capt. Samuel Checkly, speak +with Mr. Cotton Mather at Mr. Wilkins's.... I told him of his book of +the Law of Kindness for the Tongue, whether this were correspondent with +that. Whether correspondent with Christ's rule: + +"He said, having spoken to me before there was no need to speak to me +again; and so justified his reviling me behind my back. Charg'd the +council with lying, hypocrisy, tricks, and I know not what all. I ask'd +him if it were done with that meekness as it should; Answer'd, Yes. +Charg'd the council in general, and then shew'd my share, which was my +speech in council; viz. If Mr. Mather should goe to Cambridge again to +reside there with a resolution not to read the Scriptures, and expound +in the Hall: I fear the example of it will do more hurt than his going +thither will doe good. This speech I owned.... I ask'd him if I should +supose he had done somthing amiss in his church as an officer; whether +it would be well for me to exclaim against him in the street for it." + +"Thorsday October 23. Mr. Increase Mather said at Mr. Wilkins's, If I +am a servant of Jesus Christ, some great judgment will fall on Capt. +Sewall, or his family." [Footnote: Sewall's _Diary. Mass. Hist. Coll._ +fifth series, vi. 43-45.] + +Had the patriarch been capable of a disinterested action, for the +sake of those principles he professed to love, he would have stopped +Willard's presidency, no matter at what personal cost, for he knew +him to be no better than a liberal in disguise, and he had already +quarrelled bitterly with him in 1697 when he was trying to eject +Leverett. Sewall noted on "Nov. 20.... Mr. Willard told me of the +falling out between the president and him about chusing fellows last +Monday. Mr. Mather has sent him word, he will never come to his house +more till he give him satisfaction." [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ +fifth series, v. 464.] But they had in reality separated years before; +for when, in the witchcraft terror, Willard was cried out upon, and had +to look a shameful death in the face, he learned to feel that the men +who were willing to risk their lives to save him were by no means +public enemies. And so, as the vice-president lived in Boston, the +administration of the college was left very much to Leverett and the +Brattles, who were presently reinstated. + +Joseph Dudley was the son of that old governor who wrote the verses +about the cockatrice to be hatched by toleration, yet he inherited very +little of his father's disposition. He was bred for the ministry, and as +the career did not attract him, he turned to politics, in which he made +a brilliant opening. At first he was the hope of the high churchmen, but +they afterward learned to hate him with a rancor exceptional even toward +their enemies. And he gave them only too good a handle against him, for +he was guilty of the error of selling himself without reserve to the +Andros government. At the Revolution he suffered a long imprisonment, +and afterward went to England, where he passed most of William's +reign. There his ability soon brought him forward, he was made +lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Wight, was returned to Parliament, +and at last appointed governor by Queen Anne. Though Massachusetts owes +a deeper debt to few of her chief magistrates, there are few who have +found scantier praise at the hands of her historians. He was, it is +true, an unscrupulous politician and courtier, but his mind was broad +and vigorous, his policy wise and liberal, and at the moment of his +power his influence was of inestimable value. + +Among his other gifts, he was endowed with infinite tact, and when +working for his office he managed not only to conciliate the Mathers, +but even to induce the son to write a letter in his favor; and so when +he arrived in 1702 they were both sedulous in their attentions in the +expectation of controlling him. A month had not passed, however, before +this ominous entry was made in the younger's diary:-- + +"June 16, 1702. I received a visit from Governour Dudley.... I said to +him ... I should be content, I would approve it, ... if any one should +say to your excellency, 'By no means let any people have cause to say, +that you take all your measures from the two Mr. Mathers.' By the same +rule I may say without offence,' By no means let any people say, +that you go by no measures in your conduct, but Mr. Byfield's and Mr. +Leverett's.'... The WRETCH went unto those men and told them, that I +had advised him to be no ways advised by them; and inflamed them into +an implacable rage against me." [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ first +series, iii. 137.] + +Leverett, on the contrary, now reached his zenith; from the house +he passed into the council and became one of Dudley's most trusted +advisers. The Mathers were no match for these two men, and few routs +have been more disastrous than theirs. Lord Bellomont's sudden death +had put an end to all hope of obtaining a charter by compromise with +England, and no further action had been taken, when, on September 12, +1707, Willard died. On the 28th of October the fellows met and +chose John Leverett president of Harvard College; and then came a +demonstration which proved not only Increase Mather's prescience, when +he foretold how a liberal university would kill a disciplined church, +but which shows the mighty influence a devoted teacher can have upon his +age. Thirty-nine ministers addressed Governor Dudley thus:-- + +"We have lately, with great joy, understood the great and early care +that our brethren, who have the present care and oversight of the +college at Cambridge, have taken, ... by their unanimous choice of Mr. +John Leverett, ... to be the president ... Your Excellency personally +knows Mr. Leverett so well, that we shall say the less of him. However, +we cannot but give this testimony of our great affection to and esteem +for him; that we are abundantly satisfied ... of his religion, learning, +and other excellent accomplishments for that eminent service, a long +experience of which we had while he was senior fellow of that house; for +that, under the wise and faithful government of him, and the Rev. Mr. +Brattle, of Cambridge, the greatest part of the now rising ministry in +New England were happily educated; and we hope and promise ourselves, +through the blessing of the God of our fathers, to see religion and +learning thrive and flourish in that society, under Mr. Leverett's wise +conduct and influence, as much as ever yet it hath done." [Footnote: +_History of Harvard_, i. 504, App. xx.] + +His salary was only one hundred and fifty pounds a year; but the man +worked for love of a great cause, and did not stop to haggle. Nor were +he and Dudley of the temper to leave a task half done. Undoubtedly at +the governor's instigation, a resolve was introduced into the Assembly +reviving the Act of 1650 by which the university had been incorporated, +and it is by the sanction of this lawless and masterly feat of +statesmanship that Harvard has been administered for almost two hundred +years. + +Sewall tells how Dudley went out in state to inaugurate his friend. "The +governour prepared a Latin speech for instalment of the president. Then +took the president by the hand and led him down into the hall;... The +governour sat with his back against a noble fire.... Then the governour +read his speech ... and mov'd the books in token of their delivery. +Then president made a short Latin speech, importing the difficulties +discouraging, and yet that he did accept: ... Clos'd with the hymn to +the Trinity. Had a very good dinner upon 3 or 4 tables.... Got home +very well. _Laus Deo._" [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ fifth series, vi. +209.] + +Nor did Dudley fail to provide the new executive with fit support. By +the old law he had revived the corporation was reduced to seven; of this +board Leverett himself was one, and on the day he took his office both +the Brattles and Pemberton were also appointed. And more than this, +when, a few years later, Pemberton died, the arch-rebel, Benjamin +Colman, was chosen in his place. The liberal triumph was complete, and +in looking back through the vista of the past, there are few pages of +our history more strongly stamped with the native energy of the New +England mind than this brilliant capture of Harvard, by which the +ancient cradle of bigotry and superstition was made the home of American +liberal thought. As for the Mathers, when they found themselves beaten +in fair fight, they conceived a revenge so dastardly that Pemberton +declared with much emotion he would humble them, were he governor, +though it cost him his head. Being unable longer to withstand Dudley by +honorable means, they tried to blast him by charging him with felony. +Their letters are too long to be reproduced in full; but their purport +may be guessed by the extracts given, and to this day they remain choice +gems of theocratic morality. + + * * * * * + +SIR, That I have had a singular respect for you, the Lord knows; but +that since your arrival to the government, my charitable expectations +have been greatly disappointed, I may not deny.... + +1st. I am afraid you cannot clear yourself from the guilt of bribery and +unrighteousness.... + +2d. I am afraid that you have not been true to the interest of your +country, as God (considering his marvellous dispensations towards you) +and his people have expected from you.... + +3d. I am afraid that you cannot clear yourself from the guilt of much +hypocrisy and falseness in the affair of the college.... + +4th. I am afraid that the guilt of innocent blood is still crying in the +ears of the Lord against you. I mean the blood of Leister and Milburn. +My Lord Bellamont said to me, that he was one of the committee of +Parliament who examined the matter; and that those men were not only +murdered, but barbarously murdered.... + +5th. I am afraid that the Lord is offended with you, in that you +ordinarily forsake the worship of God in the holy church to which you +are related, in the afternoon on the Lord's day, and after the publick +exercise, spend the whole time with some persons reputed very ungodly +men. I am sure your father did not so.... Would you choose to be +with them or such as they are in another world, unto which you are +hastening?... I am under pressures of conscience to bear a publick +testimony without respect of persons.... I trust in Christ that when I +am gone, I shall obtain a good report of my having been faithful before +him. To his mercy I commend you, and remain in him, + +Yours to serve, I. MATHER. [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ first series, +iii. 126.] BOSTON, _January_ 20, 1707-8. To the Governour. + + * * * * * + +BOSTON, _Jan_. 20, 1707-8. + +Sir, There have appeared such things in your conduct, that a just +concern for the welfare of your excellency seems to render it necessary, +that you should be _faithfully_ advised of them.... You will give me +leave to write nothing, but in a style, whereof an ignorant mob, to +whom (as well as the General Assembly) you think fit to communicate what +_fragments_ you please of my letters, must be _competent judges_. I must +proceed accordingly.... I weakly believed that the wicked and horrid +things done before the righteous Revolution, had been heartily repented +of; and that the rueful business at New York, which many illustrious +persons ... called a barbarous murder, ... had been considered with such +a repentance, as might save you and your family from any further storms +of heaven for the revenging of it.... Sir, your _snare_ has been that +thing, the _hatred_ whereof is most expressly required of the _ruler_, +namely COVETOUSNESS. When a governour shall make his government more an +engine to enrich himself, than to _befriend his country_, and shall by +the unhallowed hunger of riches be prevailed withal to do many wrong, +base, dishonourable things; it is a covetousness which will shut out +from the kingdom of heaven; and sometimes the _loss of a government +on earth_ also is the punishment of it.... The main channel of that +covetousness has been the reign of bribery, which you, sir, have set +up in the land, where it was hardly known, till you brought it in +fashion.... And there lie affidavits before the queen and council, which +affirm that you have been guilty of it in very many instances. I do also +know that you have.... + +Sir, you are sensible that there is a judgment to come, wherein the +glorious Lord will demand, how far you aimed at serving him in your +government; ... how far you did in your government encourage those that +had most of his image upon them, or place your eyes on the wicked of the +land. Your _age_ and _health_, as well as other circumstances, greatly +invite you, sir, to entertain _awful thoughts_ of this matter, and +solicit the divine mercy through the only sacrifice.... Yet if the +troubles you brought on yourself should procure your abdication and +recess unto a more private condition, and your present _parasites_ +forsake you, as you _may be sure they will_, I should think it my duty +to do you all the good offices imaginable. + +Finally, I can forgive and forget injuries; and I hope I am somewhat +ready for _sunset_; the more for having discharged the duty of this +letter.... + +Your humble and faithful servant, + +COTTON MATHER. [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ first series, iii. 128.] + + * * * * * + +But these venomous priests had tried their fangs upon a resolute and an +able man. Dudley shook them off like vermin. + + * * * * * + +GENTLEMEN, Yours of the 20th instant I received; and the contents, both +as to the matter and manner, astonish me to the last degree. I must +think you have extremely forgot your own station, as well as my +character; otherwise it had been impossible to have made such an open +breach upon all the laws of decency, honour, justice, and Christianity, +as you have done in treating me with an air of superiority and contempt, +which would have been greatly culpable towards a Christian of the lowest +order, and is insufferably rude toward one whom divine Providence has +honoured with the character of your governour.... + +Why, gentlemen, have you been so long silent? and suffered sin to lie +upon me years after years? You cannot pretend any new information as +to the main of your charge; for you have privately given your tongues +a loose upon these heads, I am well assured, when you thought you could +serve yourselves by exposing me. Surely murder, robberies, and other +such flaming immoralities were as reprovable then as now.... + +Really, gentlemen, conscience and religion are things too solemn, +venerable, or sacred, to be played with, or made a covering for actions +so disagreeable to the gospel, as these your endeavours to expose me +and my most faithful services to contempt; nay, to unhinge the +government.... + +I desire you will keep your station, and let fifty or sixty good +ministers, your equals in the province, have a share in the government +of the college, and advise thereabouts as well as yourselves, and I hope +all will be well.... + +I am your humble servant, + +J. DUDLEY. + +To the Reverend Doctors Mathers. [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ first +series, iii. 135.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE LAWYERS. + + +In the age of sacred caste the priest is likewise the law-maker and the +judge, and as succeeding generations of ecclesiastics slowly spin the +intricate web of their ceremonial code, they fail not to teach the +people that their holy ordinances were received of yore from divine lips +by some great prophet. This process is beautifully exemplified in the +Old Testament: though the complicated ritualism of Leviticus was always +reverently attributed to Moses, it was evidently the work of a much +later period; for the present purpose, however, its date is immaterial, +it suffices to follow the account the scribes thought fit to give in +Kings. + +Long after the time of Solomon, Josiah one day sent to inquire about +some repairs then being made at the Temple, when suddenly, "Hilkiah the +high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the +law in the house of the Lord." And he gave the book to Shaphan. + +"And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book... +he rent his clothes." And he was greatly alarmed for fear of the wrath +of the Lord, because their fathers had not hearkened unto the words +of this book; as indeed it was impossible they should, since they knew +nothing about it. So, to find out what was best to be done, he sent +Hilkiah and others to Huldah the prophetess, who told them that the +wrath of the Lord was indeed kindled, and he would bring evil unto the +land; but, because Josiah's heart had been tender, and he had humbled +himself, and rent his clothes, and wept when he had heard what was +spoken, he should be gathered into his grave in peace, and his eyes +should not see the evil. [Footnote: 2 _Kings_ xxii.] + +Such is an example of the process whereby a compilation of canonical +statutes is brought into practical operation by adroitly working upon +the superstitions fears of the civil magistrate; at an earlier period +the priests administer justice in person. + +Eli judged Israel forty years, and Samuel went on circuit all the days +of his life; "and he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and +Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places." [Footnote: +1 _Samuel_ iv., vii.] But, sooner or later, the time must come when a +soldier is absolutely necessary, both to fight foreign enemies and to +enforce obedience at home; and then some chief is set up whom the clergy +think they can control: thus Samuel anointed Saul to be captain over +the Lord's inheritance. [Footnote: 1 _Samuel_ x.] So long as the king +is submissive to authority all goes well, but any insubordination is +promptly punished; and this was the fate of Saul. On one occasion, when +he was in difficulty and Samuel happened to be away, he was so rash +as to sacrifice a burnt offering himself; his presumption offended the +prophet, who forthwith declared that his kingdom should not continue. +[Footnote: 1 _Samuel_ xiii.] After this the relations between them +went from bad to worse, and it was not long before the priest began +to intrigue with David, whom he presently anointed. [Footnote: _Idem_, +xvi.] The end of it was that Saul was defeated in battle, as Samuel's +ghost foretold, for not obeying "the voice of the Lord;" and after a +struggle between the houses of Saul and David, all the elders of Israel +went to Hebron, where David made a league with them, and in return they +anointed him king. [Footnote: 2 _Samuel_ v.]. + +Thenceforward, or from the moment when a layman assumed control of +the temporal power, the Jewish chronicles teem with the sins and the +disasters of those rulers who did not walk in the way of their fathers, +or who, in other words, were restive under ecclesiastical dictation. + +So long as this period lasts, during which the sovereign is forced +to obey the behests of the priesthood, an arbitrary despotism is +inevitable; nor can the foundation of equal justice and civil liberty be +laid until first the military, and then the legal profession, has become +distinct and emancipated from clerical control, and jurisprudence has +grown into the recognized calling of a special class. + +These phenomena tend to explain the peculiar and original direction +taken by legal thought in Massachusetts, for they throw light upon the +influences under which her first generation of lawyers grew up, whose +destiny it was to impress upon her institutions the form they have ever +since retained. + +The traditions inherited from the theocracy were vicious in the extreme. +For ten years after the settlement the clergy and their aristocratic +allies stubbornly refused either to recognize the common law or to enact +a code; and when at length further resistance to the demands of the +freemen was impossible, the Rev. Nathaniel Ward drew up "The Body +of Liberties," which, though it perhaps sufficiently defined civil +obligations, contained this extraordinary provision concerning crimes:-- + +"No mans life shall be taken away, no mans honour or good name shall +be stayned, no mans person shall be arested, restrayned, banished, +dismembred, nor any wayes punished, ... unlesse it be by virtue or +equitie of some expresse law of the country waranting the same, ... or +in case of the defect of a law in any parteculer case by the word +of God. And in capitall cases, or in cases concerning dismembring or +banishment according to that word to be judged by the Generall Court." +[Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ third series, viii. 216] + +The whole of the subtle policy, whereof this legislation forms a part, +well repays attentive study. The relation of the church to the state was +not unlike that of Samuel toward Saul, for no public man could withstand +its attack, as was demonstrated by the fate of Vane. Much of the story +has been told already in describing the process whereby the clergy +acquired a substantial ascendency over the executive and legislature, +through their command of the constituencies which it was the labor of +their lives to fill with loyal retainers. Nothing therefore remains to +be done but to trace the means they employed to invest their order with +judicial attributes. + +From the outset lawyers were excluded from practice, so the magistrates +were nothing but common politicians who were nominated by the priests; +thus the bench was not only filled with trusty partisans without +professional training or instincts, but also, as they were elected +annually, they were practically removable at pleasure should they by +any chance rebel. Upon these points there is abundant evidence: "The +government was first by way of charter, which was chiefly managed by the +preachers, who by their power with the people made all the magistrates +& kept them so intirely under obedience, that they durst not act without +them. Soe that whensoever anything strange or unusuall was brought +before them, they would not determine the matter without consulting the +preachers, for should any bee soe sturdy as to presume to act of himself +without takeing advice & directions, he might bee sure of it, his +magistracy ended with the year. He could bee noe magistrate for them, +that was not approved and recommended from the pulpit, & he could expect +little recommendation who was not the preacher's most humble servant. +Soe they who treated, caressed & presented the preachers most, were the +rulers & magistrates among the people." [Footnote: An Account of the +Colonies, etc., Lambeth MSS. Perry's _Historical Collections_, iii. 48.] + +From the decisions of such a judiciary the only appeal lay to a popular +assembly, which could always be manipulated. Obviously, ecclesiastical +supervision over the ordinary course of litigation was amply provided +for. The adjudication of the more important controversies was reserved; +for it was expressly enacted that doubtful questions and the higher +crimes should be judged according to the Word of God. This master-stroke +resembled Hilkiah's when he imposed his book on Josiah; for on no +point of discipline were the ministers so emphatic as on the sacred and +absolute nature of their prerogative to interpret the Scriptures; nor +did they fail to impress upon the people that it was a sin akin to +sacrilege for the laity to dispute their exposition of the Bible. + +The deduction to be drawn from these premises is plain. The assembled +elders, acting in their advisory capacity, constituted a supreme +tribunal of last resort, wholly superior to carnal precedent, and +capable of evolving whatsoever decrees they deemed expedient from the +depths of their consciousness. [Footnote: See Gorton's case, Winthrop, +ii. 146.] The result exemplifies the precision with which a cause +operating upon the human mind is followed by its consequence; and the +action of this resistless force is painfully apparent in every state +prosecution under the Puritan Commonwealth, from Wheelwright's to +Margaret Brewster's. The absorption of sacerdotal, political, and +juridical functions by a single class produces an arbitrary despotism; +and before judges greedy of earthly dominion, flushed by the sense of +power, unrestrained by rules of law or evidence, and unopposed by +a resolute and courageous bar, trials must become little more than +conventional forms, precursors of predetermined punishments. + +After a period of about half a century these social conditions underwent +radical change, but traditions remained that deeply affected the +subsequent development of the people, and produced a marked bent of +thought in the lawyers who afterward wrote the Constitution. + +At the accession of William III. great progress had been made in the +science of colonial government; charters had been granted to Connecticut +and Rhode Island in 1662 and 1663, which, except in the survival of the +ancient and meaningless jargon of incorporation, had a decidedly modern +form. By these regular local representative governments were established +with full power of legislation, save in so far as limited by clauses +requiring conformity with the law of England; and they served their +purpose well, for both were kept in force many years after the +Revolution, Rhode Island's not having been superseded until 1843. + +The stubborn selfishness of the theocracy led to the adoption of a less +liberal policy toward Massachusetts. The nomination of the executive +officers was retained by the crown, and the governor was given very +substantial means of maintaining his authority; he could reject the +councillors elected by the Assembly; he appointed the judges and +sheriffs with the advice of this body, whose composition he could thus +in a measure control; he had a veto, and was commander-in-chief. Appeals +to the king in council were also provided for in personal actions where +the matter in difference exceeded three hundred pounds. + +On the other hand, the legislature made all appropriations, including +those for the salaries of the governor and judges, and was only limited +in its capacity to enact statutes by the clause invariably inserted in +these patents. + +This, therefore, is the precise moment when the modern theory of +constitutional limitations first appears defined; distinct from the +ancient corporate precedents. By a combination of circumstances also, +a sufficient sanction for the written law happened to be provided, thus +making the conception complete, for the tribunal of last resort was an +English court sustained by ample physical force; nevertheless the +great principle of coordinate departments of government was not yet +understood, and substantial relief against legislative usurpation had +to be sought in a foreign jurisdiction. To lawyers of our own time it +is self-evident that the restrictions of an organic code must be futile +unless they are upheld by a judiciary not only secure in tenure and +pay, but removed as far as may be from partisan passions. This truth, +however, remained to be discovered amid the abuses of the eighteenth +century, for the position of the provincial bench was unsatisfactory +in the last degree. The justices held their commissions at the king's +pleasure, but their salaries were at the mercy of the deputies; they +were therefore subject to the caprice of antagonistic masters. Nor was +this the worst, for the charter did not isolate the judicial office. +Under the theocracy the policy of the clergy had been to suppress the +study of law in order to concentrate their own power; hence no training +was thought necessary for the magistrate, no politician was considered +incompetent to fill the judgment-seat because of ignorance of his duty, +and the office-hunter, having got his place by influence, was deemed at +liberty to use it as a point of vantage, from whence to prosecute his +chosen career. For example, the first chief justice was Stoughton, who +was appointed by Phips, probably at the instigation of Increase Mather. +As he was bred for the church, he could have had no knowledge to +recommend him, and his peculiar qualifications were doubtless +family connections and a narrow and bigoted mind; he was also +lieutenant-governor, a member of the council, and part of the time +commander-in-chief. + +Thomas Danforth was the senior associate, who is described by Sewall +as "a very good husbandman, and a very good Christian, and a good +councillor;" but his reputation as a jurist rested upon a spotless +record, he having been the most uncompromising of the high church +managers. + +Wait Winthrop was a soldier, and was not only in the council, but so +active in public life that years afterward, while on the bench, he was +set up as a candidate for governor in opposition to Dudley. + +John Richards was a merchant, who had been sent to England as agent in +1681, just when the troubles came to a crisis; but the labors by which +he won the ermine seem plain enough, for he was bail for Increase Mather +when sued by Randolph, and was appointed by Phips. Samuel Sewall was +brought up to preach, took to politics on the conservative side, and was +regularly chosen to the council. + +This motley crew, who formed the first superior court, had but one trait +in common: they belonged to the clique who controlled the patronage; and +as it began so it continued to the end, for Hutchinson, the last +chief justice but one, was a merchant; yet he was also probate judge, +lieutenant-governor, councillor, and leader of the Tories. In so +intelligent a community such prostitution of the judicial office would +have been impossible but for the pernicious tradition that the civil +magistrate needed no special training to perform his duty, and was to +take his law from those who expounded the Word of God. + +And there was another inheritance, if possible, more baleful still. The +legislature, under the Puritan Commonwealth, had been the court of last +resort, and it was by no means forward to abandon its prerogative. It +was consequently always ready to listen to the complaints of suitors who +thought themselves aggrieved by the decisions of the regular tribunals, +and it was fond of altering the course of justice to make it conform to +what the members were pleased to call equity. This abuse finally took +such proportions that Hutchinson remonstrated vigorously in a speech to +the houses in 1772. + +"Much time is usually spent ... in considering petitions for new trials +at law, for leave to sell the real estates of persons deceased, by their +executors, or administrators, and the real estates of minors, by their +guardians. All such private business is properly cognizable by the +established judicatories.... A legislative body ... is extremely +improper for such decisions. The polity of the English government seldom +admits of the exercise of this executive and judiciary power by the +legislature, and I know of nothing special in the government of this +province, to give countenance to it." [Footnote: Mass. State Papers, +1765-1775, p. 314.] + +The disposition to interfere in what did not concern them was probably +aggravated by the presence of judicial politicians in the popular +assemblies, who seem to have been unable to resist the temptation of +intriguing to procure legislation to affect the litigation before them. +But the simplest way to illustrate the working of the system in all its +bearings will be to give a history of a celebrated case finally taken on +appeal to the Privy Council. The cause arose in Connecticut, it is true, +but the social condition of the two colonies was so similar as to make +this circumstance immaterial. + +Wait Winthrop, [Footnote: This report of Winthrop v. Lechmere is taken +from a MS. brief in the possession of Hon. R. C. Winthrop.] grandson of +the first John Winthrop, died intestate in 1717, leaving two children, +John, of New London, and Anne, wife of Thomas Lechmere, of Boston. The +father intended his son should take the land according to the family +tradition, and in pursuance of this purpose he put him in actual +possession of the Connecticut property in 1711; but he neglected to make +a will. + +By the common law of England real estate descended to the eldest son of +him who was last seised; but in 1699 the Assembly had passed a statute +of distribution, copied from a Massachusetts act, which directed the +probate court, after payment of debts, to make a "distribution of ... +all the residue ... of the real and personal estate by equal portions to +and among the children ... except the eldest son ... who shall have two +shares." + +Here, then, at the threshold, the constitutional question had to be +met, as to whether the colonial enactment was not in conflict with +the restriction in the charter, and therefore void. Winthrop took out +letters of administration, and Lechmere became one of the sureties on +his bond. There was no disagreement about the personalty, but the son's +claim to the land was disputed, though suit was not brought against him +till 1723. + +The litigation began in Boston, but was soon transferred to New London, +where, in July, 1724, Lechmere petitioned for an account. Winthrop +forthwith exhibited an inventory of the chattels, and moved that it +should be accepted as final; but the judge of probate declined so to +rule. Then Lechmere prayed for leave to sue on the bond in the name of +the judge. His prayer was granted, and he presently began no less than +six actions in different forms. + +Much time was consumed in disposing of technicalities, but at length +two test cases were brought before the superior court. One, being in +substance an action on the bond, was tried on the general issue, and +the verdict was for the defendant. The other was a writ of partition, +wherein Anne was described as co-heir with her brother. It was argued on +demurrer to the declaration, and the defendant again prevailed. + +Thus, so far as judicial decision could determine private rights to +property, Winthrop had established his title; but he represented the +unpopular side in the controversy, and his troubles were just beginning. +Christopher Christophers was the judge of probate, he was also a justice +of the superior court, and a member of the Assembly, of which body +the plaintiff's counsel was speaker. In April, 1725, when Lechmere had +finally exhausted his legal remedies, he addressed a petition to the +legislature, where he had this strong support, and which was not to +meet till May, stating the impossibility of obtaining relief by ordinary +means, and asking to have one of the judgments set aside and a new +trial ordered, in such form as to enable him to maintain his writ of +partition, notwithstanding the solemn decision against him by the +court of last resort. The defendant in vain protested that no error was +alleged, no new evidence produced, nor any matter of equity advanced +which might justify interference: the Assembly had determined to sustain +the statute of distributions, and it accordingly resolved that in cases +of this description relief ought to be given in probate by means of a +new grant of administration, to be executed according to the terms of +the act. + +Winthrop was much alarmed, and with reason, for he saw at once the +intention of the legislature was to induce the judges to assume an +unprecedented jurisdiction; he therefore again offered his account, +which Christophers rejected, and he appealed from the decision. Lechmere +also applied for administration on behalf of his wife; and upon his +prayer being denied, pending a final disposition of Winthrop's cause, he +too went up. In March, 1725-6, final judgment was rendered, the judges +holding that both real and personal property should be inventoried. +Winthrop thereupon entered his appeal to the Privy Council, whose +jurisdiction was peremptorily denied. + +From what afterward took place, the inference is that Christophers +shrank from assuming alone so great a responsibility as now devolved +upon him, and persuaded his brethren to share it with him; for the +superior court proceeded to issue letters of administration to Lechmere, +and took his bond, drawn to themselves personally, for the faithful +performance of his trust. This was a most high-handed usurpation, for +the function of the higher tribunal in these matters was altogether +appellate, it having nothing to do with such executive business as +taking bonds, which was the province of the judge of probate. + +However this may have been, progress was thenceforward rapid. In April +Lechmere produced a schedule of debts, which have at this day a +somewhat suspicious look, and when they were allowed, he petitioned the +legislature for leave to sell land to pay them. Winthrop appeared and +presented a remonstrance, which "the Assembly, observing the common +course of justice, and the law of the colony being by application to the +said Assembly, when the judgments of the superior courts are grievous to +any person... dismissed," and immediately passed an act authorizing the +sale, and making the administrators' deed good to convey a title. + +Then Winthrop was so incautious as to make a final effort: he filed a +protest and caution against any illegal interference with his property +pending his appeal, declaring the action already taken to be contrary to +the common and statute law of England, and to the tenor of the charter. + +The Assembly being of the opinion that this protest "had in it a great +show of contempt," caused Winthrop to be arrested and brought to the +bar; there he not only defended his representations as reasonable, but +avowed his determination to lay all these proceedings before the king +in council. "This was treated as an insolent contemptuous and disorderly +behaviour" in the prisoner, "as declaring himself _coram non judice_, +and putting himself on a par with them, and impeaching their authoritys +and the charter; and his said protest was declared to be full of +reflections, and to terrifie so far as in him lay all the authorities +established by the charter." So they imprisoned him three days and fined +him twenty pounds for his contemptuous words. + +This leading case was afterward elaborately argued in London, and +judgment was entered for Winthrop, upon the ground that the statute of +distribution was in conflict with the charter and therefore void; but +as Connecticut resolutely refused to abandon its own policy, the utmost +confusion prevailed for seventeen years regarding the settlement of +estates. During all this time the local government made unremitting +efforts to obtain relief, and seems to have used pecuniary as well as +legal arguments to effect its purpose; at all events, it finally secured +a majority in the Privy Council, who reversed Winthrop v. Lechmere, in +Clark v. Tousey. The same question was raised in Massachusetts in 1737, +in Phillips v. Savage, but enough influence was brought to bear to +prevent an adverse decision. [Footnote: _Conn. Coll. Rec._ vii. 191, +note; _Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc._ 1860-62, pp. 64-80, 165-171.] A possible +distinction between the two cases also lay in the fact that the +Massachusetts act had received the royal assent. + +The history of this litigation is interesting, not only as illustrating +the defects in provincial justice, but as showing the process by which +the conception of constitutional limitations became rooted in the minds +of the first generation of lawyers; and in point of fact, they were +so thoroughly impregnated with the theory as to incline to carry it to +unwarrantable lengths. For example, so justly eminent a counsel as James +Otis, in his great argument on the Writs of Assistance in 1761, solemnly +maintained the utterly untenable proposition that an act of Parliament +"against the Constitution is void: an act against natural equity is +void: and if an act of Parliament should be made, in the very words +of this petition, it would be void." [Footnote: Quincy's _Reports_, p. +474.] While so sound a man, otherwise, as John Adams wrote, in 1776, to +Mr. Justice Cushing: "You have my hearty concurrence in telling the jury +the nullity of acts of Parliament.... I am determined to die of that +opinion, let the _jus gladii_ say what it will." [Footnote: _Works of J. +Adams_, ix. 390.] + +On looking back at Massachusetts as she was in the year 1700, permeated +with the evil theocratic traditions, without judges, teachers, or books, +the mind can hardly fail to be impressed with the unconquerable energy +which produced great jurists from such a soil; and yet in 1725 Jeremiah +Gridley graduated from Harvard, who may fairly be said to have been the +progenitor of a famous race; for long before the Revolution, men like +Prat, Otis, and John Adams could well have held their own before any +court of Common Law that ever sat. Such powerful counsel naturally felt +a contempt for the ignorant politicians who for the most part presided +over them, which they took little pains to hide. Ruggles one day had +an aged female witness who could find no chair and complained to him of +exhaustion. He told her to go and sit on the bench. His honor, in some +irritation, calling him to account, he replied: "I really thought that +place was made for old women." Hutchinson says of himself: "It was an +eyesore to some of the bar to have a person at the head of the law who +had not been bred to it." But he explains with perfect simplicity how +his occupation as chief justice "engaged his attention, and he applied +his intervals to reading the law." [Footnote: _Diary and Letters of +Thomas Hutchinson_, p. 66.] + +The British supremacy closed with the evacuation of Boston, and +the colony then became an independent state; yet in that singularly +homogeneous community, which had always been taught to regard their +royal patents as the bulwark of their liberties, no one seems to have +seriously thought it possible to dispense with a written instrument to +serve as the basis of the social organization. Accordingly, in 1779, the +legislature called a convention to draft a Constitution; and it was the +good fortune of the lawyers, who were chosen as delegates, to have +an opportunity, not only to correct those abuses from which the +administration of justice had so long suffered, but to carry into +practical operation their favorite theory, of the limitation of +legislative power by the intervention of the courts. The course pursued +was precisely what might have been predicted of the representatives of +a progressive yet sagacious people. Taking the old charter as the +foundation whereon to build, they made only such alterations as their +past experience had shown them to be necessary; they adopted no fanciful +schemes, nor did they lightly depart from a system with which they +were acquainted; and their almost servile fidelity to their precedent, +wherever it could be folio wed, is shown by the following extracts +relating to the legislative and executive departments. + + +CHARTER. + + +And we doe further for vs our heires and successors give and grant to +the said governor and the Great and Generall Court or Assembly of our +said province or territory for the time being full power and authority +from time to time to make ordaine and establish all manner of wholsome +and reasonable orders laws statutes and ordinances directions and +instructions either with penalties or without (soe as the same be not +repugnant or contrary to the lawes of this our realme of England) as +they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of our said province or +territory and for the gouernment and ordering thereof and of the people +inhabiting or who shall inhabit the same and for the necessary support +and defence of the government thereof. + + +CONSTITUTION. + + +And further, full power and authority are hereby given and granted +to the said General Court, from time to time, to make, ordain, and +establish, all manner of wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, +statutes, and ordinances, directions and instructions, either with +penalties or without; so as the same be not repugnant or contrary to +this constitution, as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of +this commonwealth, and for the government and ordering thereof, and of +the subjects of the same, and for the necessary support and defence of +the government thereof. + + +CHARTER. + + +The governour of our said province for the time being shall have +authority from time to time at his discretion to assemble and call +together the councillors or assistants of our said province for the +time being and that the said governour with the said assistants or +councillors or seaven of them at the least shall and may from time +to time hold and keep a councill for the ordering and directing the +affaires of our said province. + + +CONSTITUTION. + + +The governour shall have authority, from time to time at his discretion, +to assemble and call together the councillors of this commonwealth for +the time being; and the governour, with the said councillors, or five +of them at least, shall, and may, from time to time, hold and keep a +council, for the ordering and directing the affairs of the commonwealth, +agreeably to the constitution and the laws of the land. + + * * * * * + +The clause concerning the council is curious as an instance of the +survival of an antiquated form. In the province the body had a use, for +it was a regular upper chamber; but when, in 1779, a senate was added, +it became an anomalous and meaningless third house; yet it is still +regularly elected, though its inutility is obvious. So long ago as +1814 John Adams had become very tired of it; he then wrote: "This +constitution, which existed in my handwriting, made the governor +annually elective, gave him the executive power, shackled with a +council, that I now wish was annihilated." [Footnote: _Works of J. +Adams_, vi. 465.] + +On the other hand, the changes made are even more interesting, as an +example of the evolution of institutions. The antique document was +simplified by an orderly arrangement and division into sections; the +obsolete jargon of incorporation was eliminated, which had come down +from the mediaeval guilds; in the dispute with England the want of a +bill of rights had been severely felt, so one was prefixed; and then the +convention, probably out of regard to symmetry, blotted their otherwise +admirable work by creating an unnecessary senate. But viewed as a whole, +the grand original conception contained in this instrument, making it +loom up a landmark in history, is the theory of the three coordinate +departments in the administration of a democratic commonwealth, +which has ever since been received as the corner-stone of American +constitutional jurisprudence. + +Though this assertion may at first sight seem too sweeping, it is borne +out by the facts. During the first sessions of the Continental Congress +no question was more pressing than the reorganization of the colonies +should they renounce their allegiance to the crown, nor was there one +in regard to which the majority of the delegates were more at sea. +From, their peculiar education the New Englanders were exceptions to the +general rule, and John Adams in particular had thought out the problem +in all its details. His conversation so impressed some of his colleagues +that he was asked to put his views in a popular form. His first attempt +was a short letter to Richard Henry Lee, in November, 1775, in which +he starts with this proposition as fundamental: "A legislative, an +executive, and a judicial power comprehend the whole of what is meant +and understood by government. It is by balancing each of these powers +against the other two, that the efforts in human nature towards tyranny +can alone be checked and restrained, and any degree of freedom preserved +in the constitution." [Footnote: _Works of J. Adams_, iv. 186.] + +His next tract, written in 1776 at the request of Wythe of Virginia, was +printed and widely circulated, and similar communications were sent +in reply to applications from New Jersey, North Carolina, and possibly +other States. The effect of this discussion is apparent in all of the +ten constitutions afterward drawn, with the exception of Pennsylvania's, +which was a failure; but none of them passed beyond the tentative or +embryonic stage. It therefore remained for Massachusetts to present the +model, which in its main features has not yet been superseded. + +A first attempt was deservedly rejected by the people, and the work was +not done until 1779; but the men who then met in convention at Cambridge +knew precisely what they meant to do. Though the executive and the +legislature were a direct inheritance, needing but little change, a +deep line was drawn between the three departments, and the theory of +the coordinate judiciary was first brought to its maturity within the +jurisdiction where it had been born. To attain this cherished object +was the chief labor of the delegates, for to the supreme court was to +be intrusted the dangerous task of grappling with the representative +chambers and enforcing the popular charter. Therefore they made the +tenure of the judges permanent; they secured their pay; to obtain +impartiality they excluded them from political office; while on the +other hand they confined the legislature within its proper sphere, to +the end that the government they created might be one of laws and not of +men. + +The experiment has proved one of those memorable triumphs which mark an +era. Not only has the great conception of New England been accepted as +the fundamental principle of the Federal Union, but it has been adopted +by every separate State; and more than this, during the one hundred and +six years since the people of our Commonwealth wrote their Constitution, +they have had as large a measure of liberty and safety under the law +as men have ever known on earth. There is no jurisdiction in the world +where justice has been purer or more impartial; nor, probably, has +there ever been a community, of equal numbers, which has produced more +numerous or more splendid specimens of juridical and forensic talent. + +When freed from the incubus of the ecclesiastical oligarchy the range of +intellectual activity expanded, and in 1780 Massachusetts may be said, +without exaggeration, to have led the liberal movement of the world; +for not only had she won almost in perfection the three chief prizes of +modern civilization, liberty of speech, toleration, and equality before +the law; but she had succeeded in formulating those constitutional +doctrines by which, during the nineteenth century, popular +self-government has reached the highest efficiency it has ever yet +attained. + +A single example, however, must suffice to show what the rise of the +class of lawyers had done for individual security and liberty in that +comparatively short interval of ninety years. + +Theocratic justice has been described; the trials of Wheelwright, and +of Anne Hutchinson, of Childe, of Holmes, and of Christison have been +related; and also the horrors perpetrated before that ghastly tribunal +of untrained bigots, which condemned the miserable witches undefended +and unheard. [Footnote: In England, throughout the eighteenth century, +counsel were allowed to speak in criminal trials, in cases of treason +and misdemeanor only. Nor is the conduct of Massachusetts in regard to +witches peculiar. Parallel atrocities might probably be adduced from +the history of every European nation, even though the procedure of the +courts were more regular than was that of the Commission of Phips. The +relation of the priest to the sorcerer is a most interesting phenomenon +of social development; but it would require a treatise by itself.] +For the honor of our Common wealth let the tale be told of a state +prosecution after her bar was formed. + +In 1768 the British Ministry saw fit to occupy Boston with a couple of +regiments, a force large enough to irritate, but too small to overawe, +the town. From the outset bad feeling prevailed between the citizens and +the soldiers, but as the time went on the exasperation increased, and +early in 1770 that intense passion began to glow which precedes the +outbreak of civil war. Yet though there were daily brawls, no blood was +shed until the night of the 5th of March, when a rabble gathered about +the sentry at the custom-house in State Street. He became frightened and +called for help, Captain Preston turned out the guard, the mob pelted +them, and they fired on the people without warning. A terrific outbreak +was averted by a species of miracle, but the troops had to be withdrawn, +and Preston and his men were surrendered and indicted for murder. + +John Adams, who was a liberal, heart and soul, had just come into +leading practice. His young friend Josiah Quincy was even more deeply +pledged to the popular cause. On the morning after the massacre, +Preston, doubtless at Hutchinson's suggestion, sent Adams a guinea as a +retaining fee, which, though it seemed his utter ruin to accept, he did +not dream of refusing. What Quincy went through may be guessed from his +correspondence with his father. + + * * * * * + +BRAINTREE, March 22, 1770. + +MY DEAR SON, I am under great affliction at hearing the bitterest +reproaches uttered against you, for having become an advocate for those +criminals who are charged with the murder of their fellow-citizens. Good +God! Is it possible? I will not believe it. + +Just before I returned home from Boston, I knew, indeed, that on the day +those criminals were committed to prison, a sergeant had inquired for +you at your brother's house; but I had no apprehension that it was +possible an application would be made to you to undertake their defence. +Since then I have been told that you have actually engaged for Captain +Preston; and I have heard the severest reflections made upon the +occasion, by men who had just before manifested the highest esteem for +you, as one destined to be a saviour of your country. I must own to you, +it has filled the bosom of your aged and infirm parent with anxiety and +distress, lest it should not only prove true, but destructive of your +reputation and interest; and I repeat, I will not believe it, unless it +be confirmed by your own mouth, or under your own hand. + +Your anxious and distressed parent, + +JOSIAH QUINCY. + + * * * * * + +BOSTON, March 26, 1770. + +HONOURED SIR, I have little leisure, and less inclination, either to +know or to take notice of those ignorant slanderers who have dared to +utter their "bitter reproaches" in your hearing against me, for having +become an advocate for criminals charged with murder.... Before pouring +their reproaches into the ear of the aged and infirm, if they had been +friends, they would have surely spared a little reflection on the nature +of an attorney's oath and duty.... + +Let such be told, sir, that these criminals, charged with murder, are +not yet legally proved guilty, and therefore, however criminal, are +entitled, by the laws of God and man, to all legal counsel and aid; +that my duty as a man obliged me to undertake; that my duty as a lawyer +strengthened the obligation.... This and much more might be told with +great truth; and I dare affirm that you and this whole people will one +day rejoice that I became an advocate for the aforesaid "criminals," +charged with the murder of our fellow-citizens. + +I never harboured the expectation, nor any great desire, that all men +should speak well of me. To enquire my duty, and to do it, is my aim.... +When a plan of conduct is formed with an honest deliberation, neither +murmuring, slander, nor reproaches move.... There are honest men in +all sects,--I wish their approbation;--there are wicked bigots in all +parties,--I abhor them. + +I am, truly and affectionately, your son, + +JOSIAH QUINCY, Jr. [Footnote: _Memoir of Josiah Quincy, Jr._ pp. 26, +27.] + + * * * * * + +Many of the most respected citizens asserted and believed that the +soldiers had fired with premeditated malice, for the purpose of revenge; +and popular indignation was so deep and strong that even the judges were +inclined to shrink. As Hutchinson was acting governor at the time, the +chief responsibility fell on Benjamin Lynde, the senior associate, who +was by good fortune tolerably competent. He was the son of the elder +Lynde, who, with the exception of Paul Dudley, was the only provincial +chief justice worthy to be called a lawyer. + +The juries were of course drawn from among those men who afterward +fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill, and, like the presiding judge and +the counsel, they sympathized with the Revolutionary cause. Yet the +prisoners were patiently tried according to the law and the evidence; +all that skill, learning, and courage could do for them was done, the +court charged impartially, and the verdicts were, Not guilty. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE REVOLUTION. + + +Status appears to be that stage of civilisation whence advancing +communities emerge into the era of individual liberty. In its most +perfect development it takes the form of caste, and the presumption is +the movement toward caste begins upon the abandonment of a wandering +life, and varies in intensity with the environment and temperament of +each race, the feebler sinking into a state of equilibrium, when change +by spontaneous growth ceases to be perceptible. So long as the brain +remains too feeble for sustained original thought, and man therefore +lacks the energy to rebel against routine, this condition of existence +must continue, and its inevitable tendency is toward rigid distinctions +of rank, and as a necessary consequence toward the limitation of the +range of ambition, by the conventional lines dividing the occupations of +the classes. Such at least in a general way was the progression of the +Jews, and in a less marked degree of the barbarians who overran the +Roman Empire. Yet even these, when they acquired permanent abodes, +gravitated strongly enough toward caste to produce a social system based +on monopoly and privilege which lasted through many centuries. On the +other hand, the democratic formula of "equality before the law" best +defines the modern conception of human relations, and this maxim +indicates a tone of thought directly the converse of that which begot +status; for whereas the one strove to raise impassable barriers against +free competition in the struggle for existence, the ideal of the other +is to offer the fullest scope for the expansion of the faculties. + +As in Western Europe church and state alike rested upon the customs +of the Middle Ages, a change so fundamental must have wrought the +overthrow, not only of the vastest vested interests, but of the +profoundest religious prejudices, consequently, it could not have been +accomplished peaceably; and in point of fact the conservatives were +routed in two terrific outbreaks, whereof the second was the sequence of +the first, though following it after a considerable interval of time. +By the wars of the Reformation freedom of thought was gained; by the +revolutions of the eighteenth century, which swept away the incubus +of feudalism, liberty of action was won; and as Massachusetts had +been colonized by the radicals of the first insurrection, it was not +unnatural that their children should have led the second. So much may be +readily conceded, and yet the inherited tendency toward liberalism alone +would have been insufficient to have inspired the peculiar unanimity +of sentiment which animated her people in their resistance to Great +Britain, and which perhaps was stronger among her clergy, whose +instincts regarding domestic affairs were intensely conservative, +than among any other portion of her population. The reasons for +this phenomenon are worthy of investigation, for they are not only +interesting in themselves, but they furnish an admirable illustration of +the irresistible action of antecedent and external causes on the human +mind. + +Under the Puritan Commonwealth the church gave distinction and power, +and therefore monopolized the ability which sought professional life; +but under the provincial government new careers were opened, and +intellectual activity began to flow in broader channels. John Adams +illustrates the effect produced by the changed environment; when only +twenty he made this suggestive entry in his Diary: "The following +questions may be answered some time or other, namely,--Where do we find +a precept in the Gospel requiring Ecclesiastical Synods? Convocations? +Councils? Decrees? Creeds? Confessions? Oaths? Subscriptions? and whole +cart-loads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in +these days?" [Footnote: _Works of J. Adams_, ii. 5.] + +Such men became lawyers, doctors, or merchants; theology ceased to +occupy their minds; and gradually the secular thought of New England +grew to be coincident with that of the other colonies. + +Throughout America the institutions favored individuality. No privileged +class existed among the whites. Under the careless rule of Great Britain +habits of personal liberty had taken root, which showed themselves +in the tenacity wherewith the people clung to their customs of +self-government; and so long as these usages were respected, under which +they had always lived, and which they believed to be as well established +as Magna Charta, there were not in all the king's broad dominions more +loyal subjects than men like Washington, Jefferson, and Jay. + +The generation now living can read the history of the Revolution +dispassionately, and to them it is growing clear that our ancestors +were technically in the wrong. For centuries Parliament has been +theoretically absolute; therefore it might constitutionally tax the +colonies, or do whatsoever else with them it pleased. Practically, +however, it is self-evident that the most perfect despotism must be +limited by the extent to which subjects will obey, and this is a matter +of habit; rebellions, therefore, are usually caused by the conservative +instinct, represented by the will of the sovereign, attempting to +enforce obedience to customs which a people have outgrown. + +In 1776, though the Middle Ages had passed, their traditions still +prevailed in Europe, and probably the antagonism between this survival +of a dead civilization and the modern democracy of America was too deep +for any arbitrament save trial by battle. Identically the same dispute +had arisen in England the century before, when the commons rebelled +against the prerogatives of the crown, and Cromwell fought like +Washington, in the cause of individual emancipation; but the movement +in Great Britain was too radical for the age, and was followed by a +reaction whose force was not spent when George III. came to the throne. + +Precedent is only inflexible among stationary races, and advancing +nations glory in their capacity for change; hence it is precisely those +who have led revolt successfully who have won the brightest fame. If, +therefore, it be admitted that they should rank among mankind's noblest +benefactors, who have risked their lives to win the freedom we enjoy, +and which seems destined to endure, there are few to whom posterity owes +a deeper debt than to our early statesmen; nor, judging their handiwork +by the test of time, have many lived who in genius have surpassed them. +In the fourth article of their Declaration of Rights, the Continental +Congress resolved that the colonists "are entitled to a free and +exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial legislatures, +... in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the +negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has been heretofore used +and accustomed. But, ... we cheerfully consent to the operation of such +acts of Parliament as are, _bona fide_, restrained to the regulation of +our external commerce." + +In 1778 a statute was passed, of which an English jurist wrote in 1885: +"One act, indeed, of the British Parliament might, looked at in +the light of history, claim a peculiar sanctity. It is certainly an +enactment of which the terms, we may safely predict, will never +be repealed and the spirit never be violated.... It provides that +Parliament' will not impose any duty, tax or assessment whatever, +payable in any of his majesty's colonies ... except only such duties +as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce.'" +[Footnote: _The Law of the Constitution_, Dicey, p. 62.] + +Thus is the memory of their grievance held sacred by the descendants +of their adversaries after the lapse of a century, and the local +self-government for which they pleaded has become the immutable policy +of the empire. The principles they laid down have been equally enduring, +for they proclaimed the equality of men before the law, the corner-stone +of modern civilization, and the Constitution they wrote still remains +the fundamental charter of the liberties of the republic of the United +States. + +Nevertheless it remains true that secular liberalism alone could never +have produced the peculiarly acrimonious hostility to Great Britain +wherein Massachusetts stood preeminent, whose causes, if traced, will be +found imbedded at the very foundation of her social organization, and to +have been steadily in action ever since the settlement. Too little study +is given to ecclesiastical history, for probably nothing throws so much +light on certain phases of development; and particularly in the case +of this Commonwealth the impulses which moulded her destiny cannot be +understood unless the events that stimulated the passions of her clergy +are steadily kept in view. + +The early aggrandizement of her priests has been described; the +inevitable conflict with the law into which their ambition plunged them, +and the overthrow of the theocracy which resulted therefrom, have +been related; but the causes that kept alive the old exasperation with +England throughout the eighteenth century have not yet been told. + +The influence of men like Leverett and Colman tended to broaden the +church, but necessarily the process was slow; and there is no lack of +evidence that the majority of the ministers had little relish for the +toleration forced upon them by the second charter. It is not surprising, +therefore, to find the sectaries soon again driven to invoke the +protection of the king. + +Though doubtless some monastic orders have been vowed to poverty, it +will probably be generally conceded that a life of privation has not +found favor with divines as a class; and one of the earliest acts of +the provincial legislature bid each town choose an able and orthodox +minister to dispense the Word of God, who should be "suitably +encouraged" by an assessment on all inhabitants without distinction. +This was for many years a bitter grievance to the dissenting minority; +but there was worse to come; for sometimes the majority were heterodox, +when pastors were elected who gave great scandal to their evangelical +brethren. Therefore, for the prevention of "atheism, irreligion and +prophaness," [Footnote: _Province Laws_, 1715, c. 17.] it was enacted in +1775 that the justices of the county should report any town without +an orthodox minister, and thereupon the General Court should settle a +candidate recommended to them by the ordained elders, and levy a special +tax for his support. Nor could men animated by the fervent piety which +raised the Mathers to eminence in their profession be expected to sit +by tamely while blasphemers not only worshipped openly, but refused to +contribute to their incomes. + +"We expect no other but Satan will show his rage against us for +our endeavors to lessen his kingdom of darkness. He hath grievously +afflicted me (by God's permission) by infatuating or bewitching three +or four who live in a corner of my parish with Quaker notions, [who] +now hold a separate meeting by themselves." [Footnote: Rev. S. Danforth, +1720. _Mass. Hist. Coll._ fourth series, i.] + +The heretics, on their side, were filled with the same stubborn spirit +which had caused them "obstinately and proudly" to "persecute" Norton +and Endicott in earlier days. In 1722 godly preachers were settled at +Dartmouth and Tiverton, under the act, the majority of whose people were +Quakers and Baptists; and the Friends tell their own story in a petition +they presented to the crown in 1724: "That the said Joseph Anthony and +John Siffon were appointed assessors of the taxes for the said town of +Tiverton, and the said John Akin and said Philip Tabor for the town of +Dartmouth, but some of the said assessors being of the people called +Quakers, and others of them also dissenting from the Presbyterians and +Independents, and greatest part of the inhabitants of the said towns +being also Quakers or Anabaptists ... the said assessors duly assessed +the other taxes ... relating to the support of government ... yet they +could not in conscience assess any of the inhabitants of the said towns +anything for or towards the maintenance of any ministers. + +"That the said Joseph Anthony, John Siffon, John Akin and Philip Tabor, +(on pretence of their non-compliance with the said law) were on the 25th +of the month called May, 1723, committed to the jail aforesaid, where +they still continue prisoners under great sufferings and hardships both +to themselves and families, and where they must remain and die, if not +relieved by the king's royal clemancy and favour." [Footnote: Gough's +_Quakers_, iv. 222, 223.] + +A hearing was had upon this petition before the Privy Council, and in +June, 1724, an order was made directing the remission of the special +taxes and the release of the prisoners, who were accordingly liberated +in obedience thereto, after they had been incarcerated for thirteen +months. + +The blow was felt to be so severe that the convention of ministers the +next May decided to convene a synod, and Dr. Cotton Mather was appointed +to draw up a petition to the legislature. + +"Considering the great and visible decay of piety in the country, and +the growth of many miscarriages, which we fear may have provoked the +glorious Lord in a series of various judgments wonderfully to distress +us.... It is humbly desired that ... the ... churches ... meet by their +pastors ... in a synod, and from thence offer their advice upon.... What +are the miscarriages whereof we have reason to think the judgments of +heaven, upon us, call us to be more generally sensible, and what may be +the most evangelical and effectual expedients to put a stop unto those +or the like miscarriages." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ 3d ed. ii. 292, +note.] + +The "evangelical expedient" was of course to revive the Cambridge +Platform; nor was such a scheme manifestly impossible, for the council +voted "that the synod ... will be agreeable to this board, and the +reverend ministers are desired to take their own time, for the said +assembly; and it is earnestly wished the issue thereof may be a happy +reformation." [Footnote: Chalmers's _Opinions_, i. 8.] In the house +of representatives this resolution was read and referred to the next +session. + +Meanwhile the Episcopalian clergymen of Boston, in much alarm, presented +a memorial to the General Court, remonstrating against the proposed +measure; but the council resolved "it contained an indecent reflection +on the proceedings of that board," [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 9.] and +dismissed it. Nothing discouraged, the remonstrants applied for +protection to the Bishop of London, who brought the matter to the +attention of the law officers of the crown. In their opinion to call +a synod would be "a contempt of his majesty's prerogative," and if +"notwithstanding, ... they shall continue to hold their assembly, +... the principal actors therein [should] be prosecuted ... for a +misdemeanour." [Footnote: Chalmers's _Opinions_, p. 13.] + +Steadily and surely the coil was tightening which was destined to +strangle the established church of Massachusetts; but the resistance of +the ministers was desperate, and lent a tinge of theological hate to +the outbreak of the Revolution. They believed it would be impossible for +them to remain a dominant priesthood if Episcopalianism, supported by +the patronage of the crown, should be allowed to take root in the land; +yet the Episcopalians represented conservatism, therefore they were +forced to become radicals, and the liberalism they taught was fated to +destroy their power. + +Meanwhile their sacred vineyard lay open to attack upon every side. At +Boston the royal governors went to King's Chapel and encouraged the use +of the liturgy, while an inroad was made into Connecticut from New York. +Early in the century a certain Colonel Heathcote organized a regular +system of invasion. He was a man eminently fitted for the task, being +filled with zeal for the conversion of dissenters. "I have the charity +to believe that, after having heard one of our ministers preach, +they will not look upon our church to be such a monster as she is +represented; and being convinced of some of the cheats, many of them +may duly consider of the sin of schism." [Footnote: Conn. _Church +Documents_, i. 12.] + +"They have abundance of odd kind of laws, to prevent any dissenting +... and endeavour to keep the people in as much blindness and +unacquaintedness with any other religion as possible, but in a more +particular manner the church, looking upon her as the most dangerous +enemy they have to grapple withal, and abundance of pains is taken to +make the ignorant think as bad as possible of her; and I really believe +that more than half the people in that government think our church to be +little better than the Papist, and they fail not to improve every little +thing against us." [Footnote: Conn. _Church Documents_, i. 9.] + +He had little liking for the elders, whom he described as being "as +absolute in their respective parishes as the Pope of Rome;" but he felt +kindly toward "the passive, obedient people, who dare not do otherwise +than obey." [Footnote: _Idem_, i. 10.] He explained the details of his +plan in his letters, and though he was aware of the difficulties, he did +not despair, his chief anxiety being to get a suitable missionary. +He finally chose the Rev. Mr. Muirson, and in 1706 began a series +of proselytizing tours. Nevertheless, the clergyman was wroth at the +treatment he received. + + * * * * * + +HONOR'D SIR, I entreat your acceptance of my most humble and hearty +thanks for the kind and Christian advice you were pleased to tender me +in relation to Connecticut.... I know that meekness and moderation is +most agreeable to the mind of our blessed Saviour, Christ, who himself +was meek and lowly, and would have all his followers to learn that +lesson of him.... I have duly considered all these things, and have +carried myself civilly and kindly to the Independent party, but they +have ungratefully resented my love; yet I will further consider the +obligations that my holy religion lays upon me, to forgive injuries and +wrongs, and to return good for their evil.... I desired only a liberty +of conscience might be allowed to the members of the National Church +of England; which, notwithstanding, they seemed unwilling to grant, and +left no means untried, both foul and fair, to prevent the settling the +church among them; for one of their justices came to my lodging and +forewarned me, at my peril, from preaching, telling me that I did +an illegal thing in bringing in new ways among them; the people were +likewise threatened with prison, and a forfeiture of L5 for coming to +hear me. It will require more time than you will willingly bestow on +these lines to express how rigidly and severely they treat our people, +by taking their estates by distress, when they do not willingly pay +to support their ministers.... They tell our people that they will +not suffer the house of God to be defiled with idolatrous worship and +superstitious ceremonies.... They say the sign of the cross is the mark +of the beast and the sign of the devil, and that those who receive it +are given to the devil.... + +Honored sir, your most assured friend, ... + +GEO. MUIRSON. RYE, _9th January_, 1707-8. [Footnote: _Conn. Church +Documents_, i. 29.] + + * * * * * + +However, in spite of his difficulties, he was able to boast that "I have +... in one town, ... baptized about 32, young and old, and administered +the Holy Sacrament to 18, who never received it before. Each time I had +a numerous congregation." [Footnote: _Conn. Church Documents_, i. 23.] + +The foregoing correspondence was with the secretary of the Society for +the Propagation of the Gospel, which had been incorporated in 1701, and +had presently afterward appointed Colonel Heathcote as their agent. +They could have chosen no more energetic representative, nor was it long +before his exertions began to bear fruit. In 1707 nineteen inhabitants +of Stratford sent a memorial to the Bishop of London, the forerunner +of many to come. "Because by reason of the said laws we are not able to +support a minister, we further pray your lordship may be pleased to send +one over with a missionary allowance from the honourable corporation, +invested with full power, so as that he may preach and we hear the +blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ, without molestation and terror." +[Footnote: _Idem_, i. 34.] + +The Anglican prelates conceived it to be their duty to meddle with +the religious concerns of New England; therefore, by means of the +organization of the venerable society, they proceeded to plant a number +of missions throughout the country, whose missionaries were paid from +the corporate funds. Whatever opinion may be formed of the wisdom of +a policy certain to exasperate deeply so powerful and so revengeful +a class as the Congregational elders, there can be no doubt the +Episcopalians achieved a measure of success, in the last degree +alarming, not only among the laity, but among the clergy themselves. Mr. +Reed, pastor of Stratford, was the first to go over, and was of course +deprived of his parish; his defection was followed in 1722 by that of +the rector of Yale and six other ministers; and the Rev. Joseph Webb, +who thought the end was near, wrote in deep affliction to break the news +to his friends in Boston. + + * * * * * + +FAIRFIELD, _Oct._ 2, 1722. + +REVEREND AND HONOURED SIR, The occasion of my now giving you the trouble +of these few lines is to me, and I presume to many others, melancholy +enough. You have perhaps heard before now, or will hear before these +come to hand, (I suppose) of the revolt of several persons of figure +among us unto the Church of England. There's the Rev. Mr. Cutler, rector +of our college, and Mr. Daniel Brown, the tutor thereof. There are also +of ordained ministers, pastors of several churches among us, the Rev. +Messieurs following, viz. John Hart of East Guilford, Samuel Whittlesey +of Wallingford, Jared Eliot of Kennelworth, ... Samuel Johnson of +West-Haven, and James Wetmore of North-Haven. They are the most of them +reputed men of considerable learning, and all of them of a virtuous and +blameless conversation. I apprehend the axe is hereby laid to the root +of our civil and sacred enjoyments; and a doleful gap opened for trouble +and confusion in our churches.... It is a very dark day with us; and we +need pity, prayers and counsel. [Footnote: Rev. Joseph Webb to Dr. C. +Mather. _Mass. Hist. Coll._ second series, ii. 131.] + + * * * * * + +From the tone in which these tidings were received it is plain that the +charity and humility of the golden age of Massachusetts were not yet +altogether extinct among her ecclesiastics. The ministers published +their "sentiments" in a document beginning as follows:-- + +"These new Episcopalians have declared their desire to introduce an +usurpation and a superstition into the church of God, clearly condemned +in the sacred Scriptures, which our loyalty and chastity to our Saviour, +obliges us to keep close unto; and a tyranny, from which the whole +church, which desires to be reformed, has groaned that it may be +delivered.... The scandalous conjunction of these unhappy men with +the Papists is, perhaps, more than what they have themselves duly +considered." [Footnote: The Sentiments of the Several Ministers in +Boston. _Mass. Hist. Coll._ second series, ii. 133.] In "A Faithful +Relation" of what had happened it was observed: "It has caused some +indignation in them," (the people) "to see the vile indignity cast +by these cudweeds upon those excellent servants of God, who were the +leaders of the flock that followed our Saviour into this wilderness: +and upon the ministry of them, and their successours, in which there has +been seen for more than forescore years together, the power and +blessing of God for the salvation of many thousands in the successive +generations; with a success beyond what any of them which set such an +high value on the Episcopal ordination could ever boast of!... It is a +sensible addition, unto their horrour, to see the horrid character of +more than one or two, who have got themselves qualified with Episcopal +ordination, ... and come over as missionaries, perhaps to serve scarce +twenty families of such people, in a town of several hundred families of +Christians, better instructed than the very missionaries: to think, that +they must have no other ministers, but such as are ordained, and ordered +by them, who have sent over such tippling sots unto them: instead of +those pious and painful and faithful instructors which they are now +blessed withal!" [Footnote: "A Faithful Relation of a Late Occurrence." +_Mass. Hist. Coll._ second series, ii. 138, 139.] + +Only three of the converts had the fortitude to withstand the pressure +to which they were exposed: Cutler, Johnson, and Brown went to England +for ordination; there Brown died of small-pox, but Cutler returned to +Boston as a missionary, and as he, too, possessed a certain clerical +aptitude for forcible expression, it is fitting he should relate his own +experiences:-- + +"I find that, in spite of malice and the basest arts our godly +enemies can easily stoop to, that the interest of the church grows +and penetrates into the very heart of this country.... This great town +swarms with them "(churchmen)," and we are so confident of our power and +interest that, out of four Parliament-men which this town sends to our +General Assembly, the church intends to put up for two, though I am not +very sanguine about our success in it.... My church grows faster than I +expected, and, while it doth so, I will not be mortified by all the +lies and affronts they pelt me with. My greatest difficulty ariseth from +another quarter, and is owing to the covetous and malicious spirit of +a clergyman in this town, who, in lying and villany, is a perfect +overmatch for any dissenter that I know; and, after all the odium that +he contracted heretofore among them, is fully reconciled and endeared to +them by his falsehood to the church." [Footnote: Dr. Timothy Cutler to +Dr. Zachary Grey, April 2, 1725, Perry's _Collection_, iii. 663.] + +Time did not tend to pacify the feud. There was no bishop in America, +and candidates had to be sent to England for ordination; nor without +such an official was it found possible to enforce due discipline; hence +the anxiety of Dr. Johnson, and, indeed, of all the Episcopalian +clergy, to have one appointed for the colonies was not unreasonable. +Nevertheless, the opposition they met with was acrimonious in the +extreme, so much so as to make them hostile to the charters themselves, +which they thought sheltered their adversaries. + +"The king, by his instructions to our governor, demands a salary; and if +he punishes our obstinacy by vacating our charter, I shall think it an +eminent blessing of his illustrious reign." [Footnote: Dr. Cutler to Dr. +Grey, April 20, 1731. Perry's _Coll._ iii.] + +Whitefield came in 1740, and the tumult of the great revival roused +fresh animosities. + +"When Mr. Whitefield first arrived here the whole town was alarmed.... +The conventicles were crowded; but he chose rather our Common, where +multitudes might see him in all his awful postures; besides that, in one +crowded conventicle, before he came in, six were killed in a fright. +The fellow treated the most venerable with an air of superiority. But +he forever lashed and anathematized the Church of England; and that was +enough. + +"After him came one Tennent, a monster! impudent and noisy, and told +them all they were damn'd, damn'd, damn'd! This charmed them, and in the +most dreadful winter that i ever saw, people wallowed in the snow night +and day for the benefit of his beastly brayings; and many ended their +days under these fatigues. Both of them carried more money out of these +parts than the poor could be thankful for." [Footnote: Dr. Cutler to Dr. +Grey, Sept. 24, 1743. Perry's _Coll._ iii. 676.] + +The excitement was followed by its natural reaction conversions became +numerous, and the unevangelical temper this bred between the rival +clergymen is painfully apparent in a correspondence wherein Dr. Johnson +became involved. Mr. Gold, the Congregationalist minister of Stratford, +whom he called a dissenter, had said of him "that he was a thief, and +robber of churches, and had no business in the place; that his church +doors stood open to all mischief and wickedness, and other words of +like import." He therefore wrote to defend himself: "As to my having no +business here, I will only say that to me it appears most evident that +I have as much business here at least as you have,--being appointed by +a society in England incorporated by royal charter to provide ministers +for the church people in America; nor does his majesty allow of any +establishment here, exclusive of the church, much less of anything +that should preclude the society he has incorporated from providing and +sending ministers to the church people in these countries." [Footnote: +_Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson_, p. 108.] To which Mr. Gold replied:-- + + * * * * * + +As for the pleas which you make for Col. Lewis, and others that have +broke away disorderly from our church, I think there's neither weight +nor truth in them; nor do I believe such poor shifts will stand them +nor you in any stead in the awful day of account; and as for your saying +that as bad as you are yet you lie open to conviction,--for my part +I find no reason to think you do, seeing you are so free and full in +denying plain matters of fact.... I don't think it worth my while to say +anything further in the affair, and as you began the controversy against +rule or justice, so I hope modesty will induce you to desist; and do +assure you that if you see cause to make any more replies, my purpose +is, without reading of them, to put them under the pot among my other +thorns and there let one flame quench the matter.... HEZ. GOLD. + +STRATFORD, _July_ 21, 1741. [Footnote: _Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson,_ p. +111.] + + * * * * * + +And so by an obvious sequence of cause and effect it came to pass +that the clergy were early ripe for rebellion, and only awaited their +opportunity. Nor could it have been otherwise. An autocratic priesthood +had seen their order stripped of its privileges one by one, until +nothing remained but their moral empire over their parishioners, and +then at last not only did an association of rival ecclesiastics send +over emissaries to steal away their people, but they proposed to +establish a bishop in the land. The thought was wormwood. He would be +rich, he would live in a palace, he would be supported by the patronage +and pomp of the royal governors; the imposing ceremonial would become +fashionable; and in imagination they already saw themselves reduced to +the humble position of dissenters in their own kingdom. Jonathan Mayhew +was called a heretic by his more conservative brethren, but he was one +of the ablest and the most acrid of the Boston ministers. He took little +pains to disguise his feelings, and so early as 1750 he preached a +sermon, which was once famous, wherein he told his hearers that it +was their duty to oppose the encroachment of the British prelates, if +necessary, by force. + +"Suppose, then, it was allowed, in general, that the clergy were a +useful order of men; that they ought to be esteemed very highly in love +for their work's sake, and to be decently supported by those they serve, +'the laborer being worthy of his reward.' Suppose, further, that a +number of reverend and right reverend drones, who worked not; who +preached, perhaps, but once a year, and then not the gospel of Jesus +Christ, but the divine right of tithes, the dignity of their office as +ambassadors of Christ, ... suppose such men as these, spending their +lives in effeminacy, luxury, and idleness; ... suppose this should +be the case, ... would not everybody be astonished at such insolence, +injustice, and impiety?" [Footnote: "Discourse concerning Unlimited +Submission," Jonathan Mayhew. Thornton's _American Pulpit_, pp. 71, 72.] +"Civil tyranny is usually small in its beginning, like 'the drop of +a bucket,' till at length, like a mighty torrent... it bears down all +before it.... Thus it is as to ecclesiastical tyranny also--the most +cruel, intolerable, and impious of any. From small beginnings, 'it +exalts itself above all that is called God and that is worshipped.' +People have no security against being unmercifully priest-ridden but by +keeping all imperious bishops, and other clergymen who love to 'lord +it over God's heritage,' from getting their foot into the stirrup at +all.... For which reason it becomes every friend to truth and human +kind, every lover of God and the Christian religion, to bear a part +in opposing this hateful monster." [Footnote: Preface to "A Discourse +concerning Unlimited Submission," Jonathan Mayhew. Thornton's _Amer. +Pulpit_, pp. 50, 51.] + +Between these envenomed priests peace was impossible; each year brought +with it some new aggression which added fuel to the flame. In 1763, Mr. +Apthorp, missionary at Cambridge, published a pamphlet, in answer, as +he explained, to "some anonymous libels which appeared in our newspapers +... grossly reflecting on the society & their missionaries, & in +particular on the mission at Cambridge." [Footnote: East Apthorp to the +Secretary, June 25, 1763. Perry's _Coll._ iii. 500.] + +By this time the passions of the Congregationalist divines had reached +a point when words seemed hardly adequate to give them expression. The +Rev. Ezra Stiles wrote to Dr. Mayhew in these terms:-- + +"Shall we be hushed into silence, by those whose tender mercies are +cruelty; and who, notwithstanding their pretence of moderation, wish +the subversion of our churches, and are combined, in united, steady +and vigorous effort, by all the arts of subtlety and intreague, for our +ruin?" [Footnote: Dr. Ezra Stiles to Dr. Mayhew, 1763. _Life of Mayhew_, +p. 246.] + +Mr. Stiles need have felt no anxiety, for, according to Mr. Apthorp, +"this occasion was greedily seized, ... by a dissenting minister of +Boston, a man of a singular character, of good abilities, but of a +turbulent & contentious disposition, at variance, not only with the +Church of England, but in the essential doctrines of religion, with most +of his own party." [Footnote: East Apthorp to the Secretary. Perry's +_Coll._ iii. 500.] He alluded to a tract written by Dr. Mayhew in answer +to his pamphlet, in which he reproduced the charge made by Mr. Stiles: +"The society have long had a formal design to dissolve and root out all +our New-England churches; or, in other words, to reduce them all to the +Episcopal form." [Footnote: _Observations on the Charter, etc. of the +Society_, p. 107.] And withal he clothed his thoughts in language which +angered Mr. Caner:-- + +"A few days after, Mr. Apthorpe published the enclosed pamphlet, +in vindication of the institution and conduct of the society, which +occasioned the ungenteel reflections which your grace will find in Dr. +Mayhew's pamphlet, in which, not content with the personal abuse of +Mr. Apthorpe, he has insulted the missions in general, the society, the +Church of England, in short, the whole rational establishment, in so +dirty a manner, that it seems to be below the character of a gentleman +to enter into controversy with him. In most of his sermons, of which +he published a great number, he introduces some malicious invectives +against the society or the Church of England, and if at any time the +most candid and gentle remarks are made upon such abuse, he breaks forth +into such bitter and scurrilous personal reflections, that in truth no +one cares to have anything to do with him. His doctrinal principles, +which seem chiefly copied from Lord Shaftsbury, Bolingbroke, &c., are so +offensive to the generalty of the dissenting ministers, that they +refuse to admit him a member of their association, yet they appear to +be pleased with his abusing the Church of England." [Footnote: Rev. Mr. +Caner to the Archbishop of Canterbury, June 8, 1763. Perry's _Coll._ +iii. 497, 498.] + +The Archbishop of Canterbury himself now interfered, and tried to calm +the tumult by a candid and dignified reply to Dr. Mayhew, in which he +labored to show the harmlessness of the proposed bishopric. + +"Therefore it is desired, that two or more bishops may be appointed for +them, to reside where his majesty shall think most convenient [not in +New England, but in one of the Episcopalian colonies]; that they +may have no concern in the least with any person who do not profess +themselves to be of the Church of England, but may ordain ministers for +such as do; ... and take such oversight of the Episcopal clergy, as the +Bishop of London's commissaries in those parts have been empowered to +take, and have taken, without offence. But it is not desired in the +least that they should hold courts ... or be vested with any authority, +now exercised either by provincial governors or subordinate magistrates, +or infringe or diminish any privileges and liberties enjoyed by any +of the laity, even of our own communion." [Footnote: _An Answer to Dr. +Mayhew's Observations_, etc. Dr. Secker, p. 51.] + +But the archbishop should have known that the passions of rival +ecclesiastics are not to be allayed. The Episcopalians had become +so exasperated as to want nothing less than the overthrow of popular +government. Dr. Johnson wrote in 1763: "Is there then nothing more that +can be done either for obtaining bishops or demolishing these pernicious +charter governments, and reducing them all to one form in immediate +dependence on the king? I cannot help calling them pernicious, for they +are indeed so as well for the best good of the people themselves as for +the interests of true religion." [Footnote: _Life of Samuel Johnson_, p. +279.] + +The Congregationalists, on the other hand, inflamed with jealousy, were +ripe for rebellion. On March 22, 1765, the Stamp Act became law, and the +clergy threw themselves into the combat with characteristic violence. +Oliver had been appointed distributor, but his house was attacked and +he was forced to resign. The next evening but one the rabble visited +Hutchinson, who was lieutenant-governor, and broke his windows; and +there was general fear of further rioting. In the midst of this +crisis., on the 25th of August, Dr. Mayhew preached a sermon in the +West Meeting-house from the text, "I would they were even cut off which +trouble you." [Footnote: _Galatians_ v. 12.] I That this discourse was +in fact an incendiary harangue is demonstrated by what followed. At +nightfall on the 26th a fierce mob forced the cellars of the comptroller +of the customs, and got drunk on the spirits stored within; then they +went on to Hutchinson's dwelling: "The doors were immediately split to +pieces with broad axes, and a way made there, and at the windows, for +the entry of the mob; which poured in, and filled, in an instant, every +room.... They continued their possession until daylight; destroyed ... +everything ... except the walls, ... and had begun to break away the +brick-work." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ iii. 124.] His irreplaceable +collection of original papers was thrown into the street; and when a +bystander interfered in the hope of saving some of them, "answer was +made, that it had been resolved to destroy everything in the house; and +such resolve should be carried to effect." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 125, +note.] Malice so bitter bears the peculiar ecclesiastical tinge, and +is explained by the confession of one of the ring-leaders, who, when +subsequently arrested, said he had been excited by the sermon, "and that +he thought he was doing God service." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 123.] + +The outbreak met with general condemnation, and Dr. Mayhew, who saw he +had gone too far, tried to excuse himself:-- + +"SIR,--I take the freedom to write you a few lines, by way of +condolence, on account of the almost unparalleled outrages committed +at your house last evening; and the great damage which I understand you +have suffered thereby. God is my witness, that, from the bottom of my +heart, I detest these proceedings; that I am most sincerely grieved at +them, and have a deep sympathy with you and your distressed family on +this occasion." [Footnote: Mayhew to Hutchinson. _Life of Mayhew_, p. +420.] + +Nevertheless, the repeal of the Stamp Act, which pacified the laity, +left the clergy as hot as ever; and so early as 1768, when no one +outside of the inmost ecclesiastical circle yet dreamed of independence, +but when the Rev. Andrew Eliot thought the erection of the bishopric was +near, he frankly told Hollis he anticipated war. + +"You will see by this pamphlet, how we are cajoled. A colony bishop is +to be a more innocent creature than ever a bishop was, since diocesan +bishops were introduced to lord it over God's heritage. ... Can the +A-b-p, and his tools, think to impose on the colonists by these artful +representations.... The people of New England are greatly alarmed; the +arrival of a bishop would raise them as much as any one thing.... Our +General Court is now sitting. I have hinted to some of the members, that +it will be proper for them to express their fears of the setting up +an hierarchy here. I am well assured a motion will be made to this +purpose.... I may be mistaken, but I am persuaded the dispute between +Great Britain and her colonies will never be _amicably_ settled.... I +sent you a few hasty remarks on the A-b-p's sermon. ... I am more and +more convinced of the meanness, art--if he was not in so high a station, +I should say, falsehood--of that Arch-Pr-l-te." [Footnote: Thomas +Seeker. Andrew Eliot to Thomas Hollis, Jan. 5, 1768. _Mass. Hist. Coll._ +fourth series, iv. 422.] An established priesthood is naturally the +firmest support of despotism; but the course of events made that of +Massachusetts revolutionary. This was a social factor whose importance +it is hard to overestimate; for though the influence of the elders had +much declined during the eighteenth century, their political power was +still immense; and it is impossible to measure the degree in which the +drift of feeling toward independence would have been arrested had they +been thoroughly loyal. At all events, the evidence tends to show that it +is most improbable the first blood would have been shed in the streets +of Boston had it been the policy of Great Britain to conciliate the +Congregational Church; if, for example, the liberals had been forced to +meet the issue of taxation upon a statute designed to raise a revenue +for the maintenance of the evangelical clergy. How potent an ally King +George lost by incurring their hatred may be judged by the devotion of +the Episcopalian pastors, many of whom were of the same blood as their +Calvinistic brethren, often, like Cutler and Johnson, converts. They all +showed the same intensity of feeling; all were Tories, not one wavered; +and they boasted that they were long able to hold their parishioners in +check. + +In September, 1765, those of Connecticut wrote to the secretary, +"although the commotions and disaffection in this country are very great +at present, relative to what they call the imposition of stamp duties, +yet ... the people of the Church of England, in general, in this colony, +as we hear, ... and those, in particular, under our respective charges, +are of a contrary temper and conduct; esteeming it nothing short of +rebellion to speak evil of dignities, and to avow opposition to this +last act of Parliament.... + +"We think it our incumbent duty to warn our hearers, in particular, of +the unreasonableness and wickedness of their taking the least part in +any tumult or opposition to his majesty's acts, and we have obvious +reasons for the fullest persuasion, that they will steadily behave +themselves as true and faithful subjects to his majesty's person and +government." [Footnote: _Conn. Church Doc._ ii. 81.] + +Even so late as April, 1775, Mr. Caner, at Boston, felt justified in +making a very similar report to the society: "Our clergy have in the +midst of these confusions behaved I think with remarkable prudence. None +of them have been hindered from exercising the duties of their office +since Mr. Peters, tho' many of them have been much threat'ned; and as +their people have for the most part remained firm and steadfast in +their loyalty and attachment to goverment, the clergy feel themselves +supported by a conscious satisfaction that their labors have not been in +vain." [Footnote: Perry's _Coll._ iii. 579.] + +Nor did they shrink because of danger from setting an example of passive +obedience to their congregations. The Rev. Dr. Beach graduated at +Yale in 1721 and became the Congregational pastor of Newtown. He was +afterward converted, and during the war was forbidden to read the +prayers for the royal family; but he replied, "that he would do his +duty, preach and pray for the king, till the rebels cut out his tongue." +[Footnote: _O'Callaghan Documents_, iii. 1053, 8vo ed.] + +In estimating the energy of a social force, such as ecclesiasticism, +the indirect are often more striking than the direct manifestations of +power, and this is eminently true of Massachusetts; for, notwithstanding +her ministers had always been astute and indefatigable politicians, +their greatest triumphs were invariably won by some layman whose mind +they had moulded and whom they put forward as their champion. From +John Winthrop, who was the first, an almost unbroken line of these +redoubtable partisans stretched down to the Revolution, where it ended +with him who is perhaps the most celebrated of all. + +Samuel Adams has been called the last of the Puritans. He was indeed +the incarnation of those qualities which led to eminence under the +theocracy. A rigid Calvinist, reticent, cool, and brave, matchless +in intrigue, and tireless in purpose, his cause was always holy, and +therefore sanctified the means. + +Professor Hosmer thus describes him: "It was, however, as a manager +of men that Samuel Adams was greatest. Such a master of the methods by +which a town-meeting may be swayed, the world has never seen. On the +best of terms with the people, the shipyard men, the distillers, the +sailors, as well as the merchants and ministers, he knew precisely what +springs to touch. He was the prince of canvassers, the very king of the +caucus, of which his father was the inventor.... As to his tact, was it +ever surpassed?" [Footnote: Hosmer's _Samuel Adams_, p. 363.] A bigot +in religion, he had the flexibility of a Jesuit; and though he abhorred +Episcopalians, he proposed that Mr. Duche should make the opening prayer +for Congress, in the hope of soothing the southern members. Strict in +all ceremonial observances, he was loose in money matters; yet even here +he stood within the pale, for Dr. Cotton Mather was looser, [Footnote: +See Letter on behalf of Dr. Cotton Mather to Sewall, _Mass. Hist. Coll._ +fourth series, ii. 122.] who was the most orthodox of divines. + +The clergy instinctively clave to him, and gave him their fullest +confidence. When there was any important work to do they went to him, +and he never failed them. On January 5, 1768, the Rev. Dr. Eliot told +Hollis he had suggested to some of the members of the legislature to +remonstrate against the bishops. [Footnote: _Mass. Hist. Coll._ fourth +series, iv. 422.] A week later the celebrated letter of instructions of +the house to the agent, De Berdt, was reported, which, was written by +Adams; and it is interesting to observe how, in the midst of a most +vigorous protest on the subject, he broke out: "We hope in God such an +establishment will never take place in America, and we desire you would +strenuously oppose it." [Footnote: _Mass. State Papers_, 1765-1775, p. +132.] + +The subtle but unmistakable flavor of ecclesiasticism pervades his whole +long agitation. He handled the newspapers with infinite skill, and the +way in which he used the toleration granted the Canadian Catholics +after the conquest, as a goad wherewith to inflame the dying Puritan +fanaticism, was worthy of St. Ignatius. He moved for the committee +who reported the resolutions of the town of Boston in 1772; his spirit +inspired them, and in these also the grievance of Episcopacy plays a +large part. How strong his prejudices were may be gathered from a few +words: "We think therefore that every design for establishing ... +a bishop in this province, is a design both against our civil and +religious rights." [Footnote: _Votes and Proceedings of Boston_, Nov. +20, 1772, p. 28.] + +The liberals, as loyal subjects of Great Britain, grieved over her +policy as the direst of misfortunes, which indeed they might be driven +to resist, but which they strove to modify. + +Washington wrote in 1774: "I am well satisfied, ... that it is the +ardent wish of the warmest advocates for liberty, that peace and +tranquillity, upon constitutional grounds, may be restored, and the +horrors of civil discord prevented." [Footnote: Washington to Mackenzie. +_Washington's Writings_, ii. 402.] Jefferson affirmed: "Before the +commencement of hostilities ... I never had heard a whisper of a +disposition to separate from Great Britain; and after that, its +possibility was contemplated with affliction by all." While John Adams +solemnly declared: "For my own part, there was not a moment during the +Revolution, when I would not have given everything I possessed for a +restoration to the state of things before the contest began, provided +we could have had a sufficient security for its continuance." [Footnote: +Note of Sparks, _Washington's Writings_, ii. 501.] + +In such feelings Samuel Adams had no share. In each renewed aggression +he saw the error of his natural enemy, which brought ever nearer the +realization of the dream of independence he had inherited from the past; +for the same fierce passion burned within him that had made Endicott +mutilate his flag, and Leverett read his king's letter with his hat on; +and the guns of Lexington were music in his ears. + +He was not a lawyer, nor a statesman, in the true meaning of the word, +but he was a consummate agitator; and if this be remembered, his +career becomes clear. When he conceived the idea of the possibility of +independence is uncertain; probably soon after the passage of the +Stamp Act, but the evidence is strong that so early as 1768 he had +deliberately resolved to precipitate some catastrophe which would make +reconciliation impossible, and obviously an armed collision would have +suited his purpose best. + +Troops were then first ordered to Boston, and at one moment he was +tempted to cause their landing to be resisted. An old affidavit is still +extant, presumably truthful enough, which brings him vividly before the +mind as he went about the town lashing up the people. + +"Mr. Samuel Adams ... happened to join the same party ... trembling and +in great agitation.... The informant heard the said Samuel Adams +then say ... 'If you are men, behave like men. Let us take up arms +immediately, and be free, and seize all the king's officers. We shall +have thirty thousand men to join us from the country.' ... And before +the arrival of the troops ... at the house of the informant ... the said +Samuel Adams said: 'We will not submit to any tax, nor become slaves.... +The country was first settled by our ancestors, therefore we are free +and want no king.' ... The informant further sayeth, that about a +fortnight before the troops arrived, the aforesaid Samuel Adams, being +at the house of the informant, the informant asked him what he thought +of the times. The said Adams answered, with great alertness, that, on +lighting the beacon, we should be joined with thirty thousand men from +the country with their knapsacks and bayonets fixed, and added, 'We will +destroy every soldier that dare put his foot on shore. His majesty has +no right to send troops here to invade the country, and I look upon them +as foreign enemies!'" [Footnote: Wells's _Samuel Adams_, i. 210, 211.] + +Maturer reflection must have convinced him his design was impracticable, +for he certainly abandoned it, and the two regiments disembarked in +peace; but their position was unfortunate. Together they were barely a +thousand strong, and were completely at the mercy of the populous and +hostile province they had been sent to awe. + +The temptation to a bold and unscrupulous revolutionary leader must have +been intense. Apparently it needed but a spark to cause an explosion; +the rabble of Boston could be fierce and dangerous when roused, as had +been proved by the sack of Hutchinson's house; and if the soldiers could +be goaded into firing on the citizens, the chances were they would be +annihilated in the rising which would follow, when a rupture would be +inevitable. But even supposing the militia abstained from participating +in the outbreak, and the tumult were suppressed, the indignation at the +slaughter would be deep enough to sustain him in making demands which +the government could not grant. + +Hutchinson and the English officers understood the danger, and for many +months the discipline was exemplary, but precautions were futile. +Though he knew full well how to be all things to all men, the natural +affiliations of Samuel Adams were with the clergy and the mob, and in +the ship-yards and rope-walks he reigned supreme. Nor was he of a temper +to shrink from using to the utmost the opportunity his adversaries +had put in his hands, and he forthwith began a series of inflammatory +appeals in the newspapers, whereof this is a specimen: "And are the +inhabitants of this town still to be affronted in the night as well as +the day by soldiers arm'd with muskets and fix'd bayonets?... Will the +spirits of people, as yet unsubdued by tyranny, unaw'd by the menaces +of arbitary power, submit to be govern'd by military force?" [Footnote: +Vindex, _Boston Gazette_, Dec. 5, 1768.] + +In 1770 it was notorious that "endeavors had been systematically +pursued for many months, by certain busy characters, to excite quarrels, +rencounters, and combats, single or compound, in the night, between the +inhabitants of the lower class and the soldiers, and at all risks to +enkindle an immortal hatred between them." [Footnote: Autobiography of +John Adams. _Works of J. Adams_, ii. 229.] And it is curious to observe +how the British always quarrelled with the laborers about the wharves; +and how these, the closest friends of Adams, were all imbued with the +theory he maintained, that the military could not use their weapons +without the order of a civil magistrate. Little by little the animosity +increased, until on the 2d of March there was a very serious fray at +Gray's rope-walk, which was begun by one of the hands, who knocked down +two soldiers who spoke to him in the street. Although Adams afterward +labored to convince the public that the tragedy which happened three +days later was the result of a deliberately matured conspiracy to +murder the citizens for revenge, there is nothing whereon to base such a +charge; on the contrary, the evidence tends to exonerate the troops, and +the verdicts show the opinion of the juries. There was exasperation on +both sides, but the rabble were not restrained by discipline, and on +the night of the 5th of March James Crawford swore he he saw at Calf's +corner "about a dozen with sticks, in Quaker Lane and Green's Lane, met +many going toward King Street. Very great sticks, pretty large cudgells, +not common walking canes.... At Swing bridge the people were walking +from all quarters with sticks. I was afraid to go home, ... the streets +in such commotion as I hardly ever saw in my life. Uncommon sticks such +as a man would pull out of an hedge.... Thomas Knight at his own door, +8 or 10 passed with sticks or clubs and one of them said 'D--n their +bloods, let us go and attack the main guard first.'" [Footnote: Kidder's +_Massacre_, p. 10.] The crown witnesses testified that the sentry was +surrounded by a crowd of thirty or forty, who pelted him with pieces of +ice "hard and large enough to hurt any man; as big as one's fist." And +ha said "he was afraid, if the boys did not disperse, there would be +trouble." [Footnote: _Idem_, p. 138.] When the guard came to his help +the mob grew still more violent, yelling "bloody backs," "lobster +scoundrels," "damn you, fire! why don't you fire?" striking them with +sticks. + +"Did you observe anybody strike Montgomery, or was a club thrown? The +stroke came from a stick or club that was in somebody's hand, and the +blow struck his gun and his arm." "Was he knocked down?... He fell, I am +sure.... His gun flew out of hand, and as he stooped to take it up, he +fell himself.... Was any number of people standing near the man that +struck his gun? Yes, a whole crowd, fifty or sixty." [Footnote: Kidder's +_Massacre_, pp. 138, 139.] When the volley came at last the rabble fell +back, and the 29th was rapidly formed before the main guard, the front +rank kneeling, that the fire might sweep the street. And now when every +bell was tolling, and the town was called to arms, and infuriated men +came pouring in by thousands, Hutchinson showed he had inherited the +blood of his great ancestress, who feared little upon earth; but +then, indeed, their adversaries have seldom charged the Puritans with +cowardice in fight. Coming quickly to the council chamber he passed +into the balcony, which overhung the kneeling regiment and the armed and +maddened crowd, and he spoke with such calmness and courage that even +then he was obeyed. He promised that justice should be done and he +commanded the people to disperse. Preston and his men were at once +surrendered to the authorities to await their trial. + +The next day Adams was in his glory. The meeting in the morning was as +wax between his fingers, and his friend, the Rev. Dr. Cooper, opened +it with fervent prayer. A committee was at once appointed to demand the +withdrawal of the troops, but Hutchinson thought he had no power and +that Gage alone could give the order. Nevertheless, after a conference +with Colonel Dalrymple he was induced to propose that the 29th should be +sent to the Castle, and the 14th put under strict restraint. [Footnote: +Kidder's _Massacre_, p. 43.] To the daring agitator it seemed at last +his hour was come, for the whole people were behind him, and Hutchinson +himself says "their spirit" was "as high as was the spirit of their +ancestors when they imprisoned Andros." As the committee descended +the steps of the State House to go to the Old South where they were to +report, the dense crowd made way for them, and Samuel Adams as he walked +bare-headed through their lines continually bowed to right and left, +repeating the catchword, "Both regiments or none." His touch on human +passions was unerring, for when the lieutenant-governor's reply was +read, the great assembly answered with a mighty shout, "Both regiments +or none," and so instructed he returned. Then the nature of the man +shone out; the handful of troops were helpless, and he was as inflexible +as steel. The thin, strong, determined, gray-eyed Puritan stood before +Hutchinson, inwardly exulting as he marked his features change under +the torture. "A multitude highly incensed now wait the result of +this application. The voice of ten thousand freemen demands that both +regiments be forthwith removed.... Fail not then at your peril to comply +with this requisition!" [Footnote: Hosmer's _Samuel Adams_, p. 173.] It +was the spirit of Norton and of Endicott alive again, and he was flushed +with the same stern triumph at the sight of his victim's pain: "It +was then, if fancy deceived me not, I observed his knees to tremble. I +thought I saw his face grow pale (and I enjoyed the sight)." [Footnote: +Adams to Warren. Wells's Samuel Adams, i. 324.] + +Probably nothing prevented a complete rupture but the hopeless weakness +of the garrison, for Hutchinson, feeling the decisive moment had come, +was full of fight. He saw that to yield would destroy his authority, +and he opposed concession, but he stood alone, the officers knew their +position was untenable, and the council was unanimous against him. +"The Lt G. endeavoured to convince them of the ill consequence of this +advice, and kept them until late in the evening, the people remaining +assembled; but the council were resolute. Their advice, therefore, he +communicated to Col Dalrymple accompanied with a declaration, that he +had no authority to order the removal of the troops. This part Col. +D. was dissatisfied with, and urged the Lt G. to withdraw it, but he +refused, and the regiments were removed. He was much distressed, but he +brought it all upon himself by his offer to remove one of the regiments. +No censure, however, was passed upon him." [Footnote: _Diary and Letters +of T. Hutchinson_, p. 80.] + +Had the pacification of his country been the object near his heart, +Samuel Adams, after his victory, would have abstained from any act +however remotely tending to influence the course of justice; for he must +have known that it was only by such conduct the colonists could inspire +respect for the motives which actuated them in their resistance. A +capital sentence would have been doubly unfortunate, for had it been +executed it would have roused all England; while had the king pardoned +the soldiers, as assuredly he would have done, a deep feeling of wrong +would have rankled in America. + +A fanatical and revolutionary demagogue, on the other hand, would have +longed for a conviction, not only to compass his ends as a politician, +but to glut his hate as a zealot. + +Samuel Adams was a taciturn, secretive man, whose tortuous course would +have been hard to follow a century ago; now the attempt is hopeless. Yet +there is one inference it seems permissible to draw: his admirers +have always boasted that he was the inspiration of the town meetings, +presumably, therefore, the votes passed at them may be attributed to his +manipulation. And starting from this point, with the help of Hutchinson +and his own writings, it is still possible to discern the outlines of a +policy well worthy of a theocratic statesman. + +The March meeting began on the 12th. On the 13th it was resolved:-- + +"That ---- He and they hereby are appointed a committee for and in +behalf of the town to find out who those persons are that were the +perpetrators of the horred murders and massacres done and committed +in King Street on several of the inhabitants in the evening of the 5th +instant and take such examinations and depositions as they can procure, +and lay the whole thereof before the grand inquest in order that such +perpetrators may be indicted and brought to tryal for the same, and upon +indictments being found, said committee are desired to prepare matters +for the king's attorney, to attend at their tryals in the superior +court, subpoena all the witnesses, and do everything necessary for +bringing those murtherers to that punishment for such crimes, as the +laws of God and man require." [Footnote: _Records of Boston_, v. 232.] + +A day or two afterward a number of Adams's friends, among whom were some +of the members of this committee, dined together, and Hutchinson tells +what he persuaded them to do. + +"The time for holding the superior court for the county of Suffolk was +the next week after the tragical action in King Street. Although bills +were found by the grand jury, yet the court, considering the disordered +state of the town, had thought fit to continue the trials over to the +next term, when the minds of people would be more free from prejudice." +"A considerable number of the most active persons in all publick +measures of the town, having dined together, went in a body from table +to the superior court then sitting, and Mr. Adams, at their head and in +behalf of the town, pressed the bringing on the trial the same term with +so much spirit, that the judges did not think it advisable to abide by +their own order, but appointed a day for the trials, and adjourned the +court for that purpose." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ iii. 285, 286 and +note.] + +The justices must afterward have grown ashamed of their cowardice, for +Rex _v._ Preston did not come on until the autumn, and altogether very +little was accomplished by these attempts to interfere with the due +administration of the law. "A committee had been appointed by the town +to assist in the prosecution of the soldiers ... but this was irregular. +The courts, according to the practice in the province, required no +prosecutors but the officers of the crown; much less would they have +thought it proper for the principal town in the province to have brought +all its weight, which was very great, into court against the prisoners." +[Footnote: _Idem_, iii. 286, note.] + +Nevertheless, Adams had by no means exhausted his resources, for it was +possible so to inflame the public mind that dispassionate juries could +hardly be obtained. + +At the same March meeting another committee was named, who were to +obtain a "particular account of all proceedings relative to the massacre +in King Street on Monday night last, that a full and just representation +may be made thereof?" [Footnote: Kidder's _Massacre_, p. 23.] The +reason assigned for so unwonted a proceeding as the taking of _ex parte_ +testimony by a popular assembly concerning alleged murders, for which +men were to be presently tried for their lives, was the necessity for +controverting the aspersions of the British officials; but the probable +truth of this explanation must be judged by the course actually pursued. +On the 19th the report was made, consisting of "A Short Narrative of the +Horrid Massacre in Boston," together with a number of depositions; +and though perhaps it was natural, under the circumstances, for such a +pamphlet to have been highly partisan, it was unnatural for its authors +to have assumed the burden of proving that a deliberately planned +conspiracy had existed between the civilians and the military to murder +the citizens; especially as this tremendous charge rested upon no +better foundation than the fantastic falsehoods of "a French boy, whose +evidence appeared to the justice so improbable, and whose character was +so infamous, that the justice, who was one of the most zealous in the +cause of liberty, refused to issue a warrant to apprehend his master, +against whom he swore." [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist_. iii. 279, 280.] "Then +I went up to the custom-house door and knocked, ... I saw my master and +Mr. Munroe come down-stairs, and go into a room; when four or five men +went up stairs, pulling and hauling me after them.... When I was carried +into the chamber, there was but one light in the room, and that in the +corner of the chamber, when I saw a tall man loading a gun (then I saw +two guns in the room) ... there was a number of gentlemen in the room. +After the gun was loaded, the tall man gave it to me, and told me to +fire, and said he would kill me if I did not; I told him I would not. He +drawing a sword out of his cane, told me, if I did not fire it, he would +run it through my guts. The man putting the gun out of the window, it +being a little open, I fired it side way up the street; the tall man +then loaded the gun again.... I told him I would not fire again; he told +me again, he would run me through the guts if I did not. Upon which I +fired the same way up the street. After I fired the second gun, I saw +my master in the room; he took a gun and pointed it out of the window; +I heard the gun go off. Then a tall man came and clapped me on the +shoulders above and below stairs, and said, that's my good boy, I'll +give you some money to-morrow.... And I ran home as fast as I could, and +sat up all night in my master's kitchen. And further say, that my master +licked me the next night for telling Mrs. Waldron about his firing out +of the custom-house. And for fear that I should be licked again, I did +deny all that I said before Justice Quincy, which I am very sorry for. +[Footnote: Kidder's _Massacre_, p. 82. Deposition 58.] + +"CHARLOTTE BOURGATE + (his mark)." + + * * * * * + +While it is inconceivable that a cool and sagacious politician, whose +object was to convince Parliament of the good faith of Massachusetts, +should have relied upon such incredible statements to sway the minds of +English statesmen and lawyers, it is equally inconceivable he should +not have known they were admirably adapted to still further exasperate +an already excited people; and that such was his purpose must be +inferred from the immediate publication of the substance of this +affidavit in the newspapers. [Footnote: _Boston Gazette_, March 19, +1770.] + +Without doubt a vote was passed on the 26th of March, a week after the +committee had presented their report, desiring them to reserve all the +printed copies not sent to Europe, as their distribution might tend to +bias the juries; but even had this precaution been observed, it came +too late, for the damage was done when the Narrative was read in +Faneuil Hall; in fact, however, the order was eluded, for "many copies, +notwithstanding, got abroad, and some of a second edition were sent from +England, long before the trials of the officer and soldiers came on." +[Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ iii. 279.] And at this cheap rate a reputation +for magnanimity was earned. + +How thoroughly the clergy sympathized with their champion appears from +their clamors for blood. As the time drew near it was rumored Hutchinson +would reprieve the prisoners, should they be convicted, till the king's +pleasure could be known. Then Dr. Chauncy, the senior minister of +Boston, cried out in his pulpit: "Surely he would not counteract the +operation of the law, both of God and of man! Surely he would not suffer +the town and land to lie under the defilement of blood! Surely he would +not make himself a partaker in the guilt of murder, by putting a stop +to the shedding of their blood, who have murderously spilt the blood of +others!" [Footnote: Hutch. _Hist._ iii. 329, note.] Adams attended when +the causes were heard and took notes of the evidence; and one of the few +occasions in his long life on which his temper seems to have got +beyond control was when the accused were acquitted. His writings betray +unmistakable chagrin; and nothing is more typical of the man, or of the +clerical atmosphere wherein he had been bred, than his comments upon the +testimony on which the lives of his enemies hung. His piety caused him +to doubt those whose evidence was adverse to his wishes, though they +appeared to be trying to speak the truth. "The credibility of a witness +perhaps cannot be impeach'd in court, unless he has been convicted of +perjury: but an immoral man, for instance one who will commonly prophane +the name of his maker, certainly cannot be esteemed of equal credit by +a jury, with one who fears to take that sacred name in vain: It is +impossible he should in the mind of any man." [Footnote: _Boston +Gazette_, Jan. 21, 1771.] + +And yet this rigid Calvinist, this incarnation of ecclesiasticism, had +no scruple in propagating the palpable and infamous lies of Charlotte +Bourgate, when by so doing he thought it possible to further his own +ends. He was bitterly mortified, for he had been foiled. Yet, though he +had failed in precipitating war, he had struck a telling blow, and +he had no reason to repine. Probably no single event, before fighting +actually began, left so deep a scar as the Boston massacre; and many +years later John Adams gave it as his deliberate opinion that, on +the night of the 5th of March, 1770, "the foundation of American +independence was laid." Nor was the full realization of his hopes long +delayed. Gage occupied Boston in 1774. During the winter the tireless +agitator, from his place in the Provincial Congress, warned the people +to fight any force sent more than ten miles from the town; and so when +Paul Revere galloped through Middlesex on the night of the 18th of April +he found the farmers ready. Samuel Adams had slept at the house of the +Rev. Jonas Clark. Before sunrise the detachment sent to seize him was +close at hand. While they advanced, he escaped; and as he walked across +the fields toward Woburn, to the sound of the guns of Lexington, he +exclaimed, in a burst of passionate triumph, "What a glorious morning is +this!" + +Massachusetts became the hot-bed of rebellion because of this unwonted +alliance between liberality and sacerdotalism. Liberality was her +birthright; for liberalism is the offspring of intellectual variation, +which makes mutual toleration of opinion a necessity; but that her +church should have been radical at this crisis was due to the action of +a long chain of memorable causes. + +The exiles of the Reformation were enthusiasts, for none would then have +dared defy the pains of heresy, in whom the instinct onward was feebler +than the fear of death; yet when the wanderers reached America the +mental growth of the majority had culminated, and they had passed +into the age of routine; and exactly in proportion as their youthful +inspiration had been fervid was their later formalism intense. But +similar causes acting on the human mechanism produce like results; +hence bigotry and ambition fed by power led to persecution. Then, as +the despotism of the preachers deepened, their victims groaning in their +dungeons, or furrowed by their lash, implored the aid of England, who, +in defence of freedom and of law, crushed the theocracy at a blow. And +the clergy knew and hated their enemy from the earliest days; it was +this bitter theological jealousy which flamed within Endicott when he +mutilated his flag, and within Leverett when he insulted Randolph; +it was a rapacious lust for power and a furious detestation of rival +priests which maddened the Mathers in their onslaught upon Dudley, which +burned undimmed in Mayhew and Cooper, and in their champion, Samuel +Adams, and which at last made the hierarchy cast in its lot with an ally +more dangerous far than those prelates whom it deemed its foe. For no +church can preach liberality and not be liberalized. Of a truth the +momentary spasm may pass which made these conservatives progressive, and +they may once more manifest their reactionary nature, but, nevertheless, +the impulsion shall have been given to that automatic, yet resistless, +machinery which produces innovation; wherefore, in the next generation, +the great liberal secession from the Congregational communion broke +the ecclesiastical power forever. And so, through toil and suffering, +through martyrdoms and war, the Puritans wrought out the ancient destiny +which fated them to wander as outcasts to the desolate New England +shore; there, amidst hardship and apparent failure, they slowly achieved +their civil and religious liberty, and conceived that constitutional +system which is the root of our national life; and there in another +century the liberal commonwealth they had builded led the battle against +the spread of human oppression; and when the war of slavery burst forth +her soldiers rightly were the first to fall; for it is her children's +heritage that, wheresoever on this continent blood shall flow in defence +of personal freedom, there must the sons of Massachusetts surely be. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Emancipation of Massachusetts, by Brooks Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMANCIPATION OF MASSACHUSETTS *** + +***** This file should be named 6706.txt or 6706.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/7/0/6706/ + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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