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At the end of half a century these two republics were rendered nominally subordinate to the empire, but remained practically independent, retaining their own self-government, resisting the eneroachments of the prerogative, zealously avoiding all acknowl-. edgment of parental control, either in external matters of trade, or internal affairs of legislation or police, until they felt strong enough, in conjunction with the contiguous colonies, to sever all connection whatever with Great Britain. It is a curious and instructive history, and well worthy of the attentive consideration of those who feel inclined to imitate, and imagine they are able to follow the example. They will be struck with the important fact that they commenced with small and isolated communities, having one common object in view, and possessing the means, the unity of political and religious opinions, and the mutual confidence and sympathy necessary to effect their purpose. There was nothing to pull down or remove, no privileged orders to reduce, no serfs to raise to a level with themselves, no pre-existing form of government to eradicate, no contending factions or intriguing leaders to subdue, and no populace to conciliate or control. The scene was a forest, and the actors intelligent and resolute men, drawn from the middle and not the lower orders of society, emigrants from a country having liberal institutions and a code of laws well calculated to secure and promote the liberty of the subject. They were beyond the reach and the observation of the Parent State, and were left unaided and unmolested to put their theories into practice. The structure of the government thus adopted was simple, and suited to the exigencies and equality of their situation.

The civil divisions of the country, which became necessary from time to time, in consequence of their extended growth, and the internal management of their local affairs, corresponded with that of the first settlements, and were adopted not merely because they were democratic, but because they were best suited to their conditions, and in unison with their preconcerted object. One little village and neighborhood gave rise to another little village and neighborhood, and one distant settlement to another, until the country became populous, and the people too extended and numerous to meet together in council.

Delegated power then became indispensable, and a legislature arose, in imitation of and analogous to that of England. Then

came the necessity of establishing institutions, suitable not merely for a community but for a number of communities, not for the present generation but for posterity. For this task they were admirably well qualified. They were perfectly acquainted with those of the Parent State, under which they had been early trained, and had tested the modified forms they had temporarily adopted themselves on landing in the country. With this double experience, they were relieved from the difficulty of invention and much of the danger of innovation. They came to the consideration of these subjects with minds free from all excitement. They had obtained no victory, and were not flushed with triumph. They had no opposition, and were not obstinate. The civil power was in their own hands, they could delegate as little or as much as they thought expedient to an executive. Authority was not demanded, it was conceded. Every individual had a strong personal interest. It depended solely upon himself and his own conduct whether he should administer the law or should silently submit to its operation.

Every measure to be adopted was an act of the whole body and not a party. Is it then to be wondered at, that with this experience they reasoned well, and decided wisely?

When we consider that all this occurred more than two hundred and thirty years ago, before civilization had made such mighty strides as it has in modern times, and that the people who then deliberated on the difficult problems of government and jurisprudence, though men of strong intellect and good parts, nevertheless labored under the great disadvantage of having their tempers soured, and their understanding clouded by fanaticism and bigotry, we are struck with astonishment at the knowledge and consummate skill they displayed in laying the foundations of their political fabric; and if their system of jurisprudence was imperfect, it is still infinitely better than could have been expected from persons of their peculiar religious belief.

It is in the annals of these two first Republics of New England that we must trace the origin and history of almost every institution now existing in the United States, the rise and progress of American opinions of federal union with the neighboring sovereignties, of a separate jurisdiction and of a central congress. At the period of the Revolution, much doubtless was added by the great statesmen of the day, beyond what existed in the olden

time, but those additions were less conspicuous for their novelty and originality (for there was little new in them) than the wonderful skill exhibited in their adaptation to the then existing state of things, so as to preserve harmony and unity of action.

To ascribe to Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, or Adams, and their contemporaries, the whole merit of the invention and creation of that wonderful republic, would be to rob the early planters of Massachusetts of their well-earned laurels. There are enough for both, let us appropriate them to their respective owners; and in so doing let us not forget to mention those circumstances, and they were many and most important, which were purely accidental, the mere offspring of chance, a work of the hand of Providence.

CHAPTER II.

The Reformation-Different Conduct of the Protestants and Church of England --Religious Differences lead to the Settlement of North America-Division of the Country into South and North Virginia-The latter explored by Captain Smith, and called New England-Delusive Description of it--Distinction between the Nonconformists of Leyden who settled New Plymouth, and those who founded Massachusetts-Account of Brown, his Principles, and Recantations-The Brownists petition for Toleration and are refused-Obtain a Charter in South Virginia-Settle at New Plymouth by Mistake-Enter into a Compact for Self-Government-First American Democracy-State of it at the End of six Years.

AT the Reformation, the sudden disruption of Papal authority naturally occasioned those who had hitherto been accustomed to travel in one common road to wander, when released, in various directions. What part of Romanism was true, and what false, what to be retained or rejected, added or substituted, opened a wide field for speculation and controversy. It is not to be wondered at, if men who had long ceased to think on such matters for themselves, found prejudice easier than reason, and thought their only safety consisted in getting as far away from the creeds, forms, and practices of Popery as possible, and mistook in their flight obstinacy for conscience, and submission to authority for a compromise of principle.

In consequence of the celebrated Germanic protest, all those both on the Continent and in Britain, who dissented from Popery (although distinguished from each other by some peculiar name, derived from their teachers or their creeds), assumed the general appellation of Protestants. While they made war on the ceremonies of Rome, they retained her bigotry, and though they denied the power of dispensation to the Pope, they found no dif ficulty in absolving themselves from the obligation of their oaths of allegiance to their sovereign. They clamored, and suffered or fought for the exercise of private judgment and liberty of conscience. This they all united in demanding to its fullest extent; and the singular interpretation they gave these terms is a remarkable instance of unanimity among a people who differed on almost every other subject. Each sect claimed exemption from

persecution for itself, because it sincerely believed what it professed; but the right to persecute others it by no means renounced, because it knew its opponents to be wrong.

The Church of England, on the contrary, which had enjoyed its apostolic succession, its orders of priesthood, and its spiritual independence in all its primitive purity for six hundred years before the aggression of the Roman Pontiff, very properly retained its own original name, to which no other body of Christians had any title whatever.* She threw off the domination she had been too feeble to resist, and the superstitions and human inventions that had been forced upon her, compiled her Liturgy, and settled her doctrine and ceremonies as nearly as possible in accordance with those she had held in those centuries that preceded the usurpation of Popery. In some or in all of these, furious zealots affected to think they discerned too great a resemblance still subsisting between the two churches, and stigmatized the Prayer-book as antichristian, the surplice as a rag of Babylon, and the Holy Communion as the Mass in English. These Protestants of various shades of opinion were known in Britain under the general name of Puritans, and as schism in spiritual things naturally leads to temporal disobedience, they were very soon regarded (with what truth their subsequent history discloses but too painfully) as disaffected subjects, and treated alternately with suspicion or severity. To this state of things may be attributed in a great degree the settlement of New England.

Individual enterprise had hitherto been found unequal to the task. Mines of gold and silver constituted the main inducement, in the first instance, to explore the country. When the search for the precious metals was relaxed or abandoned, attention was directed to the fur-trade and the fisheries, from which great wealth was derived. But the settlement of the country was a slow and expensive operation, not likely to yield an immediate return, and liable to be frustrated by a variety of circumstances.

One hundred and twenty years had elapsed since the discoveries of Cabot, and every attempt at colonization had failed. Combination, therefore, was resorted to, that success might be insured

* A.D. 1689. The Upper House of Convocation sent down a bill to the Lower House, where the English Church was denominated a " Protestant Church." The Lower House expunged the word "Protestant," declaring they were not in unison with Protestants.

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