History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 33

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776

USA > Illinois > Bureau County > History of Bureau County, Illinois > Part 33

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With the commencement of the early lit- erary life of the young county, as noted above, we would expect to find in its progress and development much of interest and profit for present investigation. And, indeed, so we do. In the imperfect files of the county newspapers, in the chance poem, the addresses and the organizations founded at various times, we are enabled to see and know much

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of the mental activity of the times that dis- tinguished the people of the county from its earliest settlement. But the sermons, the political addresses and discussions through the prints that we have mostly found by ac- cident here and there, furnishes us the open window through which we have the best view of the intellectual concerns of the people. We are free to say that there are but few counties in the State that in this respect are not almost wholly barren of useful material for the historian, while here is much that is intensely interesting.

Already we have given many extracts from addresses and poems, commencing with a poem by Arthur Bryant, written in 1831, when on his way " to the distant West." And also we have given many narratives of the first settlers, sometimes as they had written them out themselves, and frequently as they related them to the writer, always preserving as nearly as possible their own arrangement of the narrative, and as fully as possible their exact words. We regard these by far as the best part of our history. So far, after the most diligent search, we have found no diary from any of the first or even the most recent settlers. This we greatly regret, as it would have enabled us to round out and nearly com- plete this part of our allotted work.

In this account of the intellectual life of the community, we do not pretend to follow the chronological order of events, because the history of the mental influences, or the history of the literature of a people is not thus constructed.

The actions of men are governed less by dogma, text-books and rubrics than by the the opinions and habits of their cotempo- . raries, by the general spirit of the age, and by the character of those classes who are in the ascendant. This is the origin of that difference so prevalent in the world of relig-

ious theory and religious practice, of which theologians so greatly complain as a stum- bling block and an evil.

The religious doctrines of a people as we find them in their creeds are but little crite- rion of that particular civilization, while their religious practices are an unfailing source of information, and these always tell the true story of a people, and form the best data by which the spirit of any age may be meas- ured. Locke in his Letters on Toleration, observes that often the clergy are naturally more eager against error than against vice.

In the published proceedings of the fiftieth anniversary of the Congregational Church, held in Princeton, March 28, 1881, from the address " by Rev. F. Bascom, D. D., a former pastor of the Church," we extract the fol- lowing: "Under Mr. Farnham's adminis- tration we should expect the church would be commendably faithful in discipline. And thus we find it. The first case recorded is that of a female member, called to account for speaking evil of a sister in the church. She was required to sign a confession to be read to the congregation on the Sabbath. She conseuted to sign a confession, but only on condition it should not be read in public. She was therefore excommunicated by a unanimous vote." In an "explanatory note" at the end of the published pamplet, says:

"In justice to the lady referred to in the address of Dr. Bascom, fourteenth page of this pamplet, it ought to be stated that she was afterward restored, by a vote of the church, to her good and regular standing."

This little incident tells of the stern and severe discipline that obtained among the early settlers. It was not enough to confess and humiliate the soul into the dust, but the burning words of shame must be read in pub- lic, and the culprit must be there to receive the deepest possible scourging. The text

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merely tells that "in justice " to her, she was afterward restored by a vote of the same church that had excommunicated her-cut her off from the anticipations of heaven and from the communion and joys of the society of the saints on earth, without a word of informa- tion upon the point in dispute and that led to her being cast out, to wit: Whether she came over and consented to a public reading of her confession, or whether the church event- ually waived this and restored her her good name and church blessings. But evidently the reference to this case by the speaker in his anniversary address, is made in the way of mere business recital of the strong and in- teresting facts in the church's history, that leaves no doubt as to the importance that the the church rulers attached to the disciplinary proceedings. And as well does the refusal of the woman to have her confession read in public, indicate the degree of her abhorence of such a proceeding. Her whole nature re- belled, and with a heavy heart, no doubt, she listened to the awful words of excommu- nication. She did not blame her church; her training and education had taught her that it could do no wrong; that its decisious were in- fallible, next to God, and that when it cut her off, cast her out, and gave her over to Satan and his satraps, that her cup of afflic- tion was full to overflowing. Yet she braved all and endured all, rather than gratify the, to her, unequaled torture that would come of a public reading of her confession. Then, too, we are not told how long it was before she was restored to the church. Hence, again, on this point, we are left to conjecture. But whether it was days or years, she was event- ually restored, aud we respect her only the more-as well as the church the more, if the latter gave way at last and revoked its former severe and unjust act. This reversal of a former " unanimous vote" of the church-

the act of excommunicating a woman, not for any actual sin, because the refusal to permit the public reading of her confession, was not of itself a sin, but simply a refusal to bow to a process of discipline and degrade herself and polute her freedom of soul, and when the church corrected its cruel decision it gave evi- dence that it was advancing along the line of civilization, and this evidence is furnished in its practice and not in its rubric.

To-day there would be no such severity in this same church. There are perhaps not twenty members thereof that are conscious of the fact that the church law ever required the authorities to take cognizance of and punish the tattling females of the order. Is the church any the worse for this relaxing of its practices? A change that comes from the general change in men's minds and not from any change in the written discipline of the church itself. Is it not now as " commend- ably faithful in its discipline" as it was fifty or a hundred years ago, when it was ready to drown the good old Quaker for the high crime of not taking off his hat when he passed a minister on the street? With the general change in the community in the sur- roundings has come the inevitable change in the church and a general softening of its severities. Has it sacrificed any of its power for good by the change ?

There are many reasons why the movements and doings of this particular church-the Congregational Church of Princeton-are of interest and are historical in character. It is the oldest church organization in the county. Was organized fifty-four years ago in Massachusetts. It has had many of our leading and best representative people on its roll of membership. It has had able pastors, some of the most famous in Illinois, and has had a strong body of refined, cultured and elegant people for its congregations. It is

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purely an offshoot of Massachusetts. Men direct from Plymoutlı Rock and many of whose ancestors came over in the Mayflower, and nearly all of whom were of the purest Puritan stock. In its membership have been and is now many of those who were the repre- sentatives of the New England States, a class of men that predominated in all the early times, and that were the majority of the early settlers here. The fact that Owen Lovejoy and Richard Edwards were each for years its resident ministers, makes it a historical church. So strong has this people always been in this particular church that it has for some years had as an addenda to the con- gregation a society composed of the sons of daughters of New England, and annually they celebrated the landing of the Mayflower, Forefathers' Day, by assembling and honor- ing those noble men and women in songs, in poems, toasts and often elegant and brilliant responses.

Forefathers' Day .- December 22, 1879, was a meeting of unusual interest. The responses to the toasts of the evening were made by, first, Arthur Bryant, Sr., who re- sponded to: "The Pilgrim Fathers." It is one of the ablest pleas in behalf of the memory of the Pilgrim Fathers, that we remember to have come across in our read- ing. Those portions of it in which he replies to the calumniators, is as strong, dignified and eloquent as is one of Reverdy Johnson's best pleas before the Supreme Court on any of those occasions that his great mind made the court-room a grand intellectual arena-occasions where the fu- ture American historian will love to linger, and mark the place as a guiding finger- board in the great highway of the mind's progress. Mr. Bryant said :

The landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on a desert coast, and their subsequent sufferings, in them-

selves considered, are of little consequence in the record of human life. Similar events have many times occurred. But when the character of the men-the objects they had in view, and the events resulting from the enterprise, are taken into ac- count, it becomes of historical importance.

How truly was Mr. Bryant stating the un- conscious facts as applied to himself and his fellow-pioneers, who were here the real architects of this part of Illinois-the hardy and heroic pioneers.

It was the first permanent settlement north of Vir- ginia-thecommencement of the colonization of New England, which nearly throughout its whole extent was settled by people of a character similar to that of the Plymouth colonists. After the first few years, the colony of Plymouth became uearly identical with the rest of New England, in charac- ter and interest, and the people may be spoken of collectively as the Puritan Forefathers. One of their first cares was to provide for education. Har- vard College was founded within twenty years after the settlement of Plymouth; and this and Yale College-the two oldest in New England- have ever had a reputation unrivaled in America. To this day, wherever New England influence is felt, the schoolhouse and church are found. In a severe climate, upon a stubborn soil-often amid destructive savage warfare-was reared a hardy and enterprising race of men, trained to self-gov- ernment by the necessities of their situation. Their descendants, numbered by millions, are found in every State of the Union; their energies, virtues and love of freedom, have influenced, and for an indefinite period will continue to influence the des- tinies of the entire continent. * I may, * * however, notice the obloquy so often cast upon the Puritans. To this day they are sneered at by people who know little or nothing about them, except perhaps, two or three of their prominent faults. In England they were the objects of un- ceasing ridienle and vituperation by the Cavaliers, both before and after the Civil war. Yet the histo- rian, Hume-no friend of the Puritans-ackuowl- edged that England owed to them whatever civil liberty she enjoyed in his time. It is only within fifty years past that justice has been done to the character of Cromwell. The New England Puri- tans have been unceasingly pelted with Salem witchcraft, persecution of the Quakers, and Con- necticut Blue Laws, as though no other people

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ever hung a witch, or were guilty of religious in- tolerance. Two hundred years ago, belief in witch- craft was nearly or quite universal. The Salcm delusion appears to have been an outburst of tem- porary frenzy, which soon died out, and did not extend to other parts of the country. But in England and Scotland, witches were occasionally burned. * * * * *

The speaker then relates seeing a book printed many years ago, giving a history of the Salem witchcraft, and in it was an illus- tration representing the devil surrounded by his imps, on the roof of a house, beating a drum, while the people below looked up in astonishment. The speaker then frankly admits that the action in the persecutions of the Quakers can only be palliated by the con- sideration that religious toleratiou was not then understood or practiced by any Christian nation; that the faults of the Puritans were those of the age in which they lived.

It is pretty well established as truth that the Blue Laws of Connecticut, which have been quoted and ridiculed times without mimber, originated in the imagination of the forger, Samuel Andrew Peters. Peters was a clergyman of the Church of England, a native of Connecticut, and was so rank a Tory in the Revolution that he was compelled to leave the country. To revenge himself upon the Puritan patriots he wrote what he called the history of Con- necticut; a book that has been designated as "the most unscrupulous and malicious of lying narra- tives." In this book are found the Blue Laws, and there is no other evidence that they ever had an existence. I will give a sample of Peters' regard for truth and probability. He says that at Bellows' Falls the Connecticut River forces its way through a narrow passage between two rocks, and that in the time of floods the water becomes so solid by pressure that it cannot be penetrated by a crowbar.

The Puritans were no doubt unreasonably rigid in their religious observances and their prohibition of innocent amusements. Their hostility to the loose morals an'd inconsistent practices of their per- secutors of the English Church naturally made them approach to the opposite extreme. We who are descended from the Puritan Fathers confess to a little pride iu the relationship. Pride of ancestry is natural to the human mind, and it appears more excusable when the principles and institutions of

that ancestry have conferred distinguished benefits, not only on their descendants, but also with those with whom they are connected. I do not contend that a man should be more highly esteemed ou account of his ancestors; on the contrary, I believe the standing in society of every oue ought to be determined solely by his individual merit. There is undoubtedly something in good blood in the human race as well as in the brute creation; but this, if not sustained by a pure life, high aspirations and manly conduct, will degenerate and die out.

The next toast, "The Pilgrim Mothers," was responded to by Mrs. J. P. Richardson. The splendid diction, the exalted sentiments of this noble tribute to the Pilgrim Mothers, is worthy the careful perusal and study espe- cially of every daughter and mother in our land. We read it carefully, and with the fair speaker say: "Brave, noble, heroic mothers- the good dames well content, handling the spindle and the flax."

Then followed the poem of the evening by John H. Bryant, from which we take the following extracts:

" Years bright aud dark have sped away, Since by New England's rocky shore The Mayflower moored in Plymouth Bay' Amid the wintry tempest's roar.

" Few, worn and weak, that Pilgrim band; An unknown coast before them rose- A vast unmeasured forest land, Begirt with ice and clad with snows.

" Yet dauntless, fearless, forth they trod From that lone ship beside the sea, Firm in the faith and truth of God, To plant an empire for the free. * * * *

* *

"Strange, wierd and wild the scenes around, With trackless forests dark and deep, Where silence solemn and profound An endless Sabbath seemed to keep. *

" His were the errors of the time- Intolerance and a mien severe; His, too, a heroism sublime, That cast out all unmanly fear.

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" The vine thus planted by the sea, Has spread o'er monntains, wood and glade, Sheltering a nation strong and free, Whose children rest beneath the shade. * * * *

* *

" Bless, then, the hand whose gentle might Smoothed for our sires old ocean's breast. Bless we this day whose morning light Revealed the promised land of rest."

Then "Our neighbors, the Knickerbockers," was most handsomely responded to by S. G. Paddock. But as our purpose is to give the substance only here of the addresses that called out a warm newspaper discussion after the meeting, and the tenor of that contro- versy, we regret we cannot, therefore, give Mr. Paddock's address, as we are confident our readers would enjoy it greatly.

" The common schools of New England." Response by Prof. H. C. McDougal. Among many other highly complimentary things of the Puritans, he said:

Two hundred and nine years have come and gone since then, and to-day we can trace the march of the New England free schools and its influence clear across the continent. In the year 1670, the Commissioner for foreign plantations addressed to the Governors of the colonies several questions in regard to their condition; and in reply to one in respect to education, the Governor of Con - necticut said: "One-fourth of the annual revenue of the colony is laid out in maintaining free com- mon schools (?) for the education of our children." In reply to the same question, the Governor of Vir- ginia said: "I thank God there are no free schools or printing presses, and I hope we not shall have these hundred years." * * * * *

* * The product of the Virginia system (?) also spread over the country a little further south. I need not paint the contrast. The two systems have been boldly confronting each other the past nine- teen years, and the world has learned that the free schools have been largely instrumental in making the North rich and strong, while an aristocracy resting upon substructure of ignorance has made the South poor and weak.

The speaker then said it was the German free school that enabled German intelligence to overcome Austria and France, etc., etc.

All that we are proudest of in our own State is the direct product of New England free school, for it was a child of that school, a graduate of Harvard College, who framed the ordinance of 1787, which consecrated this whole northwest territory forever to humau freedom, frec schools and free thought, etc.

"Our Western Home." Response by Gen. I. H. Elliott. This was an eloquent eulogy to the Puritans. He contrasted the North and South, and of the Puritans he said:

They were not broken down aristocrats ; hey were not dissoluute members of powerful families; they belonged to the middle ranks of society; they were men of lofty virtue, iron wills; always consulting conscience, never policy; lov- ing home and native land, they left both in search of freedom, and finding it, they cherished it with the zeal and devotion of martyrs. They hated civil and religious despotism; they sought a new home, not for plunder, not for conquest, but for liberty of con- science. The New Englander moved westward bearing with him his free-school system and print- ing press, and with these a Northern State better than a Southern State, and the north end of a Northern State better than the south end of the same State, etc., etc.

The festival closed with the toast, "Our country, its best impulses, thoughts and deeds flowed from the striking of Plymouth Rock." Response by Rev. Dr. Richard Edwards. The Doctor's introductory part of his address was very happy, indeed, and then he said:

In response to the sentiment to which I am called to speak, allow me to refer to two facts concerning the Pilgrims. The first is the sturdy seriousness of their devotion to freedom. As we to-day are situated, having our wants all supplied, in the midst of comforts and luxuries and comparative ease, we are in some danger of forget- ting the costs of our liberties, and, through that forgetfulness, of losing the inestimable inheritance. I would not diminish one grain the enjoyment, the geniality, or even the innocent of this or any occa- sion. I rejoice in the ring of every laugh that has been heard liere to-night. * It has *

* been declared, and apparently with good reason, that the compact entered into on board that little ship was the first formal recognition of the principal

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that a government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. * * * * With no models, but with all precedent and preju- dice the other way, the Pilgrims iu 1620 framed a government based on the mutual consent of its sub- jects, making them all equal before the law. *

* * In the public opinion of our time there is a general impression that these Pilgrims were men of stout hearts, sturdy virtue, and stroug faith in God. All this they surely were. So far forth the public sentiment is correct. But certain qualifying assumptions are made in addition. It is thought that they were uarrow-minded and intoler- ant, that they burnt witches, hung Quakers, expelled the Baptists, and in general indulged in many exhibitions of the unlovely spirit of persecu- tion. What are the facts? Only two trials for witchcraft ever took place in Plymouth. While all Christiandom, Catholic and Protestant, was thor- oughly committed by teaching and practice, to this delusion, while learned divines and cminent jurists were everywhere using their power, official and personal, for the condemning and executing of the unfortunate victims of malice who were charged with witchcraft, the Pilgrims kept their senses, and forgot not the dictates of a common humanity. Only two trials for this alleged offense ever occurred in the colony, and in both cases the accused were acquitted. And in one of them, that of Mrs. William Holmes, in 1660 the Court was not satisfied with an acquittal, but decreed that Dinah Sylvester, the prosecuting witness, for having brought a false and heinous charge against her neighbor, should be severely punished. Nor am I aware that in any case they punished men for a diversity of religious views. Immoral and seditious men like John Lyford, who had been sent over by the enemies of the colony for the very purpose of making trouble, were expelled from the settlement, as they richly deserved to be. Lyford tried to make it appear that his expulsion was due to his pretended conversion to Episcopacy. But his schemes and character were clearly exposed, and their justice and forbearance fully vindicated.

The comparatively tolerant spirit of the Pilgrims is shown by their treatment of non-church members, and members of other communions. Miles Standish was never a member of their or any other church, but for thirty-six years he was one of their chief officers and counsellors, both civil andmilitary. A scituate Episcopalian held a commission in their little army, and James Brown, a Baptist leader, was many times elected to an important office. When Roger

Williams fled from Salem, the Plymouth Governor, Winslow, offered him an asylum, and urged him to * settle near at hand where they should "be loving * * neighbors." * *

Many of the mistakes on this point arise from the habit of confounding the two terms, Puritan and Pilgrim. The former term includes the settlers of Boston and Salem, of New Haven and Hartford, as well as many who remained behind in England and Holland; while the latter is applicable only to the men of Plymouth. If this were the anniversary of some achievement wrought hy the whole body of Puritans, we should feel compelled to offer appology for many blameworthy acts performed by the objects of our eulogy. But this day is cele- brated as that of the Pilgrim's landing, and their lives were so pure, their aims so honest, and their common sense so trustworthy, that we have little need of excusing or palliation.

Your sentiment, Mr. Chairman, refers to the striking of Plymouth Rock. We may, indeed, take the impact of that boat's prow against the little boulder, which is now enclosed in front of Pilgrim Hall, as the symbol and poetic cause of untold good. Like the stroke of the Prophet's rod upon the rock in the Arabian wilderness, it opened a stream which has ever since flowed forth for the cleansing and invigorating of mankind. As the waters of Horeb came forth to slack the thirst of the wanderers from Egyptian bondage, so the flood from Plymouth has brought life and freedom to millions of oppressed fugitives from the Old World-wanderers in search of a promised land of political enfranchisement. As the stream imparted fertility to the arid waste of the desolate plains, causing richness of vegeta- tion and moist breezes to replace the hot winds and choking sands which had been so fatal to comfort and health, so this new flood has percolated the strata of corrupt and despotic usages, and by liber- ating the minds of men, has induced the growth of all that is lovely in human character and healthful in human societies. Political freedom and just Government have flourished upon its banks; a pure religion and a clean morality have been nourished by its gentle irrigation.

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History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 33

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company Number of Pages: 776

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776