USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > An address delivered on the viii of October, MDCCCXXX, the second centennial anniversary, of the settlement of Roxbury > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
At this distant period, it is difficult to give cre- dence, and painful to advert to those unfortunate acts of mistaken piety and ill-directed zeal, which so inju-
Eliot's Biog. Dic.
1
19
riously affect the reputation of our ancient pastor and his deluded coadjutors ; but we are bound to look back with impartial minds, and if " it is not meet that every nice offence should bear his comment," where there is so much worthy of praise ; still, deeds of grave and dangerous import should not be too readily excused, for we must learn from the errors of past ages, how to avoid them in the present, and to guard against their recurrence in the future. His- tory is the grave Mentor of succeeding generations, whose sage instructions and admonitions are perpet- ually illustrated, by impressive examples of the evils and benefits, which result from their violation or observance. Let us, then, well consider, whether we are not continually aiding, or giving countenance to measures, which have too great a similitude to those that have been the subject of animadversion ; whether there is not less of that truly christian char- ity and toleration among us, which all sects profess and advocate, but each too often mistakes or disregards.
If much has been done to correct the foibles of the church, to divest religion of its corruptions, and pre- sent the character and revelations of the Messiah, in the full splendour of their pristine purity and grandeur, there is much, very much, which must occasion regret and compunctious visitations, in the minds of the devout and sincere, and which loudly calls for prompt emendation.
On the 2d of November, 1631, the Rev. John Eliot arrived at Boston, in the ship Lyon, with the Governor's lady and children, and sixty other passen- gers .* He immediately joined the first church, and,
* Winthrop's History.
20
Mr. Wilson the pastor, having gone to England for his wife and family, he preached with them until the autumn of 1632, when he was invited to take charge of the church in Roxbury ; " though," as Gov- ernor Winthrop states, " Boston labored all they could, both with the congregation of Roxbury and with Mr. Eliot himself, alleging their want of him, and the covenant between them. Yet he could not be diverted from accepting the call of Roxbury ; so he was dismissed .??
Under his name, in the Roxbury Church records, the following reasons are assigned for the preference given to that town. " His friends were come over and settled at Roxbury, to whom he was fore enga- ged, that if he were not called, before they came, he was to join them : whereupon the Church at Rox- bury called him to be their Teacher, in the end of summer, and soon after was ordained to that office. Also his [intended] wife came along with the rest of his friends,-she found him, and soon after their coming, they were married ; viz. in the eighth month."*
Prince is of opinion, that his friends came in the Lyon, which arrived on the sixteenth of September, 1632 ; and that he was not ordained until the fifth, -perhaps the ninth of November.
But little is known of Mr. Eliot before he left his native country. He was born in 1604. Nothing is related of his parents, except that they gave him a liberal education.t
Equally distinguished for learning, piety and phi- lanthropy, this excellent man acquired the esteem
October.
t Eliot's Biog. Dic.
7
21
and respect of his contemporaries, left a name dear to his adopted country and illustrious throughout the world, as the first herald of christianity to the sava- ges of North America. His parochial duties were performed with a zeal and fidelity which evinced the purest principles of religion, and the kindest feelings of benevolence. As a missionary, he relinquished the endearments of civilized society, encountered the dangers of the wilderness, and participated in the privations of the wild, precarious and comfortless life of barbarians. With such holy ardour and untiring perseverance did he prosecute his great and com- mendable labours, as to have acquired the exalted title of THE APOSTLE TO THE INDIANS.
To qualify himself for that high office, and render his services most acceptable, useful and efficient, he learned the Massachusetts language, established schools among the various tribes, and performed the arduous task of translating the Bible, and various practical treatises, for the instruction of his new dis- ciples of the forest.
His whole life was devoted to the amelioration of the condition of all ranks in society. Amiable, unos- tentatious and parental, he was as remarkable for his humility, disinterestedness and generosity, as for his intellectual attainments and exemplary deportment as a divine. His parishioners were his children, and they venerated him as a father. So universally was hc respected, and so important were his services considered, that Mather remarks, " there was a tra- dition among us, that the country could never perish as long as Eliot was alive."*
* Mather's Magnalia.
.
22
When he became old, and could no longer preach, and knowing that Roxbury had cheerfully supported two ministers, by voluntary contributions for a long time, he requested permission to relinquish his com- pensation. " I do here," said this venerable teacher, "give up my salary to the Lord Jesus Christ ; and now, brethren, you may fix that upon any man, that God shall make a pastor." But the society informed him, that they accounted his presence worth any sum granted for his support, even if he were superannu- ated, so as to do no further service for them .*
Frugal and temperate, through a long life, he never indulged in the luxuries of the table. His drink was water, and he said of wine,-" It is a noble, gener- ous liquor, and we should be humbly thankful for it, -but, as I remember, water was made before it." Thus, among his other good deeds, he taught, by precept and example, the importance of that tempe- rance, which now wages such an honorable crusade against the demoralizing vice of inebriety.
Having presided over the Church of Roxbury for nearly sixty years, this revered pastor calmly ended his earthly existence on the twentieth of May, 1690, in the eighty-sixth year of his age.
During the first year, after the establishment of the colony, but few settlers arrived from England. The undertaking was deemed so hazardous, that many who were "oppressed for their pure scriptural reli- gion, and breathing after liberty, were willing to see how the first grand transportation with the power of the government fared, before they were free to ven- ture themselves and their families."+ The result
+ Eliot's Biog. Dic. t Prince's Chro. His.
1
9
n
23
was, unfortunately, adverse to their expectations, and most discouraging to those who had embarked in the bold and adventurous experiment. Their truly appalling sufferings produced such a general despon- dence, that more than two hundred returned to Eng- land in the autumn of 1630 and the spring of 1631, who gave an unfavorable account of the country ; representing it " as very cold, sickly, rocky, barren, unfit for cultivation, and like to keep the people mis- erable."* To these lugubrious tales were joined the false and malicious charges against the government, which the profligate and unprincipled Morton, of Mount Wollaston, industriously circulated. But on the receipt of more correct and satisfactory informa- tion, as to the improved condition of the colonists, the salubrity of the climate, fertility of the soil, and general prosperity of the Company ;- the tide of emigration again flowed towards these shores, and in consequence of renewed persecutions in Great Bri- tain, and the promulgation of an order of council, that his majesty did not intend to impose the cere- monies of the established church upon his American subjects, the population rapidly increased, after 1633.
Fortunate in the selection of their executive offi- cers, the citizens were willingly guided by their instructions, and cheerfully cooperated. in the esta- blishment of such regulations, as were deemed expe- dient, for protection against foreign assailants, the anticipated inroads of the savages, the preservation of the public peace, and the security of the persons and property of individuals. *
* Winthrop's History.
1
1
Governor Winthrop was a gentleman of unim- peachable integrity, polished and conciliating in his manners, and preeminent for his assiduous devotion to the best interests of the company, which had con- fided to liim the administration of their distant gov- ernment. Descended from an ancient and highly respectable family of Groton, in the county of Suf- folk, lic was carly respected for his virtues, and honoured by public attentions for his proficiency in the science of jurisprudence. Having gained the esteem, respect and confidence of his associates, he was unanimously chosen the Jason of the American expedition. Being placed in a new, difficult and most responsible situation, it required such an hon- esty of purpose, magnanimity of spirit and moral firmness,-such a just conception of his various du- ties, and prudential exercise of his extensive powers, as are rarely concentred in any individual. But he " bore his faculties so meek, and was so clear in his great office," that all delighted to do him honour.
Thomas Dudley, who accompanied Winthrop as Deputy Governor, was of a sterner temperament, more exclusive, determined and unyielding in his religious and political opinions, and less conciliatory in his manners. As an officer in the army of Eliza- beth, he had been schooled in the rigid discipline of the camp, and imbibed ideas of authority and subor- dination, which it was difficult to surrender, in his novel and perplexing sphere of action; but he was a man of superior natural endowments, well educated, ready in the despatch of business, and merits the high reputation he acquired, as an intelligent, active, energetic and faithful magistrate.
25
If, in the early history of New-England, there should be perceived some few instances of illiberality in the administration of the government,-some acts of injustice and oppression ; let it be remembered, that the age was tempestuous,-that all christendom was roused to arms in the cause of religion,-that nation was contending against nation, while in the midst of each, civil wars were raging with unexam- pled violence, between exasperated sectarians; that the times were unpropitious to the complete compre- hension and practical observance of those enlarged principles of freedom, which philosophical theorists had boldly announced, and they aspired to inculcate and establish. If we cannot approve their whole course of conduct, we should not forget whatever may look like excuse, and be urged in their defence. This justice requires; and however inconclusive, we must, at least, give them credit for indubitable purity of motive, and a sincere belief in the rectitude of their conduct, in extenuation of the errors which were committed. If the means for accomplishing the mo- mentous objects, for which they had abandoned their country, were not always the most appropriate, or were even in hostility with their professions, we should rather be astonished, that there are so few causes for regret and animadversion, than be forward in censure, or prone to arraign them before the bar of posterity ; for in the end, their sublime experiment was com- plete, and we now rejoice in the plenitude of their success.
It is in the meetings of the Assistants, the primi- tive assemblies of the freemen, and of their repre- sentatives in the General Court, that we are to search
4
-
7 001 18 54
26
for the developement of those fundamental principles of government,-that legislative, judicial and political polity, which are now our boast. There is to be found the nucleus of our constitution, and the origin of all those civil, religious, literary, moral and mili- tary institutions, for which New-England is distin- guished; and we must there seek for the cradle of the American Hercules. To them are to be traced the causes of our rapid advancement in the arts of civilization ; to them are we indebted, for the fruition of those countless blessings, which have been fostered and enlarged, under that broad ægis of Liberty and Independence, which they gallantly extended over this western hemisphere.
How great, then, are the obligations for which we are indebted to our chivalric ancestors! They have left us an inheritance, which has continued to enhance in value, by a ratio of accumulation that is incalcula- ble. Six generations have already possessed it, and each in succession has been astonished at the vastness of the domain ; of its infinite and exhaustless resour- ces, and the rapidity of their developement. They, like us, have looked back with gratitude and admira- tion, and forward with elated anticipations of still more wonderful results.
During the long period of the colonial government, the citizens of Roxbury were conspicuous for their patriotism and liberality; they were ever ready to afford their aid in all measures which were deemed important to the general weal. In prosecuting the various local Indian wars, and those in which the parent country was so long involved with France, for the complete control of all America, they took an ac-
27
tive and important part, and furnished several offi- cers, who were distinguished for their services. At the commencement of the revolution, the position of the town was peculiarly interesting from its imme- diate connexion with Boston, while in a state of siege. Here was encamped the right wing of the investing army, and the ruined ramparts which crown yonder heights are daring monuments of " times which tried men's souls,"-of those memorable days, + when the illustrious Washington first mustered his forces on the plains of Cambridge. There are still left among us a few venerable soldiers, who shared the dangers and the glories of his brilliant campaigns. Some, who are now present, witnessed and full well remember the spirit stirring scenes of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill,-the embattled squadrons which had rushed from every part of the country, to enrol themselves under the standard of their great chieftain,-those martial movements and passages of arms,-that " pomp and circumstance of war," which produced such thrilling excitements of hope and fear, -of doubt and confidence, that every eye and every ear and every thought was turned toward the be- leagured metropolis of the north, from whence, on every breeze, were expected tidings of weal or wo.
How many of you must recollect, and with such vividness of impression, as to appear an event of yes- terday, that momentous night, when the father of his country passed this eminence with his long array of patriot troops. Hushed was the trumpet's clangour, and silent the far resounding drum ; stern, noiseless and darkly moved on the lengthened column of armed men, firmly resolved on victory or death. With
-
28
what cagerness did thousands rush, at the earliest dawn, to the surrounding hill-tops, to behold the ban- ners of the republic floating triumphantly over the heights of Dorchester. And where is now the youth, whose heart does not glow with pride and exulta- tion, while the aged warrior relates the heroic deeds of that eventful period ? Who does not hear with amazement of the anxieties, perils and sufferings, which were then endured by fathers and sons, ma- trons and daughters,-of their immense sacrifices in their country's cause ? The memory of them can never pass away; they ushered in the morning of our national existence, and will be more highly prized by each succeeding generation.
Roxbury can number among her sons, or inhabi- tants, many distinguished men. It has been the fa- vorite residence of Governors Thomas and Joseph Dudley, Shirley and Barnard, when under the colo- nial government,-and since the establishment of In- dependence, of the PROSCRIBED Hancock and Adams, -the civil Nestor and Ulysses of the revolution, and of Bowdoin, Sumner and Eustis, forming a constel- lation of statesmen, whose effulgence illumined the national route to prosperity and grandeur, and will be ever conspicuous in our historical zodiac :- and here were born Generals Warren and Heath ;- War- ren ! that immortal patriot, that eloquent advocate of the rights of man, that dauntless soldier, that first great martyr of American Liberty. At the mention of his venerated name, we involuntarily turn towards that consecrated battle-ground where he offered up his life in his country's cause, and the whole story of our national advent comes fresh and glowing upon
29
the mind, in the mustering reminiscences of that glo- rious epoch.
The manner in which the settlements were com- menced on this continent, and the entire history of their progress, during the two centuries of their ex- istence, possess an interest as fascinating as an Ara- bian tale, and are as instructive as the lectures of philosophy.
While the nations of Europe were either individu- ally convulsed by sanguinary contentions, as to regal successions, and the pretended rights and powers of princes ;- or were waging wars for conquest or re- venge, these far distant colonists were more honora- bly engaged in subduing the earth, erecting the sanc- tuary of intellectual freedom, and proclaiming the rights of man. At times, it is true, these peaceful and dignified pursuits were interrupted, and gave place to the revolting duties of the battle-field ; but it was ever in self-defence, that they reluctantly ex- changed the pruning hook for the spear, and relin- quished the plough to grasp the sword. Still, wheth- er in peace or war, the rallying word, and general movement, was forward,-forward ; nor did they stay their firm and steady march, until the whole country was united as a free and independent nation.
But the causes which produced this grand result did not then cease to act; they were soon felt in the eastern hemisphere. At the voice of Liberty, continental Europe was awakened from the long slumbers of despotism, as by an carthquake ; every throne was shaken to its foundations ; a political tempest burst upon them, whose tremendous sweep threatened their universal destruction. If they have,
-
30
for a time, withstood the gathered wrath of long per- secuted, outraged, debased and abjected man, when roused in the omnipotence of his strength, by the spirit of freedom ; it is, that from their lofty summits monarchs may behold the surrounding ruins of their former grandeur,-learn, by adversity, what was in- comprehensible in prosperity, and prepare to yield up with dignity portions of their usurped power,-or cease to reign.
This republic is an anomaly among nations. His- tory affords no parallel. Of all the instances of colo- nization, in ancient or modern times, there is not one, which, in motive, character, progress and suc- cess, resembles that, which the United States pre- sent. The Phoenicians were long celebrated for their commercial enterprise and maritime adventures. In the pursuit of wealth, they explored the shores of the Arabian Gulf, founded numerous cities, from the Tyrian " Queen of the ocean" to the pillars of Her- cules, and under the patronage of an Egyptian sov- ereign, anticipated the periplus of De Gama. The Carthagenians excelled their ancestors in nautical skill, and in voyages of discovery. Under the Hem- ilcos and Hannos, the Cooks and Vancouvers of their fleets, provinces were planted on the coasts of Spain, an intercourse opened with the barbarous tribes of western Africa, the oriental nations, as well as the isles of the Atlantic, were their tributaries, and the splendid city of Dido became the emporium of the world. Greece extended her power throughout the fertile borders of the Archipelago, and her Argonauts carried the arts of civilization among the distant na- tions of the Euxine. The Roman armies scaled the
-
31
Alps, subdued the populous states of Gaul and Ger- many, and bore their eagles in triumph to the Che- viot Hills of Britain ; but all these movements were induced by an insatiate love of conquest or of gain, and were rendered subservient to individual or na- tional aggrandizement. There was nothing purely intellectual in their objects; no master impulse of the soul, beyond all merely ambitious or sordid views, like that which actuated our valorous progenitors ;- they were urged onward by far more commendable and powerful incentives,-an uncompromising spirit of independence, fidelity to their God, and a deter- mined adherence to the principles of liberty. They came here, not for plunder or speculation, but to enjoy freedom ;- to establish civil government, on the broad basis of equal rights.
Contrast our situation with other portions of the globe, which have been colonized since the discov- eries of Columbus. Look at the vast possessions of Spain, Portugal, France and Holland in South Amer- ica, Africa and the Indies. How revolting are their histories,-how calamitous and deplorable their pre- sent situation. The demon of avarice led the inva- sions ; their possessions have been drenched with the blood of slaughtered millions ; and deeds of injustice, robbery and cruelty have been perpetrated, disgrace- ful to the human race. After centuries of suffering, there has been no prospect of amelioration for most of the plundered and degraded natives, or to the hu- miliated subjects, who have been the willing instru- ments of governmental violence, and are now too generally reduced to the lowest state of ignorance, superstition and vassalage.
£
32
Fortunately, our ancestors sprung from the Ana- charsis of nations, and were educated under a gov- ernment, where the great principles of liberty had been inculcated for ages. They claimed the Char- ter of Runnemede as an indefeasible inheritance ; and representation, and trial by jury,-those chief pillars of freedom, were their birthrights. Simulta- neously with the progress of their settlements, more liberal ideas of government were extending through- out the parent country. Sidney, Hampden, Harring-
ton, Milton and Locke had boldly taken the field in their support, and become the admired expounders and advocates of constitutional law, in America, as well as in England. Bacon had confidently appealed to reason and common sense, to subvert the despot- ism of ignorance in the realms of philosophy; and they fearlessly submitted questions of political sci- ence to the same august tribunals. It was to the majesty of the mind, that they paid allegiance, and unfolded their enlarged and enlightened views of government. An impetus was given to thought, which electrified the nation. The people were made to understand the nature and value of their civil priv- ileges. Reflection and inquiry preceded acquiescence and submission, and the power of intellect became more respected than the monarch's sceptre. Preju- dices yielded to argument,-customs ceased to com- mand respect from their mere antiquity, and existing regulations were appreciated but in proportion to their intrinsic merits. The general tone of thought, and the predominant cast of the literature of the sev- enteenth and eighteenth centuries were favorable to the establishment of free institutions. Both were
33
deeply tinctured with just conceptions and rational expositions of the rights of man, and the duties of rulers. It was under such auspicious circumstances that the states of this Union were founded and pros- pered. There was a fortuitous combination of causes, which had a powerful, salutary and progressive influ- ence, in the organization of the colonial governments, and they naturally and constantly approximated to- wards pure representative republics.
Far different has been the fate of other European colonies. If we have recently been gladdened by the tidings of independence, which some of the Span- ish provinces have achieved, how discouraging is the present aspect of their affairs ; how hopeless the pros- pect of their being able to establish liberal and per- manent constitutions. So long have the unfortunate and much wronged inhabitants of those delightful climes been bowed down under the yoke of despot- ism ;- so deficient are they even in the rudiments of education ;- so demoralizing has been the effect of the national religion,-so adverse to the freedom of thought, and the progress of intelligence, that they seem incapable of self-government, and offer a mel- ancholy spectacle for the contemplation of the philan- thropist. Those ardent children of the sun, whom we have regarded with such deep interest and high expectation ; who have evinced such a zealous love of liberty, and displayed such consummate gallantry in the field, when battling for independence, we are compelled to turn from with disappointment, sorrow and commiseration. Demagogues have usurped the stations of the honorable, the virtuous and patriotic, and civil wars are completing the devastations, which
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.