Kitabı oku: «The Hand of Providence», sayfa 8

CHAPTER XII
THE COLONIZATION OF ACADIA

ENGLAND'S DEVELOPMENT—REIGN OF ELIZABETH—INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE—TYRANNY OF THE KINGS—JACQUES CARTIER—DISCOVERY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE—QUEBEC FOUNDED—ACADIA COLONIZED—TRANSFERRED TO ENGLAND—EXTRACTS FROM LONGFELLOW'S POEM—VIRGINIA SETTLED.

In previous chapters we have traced the instrumentalities which God used in the unshackling of the minds of men from the superstitions of the past, and disciplining them for the reception of higher truths. We have seen how, amidst the rage of tyrants and in spite of the opposition of the powers of evil, society had gradually climbed to a loftier intellectual eminence than that to which she had attained in any previous age. The time had at length arrived, when, far from the jarring scenes of Europe's strife, a nation was to come into existence, earnest in its love of human liberty, and vigorous in the execution of its purposes—a nation, which should accomplish some of the mightiest achievements of the human race; and where, under the benign influences of its political institutions, and in the Lord's due time, the gospel should be again revealed and the Kingdom of God set up among the children of men.

To rightly understand the history and character of an individual, we must know something of his parentage and the circumstances of his early life. Hence to understand the character of the American people, we must know something of their great national mother, the people of England.

The defeat of the great Spanish armada delivered England from the control of continental Europe, and marked a critical epoch in her development. From that hour England's destiny was fixed. She was to be the great protestant power. Her sphere of action was to be upon the seas. She was to take a leading part in the new world of the west. The time was coming when her commerce should surpass all the nations of ancient or modern times; but, above all, her language and literature were fast developing, by means of which her laws and influence would effect the remotest nations of the earth. Hitherto England had lagged behind in the intellectual development of Europe. In the single reign of Elizabeth she leaped to the first rank among the nations of the earth; nay more, she was to become the mother of nations. An impression, vague and shadowy indeed, but none the less real, penetrated the minds of the English people, that they were to be the repository of the divine will, and the executor of His purposes—that the blessings and prerogatives of ancient Israel, were to be their inheritance.

Beneath the rough exterior and blunt manners of that age, lay the new sense of a prophetic power—the sense of a divine commission. And who will say that they were wrong, or prove that they were not divinely commissioned to break down the barriers to human progress, and to some extent prepare society for the "dispensation of the fullness of times?"

The English translation of the Bible, became the great rule of life. The whole moral effect which is now produced by the newspaper, the sermon, the lecture and the circulating library was then produced by the Bible alone; and its effect on the national character was simply amazing. Religion was no longer confined to the cloister and cathedral, but became a subject of thought for every individual. The profound meditations that Shakspeare puts into the mouth of Hamlet were but a transcript of the thoughts and feelings of the earnest men of that age, who saw themselves day by day in the theater of a mighty struggle between the powers of light and the powers of darkness—their souls the prize of an eternal conflict between heaven and hell.

It was this phase of thought that gave to the world the sublime conceptions of Milton, the realistic dreams of Bunyan, as well as the stern and solemn character of Oliver Cromwell and his followers; and made these liberty-loving peasants more than a match for the chivalry and iron-clad knights of King Charles I.

Nor was this feeling confined to any one class. It permeated all ranks and conditions, even to the sovereign. Tradition still points out the tree in Hatfield Park, beneath which Elizabeth was sitting when she received the news of her peaceful accession to the throne. She fell on her knees and exclaimed: "It is the Lord's doing, and marvelous in our eyes." To the end of her reign these words remained stamped on the golden coinage of the realm. Through all her long and eventful life, the feeling seems never to have left her, that her preservation and her reign were the issues of a direct interposition of God.

The foregoing may help us to understand the character of the English people at the time they commenced to plant the institutions of liberty on this continent. Who can read the thrilling narrative of English history during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries without acknowledging the hand of God, in moulding the character of the British people?

It was not a pleasant world which the men and women of Europe had to live in during the sixteenth century. Fighting was the constant occupation of the kings of that time; civil wars were also frequent. In these confused strifes men slew their acquaintances and friends as the only method they knew of deciding who was to fill the throne. Feeble commerce was crushed under the iron heel of war. No such thing as security for life and property was expected. The fields of the husbandman were trodden down by the march of armies. Disbanded or deserted soldiers wandered as lawless men over the country and robbed and murdered at their will. Epidemic diseases of strange type, the result of insufficient and unwholesome food, and the poisonous air of undrained lands and filthy streets destroyed the inhabitants. Under what hardships and miseries the men of the sixteenth century passed their days, it is scarcely possible for us now to conceive.

From the persecutions of the old world they fled to the wilds of the new. The thrilling story of their adventures, though indeed real, sounds more like romance than reality. Unlike the history of eastern nations, which frequently loses itself in mists of antiquity, the history of the American people begins at a comparatively recent date. It is less than four hundred years since Columbus and his companions first saw the western continent, and less than two hundred and seventy-five years since the first colony was planted in the territory which formed the thirteen original states.

Another peculiarity is, that from the very first this land has been an asylum for the persecuted and oppressed of every nation.

It was in the beautiful month of May, 1535, that Jacques Cartier, a bold navigator in the service of the king of France, sailed along the shores of the gulf of St. Lawrence, stopping here and there to examine the country and lay out plats for future settlements. In July he entered the river St. Lawrence and sailed on its broad waters, amidst picturesque scenery in which was realized all his glowing expectations and dreams. Leaving his vessel at the present site of Quebec, he proceeded up the river in a small boat, as far as the Indian settlement of Hochelaga. This place he named Mount Royal. It is now the magnificent city of Montreal. However, no permanent settlements were formed, and it was not till 1604 that De Monts, Champlain and other explorers began to colonize the country, on the banks of the gulf of St. Lawrence. Quebec was founded in 1608. The whole region on the south shore of the gulf was then called Acadia. Its history shows the wonderful influence kindness exerts, even among the savage tribes of North America. Poutrincourt, the governor of the colony, caused an immense banqueting hall to be erected, which was well supplied with deer, moose, bear and all kinds of wild fowl. He made friends of the Indians and entertained the chiefs at sumptuous feasts. In the Winter evenings by the blazing pine logs, Champlain would relate the stories of his wonderful adventures among the hills, and valleys, and lakes, and streams, and cataracts, and red men of the west.

At length, by the fortunes of war, this colony was transferred to England; but its heart was still with France. The English distrusted its loyalty, and sent an armed force to surprise and attack it, and carry away the once happy people, and scatter them throughout their American domains. The Acadians were crowded into transports, their families were separated, their friendships and attachments broken up, and they were exiled among strangers, never to see each other again. The name of Acadia was blotted out. Most people are familiar with Longfellow's beautiful story of Evangeline. It is now almost the only memorial that remains of the history of that colony.

As a picture of peace and prosperity, contentment and neighborly love, worthy of imitation in this selfish age, a few lines from Longfellow's beautiful poem, may not be out of place:

 
"There, in the midst of its farms reposed the Acadian village,
Strongly built were the houses with frames of oak and of hemlock;
There, in the tranquil evenings when sunset had faded to twilight,
Softly the church-bell sounded calling the people to worship.
Thus dwelt in love these simple Acadian farmers,
Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike they were free from
Fear that reigns with the tyrant, and envy the vice of republics,
Neither locks had they to their doors nor bars to their windows,
But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners;
There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance."
 

Meanwhile attempts at colonizing were going on farther south. The settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, was founded in 1607. The adventures of Captain John Smith, the virtual founder of the colony, are well known to most readers, as well as the romantic story of Pocahontas, the Indian princess. Its early history is a narrative of strife and human suffering. Many of its early inhabitants were scions of nobility, men unused to toil; in some cases they were mere adventurers, actuated by a lust for gold or love of plunder. However, it teaches one important lesson, that noble birth and high-sounding titles are of little account when compared with the plain virtues of industry, honesty, and trust in God—that it is not men of wealth, but men of noble character that are of most importance in founding a commonwealth.

CHAPTER XIII
COLONIZATION OF NEW ENGLAND

CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS—THEY LEAVE ENGLAND—SOJOURN IN HOLLAND—BREWSTER'S PRINTING PRESS—PURITANS EMBARK FOR AMERICA—THEIR TRUST IN GOD—ROBINSON'S PROPHECY—PLYMOUTH FOUNDED—SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONISTS—CONFLICT IN ENGLAND—PECULIARITIES OF THE PURITANS—HARVARD COLLEGE FOUNDED—EXTENT OF SETTLEMENTS—FIRST CONFEDERATION.

 
"What constitutes a state?
Not high-raised battlements or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned,
Not bays and broad armed ports
Where, laughing at the storm, proud navies ride;
Not starred and spangled courts
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride;
No! Men, high-minded men,
With powers as far above dull brutes endued,
In forest, brake or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;
Men, who their duties know,
But know their rights; and knowing dare maintain."
 

The mind instinctively turns to the colonizing of New England as one of the great landmarks of human history. A little more than two centuries ago this land was covered with forests in which roamed various tribes of Indians; and the rivers, which now give life to so much cheerful industry, flowed uselessly to the sea. To-day this same land is covered with cities, towns and villages, gardens, vineyards and orchards, schools and palaces—a civilization surpassing, in some respects, that of any other country on the face of the globe.

Whence came the men who wrought these mighty changes? What were the circumstances that led them to abandon their country and their kindred, and all the sacred associations that link man to his native land, to seek homes beyond the stormy Atlantic, in a wilderness then inhabited only by savage beasts, and men still more savage; and above all, that trained them in the principles of self-government and fitted them to become the founders of a mighty empire?

At that time protestant princes, no more than popish, were willing that their subjects should think for themselves. James I. had just ascended the English throne. His was the head of a fool and the heart of a tyrant. He was determined that every one of his subjects should observe the rites and ceremonies of the Episcopal church. On the northern border of Nottinghamshire stands the little town of Scrooby. Here were some brave and honest people, to whom the ceremonies of the Episcopal or Established church were an offense. They held their meetings in secret, at the house of one of their number, a gentleman named Brewster. They chose Mr. Robinson, a wise and good man, to be their leader in spiritual things. But their secret meetings were betrayed to the authorities and their lives were made bitter by the persecutions that fell upon them. They resolved to leave their own land and seek among strangers that freedom which was denied them at home.

They embarked with all their goods for Holland. But when the ship was about to sail, soldiers came upon them, plundered them and drove them on shore. After some weeks in prison they were suffered to return home. Next Spring they tried again to escape. This time a good many were on board, and the others were waiting for the return of the boat, which would carry them to the ship. Suddenly soldiers on horseback were seen spurring across the sands. The shipmaster weighed his anchor and set sail with those whom he had on board. The soldiers conducted the remainder back to prison. After a time they were set at liberty. In little groups they made their way to Holland, and thus they accomplished the first stage of the tedious journey from the old England to the new. Here they remained for eleven years, and worked with patient industry at their various trades. They gained a reputation for honesty and skill in all their undertakings, and thus they found abundant employment. Mr. Brewster established a printing press and printed books about liberty, which greatly enraged the foolish King James. Meanwhile this little band received additions from time to time, as oppression in England became more intolerable. Still they looked upon themselves as exiles. The language and manners of the Dutch were not pleasing to them. They did not wish to lose their identity. Already their sons and daughters were forming alliances that threatened this result. They therefore determined to go again on a pilgrimage, and seek a home in the wilds of America; where they could dwell apart and found a state, where all should enjoy civil and religious liberty.

They collected their little funds and procured two vessels, the Speedwell, of sixty tons, and the Mayflower, of one hundred and eighty. The Speedwell was found to be unseaworthy and was abandoned. They had not sufficient funds for all to come at once. Brewster was placed in command of the company, which was composed of "such of the youngest and strongest, as freely offered themselves." A solemn fast was held. "Let us seek God," said they, "a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance."

On a sunny morning in July, 1620, the pilgrims knelt upon the seashore at Delfthaven, while their pastor, Mr. Robinson, prayed for the success of their journey. Out upon the gleaming sea a little ship lay waiting. Money was wanting and so only one hundred could depart. They left the remainder with tears and fond farewells, to follow when they could. Mr. Robinson dismissed them with counsels which breathed a pure and high-toned wisdom. Some of the words which he then uttered, seemed to have a prophetic import. This will be readily seen from the following extract:

"The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His holy word. Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. I beseech of you, remember it, that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you."

Who will attempt to deny that God, through him, spake words pregnant with a meaning that men at that age did not understand?

A prosperous wind soon wafted them across the North sea and they sighted the coast of England. After considerable delay at Southampton, Dartmouth, and Plymouth, the Mayflower started early in September on her long and lonely voyage from the old world to the new. After a boisterous voyage of sixty-three days they espied land, and in two days more cast anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod.

How truthful the lines,

 
"The heavy clouds hung dark
The woods and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore!"
 

It was a bleak-looking and discouraging coast which lay before them. Nothing met the eye but low sand-hills, covered with stunted trees down to the margin of the sea. At first no suitable locality for a settlement could be found; but at length they selected a spot where the soil appeared to be good, with "delicate springs of water." On December 22, 1620, the pilgrims landed—stepping ashore upon a huge boulder of granite, which is still preserved as a memorial of that event. The cold was so excessive that the spray froze upon their clothes till they resembled men cased in armor. They had been badly fed on board the ship, which, together with exposure, caused sickness to prevail among them. Every second day a grave had to be dug in the frozen ground. The care of the sick and the burying of the dead, sadly hindered their work; but the building of their little town went on. When Spring arrived there were only fifty survivors, and these were sadly enfeebled and dispirited. Upon an eminence beside their town they erected a structure which served a double purpose. The upper story was used for a fort, in which were placed six small cannon. The lower story served for a meeting-house and school-house.

The pilgrims had already drawn up and signed in the cabin of the Mayflower, a document forming themselves into an organized government, to which they unanimously promised obedience. Under this constitution they elected John Carver to be their first governor. It is true they acknowledged King James, but they left no very large place for his authority.

They had experienced what despotism was, and they determined from the first to be a self-governing people. In memory of the hospitalities which they had received at the last English port from which they had sailed, this colony took the name of Plymouth.

The years which followed the settlement of Plymouth was a time through which good men found it bitter to live. Charles I., was upon the throne of England. William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, was the king's right-hand man for dealing out persecution. Whoever refused to perform the religious ceremonies commanded by Laud was forthwith imprisoned. A Scotch clergyman named Leighton, was publicly whipped, branded on the cheek, had one of his ears cut off and his nostrils slit, for calling Laud's ceremonies the inventions of men. Many others were treated in a similar manner. Meanwhile John Hampden, the incorruptible patriot, was arrested for not paying an unlawful tax. A greater than he—his cousin, Oliver Cromwell—was leading his quiet, rural life at Huntington, not without many anxious and indignant thoughts about the evils of his time. He walked over his fields and along the streams,

 
"Pondering the solemn miracle of life
As one who, wandering in a starless night,
Feels momently the jar of unseen waves,
And hears the thunder of an unknown sea
Breaking along an unimagined shore.
And as he walked he prayed."
 

The weary victims of this senseless persecution looked to New England for refuge. The pilgrims wrote to their friends at home; and every letter was read with interest. They had hardships to tell of at first; then they had prosperity and comfort; always they had liberty! Every Summer a few ships were freighted for the settlements. At one time eight ships lay in the Thames, with their passengers on board, when the order was issued, that no one should leave without the king's permission. The soldiers cleared the ships, and the poor emigrants were driven back in despair to endure the miseries from which they were so eager to escape. Among these were Hampden and Cromwell. Well would it have been for the king if he had let them go! But God had a work for them to do. They were to be the instruments in His hand

 
"To hurl down wrong from its high seat,
To the poor and oppressed, firm friends and true."
 

The details of the long war between the king and the people we need not here relate. The result was the death of the unhappy monarch, and another step forward by the British people in the principles of self-government.

Meanwhile the settlements in America continued to flourish. The virgin soil yielded abundant harvests. From the fleece of their sheep, and the flax of their fields they made a supply of clothing. They felled the timber of their boundless forests, and built ships and sent away to foreign countries, the timber, the fish and the furs which were not required at home.

They were a noble people who had thus begun to strike their roots in the great forests of the west.

Their peculiarities may indeed amuse us; as for example the strange names they gave their children. Many of the boys bore names in memory of some fortunate circumstance, or historical event, as "Rejoice in the Lord," "Pillar of Fire," "Strength of Israel," "Praise God Barebones," etc.; while the girls rejoiced in such names as "Truth," "Temperance," "Patience," "Chastity," and "Love the Lord."

We may smile at these things; yet the most wise of all ages will admire the purity and earnestness of this people. They brought with them the love of learning. In a very few years schools began to appear. Such means as could be afforded were freely given. Some tolerably qualified brother was "entreated to become the schoolmaster." Soon a law was passed that every township, containing fifty families, must have a common school. Harvard College was established within fifteen years of the landing. The founders of New England were men who had known at home the value of books. Brewster carried with him a library of two hundred and seventy-five volumes, and his was not the largest collection in the colony. At that time books were very scarce and twenty times more costly than they are now.

Twenty-three years after the landing of the pilgrims, the population of New England had grown to twenty-four thousand. Forty-nine little wooden towns, with their wooden churches, wooden forts and wooden ramparts, were dotted here and there over the land. There were then four separate colonies: Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven. For mutual defense and protection these colonies united together and thus formed the first confederation of states on the western continent.