The Development of Constitutional Liberty in the English Colonies of America

Front matter

THE DEVELOPMENT OF Constitutional Liberty IN THE English Colonies of America BY EBEN GREENOUGH SCOTT " The Spirit of Liberty is, indeed, a bold and fearless spirit." Daniel Webster. "Les nations libres sons superbes." — Montesqvteu. NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 27 & 29 WEST 23D STREET COPYRIGHT BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS iS82 Press of G. P. Putnam's Sojis Neio York THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO FRANKLIN B. GO WEN IN TOKEN OF ANCIENT FRIENDSHIP, AND IN RECOGNITION OF HIS CONSTANT SYMPATHY WITH LITERARY EFFORT.

Preface

. THIS work embraces a comprehensive view of those things in the life of the American people, previous to the War for Independence, which are necessary to be known in order to clearly understand why we are what we are. It discloses the Plan of Development contained in the histo.y of colonial life in America. It is shown, that these United States are the direct and legiti mate offspring of that great intellectual movement, which, for want of a better term, men called the Reformation ; that the Free Inquiry thence evolved, passed from religious subjects to politi cal, and gave us, at last, as it had before given the people of Eng land, a really constitutional government established on Freedom of Conscience and the Liberty of the Citizen. The change that came over us, as we passed from the age of Religious Inquiry through that of State Development, is described ; and the causes which made us what we are, and those which prompted us to do what we did, having been set forth, the events are narrated and the impulses disclosed, which, step by step, impelled us to assume the responsibility of independence and to take our place among the great powers.

In considering this plan of Development the three great Eras into which it is divided are observed in connection : — The Era of Constitutional Development in England ; the Era of State Develv PREFA CE. VI opment in America ; and the Era of Constitutional Development in America. The motive of each of these is likewise revealed : that of the First Era being Freedom of Conscience, that of the Second the Development of Tribal Institutions, and that of the Third being the Longing for Popular Sovereignty. Throughout this Trilogy of Eras glowed the Spirit of Liberty, which, in the final stage, became fierce, and crowned its long task by giving to our people political, religious, and personal freedom guaranteed by constitution. It is only when surveying its course from the eminence upon which the lapse of time has placed us, that the action of the law of development can be viewed in its entirety, and the constant force of its energy be calculated.

Then we see, that this energy has expanded or advanced by steps of unequal length ; that the development of the race or tribe is marked by successive stages ; and that the law which controls this energy is to be found in these stages or eras, and not in the individual phenomena which have been but its temporary expressions. Thus it is, that his torical eras — which may be described as historical phenomena grouped into organic systems — are of greater importance to human knowledge than individual phenomena ; and thus it is, that the philosopher will seek the truth of history in eras rather than in the events of a day or the acts of individuals, however striking to the eye they may be. This work is the result of an endeavor to extract the truth of our early history by an application of the principle thus disclosed ; and hence it is, that it is not a history but a philosophical con templation of what is known to be history.

As such, therefore, it makes no pretension to the discovery of new facts or the display of learning ; but, leaving the domain of original research un touched in that respect, and presuming a knowledge of accepted history to be in the reader, it confines itself strictly to the work of i volving therefrom the historical plan of development. The lapse

PREFACE.

. VII of time and the patient research of earnest and conscientious workers have at last enabled this to be done. The notes and the matter in the Appendix, then, are given rather to assist, or to explain, than to instruct, and, whenever possible, are drawn from sources familiar to the general reader, or easily to be referred to by him. The Commercial Relations of the Colonies to the mother country and to each other are set forth at large, and in con nection with the causes that, according to Mr. Burke, made the spirit of our liberty fierce. This is the first time they have appeared in our literature as a cause of Revolution, although we have had, staring us in the face for three fourths of a century, the positive assertion of no less an actor in the achievement of our independence than John Adams, that "if any man wishes to investigate thoroughly the causes, feelings, and principles of the Revolution, he must study this Act of Navigation and the Acts of Trade, as a philosopher, a politician, and a philanthropist."

This done, a remarkable hiatus is filled up, and the story of our development from feeble communities to being a great power is believed to be here presented with all its stages defined and complete. Wilkes Barre, Pa., January, 1882. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART7 1. — The Era of Constitutional Development in England.

Chapter I. Introduction

To what the Anglican migration westward was due— The United States the result of the Great Movement or Revolution of the 16th century— The destructive and constructive periods of this movement— The course of the Great Revolution in the British Isles— The first stage of its Destructive Era, terminating with the accession of Charles I.; the second with the investiture of the Protector—Results of these Eras of Effort, and their effect upon absolutism — The Constructive Era, which began with the Protectorate — The absolutism of the Restoration and its inherent weakness — The Nomenclature of the Great Revolution — Meaning of the word Puritanism — What was Puritanism, and what did it do lor England > —What was the Revolution of 16SS, and what did it do for England ?— The law of historical development does not act with the regularity of physical laws ; characteristic of its advance and retrogression — In respect to the Colonies, the effects of the Revolution of 1688 were moral, not physical— What the Revolution of 1688 did not do for the Colonies — Conditions of colonial life favorable to liberty — In what the Revolution of 1688 worked positive ill to the Colonies — William the Third an absolutist in America — The relations of the Colonies to the Government during the reigns of Anne and the early Hanoverians— The good feeling terminated by the accession of George III. — The plan of absolutism, which, in attacking colonial liberty, was really aimed at the liberty of England — The popular feelings which aided the absolutists.

The two Houses of Parliament and the people unite with the throne against the Colonies — The immediate cause of the outbreak in America — The Revolution of 1776 a manifesta tion of the same force which produced the Revolution of 1688 — The Revclution of 1776 accomplished the last great step of Revolution, namely, the transfer of sovereignty from the throne to the people — How society regarded the Revolution of 1776— Its cause at first negative—Character of the revolutionists— Character of the Colonies— The conditions of Colonial life favorable to local self-government— Revolutions not affairs of battle-fields— The Revolution of 1776 instructive to those who would know how to be free. Advantage possessed by the history of the Caucasian tribes in America over that of others— The Trilogy of Eras which embraces the historical development of colonial British America— The controlling Force or Motive of each of these Eras— The Spirit of Liberty manifest in all. . . . . . . - - .5-26 X CONTENTS.

Chapter II. Descent

REMOTENESS OF SITUATION. THE FORMS OF THE CO- LONIAL GOVERNMENTS, AND THE POLITICAL RELATIONS OF THE COLONIES. Mr. Burke's Six Capital Sources whence the fierceness of Liberty in the Colonies was derived — Two additional sources or causes: the Political Relations of the Colonies, and their Commercial Relations — i. Descent — 2. Remoteness of Situation : the Laissez-faire policy, or policy of Governmental indifference. 3. The Forms of the Colo?iial Governments, and the Political Relations of the Colonies. {a.) Comparison of the nature of the English Colonies with that of the Roman and Greek: (1) the Roman Colonies; (2) the Greek Colonies — The English more like the Greek than the Roman; points of resemblance and difference; the self-sustaining nature of the English, {b.) Three kinds of English Colonies in America: (1) The Royal or Provin cial Colonies; (2) the Proprietary or Palatine, and (3; the Charter — Political separateness cr distinction of these colonies from each other, and effect of their common allegiance to the same suzerain— Dr. Robertson's surprise respecting the charters commented upon— The Charters as compacts : they recognized local self-government — Amplification of the meaning of the term " chartered liberties."

(c.) The colonial governments one in spirit though differing inform — Virginia: its exceptional character — Maryland — Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware — Massachusetts — New Hampshire — Connecticut — Rhode Island— New York— Colonies south of Virginia — Georgia — These Colonies free and self governing : their self-taxing power not regarded as sources of revenue— Virginia's resistance to royal monopoly. (d.) The institutional nature of the English colonies— Definition of the word institu tions — This institutional nature a race characteristic— The institutional development of the English colonies shown by contrast with the French colonies— The English carried with them institutional vigor ; the French did not : illustrations — The extinction of French power in America to be attributed to the paucity and weakness of institutions — The institutions of British America as ancient as the race.

(e.) English colonization under the Stuarts— How it was that franchises were lavished so freely on the colonists— The predisposition of the English colonists to self-government a tribal characteristic— Love of the soil closely allied with disposition for self government—Self-government coincident with the landing of a colony, and simultaneous appearance of institutions— Effect upon the colonists of the contempt maintained by the English commercial classes: loyalty of the former— Political independence a natural sequence of the fierceness of liberty- ..... . sq-^B

Chapter III. Religion In The Northern Provinces

Mysticism : Rationalism : Faith. Religion in the Northern Provinces; its chief feature toleration and freedom of con science—The localities where the principle of freedom of conscience were most apparent— This freedom a natural progenitor of political freedom— Free Inquiry passed from religious to secular subjects in America as it did in England, but without violence— The Colo nies at the first glance unfavorable to religious freedom : intolerance, nevertheless, shown to be inherently feeble— State religion, how regarded by the English previous to the Com monwealth ; dissent regarded as heretical-Rule for ascertaining the existence of toleration or intolerance in a community— Intolerance natural at the time of colonial settlement, and universal— Maryland and Pennsylvania exceptions. CONTENTS.

XI L — The Mysticism of West Jersey and Pennsylvania. Quakerism : its mysticism, and the illustration it affords of a union of freedom of con science and state instead of a union of church and state : effect of its appearance in America— Rise of the sect of Quakers, and character— What Quakerism attempted, and what it failed to attain— Its decline— Appearance of the Quakers in West Jersey and Penn sylvania—Apathetic condition of Freedom of Conscience at the time of their arrival— Their advent propitious to its continued existence as a social force— Freedom of Con science in Rhode Island— To what the favorable influence of Quakerism upon this principle was due— The Quakers of West Jersey— Their first enactment is declarative of free dom of conscience as a political principle— The constitution of their polity : its glory and its defects— Their notion of government, a government by the people— Pennsylvania a result of West Jersey— The Quakerism of Pennsylvania a necessary expression of freedom of conscience— The times propitious to the settlement of Pennsylvania— Charter of Penn sylvania: it recognizes local self-government— Comparison of it with the charters of Maryland and Rhode Island— Steps taken by Penn before leaving England— Declaration of Toleration— The Great Law of Chester : its provisions— It shows Penn to be in advance of his followers in respect to freedom of conscience— The prudence and foresight dis played in the settlement of Pennsylvania: early prosperity of the colony— Passiveness of Quakerism : its effect in saving freedom of conscience to America— Freedom of conscience in Pennsylvania the gift of an individual, and not a conquest won by society. . 59-81

Chapter IV. Religion In The Northern Provinces

Continued. II. — Rationalism of New England. In New England Freedom of Conscience rises from Society instead of descending upon it— Puritanism of New England a direct expression of the Great Revolution or Move ment—One and the same thing with the Puritanism of England— Historical importance of the New England colonization — The most emphatic expression of insubordination the times afforded — The immediate cause of the Puritan migration — Its motive one with that of the Puritan Revolution. The Pilgrim or Brownist migration — The Mayflower Compact— Not democratic- Analysis of the Compact— Importance of its assertion of autonomy — An oligarchs flowed from it. The real Puritan migration Degins with Winthrop's band of colonists— Character of these colonists — Their love of learning — The earl)' Puritan a reformer — Not to be con founded with the Independents or Separatists — Early Puritans a class rather than a sect — Distinction between the Pilgrim and the Puritan Fathers— The Puritan of the reign of James I. The Puritan emigration brought Puritanism pure and simple into New England, and assumed a sectarian character— Motive of this emigration— The object of emigration did not include the foundation of a State free in politics and religion — Freedom came by natural development — Political well-being dependent upon natural development— The true greatness and well-being of a people to be ascertained only by observing its growth — The law of development— Its action is slo'vV— This action illustrated by the career of Freedom of Conscience among the English.

To what the development of New England character is due— Early Puritanism in America uneventful— Inefficacy of the early Puritan literature— The polemical strifes- Extraordinary diffusion of education among the Massachusetts and Connecticut Puritans — Adverse effects of an oligarchy upon the development of literature — The part performed by the rage for disputation— Its ultimate inclusion of secular as well as religious subjects, and its final change from disputation to discussion : the Debating Society— Effects of early controversial theology. CONTENTS. XII Advent of Roger Williams in Massachusetts : the part he performed in his life : the first to make Freedom of Conscience a constitutional principle of polity — His life previous to his arrival in America— His personal character at the time of his coming— The facts concerning his trial and expulsion from Massachusetts— The action of his judges not cen surable—Historical significance of the trial of Roger Williams — The condition of the doctrine of toleration in the Plantations it disclosed— That doctrine involved in the issue of the trial— Development of Williams' ideas into a system— Soul-liberty— His disunion of Church and State— His notion of the relations held toward each other by the civil and ecclesiastical powers— The new subjects his doctrines gave to discussion— Growth and ex pansion of these doctrines— His ultimate view of Freedom of Conscience — The view taken by him of the relations between the Indians and civilization— Character of Williams— Effect of his doctrines on American society— Effect of his doctrines on Vane and Milton.

III. — Faith of Maryland. Settlement of Maryland— Sketch of Calvert— His character— His early attempts at colonization— Condition of the Roman Catholics under the præmunire statutes — Calvert first seeks Virginia, but ineffectually — Difference between the New England and Proprie tary Charters— The Maryland Charter— Aristocracy and faith serve Freedom of Conscience along with democracy and rationalism. ...... 82-123

Chapter V. Manners In The Southern Provinces

; MANNERS OF THE FRONTIER. 1. Southern Life and Manners. — Enlargement of this capital source — The type to be found in Virginia and Maryland — Topography of these two provinces — Their distribution of population, and character of the people — Contrast between distribution of population in New England and in the South — What caused the difference — Disassociation the char acteristic of Southern distribution ; it was enhanced by the topography of the country — Personal effect of isolation— Simplicity and purity of the language preserved—Uncor rupted by the planters' foreign tours — Political effect of isolation— Class feeling and sense of individuality heightened by absence of middle class and isolation — Rare development of domestic life— Haughtiness of the planter— His hunger after land— His love of field sports— Ftreedom and purity of manners in the South between the sexes — Southern hospitality : its refinement— The winter visit to the colonial capital— The simplicity of life and manners extended to commercial transactions— The English squirearchy— The Southern squirearchy— Society in the Piedmont and the Valley — Ils antagonism to the intolerance of the sea-board — How it differed from the planter society.

Manners of the Frontier : — The Leatherstockings and Pioneers— Their mode of life — Their military efficiency — The actual process of social organization on the frontier, from the block-house to the city— The love of local self-government manifests itself at every step as the directing force— The sense of personal freedom in the frontiersman greater than the sense of political responsibility. ....... i2A-i^--

Chapter VI. Manners In The Middle Provinces

3. Pennsylvania. — The colonists commercial and agricultural— The different classes- Opposition to Quakerism— Greater diversity of nationality and manners than in the South— Philadelphia : its opulence ; culture ; famous men— Its social life : Black's Diary- - The colonial metropolis: its printing presses; schools; learned societies— The German element in Pennsylvania, or " Pennsylvania Dutch" : the Scotch-Irish— Greater diveisiiv cf population than in any other colony— Was highly conservative— The progressive pariy -The spirit of liberty in Pennsylvania stubborn but not fierce. . , ,-..,,-, CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter VII

new England's five advantages as enumerated by john adams; and herein of education. The Five Advantages possessed by New England over the other colonies — (a) Purity of the English blood — (/') The institutions for the support of religion, morals, and decency. (c) Education. — The New England school system aided by concentration of population: contrary effect produced by the dispersion of Southern society — Education in the South — Education in the North more general than in the South— Education in Pennsylvania—Edu cation in New England — It contemplated the highest culture possible : Yale and Harvard — Learning in itself not productive, but preservative of freedom — Effect of Northern education upon conceptions of government— The support lent by Northern school system to democracy. {d) The Township. — What it is physically and politically — Its character more administra tive than parliamentary — Its structure — The selectmen, and their duties ; the other officers — Excellence of the township in political education — Division and concentration of its forces — The township a purely local self-government — Its development of active, practical citizenship — The part performed by the citizen in administering its affairs ; a corrective to tendency to excessive abstraction — Attachment of the New Englander to his township — Its prominence in New England social life— Its effect in making the spirit of liberty fierce.

(c) Distribution of Intestates' Estates, etc. — Real estate in New England held in small parcels— Northern society democratic— The course of descents, etc., are there expressions of democratic tendency — Effects of diversity of principle in this respect, between North and South— Why the conflicting social constitutions of North and South united in a com mon republic — Land as assets for payment of debts— Decline of Gothic attachment to the soil— Curtailment of entails, abolition of right of primogeniture, repugnance to long trusts, and facilities for alienation of realty. Review of the Six Capital Sources : their tendency to make liberty fierce. . 164-184 CHAFTER VIII. THE COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF THE COLONIES. Effect of the downfall of the French power in America upon the relations of the colo nies to the mother-country : enforcement of the Acts of Trade, and growing restiveness of the colonists— The Navigation Act of Richard II. ; the Navigation Act of the Common wealth, and the policy it expressed— Effect of the discovery of America upon commercial supremacy : Rise of the Dutch— The decline of Holland a result of the Navigation Act— What led England to adopt this measure— Effect of the Act upon Monopoly.

I. The Legislation concerning Trade and Navigation .—The Three Acts : the Restrictive System— England becomes the colonial Factor— The Acts extended to intercolonial trade : the angle of intercolonial commerce— The compensation for Monopoly, derived by the colonists from the Restrictive System : (1) the pecuniary or material compensation, (2) the political or moral. II. The Literature having colonial trade for its subject: its significance.— Political Economy takes its place as a science and divides the English into two schools— Early English writers on Political Economy: (a) Sir Josiah Child and his Nevj Discourse of 7>W,r-Object of the work— This object as it appeared to the Americans— Their view justified by the work itself— Child's aspersions of Virginia and Barbadoes— Selections from the work ; comments upon them— Analysis of its propositions— Designs of the Eng lish commercial classes disclosed by the treatise— The sentiments are generally adopted, and the Government marks its approval of them.

(V) Joshua Gee and his work The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered— We. advocates colonial taxation for revenue-Local self-government now definitely established in the colonies— Political CONTENTS. XIV effect of taxing the colonies for revenue— Their character of dominions wholly distinct from that of commercial dependencies— Gee's propositions tend to the destruction of the character of dominions— His views acceptable to the Government ; a later administration circulates his work in 1767. (c) John Ashley and his Memoirs and Considerations con cerning the Trade and Revenues of the British colonies in Ame rica— Follows Child and Gee, and also advocates colonial taxation for revenue— Drift of public opinion shown by these treatises to be unfriendly toward the colonies— No respect exhibited by them for the Charters— Review of the Restrictive System— The persistent rage for regulation— Motive of the System : the right of Great Britain to impose it upon the colonies, and the duty of these to obey it— Acceptance of it by the emigrams not compulsory— the inherent defect of the Restrictive System— The conservative disposition of the Government toward the political status of the colonies: the laissez-faire policy; the true policy, and Walpole's rejoinder -Policy of the Government as to the commercial status an active one— Meaning of the change from policy of indifference to interference in political affairs of the colonies —How such change was regarded by the colonists : their alarm and excitement. 185-2 19

Chapter IX. The Wooden Horse

Encroachments of the Restrictive System— The forerunner of rebellion— Ashley's proposition—His object : terminology of the Revenue Acts— Governmental construction of "the Molasses Acts" — Writs of Assistance— Their nature — Otis' Argument— Its effect upon those who heard it — Its effect upon the people of all the colonies. . . 233-246

Chapter X. ' The Conflict With Absolutism

Barren victory of the Government ; its irresolute action— Dissension between the mother country and the colonies — George Grenville ; his character — The grounds of his change of policy — Their falsity shown — What the colonists had done and were doing — Revenue from the colonies resolved upon ; the Port Duty Act ; Resolution to charge stamp duties — Deliberate action of Grenville — Passage of the Stamp Act — How the colonies acted by way of protest — Feeling in America— The New York Congress — Debates in Parliament and Repeal of the Stamp Act— Joy in the colonies— The four new facts which constitute the outcome of the Stamp Act matter — The Declaratory Act — Character of Charles Townshend — His sentiments respecting British rule in America— The Townshend Acts— A trick of absolutism — England defective in moral qualifications for the coming struggle — Recep tion of the Townshend Acts in America — The Massachusetts Circular Letter ; the action of the ministry thereon, and the action of the colonial legislatures : troops quartered on Boston — The feeling of resentment displayed in Parliament— Revival of the law to transport offenders for trial — Action of Virginia— Botetourt' s appointment : the Virginia Reso lutions of 1769 — Attempts of the ministry to throw the onus on the colonies — Partial repeal of the Townshend Acts : the Tea Act remains — Government of the colonies by Ruy.il In structions, or ukase administration — The subordinate part played by " Parliamentary ab solutism" — Apathetic reaction in the colonies ; Boston Massacre — The order to pay the colonial judges from the imperial treasury ; the Boston Committee of Correspondence — The "Gaspee" Commission — The Virginia Legislative Committee of Correspondence the Irst effective step to colonial union. . .... 247-277 247-277 CONTENTS.

XV

Chapter XI

the conflict with absolutism — Continued.

Embarrassment of the East India Company, and plan of the Government to relieve it at the expense of the colonies — The sordid way in which England looked at American affairs — The tea thrown overboard in Boston Harbor — Resentment of the English— The Boston Port Bill — The Massachusetts Government Bill or Regulating Act— Another cargo pitched into the water — The sad state of affairs due to the attempt to set up a paternal government — England retrograding, America advancing : what the English people might have done — The Revolution of 168S powerless to arouse sympathy in the English masses with the Revolution of 1776 — The way the news of the Boston Port Bill was re ceived in America — Impending physical force becomes an element in the conflict--Gen eral impulse in favor of a colonial Congress — Twelve colonies agree to send delegates ; effect of feeling in Virginia on the rest of the country — The Congress created ; its character, and relations to the English Parliament and to the colonies— The First Congress ; two parties — The Suffolk Resolutions— What thisCongress did — Chatham's eulogium upon this Congress sustained by the judgment of time — The course pursued by Massachusetts— The elections of 1774 sustain the ministry— Lord Chatham's fruitless endeavor to have the troops with drawn from Boston— His Provisional Bill for settling the troubles in America ; its failure — Why this bill would not have been acceptable to the Americans— Plans of conciliation : Lord North's plan— Edmund Burke's plan ; his great speech— Affair of Lexington and Concord— Its effect on the colonists ; Boston invested by the Americans— Rejection by Congress of Lord North's plan— Bunker Hill— Last Petition to the King— An army raised and Washington appointed commander-in-chief : measures to obstruct the enemy — The Petition rejected and Proclamation of Rebellion made— Vigorous policy of the ministry the King's Speech— Failure of the Opposition— Action of Congress— The Middle Colonie.-. conservative— Effect of Tom Paine's " Common Sense " —Futile opposition of the Con servatives to revolution— Resolution of the 15th of May— Opposed by the Conservatives ; their decline— Congress takes steps to bring forward the question of independence—Reso lutions of Richard Henry Lee— The Great Debate, and the resolutions^The Declaration of Independence— The War for Independence and triumph of local self-gcvernment— Retrospect— Verification of the Motive and Law of Development. . . . 273-302

Part I. The Era Of Constitutional Development In England

" Cette nation aimer ait prodigieusement sa liberte', parceque cette liberte' serait vraie." Esprit des Lois, liy. xix, chap,

Introduction

. "Ce n' est pas la fortune qui domine le monde. * * * II y a des causes ge'n/rales, soil morales, soil physiques, qui agissent dans chaque monarchic, V e'levent, la maintiennent, ou la pre'cipitent ; tons les accidents sont soumis a ces causes j el si le hasard d' une bataille, c cst-a-dire une cause particuliere, a rttine un Etat, il y avail une cause ge'ne'rale qui faisait que cet Etat devait pe'rir par une seule bataille. En un tnot, I' allure principale entraine avcc elle tons les accidents particuliers. Grandeur et Decadence des Romains, chap,

Chapter I

Introduction. THE growth of the English colonies in America was due to causes peculiar to the times. The wilderness was an invit ing one, the climate was favorable to race development, society would have no traditionary limits set upon its expansion, and men's needs were pressing. Yet, though the virgin stood before their eyes, whole generations of Northmen were born, lived out their days and passed away, without heeding the gentle bidding which every western gale bore across the waters. The bridegroom tarried. All at once, however, Europe stirred, and the North Atlantic was dotted with sails moving westward. Why this restlessness ; why this migration ; why happened it then instead of before ; why did it occur at all ? The answer is short and emphatic. So long as men were satisfied with their condition, there was no reason for their moving.

But, when a sudden and marvellous expansion of the human intellect occurred ; when, under that expansion, old bonds were broken and the ancient systems were left inadequate to supply the new demands of society ; when these systems failed to readily adapt themselves to the changed order of things, then life fast became intolerable, and men who were determined upon having something better, were forced to seek elsewhere what they could not find at home. Thus arose something which compelled movement, and as society could only move westward, hence began the great Anglican migration which other impulses from time to time sustained. The United States of America, then, are results of that mighty force, which, bounding into existence through the throes of the Reformation, still continues its triumphant march.