The Knight Of The Golden Melice, John Turvill Adams [the reading list TXT] 📗
- Author: John Turvill Adams
Book online «The Knight Of The Golden Melice, John Turvill Adams [the reading list TXT] 📗». Author John Turvill Adams
He Cast, (Of Which We Rather Boast,)
The Gospel's Pearl Upon Our Coast,
And In These Rocks For Us Did Frame
A Temple Where To Sound His Name.
O Let Our Voice His Praise Exalt
Till It Arrive At Heaven's Vault,
Which There Perhaps Rebounding May
Echo Beyond The Mexic Bay.
Thus Sang They, In The English Boat,
A Holy And A Cheerful Note,
And All The Way To Guide Their Chime,
With Falling Oars They Kept The Time.
_Andrew Marvell's "Emigrants In The Bermudas."_
The Beginning Of The 17th Century Is An Interesting Epoch In American
Annals. Although The Atlantic Coast Of That Vast Country Now Comprised
Within The Limits Of The United States And Canada Had Previously Been
Traced By Navigators, And Some Little Knowledge Acquired Of The Tribes
Of Red Men Who Roamed Its Interminable Forests, No Attempt At
Colonization Worthy Of The Name Had Succeeded. The Principal, If Not
The Only Advantage Derived From The Discovery Of North America, Came
From The Fisheries Of Newfoundland And Labrador, Frequented Mostly By
The Adventurous Mariners Of England, France And Spain. In These Cold
Seas, To The Music Of Storms Howling From The North Pole, And Dashing
With Ceaseless Rage The Salt Spray Against The Rocky Shore, They
Threw Their Lines And Cast Their Nets, At The Same Time Enriching
Themselves, And Forming For Their Respective Countries A Race Of Hardy
And Skilful Sailors.
Introductory Chapter. The Land Attracted Them Not. The Inducements
Which Led To The More Speedy Conquest And Settlement Of South America
By The Spaniards, Were Wanting. Gold And Silver To Tempt Cupidity Were
Not To Be Found, And The Stern, Though Not Inhospitable Character Of
The Northern Tribes Was Very Different From The Imbecile Effeminacy Of
The Southern Races. The Opposition Likely To Be Encountered Was More
Formidable, And The Prize To Be Won Hardly Proportioned To The Hazard
To Be Incurred. While, Therefore, The Atrocious Spaniards Were
Enslaving The Helpless Natives Of Peru And Mexico, And Compelling Them
By Horrid Cruelties To Deliver Up Their Treasures, The Wild Woods Of
All That Region To The North Of The Gulf Bearing The Name Of The
Latter Country, Continued To Ring To The Free Shout Of The Tawny
Hunter. Not That Attempts Had Not Been Made To Obtain Footing On The
Continent, But They Had All Failed By Reason Of The Character Of The
Emigrants, Or The Want Of Support From Home, Or Of A Thousand Other
Causes Reducible To The Category Of Ill Luck, Bad Management, Or
Providential Determination.
But The 17th Century Introduced A New Order Of Things, Beginning With
The Arrival Of The First Permanent Colony On The Coast Of Virginia In
The Year 1607, Indissolubly Associated With The Name Of The Chivalrous
Captain John Smith; Followed In 1614 By The Occupancy Of The Mouth Of
The River Hudson, And Of The Island Of Manhattan, The Present Site Of
The City Of New-York, By The Dutch; And, In 1620, Of New-England, By
The English. The Fulness Of Time Had Arrived, When The Seeds Of A
Mighty Empire Were To Be Sown.
A Diversity Of Opinion Prevails With Regard To The Motives Of The Early
Colonists To Leave Their Homes. Without Entering Into An Elaborate
Discussion Of The Subject, And Thereby Invading The Province Of The
Historian, It May Perhaps Be Permitted Me To Say, That, In My
Judgment, They Were Partly Political, Partly Religious, Partly
Commercial, And Partly Adventurous.
One Of The First Acts Of James The First Of England, On His Accession
To The Throne In 1603, Was The Conclusion, By A Peace With Spain, Of
The Long War So Gloriously Signalized By The Destruction Of The
Armada. The Pacific Policy Wherewith He Began His Administration, He
Never Abandoned During The Twenty-Two Years While He Held The Sceptre.
Hence The Spirit Of Enterprise Which Exists In Various Degrees In
Every Flourishing Nation, Finding Itself Diverted From That Warlike
Channel Wherein It Had Been Accustomed To Flow, Was Obliged To Seek
Other Issues. The Immense Region Beyond The Sea Claimed By England By
Priority Of Discovery, Offered A Theatre For A Portion Of That Spirit
To Expend Itself Upon. Hither Turned Their Eyes Those Who, In The
Wars, Had Contracted A Fondness For Adventure, And Were Unwilling To
Sink Back Into The Peaceful Pursuits Of Laborious Industry. For Such
Men, The Vague And The Uncertain Possess Irresistible Attractions.
Introductory ChapterThem, Emigration Was Like The Hazard Of The Gaming-Table; Ruin Was A
Possible Consequence, But Fortune Might Also Crown The Most
Extravagant Hopes. The Merchant Regarded With Favor A Scheme Which
Would Furnish Employment For His Ships By The Transportation Of Men
And Stores. Besides, The Fisheries Had Always Been Productive; They
Might Be Largely Extended, And A Trade In Furs And Other Products Of
The Country Opened With The Indians. Perhaps The Precious Metals,
Found In Such Quantities By The Spaniards At The South, Might Enrich
The North. Happily They Found Not That Pernicious Bane Which Is Alike
The Corrupter Of Private Morals And The Debaucher Of Nations. To These
Considerations May Be Added A Willingness At Least On The Part Of The
Government, To Rid Itself Of Idle Profligates And Unruly Spirits.
Guided By This Chart, It Is Not Difficult To Understand Why Efforts
Similar To Those Which Had Proved Abortive, Should Now Be Successful.
The Character Of The First Emigrants To The Virginia Colony, And The
Products Of The Country Sent Home, Confirm These Views. They Are
Described As "Many Gentlemen, A Few Laborers, Several Refiners,
Goldsmiths, And Jewellers," And The Returning Ships Were Freighted
With Cedar And With A Glittering Earth, Which Was Mistaken For Gold.
Another Party Is Spoken Of By A Chronicler Of The Times, As "Many
Unruly Gallants Sent Hither By Their Friends To Escape Ill Destinies."
Doubtless Among Those Denominated Gentlemen And Gallants Were Some
Noble Souls, Like, Though _Longo Intervallo_, To The Heroic
Smith.
While The Virginia Colony Was Slowly Struggling Against Adverse
Circumstances, And Attracting To Herself The Cavaliers Who, In Various
Capacities And With Different Fortunes, Had Figured In Those Troubled
Times, Important Changes Were Going On At Home Destined To Exert A
Mighty Influence On The New World. That Awakening Of The Intellect
Occasioned By The Speculations Of Wyckliff, The Morning Star Of The
Reformation, More Than Two Hundred Years Before, And To Which Luther
And Calvin Had Imparted A Fresh Impulse, Was Performing Its Destined
Work. By The Assertion Of The Right Of Private Judgment In Matters Of
Religion, The Pillars Of Authority Had Been Shaken. Nothing Was
Considered As Too Sacred To Be Examined. To The Tribunal Of The Mind
Of Every Man, However Undisciplined And Illiterate, Were Brought, Like
Criminals To Be Tried, The Profoundest Mysteries And Most Perplexing
Questions Of Theology, And In Proportion To The Ignorance Of The
Judge, Was The Presumption With Which Sentence Was Pronounced. A
General Love Of Dogma Prevailed. The Cross-Legged Tailor Plying His
Needle On His Raised Platform; The Cobbler In The Pauses Of Beating
The Leather On His Lap-Stone; And The Field-Laborer As He Rested On
His Spade; Discussed With Serene And Satisfied Assurance Problems,
Before The Contemplation Of Which, The Ripest Learning And Highest
Order Of Mind Had Veiled Their Faces. Dissatisfaction With The
Condition Of Things Spread More And More. All, In Both Church And
State, Was Considered Out Of Joint.
Introductory ChapterThe Former Had Not Sufficiently
Cleansed Herself From The Pollutions Of Rome, And Lagging Behind At A
Wide Distance From The Primitive Model, Required To Be Further
Reformed; The Latter By Encroachments On The Liberties Of The Subject,
And Assistance Furnished To A Corrupt Hierarchy, Had Become Odious,
And Was To Be Resisted And Restrained. The Idea Of Abolishing The
Monarchy Had Indeed Not Entered The Mind Of The Most Daring Reformer;
But It Is Certain, That When His Feelings Were Inflamed By Brooding
Over Real And Fancied Wrongs From The Established Church, His Anger
Would Overflow Upon The Government, Which, With No Sparing Hand,
Wielded The Sword To Enforce Pains And Penalties, Imposed, Ostensibly
For The Protection Of Religion, But In Reality For The Interests Of An
Ally And Its Own Safety. It Was This Exasperation, Partly Of A
Religious And Partly Of A Political Nature, That Bore Its Legitimate
Fruit In The Execution Of Charles.
Before That Awful Lesson, However, Discontent Had Increased Until The
Unhappy Zealots, Too Feeble To Resist, Yet Too Resolute To Submit,
Determined To Leave Their Country. Hard Fate! Self-Banished From The
Associations Of Childhood, From The Memorials Of Their Ancestors! But
Whither Should They Fly? They Had Heard Indeed Of A Country; Far
Beyond The Sea, Where A Refuge Might Be Found, And Whither Some Of
Their Countrymen Had Gone; But Those First Emigrants Were Cavaliers,
Men Of The Same Creed As Their Persecutors, And Who Had Been Induced
To Leave England By Motives Different From Those Which Controlled
Their Minds. Their Purpose Would Not Be Attained By Joining The
Virginia Colony. They Were Not Merely Adventurers, Hunting After
Earthly Treasures, But Pilgrims In Search Of The Kingdom Of Heaven.
Their Company Consisted Of Delicate Women And Children, From Whom They
Could Not Part, As Well As Of Hardy Men; And Such Were Unfit To
Encounter The Perils Of A New Settlement, In An Untried Climate, And
An Unknown Country, Infested By Savages. Their Principal Want Was
Religious Liberty; That They Could Find In Holland, And To Holland
They Went. It Was Close At Hand, And Should Any Favorable Change Occur
In England, It Would Be Easy To Return. But After An Experience Of
Some Dozen Years, They Found Insuperable Objections To Remaining
There, And Determined, No Such Changes Having Taken Place As They
Anticipated When They Left Their Native Land, To Emigrate To America.
In A Season Of The Year As Stern As The Mood Of Their Own Minds, They
Sought The Stormy Shores Of New-England, And Their Example Was Soon
Followed By Others Direct From The Parent Country. This First Column
Was Composed Exclusively Of Protestants, Who Had Refused Conformity To
The Established Church, Or As They Were Called, Puritans. Later
Arrivals Brought More Mixed Companies, But Still The Puritan Element
Always Largely Prevailed. Now Separated By An Ocean From, Kings And
Bishops, They Resolved To Realize The Darling Idea Which, Like The
Fiery Pillar Before The Wandering Israelites, Had Conducted Them
Across The Sea, And That Was The Establishment Of A Commonwealth After
The
Comments (0)