m\y_a- °MW^^ S "^ ,eat that all the remaining extracts arc wanting in 'the main attri)»nte, ap- plicahility to tlu; matter in issue. So far as reference is made to American colonics, the citations apply only to Jamestown, and perhaps othei's initiateil after the death of Popham. It cannot be otherwise. Let any one read the chapter in Bancroft's Ilistoiy of the United States, in rela- tion to Jamestown, oiid he will at once be convinced that the writer had that colony in view. It answers to their several descriptions in every particular, and it clearly sus- tains the foregoing argument. The first companv that landed there, was not a company of vagal)onds or culj)rits ; but of the one hundred and five emigrants, about half of them were gentlemen, and in England tiien, no vagabond or culprit wore that ajjpcllation. They had been of indolent and free habits, somewluit dissolute, but wei'e not criiuinals or involuntary exiles. There were twelve laljorers, four carpenters, and a i'cw other mechanics. They arrived in James river in December, IGOH, and having viewed various places, estal)lished themselves at Jamestown. But there was great want of appropriate faculty, skill, and jadgment among them. Most of them had l)een unaccustomed to work ; more familiar with tlu; drawing-room than with labor; and 6i ill consequence of iniprndcnt uiauagemcnt half of them died in one year. More colonists were sent for, and in 1609, came out the vagabonds, criminals, etc. Bancroft says of them ; tliese immigrants were "dissolute gallants, packed off to escape ivorse desiuiies at /lome, broken tradesmen, gentle- men impoverished in sj»ii'itand fortune ; rakes and libertines, m(3ro fit to corrupt than to found a commonwealth." So that Smith, who I'ound no fault with his lirst company, said a thousand such men were of but little worth. Such was the contempt with which this South Virginia Plantation was regarded in England, that it was introduced by the stage poets, as says Bancroft, as a theme of scorn and derision. Those who were members of the colony said, "this plantation has undergone the reproofs of the base world. Our own brethren laugh us to scorn ; .and papists and players, the scum and dregs of the earth, mock such as help build up the walls of Jerusalem." Bancroft in his history, ascribes no sucii character to the Po|»ham colonists, neither can any such be drawn from the early accounts of them which were published to the world. No one, who had any interest in the colony, even hints that any such men were found among them. The only charge against the colony was, a want of fortitude to abide the future developments of tiieir situation, and coining excuses for abandoning the plantation. But supj)ose for the moment the charge to be true, to the extent intended l)y one of the authors. I presume he would 38 not heave his readers understand, that the whole emigration were embraced in the denunciation. He would not include the officers. If there were some among the whole number, whose lives were not what they should have been, are tlie company to be branded as criminals ? We do not in many cases, consider the moral condition on whose physical powers we are to rely, as even a material subject of inquiry. As we have before remarked, the nature of tlie enterprise is never judged by or through any such medium. On the contrary, we carry even to an unreasonaljle extent, the habit of attributing all the skill, and ascribing all tlie praise and renown of successful action, to those only to wliom were committed the chief management and direction of the work We seek for skillful and honest officers, and never feel that we are leaving our interests in jeopardy, by neglecting to ascertain the character of the sub-agents. The Old Do minion, until its recent mad aberration, had maintained and was proud of its high position, notwithstanding a majority of its people had, in view of the Avorld, scarcely any character whatever. I do not say that such an indifference to the moral element in our operatives is wise, or immaterial to success. On the contrary, I know, that it finds no support in the principles of the grand economy of tlie Infinite ; and it is not out of place here to add, that such was Avithout doubt the opinion of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Of all the great and the good in 1637, including New England's noblest, the Carvers, the Bradfords, the Winslows, the Winthrops, and Dudleys, he was selected " to reform the evils and 39 mischiefs," which had come over the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonics, and was appointed Governor of the whole territory. Whatever an interested or jaundiced criticism may now say of him, King Charles and his council accorded to him a noble spirit, and a wise and trustful judgment. So also did the Plymouth colonists. They had involuntarily landed where they had no right to establish themselves, and finding they could not safely abide there, they resorted to him, and availed themselves of his well recognized influence to obtain a grant of the territory, in which he succeeded "to the particular satisfiiction and content of them all." Pal- frey says of him, that "he had an uncommon talent for Inisi- ness, and indefatigable love of labor." A man who can believe that such an one would select a band of vagabonds, rogues, and criminals, to carry out his own purposes of establishing a plantation which should expand into a great and flourishing Commonwealth, must be imbued with a degree of credulity which would swallow the must absurd quixotism ever offered to the mind of man. But, after all, the Christian rule of determining character ever has been, and ever will be, the most reliable. Taking this as tlie standard, is there anything discoverable in the deportment of the colonists while here, on which the denun- ciation can lay hold as authority ? Is not the evidence plenary that they were peaceful, industrious, and obedient in carrying forward the object of the founders of the colony? What says the only authentic history of their operations ? 40 "Most of the hands labored in building the fort, on which twelve guns were mounted ; and the car})enters in l)uilding the pinnaee ; Captain Gilbert with a part of the colony went off on a cruise west. Captain Davis was up the river with another portion. Tiiey also dug wells, built fifty houses, a church and a store-house," not, of course, like the houses, or like the churches, of modern civilization. When Captain Davis returned from England in the spring, though Presi- dent Popham was dead, all things were found "in a good state of forwardness. Many furs were obtained, good store of sarsaparilhi, and tlie pinnace was linislied." Now, it is well known that the winter tlu-ough whicli they had passed was one of the most severe on record ; while tliese planters had only been inured to the mild climate of the west of England, whose snow and ice seldom interfere with human activities. Here then it seems to me there is evidence of the most satisfactory character, that these persons were not only intent on, and obedient to, the purposes for which they were sent here, l)ut were also men of energy and determination. John Smith says they "found nothing but extreme extremi- ties." To have survived tliese hitherto inexperienced rigors of tlie winter, such houses as they had must liave been built with some considerable care, and with special regard to warmth and i)rotection from the fury of the storm. The building also of a vessel of fifty tons during the same inclem- ent season, when the timber and materials were to be cut and brought from tlie woods, was by no means, an inconsid- erable work. Purchas evidently regards this as a rcmarka- 41 ble feat. Men unaccustomed to these Avinter severities, could find but little opportunity for ?uch out-door labor. Strachey says, virtually, that they had done all which was expected of them. Such positive testimony as this seems to negative com- pletely, all cliargcs of the unsuitableness of tlic settlers for the business on which they were sent. But there is circum- stantial or negative evidence to the same effect. Gorges had taken a dee}) interest in establishiiig jdantations on these sliores, and spent much of his property in his endea- vors to carry out his wishes. One defeated in liis aspira- tions, the object of which he had the fullest conlidence of realizing, is always ready to charge the failure on the imme- diate agents employed, if any foundation for tlic charge can be discovered, in their action upon tlie matter committed to them. Yet in his account of this colony he nowhere even hints at any inefficiency, any neglect of duty, any disorder or disobedience on the part of officers or men ; but ascribes all, as does Strachey, and other writers of tlie time, to the unfortunate death of the president, and of the principal supporter of the movement at home, Cliief Justice Popliam. When he is urging laborers to come forward and embark in the profitable enterprise of speedy emigration to tlie new country, and wlien he had occasion to apologize for his fail- ures, he never attributes his ill-success to any negligence or demoralization on the part of those, to whom he had in- trusted this plantation. No man can read the eighth chap- ter of Gorges' brief narration, and not l)e fully satisfied that 42 such a thought never came over his mhid. He makes no alhision to any mutiny or contention, the invariable mani- festations of desperadoes, wlienever and wherever congre- gated. So far as any liglit has come down to us on the action of tlie colonists, all things went on smoothly and well. Neither Strachey or any contemporary writer imputes to them any unfaithfulness to their employers. The destruc- tion of their store-house and provisions by fire, the death of the president, and of the chief patron of the plantation, and the unparalleled severity of the weather, are stated by all, as the causes of the failure. Now if these men were such desperate spirits as they are alleged to have been, how are these things to be explained ? It is indeed said by Sewall in his Ancient Dominions of Maine, a work indicative of juuch labor and great research, for which the author deserves remuneration far beyond what has yet been awarded to him, that there is a tradition that the colonists came in collision with the natives after the death of their president. This statement I suppose is leased on the same fact mentioned in Morse tt Parish's history of New England. But I think it has not sufficient reliable authority to be entitled to any place in our history. No others of the many writers of these times seem to give any credence to it. Increase Mather says, immediately after concluding his account of the Sagadahock colony, "as yet there v/as not (so far as I can learn) any disturbance from the Indians, then the only natives of the land. But not long after this an unworthy shij)master whose name was 43 Hunt, 'seized and sold' twenty-seven of them into slavery." Purclias also says, "Some of us resolved once more to try" a plantation, and sent out Captain Hobson. "But in all human affairs there is nothing more certain than the uncer- tainty thereof." "A little before this, one Hunt, a worth- less fellow, had been there and seized" twenty-four of the natives and sold them as slaves. From this the savages contracted a hatred against the English, and studied for revenge, and so the enterprise was abandoned. Tliis action of Hunt he says, was the cause of all the troubles with them in the nortli-eastern parts of this land. When it is said in the Jesuit Relations, that the natives defeated the Englisli in 1G08 and 1609, reference cannot be had to tlicse colonists, who, or most of them, returned to England in the beginning of 1(308. Others were here fishing and trafficking, and Gorges says of them, "in their manners and beliavior they were worse than the savages," and he specially enumerates their iniquities. These were the men, if any, about the Kennebec to whom tradition refers. I can add, surely, that Gorges had no such knowledge of any bad conduct in his planters. The second leading objection to the commemoration, is the alleged entire inefficiency of the Sagadahock enterprise on the subsequent colonization of New England, or its l)arren- ness of any profitable results. After a lapse of two hundred and fifty-seven years from the landing, tlie question, what effect the colony had in the promotion of this great work. 44 becomes of difficult solution. Wc have but very iuiperfcct records of its history. To my miud, it is very manifest, that beside the evidence which has found its way down through the many generations intervening, more particular accounts of it were current in the years follov.'ing its habi- tancy hero than are now within our reach. Strachey wrote his sketch of it, he says, "to epitomize a few things which have not by any one been published or written." This epitome covers but a little more than a diary of two months. Gorges' brief narration was written many years after, and is only a general history of his connection with it. Some few facts not stated in these works art- found in other publications of the century. ]\Iuch, which before has not seen the light here, has just been published in the Memorial Volume ; and there can be little douI)t that the researches now making in the English archives, will be successful in leading to impor- tant revelations bearing on this inquiry. But enough now beams out of pultlished history to prove that it was the received sentiment for years after the return of the colony, that this enterprise was the initiative of those movements which led to the settlement of New England. Tlie immediate result of it was uudouljtedly inauspicious to those on whom devolved the exj)ense ; and for the time it discouraged any general or large designs for plantation. Probably also this apparent la[)se of colonization might have engendered the belief in France that a door was thereby opened to a more sure a[)propriation of the territory to her own })ossession. But the action of the French, under this 45 new inspiration, aroused Eugiand to the necessity of more etToctual movements to secure her own title. The encroach- ments of the French, therefore, following the evacuation of Sabino, do not prove that evacuation disastrous to the causa of English colonization. Adverse results are not \uifre- qucntly the inducement to action more wise, and thence more auspicious in issues. "(Torges," says Belknap, "was heartily engaged in the settlement of the country. He sunk his estate and reaped no profit. Yet his enterprising s])irit excited emulation in others, who had the advantage of im- proving his plans, and avoiding his mistakes. Xow whether the i)revalent opinion of the age liad its basis in tliis incidental or contingent result of the planta- tion, we have not at present sufficient data Avhereby to determine. But that it was the commonly received senti- ment, that in its various relations it was the introduction to the settlement of New p]ngland, is very clear. The address of the Scotch adventurers to King James in 1630, declares that New England was planted by Chief Justice Fopham ; and that by this possession its territory was secured to tlie crown of Great Britain. The averments of other writers found in the notes to Foor's vindication of Gorges, confirm the same fact. King James also, sustained by his council declares, that Gorges first seized the coasts of New England, thus disregarding all whicli had been done by voyngers in previous years. Cliamplain, in addressing the king, says, "in 1607, England seized the coast of New France, where lies Acadia, on which they imposed the name of New Eng- 46 land." Til a work outitlod "Eiicoura<;'cmeiit to Colonies," published in 1(125, it is said "Sir John Fopliani sent the tirst company that went to inhabit tliere, near to Sagadaliock." Captain John Mason in a letter to Sir Edward Coke, in 1G32, says, "Plantations in New England have been settled, about twenty-five years," that is from 1G07. Gorges, the grandson of Sir Ferdinando, in his description of New Eng- land, says, "in 160(3, the country began to be settled by the English by public authority, they built a fort at the mouth of the Sagadaliock," the most significant emblem of national claim and authority, saying to all others, stand away at your j)eril. lUoom says, all attempts to settle the country pre- vious to the Popham plantation were utter failures, clearly importing that such was not the issue of this. And with all this, contemporary New England authorities concur. The first sentence of Increase Mather's History of New England, the preface to which is dated September 14, 1G77, is, "It is now above seventy years since that part of this continent, which is known by the name of New England, was discov- ered and possession thereof taken by the English." Hub- bard, in 1677, published a work with this title, "A narrative of tlie troubles with the Indians in New England from the first planting thereof in the year 1607, to tliis present year 1677." Here, the first thing which meets the eye of the reader, is the plain declaration standing out in large capi- tals, that "the Popham colonists planted New England." For no one will pretend that any other colony in ] 607, at- tempted to fix a settlement on our shores. This declaration 47 is hero made in such a manner, as to call to it the attention of all objectors and cavilers. But the authors of the seventeenth century arc not the only writers who have proclaimed the important fact that here began the colonization of New England. In the ac- count of ancient Peraaquid, as published in our Historical Collections in 1857, the writer says of the first landing of the Popham Colony, "Such was the auspicious welcome from fair Monahigan ; and here did tlie feet of the pioneers of English colonization on our shores, first press American soil." As a lawyer I venerate the record. Human memory may be faithless to its trust, but the record never forgets. To this mass of testimony is to be added the evidence before mentioned. The fifty houses built by the colony, though perhaps not much superior to the Indian wigwams, and the church, without doubt the first house of public worship on these shores, were efficient agencies in the main- tainance of this possession. When the colonists loft the country, these houses still remained, as notice to the world of English claim and title. This erection of houses and other buildings affords strong evidence of right and of pos- session. Civilized Europe regarded it then as now, as con- tinued occupancy while such erections remained. The dwelling, though tenantless, is constructive possession. But we have no right to assume that none of them were occupied in subsequent years. On the contrary, there is strong pre- sumption that they were still resorted to as accommodation for British subjects in their traffic with the natives. The 48 Jesuit Relations affirm that the English were there in IGOO; and all the historians affirm that this lishing and trafhckiiig on the coast was continued and becoming more extensive from year to year. Sir Francis Popham sent his sliips there annually, and all along the shore, the careful reader of history will be satisfied that Englishmen had begun to have some kind of a habitation. But su]>i»ose that there was but a solitary subject of King James abiding in the land, English laws and ordinances which had been promulgated by Pop- ham, would still be here, with their beneficent ministry, to sliield and protect all who should come to these shores. Tliough this unholy rel)ellion which is now upon us, should continue until the last remnant of humanity sliould stand amidst its desolations, the constitution and laws of this great republic will still remain to embrace and protect all who shall come here to dwell. The works to which we have referred, were published at various periods during the seventeenth century, and during all that time no counter statements or denials of the princi- pal fact alleged, have yet been discovered in any of the histories or other puijlications then extant. The acquies- cence was general in the fact that the Popham enterprise began the settlement of New England. The averments to that effect are made in direct positive terms, not only before the landing at Plymouth, but even into tiie eighteenth cen- tury. Many voyages were made to the coast for the ])ur- poses of discovery, before and after the settlement at Saga- dahock. Men were then as aspiring and eager for fame as 4t> now. The discovery and settlement of the new world, absorbed tlie attention of many adventurons spirits, who wonld be as jealous of their rights and as sensitive to their claims to the honors of the world, as any of the race at the present day. How then are we to explain this universal acquiescence in this positively declared precedence of the Popham Colony, if any otiier persons or corporations had claims invested witli a higher authority ? What man, if he had the spirit of a man, or what body of men cognizant of an honest title to the merit of having initiated the great work of securing to their nation, and settling the new world, would have suffered this glory to be reft from them, without uttering a word of objection to these disparaging assump- tions of the Popham colonists ? or these unauthorized state- ments of these authors of the age ? This silence of all pretenders, if there were any such, carries with it the con- viction that the merit was awarded to those to whom it was due. The declaration of >Sewall, therefore, in his Ancient Dominions of Maine, that " the Sagadahock enterprise was undoubtedly the beginning proper of European colonial life with the English race, not only in Maine, but in New Eng- land," has a sure basis in the well declared sentiment of the seventeenth century. But the argument is not confined to this evidence of the direct agency of the colony in promoting the settlement of the country. There were collateral influences going out from it auxiliary to the work, which probably permeated the home community, as well as the tribes wliicli had hitherto 4 been lords of the wilderness. Tlie letter of President Fop- ham to tlie king, iji which he says, "my well considered opinion is that in these regions the glory of God may be easily evidenced, tlie empire of your majesty enlarged, and the public welfare of the Britons s])eedily augmented," must liave awakened a spirit of emigration throughout the nation ; while at the same time it awakened in tlie govern- ment an interest in securing the possession and title of so desirable a territory. This it was, probably, which induced tlie determination, and the order to Argal to drive the French from the territory. But the necessary association of the colonists with the natives must have been still more opera- tive in working out a secure establishment of the race on this continent, by softening existing savage asperities, and kindling in their uncultivated minds, some sense of the value of education, and the other innumerable blessings of a (Jliristian civilization. They were here eight or nine months, and during that period there seems to have been no restriction to a free intercourse with the tribes. Skidwares, who had been treacherously carried over the waters, and had had the opportunity of witnessing the aptitude of moral, social, and political culture, to minister to the comfort of humanity, was one of the expedition, and must liave done much to promote a friendly communion with the wild sons of the forest, and to inspii-e tiiem with a respect for the white man, and thereby induce a desire to acquaint them- selves with the means and agencies by which he had been enabled to subdue all things to himself. When the vessels 51 came to anchor the Indians came on board. Some remained all night. The next day they came again, with some of their women, for trade. The colonists visited them at their honses, where, through the instrumentality of Skidwares, after their fears were subdued, they were kindly received and entertained ; and though this native left them and returned to his tribe, he carried with him the humane and softening influences, which he had acquired by his contact with civilized life. The Indians came to them afterward in large numbers. On a Sunday, Nahanada, and the princi- pal men of the tribes, attended their public meetings both morning and evening, and with great reverence and silence. One of them was so captivated by the service that he wished to remain there sometime longer. All received gracious and pleasant treatment, and left the colonists with the best of feelings toward them. The effect of this interview was highly favorable to a modification of the Indian character. Bloom says, "the people seemed much affected with our men's devotion, and would say, King James is a good king, and his God a good God, but our god Tanto, a naughty god, whom they had worshiped only through fear." Who can tell the effect of such a conversion as is implied in that fact. Strachey gives us no history of the doings or daily life of the colonists, or of their relations with the natives for the last six months of their habitancy at Sabino. But we have no reason to suppose that the intercourse thus com- menced was broken off, or that the visits of the Indians were discontinued, or the occasional enjoyment of public worship with the plantation abandoned. The inferences are alto- gether adverse to such a conclusion. They undoubtedly kept up their visits and traffic, as long as the planters re- mained. Tlie results of such intercourse may be well ima- gined. A great transformation had evidently through some instrumentality been wrought in the character of Somerset. As Thornton says, he was a glory to us ; though, why a glory if we had nothing to do with his conversion, or in the for- mation of his true and noble character ? It is not very likely that he received much civilizing or religious instruc- tion from the fishermen who landed on the coast. Gorges' account of these white men precludes any such judgment as that. It is much more i)robable that the truly Christian attributes Avdiich he exhibited, were the result of the beneii- cent influences which went out from the stated Christian services at Sabino, and his intercourse Avith the colonists, than of any otlier agencies, which are discoverable in the histories of the age. While then, as we have before stated, Maine, in her Gorges, secured to the Puritans the place of habitation, on which they had involuntarily fallen, 'Hlie voice of Samoset," says Sewall, "-crying, welcome English, which came to the Plymouth colonists from the environing forests, was probably the salvation of that colony." And now, why should we not commemorate this new era in the progress of civilization ? What more important event in unrolling the scroll of history meets our vision, than the inauguration of the great enterprise of creating as it were, a 5:3 new world, where the human mind might expand its powers in the erection of a social, intellectual, and moral super- structure, which should be for a wonder to the nations, and an asylum for wronged and oppressed humanity, in its escape from the evils and bondage of eastern tyranny and despotism ? This extended territory, large enough for the support of all the inhabitants of earth, had through the suc- cession of ages from its creation, continued an unbroken wilderness, where ignorance and barbarism had held their orgies in the moral darkness which overshadowed it through- out its entire expanse. More than a hundred years had elapsed since Columbus had revealed the new world to the nations of Europe. The voice of Infinite Wisdom for the fulfillment of its great design, had come over the waters, calling for the culture of its virgin soil. Though the new earth was beautiful, and grand in its wildness, yet in the conception of the Great Architect, it was to become more grand, and more magnificent, in being subdued to the great purposes of humanity, in becoming the field for the growth and expansion of the human intellect, where truth should shed its heavenly beams, and where the holy religion of the Redeemer, by its sympathies, its refining and purifying in- fluences, its gentleness and its harmonizing spirit, should tune all hearts for the highest enjoyments of earth, and the communion and holy orisons of heaven. Barbarism, nur- tured through unnumbered generations, with all its cruel attributes and superstitions, was to be subjected to the soft- ening and subduing influences of the arts, learning, and en- 54 lightenment of civilized Europe. Tlic wild man of the forests was to be redeemed from the thralldom of igrnorance and iuhuraaiiity, and the whole land to be made bright in the glow of freedom, literature, morality, and religion. Was not then the first glimpse of the awaking of Europe to the great work, to be hailed by every philanthropic heart as the harbinger of momentous results ? Was there not in the spirit which then began to spring into life, the spirit of reso- lution and enterprise to take hold of and carry it forward, something noble and heroic and worthy of a great nation ? And wlien this sublime thought, this grand conception of securing this extensive territory to the blessings of a Chris- tian civilization, was organized by Gorges and Popham for the purpose of an immediate development through the necessary activities and measures, who will say that that day was not one long to be remembered ? And when the grand project had so far advanced, that the ''Gift of God," in the words of Mr. Sewall, having survived the perils of the ocean "freighted with all the elements of European civilization, under the sanction of law and religion, began to land her cargo at the mouth of the Sagadahock," what man who has within him enough of the divine, to claim for himself the name of a man, would hesitate to award to that day an hon- orable distinction above the ordinary days of life? Why, if tlie Indian could for the occasion, have been so far trans- formed as to have had the sensibilities and foresight of cul- tivated life, and the instrumentalities of our public celebra- tions, bells and cannon would have sent their peans through 55 and over all the valleys and mountains of the land. Does any one deny the historic fact published to the world in 1(325, that Sir John Popham sent the first colony that came on purpose to inhabit here, and that it landed at Sagadahock ? Does any one deny the day which has been consecrated, to be the true day, when the planters first set foot on this then new domain of England ? No such denials come from any source. Now in our public celebi^ations what do we claim to commemorate ? Are they instituted in remembrance of the consequences alone, whicli have flowed from the accom- plishment of some noble object, or in memory and honor of the noble, valiant, magnanimous, skillful, and self-sacrific- ing spirit by which that object has been attained ? Why do we honor and hail with patriotic joy the Fourth of July ? Not because of the innumerable blessings which we enjoy as a free and independent nation, coming down to us from the brave declaration of 1776 ; for this memorable day was celebrated long before our liberty and independence were secured. It was hallowed as spontaneously, and with as much zest in 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780, as in any subse- quent time. And yet there were dark periods during these years, when even the stoutest hearts trembled for the issue. The day was then honored and distinguished above other days, not because of the completion of the work of which that declaration was the programme, but rather in memory of the liigh and holy purpose, the patriotism, fearlessness, and true nobleness of the men, who thus dared to brave all the power of England, in consecrating heart and soul, and oG life itself, to the great cause of freedom. And this is the truly sound, Clu'istiau basis of commemoration. Any other which excludes this, would indicate a forgetfulness of the great interests of humanity. If the labors and enterprise of men were only to be honored for their successful results, one of the most material elements of human progress would be completely paralyzed. As in law it is the animus which constitutes crime, so in the adjudications of social life, self- sacrifice, nobility, and devotion of soul alone, have any claim for praise and grateful remembrance. The man, who from the irresistible energies of an innate benevolence, is carried forward to the jeopardy of his own life, to the rescue of another from drowning, cannot be shorn of his honor by the fact, that by the Providence of God, his noble purpose was defeated. So, if we had no evidence of even a partial success of the great enterprise, when on the nineteenth day of August, 1607, tins Jiew territory was consecrated by prayer, and dedicated to the sublime purpose of the moral, social, and Christian elevation of the race, in a land overshadowed through almost endless anterior ages by heathenish dark- ness, we might well come to remember together, those he- roic spirits, those brave, courageous men, who through the perils of the ocean, had landed on this continent, animated by the glorious purpose of inaugurating it for its high des- tiny ; that "brave and hardy crew," as says Willis, "who here planted the banner of St. George, and gave to Old England lawful and actual possession of a New England, 57 which for a hundred and fifty years was the fairest jewel of her crown." They did not, indeed, fulfill to the letter the high pur- poses of the projectors. When heaven and earth together cons{)ire to frustrate the councils of man, it is by no means the part of wisdom, to disregard the monitions of such high authority. The chief patron of the colony had died. So had its president. Death also called home the second in command. Tiie flames had laid waste their store-house and its contents ; and the unparalleled rigors of the winter had come over them with a power sufficient to chill all emotions of ambition, and they, or most of them, succumbed to the adversities of their condition. Purchas says, "the unsea- sonable winter was fit to freeze the heart of a plantation." Contemporary history records that these were the sole causes of the failure of the enterprise ; and charges no lack of for- titude or fidelity on the brave spirits to whom its destinies were committed. But thougii througli all their adversities a partial failure ensued, yet in its direct and incidental influences, it brought effectual aid to the great work of Christian civilization. We appeal once more to tlie writer of the article on Ancient Pemaquid, in our Historical Collections, as authority. Quoting from Strachey the fact that on the first Sunday after tlie arrival of tlie colony, and on the occasion of the organization of the government under the laws of England, a sermon was delivered by Mr. Seymour, their preacher, he adds, " Thus Puritanism tinctured New England history 58 at the start ; the preacher and the sermon a/read// detested in England, ivere happily inaugurated on Ne-w England soil, the chiefest features in her future policy and history ; her very life.'''' Well is it then, that on this spot, some enduring monument should be erected, Wno FIRST FROM THE SIIOEES OF ENULAND, fOUNDED A COLONY IN NEW ENGLAND, August, 1607. HE DROUGHT INTO THESE 'niLDS. ENGLISH LAWS AND LEARNINU. AND THE FAITH AXD THE CIIURfH OF CHRIST." But it is said that these men in tlieir migration to this wilderness, had other objects in view, than the planting and building up a Clu-istian nation. Suppose they had. Where are the men, or where the body of men, who assume the physical labor of any great undertaking, who have no other object before them, than the benefit which may enure to the nation, the church, or the world, by their success ? No more patriotic soldiery ever buckled on their armor, than that which now hazards life, and its genial associations, in the defense of this free and beneficent government, under whose auspices so much good lias come to every fireside. But who thinks to entitle these noble men to the glory of success on the battle-field, or to the gratitude of tlic nation, that they should have entered the service witli no eye to their monthly pay, or to the bounties offered by a patriotic 59 people ? Who expects our armies to be recruited, except by the inspirations of a large pecuniary liberality on the part of our citizens ? Who expects the minister of the gospel to labor for the redemption of Iiumanity from the tlu-aldom of sin, without pecuniary reward ? I may here add, that no valuable work, invention, or dis- covery ever loses its importance because it was the result of mere accident. Many of the material appliances, or auxil- iaries to the happiness of liunian life, and the advancement of science and the useful arts, have come to the author, as it were, by inspiration ; and yet we do not the less honor but almost reverence him, to whom we are indebted for these aids to human progress and comfort. The discovery of the gold mines of California, whereby a great and flour- ishing State has suddenly sprung into being with its churches and Protestant religion, in no degree loses its importance or value if the discoverer was animated with any other motives than patriotism, philanthropy, or religion ; or because the discovery was accidental. We sometimes celebrate the act, or the event ; at otlier times we honor the actor by whose agency it was evolved. Sometimes, the skill, tlie arduous labor, energy, and per- severance of the man ; at other times we immortalize his work. Wo may commemorate the noble enterprise of the Bristol projectors of the Pophani Colony in its first devel- opment, in its landing at llunnewcirs Point, to take pos session, and occupy tlic territory in the name of King James ; or the resolution, bravery, and self-sacrifice of that noble 60 campany, in hazarding the perils and deprivations v/hich must come to tlieni from the grand experiment ; or we can commemorate the dedication on that day of this New Eng- land to the cause of civilization and religion. And in tliis view, in the pages of undisputed history, stand out these great facts, which shouhl come home with power to every Christian heart. Jlere was offered the lirst Christian prayer in our own language, that ever l)roke forth from human lips on the shores of New England. Here on the 19th day of August, ir)07, the first English minister of the Gospel of Peace, jiroclaimed the great truths of (Jhristian salvation. Here, on that day, went out over tiie dead silence of the wilderness from a hundred Saxon voices, the first P^nglisli hymn of adoration and praise to the great Creator, the Ciod of the Universe ; and here was erected the first Christian church, the emblem of all New England's power and great^ uess. Here also was the final resting-place of the first of her "illustrious dead." "A nohle name," says Thornton, '■•lays sleeping here." One would think that the mementoes which cluster around this spot, would l»e sullicient to attract thither every man who has any reverence for what('ver is gi-and and worthy in the p;ist, or any sym}v.ithies for those noble institutions v.'hich have made us a great nation, rich iii all material resources, and invested with a moral power adc(juate to all the exi- uencies of our national life. P D 18 1 v"^ <> ',%^-. ^W- ■Q^ ■ s • • , f. N^-m' »v 5^'^ ^o V^ N o '^ « _ . * A. .^°^ 4 o. ^O ST. AUGUSTINE