Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

Page 27 text:

handed down to us to-day. We see his rule of life and his splendid con- ception of the true happiness of life in the Latin inscription over his fire- place : “Sobrie, Juste, Pie” — Sobri- ety, Justice, and Piety. THE PURITAN AND THE PROGRESS OF LIBERTY Melvin Haley The source of English Puritanism is directly traced to John Wyclif and his followers of the fourteenth century. Wyclif was a professor at Oxford and the greatest scholar of his age. His translation of the Bible and tracts of religious doctrine commenced a revolt against reli- gious and political tyranny. A cen- tury later we find the work of Wy- clif ably carried on by the martyr, Hugh Latimer. The accession of Elizabeth found the Puritan movement growing into the very foundations of the national life. The transfer of the Naval su- premacy of the world was accom- plished through the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588. As- sisting in that memorable victory were the great Puritan sea rovers, Drake, Hawkins, Gilbert, and Cav- endish. The voyage of the May- flower and her successors without this victory might have received the same fate as that of the Hugenots in Florida a short time before. James I ascended the English throne in 1603, the first of the House of Stuart. He asserted the doctrine of divine right and constantly told Parliament it existed subject to his will. The privileges of Parliament are the very keystone in the long controversy of the English people with the House of Stuart. Charles I succeeded to the throne of his father. He had inherited his fath- er’s theories and attempted to rule without Parliament and to compel all to conform to the established church. The Puritans’ ideas re- specting the government resem- bled those respecting the govern- ment of the church. Puritan di- vines, for example, courted resis- tance to tyrants, both temporal and ecclesiastical. Under the direction of William Laud, arch-bishop of Canterbury, every group of non-con- formists was hunted and tracked down. A man’s house, supposed to be his castle, was not immune from this oppression. Charles I ruled without Parliament from 1629 - 1640, the period of the great Puri- tan migration to Massachusetts. The over throw of the English crown marked the ending of a long struggle against religious and poli- tical persecution. The people in this great movement found their champion in Oliver Cromwell. The moral and political issues involved were of world-wide importance. Of especial significance is the fate of those who espoused the cause of lib- erty on the continent of Europe. The victories of Cromwell at Mars- ton Moor and Naseby are prophetic landmarks. The study of English institutions in the following century gave rise to the works of Rousseau and Voltaire, and with it the French Revolution. The same year that Charles I be- gan to govern without a Parliament, he granted a charter to the Com- pany of Massachusetts Bay. Migra- tion to the New Woidd was the only escape from a condition that had i)ecome desperate for those early founders of oui Commonwealth. While some pi’efei’red to remain in England and i-esist to tlie last, others were willing to hazaixl their lives and fortunes in the establishment 25

Page 26 text:

T sliei and also the famous theolo- -ian of Heidelbei ' , David Parens. TIow Nathaniel Ward must have re- veled in the intimate conversations nnd exchange of ideas that came fi’om his friendship with these bril- liant men ! TTow he must have miss- ed their fi-iendship after his emi -ra- tion: for hai‘d indeed was the life of a ramb) id« ' e scholar in the deoths of this ji ' reat wilderness. To add to his burden, after actiim as minister of Tnswich for only about three vears. his health broke down and he was called upon to e:ive up his chosen work of the min- istry. Undaunted bv this additional hardship, we find him turning- back to his early life, that of the work of a lawyer. As a matter of fact it is during this period rather than dur- ing his ministry that he accomplish- ed those things which most influ- ence the civilization of to-day. The hardships of his career mel- lov ' ed his point of view and his le- gal training and experience gave him the necessary equipment to sort out of a bewildering mass of con- flicting opinions a law or rule of con- duct by which the people of his time could guide their lives. His exper- ience as a minister won for him the respect and admiration of the church-going Puritans. All of these characteristics made him one of the outstanding leaders of his time and he was the most natural one to se- lect to bring order out of chaos and to set down a code of laws known as the “Body of liberties. This code served as a rule of conduct for the Puritans and practically all the laws are incorporated to-day in the laws of the Commonwealth of Mass- achusetts. No mean accomplish- ment was this codification of laws for from 1636 to 1641 several at- tempts had been made to draw up such a code as Nathaniel Ward fin- ally accomplished. I believe this codification of laws to be one of the outstanding contributions which he made to the America of to-day. We find many comments on the “Body of Liberties,” both by his contem- poraries and later important men. Speaking of the preamble Mr. M. W. F. Poole observes : “This sublime declaration standing at the head of the first code of laws in New Eng- land was the production of no com- mon intellect. It has the movement and the grace of a mind like John Milton’s or Algernon Sidney’s and its theory of government was far in advance of the age. A bold avowal of the rights of man and a plea for popular freedom, it con- tains the germs of the memorable Declaration of July 4, 1776.” Dr, Francis Grav remarks upon the or- iginality of the code: “Althongh it retains some stray traces of the times it is far in advance of them and in several respects in advance of the Common law of England at this date (1818). It shows that our ancestors instead of deducing their laws from the book of Moses, es- tablished at the outset a code of firm principles, which, taken as a whole, for wisdom, equity, and adaptation to the wants of their community, challenge a comparison with any similar production from the Magna Charta to the latest Bill of Rights that has been put forth in Europe or America.” Thus we see that Nathaniel Ward, the first of a long line of ministers in Ipswich, but more well known as the author of the “Body of Liberties” was without doubt re- sponsible for starting many of the reforms and establishing many of the virtues in the lives of our Ips- wich ancestors, which have been 24

Page 28 text:

of a Now En i-land on these shores. Uo er Conant had already found- ed a colony at Cape Ann in 1624. A short time latei lie had moved to Naumkea , now Salem. John Endi- cott arrived at Salem in 1628 and was appointed governor. The set- tlement of Salem by the “Old Plant- ers” with Conant as leader and the coming of Endicott a few years lat- er made way for the historic migra- tion of John Winthrop in 1680. The organization of the company of the Massachusetts Bay was ac- complished by experienced states- men. John Winthrop was the mas- ter spirit of the company and en- joys the great honor of being the first governor chosen by the free- men of the colony. Associated with Winthrop were Thomas Dudley the deputy governor, Simon Bradstreet. and Sir Richard Saltonstall, men of honor, influence, and ability. The embarkation of Governor Winthrop and his company in 1680 started a great Puritan movement towards these shores. About one thousand people arrived in the Bay and at T lymouth in 1680. A few settle- ments had already been established within the limits of the Massachu- setts Bay, Salem being the largest. The fact that one in five died the first winter bears the mute testimo- nial of the hardships and suffering incident to settlement. Less than three years from the time the “Arbella” dropped anchor in Salem harbor John Winthrop, Jr. son of the governor, began the set- tlement of Ipswich. Under his lea- dership we trace from the begin- ning the importance of Ipswich in the affairs of the colony. Rev. Na- thaniel Ward was one of the early settlers of Ipswich, a graduate of Cambridge University, a lawyer in his early years, a friend of Sir Fran- cis Bacon, and by extensive travel and varied experiences fitted above all others for that great exposition of Puritan polity which he compiled at the request of the colony, a Mag- na Charta ' in the New England wilderness known as the “Body of Liberties.’’ Governor Francis Dud- ley removed to Ipswich in 1685. He was soon followed by Simon Brad- street, later a governor, and his wife Anne who was the first to write po- etry worthy of the name in the col- onies. There were others of dis- tinguished parts attracted to Ips- wich. Mention may be made of the Rev. John Norton, Deputy-Governor Simonds, Richard Saltonstall, and Samuel Appleton whose farm has passed down through successive generations for more than three hundred years. The influence of Ipswich in the affairs of the colony was second only to that of Boston. The ship “John” arrived at Bos- ton in 1688 bringing the Rev. Eze- kiel Rogers, one time rector of St. Peter’s Church at Rowley in old England. Rogers was graduated from Cambridge soon after the not- ed Ward of Ipswich, and was sus- pended from the ministry for non- confomity. With fifty-nine heads of families he settled the town of Rowley in the spring of 1689. The original grant of Rogers and his company extended from the ocean to the Merrimac river, where the city of Haverhill now stands. The first printing press in America came in the same vessel with Rogers and its first work was the printing of the Freemans’ Oath. The ancient records of Ipswich and Rowley dis- close the very lively concern of the early settlers over the establish- ment of Common Schools. The most celebrated teacher of the seven- teenth century, Ezekiel Cheever, 26