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Show , 106 Wendell Phillips. of c•yent ~ to !=;nppo~c·. th:1t n lnrgr shnre of tl10~c moRt rminent mHl ('Xn'llt>nL eharat' I('J'i ·ti(':-i or N<'W England, whi<·h have mad<! her what. ~he i=-, and sav ·d lH·r for lhc l'uturP, e:uue f'rom the brain ol' .Joh11 Cal\'in. Luth •r's biogrnphy is to be r <'acl in books. The ploclding pntieuc, of the h:nnan intcll<-ct has . g:~t h ·~·~·<l up en•ry trait aml every trifl •- the minute~t- ol !11:; Ide, and you mny r <':Hl it spr ·ad ont with lov ing ndrHiration on a tl10u ~and pa~cs of' biography. Calvin'~ lif'e i:-; writt<·n, in S<"oLland <liHl New England, in th \ triumphs or the pN>plc against prie:-: temi'L and power. To him, more than tn any ot h< ·r man, the P uritans owed Republicanism- the Ht'puulit:allism of the UIHrrch. The instinct of his own day n•t·ogni ze<l tbat <:l<·arl y-di ·tin O'ni hin(T this element or Calvinism. You St'e it in the wit ::-> 0 of Charles the Secolld, wht"n he ~aitl, "Calvi11ism i. a r c• lig-ion unfit for a gc•ntlcman." It wa:-; u11!1t 1()l· n g<'nl l ·man of' tlrat {by; f'or it was a religion or t )u• JH'O)l l '· lt f t'<'Ognized- first Rinee the earli <':-il ec nluri<•:-; of' Uhri;-; tianity - that tlH' h('a rt of Go<l I)(' at , through every human heart, a n<l that wh<'ll you mas:-; up th • million s, with th<·ir in:-.tin<.:tive, f~tir- pl ay ~c n ~c of right, allll their th-votional jrnpulsl·~, you p-d n ·arer God's heart than from the ::;econ<l-harHl sd10larship and con ·enative t endency of what are ('all<·d the thoughtl'ul and c<lucntcd classes. \V e owe thi ~ el<•ment, go<Hl or l>ad, to Calvi nism. Then we owe to it a second e enwnt, m~u·king tho Puritans most largely, and that is- act/on. The Puritan was uot a man of speculation. lie original 'll nothing. Ilid prineiples nrc to l>e fount! broadcast in the centu ri c.:; behind him. llis ·I)Cculatiom; were all ol<l. You mio·ht find them in the lcc- n tut·e ' of Abelard ; yon me<'l with them in the ra<li<"ali::;rn of \V nL 1'yl<•r; yon lind tl1em all ov<'r the eo11 t i rwnt of Emope. The <li:-:tinet ion O<'IW('l' ll his('(\"'(' arHl that or oth ' I'S W:l-;, sirnp l,r, thnt he pr·act ised wh:t t he b<·li<·n.·<l. ll<· uel it'Y('tl Gotl. lle actnally brhevcd him, just n ~ much as if he saw dPmorl:'tratcd be(ore his eye~ the tmlh of the principle. F or it i · a very Wendetl Phillips. 107 easy thing to say; tl1e diiTicnlty i. to do. IC you tell a mnn the ul> olutc truth, that if he will plunge jnto the orean, an<l only kerp Jli eye fixed ou heaven, he will never sink - you cctn demon. trate jt to him- you cnn prove it to him l>y w ·ight and measure - each man of a tltowmnd will beli eve you, as tiH•y say; and then th y will plunge into the wat •r, an<l nine hundred and ninety-nine will throw up th •ir arms to da~ p some Rtraw or ncigltl>or, nml ~ink; the thr)U snncltlt will keep llis hand::; by his l>ody, uelicYing Gotl, nnd float - and Ire jg the Puritan. Every other man wa11ts to get hold of' something to tay himself; not on faith in God'~ •tc•r11al prin ciple of natural or r •ligious law, but on hi. n •ighl>or ; he wn11t:=; to l •an on someuody; Jre wants to catch lrold of :omcthing. The Puritan put his hands to his ~ id e and Jri;; <')'C'S upon Jr '<\Yen, and floats down the centuri •s- Faith p · r~o nifi ed. Th •sc two el •nwnt:::; of' Puritanism arc, it seems to mr, tho e which ha\'O made New EnglarHl what ~ h e i :-:~ . You s<'e th<•m every where d •veloping into inst;tutions. 1• ot· instance, if there is any thing tlrat mak 'S u ~, and that m:t<le ~ '('otland, it is common schools. \V c got them from Geneva. Lutlr r r said, "A wicked tyrant is belt •r than a wi<'ketl war." It wa- the el;lsencc of ari ·tocracy : "H<'tt r ubmit to any •v il from above than lrn. t the rna . · ." Calvin no . 0011 •r et his ((>Ot in Geneva than he organiz<•tl the people into a constitu ent clement of pu l>lic affairs. lie planted c<lucation at the root of the R epublic. The Puritan~ botTowetl it in llollnnd, and brought it to New England, nn<.l it is the . hcet-anehot that ba, l1cld us amid the storm and the temptations of two huntlrecl year·. 'V e ha,·c a people that can think ; a people that can r ead; nn<l out of the millions of r efu 'C lumuer, God . clc<'ts one in a generation, and he is enough to ave a State. One man that thinks for him 'elf is the salt of a generation poi ~OIH'U with printing ink or cotton dust. The Puritans scatter ed broaucast the seeds of thought. They knew it was un error, in connting up the population, to speak of a million of souls because Lhcre |
