Essays in American history

BY HENRY FERGUSON, M. A.
Northam Professor of History and Political Science in Trinity College, Hartford.
New York JAMES POTT AND COMPANY 114 Fifth Avenue.
Copyright, 1894, BY JAMES POTT & CO.
These essays are presented to the public in the belief that though what they contain be old, it is worth telling again, and in the hope that by viewing the early history of the country from a somewhat different stand-point from that commonly taken, light may be thrown upon places which have been sometimes left in shadow.
The time has been when it was considered a duty to praise every action of the resolute men who were the early settlers of New England. In the glow of an exultant patriotism which was unwilling to see anything but beauty in the annals of their country, and in a spirit of reverence which made them shrink from observing their fathers’ shortcomings, the early historians of the United States dwelt lovingly on the bright side of the colonial life, and passed over its shadows with filial reticence. It is evident that no true conception of any period is possible when so studied, and it is a matter for congratulation that at the present day the subject can be treated with greater impartiality, and that it is no longer necessary for American writers to make up for the political and literary insignificance of their country by boasting either of the vastness of their continent or of the Spartan virtue of their forefathers.
In the same manner, in earlier days, when the recollection of the struggle for independence was still vivid, patriotic Americans were unable to recognize anything but arbitrary tyranny in the attempts made from time to time by the English government to give unity and organization to the group of discordant and feeble settlements, or to see anything but what was base and servile in the sentiments that inspired those whom they nicknamed Tories. Now, under the influence of calmer consideration, men are beginning to admit that something may be said for men like Andros, who strove against the separatist spirit which seemed to New England to be the very essence of liberty, and even for those unfortunates who valued the connection with Great Britain more than they did the privileges of self-government, and who were compelled in grief and sorrow, from their devotion to their principles, to leave forever the homes they loved. The war of secession has taught Americans to understand the term, and appreciate the sentiment, of loyalty. It is no longer an unmeaning word, fit only to be ridiculed in scurrilous doggerel by patriot rhymsters, as was the case a hundred years ago, but appeals to an answering chord in the heart of every man who remembers the quick heart-beats and the grand enthusiasm of those four years of struggle, the true heroic age of American history.