A WOODED place, on either side the stream, Down the far-reaching slope, soon drew my steps; A russet tower, o'ergrown with reddening vines, That little of the light that fell thereon Entered the shadowed windows. 'Mid the vines A dame, in russet robed, appeared and sang The soothing song whose notes had drawn me here. Beneath the tower a narrow gateway oped, Arching and shrouded under russet vines; And through the gateway men and matrons passed; And I, upon the brookside standing, saw Had sered, the hastening of my urgent quest. From Rise to Set of Sun I stand on the shore alone, The sun is sunk in the sea, The stars arise in the darkening skies, They are gazing down where my dead past lies, They bring no fear to me, As I stand on the shore alone; Though the light of each star that shines from afar I shield my heart 'neath the sheltering scar But the sea, with its waves so wild, Is dashing against the shore, And though I abide in my cell, and hide, And the world shall be mine no more. FOR SUPREMACY THE RISE OF THE COMMONALITY IN OLD ENGLAND AND " It is a significant historical fact of much interest in these days following the election of a President of the American Republic that the idea of a popular ballot originated in Connecticut. The system was instituted in the days of Thomas Hooker, the father of Democracy, and in tracing the development of free government, Mr. Whiton brings to light many important historical truths. "I have endeavored," he says to rapidly follow some of these streams through their valleys from the remoter past, till they blend into the great stream of New England liberty." He analyzes the characters of two great men of our early history, John Winthrop and Thomas Hooker." Mr. Whiton's reference to the possible relationship of John Pym, of the Long Parliament, and Thomas Hooker, is of much interest. In speaking of it he says: "I do not know whether there are any collections of Pym's letters or papers in existence, but if there are such they may possibly throw some further light on this possible relationship." Mr. Whiton is a prominent manufacturer and student of constitutional history residing in New London, Connecticut-EDITOR BY T L. E. WHITON New London County Historical Society The HE English speaking race and people seem in these later times to be the "chosen people" for wonderful achievement in all that goes to make up civilization and progress. growth and rapid development in all influence and power of the AngloSaxon race, and of the English language, is almost beyond comprehension, when compared with any other living race or language. Apparently its vital power in modern history is the result of a blending of the divinely established ideal and spiritual teachings of an ancient chosen people, with the force and vigor of a race of great courage, and physical power, and endurance; and so in England and in English history, we can see the gradual and orderly growth of social which New England and Connecticut history is most intimately connected. In the earliest Anglo-Saxon times there were leaders of the people, but no hereditary chiefs or kings. The rude freedom of the people found expression in the ancient town-moot, where the freemen and farmers met in the broad shadow of some spreading oak, or on the village green, to regulate their own civil affairs. The growth of numbers brought villages into contact; and the shiremoot was the natural development, where the deputies from the adjoining villages could meet for the discussion and regulation of affairs in which they were mutually interested. But in the general affairs of the race, distance and lack of communication made any large gathering of the peo was a series of comparatively independent free communities, with enough common interests to bind them together against more distant groups, or a foreign foe, but making up a nation somewhat lacking in true cohesive power. All this natural freedom of Anglo-Saxon government in communities of mutual interest was suddenly overthrown by the Norman Conquest, in 1066, which introduced a foreign King, who immediately claimed all the lands by conquest, and rewarded his followers with the homesteads of the conquered people, thus establishing a feudal system under which the people became serfs attached to the soil and ruled arbitrarily by the feudal lords or barons; but there was left the spirit of the old individual freedom among the people; and the strong Saxon stream still flowed on, tempering the alien race into a mixture, in which the Saxon idea of freedom and liberty was preserved in a true nationality. If at first the two races were in conflict, the mixture of blood and heredity rapidly changed this condition; and in 1215 we see the current of ancient freedom strong enough to break down and greatly weaken the power of the King. The Magna Charta, or great charter of King John, the "Palladium of English Liberty," holds a most important place in his tory, both because it was very complete, and also because it marked the rising power of the people, having been obtained by strong men of the newly mixed blood, by force of arms, from a King whose resistance was But the contest between the Saxon and the Norman, the people and the King, was still active, with advantagé often with the King. Fifty years later the people gained once more, under a constitution proclaimed by Simon de Montfort, who was victorious over the King in the Battle of Lewes, and who afterward called the first true parliament of the people. Knights had been summoned to former councils; but never before had representatives from the towns been called to sit in council with the bishops, barons and knights; and we are told that the main reliance of the successful rebel was upon the Commons. The power of the Commons continued to grow, and about 1300 it acquired, or successfully asserted, the right of taxation, then formally yielded by the King to the representatives of the people, and laying English foundation for the claim, afterward such an important matter in our own history, that there must be no taxation without representation. The old Saxon and Norman races were now fairly fused into a vigorous but crude nation, not yet refined by that ancient spiritual fire first revealed to Moses in the burning bush, and which has ever since been the pillar of fire slowly leading the chosen people up out of the wilderness in their approach toward the promised land. The history is of wars and factions; impulsive rebellions and violated promises, sometimes favorable to the people, sometimes to the King, but all the time strengthening the race spirit and the hardy physical vigor which was afterward to be so forces, whose advance guard came in the form of Wickliff's English Bible. The spiritual fires were soon thoroughly kindled by brands scattered from the fires of martyrdom, which now blazed so fiercely through the kingdom. The power of impeachment against the ministers of the King was also asserted by the Commons at about the same time. An early effect of the spiritual forces was to definitely shape the English nation into its permanent form. The feudal lords or barons were largely extinguished by the Wars of the Roses, leaving the forces of the people and of the King organized for a greater struggle than ever; and the people were already in a more favorable position than in any other country of the time, judged, of course, by the standards of the middle ages. The introduction of the art of printing; the rapid development of hardy maritime adventure so greatly stimulated by the discovery of America; the distribution of printed Bibles and the growth of all English literature; the intensity of feeling aroused everywhere by the reformation, all are springs which contributed much to the growth of the great principles of liberty on the one side, and the assertion of class privilege and royal prerogative on the other; until finally the early years of the 17th century see the great struggle fairly on, and tremendous issues joined. The stream of liberty and freedom is is broader and deeper than ever; and the bounds are set more firmly. A great overflow is certain, and its purest stream reached where in "ye presence of God and of one another," the signers of the Mayflower compact covenanted themselves together into a civil body politic, which we may believe was divinely ordered, as beginning the great reservoir of liberty for all the world. We are, therefore, greatly interested in the troubled times of James and Charles, and especially in the men who were in the forefront of the struggle on the side of the people. The editor and the perfected printing press have now become the great popular teachers; on many accounts, unfortunately, usurping the positon occupied by the preacher and the pulpit in the times of which we speak. The great preachers and churchmen of this time were leaders, both for the people and for the King, and the contest was fiercest between them. Thomas Hooker was one of the most powerful in directness of appeal and in ability to secure and hold the attention of great audiences, both of the common people and of the more thoughtful leaders. He was just taking his degree in 1611 (at the age of twenty-five) when King James began the fight against the Commons of England by dissolving his first parliament. Apparently Hooker was distinguished more for the deep spirituality of his thought, and the directness of his style and teaching, than for popular controversy; but he was intensely in sympathy with the people, and though very significantly permitted to reside and lecture near London much later than some of the other leaders, he was forced to fly at last; and at the age of forty-four |