One of the most prominent features which distinguished our forefathers，was their determined resistance to oppression.They seemed born and brought up for the high and special purpose of showing to the world that the civil and religious rights of man——the rights of self-government，of conscience，and independent thought——are not merely things to be talked of and woven into theories，but to be adopted with the whole strength and ardor of the mind，and felt in the profoundest recesses of the heart，and carried out into the general life，and made the foundation of practical usefulness，and visible beauty，and true nobility.
Liberty，with them，was an object of too serious desire and stern resolve to be personified，allegorized，and enshrined.They made no goddess of it，as the ancients did；they had no time nor inclination for such trifling；they felt that liberty was the simple birthright of every human creature；they called it so；they claimed it as such；they reverenced and held it fast as the unalienable gift of the Creator，which was not to be surrendered to power，nor sold for wages.
It was theirs，as men；without it，they did not esteem themselves men；more than any other privilege or possession，it was essential to their happiness，for it was essential to their original nature；and therefore they preferred it above wealth，and ease，and country；and，that they might enjoy and exercise it fully，they forsook houses，and lands，and kindred，their homes，their native soil，and their fathers' graves.
They left all these；they left England，which，whatever it might have been called，was not to them a land of freedom；they launched forth on the pathless ocean，the wide，fathomless ocean，soiled not by the earth beneath，and bounded，all round and above，only by heaven；and it seemed to them like that better and sublimer freedom，which their country knew not，but of which they had the conception and image in their hearts；and，after a toilsome and painful voyage，they came to a hard and wintry coast，unfruitful and desolate，but unguarded and boundless；its calm silence interrupted not the ascent of their prayers；it had no eyes to watch，no ears to hearken，no tongues to report of them；here，again，there was an answer to their soul's desire，and they were satisfied，and gave thanks；they saw that they were free，and the desert smiled.
I am telling an old tale；but it is one which must be told when we speak of those men.It is to be added，that they transmitted their principles to their children，and that，peopled by such a race，our country was always free.So long as its inhabitants were unmolested by the mother country in the exercise of their important rights，they submitted to the form of English government；but when those rights were invaded，they spurned even the form away.
This act was the Revolution，which came of course and spontaneously，and had nothing in it of the wonderful or unforeseen.The wonder would have been if it had not occurred.It was，indeed，a happy and glorious event，but by no means unnatural；and I intend no slight to the revered actors in the Revolution when I assert that their fathers before them were as free as they——every whit as free.
The principles of the Revolution were not the suddenly acquired property of a few bosoms: they were abroad in the land in the ages before；they had always been taught，like the truths of the Bible；they had descended from father to son，down from those primitive days，when the Pilgrim，established in his simple dwelling，and seated at his blazing fire，piled high from the forest which shaded his door，repeated to his listening children the story of his wrongs and his resistance，and bade them rejoice，though the wild winds and the wild beasts were howling without，that they had nothing to fear from great men's oppression.
Here are the beginnings of the Revolution.Every settler's hearth was a school of independence；the scholars were apt，and the lessons sunk deeply；and thus it came that our country was always free；it could not be other than free.
As deeply seated as was the principle of liberty and resistance to arbitrary power in the breasts of the Puritans，it was not more so than their piety and sense of religious obligation.They were emphatically a people whose God was the Lord.Their form of government was as strictly theocratical，if direct communication be excepted，as was that of the Jews；insomuch that it would be difficult to say where there was any civil authority among them entirely distinct from ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Whenever a few of them settled a town，they immediately gathered themselves into a church；and their elders were magistrates，and their code of laws was the Pentateuch.These were forms，it is true，but forms which faithfully indicated principles and feelings；for no people could have adopted such forms，who were not thoroughly imbued with the spirit，and bent on the practice，of religion.
God was their King；and they regarded him as truly and literally so，as if he had dwelt in a visible palace in the midst of their state.They were his devoted，resolute，humble subjects；they undertook nothing which they did not beg of him to prosper；they accomplished nothing without rendering to him the praise；they suffered nothing without carrying their sorrows to his throne；they ate nothing which they did not implore him to bless.
Their piety was not merely external；it was sincere；it had the proof of a good tree in bearing good fruit；it produced and sustained a strict morality.Their tenacious purity of manners and speech obtained for them，in the mother country，their name of Puritans，which，though given in derision，was as honorable an appellation as was ever bestowed by man on man.
That there were hypocrites among them，is not to be doubted；but they were rare.The men who voluntarily exiled themselves to an unknown coast，and endured there every toil and hardship for conscience' sake，and that they might serve God in their own manner，were not likely to set conscience at defiance，and make the service of God a mockery；they were not likely to be，neither were they，hypocrites.I do not know that it would be arrogating too much for them to say，that，on the extended surface of the globe，there was not a single community of men to be compared with them，in the respects of deep religious impressions and an exact performance of moral duty.
（F.W.P.Greenwood）
译文 TRANSLATION
令我们祖先声名远扬的一个最突出的特征是他们对宗教压迫的坚决反抗。他们似乎是为这样一个高贵而又特别的目标而生：向世界展示人的宗教权和公民权，即，自治、信仰与独立思想的权利。对他们而言，这些权利不仅仅是用来高谈阔论或构建思想体系的，而应以精神的全部力量与热诚去接纳它们，在心灵的最深处去体认它们，将它们贯彻到日常生活中，为实际的功用、可见的美与真正的高贵奠定基础。
对他们而言，自由作为目标，是严正的渴望与坚定的信念的一个象征、一则寓言、一种铭刻。他们不像古人那样将自由神化，他们没有时间或意愿去做那样的琐屑。他们认为每个人在简单的生而具有的权利，他们这样呼唤它也有这样声言。他们尊崇它，把它视为造物主不可让渡的权利；他们不会向威权交出自由，不会为金钱出卖自由。
自由是他们作为人而拥有的本质的权利；没有自由，他们就不再把自己视为人。与其他任何权利、财产相比，自由之于他们的幸福更不可或缺，因为自由是他们天性中的精粹；因而他们珍视自由胜过财富、安适与祖国；他们要充分地享受和践行自由，他们放弃了庄园、土地，离开了亲人、家乡、祖国，永别了祖先的坟茔。
他们丢下了所有这一切；他们离开了英格兰，无论它曾有过什么样的称谓，它都已不再是他们自由的国度；他们驶向那无路可寻的大洋，那浩渺无垠、深不可测的大洋，那不被泥土沾染、限制的大洋，那周边与上方只有天宇笼盖的大洋；那在他们看来仿若更美好、更崇高的自由，一种不为他们的祖国所了解但在他们心中却孕育、憧憬良久的自由。历经辛劳、痛苦的跋涉，他们终于登陆了，来到了一个艰苦、寒冷的地方，虽然荒凉、贫瘠，却广阔、不被监控。这里的静默不会打断他们越来越昂扬的赞美诗，没有眼睛监视、没有耳朵窃听、没有舌头去密告；在这里，又一次，他们灵魂的渴望有了回答，他们得到满足，他们奉上感恩，他们看到自己是自由的，荒漠在微笑。
我将讲诉一个旧日的故事，但那是我们提及那些人时必须讲述的故事。还要补充的是，他们把自己的原则传给了子孙，而集合着这样的种族的国家永远自由。只要这里的居民在践行他们的重要权利时不受宗主国的干扰，他们愿意遵从英政府的管辖，是一旦这些权利受到侵犯，他们就拒绝接受这些辖制。
那个行动就是北美革命，那是一场理所当然的、自发的革命，其中没有什么令人惊异或不可预见的因素。如果当时没发生革命，那才是奇迹。那的确是个幸福、光荣的大事件，却没有一点不自然之处。如果我说他们的祖先像他们一样自由——彼此不差分毫时，我并无意怠慢这场革命中那些可敬的行动者。
革命的原则并不是几个人突发奇想臆造出来的；多年以前，这些原则已经流布全国；人们像接受《圣经》中的真理一样接受这些原则的教诲；这些原则代代相传，登陆伊始，在简朴的住所中、在熊熊的壁炉旁、在那从荫蔽着门扉的森林中取来的堆得高高的柴薪边，清教徒祖先就向孩子们讲述他所受的屈枉和他的反抗，并祝祷孩子们幸福。虽然外面呼啸的狂风中夹着野兽的嚎叫，他们却毫不畏惧大人物的压迫。
这就是那场革命的萌芽。每个拓荒者家中的壁炉都是一所传播独立思想的学堂。教师是那样得力，课程领悟得那么深，如是，我们的国家才一直自由，除却自由，再无他途。
追求自由、反抗专制的信念深深地埋在清教徒的心底，俨然同他们的虔敬与宗教义务感一样。显然，他们是尊崇的民族，若排除上帝亲授，则他们的政体和犹太人的一样，都是严格意义上的神权政体，以致很难说他们当中有不同于宗教审判的民权。
只要清教徒中有人在某个城镇定居，他们马上就会聚集在教堂，其中年长者成为治安官，而法典就是《摩西五经》。的确，这就是他们的体制，而且这些体制忠实地表明了原则与情感，因为如果人们不彻底地接受与践行这一宗教，他们就不能采纳那些体制。
上帝是他们的王，他们真诚地视他为王，仿佛上帝就在他们国家的某个有形的宫殿中。他们是上帝忠诚的、坚定的、谦卑的臣民。他们不会为了富有而作未从他那里求得的事；他们成就的一切都只为颂赞上帝；他们只因将哀伤带到他跟前而痛苦；他们不食未得他祝福的东西。
他们的虔敬并不是外在的；而是发自内心的。判断树的好坏要看它结出的果实，这份虔敬产生和保持了一种严格的道德感。他们的言辞与举止持之以恒的纯真在他们的祖国为他们赢得了“清教徒”的声名，尽管那是人们在玩笑中给彼此的一个体面的称谓。
无疑，他们当中也有伪君子，但数量却微乎其微。这群人自愿流亡到陌生的海岸，甘为良知承受艰辛，以自己的方式侍奉上帝，不因他人的蔑视而弃置良知，不让侍奉上帝成为笑柄。他们不是伪君子也不会成为伪君子。我不知道这样说对他们而言是否太过僭越，即：在这个星球的其他地方，没有任何共同体在深邃的宗教情感与谨严的道德践履方面可以和他们相比。
（F.W.P.格林伍德）
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