| | 1 | Author: | Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864 | Add | | | Title: | Endicott and the Red Cross  | | | | Published: | 1996 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | AT noon of on autumnal day, more than two centuries ago, the
English
colors were displayed by the standard-bearer of the Salem
trainband,
which had mustered for martial exercise under the orders of John
Endicott. It was a period when the religious exiles were accustomed
often
to buckle on their armor, and practise the handling of their
weapons of
war. Since the first settlement of New England, its prospects had
never
been so dismal. The dissensions between Charles the First and his
subjects
were then, and for several years afterwards, confined to the floor
of
Parliament. The measures of the King and ministry were rendered
more
tyrannically violent by an opposition, which had not yet acquired
sufficient confidence in its own strength to resist royal injustice
with the
sword. The bigoted and haughty primate, Laud, Archbishop of
Canterbury, controlled the religious affairs of the realm, and was
consequently
invested with powers which might have wrought the utter ruin of the
two
Puritan colonies, Plymouth and Massachusetts. There is evidence on
record that our forefathers perceived their danger, but were
resolved that
their infant country should not fall without a struggle, even
beneath the
giant strength of the King's right arm. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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