So firmly was this principle subsequently engrafted on our Colonial system, that it became our strongest defence against the encroachments of the Mother Country during the Revolutionary struggle 105and gave us an effective pou sto for the Declaration of Independence. Nor did the severing11 of the relations with the government of England rupture12 this thread of law and equity13 which bound us to our historic past. Ours became the heritage of English Common Law: ours as well as England’s those historic rights and privileges of citizenship handed down from Magna Charta.
I answer, secondly14, to Samuell Gorton more than to any other, all generations of Americans will owe the insistent15 affirmation and consistent illustration of the principle of religious individualism which is the logical outcome of the Protestant idea—the principle which strips off the conventional reliance on ritual and organization, and places the individual soul face to face with the problems of life and duty. In our own 106generation, Ralph Waldo Emerson has been the clearest exponent16 of this principle. Gorton was the premature17 John the Baptist of New England Transcendentalism.
No portrait, or adequate description of this forgotten Founder18 of our Liberties has been handed down to our time. The writer of his brief biography tells us that “His bearing was courteous19, his feelings lively, his mind vigorous and well-informed.”[80] From such hints as 107we may obtain from various sources we may picture him as a man of tall stature20, marked features and gentlemanly address; blue-eyed—a typical Saxon; of an earnest and sympathetic nature; persuasive21 of speech in conversation and exhortation22, and freely emphasizing his thoughts with appropriate gestures, quick to resent injustice23, and bold in his denunciation of wrong-doers,[81]—more eloquent24 and effective in his spontaneous utterances25 and unstudied efforts than in the formal and labored26 style of his written treatises28.
Of his domestic life we know but little. From his kindly29 mention of his wife and children in the final disposal of his property, we have a right to infer that his family relations were harmonious30. 108The reverent31 regard of his sons for his wishes, long after his decease, shows that the respect which they bore for him was deep and lasting32. Besides the three sons, his family included twice that number of daughters. These were all married at the time of his decease, and the fact that they, conjointly with their husbands, were remembered in the final disposal of his property indicates his affectionate regard for all the branches of his household. One of the daughters, with the remarkable33 Scriptural name of Mahershallalhashbaz, married Daniel Cole, and removed to Glen Cove34, Long Island, then known as Moscheto Cove, and has numerous descendants still residing in that vicinity.[82]
109More than most men, Samuell Gorton has been honored in the persons of his descendants. His oldest son, Captain Samuell Gorton, succeeded in some respects, to the position and influence of his father and held many posts of honor in his Town and State. Benjamin, the youngest son, was one of the founders35 of the neighboring Town of East Greenwich. Othniel Gorton, a lineal descendant of Samuell Gorton, was several times chosen to the General Assembly from the Town of Warwick, and was Speaker of the House of Representatives at intervals36 during and subsequent to the Revolutionary War. Gen. Nathaniel Greene, next to George Washington, the most eminent37 military leader in the contest with Great Britain, traced his lineage directly to John Greene and Samuell Gorton, noble founders of the liberties 110which he fought to sustain; as did also Col. Christopher Greene, of Revolutionary fame. Albert Gorton Greene, a descendant of John Greene, Samuell Gorton and Randall Holden, three of the original settlers of Warwick, became a judge of the Municipal Court in the City of Providence38, and is well known to three generations as the author of “Old Grimes,” and other popular ballads39 and poems. The late Governor Henry Lippitt, and the present Chief Magistrate40 of Rhode Island, the Hon. Charles Warren Lippitt, as well as the late Lieut.-Gov. Samuel G. Arnold, the historian of the State, are direct descendants of Samuell Gorton. The Rev10. James Gorton, a Baptist minister of independent views now living, is a frequent contributor on social and religious topics to periodical literature. Dr. David 111Allyn Gorton, of Brooklyn, N. Y., another living descendant of Samuell Gorton, has won an enviable reputation in the practice of medicine, was formerly41 editor of the National Quarterly Review, is the author of an able work on “The Monism of Man,” and numerous philosophical42 essays, as well as a treatise27 on “The Principles of Mental Hygiene,” and voluminous contributions to medical literature. In recent years he has contributed several able papers to the collections of the Brooklyn Ethical43 Association. His son, Dr. Eliot Gorton, is well known as an alienist and an able writer on this and kindred topics, as is also Dr. W. A. Gorton, of the Butler Asylum44 for the Insane, in Providence. Charles Gorton, of the same city, who owns the only complete original edition of Samuell Gorton’s published works known to exist 112in this country, is a tireless bibliophilist and book collector, the possessor of invaluable45 literary and arch?ological treasures. Dexter Gorton is one of the most respected citizens of Providence, a man of sterling46 integrity, for many years Chief Engineer of the Fire Department of that City, now one of its Fire Commissioners47, and has several times been chosen to the City Council. The descendants of Samuell Gorton are also widely distributed in other portions of the country. In the independence of mind and literary ability which they have often illustrated48, the believer in heredity will recognize the out-cropping of the same sterling qualities which characterized the first of their honored name who made his home in the new world.
The house which Samuell Gorton 113erected and where he spent his later years was a land-mark in Old Warwick until within the last half century. From its door his eyes could rest on the placid49 waters of Warwick Cove, and beyond the meadow could see his cattle grazing upon the rounded uplands of Warwick Neck. The surrounding scenery is restful to the eye, and invites the thoughtful contemplation of the deep things of life in which his soul delighted. A short time since, I visited the spot, and conversed50 with the oldest representative of four generations of his descendants, now occupying the ancestral acres. I walked up the hill-side back of the house which now occupies the site of the old Gorton homestead, to the little family graveyard51 where tradition says that Samuell Gorton was laid to rest with the patent of the Town of Warwick which he 114obtained in England,—a nobler decoration than a royal order—upon his breast. No monumental stone—not even a green mound52 or an over-arching tree—now marks the sacred bit of earth where his body long since turned to dust.
All around, however, are the gracious evidences that his life and labors53 were not vainly spent. The prosperity of the town which he founded and the Commonwealth which he helped to build, constitute his most enduring monument. South, lies the quiet hamlet of East Greenwich, of which his son was one of the founders, built in part upon land once owned by Samuell Gorton. West, also, lie the rural towns of Coventry and West Greenwich, the soil of which was largely covered by his original purchase from Miantonomi. What fortunes have been made where he found a 115wilderness and out of it wrought54 a humble55 home for his declining years! What untold56 happiness has filled the throbbing57 hearts of the many generations that have come after him as they have looked out upon the pleasant acres, honestly bought of their aboriginal58 possessors, and bravely held as a heritage to his posterity59!
The Commonwealth which he loved and served so well has proudly held up the banner of Soul Liberty guarded and consecrated60 by Righteous Law, until its beautiful symbol[83] has carried Hope and Safety to the uttermost parts of our American union. Could this Founder of our Liberties look down upon these peaceful and prosperous scenes, and ponder upon their vast and beneficent significance, 116hardly would his unselfish soul miss the monumental stone which yet a grateful community shall raise to his fragrant61 memory. In thankfulness of heart he would bless the Power which has wrought so marvelously in him and in those who have followed in his footsteps, and murmur62 in grateful acknowledgment, “Yea, Lord, I have seen of the travail63 of my soul, and am satisfied.”
The End
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1 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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2 distinctive | |
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的 | |
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3 commonwealth | |
n.共和国,联邦,共同体 | |
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4 citizenship | |
n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份) | |
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5 supremacy | |
n.至上;至高权力 | |
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6 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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7 insistency | |
强迫,坚决要求 | |
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8 logic | |
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性 | |
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9 embodied | |
v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 );象征;包括;包含 | |
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10 rev | |
v.发动机旋转,加快速度 | |
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11 severing | |
v.切断,断绝( sever的现在分词 );断,裂 | |
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12 rupture | |
n.破裂;(关系的)决裂;v.(使)破裂 | |
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13 equity | |
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票 | |
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14 secondly | |
adv.第二,其次 | |
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15 insistent | |
adj.迫切的,坚持的 | |
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16 exponent | |
n.倡导者,拥护者;代表人物;指数,幂 | |
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17 premature | |
adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的 | |
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18 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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19 courteous | |
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 | |
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20 stature | |
n.(高度)水平,(高度)境界,身高,身材 | |
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21 persuasive | |
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的 | |
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22 exhortation | |
n.劝告,规劝 | |
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23 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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24 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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25 utterances | |
n.发声( utterance的名词复数 );说话方式;语调;言论 | |
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26 labored | |
adj.吃力的,谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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27 treatise | |
n.专著;(专题)论文 | |
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28 treatises | |
n.专题著作,专题论文,专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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29 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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30 harmonious | |
adj.和睦的,调和的,和谐的,协调的 | |
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31 reverent | |
adj.恭敬的,虔诚的 | |
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32 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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33 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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34 cove | |
n.小海湾,小峡谷 | |
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35 founders | |
n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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36 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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37 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
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38 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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39 ballads | |
民歌,民谣,特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 ); 讴 | |
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40 magistrate | |
n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官 | |
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41 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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42 philosophical | |
adj.哲学家的,哲学上的,达观的 | |
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43 ethical | |
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44 asylum | |
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45 invaluable | |
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46 sterling | |
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47 commissioners | |
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48 illustrated | |
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49 placid | |
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50 conversed | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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51 graveyard | |
n.坟场 | |
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52 mound | |
n.土墩,堤,小山;v.筑堤,用土堆防卫 | |
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53 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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54 wrought | |
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55 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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56 untold | |
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57 throbbing | |
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58 aboriginal | |
adj.(指动植物)土生的,原产地的,土著的 | |
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59 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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60 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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61 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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62 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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63 travail | |
n.阵痛;努力 | |
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