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[225] Weldinge, ‘we must expect a greater power from
Chap. XIV.} 1676
England, that would certainly be our ruin.’ Sarah Drummond remembered that England was divided into hostile factions for the duke of York and the duke of Monmouth. Taking from the ground a small stick, she broke it in twain, adding, ‘I fear the power of England no more than a broken straw.’ The relief from the hated navigation acts seemed certain. Now ‘we can build ships,’ it was urged, ‘and like New England trade to any part of the world.’1 The stout-hearted woman would not suffer a throb of fear in her bosom. In the greatest perils to which her husband was exposed, she confidently exclaimed, ‘We shall do well enough;’ continuing to encourage the people and inspire the soldiers with her own enthusiasm.2

After the lapse of a century, the same passions and the same legislation returned. The early legislators of America were near to nature, and set natural precedents. Connecticut had offered a model for a popular government; Virginia gave an example of a popular revolution. There is an analogy between early American politics and the earliest heroic poems. Both were spontaneous, and both had the vitality of truth. Long as natural affection endures, the poems of Homer will be read with delight; long as freedom lives on earth, the early models of popular legislation and action in America will be admired. The present effort wins new interest from its failure. The flag of freedom was unfurled only to be stained with blood; the accents of liberty were uttered only to be choked by executions.

1 Compare Bonds, &c. pp. 110 and 89.

2 Bonds, &c. p. 89.

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