Page:Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs (Volume One).djvu/191

Rh include at least all the territory within the jurisdiction of the thirteen colonies. For even at a much later period there were men of exalted attainments who doubted the applicability of the republican principle to large sections of territory, and who would have sought in the division of the country, or in the establishment of what was then deemed a stronger government that security which they did not expect in an American republic.

The revolution through the town governments had three principal points of support. First, popular intelligence; secondly, the influence of the clergy; thirdly, the possession of land.

The age of the Revolution was an intelligent, thinking age. It cannot be considered as one of refinement, but there was a great degree of original, independent, manly, intellectual activity. It was an age of great men, both in this country and England. It could boast of the Pitts, Burke, Fox and Sheridan; of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, the Adamses, Patrick Henry and the Lees. It was an age of useful intelligence, of eminent practical wisdom. The leading minds of a country to some extent represent its general characteristics. A popular sentiment which sustained with fidelity the measures of non-intercourse, of resistance and of war; which gave a generous, affectionate, intelligent support to the leaders of the Revolution, must have been liberal, sagacious and honest. The common-school system had been in operation more than a century and a quarter, and under its influence the patriotism of the Revolution was highly intelligent.

The clergy generally were warm supporters of the war. Most of them were graduates of Harvard College, whose influence was always on the patriot side. The influence of the clergy was very great in New England; hence the two most powerful springs of human action, religious and political enthusiasm, were blended in the breasts of our fathers.