Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Biographical History of Massachusetts, Vol. 1: Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State
This ignorance was due not simply to the condescension which Mr. Lowell observes with which to his time all Europe regarded all America. It was the personal ignorance in each continent of the inhabitants of the other. Illustrations of this ignorance may be found even in Lord Chatham's well-known speech in which he re views the American State Papers and in Edmund Burke's acknowl edged surprise when he studied the resources Of New England. It is pathetic, indeed, to read in the diaries of the loyalists who took up their homes in London while the Revolution went on, that the men of England regarded them with a sort of pity, only too plainly expressed, and wondered what was their business in England.
Such considerations, although brie?y stated, are enough to account for the pride with which Massachusetts men look back on their own history. They have been encouraged in their pride in the history of the Commonwealth by thoughtful men in all parts of the world. Carlyle said truly that Democracy announced on Bunker Hill that she is born and will envelope the whole world. And in one way and another, that statement is assented to by the modern students of history. I was in London in 1859, when we heard the news of John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry. At that time the London Times was the most constant enemy of lib eral institutions; and yet that journal, in a leading editorial said, the sympathy of the people of Massachusetts has a title to the consideration of the world. NO community of which we have any knowledge approaches in enlightenment or morality to the inhab itants of this part of the Union.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
