He thus committed the error of his life in
undertaking to preach a religious reformation, without having the
resolution to face a martyrdom. But when he saw his mistake, the way in
which he retrieved himself showed a consummate knowledge of human nature
and of the men with whom he had to deal. Nor did he ever forget the
lesson. From that time forward he took care that no one should be able to
pick a flaw in his orthodoxy; and whatever he may have thought of much of
the policy of his party, he was always ready to defend it without
flinching.
Neither he nor Winthrop died too soon, for with the completion of the task
of organization the work that suited them was finished, and they were
unfit for that which remained to be done. An oligarchy, whose power rests
on faith and not on force, can only exist by extirpating all who openly
question their pretensions to preeminent sanctity; and neither of these
men belonged to the class of natural persecutors,--the one was too gentle,
the other too liberal. An example will show better than much argument how
little in accord either really was with that spirit which, in the regular
course of social development, had thenceforward to dominate over
Massachusetts.
Captain Partridge had fought for the Parliament, and reached Boston at the
beginning of the winter of 1645.
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