But his aims were altogether generous. Freedom, the liberty of law, not
license; not indolence, work for himself and children, and all men, but
under genial and poetic influences;--these were his aims. How different
from those of the new settlers in general! And into his mind so long ago
shone steadily the two thoughts, now so prevalent in thinking and
aspiring minds, of "Resist not evil," and "Every man his own priest, and
the heart the only true church."
He has lost credit for sagacity from accidental circumstances. It does
not appear that his position was ill chosen, or his means
disproportioned to his ends, had he been sustained by funds from
England, as he had a right to expect. But through the profligacy of a
near relative, commissioned to collect these dues, he was disappointed
of them, and his paper protested and credit destroyed in our cities,
before he became aware of his danger.
Still, though more slowly and with more difficulty, he might have
succeeded in his designs. The English farmer might have made the English
settlement a model for good methods and good aims to all that region,
had not death prematurely cut short his plans.
I have wished to say these few words, because the veneration with which
I have been inspired for his character by those who knew him well,
makes me impatient of this careless blame being passed from mouth to
mouth and book, to book. Success is no test of a man's endeavor, and
Illinois will yet, I hope, regard this man, who knew so well what
_ought_ to be, as one of her true patriarchs, the Abraham of a promised
land.
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