Show UNCOMMON AMERICANS A M E R I 1 C A N S 0 0 by elmo e viro IT news deppt Nep paper pt scott scot 0 watson union earliest rebel IN TN FRONT of the statehouse in in i boston stands the statue of a woman with a bible in her hand and a child snuggled against her the inscription on the monument tells you that this woman was a courageous exponent of civil liberty and religious tolerance but years ago massachusetts calling her by any such complimentary names in the year 1637 she was that proud dame that athaliah a notorious impostor imposter a instrument of the devell raised up by and a breeder of her esies for she was anne hutchinson the earliest rebel ir this country she became a leader of a group of people who fell fei under the displeasure of the stern puritans of massachusetts bay colony because these people held meetings in her house to discuss and criticize the sermons of the puritan cirii ministers s te rs they finally placed her on tr trial a 1 f for r heresy a trial that has leen compared to that of joan of arc at rouen under their questioning she proved herself more than a match fer her prosecutors but just at the moment when it seemed that she had defeated her accusers she burst forth into a long speech describing gods revelations to her thus she convicted herself and ter penalty was banishment from the colony but anne hutchinson was more than the first first defender of religious freedom in america she was our earliest feminist the meetings held in her house although primarily for religious discussion were the forerunners of thousands of meetings since her day wherever women gather together to imar improve ove themselves or the rest of the world so her house became the birthplace of the clubs of america after her banishment from massachusetts bay colony she went to that haven of religious freedom the colony of rhode island founded by roger williams there she lived until 1642 when left a widow she took her brood of children she had borne 14 to the dutch colony of new york where later she and all of her child children rn were killed but she had not lived in vain for civil liberty and religious toleration the principles for which she suffered exile and death are written into the constitution of the united states the nations jester HE LIE WAS baptized as charles 1 1 farrar browne but the whole nation once loved him and laughed with him under the name of artemus ward born in iriaine in 1834 browne served an apprenticeship in a print shop and then became a journeyman printer finally he wandered to cleveland ohio where he became a local reporter for the cleveland plain dealer and invented the character of artemus ward supposed to be a traveling showman writing to the paper to give information and to ask for it readers of that paper roared over artemus wards bad spelling and an humorous descriptions of his adventures and it was not long until browne got a call from new york to become editor of vanity fair a comic paper but this editorship did not last long tor for the wandering foot 0 of f the former journeyman printer pr inter soon began to assert itself he published artemus ward his book which had a phenomenal sale then he took to the lecture platform and artemus ward until now a fictitious character became a living reality to thousands of americans one of wards devoted devote d readers was aas president lincoln and his book played a role in an historic scene at the white houe hoube during the civil war in september 1862 lincoln called a meeting of his cabinet members whom he astonished by reading excerpts from wards book when they tailed failed to join in his laughter lincoln threw down the book and said gentlemen why dont you laugh with the fearful strain that is upon me night and day it if I 1 laugh I 1 should die and you need the medicine as much as I 1 do he then told them the real purpose of the meeting which was to reaca to them a paper he had prepared and which he proposed to issue when the time was ripe that paper was the emancipation proclamation la when he had finished reading it secretary stanton exclaimed mr president if reading chapters of artemus ward is a prelude to such a deed as this the book should be filed among the archives of the nation and the author canonized the author was never canonized but before he died in 1867 artemus ward had not only become americas favorite jester but he had won fame as a humorist in england such as no other american before him had bad ever known |