create a federation of independent towns which made their own
constitution without mentioning any king, and became one of the
corner-stones of American democracy. In May, 1638, Hooker
declared in a sermon before the General Court "that the choice of
public magistrates belongs unto the people by God's own
allowance," and "that they who have the power to appoint officers
and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set the bounds
and limitations of the power and place into which they call
them." The reason of this is: "Because the foundation of
authority is laid, firstly, in the free consent of the people."
This high discourse antedates the famous pamphlets on liberty by
Milton. It is a half-century earlier than Locke's "Treatise on
Government," a century and a quarter earlier than Rousseau's
"Contrat Social," and it precedes by one hundred and thirty-eight
years the American Declaration of Independence.

But the slightest acquaintance with colonial writings will reveal
the fact that such political radicalism as Thomas Hooker's was
accompanied by an equally striking conservatism in other
directions. One of these conservative traits was the pioneer's
respect for property, and particularly for the land cleared by
his own toil. Gladstone once spoke of possession of the soil as
the most important and most operative of all social facts.
Free-footed as the pioneer colonist was, he was disinclined to
part with his land without a substantial price for it. The land
at his disposal was practically illimitable, but he showed a very
English tenacity in safeguarding his hold upon his own portion.

Very English, likewise, was his attachment to the old country as
"home." The lighter and the more serious writings of the