Be ye strong of hand and stout of heart . Here we stand on our own soil , which we have bought with our goods , which we have won with our swords , which we have cleared with our axes , which we have tilled with the sweat of our brows , which we have sanctified with our prayers to the God that brought us hither ! Who shall enslave us here ? What have we to do with this mitred prelate -- with this crowned king ? What have we to do with England ? '' Endicott gazed round at the excited countenances of the people , now full of his own spirit , and then turned suddenly to the standard-bearer , who stood close behind him . `` Officer , lower your banner , '' said he . The officer obeyed , and , brandishing his sword , Endicott thrust it through the cloth and with his left hand rent the red cross completely out of the banner . He then waved the tattered ensign above his head . `` Sacrilegious wretch ! '' cried the high-churchman in the pillory , unable longer to restrain himself ; `` thou hast rejected the symbol of our holy religion . '' `` Treason ! treason ! '' roared the royalist in the stocks . `` He hath defaced the king 's banner ! '' `` Before God and man I will avouch the deed , '' answered Endicott . -- `` Beat a flourish , drummer -- shout , soldiers and people -- in honor of the ensign of New England . Neither pope nor tyrant hath part in it now . '' With a cry of triumph the people gave their sanction to one of the boldest exploits which our history records . And for ever honored be the name of Endicott !
We look back through the mist of ages , and recognize in the rending of the red cross from New XXXXX 's banner the first omen of that deliverance which our fathers consummated after the bones of the stern Puritan had lain more than a century in the dust .
Endicott England God Treason countenances high-churchman pillory prelate royalist standard-bearer