Life, 1910-12-01 · page 39 of 108
Life — December 1, 1910 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical illustration depicts "Columbia" (personified America) recounting her colonial past. The caption presents her as a young, somewhat frivolous figure visiting stern Puritan cousins in New England during King Charles I's reign (1625-1649). The joke targets Puritan severity: Columbia was nearly burned as a witch—suggesting the Puritans' harsh intolerance and tendency toward persecution. The contrast between her fashionable, worldly appearance and their austere dress emphasizes cultural differences. The "froward child in sore need of the scriptural rod" phrase mocks Puritan rigidity and their impulse to discipline through punishment. This is early American satirical commentary on the Puritan founding legacy, presenting them as dangerously zealous ancestors.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE MEMOIRS OF COLUMBIA No 2 “IN THE REIGN OF KING CHARLES (FIRST OF THE NAME) I WENT TO VISIT MY COUSINS, THE PURITANS OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. . . . 1 FOUND THEM A DOUR COMPANY, WHO REGARDED ME ASKANCE, AND UNDERSTOOD ME BUT LITTLE, CONSIDERING ME A FROWARD CHILD IN SORE NEED OF THE SCRIPTURAL ROD. . . . INDEED, UPON ONE OC- CASION 1 BARELY ESCAPED DEING BURNT FOR A WiTcHt.”’