this town which may be termed a prejudice. Still, it has its foundation in the nature of man, and will never be eradicated either by philosophy or ridicule. Xo New Englander who is willing to indulge Ids native feeling, can stand upon the rock where our ancestors set the first foot after their arrival on the American shore, without experiencing emotions very different from tho-c which are excited by any common object of the same nature. Xo Now Englander could be willing to have that rock buried and forgotten. Let him reason as much, as coldly, and as ingeniously as he pleases, he will still regard that spot with emotions wholly different from those which arc excited by other places of equal or even superior importance."

"Two hundred years ago the colony of Plymouth was one of the most important on the North American continent. Its chief town was the equal in rank with New Amsterdam and Boston. Jtj governors and magistrates were statesmen whose names are immortal. The acts of its Council, the wars in which it was engaged, the famines and pestilences it endured, and every event that affected its welfare and prosperity, are matters of which we read in the histories of the nation. The clas-ic names of Athens and Sparta, and even of Rotne itself, are not ruore familiar to the memory, than is that of Plymouth; and in the time to come there is no spot upon the earth that will possess in the hearts of men an interest more universal and enduring then (he Rock at which ended the long and weary voyage of the passengers of the Mayflower. We have all heard and read of Plymouth; the very mention of its naine sounds in our ears like the key-note of a national anthem of liberty.

"Five millions of us claim to have descended from its early

* Travels, Vol. II. 110.

colonists; there is hardly a day in all the year, in which we do not hear, or utter an allusion to Plymouth, or the Pilgrim Fathers, in sermon, oration, speech, or conversation, — we boast of the religion of the Puritans, and assert, what no one can deny, that the Pilgrim Fathers shaped the model which has given the form to our free institutions and government, and acknowledge the town of Plymouth to have been the birthplace of oar nation."

"We are singularly fortunate in having our whole national rise and progress lie within the limits of recorded time. What would be the price of Cadmus' journal upon the land of lost gods and godlike men, of Romulus' assignment of the two acres of land to each primeval citizen? Undoubtedly we owe as much to the settlers of Plymouth and Salem, as Greece and Rome professed to owe to their fabulous dynasties of kings. Bradford and Winthrop were in all respects quite as praiseworthy persons as Theseus and Numa.

"Plymouth is the oldest of the New England colonies, and to its early success may be traced the origin of all the others. It is the place where civilization and Christianity were first introduced into New England. It has been the scene of many a trial, and of the fulfilment of many a high resolve. It was here that the government, based on the will of the governed, was first established on the American continent, and the great principle, that all should obey such laws as a majority of the people should make, distinctly acknowledged. No people had so fully appreciated the rights of each member of the state; none had felt so deeply the great cause of humanity, or entertained such cheering hopes of human improvement. They were men of strong minds, and made a proper estimate of the value of their political and

* Harper's Magazine, Dec. 1853.

religious principles. They placed but little value on wealth or rank. They acted from higher motives than these afford. They had among them men of preeminent talents and character. As a civil magistrate, Bradford, the father of the colony, would by his sound good sense and elevated patriotism, have done honor to any age. Of the services of Brewster, we can hardly make too high an estimate. For twenty-four years he was the spiritual father and guide of the colony. He came with the Pilgrims, and with them he was willing to endure and suffer. Success was never to be despaired of when Standish led the way. The Winslows, Allerton, Alden, Hatherly, Prince, and Hinkley, were all good men and true, who in their efforts and sacrifices, had no other object in view than their country's good, and the progress of truth and rightIn their intercourse with the Indians, the people of the colony set a bright example of humanity, and the same sense of justice is here witnessed that pervaded all their public and private acts. Not a foot of soil was taken from them without their consent. Their treaty with Massasoit was most scrupulously observed. In their conduct toward the Quakers, they were comparatively mild and humane, preferring to let their errors be promulgated, and die unmolested, rather than make them martyrs by the prison or the gallows."

eousness.

Mistakes have sometimes been made by not distinguishing between the two colonies. During the time covered by the Memorial, Plymouth was a separate colony, and was governed by officers of their choice, and had not been united with Massachusetts, and was not until 1692. The planters of Massachusetts were not Pilgrims, but their proper designation was that of Puritans. The Pilgrims were "the old

* North American Review, Vol. L. p. 336, and on.

B

comers," the immigrants in the three first ships to Plymouth; the fugitives, the exiles, the wanderers, and the final settlers on the Rock.

"Through scenes of gloom and misery, the Pilgrims showed the way to an asylum for those who would go to the wilderness for the purity of religion, or the liberty of conscience. Accustomed in their native land to no more than a plain country life, and the innocent trade of husbandry, they set the example of colonizing New England, and formed the mould for the civil and religious character of its institutions. Enduring every hardship themselves, they were the servants of posterity, the benefactors of succeeding generations. In the history of the world many pages are devoted to commemorate the heroes who have besieged cities, subdued provinces, or overthrown empires. A colony is a better offering than a victory; the citizens of the United States should rather cherish the memory of those who founded a state on the basis of democratic liberty, -the fathers of the country, the men who, as they first trod the soil of the new world, scattered the seminal principles of republican freedom and national independence."

*

"The Pilgrims were actuated by that principle which has given the first impulse to all the great movements of the modern world, — I mean profound religious faith." "This is the spirit which in all ages has wrought the moral miracles of humanity."†

"The Pilgrim Fathers cannot be remembered too often or reverenced too deeply; — and that not as a mere matter of respect and gratitude to the dead, but for the improvement and instruction of the living. Rarely, indeed, has there been a moment in our history, when it was more important than

• Bancroft's History, Vol. I. 322.

t Edward Everett.

at this moment that the American people should remember, not merely the rock on which the Pilgrims landed, but the Rock in which they trusted, and should cherish and hold fast the principles which fitted them to become the fathers and founders of a great country. It will be well if we do not forget that the only safe and sure progress is the 'Pilgrim's Progress;'-a progress begun, continued, and ended in the fear of God, in respect for government, in the love of freedom, and in justice to all mankind. Let the descendants of the Pilgrims see to it, that their lives and practice are in keeping with the origin of which they are so justly proud, let them prove their title to hail from Plymouth Rock, not merely by genealogies and pedigrees, but by emblazoning the virtues and principles of the Pilgrims upon their own character and conduct. Then will our country be secure."

*

"The Sons and Daughters of New England. May their contributions to the true glory of the republic be ever exhibited in an unwavering fidelity to those principles of their Pilgrim fathers that were founded upon The Rock."|

We have made these quotations from distinguished men, (and we might add many others,) as evidence of the high and universal veneration with which are regarded the Character and Principles of our Pilgrim Fathers. In issuing this volume, we desire to perpetuate to future generations the knowledge of these men- their sufferings, their self-denial, their perseverance, which were the result of their unshaken confidence in God-their "firm belief that the Lord was with them, and that he would graciously prosper their endeavors, according to the simplicity of their hearts." They uttered these words with sincerity, embarked in a just cause, and succeeded. We may hope that many by reading this

* Robert C. Winthrop.

t Got. Clifford.