St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-12-20

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Another land and other skies,
| Columbian hills have met ou. view
Adlcu Old Englands Shores alicu
Here at length ON feet shall rest
Hearts be free, and homes bc blrst"
The twcnty-second day of Dcccm.
Der is the anniversary of the landing
OF the Pilgrims at Plymouth. This
was an cventful era in the history of
the world. 1t was the day ON whicl,
New England dates her origin, and il
ought never to be forgotten or Lisre-
gardcd. If the Fourth of July, lI7G,
as in the estimation of the vencratcd
John Adams, is a day to be forever
commcmoratcd with meetings Of the
pcople,-with all the signs of general
rcjoicings,-how much more ought
the twenty-sccond Of December, 1920,
to he held in remembrance by the
descendants of the Pilgrims, they and
their successors f)rcvcr!
The history Of no people under the
sun can be compared to that of the
first settlers Of New England. Unin-
tlnenccd by motives of ambition, un-
swaycd by love Of conquest, they
abandoned all the attractions that
home and safety could offer for the
sole purpose of enjoying liberty of
conscicncc-of thinking and acting
according to their own convictions,
unrcstraincd hy the control of old &C.
clcsiastical and political institutions.
Behold them setting forth on their
new, dangerous enterprise ! Whose
check blanches-what eye grows dim
at the pcrils in their way? What
dire necessity drives them forth
Not the poverty which urges the starv-
ing lrishman to quit his native land
not like the Pole are they fugitivcs
from the stern requirements of mill.
tary tyranny--nor like the bluc-cycd
German of the present day do they
go to escape the burdens of unrcquitcd
labor. No. theirs is an impulse
more powerful and more sacred. 1t
is the still small voice of conscience,
bidding them go forth into the wilder
ness to worship the God of their IA
theirs in freedom and peace, accord
ing to their own convictions and in
their own way.
And who composed this devoted
band? It's related in the old mytholo-
gy that the Grccian goddess of wis
dom sprang from the head of Jupiter
completely armed and every way ma
ture. Quite as complete did New
England spring into existence. From
the first she was endowed with all the
attributes of society, with free insti-
tutions, with civil order, with just re-
gard for property and protection for
human rights.
The Pilgrims were no fanatics, no
outlaws, but orderly, wcll-informed, of
large experience, sagacious and wise.
True, they first went to Holland, but
lest their religion, their language and
even their name as Englishmen, (for
they still loved England, should be-
come extinct, they determined to seek
an asylum on British soil, though far
away from the land of their birth,
among savage tribes, and on rock
bound and inhospitable shores.
An ocean three thousand miles wide,
with its winds and it's waves, rolled
in vain between them and liberty.
They performed the grand enterprise,
and landed on this then uncultivated
shore, where on their first arrival they
found
The wilderness all before them, where TO choose
Their place Of rest, and Providence their guide"
Yet, the love of the familiar insti.
tutions and customs of ones native
land, the ycarning for kindred asso-
Citations, that home-sickncss of the
heart, which even the great Roman
orator could not suppress, are all OBJ
scrvablc in our ancestors. To salts.
fy these impulses they sought Ameri-
ca. On these distant shores they
would still be subjects of the same
king they would be Englishmen still F.;
their country would he the same ex-
lies no more, but part Of the Brit
ish Empire. The same flag that
waved over the fields of their fathers
fame would float over them, assuring
them of its protection. They were
proud Of the nation from which they
sprang. They would not suffer the
ties that bound them to the spot where
they were born to be entirely severed.
Englishmen they would live and die,
though in distant land, preserving
both their nationality and the Ian
guage Of their youth. And who is
not ready to thank them for this great