New-York tribune., 1867-09-07
NEW ENGLAND.

nv THE SFA-PLYMOUTH ROCK AND ,,nr,
vocK-CLARK'S ISLAND AND IIe nT |
sroNr-IsLAND sOCIETY-A TKACL VI
TuoKFAU-CAPT. STANDIsH AND MS NIL I'LL
pTywOUTH AND ITS CURIOslIIbo- -oEAi-'' |
SPRINGS, AND SPOONERlANA'
From OsB Correspondent a., 49,, o., ,oc-
p,,.,,o,,, Rock Is celebrated but for what actual
o1d ;nt,insic virtue, modern pilgrim may be per
,,;tted 10 question meager lump OF granite
oah;neted here on the wharves just below the nm
90 Promenade on the seaside of the town. IS all th'
remains of what New England is pleased to cohsiuei
her best geological specimen, her Noiilaplo N','
blarney stone. small monument "'.
IL over. and Just where VlsitolS "V
mitted TO STEP it is so jealously po'uuou IL No
lint little of the rock is left to be troddeh upon
its auality is to be discerned only Dy eA"ii,r'"O
This comes from the industry OF Ihe ppO-''
hoe worship of things great takes the petest way
nossible The famous stone has, indeed oecOIie
rock of pilgrims in the most poSseSslve SENSE lnoio
a. bout enouqh of it at present to suggest question
whether il could have been at any time OF the mag
ptude represented in pictorial history and whelhei
accordingly. any considerable number OF pilgrims
could have found landing or standingIoom upon ~
some centuries ago in md-Winter, as lmaglneu PoPu-
Iarlv. To q New England mind these are, OF course
nrenoserous doubts and tre withthe suDllme Oh MS
torv There OH the old wharf so Lethean IN ls looh
that the fat weed is scarcely wanting to complete the
picture; set in amid the dryest common places sur
rounded by shantylkc warehouses. gray, weather
beaten relics of an ancient bygone there, IKE tu'n
in its leaden casket, is New-Englands JeWel sIone
whence She dates all the ideas that have Fuii
tanized .and. of late, starthngy h'uo
heterodox this Emersonan and Thoreau-golng COM
munity The mystic stone is not in so respectaoo" "
condition "a TO deserve much blarneymg; put do
oorv Yankee now walks as if his own foot cOhlineu
a Popes toe the practice ought to be out ol iisio,i
Still the stock scenery and appointments Oh Ine olu
plorim drama are worth preserving, even It's VIC s0V
them ont of oratory and poetry. 10 De sure MIS-
Uemans Is little wrong II she refers 10
II il not certain that the breaking waves olu' III
deed dash high on a stern and rock-Douhu coas.
a. alleged in her renowned verses, OF lhat INC
woods" in strict truth, did toss their giant
branches" against stormy sky. Woods and stones
orc nlentv bereabout on hill and shore; but the
woods are dwarfsh and the stones too cobby, fear,
for poetic proprety But if the immediate shore OF
Plymouth is not rock bound and It's tame harDorage'
fenced from the sea by long outer beach, perl%Is %
no such oceanic rashness as that PctuI9u oI M, H.
Uemans still there powders ana DleahelS Vo to
peghborinq point south of uS-the sea emu Oh tio
ManOmet range of hills-large enough 10 coul'o
nance some liberty of imagination ,.-o,.or 20
There is another and prior clalnlaht noWtNcl; ~ 70
bistoricaI honors ClaTk's Island, which lies iouf
miles distant under shelter of the northern dic or
ia
of PIvmouth has ITS own undOubted pilgrim rock.
For the size and appearance OF thls nople ooMu NJ,
no apology is at all Necessary i tbe hest Of
tha many pulpit rocks with WniCir tIo Iatut"t !ht
scenery of Yankeeland abounds Here II was tliaS @
Elder brewster of santed memory, preacneu anu
rsTed to the first boats crew of adventures from
The May1ower on the Sunday previous 10 then idiu %
ing at Plymouth; so that tins Is ana WIS III iy so
Clark the mate of the MaytiOwer ana hIst ot w w
crew of pioneers, is immortalized oy te iSo an
the other gives out No Tec-chpper has % del9cGd @ S
imnregnabe integrity In very remote via pdls'
il might have been stone Oh sacIce II my NJ 1850, 9
soits rock was in the Manomet WOODS aI all eNenS
n was lust the rock for Elder Brewster TO pray OIL
real pulpit lifting its preacher skywaTd, WlIh%Gut %
branch or rafter TO obscure his VISION young ein
and ailontbus now trOpically shade brief part OF H.
which occupies nearly the center Ol IHe oV
acres more when the lSiaHu o ,es. oo.'I,T Int
fine short Grass of the island Is considered as goOo
posture as the coast affords and It's one farmhouse
is almost concealed by foliage III Is green lSle i ~
the sea truly; not so green art yet might make
it, or so giTt by marine tasclnatlOhs as giedieI u
tance out at sea might lend to IT, But It's hlgh alu
rocky shore and green hermitage, from Whlch ohe one
CON zee the ful charm of the crescent haIbOr with
lis three towns Plymouth, Kingston, ana DuApuy'
taking in all contained between & oG and D,de1y ~,
rocky shore of ManOnet ON the south, nave pecuia'
entertainments. The ProspeTo OF the Isle Is ofl.nI' #
eyed whitehaired bachelor, as hearty rs ne Is lel-
lirent Every Summer his sea seeking friends VISIT
him and his hermitage becomes sort OF caravan
Island society is OF mas DtCu iAiI9'
of social all-sorts: !: scholars from Cambridge ana
Concord among them Harvard PROFESSOR; IaIhtI- ;t
ite dvines, poets. journalists ana nj IlagaziS'S ~
worldly folk, CLOSED by reading ana g0od company
some true idealists whose names are seldom OIHeNei
seen in print and hgh-hying youngsters OF various
ages and seXes-all under one small root. Nlliage
Tnmor hes lent an air of transcendentasm. and
oddities in gown and pantaloons fllt about these
classic shades like so many ghosts PlatOnc pupils
m the groves of some island academe The island is
fair resort for clever company, that IS all ana Iol
tunately for those who do reach IL, Is n0t open
one day with his fOwling-plece, an old lett hat
over that tawny visage of his. lie was aiteT
golden plover Theodore Parker may have reached
Il on his way to Cape Cod where it was his delight
at times to swim. Charming, the poet, and fellow
vOyager of ThOreau. picked up an Indian relic mere
some time ago. One day Thoreau himself short,
broad awkward man, much in feature, am told, Ike
Mr. EmersOn-burst in upon his island friends. lie
had attempted TO walk across the harbOr bed between
here and Duxbury but within hundred feet OF land
had TO call out for dOry For once, the great wise
walker miscalculated his travel Inc Islahd Is hoI
less interesting for having entertained tins untamed
evangelist than for having heard Elder Brewster say
his prayers.
fine panorama of the main land-at sunset spenddly
illuminated and fixed far and deep amid the widest
contrasts of the hight that gores sea and land TO-
gether. The nearest and highest POINT is captain ;
Hill midway between Plymouth and DuXbury, ana
famous as the dwelling place OF Miles otandlSh' inc
la7ed himself so far from his colony when as may be
seen, the Indians IN any considerable number mignt
have cut him off at low water but Capt Standlsh
was terrible in war and godly in prayer. ,
Plymouth ever wears It's look of quiet wooden old
age Spite its dry structure 1t straggles along ITS
scawaid slope i'll very picturesque way. Set against
a cloudy background, the "Old colony, lseen from
the Clifford HOuse has a gray. ghosty look, and the
pilgrim houses seem TO be marching to Manomet
woods But sunset splendldly endows ITS summer
ewes and the town and haIboT have a wild beauty
not all their own. The Pilgrim burylng- ground
where Gov. Bradford and some other worthless are
buried the highest and most central part of the
town. and the outlet of BillngtOns Sea runs not far
of The Old Colony records, which are to be seen IN
the Court. are numerous enough, but yleld us lew
cnrded his protest in dne form at a notary pnblic's