The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-08-07
PLYMOUTH AND THE PILGRIMS

PLYMOUTH AND THE PILGRIMS.
The Pilgrims have made SO much noise
in the world, and SO powerfully affected
the continent, mat our tourists were sur
prised to find they had landed in such a
quiet place, and that the spirit they have
left behind them is one of such tranquil
ity. The village has charm all its own.
The houses are old-fashioned and square,
with colonial doors and porches, irregu-
larly aligned on the main street, which
is arched by ancient and stately elms. In
the spacious door-yards the lindens have
had room and time to expand, and in the
beds of bloom the flowers, if not the very
ones that our grandmothers planted, are
the sorts that they loyed. Showing that
the town has grown in sympathy with
human needs and eccentricities, and is
not the work of surveyor, the streets
are irregular, forming picturesque angles
and open spaces. Nothing could be i'm
agiued in greater contrast to a Western
town, and good part of the satisfaction
our tourists experienced was in the ab-
sence of anything Western or "Queen
Anne" in the architecture.
In the Pilgrim Hall-a stone structure
with an homogeneous wooden pillared
front-they came into the very presence
of the early worthless, saw their portraits
on the walls, sat in their chairs, admired
the solidity of their shoes, and imbued
themselves with the spirit of the relics of
their heroic, uncomfortable lives. In the
town there was nothing to disturb the Sc
renity of mind acquired by this commun-
ion. The Puritan interdict of unseemly
excitement still prevailed, and the streets
were silent; the artist, who could compare
it with the placidity of Holland towns,
declared that he never walked in vii
lage so silent; there was no loud talking;
and even the children played without
noise, like little Pilgrims. God bless such
children, and increase their numbers 1t
might have been the approach of Sunday
III DuHudy 10 Sbili icSaiuCo III cdbboin
Massachusetts caused this hush,
for it was now toward sunset on Satur-
day, and the inhabitants we're washing
the windows and the fronts of the houses
with the hose, showing how cleanliness is
next to silence.
Possessed with the spirit of peace, our
-. Ic lo.1 haa xsa1r 1tk I.
the passions of many watering places,
walked down Legion street (the first
that was laid out), saw the site of the first
house, and turned round Carver street
walking lingeringly, so as not to break
the spell, out upon the hill--Cole's Hill
where the dead during the first fearful
winter were buried. This has been con-
verted into beautiful esplanade, erased
and gravelled and furnished with seats,
and overlooks the old wharves, some coal
schooners, and shabby buildings, on one
of which is a sign informing the reck-
less that they can obtain their clam
chowder and ice cream. and the ugly,
heavy granite canopy erected over the
"Rock." No reverent person can see this
rock for the first time without thrill of
excitement. 1t has the date of 1920 cut
in it, and it is a good deal cracked and
patched up, as il it had been much landed
on, but there it is, and there it will re-
main witness to great historic event,
unless somebody takes notion 10 cart it
of up town again. 1t is stid to rest on