New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-01
TIE PLYMOUTH MONUMENT,


THE PLYMOUTH MONUMENT.
Thirty-six years have been required for the
completion of the monument to be dedicated
at Plymouth day. The project first assumed
definite form 10 meeting of the Pilgrim So
ciety in 1863 The cornerstone was laid on
August /, 1859, the design for the monument
having been accepted and beginning made
with subscription lists in New-England. For
many years interest in the project languished'
and repeated efforts on the part Of the Pilgrim
Society to increase the fund were unsuccessful.
A native of Plymouth, Oliver AmeS, assumed
the expense of providing the colossal figure of
Faith surmounting the granite pedestal -Four
statues Of heroic size for the buttresseS pro-
jecting from the smaller faces of the pedestal
went begging with the altO-relef tablets below
them. The Massachusetts Legislature was pre-
vailed upon to vote an appropriation for the
statue of Morality; Roland Mather, of Hart
ford, contributed a companion figure and panel !;
the bar associations of the country after siren
uouS eXertiOnS furnished the statue of Law; the
National Government gave the last heroic tig-
ure, that of Freedom, and the remaining panels
were supplied by Connecticut and individual
subscriptions. The monument as completed is
thus a composite memorial of National, State
and private munihcence. The interval between
WebSterS two orations at the laying of the
cornerstone and the dedication of the Bunker
Hill obelisk was eighteen years. The menu
ment to the Pilgrims, while costing $40, 900
less has occupied twice as much time from the
first to the last stage
While the completion Of this massive granite
pedestal with its emblematic figures and soulpt-
ured tablets has long been deferred, the men,
DRY of the Pilgrim Fathers has not suffered
from neglect The New England Society with
it's numerous branches has f1ouiished during the
last generation, and Forefathers' Day has been
COMMUNICATED with feastng and oratory and
with ever-increasing heartineSs and depth Of
feeling. Once year Carver, Brewster Brad
ford, Winslew and Standsh are apOStrOphized
in after dinner eloqucnce as " Plutarch'S men,
and Go the accompaniment of jingling glasses
and AnglO-SaXon cheers the changes are rung
upon the heroic constancy, the inhexible pur
pose. the loyalty to principle and the republican
simplicity of those earliest voyagers from Delft
Haven. Many vessel sailed from the Old
World to the New with pioneer colonistS, re-
ligiouS refugees and rowing adventures, but
the Mayfiower is the only name that is treas
uied by the American people. The Pilgrim
Fathers, on the principle of the survival of the
littest, loom up in historic Immortality out Of
the obTurity of forgotten colonial annals, and
are known and honored by Nation strangely
deficient in reverence for the past.
While pre-eminence has been accorded to
the men of the Mayflower in the remembrance
of poS,crity there has been no fitting memorial
on the bleak but beautiful stretch OF New
England coast where they landed, suffered the
agoneS Of privation and established in their
own way the foundations Of American liberty.
Coles Hill, where one-half of their number
were buried during the first winter, has not lost
it's identity; the remains of the historic rock
have been protected by granite canopy and
Plymouth Hall and colonial curiosity -sh op
have been chief among the town shows; but
these have been mcagre memorials of the
Puritan fOrcfathers who left lasting impress
upon WEngland character. The monu-
ment TO be unveiled to-day commentaries in
chaste and sympathetic spirit the principles
for which they stood as they diSembarked from
their storm-rocked vessel. The colossal statue
of Faith, with the open Bible in one hand while
the ether is uplifted to heaven, symbolizes the
supreme force that swayed their fortunes The
attendant figures Morality Education, Free
dom and Law, aIe embematc Of the ethical
purity and civic virtues of the men who signed
the social compact in the cabin Of the May
Hover and aSpired to found free and moral
Commonwealth in the New England wilder
ness. Honored names are on the pedestal, and
sculptured tablets represent the chief scenes of
their careers-the embarkation, the compact
the landing and the first treaty with the In
dams; but overshadowing all are the embodi-
ments of those immutable principles which
lifted them above the level of their privations
and disappointments and enabled their heroic
spirits to soar with serene and constant pOise
in the higher atmosphere of faith and hope.