, 1907-08-20

in Short Distance Of Spot Where
They Landed from Mayfiower-
Liberal and Honest Profits Due to
Legitimate Promoters Of Industry.
Providence, Mass, Aug. 20.-The lay
ing of the corner stone of Cape Cod
Pilgrim Memorial monument, in the
presence of President Roosevelt, Gov
ernor Guild and many distinguished
guests, completed today the foundation
of one of the most imposing struc.
lures along the Atlantic coast, com
memorating the first landing, within a
few feet Of its base, of the Pilgrim
fathers. President Roosevelt, who wa
the principal speaker of the day, said
in part:
The Presidents Address,
1T is not toe much to say that the
event commemorated by the monu'
ment which we have come here to ded-
icate was one of those are events
which can in good faith be called OF
world Importance. The coming hither
of the Puritan three centuries ago
shaped the destinies Of this continent,
and therefore profoundly affected the
destinies of the whole world.
Men Before the Puritan.
Men Of other races, the Frenchman
and the S%paniard, the Dutchman, the
German, the Scotchman and the Swede,
made settlements within what is now
the United States, during the colonial
period Of our history and before the
Declaration Of Independence; and since
then there has been az ever-swelling
immigration from Ireland and from the
mainland of Europe; but it was the
Englishman who 8 ettled in Virginia
and the Englishman who settled IN
Massachusetts, who did most in shap-
ing the lines Of our national develop
ment.
Stamped His Influence.
We cannot as a nation be too pro-
foundry grateful for the fact that the
Puritan has stamped his influence 30
deeply on our national life. We need
have but scant patience with the men
who now rail at the Puritan's faults.
They were evident. of course, for 1t is
a quality of strong natures that their
out in bold relief; but there is nothing
easier than to belittle the great men
of the past by dwelling only on the
points where they come short OF the
universally recognized standards Of the
present.
Task for the Puritan.
Men must be judged with reference
to the age in which they dwell, and
the work they have to do. The Puri-
tan's task was to conquer a continent
not merely to overrun it, but to settle
it, to till it, to build upon it a high in
dustrial and social life; and, while e n
gagged in the rough work Of tanning the
shaggy wilderness, at that very time
also to lay deep the immOvable foun-
dations of our whole American system
of civil, political, and religious liberty
achieved through the orderly process
of law. This wal the work allotted
him to do; this is the work he did;
and only a master spirit among men
could have done 1t.
Forefather's Liberty Of Conscience.
I'VE have travelled far since his day.
That liberty of conscience which he de.
manded for himself, we now realize
must be as freely accorded to others
as it is resolutely insisted upon for
ourselves. The splendid qualities
which he left to his children, w other
Americans who are not OF Puritan
blood also claim as our heritage. You,
sons Of the Puritans. and we, who are
descended from races whom the Puri
tans would have deemed alien-we are
all Americans together. We all fee
the same pride in the genesis, In the
history, of our people; and Therefore
this shrine Of P~uritanism Is one al
which we all gather to pay homage
no matter from what country our an
cestors ,sprang.
Gained and May Lose.
We have gained some things thai
the Puritan had Motive of this gen
Grafton, we of the twentieth century
here in this great republic; but we arr
also In danger Of losing certain thing
which the Puritan had and which W
can BY no amer OF AFFORD t
lose. We have gained q Joy Of hvini
which he had not, and which it is
good thing for every people to hav'
and to develop. Let u . to It tina