Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-08-21

ProVlncetoWn, Mass, Aug. 20.-Tho
corner stone Of the Pilgrim memorial
monument was laid here today with
impressive ceremonies. President
Roosevelt delivered the principal ad-
dress of the occasion, paying a glow
ing tribute to the work of the Pilgrim
fathers and the impress they had
left on the nations life. The exercises
at the monument began with prayer,
after which the corner stone was laid
with Masonic rites. Governor Guild
introduced President Roosevelt who
spoke as follows:
The Presidents Speech.
The president said:
1t Is not too much to say that the
event commemorated by the monu-
ment which we have come here to
dedicate was one of those rare 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
destiny Of the whole world. Men of
other races, the Frenchman and the
Spaniard, 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 an over swelling
immigration from Ireland and from the
mainland of Europe; but 1t was the
Englishman who settled in Virginia
and the Englishman who settled in
Massachusetts who did most in shap-
ing the lines of our national develop
ment.
We cannot as a nation be too pro-
foundly grateful for the fact that the
Puritan has stamped his influence so
deeply on our national life. We need
have but scant patience with the men
who now rail at the Puritans faults.
They were evident, of course, for it Is
a quality of strong natures that their
failings, like their virtues, should
stand 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. Men must
be judged with reference to the age I'm
which they dwell, and the work they
have to do. The Puritans task was to
conquer q continent; not merely to
overrun II, but to settle 1t, to till 1t,
to build upon 1t high Industrial and
social life: and, while engaged in the
rough work of tanning the shaggy will
derness, at that very time also lay
deep the immovable foundations OF
our American system of civil, political
and religious liberty achieved throug
. the orderly process of law. This W;
the work allotted him to do; this l.
the work he did; and only a mast
spirit among men could have done it
We have travelled far since his day
That liberty of conscience which h
demanded for himself, we now realize
must he as freely accorded to others
as It is resolutely insisted upon fol
ourselves. The splendid qualities
which he left to his children, we 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 Pur-
itans would have deemed allen-wt
are all Americans together. We all
feel the same pride In the genesis
in the history of our people. and
therefore this shrine of Puritanism Is
one at which we all gather TO pay
homage, no matter from what country
our ancestors sprang.
We have gained some things that
the the Puritan had not--we Of this
general ton, we Of the twentieth CEN
tury, here In this great republic; but
we are also in danger of losing certain
things which the Puritan had and
which we can by no manner OF
means afford to lose. We have gained
a 10y of living which he had not, and
which Is a good thing for every peo-
pie to have and 10 develop. Let US
see 10 Il that we do not lose what l.
more important still that we do mol
lose the Purltan's iron sense Of duty
his unbending, unlinching will To dc
the right as II was given him to "a
see the right II Is a good thing thai
life should gain In sweetness. but onlS
provided that II does not lose In
strength, Ease and rest and pleas
ure are good things. but only II they
come az the reward OF work wei
done, Of a good fight we'll won. OF
strong effort resOlutely made and
: crowned by high achievement, The
life of mere pleasure. OF mere effort
less ease. Is as ignoble for a nation
as for an individual. The man is bul
a poor father who teaches his sons
that ease and pleasure should b.
their chief objects In life; the woman
who is mere petted toy incapable oi
serious purpose. shrinking from effOr
and duty. Is more pitlable than tn,
verlest overworked drudge. SO he Il
but a poor leadar of the people, bui
a poor national adviser, who seeks e
make the nation In any way subOrdl'
nate effort to ease, who would teach
the people not to prize az the Creates
blessing the chance to do any work
no matter how hard Il becomes theil
duty to do Il. To the sons OF th'
Purltans, II Is almost needles 10 sa,
that the lesson above all others which
Puritanlsm can teach this nation 4
the all-imp0rtance Of the resolut'
performance Of duty. III we are mer
we will pass BY with cOntemptuoui
dlsdaln alike the advisers who would
seek to lead as into the paths OF ig