Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1920-11-23


that we never relinquished. 1t was
no holy pilgrimage like that Of Ply
mouth. They who came to Maine in
1907, thirteen years prior to the Pill
grims, were gentlemen adventures,
seeking new worlds to conquer. new
fields to till. new harvests to crop.
Neither persecution, nor intolerance,
nor creed. sent them forth. They
came to establish thrift, and to.ffind
abundance on shores that are the
fairest in summer and the bleakest in
winter in all our domain. We ac-
knowledge the failure of that colony,
which included among its members
such blood as the Raleighs, the Gill
berts: but We hold that from that
colony of Popham there remained be-
hind the seed of several unconquer-
able souls that assimilated with the
Indians and gave Samoset the i'm
pulse and the knowledge of English
speech to walk through the. woods
from Pemaquid to Plymouth, and
say Welcome Englishmen" to the
homesick colony of Bradford in their
winter of hardship and doubt. That
colony prepared the way for the
Landing.
But do not insist on this. hold
no brief for the ardent historians of
my State of Maine who yearly re-
count the tale and weave into it the
myth and tradition of towns and
cities lost and buried along our deep
bayed shores. We enjoy it merely as
a matter of pride in statehood, and
as sort Of indoor sport. And in a
practical way it does good: for it
serves merely to emphasize the glory
of the epic voyage. ofhthirteen years
later-that coming of the Mayflower,
the most potent movement of civili-
cation that history records since Mo-
ses led the children of Israel out Of
the bondage of Pharoah into the
Promised Land What folly it
would be for us seriously to disturb
the courts of history, even IL we
could. What a mistake to raise q
dust about the lowly and refulgene
beds Of that brave crew that too Oft
en- we classify as merely hardened
ascetics or soured refugees from the
personal nnnoyances of an uncom-
Portable church row. Nay! Not ref
ugees. but Pilgrims! led by the hand
Of the Lord God Almighty. sped forth
Upon wintry seas by the same sort Of
Divine impulse as speeds the homing
bird when II takes the long slant
down the winds Of Labrador. not
knowing altogether why It goea, but
yet going forth Into tho night and
the unknown in obedience 10 the
great Divine law of the evolution of
the Universe.
This. my friends is how I.pPefor to
consider the May1ower embarisatlon
from Holland and tho Pilgrim set
Element on our New England Coast
not az human impulse merely, but
as q part of tho great plan OF tho de-
relopmoat OF human society: as a
part Of, that plan Ia manifest in the
mysterious moriras Of peop:oa over
tho face OF tho oarth. a plan at ono
with the plan that sot the stars In
the sky, tho moon upon her pale
courses. and the sun in tho immedi-
alto dawn. and that. thank God!
works thus silently and myster;ouriy
TO settle our own little problems eycn
in tho midst of our worry forebodings.
But nn said q moment aso. pro-
fer not to be categorical. or pretend
to any profund:ty In THO natter or
the birthright of three hundred yea 4,
ago. l only know that they have
spread fine civilization over q very
fair land, and that their seed has
leavened America. do net know
how many of you who BIT at these
tables tonight think back to. New
England farm as the home of your
childhood. To such as do, l can wish
no better heritage than your blessed
memories. The coast that Mira, He
mans SO extrave gantly beiied in her
song as stern and rock bound, ia in
reality as fair an ever was eupped by
the hand OF the sea, and our fields
and pastures. our hiiia and valleys,
blossoming into glory. make no apoi-
ogies to the Garden of Eden. Wheth .
or they are In the emefaids of spring.
or gay with summer flowers, or in
the autumn. scarlet as the lips of the
woman in the Song of Solomon, or
white beneath the winter moon, they
are alike beautiful. We who live up
there ask for no Pasadenas, and no
F1oridas. and wo have little synpa-
thy for the so-called sufferings Of
the Pilgrims in the climate of Ply
mouth. What they got did them
good. They We're Heaven sent to
that land. and they owed 1t much.
1t Is Il truism that peoples partake Of
their environment. The hardy soil
and climate breed hearty folk. The
Puritan stock partook, therefore, of
the granite~Of our hills. and there in
land where man must fight to
live. and along the coast where men
and women today wrest their living
from the seas. venturing forth fog or
fine In tiny boats, and homine at
night by the light In the window, was
bred people that canhever be mis-
led by false doctrines, OF betrayed
into mistaking the truth Of the edict
that by the sweat of our brow shall
we earn our bread. ] may be wrong
cbout 1t. but 1 feel that we shall
continue to rely largely on that PurI-
tan blood for season at least. Its
rugged fixity of purpose; its rigid ad-
herence to the moral and spiritual
law: It's regard for the law of Courts
and precedence: Its undying loyalty
to our institutions: Its sure follow
ing along the pathway of its con-
science: its regard for the rights of
others; and it's proper appreciation
Of duty. as superior to right, are all
of the stuff of which a great nation