New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-08-02
the President himself, am back here


each other and smiled. After a rest
at the Pilgrim Inn, the President and
his party attended tonight a perform
ance of Professor George Bakers pa
rcnnt, THE Pilgrim Spirit" Leaving
there, he boarded his yacht and put to
sea. In the morning he will go ashore
at Portland, Me-, and motor to the
lodge of Secretary and Mrs. Weeks,
near Lancaster, N. II. The length Of
the golfing vacation there has not been
determined, but it is expected to end
within week
Pays Tribute to Pilgrim Spirit
At the conclusion of the pageant
President Harding made the Following
statement:
at is beautiful and impressive
spectacle. but to every American man
and woman who sees 1t this pageant
must, I think, mean something more
than q mere historical spectacle, mag
nificent as the spectacle is. 1t is well
that we should be reminded at times
like these by collections in honor Of
stirring incidents in our rich history,
of the debt that we owe to those who
have gone before us and laid the
foundations of this great fabric which
is now nation of more than 100,000,000
souls. The pageant we have just seen
shows in vivid, spectacular form how
much we of to-day owe to that sturdy
Pilgrim spirit which the first founders
of our nation brought with them from
across the seas. / believe most firmly
that that stern, indomitabe spirit with
which the Pilgrims face>- The peris of
an unknown land for sake f conscience
represents that which is truest and
best in the America of to-
1Df
about the pageant, apart from the sheer
beauty of the spectacle and the artistry
with which it was presented, was the
fine manner in which the spiritual sig
nificance Of this tercentenary celebra-
ton vas brought about.
Of II me the pageant, indeed, this
whole day, has been an unforgettab]e
experience"
Whist the slgrims Brought Over
President Harding's address follow
in part:
"ro this end the Virginia shore were
transplanted the seeds of repyasenta-
tive democracy. the new ideals Of ma
tiol atty thr, ugh association and repre-
acneation, and there has developed
seemingly the most dcpendable form
of popular government ever witne ssed
in the world Perhaps this larger
achievement was not Intended by the
heroes of colonization. They we're
seeking freedom and found nationality
essent.al to its preservation. Destiny
pointed The way, and the hand of di-
vinity traced the course of God-in-
tended human advancement.
Here came the sturdy English mid
die class of yeomanry, burghers and
sqI'res, who chung to their ideals CT
representative government. At home
irb
the burdens which reaction was seek
ing to impose. Here they could have
free play and begin anew, and fashion
the temple Of freedom in a new land,
and they began what we call repubH-
can institutions. These institutions
are the agencies of highest freedom
which embody at once the centralized
authority strong enough to hold to-
gether great community and those
dominance to the intelligent will of free
people.
whether we reflect upon the re-
straints upon freedom which the fathers
imposed or measure the broader li5er4
ty under the law of to-day, here began
the reign of dependable public opinion,
which unfailingly is the law of highest
clvliI2atlon. One may not say whether
the Puritans at home would have been
able to work out such system if there
mad been no American colonies and the
colonial influence to react upon the
mother country. Doubtless the Eng
lish revolution, which came soon after
the settlement at Plymouth, would
have come even had there been no set
Element here. no Massachusetts, Bay
Colony, no Virginia Plantation. But it
is easy to believe that in the long
struggle after the restoration, the
fruits of the revolution, the strength
ened parliamentary institutions and
the RESERVATIONS of royal pre-ogative
were helped by the inf, ,nces of Co.
lonlal democracy.
THE community of free people of
our race, whether in Enrope or
Anne "a. in Africa or Australia, under
the northern or the southern skies.
whether held together by political ties
or by the yet more potent bonds of
common traditions, institutions, Ian
guage and blood, this community.
spread now to all quarters of the world.
was begun when Jamestown and Plym
outh were founded. 1t has carried it's
ideals wherever it has set it's stand
ard. IL has won recognition of those
ideals as The basis of social conduct.
Of community relations throughout the
world. Its work is not finished; but.
pray God, it has come triumphantly
through its determining ordeal! #
comes forth from that test, nerved
and heartened for further tasks: con
tdent, assured, reliant. None cues
tions either it's place or its right of
leadership; few doubt its destiny to
establish, under that divine guidance
which it has ever recognized, the
splendid structure of human brother
hood in peace and understanding.
I'VE cannot better express our rev
erence to-day than by sweeping aside
the errors, the failures, the disap-
pointmentss the betrayals of our day,
and plant here for all America and
all the world the standards of highest
Justice and real human brothe rhood.
This would add to the volume of re-
yoicing on earth and give echo to the
heavens of the nobler aspiration of
united mankind. 1t would dim no
torch of liberty which was lighted
here, but would set the world aglow
with new hopes, new confidence and
new exaltation.'