143 



this spot for an example of those great virtues which caa alone give 

 stability to the state, and which are as immortal as human aspirations, 

 and man's highest desires. 



No wonder that the American mind has erected here one of its 

 great temples of worship. The high purpose and the immortal 

 thought of the Puritan have imparted to our nationality a greatness, 

 which shall endure through all decay and change, as the inspiration 

 of the prophets and wise men of old has outlived the temples and 

 groves which echoed to their divine words. The great American 

 poem was written here — the great American anthem was sung on 

 these shores. The spiritual sublimity which hovers over this spot — 

 what has it not done to give the American name glory and honor and 

 power in all the realm of thought ; what has it not done to give man- 

 kind new courage in all heroic effort. Let us then with large and 

 liberal hearts thank God for this great inheritance, and find here that 

 divine light, which, streaming across our laud, warms and irradiates, 

 and vitalizes all names and events that are dear to the American peo- 

 ple. Let then Plymouth stand as she has always stood, the central 

 figure around which the nobility of our land may cluster. Not as 

 rivals, but as compauious, let the sister colonies be called into her 

 presence ; and her glory shall be theirs also. And let us remember 

 that historj' has assigned the Puritan his position, from which he can- 

 not be dethroned ; and that the annals of America and the world could 

 better spare any other colony than that planted at Plymouth. 



The Hox. Thomas Eussell of Boston was introduced as Judge 

 Eussell, and came forward and said, he would rather be introduced as 

 Mr. Kussell of Plymouth. He then made some brief and very appro- 

 priate allusions to the localities of historical interest and closed his re- 

 marks in extending an invitation to all to accompany him on a tour of 

 inspection ; the limited time before the departure of the boat only 

 permitting a cursory view. 



At Plymouth Rock near the lauding, a handsome granite monument 

 is nearly completed ; a portion of the rock was removed some years 

 since ; placed in the area in front of Pilgrim Hall, and enclosed within 

 an iron fence, on which are inscribed the names of the signers of the 

 compact on board of the Mayflower, Nov. 21, 1G20. 



Cole's Hill is near by, where fifty-one of the Pilgrijns who died the 

 first winter were buried, and where the ground was sowed with grain, 

 that the Indians might not know the number of their dead. A short 

 distance beyond is Burying Hill, originally called Fort Hill (the first 

 defensive structure having been erected on its summit), an eminence 

 rising one hundred and sixty-five feet above the sea, which commands 



