When human faith and hope were ready to burst the fetters of long-time bondage, a handful of brave men and women rose superior to the ties of family and country and came to these shores seeking freedom to worship God. Their bold venture finds a parallel in the experience of Abraham, who for the sake of a pure religion left home and country and became the father of a great race to which all mankind is indebted for its grand theistic literature,—the words of patriarch and prophet that are to-day as never before helping to work out the divine purpose in the uplifting of mankind. The Pilgrim Fathers' concept of freedom was doubtless limited by the spirit of their time, but it was rooted in faith and held close to the Bible as containing the charter of human liberties.
The splendid monument erected at Plymouth, Mass., in memory of the Pilgrim Fathers, and completed in 1888, tells in a wonderful way what it was that inspired them to do and dare in the face of unparalleled privations and perils. On the main pedestal stands a colossal figure of Faith, holding in her left hand a Bible, while with the right uplifted she points to heaven. Beneath are four sculptured figures representing Morality, Law, Education, and Freedom. There are also many emblematic and historical figures on the monument, which help to tell the inspiring story of the founding of this Nation. One need not be ashamed to look at the monument through a mist of tears, and none should forget to be grateful for the forefathers' "sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty." Without these sacrifices and sufferings, and above all else the Pilgrims faith in God and reverence for the Bible, how poor would be the world to-day!
At a commemorative gathering held in Boston not long since, the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, speaking of the founders of the Nation, said, "They were idealists. They believed in God; they loved God, and as they loved Him they believed that His kingdom would certainly come. And they really meant that this town of Boston in which they lived should show all that is best in His kingdom." As Christian Scientists we see that the greatness of any people depends absolutely upon their recognition of Divine power and their obedience to Divine law. We rejoice that the true, the spiritual concept of Divine power and law has come to us in Christian Science, and that it should have come in New England is surely most fitting! That the early American ideal of freedom and of government has gone out into all the world with blessing no one denies, and that the message of Christian Science is reaching all mankind with even greater blessing is no less true, though it may not yet be so well known. Without the recognition of God's right hand this great government had not been, and only by a clear sense of God's law and obedience thereto can the Nation prosper and fulfil its glorious destiny.
