place of our forefathers on the 22d of December. 1620. Its Indian name was Patuxet. Plymouth lies 35 miles S. E. by S.-from Boston : N. lat. 41° 57' 30". W. Ion. 70° 40' 45". Population, 1830, 4,384; 1837, 5,034.‘ Incorporated, 1620.
“Plymouth was the first town .built in New England by civilized man ; and those by whom it was built were inferior in worth to no body of men, whose names are recorded in history, during the last seventeen hundred years. A kind oi vener- ablcness, arising from these facts, attaches to this town, which may be termed a prejudice. Still, it has its foundation in the-nature of man, and will nevgr be.eradicated either by philosophy or ridicule. No New Englander, who is willing to indulge his native feelings, can stand upon the rock, where our an- cestors set the first foot after their arrival on the American shore, without experiencing emotions very different from those which are ex- cited by any common object of the same nature. No New Englander could be willing to have that rock buried and forgotten. Let him reason as much, as. coldly, and as ingeniously as he pleases, he will still regard that spot with emotions wholly different from those which are.excited by otherplacesof equal or even superior importance. We cannot wish this trait in tbe human character obliterated. In a higher state of being, where truth is uni- versally as well as cordially embrac- ed, and virtue controls without a rival, this prejudice, if it must be called by that name, will become useless, and may, therefore, be safely discarded. Butin our pres- ent condition, every attachment, which is innocent, has its use, and contributes both to fix and to soften man. When we call to mind the history of their sufferings on both sides of the Atlantic, when we re- member their pre-eminent patience, their unspotted piety, their immove- able fortitude, their undaunted re- solution, their love to each other, their justice and humanity to the savages, and there freedom from all those stains which elsewhere spot- ted the character even of their com- panions in affliction, we cannot but view them as illustrious brothers, claiming the veneration and ap- plause of jail their posterity. |
The institutions, civil, literary, and religious, by which New Eng- land is distinguished on this side the Atlantic, began here. Here the manner of holding lands in free soccage, now universal in this coun- try, commenced. Here the right of sufferage was imparted to every citizen, to every inhabitant not dis- qualified by poverty or vice. Here was formed the first establishment of towns, of the local legislature, which is called a town meeting, and of the peculiar town executive,
; styled the selectmen. Here the
first parochial school was set up, and the system originated for com- municating to every child in the community the knowledge of read- ing, writing, and arithmetic. Here, also, the first building was erected for the worship of God; the first religious assembly gathered; and the first miuister called and settled, by the voice of the church and con- gregation. On these simple found- ations has since been erected a structure of good order, peace, lib- erty, knowledge, morals and relig- ion, with which nothing on this side the Atlantic can bear a remote com- parison.”
The land in this town is generally hilly, and sandy ; but there is a border of considerable extent on the sea board,having been well cul- tivated, consisting of a rich loamy soil, and capable of yielding large crops.
The town is watered by Eel and Wonkinqua rivers, Town, Willings- ly and Double brooks, and more than 200’ponds, the largest of which is called Millington Sea. “This |