THE
PROCEEDI N G S
AT THE
CUSHMAN CELEBRATION,
AT IPILY'XTIITH, AkUGU.TST 15, 18S5,
IN
C OMMEMORATION
OF THE
EMBARKATION OF THE PLYMOUTH PILGRIMS
FROM SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND;
TOGETHER WITH AN
3to0lut of tfe ittb is at tJt  riabt
OF
ELDER THOMAS CUSHMAN,
August 16, 1855.
BOSTON:
J. M. HEWES, PRINTER, 81 CORNHILL.
1855.




AT a meeting of the descendants of ROBERT CUSHMAN, the Pilgrim,
held in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, on the 15th of August, 1855,
Voted, That Dr. NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF of Boston, and Hon.
HENRY WV. CUSHMAN of Bernardston, be requested to prepare and publish
the proceedings of the Cushman Celebration.




INTRODUCTION.o
THE following pages appear in print in accordance with the
votes of those members of the Cushman family who were present
at Plymouth on the occasion of the family gathering for celebrating the 235th anniversary of the day when ROBERT CUSHMAN,
the progenitor of the family, embarked from England to try his
fortune in a new world.
It may not be improper to state here, very briefly, some of the
leading steps in achieving the great project of our forefathers,
in which Mr. Cushman took a very active and conspicuous part, and
which resulted in the settlement of New England, and the establishment in America of the most liberal government in the known
world.
Our Pilgrim Fathers, who had very early in the seventeenth
century sought in Holland peace and shelter from the intolerant
bigotry that existed in their native England, began to think in
earnest of transporting themselves and families to the New World,
that they might there worship God in their own manner and according to the dictates of their own hearts, unbiassed by the controlling influences of the priests and bishops of established
churches. Firm in this intention they, in the year 1617, sent
to England Robert Cushman, one of their most prominent men,
and John Carver, a deacon among them, to see what arrange



iv                     INTRODUCTION.
ments could be made with the Virginia Company, who held large
tracts of land under the royal seal, towards procuring a competent
grant of territory for a new colony to be settled by them. These
agents were also instructed to obtain from the king, if possible, a
right to enjoy, in their contemplated habitation, the liberty of conscience, a denial of which had previously driven them from the
land of their nativity. After an attendance of several months in
England, these gentlemen returned to Leyden in the year 1618
without having effected their purpose. In consequence of this
defeat, it became necessary to make another trial, and Mr. Cushman and Elder William Brewster were selected to act as agents
in the second attempt. This agency was not altogether unavailing, for although an useless patent was obtained at that time, yet
the agents by their prudence, manliness, and correct deportment
gained many friends in England, and established a character for
themselves and their undertaking which proved of great advantage to those connected with the enterprise who subsequently
came to New England.
After long and tedious negotiations, wherein the prudence and
skill of Mr. Cushman were of incalculable service, arrangements
were made in London for the transportation of the adventurers to
America, and Mr. Cushman and Deacon Carver, that excellent
man, who afterwards became the first Governor 6f the Plymouth
Colony, were charged with the duty of procuring vessels for the
enterprise and of providing for the voyage.
It was at this time, in June, 1620, that Mr. Cushman procured
in London the famous May Flower, in which he soon afterwards
proceeded to Southampton, where his associate, Mr. Carver, was
assisting in making other necessary arrangements.  But it was
not until the 5th of August, 1620, (the 15th day of the month
according to the present style of reckoning time,) that the Pil



INTRODUCTION.                     V
grims, then including Mr. Cushman in their number, were ready
for embarkation, and actually made the attempt from Southampton. This fact determined what day was most proper to be
selected for the Cushman Celebration.
The sun of this glorious day, in the middle of the pleasantest
month of the year, undoubtedly rose to the anxious Pilgrims, having hopes and fears which we of the present day and generation,
enjoying the results of their hardships and sufferings, cannot well
imagine. Whatever may have been the emotions and desires of
Cushman at that time, he was destined to be disappointed; for in
consequence of circumstances not within his control, nor to be
guarded against by his foresight,-the leakage of a smaller vessel,
not provided by him, but obtained by the other Pilgrims in Leyden to accompany the May Flower, and other causes,-the whole
company of emigrants were obliged to put back from their voyage
into the harbor of Plymouth,-a port about 150 miles distant
from the place of their embarkation; where, upon due consultation and deliberation, it was determined that the smaller vessel
should be abandoned, and, consequently, that a portion of the adventurers should be left in England until another opportunity
should offer for their transportation to America. Mr. Cushman
was selected from among the principal men among the Pilgrims
to remain in England with those whose lot it was to be left
behind, undoubtedly in consequence of his peculiar adaptedness
for the purpose, and because he could, at the same time, be looking after the general interests of the Colonists, and more especially
as he was the most suitable of their number to provide another vessel for effecting in a short time their transportation.  This duty
he subsequently performed by procuring the Fortune, which left
England in July, 1621, and arrived in New England on the 9th
day of the next November.  In this last named vessel came




Vi                    INTRODUCTION.
Mr. Cushman, bringing with him his son Thomas, —as: far as
can be ascertained an only child and motherless, —then a youth
of about thirteen years of age; but, subsequently, as all will learn
by reading attentively the family history, a favorite with the good
men of the Plymouth Colony, and for many years the Ruling
Elder of the first Christian Church established in New England.
When the father set sail for London on the 13th of the next
month, —never to revisit the land of the Pilgrims, as the event
proved,-returning in compliance with the wishes of the Merchant
Adventurers in England, who required him to report to them by
word of:mouth the true state of matters in the Plantation, he left
his son in the care of Governor Bradford, for the completion of
his education, a trust that was well performed, as the history of
his well-spent life shows.
From the year 1617 until the time of his decease in 1625, Mr.
Cushman was the principal agent in England for the Colonists,
both while in Holland and in America. His attendance at Court,
for which he was perhaps better adapted than any other of the
Pilgrims, gave him a knowledge of business far exceeding that of
any of those with whom he was associated, and enabled him to
conduct the affairs of the adventurers with more success than
could otherwise have been done. True, in some matters he did
not at first accomplish the desires of those for whom he acted as
agent, for he was not able to perform impossibilities. In making
conditions with the Merchant Adventurers in London, he was
obliged to yield certain points which much displeased Bradford
and other of the Pilgrims, who expected more than could possibly
be obtained, and who, in his situation, would have been obliged
undoubtedly to have submitted to harder terms or have failed
entirely. Bradford and others soon found out this, when similar
negotiations had to be entered into by them with King James




INTRODUCTION.                   Vii
and the Merchant Adventurers. It was one thing to trade with
half-starved savages, and another to conduct skilfully important
and perplexing negotiations with men of talent and education,
who had made matters of diplomacy the business of their lives.
As Cushman was the agent or " right hand" of the Colonists
with the Merchant Adventurers in London, so was Isaac Allerton,
the father of Mary Cushman, the Elder's wife, the New England
agent for many years for the same party. Five several times
he was sent to England in the employ of the Colonists, and in
each instance performed for his employers valuable services.
Although at times the excellent Cushman, knowing better than
his associates the difficulties to be overcome in England in obtaining necessary grants and privileges, and the extreme perils of the
sea, and the hardships to be borne in a new country peopled
with savages and not yet subdued to cultivation, exhibited great
depression of spirits; nevertheless he was determined to the last
moments of his life to make New England his home. When the
May Flower sailed for its voyage, the dangers to be encountered
and the obstacles to be overcome were unknown to the Pilgrims;
but when Cushman started for the new world in the Fortune —the
immediate successor of the May Flower, which had then returned
from Plymouth with tidings from the Pilgrims-he knew that half
of those who had preceded him were numbered with the dead.
What stronger proof of his courage and devotedness could there
be than that with this knowledge he should venture, with his only
child, to almost certain death?
Before closing these remarks, it is due to all to express, in
behalf of those present at the gathering, the great satisfaction
that resulted from the Celebration at Plymouth. The unbounded
hospitality of the inhabitants, who opened their houses to the free
use of their visitors, and who provided every thing that could in




Viii                   INTRODUCTION.
the least contribute to the success of the "' Cushman Pilgrimage,s"
fully identifies the present generation of sojourners on Pilgrim
soil as the lineal descendants of those who signed the noblespirited compact on board the world renowned May Flower, and
merits the warmest commendations of all who claim to be sons of
the Pilgrims.
The gathering of the descendants of Robert Cushman on this
occasion, coming as they did from almost every part of the United
States, will ever be remembered by those who were present at
the highly interesting services, as one of the most agreeable
events of their lives; and in the annals of Plymouth will exhibit
another instance of the filial piety of those who have descended
from the May Flower Forefathers.
AUGUST, 1855.




DISO  UJRSE,
E. RO BERT W. CUSHMAN,..Y
REV. ROBERT W. CUSHMAN, D.D.




PLYMOUTH'S ROCK:
"' THE ROCK WHENCE WE WERE HIEWN."




DISCOURSE.
FATHERS and mothers, brothers and sisters, kindred
all, we bid you welcome home!
We have come to talk of the olden time.  We have
come to honor the dead; and to bear away with us, if
we may, some benefit from such filial homage for ourselves
and for our children.
How unwonted our emotions: strangers looking upon
each other for the first time, yet one family! As we
think of home and childhood, our memories fly over the
broad continent; to alight, some, among the wintry hills
of New -Iampshire, and others amid the savannahs of the
sunny South; some on the banks of the Kennebec, and
others where the father of waters rolls the tribute of a
thousand rivers to the sea.
Yet the time was when the blood which flows in our
veins was centered in a single household near the spot
where we are now gathered. And when the Sabbath
called them from the domestic to the public altar, they
worshiped where we stand.
It is fitting that, on the occasion which has brought us
to visit the old family homestead and the old family
tomb, we should gather where they gathered,  It is




4
fitting that our first act in this re-union should be a
solemn recognition of our fathers' God, and an acknowledgment of our obligation to Him for the blessings which
we enjoy as the fruit of their piety and sacrifices.
And now that we have joined in worship, before we go
up to press around the time-worn graves of our earliest
dead, let us open the old Pilgrim Bible and seek, as they
were wont to seek on all public occasions, a channel for
our thoughts from the word of God. And, as we have
come to talk of family affairs, the text that may, perhaps, most fitly guide us is that of the command in the
first and second verses of the fifty-first chapter of Isaiah.
" Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the
hole of the pit whence ye are digged.  Look unto
Abraham, your father, and to Sarah that bear you: for
I called him alone and blessed him and increased him."
On an ordinary occasion of religious instruction, a
freer scope might be indulged on the subject matter of
this text than time will permit on this.  We may remark,
however, that we are happily not in the condition of those
to whom  it was addressed.  They were about to pass
through the calamities which are involved in the loss of
country and freedom. These, even they " who followed
after righteousness" were to suffer, in the chastisement
that was to be visited on the nation's sins. The providence
of God is not so discriminating in national visitations as
to rescue the innocent from the calamities of the guilty.
If locust and canker-worm, if blasting and mildew cover
a land, or earthquakes upheave and tornadoes sweep it;
if pestilence thin its people, if famine waste its strength;
or if despotism triumph and liberty fall, the righteous
must suffer with the wicked.  But then it is their privilege to recognize the I-land that holds the rod, and to
hear a voice assuring them that they are not forgotten.




5
In the case of the righteous, to whom the prophet
spoke, there was a special ground of hope. Sinful as
their nation was, —-" a people laden with iniquity,"it had a destiny to fulfil which forbade its extinction.
Chastised it must be, but not destroyed, for there was a
blessing wrapped up in its nationality for the rest of
mankind.  When, therefore, the predicted calamity
should overtake them, and they should be driven out
from their own land into exile and bondage, and the
dark cloud of judgment be shutting down on their future,
the pious were directed to look to the past.  They might
thus re-assure their hopes by the circumstances of their
nation's origin; and by the promises made to their progenitor by ONE who " is not a man that IHe should lie,
nor the son of man that IHe should repent."
Although, happily, we have no such cause to look
away from the future to the past as they had, such retrospection to-day may not be without its benefit, if not for
strength to meet apprehended trials, yet for incitement
to the more diligent discharge of awaiting duties.
The people whom the prophet was addressing had this
advantage, as a nation, over us; that they all knew who
their ancestors were. Every individual family had a
perfect and reliable record of its pedigree. An Israelite
of a thousand years' descent could tell you his genealogy
through all his fathers back to the beginning of his
nation,-to the common progenitor of all its families.
And wherever he met a fellow-countryman he felt that
he was with his'kindred.  Whatever advantages might
be derived from the contemplation of ancestral virtues
and the ties of kindred, they had in their largest measure; and how much they gloried in them is often seen
in their history.




In this respect the American people form a perfect
contrast to them; and not only the American people at
large, but even the descendants of the first settlers of New
England. There is no people on earth, probably, who
concern themselves so little about their ancestry as the
people of this country; or who, after the first degree,
feel so little interest in consanguinity.
How often do you hear, in reply to the question;
Whether such a one is a relative, the negative given,
because he is only a second cousin. If you ask a man
who was his grandfather, he may be able to tell you.
But if you ask where he came from, (that he came from
somewhere is taken for granted,) it is more likely than
not that you will be answered in some such dubious and
traditionary form as the following: —" I have heard my
father say that his fatter came from the eastward; or,' from the old country;' " or, " he was born somewhere
in New England;" or some other answer equally instructive.
This ignorance is, of course, the result of indifference.
And the indifference itself has probably been fostered by
the contempt in which, as a people, we have been nursed,
for hereditary distinctions; and by the importance we
attach, very justly, to individual character. It is also,
without doubts in some degree the result of that earnestness with which the attention of men in this country has
ever been directed to the opening future.  So earnest
has been the spirit of anticipation, that one might suppose us to be born with the nature of partridges. We
are so eager to be off in pursuit of our destiny, that we
do not wait to drop our shells.  Children spring into
manhood; and it is well with their fathers only because
the land is wide; otherwise they would be jostled off the
stage by their filial rivals.




7
Let us rejoice that this indifference to the men and
things of the past, in New England, is beginning to be
corrected. No people under heaven have so great reason to value their descent as those whose ancestors abandoned the blessings of a civilized land, and encountered
the hardships and perils of unfrequented seas, and the
savage wilds of the new-found continent, for the benefit
of coming generations. The names of such men should
not be forgotten, nor remain unhonored.
If these remarks be just, of the early settlers and their
descendants generally, how emphatically true are they of
the little band of pioneers who, two hundred and thirtyfive years ago this day, bade adieu to the England of the
old world, to raise up another in the new; and with
what reverence should their names and deeds and sufferings be cherished by those who inherit their blood.
Uneducated they may, most of them, have been; rustic, and bigoted if you will, with the sectarisa of the
times; and intolerant, too, from the circumstances in
which they had lived. Yet for all that, they were no
common men; they were of a higher order than the
titled; they were more even than nature's noblemen.
They were men of whom the world was not then worthy;
and if ever mortals deserved apotheosis, as heroes of the
loftiest type, and seats as demigods among the stars, it
was the men-aye, and the women too, of that pilgrim
band; and shame to the degenerate son who could stoop
and pry and peep among the ashes of their funeral pyres
for proof that they were but men!
Cherishing these sentiments, it was with unwonted
pleasure that the speaker saw the movement set on foot
to honor the Pilgrim, whose memory is uppermost in all
minds here to-day.




8
For the first half century after the settlement of this
place, his name and services were cherished in the colony with the most ardent affection.  But owing to the
circumstance that he was not an actual settler, subsequent generations, confining their attention to those,
whose " sepulchres were with them," in a great measure
lost sight of him; and the histories of the early settlement of this country, mostly contenting themselves with
beginning at the commencement of the settlement, have
taken but little notice of him, except to record his name
as one of those who were employed in the negotiations
which opened the way for the emigration.
It is to be regretted that the indifference to genealogy
and to ancestry, of which we have spoken, so far influenced the first settlers themselves, that they neglected to
preserve and transmit to us any memorials by which we
might either ascertain their natal homes, or learn the
conditions of life from which they came. Could they
have foreseen the magnitude of that destiny, for their
posterity and for mankind, the germs of which they were
planting, they would probably have taken more care to
preserve the means of gratifying our filial' curiosity. As
it is, we must be content, for the most part, with mere
conjecture; and we may as well indulge our fancy as
task our research. If the question of origin might be
settled by a name, the Winslows came from Bucks, and
the Billingtons from Lancashire. If the Bradfords dispute whether they originated in the town (so called) in
Yorkshire, or in that on the banks of the Avon, they
may at least agree that they came from the banks of one
of Britain's fordable rivers, and, perhaps, from some one
of her Avons. The Eatons may possibly be assisted in
determining the place of their ancestral home by the aid of




9
orthography; though in those times, by the way, orthography was a very precarious test.  There is an Eaton
near Bedford, and an Eton near Windsor. By a similar
license the Chiltons may hail from the chalk hills of Buckingham; and so the Leisters may have been denizens of
the city of stockings on the banks of the Soare. They
who bear the name of English, if perplexed as to the
whereabouts of their origin, may at least have the certainty that their progenitor, though he may have dwelt
in Leyden, was not a Dutchman.
If we are thrown upon conjecture as to their homes,
we are not less so as to their employments and professions.
The Priests and the Clarks, though they may have
claimed to be Puritans, must have belonged to the Establishment; and however they may have preached and
scolded about church-rates, the runaways Awere, without
doubt, men of tithe and stipend.
The Carvers, the Turners, and the Tinkers need not
be told that they have descended from mechanics.
The Gardiners may be assured that their progenitor
was, at least to some small extent, a tiller of the ground;
and the Cooks, that the business of theirs was within
doors.
If the Crackstons should be shy of this method of supplying the lack of history, from the idea of any thing
penal, let them be reminded that macadamizing by convict labor is a recent invention.  And the pride of the
Fletchers may take refuge in an antiquity when arrowmaking was not a puerile employment, as arrow-using
was no "child's play."  If the Goodmans can infer
nothing positive either as to the origin or the station
of their ancestor from'his name, they will at least be
satisfied as to his character; while the Soules will be
2




10
sure that theirs was a man of spirit. As to the Cushmans: some suppose our name to be Hebrew, with
an English termination. Others think it to be a corruption or a softening from Coachman. In favor of the
latter derivation there is at least one instance of record.
If that is to be considered authoritative, we shall be
allowed to felicitate ourselves that our progenitor held a
commanding position in his day; that he was looked up
to by men of all ranks; and that he I" drove his carriage and pair."
In sober truth, however, if the Pilgrim's name was
Coachman, he could not have been the original owner of
it, and he could not have been very near to the ancestry
whose employment had fixed it on them, as we shall see
reason to believe in the sequel.
As to locality; the only thing -which the Speaker
has been able to find on which to found any probable
conjecture as to that of our own English home, is an
allusion to an excursion which our ancestor took while
engaged in the negotiations at London. It would be
very natural, certainly, for a man, when preparing to
bid a final adieu to his native land, to embrace such an
opportunity of leisure as he must have had, pending the
tardy progress of the object of his mission, to revisit the
scenes of his childhood, if within his reach. If he was
one of the original emigrants to Holland, he had now
been many years beyond reach of those scenes. Mr.
Robinson and his people left England in 1609. Eight
years at least, therefore, had probably passed since he
had had an opportunity of seeing them. And now, that
he was in England once more, not to be hunted by the
blood-hounds of religious persecution, as before his exile,
but as the representative of a people, and engaged in




negotiations with the Government for the achievement of
an object of high national and philanthropic interest,
nothing could be more natural than such a visit.
The only record extant, however, of such visit, if it
took place, is found in the allusion above referred to.
That would place his family home in Kent or Sussexin the extreme south of England.  Mr. Robinson and
his church, indeed, originated in the north. But this
does not invalidate our conclusion; for Bradford, as
quoted by Prince, says: "About this time, (December,
1610,) and the following years, many come to his church
from divers parts of England."
But if we are left to conjecture as to the place of his
birth, we are in no uncertainty as to his social position
and character. These will be apparent as we trace the
trusts committed to him, and the services he rendered in the
founding of Plymouth colony.
And, in forming our estimate of his character and
standing before the world, we must take into consideration the circumstances of the people by whom he was
employed, and the delicacy and difficulty of the mission
which was intrusted. The Pilgrims were virtually an
outlawed people. They were accounted rebels by the
Government of their native land, and were refugees from
their sovereign's displeasure. They were now entering
on endeavors to obtain the favoring ear of that sovereign
for a petition which was vital to all their hopes, for themselves and their posterity. And this was to be gained, if
gained at all, not by confessions, recantations, and submission, but by frank avowal of non-conformity to his
demands, and the demands of the church of which he
claimed to be the Head. The very petition itself was an
expression of preference for exile to a wilderness before




12
submission to those demands.  They were to ask the
favor of being let alone by Bishops' Courts and Star
Chambers while worshiping God in another hemisphere.
They were to seek leave to find an asylum from their
hatred, their prisons and their confiscations, among savages. They were to win the Government to their wishes
by the hope they could awaken of new dominions for his
Majesty in the wilds of America; and were to inspire
him with confidence in their loyalty despite their insubordination in matters of religion; and with confidence in
their capability despite their present humble condition,
and their inexperience in matters of such arduous enterprise.
This was the errand for which they were to select
their men.
But when this object should be gained, if gained it
should be, there still remained all the business arrangements of location, and of title to territory, to be settled
with a mercenary corporation, under whose patent they
should make their home; and all the details of transportation, and the means of settlement, with wary merchants and money-lenders.
Whom, in such exigency, would they employ? whom
but those most distinguished among them for intelligence,
for prudence, for integrity, for acquaintance with the
world and familiarity with the details of business; and
whose social position and cultivation might best serve
them for access to those in power?
For this delicate, and, to them, vitally important
service, they selected " Mr. —The prefix was never used
among the Pilgrims except as a title of honor —Mr. Robert Cushman and Mr. John Carver."  In the words of
their record, these men were appointed "to treat with




13
the Virginia Company; and see if the King would give
them liberty of conscience there."  In forwarding these
objects, it appears they continued in London some three
months or more; when Mr. Cushman returned to Holland, and left Mr. Carver at London.  It probably
became necessary, in the progress of the negotiations, to
communicate the state of things to the people at Leyden
more freely and fully than could well be done by letters;
and that Mr. Cushman went over for that purpose. A
high commendation was bestowed on them both by Sir
Edward Sandys, a prominent member of the Virginia
Company, and afterwards its Governor, for the manner
in which they had managed the business committed to
them. Three months after their appointment, and probably on the return of Mr. Carver to Leyden, Sir Edwin
wrote thus concerning them: " Your agents have carried
themselves with that discretion as is both to their own
credit and theirs from whom they come; and the seven
articles subscribed with your names have given the gentlemen of the Council for Virginia that satisfaction which
has carried them on to a resolution to forward your desire in the best sort that may be for your own and the
public good." Mr. Carver, having received the more
explicit written statement of the principles and aims of
the Pilgrims, desired by the Company, returned to London in the month of December, accompanied by some
individual of consideration among them, whose name is
not given, but who is designated as "a gentleman of
our Company."
The agents had managed their business so well, it
appears, as to gain the good will of the king, and the
promise of his protection in the enjoyment of their religion; and so well as even to obtain the consent of the




14
bishops. So said Sir John Worstenholme, in the February following, when a statement was sent him, by Mr.
Robinson, of the tenets and usages of the Leyden church,
to be communicated to the king's Privy Council, with the
view of removing ill impressions which their enemies had
made on the Council.
Those enemies, however, were but too successful; for,
in May, Bradford says: "Though the agents of Mr.
Robinson's people find the Virginia Company very desirous of their going to their West India territory, (as
their grant in North America was then called,) and willing to grant them a patent with as ample privileges as
they could grant to any; and some of the chiefs of the
Company doubted not to obtain their suit of the king for
liberty in religion, and to have it under the broad seal,
as was desired; yet they find it a harder piece of work
than they expected. For though many means were used,
and diverse of worth, with Sir Robert Nanton, chief Secretary of State, labored with the king to obtain it, and
others wrought with the archbishop to give way thereto;
yet all in vain. They indeed prevail so far as that the
king would connive at them, and not molest them provided they carry peaceably; but to tolerate them by his
public authority, under his seal, would not be granted.
Upon which the agents," says Bradford, "return to
Leyden." Thus ended their first mission, in which they
had been employed from August, 1617, to the following May.
But, although they failed of the object of their appointment, they had so conducted the negotiations confided to them as to retain the confidence of those in whose
behalf they acted. The best evidence of this,' in Mr.
Cushman's case, is his re-appointment. The little com



15
pany of exiles, notwithstanding the great discouragement
they had met from the king, resolve, after the lapse of
about a year, to cast themselves on the care of Providence, and emigrate on the best terms they might win
from the civil and ecclesiastical powers.  With this view
they send Mr. Cushman again to London.  But instead
of Mr. Carver, they associate with him, this time, "Elder
Brewster." On their arrival in London they found a
new obstacle. The Virginia Company, on whose influence they had relied, and under whose patent they were
hoping to settle, was rent with factions.  " Sir T. Smith
having desired," says Mr. Cushman, in a letter dated
MIay 8th, 1619, "to be eased of his office of Treasurer
and Governor of the Virginia Company, Sir Edwin
Sandys was chosen; but Sir Thomas repenting, and opposing Sir Edwin, great disturbance and factions are
raised in said Company, that no business could well go
forward."
How long the agents were embarrassed and detained
by these dissensions does not clearly appear; probably
from April till near the close of the year.
It was while waiting in London for the Company to
come to a temper for business, that Mr. Cushnman ventured on an absence of fourteen days to go into Kent to
visit his childhood's home and take leave of his friends,
as we have supposed, in view of a final adieu to his
native land.
"After long attendance," to use the words of Bradford, " having obtained the desired patent from the Virginia Company, Mr. Cushman returned to Holland."
But after all the labor and the delay the Pilgrims had
suffered, they were doomed yet to disappointment.  The
patent was taken out in the name of a gentleman who,




16
after it was obtained, relinquished the idea of embarking
in the enterprise. The only thing now left them was to
make the best terms they could with such merchants in
London as could be induced, by their selling themselves
to their mercenary interests, to furnish them with the
means of transportation. In this last resort Mr. Cushman for the third time is called upon, and sent to London
to make terms with the " Merchant Adventurers;" and
effect the necessary preparations for their departure.
Mr. Carver is this time associated with him, and sent to
Southampton to attend to the outfit at that port.
The terms exacted, and to which the poor people at
Leyden had been prepared by their sufferings and by
hope long deferred to assent, were sufficiently severe.
But the Adventurers, taking advantage of their necessities, altered them in two most important points after
they had been fairly settled.
It is probable, after all the delays and discouragements
they had suffered, that this last aggravation would have
led to the abandonment of the idea of emigration altogether but for the influence of Mr. Cushman.  IHe believed that the project of American colonization was a
practicable one; and that his associates were the men to
succeed.  He had a faith that could pierce the cloud
which enwrapped them; a faith which saw a new empire
rising in the new hemisphere, where the oppressed people
of God might be free to worship according to the dictates
of their conscience; and he urged them to press forward
to the work of laying the foundations of a New England
more glorious than the old; where, peradventure, they
might yet have
"A Church without a bishop, and a State without a king."




17
That we do nlot over-estimate his forecast of the issues
of the enterprise to which he had given himself, is apparent from the language of encouragement which he
held to his fellow pilgrims; and from the efforts which
he made to enlist the people of England in the work of
colonization; and especially from the defences of liberty
which he secured in the charter that, in connection with
Winslow, he obtained for the first settlement in Massachusetts Bay; a charter which really contains the germs.of our free institutions.
In that remarkable discourse,-the first that ever came
from the press as a specimen of American preaching,delivered by him to the Pilgrims near the spot where we
are now assembled, on " The Sin and Danger of SelfLove," and in his preface to it, addressed " To his loving
Friends, the Adventurers for New  England, together
With all Well-Willers and Well-Wishers thereunto," we
have at once the most satisfactory evidence of his appreciation of the enterprise, —of its difficulties, its exigencies, and its issues,-and of his faith, his fortitude, and
his philanthropy; and of the moral power which his
character and standing gave him with his cotemporaries.
In enforcing the precept of his text: "Let no man
seek his own, but every man another's wealth," after
reminding his suffering brethren that " the country was
yet new, the land untilled, the cities not builded;"
and that they were " compassed about with a helpless
people,-the natives of the country,-who could not
help them;"  and adverting to the dreadful mortality
which had already, within the first year, swept one half
their number to the grave, he asks: " Is this a time for
men to begin to seek themselves?  Paul saith that
3




18
men in'the last days' shall be lovers of themselves; but it is here yet but the first days, and, as
it were, the dawning of this new world! It is now,
therefore, no time for men to look to get riches, brave
clothes, dainty fare; but to look to present necessities.
It is now no time to pamper the flesh, live at ease,
snatch, catch, scrape, and pill and hoard up, but rather
to open the doors, the chests and vessels; and say:
Brother, neighbor, friend, what want ye? any thing that
I have?  Make bold with it; it is yours to command,
to do you good, to comfort and cherish you; and glad I
am that I have it for you. Lay away, then, all thought
of former things and forget them, and think upon the
things that are.  Look not gapingly one upon another,
pleading your goodness, your birth, your life you lived;
your means you had, and might have had. I-Iere you
are by God's providence under difficulties; be thankful
to God it is no worse, and take in good part that which
is, and lift not up yourselves because of former privileges.   When Job was brought to the dunghill he sat
down upon it!  Consider, therefore, what you are now,
and whose you are.  Say not: I could have lived thus
and thus; but say: Thus and thus I must live; for God
and natural necessity require, if your difficulties be great
you had need to cleave the faster together, and comfort
and cheer up one another, laboring to make each other's
burdens lighter. There is no grief so tedious as a churlish companion; and nothing makes sorrows easy more
than cheerful associates.  Bear ye, therefore, one another's burthen, and be not a burthen one to another.
Avoid all factions, frowardness, singularity, and withdrawings; and cleave fast to the Lord, and to one
another continually. So shall you be a notable pres



19
ident* to these poor heathens whose eyes are upon you,
and who very brutishly do daily eat and consume one
another through their emulations and contentions. Be you,
therefore, ashamed of it, and win them to peace both with
yourselves and one another by your peaceable examples.
So also shall you be an encouragement to many of your
Christian friends in your native country, to come to you
when they hear of your peace and love and kindness that
is amongst you.  But above all it shall go well with
your souls when that God of peace and unity shall come
to visit you with death, as he hath done many of your
associates, —you, being found of Him not in murmurings, discontent and jars, but in brotherly love and peace,
may be translated from this wandering wilderness unto
that joyful and heavenly Canaan."
From these tones of authority and love-of mingling
thunder and music —with which the discourse closes, we
turn to its preface, written, it would appear, after his
return to England. It was addressed to the English
public in reference to the enterprise, and to the company
of " Adventurers" by whose pecuniary aid the work had
been begun:
"It pertaineth not to my purpose," said he, in addressing the former, " to speak any thing either in praise
or dispraise of the country; so it is by God's providence
that a few of us are there planted to our content, and
have, with great Charge and difficulty, attained quiet
and competent dwellings there. Thus much I will say
for the satisfaction of such as have any thought of going
hither to inhabit: that, for men who look after great
riches, ease, pleasures, dainties and jollity in this world,
a Guardian power.




20
I would not advise them to come there, for, as yet, the
country will afford no such matters. But if there be any
who are content to lay out their Estates, spend their
time, labors and endeavors for the benefit of them that
shall come after, and in desire to further the gospel among
these poor Heathens, quietly contenting themselves with
such hardships and difficulties as by God's providence
shall fall upon them, being young and in their strength,
such men I would advise and encourage to go, for their
ends cannotfail them."
I-Ie then turns to those who had embarked their property in the undertaking, and who were revolving the
question of continued support. And with a tact which,
for its knowledge of human nature and its display of
Christian spirit, reminds one of Paul winning his way to
the hearts of Festus and Agrippa, (Acts 26: 26 et seq.,)
he proceeds: " And you, my loving Friends, the Adventurers to this Plantation; as your care has been,
first to settle religion here, before either profit or popularity, so I pray you go on to do it much more; and
be careful to send godly men though they (should) want
some of that worldly policy which this world hath in her
own generation. I rejoice greatly in your free and ready
minds, to your powers, yea, and beyond your powers,
to further this work; that you thus honor God with
your riches; and I trust you shall be repaid again, double
and treble, in this world: yea, and the memory of this
action shall never die. Be not, therefore, discouraged;
for no labor is lost, nor money spent which is bestowed
for God. Your ends were good, your success is good:
and your profit is coming even in this life; and in the
life to come much more.  "And what shall I say
now?  A  word to  men of understanding  sufficeth.




21
Pardon, I pray you, my boldness; read over the ensuing treatise, and judge wisely of the poor weakling.
And the Lord, the God of sea and land stretch out
his arm of protection over you and us, and over all
our lawful and good enterprises either (in) this or any
other way."
The poor weakling, as he calls the discourse in which
he had sought to reconcile the colonists to the conditions
to which they had been obliged to submit in their engagement with the Adventurers, and to cheer them onward amid their discouragements, is, without doubt, one
of the ablest discussions of the subject to be found from
any pen. But partly because his modesty led him to
fear it might be judged too rude and unlearned for that
" curious age," and partly because he would have nothing esteemed by names, he gave it to the world anonymously, and merely as from one of the members of the
colony.  " If any good or profit arise to thee, (addressing his reader,) in the receiving of it give God the
praise; and esteem me as a son of Adam subject to all
such frailties as other men:" " I seek no name."
Such, my kindred, was the character, and such were
the services of the "Pilgrim " who was our common
father.  His life was spent, even to its close, in the
cause of American colonization; and especially in the
service of the colony here planted, to which he had given
his earliest labors. And if any thing were wanting to
complete the demonstration of his absorbing interest in
it, and his unfaltering confidence in its success despite
the appalling discouragements which attended its beginning, it would be supplied in the fact that after his survey of the actual condition of things here, and on his
return to England, as required, to make report to the




22
"Adventurers," he left behind him his only son-his
" Isaac "-then of the tender age of fourteen years, in
the guardianship of the colony, as a pledge of his confidence in its eventual prosperity, and as a hostage of his
own return to share with his brethren the difficulties
with which it was struggling.
His expectation, however, was not realized.  He died
at the post of sentry, watching over its interests near the
seats of power, and found his grave in the land of his
birth. The news of his death reached this place by the
same conveyance that brought the tidings of the decease
of the loved and venerated pastor, Robinson; and they
seem to have been equally mourned.
"; Instead of the fathers shall be the children."  The
son whom he left behind him became his representative
among the Pilgrims, and inherited, through a long life,
the affection they had bestowed on his father.
His name was Thomas. He married Mary, the daughter of Isaac Allerton, one of the most influential and
honored of the Pilgrims. She herself was one of the
emigrants of the May-Flowter.
Thomas Cushman and Mary Allerton, then, so far as
actual residence in this country is concerned, are the
" Abraham" and the " Sarah " of our race. Their lives,
from their youth, were passed amid the scenes on which
we look to-day; and their mortal relics slumber, side by
side, on yonder hill.
During the long period of nearly forty-three years, he
held the honorable post of ELDER in this church, with the
enviable reputation of a " precious servant of God."
All that is known of her sustains the tradition that she
was worthy of being the wife of such a man, and the
mother of our " Israel."  Four sons and four daughters




23
inherited the treasure-the best they had to leave-of
their pious example.* The sons all lived to become the
heads of families. Their names were, Thomas, Isaac,
Elkanah, and Eleazer. From these have sprung twentyfour Cushmans in the fourth generation; ninety-eight in
the fifth; two hundred and eighty-six in the sixth;
seven hundred and fifty-eight in the seventh; one thousand three hundred and eighty-four in the eighth, most
of whom are now living; seven hundred and fifty-seven
in the ninth, which is doing well its part in fulfilling the
primitive command; and the probation of nineteen of
the tenth generation had begun when the book of our
census was closed.
Leaving each of you to trace your several pedigrees in
the volume which has been prepared, your Speaker will
simply say that he himself belongs to the eighth generation: being the son of Job, who was the son of Robert,
who was the son of Robert, who was the son of Robert,
who was the son of Thomas, who was the son of Thomas,
who was the son of the Pilgrim.
Thus, Fathers and Brethren, have we "looked to the
rock whence we were hewn." And who of us is not
proud of the quarry? What better marble did Paros or
Pentelicus ever yield? We have " looked to the hole of
the pit whence we were digged."  Who of us would
exchange his origin from that humble pilgrim for one of
noble or of royal blood? We have " looked to Abraham
our father;" and we have seen our patriarch, when he
was " called to go out into a place that he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeying by faith, and going
* Of the daughters, all lived to marry but one. Sarah married John
Hawks of Lynn; Lydia married William Harlow, Jr.; Mary married a
HIutchinson, of Lynn. Fear (" Ffeare") died youihg.




24
out not knowing whither he went." We have seen him,
in that faith, offering up his Isaac, and " dying, not
having received the promises."  "But, having seen them
afar off, he was PERSUADED of them, and EMBRACED them;
and confessed that he was a stranger and a pilgrim on
the earth."
And, verily, we have seen that God blessed and increased him.  How greatly I-e has increased him, the
glad multitudes, who to-day throng the spot where, two
hundred and thirty-four years since, stood the tabernacle
in which he sojourned in the land of promise as a strange
country, may partly show; and the many thousands
written in this "I book of the Chronicles" will more amply declare.
But to what purpose have we taken this retrospect?
It is an impressive thought that though the fathers
die, and the connexion of intercourse is severed, yet
the connexion of influence remains; so that they may
be said to live and move and have their being among
their descendants.  And though the living may not
reciprocate that influence to affect their well-being in
the spirit land, yet they may go back and gather life
and strength from the dust of what they were. So pervading and strong is the pressure of the past on the
present-the dead on the living-that if we were to be
deprived of what they have ministered and do minister,
we should have but little left of character or power. The
trees that lift their glories to the summer sky are nursed
by what is given from the earth; the roots that give us
our verdure spread beneath the sod.
The correctness of this observation is seen in science,
and art; in religion, and manners; and even in the very
judgment and conscience, in which truth and reason




25
might be supposed to be sufficient to the existing generation without so much reference to what has been: and
the New England character is at once a proof and illustration of it.  Our pilgrim  ancestors were, in a high
degree, a homogeneous people; blending, no doubt, the
traits of the general English character, and the element
of a common faith, with provincial peculiarities and with
their own individualities: so that they might be said to
have had their type somewhat after the uniformity that
marked the dress of the time.
The generation that succeeded them grew up in their
likeness. And so, each succeeding one taking, now and
then, some modification from some new incident element
introduced from abroad or rising in its midst, has inherited and transmitted the elements of the original character; and thus the old Puritan is still seen blushing
through the features that mark the eighth generation of
his posterity.
And what is true of the Puritanic descent, as a whole,
must be often forcibly so with regard to particular pedigrees. As the peculiarity of using the left hand instead
of the right, by one of the tribes of Israel, was the inheritance of a usage originally marking one family; as particular forms of speech become, by family imitation, the
dialect of particular localities which are socially isolated;
so are moral habitudes reproduced, and moral estimates
flow down from common parental sources, and mingle in
all the waters of the augmenting and widening streams
of succeeding generations.
One of the topics of enquiry most interesting to us,
therefore, would be to ascertain how far the traits of
character which gave individuality to our common ancestor have marked those who have inherited his blood.
4




26
We have not time here to pursue the enquiry. The
means for such an investigation, both among the dead
and the living, will be furnished to a gratifying extent,
we are happy to say, in the Historical Geneology. If
we do not mistake, the features we have noticed in what
has come to us from the old Pilgrim's pen, will be recognized in the productions of living representatives; while
it will be seen that his social and moral traits have been
almost universally the traits of his posterity.
We have had occasion to remark upon his unobtrusiveness.  Though he was a leader among his people, it was
not of his seeking; he rather shrank from the public eye
than courted it. In an " action," the memory of which
he believed would never die, he "sought no name."
"If any profit shall arise to thee, give God the praise."
Whether his posterity have been more fortunate than
himself in reference to the occupancy of leading positions
may admit of debate; but certainly they have never been
distinguished as office-seekers.  Who ever heard of a
Cushman that was a demagogue? So far from it, I
doubt if ever one was found with brass enough for an
auctioneer.
Whatever may be true of the generation now on the
stage, those who have gone before us were certainly an
unobtrusive, sober-minded people, who were more anxious to deserve the suffrage of their contemporaries than
to possess it; and were content to obtain, by their industry, the share they sought of this world's good things,
rather than by office, place, and power. The great body
of them, for successive generations, were tillers of the
soil: the son going out, after the example of the father,
to take new land and subdue it. The song of the plowman mingled with the sound of the axe ringing out from




27
primeval forests. Their evening hymn went up from
homes amid solitudes; and when the story, often rehearsed, of the sufferings and the virtues of their fathers
had been repeated to their children, and all commended
to the care of Heaven, they sought, contented and thankful, the weary husbandman's early repose.
" Far from the madd'ning crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learned to stray;
Along the cool, sequestered vale of life
They held the noiseless tenor of their way."
But the wilderness and the solitary place were glad for
them; and the desert rejoiced and blossomed as the rose.
If the name has not been distinguished by the workings
of ambition, it is much to us that it has never been made
infamous by crime; if it has been seldom  emblazoned
on those heights reserved for political aspirants to reach,
it is matter for congratulation that it has been sought for,
throughout its generations, in vain among the records of
the fallen. A solitary instance only, I believe, has been
found in which, for some minor offence, it has been connected with the violation of the laws.  And surely, my
kindred, it is better for us than honors or estates, that
they have left us an unsullied name.
But they have left us more: there is value in their
example.  Their industry, their frugality, their contentment, their piety, were virtues we cannot too often contemplate; too much admire; or, too earnestly emulate.
Though their lives, then, may have been " unknown to
fame," still let their memories be cherished by us for the
benefit of their ancestral example.  By others let them
be forgot.
But the world must not forget the Pilgrim. We lift
our voice against such wrong; and we have come here




28
to-day to protest against the injustice of history, and to
do what we can to repair it. We protest against the ingratitude which has left his name to die out of the land;
and we have come to do what we may, with filial love
and patriotic gratitude, to give him that position, in the
eye of coming generations, which his virtues and his services deserve.
As we have before said, the histories,-especially the
later histories of our country,-have hardly given a place
for the solitary inscription of his name.  It stands, indeed, in some of them as having been borne by one of
the men employed in the initial movements of the church
at Leyden towards a settlement in America; and that is
all:-unless we except the implication in some of them
that timidity rather than necessity withheld him from the
number who were passengers in the May-Flower!
But verily there is some palliation for this curt dismissal by the historian after the oblivion in which our patriotism has left him. We sometimes speak of the " caprices of fortune;" and may we not speak of the caprices
offame? For caprice it has been, or accident rather
than design.
But how strange,-how passing strange that the man
who was the chief instrument in the first settlement of
New England, as is clear from his having been the uniformly appointed agent of the Pilgrims whoever else was
associated with him;-the man whom, at his death,
Governor Bradford acknowledged to have been the colony's " right hand;"-the man who first vindicated the
enterprise to the world through the Press, and made the
first public appeal that was made to the Protestant Christians of England in behalf of the religious interests of
the Aborigines of America;-the man who, to save the




29
colony from the perils to which he saw it exposed, wrote
and delivered, —though neither Minister nor Elder,-the
first sermon ever published from a New England man,
and the first ever written on New England soil;-the
man whose devotion to the safety and comfort of the first
company of emigrants led him to forego a passage for
himself and his family in the vessel which he had himself
provided,-the May-Flower,-and take his own passage
in the rickety Speedwell; and after her third failure, to
disembark to look after and share the fate of those who
must be left behind; and who, after he had reached the
colony consented to spend year after year, not only separate from his brethren, but separate from his only child
that he might be their " right hand" with the Adventurers, and watch over their interests near a jealous and
intolerant throne,-how, strange, I say, that such a man
should have been so little honored, and now so little
known among the people who have enjoyed the fruits of
his sacrifices and toils! While Carver and Brewster,
successively his associates in negotiation; —while Bradford, and Winslow, and Standish, and Hopkins, and I
know not how many others of his fellow-laborers have
been remembered and honored in the names of towns and
counties;-while the pilot, even, the benefit of whose
skill he surrendered for the safety of others, has been
immortalized in the name of yonder island; —while even
the very loafer, Billington, who " slipped in" among the
Pilgrims at Southampton and " was of no benefit to the
colony," has been saved from merited oblivion by yonder
" Sea;"-while History and Poetry, and Sculpture and
Painting have been vying with each other in homage to
" the fathers of the nation;" and while hardly a fourth
rate politician has risen to bluster about " liberty" and




30
the " glory of America," whose name has not been perpetuated as the appellation of some portion of its territory,-that name, to which New England and the country
owe more, if we speak of generative influence, than to
almost any other on the page of her history or the map
of her soil, is, to this day, unborne by any county, or
town, or island, or mountain, or river, or rill in America!
The only monument yet found, from ocean to ocean of
her wide domain, is in the hearts of his children.
And shall it be so forever? Forbid it, gratitude; forbid it, patriotism; forbid it, Heaven! Forbid it, ye who
now bear that name; forbid it ye, of whatever name,
whose hearts now throb with the Pilgrim's blood; forbid
it, ye living; forbid it, ye unborn! We disinter from
the dust of ages a name that was not born to perish:
protect it, ye living, from its past unmerited doom.
Raise high on yonder hill, where the ashes of his family
rest,-his own ye may not reach,-the monumental
stone that shall speak his worth to coming times, and
show that ye were not ungrateful.
And you, Posterity, we commit the vestal charge of his
fame to you! We go-we go, to rest with the fathers.
And when the places that now know us shall know us no
more, ye shall realize " the benefits of them that shall
come after," in the faith of which the Pilgrim died.
The time shall come, it shall come,-though centuries
intervene, though nations perish to prepare its way,-when
Truth shall vanquish error; when Justice shall preside at
seats of power; when Ambition shall ask for her laurels at
the hand of Virtue.  And then shall Fame, having learned
new lessons on greatness and glory, re-arrange the ornaments of her temple, and set men of beneficence above
men of blood: " The names of the wicked shall rot, but




the memory of the just shall be blessed." Then shall
be second deaths on earth: then shall be resurrections!
Then the Right Hand of Plymouth's Pilgrims shall be
seen again among the living. Their leader shall resume
his place on the deck of the May-Flower; and, as she
floats along the stream of ages, generation shall vie with
generation in grateful acknowledgment of his services
and homage to his worth: the memory of his actions
shall never die; and the name of the man who sought
no name shall be immortal.








TTHE CELEBRATION.








THE CUSHMAN CELEBRATION,
At Plymlouth, lMass., eAugust 15, 1855.
PRELIMIINARY PROCEEDINGS.
BY  the invitation of Hon. Henry WV. Cushman of Bernardston,
(who had then nearly completed a genealogy of the Cushman Family,)
a meeting of a few of the descendants of ROBERT CUSHMAN, the PunITAN, was held at the Adams House in Boston, on the 13th of December, 1854, to consider the subject of a general meeting of the family.
The proceedings of that meeting are fully stated in the following
Circular, which was issued soon after.
CIRCULAR.
BosToN, JANUARY 1, 1855.
DEAR SIR:
At a meeting of a few of the descendants of Robert Cushman, the Pilgrim,
held at the Adams House in Boston, on the 13th of December, 1854, Rev. Robert
W. Cushman, D.D., Chairman, and Dr. N. B. Shurtleff, Secrctary, it was
" Voted, That Messrs. Henry W. Cushman of Bernardston, Charles Cushman
of Boston, and D. A. Cushman of New York city, be a Committee to call a
meeting of the descendants of Robert Cushman, the Pilgrim, whether of that or
other names,-and those connected with them by marriage, at such a time and
place as they shall think proper, to consider and act on the subject of a great
family meeting at old Plymouth some time during the ensuing summer."
Pursuant to the duty thus assigned us, the undersigned invite you to attend a
meeting at the hall of the American Academy in the Athenmeum Building, Beacon
street, Boston, (near the Tremont House,) on Thursday, the 15th day of February next, at 11 o'clock, A.M., for the purposes specified in the foregoing vote.
The objects of the proposed meeting at Plymouth are, generally:1st. To form an acquaintance with each other and enjoy the benefits and
pleasure of social intercourse, and to hear such addresses and other services as
may be arranged for the occasion.




2d. To stand on Plymouth Rock, where our ancestors first landed in America: to visit the spot where "Robert Cushman preached the first sermon in New
England that was ever printed," and to bow in veneration at the grave of Elder
Thomas Cushman, " that precious servant of Christ," and his wife, Mary Allerton, who " was the last survivor of those who came over in the May Flower in
1620."
3d. To make arrangements to erect a monument at Plymouth to the memory
of our ancestors Robert and Thomas Cushman, and, if desirable, to form an Association of their descendants for that and other purposes.
The early completion of a " Historical Genealogy of the Cushmans," (now in
press,) by one of our number, seems to render the coming summer a fit and
proper time for such a meeting, if such an one is ever to be held.
We trust you will not fail to be present at the meeting at Boston, or be represented by some member of your family, or some relative of your neighborhood.
If you cannot be present, will you please to communicate to the Chairman of
the Committee your views of the proposed meeting at Plymouth, and whether
you and your family will attend it.
An early reply, advising us who will attend the meeting at Boston, is particularly requested.
We are, with great respect, your kinsmen and friends,
HENRY WV. CUSHMAN, )
CI-HARLES CUSHMAN, C     C'ommittee.
D. A. CUSHMAN,           )
Agreeably to the foregoing Circular, a meeting was held at the
AthenTumrn in Boston, on the 15th of February, 1855, at which Hon.
HENRY WY. CUSIHMAN presided, and B. I. CUSInMAN of Winthrop, Me.,
was chosen Vice President, and Dr. NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF of
Boston, Secretary.
The meeting was well attended by delegates from  all the New England States, and from the State of New York; and for the first time,
fori many years, an Allerton,-na  descendant of Isaac Allerton, of the'Alay Flower, —was seen in New England.
After a full and free discussion of the subject, a Committee of fifty
was appointed to invite all the descendants of Robert Cushman, the
Pilgrim, to attend a meeting at Plymouth on the 15th of the ensuing
August.
A  Committee, of which CIIHARLES CUSHMAN of Boston was Chairmain, was appointed to report at that meeting on the subject of erecting
a MONUMENT to the memory of Robert Cushman, the Puritan, of his
son, Elder Thomas Cushman, and of MAary Allerton, wife of the latter.
Subsequently the Committee of Invitation  issued the following
Circular.




37
CELEBRATION OF THE TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE, DAY WHEN ROBERT CUSHMAN FIRST SAILED FOR AMERICA.
CIRCULAR.
To the Descendants of Robert Cushman, the Puritan, and their Family Connections.
BRETHREN AND FRIENDS:
At a preliminary meeting of the descendants of our Pilgrim Ancestor held at
Boston on the 15th of February last, the following Resolutions, presented by Rev.
Robert W. Cushman, D.D., of Boston, were unanimously adopted: —
Resolved, By this assemblage of the dclscendants of Robert Cushman, one of the
chief agents in the colonization of this country, that we have heard with high gratification of the undertaking of our kinsman, the Hon. Ienry WV. Cushman, to
prepare a Genealogy of the posterity of that Pilgrim Father; and that we tender
to him our cordial thanks for the service he is thereby rendering to history.
Resolved, That although we heartily subscribe to the republican sentiment, that
the claim of men to consideration consists in the elements of their own character
and not in the source of their blood; we nevertheless esteem a wolrthy ancestry as
a better inheritance than wealth; and we therefore regard it as a favor of Divine
Providence and a cause for modest pride, that we are descended from one of that
truly noble band who laid the foundations of civilization and empire on these
shores.
Resolved, That, in the prominence of the part which our ancestor took in the
counsels, the labors and the sacrifices which gave existence and permanency to
the first settlements here, we recognize a debt to his memory which has never
been paid. While his coadjutors, from the circumstance of residence in the colonies, have been remembered in history, and their names perpetuated by the soil
which his labors and resources were given to secure; not a district, or town, or
river in the land, is yet charged by posterity with preserving his name from oblivion; although no name was more venerated and loved by his contemporaries.
Resolved, Therefore, that we feel it to be a duty, both of filial piety and of patriotic
gratitude to the first agent of the Leyden Pilgrims; the purchaser of the immortal
May Flower; the Plymouth Colony's "right hand" in England; the principal
patentee of one of the first charters on Massachusetts Bay; the advocate from the
press at home, of the aboriginal population; and the Christian pleader from the
pulpit among the colonists here, in behalf of peace and concord; to do what lies
in our power to give the name of ROBERT CusHMAN its just place in the grateful
memories of coming generations.
Resolved, That in pursuance of this object we will unite with the rest of his
descendants who may be able to assemble at Plymouth, in the Old Colony, on
thie 15th of August next, in celebrating  the day that witnessed the successful
issue of his labors and sacrifices, when the May Flower sailed from England; and
that we will, furthermore, share with them in erecting in that place which was the
cradle of his hopes, the home of his affections, and the grave of his family, a
Monument to his memory.




38
The undersigned, a Committee of Arrangements appointed at the above mentioned meeting, theretbre invite you and your family to meet at PILGRIM HALL,
Plymouth, Mass., on Wednesday, the 15th day of August next, (the 235th anniversary of the day on which our Ancestor first embarked for America,) at
10 o'clock, A.M.
The following is an outline of the public exercises anticipated on that occasion:
The meeting will first be organized by the appointment of a suitable number of
Officers;-after which a procession will be formed, under the direction of a Chief
Marshal and Assistants, and proceed to the First Church, (where Thomas Cushman served as Ruling Elder for forty-three years,) where a Discourse will be
delivered by Rev. ROBERT W. CUSILIANT, D.D., of Boston, accompanied by the
singing of original hiymns and other religious exercises. After which the company
will dine together, and addresses will be delivered by several distinguished clergymen of our race and by Rev. Isaac Allerton of Chenango, N. Y., (now in the
71st year of his age,) a descendant of Issac Allerton, who came over in the May
Flower in 1620, and whose daughter, Mary, is the maternal ancestor of us all.
The afternoon and evening will be spent in visiting the places of historic interest in the town, and in forming an acquaintance with each other.
Thursday morning the company will meet at 9 o'clock at Pilgrim Hall, proceed in a body to the Old Burying Hill Cemetery, and visit the grave of Elder
Thomas Cushman and his wife, Mary Allerton, at which place short and pertinent addresses will be delivered; after which, the Committee previously appointed
on the subject of a Monument to Robert and Elder Thomas Cushman, will make
a report, and if deemed expedient, an Association will be formed for that purpose.
It is estimated that there are now living near two thousand of the name of Cushman, descendants of Robert Cushman, the Puritan, and nearly as many more of
other names, who are connected with them by marriage or are the offspring of
Cushman mothers. From  such a number, may we not have a meeting worthy
the namne and the occasion?
The completion of a "Historical Genealogy of the Cushmans," by one of our
number, seems to render this an eminently fit and proper time for a great fimnily
meeting of the race.
Come, then, Brethren and Friends! Come,-not only those who are near the
hallowed spot, but all who reside in distant States and foreign lands. Come with
your wives and children,-all, of every age and condition in life, who can,-all,
who by consanguinity, however remote, are descendants of Robert Cushman, and
all those, also, who are connected with them by marriage. Come, also, descendants of Isaac Allerton, the Pilgrim. Though you are few in number, yet we are
of one blood.
Come and visit the graves of your Fathers. Comne,-on the ccxxxvtll anniversary of the first embarkation of our ancestor for America, and stand with us on
the hallowed ground which was the first home of our forefathers in this country.
Make one pilgrimage to the venerated "Plymouth Rock," and to "Pilgrim
Hall."  Visit with us the spot where "Robert Cushman preached the first Sermon in the United States that was ever printed." And especially let us bow in
veneration at the grave of Elder THOMAs  CUSIIIAh, "that precious servant of




39
God," and of Mary Allerton his wife, " the last survivor of those who came over
in the May Flower,"-and offer up our thanksgivings to God for the purity and
piety of their lives; for their labors and sacrifices in the service of the Pilgrim
Church, and for the inheritance of their bright and beautiful example during their
long lives of Liberty, Holiness and Love.
Another such meeting, in all human probability, will never occur during our
lives. Let us then, on that day, meet as brothers and sisters,-members of one
family,-and by what we may there experience, become better prepared for ozur
final gathering in the land of the blessed, where our pious forefiathers still live, to wcelcome
the long descending line of their children.
[XE   Maj. Gen. GursTAvus G. CUSHIM3AN of Bangor, Me., has consented to
officiate as Chief Marshal on the occasion, to be aided by such Assistant Marshals as may be necessary.
U[I The Trustees of the Pilgrim Society have very kindly granted the use of
their Hall at Plymouth, for the proposed meeting.
[0    Those who receive this Circular are particularly requested to extend the
invitation to all of our blood, within their knowledge, to attend this meeting.
[17 We are authorized to announce that tickets for the Old Colony Railroad,
fiom  Boston to Plymouth and back, can be obtained at the Depot, Kneeland
street, Boston, at a reduced price, for those who attend the Cushman meeting at
Plymouth.
L   N. B.-You are particularly requested to communicate to the Chairman of
this Committee, by the 15th of July next, the number that may be expected from
your family and other families in your neighborhood, in order that the necessary
arrangements may be made for their accommodation at Plymouth. Those who
do not give this notice must not expect to be provided for.
[:  The Committee of Arrangements will be happy to see descendants of the
other Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth on that occasion.
April 4, 1855.
C 0.M IT I T T E E.
HENRY W. CUSHMAN,             Bernardston, Mlass.
BENJ. H. CUSHMAN,              TfWinthrop, life.
BEZALEEL CUSHMAN,             Portland, life.
HORACE CUSHMAN,               Dalton, N~ H.
ISAAC N. CUSHMAN,             Irasburgh, Vt.
X. C. STEVENS,                Barnet, Vt.
_EARL CUSHMAN,                Orwell, Vt.
CHARLES CUSHMAN,              Boston, Mass,
FREEMAN L. CUSHMAN,   "  "
JULIUS CUSHMAN,                  "
CEPHAS CUSHMAN,                  "    i
N. B. SHURTLEFF,                 "
SAMUEL A. EATON,                 "    "
A. C. CUSHMAN,                Aezvw Bedford, Mass,
SPENCER CUSHMAN,              KingstQn,  "
JAMES L. CUSHMAN,                "           "




40
WILLIAM  CUSHMAN,             New Braintree, Mlass.
JOHN R. CUSHMAN,              Amherst,
GEORGE H. CUSHMAN,    Lylrnn,
JOSIAH CUSHMAN,               Abington, 
R. P. CUSHMAN,               lHaverhill,
HUBBARD RUSSELL,              MIalde n,
CHARLES H. PIERCE,            Anzdover,
E. P. HATHAWAY,               Freetown,
E. M. CUSHMAN,                Providence, R. I
J. ELLSWORTH CUSHMAN, Willimantic, Ct.
ELISHA CUSHMAN,               Deep River, Ct.
D. A. CUSHMAN,                NVew York City.
GEORGE W. ALLERTON,              "       "
CHARLES U. CUSHMAN,  Newburgh, N. Y.
ROBERT S. CUSHMAN,    Albany,    "
WILLIAM  T. CUSHMAN,   Rochester,   "
B. C. A. CUSHMAN,             Cincinnati, Ohio.
AMOS DRESSER,                 Farmnigton, "
ROBERT W. CUSHMAN,   Philadelphia, Pa.
WM. H. W. CUSHMAN,            Ottawa, Ill.
J. F. CUSHMAN,                Centreville, M1ich.
SIMEON S. CUSHMAN,            Fairfield, Iowa.
PETER N. CUSHMAN,             Prairieville, Wis.
HENRY CUSHMAN,                Fortzne's Landing, Minn.
JAMES CUSHMAN,                Barnweell District, S. C.
CHARLES T. CUSHMAN,   Columbus, Ga.
GEORGE F. CUSHMAN,    Cahaba, Ala.
JOHN F. CUSHMAN,              Oxford, Miss.
RALPH CUSHMAN,                Mlarksville, La.
CHARLES D. CUSHMAN,   California.
JOSEPH CUSHMAN,               Washington Territory.
WILLIAM  CUSHMAN,             Southwuold, Canada West.
JOHN B. CUSHMAN,              Chili, South America.
CHARLES A. CUSHMAN,   London, England.
About 650 of the above Circular were sent to various members
of the Cushman family and their connections in all parts of the United
States, Canada, South America and England.
The following Circular was issued, calling a meeting of the above
mentioned Committee of fifty on invitation.
DEAR SIR:
At a preliminary meeting of the descendants of ROBERT CUSHMAN, the Pilgrim, held at the Hall of the American Academy, Athenmum Building, Beacon
street, Boston, on the 15th of February last, it was voted that a general meeting
of all the Cushmans, and all those connected with them, be held at Plymouth,




41
Mass., on the 15th of August next,-and a Committee of which you are one, was
appointed to make the necessary arrangements for that meeting.
You are therefore requested to attend a meeting of that Committee, at the Hall
of the American Academy, in the Athenmum Building, Beacon street, Boston, on
Wednesday, the 21st day of March inst. at 10 o'clock, A.M., to make all the
necessary arrangements for the meeting at Plymouth, which, from present indications, will be a large and interesting one.
If, from distance or other cause it is not convenient for you to attend the meeting of the Committee, will you please authorize the Committee who may
assemble, to act in your behalf, and to place your name to a Circular of Invitation which it may send out i
A prompt reply to the foregoing is particularly requested.
I am most respectfully and affectionately yours,
HENRY W. CUSHMAN,
Chairman of Committee of lrrangements.
Bernardston, Mass., March 12, 1854.
At a meeting held agreeably to the foregoing Circular, a Committee
of Arrangements for the Celebration at Plymouth was appointed, consisting of Hon. Henry W. Cushman of Bernardston, Charles Cushman of
Boston, Capt. A. C. Cushman of New Bedford, F. L. Cushman of
Boston, and Spencer Cushman of Kingston, Mass.  Maj. Gen. Gustavus G. Cushman of Bangor, Me., was appointed Chief Marshal for
the occasion, and Charles Cushman of Boston, Treasurer.
The following communication was among many acts of kindness
and courtesy on the part of the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth.
PLYMOUTH, JAN. 31, 1855.
To HON. HENRY W. CUSHMAN,
The undersigned, Trustees of the Pilgrim  Society, cheerfully comply with
the request contained in your communication of the 26th inst., for the use of Pilgrim Hall as a place of meeting for the proposed assemblage of the descendants
of Robert Cushman. No celebration is designed by the Pilgrim Society before
the 22d of December next, and such time, therefore, may be designated for your
meeting as will best promote the convenience of all concerned, notice thereof
being given to William S. Russell, who will facilitate all requisite arrangements
desired on your part.
WM. S. RUSSELL,
WINSLOW WARREN,
JAMES T. HAYWARD,
CHARLES G. DAVIS,                Trustees
A. L. RUSSELL,                    of the
ABRAHAM  JACKSON,            Pilgrim Society.
TIMOTHY GORDON,
J. L. HEDGE,
NATH'L B. SHURTLEFF,
6




CEREMONIES AT PLYMOUTH.
ON Wednesday, the 15th of August, the descendants of Robert
Cushman, the Pilgrim, having assembled at Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth,
at 10 o'clock, A.M., the meeting was called to order by Hon. HENRY
W. CUSHIIAN of Bernardston, and Gen. G. G. CUSHMAN of Bangor, Me.,
Chief Marshal, was introduced to the company. After a few words of
congratulation and welcome, on motion of CHARLES CUSHMAN, Esq., of
Boston, a Committee of five was appointed by the Chair to report a list
of officers for the meeting. That Committee reported, and the following were appointed the permanent officers for the Celebration.
PRESIDENT.
Hon. HENRY W. CUSHMAN, of Bernardston, M1ass.
VICE  PRESIDENTS.
BEZALEEL CUSHMAN, Portland, Me.
DON ALONZO CUSHMAN, New York City.
CHARLES U. CUSHMAN, Newburg, N. Y.
Hon. SAMUEL CLARK, Brattleboro', Vt.
ROBERT S. CUSHMAN, Albany, N. Y.
Dr. EARL CUSHMAN, Orwell, Vt.
JAMES CUSHMAN, Barnwell District, S. C.
DAvID CUSHMAN, West Exeter, N. Y.
BENJAMIN H. CUSHMAN, Winthrop, Me.
THOMAS CUSHMAN, Bridgewater, Mass.
HOSEA CUSHMAN, Buckfeld, Me.




43
SECRETARIES.
Dr. N. B. SHURTLEFF, Boston.
E. M. CUSIIMAN, Providence, R. I.
ALEXANDER CUSHMAN, New  York City.
JOSIAH CvsIMAN, Abington, Mass.
ASSISTANT MARSHALS.
Gen. ARTEMAS CUSHMAN, Rochester, Vt.
Col. XV. tI. XV. CUSHMAN, Ottawa, Ill.
Gen. ALVIN BOLSTER, Rumford, diMe.
Capt. CALEB CUSHMAN, Ncantucket, MVass.
Capt. CHARLES F. CUSHMAN, Canton, Mass.
Capt. JABEZ CUSHMAN RICH, U. S. Army.
Dr. N. B. Shurtleff of Boston, and Hon. Henry W. Cushman of
Bernardston, were appointed to prepare and publish the proceedings of
this Celebration.
The following communication was received from the Trustees of the
Pilgrim Society, who had been invited by the Committee of Arrangements to attend the Celebration.
PLYMOUTH, Aug. 11, 1855.
DEAR SIR:
At a meeting of the Trustees of the Pilgrim Society, held last evening, the
President had the honor to lay before the Board the invitation of the Committee
of Arrangements of the Cushman Family, to join in the celebration on the 15th
inst. and to attend the dinner.
It was unanimously voted to accept the invitation, and thie Clerk of the Board
was directed to convey to you the pleasure with which they accept the invitation.
Permit me, dear sir, in fulfilling this duty, to assure you of the interest which the
Trustees of the Pilgrim Society feel in your celebration, and of the desire expressed to assist in any matters in which you may feel the need of their active
cooperation.
Yours very truly,
CHARLES G. DAVIS,
Clerk of Board of Trustees of Pilgrim Society.
Hon. H. W. CUSHMAN,
Chairman of Committee of Arrangements.




44
A procession was then formed under the direction of the Chief
Marshal and his Assistants, escorted by the  Plymouth  Brass Band,
(the arrangement being by families,) which proceeded through Court,
North and Water Streets to  PLYMOUTH  ROCK;  thence by Cole's Hill,
-where the first Pilgrims were buried,-and thence through  Leyden
Street, by the  spot where  ROBERT  CUSHMAN  preached his sermon in
1621, to the  First Church, standing on the spot where originally the
first meeting-house was erected, and where the society of the First
Church in Plymouth has since continuously worshipped, when the following exercises were had.
I. VOLUNTARY ON THE ORGAN.
II. ORIGINAL HYMN.
BY MR. CUSHMAN OF TROY, N. Y.
From many a lovely valley,                Nor shrunk the timid woman
From many a mountain home,                Before the wintry blast.
From prairie, lake and river,
And forest broad we come.               Room for the pilgrim Mother
Upon the roll of fame!
But not in martial splendor,              Linked with the Christian hero,
With gleaming crest and spear,            Inscribe her honored nalne.
For'tis no hero worship
That brings our footsteps here.         For all their meek endurance
Beneath thy chastening rod,
God of our pilgrim fathers!              For lives so pure and holy
We bless thy mighty hand                  We bless our fathers' God.
That on the stormy waters
Sustained that dauntless band.          May we, their heirs, inherit
A blessing from on high!
Unharmed, the trusting pilgrims,          And learn from our forefathers
Through many a peril passed,              Like them to live and die.
III. PRAYER.
BY REV. HENRY CUSHMAN OF PHILLIPS, ME.,-(THE OLDEST CLERGYMAN OF
THE NAME.)
IV. READING OF THE SCRIPTURES.
BY REV. RUFUS S. CUSHMAN OF ORWELL, VT.




45
V. HYMN.
BY SAMUEL DAVIS, ESQ.-(Selected for the occasion.)
Let children learn the mighty deeds,     Here first the temple's votive fane,
Their Sires achieved of old;             Aspiring, sought the skies,
And still, as time to time succeeds,     And here Religion's exiled train
To them the tale unfold.                 Bade sacred altars rise.
Here while we fondly trace the scene     Let musing strangers view the ground,
This joyous day recalls,                 Here seek tradition's lore,
Let youth with reverend age convene      Where Pilgrims walked on holy ground,
Within these hallowed walls.             With God in days of yorc.
Their pious toils, their just rewards,   Let children emulate their deeds,
Returning tributes claim,                Their choral praises sing;
While faithful history records           So shall the muse, as time proceeds,
Each venerable name.                     Her meed of incense bring.
VI. ADDRESS.
BY REV. ROBERT WT. CUSHMIAN, D.I., OF BOSTON.
VII. PRAYER.
BY REV. ISAAC ALLERTON OF CHENANGO, N. Y.
GREAT JEHOVAH, it is the humble desire of thy frail children to have audience
with thee, and to know by blessed assurance that we are thine; thy hand has ever
been our support, and the atoning merit of thy beloved Son, has, in all ages and
circumstances, been the strong tower where thy children have reposed in safety.
Oh, Lord, we thank thee that thou hast apportioned to our forefathers and
mothers the seeds of thy grace, which quickeneth the dead in sin to a new  and
spiritual life, which is bounded by the eternity of thy own existence, and which,
blessed be thy name, is ever hid safely in the faithful keeping of thy Son, who
loves his own even to the end. And we would adore thee for that seed planted in
the bosom of our ancestors, which is of an incorruptible nature; that they lived
in the enjoyment of the plenitude of thy favor; so, also, have they all died in faith.
Oh, God, we, thy unworthy children, have now arrived at the land of our forefathers on pilgrimage; it is among ancient tombs and sainted bones we hope to
find the graves of our mothers and worthy sires.  Blessed Lord, thy Church can
scarcely inform us of a providence during thy great administration, so complex as
that which sundered a Pilgrim band so soon, and summoned to the grave one
half whom thine own hand sustained in the May Flower across the deep waters.
Surely thy servants are occupying ground, where, in the days of our Pilgrim
fathers, there was disease and death in every humble dwelling, and from which
thy holy angels bore to Abraham's bosom one half of thy Pilgrim charge.
Oh, God of our Pilgrim fathers; it was on this ground a scene of disquietude
once pervaded thy American Israel; thy wrath seemed to smoke against thine
own anointed, and did contribute, mixed with mercy, to effect the enrolment in
thy book for the spirit world, of a considerable portion of those who were the first




46
lights, to bear the reformed religion to this newly discovered world. Many a
Rachel has wept here, and many a David has said, " Oh, my son! my son Absalom; would to God I had died for thee, my son! my son;" But oh Lord our God,
thou didst spare a remnant of thy Pilgrim Church, which thy right hand has
watered and made to increase; and even the desolation of thy spiritual American
flock, thou hast made a powerful means of future faithfulness on the part of those
who might, with overmuch sorrow here, have been discouraged, and who may
have said, the " Lord hath spoiled and forsaken and left us few in number."
We thank thee, oh God, that the red man hath received from our fathers thy
holy word; and that in the place where the war-cry was heard, the steam whistle
echoes; and where was once the savage pathway, the lightning plays on telegraphic wires.
We adore thee because thou hast caused heart piety to grow here, and thou hast
borne its blaze, lighted by holy fire, into every part of this American continent.
Oh fan this flame;-the light in which Pilgrims marched erect heavenward, and by
which thou hast made the dark valley luminous to thy trembling children. Oh
sanctify us for thyself only, and enable us to finish our course with'joy, and finally
bring us, with our fathers, to thy fair land of promise; and may each of us there
strive to make the lowest bow, in a doxology once sung by Pilgrims here on thy
footstool, and which will employ the fervor of all the saved, by the atoning merits
of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
May we profit by the meeting of kindred and friends; may we take leave of
each other in bonds of Christian love; and, oh God, wilt thou hide us, thy children, in thine own pavillion, and may the secret of thy TABERNACLES be our eternal rest. A'MEN AND AMEN.
VIII. ODE.
BY HON. JOHN DAVIS OF PLYMOUTH.-(Selected.)
Sons of renowned sires,             Here trace the moss-grown stones,
Join in harmonious choirs,          Where rest their mouldering bones,
Swell your loud songs;              Again to rise;
Daughters of peerless dames,        And let thy sons be led
Come with your mild acclaims,       To emulate the dead,
Let their revered names             While o'er their tombs they tread
Dwell on your tongues.              With moistened eyes.
IX. BENEDICTION.
BY REV. DR. KENDALL OF PLYMOUTH.
After the conclusion of the services at the church, the ticket-holders
re-assembled in Davis's capacious hall on Main street, where about four
hundred people sat down to a collation, provided by Mr. Perry of the
Mansion House.




47
This feature in the arrangement having been concluded, Hon. HENRY
W. CUSHMAN, President of the day, excused himself from making any
introductory remarks on account of ill-health, and announced the following sentiment:The Day we Celebrate-The embarkation of Robert Cushman for America.
The most important of the great series of important providences of God, by
which He seems from the first to have designed the planting on these shores of a
great nation, securing the blessings of civil and religious liberty.
This sentiment was responded to by Rev. RUFUS S. CUSHMAN Of
Orwell, Vt., in an appropriate speech, concluding with a sentiment.
The Day we CelebrateMR. PRESIDENT:
This day, the anniversary of the first sailing of Robert Cushman to
America, carries us back to the time when New England was in its infancy,
to the germ of all her present power and civilization. I can see in a glance
the contrast with that she now is. No contrast in this line of look can be
greater. New England in 1620, New England in 1855. It is life and civilization instead of death and savageism. Humanity in its highest earthly
attainments, as yet, instead of roving brutality. Nature developed and cultivated, instead of nature stunted and dwarfed. Then, all was feebleness
in the extreme; look, now, the mightiest sight on earth! Her villages
nestling among her hills and mountains; enlivened and hallowed by the
quiet meeting-house, enriched by the modest school-house, adorned by the
neat and opened homes of her generally peaceful citizens; her work-shops
the contented and life-yielding home of her inventive and Yankee cultured
minds, industrious and enterprising hands; her waterfalls laughingly helping
on every good work; her yeomanry free, sturdy, of brave arm and stalwart
breast, —owners of the soil,-her colleges, here and there, towering upward
to cast over all their elevating and ennobling influences; her Government intent upon the noble work of preventing crime, that they may not
have crime to punish or prevent; her soil unstained by the foul plague-spot
of Slavery; her whole territory netted and dotted over with the works of
art; her population numerous, moral and aspiring,-this is New England
as she is. And you know what she was 235 years ago, when thus baptized
by her reverend Fathers; when her territory was one vast and quite unbroken wilderness, waving in the breeze and sighing alone the dirge of old and
passing time,-the free home of the panther, and of the eagle plunging in
solitary grandeur from his rock-built nest,-when the untutored Indian
roved over these fields, sported on her lakes and rivers, noble, and yet degraded. With only a little and feeble band here on this Rock planted,
is not the contrast striking between New England as she was in 1620,
and New England as she now is?




48
And what has made it? By what agency has this regeneration taken
place? Whence comes it that upon this barren soil, under our harsh and
frowning skies, there has thus stalked into history, as with the tread of a
giant, this great and free land of New England?
The life-seed of all this growth lay there in that little vessel. It was in
part planted by our ancestor, Robert Cushman, whose memory we hallow
to-day as we look upon the glory of the opened and full ripened result.
But words cannot express this contrast. This toast might well be passed
in silence, as too full of sentiment,-fraught with too much of greatness
for expression. My " sentiment " is
New England in 1620 and New England in 1855,-the greatest of moral contrast. May it never be less.
Second regular toast:Mary Allerton —The common mother of all the Cushmans, worthy of her companion, Thomas Cushman, the common father of them all.
The response to this sentiment was by Rev. IsAAc ALLERTON of
Chenango, N. Y., one of a considerable number of descendants of
Isaac Allerton, several of whom were present.
MR. PRESIDENT:
It is at the advanced age of more than 70 years I am present to greet
you upon this Pilgrim soil. It is here, Sir, my ancestors once stood; and it
is beneath a surface not far distant, they repose, and have long slumbered
in consecrated ground.
It is at this table, where we have, for the first time, and in all probability
the last, dined together, I raise my age-worn voice and say, it is good
for us to meet and to dwell together in unity; to commence an acquaintance
that will result in eternal brotherhood; to feed on the products of a soil
once cultivated by hands that were long ago folded for a celestial flight.
It is at Plymouth, the Old Colony, planted by our forefathers, I announce
my honored name after the venerable Isaac Allerton, the old Pilgrim;
who, 235 years ago this 15th day of August, embarked in the May Flower
for this, to him then unknown and unexplored wilderness. Isaac Allerton,
with an angelic female, his wife, and Mary, his daughter, who in after time
became the chosen and wedded companion of Thomas Cushman, the worthy
son of Robert our venerated ancestor,-these, Sir, were precious names,
serious minded and courageous heroes and heroines.
Sir, I take a firm stand on this occasion. I have come to Plymouth to
vindicate my ancestors; no man shall impose upon your speaker a gag law.
I thank high Heaven that Massachusetts is now the cradle of freedom; all
generations may profit by the tolerance and logic of Isaac Allerton, the
Pilgrim,




49
Sir, my ancestors were good and loyal subjects " to the powers that be
and are ordained of God;" they never, no, never refused submission to the
only needed authoritative power. In matters of conscience and religious
homage, they acknowledged but one king as head of the Church, and it
was to Christ alone they rendered the tribute of a patient and quiet spirit.
Sir, may I not say that Mary Allerton, the wife of Thomas Cushman, was
born of and nurtured by an angelic mother. She was the child of the
most tolerant and humane, whose virtues live, whose name is greeted from
the great city of New York to that of New  Orleans,-the grave-yard of
America; and this name, Sir, has been passing over great waters for two
hundred years. A gallant ship has been launched upon the floods, and in
name is a memorial of Isaac Allerton, my ancestor; numerous seaports hail
the name of the venerated Pilgrim; and have you, Sir, forgotten the sire
of Mary, the mother of this venerable Cushman band? Be that as it may,
I must not leave the land of my fathers until I shall have imparted to this
assemblage the importance of greater knowledge in the history of your progenitors, and also that you chasten your memory. For my part, Sir, I
seem to occupy this platform alone; it devolves on me to bring before you
a name that should have been written in capitals on the first page of your
history. Suffer me to instruct you! Be ye not offended with my immovable position! Alone, an aged veteran, bearing some scars, and, like
my ancestor, having been a martyr by coercive ecclesiastical intolerant
domination, I say suffer me to remove the mists and fogs that have too long
concealed and strove to roll into oblivion the worthy deeds of Isaac Allerton, the Pilgrim.
His education was respectable, his virtue firm and indomitable, his elocution persuasive; he never, Sir, apostatized from the tolerance and faith of
the Pilgrim. Tell me, Sir, or inquire first of those who nicely balance the
destination of men, and show me the great moral character who has merited
more from posterity than my ancient sire; but I must not require of you,
Sir, a task so impossible! my ancestor outweighs a multitude; the scale
tells the whole story; none like him equally tolerant amongst that Pilgrim
band.
Adjudication against presumed witchcraft, and the State murders perpetrated by good men under the power of " strong delusion;" the intolerant
abuse of the men who wore the large brimmed hat, and who said " thee"
and " thou" to a single person;-in these matters, Sir, my ancestor had no
share; he employed no intolerant laws, he was no inquisitor, he is therefore
pure and clean in heaven; no stain of blood has descended, like the mark
of Cain, to crimson the reputation of his posterity. Sir, I bear at Plymouth
no bloody memorial, but hold up the flag of my ancestor ever clean and white.
When Roger Williams was remanded from this Commonwealth, on account of his conscientious opinions, Isaac Allerton was the advocate for
compassion, and not cruelty, at the altar of Christian toleration; and it is in
7




50
glory, Sir, thousands now hail and applaud my virtuous predecessor as a
reliever of the oppressed, persecuted, exiled, trembling children of God.
Permit me, Sir, again to bring before you Mary Allerton, the daughter
of a sire so worthy; MIary, worthy the high character of' her husband, and
of the father which begat him; Mary, the mother of all the Cushman race;
truly, I may say, "' The memory of the just is blessed." How uniform was
her character.
I was going to inquire of you, Sir, and ask if she was not one of earth's
angels when in the cradle.  Oh how eloquently did a matron chime,
"Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber;" but where is her cradle now?
Rocked by the revolution of our globe, it is, Sir, yonder in the house
appointed for all the living. Oh how venerable is that dust, and how
blessed is that departed spirit,-absent from the body and ever with the
Lord! She lived to a good patriarchal age, and left her legacy to thousands
upon thousands on this New England and other distant soils. Peace to
my Cushman race, echoed Mary, while a tenant of earth,-a stranger and
pilgrim, seeking fobr herself and children a city and country, whose builder
and maker is God.
Sir, Mary Allerton, with her husband, Thomas Cushman, are now occupying a prominent place in two worlds. Heaven, Sir, environs the sire
and the matron. It is on earth, Sir, a monument must rise to the name of
Cushman, and also to that of Mary Allerton,-the great mother of a posterity in Earth and in Heaven. The zeal of the Lord in the bosom of a numerous Cushman band will accomplish this.
Sir, your great mother still loves her children; death interrupts, but
never dissolves the union of kindred. The holy fervor of a glorified matron
invites you to look to the " rock whence ye were hewn,"-to Isaac Allerton, her father. It is his blood, Sir, that circulates warm in Cushman veins.
It is in this place, Sir, as I look over the resolution and the virtues of my
ancestors, I seem to behold those venerated names, those then oppressed
individuals asking wisdom of God, to direct them in their then great enterprise; I seem, not in fancy, but in spirit, with them when they bent the
suppliant knee, and poured into the ear of the God of holiness the incense
of a grieved spirit. It is here, Sir, I take a retrospect, I look to the mother
land; I behold fond relatives receiving and returning the parting kiss;
"fare ye well," were words uttered with a full tide of aff'ection; "farewell"
was written on the sand, and left legible in many an aggravated bosom;
"farewell, aged kindred, now taking leave of Sjour children, and leaning
with sadness upon the top of your staff; farewell home, sweet home, the
land of our childhood and of our birth!"
It was then, Sir, the eternal God treasured their incense, which is now
perfume in the Holy of Holies. He spread over the conscientious adventurers the broad hand of a protecting providence, gave them strength to
weigh their anchor and to spread their sails, and caused them to ride on




51
the top of foaming waters to this haven, then silvered with the frost and
snow of winter; and they found this place prepared by Jehovah for his
Church in the wilderness, where our fobrefathers had protection for a time
from the scourge of intolerance.
Sir, I have adverted to the prayers of my ancestors; permit me to announce that they are recorded in the eternity of God's book of remembrance; they have, in their influence, reached the sensibilities of that God
man who is ever afflicted at the tribulations of his children.
Those were prayers of faith, that extended eastward, westward, northward and southward, and upward to the throne of the Highest. They have
reached and environed posterity; we, their descendants, inherit their
mantle, and the bond of God's covenant, strong and luminous, is gathered
around us in answer to supplications which 235 years ago flowed from confiding, grieved and agonizing souls. Where, Sir, was the soul of Isaac
Allerton, the Pilgrim, then clad in terrestrial attire, and also of his worthy
coadjutors and brethren, who through faith in the virtue and patriotism of
posterity, subdued a kingdom, wrought righteousness, escaped the growl
and roar of the intolerant lion, quenched the violence of the Star Chamber
fire, diffused a pure gospel among savage tribes on this continent, and entailed to posterity the seeds of our Federal Union,-the stars of promising
States and Territories, —the principles of virtue, and liberty of conscience.
But, Sir, who, with a soul flaming with zeal and holy courage, then
uttered those prayers? Why name our forefathers, who once occupied
these gardens and fields, who worshipped near these temples, but are now
the Lord's dead! whose names we bear, and whose memory and very dust
we venerate.
Sir, it was near this hallowed spot our fathers shared their scanty
meals, reposed on their hard beds, gathered from these wild meadows, and
poured out their sweat and blood to cultivate the wilderness. They have
labored, and we, their posterity, and even strangers, enjoy the fruit of
their toil.
Sir, at this table, I almost wish to behold my ancestors in the flesh,
and to mingle with them in earth's bounteous provision; but I ask of
Heaven modesty and decorum on an occasion so solemn and interesting. I,
therefore, forbear to disturb their slumbering ashes; I dare not be importunate with Jehovah to send from  Abraham's bosom to this distracted and
bleeding world my kindred now with God; I dare not, Sir, petition glorified souls to alight on these seats with mortals; blessed Pilgrims, safe from
the contagion of moral evil, never to hunger more.
Instead of speculating with our imaginations among sainted bones and
glorified spirits, rather, Sir, may I, myself, and you, also, aspire after the
nobler objects they have attained, practise the holy examples they have
left their kindred as a legacy, and direct our hearts and faith upwards for
celestial fare, where existence is interminable, and friends and kindred
when once congregated are never sundered.




52
Sir, this earth, the great footstool and thoroughfare for the society of
men, will never more recognize all present, as a solemn, festive party of
one pulse, of one blood, of one heart. " Our life is a vapor that appears
fobr a little while and vanishes away."
It is, however, the immovable decree of Him whose province it is to
shake the heavens and the earth, yea, to shake all nations, that there shall
be a great meeting of every nation and kindred and tongue and people;that meeting, Sir, will not be at Plymouth,-the land of our forefathers,but before the throne of God and the Lamb.
It is my great business on this occasion, it is the full extent of my
mission this day, to unroll and spread before you the great circular, having the signature of Him who was and is to appear. It is on this platform I
announce the gathering of the nations and the opening of the books; it is
at Plymouth I say to you, Sir, and to my kindred, Come and dine with your
forefathers and mingle with angels; come with the staff of your faith erect,
with your lamp trimmed, and also having hope as the helmet of your salvation. Be ye strong to bear up under that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. That, Sir, will be the last great meeting, when men
and angels will mingle together; its order will be magnificent; its Chief
NMarshal will surely be in attendance, his banner will wave in glory and in
majesty; countless stars, once fallen, but recovered by redeeming influence, will be his crown; his name,-mighty to save,-will be on every
forehead; his aids and assistant marshals, to render that meeting illustrious, will be thrones, dominions, principalities and powers. That, Sir,
will be an assemblage of kindred and friends! Isaac Allerton, my ancestor,
blessed Mary, his daughter, and the Cushmans, whose graves we propose to
visit, are now in heaven awaiting our arrival; and oh, how eloquently will
they greet and welcome their children home.
We seem, Sir, to have an interest in the very dust of our ancestors. We
venerate earth's cold soil as sacred wherever they repose in consecrated
ground; we erect monuments to perpetuate their names, their virtues, their
tribulations and achievements. But the most sacred interest is that part of
our kindred which is immortal, and which also has passed the gate of
death, and which, conducted by ministering spirits, has entered into
rest
And now, Sir, may we emulate their virtues, possess their spirit of holy
sympathy and toleration; may we meet in one general assembly, worship
God with our forefathers, and ultimately shake hands and eat bread in
Heaven, " where there is neither Jew nor Greek; where there is neither
bond nor free; male or female; but all are one in Christ Jesus."
The President then introduced to the company SAMUEL ADAMS
EATON, Esq., of Boston, who delivered in a very eloquent manner the
following




ORIGINAL POEM.
Stern browed oppression, through the realms of space
Crushed hearts relentless. Robbed of every grace,
The tyrant ruled with fierce, despotic sway,
And moral darkness clouded mental day.
Progression lingered in the march of Time,
When Cushman sought New England's stranger clime;
That spirit chained upon the parent sod,
Sought in the wilds communion with its God.
Her whitened sail the pilgrim bark had spread
When every hope the pilgrim heart had fled.
Angels wove garlands of eternal light,
With beams of day, and stars plucked from the night.
They sang soft pmeans of extatic cheerThey chided sorrow-they dispelled each fear.
Faith's finger traced in characters of flame
Upon the sky, New England's future fame.
In churches lofty, and not made with hands,
In troublous hour the sturdy pilgrim stands.
No sculptured temple raised its walls on high;
God's towering arches pierced th' o'erhanging sky.
The forest oaks the woodman's axe ne'er felled
Where the first anthems of our fathers swelledThey rose in grandeur, in their native pride,
And bowed to Heaven, majestic side by side.
The fretted dome of the eternal sky,
Clouded in darkness, met the pilgrim's eye.
Hope's smiles were heavy-Faith's o'erburdened heart
Watched for the light, but found the darker part.
No gleam of joy, the darkness to dispel,
Bade angel voices whisper,'" ALL.S WELL."
Calmly they bowed beneath th' afflicting rod
That tried their faith and bound them to their God.
Earth has not seen, from nature's noblest mould,
Such men-ay, women, as that stricken fold.
Ask ye their sorrows? Salt, unbidden tears
From spirit fountains gushed, through ling'ring years.
The soul's great charter, wrested from their hands,
Drove them to roam from homes and native lands.
Religious Freedom-ah! how dearly boughtFree right to worship-was the boon they sought.




54
Unchained to kneel at the Almighty throne;
In God's high presence to stand up-alone.
They asked no right of others to destroy,
WVho sired the freedom that we now enjoy.
Think not their mission ended with their days;
A golden twilight hung upon the rays
Of brightest glories that embalmed their fame,
As history grasped the lustre of their name.
The Pilgrim Fathers-Champions of the right,
Rev'ling in beams of Heaven's Promethean light,
Shall live immortal. Time shall pass away,
While yet the memory of their deeds shall stayStay in fresh verdure-gathering grace with ageTo bloom forever upon history's page.
Forgotten-No! their children shall arise,
And loud thanksgiving rend the echoing skiesNot lulled to quiet-Earth still feels the shock
That shook its centre from the Plymouth Rock.
There, Freedom dared, and did assert its right,
And Christian warriors waged a Christian fight;
There gathered priests-and incense did arise
From freedom's altar, their first sacrifice.'Twas bathed in blood-wrung from bold spirits thenThe pile was lighted by the hands of men.
December snows chilled not those hearts of oak,
As sorrow's tempest madly o'er them broke.
Their hands unmailed, wielded the sword of truth,
And grey-beard age renewed the fire of youthThose manly heroes-all in vain at last,
We seek their fellows through the buried past.'Tis not my task to blazon forth their praise,
More than give lustre to the noontide rays.'Tis not my folly; vain presumption, bold,
But paints the lily-gilds refined gold.
Rashly, I linger with the honored dead,
But will not rush where angels lightly tread.
The Pilgrim Fathers! Reverently gaze
And mark their virtues-silent, in amaze,
Ope not your lips-their sorrowing tale to tell,
Who came from trial, saying, " All is well."
Ye need not picture how despair's embrace




55
Welcomed that father of the Cushman race:
Ye need not say that shepherd sought his flock,
And based his hope on the eternal rock.
No other shelter than the immortal arm
Sustained his spirit-banished all alarm.
Behold-he stands-the Puritan, the sage,
That preacher Cushman of the Pilgrim age!
Think not his memory lingers in the shade,
With things forgotten and about to fade.
Immortal brightness and undying light
Enshrine in glory champions of the right.
Religious freedom marshals serried ranks,
The elder Robert liveth in their thanks.
Say in your hearts shall all his goodness die,
With thankless children shall his virtues fly,
Or, will you emulate his spotless fame
And bring new glories to his deathless name?
Ingrate to justice, faithless should I prove,
Withholding here the tribute due to love.
The guardian spirit of our brightest schemes,
Perennial sunshine, woman ever seems.
Think not her mission bore no envious part,
Nor winged bright hope into the pilgrim heart;
Think not her eyes, by heaven ordained to smile,
Beamed not with mercy and with joy the while;
Think not her faith quailed in the fearful strife,
No fickle frailty marked the pilgrim wife.
I love the theme. The poet's art I crave,'' Last at the cross and earliest at the grave;"
Woman, for thee to twine a tribute meet,
Thy just reward is at the judgment seat.
Exhaustless wealth seems beggared at thy claim,
Words, words are bankrupt when they write thy fame.
Eden lacked glory till thy graces beamed,
And with thy advent bright perfection streamed,
Bathing the world in floods of gentle power,
That made thee queen of every passing hour.
Woman! thy faith, thy truth, thy love shall stand
A bright memorial of the Pilgrim band,
Till tottering Time shall end his destined race
And helpless, court Eternity's embrace.




56
Forgotten! no! thy virtues, all sublime,
The brightest jewels in the crown of time,
Shall glitter still where chaos holds domain,
And endless ages bow beneath thy reign.
The sacred tears by beauteous Bradford shed,
Are clustered diamonds on an angel's head,
Bright gems for heaven eternally to shine,
Paling the baubles of Golconda's mine.
Martyrs of freedom-passing clouds of shame,
Pierced by the sunlight glory of your fame,
Are rent asunder. Allertons arise
With hearts' devotion, myriads to surprise.
The sainted Mary of that honored name,
A pilgrim child with the " May Flower" came.
First to the cause she wedded woman's hand;
Last of the faithful, sought that better land;
A life of virtue-a triumphant death!
No pang at parting save the struggling breath,
Marked her career; immortalized the end
Of pilgrim daughter, mother, wife and friend!
Woman, though sin assailed thee not in vain,
Thy pleading brought redemption back again;
Thouh Eden lost, thy fickleness reprove,
A heaven on earth is lighted by thy love.
This was the sunshine of the pilgrim's life;
This was the peace repaid the spirit's strife.
Vain man, on woman set no mortal price,
She glads the earth and opens paradise!
Time chides me now. Children of Cushman stock,
Why have you gathered here at Plymouth Rock?
To boast the glory of the illustrious deadTo mark the grandeur of those spirits fled?
To sound their names with vaunting tongues of praiseTo note their glories-list the poet's lays?
Their disembodied shades may hover round
And drink the nectar of each grateful sound;
Their joys may waken, each familiar scene,
By memory's pencil tinged with living green;
May live again-and fain enhance the bliss
That glads remembrance in a scene like this.
In other words mayhap a joy is found
When Zephyrs, laden with endearing sound,




57
Rehearse the virtues that have passed away,
And point the present to that olden day;
But let us proudly to the future give
Not idle words, in reverence to live;
Light in your homes —on household altars, fires,
By deeds prove worthy of such glorious sires.
The Chair then announced the following sentiment:The Orator —In "thoughts that breathe and words that burn," he vindicates
his descent from the Pilgrim stock.
In his response, Dr. Cushman began by playfully asking the President
if he might give them the balance of his oration as his contribution to the
entertainment; for he really had nothing else prepared. Instead of such
a recourse to meet the exigency, however, he would ask their indulgence
for a more free and familiar utterance of the feelings inspired by the scene
before him. When the speaker, who sat near him, was speaking of contrast, he found his own mind reverting not so far back as 1620 for his first
extreme, but to 1820, just two hundred years later. And, instead of dwelling on the contrast presented by the country, he was musing on that of his
own condition, as he then found himself alone in the world, and now surrounded by this multitude.  Then he was an orphan; with no father, no
mother, no brother, no sister, no property, no health. A stranger among
the graves of his forefathers he was pursuing his studies in the adjoining
town during the days and the nights of the week; and, on the Sabbath,
timidly trying his unskilled voice with the gospel here where now he found
himself greeted with such unmeasured kindness; and surrounded with such
a host of fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, that he felt like exclaiming, with emotions of surprise and delight, in the language of the
prophet, "Who hath begotten me these, seeing I had lost my family, and
was desolate, removing to and fro? Behold, I was left alone, these where
had they been?" He went on to speak of his veneration for the place, and
its Pilgrim settlers, and his sense of the kindness which had made him feel
so much at home among their posterity; and asked leave to give, as his
contribution to the present " feast of reason and flow of soul:"Plymouth's Rock —The rock whence we were hewn.
The next regular toast was:The Pilgrim Society —" Representative men" of the noblest constituency. We
tender them our thanks for the service they are rendering to the present and future.
RIcHARD WARREN, Esq., of New York, responded as follows:MR. PRESIDENT:
It is good to keep ever green the memory of our Fathers. Sweet and
pleasant it is to come together as descendants of worthy ancestors, and
8




58
recall days of" Auld Lang Syne."  You, Sir, and these associates have met,
as the descendants of a good man of the olden time; one among the oldest
of them, who came to found here a colony that has grown, by adherence to
the principles of the early settlers, to be a nation that claims to be honored
by all other nations on the globe. You meet, too, Sir, on the sacred soil of
Plymouth; made sacred by the toils and the tears of the men and women
who landed from the May Flower.
Shall we, Mr. President, who live in these luxurious days, be enabled, in
any popular degree, to realize the sufferings of our forefathers? As I walk
through these sands, or stand on the "Rock," or ramble over these hills
which on every side surround us, I feel, more and more keenly, the heroism
of the Puritan Fathers of New England. The scene is beautiful indeed,
now. From the various summits around, the eye rests on many habitations
of the white man. When Cushman was here, he and his associates looked
from these now fertile valleys, but then all barren, to the hill tops, and saw
there the dark face and manly form of the wild Indian; and as they looked,
they knew not that an arrow was not then pointed to their hearts. Ascend,
Sir, the Burial Hill, or Watson's Hill, on such an afternoon as this. No
more beautiful view can be found in this land. Sit there and look upon
the vast expanse of ocean; guide your eye eastward and see where looms
up Cape Cod, the land of sand, and also the land of treasure. The Pilgrims trod those sands, and methinks they left an impress there, as they did
here, which abides forever with the soil, and with all who have lived, or
who now live, or who shall ever live thereon. Sustained by a faith in
God, which nothing could shake, these Pilgrims left their homes and many
friends, to seek an abode where they might worship that God as to them
seemed right. Directed by an overruling Providence, they were to find
that abode on these then inhospitable shores. Here, where roved uncivilized the wild Indian, claiming the territory as his own,-here they came,manly strength, womanly devotion, and filial dependence. On yonder Rock
they stepped, that small company alone, and thus immortalized it to all
future time. One hundred souls, the founders of a nation, in mid winter,
in a savage land!-Firm, then, were their hearts. They had left home
with the prayers of Robinson and of Cushman going up to heaven for their
safety. Yet, while the spirit was strong, the flesh was weak, and ere the
fair Spring-time opened to show the bright sunlight of God, renovating the
barren forests, one half of their number had gone from earth to heaven.
Life's labors were ended to many a wearied one. Beneath the sod on
Cole's Hill, rest the remains of the brave and the beautiful who died in
those cold months. No tombstones there are reared to tell the passing
traveller where they rest; but now and then the spade of the workman
throws up a precious relic of their remains. Sir, it is holy ground. I
approach it ever with veneration, and standing thereon, I anew nerve
myself to the duties of life, by calling up the acts of the earliest settlers,
based as they were upon the principles of' duty.




Mr. President-The story has been often told. Familiar it is to us all;
yet it is never tiresome. Orators and poets shall forever find inspiration,
while they linger around the sacred graves of the Fathers, or when they
read of their noble deeds and nobler daring. The pen and the voice, the
canvass, aye, and the sculptor shall bear on to successive generations the
story of the Pilgrim Fathers; and ages after we shall have passed on,
Plymouth and Cape Cod will be visited by thousands, as they have been
visited, before we came to them.
You, Sir, have selected one of the "renowned sires" to be commemorated on this day. I will not complain that you have done so. It is a
fitting tribute to the memory of Robert Cushman. It is graceful, and beautiful, aye, it is holy in his immediate descendants, that they should come
here to remember him in this way. Worthy was he to call together a multitude who bear his name; and I will not admit a doubt, Mr. President,
that although you have separated him from others who came, yet, standing
here, if no where else, you will not love the others less, while seeming to
honor him the more.
But, Mr. President, the tribute of the voice, or the tribute of money expended on monuments, is not enough. These should not be omitted. But
while we build monuments, as it is fitting we should, to perpetuate their
memory, we must not forget that the best tribute to our Fathers, is to lead
a life worthy of the name we bear.
In this country titles are nothing,-ancestry, in one sense, is nothing,yet I feel a pride, I confess, when I can trace directly back to the Pilgrim
Fathers,-not because they had good titles, or wore a crown, —for they
were not of such kind. Men of firmness were they and faithful to the dictates of conscience,-men of faith in something beyond mere living,-therefore I feel a pride swelling in my bosom, as I reflect that I come direct
from such a parentage. But that pride will be cast into the dust, unless I
prove my worthiness to be a descendant, by endeavoring to aim high in
duty, and by striving to do the duty that devolves on him, who claims to be
a good citizen of the land to which the Pilgrim Fathers came from
oppression.
A great change, of course, has taken place since this country was settled.
Competency is the lot of most New England men. It is not easy to fix the
thought of such hardships as our Fathers had to meet. Forests have been
felled; towns have been built where once the Indian wigwams stood; the
sand has been made, to some extent, soil, and gives back to the farmer a
return for his labor. We live, Sir, in plenty and peace, with none to
molest us. No savage yell comes down these hills, where once roamed the
red man, and as the years roll on, it may be apprehended that we shall
cease to remember them, who early labored that those who come after
might have rest and peace. It is, therefore, as I have said, good to come
together and recall the past, and dwell on the memory of the good and the




60
useful who have lived. Their spirits hover around us at all such gatherings. To-day we can, as it were, see the embodied spirit of your immediate
ancestor, as from a part of the universe of God he looks down upon this
meeting. Look up to him there, and impress it more and more upon yourselves, and let it be still deeper impressed on your children and on their
children, that the most worthy tribute to be paid to the memory of the
father, is for the child, or the man, or the woman, to live a life of usefulness, of goodness, and of trust, and thus to advance the world to a higher
degree of excellence; and then when another 235 years shall have rolled
on, and hundreds of millions of freemen shall live in these our United
States, and the descendants of Robert Cushman shall meet on this spot,
they will still be able to say:" The toils they bore, our ease have wrought,
They sowed in tears, in joy we reap;
The birthright they so dearly bought,
We'll guard, till we with them shall sleep."
Mr. Warren exhibited to the company a copy of Robert Cushman's
sermon, delivered in Plymouth December 9, 1621. This was all English edition, printed in 1622, and was loaned by Edward A. Crowninshield, Esq., of Boston. It is probably the only copy of the first
edition in America. The following will give an idea of the title page.
A
SERMON.
PREACHED AT
PLIMMOTH IN
NEVV ENGLAND
December 9, 1621.
In an Assemblie of his
Mlaiesties, Faithful
Subiects their
inhabiting.
WHEREIN is SHEVVED
the danger of selfe-loue, and the
Sweetnesse of true Friendship.
TOGETHER
VVITH a PREFACE,
Shewing the State of the Country
and Condition of the
SAVAGES.
Rom. 12. 10.
Be affectioned to love one another
with brotherly love.
Writen in the yeare 1621.
LONDON
Printed by I. D. by IOHN BELLAMIE
and are to be sold at his Shop at the two Grey
hounds in Corn-hill neere the royall
Exchange 1622.



61
The Chair then gave the following::Hospitality of the People of Plymoutlh-Proverbial, and self-sacrificing, as were
the virtues and labors of the first settlers of the " Old Colony."
JACOB H. LOUD, Esq., Chairman of the Selectmen of Plymouth,
responded to this compliment to the hospitality of the citizens, in a few
appropriate remarks, and bid those of the guests who might make it
convenient or agreeable to continue their visit, a hearty and cheerful
welcome to the homes and households of the people of Plymouth.
Mr. Loud concluded with the following sentiment:Robert Cushnman-The right hand of the body of the Pilgrims: —May his descendants ever be faithful to the trust committed to them by their ancestors.
Rev. AMos DRESSER of Farmington, Ohio, was introduced to the
company and made an eloquent speech, and concluded with the following sentiment:Civil and Religious Liberty-Planted by our forefathers,-watered by their tears,
their labors and their prayers:-May the Cushman race never be unfaithful to
those great principles of our country.
Rev. GEORGE F. CUSHMAN of Alabama being called up, made a
speech of more than ordinary eloquence and pertinence, substantially as
follows:
MR. PRESIDENT-LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
I rise not to make a speech. Indeed, Sir, while standing upon this
ground, consecrated and hallowed by the tread of pilgrim feet, I can but
feel that a speech would come with but an ill grace from one who has
strayed so far from the pilgrim faith, and I fear good old Robert would
add, so far from the Pilgrim Fathers. But, Sir, I cannot forbear to say,
that there can be no one in this vast assembly, be the other who he may,
who rejoices more in this family gathering, or honors more those who
originated it and have so successfully carried it through, than does the representative of the Cushman family from the State of Alabama. Sir, we of
the South, however we may differ from you in customs, character and institutions, have not forgotten, nor shall ever forget, the many splendid virtues
which adorn the New England character, though we ourselves are accused
of being careless or prodigal, we none the less admire your thrift, perseverance, and indomitable energy,-your zeal in the cause of morality and
education.  We are not unmindful of the past glorious history of New
England, and we are proud to claim our share in your greatness. No citizen of the South ever stands by the grave of Ashland, or walks by the
waters of the Ashley, without reverting in his mind to the great New England patriot and statesman, the noblest Roman of them all. While such




62
associations as these remain, Sir, we, of Alabama shall be, as we always
have been," To your virtues very kind,
To your faults a little blind."
Sir, the South is full of New England blood, and we rejoice in the connection that binds us together. And well we may, if our names are to be
inscribed in a genealogy, such as our worthy President, by years of untiring
industry, has produced.  Sir, I would go further, and instead of these
groaning tables, would be content with pilgrim fare, "a little parched
corn," to read my name in the Cushman Record. I trust, brothers and
kindred all, I may be allowed to say, and I am sure I do but echo the general voice, that in attempting to rear a monument to the Pilgrim Robert,
the distinguished author has unconsciously erected one to himself, more
enduring than the brazen statue or the sculptured marble.
But, Sir, I said that I would not make a speech, and upon pilgrim
ground I must keep my word. I beg leave to offer the following sentiment,
and will then sit down:The Cushman Genealogy-" Monumentum ere perennius."*
The President remarked that he had in his eye a very distinguished
gentleman from a neighboring State, formerly Attorney-General of the
United States, and that the company would be highly pleased to hear
from Hon. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER of New York City.
Mr. Butler responded to this call. After remarking, among other things,
that he was neither a Cushman, nor the son of a Cushman, nor the descendant of a Cushman, nor of any other of the Pilgrim Fathers, but a native of
New York, deriving his name and lineage, in part, from the Emerald Isle.
He said that he had some blood in his veins which claimed near kindred
with the Puritan founders of New England. The Irishman from whom he
was descended (and who, as he had reason to believe, was among the first
who came over with his all in the pack upon his back) settled in Connecticut, and there married, lived and died. And among Mr. B.'s ancestresses
there was one who was descended, in a direct line, from John Jones, one of
the Judges of Charles the First, who, at the age of 82, suffered, for his part
in that act of public justice, the loss of his own head.
Mr. B. said, that in New York they had often heard, and sometimes, as the
descendants of the ancient Knickerbockers, thought, a little too often, of the
Pilgrim Fathers of New England. But he expressed his high gratification,
that on his second visit to Plymouth, in quest of repose, recreation and
health, he had had the good fortune to be present on an occasion of so much
interest. He had been instructed and delighted by the admirable discourse
* A monument more lasting than brass.




63
to which he had listened, commemorating the character and services of
Robert Cushman. It was a noble, as well as pious and filial act, to recall
history into the path of truth, and to scatter flowers on the graves of a virtuous and honorable ancestry, however remote. He ventured to predict
that there was at least one of the name of Cushman whose writings would
be preserved, and read, and quoted by posterity.
Mr. B. said he had looked into the mammoth volume just published by
the worthy President of this festival, containing the genealogy of the Cushman family. They were told, and so it appeared by the book, that most of
the race had belonged to that most useful portion of the community,-the
great middle class of our American society,-they were generally farmers
and mechanics, whose lives were spent in the faithful discharge of their
simple and unostentatious duties. Yet their pedigrees had been carefully
preserved, and might now be read in the book of the genealogy of the race.
In several other instances, similar compilations had been made of the f:amilies of the Pilgrims. Nothing like this could be done, in reference to the
same class of men in any country, or among any people, except the people
of New England. In Europe, books of heraldry and genealogical tables
give you the families of the nobility and of the other privileged classes;
but of the common people,-the great middle class,-(and the same thing
is true almost every where else,) no family pedigrees, for any length of
time, could be prepared. Yet here we had, in the case before us, such a
pedigree of a single family of this class for ten generations. The explanation of this marvel was to be found in two facts. First-the descendants of
the Pilgrims had all, so much of general education as to be able to read and
write, and, therefore, to keep regular and authentic records of their families. Secondly-there was in every family a consecrated place in which
this record could be preserved,-the Family Bible. And this Bible was
handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter. This Book of
Books was loved, and reverenced, and cherished, and so the family record,
within its leaves, was transmitted from generation to generation. These
two simple facts explain the whole thing. They also explain how and why
it is, that the New England race have not only retained possession of that
portion of our Atlantic seaboard originally settled by their Pilgrim Fathers,
but that wherever their descendants are found,-and they are found in
every State and Territory of the Union,-they have ever been first in
every department of active life; first in commerce, in the mechanic arts,
and in the learned professions; first of our poets and historians, our orators
and statesmen.
Mr. B. would not farther dwell on this thought, but it contained the philosophy of the books of New England genealogies and of the character and
success of the New England race. In the spirit of these remarks, he would
offer the following sentiment:Tihe Family Bible-Its printed pages the ]fagnza Cliarta of the Puritans,-its
blank leaves their Book of Heraldry.




64
The following sentiment, in reference to Mr. Butler's speech, was
sent to the Chair:Our adopted Brother from New York-If not one of the sons of Cush, he has
proved himself to be at least half of us, by showing himself to be the son of a man.
Rev. ELISHA CUSHMAN of Deep River, Conn., being called up by
the President, addressed the company as follows:MR. PRESIDENT:
The thought which chiefly presses upon me, in connection with this
scene, is that of responsibility. We have come here to pay our respects to
the memory of our ancestors; and here we have had it urged upon us in
the oration, sung to us in the poem, reiterated by our friend, the President
of the Pilgrim Society, and more than hinted by our half son, shall I call
him? who has just sat down, that we now come under a new and special
obligation to show our appreciation of our fathers by copying their example,
and walking in their footsteps. I fear that some of' us will be obliged to
make rather long tracks to do that; and yet I have to confess I see no way
of evading the duty.
"Honor thy father and thy mother," we are told, is "the first commandment with promise;" and all the good old Puritan expounders would tell us
that this includes our grantdfathers and grandmothers, and, of course, all
our forefathers and foremothers who are at all worthy of being honored.
And how shall we do this? By "storied urn and animated bust," the
statue and the monument? Not thus alone, surely, though they may be desirable enough in their place. By high sounding eulogies and great swelling
words? These, certainly, will come very far short of fulfilling the obligation. The claim can only be discharged by a fitting character and life on
our part. I have read, not long since, that somewhere " down South," a
gentleman who was engaged in lecturing upon temperance, was followed
about by a graceless son, who, as often as his father addressed an audience,
was sure to get drunk, and make his way into the hall, if he could. Upon
being expostulated with concerning his disgraceful and unfilial conduct, he
replied, " You don't understand it. You see, my father he lectures on the
evils of intoxication, and I go as a specimen!" Let us beware how any of
us go through the world as specimens of the evils and vices which our
fathers lived to rebuke. Another young scapegrace, of whom I have heard,
who, though the son of virtuous parents, was himself exceedingly profligate,
upon being reminded of the duty to honor his father and mother, answered
very coolly, "I do,-I honor them by contrast. I am the shading of the
picture; and do you not see how much more brightly the virtues and excellencies of my good father and mother shine, when contrasted with the dark
ground which my character furnishes?" God forbid that we should think of
honoring our fathers by any such contrast.




65
It is related of the Emperor Alexander, that hearing of a cowardly soldier in his army, whose name was also Alexander, he went to him and
sternly addressing him, said, " Sir, either chance your name or change your
conduct."  Now, we cannot very well change our names. Well, that is, I
should say, we of the masculine gender cannot.  Some of our fair kindred,
of the other sex, will have a sort of feminine way of doing such a thing,
which, I suppose, cannot be helped. Pardon the egotism, however, if I
mention that I have had the privilege of saving one of them from that destiny,-whether for better or for worse, perhaps it does not become me to
say. Hence, my family may be reckoned double and twisted Cushmans,
upon whom it may be claimed that the obligation to honor the name rests
with especial and peculiar weight. We will at least endeavor not to dishonor it. And now let me, in a word, urge upon all who to-day come here
to commemorate the virtues of their Pilgrim ancestors, and upon all who
trace their descent in this noble line, that they strive to bear the name
worthily, by a steadfast imitation and a perpetual reproducing of the same
virtues which our fathers embodied, and by which their memories have
become so fragrant. I offer you this sentiment:The Cushmans, all and Singular —While glorying in their noble pedigree, may
their characters and conduct be such as to save the race and the name from the
reproach of being like a mere use-gathered hill of potatoes, the best part all under
ground.
GEORGE W. ALLERTON, Esq.. of New York City, (a lineal descendant of Isaac Allerton of the May Flower,) gave the following sentiment:
The li-assachusetts IHistorical Society-Usually correct; but very much mistaken
when they say in their " Collections " that " with Isaac Allerton the 3d, the race
of Allertons became extinct in this country." In the language of the great statesman of New England we would say, " I still live."
Gen. GusTAVUs G. CUSHMAN, of Bangor, Me., being called upon,
responded in substance as follows:
MR. PRESIDENT:
I must say, Sir, that I am not a little surprised at the call you have made
upon me for a speech or a sentiment; and if, Sir, you shall be disappointed
in either respect, you must shoulder the burden of the responsibility.  On
other occasions I have been called upon in like manner, and in attempting
to honor the draft, I have been so taken up with the speech as to forget the
sentiment, and with the sentiment as to give the speech. Sir, had I been
called upon to give a sentiment but a moment since, it would have been in
relation to civil and religious liberty. But the gentleman from  Ohio,I beg pardon, my kinsman from Ohio,-has been beforehand with me. He
9




66
has, however, used the sentiment for one purpose; it may be I shall be
excused in using it for another.
Sir, we hear much said about the bigotry of the early Puritans. But
though they were not very tolerant of the errors of their day, what would
have been their abhorrence of the monstrous notions which are prevalent
in ours? They came here in charge of the principles of' civil and religious
liberty, and to found an empire for their encouragement and support.
By civil liberty they understood constitutional liberty, as the covenant they
drew up, while yet on board the May Flower, may well witness. For
this they endured toils, privations and sufferings. Sir, we trust that their
descendants may ever bear this fact in mind, and may ever hold themselves aloof from those spurious notions of' liberty which claim to be above
Constitutions and above Law. If, Sir, some of these notions shall continue
to spread, the descendants of the Pilgrims may yet be called to endure
severer trials in defence of civil or constitutional liberty,-for they are one
and the same, —than ever did the fathers in its first planting. They who
found an empire should carefully nurse and protect this liberty. And may
such ever be the office of the descendants of Robert Cushman, the Pilgrim.
But, Sir, I will not detain you longer than to give the fbllowing sentiment:Civil, or Constitutional, and Religious Liberty-May the descendants of Robert
Cushman be ever ready to say to modern empirics, " hands off!"
Rev. ilr. DRESSER of Ohio, then announced the following sentiment
from a volunteer:Thle C'ushman Picture-The principal characters shine brightest without any
contrasts. The orator of to-day and the historian of the race have told us that
there has never been a rogue in the family.
The response was by Rev. JOB CUSHMAN of Wisconsin, closing with
the following sentiment:Our Fathers-Their faith sustained them amid the sufferings of earth, and conducted them safely to heaven: —may we, their children, contend earnestly for that
faith,
The following volunteer sentiment was given by CHIARLES U. CUSH1MAN, Esq., of Newburg, N. Y., one of the Vice Presidents of the
meeting.
Our Common Father and Mother —Thomas Cushman and Mary Allerton. Let
the stately column rise to mark the spot where their ashes repose; but the more
enduring monument is in the hearts of a grateful posterity.




67
The festivities of the occasion were closed at six o'clock in the afternoon, when the company, having joined in singing the following Christian doxology, to the tune of Old Hundred, left the hall preparatory to
attending a social levee, to which they were invited by the citizens of
Plymouth.
DOXOLOGY.
From all that dwell below the slies
Let the Creator's praise arise!
Let the Redeemer's name be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.
Eternal are thy mercies, Lord!
Eternal truth attends thy word;
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.
Davis Hall, in which the dinner was served, was decorated for the
purpose.  The following sentences, neatly painted upon cl6th, were
arranged on the walls:" We have come in our prosperity to remember your trials."
" A noble colony of devoted Christians, whose planting has changed the history
of the world."
" They founded a great realm, an imperial patrimony of liberty, the first effectual
counterpoise in the scale of human right."
" Victims of persecution! how wide an empire acknowledges the sway of your
principles."
"And here, on the spot where New England began to be, we come to learn of
our Pilgrim Fathers a deep and lasting lesson of virtue, enterprise,
patience, zeal and faith."
Those who partook of the collation were seated at parallel tables,
which occupied the principal part of the hall, the Committee of Arrangements, officers of the day, orator, and invitedcl guests, (among
whom were the officers of the Pilgrim Society,) being upon a raised
platform.




68
After the collation, a large portion of the company devoted a short
time in visiting the various places of interest in the town. At different
points throughout the town, mottoes and emblems were tastefully displayed.  Near the station-house was placed this inscription:" Welcome to the home of the Pilgrims."
From the top of Pilgrim Hall waved in good taste a large white flag
bearing the representation of a pine tree, painted in natural colors.
Upon the front of the building was inscribed," PILGRIM HALL.
While in the waste of ocean
One hoary rock shall stand,
Be this its latest legendHere was the Pilgrim Land."
Within the hall, and beneath the gallery, opposite Sargent's picture
of the " Landing of the Pilgrims," was the following:"The Pilgrims of 1620 hailed the arrival of ROBERT CUSI-HIAN. The descendants
of the Pilgrims welcome this day, all who claim him as their ancestor."
Tastefully arranged in evergreen letters were displayed in various
parts of the large hall, many of the names of the most prominent of
the passengers of the renowned May Flower:1620.
"Alden, Allerton, Brewster, Bradford, Cushman, Carver, Chilton, Fuller,
Hopkins, Howland, Martin, Mullins, Robinson, Rogers, Standish,
Winslow, White, Warren."
This display, together with the objects of antiquarian value, once the
property of the early Pilgrims, added much to the interest of the
occasion.
In passing through North Street was observed the following:" COLE'S HILL:The first BURIAL PLACE of the Pilgrims. On this spot are laid to rest together
the true, the pious, the beautiful and the brave till time shall be no more."
Near " Forefathers' Rock," a few steps removed from Water Street,
at the head of a wharf, were the following lines:"A Rock in the wilderness welcomed our sires,
From bondage far over the dark-rolling sea;
On that holy altar they kindled the fires
Which glow in our bosoms, Jehovah, for Thee!"




69
On a somewhat modern building in Leyden Street, the oldest part
of the town, where the meersteads and garden plots were first laid out,
was the following brief announcement to the visitors that they were
near a spot very sacred in their family annals:"Site of the CoxntioN HousE, built 1620, where ROBERT CUSHMAN delivered his
Sermon, November, 1621."
Over the porch of the Unitarian meeting-house, situated at the
western extremity of Leyden Street, covering very nearly the same soil
on which the old meeting-house of the forefathers stood, and in the immediate neighborhood of the spots where Allerton, Carver, Bradford,
Winslow, Brewster, Cook and others dwelt, was placed the following:"The first HOUSE OF WOPSHIP built 1637; second, 1683; third, 1744; fourth,
1831; fifth, 1840. " How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation."
Throughout the town, in many places, were exhibited, in prominent
positions, such devices and emblems as were dictated by the taste and
feelings of the hospitable inhabitants.
In the evening a considerable portion of the company repaired to
Pilgrim  Hall, where they were received and kindly entertained by
the citizens and their families.  There they passed the remainder of the
day in friendly intercourse with each other and their hosts, and thence
retired to the accommodations generously provided for them  by their
assiduous friends.  And so happily ended the proceedings of the FIRsT
DAY of the Cushman Gathering in Plymouth.




70
VISIT TO THE GRAVE OF ELDER CUSHMAN.
ON Thursday, the 16th of August, after holding religious services
in the morning, the company re-assembled  at Pilgrim  Hall at 10
o'clock, A.M., to take action in reference to the erection of the Cushman Monument, and to visit the graves of Thomas and Mary Cushman.
At the request of the President, D. A. CUSHMAN, Esq., of New
York City, one of the Vice Presidents, took the Chair.
CHARLES CUSHMAN, Esq., of Boston, Chairman of the Committee on
the subject of a Monument, submitted the following report, recommending the erection of a Monument on Burial Hill in Plymouth to
the memory of Robert Cushman, the Pilgrim, and of Elder Thomas
Cushman and his wife Mary, the daughter of Isaac Allerton:At a preliminary meeting of the descendants of our Pilgrim ancestor, Robert
Cushman, held in Boston on the 15th day of February last, a Committee was appointed for the purpose of taking into consideration the subject of a Monument to
his memory, to report thereon to this meeting. In pursuance of that object, the
Committee have not deemed it within their province at this time to enter upon any
thing more than a superficial investigation of the subject, as the whole matter will
depend altogether upon the spirit and feelings of this meeting. The cost of erecting a Monument on yonder hill, worthy of the subject and of ourselves, will
depend, in a great measure, upon the style of architecture you adopt. There are
many beautiful and chaste designs, in sarcophagus, that would meet the approbation of the Committee, and that would not exceed in cost the sum of twelve hundred dollars; but the beauty of these designs, or rather the effect, depend, in a
great measure, upon their locality. If you take the form of a shaft, or column,
an elevation will no doubt be the most proper place; and as Bunker Hill has
given the key to:New England Mounments, in this form, and as the spot where
we propose erecting it is an elevation, there is no doubt in the minds of the Committee regarding its being the most acceptable form that could be presented. The
cost of a shaft or obelisk, with basement and die, for inscriptions, will depend entirely upon its size, and the manner in which it is wrought. There are several in
Mount Auburn, from ten to fifteen feet in height, that cost from five to eight hundred dollars. For the sum of two thousand, or two thousand five hundred dollars,
the Committee believe that a Monument can be erected in Italian marble or
Quincy granite, twenty feet in height, original in its design, an ornament to the
place, and creditable to ourselves.
In the furtherance of this object, it is desirable that an impetus be given to it
at once by the opening of a list for subscribers on the spot, and that a Committee
be appointed by this meeting, with full power and authority to collect the same,
and erect the monument from such plans, as in their judgment they may deem
the most appropriate, whenever the beforementioned sum or sums shall be raised.




71
We have met together on this occasion for the purpose of commemorating
the day on which our Pilgrim ancestor first sailed for America, two hundred and
thirty-five years ago. And what day could be more propitious than this, or
what place preferable to this memorable spot, to commence the undertaking we
have alluded to? The record of good men's actions we know will outlive gates
of brass and pillars of marble, in the universal remembrance of mankind; and in
thelanguage of him who has rendered immortal the early settlers of New England:"We know there is no inscription on entablatures less broad than the earth itself, can carry information of the events we commemorate, where it has not already
gone; and that no structure that shall not outlive the duration of letters and
knowledge among men, can prolong the memorial."  But our object is, by this
structure, to show our own deep sense and importance of the achievement of our
ancestor; and by presenting this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep alive similar
sentiments, and to foster a constant regard for our Puritan ancestor.
Nor have this Committee felt it incumbent on them to enter upon any lengthened argument, in order to satisfy you of the propriety and importance of this
undertaking. It is sufficient to know that, from the most remote antiquity down
to the present time, it has been the custom in all civilized countries, as well as
esteemed an act of filial duty, to place monumental records over the remains of
their illustrious dead. In the performance of this pleasing duty, we come not
here to erect a column in commemoration of a victorious chief, who had carried
destruction in his course, and caused the poet to exclaim,
"A mighty realm he overran,
And with relentless arm
Slew or enslaved its unavenging sons."
No, we come here to erect a column in commemoration of him who was among
the first and foremost in colonizing, civilizing and Christianizing this continent;
whose own right arm struck a blow in favor of civil and religious freedom, the
benefits of which we feel to this day, and which will be felt by generations yet
unborn.
And, now, ye his descendants, who have come up here this day in honor
of his memory; ye who are from the halls of learning, from the great marts of
commerce, from the far distant hills and valleys of this broad and beautiful
land:
" If in your memories dwell a thought which once was his,
If on ye swell a single recollection;
Not in vain he wore his sandal-shoon and scallop-shell."
CHARLES CUSHMAN,
Chairman of tle Committee on the 1llonument.
The report was accepted, and it was Voted, That a Monument be
erected to the memory of our ancestors at an expense of $2,000 to
$2,500.
Also voted, That a Committee of ten be appointed with full power to
carry into effect the foregoing vote.




72
The following named gentlemen were then appointed to constitute
the Committee:
Charles Cushman, Boston, Mass.; D. A. Cushman, New York City;
Robert W. Cushman, Boston, Mass.; Henry W. Cushman, Bernardston, Mass.; Charles U. Cushman, Newburg, N. Y.; A. C. Cushman, New Bedford, Mass.; Earl Cushman, Orwell, Vt.; Freeman L.
Cushman, Boston, Mass.; Robert S. Cushman, Albany, N. Y.; Spencer Cushman, Kingston, Mass.
On motion of Rev. JOB CUSHMAN of Wisconsin, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted.
Resolved, That the thanks of the descendants of Robert Cushman, the Pilgrim,
here assembled, be presented to our kinsman, the Hon. Henry W. Cushman, for
the genealogy of our kindred, which he has so faithfully accomplished.
Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with him and his companion, in the recent
severe affliction which by the providence of God they have been called to suffer in
the death of their honored father.
Resolved, That our unfeigned thanks are preeminently due to Rev. Robert W.
Cushman, D.D., for his learned, comprehensive, and able Discourse to us on this
occasion, in which are so graphically and beautifully portrayed the excellencies of
our common ancestors; and also that a copy of the address be requested for
publication.
Resolved, That our hearty thanks are due to the Trustees of the Pilgrim Society
of Plymouth, for granting the free use of their hall for the purposes of our celebration; and are specially due also to the Committee of that Society and particularly
to their chairman, for his and their ready and unremitted labors and cooperation
in advancing the objects of the meeting and promoting the comfort of those present.
Resolved, That the unbounded hospitality, liberality and kindness of the citizens
of Plymouth, in opening their hearts and homes to us, place us under deep and
lasting obligations.
Resolved, That the Trustees of the "First Church," Plymouth, have our thanks
for their courtesy in permitting the use of their house for our exercises; and that
their venerated pastor, Rev. Dr. Kendall, has our grateful and heartfelt thanks
for the " Benediction," —the " Blessing wherewith he blessed us," at the close of
those exercises.
Resolved, That the choir of singers of that church, whose excellent performances
added so greatly to the pleasure of the occasion, have our cordial thanks,
Resolved, That all praise is due, and thanks are hereby rendered to the efficient
Committee of Arrangements, for the prompt and business-like manner in which they
generally and collectively discharged- the arduous and responsible duties devolved
upon them.
Resolved, That the Committee of Publication are hereby requested to procure a
copy of the Discourse, and of all other matters of interest necessary to a full exposition and account of the proceedings of the Cushman meeting, and publish the
same in proper form.
Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be published in the newspapers of
Plymouth, and that a copy of the fourth be communicated to the Pilgrim Society.




73
The company then proceeded in a body to Burying Hill, where repose the remains of their ancestors Elder Thomas Cushman and his
wife Mary, the daughter of Isaac Allerton.
The stone which the best affections of the church and congregation of
the First Church erected at the head of the Elder's last earthly resting place bears the following inscription:
" HERE LYETH BURIED ye BODY
OF THAT PRECIOUS SERVANT OF
GOD MIr THOMIAS CUSHMAN, WHO
AFTER HE HAD SERVED HIS
GENERATION ACCORDING TO
THE WILL OF GOD, AND
PARTICULARLY THE CHURCH OF
P1LYMIOUTH FOR BIANY YEARS IN
TIIl OFFICE OF RULEING ELDER,
FELL ASLEEP IN JESUS DECEM:I.
Yo 10, 1691, & IN Ye
84 YEAR OF HIIS AGE."
On the foot stone, which is preserved ill its original place, is simply
chiselled " THOrIAS CUSHMAN."  No menmorial ill remembrance of the
wife is to be found within the cemetery; but in the oldest volume of
Town Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths, it is recorded that
Mary Cttshmall, "lthe aged widow," died on the 28thi of November,
1699.  There is a tradition in the family that this excellent woman
was buried beside her husband.
At this sacred spot, after a few remarks by Hon. HENRY W. CusHIMAN, the Rev. R.'W. CUSHmrAN of Boston, being called upon, responded
in a few deeply impressive and appropriate remarks; referring especially to the sacred associations clustering around the spot upon which
he stood; to the blessed memory of the just, whose bones yet remained
beneath his feet; and to the solemn lessons of the still and quiet grave.
It is to be regretted that at least a full sketch of this address cannot
be given; as it was an unpremeditated utterance, and as the speaker
has found it impossible to recall the language as delivered, this meagre
reference must suffice.
The following original hymn, composed for the occasion by JOHN
OWEN, Esq., of Cambridge, was then read, and afterwards sung by the
whole company:
Crowd old Plymouth's hallowed gates!  Leaders of the Pilgrim band I
Here a welcome always waits,      Who at Heaven's high altari stand,
She with  us conmneniorates       Leave to-day the Spirit land
Puritanic blood.                  Plant again this soil!
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First to leave his northern hills,        Prophets for our company,
Last to fly from mortal ills,                     Let us pass the hour:
Clifton's shade our vision fills,
Shepherd of the fold               Here the Pilgrim prayed and fought,
Here he freely spoke and thought,
Near the shore of Zuyder Zee,             Here in dying, he was brought,Where the Wye rolls to the sea,                   Temple, fort, and tomb:
And the current seeks a lee,
Is the Exile's grave.-             Here he labored, here he waits,
Here his story still relates,
Lo! the man whom letters deck,            Till the heavens shall ope their gates,
Firmest when Truth's champions quake,             On millennial morn.Looking still for Light to break,
Sainted Robinson!                 Shall the fathers be forgot,
And unhonored lie the spot,
Leyden's schoolmen sought his skill,       Where a nation was begot,
There an urn his ashes fill,                      Liberty's first born.
There a lamp is burning still,
Yet to light the world!-          O'er the hill, where Carver lies
With the beautiful and wise,
Now another reverend form,                Let a shaft in grandeur rise,
Whom no fear could make conform,                  Worthy sires and sons.
Bravely breasting every storm,
Brewster faithful stands!             On this higher summit, where
Sleep the dead we most revere,
After life's tumultuous fray,             Build a storied stone compeer,
There, across the silver bay,                     Over kindred earth.
Rests the Elder's finer clay
With the common mould.             Cities of the Dead, how blessed 
Twin in all that's pure and best,
And, with these, that master mind,        Take the tribute of each guest
Who, by casting self behind,                      Paid to Freedom now.
Swayed the tempers of mankind
By the law of love;                May the seed from yon bright spheres,
Watered still by Pilgrim tears,
Who, with patriarchal trust,              Ripen in the coming years,
Buried all paternal lust;                         Sown by Spirit hands.England holds his noble dust,
CUSHMAN,): our right hand!"-     When, as falls the twilight gray,
We the parting word must say,
Here in tabernacle high,                  Mindful of our vows this day,
Domed by the o'erarching sky,                     Let us live and die.
At the conclusion  of the singing, Rev. ELISHA CUSHMAN, of Deep
River, Conn., addressed his relatives as follows:If it be true, that " the chamber where the good man meets his fate,
is privileged above  the  common  walks of virtuous  life,-quite  on  the
verge of heaven;"  it seems to me preeminently  true, that the sleeping
place where reposes all that is mortal of so good a man as he who lies
buried there, must be privileged above the common lot of human  graves,
itself quite on the verge of heaven.  Indeed, in the light of the gospel doctrine of the resurrection, such a grave is seen to be a very portal of heaven.




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Nay, to the eye of the Christian's faith, it is even a sort of mirror, reflecting
back the glories of the upper world.
We come not to this grave to weep. Though a place for serious meditations, it can scarcely be reckoned a place for tears. He who lies there, had
"fought a good fight," he had "finished his course," he had "kept the
faith," and he came to his grave in a full age, as a fitting place of shelter
and repose for his mortal frame, while his spirit sought its home in the
skies. We have, therefore, no tears to shed for him. But as " one generation passeth away and another generation cometh," and as in our procession to this sacred spot we have been reminded that
"Our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave,"
let us ask the question, Who of us, when we, too, shall have reached the
end of our earthly course, shall be found worthy of so honorable an epitaph? " That precious servant of God, who, after he had served his generation according to the will of God, fell asleep in Jesus." How touching!
how significant! Let us at least learn the lesson, that to be a true servant
of God is to serve our generation by the will of God; and this alone will
be found the proper prelude to a quiet grave and a happy immortality.
And now, as we separate from this gathering, and carry with us to our
homes the pleasant recollections of the occasion, and the memories of the
sainted dead, let us endeavor also to carry with us fresh energy for the
duties of our several spheres in life. Be it ours so to live and die, as to
have a good hope of meeting him whose dust occupies that tomb, and his
honored father, who rests on the other side of yonder ocean, and all the
company of prophets and martyrs, and the innumerable host of those in all
ages who have followed Jesus Christ, their Saviour and ours. May the
God of our fathers grant us all grace to trust in that Redeemer on whom
alone they built their hope of glory, that with them we may inherit the
everlasting rest.
The exercises at the cemetery were then closed by a fervent prayer
by the Rev. RuFus S. CUSHMAN of Orwell, Vt.
The company then proceeded to the place where the " Common
House" stood, in Leyden Street, where Robert Cushman preached the
sermon, which, in after times, became so noted; and of which ten
editions have, at different periods, been printed.
Passing thence to " Cole's Hill," where nearly one half of the May
Flower Pilgrims were laid the first year after their arrival, and taking
a farewell look at Plymouth Rock, they returned to Pilgrim Hall,
when the services of the celebration were closed with a prayer by Rev.
Dr. CUSHMAN of Boston.




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Thus closed the meeting of the SECOND DAY, and the company broke
up to return to their homes fully satisfied with the successful results of
the very interesting occasion which had called them, for the first time,
to meet together on Pilgrim soil. The weather was extremely propitious, and no. accident of any kind occurred to. lmar the ceremonies,
or cause any regrets to be felt by those who had wandered so far from
their homes for this friendly reunion of the different members of the
largely scattered family. Nearly a thousand persons, of all ages of
both sexes, were present; all of whom, it is believed, were gratified
with the services, and were, undoubtedly, made happier and better in
thus visiting the first New England home of their Pilgrim forefathers,
and the graves of their revered ancestors.