A Monumental Example

Standing high above the trees in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, is a monument many Americans are not aware of even though it is the third tallest statue in the U.S. at 81 feet. In Kirk Cameron’s documentary, “Monumental: In Search of America’s National Treasure,” he highlights this impressive monument, primarily designed by Hammatt Billings, a Boston architect. Completed in October 1888, The National Monument to the Forefathers is made mostly of solid granite, bedecked with marble, and represents many of the virtues that the Mayflower Pilgrims held paramount.

The focal point of the monument is a tall figure in the center seemingly holding everything together. Her name is Faith; her right hand points towards heaven as she clutches a bible by her side.   Faith symbolizes that without faith in God, all other concepts fall apart.  Beneath her, four other figures sit, not apt to move from their positions now that Faith has secured them.  Their names are Morality, Law, Education and Liberty—principles upon which the Pilgrims built their government—each depicting two supporting qualities.

• Morality is based upon the Prophet, who told us of God’s character and the Evangelist, who speaks the Gospel so we know what God expects of us.
• Law represents the values our nation must maintain in order to succeed.  Justice supports Law, indicating that the law should apply to all people equally. Mercy also holds up Law, telling of Christ’s grace for us and its place in our justice system.
• Education, who wears a crown of victory, is braced by the symbols of Youth and Wisdom.  Youth shows a need for those to be educated early in life.  Wisdom represents a dependence on the more experienced for the young to learn.  All these concepts in conjunction lead to Liberty.
• Liberty leads to Peace, as fighting becomes unnecessary if all follow God’s commands, especially that which tells us to love one another.

The front panel hosts the following inscription: “National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The right and left panels contain the names of those who came over in the Mayflower. The rear panel contains a quote from Governor William Bradford’s famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation:

“Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise.”

The principles and virtues depicted on this grand monument are those which allowed this country to grow and develop before corruption and malice became commonplace.  It is a system that worked for our Forefathers, and one that would serve America well today.