"In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith &c. having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620."
It is safe to say that from this agreement which Senator Hoar called "the most important political transaction that has ever taken place upon the face of the earth," and from this band of Pilgrims, has come in the three centuries leading up to world democracy a greater influence for freedom and liberty than from any other single source in the affairs of men.
How singular that this compact and the armistice with Germany, which is without doubt the most significant transaction between men in all recorded history, should both have been signed on November 11! It has been suggested that hereafter November 11, instead of the last Thursday in November, should be set aside as Thanksgiving Day. It certainly should be forever a day of thanksgiving even if it is not made officially Thanksgiving Day.
Sunday night, November 10, the whole world waited in breathless suspense. The armistice conditions had been considered by the German government at a late sitting in Berlin on Sunday afternoon. Hard as they were, the government decided to accept them and telephoned instructions to Spa, the headquarters of the German army, authorizing the German delegates to sign the papers. The messenger was waiting at Spa to carry the information to the German representatives who were at Château de Francfort with Marshal Foch and Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, first lord of the British navy. He reached them at about two o'clock on Monday morning, November 11, and after some discussion the armistice was signed at five o'clock, to become effective six hours later.
Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10, the whole world stopped, looked, and listened. Nothing just like it had happened before in the history of mankind. The world is constantly growing smaller as men overcome the difficulty of getting quickly from place to place, and peoples are thereby getting nearer to each other, so that whatever happens to one is of immediate interest to all others. The following description of Sunday night and Monday morning in a newspaper office in a small Massachusetts city is a graphic and interesting account of scenes that were being enacted at the same time all over the world.
WAITING FOR THE FLASH
Not at once can the mind grasp the full significance of the wonderful event of Monday, and as time goes on, more and more will the world come to realize what the signing of the armistice which ended the war means to present and future generations. Events were moving so rapidly during the dying days of German military might that keeping pace with them was literally out of the question. That Germany was a mere shell, most people who had followed the course of the war believed; and that she must accept dictated terms of armistice from the allies, regardless of their severity, was growing clearer day by day.
Events of last Friday made it quite plain that the armistice offered by the allied nations through Marshal Foch was to be signed by Germany within the specified 72 hours. This position was strengthened Saturday afternoon when positive word came that the Kaiser had abdicated. It was the beginning of the definite end. It revealed a power in Germany greater than the power of the Hohenzollerns—the power of an outraged people rising after long years of oppression.
From that hour of mid-afternoon on Saturday when the abdication of the Kaiser was "flashed" to the Sentinel over its Associated Press wire, there was no relaxation in its plant. In the press room—which must be ready at a second's notice—men were on guard for every minute until the Kaiser's hour struck on Monday morning at 2.45 o'clock. It mattered not to them that a bed between two rolls of paper was the softest they could find, for couches and easy chairs are no part of a newspaper establishment. Sometimes the thought comes that "newspaper" is but a synonym for "slavery."
With the coming of Sunday morning, without the expected word, the vigil was taken up in other directions. The composing, telegraph, and editorial rooms joined in keeping guard. The wire began to tick off its code messages of riots in Berlin, further spreading of the "Red" revolt in the army and navy, the flight of the dethroned Kaiser to Holland, and the other numerous signs all pointing to positive assurance that Germany must sign the armistice terms read to its representatives by Marshal Foch, no matter how stern they might be. In mid-afternoon came a brief message plucked from the air—a Berlin wireless—that the signing of the armistice was expected momentarily. But the hours wore on into late evening, and then came through a dispatch from Washington saying that the delay of the German courier in crossing the line might result in an extension of the 72-hour limit. Cold water never had a chilling effect equal to that. One by one the afternoon papers began to click out "good night" to the main office until only a few remained with the morning paper operators.