USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > The Norwich jubilee. A report of the celebration at Norwich, Connecticut, on the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town, September 7th and 8th, 1859. With an appendix, containing historical documents of local interest > Part 16
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183.
MITCHELL'S ADDRESS.
before this period a wide expanse of water, over which an occa- sional ferry boat plied, lay between John Breed's corner and the station of the New London railway. Good revolutionary feeling pre- vailed; the ladies giving last and sternest proof of it in abandoning their tea drinking; and the stamp act was anathematized in good set terms in open town meeting. Old governor Trumbull used to: come down, in a square topped gig, perhaps, to see his son Joseph, who lived hereabout, and to look out for his West Indian busi- ness; or, as times grew threatening, to collect ammunition, or beef or mutton for the army, all the while writing his messages regu- larly, giving good advice to his son regularly, paying his debts regularly, collecting his bills regularly, attending church regular- ly ; in short, a most capital type of the shrewdness, and energy, and piety of the old Connecticut character. A little later he enter- tains there upon the Lebanon green the gay marquis of Lauzun, who has come over, with a generosity that is more chivalric than earnest, to help us fight out the great fight of the century.
And what a contrast it is, this gay nobleman, carved out, as it. were, from the dissolute age of Louis XV, who had sauntered un- der the colonnades of the Trianon, and had kissed the hand of the Pompadour, now strutting among the staid dames of Norwich and of Lebanon ! How they must have looked at him and his fine troopers, from under their knitted hoods! You know, I suppose, his after history ; how he went back to Paris, and among the wits there was wont to mimic the way in which the stiff old Connecticut governor had said grace at his table. Ah, he did not know that in governor Trumbull, and all such men, is the material to found an enduring state; and in himself, and all such men, only the inflam- mable material to burn one down. There is a life written of gov- ernor Trumbull, and there is a life written of the marquis of Lauzun. The first is full of deeds of quiet heroism, ending with a tranquil and triumphant death ; the other is full of rankest gallantries, and ends with a little spurt of blood under the knife of the guillotine upon the gay Place de la Concorde.
I shall not linger upon the revolutionary period, nor seek to prove that our fathers were good patriots, and, therefore, good revolutionists. I think we feel that truth sufficiently in the ting- ling blood which they have bequeathed to us. I go on, therefore, to glance for a moment at times which white haired men here-and
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
I see many-remember. When trade had revived after the war; when turnpike roads were laid out with wonderful engineering skill straight over the tallest hills; when wagons with elliptic springs had been contrived to carry four persons with ease; when the weekly newspaper gave startling intelligence from New York not more than three days old; when the slow sailing Defiance has given place to a rakish looking, two masted craft; and when in well informed, though somewhat speculative circles, there was talk of eventually putting upon the route a vessel that should go by steam. Of course, there were prodigious shakings of the head at this, just as we shake our heads now at the talk of Mr. La Moun- tain or of Mr. Wise (of course I speak of the Wise who puts his gas in balloons.) But the steamboats come in their time; and I am sure that I address a large crowd of sympathizing auditors, now that I come to speak of the magnificent old Fanny, spluttering and paddling, and splurging up to the little wharf under the lea of Pepper's Hill, where the pine wood lay piled in fabulous quantities. It was a rare treat in those days to drive down in a gig to Swallow- all or Chelsea, and look over at the marine monster, with her smoke pipe, and her balustrade of netted ropes, and her engine of twenty horse power more or less, and capable of driving through the United States mail in twenty-four hours. Ah, those wonders, and lifts, and joys of boyhood ! There are those here, I am sure, who will pardon me the expression of them; for there are those here who have kindred memories-joys that are past; houses they knew, that are demolished; trees that sheltered them, cut down ; brooks, whose murmur they loved, filled in, banked over, lost. Graves, too, which you and I remember, fresh rounded, that are sunken now ; and voices low and tender, and loving voices which, for these many a weary year, have been silent-silent! I do not envy the man who has not such memories to-day ; they make hearts touch each other as nothing else could do ; and we, who come here under the cold tie of township, find suddenly breaking into life and power that nobler bond of brotherhood !
But this is a festal day ; we are crowning the good year '59 with rejoicing; and in this time, is our town of Norwich doing nothing ? Are the good things, and the brave things, all past things ? Is it nothing, the hum of a myriad spindles along all your water courses, singing of industry and enterprise ? Is it nothing to inaugurate the
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MITCHELL'S ADDRESS.
century with such temples of learning as stand yonder, the monu- ment of your private munificence? Is it nothing to show such phalanx of men as I see about me, all of whom by nativity, or citizenship, or near ties of blood, give honor to your town, and take honor ? Is it nothing to have given a half score of the best, and worthiest, and weightiest names to the commercial exchange of our metropolis? Is it nothing to have furnished the empire state a presiding head for her great central thoroughfare ; nothing to have provided them in the person of our venerable friend, with a man who honored their high office of chancellor? Is it nothing to be represented in our national senate by a man whom you delight to honor at home? Is it nothing to have given to the world a songstress, whose melody charms, and whose virtues allure and in- struct the growing mind of the whole country ? Is it nothing to have loaned our little commonwealth of Connecticut-what is so rare in politics-a thoroughly upright man for governor?
But while we boast and glorify ourselves to-day, let us remember that nine miles square do not bound the world, and never did. Year by year, the iron roads, and the journals, and the leashes of electric wire are binding us in the bond of a common humanity. Year by year, and century by century, special titles and special states, and special privileges, and special nationalities, are going down under the horizon, as we rise to the level of a higher, a nobler, and juster civilization. Year by year, the good, and the strong, and the true, and the hopeful, are forming more and more one great parish, whose high priest is the God of Love. Not an oppressor can lift his arm to strike, the wide world over, but the knowledge and the shame of it, riding upon the wing of lightning, shall kindle indignation in honest hearts everywhere. Only yes- terday, how our bosom thrilled with the struggles, and toils, and broken hopes of those poor children of Italy, not farther from us than the victims of Frontignac from our fathers ; and to-day, if we be men, we feel here the withering blight of that dismal papal hierarchy. I would not speak at such a time against creeds, and I can readily believe that good men and true have climbed their way upon the rich symbolism of the Romish church to an inheritance of glory and of honor ; but I feel sure of your sympathy in de- claring against a hierarchy which, under cover of religion, makes itself the political conservator of the conscience.
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186
THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
Ah, pope of Rome-pope of Rome-gathering your scattered flock upon the sunny hill sides of Perugia, with the bayonets of hireling soldiers-there must come a day of reckoning! Pax vobis, pax vobis, indeed; but all the while under the sacerdotal robe, the gauntleted hand is crushing out every germ of liberty !
And now, one last word to you who live in Norwich ! You have a great trust to fill; and we, who are natives or descendants, commit it this day solemnly to your charge. There are memories here that are ours as well as yours; cherish them faithfully. There are graves here that are ours more than they are yours. Oh, guard them tenderly ! We have hopes here, too; build them up-build them up bravely. We have a pride here. See to it, men of Nor- wich, that our pride and your pride-just pride-have no fall, until the Great Hand shall gather up again the rocks, and the rivers, and the plains, which He has spread out here for your abode and for your delight.
The poem by Anson G. Chester came next in order, but owing to the sudden and severe illness of the poet, it was impossible for him to deliver it. We here insert it, however, in its proper place :-
I.
Why bespeak the poet's numbers when your breasts are full of rhymes ?
When your ears are thrilled with music-mem'ry's clear and gold- en chimes ?
When your thoughts, like birds, are flitting o'er the prairies of the past,
Gathering fragrance, gathering sweetness, from those acres broad and vast ?
Better far your earnest heart-beats than his measures and his bars- Who would fix his eyes on cowslips, when he might behold the stars ?
II.
Oh ! the thoughts and the emotions that are trooping up to-day, While in memory's pleasant meadow, with our hearts aglow, we stray !
'T is a broad and varied meadow-on its velvet bosom rest Countless fair and odorous blossoms-babes upon a mother's breast.
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CHESTER'S POEM.
Streams are faintly rippling through it, blue as veins upon thy hand, Making music as they wander o'er the pebbles and the sand.
There are shrubs whose silken foliage is trembling in the breeze, Like a child that is affrighted by some terror which it sees.
Hedges, like the English hedges, of the hawthorn, box and briar, And the zephyr, passing over, maketh music like a lyre.
Trees that droop beneath their fruitage-fruitage crimson, green and gold-
Such as once invited Adam in the paradise of old.
Grass as long as on the prairies, and as soft as woman's hair, And the violets are looking through the vistas, in the air.
Gentle knolls of fair proportions, by their emerald crowns in- creased-
Like the bosom of a virgin that had heaved and straightway ceased.
Bowers where sunshine never enters, secret corners, quiet nooks, Where the pallid students ponder over parchments, maps and books.
Banks all golden with ranunculus and odorous with thyme, Where the blooming maidens wander, reading romance, reading rhyme.
There are ruddy children playing on the margins of the streams; Poor, misguided little darlings ! they are revelling in dreams.
There are aged men and women, with their hair so thin and hoary- Like the frost announcing winter-and it is their "crown of glory." There are many lovers walking, they were smiling as they passed ; Let them have their little rapture-it is too intense to last.
But, alas ! not all is beautiful, not all is bright and fair ; There are thorns amid the blossoms, there are clouds upon the air. Withered flowers and stagnant waters, like a living execration, They are signs of olden sorrows, they are tokens of mutation.
Oh ! the thoughts and the emotions that are trooping up to-day, While in memory's pleasant meadow, with our hearts aglow, we stray !
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
III.
Raise your voices in thanksgiving, 't is a mother's natal day ! Not a wrinkle mars her forehead, not a single lock is gray, Though two hundred years have flitted, with their glory and their shame,
Since our good old English fathers gave her " NORWICH" for her name !
Ye have come from hill and valley; ye have come from dell and glen ;
At the pleasant hearths of childhood ye are children once again ; Ye are living over moments that were golden in their bliss.
Life hath many hours of rapture; has it one to match with this ?
IV.
Good old Norwich ! how I love thee-love thy strong and massive hills ;
Love the rushing of thy rivers and the babbling of thy rills ;
Love thy rocks that rise like bastions, and the vales that stretch below ;
Love thy summers with their sunshine, and thy winters with their snow ;
Love thy cedars, such as furnished unto Lebanon its fame ; Love the glories of thy landscapes, and the glory of thy name ; As a mother loves her darlings, as a sailor loves the sea, And as woman loves her idols, so, dear Norwich, love I thee.
It was here my eyes first opened to the sweet and pleasant light ; It was here I learned the poems of the morning and the night ; It was here baptismal waters on my infant forehead fell, And I heard the holy precepts I remember now so well; It was here my blessed mother on my boyish efforts smiled ; It was here my father left me, orphaned half, and but a child !
Years have passed and wrought their changes; in the grave-yard on the hill
Sleep the loved ones of my bosom ; sleep, but are my loved ones still !
V.
Where the red Mohegan's wigwam stood beneath the friendly shade, Where, with tomahawk and arrow, through the wilderness he strayed,
189
CHESTER'S POEM.
Where he skimmed the sparkling river, where his dusky children grew,
'Mid the music of the robin, and the incense of the dew,
Where he smoked the fragrant calumet and lit the council-fires, Standeth now the crowded city, with its many roofs and spires.
There were homes upon these acres long before you reared your own ;
There were flowers where yours are planted, in the summers that are gone ;
By the blue and broad Shetucket earnest lovers fondly stray- Lovers wandered there before them in the twilights passed away ; Where your songs are heard, was singing, where your churches are, were shrines,
And the winds and streams and blossoms were the prophets and divines.
Are ye better in your finery than the red man in his paint? Silks and velvets are not virtue-nor can gold create a saint; What are progress and refinement, save as goodness is their twin ? Ye are civilized for nothing if ye still are leagued with sin !
VI.
How the stately years march onward ! how the centuries increase ! How the cycles roll and gather! how the lives of mortals cease !
Build we splendid mausoleums to the great ones who have gone- Time, it asks no favors from us, for it rears and decks its own.
Life is but a repetition-for the man who lives to-day Loves and hopes like countless millions who before have passed away.
There were violets and daisies in the springs that Adam knew, And beneath the eyes of Noah, Autumn's golden harvest grew.
There was wine in Pharaoh's cellars that was worthy of his fame- On the fingers of his daughter burned the diamond's radiant flame.
What is past is but the mirror of what is and is to be, As the lily sees its reflex in the mirror of the sea !
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
The following ode, by George Canning Hill, was then sung :- TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO .- A BI-CENTENNIAL ODE. MUSIC COMPOSED BY H. W. AMADEUS BEALE, OF NORWICH.
Andante. Con Moto.
Soprano.
The spi - rits of our fa - thers are gathered on this plain, And like a cloud of
Alto.
p
Cres.
f
Tenor.
The spi - rits of our fa - thers are gathered on this plain, And like a cloud of
.
Bass.
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witnesses are with us here again ; With thoughtful mien in quaint attire, in measured step and slow, From the
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sf Cres. ff
Dim.
witnesses are with us here again ; With thoughtful mien in quaint attire, in measured step and slow, From the
With thoughtful mien,
decp and silent sleep of two hundred years ago, How they start to life the memories of two hundred years ago.
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Dim.
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deep and silent sleep of two hundred years ago, How they start to life the memories of two hundred years ago.
A worthy generation-so simple, brave and true- They builded in these solitudes, far wiser than they knew. With hearts of oak they held their way, nor feared a mortal foe, For their name had a fame, full two hundred years ago, That increases as the tale is told of two hundred years ago.
191
ODE.
They came among the red men who called these plains their own, And reared their little families with trust in God alone. Here in these dells, here by these streams that through the valleys flow, For their name had a fame, full two hundred years ago- And we even shall the deeds rehearse, of two hundred years ago.
Here stretched the little clearings that laughed with yellow corn ; Here piled the snows on lowly roofs, where helpless babes were born. Theirs was a pregnant pilgrimage-they could not see the flow Of the stream within the dream of two hundred years ago- Of that wide and ever wider stream of two hundred years ago.
We honor and we love them-our ancestry of old- Whose virtues rare the brighter wear, like the face of virgin gold. Oh, that their blood full worthily within our veins may flow ! In a tide of honest pride for two hundred years ago- In a rising tide of honest pride for two hundred years ago l
The assembly now adjourned to the dinner tent.
THE HEAD STONE AT THE GRAVE OF SAMUEL UNCAS,
IN THE INDIAN BURYING GROUND, SACHEM STREET, NORWICH, CONN.
LUNCA 10 Beautyiert for Sterlino tele Fortemberguld For Eliquence For CourageBold For Theiros walt egen elwafthe Gloryof Moheassimptat whose Death has Gavfed greatfem; Boiling Ensuithe indian Nation!
This is an exact representation of the stone as it appears at this time, Sep- tember, 1859. It is in a very poor state of preservation, and unless speedily rescued from vandal hands, the last vestige of it will soon disappear.
BICENTENNIAL DINNER
A
Mikor JA HI Hastreck, Norwich conn ..
TAW DINNER TENT IN FRONT OF THE FREE ACADEMY.
נ
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THE DINNER.
The scene at the dinner tent was one of great interest. More than two thousand people were seated at the tables. The follow- ing bill of fare was prepared for the occasion :- BILL OF FARE.
JOHN T. RAYMOND, CATERER.
MEATS.
BEEF ALAMODE,
ROAST BEEF,
ROAST LAMB,
ROAST MUTTON,
ROAST VEAL,
VEAL FILLET,
ROAST CHICKEN,
PRESSED BEEF,
LEG OF MUTTON, (dressed,)
CORNED BEEF ROUND,
BROWNED HAM,
BOILED HAM,
ROAST TURKEY,
ROAST PIG,
BOILED TONGUE,
TONGUES JELLIED.
SIDE DISHES.
CHICKEN CURRY,
RICE CURRY, (veal,)
PICKLED BEETS,
CHICKEN SALAD,
PICKLES, -
LOBSTERS,
SUCCOTASH,
FRIED OYSTERS,
TOMATO,
PORK AND BEANS.
DESSERTS.
PEACH PIE,
APPLE PIE,
BERRY PIE,
RICE PUDDING,
INDIAN PUDDING,
ICE CREAM.
FRUITS.
PEACHES,
APPLES,
PEARS, ORANGES, CANTELOPES,
WATERMELONS,
ALMONDS,
RAISINS.
BROWN BREAD, TONGUE SANDWICHES.
BREAD ROLLS,
FANCY CAKE.
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CUSTARD PIE, BLANCH PUDDING, CONNECTICUT PUDDING, PUMPKIN PIE,
.
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
cultivated minds, of noble character, and distinguished themselves in the discharge of their official duties, whether executive or legis- lative, and the citizens of Norwich have watched their success- ful career with pleasure and with pride.
There is another gentleman, said the speaker-a guest on this occasion-one eminently distinguished in the history of the judiciary of the state of New York, whose opinions, in their re- ports of law and equity, give ample evidence of his superior intellectual and legal attainments, and his peculiar fitness to dis- charge the duties of the high office that he for many years filled. We all know, respect, and esteem our distinguished guest and our cousin, chancellor Walworth.
There is still another gentleman with us this day, said the speaker, whose ancestry lived within the limits of the old town of Norwich. They tilled the soil and breathed the air of freedom on the rugged hills of Franklin. In the common schools of our old town they were taught that love of country and liberty, that reve- rential regard for the union, the prominent characteristics of one of their descendants, the man who retired from the highest office in the gift of the American people, with the reputation of a sagacious statesman, a pure patriot, and an honest man,-need I name Millard Fillmore ?
The speaker then remarked that the people of Norwich well knew that those of their guests who were natives of the town, however long they had been absent, and however far they had wan- dered, were bound to the ancient, historic, and beautiful place of their birth, by the strongest ties of local attachment, of early. associations, of pleasant memories, of blood and of affection. We know, he said, that you rejoice, to again visit your ancestral homes, to gather once more around the old hearthstones, to- grasp hands and exchange kind greetings with relatives and early friends, to wander over the rocks and hills and plains, and along the river banks of old Norwich, the play grounds of your child- hood, and to visit
" The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild wood, And every loved spot which our infancy knew."
The speaker then alluded to the fact that we were favored on this joyous occasion by the presence of many who were not natives of Norwich, who made no claim to Norwich parentage, no boast
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THE DINNER SPEECHES.
of Norwich blood. They come, he continued, from other states and foreign lands, to see our fair town, to participate in our festiv- ities, and form new acquaintances and friendships. I say to them, in behalf of the citizens of Norwich, that we bid you welcome. We say, too, that however attractive may be the place of your residence, however beautiful or rich in its resources may be the locality from which you come, whether north, south, east or west, we are proud to show you old Norwich, to point out to you her many attractions, her vigorous and comely growth. Her pop- ulation and wealth, within the last few years, have rapidly and largely increased, and are still rapidly and largely increasing ; new branches of industry have been introduced, and new avenues of business opened. Her broad and shaded streets, her palatial residences, many of them the homes of her children by birth or adoption, who have been the architects of their fortunes, and acquired wealth and honor by their industry and indomitable energy, (the poor boy of yesterday being the rich man of to-day,) the less pretending but neat and attractive homes of her mechanics and working men, her magnificent school houses, so appropriately baptized on this occasion "Temples of Freedom," her factories, her various and extensive mechanical establishments, her stores and warehouses, are all tokens of her prosperous advancement.
Many of you, said the speaker, who are descendants of Nor- wich, come from the north, south, east and west, to renew old associations and brighten the links in the chain of early friend- ships. Your relatives, your friends, the companions of your childhood, give you a cordial welcome back to your early home, for they know that wherever you have wandered, under all the vicissitudes of life, whether successful or adverse, that early home has been the green spot in your memories.
Others of you come to visit scenes hallowed by the experiences of your fathers, and where their ashes repose. You come to form new friendships. The generation that knew your fathers has passed away, but we their children have so high an opinion of our own good quilities, that we are not ashamed to introduce our- selves to you. We flatter ourselves that we have received a tithe at least of that moral, intellectual and physical training which preeminently distinguished our fathers and yours, and to which you all to some extent owe the success that has attended your
on ves hast
An- of Fly Ve ral hsp Hly ng
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
efforts and the prosperity that you enjoy. And of our sisters and daughters let me especially say, that while they have received high mental culture, and possess the various accomplishments that adorn woman, their mothers have not forgotten to teach them to mend a coat, darn a stocking, make a johnny cake, and to cook that most delectable dish, at the bare mention of which the mouth of every Norwich boy waters, baked pork and beans.
[At this point the president interrupted the speaker, stating that, owing to the length of the list of toasts, and the lateness of the hour, it would be necessary to confine speakers to ten minutes each. ' Having already exceeded this time, Mr. Wait took his seat.]
" The first settlers of Norwich .- It was their distinguished lot to plant civiliza- tion and Christianity iu a savage land. To them belong the honor and praise of laying the foundations of whatever prosperity we enjoy. Let them be grate- fully remembered."
Responded to by Dr. William P. Eaton.
" Connecticut .- ''T is a rough land of earth, and stone, and tree, Where breathes n , castled lord or cabined slave;
Where thoughts, and tongues and hands are bold and free, And friends will find a welcome, foes a grave ; And where nove kneel save when to Heaven they pray- Nor even then, unless in their own way.'"
Music -"Columbia, the gem of the ocean."
" The first child born in Norwich, viz: in August, 1660 Elizabeth, whose parents were Samuel Hide and Jane Lee. In that little child, lying on its mother's breast, behold in a figure the infant set lement o' Norwich in the arms of a loving Providence ; and to the first male child of Norwich, born three months after Elizabeth Hide, Christopher, whose parents were Christopher and Ruth Huntington. Boys natural'y follow the girls "
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