USA > Iowa > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 18
USA > Illinois > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 18
USA > Missouri > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 18
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As in physical nature, the course of development is from the simple to the complex, so in the evolution of society all things seem to lose the simplicity of nature and take complex forms. Our dress is complex, our pies, puddings and sausages are complex, our patent medieines and doctor's bills are com- plex; ergo, our diseases are complex, our laws are complex, and our taxes and debts are very complex.
It has been said that no one ever heard of a business Indian making a general assignment or going into bankruptcy because he could not pay his wife's milliner and dress maker. I grieve to say that the same cannot be truly said in commend- ation of many highly civilized white business men, called often cultured gentlemen, in these degenerate days. These cultured gentlemen do not, however, go into bankruptcy ; they go into Canada.
It would be painful indeed, to conclude from these exam- ples that the finer the culture, the greater the rogue !
But it is not my purpose to dwell particularly upon the unexampled scene of human activity and progress which the pioneers of civilization inaugurated here. Suffice it to say that no parallel can be found in the history of the human race to
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the moral and material progress which we have witnessed in these states. There is nothing elsewhere in human develop- ment comparable to what we have seen in the growth of towns and cities, in the founding of states, governments, and institu- tions, and in the progress of education, agriculture, commerce, manufactures and all the useful arts. What in former ages was the work of numberless generations has been achieved here within the lives of men who still survive.
And you, the surviving pioneers of this great movement, have surely enjoyed a rare and unexampled experience. You were here assisting at the very beginning of the great work of transplanting civilization to this valley. You were eye-wit- nesses of its origin ; you have watched its progress; you now behold it in its present advanced development. You saw the beginning of cities which, though now still in their first cen- tury, surpass in wealth and population Rome and Carthage in their eighth century and London and Paris in the sixteenth century of their existence. You have seen a trackless wilder- ness covered all over with cultivated farms as with a many- colored garment. You were present at the birth of these great commonwealths. You stood by them in their . infaney. and weakness; you supported their tottering steps; you now behold them in the fullness of their strength and glory. Happy indeed is your lot in this respect compared with that of the Irish patriot and orator who, with touching pathos, exclaimed, "Short-lived indeed was Irish independence; I sat by its cradle; I followed its hearse." You have yourselves been a part of this great progressive movement, and you have seen with your own eyes a work accomplished here which would in past ages have taxed the skill and labor of many centuries and numberless generations. And now, in the calm and tranquil evening of your days, when your sun of life almost touches the western hills; when you have well nigh reached the "butt and very sen- mark of your npmost sail," you have abundant reason for the profoundest satisfaction with the great work which you helped to inaugurate here ; for it has been a work of unmixed benefi- cenee, achieved by peaceful labor. It has not been blackened by the crimes and cruelties of war; it has no stain of blood upon it. It has not been heralded to men and nations by cries
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of anguish from crushed and bleeding hearts. Look around yon; survey this great work of peace on every side; behold its innumerable blessings for which morning and evening you may well give thanks to God. And assuredly you have ample ground for faith in the permanency of the great results which you have aided in achieving in these states. Why should not achievements of such beneficence and such usefulness to man stand the sternest tests of time and criticism ? Why should not the institutions which the early settlers founded here npon. the immutable principles of justice and equal rights endure forever? Who will ever again, on this continent at least, stand forth among men to impugn the declaration of independence, which the first comers here placed at the basis of all our insti- tutions? I have, myself, little faith in the stability of any human institution, dogma, opinion or achievement which is wanting in the elements of truth and justice. All such are perishable. Whatsoever among men is false, whatsoever is unjust, whatsoever is achieved by unlawful force, or any form of wrong-doing, will inevitably be, in the progress of opinion, first questioned and impugned, then condemned, and finally rejected and overthrown. "Peace" says England's great repub- lican poet, "hath her victories no less renowned than war." And may I not add that the victories of peace are often far more enduring thau those of war? The blood-stained footprints of the mighty hosts led by the great Napoleon to victory and conquest have long since been washel out from the shores of time, but the code of the great conqueror, his work of peace, remains; and it is to-day the law of the great country which he assumed to rule with despotie sway. And that great monu- ment of peace, the civil law, the work of Roman jurists, still exists. It survived the wreck of the mighty empire; it is to- day the common law of continental Europe. It forms the basis of jurisprudence in by far the greater part of the civilized world. But where now may we look for the work of the invin. cible legions? What now remains of all their mighty con- guests? A broken column, a ruined wall, a history! What!
"Are all their conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this Httle mensure ?"
I am indeed persuaded that when all the vain monuments of human ambition; monuments raised from the most part to
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commemorate the evil deeds of war; monuments of oppression and spoliation - pyramids, obelisks, colloseums; pantheons, arches of triumph; shall be "level with the waters"-when the cry of nations" shall be heard in the "sunken halls" of proud cities built by the spoil of the vanquished ; when, peradventure, the bard of the future shall in the far off ages sing the requiem of "dead empires" amid voiceless ruins, broken arches and silent temples, the institutions founded here upon the solid rock of justice and equal rights, will stand unshaken by the storms of revolution and by the surging waves of everchanging opinion. Such, at least, is my faith, and if it be not a true faith then surely there must be something radically wrong in the moral government of the world!
At the conclusion of Judge Love's address, which was listened to with marked attention, President Adams announced the following committee to recommend officers for the ensuing year : C. F. Davis, Iowa ; Joseph MeCoy, Missouri ; W. N. Grover, Illinois.
Adjournment was then taken, to mect at Rand Park at 2:15 p. m.
AFTERNOON MEETING.
People assembled at Rand Park at 2:15 p. m. The rains of the forenoon made the drives and walks delightful, and the sun shone on as happy a crowd as one could wish.
The meeting was called to order by President of the Day Adams, introducing Rev. Aaron Thompson, of Illinois.
PRAYER BY REV. THOMPSON.
Our Father in heaven, we desire to hallow thy name by recognizing thee as our creator, preserver and benefactor, and also as the ruler supreme. We come into the presence from various points of the compass to implore thy blessing upon us. We rejoice in the hallowed influences under which we are per- mitted to meet, and we pray that everything may be conducted
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so as to promote thy honor and redound to thy glory in time and in eternity. Grant thy blessing, we beseech thee, upon those who shall speak to ns of their thoughts, and grant that these may be so presented to the minds of others that they may be educated and blessed while they thus speak before us. And grant, while we come from various parts, old and young and those who occupy positions between these two extremes, wilt thou grant to bless each one with the richest of thy blessings. In the bestowment of thy mercies, thou hast told us when we 'eat and drink to do all in the name of Jesus and give thanks to God, and thus render to God the homage and praise due from us as creatures. Fill our hearts with gratitude for every ex- pression of thy mercy and goodness to us, and we pray that in the enjoyment of these blessings we may go forward to higher steps of civilization until we shall become that happy people, owned and accepted by the Chief Ruler of the universe. Grant that all the interests of the several States represented here to-day may lead us to serve thee in stronger bonds of love, and may these blessings be handed down from generation to gener- ation. Bless those here to-day largely that are advanced in life and whose career will soon end, but who have accomplished a great work in the transitions which have taken place in these States; and grant, our Father in heaven, to bless and direct them and their lives in their great work and duties and respon- sibilities, and especially prepare themselves for thy glory here- after. Praying, thy blessing upon us all, by day and by night, through all our years, and when life is over bring us to thyself, through the blessing of Christ, in thy name, and thou shall receive everlasting praises. Amen.
Mr. Adams: Illinois has its Chicago, and it also has its Springfield. The gentleman who will address . you is from Springfield. While the penitentiaries of that State are more popular and better attended than either of the other of these three States forming this Association, yet it has as many good people to the square inch as can be found in the Union, and the gentleman I have the honor of introducing to you is a good representative, and will respond to the welcome.
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JUDGE MATHENY.
Old settlers, I want you to understand distinctly, and no mistake about it, that I am not the man you expected. I am not the man you sent for to represent Illinois in this gathering and it is very fortunate that I am not the man you expected. . You expected Governor Robinson. If he had come here he would have had a national reputation to sustain, for he is one of the best speakers in the State. I come at no such disadvan- tage; you never heard of me before, and I expect yon will be sorry you ever heard from me at all. (No! No! Go on.) Let me give you a little illustration : Do you remember the dar- key's text ? It was about this way: "Blessed are the ones who don't expect nothing, for they won't be disappointed." As I was coming along up here last night on the train, a couple of old gentlemen were sitting on the seat in front of me and des- cribing the difficulties they had in coming to the State of Illi- nois. No roads, no bridges, no medicine, no doctors, and the thousand and one difficulties and discomforts they endured, and I thought I had the advantage of them greatly. I never came to the State of Illinois at all. The state came to me. I was born in the territory. I was, for two or three days very vocif- erously putting forth my rights before Illinois was born. I was born in the territory and have grown up with the State; I have known its successes and I have known its defeats; I see that state great and grand. I saw it when it was a wilderness so far as people are concerned; I saw that state like a little shrub that could scarcely resist the gentle breezes of evening, I see it now a tall and mighty oak, laughing at the storm; I saw that state as a little stream, scarcely able to make its way against the pebbles that obstructed it, I see it now. a broad and glorious river, bearing upon its bosom thousands of precious lives and unbounded wealth and prosperity ; I saw that state when it was but a little pottering child, I see it now in all the pride and beauty-glorious beauty of manhood; I saw those men as the child and boy; I saw those great heroes who left their homes in Virginia and Kentucky and the Carolinas and came out single-handed and alone to found an empire in the western wild. I saw their strugglings, their sufferings .and their endurance ; they were brave, gallant and glorious men.
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the very men to build up an empire in the wilderness. They were strong and truthful and administered squarely. They administered to every man his rights and administered squarely. They hewed to the line no matter where the chips might fall. They understood that they had their grand work to do and they did it well. There was no howling then about eight hours labor, but their hours were from sun up until sun down. They saw they had the best land God ever made, the brightest and greenest carpet to walk upon and the best soil given by the Creator; they saw all this, but they knew that they had their own work to do, and they did it well.
Let me illustrate the condition of these old pioneers by a story told about a camp meeting that they were holding out east of Springfield. The Methodist brethren there had dug a well and fenced it in. One day a gentlemen drove up in his buggy to water his horses, and a boy was there pumping. After watering the horses the gentleman was turning away and the boy said "five cents, mister." "What," said the man, "five cents, do you sell water ? Why I never heard of the like of charging for a little water. Don't you know that the water is the gift of the Lord, that He distributes it through the clouds of heaven, a free gift to man?" "Yes, I know that," said the boy, "I know the water is the Lord's, but then you see the Lord don't do the pumping." These pioneers knew they must do their own pumping. Since then-and the life of one man is not very long-I have seen all these many changes in the great State of Illinois. I have seen it when there was nothing in the world scarcely, more than what the mere physical want demanded; I see it now, the home of wealth, intelligence and learning. I see it now as one of the grand empire States of this great American Union. I saw it when there was not only no Illinois, but no Iowa or Missouri. How changed in all the particulars of life! Our friend, the judge, to-day referred to the great change in farming. What great labor they had in making corn! But you growl now about the price of corn when it is forty or fifty cents a bushel, but I have known thousands of bushels sold for five cents a bushel, or burned for fuel. I was riding along the other day and saw a man plowing. He was breaking up ground for wheat. It was one of those hot days, one of those excessively
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hot days. He was riding on a cushioned seat, an umbrella over him, a cigar in his mouth and reading a dime novel, and I thought if some cute Yankee would attach a soda fountain and ice cream arrangement I would buy me forty acres and go to farming. Listen to the comparisons of the present with the past in the matter of traveling. You have all heard the old darkey's description of the railroad, haven't you? (Voice No.) Somebody asked a darkey standing on the streets of Springfield: "Sam, how far is it to Jacksonville?" Ile answered, "If you go afoot its thirty miles; if you you go in a buggy its ten; if you go on the cars, you'se dar now, you take your seat in the cars and you'se dar now." You can pass from one end of that great state to the other in a few hours. Some of us old fellows complain that times are not as good as they were in those good old times, but I thank God for the change. I don't believe those old fellows were more honest-I am sure they did not know as much as you can now, but yon ought to know more, you have better chances to know. When I was a boy we had no schools at all, or, the only ones we had were when some old Yankee pedagogue who was hard up would come along and take up a school and charge our daddies three dollars a quarter for it. I never went to school any more than six months in all my lifetime. But they made some impressions on me, but they were on my back mostly. Now you have schools everywhere, and what is remarkable to me, and I can't understand it, is how that change has been brought about, how the children love to go to school. That was not the way it was then. I was happy if I could mash my finger, or if I could make my dear old mammy think I was sick, but when my boys were eight and nine or ten-the're all grown, now-it used to surprise me that they wanted to go to school so badly. Their . mother, kind hearted woman, would sometimes imagine they had a little cough or croup, and try to keep them at home, and they would cry and fight to go. I didn't understand that. But everything has so changed that all the children want to go to school, and fifty years from now this American people will be the happiest people since Adam left paradise. The people have changed. I sometimes think there has been a great change in weddings lately. What do you think about it? The old time
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weddings! There was no parade, not much fuss about it, no circus. John and Kate would make it up and they would know the evening the old Methodist circuit rider was coming around, and there would be a gathering of friends, and after the few words were said, John would take Kate by the hand and lead her out and pass over the hill to where John had built a cabin, and there they would begin the battle of life, and they always won. But things have changed nowadays. I heard a story about a fashionable wedding in Chicago. When the bride came into her parlor the morning after the wedding and was looking over the cards she had received, she found one inscribed "John Jones, Attorney at Law. Divorces obtained promptly and secretly." The bride was very indignant, but her mother said "Keep it Kate, you may need it." But you follow Kate and John through. They went to work, and they and such as they were are the great mass of people; they are the class of men and women that peopled the great state of Illinois and made it what it is. They struggled and the sunshine of love breathed on their humble fireside, and they fought the battle through. Now and then sadness would come to them, sons and daughters would be stricken down, but still they fought the battle of life grandly and gloriously, until at last the storm passed away, and their wondrous prosperity beamed upon them, and their sons and sons-in-law, their children and their children's children were gathered around them. Suppose I go to one of those such as Kate was? I think of one now; and, suppose I go to that okl woman and ask her to dissolve that bond she took fifty years ago; she would look at me in scorn, and she wonkl take John's hand, and with a smile just as sweet and just as trust- ful as it was on her bridal morn she would say,
"John Anderson, iny jo John, We've clam the hill toglther, An' moony u canty day, John, We've had wi ane antther;
Now we maun totter down, John But han' in han' we'll go, And sleep toglther at the foot, John Anderson, me jo.
The state of people who commenced with nothing and won this battle! My friends, this people went to that land while it was a wilderness and all classes combined to make it what it is
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now-the home of intelligence and piety. But there is one particular class that I have the right to speak of, and that I always speak of gladly, that helped to make that land blossom as the rose. That is those old Methodist circuit riders, with their saddle bags and hymn books. They did their work and they did it well. They planted the seed of civilized society in that country. They tell a curious story about one old man over there. The story is that when he was about of age he became converted as they call it, and requested leave to preach. They gave him a license and he left his home and came west and labored and toiled and struggled until worn out. His brother, who had staid back at home. became immensely rich, and this brother wrote to him and said: "Brother Jim, come home, you have done enough. The Lord ought to be content with your labor. Come home and spend your last days in quiet and peace.". The old preacher knew he was old and worn and ahnost useless, and the good wife was worn out and exhausted, and he said "I will go. I have done all I can for my Master." He took the cars and went back to the old town, which had now grown to be a great city. He went to his brother's house and staid all night. He got there Saturday, and the next morn- ing, Sunday morning, his brother took him to a fine cottage, where everything was with the modern improvements, and said to him: "Brother Jim, this is yours, now. I give it to you as a home the balance of your days." "But," says the brother, "the people are at the church waiting for you and expect to hear you preach." However, his brother gave him the deed and he lookel with pride around him and thought that at last he was the owner of a home. But finally the church beil startled him. Ile struck out over the path worn through the sod; but when he came to the church it was no longer the old church, but a palace in its stead. He walked down the aisle covered with fine carpet and went up into the fine pulpit. There lay a fine gold clasped bible and hymn book. He sat down and looked at them and the congregation. There were no familiar faces: all his friends were gone. He was a curious sort of an old man, he had never been able to bear the idea of a written ser- mon. He would not even take a text, but the first verse he came to on opening his bible, that he would preach from, and
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the hymn he selected by taking the one at the top of the left page at which he opened the book. He looked at the fine hymn book and didn't like it. He took out his old hymn book, and put his finger on the first hymn he came to in his nsnal way, and said, "Now, brethren, sing from your hearts, No foot of land do I possess;' " and, says he, "Hold on, brethren, for God's sake don't sing." Down he went to his brother and says he: "Brother, take back your deed, I would not be prohib- ited from singing that blessed old hymn for all the land in Kentucky." That's the kind of men were here preaching then and doing the work to which they had appointed themselves. They have passed away, but they have left a grand, lasting impression upon this country and this country's institutions. They did not fail in the grand purpose to which they devoted themselves. They left a noble record and their heroic achiev- ments are now seen in the churches, schools and everything tending to elevate mankind in the scale of being. Do not understand me as advocating' these things now. Those old preachers would not do now. If one of those old men, with his old fashioned clothes and heavy brogan shoes was to walk into one of the churches at Springfield now, they might not laugh at him, they would try to treat him respectfully, but still it would not do now. They were grand men, but they have had their day and passed away. Let me conclude by saying that in all the pages of history you cannot find so grand and glo- rions a set of pioneers as those that moved to this country fifty years ago, leaving all the comforts of life, leaving their fathers and mothers, to come to the wilderness and struggle along as they did to build up this wondrous country. The great changes I refer to, to remind our young friends how different it is now from the time when I was young, and I am not so very old, either. You have got your magnificent buggies and your splendid high steppers to take your sweethearts ont riding; we did not have any such thing as buggies. When we wanted to go to a dance or a corn shucking, we went on horseback; we would bring out our horse and saddle, and notify Sally we were coming; and we did'nt find Sally sitting in the parlor or hiding (or pretending to hide), but we would find her sitting at the gate waiting for us. We would ride up and she would jump
,
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on behind and away we would go. And don't you old fellows rem'ember how you would put in the spurs and make the 1. horse kick up higher so Sally would hug you tighter? These men built up an empire that shall exist while humanity does. They have elevated mankind in the scale of being-physical, intellectual and moral, and you young men can do no better than to emulate their example. Just such men have made the world; such physical bodies and mental qualities -- until it seems to me that mankind has mastered nature with all its mysteries. Who would have thought that in this glass of water there is a little demon, a little giant which has been there ever since Adam left paradise, but not until these last few years has been harnessed and made to do the work of the world-that little monster steam, driving the palace ship bearing thousands of precious lives across the angry waves of the ocean-all the immeasurable power of the age. Then think how mysteriously we are talking through the telephone. By the way, this tele- phone business, I am afraid of it yet. It's a kind of ghostly affair to me. And then the telegraph by which we can send a message around the world in twenty minutes. All these are but the results of the spirit that moved your ancestors. They came here and founded an empire, but
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