USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Princeton > Celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Princeton, Mass., October 20th, 1859 : including the address of Hon. Charles Theodore Russell, the poem of Prof. Erastus Everett, and other exercises of the occasion > Part 7
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" To the Committee of Correspondence, Mr. Thomson, Chairman, to be laid before the Town :-
GENTLEMEN :
I am very much surprised to find that any among you should suspect me of entertaining Principles inconsistent with ye cause of liberty, since I have uniformly espoused and supported it, both in public and private, from ye very beginning of our controversy with Great Britain.
I have always submitted to ye advice of Congresses, both provincial and continental ; subscribed with my Hand ye Non Importation and Non Con- sumption agreement ; strictly adhered to it; have never opposed any public Measure taken to preserve ye Rights and Privileges of ye People ; and though I have thought that ye people have run into some Irregular- ities, yet not more than might be expected from every opposition to unconstitutional and oppressive acts of Government. It has always been my firm Opinion, that ye Parliament of Great Britain, in exercising ye Right claimed of binding America in all cases whatsoever, would reduce us to absolute Slavery. I have, years ago, laid aside ye use of Tea, and urged you to do ye same, that we might defeat their Design of raising a Revenue from us, encouraged our manufactures, and pressed a Union in this and all ye Colonies, that our Resistance might be formidable and successful. * * *
I think we have Reason and a Right to Complain, and when our Com- plaints are not heard, and our Grievances redressed, we have a Right to resist. We of Right ought to be as free as ye People of England, accor- ding to Charter. * * * * *
I am sorry to be so unhappy as to fall under the suspicion of being un- friendly to ye Common cause. I believe I am as hearty a Lover of my Country, as any among you, or any in ye Country. I am ready, when Necessary, to fight in ye Defense of it, and of Religion. I think ministers are not called to War, unless ye rest of ye Community are unable to defend it without them, and in such a case I am ready to do my part ; I
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would not count my Life dear to me, but would brave every Danger of War." * * * *
In conclusion : " What your design is in calling me in Question, I may not determine. If any were so mistaken and ignorant of my Principles, as to be really jealous, I am sorry ; but I am willing to give account of myself, without being offended, and am persuaded that what I have offered above will give you entire Satisfaction as to my firm attachment to ye Principles of civil liberty, and to remove every doubt from your minds ; if not, I am willing to carry ye matter before the provisional or continental Congress.
PRINCETON, May 29, 1779."
TIMOTHY FULLER.
This was read, June 2d, 1775, to the town. Another paper was sent to the same Committee, to be laid before the town, June 7th, of which I give the most important part.
" To the Committee, William Thomson, Chairman, to be laid before the Town :-
GENTLEMEN :
I beg Leave now, to make some Additions with respect to sev- eral things in the Paper which I read to ye Town, on Friday last. I do not believe ye Parliament of Great Britain hath any Right to make any Law whatever binding on ye Colonies, nor to lay any Taxes or duties on us, without our Consent. I am clearly of opinion, that ye acts, called ye Boston Port Bill, that for Altering the Government of this Province, and that for sending Criminals to Great Britain for Tryal, and ye Quebec bill, are unreasonable and unjust, and what ye Parliament have no right to enact, and that ye Colonies are so far from being obliged to submit to them, that it would be criminal in them, and they would be ruined by such submission. It is our Duty, at present, to unitedly exert ourselves to ye utmost, with Dependence on the blessing of Heaven on our righteous Cause, to resist, by Force and Arms. the Execution of those Acts. I look upon it (as) a favorable Providence, that the Colonies of this Continent, and this in particular, are generally so happily agreed in asserting and defending our civil and religious Rights, against ye Invasions of the British Ministry and Parliament, and their venal Army. It is, I think, ye Duty of every man to encourage, and according to his Ability, to promote ye Success of ye Army, now raised by this Colony, for its neces- sary Safety and Defense."
I think a man who is ready, if necessary, to fight for the cause, or who offers himself as a Chaplain in her army, would be acknowledged as a true patriot. And it is
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gratifying to know, that the people of Princeton came to the same conclusion in after years, that he dwelt here among you, and was chosen your Representative to the Conven- tion, Governor Gill being the rival candidate. Nor can I feel other than an honorable pride, in saying, that his descendants have uniformly loved liberty. It was a grand- daughter of your first minister, who sought to staunch the wounds of those who were fighting in the cause of liberty in a foreign land, who remained in the city of Rome, during its eventful seige, in 1848, and did all a brave and noble woman could do for the cause of liberty. Such noble fruit could have grown on no unworthy tree of ancestors ; and I rejoice to say, as a matter of simple truth and justice, that the principles of freedom, cherished by my ancestors, have been, and are cherished by all his descendants, and that to-day, however on other points they may differ, there is not one who does not long for the diffusion of civil and religious liberty, in our own and all lands, till at last your sun shall not rise on a tyrant or master, or rest on any who are oppressed or enslaved.
No. 11. Bachelors-Left alone, as they wish, will have no history in the next celebration.
There was no response.
No. 12. The Medical Profession-The ignorance of mankind with ref- erence to the laws of life and health, creates its necessity. In the good time coming, their prescriptions will be preventatives of, rather than cures for, disease. Till then, may their pills and powders be harmless.
To this sentiment, Dr. NATHAN ALLEN, of Lowell, responded. He said :
I wish to speak a few words, as the only representative of my profession present ; and I wish to speak in behalf of the town, in reference to medicine and health. We had, in the address this forenoon, an account of a physician who occupied the chair in town meetings, and held many high offices. For the last hundred years, we have had a noble order of men, well educated in the medical profession, here.
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I believe there has been no irregular practitioners in this town, and it has been remarkable for being a healthful place.
I wish to state three facts. The first is, that, according to the statistics, there has not been a town in this County, that could compare with this in respect to healthfulness. The rate of mortality is less than in any other town, being only one in ninety-three, for many years. But in Sterling, it is one in sixty-seven ; in Holden, one in fifty- six ; in Westminster, one in seventy-five; in Worcester, one in forty-eight; while in Boston, it is one in thirty- eight. I find on turning to the record of deaths, last year, that seventeen persons died, of whom eight were over seventy years of age, and three were between eighty-five and ninety.
Another fact is, that the average length of life here, has been remarkable. This we can show by the ages of persons who have died in a long series of years. The average age here has been over fifty years, while in all the other towns of the County, it has been less. In Wor- cester, it has been but twenty-two years, so that persons may expect to live twice as long here as in Worcester. There have been but two epidemics here in many years.
Another fact, which is creditable to this town, is that a large donation was given, many years ago, by one of the citizens of this town, Dr. Ward Nicholas Boylston, for the benefit of the medical profession of this State. That donation was given in such a way that large sums are distributed annually, for the encouragement of students of the medical profession. That sum, put to interest at the time it was given, would now amount to more than seventy thousand dollars.
We see why it is that people will come here from abroad ; and they will come more and more, where such fresh air, and such wholesome diet may be obtained. People who live here do not realize, nor have any adequate idea of their privileges.
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Only five or six persons from this town, have entered the medical profession. When I have looked at the history of this town, and considered its advantages with reference to health, I felt proud to refer to it.
I will merely add a sentiment :
The Inhabitants of Princeton, and the Medical Profession-May their relations in the next hundred years, show as much consistency and liber- ality as they have in the past hundred years.
No. 13. The next Centennial Anniversary-May our children have reason to venerate us, as we to-day do our fathers.
No. 14. Princeton's Sons-May their aim be as high, their view as broad, and their principles as firm and deep-rooted, as their own Wachusett.
To this sentiment, JOHN A. DANA, Esq., of Worcester, responded as follows :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :- I congratulate you upon the success of this Celebration. Most heartily do I thank you and the people of this my native town, for this opportunity to exchange with each other kindly greetings and joyful congratulations. Pausing here for a little, at the close of the first century of our town's history, recalling pleasant reminiscences of the past, and with mutual good wishes for the future, we will gather new strength to go forth to its duties, with a stronger heart, and a fuller confidence.
Sir, I will yield to no one, in the strong attachment I feel for the place of my birth, the home of my boyhood, the scene of my early joys, and my boyish griefs. My feelings to-day are keenly alive to the sentiment of Goldsmith's lines :
" Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, My heart, untravel'd, fondly turns to thee. * * * *
* Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, His first, best country, ever is at home. * * * Thus every good his native wilds impart Imprints the patriot passion on his heart;
And e'en those ills that round his mansion rise,
Enhance the bliss his scanty fund supplies ; Dear is that shed to which his soul conforms,
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And dear that hill which lifts him to the storms ; And as a child, when scaring sounds molest, Clings close and closer to the mother's breast- So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar, But bind him to his native mountains more."
The sentiment to which you do me the honor to invite me to respond, brings me back to my home, by the reference you have made to that mountain, to which I have so often looked when away, and to which I have, with a glow of pride, pointed many as my native mountain. Why, sir, the time has been, when I thought it the highest mountain in the world ! However much wiser I may be to-day in this respect, I have never seen, nor do I ever expect to see, any mountain whose view will stir in my heart more pleasant emotions, than are always excited when I look upon its familiar face. It is an honest old mountain, and if it is not quite so high as some, I am sure it is as old as any, and will last as long. But, sir, the sentiment looks to something else; it looks to the end and object of all our lives, and the means by which we may make them a success. As a life without purpose can never be useful, so, without a broad view, and a firm foundation on fixed principles of action, it can never be successful.
The young are often told to set their aims high. Often have I heard it in that little red school-house, and this was told us in such a way, that we were led to think that the wise course was to fix the mind upon some particular object, some place of honor or trust, some high position of power or influence,-that we should single out some one of these, as a particular object of pursuit, to attain which, all our energies should be directed.
I do not intend to usurp the prerogative of the pulpit, and read you a sermon on this occasion, though it is much easier to preach than to practice. But I will suggest whether we should not labor to inculcate in others, and whether each should not bring himself to feel that all the objects of life, worthy of pursuit by a rational being, should be pursued as a means to an end, and not the end itself,
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and that end a two-fold one,-self-culture and development in the individual, and usefulness to mankind.
Now we all know, that but few can attain to places of eminence, as commonly received and understood. How few of the many who start in the race for wealth, power or station, attain the position for which they strive. They all start with high hopes, with a high, it may be with a noble, ambition. The motto with them is, "aut Cæsar, aut nullus," and they usually verify the motto- but their verification is very unfortunate.
What I would urge is, that each should endeavor to develop in himself a complete manhood; that each should inculcate all the faculties of his nature,-physical, mental and moral,-by such pursuits as are best fitted to his par- ticular organization, without regard to any particular end to be attained, but the general one I have named, and we shall find we have each a position of greatness, which will well reward all our labor. By such a course as this, we shall all find enough to do at home ; we shall all have a business for life on our hands. We need not go far in search of labor or duty ; it lies all around us, and the future, about which we have so much solicitude, will become the present, for the surest way to know our duty in the future, is to do the duty that lies next us.
And we shall also find, that true greatness lies not in any particular station in life, but in every station. It needs not wealth or rank to give it power; it has a power all its own. It shines as well in the cottage of the poor, as in the mansion of the rich.
" What tho' on hamely fare we dine, Wear hoddin grey and a' that ; Gie fools their silk and knaves their wine, A man's a man for a' that. An honest man tho' e'er sae poor, Is king of men for a' that."
I close with this sentiment :
His aims are high who aims a complete, perfect manhood. His view must be broad, and his principles firm, who will attain it.
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No. 15. Our Festal Day-We, this day, tie the nuptial knot between the past and coming century. And our Mother,* though hoary with age, is, (we are happy to know,) vigorous and blithe as ever, and many of her sons and daughters are present to grace the ceremony.
It was expected this sentiment would have been re- sponded to by Colonel HowE, of Rutland ; but owing to the lateness of the hour, he was obliged to leave the house, before the sentiment was read.
The following is a volunteer sentiment, left by Colonel HOWE :
The Citizens of Princeton-Their past has been marked by enterprise, benevolence, and prosperity. May their future be distinguished by all those virtues which elevate and adorn the human family.
No. 16. The Wachusett Cornet Band-May their lives be so pure, and their strains of music so ennobling, that this old monarch of hills shall proudly own his namesake.
Responded to by the Band.
The meeting then adjourned till seven o'clock in the evening.
EVENING MEETING.
At a little after seven o'clock, the Church was pretty well filled again, agreeably to the adjournment, and the President, having called the meeting to order, said :
Ladies and Gentlemen :- Permit me, once more, in behalf of our vigilant Committee of Arrangements, in behalf of the legal voters of Princeton, by whose act we have this day assembled, to extend to you the right hand
*A large portion of Princeton was, at its incorporation, taken from Rutland.
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of fellowship, and to thank you all for the interest you have taken, on this occasion, which interest has brought you together again this evening, to listen to these closing services. It was a custom of our fathers, to look to God in all their town meetings,-to that Being whose mercies are new every morning, and fresh every evening and every moment. Shall we, in imitation of their example, look to Him on this occasion ? Will Rev. Mr. Cowles lead us in prayer ?
Prayer was then offered by Rev. JOHN P. COWLES, of Ipswich, a former Pastor in Princeton.
After music by the Band, the next regular sentiment was read, as follows :
No. 17. The Second Centennial Celebration-The heroic and successful resistance of our ancestors to British tyranny, secured freedom to one race of one age. May it be the glad privilege of those who shall stand here to celebrate one hundred years this day, that the nobler patriotism, and holier self-sacrifice of the friends of unrestricted human rights in this country, have bequeathed impartial liberty to every tribe of every race, forevermore.
Mr. E. H. HEYWOOD, of Worcester, called upon to respond, said :
It may seem unfortunate that it should fall to me "to give the improvement," as the old Puritans would say, of the sentiment just read, fellowshipped as I am with a class of persons who have the reputation of not being very economical of truth, who sometimes have a weakness for telling the whole truth, in dealing with the question of freedom. I appreciate the feelings of that slip of the clerical profession, who, caught holding forth in strait Puritan Boston, without proper authority, was called to order by one who sat in Moses' seat. "But don't the Bible say, we must preach the Gospel to every critter ?" asked the sprig. "Yes," replied the venerable divine ; "but it don't say that every critter must preach the Gospel."
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I find that, as early as 1763, the settlers of this town passed resolutions, showing a clear-sighted, resolute and unswerving devotion to the principles of that inspired and immortal declaration, which, in 1776, leaped from the brain of Jefferson, full-armed for the revolutionary conflict. Subsequently, they dismissed their minister, (Rev. Mr. Fuller,) for entertaining, as they erroneously supposed, Tory proclivities-then inaugurating the itinerant method, so popular here, for Princeton has always settled its min- isters on horseback. Thus early did our fathers evince a faith in principle, and a spirit of self-sacrifice of every worldly interest, in adherence to the cause of freedom. They saw that human rights are antecedent to all human governments, and hence above the reach or refusal of all human laws. They made institutions for man. The polit- ical and ecclesiastical policy of the present day, makes man for institutions. It circumscribes the boundaries of human rights ; spells negro with two gs ; preaches Jesus and practices Judas. Our ancestors overleaped the fences of custom and tradition-were the "rebels," the " insur- rectionists," and "madmen " of their day. Hence, their lesson to us is : " Break with the huckstering ' law and order' of your age; project your thoughts from behind institu- tions ; build on ideas ; trample under foot all compromising organizations ; 'be governed by the laws of God, until you can make better.'"
Some years later, Mr. Fuller returning-a prophet to be honored in his own country-showed, conclusively, that he was right on the question of freedom. In the State Convention, to ratify the Federal Constitution, he voted against that iniquitous instrument, on the ground of its pro-slavery clauses. I am proud that the representative of my native town took so noble a position in that crisis, so fatal to the black man,-proud that the first clergyman of this district, bore so high a moral testimony to the politi- cians of his age. The test of principle is to disagree with our immediate cotemporaries, when conscience bids. Mr.
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Fuller, doing that, proved his superiority. He was taller than his peers-a moral Wachusett, crowned by the light of opposite centuries. Let us thank God that this heroic minister of Christ, had the moral courage to outface his compromising fellows and repudiate a constitution that consigned the black man to perpetual slavery.
I do not wish to preach you an anti-slavery lecture, but I must say, I was saddened this morning, on looking around, to find not a single motto-significant of the fact, that four million slaves are crushed under the political and ecclesiastical institutions of this country-not one word to alleviate the ineffable woes that weigh upon their hearts. Are not the sainted insurrectionists of '76 still on the side of the oppressed ? Do not they yearn to-day, from their higher seats, towards these millions of " suffering and dumb " victims of a bondage, " one hour of which," Jefferson being the judge, "is fraught with more misery than whole ages of that which we rose in rebellion to oppose ?"
Pluck aside the centuries, and see how far we have strayed from that sublime ancestry, whichi " began with Puritanism and the wilderness; " from that martyr faith, which, hurling British tyranny across the Atlantic, sounded boldly out into the great deep of equal rights, the Columbus of a true popular sovereignty. In 1641, Mass- achusetts, young, weak, destitute as an orphan girl, spread her arms "to all who could fly to her from the tyranny and oppression of their persecutors," and pledged them pro- tection and maintenance at the public cost. In 1859, rich, luxurious, powerful, studded all over with churches, colleges, and temples of justice, the Legislature refusing to shelter the hounded fugitive from oppression, deliber- ately votes, (the representative of this town concurring,*) that our soil, hallowed with heroes' graves, shall continue open ground for the slave-hunter ! Thank God for Massa- chutetts ! She was the first of civilized States in history,
* See Note.
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to abolish slavery by law. It was done in 1780, and the glorious event should be distinguished by a red letter day in our Calender. But in 1789, she went into partnership with slave dealers, and the firm is yet undissolved. When Webster was kicking in his cradle, Washington wrote to New Hampshire for the return of a fugitive woman. But, said he, if the moral sentiment of the people is against it, let her go. In 1859, Massachusetts erects a statue to the man, who, beyond all others, has insulted the moral senti- ment of New England, by commanding her to " conquer her prejudices " in favor of liberty, and return men to bondage, "with alacrity." But why travel so far from home ? I have told you how the early settlers of this town, rude, untaught, scarcely able to wring a subsistence from these unthankful hills, risked the ruin of their church, and the loss of educational advantages, by hurrying from their sacred desk, a minister, on mere suspicion of indiffer- ence to the interests of freedom, and of sympathizing with a comparatively respectable despotism beyond the Atlantic. I would gladly forget to say, did truth and the solemn monitions of this hour allow it, that lately there stood in this pulpit, with the consent of these pews, the great New England apologist of the most cruel and remorseless system of bondage in modern history."
We meet to celebrate the deeds of revolutionists, of traitors, of insurrectionists. To-day, with a chastened, reverent enthusiasm, we take into our hands the consecrated sword, or musket, with which they slew oppressors. We wear next our very hearts, every brave word, whereby they pledged themselves to sink the government, the church, and the world, rather than relinquish justice or liberty. We glory in that congregationalism which made every man a church; in that democracy which made every man a monarchy. Those sainted farmers, play-fellows of these venerable hills, wherever they walked, society heaved with the volcanic throes of revolt. We are all the
* See Note.
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children, the heirs apparent, of treason and rebellion. Put your ear to the ground, and you will hear the echoing, earthquake tread of the impending second American Rev- olution. This very week, its Bunker's Hill was fought at Harper's Ferry. The timid, faithless toryism of to-day, pales and trembles at the crack of insurgent rifles, whose echoes still linger among the Alleghanies and Shenandoahs. John Brown, braver than Warren, more self-sacrificing than Lafayette, with his Spartan score of followers, throws himself against a gigantic despotism, in defence of the principles of the fathers. From these sacred graves, on which we stretch ourselves to-day, they speak : "Go thou and do likewise ; be true to our memory ; execute justice for the oppressed; launch upon equal inalienable rights, and let God take care of the consequences."
As Luther said, " God never can do without brave men." The age of brute force, the reign of bullets, is over. Ideas are gradually ascending to absolute power. It is our priv- ilege to rely upon moral force agitation-upon the omnipo- tence of abstract principles. The times " demand an arm of tougher sinew than the sword." It is for us to side with the oppressed and down-trodden in the great moral Bunker Hills and Solferinos of human conflict, to make ourselves of no reputation, and suffer the loss of all things, if need be, in defence of Jesus in the "little ones." Every crown of glory must first be a crown of thorns. As for me, I believe in the inalienable and absolute right of every man to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I am for the immediate and unconditional emancipation of every slave of every race, clime, or condition. In the great conflict for the rights of black men, now shaking this country to its foundations, "no union with slaveholders," is the highest moral ground, the only Christian position, the only Pisgah that overlooks the promised land of impartial liberty from this wilderness of compromise. Our fathers rest from their labors. The beloved sleep well. We, also, are before the world, who will judge us according to our
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