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 8
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works. To equal our predecessors, we must surpass them. To do as much, we must do more.
" New occasions teach new duties ; Time makes ancient good uncouth ; They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth. Lo, before us gleam her campfires ! We ourselves must Pilgrims be ; Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea, Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key."
*NOTE .- The undersigned, a majority of the Committee, having this report in charge, (the minority disclaiming it their province to judge, or express an opinion in the matter,) deem it but simple justice to state, that in their judgement, the remarks of Mr. Heywood, in the particulars indicated by reference to this note, were untrue in point of fact ; and, moreover, were an unwarranted, though we charitably believe, an unintentional trespass upon the proprieties of the occasion.
CHARLES RUSSELL, . WILLIAM B. GOODNOW, EDWARD E. HARTWELL.
Rev. Dr. ALLEN was again invited to speak. He said :
It has been mentioned to-day, and has been often men- tioned, as a thing very peculiar in the history of Princeton, that a people so intelligent, considerate and conservative as they have always been, should have such a history with regard to the ministry in the town. Since I came into the town, a man said to me, that the present minister of the Church here, is the twelfth or thirteenth, in succession, and that no man has ever died here, holding the pastoral office. He said, further, that the town did not contain the remains of a single minister of the Gospel, of any denom- ination. I, however, satisfied him of the fact, that the old burying ground, on the hill, does contain the remains of a native of this town, who was a minister of the Gospel.
Why is it, that among people so considerate, and so con- servative, no minister has ever retained the pastoral office till called away by death ? I put this question to myself, and I answer it by saying, that it is because the people have been so religous, and had such exact and clear views of divine truth. I will mention, as an illustration, an anec- dote. A gentleman was invited to become a pastor of one of the Churches here. After considering the invitation for
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sometime, he declined. He did not, then, give any reason ; but as the people expressed some disappointment at his not accepting their invitation, he told them that he did not decline the invitation for want of salary, for they had offered him as much as he expected. To some of my friends in another town, he gave the following reason: " When I learned how well informed the people were on all the doctrines of Christianity, and when I saw every eye fixed on me, and scanning me, I felt as if I was preaching to an assembly of Puritan divines, and that I was not competent to become the minister of such a people. I declined the invitation solely on that ground."' That minister is still living. I think the strong religious character, the clear and exact views of divine truth, and the great importance which the people here attached to every part of the system of religion which they had embraced, has had much to do with the changes in their ministry.
I have heard people in the towns around say : "How the people in Princeton quarrel about religion." But it was no quarrelling, in their view. They were only " con- tending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints." They could not only tell what they believed, but give reason upon reason, from morning till night. It was no mere disputation, no quarrelling, no wrangling. No. They did it from the highest and holiest feelings.
I will make a remark upon one thing, which I believe is not alluded to in the histories of this town. There are some things concerning individuals, and families, and com- munities, which can be learned only by observation. It was remarked that the people of this town were a noble people in their intellectual character, and in their political and religious principles and conduct. But they were a noble class of people in another respect-physically, bodily. I never saw such a generation of men. I have had much observation of mankind, and a large experience of the world, but I never saw such men as were here forty
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and fifty years ago. I presume those who are old, and growing old, like myself, will be of the same opinion. A stranger in the town, once attended the old church on the hill, and he afterward remarked how he was struck with the appearance of the people. He never saw such people, men and women, sons and daughters. He said he was reminded of the story in the book of Joshua, where the spies reported that they saw the Anakims-giants-in the land, and " we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight." I remembered, said he, that the Bible says the Anakims lived " in the hill country," and I supposed they were extinct, till I came here; but I find they are still living "in the hill country," around about Wachusett, and among the other hills of Princeton.
The next sentiment was :
No. 18. Old Princeton-The good old days of Princeton, made glorious by the solid worth, true valor, and wise patriotism of our fathers. May her sons perpetuate her virtues.
Mr. EVERETT-The next sentiment has reference to the old men and women who still linger with us, but who will soon pass away to the spirit land.
No. 19. The Old Men and Women of Princeton-May their last days be their best, and their last pleasures the sweetest. May their declining sun shed mellow beams of light on their posterity, and set in glory.
THE PRESIDENT-If there is no one prepared to respond to this sentiment, we will proceed to the next.
MR. EVERETT-I wish we might have some volunteer sentiments, with such remarks as gentlemen may please to offer. We have shaken the hearts of many friends through their hands, to-day, and I would like to hear from some of them this evening.
THE PRESIDENT-I am happy to know that Capt. Amos
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Merriam, from the city of spindles, (Lowell,) is here. We shall be pleased to hear a word from him.
Capt. MERRIAM being thus called out, said :
I am not a literary man, and you must not expect a long speech from me. I have come up here to-day, to see and hear, and I have been extremely gratified with what I have seen and heard. I have not been in this town for many years-nearly or quite a quarter of a century-and most of the old inhabitants I recognize to-day. At the time I left the place, there was not a family here that I did not know very well, having occupied a position that led me to a general acquaintance with the people of the town. I was, for many years, a Selectman, and an Overseer of the Poor, and was, also, a Surveyor, so that I was led to know the people in all parts of the town.
I rejoice that I have been permitted to meet so many of you whom I once knew, and to listen to the speeches and sentiments that have been uttered. They have brought back to my mind the sterling virtues of this people. The glory and happiness of the people here, does not consist in their numbers, but in their character, and I think I can bear my testimony fully, that the true character of the people has been expressed in the addresses to which I have had the pleasure of listening to-day.
I will not occupy your time any further, but will offer, as a sentiment, a few words :
This Centennial Day to celebrate we meet, Our friends to see, and them to grect. Before returns another Anniversary day, Three generations will have passed away. Then to all that's good and great aspire, Like yonder mountain, beckoning higher, That Princeton's sons and daughters, yet unborn, May bless the world that they adorn.
THE PRESIDENT-We have with us an adopted son, who is somewhat advanced in years, as many of the rest of us
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are, who has spent many years in Princeton. Let me introduce to you THOMAS WILDER, Esq., of Boston.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :- I am happy to embrace this opportunity, to speak of one, whose name has not been much mentioned on this occasion. One, who, half a century ago, was known as Master Woods. In 1802, he conveyed me here from Ashburnham, on the seventh of June. We rode on horseback, and he gave me a very interesting account of every family between these places, pointing out the building where Sam Frost killed his father; the place where the girl was lost ; the eastern part of Wachusett, where Frost killed Captain Allen, and the tree on which he climbed to watch the funeral obsequies of his victim.
Master Woods was greeted by his appropriate appella- tion, by old and young, where he was known. This led the boy who had taken passage upon the same animal with him, without a pillion, to inquire into his antecedents. I soon learned one important fact, that he was the first school-master of the town, and being self-taught, under- stood how to teach others. Being a man of thought, he strove to promote it by questions suited to elicit thought, and propounding problems to be solved by induction, thus giving to minds a stimulus to develop itself, without depending much upon artificial helps; consequently, a goodly number of intellectual inhabitants, of both sexes, came forward, honorable to the town and country. We need look no further than his own family for illustrations. I might speak of numbers, but will particularize but one, his oldest son by his last wife, Leonard, whose germ, under paternal culture, gave hopeful promise, and who, encouraged by the means of education, which at that time the public schools afforded, graduated at Harvard with the highest honors of the College, and whose writings are said to be the most lucid in the English language, and are read in all the enlightened parts of the world from
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his works, while he filled the chair of Theology, at Andover Seminary. As like causes produce like effects, it may be seen that the inductive principle which wrought so effect- ually in Dr. Woods the senior, has been not less so in Dr. Woods junior, now President of Bowdoin College, and who ranks among the first literary men of our country.
Master Woods did a great deal of public business, and my youthful mind was led to inquire, why he had not an Esquire commission. Well, Hon. Moses Gill, being a mag- istrate sufficient for the business of the town, at that early period, the office, if conferred, would have been rather sinecure. Yet, it was prior to the Gerrymander, synony- mous with districting the State for political effect, under the administration of Governor Gerry, which all Federal- ists thought almost unpardonable. And Rev. Mr. Holcom, of Sterling, at a supper, where poetic freedom was lawful, remarked it was the greatest piece of wickedness ever committed since the rebellion of the fallen angels. How much political hire was used to effect the object, I am unable to say, but Esq.'s came forth like locusts for multitude. Rev. Thomas Mason, of Northfield, Represen- tative of the town for many years, was a son of Princeton, brother of the venerable Joseph Mason, now living on the old farm, between eighty and ninety years old, pos- sessed of mental vigor competent to grapple with almost any subject, and who, by industry, economy and prudence,, has furnished a rich legacy for the town. The above rev- erend gentleman, while sitting upon a splendid horse, was asked why he did not ride an humble ass, as did the great preacher when he entered Jerusalem, replied, he was unwilling to ride a jackass, for Gerry had made them all Esq.'s.
But Esq. Gill, afterwards Lieutenant Governor, conferred upon Master Woods, a more honorable than civil title, even the well-earned appellation of Philosopher, and when he had visitors of philosophic minds, he would send for his Philosopher, and thus introduce him. As he was wont to
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wear a leather apron at home, he was not careful to put it off on those occasions. It served the double purpose of preserving some portions of his dress, and also, as parch- ment for data, and a substitute for sand, on which John Newton studied Euclid upon the shores of Africa. When his cogitations were interrupted, he would make a mark to indicate his soundings. His apron was covered with figures, signs, or hieroglyphics.
Mr. President, I am aware by what title I have been introduced to this platform ; but, sir, the paper emanating from the Council chamber, came to me most unexpectedly, and knowing there were more magistrates in Ware village, in which place I then resided, than the business of the place demanded, I thought the best use I could make of it would be to lock it up for safe keeping, unaccompanied by any law, hoping it might tend to check the exuberance of Esq.'s.
No. 20. The memory of our Fathers-By all their decds of noble daring, by all their toils and sacrifices in planting institutions for our enjoyment, by their manly virtue and holy example. we will cherish their memories forever.
To this sentiment, the Rev. ARTHUR B. FULLER, of Watertown, responded as follows :
Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen :- I should feel some doubt about trespassing again on your attention and time, were it not that the strain of remark which I felt obliged to offer this afternoon, did not embrace one or two thoughts of that more serious and solemn character, which seem to be becoming to this place and this hour ; and as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, standing in the town where an ancestor of mine preached the gospel as he believed it, I feel that there are one or two topics upon which I would speak here and now.
My remarks this afternoon, were for the purpose of removing any undeserved imputation which rested on the patriotism of an ancestor of mine. I propose now to
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respond to the sentiment just offered, and which seems to me. be full of nobleness. I recall much that I have learned from a father and uncles of those who early lived here, for my family have ever treasured each leaf on which the dear name of Princeton was written ; and from those records, I gather some knowledge of their fathers and yours. 1 gather the impressions which were indelibly written on their minds. I recall some of the accounts which they gave when they came here every year to sing again Zion's songs, and I feel that your ancestors and mine were generally pious, noble men, and that their memory deserves to be cherished. I rejoice in this Centennial Celebration, that it was put into the hearts of this people to come up here and keep this joyous day; and it seems to me we ought to have something more of the serious and devout cast given to our thoughts, which the occasion is so well calculated to suggest.
I remember hearing my grandfather spoken of as one who was instant in season and out of season in his visits to the chambers of the sick and dying; I have a record, kept by him, of the bereavements of the families here .* I find a record of children, breathing out their last sigh ; of old men, by whom he offered the prayer which wafted on the wings of faith the spirit upward; of mothers in Israel giving their last counsel to childhood, as they had given the first smile that was the earliest sunlight that fell on the infant heart. Iknow, then, something of the fathers of those who dwell here to-day. That grandfather of mine was never accused of any dereliction of duty-his moral integrity was as unmovable as yonder mountain, (Wachusett,) and pointed upward directly as does that hill. And even as to the charge that " he did not catechise the children"-I presume the children were willing to excuse him, if it were so-it was said that they had not
* Subsequently presented, with the first covenant, to the Church in Princeton, by the speaker.
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the shadow of a reason for the charge that was made against him.
As I came here to-day, and saw your decorations, it seemed to me you scarcely needed to " hang your banner on the outer wall," as I saw the whole landscape decked with beauty, as though decorated to honor the God who had created and fashioned these everlasting hills ; when I saw these rich hues of Autumn so gorgeously displayed, I felt there was a banner floating in every breeze, even as though God had garnished the scene for such an occasion as this.
But, Mr. President, I want to enlarge the sentiment; I believe in a religion that holds in honor every man and woman who loves God, and Jesus his Son, and humanity, for which that Son died. Love to God, to Christ, to man -that is my Christianity. My creed is, that every human being who endeavors to elevate mankind, deserves to be regarded as a brother, or sister, or mother of every true man. (Applause.) And to all such, of every race of every period, and of each sex, I would fain do impartial justice. I wish now to include the mothers of this town in your sentiment of commendation. Too often, in doing justice to man, we forget our sister woman ; too often the memory of the fathers is permitted to overshadow that of noble mothers. I wish to speak of one of those mothers in Israel-my noble and sainted grandmother, once an honored resident of this town. Rev. Timothy Fuller, in going to Sandwich, met a young lady who had charms not only of person, but of mind and spirit, a daughter of the patriotic Rev. Abraham Williams, who sent three sons into the revolutionary fight. That mother said, " Go; serve your country well; we will take care of ourselves." One of those sons died in a prison ship of Great Britain. Rev. Timothy Fuller married a sister of those brave young men, Miss Sarah Williams, of Sandwich. During that revolu- tionary struggle, her father resigned his salary, so that his people might not be impoverished. That woman was
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worthy of such a sire, and of the mother who bore her; she instilled heroic and honorable principles in her chil- dren, who, if they did not include my father and uncles, I should say were an honor to this place. One, my venera- ble father, became a member of Congress, a Speaker of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, a man, of whom I may, without impropriety, say, that he honored the place from which he came. (Applause.)
Ah, sir, we are not to forget such mothers, who, in the quietude of their homes, by the simplicity and beauty of their daily lives, by their unwearied and unceasing care, and in answer to their saintly prayers, shape and mould the hearts and minds of the men of this and all other lands, and impart to them the larger portion of what in them is great and noble.
"The mothers of our forest-land- Their bosoms pillow'd men, And proud were they by such to stand, In hammock, fort or glen ; To load the sure old rifle, To run the leaden ball, To watch a battling husband's place, And fill it should he fall ; No braver dames had Sparta, No nobler matrons Rome, Yet who or lauds or honors them, E'en in their mountain home."
One, at least, Mr. President, shall stand here to-day, and do them honor, and I know that my word on this topic will awaken a response in all your hearts.
That " honorable woman " of whom I have spoken, and who once dwelt amid these beautiful scenes, and loved and cherished her country's cause, and was willing, as was her mother, to sacrifice for it, and even consented that her worthy husband, your minister, should fight in its behalf, if need be, (as he bravely proffered this town to do,) shoulder to shoulder with its patriotic " minute men"- that woman, I say, was fit to be commemorated to-day as
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the ancestor of another woman no less noble, and of whom America is justly proud,-Margaret Fuller,-who was her descendant, who sacrificed so much for liberty in fair Italy, who suffered privation in Rome during its besiege- ment, and soothed and comforted the wounded Romans, bleeding for their country's cause, and fighting against spiritual, intellectual and physical bondage.
But, sir, there is yet another thought that I wish to suggest now. We have had many sons and daughters who have come back here to-day, some who were never here before ; but there has been some one here, too, who was also here a few years after the settlement of this place, and that is, the " Angel of Death." I could not go away, and do justice to my own feelings, if I did not call your attention to the fact that we have had a discourse-a sermon preached to us in the midst of our festivities. We have gathered here, this Autumnal day, and, in our joyous- ness, who thought the "angel reaper " so near, and ready to bear away another sheaf of his endless harvest? The falling leaf spoke to us of mortality, yet, perchance, we heeded not. We plaintively asked, in reference to your ancestors and the ministers who here once " dispensed the word " in this place-" Our fathers, where are they ? and the prophets-do they live forever?" But, did our own mor- tality come here to us? Did we think death might be knocking at the very door of some of our tabernacles of clay, even when we were celebrating the memory of those who are gone ? O, it could not be, that to-day we were to be greeted with that awful word of warning- to-day, in our joyousness, hear the solemn voice, saying : " Ye, too, must die !" And yet, so it is,-never are we exempt from the Destroyer's presence.
" Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, And stars to set-but all, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death ! "
One who bore the name of one of the old settlers-the
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name of Mirick-dropped dead to-day, and it seems as though God had preached a lesson to us, and given to the minister of this pulpit something to say next Sabbath- something for me to say, and that I should be false to my duty, if I did not say, that we are not only to remember the fathers, but we are to remember that we are to meet them soon. I have sought to do justice to the memory of one, who, for a time, was falsely accused; see that you do him justice, also. When I go up to the banks of the Merrimac, in New Hampshire, and see the stone erected there to the memory of the first minister of this place-a man who deserves to be perpetually honored here, where he so faithfully labored; who was not alone your minister, but afterwards your representative in the Convention which ratified our Federal Constitution, whose pro-slavery clauses received his emphatic protest, and required his reluctant vote against that instrument-I think the citizens should remove that honored dust here, so that there may be, not only the dust of one who had ministered here, but especially of the one who first preached the Gospel in this place; or, if it be too late for that, at least erect a fitting memorial to him, in your church-yard, where the silent dust of one of his children reposes. Were it needful, you might call on me for my full proportion of pecuniary aid in such a work as that. (Applause.)
My friends, you do indeed well to cherish the memory of such fathers and mothers as I have sought to commem- orate. For, changing the phraseology, if it could be done" so as to include heroic and holy women, as well as men, what heart does not echo those familiar words :
" Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time ;
Footprints, that perhaps another Sailing o'er life's solemn main, Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again."
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The Hon. CHARLES T. RUSSELL, of Boston, the Orator of the day, being called out, spoke as follows :
Mr. President :- I certainly concur most heartily in all that has been said-so well, so beautifully said-by my friend Fuller, who has just taken his seat, of the love for those who are gone, and, I may add, the love for those who are living. There is no place beyond my own fireside and home, that I visit with so much interest as this spot, where I received my birth, and where I received my early educa- tion ; where I have always found sympathy and love, and honor, far beyond, I am afraid, what I deserve. And I desire here and now, and always, to thank the people of Princeton for the good they have done me by their insti- tutions, and more than all, by their good and holy example. I had well hoped that, after my long, and, I fear, wearisome address this morning, I should not be called upon to speak to you again, at least to-day. When I was coming up here, a Princeton man told me a little anecdote, that may illus- trate my position. He said, that some few years ago, he was called upon by a man to butcher a couple of hogs for him. They were enormous, raw-boned creatures, big enough to weigh five hundred pounds apiece, exactly what our old friend, now dead and gone, Mr. Zeke Davis, would call " working hogs." When he came to cut them, however, there was no pork thicker than that, (indicating by a measure of the finger,) in them. The butcher sent them home by a waggish boy of his, who, as he took them out of the wagon, said to the owner: ".Mr. - -, don't you want to buy some good salt pork ?" "No sir," said he, " what should I want to buy salt pork for ; have I not got these two hogs ?" " Well," said the boy, " I did not know but you would like to get a little to fry yourn in." (Laughter.) I thought that by the time I got through that long address, with its propositions, like the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, very many and very dry, you would want a little good pork to fry mine in, and would not call on me again. And I am happy to say, you have been eminently success-
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