USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Billerica > Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Billerica, Massachusetts, May 29th, 1855 > Part 7
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if a merchant, would be a cheat; if a minister, a hyp- ocrite ; if a physician, a quack. As a man's spiritual gravitation is upward or downward, he ennobles or debases his profession or calling. The lawyer of small intellect and less moral principle, is a pettifogger ; the lawyer of first rate intellectual power, and noble principles, is one of nature's noblemen ; while the lawyer of fine talents, and no principle, abuses for un- worthy purposes the faculties that God has given him And while we admire the mighty intellect, we despise the man. Men say, " Wo unto ye, lawyers," and cite the Scriptures for their authority. But I say, Wo unto him who is recreant to truth and duty ; and hon- or to him, who maintains the right, be he prince or peasant, mechanic or lawyer.
That the lawyers have the confidence of men is not a matter of question ; and this confidence thus exist- ing between the lawyer and his client is to me, sir, most singular and mysterious. The client comes to the lawyer, an utter stranger, it may be, introduces himself, and retains him. From that moment, the two are as one. With unhesitating confidence, he unbosoms himself to his legal adviser, reveals to him the inmost recesses of his soul,- secrets upon which his lips are sealed to his dearest friend, to his wife even, (and with good reason) - no matter whether they are of money, of honor, of life, or death even - it is all the same; the whole is poured into the ear of his adviser, without a thought of confidence misplaced, without a fear of betrayal. And thus it has been for ages, is now, and I hope ever will be. And why is it ? I know not, unless it be that there is in the commu-
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nity a feeling of trust and confidence in the honor of the profession, to which I know no parallel. The simple fact that that trust still exists in unimpaired force is the strongest evidence that it has seldom or never been violated or abused.
But, sir, perhaps you will ask, of what benefit is the lawyer? Let us see. Law is designed for the protection of the innocent, and the punishment of the guilty. The innocent, then, ought not to be punish- ed. Now the very idea of a lawyer is that of defence and protection. He stands between the government as prosecutor, and the accused. If the accused is guilty, he is punished as he deserves ; if he is inno- cent, the lawyer proves his innocence, and procures his acquittal. And now mark the difference in this respect between a Despotism and a Republic. In the one, the will of the ruler is the law. The despot brooks no obstacle between him and his victim. He who would interfere between the Sultan and the ob- ject of his revenge, would soon find the bow-string, or the bottom of the Bosphorus. Therefore, in Despo- tisms there are no lawyers. In the other, law is jus- tice. Conviction must precede punishment. There- fore, the meanest person accused may have the assis- tance of the best legal ability in the land to defend him. And, therefore, there are lawyers in Republics. And as governments approach one or the other of these two extremes of Despotism or Republicanism, just in proportion rises or sinks the legal profession under those governments. Blot out the legal profes- sion in America, and America shakes hands with Rus- sia. Transport in a body the American Bar into Rus-
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sia, and place it there as it stands here, and Alex- ander will tremble upon his throne as he trembles not now for Englishman, Frenchman and Turk to- gether.
Do you ask for proof of all this ? Look at Europe. Turkey is a Despotism. Did you ever hear of a Turk- ish lawyer ? Russia is a Despotism. Was a Russian lawyer ever heard of? You answer, No. . But you are wrong. For when Alexander I. visited England after the peace of 1815, he was struck with astonish- ment at the wealth, the influence, the rank and power of the English Bar. "What does all this mean," said he; "why, I never had but one lawyer in all my dominions, and him I hung long ago." And here you have the history of the Russian Bar. The English Bar, and the American Bar,- who are they? An English lawyer drafted the English Bill of Rights ; an American lawyer penned the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and twenty-two American lawyers put their hands thereto, and were ready to seal it with their blood. The time would fail me to tell of those Eng- lish and American lawyers, who have done much for their profession, and still more for mankind. But as their names come thronging upon the memory, I feel deeply the words of Bulstrode Whitlocke,-" I ac- count it an honor to me to be a lawyer." And as I feel the honor which the profession confers upon me, may I also, to the full measure of my humble ability, seek to reflect honor upon it.
And now we see why it is that tyrants are the foes of the legal profession,- because it is the very hot- bed of Liberty and Patriotism. Why else doce Aus-
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tria with such bitter perseverance seek the life of the lawyer, Louis Kossuth ? And whence her fierce hate of Daniele Manin, the eloquent Venetian advocate, who, in 1848-9, for months braved all the power of Austria, and yielded the fair city of Venice only in the last extremity. Of forty patriots doomed to exile, seven were lawyers, and Daniele Manin at the head of them. I would the world knew more of this same Daniele Manin, for I look upon him as a second Washington.
True to his calling, the lawyer quails not in the de- fence of the accused, however imminent the danger to himself. There have been times when popular fury has raged so fiercely against certain individuals, that he who came forward in their defence exposed him- self to extreme personal hazard. The French Assem- bly allowed Louis XVI. to choose his counsel at his trial. The service was one of danger, for the guillo- tine was the inevitable fate of all who sympathized with royalty. The aged lawyer, Malesherbes, volun- teered for the dangerous duty, while the lawyers Tron- chet and Deseze came boldly forward, regardless of the danger. The king proposed to recompense Tron- chet and Deseze by leaving them a legacy. "Sire," replied Malesherbes, " the legacy is already bequeath- ed ; in choosing them for your defenders, your majes- ty has immortalized their names." Time has proved the prediction true.
John Adams and Josiah Quincy, jr., are identified with every act of resistance to British aggression ; yet their bold and manly defence of Captain Preston for shooting down the citizens of Boston, in State street,
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on the fifth of March, 1770, ennobled alike the men who made it, the profession they adorned, and the land that gave them birth.
As the legal profession have been thus fearless to the calls of duty and their country in times past, so will they be in the future. And if the waves of fear- ful war, that are now surging over Europe, shall roll upon our shores, as come they may, I believe, sir, there will be those among them who shall be worthy to sit in the Councils of the Nation, and to whom the people shall look for advice and guidance, even as they have looked to those who, though dead, still live in the hearts of their countrymen.
But, sir, it is not for you, or for me, or for any one, to say that the world would be wiser or better with- out this or that occupation, without this or that pro- fession. For it is wisely ordained that they shall all work together for good. Said Menenius Agrippa to the citizens of Rome,-" No honest and truthful oc- cupation in life can be useless, and where all are ne- cessary to the welfare of the body politic, no one can arrogate to itself the highest place." . To complain is folly. It is the part of wisdom so to use the present, whatever it is, as to ensure improvement in the future. When the Millennium shall come, then shall there be no more clients, then shall there be no more lawyers. But until then, I believe the legal profession will be as natural, and proper, and necessary an element in the social state as any profession or calling. Mean- while the complete and perfect enjoyment of the ben- efits of the law will depend upon three classes of per-
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sons : those by whom its principles should be faith- fully studied and understood,-and they are the law- yers ; those by whom it should be impartially admin- istered,- and they are the judges ; and those by whom its requirements should be cheerfully submitted to,- and they are the people. For these three elements united, -the advocate, the judge, and the executive, which in this country are the people,-constitute the administration of justice in a Republic.
And now, sir, I have to claim your indulgence for having thus long detained you, especially when I see around me so many older, and abler, and better fitted than myself to address you. A single word, and I have done.
It is true, Billerica cannot boast of great historical characters, whose fame has filled the world; but it abounds with the names of those in all occupations and professions, of whom it is most emphatically true, - the place is better for their having lived in it. Adam Smith has said with great truth and beauty, that the real wealth and true grandeur of a nation consist, not in the number of its great names that live upon the page of history, but in the aggregate of those who have made two blades of grass to grow, where but one grew before. And this idea, sir, I would em- body in the following sentiment :-
The Young Men of Billerica .- May they ever keep green over the graves of their sires the two blades of grass that their fathers caused to grow ; and for each of those two blades, may they cause to grow two blades more.
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No. 10 .- The Press .- The engine of our liberty, the terror of tyrants, and the school-master of the world.
Response by JOHN A. GOODWIN, Esq., of the Lowell Courier.
Mr. President :- Two hundred years before the founding of Billerica, on an occasion like this the "members of the press " would have been hunted out of the assembly, and a rack in the inquisition been thought the best festive board for the followers of so black an art; but here two hundred years after that event, the representatives of " the press " are, nolens volens; the recipients of many honors, and though their art is blacker than ever, their only tortures are the unpaid subscriptions at home.
But seriously, Mr. President, this is a most proper time to speak of the "engine of our liberties," " the terror of tyrants," and the " school-master of the world." To-day our minds are carried back to the founding of one of the original towns of the Common- wealth,-one of those little independent republics whose successful operation has been a puzzle and a stumbling-block to the political economists and phi- losophers of the Old World.
But, sir, though I am an enthusiastic follower of my profession, I cannot receive for " the Press," that is for Journalism, all that your sentiment awards. Take your own town of Billerica, whose rise and no- ble progress has been so vividly presented to-day ; the " engine " of the liberty that here found a home, and one great " school-master" of this little " world," was first established not far from this spot, in that hum- ble thatched meeting-house in which Elder Whiting
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preached a doctrine as sturdy as were his hearers. It was to the free church that our fathers owed much of their peculiar character. Then, knowing that faith without knowledge is vain, and that zeal without wis- dom becomes destructive bigotry, they built, when strong enough, by the side of that rude and humble temple a ruder and a humbler edifice which they ded- icated to the public school ; the new fane, as it nestled by the side of its guardian, was not less the defender of an intelligent religion, than was the church the pro- tector of a christian education.
" Amid the forests' gloomy shade The altar and the school appeared ; On that the gifts of faith were laid, In this their fondest hopes were reared. The altar and the school still stand, The sacred pillars of our trust,
That Freedom's sons may fill the land, When we are sleeping in the dust."
The editor's chair has been called a " throne," and so it may be when filled with conscientious wisdom, but its sovereignty is divided, and its rule must be shared with the free pulpit and the common school. These three, then, are all the " engines of our liberty, the terror of tyrants, and the school-masters of the world." Divided they lose their power; united they are omnipotent against " the world, the flesh and the devil."
So thought our forefathers ; therefore in 1638, near- ly seventeen years before the day whose two hun- dredth return we now celebrate, they set up their first printing press, placing it in Cambridge, of which township this goodly Billerica then formed a part.
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Under the direction of the authorities, good Master Stephen Daye early in 1639, brought out his first work, The Freeman's Oath ; then followed the Al- manac for that year; his next work was The Cate- chism, with " The Psalms in Metre," issued in 1640. The Freeman's Oath to teach each citizen his obliga- tions to the State; the Almanac to remind all of the flight of time and their worldly duties ; the Catechism to instruct the young in holy things and draw their thoughts from time to eternity, and the sacred lays of the psalmist, versified to win all hearts and voices to the active services of the sanctuary.
Wise, conscientious old patriots! They sacrificed everything but life, to seek here in the Western wil- derness " freedom to worship God !" They taxed even their poverty, that their children might be taught the ways of wisdom and virtue. And when in the in- fancy of the Commonwealth, they set up " the press," they devoted all its powers to the fuller development of the work already begun. O, that their descendants would never put its mighty levers to any but a kin- dred labor; that they would never cause it to teach anything but lessons of prudence and patriotism, wis- dom and beauty, of gentle charity, and of manly re- ligion !
Sainted spirits, so long gone to their eternal rest ! When from their home we too are permitted to look down upon those who shall commemorate the next centennial return of this day, may we not then be deemed unworthy stewards of the glorious legacy of our fathers ; but may our descendants find reason to esteem us faithful guardians, and improvers of the
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three great and mutual engines of Christian liberty - the people's church, the people's school, and the peo- ple's press !
No. 11 .- Our Citizen Soldiery .- May its members ever cherish the principles of exalted patriotism - in order and discipline a model Militia - in morals a worthy example for the young men of our State.
Responded to by Col. GEORGE F. SAWTELL, of Lowell.
Mr. President :- The lateness of the hour would prevent my making a speech on this occasion, even if I were prepared to do so ; but as some of my friends are expecting a speech from me, and as I do not wish to disappoint them, I will now promise to do my best in that line at the next centennial celebration, pro- vided my friends will then be present !
But, sir, allow me to thank you and your fellow citizens for the honor you have done me and my mil- itary associates in inviting us to be present at this commemoration. The sentiment you have expressed is, I trust, fully appreciated by us. The soldier should not only be a fighting man but he should also be a peace man ; he should be a good citizen or he . can never be a trustworthy soldier.
In this connection allow me to remark that the mental cultivation of our citizen soldiery is too much neglected; yet intelligence and mental vigor is no unimportant source of power in a military force. How rarely do we hear of a donation of a useful library, by our wealthy citizens, for the improvement of the thousands of young men connected with this branch of our State government ? True, good books may always be had, but when provided in this way
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they are more highly prized and more generally read ; moreover they encourage the young soldier, and ren- der him more jealous of his reputation and more ready and persevering in good works.
Nothing has more changed since the incorporation of your town than the military. Then the farmer cultivated his field with his musket slung to his back or carried at his side in the fair hands of his wife, who watched for the lurking savage while he worked. Then every man was a soldier, every woman was a 'military man ; now but few of our citizens are good soldiers, but the ladies are still great trainers; then the wife used to shoot the deer at the first crack of the rifle, whereas now the ladies are themselves the only dear, and all their riffing is done on our pockets, but as we surrender without resistance, we cannot well complain.
But seriously sir, can we doubt that the same pat- riotic spirit exists now that did then, and if a like emergency should arise, that we should find among us the spirit of the past heightened by the examples of the past. I know of no better means to perpetuate that spirit than occasions like this. Let the example of our glorious ancestors be continually held up to our young men, and let the latter be trained to the use of arms, and we need not fear that our liberties will be as valiantly defended in the future as they were of old ; thus shall be enkindled and perpetuated in the heart of every young American as he enters upon the duties of'manhood, chief among which is the defense of his country, the noble sentiments of Col. Crittenden, who, when his merciless Spanish ex-
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ecutioners bade him kneel to receive the death-shot with his back towards them, replied, " The American soldier kneels only to his God, and always faces his enemy !" May such a spirit fill the heart of every citizen-soldier! In conclusion I will give -
The American Soldier .- May he be jealous of his own and his country's honor, fear God, love his wife and keep his powder dry, for then the victory will ever be ours !
After the regular sentiments, the President of the Day gave the first voluntary :-
The Orator of the Day, who has favored us with a learned, eloquent and interesting Address - one who we all should be proud to say was born among us, and one whom we shall ever delight to honor.
The Rev. Mr. RICHARDSON had left the tent before this sentiment was given.
Second voluntary by Dea. AMOS SPALDING, one of the Vice Presidents :-
The Memory of Doct. Zadok Howe .- Should the granite shaft crumble to the dust, his munificent acts will still remain his imper- ishable monument.
GEORGE HI. WHITMAN, Esq., President of the Trus- tees of the Howe School, responded to this sentiment as follows :-
The sensation is strange, sir, to find myself upon this platform, on a great occasion, and under a big tent. I think it is because, an adopted townsman (as Dr. Howe was) I happen to be by his appointment, a Trustee, with you and other gentlemen, of the belov- ed and prosperous school which he founded. The name of HOWE seems to bring to me a sweeter sound and loftier character than what belongs to other names, and, although composed of only four little letters of
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our English alphabet, to embody and suggest how many short of a thousand virtues it is not for you or me to say. By his generosity we find fourteen towns and one city, with a population of at least seventy thousand, and youth at least twenty thousand, becom- ing interested, directly and deeply, in his bequest - as much interested in its safety, perpetuity, efficiency and results as this single town. It is to the just expectations and claims of a wide spread territory, therefore, that I refer, when I give you for a senti- ment -
Billerica and its neighboring City and Towns .- May they rightly comprehend, adequately value, and manfully defend the Academy of Dr. HOWE.
Third voluntary sentiment :-
The old Pemberton Academy .- We cordially welcome one of her former pupils, who renews with us to-day the memories of his school boy days ; while busily engaged in fostering the manufacturing inter- ests of the state, he has ever zealously labored in her councils to promote the cause of education.
Responded to by the Hon. THOMAS G. CARY, of Boston.
Mr. President :- I am not only honored in being thus referred to as the representative of the long suc- cession of youth who formerly came here to receive their education, but I consider myself fortunate, too, in being here to answer for them at the present time.
When I think of those among them with whom I was most intimately associated, most of whom have now closed the career of life, their remains lying bu- ried in the depth of the ocean, after wounds received in the war of 1812, or interred in the islands of the West Indies and the Pacific, or in the cemeteries of
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Europe and the United States, the sentiment that pre- dominates within me is, wonder that I should have survived so many to appear here and respond for them to-day. I am confident, however, that I repre- sent them all justly, when I express the belief that a feeling of respect and of kind regard prevailed among them towards the inhabitants of the place, and accom- panied them far into life. If you have forgiven or for- gotten some pranks, some rioting in a small way, but in good nature, then I am sure that all is smooth be- tween us. For myself, I am happy to have an oppor- tunity thus publicly to express my thanks to the Com- mittee of Arrangements for kindly remembering me, and for their invitation to be present here to-day ; for, sir, during more than one-quarter part of the two cen- turies that have elapsed since the incorporation of the town which we now celebrate, Billerica, with her con- cerns, has been an object of warm interest to me. More than fifty years ago, I came here to be prepared for College at the Academy referred to, kept by Mr. Pemberton, an able preceptor, assisted by that brave old soldier of the revolution and servant of God, Dea- con Whiting, who had practised the hand-writing which he taught us in making out rolls and returns, with benumbed fingers, on the drumhead. They did their duty. I was well prepared. And in all the changes of life since then, wherever my lot has been cast, the scenes of all the excitements, the troubles, and the delights of boyhood, which I experienced here, have often risen to my recollection ; and whoever or whatever could be in any way associated with the name of Billerica has been a claim to my peculiar regard.
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The preceptor of the Academy, a gentleman of the old school, had been favorably known elsewhere be- fore he came here, having been a distinguished in- structor far back in the last century. At one time I resided for ten years in the city of New York, and my next neighbor was Col. Troup, Robert Troup, a vet- eran who held a high rank as a staff officer at the capture of Burgoyne, who became afterwards dis- tinguished at the bar and very wealthy, and was well known as the intimate friend of Hamilton. What is rather remarkable, too, he was the friend also of Burr, who had shown him some kindness in early life which was never forgotten. He frequently re- ceived me in his private study, and as I listened to his narratives of the age that has long gone by, the age of Washington, with descriptions of distinguished men and incidents of his own life, I found that, far as he was my senior, he and I had been prepared for College by the same man ; and that Aaron Burr, with all his accomplishments and power, whatever may be thought of him historically, had received his early education, too, from Mr. Pemberton in New Jersey. Many other men might be mentioned who have filled important stations in society, and a large portion of them with great credit, who were his pupils at the Academy in this place.
But this name of Billerica, which has so long had a place in my remembrance, and so often risen to occu- py the thought of the moment, has sometimes tasked my ingenuity to trace its origin. For though we re- ceived it from England, it has not the Anglo-Saxon ring of its near neighbor, there and here, CHELMSFORD.
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At one time of my life I had frequent intercourse with Spaniards; and in learning their language I ob- served that they give nearly the same sound to the letters B and V. They often spell the name Havana with a b in the middle, Habana, as may be seen on their boxes of cigars. If we suppose the same liberty to have been taken with the first letter in the name of Billerica, we are at once on a new track for its de- rivation. The Spaniard would say villa for town, and rica for rich ; or, as he would put them together and pronounce the word, vill-ya-rica, rich town; and there are places of that name. But in writing it, he would be very likely to spell it with a B, Billarica.
It may be asked, to be sure, how a Spanish name should happen to be adopted by the English ? Eng- land and Spain were both provinces of the Roman Empire, and no doubt there was so much intercourse between them that an occasional adoption of the sort was not improbable, even from casual association among their descendants in subsequent ages.
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