USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Commemorative discourse pronounced at Quincy, Mass., 25 May, 1840 on the second centennial anniversary of the ancient incorporation of the town : with an appendix > Part 3
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In doing this, we may well rejoice that we still keep within the circle of the elevated principles that have guided us thus far. It has been by their adherence to whatever is ennobling in man, to whatever meliorates and exalts the human condition, devotion to freedom and truth and God, that the native and adopted sons of this ancient town have earned the laurels of their fame and become eminent, some of them, in all the earth. To us have they bequeathed an imperishable renown,- our least return will be to call up their names, that we may pay some feeble tribute to their memories. Let us begin with the days of the Mount, with John Wheel- wright, the bold and acute thinker. No time-serving conformist, no timid one to grow pale before councils or decrees. Fit companion for Sir Henry Vane, a re- serve in the noble army of martyrs. Honor now to thy name, who for thy character and long ministry wouldst have been honored at the death, had not thy persecu- tors been in power .* - William Coddington, a fellow pilgrim with Winthrop, munificent and upright, " with the chiefest in all public charges," the friend of Wheel-
* See Hutchinson.
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wright, peace-maker, judge, and governor. He should be remembered here where he did something for learn- ing, and everything for a good example .- Henry Adams. Of him little is left to us but his epitaph. That tells us that " he took his flight from the Dragon persecution ir Devonshire in England, and alighted at Mount Wollas- ton," (we may add, perhaps as early as 1630.) Would that we knew more of the intrepid Pilgrim. But we know this, and for this let him be remembered, that a century and a half afterwards, he turned round upon that Dragon, in his mighty descendant, and bearded him in his den. - Edmund Quincy, dying early, but worthy in his youth to be one of the first representa- tives of Boston, in the first General Court in the Prov- ince. He left those who came after him to complete his work, a long line of descendants, the magistrate, the judge, officers civil and military, among whom the glory of the children were their Fathers. They had freedom and the good of the country at heart. It was seen in their own doings and in the confidence of the people. - Henry Flynt breaks in upon the line, yet allied with them in kindred, a descendant of the Godly first teacher here. He has the memorable distinction of having labored longest on the roll of Harvard, - fellow and tutor among her servants and sons. Mirthful yet grave, he could mingle the " suaviter in modo with the fortiter in re." Preacher and scholar ! thou didst well in thy day. - Lemuel Briant, - let us pause here. He is not to be passed by as a common name. He stood out before his age where there were few to be at his side. High authority * pronounced him " the learned,
* President Adams, sen.
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ingenuous, and eloquent pastor. " He was all that. His distant successor assigns him his place to walk with Wheelwright in the grand procession of bold and think- ing men. Posterity gives him fame in measures his own age had no censer they could burn it in. - Next comes Richard Cranch, born at the beginning of the last century, living into this. His tall person, like his upright mind, is still familiar to many of us. He was the son of a Puritan, and, in all that made such an one great, a Puritan himself. He loved science and adorn- ed it. He was a profound theologian in everything but the name ; and his life and his practice were better than that. Representative, senator, judge among the people, his integrity was a rock that could not be mov- ed. He was honored by Harvard College, though he sat not in her seats or mused in her groves. The pil- lar he was, was missed when he fell where few like him have been left or risen up. - John Adams follows in the order of time, - the bold champion of freedom, the asserter of human right, the vindicator of the oppress- ed, by the power of his eloquence starting from their seats as august an assembly as the world ever saw. He was the son of one who served at this communion table. He was an ornament to religion and his race, faithful to his age and his God, great among the great- est. I will add no further feeble words of mine to a. name that is written where it cannot die. Behold the man! approach and read ! "This house will bear. witness to his piety : This town, his birth-place, to his- munificence : History to his patriotism : Posterity to the depth and compass of his mind." * - The next year
* By the side of the pulpit, in the First Church, where the present Dis- course was delivered, is a mural monument, surmounted by a bust of John
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after him, but not four months younger, is born John Hancock, the minister's son : the literary and polished gentleman, favorite of the people, liberal merchant, eloquent orator, courteous and dignified, representa- tive and governor, member of the first congress, presi- dent of the second, first to write his name on the mem- orable scroll, the Declaration of Independence, where it stands bold and finished like his character and man- ners. He gave an immortality of littleness to General Gage, who sentenced him to condign punishment, and denied him pardon on any terms as a rebel, by showing in his triumphant cause how contemptible was his threat. - Eight years more, and there comes the youth- ful patriot, Josiah Quincy, jr., another in the bright line we have already passed, eminent in the law, bold for freedom, both as a writer and actor. He stood up for justice, with his co-patriot John Adams, amidst the furious excitement of the Boston massacre ; a stand as fearless as it was righteous. Like Regulus of old, his life was given to his country, but in a better way. Already enfeebled in health, he died returning from England, whither he had privately sailed for her good. No cheering tidings fell upon his dying ear, announcing her dawning glories. The battle of Lexington had been fought only seven days before. He sleeps in our burial yard. Peaceful be his rest ! How befitting him, as we dwell upon the memory of his early promise, is that exquisite monumental inscription !
" Heu! quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam tui meminisse."
Time would fail me to speak of all that might be
Adams, beneath which is an inscription from which the few words quoted in the text are taken.
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added to the brilliant constellation, - the eminent dead, the more illustrious living. They will brighten the glittering galaxy at last. May they be mentioned with more becoming eulogy a hundred years from this day.
Such are some of the honorable and inspiring remi- niscences of the past. There are other emotions that cannot but be awakened in us, -tender and more affecting. Two hundred years have passed away since the foundation of the town; and what joyful scenes and sorrowful ones have come and gone in all her habitations ! Generation after generation have followed each other, like wave rolling upon wave, alike swal- lowed up together, - but time and its changes have neither of them stopped for them, nor have the divine appointments been altered or set aside. The cradle with its infant smiles, watched over by parental fond- ness ; the bridal with its garlands and its hopes, each of them rosy and bright; the grave with its breaking hearts and tearful eyes; sickness with its own pains, and the watchful solicitude of those who have bent over it; merry gladness and withering gloom knocking side by side at countless doors ; prayers of thanksgiv- ing, and prayers imploring comfort, ascending from the same and different scenes ; sunny prosperity and times that tried the soul; battle and peace, with all their terrors and rejoicings, who shall recount all these ? In what thronging numbers do these affecting remem- brances thicken round us, as we turn to the scenes of home, to the burial yard, to these worshiping courts, where in all their varied character they have been acted out, -how do they rise to our imaginations, as through the dim aisles of the past fancy pictures to us the re- treating footsteps of the passing generations !
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Meanwhile, on a wider field, what changes have been witnessed through the earth! For every one that landed with Wollaston more than two hundred may be rallied within the limits of the ancient incorporation, where three flourishing towns are opening day by day new avenues of enterprise and improvement. The feeble band of the Pilgrims - feeble only in numbers- have swollen to fifteen millions, and twenty-six inde- pendent republics have sprung up on the soil where they confided their hopes. The despised principles, for which they dared and bore everything, have been unfolding every hour, in new and more perfect mani- festations, winning men to their embrace and practice. Intolerance has dropped her unseemly garments, and flung away, at least professedly, all her weapons of abuse and persecution. Their spirit has gone back and reacted upon the old world with its conciliating and elevating influences, - awing despotism and lifting the burdens of the social condition from despairing humanity. The university, on which they doated, rears her venerable head, amidst half a hundred, which her own sons almost alone have established. Learning has found channels for diffusing itself through society, of which they never dreamed, and is fast undermining social evils and demoralizing recreations, which open hostility had only fortified the more. Laws have been humanized and simplified, and barbarous and revolting practices have been banished from society as degrading to Christian men. Art, science, philosophy, into what hitherto unexplored regions have they penetrated, since the morning of New England first dawned ! what treas- ures have they brought back to the waiting generations, increasing comfort, lessening toil, contracting the wide
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separations of the human family, scattering intelligence, awakening the higher faculties of man, banishing low pursuits and pleasures, and thus directing all their trib- utaries to swell the great tide of human improvement and progress !
What remains to us, descendants of the early emi- grants, in helping forward this progress, on these shores so auspiciously begun, but more and more to copy their sympathy with, their allegiance to those higher princi- ples, on which their enterprise was built? On our fidelity to these depends everything that is ennobling in the hopeful anticipations of the future. Nothing great or glorious lives, the roots of which have been planted in the lower propensities of man. Everything tri- umphs at last, which is based upon right, and religion, and truth. The applause of the passing hour, the shouts of the multitude may give a temporary pros- perity to the wrong; black night may shut down for a while round the righteous cause ; - but by the fidelity of human endeavor the final consummation is sure, and the steady progress towards it is as certain. Fathers of New England, may your sons learn this of you! Let the inheritance of your children be your trust in God, your never faltering faith in the capacities of man. " Thou carriest Cæsar," said the world's conqueror to the trembling boatman, as he ferried him in fear through the perilous tempest; " never despair with such a burden." Thou art bearing forward the pur- poses of God, is a nobler reflection, yet appealing to the same sentiment, to swell and sustain our souls. He, who despairs with such a burden, deserves not to know what he carries. Let patience, perseverance, and diligence be in all time to come as in all time past
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the cardinal virtues in the land of the Pilgrims. Smitten with the memory of the great and good, who have lived and labored for our benefit, measuring justly what man is and what he has done, watching the steady growth of the ages, worshiping the divine power of truth, and still more adoringly Him who gives truth its power, - thus may we, and those who come after us, aim to catch some ennobling sense of the true destiny of our race. Springing beyond the fences of our own time, living faithfully and hopefully, let us commit the cause of man, without a fear, to the advancing genera- tions, to the irresistible laws and the presiding care of God.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
Measures taken in regard to the Centennial Celebration at Quincy, Mass., 25 May, 1840, and the proceedings on that occasion.
In October and November, 1839, two or three meetings were held by the Town, as may be seen by reference to the Town Rec- ords, to take into consideration the propriety and the means of celebrating the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the ancient Town in this place, which, dating from 1640, 13th May, (old style,) in the course of events was to come round on the 25th May, 1840. In the progress of this design, various perplexi- ties and inauspicious circumstances occurred, which as they were not foreseen could neither in the event be avoided nor surmounted. The well intended attempt lingered along, with no final action, and there seemed little prospect of getting so far extricated from the embarrassment as to arrive at any successful termination.
At length, as the recurrence of the Anniversary was rapidly hastening on, the young men of Quincy were moved to engage in the matter, and pursuant to a notice to that effect a meeting was held by them, at the Centre District School room, on Monday eve- ning, 27th April, 1840, to consider the whole subject. Mr. Caleb Gill, jr., was called to preside, and Captain Samuel White was appointed secretary.
After remarks from several gentlemen, it was resolved to com- memorate the return of this interesting event. The following Com- mittee of Arrangements was accordingly chosen, namely, John A. . Green, James F. Brown, Nathan White, Rufus Foster, Alvin Rodgers, William Whitney, Edward A. Spear, James Penniman, Charles N. Souther, Edwin N. Willet, Waldo Nash, Philip Carver,
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who were instructed to report, at an adjourned meeting, such measures as they might deem proper for a suitable observance of the day.
Wednesday evening, 29th April. At the adjourned meeting it was recommended by the Committee of Arrangements that the Rev. George Whitney of Roxbury, a native of Quincy, be invited to deliver a Commemorative Discourse on the approaching interesting occasion ; which recommendation was unanimously adopted.
It was also voted to invite the Rev. John Gregory, minister of the First Universalist Church in Quincy, to deliver an Address to the Young Men.
And upon the suggestion of the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, it was likewise voted, that Mr. Christopher Pearse Cranch, a descendant from Quincy, be invited to deliver a Poem on the same occasion.
Other suggestions of the Committee of Arrangements, in refer- ence to the observance of the day, were duly considered and adopt- ed. Whereupon the meeting was dissolved.
CALEB GILL, Jr., Moderator.
SAMUEL WHITE, Secretary.
The Committee of Arrangements engaged with alacrity in making those preparations which the occasion required, receiving likewise such suggestions, as were from time to time offered, with readiness and a desire to meet the reasonable wishes of all interested in the celebration. The inhabitants of the town, with great unanimity, and the natives and descendants, scattered far and wide, more especially those in the neighboring metropolis, came forward cordially to the good work. A large pavilion was erected on the Hancock Lot, capable of accommodating from six to eight hundred people; and at the earnest desire very generally expressed of having the Ladies at the dinner, such measures were speedily taken as should secure their cheering presence and elevating influence on the occasion. This circumstance, rather novel in these days, yet marking, we think, an era in the progress of Christian civilization, we may well hope will be more a matter of course in all public festivities, among those who shall assemble to celebrate the third centennial anniver- sary.
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Soon after the celebration had been decided upon, the following notice was published in some of the Boston papers.
QUINCY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Preparations are now making suitably to commemorate the two hundredth Anniversary since the incorporation of the Town of Braintree, (Quincy then being a part of said town, and the place of original settlement,) on MONDAY, the 25th instant.
The day will be ushered in by a National salute. The procession will be formed in the morning, and, after marching through several streets, will repair to the Adams Temple, where appropriate Religious services will take place, and a Commemorative Discourse be pronounced by the Rev. George Whitney, of Roxbury. The Rev. John Gregory, of Quincy, will deliver an Address to the Young Men. A Poem will also be given on the occasion, by Mr. C. P. Cranch.
After these exercises, a procession will be formed of the subscribers to the Dinner and invited guests, who will then proceed to the pavilion erected for the occasion.
The Quincy Light Infantry will perform escort duty, accompanied by an excellent Band of Music.
Tickets for the Dinner may be procured, in Boston, of Jeffrey R. Brackett, 69 Washington Street, and of Farnsworth & Baxter, Kilby street. Those gentlemen, who intend to take tickets for the Dinner, are particularly de- sired to purchase them on or before the 22d instant.
The Committee of Arrangements, in compliance with their instructions, hereby extend an invitation to the natives of Quincy and their descendants, residing in other places, to unite in the festivities of the occasion. It is to be hoped that all the widely scattered sons of Quincy, with their children, will again return once more to meet each other at home.
By order of the Committee of Arrangements,
JOHN A. GREEN, Chairman.
JAMES F. BROWN, Secretary.
Quincy, May 13, 1840.
In consequence of this invitation, a meeting was called by an advertisement in the Daily Evening Transcript of May 13th, as follows.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION AT QUINCY. The citizens of Quincy have determined to celebrate the completion of the second Century of the In- corporation of that Town, on Monday, the 25th day of the present month, and invite the cooperation of the descendants of that Town, who are now located in other places. A meeting of the natives of Quincy and their descendants, residing in this city, will be held in the Old Supreme Court
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room, in the Court House in School Street, at 8 o'clock this evening, to adopt such measures as may be necessary to aid in this celebration, and evince their attachment to this time-honored spot of their origin.
The result of this meeting comes next in course, and is given as it appeared in several of the Boston papers.
QUINCY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Agreeably to a call in the papers of the 13th instant, the natives of Quincy and their descendants in Boston assembled at the Old Court House in School street. The meeting was called to order by Lewis G. Pray, Esq., and organized by the choice of Hon. JOSIAH QUINCY, Jr., for Chairman, and JEFFREY R. BRACKETT, Secretary. Mr. Quincy, on taking the Chair, made a short address, and was followed by Charles F. Adams, Esq., who offered the accompanying Resolutions, which were unanimously adopted.
Resolved, That the perpetuation of the principles of freedom in New England depends, under God, most upon the extent to which the knowledge of the origin and history of their supporters during the period of two centuries now elasped since the first settlements, can be generally spread among us.
Resolved, That no occasions present themselves which can be more fitly used for this purpose than commemorations of the anniversaries of the origi- nal foundations of the various towns of our Commonwealth.
Resolved, That the citizens of Boston, natives of or otherwise connected with Quincy, have seen with great pleasure the manifestation on the part of their fellow citizens in the latter town of an intention to celebrate in a proper manner the 25th day of May, as the day upon which two hundred years ago their town was originally incorporated ; and that they will cheer- fully cooperate with them in all suitable arrangements to promote the same.
Resolved, That a committee be appointed from this meeting who shall have power to communicate with any committee that shall be raised in Quincy, and to aid them in making all the necessary preparations which are contemplated for the due solemnization of this anniversary.
In accordance with the last resolution, the following named gentlemen were chosen, to constitute a committee :
Josiah Quincy, Jr.,
Zabdiel B. Adams,
Lewis G. Pray,
James B. Richardson,
William Hayden, Edward Miller,
Benjamin Guild,
Nathaniel Faxon,
Charles F. Adams, Charles Arnold,
R. C. Greenleaf,
Francis Adams,
William Phipps,
Jeffrey R. Brackett.
Edmd. Burke Whitney,
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After addresses from several gentlemen, among whom were Dr. Adams, William Hayden, and Edward Miller, Esqrs., the meeting was adjourned. JOSIAH QUINCY, Jr., Chairman.
JEFFREY R. BRACKETT, Secretary.
Information, as to the places where Tickets for the Centennial Dinner could be procured, was published in the Quincy Patriot of May 9th, in the annexed
NOTICE.
Tickets to the Centennial Dinner will be ready for sale on Tuesday next, and may be purchased at the following places ; - In Quincy, at the stores of E. Packard & Co., John Whitney, Justin Spear, Caleb Gill. In Brain- tree, at Atherton's store and Arnold's Tavern. In Randolph (West), How- ard's Hotel ; (East), Lincoln's store. In Weymouth, Wales's Hotel. In Milton, Babcock's store. In Dorchester, Neponset Hotel. In Boston, at the stores of Jeffrey R. Brackett, 69 Washington street; Farnsworth & Baxter, in Kilby street. Persons, intending to purchase, are requested to do so previously to the 22d instant.
Subscription papers were opened both in Quincy and in Boston, and liberal sums raised to defray the incidental expenses. The na- tives and descendants in Boston furnished the Boston Brass Band to play upon the occasion. The Quincy Light Infantry were invited to perform escort duty ; the Quincy Union Singing Society, likewise to sing at the services in the church.
In the Quincy Patriot of May 23d the following gentlemen were announced as officers of the day.
President - Hon. Josiah Quincy, jr.
Vice Presidents of Quincy - Josiah Brigham, John Whitney, Adam Curtis, Ebenezer Bent, William Torrey, James Newcomb. Vice Presidents of Boston - Edward Miller, Charles F. Adams, Jeffrey Richardson. Chief Marshal - Ibrahim Bartlett.
Assistant Marshals of Quincy - William Seaver, Caleb Gill, jr., Lloyd G. Horton, John Faxon 2d, Clift Rogers, George Newcomb, Justin Spear, Jonathan French, Josiah Babcock, jr., John C. Ed- wards, Jacob F. Eaton, Charles H. Brown, Joseph Whiting, Benja- min Hinckley, jr., Cyrus Goss, Joseph Field, Henry West.
Assistant Marshals of Boston - Charles F. Baxter, James Brackett, Henry Adams, Charles E. Miller, George Savil, Charles Adams. In the same paper appeared the following announcement.
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CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Quincy, May 25, 1840.
The committee of arrangements, and those gentlemen to whom have been assigned offices for the day, and all who have become subscribers to the dinner and intend to join in the procession, will assemble in the Universalist Church, and all other citizens who intend to join in the procession are requested to assemble at said church, at a quarter before nine o'clock in the morning. A proces- sion will be formed precisely at nine o'clock, by the marshals, and when formed will move through Elm Street, down Hancock Street, into Sea Street, to the house of the Rev. Peter Whitney, where they will receive the orators, chaplains, invited guests, &c. of the day, and from thence proceed through Sea Street to Washington Street, to the church where the exercises will take place. The hour of assembling at the Meeting-house to form in procession will be an- nounced by ringing the bell.
Per order. IBRAHIM BARTLETT, Chief Marshal.
Order of the first Procession from the Universalist Meeting-house to the Stone Temple.
Escort. Chief Marshal and Aids. President of the Day.
Marshal. Orators and Chaplains. Marshal.
Invited Guests. State Officers.
Marshal. Vice Presidents. Marshal.
Committee of Arrangements. Municipal Officers of the Towns of Quincy, Braintree, and Randolph. Marshal. Subscribers to the Dinner. Marshal.
Citizens who wish to join in the Procession.
Second Procession.
The committee of arrangements, invited guests, and gentlemen who have accepted offices on the occasion, and gentlemen accom- panied by ladies, will assemble at the Meeting-house in the body pews, and all others, who are provided with tickets to the dinner, will assemble in the wall pews at the ringing of the bell soon after
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the exercises, when a procession will be formed immediately, which will be divided into seven or more divisions, as circumstances may require, each to be headed by a marshal and numbered by lot corre- sponding to the tables.
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