USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Gloucester, Mass. August, 1892 > Part 15
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When we speak of Essex County, wc summon up a long past, and we think that history discloses in the past a people of strong character, of marked qualitics, of aggressive naturc, making their mistakes like the rest of the world, no doubt, but on the whole hold great and honorable places among mcn. We do not forget that only two years after the foundation of this town it was the Essex men who changed the State government, even to removing the beloved Winthrop, and altered the policy of the colony. We do not forget that it was the Essex result that played so large a part in our frame of government. We know that it was the Essex junta that once controlled the politics of Massachusetts, and even of New England. And those qualities of control and of fight have always been with the country. Turn to her his- tory from the days when the flower of Essex fell in slaughter on the field of Bloody Brook, in defence of Massachusetts homes, down to the last great uprising of a great people, and you will always find Essex near the front. Turn to the long list of statesmen and magistrates, from the days of Endicott, and you will find the share of Essex a great one. In literature we have given the marvellous genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and we hold to-day as our most priceless possession the beloved poet, Whittier.
And it was here, on this spot, that this famous county had its beginning. We can carry it back, as the Governor said, to the days of the Dorchester Company. We can carry it back even a little further than that, for when Capt. John Smith, about 1614, gave the name of Ann of Denmark, the wife of James I., to this cape, he gave one of the three names of his voyage that have existed ever since. But we don't celebrate a mere lapse of time, two hundred and fifty or two hundred and eighty years. It seems a long time to the brethren from the West, who build cities in a few weeks. It seems a short time to the people of the country whence the founders of Gloucester came, and a still shorter time to those who dwell among the remains of the great civilization of Rome. And it is as nothing in the history of the temples of the Nile. It is not the mere lapse of time that we celebrate. Still less is it the mere fact of existence, the mere clinging to an especial place, like the limpet to the rock. Why, when Stanley opened up the dark forest of Central Africa, he found there races of dwarfs who had lived unchanged since the days of Herodotus. Think you that it is worth celebrating their three thousandth anniversary of living there in that forest ?
It is the crowded hour we celebrate, not the age without the name. We celebrate not a given lapse of time, not a dwelling in one place, but the char- acter of the men and the women who have made that place possible. They built it out of salt water and granite, -two not very likely subjects on which to rear a prosperous town. They had wrung it from the cold and stormy seas of the North Atlantic. They had wrested it from the iron hills that girdle your city. Yes, that is what we celebrate, - the force of character, the deter- mined will, the energy, the persistence, the fidelity to great ideas which have made Gloucester and New England and the United States possible. We celebrate the facts that these men and women, and those who have come after them, have done something to uplift the human race, to raise it a step higher
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in its progress toward better things ; that they are those who believe that the race does advance, and in that advance they have played their part, and it is the miles which they have covered in the two hundred and fifty years painfully journeyed over, through many obstacles, that we celebrate to-day. It is the: spirit of New England.
FIFTH TOAST : --
" Of such a county, State, and nation, well may our city be proud, yet in herself Gloucester finds abundant honor, eminent by nature, by history, and by leadership as America's chief fishing port."
HON. ASA G. ANDREWS, MAYOR.
Mayor Andrews responded briefly for the fair city whose chief executive in these anniversary days, he had the honor of being. Sketch- ing the events which had led up to the celebration and the enthusiasm of the citizens in making it a success, he welcomed one and all to Gloucester in eloquent phrase.
SIXTH TOAST : --
"It is very natural to ask for, and very becoming to remember, the way in which, as individuals or communities, we have grown. ‘The Old Town.' Said I not that Gloucester in herself had abundant honor? Her greatest honor, her manly sons."
JOHN CORLISS, ESQ.
Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Citizens of Gloucester : I appreciate the invitation to respond to the sentiment embodied in the toast to the Old Town of Gloucester, and however inadequately I may discharge the duty, the compliment remains, and I thank you.
Born here in Gloucester, looking back upon many generations of Glouces- ter ancestry, I have a right to be proud of my native city, to rejoice in her prosperity and in whatever of prestige or advantage has come to her in these later years and under present conditions. I rejoice in this celebration, in that. measure of success which has attended it; in the return to honor the occasion of so many of her sons and daughters, and in the presence of so many dis- tinguished guests. I trust that the larger knowledge and the wider apprecia- tion of her possibilities which shall result from this celebration may make these days forever memorable, not only as a season of congratulation and public rejoicing over what has been accomplished, but as a recognition of what may be achieved, as an inspiration to greater effort and a more exhaustive development of her resources and her industries in the years which are to come. The arch, which spans the bridge on Western Avenue, bears this inscription, "Our Fishing Industry supplies the world." Whether that inscrip- tion reaches to-day beyond the fact or not, the ambition and energy of her citizens are equal to the realization of its truth.
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But, Mr. Toastmaster, I stray from the toast ; whatever of pride or interest or regard I may entertain for Gloucester as a city, my thoughts, my love, and my remembrance turn with ever.inereasing appreciation to Gloucester the town, and I remember that it was the indomitable energy, the sturdy independ ence, and the patient toil, which characterized the sons and daughters of the old town of Gloucester, that made possible Gloucester the city.
When I behold the present extent of her fishing industry, the largest upon the continent, perhaps in the world, when I behold what measure of prosperity, of comfort, even of luxury, is enjoyed by her eitizens to-day, I remember how that development and that prosperity were won through years of effort and hardship and adversity, through many failures as well, commeneing with those first attempts to establish here a fishing station, which resulted not immediately in the establishment of either a fishing station or a fishing town, but which resulted perhaps in the beginnings of the Massachusetts Colony, leading up to that other and more pernament settlement at Salem, and finally, by a union with the Plymouth Colony, to the building up of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts.
The old town of Gloucester, through all her history, has always been intensely patriotic. She sent her full quota of men during the French and English wars, to assist in the capture of Louisburg, to extend British posses- sions on the land, and maintain British supremaey on the sea. In 1775, when the increasing difficulties between the Colonies and the mother country made actual hostilities inevitable, she sent two companies to the defence of Ameri- ean liberty at Bunker Hill. The men of Gloucester were upon every battle field of the Revolution, and her privateers, manned by her hardy sons, swept the ocean, destroyed the commerce of Great Britain, and carried the new-born flag of the republic, the stars and stripes, in immortal glory to every sea. And again in 1812, in the Mexican War, and in the war of the Rebellion, her sons sustained the reputation of their fathers, and contributed both on land and sea to the honor of the town, and the lasting glory of the republic. The historian of to-day has set forth these latest facts in amplest detail, and placed beyond the chance of loss the printed record of their achievement.
I am personally identified with three of the oldest organizations of the old town, and I may be pardoned if, constrained by the wealth of matter and the lack of time, I very briefly allude to them. I refer to, the Tyrian Lodge of Masons, the Independent Christian Society, and the Gloucester Bank. Tyrian Lodge was established in 1770, and Joseph Warren and Paul Revere both attest, by their signatures, to the high character and worth of those sons of Gloucester town, who sought in those early days its eharter. Much inter- nal evidence bears witness to their patriotism, to their interest in the uprising of the Colonies, and to their faith in the justice of the people's cause. Nathaniel Warner, its acting Worshipful Master, left the chair to lead his company to Bunker Hill, and Epes Sargent, its first secretary, received his commission from General Washington, as the first Collector of the Port of Gloucester. Of the Independent Christian Society, whose earliest associa- tions date back to 1774, it becomes me to say only this, that in their stand
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under the new Constitution for that religious liberty vouchsafed them by that instrument, they exemplified and illustrated the very qualities which have actuated the men and women of the old town of Gloucester in all her history, and in thus contending, they contended for the rights of every religious organization, and what they then won, all have enjoyed. The Gloucester Bank, the oldest financial institution in the city, was established in 1796, with a capital of forty thousand dollars. A Hamiltonian bank in the Federalist corner of New England, it yet had for its first president an ultra Jeffersonian Democrat, Capt. John Somes. Captain Somes was a representative man of Gloucester town, for many years a leading citizen, and one of its selectmen. By his resolution, his abilities, his energy, and the decision of his character, if he did not, as was sometimes asserted, rule both bank and town, he at all events exercised a large controlling influence over the fortunes of both. Tradition informs us, that after many sessions of the board of selectmen, and endless discussion, Captain Somes, with a wave of his hand, and in language more emphatic than polite, closed the discussion, adjourned the meeting, and consigned the long-vexed question of the Commoner's rights to everlasting oblivion; and tradition further informs us, that they have remained there from that day to this.
Mr. Toastmaster and Fellow Citizens, I have already wearied your patience and exhausted your courtesy, and I shall allude to but one other memory of Gloucester town A memory indeed, the one institution of the old town, lost forever in the growing grandeur and glory of the new city, and yet surviving these many years, I trust, in the educational and conservative influences which it exerted in the formation and development of character, in the training of orators and legislators, in the remembrance of the opportunity which it afforded for the assertion of individual right, the full discussion, and the free and open transaction of all public business. I refer to the town meetings of the old town. Who that participated in them can ever forget the matchless eloquence of the orators, their honesty and independence, the directness of purpose with which they sought the end desired, whether that end was the public good or private advantage ? The town meeting made mis- takes, the city government makes some to-day; but on the whole the town meeting was right, it came close to the people's hearts and purses, proved itself an apt and swift interpreter of the best sentiment of the community, and wisely and economically executed the people's will. It never degenerated into a farce, but yielded finally and only to changed conditions of public senti- ment, and the imperious necessities of an increasing population. It was my father's privilege and pleasure to preside, as moderator, with few exceptions, over the annual and special town meetings for a quarter of a century.
It was my own privilege once, and once only, to preside over my fellow citizens in town meeting assembled. It was one of the last town meetings called to consider the expediency of petitioning the Legislature for a city charter, and to take such further action as might be incident thereto. It was my duty, instructed by the nearly unanimous vote of the meeting, to appoint the committee who prepared and presented to the Legislature the charter,
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which was afterwards adopted by the town. I thought that I had acquitted myself with great credit, and my heart swelled within me over the success which was attending my first town meeting. But pride goeth before destruc- tion ; one of Gloucester's most famous orators, denouncing in unmeasured terms the change from town to city form of government as unwise and inex- pedient, as calculated in after hours to afford ample leisure for repentance and regret, in one sublime burst of impassioned protest swept meeting and mod- erator into one resistless and contagious smile. I was not conscious of the full enormity of my offence, till, rising to the full height of his lofty stature, and in a commanding voice audible to every man in that large meeting, he turned upon me with severe censure and rebuke and said, "Mr. Moderator your father would not have smiled." I recount the incident not to reflect upon either the orator or his sentiments. He was an old time citizen, an honest, earnest, faithful man. I desire only to enforce the lesson that town meetings may smile, but the moderator never. Mr. Toastmaster, in conclusion let us cherish ever in fond remembrance the history of the old town of Gloucester ; let us remember with pride and satisfaction the lives, the labors, and the virtues of the men and women who made that history ; let us emulate that industry, perseverance, and energy which enabled them to win from an unwilling soil and an uncertain sea their livelihood and yet find time amid the engrossing demands of such an occupation and such conditions to lay those foundations of endurance and enterprise, of pluck and daring, upon which rest securely, I trust, securely, I am sure, if only we in our day and generation are true to our obligations and our inheritance, the prosperity, the hopes, and the possibilities of Gloucester our city.
SEVENTH TOAST : - " The Navy."
" Build me straight, O worthy Master ! Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wind and whirlwind wrestle." - Longfellow.
ADMIRAL BANCROFT GHERARDI.
" The Navy " brought the gallant Admiral Gherardi, of the flag- ship " Philadelphia," to his feet, who dwelt upon the marked progress in armaments and the destructiveness of modern projectiles. His prac- tical talk about the new navy was listened to with the greatest interest, as from an authority on the subject. After speaking of guns and pro- jectiles, he said : -
The Honorable Assistant Secretary of the Navy has told you of the many ships that we are building at present, but he did not tell you of the time that it takes. There is and there were great changes which have taken place. I have read in the papers and in the debates in Congress, when
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the Government was asking for an increase in the navy, that gentlemen got up and said : "Oh, we can do this in thirty, sixty, and ninety days. It was done in the past. It was done in the war of 1812. It was done in the war of 1861 and 1865. So it is not necessary to give this money for the ships to be built." But none of these ships can be built under two years. Not even a Yankee can build them under two years. With all the facilities which mechanism has given, you cannot put forth one of those ships like the " Philadelphia " in less than two years. Therefore you must give the Gov- ernment time. You must give them the money ahead. They cannot go ahead and build you a ship as soon as there is a war on your hands. They cannot do as they did in 1861 and 1865, - build ships in ninety days. They actually did it, hundreds of them, but it will take months, and wars are not over yet. See how near you were to one last fall. And yet it was only because we were prepared, yet partially prepared, that the Government was able to take that decided, able stand which forced the other side to say : " We will withdraw." Had we stood in that position ten years ago, they would have turned and laughed at us, and simply said : "You are a big nation, but we can kick you and you can't kick back."
To-day we stand in a much better position, but we have not yet arrived at the point where you may stop. This vessel, the " Philadelphia," is not what was spoken of as a battleship. Our sides are no thicker than the sides of an ordinary merchant ship which would cross the ocean. Our power depends upon the innumerable number of compartments into which we are divided. But the battleship named after this old Commonwealth has fifteen inches of steel in some places on her. She is supposed to be able to go alongside of another battleship and fight, with any given distance you choose, one thousand yards, fifteen hundred, up to fifteen thousand, if you want it to. It will be the same old story, for no fight will be decided at long distance. You have got to come close to it. And therefore this enormous amount of steel is put there in order to enable the vessel to stand against the projectiles of the present day, driven with a force that you have little idea of until you see what the destruction done by one of these shells is in entering a mass of rock or iron.
Then there is another thing aboard one of the ships like these. We are a mass of machinery. We have forty-odd engines aboard these ships. We don't pretend to have any lights except electrical. We have not to-day enough oil aboard that ship to last us three days for lamp purposes if our electric light should give out. Now all this requires time, requires training, requires ability, which, I am happy to say, the Government is constantly giv- ing its attention to. There is not one single thing left undone which can be done to advance your navy to its best possible interest. So, should the time ever come that we of the navy are called to go into action, you will have a right to have no fear but you will find the men that will still uphold the honor of the flag as has been done in the past.
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EIGHTH TOAST : - " The Army."
" From that early day when the men of Cape Ann marched away to fight Philip at Deerfield, where the 'flower of Essex' fell, never has the army of our grand Republic had braver patriots on land or sea than the men of Gloucester."
HON. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER.
When the venerable ex-Governor arose to pay his tribute to the service which he adorned, he was given an enthusiastic ovation. He would not trust his voice, so he walked over to the reporters' table, that the members of the press might hear his every word. His origi- nal and witty points kept his hearers in continual laughter. When he said he failed to see the use of guns that would carry projectiles nine miles if, as Admiral Gherardi had declared, all future fights are to be at close quarters, the audience was convulsed. He said, in part : -
Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen : -
I have spoken in this hall before. Before I respond to the toast, I want to say a word with your leave, why I have a right to speak for Gloucester as well as any man in it. You are very fortunate in being born in Gloucester, Essex County ; that was simply an accident, you might just as well have been born anywhere else.
After I came to Massachusetts I looked at a town and country which I thought I ought to represent in the Congress of the United States, and build- ing on my knowlege of Essex County, for I had tried a great many cases in her court, practised before her bar, and seen her citizens in the jury box, and the jury box is the best place to test the average capacity, insight, and inde- pendence of a citizen - with that acquaintance and with my carpet bag in my hand, not being a native by an accident of my mother, I came and made my residence here, and, therefore, I say I have the right of choice
But you may say : Did the town receive me ? They did, with open arms. I remained and represented them in the Legislature and Congress for eight years. I still have a home in Gloucester, a home I built in Gloucester that was built on a granite knoll, and I brought a business into active life around me that made one of the most flourishing of your villages, - Bay View. Its granite quarries, with the polishing mill also established, furnish the material that is made to construct and adorn your great buildings, grander than any- where else in the world.
You ask me to speak for the army, but there is a question to begin with laid under that, Mr. Toastmaster. What is the army of the United States? Is it the twenty thousand men that have been busy for a few years fighting the Indians out West and have got them under and are doing nothing now? Is that it? Good men and true, good officers among them. But is that the army of the United States? Are we dependent upon them for the
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protection of our rights and liberties, for the defence of our country, for meet- ing aggression upon us, whether it comes from China or Great Britain or anybody else ?. Oh, no; the year before last one third of them deserted. That won't do. The army of the United States is fixed by the Constitution, and I want you specially to see it. It is the militia of the several States, which, by the Constitution, is the militia of the United States whenever the United States want it. That's the army. Every good citizen must go when called, first by the State and then by the United States, as we went, some of my friends here went with me, when we were called by the State and served the United States when the United States called upon us in the war of 1861. The mistake was - I am now speaking of the army and what the army should be - that we went to work to hire men to go and fight; never should have done it, and we must not do it hereafter, and I am leaving this to you as a legacy. The citizens of a great and free country like ours have but one duty which they must do at peril to life and limb and every peril, and that is to defend the institutions of their country, and no bounties for doing it ; no allow- ing men to hire somebody to fight for them either. If a man is free, white, and twenty-one, - yes, or black, now, - if he is free and twenty-one, hearty and strong, he'ought to go on call. It is a burden like the jury duty, not to be sold, not to be done by proxy, and when we have men of that sort in the army the war won't cost much money and won't last a great while.
General Butler thought that the men in the navy must be tried and must be trained, owing to the character of their service, but he did not think that the navy could in any way become inimical to the rights of the people, or used to overthrow the liberties of the people.
The NINTH TOAST : - " Our United Guests." " If he had been forgotten it had been As a gap in our great feasts."
HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL'S SPEECH.
This anniversary is an event of no common interest. Few are the cities and towns on the American continent that can boast of a life covering two and a half centuries. It is the fortune of Gloucester that it can boast not only of that long period of town and city life, but it can boast also of enter- prising, prosperous industries upon the land and the exhibition of early and continuing fortitude upon the sea, thereby winning fame and success in competition with the world.
It is, therefore, Mr. President and citizens of Gloucester, no common honor that we, your guests, have been invited to participate in these festivities. The occasion and its incidents will remain with us while life remains.
This anniversary is calculated to lead our thoughts to the changes that have occurred in the two hundred and fifty years since the town of Gloucester was organized.
We are led also to consider the probable, or possible results of the changes that are taking place before our eyes. At the opening of the last
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half of the nineteenth century Massachusetts was a Commonwealth of towns ; at the opening of the twentieth century it will be a Commonwealth of cities. This change is so radical in its nature that its results cannot be contein- plated without apprehension, nor indeed without anxiety as to possible perils.
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