USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Malden > Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Malden, Massachusetts, May, 1899 > Part 15
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chimes, the peals of clocks, and the buzz of wheels impelled by the subtle electricity. Instead of the lonely post and stage, there are now the animated wire and fiery trams, - the insignia of a new era. All these proclaim a great and wonderful transformation.
Yet old things are not done away, even though they have sub- served their purpose. As we unlock the old chest and unfold the old silken gown and stocking of a distant ancestry ; as we listen to the " tick-tock " of the ancient clock ; as we finger the flint-lock of the frontiersman, and look with interest upon the silhouette of a grand- sire, - so, as a city, we again review the signs of olden times, and follow in our memorials the hazardous trail of our forefathers. We catch the spirit of the jocund simplicity and ingenuous hilarity of "ye good olde tymes " when we thus " drink again from the well that is by the gate of Bethlehem."
In eulogy and in demonstration, we again span the distance of time and events between the old times and the present, and alike rejoice in the quaint joy of our fathers and the felicity which we ex- perience in having commendably profited by our worthy inheritance.
The incipiency of Malden was not unlike that of many of the early towns of New England. Her settlers were from among Governor Winthrop's people. For nearly two decades, she was a part of the town of Charlestown, and perhaps would be yet, but for the mystic sheet of water which so often gives to the people on either bank their peculiarity and differing purposes.
Those indomitable people were as sturdy as the oak. In no way did they show the test of hardships more than in their religious zeal. Cheerfully they rafted the Mystic River or walked upon its ice, through snow and rain, to their meeting-house in Cherton, or Charles- town, where the word of God was dispensed to them. How they would have laughed at the delicate people of to-day who cannot go a half-mile to church because of a little rain or a threatening shower, or because the day is bright enough for a drive. In their homespun apparel, with musket, powder-horn, and psalm-book ready at hand to protect them alike from dangers seen and unseen, from foes of the heart and foes of the flesh, they would sometimes trudge for fifteen or twenty miles for the meat and drink of the spiritual life.
"So once for fear of Indian beating, Our grandsires bore their guns to meeting, - Each man equipped on Sunday morn, With psalm-book, shot, and powder-horn, And looked in form, as all must grant, Like the ancient true Church Militant."
(TRUMBULL, in McFingal.)
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THE GOVERNOR'S CARRIAGE
THE PARADE
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FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH
There is a church in the Back Bay, overtowered by a lofty apart- ment-house, which is really the birthplace of the ecclesiastical life of Malden. The First Church of Boston was the organized body of the little band of Charlestown ; and after the lapse of two years from the organization of the First Church of Boston, from its fold the church of Charlestown was organized. Out of the fold of Charlestown, the church of Malden was organized, thereby making, in direct lineage, the ecclesiastical history of Malden to spring from the fourth oldest religious body in New England, - none having the priority, save the churches of Plymouth, Salem, and Dorchester, and not more than ten or eleven years at that.
If to-day we were to hold a service in commemoration, such as our fathers held in "ye olde Meeting Hous," with its usual appoint- ments and accessories, I fear you would grow 'restive, if not bitter, before we could get through with it.
In the first place, our honored parish committee, otherwise deacons, would seat you all "as betokens your dignity," reserving for themselves a raised pew in front of the pulpit in order that due decorum be maintained. If any of you stood higher in the life of the community on account of wealth or official position, you would be brought forward to the front seats of honor, as betokens your dig- nity, and the rest of you would be seated in commoner pews nearer the rear or the front, as betokens your dignity in the eyes of the deacons, until all of you should be duly seated. Nor must you be envious, nor offer any protest, for the parish decreeth that you must be seated according to " ye discresing of ye deacons." And then, not having a Sunday-school, after the manner of the fathers, I could consume one, three, or five hours in giving you some goodly advice and admonition concerning your habits and conduct. Then after one or two prayers, hymns, and benediction, you could regale yourselves from your frugal repast prepared on Saturday. After half an hour, or an hour, you should return with due decorum in the afternoon for a similar chastening and admonition concerning the errors of your ways. And if any of you should prove delinquent in the words of my teaching, or in attendance, or in supporting the meeting with wood, corn, or hay, you would be duly punished by fine, if not disgraced by being deprived of the rights of a freeman by excommunication.
In all this we see that the dominance of the church in the begin- ning of New England life was a lingering of the union of church and state in Mother England. I read from Mr. Corey's history that " the gathering of the church was the beginning of political life ; for in it lay the roots of secular as well as ecclesiastical authority. Out of it came the town and state; and on its usages were based the usages 10
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and forms of primary assemblies, elections, and courts. Church-mem- bers were the only freemen of the colony." To this custom is also due the line deftly and mystically drawn between the church and parish. And I believe it to be an improvement, as instanced by the action of many churches, to do away with this line and make the church and parish virtually one; thereby obviating many difficulties and mis- understandings, which in this " work-a-day " life and usage are perpetuated as customs of the fathers ; and which, like many other things which have subserved their purposes in days gone by, are of no real use to us any longer.
We should not be hasty in changes, specially in radical changes, yet when other parts of our new machinery demand, we should use the hardened steel ball-bearings instead of the hand-wrought rusty and creaky axle of iron.
Now, inasmuch as we are not holding a service according to the old-fashioned ways, and I have not at command even so much as one hour for "ye breaking of ye seals," I will conclude with a moral concerning the name which our city bears.
In 1638, the town of Charlestown voted that the land which now constitutes more or less of the township of Malden be reserved " for such desirable persons as should be received in, - such as may come with another minister." This land was designated as that lying "at the head of the five acre lots and running in a straight line from Powder Horn Hill to the head of North River with three hundred acres above Cradock's farm."
It will suffice us to assume that what we now know as the city of Malden occupies at least a considerable part of this designated plot of land ; and we may likewise assume that in due time after this land was set aside " desirable persons" occupied it, seeing they came for the most part from the true and tried settlement of Charlestown. And, too, these desirable persons, through more or less difficulty, event- ually succeeded in bringing a minister with them. The organization was effected and the town named.
Now it seems that the person of greatest dignity, Joseph Hills, had the honor of naming the town from his old home in England - Maldon. In this name our city has a heritage which dates back to the beginning of the Christian era. The town of Maldon in Essex, England, was, if the historian is accurate, the ancient Camalodunum, once the capitol of Cunobeline, or Cymbeline, - an old British king. - and the seat of the first Roman colony in Great Britain. Cymbeline flourished in the fourth year of the Christian era. This Roman colony was established by the Emperor Claudius, and the Saxon population gave it the name " Mael-dune," Mael signifying " a cross " and Dune
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" a hill." So in our name we have a heritage alike from the Romans and the Saxons. The hand of Claudius and the hand of the ancient Britisher is laid upon us, not to impart a burden, but a moral truth with no uncertain sound, and one which shall redound to our municipal and ecclesiastical glory, if the lesson thereof would be the tocsin of our future thought and feeling.
How natural and suggestive is the name of the first spot in the initiative of our struggling city, - the name of "Bell-Mont Hill " ! the hill upon whose summit the bell spoke to the people, and gath- ered them together, alike for religious or worldly. counsel ; the bronze throat hard by the humble meeting-house where the people's Cross was made one with their Shrine?
Was it a mere coincidence, or the wisdom of Joseph Hills, that this place was called Mael-dune, Malden, - " the Cross upon a Hill"? Whether by design or accident, through the Bell Rock, we have received a lesson worthy of municipal pride from the heart of Cymbeline and Claudius.
Nor may the city of Malden, the Cross upon a Hill, have received . her name in vain. May she stand for what the highest principles of Christianity stand : for labor and love ; for perseverance and achieve- ment ; for truth, justice, and temperance. May her very name be the "IN HOC SIGNO VINCES" of her future life, as lasting and as solid as the native rock from which the tocsin and the call were alike sounded. And in other Jubilees of her existence, those great birth- days in her life, amid flying flags and triumphant pæans, the insignia of industrial and political progress, let there be heard the not uncer- tain salutation of peace and good-will from the spirit of the Bell, - from the Cross upon the Hill.
ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, LINDEN. REV. ALBERT DANKER, PH. D., Rector.
AT this church, the rector preached an historical sermon at the morning service, after music appropriate to the occasion rendered by the surpliced choir. It being Whitsunday, the Holy Communion was celebrated.
MALDEN. An Abstract of a Sermon Preached by the Rector.
1 Kings viii. 57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers : let him not leave us, nor forsake us.
WHILE our own Malden is celebrating her two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, the ancient mother town of Maldon in County Essex, Eng-
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land, is approaching her one thousandth birthday. Our own fair city appears but as a babe in swathing bands compared with such an antiquity, reaching nearly ten centuries into the past. Much time could be taken in detailing the quaint customs existing in our mother town, but present day affairs usurp our attention.
How our town has grown since the early colonial days! What changes have come, ecclesiastical and civil, since the far away times when the old bell on Bell Rock called the early settlers to prayers ! Few cities in the neighborhood of Boston exhibit the material growth of our own fair municipality. Industry and thrift characterize its inhabi- tants ; its churches are many and well filled ; its public schools have every modern convenience for training the young ; while every year adds to the growth of its population. Esto perpetua, be our prayer ; and may the Good Lord's benediction forever lighten upon us in all its breadth and fullness !
But another great anniversary, which must not be forgotten, is celebrated to-day, besides our two hundred and fiftieth commemo- ration. On this day, Whitsunday, three hundred and fifty years ago, the first Prayer Book, that of Edward VI., was set forth for use in the Church of England, a priceless heritage and a well of perpetual grace to mankind.
In the epistle for to-day, the festival of the Descent of the Holy Ghost, we read that the Apostles were all with one accord in one place upon the Day of Pentecost. This is a striking picture of the love as brethren, and of the harmony, unity, and concord which should always animate our community and the Church of Christ.
Herein lies our strength as a parish and as a city, each working together with the other, and sinking individual opinions and disagree- ments in labors for the general good. "United we stand ; divided we fall." If God be for us, no one can stand against us.
Remember to-day our sainted ancestors in church and state, and the long line of venerated dead who cemented the fabric of our civil and religious liberty. Peace to their souls ! May they ever rest in Paradise, guarded by the eye of Almighty Love, until the resurrec- tion of the just.
King Solomon tells us in the text at the dedication of the temple, " The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers." Here is a stimulus and encouragement for us to-day. Then close up the column, brethren and fellow-citizens, link tight your hands, stand shoulder to shoulder ; and filled with bright faith and glowing zeal, you shall see the church and our dear city towers of strength, by God's blessing, in the generations to come.
.
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Services of a commemorative nature were held at all the churches and chapels in the city. At the Linden Congregational Church, Rev. J. Cris. Williams, pastor, the discourse of the morning was based on John iv. 38: "Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors." The thought emphasized was, our relation to the past and future, in which we are debtors to the past and creditors of the future ; and a concise view of the history of the town was presented. The fine quartet of the church rendered appropriate selections, and a poem, written for the occasion by Mrs. Emeline W. Pratt of Revere, was read.
The Progressive Spiritualist Society held a service in the evening, at which historical addresses were made by the president, William M. Barber, and by George H. Ryder, and others. Mrs. Clara L. Fagan, in an interesting address, spoke of the leading families of the old town and related incidents in the lives of those who have passed away.
CELEBRATION BY THE FREE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
OF THE PARISH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
AT 1.30 P.M., the children of all grades, from the grammar school graduating classes to the little ones of the kindergarten, numbering in all over eleven hundred, assembled in the schoolhouses on Highland Avenue, and forming ranks marched out to the sweet music of the Adeste, fideles, played by the band of the Working Boys' Home, Boston. In orderly ranks, with perfect discipline, they proceeded to the Anniversary Building and quickly filled the seats on the stage and the side galleries.
The weather during the day was unpropitious, and a heavy rain was falling when the exercises were concluded ; but the forethought of the Sisters of Notre Dame had caused all precautions to be taken to ensure the protection and comfort of the little ones.
It was a beautiful sight when the long galleries were filled, the girls dressed in white and many of the boys in soldier and sailor suits ; and the admirable order which was maintained by the children was the subject of much comment. No more important and interest- ing meetings than those of the schools on Saturday and Sunday afternoons marked the celebration ; and both were occasions long to be remembered by those who witnessed as well as by those who partici- pated in them.
An immense audience of the parents and friends of the children, graduates of the schools, and others, filled the vast auditorium to
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overflowing. His Honor the Mayor, members of the school commit- tee and of the city government, and other invited guests occupied the front gallery facing the stage.
The program was carried through with promptness; and its several numbers were received with much applause. The tableaux were presented with effect by the girls; and the military drill by the School Cadets, and the oar and foil drills were received with enthusiasm. The band of the Working Boys' Home of Boston en- livened the exercises by its well performed selections. The order of exercises was as follows : -
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
OPENING CHORUS - " What is the Land we love so well ?" Young.
PROLOGUE. - Recitation. - " The Story of our City is the History of our Land."
Part K. - Biscoberg.
RECITATION. - " Columbus."
Part KE. - Settlement.
Puritan Maids in Dialogue and Song - Pocahontas - Maryland Girls in May- Pole Dance - Quaker Maidens.
Part KEK. - The Daton of Freedom.
RECITATION. - " The Independence Bell."
DIALOGUE. - " The Thirteen Original States."
Part KU. Rebellion --- Peace - Union Foreber.
The Call to Arms - Military Drill by School Cadets - Young Sailors in Song and Oar Drill - The Goddess of Liberty strikes the Shackles from the Slave - Uplifting the Starry Banner - Furling the Rebel Flag - Peace and Friendship.
CHORUS. - " There is only One Flag in this Land." C. K. Harris.
Part D. - Closing Scene.
The Goddess of Liberty, and, grouped about her, Peace, Progress, Civiliza- tion, Education, Fine Arts, Science, Faith, - the Guardians of Free- dom and of our Fair City.
RECITATIONS. - Liberty's Hope. The sturdy lads and maidens true, trained in our schools. (Foil Drill by the Boys.)
SONG. - " Star of the Nation." Belden.
RECITATION. - " E Pluribus Unum." (By the Girls.)
CHORUS. - " My Native Land." (By the School. ) F. Abt.
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THE FREE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
ADDRESS OF GEORGE H. CONLEY.
Member of the State Board of Education, and of the Board of Supervisors of Schools, Boston.
Fellow Citizens : - The patriotic exercises we have witnessed and the patriotic songs and utterances that we have just heard must gladden the heart and inspire the soul with sentiments and emotions of love and devotion to that land of freedom which we claim as " our own, our native land."
Truly, a sense of our country's greatness, a sense of the great interests involved in our splendid inheritance, should kindle enthu- siasm in every breast, and should furnish the highest motives to noble character and exalted virtue. But, as a rule, we are apt to regard our possessions, peerless and priceless as they are, so much as a matter of course that they make little impression upon our minds. We are so accustomed to them that they affect us no more than do the glories we witness in the heavens above us ; and in the enjoyment of such rights and privileges as have hitherto been unexampled in the history of the world, we are only too apt to remain indifferent to the obligations which these involve.
On such occasions, however, as this day affords, the feeling of pride in local achievement is wont to arouse a sentiment of pride that expands to state and nation over achievements similar but grander, - so grand, indeed, in the cause of humanity and civilization as to challenge the admiration of the world. And through this generous pride in home, in state and nation, a deep sense of our obligations must be awakened to God, to country, and to our fellow-men. We cannot fail to be reminded on such occasions that true Americanism means more than pride in achievement, and more than the possession of great dominion and boundless resources in country and people. With equal rights and equal opportunities for the full development of every citizen, it means also positive and inalienable duties for every citizen. It means that the rights we assert and maintain in- volve duties that we must render, not alone to country, but to man- kind, for the people of light and leading in freedom are the van of civilization and progress in the leadership of mankind.
In the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the settlement from which this city has grown, no more fitting expression can be given to the gratitude, loyalty, and devotion of the people than from the lips of the children who have been taught to love and revere this land of opportunity and freedom. Assuredly, the youthi taught to know the history of his country, taught to reflect upon the nature of its institutions, to realize their value and
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their cost in treasure and blood, will part from his heritage never while life remains. It was so with the Persian and Spartan youth, who were taught to revere and love their country with love of truth and justice ; and thus down through the ages it has always been that patriotism has sprung. It is, as historians assert, from the habit that men acquire of identifying themselves with their country's fortunes, in the past as in the present, and of looking forward anxiously to its future destinies, that all civic virtue and all patriotic self-sacrifice have sprung.
In the form of government which Providence has given us, the character of the government is sure to reflect the character of the people. It is impossible for it ever to be better than they are. A citizen, to be a good citizen, must be imbued with the love of country, and serve his country in protecting its rights and in maintaining its laws and institutions.
Soon the children attending school will become the people, and the sovereign people. As intelligence and morality are the sole con- ditions of national well-being and of national life, we know that every good citizen will add strength to the state, and every unworthy citi- zen will weaken it. Good citizenship, therefore, should be an all- important aim in the education of the young.
Boys and girls at school to-day are not there merely for the infor- mation and mental attainments they may acquire ; but they are there to become men and women, dutiful to God and helpful to the state and to humanity. Mere intellectual culture is not enough for a people who rule, - for a people who constitute and administer the govern- ment. The self-governed must be self-controlled by an intelligence guided and controlled by morality and conscience. Hence, every school and every college should be the inspiring source of intelligent moral manhood, - the true type of good citizenship and genuine patriotism.
The early framers of the laws of Massachusetts had this in view when they enacted the statute which specifically enjoins upon all instructors in the commonwealth "to exert their best endeavors to impress upon the minds of the children entrusted to their care and instruction the principles of piety and justice, a sacred regard for truth, love of country and humanity," and all other kindred virtues, " which are the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded." Throughout the schools of the country, however, we hear a constant demand for the more adequate teaching of morals, and especially with reference to the making of good citizens. How this demand can be met in all cases is a difficult question to answer.
It is well-known that the most important means of moral training is by example. In the consideration of the public good and the wel-
THE ARTILLERY - " ROUGH WALKERS "
THE PARADE
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fare of mankind, innumerable moral examples are found which are used to influence moral action ; but more than frequent reference to the examples of the noble and good is required to kindle moral enthusi- asm. The living example and immediate intercourse with the upright and virtuous are assuredly the strongest influences in moral training. For children, indeed, there is no other morality but what is visible. Surrounded by a moral atmosphere, they breathe in, as it were, an instinct of honor and morality.
The moral teachings of the school, to be truly effective, must be supplemented and enforced by the influence of Christian homes and by the teachings and influence of the church. These are the forces, allied together and cooperating together in moral training, that will effect the results to be desired.
The value and influence of a true Christian home is assuredly great, but the influence of the church is even beyond that of the home, for the church is the great teacher of morality. She, as none other, can stimulate enthusiasm for duty and right, and fit men for true freedom. The main effort of true religion is to impress upon men the principles of morality. To sever morality, then, from religion is to set aside the sanctions and restraints that are regarded as most sacred and potent. Washington must have had some apprehension of danger to his country from such a course when he said, " Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."
Instruction in the duties we owe to God and our fellow-men en- nobles and sustains character and enforces the noblest duties of patriotism. Religion and patriotism, in spirit and essence, indeed, are one. The forms may vary, but the principles are the same. The genius of our country, while it forbids the spirit of the proselyter and the partisan, smiles upon the life of the patriot and favors the influence of the spirit that is drawn, not from the theories of men, but from the precepts of the Sacred Scriptures of God's revealed truth.
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