USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The Berkshire jubilee > Part 10
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and keep with you the Jubilee, they began by their action to prove that they still love the scenes of their earlier days, these moun- tains and vallies; and these ten children, with their parents, have met on this Jubilee, and with their husbands and wives, to greet you to-day.
Of those who have gone out from your County, Mr. President, there are two classes. The first emigrated in their childhood or youth, and have made their homes in other lands. They come back to enjoy the luxuriance of your County in the homes of their fathers; but, if it is natural for men to be attached to their homes, as has been so often asserted, their attachments are in other val- lies, beside other streams, and amid other scenery. They return to rejoice with you on this occasion, but with very different feel- ings from those who emigrated in the middle of life. These form the second class; and while they may have found themselves hap- pily surrounded with new friends, they look on these hills and vallies as their home, and as having become in their eyes more beautiful than ever before. Here they were educated to the admi- ration of this mountain scenery; here their tastes and views were formed. As they have seen some slow meandering stream making its dull way along the plain, they have said, as I heard a true daughter of Berkshire far in the west say, as she looked on such a rivulet, and thought of her home in these hills, this is not the streamlet, such are not the stones and pebbles of New England. Yes, sir, these emigrants love their old home more than ever, and some of them perhaps hope to return under some fortunate change of circumstances, and place themselves again in this land of their nativity. Is it true that it is natural for men to love their homes? and is this the case with the men of England, of France, of Switz- erland, and even of Lapland? There is something besides scenery and place, which lies at the foundation of this love. It is not the place of our birth, its mountains, rivers, external scenery. Much as I have loved, and still love, all these scenes, so splendidly pre- sented before us, I ask, sir, is it these that have made New Eng- land what she is-that have made Berkshire what she is-that have spread over the land such a noble people? Go to the Ply- mouth Rock and look at those Pilgrim Fathers: did they not bring in the May Flower all that has ennobled our land, before they had seen these hills and vallies-those elements, which have made
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our fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, wives and husbands, the glory of our land? The physical system may be hardened and strengthened by the influence of scenery and climate, but there must be a mightier power, a more potent principle to operate, or you can never make men, never can make New England men, can never make such sons and daughters as are the glory of Berkshire. But give to a man the elements of knowledge of himself-let him know that he has a mind and heart and soul-that he has been created to equal rights and privileges with his fellows; let him know and feel his responsibility to God and man-instil in- to him moral and civil and religious principles-and you have the elements of freedom and greatness. These elements, if they can find room to expand, will ennoble man everywhere.
What mountain scenery made Franklin what he was ? or made Washington the "Father of his country ?" What mountain air inspired the spirit of Patrick Henry ? Passing still farther to the sunny south, the Marions, the Sumpters, and the thousand names dear and glorious, possessed of the spirit of New England in their day, not originated by mountains and lakes and streams, but based on principles purer and more glorious. These it is, that distin- guished New England-that distinguished the Sons of this Coun- ty, and these are the elements which are to be preserved and ex- panded and extended, till they shall have free course over the land and the world. While politicians foretell disunion and change of government, and all the consequences they delight to portray when their own party shall not be predominant in the land; my common sense enquires, what other government than that of freemen could exist in New England, and probably over our land ? We must be republicans. Possessed of equal rights as we are, we can be no other; and more mighty must be that scourge of God which must pass over our land, than has ever swept over any people, before any other government -before any other principles than those in which we have been cradled, which we celebrate to- day, and which are our glory, can prevail among us. Washing- ton! he could not but have been a patriot, when he had once en- tered on the career of liberty. The glitter of a crown must have been spurned. The country was too full of noble spirits. Could he have removed those around him, the whole country, hill and
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dale, would have teemed with myriads more. The principles of our Puritan Fathers had become the life-blood of the land.
It is one of the early and late corruptions of our religion, Mr. President, to maintain that man is man only by divine right; that it is the jus divinum that makes kings and nobility, and fastens upon the necks of the people the yoke which presses upon them. Now the great principle which we have been carrying out in all our free institutions is, that the jus divinum makes every man by nature a freeman, and endows him with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let this divine right be maintained and extended, and the glory which rests upon us will roll onward, westward and eastward, northward and south- ward, over our world, and the world will be blest. Long before another Jubilee shall come, I shall have passed to the grave; and the desire of my heart, which I now leave with you, is, that of the thousands which greet us to-day, each one may find himself, as God calls him from these loved scenes, passing away to a home in a brighter and better world.
A song was here sung by several young men, with preat power and appropriate expression-
Far away, o'er the mountains, Far away, o'er the mountains, Far away, o'er the mountains, From our own pleasant home; Drawn by ties which never Aught on earth can sever, Binding closer ever, To old Berkshire we have come.
Long time ago we parted, In life we had just started, Young, strong, and ruddy-hearted, From our old Berkshire home; Every one a brother, Son's of one kind mother, Ne'er was such another,
Now to greet her we have come.
W
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Aye true to our relation, Through the whole of the nation, We've follow'd our vocation, And we now homeward come;
Over lands and oceans, Pedling Yankee notions,
Morals, law, and lotions, Of our ancient Berkshire home.
Oft fortune was untoward, Oft darkest storms have lowered,
But we have never cowered, True sons of Berkshire home;
Evil ever chiding,
Over trouble striding,
By our faith abiding, Welcome us, as back we come.
Then earnest be our greeting! Then pleasant be our meeting !
For though old time is fleeting, And distant we must roam;
For all stormy weather,
Courage we must gather,
Since we are together, In our ancient Berkshire home.
Now three cheers altogether, Shout Berkshire's children ever,
Yankee hearts none can sever, In old " Massachusetts Bay;"'
Like our sires before us,
We will swell the chorus,
Till the Heavens o'er us
Shall rebound the loud huzza, Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah. -
The President next read the following tribute to the memory of Dr. CHANNING, by a lady of Berkshire :
It is a circumstance in the history of Berkshire, which should
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not be forgotten on this occasion, that one of the best and greatest men our country has produced, spent the last months of his life here, and that he delivered to a Berkshire audience his last public address. Our climate and our beautiful scenery contributed great- ly to his health, and to his enjoyment. He loved our hills and vallies, our streams and lakes. Their beauty gladdened his soul, and helped to swell the anthem which it sent up perpetually to the Creator, not altogether in secret, for its music was written on his countenance. He rejoiced greatly in the thrift, the well- being, moral and physical, of our people. To him every man was a indeed a brother, and to Berkshire men and Berkshire wo- men, he had that nearer feeling which residence gives toward a people among whom one's lot is cast even for a short period. It was his own proposal to deliver an address in Lenox, upon the first of August, 1842. He thought it fitting to commemorate that anniversary, and he believed that the voice of rejoicing over the proclamation of freedom to the captive, would find an echo among our hills. No one who heard him will forget that day, that bright clear day, and the pleasant assembling together of a people who appreciated the occasion and the man; whose eyes were fastened with delight from the beginning to the end of a long discourse, upon that countenance so full of the inspiration of faith, hope and charity; whose ears drank in every tone of that voice, uttering what proved to be its death-song, in strains as earnest, eloquent and touching, as if he had known it to be his last. “ It is finish- ed," might aptly have been its concluding words; it was the last beautiful act of a most beautiful and useful public life-and the last utterance of all, was an invocation for the coming of that kingdom, the spread of which the speaker had so faithfully labored to promote.
There is one passage in that discourse, which the people of Berkshire should often recal. It is as follows: " Men of Berk- shire! whose nerves and souls the mountain air has braced, you surely will respond to him who speaks of the blessings of freedom, and the misery of bondage. I feel as if the feeble voice which now addresses you, must find an echo in these forest-crowned heights. Do they not impart something of their own power and loftiness to men's souls? Should our Commonwealth ever be in- vaded by victorious armies, Freedom's last asylum would be here.
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Here may a free spirit, may reverence for all human rights, may sympathy for all the oppressed, may a stern, solemn purpose, to give no sanction to oppression, take stronger and stronger posses- sion of men's minds, and from these mountains may generous im- pulses spread far and wide!" God grant that this appeal, made by a voice now hushed in death, may meet a perpetual response in the hearts of our people, from generation to generation, while time shall endure! May they not be satisfied with the distinction of being natives of Berkshire, but strive in whatever clime, under whatever circumstances they may be placed, to wear always the Berkshire badge- Industry, Uprightness, Humanity.
Allow me, Mr. President, to propose the following sentiment-
THE MEMORY OF DR. CHANNING-May the Sons of Berkshire never be found wanting, when weighed in the balance which he so trustingly held up for them.
Sentiment by the Rev. J. C. BRIGHAM, D.D., of New-York-
In this County, I am happy to say, I was born, and here receiv- ed my collegiate education. Since entering professional life, cir- cumstances have led me to visit in person all the States of our Union, with two exceptions, as well as the several Spanish Republics, and three of the kingdoms of the old world. Wherever I have gone it has been my aim to enquire as to the comforts, habits, intelli- gence, morals, temporal and future prospects of my fellow men. As a commentary on the whole, I am prepared to offer with great sincerity, the following sentiment-
BERKSHIRE OF THE BAY STATE-Take it all in all, there is no better place in which to be born, to live, and to die.
Sentiment by Hon. TIMOTHY CHILDS, of Rochester, N. Y .--
Mr. PRESIDENT-I do not rise to discharge the duty assigned to me in the order of exercises; the day is too far spent, there are too many here who desire to relieve, by a few words, their full hearts to allow me to do more than to give a sentiment. This meeting is one of deep interest; it cannot, I think, but be one of lasting good. We have heard recounted the deeds, the virtues, the suf- ferings of our Fathers, we have looked again upon the scenery of
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our native homes, we have revived all the joyous associations of childhood and youth, and the effect must be good, and only good. Whatever of virtuous purpose or principle may have attended us in our emigration, must receive new vigor from the events of this day. We all feel that the example of the Fathers of Berkshire rests upon their children, with the solemnity of a religious obliga- tion; we all feel at this moment that it would be criminal to dis- Ironor their history; and now that we are about to pronounce the words of parting, and turn our faces to our distant homes, let us carry with us, deeply engraved on our minds, this sentiment-
THE EMIGRANT OF BERKSHIRE-Wherever may be his lot, or whatever its duties, let him never forget that he cannot be de- linquent without being degenerate.
Sentiment by Dr. L. A. SMITH of Newark, N. J .-
Our friends who are not with us on this occasion --
" Absent or dead, still let a friend be dear ; A sigh the absent claim, the dead a tear.""
Sentiment to the memory of the late Dr. HYDE, of Lee, by W. . P. PALMER-
Saint! in thy loss we learn this blessed lore That not to breathe, is not to be no more! Oh no; to those whose days like thine have passed In self denying kindness to the last, Remains, unfading with the final breath, A green and sweet vitality in death!
Sentiment by SILAS METCALF, Esq., of Kinderhook, N. Y .-
" THE YANKEES AND THE DUTCH-The Western Rail-road has broken down the distinction of caste, -the commingling of blood cannot fail mutually to improve the stock."
Sentiment by T. JoY, Esq., of Albany-
THE RETURN OF THE SONS OF BERKSHIRE - Though under cir- cumstances exactly the reverse from that of the Prodigal- yet their sires killed for them the fatted calf.
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Sentiment by D. C. WHITEWOOD, of Michigan-
THE ANNUAL CROP PRODUCED IN OLD BERKSHIRE- Philosophers, Orators, Statesmen, Merchants, Physicians, and Professors-may the crop increase until she has enough for her own consumption, and a large surplus for export, and on every cargo she consigns to the ports of Michigan, the Woolvereens will pay her a heavy export bounty. ·
Sentiment by the Rev. JOSHUA N. DANFORTH, of Alexandria, D. C .-
We stand here to-day, numbering forty in relationship-twen- ty-five of us the direct descendants of DAVID NOBLE, of Williams- town, the upright judge-the exemplary christian. His name and memory, like those of our immediate parents, we regard as a sa- cred legacy, by which we are enriched, and of which we are not ashamed. If the spirit which dwelt in the bosom of the fathers, shall be transmitted through the sons to our posterity, we, like thein, shall not have lived and died in vain.
The scenes we witness to-day, are indeed impressive. Genius is pouring out his treasures with a generosity suited to the great occasion. Poetry is weaving her most beautiful garland. Friend- ship brings her costly offerings to this altar. Even History has a portion in the reminiscences of this auspicious day. The Muses and the Graces have conspired to honor the occasion. And if the joys of the living must necessarily be mingled with those sorrows which affection pays to the dead, the depth of the emotion attests the value of the tribute. Some of us are devoted to the law: some to the ministry of reconciliation: all, we trust, are found in some sphere of activity and usefulness. Some are in the far west; others in the far east. One walks on missionary ground, dwell- ing in an Asiatic clime, and consecrating the energies of her heart and life to that Redeemer who has loved us all, and given himself for us. As this is a family gathering, something may be pardoned to a family feeling in the mention of these particulars. If I may be permitted to give expression to my feelings in the form of a sentiment, it should be-
The HOME of our fathers, revisited to-day in our persons - our hearts never depart from it. The GRAVES of our fathers - they
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contain our richest earthly treasures. The MEMORY of our fathers - let it be green as the vernal verdure of those graves.
Rev. ORVILLE DEWEY, D.D., of New-York, took the stand in ac- cordance with the invitation of the President. He said he had got his travelling coat in his hand, and taken his staff. He was sensible that the time had come for them to part, and I give you my pro- mise, (said he,) that I will not detain you long. Yet I think, sir, that this occasion has some significance on which it may be worth our while to spend a moment ere we leave it. This immense mul- titude, this sea of faces around me, what do they mean? Sir, they mean that we are called here by the power of a single sentiment, and I am delighted to recognise that power-am delighted to see in our New England-in our scheming, contriving, calculating New England, an immense assembly like this gathered together, not to build a rail-road, nor bolster up any party, but gathered as I may say, for nothing in particular. (Laughter.) We are drawn together by the power of a mere sentiment. I have travelled all over New England within a few weeks past, and have seen from one state of it to another, a strong heart -- beating in reference to this very occasion. I am disposed sometimes to say that the tem- perate zone of the earth is the very torrid zone of feeling. It is so at least of the home feelings. I believe, powerful and wide spread as is the political agitation of the present moment, that no party mass meeting could have drawn so many from far and near to it, as this great domestic mass meeting. (Cheers.) I say we are called together by a mere sentiment; we have come, not for our own interest nor a supposed advantage -not to help forward any political, commercial or scientific object. These have their pla- ces: but they do not occupy our attention to-day. We have come upon a pilgrimage to the shrine of our nativity. This is the fes- tival of our nativity. It was a happy thought, I think, to send out the invitation to this meeting; and, I will say I have been, not surprised, but struck, to observe the hearty and enthusiastic response to the call which is given in this immense assembly. It came to us scattered over the extent of a country almost equal to half of Europe; it found us in the city, spread over the prairies of the west, by the shores of the northern lakes; it found us engaged with many cares and labors-one at his farm, another at his mer-
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chandise, one studying his brief, another ministering to his people; but when we heard that invitation, what was the talismanic agen- cy that broke the spell and determined us to obey it ? It was like the song of the Scotch maiden,
" The woods in which we dwelt pleasantly rustled in the song,
And our streams were there with the sound of all their waters."
It has been said that in this wide country, continually inviting to new settlements, and with the almost nomadic habits of our people, the sentiment of home is likely to be weakened. I will not contend that point formally, but will ask those who have returned after many years' absence to their native home and fields, whether the sentiment of which I speak has died or is likely to die ? I am quite sensible that we are likely to wear this theme threadbare. We must talk about our home. It is that in which all our thoughts and feelings concentrate now. But is it possible to wear out this theme ? No: these homestead acres which give back the lessons of our childhood; these fields in which are writ- ten the memories of past pleasures; these hedges which warbled sweet melodies to our youthful ear, the barn roof on which we once heard the rain patter; these lowly porches on which we sat when the day went down; the hearth-stone that first echoed to the name of "father," "mother," -all are themes of delight, ever green, ever fragrant.
We may have found wealth, splendor, fame, elsewhere; but there is no spot of earth like this. If I express my own feelings, all other aspects wear an air of strangeness and foreignness in com- parison with these. And yet, after all, I feel how utterly vain are my efforts to express this sentiment. There is something coil- ed up in this sentiment which I cannot unfold. It reminds me of an anecdote of one of the venerable fathers of the church in this County-Dr. West, one of the most learned, pure, gentle spirits that ever lived. I recollect one day of hearing a little child read the Scriptures. Its voice had nothing remarkably impressive, it was a child's voice. I found myself moved in the most extraordi- nary manner, and yet unable to tell why, for I understood not what she uttered. On a few moments' reflection I discovered that the tone of that little child's voice was like the voice of Dr. West in prayer. So I think it is with home affections; we are moved, we can scarcely tell why, at the sound of the word home. It is
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good for us to cherish these affections. Antæus, the child of Terra and Neptune, of earth and sea, only on the earth could be strong, could draw his replenished energies, enabling him to hold contest with the foe; and thus it is we turn hither on the waves of life, we spread our sails for the haven of honor, but after all, the re-af- forded strength and courage to fight with perils is drawn from the home affections.
One word more, and I will relieve your attention. If it could so have happened that we who are gathered together had met as travellers in the heart of Asia, and if an urn of earth taken from these fields around us could be placed upon the board around which we were gathered, of that sacred earth we should make our altar and over it, pour out our homage, and when we parted, I doubt not, we should be glad to take a handful of that earth to be a holy talis- man, a sacred relic to cheer us on our way. So in the journey of life we have met to-day to pay our homage of thanksgiving, and when we part we will take a breath of home affection, as it were a bit of earth, to be a pleasant inspiration and memory in time to come.
The President introduced to the meeting Hon. JULIUS ROCK- WELL, who, (he said,) though a Connecticut boy, is a Berkshire man. Mr. ROCKWELL having taken the stand, said-
Mr. President- When you took your place there, I thought sir, you told us you were to follow a chart or plan laid before you: and you will find no such thing as you last read upon it. It was my honorable distinction here, to be entrusted to present to this meeting a sentiment from another mind.
Sir, you have rightly said, I am not one of Berkshire's Sons. But I have done all I could to make my position better; and I say to every young man who hears me, go and do likewise, (cheers;) for with the most persevering exertions, I tell him, he can obtain, if he be not too late, a Berkshire wife! (Great cheering.).
One of the gentlemen who has spoken here, has told you how fortunate it is in young life, to go from Berkshire ; I can tell him how fortunate it is in young life to come to the County of Berk- shire. Another gentleman, with great beauty and power, spoke of the feeling that pervades every heart on this occasion, as the feeling of the young eagle returning to the eagle's nest. What
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think you is the feeling of the eagle mother as she sees her young, strong in pinions, strong in all that becomes and ennobles their kind, returning to their mother's nest? O! in other days,-those days when the rights of man demanded that one nation should be arrayed against another,-they came back with the eagle beak all crimsoned with blood! God upheld and blessed them as they struggled, and toiled, and conquered, and rejoiced together. But now! they come back with the same strong wing, the same pierc- ing eye, to tell us of their achievements on other fields and in other things, and to exhibit them here. They have received their warm welcome ; and a pity it is, that this occasion may not last as long as the fair sun which now blesses it, continues to shine. But I may not trust myself to say more. I present you the sen- timent of one who, though not born or bred in Berkshire, is here to-day in mind and in heart, and whose pen all know. It bears the initials of " L. H. S.," and all know it belongs to Mrs. SIG- OURNEY.
THE OLD BAY STATE- You scarce can go, where streamlets flow, In prairie, or western glen, Or among the great, in halls of state, But you'll find the Berkshire men: May the blessing of health and well spent wealth, And stainless names await (With the treasur'd glee of this Jubilee,) The Sons of the Old Bay State.
L. H. S.
The sentiment of Mrs. Sigourney having been read, a young la- dy from the centre of New-York, immediately offered the follow- ing sentiment impromptu-
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