USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The Berkshire jubilee > Part 7
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Let then the Bible be our study as it was that of our Fathers. Let its light shine, not of its burning leaves, but of the principles which dwell in it. Let it be to us and to our chidren a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, to lead us not to our promised land, but in our land already possessed.
Without a knowledge of the Bible, all will agree that there can be no religious liberty. It seems to me almost equally clear that without religious liberty, civil liberty cannot exist. Hence it is plain that the study of the Bible is alike indispensable to the civilian, to the statesman, and to the teacher of religion. Where else with equal success, can be learned the absolute and relative rights and duties of men or of govern- ments? Where is it recorded on the pages of History, that tyrants have ever effectually conquered and sub- jugated a people whose liberties and virtue were found- ed on the word of God? His government over his intelligent creatures is instituted in infinite benėvo-
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lence for their benefit. Such too should be the great end and aim of all civil governments and laws.
Civil liberty does not depend so much on the remo- val of all restraint from men, as in the due restraint of the natural liberty of all. It deals with men as social beings, and teaches them how to enjoy their own, without infringing upon another's rights. How much they are to surrender for the sake of securing the en- joyment of the residue. It teaches obedience to the law, and promises protection and security in the en- joyment of life, liberty and property.
There can be no free government which is not founded on the great principle, that all that is valuable in civil institutions, rests on the intelligence and virtue of the people. This acknowledges the right, and en- joins the duty of the people to understand their public interests, and to adopt such means in conformity to law, as in their judgment will best promote them.
These responsible duties can never be well dis- charged, nor these great rights secured, without regard to another element of the New England character -
That of universal education. Next to religion, this subject lies nearest the heart of every New Englander. It is so interwoven with his very nature, that it is car- ried with him wherever he goes, and its benefits and blessings are inherited by his children.
Your school houses, your academies, and your col- leges, and the means for their support furnished by private munificence and public law, bear ample testi- mony that New England holds on her course with firm
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step and onward advance. Will she not feel her obligation always to provide a great fountain of reli- yion and knowledge, from which fresh supplies may be drawn and borne by her sons and daughters who are yet to go forth to people the mighty west, with which to infuse new life and energy into those who have gone before ? While this obligation is fulfilled, New England may look abroad in our land, and with sincere pleasure and thankful heart, contemplate the influence she has exerted, and will through all coming time exert upon the destiny of our country. No bounds have been set to the amount of good which can and will be done by the harmonious working of her prin- ciples, her habits, and her ingenuity.
Compared with the life of other nations, our sun has not yet risen : its light is now only seen gilding the eastern horizon. It may not rise in our day. At the close of how many centuries it will reach its meridian height, and what will be the condition of our country then, is not given to us to know. But reasoning from the past to the future, and keeping in mind the accele- rated momentum imparted by modern improvements, the conviction is forced upon the mind, that come, when it will, it will be far above and beyond the lofti- est imaginings of the most comprehensive intellect.
These views have not been taken to pamper indi- vidual vanity or national pride, but to impress more deeply upon our minds the solemn responsibilities which rest upon each of us as sons and daughters of the Pilgrims - as American citizens-and to stimu-
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late us to renewed exertions to meet them with manly firmness.
It is obvious to the most superficial observer that physical and intellectual man in their career, have in this our day far outran religious man. Indeed so mighty, so diversified, so wonderful have been their achievements, that there is reason to fear that self de- pendence is fast taking the place of dependence on God for all that we are and all we desire. Neither head wind, nor the tide, nor the strong current of our mighty rivers, any longer impede their navigation, and the broad Atlantic has become as a ferry.
With equal facility, and with still greater celerity, do we ascend the hills and the mountains, and glide across the plains, making our whole country as one neighborhood, and bringing our distant friends almost within our call.
With these developements of physical and intellect- ual power our people are absorbed, and have become impatient of restraint. For real or supposed defects in our laws or systems of government, they have not waited for the application of constitutional remedies, but nullification and violence have too often taken their place. Here lies our danger, and for the remedy, let the religious man be aroused to his duty, and send forth deeper and broader streams of the Bible's soft- ening, peaceful influences. Let the religion, and the example of our Pilgrim Fathers take a stronger hold on the hearts of men, and constantly remind them that obedience to the laws of our country, and respect for
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the civil magistrate, are among the first and highest duties of every citizen.
Where, upon the face of the whole earth, if not in New England, in the "Old Bay State," in our own dear " Berkshire," amidst these hills, peopled as they are by a homogeneous race of men, can the great principles on which the stability and perpetuity of our government rest, be at the same time garnered up and diffused through our land? This is an employment where the mind and the heart may labor together in concord with full assurance of their reward. Though the profane may rave, the sceptic sneer, and the infidel scoff, the countenance of the believer shall not blanch, nor his step falter, nor his course be turned aside. Steadily, peacefully, and onward, shall be his way, drawing all men unto it.
Not to detain my indulgent auditors longer from the enjoyment of the other appointments of the day, where a richer " feast of reason and flow of soul" await us, allow me to inquire, when will the sons and daughters of Berkshire hold another "Jubilee ?" Never certainly another first Jubilee; that pleasure is vouchsafed unto us, but another Jubilee ? Whether it shall be in our day, or be reserved for our children, or children's children we know not; but come when it will, we do know they will find a hearty welcome. These beautiful hills by which we are surrounded, shall not be more enduring, than shall be the love their people bear for their absent kindred.
In conclusion, my friends, let us offer our united
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thanks unto God, that our birthplace was in the midst of these hills - our existence in this eventful age of the world, and this free country our home. Long, long, forever may it be the home of the free and send forth the true spirit of intelligent, civil, and religious liberty to other lands and other countries, and be a name and a praise in the whole earth.
ODE. WRITTEN FOR THE BERKSHIRE JUBILEE.
BY MRS. F. K. BUTLER.
Darkness upon the mountain and the vale, The woods, the lakes, the fields, are buried deep, In the still silent solemn star-watched sleep, No sound, no motion, and o'er hill and dale A calm and lovely death seems to embrace Earth's fairest realms, and Heaven's unfathomed space.
The forest slumbers, leaf and branch and bough, High feathery crest, and lowliest grassy blade ; All restless, wandering wings, are folded now, That swept the sky, and in the sunshine play'd. The lake's wild waves sleep in their rocky bowl. Unbroken stillness streams from nature's soul, And night's great, star-sown wings, stretch o'er the whole.
In the deep trance of the hush'd universe, The dark death mystery doth man rehearse, Now, for a while, cease the swift thoughts to run From task to task; tir'd labor overdone With lighter toil than that of brain, or heart, In the sweet pause of outward life takes part: And hope, and fear, desire, love, joy, and sorrow, Wait 'neath sleep's downy wings, the coming morrow. Peace on the earth, profoundest peace in Heaven, Praises the God of peace by whom 'tis given.
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But hark! the woody depths of green Begin to stir, Light breaths of life creep fresh between Oak, beech, and fir: Faint rustling sounds of trembling leaves Whisper around, The world at waking, slowly heaves, A sigh profound; And showers of tears, night-gathered in her eyes, Fall from fair nature's face, as she doth rise.
A ripple roughens on the lake, The silver lilies shivering wake, The leaden waves lift themselves up, and break, Along the laurell'd shore; And woods and waters, answering each other, make Silence no more.
And lo! the east turns pale! Night's dusky veil Thinner and thinner grows;
Till the bright morning star, From hill to hill afar, His fire glance throws.
Gold streaks run thro' the sky,
Higher and yet more high The glory streams; Flushes of rosy hue
Long lines of palest blue, And amber gleams. From the black vallies rise
The silver mists, like spray, Catch, and give back the ray, With thousand dyes, Light floods the Heavens, light pours upon the earth, In glorious light, the glorious day takes birth.
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ODE.
Hail to this day! that brings ye home Ye distant wanderers from the mountain land, Hail to this hour! that bids ye come Again upon your native hills to stand. Hail, hail! from rocky peak, And wood embowered dale, A thousand loving voices speak, Hail! home-turn'd pilgrims hail! Oh, welcome ! from the meadow and the hill Glad greetings rise, From flowing river, and from bounding rill, Bright level lake, and dark green wood depths still, And the sharp thunder-splinter'd crag, that strikes Its rocky spikes Into the skies.
Grey-Lock, cloud girdled, from his purple throne, A voice of welcome sends,
And from green sunny fields, a warbling tone The Housatonic blends.
Welcome ye absent long, and distant far! Who from the roof-tree of your childhood turn'd, Have waged mid strangers, life's relentless war, While at your hearts, the ancient home-love burn'd.
Ye, that have plough'd the barren briny foam, Reaping hard fortunes from the stormy sea,
The golden grain fields rippling round your home, Roll their rich billows from all tempests free.
Ye, from those western, deadly blooming fields, Where Pestilence in Plenty's bosom lies, The hardy rock-soil of your mountains yields Health's rosy blossoms to these purer skies.
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And ye who on the accursed southern plain, Barren, not fruitful, with the sweat of slaves Have drawn awhile the tainted air in vain, 'Mid human forms their spirits' living graves. Here, fall the fetters, by his cottage door, Lord of the lordliest life each peasant stands, Lifting to God, as did his sires of yore, A heart of love and free laborious hands .*
On each bald granite brow, and forest crest, Each stony hill path, and each lake's smooth shore, Blessings of noble exil'd patriots rest, Liberty's altars are they evermore.
And on this air, there lingers yet the tone, Of those last sacred words to freedom given, The mightiest utterance of that sainted one, Whose spirit from these mountains soar'd to Heaven.
Ye that have prosper'd bearing hence with ye, The virtues that command prosperity; To the green threshold of your youth, ah! come! And hang your trophies round your early home.
Ye that have suffer'd, and whose weary eyes Have turn'd with sadness to your happier years, Come to the fountain of sweet memories! And by its healing waters, dry your tears.
Ye that departed young, and old return, Ye who led forth by hope - now hopeless come, If still unquenched within your hearts, doth burn The sacred love and longing for your home:
* This stanza was omitted in the reading, as it was thought not to be in strict har- mony with the occasion.
ED.
ODE. 137
Hail, hail! Bright hill and dale, With joy resound! Join in the joyful strain! Ye have not wept in vain, The parted meet again, The lost shall yet be found!
And may God guard thee, oh, thou lovely land! Danger, nor evil, nigh thy borders come. Green towers of freedom may thy hills still stand. Still, be each valley, peace and virtue's home : The stranger's grateful blessing rest on thee, And firm as Heaven, be thy prosperity!
R
Hon. Ezekiel Bacon read " The Stockbridge Bowl," by Mrs. SIGOURNEY, of Hartford. By way of illustrating the title prefixed to the article it is proper to mention that the " Stockbridge Bowl" is the fanciful but very appropriate title bestowed by Miss Sedgwick in some of her writings upon a beautiful sheet of water, forming a pond, in the north part of the town of Stockbridge.
[Furnished for the occasion, by the Authoress.]
THE STOCKBRIDGE BOWL.
The Stockbridge Bowl !- Hast ever seenl How sweetly pure and bright, Its foot of stone, and rim of green Attract the traveller's sight ?- High set among the breezy hills Where spotless marble glows, It takes the tribute of the rills Distill'd from mountain snows.
You've seen, perchance, the classic vase At Adrian's villa found, The grape-vines that its handles chase, And twine its rim around. But thousands such as that which boasts The Roman's name to keep, Might in this Stockbridge Bowl be lost Like pebbles in the deep.
It yields no sparkling draughts of fire To mock the madden'd brain, As that which warm'd Anacreon's lyre Amid the Tean plain-
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But freely, with a right good will Imparts its fountain store,- Whose heaven-replenished crystal still Can wearied toil restore.
The Indian hunter knew its power, And oft its praises spoke, Long ere the white man's stranger-plough These western vallies broke; The panting deer, that wild with pain From his pursuers stole, Inhaled new life to every vein From this same Stockbridge Bowl.
And many a son of Berkshire skies, Those men of Noble birth, Though now, perchance, their roofs may rise In far, or foreign earth,- Shall on this well remembered vase With thrilling bosom gaze, And o'er its mirror'd surface trace The joys of earlier days.
But one, that with a spiritg-lance Hath moved her country's heart, And bade, from dim oblivion's trance Poor Magawiska start, Hath won a fame, whose blossoms rare Shall fear no blighting sky, Whose lustrous leaf be fresh and fair, When Stockbridge Bowl is dry.
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PUBLIC EXERCISES.
SINGING. Words by Mrs. SIGOURNEY. [Written for the occasion.]
They come! they come! by ardent memory led, From distant hearth-stones,-a rejoicing train, And hand in hand with kindred feeling tread Green Berkshire's vales and breezy hills again.
Back to the cradle of their own sweet birth, Back to the foot-prints of their flowery prime, Where, in the nursery of their native earth, They caught the spirit of their mountain clime;
The free bold spirit, that no chains can bind, The earnest purpose that no toil can tame, The calm, inherent dignity of mind, The love of knowledge and of patriot fame.
They bring the statesman's and the student's dower, The honors that to rural life belong, Of sacred eloquence the soul-felt power, The palm of science and the wreath of song. -
And thou, blest Mother! with unfrosted hair, Still made by age more beautiful and strong,- Pour a glad welcome, at thy threshold fair, And breathe thy blessing o'er the filial throng.
Enfold them warmly in thy fond embrace, And with thy counsels of true wisdom guide, That like themselves, their yet uncounted race, May be thy glory, as thou art their pride.
ODE.
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BY MRS. L. HYDE.
To hills that cradled childhood's home, To vales where kindred ashes sleep, Gathered from far and near we come Our jubilee of love to keep: Touched by one sympathy, a brother band And proud, on Berkshire's soil as ours to stand.
Her verdant slopes and fertile plains, Each fairy wood-embosomed lake, Her quiet hamlets, sacred fanes, Her men that lofty station take, With those whose memory comes from olden time Like mountain shadows, giant and sublime.
Her fir-crowned, and her classic heights To Sedgwick's name and page allied; The choicest garden of delights Stretched far along the river side; Scenes of the wild and sweet and grand combined, In moral beauty rich, and rich in cultured mind;
These still we claim, we breathe this air, And feel the blood with quickened flow Thrill through the frame long worn with care, And lend the cheek a youthful glow; Yes, though these brows;may show the touch of time, Life's first attachments yet are in their prime.
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Were not the voices in our dreams, When where dark sluggish waters roll, Of these our live bright mountain streams, Free as thought's current in the soul; Fond Children of the hills, afar we pined Clear, leaping brooks, and rock-born flowers to find.
We view with fixed and moistened eye Yon summit, in its grandeur lone, A spell to call back years gone by; Fair Science, this thy godlike throne, And holy thoughts, which earth more blest have made In youthful bosoms, woke beneath its shade.
Southward, stern guardian of a vale As Tempe fair, old Monument Lifts his bare brow, all scarred and pale; His name with song and story blent, A legend of the roaming red man's days Embalined in our own gifted Bryant's lays.
In solemn quiet by the stream, Or pointing from hill-top to heaven, Speaks the white marble, " life's a dream;" Our hearts to tender musings given Are with the dead, and buried treasures trace By snowy shaft, or modest tablet's place.
To these the passing tribute paid, Joyful the living friends we greet At the same altar-hearth who prayed Or sat with us in learning's seat; With whom, in halcyon days, delighted eye We turned on laughing earth and sunny sky.
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ODE.
How heart with heart is mingling here,- As we our varied paths retrace, --- How vanished scenes all re-appear, Called up by some familiar face; Forth to the light of day come forms that dwell, Prisoned in memory's deep and wondrous cell.
Old friends are seated side by side, In smiles and tears embrace again The household scattered long and wide; From distant city, prairie, main, From learning's halls, from honor's high career, From toils that earth's dark wastes reclaim and cheer,
The sons of Berkshire here return A chaplet on her brow to wreathe, Afresh to fill affection's urn; Warm hearts in sweet communings breathe Praise for these social joys, so richly given, A fragrant incense, borne on song to Heaven.
It is a scene of interest rare, This lovely village shows to-day; Gem of our mountain, region fair, Thou may'st exult in this display Of worth and talent, in this glow of soul O'er crystal water, not the maddening bowl.
Nor all in vain we trust may be This pause along life's hurrying way, Deep fountains of the heart, set free, May blend in streams of love to-day, And God and man, their course approving, trace In wide and blessed influence on our race.
S
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We part, this friendly gathering o'er, With precious stores for memory's hoard; There is for us one meeting more, But not around the festive board: Go we to live for that great day alone, When time is done, and set the judgment throne!
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SINGING. Words by Mrs. HEMANS.
For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God! Thou hast made thy children mighty By the touch of the mountain sod. Thou hast fixed our ark of refuge Where the spoiler's foot ne'er trod, For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God!
We are watchers of a beacon Whose lights must never die; We are guardians of an altar Midst the silence of the sky; « The rocks yield founts of courage Struck forth as by thy rod- For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God!
For the dark, resounding heavens, Where thy still small voice is heard; For the strong pines of the forests, That by thy breath are stirred; For the storms, on whose free pinions Thy spirit walks abroad -. For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God!
For the shadow of thy presence, Round our camp of rock out-spread; For the stern defiles of battle, Bearing record of our dead;
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For the snows, and for the torrents, For the free heart's burial sod, For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God!
8. BENEDICTION. By Pres. HOPKINS.
DINNER TA BLES, PAVILION, &c.
FAC-SIMILE OF THE DINNER TICKET.
BERKSHIRE JUBHEHE,
At Pittsfield, August 22 and 23, 1844. GOV. BRIGGS, PRESIDENT.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS IN CITY OF NEW YORK.
SAM'L R. BETTS,
ROBERT CENTER, MARSHALL S. BIDWELL, MASON NOBLE,
J. C. BRIGHAM,
DRAKE MILLS, D. D. FIELD, THOMAS EGGLESTON,
THEO. SEDGWICK,
EDWARD WILLIAMS, R. S. COOK,
H. P. PEET,
ORVILLE DEWEY,
WILLIAM SHERWOOD, RUSSELL C. WHEELER, JOSEPH HYDE,
WM. C. BRYANT, R. SMITH.
BERKSHIRE COMMITTEE. JOHN TODD, CHAIRMAN.
LEMUEL POMEROY,
E. RICE,
P. EAMES,
D. N. DEWEY,
H. H. CHILDS, E. F. ENSIGN,
IRA SCHUTT,
A. FOOT.
CHARLES SEDGWICK,
A. RISING, WILBUR CURTISS,
R. PICKET,
HENRY W. BISHOP,
GEORGE HULL, .
S. GATES,
RUSSELL BROWN,
H. BYINGTON,
L. FILLEY,
WILLIAM BACON,
J. CHAMBERLIN,
EDWARD BURRALL,
WILLIAM PORTER, JR.
C. J. FREELAND,
M. EMMONS,
J. SUMNER,
ALEXANDER HYDE, WILLIAM E. BRAYTON,
A. BUCK,
W. ADAMS,
P. HARMON,
THOMAS ROBINSON,
O. NASH,
SAMUEL FARGO, JR.
C. BALDWIN,
F. O. SAYLES,
S. BABBITT,
R. HAZARD,
S. M. GARDNER,
S. NORTON,
FINANCIAL COMMITTEE.
JULIUS ROCKWELL,
ENSIGN H. KELLOGG, PHINEHAS AELEN, JR.
DINNER TICKET, AUGUST 23, 1 O'CLOCK.
THE DINNER.
ON adjourning at 2 o'clock, P.M., from the hill on which the morning exercises had been held, the company moved to the old " Military Grounds," now occupied by the Young Ladies' Institute, where a large tent was spread to receive the guests to the family gathering. We have tried to give a representation of the scene by the plate prefixed. The tables were admirably arranged and calculated to accommodate over three thousand persons. Nearly that number actually took seats at the tables, while thousands stood around the fences to see the spectacle and hear the speeches. The company consisted of about an equal number of both sexes. The exercises at the dinner were designed to be diversified, where the gushings of thousands of warm hearts at the family meeting might be poured out.
On a raised table, in the centre, at the head, were the Presi- dent Gov. Briggs, Joshua A. Spencer, Esq., Judge Bacon, and oth- ers. A blessing was asked by Rev. Dr. Shepard. The Addresses were extemporary, and are preserved by the care of Mr. William J. Niles, of Spencertown, N. Y.
The cloth having been removed, His Excellency Hon. GEORGE N. BRIGGS, Governor of this Commonwealth, rose and addressed the immense audience as follows:
BROTHERS OF BERKSHIRE! I should do injustice to my own feelings, if I did not in the outset declare to you the deep feelings of gratitude which pervade my bosom at the expression of your kindness which has placed me at the head of this family table. The Committee of arrangements have put into my hands a schedule
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marking out what remains to be done at this family gathering; and as the respectability of all families depends very much upon their good order and conduct at the table, you are requested to observe during the residue of the ceremonies the strictest order; for if I am not mistaken, in such a family as this, before the sun goes down you will have first rate speaking. There are some " boys here that can do that thing up well." I see by this ar- rangement that there are to be some introductory remarks by the President. I hardly know, my brothers and sisters, what to say to you. Foreigners have said, that when we get together here in this Yankee land we always talk about ourselves. Now I should like to know upon this occasion, what else can be talked about; for I think it is very bad policy for families when they are toge- ther, to talk about other folks! (Laughter.) It is very right for the children when they come home, to talk about the old home and fireside, and when they cluster about the old people, they have a right to talk of what has taken place during their absence. They have a right to inquire who is married, who is dead, and who is- runaway! if they please.
Here have come together around this family board, sons and daughters, whose residences are scattered over the surface of eighteen of these twenty-six States. We may well say to our- selves, (and if there are strangers here they will indulge us in say- ing so,) that we must be rather a promising family to have our children spread thus far and wide over the four quarters of this great land, and gathered together again on an occasion of this kind. We have heard, brothers, from our friend yesterday in sober prose, and from our other friend in cheerful poetry-we have heard much about the history of our good old mother Berkshire. They went back to her origin as a County, alluded to some events in her history, talked of her loved and interesting children, spoke of her beautiful scenery, and of the spirit and enterprise of her sons and daughters; and they had a right to talk so. It was said to- day, that within twelve hours after the news of the first act of ag- gression at Lexington reached this valley among these mountains, the Sons of Berkshire were on their way to the point of danger. That is matter of history. And it is no less true, that from that moment till the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, there was no day, no hour, no battle fought of any consequence in that great
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