USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The Berkshire jubilee > Part 8
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struggle for independence, where not only Massachusetts men were not found, but where there were not found also Berkshire men mingling in the fight.
A little incident relating to that bold and fearless attack upon Ticonderoga, I will name to you. The Connecticut Legislature, or some of the dauntless ones there, conceived the idea of surpri- sing Ticonderoga, and they sent up some right men through this region of country to hold consultation as to what plan of arrange- ments should be fixed upon. They came here to the village of Pittsfield, and in an old house where Willis' store now stands, and where lived the maternal grandfather of my friend at this end of the table, (Dr. Childs,) they held consultation, and there his grandfather James Easton, John Brown, and other faithful men, matured a plan of operations. Some were to go to Jericho, now Hancock, and secure some choice spirits; and before the country knew it, Ticonderoga had surrendered at the demand of Ethan Allen, on an authority which they dare not question. Col. John Brown was a citizen of this town; he went to Quebec and was there with Benedict Arnold; while there, with his sacagious eye, he pierced through the covering and discovered the traitor. Be- fore he returned home some difficulty arose between them, and Brown published him as a coward and traitor. Afterwards his true character was developed. You know the history of John Brown; he sleeps at Stone Arabie, where he fell in that murder- ous attack of the Indians upon the Mohawk. And he sleeps nor there alone; many a Berkshire Boy fell with him. From our lit tle sister town of Lanesborough, three of her sons perished in that bloody conflict; many a Berkshire mother's heart sunk within her at the news of that day's work. Bennington! they were there too; Berkshire was alive when she heard that her neighbors on the north in the Green Mountain State were in danger, and she poured through the gorge of the mountain beyond Williamstown, her brave sons; and many of them were in the fight, and many Berkshire men fell there. That same Lanesborough lost three worthy soldiers in that battle. And so it was, as I said before, they mingled in all the great fights, they flew to every portion of the country where danger bade them. Out of the 69,000 soldiers which Massachusetts furnished to that war, (and that was one-third of the whole number, 220,000, furnished by all the States in the
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American Revolution,) this, our native County, furnished her full proportion. Berkshire men were at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. I knew a good old man - peace to his ashes !- who was through that whole revolutionary struggle. He was a brave soldier and a true son of Massachusetts; and was as honest and just in peace as he was firm and courageous in war. In that dreadful winter, at Valley Forge, he suffered with his fellow sol- diers. The last time I saw him, he gave me the whole history of the battle of Yorktown. He was there during the preceding sum- mer, and discharged many an important and confidential trust con- fided to him by La Fayette. And I saw that good old man meet in this village his brave and generous old commander. Fifty years had passed since they fought together, the old man had toiled away in his shop at Lanesborough, and when he heard that La Fayette was to be here, his heart beat high with the pulsations of youth, and he said he must see his General once more. He came down and met him under yonder elm, and when he mentioned an incident which served to awaken old associations, they clasped each other and wept like children. His name is David Jewett - a name which has never gone abroad on the wings of Fame, but he was one of those who resembled more the corner stone of the building which the world never sees, than he did some more orna- mental but less important part.
And so we went through the Revolution. Well, in the last war, (for I am now talking about the soldiers of Berkshire,) so long as the name of the " Bloody 9th " shall endure, so long the valor of Berkshire soldiers will be borne in mind. We have had an Indian war in Florida, and oh! what a rich and costly sacrifice Berkshire has offered upon that altar. Our own young Lt. Center, from this Pittsfield, fell by a bullet from a Seminole rifle; and our Childs spent some three or four years amidst the bogs of Florida, and al- most fatally impaired one of the finest constitutions in the world. During all his course in that most inglorious war, he never did an act of unnecessary cruelty, or was guilty of perfidy towards the hunted Indians of the Florida everglades.
It was said yesterday, my friends, and it is true, that the first Ag- ricultural Society in the United States, was organized in Berkshire. It is now in full and prosperous operation, and there is no class of citizens in this County who have not reaped benefit from it; the
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farmer, the mechanic, the laboring man, and the professional man. Our agriculture is improved, our manufactures are fostered, our me- chanical arts benefited, the social feelings have been cultivated and enlarged among all our inhabitants. During the thirty-three years of the existence of this Society, which has been a period of political commotion and excitement unparalelled in the history of this or any other country, there never was a time when politics in any form have been introduced upon either of the days of our Agricultural Fair. Though for the last forty years we have been almost equally divided into political parties, there has been less bitterness of feeling among partisans, and a kinder and more bro- therly spirit among our citizens, than in almost every other sec- tion of the country. We have shown that "every difference of opinion is not a difference of sentiment."
Here all denominations of religion exist. Who has ever seen among the different persuasions, more harmony and Christian good will prevailing than in this very County of Berkshire?
I was admonished by the Committee that one part of the ar- rangements is that speeches must be short. We should make the best speeches in the fewest words. I have spoken in a desultory manner; my heart is too full for connected thought, or studied speech. Brothers, we have come together, (and thank Heaven that we have lived to see this happy occasion,) to mingle our feel- ings and rekindle our affections at this family altar. We have come in the fulness of our joy, to talk to and of one another, to enquire of each others' welfare, to say how we have fared during our long separation. We know that our brothers from abroad bring back good tidings of the counties where they dwell; stran- gers have shown them kindness. Our hearts have been made glad to hear of their prosperity in every part of this goodly land. The south and the west have dealt kindly with them. During the time I was honored with a seat in the House of Representatives of the United States, I met in every Congress Berkshire men. In one House of Representatives there were eight members who were Sons of Berkshire. Wherever her sons are found, whether in honor or humility, they remember their good old Mother with affection. Well, here we are once more together in the old home- stead, amidst all the joyful and endearing associations which have been so touchingly described yesterday and to-day.
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In the freshness of this gushing joy a sad reflection comes over the mind, that this glad Jubilee will be the last that many of us will ever witness. Of the present we are secure, and for its bless- ings we thank Heaven around this family table. You have come, my friends, to walk in the green meadows over which your boyish feet once ran with the lightness of the roe, to ramble over the pasture where once you lingered after the returning cows-to look into the old well and see its dripping bucket, to gaze upon that old apple tree where you gathered the early fruit, to walk on the banks of the winding stream and stand by the silver pool over which the willow bent and in which you bathed your young limbs, to visit the spot where with your brothers and sisters you gathered the ripe berries-to look upon that old school house where you learned to read and to spell, to write and to cypher, where sometimes you felt the stinging birch-to re-ascend that well remembered rock upon which in mirth and play you spent so many happy hours, to see if it looked and appeared as it used to, to walk once more up the alley of that old church where you first heard the revered and loved Parson preach and pray-and you have come to visit the peaceful graveyard, to walk among its green mounds and drop the tear of affection and friendship upon the silent resting place of loved ones who sleep there. You have come here to rekindle at this domestic fireside the holy feelings of youth. To all these we bid you welcome! Welcome to these green vallies and lofty mountains. Welcome to this feast, to our homes, to our hearts. Welcome to every thing. Once more I say, welcome!
I give you for a sentiment,
THE COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE-She loves her institutions and her beautiful scenery, but feeling the sentiment and borrowing the language of the Roman mother, she points to her children and exclaims, " These are my Jewels."
I call upon brother BIDWELL, a true Son of Berkshire, for a speech or a sentiment, or both.
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Hon. MARSHAL S. BIDWELL of New-York, then took the stand, and spoke nearly as follows:
MY FRIENDS! In taking this position, in compliance with the request of friends by whom I am surrounded, I do so chiefly for the sake of setting a good example, which I hope may be followed by others who shall be called upon to succeed me. I have not come here prepared to make any speech. I have come here sim- ply to enjoy one of the dearest wishes of my heart - that of re- visiting, after a long absence, and with interruptions, after an ab- sence of many, many years in a foreign land, the scenes and the friends of my childhood. I come, I know, with the same senti- ments and feelings which are experienced by the thousands around me; and it does rejoice my heart to stand here, as His Excellency our honored President has said, a Son of Berkshire. It is the proudest title to which I have ever aspired, and I cannot tell you how I have been gratified at coming back again amid these beau- tiful hills and valleys, and this now auspicious sky, and re-breath- ing that air, which is so well calculated to give an impulse to the sentiments and feelings that are cherished by every one who loves human liberty and human happiness, under a government of laws.
I have told you I have not come here to make a speech, and I intend to verify what I have said, by simply offering in place of it, a sentiment felt, I am persuaded, by every son and daughter of Berkshire here present-
The scenes and friends of our childhood!
Where is there a person whose heart does not beat quicker in the midst of such hallowed associations. The love of our native place is the universal law of nature. It is a law which is felt and obeyed, even by the inanimate world. The lofty and stately palm, which flourishes amid the burning sands of the tropics, is withered when transplanted to the frigid zone; and the moss which dis- plays in such beauty and such microscopic wonder the powers of he Almighty Creator in the northern regions, cannot exist when transplanted to the midst of tropical suns. And so it is with eve- ry order of animate nature. The eagle loves its solitary nest, be- cause it is his native home; and all animals, even the ferocious beasts of prey, in the deserts of Africa, love them, because they are their native home. But how much more powerfully is this
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sentiment felt by man, gifted with reason, and capable of enjoy- ment in the highest degree of the noble and social affections! How does he love the scenes of his childhood! and that universally, no matter where his lot be cast; he loves it because it is his native place. But with how much more force, should this sentiment be felt in our hearts, blessed with such a home, and such na- tive scenes, and such glorious and kindling associations connect- ed with them, when we recur to them, not because of the luxuri- ous display of the fine arts, not because they are scenes of glory in the estimation of the warrior, with his " garments rolled in blood," but because they are so beautiful and so picturesque, and because the simple and stern virtues, have brought together such a family as we witness here this day, where order and decorum are associa- ted in so high a degree with social enjoyment, and with the dis- play which we have had yesterday and to-day of intellectual worth. I am therefore sure, my friends, when I propose this sen- timent, it will find a ready echo, in all these bosoms around me.
One of the most gratifying things connected with this Jubilee, is, that it has power almost (I speak it with no spirit of levity, much less of profanity,) of working miracles. It brings back the old forms of the lamented, who have preceded us to the world of spirits. It raises the dead. It is not you, my friends, beloved and honored, whom I see here, by whom alone I am surrounded. No: there are glorious forms around me; dear and loved ones on every side are springing up, as if by magic, in the midst of all these scenes in which we now associate. Those who were the friends of our childhood, the fathers whom we revered, how can we see them again breathing as it were around us, and blessing us for a time at least by their revered presence. Brethren, sisters, dear friends whom we have cherished in our hearts, are here not forgotten in our Jubilee. They cannot sit down at our table with us, but thanks be to God, we can from the bosoms where they have long dwelt, revive them here, and see them in all their attraction, beauty and blessedness. I therefore conclude, Mr. President, by repeating the sentiment,
The friends and the scenes of our childhood !
Sentiment by DRAKE MILLS, Esq., of New-York :
OLD BERKSHIRE-Her fair fame, a passport for her sons wher- ever they go-her principles, a guarantee of success whatever they do.
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The President announced that a poem would now be delivered by Dr. HOLMES of Boston.
Dr. OLIVER W. HOLMES rose in his place, but was greeted with cries from various parts of the audience, to come to the centre of the ground, so as to be heard by all. The President said-And I sug- gest to the gentleman to follow the example of our good friend who preceded him, and get upon the table, which is an advance- ment upon former feasts, where the tendency was rather to get under the table. (Cheers.)
Dr. HOLMES accordingly took the table and requested to be allowed before he opened the very brief paper in his hand, to as- sure his friends of the reason why he had found himself here. It shall be short, (said he,) but inasmuch as the company express willingness to hear historical incidents, any little incident which shall connect me with those to whom I cannot claim to be a broth- er, seems to be fairly brought forward. I will take the liberty to refer to one. One of my earliest recollections is of an annual pilgrimage, made by my parents to the west. The young horse was brought up, fatted by a week's rest and high feeding, prancing and caracoling to the door. It came to the corner and was soon over the western hills. He was gone a fortnight; and one after- noon-it always seemed to me it was a sunny afternoon-we saw an equipage crawling from the west, towards the old homestead; the young horse who sat out fat and prancing, worn thin and re- duced by a long journey-the chaise covered with dust, and all speaking of a terrible crusade, a formidable pilgrimage. Winter evening stories told me where-to Berkshire, to the borders of New-York, to the old domain, owned so long that there seemed a kind of hereditary love for it. Many years passed away, and I tra- velled down the beautiful Rhine: I wished to see the equally beau- tiful Hudson. I found myself at Albany; a few hours ride brought me to Pittsfield, and I went to the little spot, the scene of this pil- grimage-a mansion-and found it surrounded by a beautiful meadow, through which the winding river made its course in ten thousand fantastic curves; the mountains reared their heads around it, the blue air which makes our city pale cheeks again to deepen with the hue of health, coursing about it pure and free. I recog- nized it as the scene of the annual pilgrimage. Since that I have made an annual visit to it.
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In 1735, Hon. Jacob Wendall, my grandfather in the maternal line, bought a township not then laid out-the township of Pon- toosuc-and that little spot which we still hold, is the relic of 24,000 acres of baronial territory. When I say this, no feeling which can be the subject of ridicule animates my bosom. I know too well, that the hills and rocks outlast our families; I know we fall upon the places we claim as the leaves of the forest fall, and as passed the soil from the hands of the original occupants into the hands of my immediate ancestors, I know it must pass from me and mine; and yet with pleasure and pride I feel I can take every inhabitant by the hand, and say, if I am not a son, or a grandson, or even a nephew of that fair County, at least I am allied to it by an hereditary relation. But I have no right to in- dulge in sentimental remarks. (Cries of "go on, go on.")
Dr. HOLMES read the poem as follows, which was received with continued and hearty cheers.
Come back to your Mother, ye children, for shame, Who have wandered like truants, for riches or fame! With a smile on her face and a sprig on her cap, She calls you to feast from her bountiful lap.
Come out from your alleys, your courts and your lanes, And breathe, like young eagles, the air of our plains: Take a whiff from our fields, and your excellent wives Will declare it's all nonsense insuring your lives.
Come you of the law, who can talk if you please, Till the man in the moon will allow it's a cheese, And leave " the old lady, that never tells lies," To sleep with her handkerchief over her eyes.
Ye healers of men, for a moment decline Your feats in the rhubarb and ipecac line; While you shut up your turnpike, your neighbors can go, The old roundabout road to the regions below.
You clerk, on whose ears are a couple of pens, And whose head is an ant-hill of units and tens; Though Plato denies you, we welcome you still As a featherless biped, in spite of your quill.
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Poor drudge of the city, how happy he feels With the burs on his legs, and the grass at his heels; No dodger behind, his bandanas to share, No constable grumbling " You mus'nt walk there."
In yonder green meadow, to memory dear, He slaps a musketo and brushes a tear; The dew-drops hang round him, on blossoms and shoots, He breathes but one sigh for his youth and his boots.
There stands the old school-house, hard by the old church; That tree at its side had the flavor of birch; Oh sweet were the days of his juvenile tricks, Though the prairie of youth had so many " big licks."
By the side of yon river he weeps and he slumps, The boots filled with water, as if they were pumps; Till sated with rapture, he steals to his bed, With a glow in his heart and a cold in his head.
'Tis past-he is dreaming-I see him again; His ledger returns as by legerdemain; His neck-cloth is damp, with an easterly flaw, And he holds in his fingers an omnibus straw.
He dreams the shrill gust is a blossomy gale, That the straw is a rose from his dear native vale; And murmurs, unconscious of space and of time, " A. 1. Extra-super-Ah, is'nt it PRIME!"
Oh! what are the prizes we perish to win, To the first little " shiner " we caught with a pin! No soil upon earth is as dear to our eyes As the soil we first stirred in terrestrial pies!
Then come from all parties, and parts, to our feast, Though not at the " Astor," we'll give you at least A bite at an apple, a seat on the grass, And the best of cold-water-at nothing a glass.
U
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Judge DEWEY was introduced to the meeting, and said-
Mr. PRESIDENT, GENTLEMEN AND LADIES -I come from the eastern portion of the circle represented here, in obedience to a notice which has been circulated by the gentlemen originally, as I understand, from the city of New-York; and the first thing that occurred to me, was how it happened gentlemen from New-York were coming here to take possession of this fair soil of ours. Sure- ly, gentlemen, the time was, when such an array of enemy, official or unofficial, coming into this fair valley of the Housatonic by vir- tue of their rights under the Dutch, would not have been tolera- ted: and the only reason why we are now satisfied is, that
Come to scrutinize these names a little closely, I found them all kin of ours, come here not to drive us from this plain posses- sion of ours, but as friends to take us by the hand - and as friends we take them by the hand. I am grateful for the invitation; I think it was done up in the best manner. I have received for the coming week, the 28th August, in the town of Framingham, a no- tice wherein are requested all the descendants of one Richard Ha- ven to a general gathering, and in this invitation are included all the descendants in any way connected with him by marriage, and all who ever expected to be! (Laughter.) Now, my friends from New-York, you have not done this thing well! here you find an improvement upon you. (Laughter.) Judge Dewey stated that he was not a native of Berkshire, but of Hampshire; but alluding to the fact that in 1761, the former was a part of the latter County, and that he had spent so large a portion of his life here, said he felt that he was a native of Berkshire.
This is a joyous occasion, (said he,) a happy family, and it is de- lightful to come here from all parts of our common country and mingle together, and take by the hand the friends of our early days, and here again to pledge anew our devotion to their inter- ests and to the common interests of our common country. To this County my early associations have ever closely and warm- ly attached; from this County I have received much to fill my heart with gratitude, and I always turn to it as to the happy spot on which I would rest my eyes as the last resting place of those friends of my early days, near and dear to me, who have gone be- fore me. On the present occasion we come back glorying, not in
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the spirit of vain boasting, I hope, but glorying when we see how great have been the productions of this County of every kind, whe- ther in agriculture, manufactures, the mechanic arts, and in intel- lectual acquisitions. In the learned professions we turn with proud satisfaction to Berkshire, and find we have sent forth more, far more than our adequate proportion of the population of this country.
Permit me, Mr. President, for a moment to refer to what Berk- shire has done in relation to filling judicial stations. You have furnished, are you aware of it? a Judge for Pennsylvania, long ho- nored and respected there, and now in office; a Judge for Michigan; a Chief Justice for New-York, and one for Queen's Bench at Mon- treal. We have furnished those who have occupied seats in Con- gress to a very great number, as was mentioned by our honored President, eight at one time. There are no less than five from Williamstown, native and reared in our town, who have been ho- nored by this public station before the country, and who have sus- tained themselves ably and faithfully.
You have not only those great natural objects and the endear- ing associations connected with them in which you may glory, but you may glory in these inhabitants. Look at the interest they have in schools, in colleges, in the great works of improvement, and at the zeal and devotion with which they labor for the good of mankind. When I look at all these things, I come back here with pleasure to acknowledge that this is the County in which, not where I drew my native breath, but where I received my early edu- cation and principles, and whatever may have fitted me for use- fulness in the station I now occupy; and I have only time now to say to you that my ardent prayer is, that rich as this County is in the beauty of its scenery, in the variety and value of its natural productions, in its mechanic arts, in its agriculture and manufac- tures, long may it be rich in the love of civil and religious liberty, long may here endure the great principles which we have derived from our Puritan fathers, purifying and protecting us to the latest generations.
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Sentiment by THOS. ALLEN, of St. Louis, Mo .:
THE NATIVES OF BERKSHIRE-
" They love their land, because it is their own, And scorn to give aught other reason why; Would shake hands with a king upon his throne, And think it kindness to his majesty; A stubborn race, fearing and flattering none."
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