USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hingham > The celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, September 15, 1885 > Part 2
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Marshal. Citizens and former residents of Hingham. Marshal.
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
SECOND DIVISION. Marshal, ALLEN P. SOULE, Chief. HINGHAM BRASS BAND. Marshal.
Marshal.
Pupils of the Public Schools and of Derby Academy, in charge of their respective Teachers.
High School, Jacob O. Sanborn, teacher, 1044 pupils. Thaxter Street Grammar, Willard E. Jones, teacher, 31 pupils. Elm Street Grammar, Hugh J. Molloy, teacher, 32 pupils. South Grammar, William H. Furber, teacher, 26 pupils. Canterbury Street, Miss Martha B. Beale, teacher, 20 pupils. South Mixed, Miss Elizabeth L. Stodder, teacher, 25 pupils. Derby Academy, Henry M. Wright, teacher, 35 pupils.
Elm Street Intermediate, Miss Emma I. Brown, teacher, 3S pupils. Centre Intermediate, Miss Mary W. Bates, teacher, 38 pupils. West Intermediate, Miss Adair F. Bonney, teacher, 52 pupils. Derby Primary, Miss Caroline R. Leverett, teacher, 26 pupils. Fort Hill Primary, Miss Emma L. Thayer, teacher, 29 pupils. Elm Street Primary, Miss Mary A. Crowe, teacher, 32 pupils. Centre Primary, Miss Irene I. Lincoln, teacher, 51 pupils. Private School, Miss Priscilla Whiton, teacher, 5 pupils. South Intermediate, Mrs. Mary F. Andrews, teacher, 34 pupils. South Primary, Miss Fannie O. Cushing, teacher, 29 pupils. Thaxter Street Primary, Miss Mary E. Riddle, teacher, 48 pupils. Centre Grammar, Mr. Louis P. Nash, teacher, 42 pupils.
THIRD DIVISION.
Marshal, HIRAM T. HOWARD, Chief. Fire Department of Hingham. Chief Engineer and Assistant Engineers. Isaac Little Hose Company No. 1, Hiram T. Howard, Foreman, 13 men.
Torrent Engine Company No. 2, Thomas Margetts, Acting Foreman, 17 men. Niagara Hose Company No. 3, J. Edwards Ripley, Foreman, 12 men. Constitution Engine Company No. 4, Andrew Gunn, Acting Foreman, 20 men. Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, Roswell L. Litchfield, Foreman, 16 men.
AT THE MEETING-HOUSE.
THE scene in the Meeting-house was very im- pressive. The decorations were confined to flowers and green, tastefully arranged but not elab- orate. The house was completely filled, the large audience being seated under the direction of a committee consisting of
E. WATERS BURR, CHAIRMAN.
EBED L. RIPLEY. CHARLES H. MARBLE.
Assisted by the following -
USHERS.
ARTHUR LINCOLN.
WILLIAM O. LINCOLN.
ELLERY C. CROCKER.
FREDERICK HUMPHREY.
STETSON FOSTER.
ALONZO F. CUSHING.
JOHN C. HOLLIS.
CHARLES F. WHITON.
JOSEPH B. THAXTER, Jr. ARTHUR R. WHITCOMB.
GEORGE S. MARSII.
WILLIAM R. BURR.
ERNEST W. LINCOLN.
Upon the platform, in front of the pulpit, sat Hon. JOHN D. LONG, President of the Day. At his right sat Mr. SOLOMON LINCOLN, the Orator, and at his left, Rev. JOSEPH OSGOOD, the Chaplain. There were also seated upon the platform His Excellency,
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
GEORGE D. ROBINSON, Governor of Massachusetts, His Honor, OLIVER AMES, Lieutenant-Governor, and many others of the invited guests.
In one of the front pews were two of the invited lady survivors of the celebration of 1835, - Mrs. Increase S. Smith and Mrs. Eunice WV. Campbell.
In the pews in the centre of the house were many who were present in the same meeting-house fifty years ago, to listen to similar exercises, and who recalled the scenes of that day. There were veterans of our late war, as on that day there were veterans of the Revolution. All, by their close attention, showed their deep interest in the occasion.
1635. 1885. ORDER OF EXERCISES IN
THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE,
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1885,
ON OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE TWO HUNDRED
AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
Committee on Church Exercises.
EDMUND HERSEY, 2D. CHARLES SIDERS.
FEARING BURR.
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
ORDER OF EXERCISES. .
HON. JOHN D. LONG, Presiding.
ORGAN VOLUNTARY. ALFRED H. BISSELL.
PRAYER.
REV. JOSEPH OSGOOD, OF COHASSET.
HYMN.
WRITTEN BY REV. HENRY WARE, JR., D. D.
For the Celebration of the zooth Anniversary of the Settlement of Hingham, and sung on that occasion, September 28, 1835.
Tune, " DUNDEE." -- To be sung by the congregation.
We praise the Lord, who o'er the sea Our exiled fathers led, And on them in the wilderness His light and glory shed. In want and fear for many a year They spread their scanty board ; Yet loud and strong their grateful song The Giver's hand adored.
Two hundred years have passed away ; The desert frowns no more ; And glory, such as Judah knew, Crowns hillside, vale, and shore. Then louder still, o'er plain and hill, Send forth the shout of praise, And bid it run from sire to son, Through all succeeding days.
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250TII ANNIVERSARY.
ORATION.
MR. SOLOMON LINCOLN.
1779107
HYMN.
" AMERICA." - To be sung by the congregation.
My country, 't is of thee, --- Sweet land of liberty, -- Of thee I sing : Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim's pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring.
My native country, thee, --- Land of the noble free, - Thy name I love : I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills ;
My heart with rapture thrills Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees Sweet freedom's song ! Let mortal tongues awake ; Let all that breathe partake ; Let rocks their silence break ;- The song prolong.
Our fathers' God, to thee, Author of liberty, - To thee we sing : Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light ; Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.
BENEDICTION. REV. HENRY M. DEAN.
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
The exercises began at 11.45 o'clock, with an Organ Voluntary by ALFRED H. BISSELL.
Prayer was then offered by Rev. JOSEPH OSGOOD, minister of the First Parish in Cohasset.
PRAYER OF REV. JOSEPHI OSGOOD.
ALMIGHTY GOD, - God of our fathers and our God, on whom we ever depend, - we ask thy blessing on this day. We pray thec to sanctify our hearts by the memories associated with this anniversary ; and, as we think of the past, -of the way in which thou hast led us and in which thou didst lead our fathers, - may we recognize our con- stant dependence on thee, and may our hearts be filled with gratitude and praise.
We thank thee that in the terrible conflict be- tween freedom and absolutism which divided the men of the Old World, thou didst put it into the hearts of some of thy children to forsake the land of their birth, and to seek new homes and to estab- lish new forms of government on these shores. We thank thee for their loyalty to conscience and for their appreciation of the rights of man. We thank thee that thou didst protect them from savage foes, preserve them from famine and death, and give them patience to perform faithfully the duties of their position; and that by their self-sacrifice, their industry, and their loyalty to all that was great,
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
good, and noble, they were enabled to found this ancient town, to plant here institutions of religion and learning, and to train up a people conscious of their rights, loyal to thee, loyal to the church, and loyal to the highest interests of humanity. We thank thee that from generation to generation thou hast watched over and guided them, - in their day of small things, amid hardship, privation, and trial, and in their days of prosperity, comfort, and happiness.
We thank thee for those who have been born in this town who have honored the place of their birth; who have carried forward the institutions of religion, of learning, and of civil order and freedom; who have filled worthily the professions which they chose, - those who have been ministers of thy word and have preached the gospel of truth, of freedom, of holiness, and of love; those who have sought to interpret the laws, and to teach men their legal and social duties and rights; and those who have been beloved physicians, combating disease and giving relief in pain and suffering.
We thank thee for the sons of this town who have occupied high places in the nation and in the State; for him who was the bosom friend, the wise adviser, and the able assistant of the Father of our country in the perilous days of the war of the Revolution.
We thank thee for the adopted children of this town who have so worthily held the office of Chief
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
Magistrate; and we would especially remember at this time him who was so devoted and loyal to his country, the War Governor of the nation, who, by his sympathy, counsel, and hearty co-operation, sustained and helped the President of the United States in all that fearful conflict through which our nation passed. And we thank thee for all the young men who, in the spirit of patriotism, perilled or laid down their lives at their country's call ; and we thank thee for all the men and women who, by their industry, honesty, enterprise, and virtue, have helped to make the town what it is and our country what it is.
Wilt thou, Heavenly Father, continue the bless- ings which thou hast bestowed on the fathers to their children ; and grant that the seeds which were sown in labor, hardship, trial, and patience may spring up and bear fruit an hundred-fold to thy glory, and that the prayers, labors, and endeavors of the past may result in securing for this town, and for all who have gone forth from this town, a more beautiful and prosperous future.
Bless, we pray thee, all the institutions of this town, -its churches, its schools, all its forms of honest industry and enterprise, all the endeavors made for the upbuilding of thy kingdom amongst its children, and for the training up of a noble, honorable, and loyal people, having in their hearts the spirit of patriotism that lived in the breasts of their fathers, so that, like them, they may be ready
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
to respond to every call of duty, and to face peril and hardship in the service of their country.
Wilt thou, Heavenly Father, bless all the exer- cises of this day. May they, while they remind us of the past, lead us to serious meditation. Bless the Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth. Bless all who sympathize in the spirit of this anniversary; and grant that while we are reminded of the labors, of the sacrifices, and the perils of the sons of this town in the past, their memory may be precious to us, and may ever be kept green in our hearts.
Wilt thou hear us, accept us, send down upon us thy blessing, for thine is the kingdom, power, and glory forever. Amen.
Then followed the singing of the Hymn by Rev. HENRY WARE, Jr., D. D., to the tune of " Dundee " by the congregation.
The Oration was then delivered by Mr. SOLOMON LINCOLN.
0
ORATION OF MR. SOLOMON LINCOLN.
Mr. President, Your Excellency, Men and Women of Hingham : -
"THE spirit of our institutions discourages pride
of birth. The Declaration of Independence - and he who first attached his bold signature to that immortal proclamation was partly of Hingham de- scent-declares that all men are created equal. And yet this is but a narrow truth. Men are created heirs to a most unequal inheritance. The qualities and opportunities which they inherit are the chief in- fluences which determine their character and their success. Fortunate, then, is he who springs from an honest, a wise, and a prosperous ancestry. And . as of the individual, so of a people. Fortunate is that community which inherits a just pride in the achievements of its ancestors; which wisely sees that a large measure of present prosperity rests on foundations laid in the past, and which, by a fre- quent and reverent study of the virtues of those ancestors, learns to maintain and to transmit them. More fortunate still are the sons, if their lot has fallen in the homes of the fathers; if their paths
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
lie among scenes stored with traditions, and which memory repeoples with familiar forms ; whose chil- dren, reared among cherished memorials of the past, imbibe a reverence for it ; and who themselves look forward to a rest beside their fathers in soil long consecrated by pious care, and made precious by their dust. The lives of such a people are enriched by a wealth of tender and refining influences, and are strengthened by noble examples; and the loss of these no success among strangers, however bril- liant, can replace.
We may justly claim that our town and people are thus fortunate. On the spot where the fathers first gathered the sons have remained, proud in the full enjoyment of the inheritance of their good names. The families most numerous among the citizens to-day bear names which the first settlers bore. We claim for the town no peculiar promi- nence among many settlements like it, carly planted on these rough coasts of Massachusetts. Their cen- tennials, now frequently recurring, recall histories equally noble. But the results of those simple be- ginnings never cease to arouse wonder. They at once began their steady expansion. Puritan and Pilgrim soon joined hands, and their united children form a community in which wealth, education, the comforts, and even luxuries of life have reached a higher average and more general distribution than in any of similar extent which has ever existed. The Puritans - those men of narrow means, but
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
little given to the pleasures of the world, cultivating but few of the graces which brighten life, chiefly conspicuous by a severe devotion to what they es- teemed man's highest duty, least of all men given to the indulgence of the imagination -have proved the unconscious founders of a nation of which the wealth and power would have seemed to them the idlest vision of a dream. Nor is their influence spent. Their sons, pouring across a continent to them unknown, even to the Pacific shore, bear it undiminished into new communities; and it carly lifted New England to a leadership which it still maintains.
These are familiar thoughts, but I recall them to remind ourselves that it never ceases to be our filial obligation to cherish the memory of such fathers. It is to the credit of this town that it has always been mindful of this duty. Not many memorials of the past have been bequeathed to our care. We look for no stately monuments, no marvels of the painter's pencil or the sculptor's chisel. These de- mand more centuries than those we celebrate to-day. Even had the Puritan not regarded the hours given to such creations as hours stolen from the service of God, yet the simplest needs of existence left him no season for such toil. This venerable Meeting- house stands almost our sole visible inheritance from the past; but in it the character and faith of the builders find perfect expression. They believed the worship of God to be their supreme duty. Their
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
first care, therefore, was to build His house, and a portion of that earliest building is incorporated in this venerable structure, which soon replaced it. But the Being whom they had forsaken home and crossed the sea to worship, looked with no favor upon costly churches, so adorned by art as to dis- tract the mind from true worship, or elaborate cere- monials in which empty forms were substituted for devotion. Such services in such temples were to them idolatry. Human art was trivial in the pres- ence of the Divine Majesty. Poor in the riches of this world, yet for the house they built for His ser- vice they gave with a liberal hand. Simple and homely in its design, they dishonored it by no un- faithful work. They chose the soundest oaks; they fitted its strong frame with elaborate care. Perhaps some lingering memory of the gothic arches of the cathedrals in the homes they had left, or fresher memories of the shades of the forest, unconsciously guided the axes which hewed the curved beams of its roof, now hidden by the ceiling above; and here and there slight traces of ornament show that the hand even of the Puritan artificer would wander, when tempted astray by some graceful fancy; but otherwise all is as strong and severe as the faith it typifies. And now its simple and homely lines are softened by the tender associations of more than two centuries ; by the joy and the sadness of all the solemn ceremonies of life and death. The builder's art has not failed; the elements have spared it; it
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
will stand till the oak decays, a monument of the fathers' piety and the sons' veneration.
And not merely have the town and its people pre- served with faithful care these visible memorials of their ancestors; they have not failed on suitable anniversaries publicly to honor their memory. Fifty years ago to-day they celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement with a zealous energy we cannot hope to surpass. All the resources of the town were appropriately employed, and all citi- zens united to give interest and dignity to the occasion. The bells of the various meeting-houses were rung. Young and old, escorted by two mili- tary companies of the town, -the Hingham Rifle Company and the Washington Guards, - marched in procession to this Meeting-house and joined in impressive services. Then, as to-day, the Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth honored the town by his presence. Distinguished strangers joined returning sons to pay their tribute of respect. Of these guests John Quincy Adams was the most conspicuous. Mr. Winthrop alone remains to enjoy in the evening of life his well-carned honors. The centennial oration, delivered upon this very spot, reviewed the history of the town, recalled the ser- vices of its prominent citizens, and gave fit expres- sion to the reflections and hopes which such an anniversary inspires. In the hearts of many of us emotions of sadness arise as we read the names of those who lent that day its spirit. Most are gone,
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
even of those then young. But it adds to the pleasure of this occasion that we can welcome here a few who remain to teach us the enthusiasm which was then aroused.
The various anniversaries of important events in the history of this parish and of its Meeting-house, have, in like manner, been publicly commemorated ; and the eloquent discourses then delivered, especially the admirable address of Professor Norton upon the two hundredth anniversary of the building of this house, have kept fresh the history of the town; for, in the early days, town and parish were one. One history of the town has long been published, - the early fruit of the industrious research of one whose other contributions to its published history were unceasing, and whose interest in the town ended only with his life. An ample volume, prepared at public expense and with most painstaking care, pre- serves the story of the part taken by Hingham in the Civil War; and, by like authority, there is now preparing another history, which shall be a complete account of Hingham. I am thus warned that its history is familiar to you; and that the lessons which it teaches have been taught you by lips far more competent than mine. Nothing but a deep interest and a strong sense of filial duty prompt me to be even a gleaner in such well-harvested fields. And yet, upon such an anniversary, our first thoughts must turn backward. However familiar the path, our steps, for a while at least, must follow the an-
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
cient ways. It is the day for old memories; and I should do it no justice should I refuse to revive them. We recall them with the same unfailing pleasure with which we revisit the homes of our youth. They have a mysterious charm, the deeper because it is peculiarly our own. The associations of such a day acquire not merely their tender in- terest, but indeed, if I may use a paradox, their freshness and strength from their very age and familiarity.
Two hundred and fifty years! Hardly to be counted in the unrecorded ages since the earth took form. Scarcely a moment, even upon the dial of recorded time. Short, indeed, in such comparisons, and yet, if measured by the scale of human progress, centuries longer than all preceding time. For in them has arisen the new modern world, with its new states, and its new principles of government, its new science, literature, and art. The lapse of a period so rounded lifts us in imagination to a height from which we have a clearer vision of the early days. Years are brief ; and the beginning very near. We cannot, indeed, now learn all our history from living lips ; but words from lips of those who told it to their sons, and they again to theirs, might, thus transmitted, almost reach our cars. One hundred and fifty years ago one of the original settlers was still alive. Three such generations would span the interval from the first settlement. With long lives have Hingham men been honored. To this the
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250TH ANNIVERSARY.
remarkable record of yonder tablet bears witness. One of the ministers whose names are there en- rolled, the Rev. Dr. Gay, preached here within a few months of seventy years; another, Mr. Richardson, was pastor of this parish more than sixty-five; and both, in discourses preached from this pulpit, bor- rowing their text from the words of the prophet and repeating his experience, were able with him to declare, " And now, lo, I am this day four score and five years old."
The lives and character of the Puritans have been the frequent theme of the orator, the historian, and the essayist. Their achievements and the con- sequences which followed have been so grand, and their character so strong, as to justify high eulogy. But praise has been indiscriminate, and a dispropor- tioned estimate has resulted. The prevailing im- pressions concerning them are in a considerable degree inaccurate and unjust. Their peculiarities have been exaggerated and their asceticism over- stated; and on the other hand, they have been credited with a broader conception of religious lib- erty than they really possessed. We insist on the nobility of their sacrifices and of their supreme devotion to the dictates of their consciences; but, on the other hand, we cannot claim that their con- sciences were fully illuminated.
"Not unto them was lent All light for all the coming days."
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THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
Their conception of religious liberty was not com- plete. They did not contend for entire liberty of conscience, nor for full religious toleration. They had themselves been oppressed ; odious and, as they thought, unscriptural ceremonies had been imposed on them against their will, and they were ready to sacrifice everything to found a state in which they, not all men, could so order their lives and their worship as they were sure the Scriptures prescribed. They had not disputed the right of the temporal power to regulate religious belief. They recognized this power, so long as it was exercised in support of truth. But they bore it no allegiance when it op- pressed truth and upheld error. They did not,
therefore, profess to be tolerant. Where, indeed, were they to learn toleration? Under what infiu- ences had their faith been formed? In every State in Europe, except perhaps in Holland, martyrs were burning at the stake. Hingham in England was not so far from Oxford but that the fathers of the founders of Hingham in New England may have seen the fires blazing around Latimer and Ridley. Toleration was nowhere recognized. They did not then complain of the exercise of an unjust power, but of an unjust exercise of power ; and their resist- ance to it was leading them, as they believed, to a purer faith, but not to liberty of conscience. The arguments by which they maintained their position were often, indeed, broad enough to support the much more liberal one of complete toleration.
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250TII ANNIVERSARY.
But they claimed for them no such force. To secure this was not their purpose. So far were they from conceding it that many protested directly against it. Mr. Ward, in his " Simple Cobler of Agawam," writes: " He that is willing to tolerate any religion besides his own, either doubts of his own, or is not sincere in it;" and again he says : " It is said that men ought to have Liberty of their Conscience, and that it is Persecution to debarre them of it. I can rather stand amazed than reply to this. It is an astonishment to think that the brains of men should be parboyld in such impious ignorance. Let all the wits under the Heavens lay their heads together and find an assertion worse than this (one excepted), I will petition to be chosen the universal Ideot of the world."
Such were the principles which the Puritans im- bibed in England and brought with them here. But men so intelligent and imbued with the spirit of civil cquality, could not long maintain religious doc- trines so narrow. The light soon broke. The great principle of complete religious freedom in its broad- est latitude was soon proclaimed among them, and advocated by minds which had outstripped their contemporaries and been gifted with a keener vision. Roger Williams was the greatest of those upon whom this truth had dawned, though his warnings were not the first that had been given. On the deck of the Speedwell, as the Pilgrims parted from their friends at Delft Haven, John Robinson admon-
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