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 3
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ished them of human imperfection, and besought them to receive the truth from whomsoever it should come. The seed thus sown did not bear immediate fruit. By great sacrifices the Puritans had at last secured the peaceful exercise of their own religious convictions ; and it was natural that they should be impatient of any interruption of that peace. They were not disposed to consider how far their own claims, made when they were the weaker party, im- posed a corresponding toleration for others when they themselves held control. They had not sought a new home to raise or discuss a question like this. They did not claim to be consistent or tolerant. They made no claims, -- they knew they were right ; and if they were right, others were wrong. To tol- erate evil was to participate in it. Hence they be- lieved themselves justified in excluding from church and state those whose opinions did not conform to their own. Such men were sowing tares in the garden of the Lord.
This view of the Puritan character does not fairly detract from their moral grandeur. Never were men more nobly faithful to the light that was in them. We, with an experience which they did not possess, may hesitate to assign them so high a posi- tion, as founders of states, as that to which they would have been entitled, had they been given the wise foresight to see that from a wider toleration would have earlier resulted a larger measure of the truth which makes all free; but yet, even with our
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light, we may not merely excuse but justify their position as a political necessity. There may be too much of toleration. Unanimity and peace are essential to the existence of small communities ; much more to their prosperous growth. Such can- not, like large states, absorb men of all conditions and all beliefs without appreciable danger. When such danger appears, the right to exclude arises ; and of the exercise of this right the communities themselves must judge. I do not forget that in some parts of New England the Puritans descended to persecution, for which I have no defence. But this I need not here discuss. I find no stain like this upon the lives of our Hingham fathers.
And, on the other hand, in another particular, those who have described the Puritan character have given it too dark a coloring, and have done them an injustice which we are entitled to correct.
From the gloomy severity of their religious doc- trines have been inferred a corresponding severity and gloom of life. But no creed ever found full expression in practice ; and no severity of creed or practice can change our humanity. It cannot de- stroy affection for kindred. It cannot extinguish the love of home and of country. These finer emotions, even if hidden, the Puritan never lost. Doubtless, under the repression of a severe exterior, they burned with fiercer warmth. These men were our fathers, not very far removed from us. Their children know that those so near to them were men
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of like affections with themselves. They who set- tled these shores were no mere discontented adven- turers seeking to repair their broken fortunes in new fields; nor were they driven forth by superior power. They were voluntary exiles in obedience to the highest sense of duty, and in devotion to their highest ideals. They held no mean place in Eng- land. Though their lives even there were austere, yet they were spent in a land naturally beautiful ; where ample harvests rewarded moderate toil; where were the homes of their race and the monuments of its fame; where, if anywhere, it was open to them to enjoy so much of worldly pleasure as they thought the just privilege of the servants of the Lord. Can we believe that all this was not dear to them, - that they did not reluctantly part from it? The Pil- grims lingered in Holland before they finally turned their faces to the west. Can we suppose that Pil- grim and Puritan never looked backward to their early home with an affectionate longing ? And yet no thought of these things could turn them from their high purpose. They were men of the noblest type; but we belittle their sacrifice if we picture them insensible to those ties which bind all men most strongly.
No dramatic incident marks the coming of the first settlers of Hingham, nor their early history. They made no picturesque landing upon a desert rock under a stormy sky. Peter Hobart, the first pastor, as he stepped ashore at Bare Cove, a few
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rods from where we now stand, behind the ceme- tery hill, found that a few scattered settlers had preceded him, and there soon gathered his little flock, - if so pastoral a comparison fitly describes the gathering of men who with arms in their hands, from rough homes, by forest paths, sought the sanc- tuary, then at once a fortress and a house of God. Life was no doubt laborious in that first summer at Hingham. Without, the mere struggle for existence left but little space for the simplest amusements, even had such found favor; within doors, the pleasures of literature were practically unknown. But there are some bright colors in the picture. The colonists had found freedom and peace, at least as against all those enemies with whom they had hitherto con- tended; and the lands in which their lines had fallen, although not pleasant places, were not altogether unlovely. The waters of the bay were as blue then as now; the wild beauty, even of the unsubdued forest, in the luxuriance of its summer foliage, must have charmed even eyes accustomed to the mel- low loveliness of an English landscape; and the brilliant tints of autumn lit the air with a novel splendor.
It was in July, 1635, that a plantation was erected here, - that is to say, a municipal government was then established; and on September 2, 1635, this plantation, hitherto known by the name of Bare Cove, was incorporated as the town of Hingham, - borrowing this name from Hingham in England,
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from which its settlers chiefly came. It is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of that incorpora- tion which we celebrate to-day. The little settle- ment grew with moderate growth, expanding along the town brook, and also toward Broad Cove, and upon Bachelor Street, now Main Street, by the first meeting-house, which stood opposite where the Derby Academy now stands. It extended by the hill around the meeting-house, on the slopes of which the first settlers were buried, whose remains now sleep peacefully in yonder burial-ground within the walls of the fort which they guarded in life. Hither came to join the settlement many men of some property, of good standing, and of more than ordinary education. At this time Peter Hobart, the first minister, is the conspicuous figure, and so con- tinues during his life. Church and State were now one. Church-membership alone gave the right to vote. The meeting-house was the town-house. The minister of religion, by virtue of his high position and of the education which fitted him for it, then shared by few, was naturally a leader also in secular affairs. For such a part Peter Hobart was well fitted, not merely by his position but by tempera- ment. The quaint language used by the magistrates of the Massachusetts Colony, when they sent to him to forbear delivering a discourse in Boston, on the occasion of the marriage of one of his church, well described him. They gave their reason for the prohibition in words very familiar to Hingham cars.
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" He was a bold man," they said, " and would speak his mind."
No events, which at this distance of time seem important, mark the early years of the settlement ; and yet there is not wanting evidence that the first settlers and the new comers retaincd the same jealous determination to maintain their rights, as revealed by the light within, which had led them across the sea, and the same boldness in asserting them before the constituted authorities. Indeed, the pertinacity of our fathers seems carly to have vexed the General Court. So early as 1643, with a pru- dent thrift which looked well forward to the values of the present, they laid claim to a portion of Nan- tasket, and supported this claim before the courts of law with the best evidence they could command. The General Court, however, entertained a different opinion of its merits from that held by the town, and adjudged it frivolous. The records of the court set forth the following judgment, with which, having an appreciative view of the Hingham spirit, it was thought prudent to incorporate a warning. The language is: " The former grant to Nantascot was againe voted & confirmed, & Hingham men willed to forbear troubleing the Co't any more about Nan- taskot." Language thus distinct our fathers had the wisdom to understand, and with this claim they troubled the court no more. But a controversy shortly arose which, although of insignificant origin, grew to large proportions, stirred the town to its
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centre, and soon engaged the attention of the high- est authorities of the colony. This was the " sad unbrotherly contention," as it is termed by Johnson in the " Wonder Working Providence," relating to the choice of the captain of the military company. The details of the controversy are easily accessible, and I will not pause to recount them. The original subject of difference was unimportant, and the re- spective merits of the parties to it are not so easily determined. These considerations were early over- shadowed by the discussions of more serious ques- tions which arose in the General Court and before the legal tribunals, and which involved the right of petition, respect for and resistance to civil authority, and, in fine, some of the highest problems of gov- ernment. The " bold man," Peter Hobart, and his followers did not hesitate to charge Deputy Gov- ernor Winthrop with an abuse of power. What is chiefly interesting to us is to observe the brave and intelligent independence of our townsmen, as represented by Hobart and the majority, and their impatience of authority which, as they thought, infringed their rights, -even though that authority was in part of their own creation. The final judg- ment of the magistrates upon the merits of the original controversy was against Peter Hobart and his party ; but upon the more serious questions at issue, it is not clear that they were held to be in the wrong.
The Deputy Governor was acquitted. The town
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suffered from the dispute, but the colony profited. It gave to Governor Winthrop the opportunity to render a great public service, in the address which he delivered before the magistrates and deputies. This was a most admirable exposition of the posi- tion of magistrates in a democracy, and of true liberty under law. It is to-day a lucid definition of the truc principles of government, and illustrates how early they were correctly apprehended by our ancestors. Whatever criticism we may make upon their conception of religious liberty, we have none for their civil government. Grant that they were strict in excluding from a share in that government those whose opinions did not conform to their own, yet perfect cquality of political rights obtained among themselves. They established, at the first, a pure democracy. The experience of two centuries and a half has resulted in no improvement of the principles on which it rests. Our national growth does not illustrate the growth of liberal principles, but rather the development of material advantages under liberal principles. The state which these men founded was mature at its creation. The world is still indebted to it for the most perfect type of free government.
Matters of so grave moment occupy, of course, but a small space in the history of the town. The early years could not be largely occupied in the dis- cussion of principles of government. The Indians were at first a source of constant anxiety, although
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the town never suffered severely from their depre- dations. It contributed men and money for the defence of the colony against them. It gave full assistance in resisting the great and unsuccessful effort of King Philip to exterminate the white men, and with his failure danger from the Indians disap- peared. The vigorous Hobart, venerable in years and honors, passed away, living just long enough to give his benediction to his gentler successor, the scholarly Norton. The early ministry of the latter was signalized by the building of this meeting-house, long known as the "New Meeting-house." The lapse of years has reversed its designation, and now it has become doubtless the oldest building in the land still occupied for Protestant worship. Before the first century of the town closed Norton had been suc- ceeded by the Rev. Dr. Gay, and little else occurred during that period which need be noted.
So ended the first hundred years. The town had grown slowly, but with a stable growth. Here, as elsewhere, the complexion of civil society was changing. The first settlers left the mother coun- try, chiefly, although not wholly, to secure religious freedom. The interests of religion, therefore, were at first predominant. The clergy were leaders of the community. But the lapse of one hundred years wrought a change. Religious freedom was assured, and now civil rights began to demand pro- tection against the aggressions of the mother-coun- try. For this reason, and because of the wider
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diffusion of education, which was no longer so largely confined to the ministers of religion, their influence began to fade. Then, too, the growth of material prosperity and the general advance of knowledge had affected the severe theology of the early settlers. The stringent doctrines which Peter Hobart proclaimed were held in less rigid grasp by the milder nature of his successor, and were ulti- mately broadened to the liberalism of Dr. Gay. But nothing essential had been lost, we may well believe, of the sturdy virtues which had been tempered and strengthened by the trials of a hundred years, and all their strength was soon to be tested by the long strain of the War of the Revolution. Although our fathers sought seclusion here, they had not yet re- nounced their allegiance to England, and as her sub- jects, they could not escape the duties and burdens which resulted from that relation. They became necessarily involved in the long struggle between England and France for the possession of North America, and contributed their share of men and money to the various expeditions sent from New England. Soldiers from Hingham sailed for Que- bec under Sir William Phips; joined the expedition to Nova Scotia in the French war of 1744; and were present at the massacre of Fort William Henry.
The sacrifices of our fathers to secure religious freedom in the first century of our history are paralleled by the anxieties and sufferings of their sons to secure civil rights in the War of the Revo-
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lution. In the council and in the field, on sea and land, the sons of Hingham bore their full part. Benjamin Lincoln, the Hingham farmer, rose to be General Lincoln of the Continental Army and the trusted friend of Washington. To him was assigned the high honor of receiving the sword of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and this closing act of the war not merely fitly crowns his own conspicuous services, but honorably associates the name of his native town with the imperishable records of the great struggle. I touch lightly upon the history of these immortal years, lest praise, by frequent repetition, should lose its significance. The fruits of those years of trial we enjoy ; the sufferings we can hardly make our own. And yet we of this generation, by the experiences of the great Civil War, have learned in some degree the depth of such anxieties and
sufferings. We have learned that the same courage which supported our fathers through the weary years of the Revolution remains undiminished in their sons. What Massachusetts man who lived in April, 1861, will ever forget those thrilling days? The flame lit by the attack upon Sumter flashed through the North, firing the slumbering patriotism of every heart. The weary months of anxious debate and of suggestions of humiliating compromise were over. Minutes now were crowded with emotions as novel as they were intense. Men lived new lives. Love of country grew from a sentiment to a glowing pas- sion, purifying character and lifting men to high
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resolves. The State, the nation, everything that we held dear and of which we were proud, all that we had inherited from our ancestors, all that we had ourselves secured, was assailed and endangered ; and the whole community, moved by an inflexible will, and inspired by a mighty zeal which never flagged in years of trial, determined that the great inheri- tance should not be lost. No one who witnessed that magnificent uprising and that patient and in- vincible devotion of an entire people need ever fear for popular government, or doubt that it is the strongest and noblest that man can devise.
And of what Hingham did in those days it may well be proud. The call to arms came with the sudden speed of the lightning's flash, and to this town among the very first. There was neither hesi- tation nor delay. In less than a day the Lincoln Light Infantry, true to an honored name, men ac- customed to the peaceful occupations of a quiet town, had left their homes and families and were on their way to confront the perils of actual war. While some sons of Massachusetts, in their rapid advance to defend the national capital and govern- ment, were marching through the streets of Balti- more, Hingham men, with equal promptness, were moving to secure Fortress Monroc. The regiment to which they were attached was the very first to start from Boston for the South. From the time of that carly summons brave sons of Hingham served in the army and navy till success was assured. The
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town holds them in grateful memory, which shall endure longer than yonder granite shaft on which the names of the fallen are inscribed. Fifty years ago it was the privilege of the centennial orator to greet surviving soldiers of the Revolution, and to renew to them expressions of a well-earned gratitude. The last of those veterans has passed away; but we to-day are equally honored by the presence of those who with equal courage protected what they bequeathed.
Chief among those sons of Hingham whose lives were given to their country must always be named her son by adoption, Governor Andrew. This sim- ple citizen, of genial and affectionate nature, untried in public life, the people by an unerring instinct selected and upheld as their leader through years which demanded unyielding firmness and the highest skill of statesmanship. In these he did not fail. How well he served the State I need not here repeat, nor recall those days of laborious toil which sapped his life. His energy, his courage, his persevering devotion to every duty, his generous sympathy for all men of every condition, his high elevation above the low machinations of the politician, his generous forgiveness of the conquered, combine to form a character which is an example for the present and one in which we miss no virtue of the past. And shall I not claim as a descendant from a Hingham ancestry the greatest American of our time, Presi- dent Lincoln ? Though the line of his descent has
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not been fully traced, yet the names of his immediate ancestors and the traditions of his family confirm a conclusion already well supported upon other evi- dence, that when the missing records are discovered he will be found to have originated here. Meanwhile it gratifies a pardonable pride to believe that from the stock that settled Hingham sprang that honest, sagacious, kindly leader, under whose guidance his trustful country safely passed through the gravest dangers and secured a firmer union, universal frec- dom, and lasting peace.
This rapid survey of a few events in the town's history omits much which is essential to a complete account. This venerable meeting-house and its min- isters naturally first attract attention; but the parish has been the parent of others, whose houses of wor- ship are themselves venerable in years, and whose pastors have won even more than a local fame. So early as 1721 the Second Church was organized, at what was then called Conohasset. When the mother church became aware that the people of Cohasset desired a church of their own, her anxiety was at once aroused for their welfare. She hesitated to trust them so far from her safe protection. They
might go, she said, if they would provide themselves with an Orthodox minister and would accept him cheerfully. She was not willing that they should enter the path toward a more liberal faith on which she had herself already far advanced until it was clear whither it led. But the people of Cohasset
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would accept no such conditions. This goes with- out saying, for they were Hingham men. They had their way; they founded their parish and built their meeting-house ; and not long after took enough of Hingham to make a town of their own. The prosperous daughter is already old enough to have celebrated her own centennial fifteen years ago. Another parish was organized at South Hingham, in 1742; a fourth -- the present Third Congrega- tional Society - in 1807. These were all the so- cieties existing in Hingham for nearly two hundred years; and it is remarkable that during this period there appears to have been complete harmony of religious belief. Other societies of different faiths have since been established.
And though I have paused to name but few promi- nent citizens, I do not forget the long list of men - some resident here, and others of Hingham origin- who have risen to conspicuous positions and secured success in all walks of life. It includes the names of men selected to hold high offices in the state and nation, of men distinguished in all professions, and in science, in literature, and in art. The town shares in their honors, and they have cherished toward it an affectionate loyalty.
The account would still be incomplete. Much that is spread upon public records gives results, but acquaints us little with causes. It would interest us to examine the domestic life of our fathers, to study their homely thrift, to note the serious ear-
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nestness with which they so managed the affairs of daily life in the fear of the Lord that all acts seemed to become a part of his service. We might trace in the debates of the town-meeting the strengthening of those principles of freedom and of those political rights which later found expression in words in the Declaration of Independence, and in deeds in the battles of the Revolution and the Civil War. Wc should observe that in the teachings of the pulpit, under the softening influence of the centuries, threats of the terrors of a divine wrath had yielded to the gentler yet more potent persuasions of an infinite love. And our study would not end even here. Indeed, two centuries and a half of human prog- ress have so wrought modern communities into an interdependent whole that no one can be isolated; and it would be necessary to pass beyond the town's limits adequately to exhibit the causes which have developed the Hingham of to-day.
However close its relations with its neighbors or with the State, Hingham has always preserved an individuality of its own. It has maintained a char- acter for stability, for a well-distributed prosperity, for education above the average, for sound princi- ples, for harmony, and for a wise and liberal pub- lic spirit. The history upon which I have briefly touched suggests the causes of these results. The first settlers were men of similar rank in life. They were not possessed of considerable property or great education ; nor, on the other hand, were they of mean
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origin or position. Many of them were farmers and mechanics, fair types of the English yeomanry. These men clung to their new home, and their chil- dren to their birthplace. The people of Hingham, therefore, springing to a great extent directly from the first settlers, have preserved the Puritan blood, and with it the Puritan characteristics. And these characteristics have descended to the present, modi- fied in all alike by the same general influences. The Puritan frugality, thrift, and sobriety have not been mere traditions, but son has learned them of father and taught them to his children.
On the other hand, the body of Puritan religious doctrine has by no means been preserved, but has given place to a more liberal faith. This result is of course largely due to causes of broader origin and effect than are contained within the limits of the town, and too extensive for present consideration. Their local influence was no doubt guided and ac- celerated by Dr. Gay, who through the length of his pastorate and by his great ability wielded a power sufficient to lead his people. While, therefore, relig- ious doctrines underwent much modification, the change was embraced by all alike, so that for nearly two hundred years there was substantial harmony of religious faith. Nor can this be justly charged to mental inactivity or to intolerance. The men of Hingham learned from Peter Hobart to be bold men, and they have spoken their minds. But they have not been too obstinate in the pride of their
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