USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Pittsfield > The history of Pittsfield (Berkshire County), Massachusetts, from the year 1800 to the year 1876 > Part 57
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Prayer was offered by Rev. David Dudley Field, D. D., of Stockbridge, the historian of Berkshire and of Pittsfield. A song, " Come to the Old Roof Tree," written for the occasion by a lady, was sung.
Then followed the oration by Hon. Joshua A. Spencer. Mr. Spencer began by touching allusions to the scenes of the day, and the memories of former times, which were vividly recalled by them to the minds of every son and daughter who had returned to their old Berkshire home. The beautiful scenery, the woody hill-side, the pleasant valleys, the silvery lakes, and gurgling rills, all were treated as familiar friends and brothers. "The hearts of thousands," says the writer who thus reports the address, " re- sponded to the thrilling description by the speaker of his own feelings upon his return to these scenes of his childhood. All felt that the home of their youth was worthy to be the home of their more mature days, and was more endeared to them from the years which had elapsed since they left the old homestead to
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seek their fortune in other climes." The orator then passed to a historical sketch of Berkshire county, to which justice could only be done by reprinting it in full.
Of Pittsfield, he said : " May not Berkshire, too, well rejoice in the prosperity of her metropolitan village ? Not the first to begin, but the first in the course of all the lovely places of business- activity and quiet retirement within her borders. Pittsfield's long, well-shaded streets, her deeply embowered dwellings, with their spacious pleasure-grounds, wear the distinctive and charm- ing livery of New England village-scenery. Here is the home of comfort, refinement, and, as we know, of hospitality. In the midst of the enchantment, her far-famed elm lifts its lofty branches to meet the sun in his coming.
' W'ise with the lore of centuries,
What tales, if there were tongues in trees, That giant elm could tell.'"
In concluding, Mr. Spencer said, "When will the sons and daughters of Berkshire hold another 'jubilee ?' Never certainly another first jubilee ; that pleasure is vonchsafed unto us: but another jubilee ? Whether it shall be in our day, or be reserved for our children, or for our children's children, we know not; but come when it will, we do know that they will find a hearty wel- come. These beautiful hills, by which we are surrounded, shall not be more enduring than the love their people bear for their absent kindred."
Charles Sedgwick, Esq., then read a long and beautiful ode to Berkshire, by Miss Frances Ann Kemble. Hon. Ezekiel Bacon read "The Stockbridge Bowl," furnished for the occasion by Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney, and an ode written by the same lady was sung.
An ode "To Hills that Cradled Childhood's Home," by Mrs. Laura Hyde, was read; and Mrs. Heman's "Hymn of the Moun- tain Christians-" " For the strength of the Hills we bless Thee-" was sung.
At two o'clock the assembly proceeded to the grounds of the Young Ladies' Institute, where, under a large pavilion, tables were arranged, calculated to accommodate over three thousand persons. Nearly that number, in about equal proportions of ladies and gentlemen, took seats for the dinner.
A blessing was invoked by Rev. Dr. Shepard. After the cloth
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was removed, Governor Briggs, president of the day, addressed the audience in one of the happiest of those efforts in which he was always peculiarly happy. After some humorous remarks in regard to the exercises of the day, and an epitome of the history of the county, admirable for its correctness, conciseness and piquancy, he concluded as follows :
" 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 blessings 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 toread 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 yon spent so many happy hours, to see if it looks and appears as it used to; to walk once more np 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 grave-yard, to walk among its green mounds and drop the tear of affection and friend- ship upon the silent resting-place of loved ones who sleep there. You have come here to re-kindle at this domestic fireside the holy feelings of youth. To all these we bid you welcome ! Welcome to these green valleys and lofty mountains. Welcome to this feast, to our homes, to our hearts. Welcome to everything. Once more I say welcome ! I give you a sentiment: The County of Berkshire-she loves her insti- tutions and her beautiful scenery ; but feeling the sentiment and bor- rowing the language of the Roman mother, she points to her children and exclaims, " These are my jewels."
The remainder of the day was occupied by speeches, and toasts all pertinent to the occasion, and many of them eloquent. We select extraets from those the most representative in their char- acter.
Dr. O. W. Holmes asked to be allowed, before he opened the paper in his hand, to assure his friends of the reason why he found himself there. He said :
Inasmuch as the company express willingness to hear historical inei-
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dents, any little incident which shall connect me with those to whom I cannot claim to be a brother, seems to be fairly brought forward. One of my earliest recollections is of an annual pilgrimage made by my par- ents 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 oue afternoon-it always seemed to me it was a Sunday afternoon-we saw an equipage crawling from the west towards the old homestead; the young horse, who set out fat and prancing, worn thin and reduced 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 traveled dowu the beautiful Rhine. I wished to see the equally beautiful 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 pilgrimage-a mansion- and found it surrounded by a beautiful meadow, through which the winding river made its course in a 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 recognized it as the scene of the annual pilgrimage. Since then I have made an annual visit to it.
In 1735, Hon. Jacob Wendell, my grandfather in the maternal line, bought a township not then laid out-the township of Pontoosuc-and that little spot which we still hold is the relic of twenty-four thousand 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 ances- tors, 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 this fair county, I am at least allied to it by hereditary relation.
Doctor Holmes then read the verses commencing, "Come back to your mother, ye children," which are published in his poems.
Hon. John Mills of Springfield, who spoke in behalf of his native town, Sandisfield, said :
It is not, I believe, until life is considerably advanced, that we feel any particular solicitude as to the place where it may terminate ; and I doubt whether those who have the good fortune to spend their days where they were born, are conscious of the true cause that gives the
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charm to that locality. If there be in this village one who was here born and has here passed his days, one who has survived the friends and companions of his youth, he will tell you that the remnant of life can be more happily spent here than elsewhere, and would probably assign as a reason, that here are the graves of his fathers, and here too, he desires to make his own. But remove him permanently to some other section of the country, and he would soon be sensible of another cause for this local preference. The place to which we may suppose him removed, might have charms, if possible, superior to those of your vil- lage. From his window, or in his walks, the most delightful scenery should be presented to his view, and he should be able fully to appreci- ate its beauties ; still there would be something wanting ; the eye would nowhere rest on certain well-known objects of inanimate nature, intimately entwined with his earliest impressions. " Where," he would exclaim, " where is the great elm around whose trunk, and in the shade of whose branches, I gamboled with my youthful companions, sixty years ago ? Where the beautiful curve-crested mountain-range in the west ? The higher elevation at the north, and those in the cast ? Elevations on which I gazed with admiring wonder, before my tongue was able to articulate their names. Elevations, the view and contem- plation of which, gave the first impress of grandeur and sublimity to my imagination." Such would be the language of his heart ; and, could you place the Alps or the Pyrenees in a position most favorable for effect upon his vision, they would be inadequate substitutes for those I have named ; the form and size of which, with their garniture of light and shade, would be blended with, and in fact constitute a part of, his moral existence.
Theodore Sedgwick of New York, gave the following senti- ment: "The stock of New England-It is the stock of old England-their virtue, their intelligence, with equality added." And in response to this toast, and to an allusion to the great English tragedian, Macready, Governor Briggs called upon that gentleman, who came forward, and recited Leigh Hunt's poem, " Abou Ben Adhem."
David Dudley Field, Esq., of New York, said :
It has happened that most of us who emigrated from this county, went away in early manhood. This I conceive to have been a great advantage. I conceive it gives us not only familiarity with this most excellent scenery, but it gives us the impression, which we could not have got in many other parts of the country, of the sort of society which is peculiarly the product of American institutions. If I were to point ont to a foreigner anywhere in this country, an example of a commu-
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nity whose social law and beauty were what I should say should be the production of American institutions, I should point out the county of Berkshire. It is around us-it is at our feet. It is the spectacle of that social equality without rudeness, accompanied by refinement such as I apprehend few parts of this country can show. Young men living in such a community, with such influences of scenery and of social law, can it be otherwise than that all of us should have gone away deeply impressed with the scenes which we have left, and that we should carry them with us as long as our hearts continue to beat ?
Rev. Joshua N. Danforth of Alexandria, D. C., and a son of Colonel Danforth of Pittsfield, said :
We stand here to-day, numbering forty in relationship-twenty-five of us the direct descendants of David Noble of Williamstown, the upright judge, the exemplary Christian. ** * The scenes we wit- ness to-day, are, indeed, impressive. Genius is pouring out his treas- ures with a generosity suited to the great occasion. Poetry is weav- ing her most beautiful garland. Friendship brings her costly offer- ings to this altar. Even history has a portion in the reminiscences of this auspicious day. The muses and graces have conspired to honor the occasion. And if the joys of the living must be mingled with those sorrows which affection pays to the dead, the depth of the cmotion attests the value of the tribute.
The president read a tribute by Miss C. M. Sedgwick to Dr. William Ellery Channing, whose last public address had been delivered at Lenox, on the first of August, 1842, the anniversary of emancipation in the West Indies, and who died in that town shortly afterwards. The tribute closed with the following pas- sage from that address :
Men of Berkshire, whose nerves and souls the mountain-air has braced, you surely will respond to him who speaks of the blessings of freedom, and the misery of bondage. I feel as if the feeble voice which now addresses you, must find an echo in these forest-crowned heights. Do they not impart something of their own power and loftiness to men's souls ? Should our commonwealth ever be invaded by victorious armies, Freedom's last asylum will be here. Here may a free spirit, may reverence for all human rights, may sympathy for all the oppressed, may a stern, solemn purpose to give no sanction to oppression, take stronger and stronger possession of men's minds, and from these moun- tains may generous impulses spread far and wide !"
" God grant," added Miss Sedgwick, " that this appeal, made by a voice now hushed in death, may meet a perpetual response
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in the hearts of our people, from generation to generation, while time shall endure. May they not be satisfied with the distinc- tion of being natives of Berkshire, but strive in whatever elime, under whatever circumstances they may be placed, to wear always the Berkshire badge-Industry, Uprightness, Humanity."
Hon. Julius Rockwell being called upon by the president, as a Connecticut boy, but a Berkshire man, responded :
Sir, you have rightly said, I am not one of Berkshire's sons. But I have done all I could to make my position better; and I say to every young man who hears me, go and do likewise; for with the most per- severing exertions, he can obtain, if he be not too late, a Berkshire wife.
One of the gentlemen who has spoken here, has told you how fortu- nate it is in young life, to go from Berkshire; I can tell him how fortu- nate it is in young life to come to the county of Berkshire. Another gentleman, with great beauty and power, spoke of the feeling that per- vades every heart on this occasion, as the feeling of the young eagle returning to the eagle's nest. What think you is the feeling of the eagle mother, as she sees her young strong in pinions, strong in all that becomes and ennobles their kind, returning to their mother's nest ?
Dr. Orville Dewey of New York, in the course of remarks dis- tinguished by his peculiar eloquence, said :
We may have found wealth, splendor, fame, elsewhere; but there is no spot of earth like this. If I express my own feelings, all other aspeets wear an air of strangeness and foreignness, in comparison with these. And yet, after all, I feel how utterly vain are my efforts to express this sentiment. There is something coiled up in this sentiment which I cannot unfold. It reminds me of an anecdote of one of the venerable fathers of the church in this county-Doctor West, one of the most learned, pure, gentle spirits that ever lived. I recollect one day of hearing a little child read the seriptures. Its voice had nothing remarkably impressive ; it was a child's voice. I found myself moved in the most extraordinary manner, and yet unable to tell why, for I understood not what she uttered. On a few moments' reflection I dis- covered that the tone of that little child's voice was like the voice of Doctor West in prayer. So I think it is with home-affections ; we are moved, we can scarcely tell why, at the sound of the word home. It is good for us to cherish these affections. Antaeus, the child of Terra and and Neptune, of earth and sea, only on the earth could be strong, could draw his replenished energies, enabling him to hold contest with the foe; and thus it is we turn hither on the waves of life; we spread
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our sails for the haven of honor ; but after all, the re-afforded strength and courage to fight with perils is drawn from the home-affections.
Mr. Rockwell read the following sentiment, sent by Mrs. Sig- ourney :
THE OLD BAY STATE.
You scarce can go, where streamlets flow, In prairie, or western glen, Or among the great, in halls of state, But you'll find the Berkshire men : May the blessing of health and weil-spent wealth, And stainless names await, (With the treasured glee of this jubilee.) The sons of the old Bay State.
In addition to those already mentioned, speeches were made by Marshall S. Bidwell of New York, Judge Charles A. Dewey of Northampton, Josiah Quincy of New Hampshire, Prof. Chester Dewey of Rochester, N. Y., Rev. J. C. Brigham, D. D., of New York, and Timothy Childs of Rochester. Sentiments were of- fered by Drake Mills of New York, Thomas Allen of St. Louis, Charles R. Gold of Buffalo, Reuel Smith of New York, Dr. Charles Goodrich of Brooklyn, Rev. Heman Humphrey, D. D., of Amherst College, Dr. L. A. Smith of Newark, N. J., Silas Met- calf of Kinderhook, D. C. Whitewood of Michigan, and William P. Palmer of New York. Mr. Palmer's sentiment was in honor of Dr. Alvan Hyde, of Lee :
Saint ! in thy loss we learn this blessed lore, That not to breathe is not to be no more ! Oh, no ; to those whose days like thine have passed, In self-denying kindness to the last, Remains, unfading with the final breath, A green and sweet vitality in death !
The hour of parting having come, Judge Samuel R. Betts, chairman of the New York committee, made the farewell-address in their behalf; at the close of which he said :
The opportunity has been afforded me during the past few days, in visiting a series of your beautiful towns, to compare, to some extent, the present, with the state of the county in 1806, when my residence in it ceased. Since that period, the doubled population, the improved culture of the land, the thrifty appearance of villages, and farm-resi- dences, and manufactories, the increase of churches, schools and acade-
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mies; all denote an eminent and solid advance in wealth, refinement, and the substantial comforts of life. In view of this great and interest- ing progress and improvement in well-being here, the thought seems appropriate to us, that we emigrants should realize that there is much before us to do, to render our conditions abroad of equal fellowship with those in old Berkshire at home.
Rev. Dr. Todd, chairman of the Berkshire committee, responded in a touching speech, in which was the following paragraph :
We have often thought, Sir,-thought with pride, of our gorgeous hills and valleys, which have been so beautifully celebrated at this time ; we have often taken pride in this, our home, and in all that is included in the term " Berkshire," and thought that we had scenery unsurpassed in nature. We thought that this occasion would bring bright and loved beings around us - brighter and more loved than whom, could not be found on the face of the earth. But, I doubt not, this pride in the present occupants of Berkshire, has been justly rebuked and deeply humbled. We had no conception of the beauty, the inter- lect, the character, and the real nobility of nature, which this meeting would call home ; and hereafter we shall look back upon this gathering as one of the brightest and most beautiful occasions in our earthly pil- grimage. We have been thinking how we could erect some monument of this jubilee. In our wisdom, we have spoken of several, but after all, God has been before us, and His mighty hand hath reared the mon- ument. That hill, from which we came to this pavilion, will hereafter bear the name of "Jubilee Hill," and when our heads are laid in the grave, and we have passed away and are forgotten, we hope our chil- dren, and our children's children, will walk over that beautiful spot and say, " here our fathers and mothers celebrated the Berkshire Jubilee !" This monument shall stand as long as the foot-stool of God shall remain.
At the close of Doctor Todd's speech, hearty cheers were given for the old homestead; and, in response, for the emigrants. The band played a farewell-strain. The multitude separated, most of them in tears ; and the Berkshire Jubilee was over. It had cer- tainly accomplished all its originators anticipated, as explained in Doctor Cook's opening speech.
In the course of the jubilee, Rev. Messrs. John Todd and Edward Ballard, Charles Sedgwick, Esq., William Cullen Bryant, and Dr. Henry L. Sabin, were appointed a committee to edit a volume containing the speeches, odes, hymns, sentiments and other proceedings. The volume, containing two hundred and
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forty-two large octavo pages, was published; and contained, in addition to the proceedings of the day, an historical sketch of the Stockbridge Indians, by Thomas Allen, an article on the Litera- ture of Berkshire, a list of missionaries from Berkshire, and chaplains in the French and Indian, and revolutionary wars, by Rev. William Allen, D. D .; and the Last chapter of the Chronicles of the Berkshire Jubilee, by Miss Catharine M. Sedgwick. The reason that no contribution from William Cullen Bryant appears in the programme of the exercises is explained by the following letter from Mr. Bryant to Judge Betts, which illustrates the well- known fact that even the truest poet cannot always write occa- sional verses to order :
NEW YORK, August 14, 1844.
MY DEAR SIR :- I wrote you that I would supply a few verses to be set to music for the Berkshire celebration ; but I find, after attempting again and again, I produce nothing that would not disgrace me by its flat and commonplace character. I have torn up the verses, and acknowledge that I cannot fulfill the engagement. It is mortifying, but I find no alternative. The committee, I am sure, will see that it may be difficult for some minds to summon up a poetic rapture upon a given occasion, and will indulgently take the attempt for the deed.
In many respects the year selected for the jubilee was one of the happiest-probably the most happy-which could have been selected in the annals of Berkshire or of Pittsfield, for such a festival. Both the town and the county were in the first flush of many prides. Four years before, the completion of the Western railroad had opened for the county communication with the great world without, and had given to Pittsfield new prominence and prosperity. The year 1844, was, moreover, one of unusual success in all industrial enterprises. In less material glories, the county, through the pens of Bryant and Miss Sedgwick, had long been growing up to a fame which then seemed fully ripe. The great colleges and schools of Berkshire flourished more than ever. For the first time in the history of the commonwealth, its chief magistrate had the year before been elected from the old county, and Pittsfield was proud that he was one of her own citizens. One of the most popular of her sons had also been elected at the same time to succeed the governor in the national house of representatives. Rev. Mr. Todd, already famous as an author, and then in the full vigor of his intellect, had recently
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become pastor of the First Church, and contributed much by his wonderful tact and aptitude in management, to the smooth work- ing of the programme. A more happy combination of circum- stances could hardly have been desired.
Perhaps we shall find no more fitting place than this to intro- duce sketches of Messrs. Briggs, Rockwell and Colt.
George Nixon Briggs was born at South Adams, April 12, 1796. His father, Allen Briggs, was a native of Cranston, R. I., and his mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Brown, was born in Cumberland, in the same state. When George was seven years old, the family removed from South Adams to Manchester, Vt., and two years afterwards to the village of White Creek, in Wash- ington county, New York. Here he was subjected to influences which had a decisive effect upon his after life. "His training," says his biographer, Prof. W. C. Richards, "had always been of a decided religious character, * * and, while he was in his fourteenth year he became the subject of personal religious experi- ence, and was soon after baptized and received into the Baptist church at White Creek."
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