USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Royalston > The history of the town of Royalston, Massachusetts > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
Mr Nichols said: "This magnificent gathering, the climax of the 150th anniversary celebration of the beautiful town of Royalston, should be an inspiration to anyone given an op- portunity to speak here. But I shall not, even to acknowl- edge the kindly words of our honored president, attempt a speech. Were I to do so, however, I should use as my text the words of Longfellow: 'We may build more splendid habitations; fill our rooms with paintings and sculptures; but we cannot buy with gold the old associations.' Though not born in Royalston, I was, to use the New England ex- pression, 'raised here'; and my associations and memories from a very small boy up to this moment are exceedingly pleasant. I believe it is but the simple truth when I say to you that no man living is prouder of the wonderful history of this town than I am. But that will be touched upon by Representative Cross, who, by the way, I hope to see attain even further political honors now that he has returned to his first and true political love. But it is in the Royalston of to-day and the future that I am most interested. I have thought over its problems quite as much as if I lived here, and have come to the conclusion that the brightest hope of the future is to restore this town to its former prestige as a farming community. The product of the soil, to my mind demands the first consideration, and a system must be in- volved by which the farmer may handle that which is produced in such a way as to retain for himself a fair share of the profits of his labor. The wealth of the world comes out of
150
HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
the land, and man must dig for it. Adam was told in the Garden of Eden - Dr. Adams says this quotation is correct - 'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' From then until now 'the man with the hoe' has been the man who has added to the wealth of the world; and from that day there seems to have been implanted in every human breast an inclination to till the land. And this is well; for there seems to be something in the touch of the sod that gives strength and vigor and character to man.
"It is an established fact that the great industries of the cities are built up and maintained by men who came from the rural sections. A recent canvass of one of the great cities has shown that out of one hundred successful men, eighty-five came from the country. There can be no question that our very civilization depends upon the character and strength of the life developed at the countryside. You who live here all the year round know, however, much better than we outsiders that the beautiful trees in these fields do not derive their strength from their blossoms nor from their fruit; their strength comes from their roots. So with a nation and a town. They are not fed from the top; they are not fed from the conspicuous people down; they are fed from the incon- spicuous people up. And those who tap the unexhausted soils and their virgin resources are the best feeders of a pure democracy and lay the foundation for the highest type of good citizenship such as have been and are now living in the lovely town of Royalston.
"I sincerely trust, my friends, all the good things you did not get in the last fifty years may come to you before the 200th anniversary and that you all may, with brave spirits and cheery hearts, reach the goal of your highest hopes.
"We certainly have received inspiration from the splendid address of Dr. Adams, the thoughtful prayer of the Rev. Mr. Fairbanks, and we have a wonderful array of speakers here. In common with you all, I deeply regret the absence of Governor Walsh to-day. He intended to come to Royalston, and he would have enjoyed it here and you would have enjoyed hearing him speak. But we are fortunate in having the acting Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the Common- wealth, Grafton D. Cushing here. I am going to ask you all to rise when I introduce to you the Honorable Grafton D.
151
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
Cushing, acting Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts."
Mr Cushing said that when asked some three months ago to save the third of August for Royalston he did not know that it would fall to his lot to have the honor to represent the Commonwealth in the royal town of Royalston. "It is one of the pleasant duties of office to be allowed to come to gatherings of this sort, - to town gatherings. For a town has a particular atmosphere of its own. In a city there is no community of thought; there is no community of interest. In a town you all know each other; and when you come into a town you feel you get personally to know the inhabitants of the town.
"The town meeting, is the most democratic form of govern- ment; it is the form of government that is at the basis of our institutions, and has been at the bottom of our prosperity. And the men who have gone out of the traditions of our form of government to other parts of the country have carried with them the American ideals, have founded new communities and have brought up their children to believe as we believed in good old New England."
Referring to town and state expenditures he said: "But when you come to the great state, when you come to the complications of modern life, it is very difficult always to follow your expenditures. After all, you know, we are a pretty young nation and are not very well developed in the science of government; and from time to time we see the need of stretching out in some new direction. And the way we do it is to form a board or commission to oversee that particular part of our state's activities, with the result that we have in Massachusetts to-day over one hundred commissions, tempo- rary and permanent. Now all these are problems which cannot be solved in a day, but in course of time we shall be able to develop a system of control of expenditures. There is no place in the country where they are properly controlled. For they should bear equally on all and not unequally, as they do in Massachusetts to-day."
Toastmaster Nichols in presenting Fred W. Cross said: "Since the days of Timothy Richardson, Royalston's first representative to the great and general court, Royalston has sent splendid men to do her honor under the Gilded Dome
152
HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
in both the Senate and the House. Their influence has been lessened because their service was too short. For the first time in a very long period a man from Royalston has been sent for two consecutive years. He is to give the historical address, and there is no man better qualified. He is a credit to this or any other community, and he has helped to put Royalston on the map more, perhaps, than any other one man in a decade. He needs no introduction to you here, but it is a peculiar pleasure to present my personal and dear friend, your hustling representative to the Legislature, Fred W. Cross."
Representative Fred W. Cross after referring to the intro- duction of the toastmaster said: "I am placed in a peculiar position. After a most excellent outline of Royalston's history has within a week been published in one of our local papers; after a talented preacher has preached an historical sermon in the neighboring church within two or three days; after the author of Royalston's forthcoming town history has at the evening service in that church given an outline of the church history in Royalston; and after the president on this occasion has touched upon some of the interesting and amusing things of Royalston's history, I am asked to give an historical address. But I am going to punish you just the same. Royalston invites you here to-day to celebrate with her not her age, but her youth. And while there are munici- palities boasting of their two hundred or two hundred and fifty years of history, she comes to tell you that she is only one hundred and fifty years old. But the book of those years has written upon its pages as many honorable records as you might wish to read."
Mr. Cross then proceeded in a most eloquent manner to rehearse the history of Royalston, especially that relating to the part that the town took in the Revolution and the Civil War. At the close of his address Mr. Cross was given a hearty ovation, and was heartily congratulated by Senator Lodge and Lieutenant-Governor Cushing.
Toastmaster Nichols in presenting Congressman McCall said: "Human nature in the country is the same as human nature in the city-one hundred cents make a dollar every- where. Our next speaker is a man who served for twenty years in our national Congress, and who is the same in the
153
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
city or in the country, and all the year round. In Congress he was reasonably independent, as we all know. I invited him to come here to Royalston to-day, and he accepted with genuine pleasure. He is as you will see him, a real gentle- man, living up to the highest ideals of good citizenship and meriting any honor that may be bestowed upon him. I present to you the Honorable Samuel W. McCall."
Congressman McCall said that he had been extremely interested in what he had learned to-day about the town of Royalston. "I had an idea from the fact that Royalston was named after Isaac Royal, and as Isaac Royal was a stanch loyalist and left this country during the Revolutionary War and went to England, I thought perhaps Royalston was something like a monarchical institution instead of the democratic little place which it really is. Then I have heard about that leg that is seven miles long, and I fear a political archaeologist may make from that a very sinister inference, and that is, that in those times they had a fierce lot of political mercenaries adequately to pull that royal leg. I am impressed, as I am always impressed when I hear historical addresses about the origin of our little communities in New England, with what terrible times those people used to have, struggling with the climate, with the ordinary hardships of an unsettled country, and especially with the Indians. But I imagine that they en- joyed themselves pretty well. We can make almost anything attractive and interesting.
"So I fancy the people in the times of which we have heard so eloquently discussed to-day knew how to have good times; and Royalston seemed to be a pretty popular place in those days." He referred to local town government in a most interesting manner, saying: "While we commemorate the men and women who lived here one hundred and fifty years ago, and while we do honor to the services which this town has rendered to the country, we must not forget to think of the town as an institution of government. It lies at the very basis of the American system of government; it connects the man with the government. Things will gravitate fast enough to Washington and we have street after street there lined with buildings filled with clerks and bureaus of one hundred thousand people to carry on the work of this great government. And what can an average citizen know
154
HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
about it all? Government, when transferred five hundred or one thousand miles from us, becomes largely a matter of imagination; but by having government right by where the people are, then it becomes a matter of their sense and of their perception. And it is vital to keep alive our town governments, to maintain their jurisdiction. I know there are some disagreeable things connected with it. I have heard some town-meeting orators in my day. But by and by a town meeting will judge and will exercise justice in their judgment, and a man is likely to be suppressed in a town meeting as a nuisance who would pass by on the distant stage at Washington.
"But it is well to keep our government as near as we can to the people if the people are to rule. If they are fit to rule, they should have a material part in the direction of affairs. If they are not fit to rule, then it follows it is well enough to send their government off to a great distance from them. So, let us remember to-day, in doing honor to this town, reverently to think of the place the town meeting has in our system of government."
Hon. Calvin D. Paige, Congressman from this district, was next presented. He said in part: "The radical ideas advocated on the floor of the American Congress do not emanate from the old New England towns, and never have. From the earliest days of the Republic, the wisdom, the in- telligence, and the patriotism have found an abiding place here, and there has never been a time when it is more necessary that we stand together for New England, and for New England ideas than at the present time, in order that sanity may again prevail in the legislation of the country. Royalston sent her sons to establish independence in the colonies, and in the Civil War she sent her sons to preserve the Union. At no time has Royalston failed to respond to the call of the country.
"We are no less patriotic than we were in those two great crises in the nation's history, when we say we do not purpose to be drawn into the terrible war raging across the sea. The stand that America is taking constitutes patriotism to-day. Nothing can be more patriotic in the light of the twentieth century than the triumph of a great nation over the elements of war and desolation, but if this policy does not
155
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
triumph, then no sacrifice of life or treasure is too great to defend our country and our flag. For it has been proven that when occasion requires there is no more patriotic people than ours in all recorded history.
"We have great problems of our own to solve - great questions to answer - and as they are solved and answered right or wrong, may depend the weal or woe of America for many years to come. But as I review our past history made under trying circumstances, I have no fear for the future. And may we not have confidence that in all the great issues that may come before the American people for solution we shall sustain the traditions of our predecessors?"
Congressman Samuel E. Winslow was introduced by the toastmaster, as one who did not come to the anniversary to speak, but he would ask him to talk for a few moments. The genial Congressman then proceeded to entertain the company with humorous stories and well-timed allusions to the other speakers, which were received with roars of laughter and prolonged applause by the audience.
Following Congressman Winslow's talk, Toastmaster Nichols in behalf of a number of friends and with most fitting words presented Dr. Adams with a purse of gold, to which the doctor responded in a most happy manner.
Dr. Adams then introduced Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, who was given a most cordial greeting, the large audience rising in a body and giving him hearty cheers, while all through his address the sentiments that he expressed were applauded and cheered.
The doctor's introduction of the Senator was a gem worthy to be preserved in the annals of Royalston history. He said: "At the close of the last session of Congress, about the middle of May, a member of that august body left the city of Washington for his home in Massachusetts. His friends were aware of his coming; and when he arrived at a station in his district near the end of his journey, one hundred thousand men and women, according to a Boston newspaper, irrespective of nationality, representing all shades of political complexion, enthused by the inspiring strains of several brass bands, and rending the air with their multitudinous cheers, thronged the streets of the city of Lynn.
156
HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
"It was a magnificent ovation, and wholly unprecedented as a 'welcome home' to a returning Senator.
"Who is this man who has attained such a mighty grip on the heart-strings of Massachusetts, and who, on even an ordinary occasion, can raise the temperature of her sluggish blood to the boiling point?
"Statesman, orator, historian, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, adviser of Presidents, in international diplomacy without a peer, when he rises in his place in the upper branch of Congress, Senators sit up and take notice, and when he speaks, the forty-eight States in this broad Union listen. Little Royalston is fairly bursting with pride to-day to have him on her platform, and it is not only with pride, but with exceeding great pleasure that I now present to you our senior Senator in Congress, the Honorable Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts."
ADDRESS OF HON. HENRY CABOT LODGE
"Mr. President:
"I cannot thank you enough for the overkind words in which you have presented me. They more than make up for the misfortune that I have in being the last to speak. In the first place, the greatest misfortune is that I have to follow Sam Winslow. None but himself can be his parallel, and I am certain that I cannot fill his place. And I have been the victim of all except the Lieutenant-Governor, with due regard to the fact that he is acting Governor of the State, who has said nothing; but my old friend, Sam McCall, of course had something to say about me in connection with the rain. My other old friend Paige seemed to take a very discriminating view of me, I thought. He is a good judge of men. And my young friend Sam Winslow,- you see how well I treat him - also when he wasn't making fun of me, was saying nice things about me. But it all puts me in a rather embarrassing situation, - but the embarrassment of trying in the very short time I shall occupy to justify in some measure the words of your president and your toast- master, and the cordiality of the reception which you have been so kind as to give me.
"It was pure pleasure to come here. I love to come to these town anniversaries. They have to me a peculiar
157
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
attraction. I love to listen to an account of their past, very seldom set forth so admirably and with such real eloquence as it has been set forth to-day by your distinguished Represent- ative.
"That sketch of your town history had all the human interest of an autobiography. We should have liked to have heard more if it were possible of the forefathers of the hamlet; but time does not serve. I am not going to repeat or rehearse in any way the history of the town. It has the abiding attraction and charm to me of all our old New England towns. As Mr. McCall has said the town is the seat and center of local self-government; and on local self- government as embodied in the town and in the State, rests the great union of the States; and the principles and the beliefs of the New England town government have gone forth through the length and the breadth of the land; they have permeated, unconsciously perhaps very often, the beliefs of the entire American people. For they mean democracy; they mean self-government; they mean freedom of thought, freedom of speech and the right of every man to say the thing he will-very precious rights indeed. This old town was born one hundred and fifty years ago, just after what was known as the old French War and just before the war of the Revolution; and her sons went forth to fight in the Revolution, and again in 1812, and again in the Civil War. I was amazed at the size of the quota furnished by this town, as stated by Mr. Cross; but I noticed as he spoke, that the passages in the town history that came home to your hearts, that moved you to applause, that moved you, I am sure, to deeper emotions, were those passages in which he told you of the sacrifices of the Revolution, of the men who gave their lives and led their regiments and brigades in the Civil War. You were not moved and touched in that way merely because they were fighting men; it was because they were making a great sacrifice for a great principle; they were demonstrating by what they did that they believed that there were things for which it was worth while to sacrifice, not only treasure, but life itself. They believed that there were some things that ought not to be sacrificed in order that life and safety and the opportunity to make money might be preserved; and they freely offered up their lives for those principles which
158
HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
they learned in the town meeting, the independence of the country, the freedom of the country, the right of the people to rule, the determination that the Union should not be torn asunder no matter what it might cost to keep that Union together, the determination that democracy, as described by Abraham Lincoln, 'should not perish from the earth.'
"And in every town in this Commonwealth, if you will go back over its history, you will read the same lesson-a lesson not amiss in these days when there are not lacking those who preach that there is nothing for which it is worth while to sacrifice treasure or life. I believe that in like hours of danger, the spirit of the country and the great mass of the people is the same to-day as it was in 1776 and in 1861. But there are voices which are crying out that there is nothing for which safety and life should ever be sacrificed.
"Yes, we are, thank God, at peace. I trust and pray that that peace may be preserved. But it will not be preserved by mere words and language. The world to-day, the great world of western civilization, of which we are a part, is in an anguish such as history does not record. I cannot keep from my mind, as I read and listen to the awful news that comes to us day by day, I cannot refrain from thinking of the old mediaeval hymn which began, if I may quote the old Latin words, 'Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt, vigilemus.' Let us be watchful, the world is very evil, the times are waxing late. That thought must come to every reflecting mind. No man can say what may come out of that whirlpool of destruction which is now engulfing Europe. We must maintain our peace; yes, we must maintain our peace, not a peace at any price of humiliation, but a peace becoming a great and powerful and self- respecting nation.
"Now, how, practically speaking, is that peace to be preserved? In the first place, we must maintain our neutral- ity. And neutrality brings not only its rights, but its duties. If we are to insist on the rights of neutrals, as we must and ought, we must perform our duty as neutrals. Under color of neutrality, we must not twist it so as to help one side or the other. We must be just to all and do wrong to none. And against any infringement of our rights we must protest, and we must make that protest understood with firmness and
159
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
determination that we mean what we say. Better never say the words than not mean them.
"Therefore the first thing is to maintain neutrality if we would preserve our peace; protect our peace by justice and right- eousness toward all the nations with whom we now are on friendly terms. And in the next place, we must make clear to all the nations that our peace is not to be lightly invaded; that while we do justice to all and wrong to none, we will not permit or suffer wrong or injustice to be done to us, or to any of our people who have a right to look to the gov- ernment which they sustain for protection and support. For the government that does not protect its people will soon cease to have its people protected. We must make it clear that no nation can wrong or invade us without paying a heavy price therefor. By that I mean that this country should be properly prepared for its own defense.
"Nothing is more idle than this argument, -if you can grace it with such a name, - that armament leads to war. What leads to war is the spirit and intent of the people who control the armament. The armament is but the evidence and the manifestation of the force of the government. When the Civil War broke out in this country, - a war which raged for four years, - neither side was prepared. Anyone would be laughed out of court who attempted to say that the Civil War in the United States was owing to lack of prepara- tion. It is just as reasonable to say that as to say that armament leads to war.
"The value of armaments depends entirely on the purpose for which they are intended. It will be just as reasonable to say that we must abolish knives because a knife becomes occasionally a murderous instrument. The fact that the knife is a murderous instrument is owing to the purpose and intent of the man who holds it in his hand. It is not the fault of the knife.
"I have heard it said, and on the floor of Congress too, about the springing to arms of eight million Americans; one gentleman said in the tide of rhetoric: 'Eight million men ready to spring to arms.' No doubt; I trust the patriotism of this country; but eight million men or eight thousand men cannot spring to arms unless they have arms to spring to. I am not going into details; it is easily proved, too
160
HISTORY OF ROYALSTON
easily proved, but that proper preparation for a country like this, which intends no conquest, which seeks to wrong no other nation, proper preparation for its own defense is a bulwark of peace and not of war. And one other thing that I would say in closing. This is a time to remember that we are Americans, that we are interested in the welfare of the United States, that we are determined to preserve her peace and her neutrality, and that any man who attempts to divide the American people on the line of sympathizing with one belligerent or another, - no matter how he sympathizes or what he feels, - is bringing in here and putting above the interests of the United States the interests of other countries. He is bringing into this country race issues; and nothing could be more hostile to our welfare than to introduce the interests of foreign nations and race issues among the American people. Let us be simply Americans without any qualifying adjective prefixed to it. If we are not, if we prefer some other country and prefer the interests of that other country to the interests of the United States, then the place of that man is not here; he belongs to the country that commands the real allegiance of his heart. And if ever that country needed him, it probably is now.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.