USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The story of a New England town; a record of the commemoration, July second and third, 1890 on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Haverhill, Massachusetts > Part 16
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broke his oar-lock when about half a mile from the finish, and, after making a few strokes, threw his oar overboard and then jumped out of the boat and walked up on the Bradford shore. The Bradfords were very fortunate throughout the day, and their friends were jubilant over the result, a large majority of the events having been won by them.
THE BANQUET.
Immediately after the literary exercises at the Academy of Mane, the invited guests entered the carriages, and were driven to the Banquet Hall at Recreation Park. Here the Committee ott Decorations and Halls had caused an inanense edifice, one hmcbed and fifty by one hundred feet in length and breadth, to the seasunited, and had it must tastefully and elaborately decorated. The lofty roof was draped in festoons of ph h and blue, fastened with different ornamental designs, white the walls were trimmed with flags and bunting, and with a profusion of wild flowers, and palms and other tropical plants were disposed about the platform. One table, for the guests especially invited by the City, was upon this platform, while, at the others, in the body of the hall, were seated the citizens of Haverhill and their Friends from other places. Over one thousand people were present.
The Banquet Committee had distinguished themselves in the success of their efforts for the occasion. Messis. T. D. Cook & Co. of Boston had been engaged as caterers, and they performed the service in a highly satisfactory manner. The banquet provided was unusually ample and elegant for so large a spread, and the corps of waiters was also very efficient.
The menu card was tastefully designed by Messrs. Shreve, Crump & Low of Boston, and appropriately bound in ooze leather, in various colors, forming a anique souvenir of the occasion. The leather, which is a specialty of Messrs. White Brothers & Co. of Boston. was a tonightial and un-
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solicited gift, for which the committee wish to express their appreciation and tender their thanks to the donors.
After the guests were seated, Mayor Burnham addressed the assembly in the following maner : ---
The City of Haverhill greets you to-day and calls you, invited guests and fellow-citizens, to sit at its table and partake of the sub- stantial and intellectual feast of its quarter-millennial anniversary. But before proceeding to the former, and following a custom older than the good old town whose history we to-day celebrate, I will call upon Rev. Thomas E. St. John to ask the Divine blessing.
Mr. St. John then, in the following words, invoked the Divine blessing on the banquet : ---
() Thou talinite Love, in whom we live and hove and have our being ; in whose care are the destinies of nations and the hopes
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of the world, - vouchsafe Thy presence as we meet around this board to-day.
We thank Thee for the light that shone upon the pathway of the fathers ; for the providences that led them in ways of righteousness, und liberty, and truth; for the counsels that enabled them to estab- lish here a free and independent State.
May the integrity that they possessed deseend upon and inspire us with noble thought and manly deed, that the inheritance we have received may go down to the future ages with increasing use- fulness and widening influence, till all hearts shall feel the glow of the Divine Love, and the Kingdom of God be Fully come.
Help us to show our thankfulness and gratitude for all these hh ssings by extending to others the mercies that Thou hast given unto us. Be Thou our Nation's te , that we may be Thy children evermore. Amen
After the blessing, the feast began, and for an hour and more the tempting viands were enjoyed by all, interspersed with the jovial conversation of old friends.
At the end of this time, Gre lables were removed and the intellectual part of the frast began.
His Honor, Mayor Buruham, first made the following intro- ductory speech, presenting the Toastmaster of the occasion : -
One of the good old New England customs that survives the onward march of events, is that of going back to the old homestead, to the good lathers and mothers of our sandy face, to the Thanks- giving dinner, to gladden the hearts that have reated ap children autal grandchildren, to look into each others' faces and once more grasp hands and exchange the warm greetings of love and affection known only to those who have participated in such felicitations.
To-day is the Thanksgiving of the city of Haverhill, and to-day He greet you as at the old fireside. And as around that fireside Kindred greet kindred, faces ate lighted, and hearts long separated are made glad by the tales of their long separation, so may we to-day recount the tales of our separation, and listen to the story, wit, and cloquence of the distinguished gentlemen who honor ns with their prest hier.
And, to direct the sentiment of this occasion, I have the honor and pleasure of introducing as the toastmaster of thi, banquet, Mr. George C. How.
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4325
After the applause with which he was greeted had sub- sided. Mr. How said : -
Mr. President, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, - A friend Douglas Jerrold was speaking to him one day of his courtship and marriage. He said his wife was educated in a momery, and was just on the point of taking the veil, when his presence suddenly burst. upon her and she became his wife. Jerrold listened attentively, and then quietly reunaked, " She evidently thought you better than ,"." I am here in that role to-day ; I am sind, better than nome.
When Gibbon was waiting his Koman history, it is said that it. (ok him more than ten years to finish his - Rise and Fall." A wit has remarked there is nothing remarkable aboat that, for there are thues when an extemporaneous speaker, or even a toastmaster, may accomplish his rise and fall in less than ten minutes.
In St Peter's at Rome is a magnificent copy in mosaic of Raphael's " 'Transfiguration." This picture is composed of countless
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pieces, many of them gems, beautifully pohshed and exquisite in color, each perfect in itself, and fitted into place by the hands of skil- ful artists.
We desire to present to you to-day a picture. We have gone forth, not in quest of Old Masters, but we have sought and have found living artists. They come here to-day, masters of their art, to put together for us and for our children a mosaic far dearer and more inspiring to us than any in the great minsters or galleries of the world. It will not be the Madonna or the IE dy Family, or portrait of saint or seer, but its subject will be the vitnes and deeds of the lathers and mothers of New England. In the foreground no medi- ovat basilica or Old-World shrine, but the ride meeting-house and the log school-house of New England. It will not glow with the rich coloring of Raphael, but it will be radiant with the light of a glorious history.
As in the " Transfiguration " we see depicted in the lower half of the picture a struggle with suffering, and in the upper half the glory of triumph, so our picture is in two parts, -- below are the founda- tions, laid through the hardships of our ancestors; and above, the good siger trattare with our city presents today As the great panter died, leaving his picture incomplete, to be finished from his designs by his pupils, so the noble band of hardy pi nacr , who settled here two hundred and hfty years ago, have iran mitted to their fol- lowers the honorable task of completing their work so worthily begun. Lot n Like this choice mosaic, set it in the beautiful frame which Nature has given us, as a precious picture of the home of our birth.
The president of the day has given you a most cordial welcome. It is now my delightful privilege to present 1. you, successively, the artists who will compose this picture.
L'offer you, as the first sentiment of this occasion, - " The Presi- dent : At the head of the noblest government on earth, because it is self-government."
A letter has been received from Mr. Harrison, in which he regrets his mability to be here to-day.
The Hon. Alanson W. Beard, Collector of the Port of Boston, was to have responded to this sentiment. We deeply regret that by reason of illness he cannot be with us. In his absence I will call on the band to play the " Star-spangled Banner."
After the band had played this, Mr. How continued : -
I propose as the second sentiment, -- " The Commonwealth of
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Massachusetts : She has ever stood at the front, in mien. in mind, in morada, and in the marts of commerce and manufactures."
We expected to present to you, as our eminent guest, the Chief Magistrate of the old Bay State.
We regret that he is kept from us by public duties; but we know that Massachusetts this year, as always, has elected to her second position a man in every way worthy of the first. I take pleasme in presenting to you His Honor, William H. Haile, Lieu- tenant. Governor of the Commonwealth.
Lieutenant-Governor Haile made the following speech : -
L is always an honor to respond for our Commonwealth. Whether we are her children by nativity or adoption, we should be equally jealous for her just rights, loyal to her lust interests, and proud of the position she to-day ocenpies in the cluster of States. The beginning of the history of Massachusetts is simply mark- ing the birthplace of our Republic, and her culesyrent hai tiy is contemporaneous with the rise and progress on our country. White
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we accord to every State great honor and praise m doing its full duty for the common weal, yet it seems to me that Massachusetts has done more than any other in shaping the destiny of the nation. Whether it he in Colonial times, or in the days of the Revolution, or the Rebellion, our State has ever been at the front.
Twenty years from the landing of the Pilgrims, this town of Massachusetts was incorporated, and to-day we touch a milestone of which only four can stand in a thousand years. Two hundred and fifty years in a new country like ours take us back practically to its beginning; and the number of towns which have here existed that length of time is very few. As we read the early history of the settlers of the oldest towns in this Commonwealth, we are struck with the points of similarity existing among them. We find the same kind of struggles, of burden , of trials, the same kind of cases of individuat heroism, and of individual triumph.
We pride ourselves to-day that we are living in a wonderful age, and we declare that a year of the present is equal to a generation of the past. We assume all modern improvements as a matter of course, and we look upon our luxuries in the light of necessities, and smile at the is nespun and primitive notions of our anerstens, but I doubt if the people of the present generation were called upon to take up the self-sacrificing spirit of the fathers, they would endive to the end, and thus come off conquerors.
The first settlers of New England came here as pilgrims and stranger. Lidt they brought the Bible with them. The incorporation of the town carried with it the building of the church, and thus did they devoutly and determinedly fear God and honor the king, and the foundations were laid of what has become a mighty republic.
Nations are not made in a day. The history of the past gives as indubitable proof of this fact. But when we realize what was done by the men and women of New England two hundred and fifty years ago, -- that they always maintained the right as God gave them light to know the right, - it is not so great wonder that our country hat, been signally prospered.
We cannot prize too highly the deeds of our ancestors, and this is an occasion which cannot fail to bring them to our minds. The past is over and the present is for us. Our opportunities are many and one responsibilities are great. Never in the history of our country was there more pressing need of true patriotism and lofty statesmanship, of inflexible honesty, and of unswerving devotion to those fixed principles which are founded on truth and justice and right. Let us never forget that as are the radividual- so will the nation be.
HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.
Let me extend congratulations to the citizens of Haverhill upon the grand success of this celebration.
Great applause followed this speech.
The toastmaster next proposed " The Congress of the United States," saying : --
Our gathering is honored by the presence of a gentleman whom We welcome, personally, as our friend , patriotically, as the one who mixed the first company of volunteers in our State, in the War of the Rebellion, and who came out of the war with the sears of battle and with a record most honorable. We also welcome him, politically, as our Representative in Congress, to whom we believe the interests of his constituents are of supreme importance. I scarcely need to mme. in this presence, General Willian Cogswell.
General Cogswell responded : --
I have known for many weeks that it was my intention to be inte today. For not only did I accept the invitation of your com-
THE BANQUET.
mittee promptly, but even before it was sent I said, in answer to an inquiry, that I would gladly come, if you invited me.
I have also known, for the same length of time, that I should be called on to speak if I came. But I have not known until now, for sure, what I was to speak about, although I thought I knew sey- eral times.
I had thought at one time that the President would be here and speak, and it is a great regret on our part, and a still greater loss on his part, that he is not here to do so.
When I had the honor to present to him in person your invita- tion, and said to him that this was the great opportunity of his life, he told me he would gladly come, tor here in Essex County his maternal ancestry were born But he expected and hoped that the time of your anmiversary would find him andd the busy and impera- tive duties of the closing days of Congress, when he could not pos- sibly leave Washington.
Well, the anniversary is here; but where, oh where, are the closing days of Congress? And echo answers, I am sorry to say, · Far, far away !"
I also expected until the last hour to listen to that distin- gnished statesman and orator, formerly one of your own citizens, - of whom you are always proud, one whom you would have been so delighted to honor to-day, -- the acting President of the Senate of the United States, the Hon. John James logalls. And after these gentlemen had spoken, I was expecting to " rake after the cart."
As to " The Congress of the United States," I am reminded of the answer once made to the old saying, that " it takes all sorts of people to make the world," which was, " Yes, and we've got 'em."
There can be no question that " The Congress of the United States " is a representative body, not only in theory, but in practice ; for, in the long run, you will find that the Congressman is a fair type of the particular district he represents. And considering the immense expanse of territory, the varying differences of climate ( for I am a great believer in climatic influence), and the multifari- ous divergent interests involved and demanding recognition, it is the greatest tribute which can be paid to the level-headed, average sense and patriotism of the American people, and the best possible endorsement of our democratie form of government, that the Amer- ican Congress does so much that is good, and so little which is of positive haim.
For you must judge Congress, not by what if proposes to do,
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but by what it actually does. If it were judged by what it some- times attempts to do, I think we should all Jose our faith occasionally.
Congress is the legislative branch, or representative of the sov- ereighty of the people of the United States; the sovereignty of a mation, - of forty-two States, many of them large enough for em- pires, in indissoluble union ; of sixty-five millions of inhabitants, stretching from one great ocean to the other great ocean, and destined soon to have no neighbor in North America, and to control, in a moral and commercial sense, the policy and future of all Amer- mit. A sovereignty so firmly fixed, so wholly recognized, that the office of its Chief Executive passes from the hand of one repre- semiative to the hand of some other representative for the time be- ing. without friction and by the staplest ceremony.
We have ssen this done within a few years, where, in a vote of ien millions, the vote of six hundred and fifty would have changed the personal representative of this office. and done as orderly and as certainly as if it had been done unanimously.
" The Congress of the United States " represents the legislative Eroch of adepublic fareed on democracy, which was no more dreamed of when the settlement of Haverhill was had. chan was this vigorous and prosperou city of to-day dreamed of by i. hise settler, two hundred and fifty years ago.
Yet in less than half that time, throwing off colonial depen- denice and welding all these settlements into States, and welding all the t States into a nation, - with one hand subduing the wilder- nes- and with the other the Indian, - achieving an acknowledged independence, establishing its flag everywhere upon the sea, acquir- ing large territories, by purchase and by conquest, and overcoming a rebellion at home which marshalled armies the largest ever seen, - it stands to-day, the largest manufacturing country of the world, with more than one-half the railroad mileage of the world, and one- fanth of its lines of telegraph, having added more to the wealth of the earth in one hundred years than has the mother country in one thousand years, and, with less than one-hfteenth of the world's pop- ilation, doing one-third of its mining, one-fourth of its manufactur- ing, one-fifth of its agriculture, and owning one-sixth of its entire wealth.
Yet at best it is but a human fabric, -its government founded on the will of the majority, with every man a voter, and embracing within the first decade of the coming century (it is estimated ) one hundred and fifteen millions of human beings. And if, at its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, it was look back with the same
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pride as you can to-day, on a record of vigor, virtnie, continued im- provement and prosperity, it will have met the prayers and hopes of all its children of to-day. ( Applause. )
Mr. How then said : -
I offer as the next toast, -- " Our Representatives in Foreign Lands: May they ever succeed in maintaining republican principles, while conciliating monarchial prejudices."
It is with sincere pleasure that we greet a distinguished son of Massachusetts, our United States minister to Portugal. " If he had ben absent it would have been as a great gap in our feast." Of him il thay truly be said, " You will find me apt enough if you will give ine occasion." To whose voice would we more gladly listen than to that of the Hon. George B. Loring?
His introduction was received with great applause.
Dr. Loring responded in these words : --
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Mr. President, -- The sentiment to which you have called my attention admits of a varied interpretation. Our accredited repre- sentatives, who are enjoined on their departure to express no opinion on the affairs of the country to which they are sent, and who en- deaver to lay aside their nationality as far as possible, can hardly be said to represent the vivacions and excitable people from which they sprung.
They are not expected to exhibit their national characteristics. It is enough for them to fall into the modes of address and the style of royal obeisance which become the attendants on royalty, and to play the courtier, and accommodate thenselves to the manners und custoias of their new associate . But the it pr sence is a constant reminder of the nationalty from wlach they come a nationality of indepodleat citizenship, from whose ranks can be selected the representatives of the country, at home and abro: I. It is not easy for a subject to comprehend a citizen. It is not easy for a repie- sentative of monarchieal power to understand the popular level from which are selected those who rule and speak for a republic.
To interat n of bin who . os alaca ld ik dy ith the authority of an independent nationality is very different from that of one who carries with him into diplomatic cireles the natural Jeence of him who is surrounded by classification, class, and legitimacy; and the Knowledge which he carries with him into Lis diphanatie work is stall. when compared with that of him who is hin to the life he
There is in Europe a diplomatie class, born to the work, edn- rated for it, accustomed to the association with diplomatic chmarters, who are received into the circles with all the consideration due their rank.
An American enters upon his career without rank, with only the commission he carries with him, and which entitles him to respect. He knows, and those about him know, that the next tuin of the politi- cal wheel may toss him out of a sphere mito shien he was so acci- dentally thiown. And yet the diplomacy of America is distinguished throughout the world for its success. In the early days of our republic, when our numbers were few and our power was small, the diplomatic labors of the great men who went alroad to speak for their country were counted among the bright achievements of their day. The recognition they seeured for a young and rising republic, the acquisition of territory. the relations they estibli hed for the feeble power they represented, among the great face id of the earth, joined with the fortunate location of the it menti. & werden . reputation
Jowan
Banquet Committee.
LAIDI EY PORTER
GLARGE C. HOW. WILLIAM E. BLANT.
JAMES # WEST,
J I.ŁO. S. LITTLE, BOYD B. JONES.
JUSEl'HE GOODRICH, JE. MAURICE D. CLARKE.
SAMUEL W GEURGE
MENU.
rien ParaLaout Salmon, Hollandaise. Cucumbers, French Dressing,
REMOVES Fricasaes of Spring Chlokun. Brelzed Tongue.
LNTH -4.5 Sww trend Croquettes, Green Pass. Lobster Cutiute. Tomato Sauce.
Polted Pigeon, Jardiniera. ROABI Fi ct of Buuf. Mushrooms.
Singel Tomatser. COID MLATS F .à r's Hum. . Smoked Tongue. Bonad Turkey .
Chtoken. Potato.
HELPHES
Radiahos. Salled Almondo.
".Jorind. Plein and Fancy Caku. ICIH V . : Chocolate, Platachlo, Macaroon and Harlequin Creame Frozon Nessulrode Pudding L IĻu and Raspberry Shorbut Individual Fanoy Icto MAURY
Plncapploe. Strawberries.
Ciaol dre and Chiusaa, Loffue.
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second to none in all that stormy period. And, ma later day, this skill bas secured for us a commanding position amongst the oldest und most powerful nations.
With Washington at home, and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson abroad, what had we not a right to expect for a rising republic ; and with Abraham Lincoln at home and Charles Francis Adams at the Court of St. James, in the most trying hour of our national existence, what a recognition we secured for our patriotie demands and asser- tions !
But the presence of the American diplomatists in Europe at the present day serves as permanent evidence of the existence of the great empire of the West. It may not be necessary to demonstrate the growing power of the republic, but it is necessary to remind foreign governments and people that there is a young and vigorous nation- ality in the western hemisphere entitled to the respect of its asso- iates and colleagues.
When our civil war broke out, it was accepted as the beginning of the end. No organized government in Earope supposed for a moment ... Am si an nationality wond I ein ge fion the great con- fiet unharmed. So little was the power of the republic understood, that it was thought to be only necessary to wait for the 1 : it, and to make new creaties with the two powers which were to occupy the place which had been so long filled by one. The wisest allowed them. yes to be deceived. The strange idea that a new nation was to come out of the conflict possessed the minds of too many even of The thoughtful and intelligent, and was almost universally accepted by those who ruled the people of Europe.
The delusion has vanished. The habit of desonneing our gov- aument has been left to the restless atal uneasy, who magnify all the faults and diminish all the virtues which attend a popular govern- ment. They know, indeed, that our growth in wealth is marvellous, that our increase in population is unparalleled. that we erect colleges mid institutions of learning, and endow them with publie and private liberality, that we increase om libraries, that we fill our land with momuments erected to the memory of the great and good, that we multiply our manufactories and enlarge our fans, that we offer a home to the enterprising and industrious of every nation, that we ghenantee the blessing of freedom to all, and coil continually for the purification of our statute book ; and that is all this wide sea of in- dustrial and intellectual endeavor, of careful calculation and legisla- live action, the evil of corruption is hardly visade to the most criti- cal eye. Here and there, now and then the summit it appears as to
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