USA > Maine > York County > Eliot > History of the centennial of the incorporation of the town of Eliot, Maine, August 7th-13, 1910 > Part 7
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
83.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
The writer mentions the capture of the grand battery, which was a great piece of success; but the enemy were strongiy entrenched, and the New England men were far from home, exposed to inclement weather, and poorly enough equipped for such a task; but Pepperell, having captured this formidable outpost, pushed on towards the city with his little army overflowing with enthusiasm.
The country was full of bogs and quagmires which rendered it almost impossible to advance their siege guns, but they struggled day and night for nearly two months against almost insurmountable obstacles. During this time the pulpits of New England sent up prayers to God for their success, on some occasions, it is said two hours in length. The men so fervently prayed for had put their hands to the plow; there could be no looking back, and in spite of great guns and impregnable walls, Louisburg fell, and Pepperell marched his worn out but exultant men into the great city, So astonished was he as he viewed this " Gibralter of America," that he exclaimed :- " Such ruins were never seen before. It was the goodness of God alone that brought about the result ; the Almighty of a truth has been with us " Such expressions were in the mouths of everybody, so great was the joy and surprise of the people at the wonderful success of their arms. Never before was pulpit eloquence more strained The ministers everywhere vied with each other in extolling the providential character of an event which it was believed would cripple the power of France on the North American Continent. This anecdote of the time may not be out of place here :-
Parson Moody was noted for long sermons, and, espec- ially, long prayers. After the capitulation of the city, Pepperell, in honor of the event, gave a dinner to General Waldo, and the officers engaged with him in the achieve- ment. The tedious length of Parson Moody's prayers and blessings at the table were so proverbial, that his friends were troubled at the prospect of having him officiate on this occasion, as it might, under the peculiar conditions
84.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
which prevailed, be extremely embarrassing, but no one was brave enough even to hint at brevity. To the sur- prise and gratification of all, however, the good Parson, realizing the situation, pointedly said :
" Good God, we have so many things to thank Thee for, that time will be infinitely too short to do it. We must therefore leave it as the work of eternity. Bless our food and fellowship on this joyful occasion, for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen."
Nothing could have been more appropriate, or more gratifying to the assembled heroes.
But the people were not permitted to enjoy long the fruit of this conquest. England made peace with France, and one of the conditions acceded to was the restoration of Louisburg to the French. The sacrifices made by the colonists had been great. Disease and death had made sad havoc in the ranks of the devoted men who had fought so strenuously for the common welfare, and the abandon- menf to their enemy of the great prize for which they had paid so dearly was bitterly resented, and ever cherished as a grievance against the mother country. The capture of Louisburg, though the news was assiduously spread among the savages, did not cause any cessation in their cruel activity ; indeed, stirred up more vindictively by the French they increased their barbarities. To Louisburg, after its restoration to the French, the thoughts of the colonists were ever turned, and when England, finding her relations with France unbearable, declared war against her, the colonists were alert for another crusade. To Louisburg, was again the cry ; and from this town men, forgetting their former sufferings, set out on the long march to aid in its conquest.
In 1758, the fall of Louisburg was again joyfully pro- claimed through New England, and a few months later, the capture of Quebec by Wolfe, broke forever the power of France on the American continent.
After their long and exhausting struggles in the French and Indian wars, which left many families bereft of those
85.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
upon whom they had depended for support, and all in poverty, it would seem that the ruling government in England should have taken into account the sacrifices which her colonies had made, and sustained them in their efforts to recuperate from them. This would have tended to strengthen their loyalty, and to have made them forget her shameless abandonment of Louisburg after their severe struggle in 1745 to capture it ; but unfortunately for Eng- land, a weak king and ministry controlled her destinies at a critical time. Imbued with the antiquated and vicious policy which in former reigns had its advocates, that colonies should be made subservient and tributary to the parent state, they began, soon after affairs were settled, to make a practical application of it to her American colonies. The resentment which this occasioned manifested itself at Lexington and Bunker Hill, and culminated at Yorktown in the surrender of Cornwallis.
In this war with the Fatherland, which had successfully crippled the power of her European rivals, France and Spain, there were many men who had bought the French at Louisburg, as well as the savages who had barrassed them day and night through long years They hadlearned the art of fighting, and were inured to bear uncomplain- ingly the severest hardships, which made them a foe unlike any with which England had thus far coped. As marksmen they were unsurpassed ; and numerous are the stories of their skill with the rifle. A single instance will illustrate this :
During a battle a noted British officer was seen at a distance apparently too great to be reached by the Ameri- can fire. He was mounted on a white horse, and was engaged in forming his ranks for a charge, when an American officer called one of his riflemen, and pointing him out, said, " I want you to bring down that man on the white horse." The next moment the rider was seen to fall from his saddle. Some hours later a message was sent to the Americans under a flag of truce, asking for a cessation of hostilities in order to bury the brave officer. The re-
86.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
quest was, of course, granted, It was a cruel act, for all war is of necessity cruel; but it probably contributed to the success of the Americans, and perhaps prevented much loss of life.
During this long war the privations which were suffered by the colonists were great. Food was scarce and costly, and the families of those in the ranks of the army deprived of their labor, suffered the direct poverty, as the annals of the time show ; but we all know the result, though we may not realize the debt we owe to the men who shed their blood in our behhalf.
Eliot occupied an honorable place in this great War. Her sons were at Lexington, at Bunker Hill, at Ticon- deroga, at Valley Forge, and she was represented on the Bon Homme Richard under that world famous hero,- John Paul Jones.
During the war the ingenuity of the people was severely taxed to supply many of the commonest necessities of life, and this proved to be a blessing in disguise; for the people gained thereby an object lesson which proved of permanent value. Heretofore they had depended upon England who had controlled every avenue of trade, and her agents had kept her Board of Trade informed of every attempt at manufacture, even going so far as to advise measures to be taken to prevent the farmers wives from making the homespun cloth which clothed their families ; but war had taught them that they could live without supplies from home,-as they had but recently called England. The result was that manufacturing enterprise, which had before been dormant, was greatly stimulated.
But although they had won on the battle field, and were free from the arrogance of Royal Governors, they had not won on the commercial field ; and were not free from the shrewd state craft of the Lords of Trade. The newspapers of the day were filled with this subject, and one reading them often meets with the exclamation, " We are not yet free from England ;" and when one of our first Presidents appeared in a whole suit of home made cloth, the act was
87
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
hailed as a splendid exhibition of patriotism, and "Go thou and do likewise," was the admonition to everyone who wished to win that proud title.
To meet this condition a law to tax foreign products, and to employ the proceeds in paying the expenses of the Government was enacted, and the direct tax on the people abolished, in other words, a Protective Tariff. The author of the bill argued that competition would eventually reduce the cost of manufactured goods greatly below the price which was being paid for those of foreign production. This was soon practically exemplified, for our cotton mills multiplied with great rapidity after the passage of the law; and within ten years the price of cotton cloth fell from nineteen cents per yard, the price paid for the im- ported article, to ten cents ; and woolen and other goods showed similar results. English merchants, to retain supremacy by causing the failure of home industries, threw their goods into our markets at ruinous rates, which brought on a commercial war, and caused wide spread disaster to our industries. The feeling caused by this course of England made our people ready again to try conclusions with her when she offered occasion. Angry on her part at the obstacles thrown in her way to control our markets, she seized upon various pretexts to invade our rights, and this country, not sorry for the opportunity, declared war against her.
This town had been organized but two years when the war opened, but in common with all our New England towns, she responded generously to the call of arms.
In 1814, the enemy threatened the coast towns, causing a general alarm; hence, a meeting of the Inhabitants of Eliot was called, and a Committee of Defence and Safety raised to send troops to defend the seacoast against the enemy, and to furnish them with rations until the State or General Government should assume the burden.
The close of this unprovoked and tedious war in favor of the United States, was a great relief to the town; the spirit of enterprise, which had languished so long, re-
88.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
vived. Manufacturing rapidly increased in New England, and under a protective tariff, the country grew more and more independent of England, who had been forced to discontinue her agressive warfare upon our markets.
But, England had bequeathed to us a legacy which was destined to cause us great loss and suffering. This was the institution of Slavery, which had its origin in her slave trade established by Queen Elizabeth, in 1553; an enterprise in which England soon assumed the lead. In this traffic many of the Elizabethan seaman of note were engaged, among them Sir John Hawkins, in one of whose voyages at least, the Queen had a share. The trade being lucrative excited the averice of merchants, and several monopolies were granted by her to those who enjoyed her favor.
In the capture of the miserable victims of this cruel traffic, unspeakable barbarities were practiced. Happy was the fate which befell those who were slaughtered in the attacks of the slave pirates upon their homes. Those who were taken, of both sexes, were crowded into the filthy holds of the clumsy ships, where they suffered such tortures, that a large portion of them perished before reaching their destination ; yet no thought of pity or com- passion seems to have been awakened in the hearts of the Queen and her partners in crime, by the terrible sufferings which the victims of their greed underwent. As an illus- tration of this, one of the favorite hymns. no doubt often sang in the Old Fields' Church, in this town, was written, as he himself tells us, by a pious clergyman, "In the pleasant woods of Guinea," where he was with Hawkins, being one of the shareholders in the voyage. At the time he was engaged with Cowper in preparing the "Olney Hymns" for publication. He further informs us that "It was accounted a genteel employment, and usually very profitable," and that he "never had the least scruples to its lawfulness ;" and was "upon the whole, satisfied with it;" but he acknowledges that in a single year, more brutal atrocities were perpetrated in the traffic, than
89.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
during the entire period of the French Revolution.
Hawkins himself has left us an account of one of his voyages, describing the slaughter in attacking the towns of the natives, the crowding of men, women and children, into the holds of his ships, where, he says, enough sur- vived the voyage to make it profitable ; and he piously assures us that " Almighty God, who never suffereth his elect to perish, gave him a northwest wind which wafted him to a profitable port."
The first cargo of slaves sent to our shores, was in 1619, a year before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and was discharged at Jamestown, Virginia. Slaves were held by New England colonists ; several in this town ; but human bondage was never popular in the northern col- onies, and they were, in due time, emancipated. Not so in the South. The spell of England's fatal heritage held her too firmly to be lightly cast off, and to rid the nation of it required the sacrifice of much blood and treasure. In the struggle to free ourselves from the last bond which royal power had fixed upon us, the town of Eliot was generous in the offering which she laid upon the altar of Freedom, and her name is honorably inscribed on the rolls of fame. So too, when proud Spain, who once had boasted of her title to the entire continent from a power which then dominated Europe, was forced to yield her last possessions in the New World which Columbus had discovered, Eliot, as ever, responded to the call to arms, and sent her sons to conflict and victory.
But Eliot has accomplished more in peace than in war. The white spires of her Churches ; the sheltering roofs of her Schools; her Public Library, the gift of an honored son, and center of her literary life ; her elm shaded streets and sacred homes; her long roll of honored sons,-all testify to this; and, though a small town, give her rank among our typical New England communities, the like of which are not to be found elsewhere.
Surely the conquests of Peace are far greater than those
90.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
of war. The annals of the past are stained with blood and tears; but the annals of the future shall glow with the achievements of humanity in the beneficent arts of Peace.
-0-
The Poem.
The next feature of the day was the reading of the poem, written especially for this occcasion, by Dr. WILLIAM HALE, of Gloucester, Mass., and read by Miss Celia Richmond, Secretary of the Greenacre Conferences.
Much regret was expressed that Dr. Hale was not pres- ent ; but he was on his way to Norway and Sweden ; and with the legends of that far away northern land in mind, he named his poem The Saga of a Century :
ELIOT ROSEMARY.
THE SAGA OF A CENTURY. 1810-1910. -0- Town a-bloom beside the river, Green and fair thy acres be,
Basking in the summer's sunshine, Rounding out thy Century.
Richly have the swift years blessed thee, Though in ways thou hast not sought,
For amid life's myriad changes,
Bravely hath the spirit wrought.
Loved home of the blue rosemary, Birthplace of the bittersweet,
Legacy of rich remembrance, Lay the full years at thy feet.
Though no more the wily redskin Bathes the anguish'd vale in blood,
Nor in birch canoe swift paddling With his ochre paints the flood,
Peace her banner waveth o'er thee,
And the warrior's voice is stilled;
Dr. William Hale
91.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
Daisies now, God's beauteous peace-flags, Guard the graves with heroes filled. Paleface, redskin, saint and savage, Side by side in slumber lie ; O'er them wide, their common roof-tree, Arches the eternal sky.
Sun and moon and stars keep vigil O'er their shallow, vanish'd graves ; While the river, sweetest singer, Lulls them with its lapping waves.
Pure pearl of the Piscataqua, Borne upon thy boiling tide, Shouting, singing, brown-armed boatmen, Homeward through the sunset glide ;
Prouder than Venetian Doges, Yankee seadogs stalwart, brown, On their gondolas swift flying 'Tween the brickyards and the town.
Bare-foot boy and blushing maiden, -- Love's sweet passion brought to pass,- Loitering schoolward through the meadow, Crush the strawberries in the grass.
In the sweet-breath'd fields the farmer, Bending o'er his gleaming scythe, ·Smiling wipes his brow and listens To his children's prattle blithe.
In her rose-hung doorway knitting, Sits the goodwife, babe on knee ; In the cool shade 'neath the maple Grandam spreads the board for tea.
Through the pasture lane at sundown; Rosy cheeks and sunburnt brows, Merry lads and lasses singing Homeward drive the patient cows.
From his eyrie, proud the eagle Soars to greet the god of day ;
92.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
Or, beneath the crystal waters Plunging, seeks his briny prey.
From the creek leaps high the sturgeon, On the upland calls the crow, Through the twilight booms the bittern While the deep'ning shadows grow ;
Sunning in the mullein'd pasture, Just beyond the lichen'd wall,
Blinks the woodchuck by his burrow, List'ning to the blue-jays call.
From the brookside 'neath the alders, Where the cattle stop to drink, Trill the silver-throated songsters, Cat-bird, thrush and bobolink.
More than mart and camp and commerce Thy green acreage constant yields; Ev'ry blossom adds its treasure To the blessing of the fields.
In the marsh the shy rosemary, In the field the bittersweet,
In the forest-dell the May-flower, Make thy redolence complete. .
Sweet-fern, tansy, pennyroyal, With the scent of new-mown hay,
Send Cologne's cheap mixtures begging, . And the perfumes of Cathay.
Golden-rod and purple aster Flaunt their glory in the sun,
Shaming poor Aladdin's Palace, Down there by the cattle-run.
Ev'ry lane a bower of beauty, By the wall where squirrels hide, Bayberry and rose and sumac, Scatter splendor far and wide.
Old "Gondolow," on the Piscataqua
-
The Long Reach
93.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
Ev'ry ribbon-path a cloister Sweet with bay and juniper, Ev'ry forest-aisle a minster, Incensed by the whisp'ring fir. Up the harbor softly stealing, Past the creeks of Kittery, Father Neptune's golden nectar, Sweeps the salt breath of the sea.
Heralds of the Peace of Nations, From their tap'ring sun-kissed towers Faint the storied bells of Portsmouth Toll the death-knell of the hours.
Past the Fort, New Castle fishers Leaving Whales-back Light a-lee, Bravely breast the seething tide-rips, Standing full-fared in from sea.
Morn and eve the boats of Berwick, On the river's blue highway, Tacking round the pine-fringed headlands, Slant their phantom sails of gray.
Westward where through sunset glories Swims the lambent evening star, Loom the purple hills of Dover, Heights celestial, fair and far.
Here, encamp'd 'mid verdant acres, Israelites in hallow'd tents, Higher than "New Thought," or "Science," Is the School of Common Sense.
Sweet the rest beside thy waters, Where thoughts deep as rivers flow ; Mother Nature's "Shock-absorber," Panacea for mortal woe.
Ave! College of Green Acre, Nature's University,
94.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
All creation thy broad campus, Sanitas thy high degree.
. Though no more from out thy shipyards, Stately vessels seaward pass,
Bearing blessing to all nations O'er the sea's highway of glass,
Yet to-day our ghostly thought-ships, In the Century's sunset fair,
Homeward flock on snowy pinions Freighted deep with love and prayer. -
Time and distance may not sever, Powerless to quench the sea, Spirits that in love together Strive for right and liberty.
Therefore, let one, though far distant, On a Viking ship and shore, Send with blessing this rosemary For remembrance evermore.
As in ancient days the Vikings, In the wondrous Sagas told, Put to sea upon their death-ships, After battle, dying. old,
So to-day a restless voyager With thoughts yearning to be free,
Freighting deep his flaming thought-ship. Sends his Saga o'er the sea.
Ship of Stout Hearts, swift it fareth With the freight of brave good cheer,
Conquering, kinglike, calm and tempest, Striking never sail to fear.
Stronger than life's surging billows, Deeper than death's mysteries, Love's sweet Saga, quick'ning all things, Deathless searches seas and skies.
William Hill
Gov. John F. Hill
Birthplace of Gov. John F. Hill
John F. Hill Grange Hall
95. -
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
Listen what the Saga singeth,
Wafted the wild ocean o'er, While the Spirit's "wireless" mingles With the waves upon the shore :
" Greater gift than gold or title, More than child of brush or pen, Evermore the town's best asset, Is its rugged breed of men. Thus, in love, the wise Creator, Knowing what things worthiest be,
Of the treasures of his kingdom Makes the spirit legatee.
Hamlet of the Singing Waters, Where the sunset lingers late,
This is what the Century gives thee, Fairest of the green Pine-State :
Character in Sons and Daughters. Courage never known to quail, Peace and joy beyond the telling. Faith that knows not how to fail."
-0-
GOV. JOHN F. HILL. J
Governor John F. Hill was presented by the President of the day, as "Eliot's favorite son."
He responded very briefly, addressing old neigbors and friends. He referred to his birthplace in tender terms : and the deep love and tenderness which he has always held for the scenes of his youth. He expressed his great pleasure in being with them, and joining in their Centennial Birth- day; and he assured them of his best wishes for them and the old town always.
He was loudly applauded at the beginning and the close of his remarks.
96
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
President Cole then said :
New Hampshire; knows a good thing when she sees it, and picks it up quickly. We have with us a ' Son of Eliot ;" a product of our school ; a boy who grew up with us, and then went over to Portsmouth, where step by step they have advanced him, until today he holds the highest position a man can hold in his adopted city.
It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you- Mayor Edward H. Adams.
MAYOR EDWARD H. ADAMS, Spoke as follows:
Mr. Chairman, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens :
It has given me a great deal of pleasure to come back today, to look into the faces of so many whom I have known so long and so favorably, to bring the greeting of all Portsmouth's citizens to this large and enthusiastic gathering, and to take some brief part in these interesting and instructing exercises. All this, I assure you, has given me new courage and new friends. All this has brought back to me a large share of the richness that belongs to those things which make up the joy of life. In many eyes before me I see the light of love and friendship, which I know is reflected back to every one from the inmost chambers of my heart.
Old-home days are almost of necessity days of personal reminiscences ; but I can tell you very little that is per- sonal. I stand among my friends. I can tell you very little that is new, for I have been in your sight ever since I was a resident here. But in all these years I have never forgotten this grand old town, nor its noble citizenship, nor its helpful and inspiring influences that have had much to do in leading me to manhood. In the discharge of all my labors, whenever I was right, I was confident I had the approval of this"people,-and whenever I fell short, their charitable judgment.
Let me suggest that we are living in days of great enter-
.
Judge Edward H. Adams
97.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
prise and great achievements. Wooden shoes and ox-carts have become things of the past. Electricity has drawn the old stage-coach up under the shed, and left it there to rot and turned the horses out to pasture We bore tunnels through mountains at the cost of billions of dollars. We tax the brain to the utmost capacity to take the fraction of a second from the schedule time. We ride on the morn- ing light, and whisper in every human ear with a single breath like the kinsmen and heirs of the Infinite. We go to war in palace-cars. We fight great battles thousands of miles from the smoke of the conflict, and with maps and charts, telephone and telegraph order each charge and change. We do everything upon the most magnificent scale, whether it be the subduing of a wilderness or the controlling of a government. No Age was ever greater than this, nor more intense ; no Age was ever filled with greater possibilities than this, or held greater responsi- bilities.
The great cry of the Age is for men. The world is full of babes and children. We want men. We are much concerned about opportunity; we should be more concerned about ability. There is plenty of room under this Eastern sky for the greatest man of the Age. But where are the workers? The great cause languishes. I wish I could drop this thought into every home in the land, that our slumbering youth and indifferent maidens would spring forth from their repose, saying, " As for me, come what will, I will improve my opportunities and my powers, and push out with the scouts and pioneers along the lines of all thought and progress and invention, up into the moun- tain tops of all knowledge." But all this takes time, and there is no short cut to greatness. But what of that ? Are we not immortal? Is not all the future before us ? We run quickly to the end of this life of toil and struggle, to march along the eternal Ages in companionship and association with princes and powers and principalities and dominions and thrones of Heaven.
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.