USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Wilton > An address delivered at the centennial celebration in Wilton, N.H., Sept. 25, 1839 > Part 2
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the different parties have alternately had the majority. Wilton was a federal town, with the exception of two votes, till 1802. Since that time the democratic party has, I believe, been in the majority, in most cases, ex- cept when elections have been influenced by local in- terests. But on the subject of politics, so contested, and where one is so easily misunderstood, I do not dwell.
Wilton has of course sympathized with the general condition of the country. It has felt the blessings of peace, and war has brought mourning to the homes among these hills, as it has done elsewhere.
In the carly settlement of the town, it shared, in com- mon with all the frontier towns, the dread of Indian hostilities. It was, however, free from savage inroads, though for some years, in the time of Indian wars, the people took refuge for safety in neighboring gar- risons.
In the French war, at the massacre of Fort Edward, Henry Parker, Jr., a young man whose family belonged to this town, was killed.
But a struggle was approaching which, for years, should be felt in every village and every home of this country. The causes which brought about the Revolu- tion had for a long time been ripening. The country was heated and ready to burst out into a flame. The day of decision and action came. On the 19th of April, 1775, in all the towns in the neighborhood of Boston the same spectacle might have been witnessed, extending on into the country, as fast as men and horses could travel. A horseman might be seen to ride rapidly into the town. The bell, if there was one, was rung; a drum beat the roll ; there was a sudden collecting of men from all
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quarters - from the workshop and the field - and pre- sently pushing their horses hotly on, the inhabitants dropped in one by one from the outskirts of the town. The house-doors were open; the ordinary avocations of life stopped ; women were hurrying with uncovered heads, or whispering together with anxious eyes and quivering lips. Presently, three or four men on fresh horses were seen starting in the direction of the towns beyond, and the assembly quietly separated. In a few hours, the same men were seen rallying again. They were in their common dress, but they had fowling- pieces and muskets in their hands, and powder-horns and pouches, or cartridge-boxes slung at their sides. They came together with provisions and blankets - but silently, with stern and resolved faces, as if on some solemn and momentous enterprise, that had hushed all lighter feelings and words. What was the meaning of this rude war array ? That courier had brought the news that a body of British troops was marching tow- ards Concord for offensive purposes. And thus, at a moment's warning, in peace, almost unarmed, sprung forth the New England yeomanry to meet them. In each separate band was the strength of a separate town, men linked heart to heart; neighbors, brothers, sons, fathers. The plough was left in the furrow and the grain unsown. None but pale-lipped women and chil- dren crying they knew not why, and old men that leaned upon staves were left. Many tears were shed and many a prayer breathed, as wives, and mothers, and sisters saw this band, as it went with the expectation of instant combat, vanish in the windings of the road .*
* The same thing, almost to the letter, is described by the older inhabitants, as having taken place repeatedly during the war.
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This was the most wonderful day of the Revolution. It witnessed the uprising of a whole people .* It was the day of decision, and each man who took arms in his hands, virtually cast off allegiance to the mother country, and personally declared war against the might of Britain. It was not as when an army, drilled into a piece of me- chanism, marches forth to battle. The solemn decision of peace or war, that should drench the continent in blood, was to be made in each individual heart. At once the country was filled with armed men. Stark was in his saw-mill at Londonderry, when he heard the news of the blood shed at Lexington, and instantly took his musket and started for the camp. Putnam was ploughing in the middle of a field. He left his plough in the furrow, unyoked his oxen, and without changing his dress, mounted his horse and proceeded to the scene of action. And the same that they did, was done by multitudes of others. There are few of us, who have not heard from the aged people among us, ac- counts of the sudden preparation and departure of the minute men, and how their wives and sisters toiled at home with beating hearts, to prepare provisions and clothes to be sent to the camp. Forever in memory be held the brave men and heroic women of that day !t
* Very far, however, was it from being an act of hasty and inconsiderate pas- sion. Many facts might be gleaned from the town records showing in what seri- ous foresight the people were preparing for the Revolution. For example, in 1775, a " Town Stock" of salt and molasses was purchased at Marblehead and transported to Wilton, in the apprehension that the inhabitants might be cut off by the war from their supplies of these articles. The records of the time are also full of votes relative to providing clothes, provisions and money for those who join- ed the army.
t It is worthy of being mentioned, that the requisitions made on Wilton for men, throughout the war, were complied with invariably by prompt and volun- tary enlistments. It is stated that in one case the demand came on Sunday, and
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There was nothing peculiar in the history of Wilton during the Revolution. It endured deprivations and shared losses of substance and of men, in common with the other New-England towns. At one period or another, for a longer or a shorter time, nearly all the inhabitants, capable of bearing arms, were enrolled in the army ; and every able bodied man served in the war, either personally or by substitute. Nearly the whole population turned out to meet Burgoyne, and many were with Stark at Bennington .* To show how heavily the war bore on all the towns, it may be stated that the population of Wilton, when the Revolution commenced, was but six hundred and twenty-three, of whom, there were but one hundred and twenty-eight between the ages of sixteen and sixty. Of this number, twenty-six were in the army in 1775. Of the soldiers from Wilton, twenty-two died or were killed in the war. Of the number who were out in that momentous strug- gle, but two remain. Onet of them was out four years ; the other # during nearly the whole war, and on almost every battle-field where the great contest was
the men started for the camp on Monday. This is the more worthy of remem- brance, because the want of prompt enlistments was one of the great difficulties of the Revolution. Washington constantly complains of the slow and incomplete returns of men. It does not diminish, but increases our respect for the patriotism of the town, that to encourage men to join the army, Wilton gave a large bounty to those who enlisted. To the last three-years men, this bounty was $160 in sil- ver to each man. For a fuller account of this measure, see the Appendix.
* An anecdote is related that shows the spirit that prevailed. A young man came to the muster-master, (Maj. Abiel Abbot,) to be enrolled for the army, but was found not so tall as the law required. He insisted on being again measured, and it being with the same result, in his passionate disappointment, he burst into tears. He was however finally enrolled, on the ground that zeal and courage were of more value in a soldier than an inch, more or less, in height.
t Capt. William Pettengill.
# Capt. Joseph Gray.
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decided. They still remain, examples to all of patriotism and worth. May God hold their lives in his most holy care, and may their old age go down calmly amid the respect and honor of those, whose liberties they peril- led their lives to secure.
When we compare the growth of our native town with that of places more favorably situated, it may seem at first slow and slight. Yet even here, how vast the change which a century has wrought. Instead of the Indian trail, or path marked by spotted trees, the whole town is intersected and netted over by travelled roads ; instead of forests tenanted by bears and wolves, and every species of wild game, we now see on every side culti- vated farms and happy homes ; the streams then wander- ed through the wilderness unvisited, save by the muskrat or the beaver, and now scarcely a water-fall is to be found where is not erected a mill or factory. Through the warm summer days may be heard at the angles of the roads, the busy murmur of the school-houses, and on the hills may be seen the churches, directing the thoughts of the dwellers round about to heaven. At first the town was peopled by emigration ; but it has given in this way more than it has received. Not only has it kept up its own population, but it is calculated that the emigrants from Wilton, now living, would make two towns, each as large as Wilton itself .* When we re- member that this is the change wrought in a single cen- tury, and that this is but an example of the growth of the whole interior of New-England, we cannot fail to see that there has been and is abundant reason to be grateful to Providence for the wonderful prosperity of
* A large number of the original settlers of Andover, Weston and Landgrove, Vt., were emigrants from Wilton. So also were many of the first settlers of Nel- son, N. H., and of Weld and Temple in Maine. This, however, includes but a small part of the emigration from this town.
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our land. The wonder of today makes us forget the wonder of yesterday. It is but a little time since the pop- ulation of this region was increasing scarcely less rapidly than that of the flourishing regions of the West in our own day. And it increases not so rapidly now, only be- cause it is pouring forth its children to do their part in building up cities, and states, and empires towards the setting sun.
We have looked at the history of the Past. That we may draw from it, as far as may be, wisdom for the future, let us devote the remainder of our time to the consideration of some of the causes that have promoted the prosperity of our New-England towns.
One of the most important of these causes is to be found in the fact, that the people have been left to their individual enterprise.
There are two courses which a government may pur- sue, almost equally certain to ruin a country. One is that of too much legislation ; the other is that of un- steady and changeable legislation. One is the charac- teristic vice of despotisms ; the other has too often been chargeable upon republics. They both finally bring about the ruin of a country, in the same way, by break- ng down and palsying individual enterprise.
In Egypt, the government does every thing ; makes ill the improvements ; builds railroads and canals ; wns and cultivates the soil. It takes the responsibility of every thing and directs every thing. Nothing is left o individual enterprise, and, of course, there is no such enterprise. The people remain slaves. Even were it vell meant, there is such a thing as a government's aking so much care of a people, that they will cease to
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take care of themselves, and sink down into apathy, and ignorance and sloth.
On the other hand, if legislation is changeable ; if it grants privileges to day which it revokes tomorrow ; passes laws this year only to repeal them the next ; gives encouragement to a branch of industry now, and suddenly and causelessly withdraws the encouragement; the result will ultimately be the same. The insecurity of property will prevent men from investing it in any way in which the government can reach it ; the greatest encouragement to labor -the hope that one may lay up something for his old age or for his children, - will be taken away ; no man will be induced to make improve- ments, if he is to be immediately after treated as a pub- lic enemy, and robbed of all the profit of his labors ; industry will be paralyzed; they who have much will hoard it, and they who have nothing will live on the community ; all enterprise will be extinct; and thus the changeable legislation of a republic may become as ruinous as the tyrannical exactions of a despotism. Thus far our country has avoided both of these ex- tremes. It has interfered as little as possible to regulate and control individual industry, endeavoring in the main to secure to each one the profits of his own capital and labor. Give a people freedom, and make them certain that they shall have the benefit of all the property and labor they invest in any branch of business ; that govern- ment shall not rob them of it, but secure it to them and their children ; and the spirit of enterprise will spring into life and vigor, and every faculty of mind will be called into action, every hand will be busy. and the land will be covered with improvements and with a prosper- ous and growing people. Such has been thus far, and may such ever be, the condition of our country.
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2. Another great cause of the prosperity of our New- England towns, may be found in the character of the town governinents. We are apt to forget the impor- tance of the town governments. In them nearly all of the most important legislation of the country takes place. Schools, religious institutions, roads, the poor, all that most immediately concerns the character and substantial comfort of the people, depend on the action of the town for support. The action of the general govern- ment is almost limited to the power of doing or averting evil. The towns nearly monopolize the power of doing good.
And not only this, the system of town governments exert the same influence on the character, spoken of under the preceding head. It calls on each individual for thought and action, and makes him responsible in all the most important measures of government. Our town-meetings do scarcely less towards disciplining men to self-government, to wise forethought and expanded views and action, than our schools do in developing the minds of children. They are the schools of a republic, in which the citizens learn self-government. There, annually, all affairs of a local nature are entirely deter- mined ; and all the great measures of the general gov- erment are brought up for consideration, and each indi- vidual must do his part in deciding on what involves the welfare of millions. Familiarity renders us insensible to the advantage of these town governments. We can only see it by contrasting it with what our condition would be were these corporations annihilated. Were the taxes necessary for the support of the poor, of schools, of re- ligious institutions, for the construction of roads, and other objects, raised by the general government from
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customs or from a general tax, and expended by the government, the good done would be slight compared with what we witness now. Money thus raised would be expended heedlessly and unprofitably. Money raised without forethought on the part of the people would be expended without after-thought. But let the people themselves raise the money for schools, and they will see that their schools are good and well attended. Let the people tax themselves for roads, and roads will be con- structed faithfully. Everything in the comparison will be done to the best advantage, for every one's atten- tion will be awake to see that it is so done. Men are satisfied too, with taxes raised by themselves. A tax of a few pence a pound on tea, if exacted by a foreign power, may excite a revolution ; while the same people may cheerfully burden themselves,with a tax of millions, to accomplish measures which they themselves approve.
But far more than this. It gives each individual the habit of looking beyond himself, his home, and farm, and workshop. It binds him in with the community. It cultivates unconsciously the habit of deliberation, of forethought, of wide and liberal views. An intelligent German remarks, that what he was most struck with in this country, was the early developement of mind and character, so that a youth of sixteen is often more com- petent to enter into the business of life, than a German of twenty-five. And it is accounted for by the constant tendency of our institutions to throw important trusts and responsibilities on every individual.
But more than all ; in these town governments the citizens learn that without which a republic cannot long exist, - the habit of self-government. A republic can- not be governed by the bayonet. The real law, the real government, must be in the mind of each individual
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citizen. The statute book but records the way in which the people have determined to govern themselves.
The worth of this habit of self-government was sig- nally seen at the commencement of our Revolution. Then the laws of the land were virtually set aside. The general government was entirely cast off. Courts of law and the bench of justice were swept away. The people were thrown back upon themselves, and almost all the affairs of the country were transacted through their primary assemblies in the towns. Then was seen the wonderful spectacle of a people without law, amongst whom all the processes of government, at a most fearful crisis, were carried on as quietly, as steadily, as in the most peaceful times and under the strongest despotism of Europe. The people had the habit of self-govern- ment; the habit of considering, and in great measure deciding for themselves on the most important general interests. And though law was gone, the sense of individual responsibility remained, and the habit of self-rule remained. A very striking illustration of the importance of this habit of self-government is afforded by an event that occurred on the first news of the breaking out of the Revolution. The warrants for town-meeting down to the time of the Lexington battle, were uni- formly issued in his Majesty's name. For example, the last one before that conflict reads in this manner. " To Amos Fuller, constable for the town of Wilton, Greet- ing --
" In his Majesty's name, you are hereby required forth- with to warn all the Freeholders and other inhabitants, &c. &c.
" Given under our hands and seal this 21st day of March, A. D. 1775, and in the 15th year of the Reign
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of King George the Third ; " and this signed by the Se- lectmen of Wilton.
But little more than a month passed during which the battle of Lexington took place, and the form changes. His Majesty's name no longer holds the place of author- ity. That place is occupied thenceforth by " us the sub- scribers." And no allegiance is recognised to any power beyond the town itself, as the following warrant issued five days after that event, which, with the doings thereon, virtually constituted, as is justly remarked by the gentle- man to whom I am indebted for the anecdote, the town of Wilton a Republic. The warrant now reads, " To Amos Fuller, constable for the town of Wilton, Greet- ing,-by us the subscribers, you are hereby required forthwith to warn, &c." The second article of the war- rant runs thus :-
" Whereas, it appears at this time that our public affairs are in so distressing a situation, that we are not in a capacity to proceed in a legal manner, to see if the town will vote, that the votes and resolves of this and all other meetings in this town for the term of one year, shall be binding on the inhabitants of this town, &c."
This was signed by the Selectmen for the year. The meeting was held, and the vote was passed, that the votes and resolves of this and all other town-meetings, should be held binding. Thus, practically, all other authority was rejected, and the town of Wilton became a separate sovereignty, a republic, acknowledging no laws but those of its own making. This vote, five days after the battle of Lexington, was, in truth, a declara- tion of independence, and perhaps the first ever made.
It was this power of self-government which gave strength and union to the people, throughout the
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Revolution. It was owing to this, that war and the vehemence of party spirit, and the breaking up of established institutions, hardly deranged the interior order of the country. It was owing to a want of them, - to the want of the habit of self-government, - that in the French Revolution, the people, when the ancient mon- archy was removed, knew not what to do. They only knew that they were free ; and, like tigers let loose from their cage, rushed madly upon their prey, and made liberty the watchword for licentiousness, and rapine, and blood.
3. Another cause that has promoted the prosperity of New-England, has been the character of its soil. One travels over the prairies of the West, and it seems as if there must be the garden and paradise of the world. To one who passes through New-England, and compares it with many other regions, it appears as if its soil had been smitten with the curse of barrenness. He travels for hours and sees only naked hills, walled in and almost covered with rocks, and the few patches of fertile soil, the result of unwearied labor. He sees the snows lin- gering under the shadow of the mountains to chill the summer ; and the summer has hardly gone when they appear again. Six months of the year are exhausted in preparing for the rigors of the remaining six. Men must labor or starve. There is no exemption. How strange, it is sometimes said, that the Pilgrims should have cast their lot on these wintry shores. How much happier, had their ship borne them to some more be- nignant clime! i
But, could they have looked into the future, might they not have wisely chosen this region in preference to all others? Though the soil be not so productive of
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corn and wheat, may it not for that very reason be more fitted to produce men ?
The necessity of labor begets the habit of industry. And what men labor for gains valuc, and labor itself is not willingly thrown away ; and thus forcthought and self- denial, (the foundations of mental and moral growth,) are nurtured up, and all of manhood that is in the man, is brought out by the necessities of his condition. And the result is, that the traveller sees on all this desolate land, ten thousand homes filled with the comforts and luxuries of life, far beyond most other regions ; school- houses at every turn, to which young children come up with shining, morning faces; and, towering above the hills, the spires of churches, catching the earliest beams of the morning and the last rays of the evening sun. Amidst this desolation of nature, man has found happi- ness and abundance ; and he has found it all the more certainly, because the necessities of his condition are such as to call out all manly qualities ; and where these exists, little else will be wanting. That region where mind and character have been nurtured up into vigor, shall make all others tributary to itself.
Change the scene. Suppose that, by some necro- mancy, the soil were to become suddenly fertile, that the heavens should stoop nearer the carth, and the winters be melted away under a milder sky ; suppose that by three days' labor men might gain food for the week. The whole history of man tells us that the vast propor- tion would labor but three days in the six; the rest would be given up to idleness, and with idleness would come its dissipations and its vices. A few, possessed of the strongest minds and characters might acquire vast wealth ; but the broad land, instead of being filled with
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competence and covered with cheerful homes, in which youth learns from age the best virtues of men, would be deformed by miserable hovels. The poorest coun- tries in the world -those in which the mass of the people are sunk in the lowest poverty -are those whose soil is most fertile. The fertility of the soil has operated as a premium on sloth and vice.
It is not the soil that makes a nation flourish, but the men, - their forethought, and enterprise, and industry. And these have rarely existed when there has not been a necessity for them. At any rate, I may say that no land has been permanently and progressively prosperous, in which the people have not been under the necessity of being steadily industrious. And I might say more, that many a man who has gone forth to find a home in dis- tant lands, in counting over his blessings, puts among the first, the fact, that he was born among the bleak hills of New-England and subjected in early childhood to the imperious necessity of daily labor and self-denial.
But there are other causes of prosperity for which we owe a more immediate gratitude to the wisdom of our fathers.
One of them is the School system, which was early established, and which has been always fostered as one of the most valuable of our institutions. That a coun- try may flourish, it is not enough that the hand should toil. The mind must direct the hand. Other things being equal, that country will always be the most pros- perous, where there is the most intelligence. Our fathers saw that no money is so wisely invested, as that which is invested in the education of the young. Drought may blast the harvest, fires consume the dwell- ing, and the hoarded wealth be swept away, but intelli-
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