USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Wilton > An address delivered at the centennial celebration in Wilton, N.H., Sept. 25, 1839 > 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
Mr. Presiderit, I beg leave to offer, as an expression of my own wishes, the following sentiment.
The Second Century of Wilton .- May it be filled with wise designs and virtuous deeds.
5th Toast. The First Settlers of Wilton. - Honor and respect to the memory of those who wandered in doubt where we walk in safety.
Rev. 'ABIEL ABBOT, D. D., offered the following remarks : -
Mr. President, - I thank God that my life has been spared, and my health is such as enables me to meet my friends here on this centennial jubilee. I look around and ask, Where are the fathers ? but nothing is seen but their precious remembrance in their sons. They were men whom I well remember, whom I have always held in high esteem and veneration. Their devout and venerable appearance in this holy tem- ple, where they religiously and constantly worshipped, is now fresh in my memory. The impressions on my young mind of their piety and uprightness, and of their friendly and heavenly deportment here, at home and everywhere, were a rich blessing to me, and rendered the memory of those venerable patriarchs most precious and lasting. I see here my sisters and their daughters, whom I hail and recognise as bearing the resemblance of our venerated mothers, of whom I ever think with the warmest affection and most respectful regard. They were worthy companions and helps meet for our fathers. They were partners in all their toils, hardships and privations. 'They were pa- tient, contented, and cheerful ; and by their efforts alleviated the bur- dens of their husbands, and by their smiles encouraged them in their labors and trials. Their countenance and kind expressions are still fresh in my mind, though years have elapsed, since they and their beloved companions went to their better home. They came to houses not finished, not painted, not ceiled, as we see them now ; they had no parlor, no carpet, no curtains, no sofa; for some of these
11
لاسات
أسر
- بطوللك
82
every day conveniences, they had no word in their vocabulary. But they were happy, - happiness is the property of mind. They took good care of the household. They wrought flax and wool ; the card, the spinning wheel, and the loom, were the furniture of the house. All were clothed with domestic products; articles were also made for the market. They were healthy and strong; they and their daughters were not enfeebled by luxuries and delicacies, nor with working muslins or embroidery ; tea and cake were rarely used ; coffee was unknown. Their dress was plain, and adapted to the sea- , son and their business; one dress answered for the day and the week. Their living and dress produced no consumptions, as now. Our fathers and mothers were benevolent, hospitable and kind; the stranger was received, as in the most ancient time, with a hearty, welcome. In their own neighborhood and town, they were all brothers and sisters. There was an admirable cquality, a home-feel- ing and heart-feeling among all. Their visits were not formal, cere- monious and heartless, but frank, cheerful and cordial. Their sym- pathy for the sick, unfortunate and distressed, was expressed by their ready assistance and kindly affectioned help. When prosperous, all partook in the common joy ; when sickness or calamity befell any, all were affected, the sorrow was mutual, and aid and relief, as far as possible, were afforded. They were, indeed, one family, - all mem- bers of one sympathizing body.
But what calls forth our warmest gratitude and most affectionate esteem, and is the crowning feature of their character and, in fact, comprehends their other virtues, is, they were godly women ; they were religious women ; they carefully observed religious institutions. The duties of the Sabbath, of family and public worship, and family instruction, were conscientiously and faithfully performed. Bad roads, unpleasant weather, want of comfortable conveyance, were hindrances to public worship easily overcome. If the snow had blocked up the road, our mothers fastened on the snow-shoe. The ox-sled was often used in winter to convey the family, especially our mothers and sis- ters, to the church. The Sabbath was devoted to the study of the Bible and other religious purposes. Blessed is the memory of our mothers for their early religious instruction of their children, and others committed to their care. After the service of the sanctuary, the children were called together ; they read in the Primer or Testa- ment, as they were able ; they were taught to say their hymns, their prayers, and the catechism. Their prayers were repeated every night
·
1
على علاته
83
on going to bed. The mother began their instruction early ; slie literally brought them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. I reverence and thank my mother, for teaching me the cate- chism. Though it is hard to be understood, not fitting for babes, and in some parts erroneous, it was the best she knew, - and I thank her for teaching it, and my father for encouraging me to learn it. A deep reverence of God and sacred things was imprinted on my mind; and I have no doubt of my being a better man and better christian for this instruction.
And much, Mr. President, very much of the prosperity, peace and high reputation of the inhabitants of this town is owing to the faith- ful instruction and exemplary character of our fathers and mothers. Your well-fenced and cultivated fields, your neat and well-furnished dwellings, your domestic enjoyments, and the privileges of your child- ren, are, in great measure, to be attributed to the love of truth and the practice of honesty, industry, integrity and piety, which were early impressed upon the minds of the young. Our fathers and mothers were careful to educate no domestic for the penitentiary, and to their lasting lionor be it said, that no one of their children has been imprisoned and punished for crime.
But, sir, the time is short, and I will proceed no farther, - only offering this sentiment :
The Mothers of Wilton, our Sisters and their Daughters. - May the next generation be worthy descendants of the past. [The Fisherman's Glee sung.]
6th Toast. The Clergy of Wilton, - Ever active in the cause of intellectual, moral, and religious improvement.
Rev. N. WHITMAN responded :-
Mr. President,- In rising to offer a sentiment, I beg leave to - preface it by a word of explanation. This day, sir, is the an- niversary of an event, which, forty-one years ago, filled this town with sudden and deep mourning. As Captain Samuel Greele was on his way to attend a town-meeting, a decayed tree by the road-side, struck by a powerful gust of wind, fell, and precipitated him from his horse to the ground, a corpse. By this providence, his family, and the whole community, were called to mourn the loss of one, who was highly respected and greatly beloved. Captain
1
المساكن
0
84
Greele was a man of a public spirit. He adorned a Christian profes- sion by a Christian practice. To the literary, moral, and religious welfare of liis family he was ardently devoted. His eldest son, Sam- uel, had, at the time of his father's death, just become a member of Harvard College. Through the blessing of Heaven on the exertions and sacrifices of a mother of great energy and great worth, seconded by corresponding efforts on the part of her children, both Samuel and Augustus, the younger son, were enabled to complete a collegiate ed- ucation. On the enterprise of these sons prosperity has smiled. And they have manifested a spirit and character worthy of their parentage. It adds greatly to our joy, sir, on this interesting oc- casion, that these sons have come, one from the metropolis of New- England, the other from the metropolis of the Empire State, to re- ciprocate with us fraternal sympathies and congratulations. By their permission I must crave to state a fact, which reflects honor on their character, but which their feelings might incline them to conceal from the notice, to which it is justly entitled. On the memorable spot, where Capt. Greele fell, there now stands a beautiful marble monument. It is a monument erected by filial piety to parental worth. But, sir, this is not a monument of " any private inter- pretation." While it reflects deserved honor on the Greele family, it also embodies the spirit of the Wilton family.
If, sir, as you have been pleased to say, " the clergy of Wilton have been ever active in the cause of intellectual, moral, and religious im- provement," it is my joyful duty to say, that one principal cause of this has been, that they have been nobly sustained and encouraged in this course, by the exemplary devotion of the people to these high objects. On this characteristic trait of the people of Wilton it would give me pleasure to enlarge. But this office I yield to my im- mediate predecessor, the Rev. Mr. Jones, who will do the subject appropriate justice.
With these remarks, I offer, sir, the following sentiment.
The Greele Monument,- It eloquently proclaims the glory of Wilton, - the devotion of the parents to the best welfare of the children, and the gratitude of the children to venerated and beloved parents.
Remarks of Rev. A. D. JONES, of Brighton, Mass., formerly the pastor of the First Church in Wilton.
Mr. President, - I should be unworthy the honor of being even an adopted son of Wilton, did I refuse to respond to the call just
1
85
made upon me by the reverend gentleman who last addressed you, albeit, with a spirit quite too common in our profession, he has taken the liberty to put the laboring oar into another's hand, rather than ply it himself, when it seemed so much more his duty than mine, and when, withal, he could have used it with much better success than I can. However, I will bandy no more words with my brother, but "say my say," and make room for other sons of this ancient town - for ancient she must be considered, as she has to-day numbered her hundredth year - who have come up to this first and glorious Century Festival of their dear native town.
I rejoice, sir, to see this day, and to stand here in this goodly assemblage. It is a pious labor in which we are engaged. It is good thus to scrape away the dust of a hundred years from around the first stone our fathers planted here, to consecrate it anew with our prayers and joys and tears and hopes, and to twine about it fresh garlands of our love and veneration, for those who so nobly com- menced the good work which their not degenerate sous have so suc- cessfully carried on. If they who have rested from their labors have any cognizance of human affairs - and for one I believe they have - surely they must look upon this scene with a high and holy satisfac- tion, and count the tears and toils and sacrifice, the story of which has been so eloquently told us to-day, a small price compared with the blessings. And when, sir, a hundred years hence, you and I and all of us here shall long have ceased from life, and other genera- tions gather on this spot and search for this same old altar-stone, and consecrate our memories who forgot not the planters of it, may there be no cause for a shadow on our brow, as from our high estate - Heaven grant we reach it -we look down upon and bless them, our children's children's children, in their filial work.
Allusion has been made, by my brother, in answer to the senti- ment which called him up, to the support which the clergy have' ever received from the laity of Wilton. My own experience, Sir, goes to confirm his remark. It may be said of all places, that a judicious and successful ministry greatly depends on the character of the min- istered unto, and that if they be what they should, the ministry will be blessed. Eminently is the truth of this last assertion proved in this place, as the concurrent testimony of those who have held the sacred office here will show. If I may be permitted to allude to the brief years which, as the religious teacher of the people who worship in this ancient house, I passed here- a period I must say on which I
1
86
reflect with as much pleasure as upon any other equal period of my life, and which owed its brevity to a dispensation of Providence, which robbed me of my health, and left me no alternative but to rest a dead weight upon the parish or to leave it - I say, if I may be permitted to refer to my own experience on this point, every hour of my min- istry here afforded evidence of the readiness and ability with which every measure which I proposed for the improvement of our condi- tion, was seconded and sustained by my people, who, better than any other I ever knew, understood and appreciated the sacred office. I rejoice to bear this public testimony to their great forbearance and faithfulness. Ever shall I have occasion to remember it while I live. The vision of that scene, which ordinarily met my eye, when I walked down this aisle at the close of the forenoon service, comes up as fresh- ly before me as if it were yesterday. These venerable benches and the venerable men who occupied them -I see them all. I allude to the Sunday School, a blessing our fathers had not; and their sons are grateful for! Who were the teachers of that school? Your- self, sir, at the head, and others nearly as old as yourself-your com- peers in one of the humblest and yet. the most glorious work that ever engaged the able head and warin heart of man. I see you still, in yonder pew, with a band of young men and maidens around you - and I see many of them here to-day, matrons and sires - hanging on your words of instruction with as much and deep interest as those words were spoken. What a relief was this to my wearied frame. What a helping of my infirmities. What a seconding of my own fee- ble efforts. Sir, you and I have cause for gratitude ; for some of those young men and maidens are now among the most hopeful pil- lars and beauteous stones of this Christian temple. And not only you, sir, but many others who are this day here, and one," alas! not here, whose memory has been so touchingly and properly alluded to this day, and of whom I dare not trust myself to speak. And indeed, sir, it would be far more difficult to say who were not, than who were the helpers of my joy, during my brief sojourn among you.
I trust I may be excused for so much that may seem personal and exclusive on such an occasion. But it is all " a family concern ;" and I doubt if there be a true son of Wilton who does not rejoice to hear any other and every other son spoken of in free, frank, hearty, fraternal love.
And here are other "men of God" before us, who have minis-
* Samuel Abbot, Esq.
.
87
tered at other and more recently consecrated altars in this place; and I doubt not their experience attests the truth of the sentiment I have endeavored to support, that the clergy of Wilton have owed their success as much to the co-operation of their parishioners as to their own zeal and talents and learning.
I wishi, Mr. President, to say one word on another topic inti- mately connected with the clerical profession. Time was when the minister was approached with awe, - when he was regarded as the dictator to conscience, and the arbiter of all questions of faith; and whatever he said and did was acquiesced in because said and done by him. It is not so now ; great changes have taken place - and for the better ? Ay, sir, for the better. If freedom of thought and the re- searches to which its cultivation has led, be better than a blind subinis- sion to fallible teaching, then it is for the better, and not for the worse. Behold some of the results; a more enlightened ministry, and a fuller investigation of truth on the part of the laity; Sabbath Schools, Bible Classes, and like institutions ; increase of biblical knowledge, and a wider application of it to the interests of practical life. And is not this better ? Not that we lack nothing. Far from it. The day is but growing into light ; but is not even this, sir, better than the faint rays of the morning star ? But the meridian shall come, and no human power shall hinder it, for freedom is as the path of the righteous growing brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.
And never could even the present measure of light have come, with the pulpit, - the chief engine in the great work of man's redemption, after the voice of Him whom we love and honor as our Saviour, - with the pulpit, I say, so hedged around with superstitious fear, that the people dared not examine for themselves. Let the pulpit be free ; but let him who stands in it yield to the demand of the people for the reasons of what he utters. Let the humblest layman be encour- aged to examine all he says - not indeed in a captious or fault-find- ing spirit, but yet with freedom. I would not depreciate my office. I deem it the most honorable ever yet conferred on man. It is enough that it is of divine ordination. But I would invest it with no false glory or sacredness. I know and feel that, if it be pure and free, and kept so by him who fills it, both it and he will command the respect and love of all good and thoughtful men.
The press, sir, in our land, is doing much for truth, but the living voice far more. I would rather every press in the land were broken, than that every living voice were hushed. In our courts of justice,
1
T
88
our halls of science and learning, our state and national councils, our common schools, and last and greatest, our churches, in these, the living voice teacheth ; and with a power which vice and ignorance and tyranny can never withstand. To all this the press is a helper ; and I respect and honor it as such. But I have placed the pulpit at the head, because, from my soul, I believe that to it, more than to any thing and all things beside, do we owe the civil and religious bless- ings of this day. When the press was dumb, and no legislator dreamed of stemming the tide of error which swept over Christendom, · bearing before it every vestige of liberty and truth - it was then, sir, that the pulpit spoke, and in such tones that monarchs and tyrants trembled, and the dead bones moved and came into life again, and rose to freedom and to truth. And ever since hath it spoken, and ever since hath its voice been heard, and pondered, and respected. And ever, hereafter, so long as learning, and prudence, and inde- pendence, and zeal, and a sincere, fervent piety shall clothe its min- isters, will it speak and be heard; for it utters the voice of God, as it spake through his Son, and still speaks through his faithful mes- sengers.
Before sitting down, Mr. President, I beg permission to offer the following sentiment.
An enlightened and devoted Ministry and a co-operating People .- The sure pledge of success, and the true idea of the Christian Church.
The following sentiments were furnished by Augustus Greele, Esq., of New-York.
The past and present Clergymen of Wilton,- Their influence,- that of the early and latter rain. Good seed strown on good ground brings forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty.
The Town of Wilton,- It has been one hundred years planting the seeds of Industry, Morality, and Virtue,- may the coming century return her an abundant harvest in the Intelligence, Prosperity, and Happiness of her inhabitants.
7th Toast. The Sons and Daughters of Wilton, - Be they comets or planets, fixed stars or shooting stars, the centripetal force will sometimes bring them har- moniously together ; the cycle is one hundred years.
[The Laughing Glee, sung.]
8th Toast. Lord Brougham .- " The Schoolmaster abroad," teaching Old England the lessons of New England.
[Song, - The bright rosy morning.]
----------
----
--
89
9th Toast. Our Common Schools, - How changed from " the District School as it was."-" Memorus Wordwell,"* the renowned speller, is no longer perched on the green wood pile, to spell his classmate Jonas.
Rev. WARREN BURTON responded : -
Mr. President, - In addition to the allusions which I have already made to particular persons and circumstances in my school experi- ence, I would say a few words concerning my first schoolmaster. There are many here who have most pleasant and grateful recollec- tions of the same individual, and their hearts I doubt not will fully respond to the slight eulogium I may offer.
My earliest impressions about a " minister " were, that he was the most awful being in the world. Next to him the schoolmaster, judg- ing from what I had heard, appeared to my imagination awful above all others. With what profound dread was it then, that I took my way for the first time to the winter school ; for the awful schoolmas- ter whom I was to meet was no other than the still more awful min- ister - that great, tall inan, dressed in black, who preached and prayed . in such solemn tones on the Sabbath. How my heart failed me and how my little frame trembled as I entered the school-house door. But how different was my experience from what I anticipated. That awful man received me with so sweet a smile and spoke in such ten- der tones, and in all things treated me and all the rest so gently, that my feelings were at once changed to those of confidence and love. Never shall I forget the delightful impressions which this near in- tercourse made on my tender mind. Never after that did I see him in the pulpit with any other than feelings of respectful affec- tion. He too fitted me for college, and through all my earlier life, my mind received good influences from him. Ilis benignant
* See the " District School as it Was, - by one who went to it." By Rev. War- ren Burton.
t To THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS : -
Gentlemen, - I comply only in part with your request for a sketch of my re- marks at our late delightful celebration. The first portion of them excited much more merriment than any thing humorous in them really deserved, but they were of a character suited only to the circumstances and the effervescence of the occasion, and not to the permanence of print. The latter portion, likewise, I hardly deem worthy of record. But my reminiscences of an early and venerated friend, I think, may be agreeable in perusal to many of the audience, and the publication will perhaps be doing some slight justice to one who contributed not a little to the im- provement of our native town. Respectfully yours,
WARREN BURTON.
12
1
.
-
الرسالة
1
90
countenance and gladdening smile will be among the last images that will fade from my remembrance. This good man was the Rev. Thomas Beede. It is a name that will excite pleasurable recollections in many bosoms here. All such will award to him with me his just due in regard to the interests of education in this town. He did not go on exactly in the old ways in his capacity as a schoolmaster. He introduced new subjects of attention and ex- cited an uncommon interest among his pupils. To him, also, as an examiner of the schools, they owed much. And your Lyceum, sir, which has continued to flourish to a degree beyond the fortune of similar institutions in most towns, may trace its origin and prosperity somewhat perhaps to the spirit generated by this excellent man. He established a Lyceum in this town many years ago, as early as 1S15 or '16, I think. Lyceum was a name not in popular use then, and the society alluded to was not so called. It was denominated the " Wil- ton Literary and Moral Society," and its objects were similar to those of your present association under a different name. The men- bers of this early Society consisted of young gentlemen and ladies, and there were a few mere boys like myself at the time, who had a literary taste, such as to admit them to companionship with their su- periors. We met at first, once a week or fortnight, at Mr. Beede's house, and then in a parlor in the Buss House, as it used to be called. We should have been lost in the spaciousness of a hall. There our revered Pastor presided over us under the title of Instructer, if I rightly remember. We discussed literary and moral questions orally or by writing. Indeed, subjects were given out at each meeting to be written upon against the next, and read before the Society and then put into the hands of the Instructer to be corrected. These were to me, and I doubt not to the rest, delightful meetings. Impulses were there given which in the chain of causes must, I think, have been of valuable consequence. I rejoice that I have this opportunity of re- viving the recollections of some and informing the minds of others concerning this first Lyceum of our town - the
Wilton Literary and Moral Society. - Pleasantly remembered is it on its own account - and gratefully as well as pleasantly on account of him who established and presided over it.
[Song, - The Schoolmaster.]
10th Toast. Our good Mother Massachusetts, - Who christened us by the name of Salem-Canada. Though changed our name, our relation to her is not forgotten. Loved and honored be the native home of our fathers.
!
,
91
Jos. HALE ABBOT, Esq., of Boston, responded : -
Mr. President, - I shall not trespass upon your patience by at- tempting to make a long speech, but the sentiment just offered con- tains an allusion which induces me to ask a inoment's attention to a document referred to by the orator of the day, and now in my possession, which seems of sufficient importance to deserve a few words of explanation at the present time. It is, sir, probably the oldest document extant relating to this town, and it makes us acquainted with one of the earliest of that series of measures, by which these pleasant hills and valleys have been reclaimed from the wild beasts and savages of the wilderness, and transformed into the abode of industry, intelligence, and virtue. The copy of it which I hold in my hand,* I took, through the courtesy of the Secretary of State, from the Records of the General Court of Massachusetts, at Boston, on Monday last. It is dated June 19, 1735, and is a vote upon " A Petition of Samuel King and others, who were in the ex- pedition to Canada in the year 1690, and the descendants of such of
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.