USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Hampstead > History of the town of Hampstead, N.H., for one hundred years > Part 4
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*Capt. Jonathan C. Little, and Mr. Hezekiah Ayer.
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highest endeavor to live a fit example of a Godly and a Christian Minister. To the dying, he strove to point out the way to eternal life,-to the afflicted, the consolation of religion,-and to all, the importance of obedience, and im- plicit faith in the wisdom of our Creator.
To him death was a welcome messenger. He was pre- pared to go "through the valley and shadow of death with- out fear." In ripe old age, after almost half a century spent in the work of the ministry, he went down to the grave, beloved and lamented by all who survived him.
We have thus, fellow citizens, run rapidly over our his- tory, down to the commencement of the present century. The events that have since transpired, are of so recent occurrence, that they need not now be reviewed.
It is but little more than a century, since the first white man pressed his feet upon our soil ; and yet how little do we know of the eventful lives of our fathers ! The place of their first abode contains hardly a relic of their habita- tions. In the improvements of the age, and in the prog- ress of the arts, we have lost sight of their customs, and discarded the things so familliar to them. The ruins, yet to be seen, disclose to our minds, scenes of deep and thril- ling interest. In the infancy of this settlement, what in- teresting topics of conversation serve to beguile the weary hours of evening,-what joys and sorrows occurred to break the monotony of their lives,-with what anguish the whole household watched for the return of the absent father or son,-what fear of the prowling wolf, or lurking savage filled their minds wearied with watching,-we have not time to inquire. When, in the long and dark night of the Revolution, so many of their young men had gone forth to battle, with what painful suspense did each family wait for news from the absent ones. And when the painful in- telligence came, that the eldest and favorite son of their beloved pastor, had fallen in battle, with what rapidity did the intelligence pass from house to house. What increased anxiety did parents feel, lest the next messenger should
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announce that a beloved friend had fallen in battle. What sleepless nights did they pass in tearful thought of the ab- sent ones, the bewildered imagination picturing a fond hus- band or son suffering the privations of a life in the camp, perchance, lying wounded upon the field of battle, with no friend to bathe his burning temples, or to bring a cup of water to cool his parching thirst. Or again in frightful dreams, beholding his corse, stretched lifeless, upon the battle plains, the cold moonbeams shining into his fea- tures, fixed in death.
For a brief hour, we have attempted to live in the past only. We have followed our ancestors from the earliest period in their history to the latest acts of their lives. We have suffered with them in their troubles, and rejoiced with them in their joys. We have seen them, a hardy, enterprising and patient race, struggling against want, and privations, and the calamities of war, and all the evils incident to new settlements ; and we have seen them too, though lacking the luxuries of wealth, and the refine- ents of polished society, exerting their influence, and labor- ing in the cause of religion and of education, and those benevolent institutions so common to New England, that they have made it renowned the world over, for virtue and enterprise. We have not found them without their faults. But " their faults were usually virtues carried too far ;" "faults partly belonging to the times, but more the effect of strong feelings without the advantages of early disci- pline. At the same time we have seen in them the rudi- ments of real refinement, warm, kind, and gentle feelings, -and specimens of politeness worthy of the patriarchal age."
But they are gone forever from these places. Their ashes are entombed in yonder burial place. They are gone, and with them all they loved or feared, the objects so dear to them in life, and the temptations they labored so hard to remove. But they yet speak to us. Their example lives, and to-day brightens the sun of our existence with its liv- ing influence.
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There comes up the thought, full of meaning, what will be the condition of our beloved town, a century to come ? At the next Centennial Celebration, who will be the actors ? Time alone can disclose the fortune that awaits those who shall come after us. But we know who will not be actors then. We shall be "gathered to our fath- ers." The sun will shine as brightly then upon these beautiful places, these waters will sparkle before his pres- ence reflecting a thousand flashing rays, these trees will afford the same delightful shade, and the earth yield its annual return to the toiling husbandman. But another generation will occupy our places. The names of many of us will be no longer known. But, the influence of our lives, will be felt though we be forgotten in our graves.
Nor can we tell what mighty changes will then have been effected. Within the last year and a half, revolution after revolution, in the old world, has taken place in such rapid succession, that the mind awakes to the startling reality, scarcely able to comprehend the sudden change. The King of the French, acknowledged the wealthiest man in the world, the wisest sovereign that ever sat upon the throne of France, and thought to be securely seated upon that throne, the "Citizen King of 1830," is deposed, and in the meanest garb of disguise, flees before an outraged populace to the British Isles for refuge. France, the scene of so much bloodshed, and of so many revolutions, raises the standard of liberty, and other nations, catching the sound of the shouts of freemen, in a day, compel the mon- archs of Europe to loosen the reins of power; and thrones that had stood firmly for ages, they make to tremble upon their foundations. Austria, the land of tyranny and op- pression, compels her Emperor to abdicate. Prince Metter- nich, so long the crafty and subtle Prime Minister to a powerful Monarch, whose iron will and selfish heart had so long directed the affair of a nation, whose every thought and act had been directed to the establishment of
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despotism and the spread of Popery, suddenly finds himself unable to stem the current of popular indignation and is compelled to retire from the high post he had so basely prostituted, to muse in solitude upon his past life, and commune with his own corrupt heart. The Pope, whose election was hailed by the whole civilized world as the har- binger of a better administration of the affairs at Rome, is hardly seated upon his throne, before he " flees in disguise from his pontifical halls, and St. Peter's and the Vatican resound with the triumphal shouts of an awakened na- tion." The seed of liberty, sown by our fathers in the days of the Revolution, is springing up in every part of Europe, and promises to convert those despotic powers and monarchies into new and powerful Republics ; the voice of the people, so long stifled behind the throne is beginning to reach the ears of Kings and Emperors, and will ere long assert their rights in the majesty of their strength. Hun- gary is struggling against the most unholy alliance ever entered into to suppress the efforts of a people to become free. She has nobly flung to the breeze the banner of liberty: and is bravely contending against the most powerful odds.' We wait with the most intense anxiety for the next news that shall tell us of the fate of a people who are imitating' our example, and hold in such veneration the memory of our Washington.
" On the Western Continent, the Saxons conquer and dismember Mexico. California outshines the wealth of India. The disloyal Canadians insult the representative of majesty," and the United States are extending their borders over a whole Continent.
In the physical world within a score of years, by the discovery of the application of steam to machinery, we are carried across the waters with a speed and safety, until re- cently deemed unattainable. The most distant parts of our country are connected by iron rails reaching out and extending in every direction. The hourly rate of speed has; gone up from five miles to thirty, and even in some cases'
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to fifty ; and the most sanguine are not deemed visionary, when they predict that it will soon be increased to an hun- dred. The electric wire, with the wings of the lightning, conveys every moment, from shore to shore, a new subject for thought or action.
Within the last few years, it has been our fortune to witness these magic changes. Each new year will open to us some new improvement in the world of inventions, and a century hence, the historian of that time will record the discovery of wonders far surpassing any conception which we are able to form.
The interest with which the annual return of this day is awaited, induces me to ask your indulgence for a few mo- ments longer.
- This day, the joyful shout, America is free, spreads from State to State, from town to town, and from house to house, till the whole land rings with the glad voice, and echo upon echo comes back from every mountain and hill- side, America is free ! On our mountains and on our plains, on our noble rivers and on the great waters, a thou- sand voices unite in the shouts of liberty and a thou- sand echoes send back the soft notes of the songs of Free- dom. The deep, shady glens, and beautiful groves resound to the merry voices of thoughtless, innocent children. The busy streets are filled with throngs of freemen, self-diveste d of the cares and occupations of life. "Eloquence, with burning lips and glowing tongue," portrays those magnifi- cent triumphs, which history has already written for pos- terity.
Its early dawning is awaited with scarce restrained im- patience, to be ushered in with firing of cannons, ringing of bells, and every demonstration of joy. It is celebrated by every class of Americans,-by every society and organ- ization,-by civic processions,-by floral gatherings,-by orations,-by military reviews,-each and all, with the joy and enthusiasm which Americans only can feel. The going down of the sun is the signal for the gathering of thou-
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sands, to close the festivities of the day with every exhi- bition of art which the pyrotechnist can display. Amid the blazing of rockets, and the glittering of fire-works, rivaling the stars in splendor and in beauty, end the varied scenes of this Anniversary.
We seem to linger around the scenes of that dark hour in our nation's history, when every hope of the future was involved in doubt and disappointment. The spirit of the past carries us back a period of seventy-three years. We look upon the devoted, self-denying men who composed the memorable Congress of 1776. We consider the thoughts which heaved their breasts; mark the alternations of hope and fear, of confidence and doubt, which reveal the agonies within. We note the solemn stillness that rests upon them,-the deep and absorbing interest, grow- ing more intense. The Declaration of Independence is read. Incensed at the wrongs inflicted upon America, they speak of the shedding of their brother's blood at Lex- ington, and Concord, and Bunker Hill, in the language of outraged manhood, and vow to avenge the death of their martyr countrymen. " Eloquence is poured forth from inexhaustible fountains. It assumes every variety of hue, and form and motion, which can delight or persuade, in- struct or astonish. Now it is the limpid rivulet, spark- ling down the mountain's side, and winding its silver course between margins of moss; - anon it is the angry ocean, chafed by the tempest, hanging its billows with deafening clamors among the crackling shrouds, or hurl- ing them in sublime defiance at the storm that frowns above."
It is finished ; they declare our country free, and in sup- port of that Declaration, "pledge their lives, their for- tunes and their sacred honor." Lives and fortunes were sacrificed in its defence, but our Country's honor was sus- tained.
Now war is raging throughout our native land. Hostile armies of one and the same name, blood and language, are
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arrayed for battle. Years of darkness and doubt succeed, lighted only by some struggling rays of hope, and the fires of war. But darkness and doubt pass at length away, and day dawns upon the long, dark night of the Revolution.
More than half a century has rolled away, since the glory of that bright morning broke upon us, and another scene is disclosed. Where swept the tide of war, now all is calm and fresh and still.
The roll of musketry and the clash of arms are hushed, and the pillow of repose is pressed in quiet. "The busy town and the rural cottage, the lowing herd, the cheerful hearth, the village school, the rising spire, the solemn bell, the voice of prayer and the hymn of praise, brighten and adorn American life and privileges."
You have had imperfectly sketched to you, fellow-towns- men, the most prominent scenes in the history of our na- tive town ; and the character of this day required that some allusion should be made to our Country's proud career.
We have performed a grateful duty to the memory of our ancestors. They sought this land when it was a wil- derness. The name of Puritan, which was fastened on them as a term of reproach, they meekly accepted, and so adorned the even tenor of their lives, and with the recti- tude and consistency of their characters, that it has become more honorable than that of king or ruler. The American traces his descent from the emigrants in the May-Flower, with greater' satisfaction, than if he could, with indisputa- ble certainty, trace his ancestral stream back to the proud- est noblemen of the most chivalrous age of England.
American and New England privileges, have they left us. They struggled long and hard to establish these free institutions or ours. And when they bequeathed them to us, they also enjoined it upon us to preserve and maintain them untarnished, and hand them down to those who shall come after us, increased instruments of good.
Let us so discharge our duties to our Country, to each
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other, to ourselves, and to our God, that when in one hundred years from this day, the people of Hampstead shall again assemble to commemorate the Centennial An- niversary of their Incorporation, and the memory of their fathers, we may have the same grateful remembrance in their hearts, that our ancestors this day occupy in ours. But if through human error, or party strife, we suffer these golden privileges to become lost,-this sacred legacy to become corrupted in our hands,-in the bitter moments of reflection and regret, there will come to our minds the consoling truth that,
"The spirit cannot always sleep in dust, Whose essence is etherial ; they may try To darken and degrade it ; it may rust Dimly awhile, but cannot wholly die ; And when it wakens, it will send its fire Intenser forth, and higher."
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