USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Marlborough > History of the town of Marlborough, Cheshire County, New Hampshire > Part 30
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Eli Clark, Esq., of Roxbury, responded.
Sixteenth sentiment : -
Troy,- In 1815, partaking of the independent spirit of her northern seceding sister, with a loving heart embraced an amorous trio, and still dwells in peace with her maternal ancestry.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
LETTER FROM HON. EDWARD FARRAR OF KEENE, A NATIVE OF TROY.
KEENE, July 3, 1876.
My dear Sir,- Please accept, in behalf of yourself and the committee you represent, my sincere thanks for the kind invitation you have given me to be present at your celebration to-morrow, and respond to the toast with which you are to honor my native town. It would give mne the greatest pleasure to be present with you and respond in person, and par- ticipate in the festivities of the occasion ; but a part has been assigned me in my adopted city, which will prevent my observance of the day else- where.
It would be tedious for you to listen to my personal recollections of Troy. They are pleasant and interesting to me; and, as time passes on, I find myself living over my Troy life more and more often. I might recite many incidents in the history of Troy as well known by others as by me. That would be out of place here. Besides, that duty las doubt- less been assigned to other and more appropriate hauds.
The words of your toast seem somewhat strange. The nation has but just begun to recover from her exhausting effort to put an end to seces- sion. I supposed " secession " had become a by-word. But now you speak of my dear old town as a seceder. Call it any name but that. Still the dignity and honor of a rebellion depend upon the question of its success. The great Rebellion which the nation has just suppressed, thanks to the heroes of the last decade and to the God of battles, was not a success, but went down in disgrace.
Not so with Troy. She fought a determined foe. Thanks to the men of 1815, she maintained her right to self-government, and secession became her honor. The union she then formed was legitimate, although smacking somewhat of forbidden plurality. No one,- I presume to speak for Troy,- no member of that union can desire that it should be less close. May no court of law or other authority ever be graceless enough to grant a divorce to any member of the family! May the union that made Troy a town ever endure !
Respectfully yours,
EDWARD FARRAR.
To CHARLES K. MASON, Esq., for the Committee.
Seventeenth sentiment : -
The Professions,- Their representatives at home and abroad.
This sentiment was ably and eloquently responded to by Marquis De Lafayette MeCollester, Esq., of Waseca, Minn., a native of Marlborough.
Eighteenth sentiment :-
Marlborough,- Not aspiring to the dignity of a city herself, still claims many municipal officers of our cities as her sons.
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THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Solon S. Wilkinson of Keene replied to this as follows:
Mr. President, her modesty bespeaks her merit. Though she does not aspire to the dignity of a city and is not ambi- tious to assume a municipal form of government, she has a beautiful village, and is one of the most flourishing and enterprising of our New England towns.
For one hundred years she has stood first and foremost in all of the enterprises of the day ; and as we look yonder, upon the marble slabs which mark the resting-place of the fallen heroes, we are assured that she never shrank from duty in the time of peril and danger. And as I look back over the past and note the position she has always taken, and which she takes to-day, I rejoice that this is my native town.
Mr. President, as I look about me, I see, on either hand, those who have and do occupy high positions of honor and trust. And as I look upon the noble men and women who are assembled here to-day, who have from time to time gone out from these hillside homes, to bear the heats and burdens of the day and bless the world, I am proud that I am one of Marlborough's sons. And should she feel to rejoice, as one by one rises to eminence, may her greatest joy be that they are worthy the trust. And, as her sons continue to go out from her, may it not be their greatest ambition to fill high places, but to fill them well; and may all their aets, whether public or private, be such as to defy criticism and investigation ; and may their great desire be to live respected that they may die regretted, and long before another centen- nial year merit and receive the approbation of Him who holds in his hand the destinies of men.
Nineteenth sentiment : -
Our Bands,- They speak with brazen tongues, yet their notes, at their bidding, enkindle the fire of patriotism or the glow of friendship, melt the heart with tender pity or warm it into fervent devotion.
Response by the band.
Twentieth sentiment: -
Our Common Schools,-The pride of our land, the nurseries of knowl- edge, intelligence, and self-government, the only safeguard to the perpe- tuity of the liberties of a free and enlightened nation.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
Henry C. Tenney, of Orange, Mass., spoke as follows : -
The vitality of every community depends upon its edu- cational interests; and the rank any nation takes among its compeers depends solely upon the intellectual status of the people. Thus whatever affects the general intelligence of a community affects its moral, social, and political standing.
Is it, then, a wonder that "the heroes of "76" equally guarded their educational with their political rights? Is it strange that we had intellectual as well as political heroes?
Thus the common-school system of the land became co- existent with the oft-repeated "inalienable rights " of one century ago; and hence the political standing of our gov- ernment to-day, of which we all are so justly proud, is but the outgrowth of the common-school seedling planted by our sires little more than two hundred years since. As these have been nourished, political science advanced, the moral standard improved, general intelligence was diffused among the masses, and old New England, first and foremost in the rank, could but lead the van in the political, scientific, and intellectual spheres; and well has she held her own. America, first among the nationalities of the world; New England, ever foremost in America's every great enterprise ; New Hampshire, second to none, when brains are wanting, to make glory glad, to lift humanity higher, or to grapple with the mighty issues of national life.
The common-school system, though, like every other great and good institution, had its origin in and with that of Christianity, yet in its present and peculiar form it had its birth in New England; and, nourished by her fostering mothers, in its full-grown manhood it has become the pride and glory of our land ; and in all the great councils of the continent, or even of the globe, it has truly proven itself "the nursery of intelligence, knowledge, and self-government."
Its vital force has energized the arts and sciences, and their influence is felt in every land; has given an impetus to commerce, and its craft ploughs every water, its sail whitens every sea ; has warmed the inventive genius till it glows and gladdens the hearts of all humanity in the multi-
16.6. Finney
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THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
tudinous inventions that almost annihilate time and space ; gives the toiling millions rest, yet beckons them on, and still on, to new fields of beauty and glory; it has fostered the spirit of discovery, and spread alike the jungles of India, the wilds of Africa, and the polar glaciers at our feet; it has visited the ocean's mysterious depths, and brought us its hidden treasures; it has enveloped the world in a net- work of telegraphy, and the electric current darts tidings to all people; it has augmented the keen vision of man till the minutest creations are ours to behold, and we are lost in wonder, admiration, and awe.
Thus has it become the key with which we unlock the garnered storehouse of created wisdom, the lever by which we move the world of thought, the beautiful sunlight that fills our inmost souls with the glow of intelligence, knowledge, and wisdom.
It is the Common Schools that open the germ of budding youth into the full bloom of manhood glowing through, and ripening into the golden sheaf of God's noblest work.
Its riches are alike dispensed to titled princes and cringing serf: it knows no high, no low, no rich, no poor, but with a just, equal, and liberal hand it freely offers its store to all. With it were reared the many noble heroes who in times that tried men's souls, knew only their country, their God, and the right.
With it were laid the very foundations of our national greatness; and in after years, when grown to a great and mighty people, it alone burst the shackles of human bond- age and set the captive free. And though to-day our country groans in bitter anguish and inactivity,-'tis but the merited punishment of ignorance and vice long un- heeded. Its power and force have grown, as have the na- tions. So must we guard, sustain, and support its interest, as we would strengthen our republican institutions. Given us as a birthright, let us transmit it to posterity, enlarged, beautified, perfected.
The golden sheaves of the world's genius of thought are being garnered for the coming ages. Eager millions will
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
feast at the board. Strengthened, they will pile the sheaves higher, higher, higher, till time is lost in the dim vista of coming centuries. Still our common schools will beckon on to richer fields, broader lands, more golden harvests.
The huge scroll of science will unroll at her bidding, new fountains of thought will gush forth to gladden un- born millions, and the infancy of a growing world of intelli- gence will be the cherished legacy of our posterity.
Truly then our common schools are the only safeguards to the perpetuity of the liberties of a free and enlightened nation.
Twenty-first sentiment : -
The Progress of the Century.
REMARKS OF PROF. A. E. DOLBEARE OF TUFTS COLLEGE.
Mr. Chairman, I thought when I received the invitation of the committee to respond to the sentiment "The Prog- ress of the Century," that no subject could have been chosen that I should preferably have responded to. But it seems that nearly every speaker that has preceded me has, from necessity, made allusions to this progress, and by so much has covered the ground which I had expected to enlarge upon. The advances, however, have been so considerable, and in so many directions, that there is yet a good deal of outstanding material that has not been mentioned. Let me say, then, that the past century has been pre-eminently a century of inventions of labor-saving machinery.
The steam-engine, which we know is the work of our century, the most of the improvements which have been made upon the engine for steam-power, have appeared since 1782. Steam applied to the propulsion of vessels was first successful in 1806, upon the Hudson River. The success of . the locomotive dates from 1829. The speed of travel upon the railroad has been steadily advancing since that time. In 1834 it was twenty miles per hour, in 1839 it was thirty- five miles per hour, in 1847 it was sixty miles per hour, and since then it has reached the wonderful velocity of one hun-
.
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THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
dred miles per hour. Men have never been able to travel fast enough. Every increase in speed has but increased the desire for still swifter translation. I am reminded of a story that old Deacon Guild told, whose name has been mentioned before to-day. After the Cheshire road was finished as far as Troy, in 1847, his son William, then living in Newport, R.I., wished his father to visit him; but the old gentleman saw the cars go by, and was afraid to trust himself upon them. After much persuasion, however, he allowed himself to be placed aboard the cars at Troy, though with much trepidation. The cars started, and he said that he expected every minute to be smashed up; but they moved along with no accident, and his fears wore away, and gave place to more enjoyable feelings; for, said the old gentleman to me, " Before we got half-way to Boston, the faster they went, the better I felt." So it has been with mankind in general, in the business of travelling. The faster they go, the better they feel.
In 1837, the first ocean steamers were built; and here let me just mention that the year 1837 was a most remark- able year for various contributions of value in human affairs. I will simply mention a few of them of general interest: the screw propeller, the Morse telegraph, the daguerrotype, reform schools, ragged schools and industrial schools, female colleges, cheap penny postage,- these all belonged to that year.
Time will fail me even to specify all of the really valuable inventions and discoveries in mechanical engineering ; but it ought never to go unchallenged,- that statement so often made, that the ancients had mechanic arts which surpass ours.
We know, indeed, that the Egyptians built huge pyra- mids which Herodotus says required, for the largest, the labor of a hundred thousand men for twenty years to lay the stones ; but I am sure that Mr. Buss could make an engine that would in a year raise every stone to its place, and even deliver them faster than the workmen could place them.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
Some of the stones in the United States Treasury Building at Washington are larger than any of the stones in the pyr- amids of Egypt.
Most of the things which rank among the conveniences of life, to even those old and called poor to-day, have been contributed by this century. In order the better to esti- mate their value and the poverty of past centuries in this matter, suppose you strip from your houses all those things which had no existence before this century, and think how they would look, and how you would like living in such sur- roundings. Strip the paper from your walls, the carpets from your floors, take down the steel engravings and the chromo-lithographs. Use candles instead of gas or kero- sene, take off your door-knobs and make latches take their places, for the watch and clock use a sun-dial. Carry away all the books except the Bible, and perhaps Pilgrim's Prog- ress. The piano and the organ have no place there, for the most of your furniture substitute old style. The sewing- machine will help make room for a loom and spinning-wheel. These are but a few of the changes which would be needed to reduce housekeeping to the conditions of a hundred years ago. I think that every one will agree with me that the changes which I have indicated in such an incomplete way have nevertheless been far greater than all the contribu- tions of preceding centuries to such conveniences.
+ We always listen with pleasure and profit to one who tells us of the deeds of heroism, of kindness, of charity, but they are such things as every generation can boast of, and every century has such heroes ; but mankind has always accorded to intellectual work the highest place in its annals. There have been many epochs in history in which knowledge has advanced until it became science. Such a one marks the age of Newton, when the discovery of universal gravitation immediately raised astronomy to the dignity of a science which was indeed the crowning glory of that age. Let us see what has been accomplished in this line during the past hundred years. It has indeed been a century of sciences.
Consider what has been done. In astronomy, over a
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THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
hundred and fifty planets have been discovered, the whole heavens charted, the nature of comets and meteors been determined, and the distance of the sun and fixed stars calculated. Moreover, through the revelations of the spec- troscope, the physical condition of the sun, of the stars, and distant nebulæ, is now well known, so that what is called physical astronomy is almost altogether the product of this century.
The science of chemistry is just a century old. There was no science of chemistry previous to that time, so that that is peculiarly a product of this century. Equally so is the science of geology, which has been mostly developed within the past fifty years. The botany we know to-day is almost wholly the work of this generation. Then zoöl- ogy had no existence as a science until within seventy-five years.
In the domain of natural philosophy, the laws of sound, of electricity, of heat, of light, of magnetism, and of energy, each a science by itself, have all been determined; and who shall say, in view of all these, that this century has not in the line of intellectual work surpassed all previous centu- ries ? But this is not the end. We honor Newton for his great discovery, and most for his great generalization of uni- versal gravitation ; yet this century can show no less than four such generalizations, each one of which is worthy to take rank at once with the grandest achievement of Newton.
Of these I would speak first of the nebular hypothesis of Laplace, which the researches of late years have so entirely confirmed that all astronomers everywhere have adopted it as being the expression of the truth as to the origin of the solar system.
As the second, I would name the doctrine of the persist- ence of force, which, through the labors of Faraday, Grove, Mayer, Joule, and others, has forced its acceptance every- where, and has profoundly modified all of our notions of the relations of work to force, and teaches that the amount of energy in the universe is constant, and that when force in one form disappears it immediately appears in some other
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
form. That heat may be converted into motion, and elec- tricity or light or magnetism, and all of these being mut- ually interchangeable,-this is an achievement of which any century might feel proud.
Third, the doctrine of natural selection proclaimed by Mr. Darwin. This was much laughed at at first, but laterly it is not laughed at so much; and not a few of those who feared it most have become assured of its truth, while almost every naturalist in the world believes it. The doc- trine itself is so revolutionary that its acceptance makes an epoch in natural history studies, and may properly be ranked among the greatest achievements of the nineteenth century.
Last, but not least, is the doctrine of evolution, pro- claimed by Mr. Herbert Spencer, and worked out by him with a marvellous skill, and exhibiting a wonderful knowl- edge of phenomena both physical and mental. Prof. Jevous said lately of this work that nothing had appeared compar- able with it since the publication of Newton's Principia. It reduces to law, order, and relationship all phenomena, and will point out the true functions of government, and help to the solution of all of the now knotty questions in politics, religion, and education.
With such a record as this, the past century has no reason to be ashamed; for its labors have been more than tenfold the labors of any other century, and its progress has been an astonishment even to itself.
Twenty-second sentiment : -
Emigrants from Marlborough, both present and absent,- Scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Tropic to Tropic, may their early instruction prove a shield in the hour of trial, and assist them to fill with honor and usefulness the different stations in life they are destined to occupy !
This was wittily replied to by J. W. Converse, Esq., of Springfield, Mass. The wind rose to almost a gale while he was speaking, so that it was with difficulty he could be heard ; but he was urged to go on, which he did, much to the edification of those who remained to hear him.
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 369
THE CENTENARY.
On Marlborough's hundredth anniversary, We hail our Nation's centenary day : We'd ring long and loudly sweet Liberty's bells, As on every breeze the clear pæan swells.
Lusty huzzahs for the "red, white, and blue," The symbol of principles just and true ; On land, at sea, where'er she may wave, Her stars gleam with light for the true and the brave.
We meet, and songs of deep gratitude bring, And offer our God, our nation's great King.
Oh ! what hath he wrought, and how hath he led, Blest and delivered, protected and fed !
Our Nation's faithful defenders who sleep, We gratefully mention, revere, and weep : Greatly be honored each citizen true, Who donned and wore for his country the blue.
With words of good cheer, and kindness replete, We gather to-day each other to greet ; Together to talk of the memories of yore, And God's guiding grace midst our toils to implore.
We meet to look backward, around, onward, up, To chat, and to sing, shake hands, and to sup : May this day be cherished in memory, As still on we sail o'er life's turgid sea !
Hark ! what music's that so cheering From the distant Orient ? Who are they so sweetly singing, As with hearts and voices blest ? List! they are good news proclaiming, And in confidence they speak ; They with holy zeal are flaming, They are Christ's disciples meek.
Onward in her happy mission, Goes the Church lost men to win; And to save from false ambition, And the subtile ways of sin. Through the ages dark and hoary, 'Midst the fagot, rack, and chain, She hath told to men the story Of the cross,- and not in vain.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
For, behold, the light of gladness That is beaming in the sky, Which would win man from his madness, And that brightens sorrow's eye ! As the gospel light advancing, Driving sin's dark clouds away, Knowledge, science, art enhancing, Brighter dawns each century.
And as we, the last reviewing, Note the light's advancing power, With our hope and faith renewing, We can see the golden hour When to ploughshares swords are beaten, And men go to war no more, And when love and justice sweeten Every heart the wide world o'er.
Oh ! what progress marks our century ! What improvements year by year ! How sublime our Nation's history, Never as this hour so dear ! Thrice baptized, her flag is floating O'er the soil redeemed and free, For no tyrant now is gloating On her chains and slavery.
With electric fluid speaking To the nations far away, With the mightiest competing In all technics of the day, With our railroads now uniting Gulf to lakes and sea to sea, As the millions were inviting, Who can judge what we shall be ?
What a work the press is doing In our great America !
Reconstructing, and renewing Bonds of union sweet to-day, With magnetic power and wonder, Speeds its influence o'er the land ! May its lightning and its thunder Evermore the wrong withstand !
With our books and schools refining, With our courts of justice pure, Press with pulpit e'er combining Freedom's blessings to secure,
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THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Every man in every station, We shall be a beacon bright, And an honored, happy nation, And to all the world a light.
Gentle hearers, friends so dear, Who with joy have gathered here, Though perhaps you scarcely need, Will you a monition heed ?
Since in God we move and live, Since from him all good receive, Men of Marlborough, ladies too, To yourselves and God be true.
Sad will be the day when ye, Failing thus to grateful be, Have forgotten whence you came, And shall dare revile his name.
In Jehovah's might confiding, In his favor thus abiding, Oh, to him your tributes bring, And his praises ever sing !
Cherish long the memory Of your sires who've passed away,- Noble men who planted here Institutions sweet and dear. With no dram-shop's baneful sway Leading young and old astray ; But with ample churches, three, Heralding salvation free ; With good schools of fair renown, Shedding influence sweet around, With water power and fruitful soil Requiting well your faithful toil,- May it be your earnest care E'er to seek to do and dare For the right, and e'er aspire With a patriotic fire !
May the star of Marlborough shine, With a lustre pure, benign, Ever toward the zenith go, Where few rivals she may know ! While on earth they may assemble, Like the pillars of a temple, May her sons, renowned in story, Be to her a joy and glory.
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HISTORY OF MARLBOROUGH.
May her daughters, gems of beauty, Nurtured in the school of duty, Knowing well their God-like mission, Finding there their true fruition, Like the summer's gentle breeze Softly whispering 'mong the trees, Pure as roses of the morn,- Ever virtue's paths adorn. While the granite hills shall stand,
May the guiding, loving hand That has blest a century
Guide and bless posterity !
Twenty-third sentiment :
The Violin,- Though superseded by the piano and organ, still speaks for itself.
P. S. Batcheller, of Fitzwilliam, sent the following: -
TO THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE GOOD OLD TOWN OF MARLBOROUGH, greeting :
I felicitate you upon being permitted by a kind Provi- dence to behold this day,-this, the one hundredth anniver- sary of the birth of our native town, and of the nation.
With filial reverence, with heartfelt gratitude, let us. thank the God of our fathers that we, their children, are privileged to commemorate with appropriate ceremonies this centennial year, -- to us a double centennial. As the blessed memories of our early childhood come welling up, how the pulse of every son and daughter of our dear old native town quickens!
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