USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire Sesqui-centennial celebration. One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of independent government > Part 4
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The thanks of the Commission are due, in large measure, not only to the schools of Con- cord and Penacook (which latter participated in the parade) but particularly to the Concord Board of Education, and Superintendent Louis J. Rundlett, dean of the Superintendents of the State, under whose authority and supervision,
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this magnificent parade was organized and car- ried out.
Mayor Fred N. Marden and the members of the Commission officially reviewed the parade from the balcony of the Eagle Hotel.
After the parade a final meeting of the Com- mission was held in the parlor, at the Eagle, at which it was voted that the President, Secre- tary and Treasurer be authorized to make all settlements and close the affairs of the Com- mission.
At the noon hour, upon invitation of Governor Winant, a dinner was enjoyed at a special table in the Eagle dining room, by the members of the Commission and the speakers of the day.
At 1:30 P. M., in Representatives Hall, as an- nounced in the programme, the anniversary ex- ercises were duly carried out. The chairman of the Programme Committee called to order and presented Governor Winant as President of the Day, who opened the exercises with fitting con- gratulatory remarks, and happily introduced the several speakers in the order announced.
The Invocation by Dr. McCollester was elo- quent and impressive, the musical numbers were effectively rendered and the Benediction by Rev. William Porter Niles brought the service to a fitting close.
The addresses of the afternoon follow in the order given :
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ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS By James A. Tufts, LL.D.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
We are met to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of in- dependent government in New Hampshire, done at Exeter, January 6, 1776. The year is notable for both state and nation. We may feel justly proud that ours was the first state to adopt a written constitution, four months be- fore that of Virginia, and six months before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The first observance of this anniversary was by the Exeter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, on the 4th of last Janu- ary. The exercises consisted of speaking, music, and tableaux appropriate for the oc- casion. A little later came celebrations by the Exeter Chamber of Commerce and the Congre- gational Church.
Though this is not an historical address, it seems fitting to refer to the condition of affairs in the state one hundred and fifty years ago, and to touch upon the importance of Exeter at that time. Exeter had played an important part un- der the Provincial Government. Its people had shown resistance to illegal taxation and had made demonstration against the Stamp Act; yet many of the inhabitants had signed a pact to preserve the peace and good order of the community, and had shown their patriotism on several occasions. Exeter was virtually the capital of the state, the seat of government, and the centre of civil and military activity. "There," as an esteemed townsman says, "the
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state of New Hampshire came into existence and all the early legislation originated." And he adds, "To Exeter the patriots, to Concord the politicians !" There still stands the house, now owned by the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati, where the Committee of Safety held its meetings, then occupied by Nicholas Gilman, the Receiver General, and used as the State Treasury. Much important business was transacted there. From this house, we are told, "went forth the summons for that brief ses- sion of the General Court held on July 17, 1777, at which John Langdon made the stirring pledge of all his propertly, including the hogs- heads of rum, to be sold in order to outfit the state forces that marched with Stark to Ben- nington," whose victory meant so much.
Our ancestors thus early showed their spirit of independence. It is not strange, therefore, when the form of government established by Great Britain came to an end, that, Governor Wentworth having fled from the colony, the people undertook to govern themselves. They faced the problem, how to pass from a colonial status, within an empire, to that of a free and independent state. A Convention met in Exe- ter in May 1775, composed of delegates from one hundred and two towns. It provided that the electors of representatives to the Conven- tion called to establish a form of government should possess real estate of at least £20 in value, and that each candidate for representa- tive should possess real estate of the value of £300; that towns should be entitled to one repre- sentative for each group of one hundred fami- lies; and that the representatives should be em- powered by their constituents to assume gov-
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ernment as recommended by the general con- gress. Representatives thus chosen met in con- vention or congress, as they termed it, at Exe- ter, and on January 6, 1776, adopted a plan of government, the first written Constitution. The committee appointed to draw it up should be named: Matthew Thornton, Meshech Weare, Ebenezer Thompson, Wyseman Claggett, Ben- jamin Giles, and later John Giddings, of Exeter, and Joseph Badger. This Constitution is very brief-not a thousand words, and nearly half of them in the preamble. The preamble sets forth some of the wrongs the people had suf- fered under British rule, notes the fact of the sudden departure of Governor Wentworth and the absence of legislative and executive authori- ty, and continues: "Therefore for the preserva- tion of peace and good order, and for the se- curity of the lives and properties of the inhabi- tants of this colony, we conceive ourselves re- duced to the necessity of establishing a form of government, to continue during the present un- happy and unnatural contest with Great Brit- ain, protesting and declaring that we never sought to throw off our dependence upon Great Britain, but felt ourselves happy under her pro- tection while we could enjoy our Constitutional rights and privileges, and that we shall rejoice if such a reconciliation between us and our pa- rent state can be effected as shall be approved by the continental congress, in whose prudence and wisdom we confide."
Its first provision was as follows: "According- ly, pursuant to the trust imposed in us, we do resolve that this congress assume the name, power, and authority of a house of represen- tatives, or assembly for the colony of New
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Hampshire. And that said house then proceed to choose twelve persons being reputable free- holders and inhabitants within this colony ..... to be a distinct and separate branch of the legis- lature, by the name of a council."
I pass over its other provisions except to note the absence of any mention of an executive and of all restraint upon council and assembly, which had full power to exercise all the legisla- tive, executive, and judicial functions of gov- ernment, a plan said to be favored by Franklin and Samuel Adams, and adopted in the first Constitutions of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
This Constitution, adopted as a temporary measure, went into effect without being sub- mitted to the people and remained in force for eight years. Meanwhile the name was changed from the colony to the state of New Hampshire.
The fact that civil government was maintain- ed so long under a Constitution so weak and imperfect, and during the Revolutionary War, proves that the people, though having rebelled against the existing government, were natural- ly law-abiding. With such a man as Meshech Weare as President of the Council, Chairman of the Committee of Safety, and Chief Justice, trusted by all, any Constitution would have worked.
In time, however, changes became necessary. A second Constitutional Convention met in Con- cord in June, 1778, and a third in 1781. The second Constitution was rejected by the people, but that submitted by the third convention in its last draft (the early drafts were called too conservative), was approved in 1783 and went into effect in 1784.
The first draft of this Constitution, really the
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second and last Constitution adopted, sprang from the masterly mind of John Adams, who rather boastfully declared that he had drawn a Constitution for Massachusetts which finally made the Constitution of the United States. The details of the plan were similar to those of the Massachusetts Constitution. The govern- ment was divided into three distinct depart- ments, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial, each independent of the others. In the first drafts the chief executive was called "gov- ernor," in the last, "president." He was to preside in the senate, and had the same right to vote as the senators had. He was not restrict- ed to lobbying, therefore, to influence senators. This Constitution gave the franchise to all males of twenty-one years or more who paid a poll tax and had lived two years in their towns.
Another Constitutional Convention met in Concord in 1791. Of the seventy-two amend- ments submitted, only forty-six were approved by the people. By these amendments His Ex- cellency was called "governor" instead of "pres- ident," and he lost the right to sit and vote in the senate.
The next Constitutional Convention was not held for nearly sixty years, in 1850. Franklin Pierce was the president and Col. Thomas J. Whipple the sceretary. This Convention pro- posed many radical changes, among them the adoption of biennial elections and biennial ses- sions of the legislature. Only one, however, was approved by the people, that abolishing the property qualification of candidates for gover- nor, senators, and representatives.
The fifth Constitutional Convention, held in Concord in 1876, is noteworthy for its short
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session, only eleven days, and for its achieve- ments, among which were the abolition of the religious test as a qualification for office, the adoption of biennial elections and biennial ses- sions of the legislature, the change in the time of holding state elections from March to Novem- ber, the increase of the senate from twelve to twenty-four members, and a reduction in the number of representatives.
The session of the sixth Constitutional Con- vention, 1889, was also brief. Governor Charles H. Bell, of Exeter, was its president. Its prin- cipal acts made Article Six of the Bill of Rights non-sectarian and changed the time of biennial sessions of the legislature from June to Jan- uary. Only one of the seven amendments pro- posed was rejected.
The more recent Conventions are too fresh in mind to require mention. These that I have cited, with the comparatively few amendments adopted, show both that our original Constitu- tion' had serious defects, and also that we are inclined to regard a Constitution as sacred. We should remember the words of William H. Seward, "There is a higher law than the Con- stitution." We should remember also that Con- stitutional Conventions are not called at the pleasure of the governor, but that, by the terms of our Constitution, we are obliged to vote on the subject every seven years.
Our Constitution is not yet perfect. For ex- ample, many think that our house of represen- tatives is altogether too large for securing the best membership and the best results. Accord- ing to the first draft of the Constitution submit- ted by the Convention of 1781, the number should be fifty. Though this number would be
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too small now, the present number, four hun- dred and twenty-one, seems too large. Yet so far it has proved impossible to amend the Con- stitution so as to reduce this number. May we not do well to try again to find some way to re- duce the number without depriving the small towns of representation ?
There are other important subjects, how- ever,-the relation between capital and labor, the prevention of monopolies and strikes, the crime wave, the atheistic ripple, religious free- dom and the danger of legislation that will abridge this freedom. In regard to the last point a recent writer has said, "Youth.
becomes the victim of compulsion from those who have a fixed belief-impervious to the known facts of science and history-which they insist upon everyone else's believing too. It is religious intolerance of a diabolical kind, since it attacks the immature child, seeking to stunt his plastic mind to a fixed gauge as narrow as that of his oppressors." Our legislators should check this attempt to destroy the spirit of de- mocracy. All should strive to keep education free from the hand of religious intolerance. We should work to preserve both political and spir- itual liberty. Freedom is not self-perpetuating.
In our pride that the first written state con- stitution was signed in Exeter, we should re- member that it was the natural outgrowth of the character of our Puritan ancestors, whom Macaulay called "the most remarkable body of men, perhaps, which the world has ever pro- duced," and whom, in spite of their outward pe- culiarities, he pronounced "a brave, a wise, an honest, and a useful body."
The interest and patriotism of our ancestors
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did not rest with the adoption of the Constitu- tion. Our delegates to the Continental Con- gress had been instructed to join with the other colonies in declaring the thirteen United Col- onies free and independent States. All were impatient to learn the action of the Continental Congress in regard to the final separation from Great Britain. Imagine, if you can, the ex- citement when a courier rode into town, bring- ing a packet which proved to be the Declaration of Independence. The news spread rapidly. Men, women, and children gathered to listen to the first reading with devout thankfulness, great faith, and honest pride. And our state became one of the original thirteen.
I will not dwell on the visits to Exeter of Samuel Adams, George Washington, and Abra- ham Lincoln, important as they were; but must remind you of the assertion of Robert T. Lin- coln : "If I had not come to The Phillips Exeter Academy, I doubt whether my father would ever have been President of the United States:"
And Daniel Webster! How fitting that his statue should stand directly in front of this building ! It is hard to believe that he was ever an awkward, country boy, often sent by his teacher to the brook to wash his face and hands. At Exeter he failed in declamation, but learned many lessons not found in books. How fitting, too, that his bust should be placed in the Hall of Fame in New York City !
We honor our ancestors. They lived in an age of revolution ; we live in an age of evolution. We are grateful to them for all that they did, much under trying circumstances. If we think that our conditions are hard, we should remem- ber that theirs were harder. Yet, in the words
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of Judge Chase, "The millenium is still far dis- tant. There is opportunity and necessity for study and efforts by this and many future gen- erations to improve temporal government. The results will depend largely upon the education and moral sense of the community. The church and the schools are the most effective institu- tions in the great work. When knowledge and learning, in a large and broad sense, have be- come generally diffused through the community, and the moral sense of its members has become sensitive to the requirments of the Golden Rule" (which enjoins men and women to seek the good of the whole of humanity) "and causes willing compliance therewith, most of the defects in government will cease, and the dawn of the millennium will be reached."
Finally, in the words of the great optimist, Charles W. Eliot, president emeritus of Har- vard University, "The republic is not an experi- ment, it is a fact; it can even withstand the out- bursts of the superheated patriots, who are mere jingoes masquerading as statesmen and leaders. Democracy has proved itself in America; for, with all the little faults we make and magnify, our country is the most blessed on earth."
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Anniversary Poem By Rev. Raymond H. Huse
Old man of the mountain,
Looking over hills of green, During all these swiftly passing years Tell us what you've seen Since the nature-loving red man Shouldered first his borrowed gun,
Then, as silent as the shadows, Pilgrimed westward with the sun.
Tell us how the sons of thunder Harnessed then each rushing stream; Changed to teeming, smoking cities Vales where woodsprites used to dream. Homes then took the place of cabins, Hills were crowned with schools and spires. Floods of light and power and progress Quenched the slowly dying fires Of the camper and the pilgrim ; Rails of iron bridged the streams, Locomotives climbed the mountains, Visions took the place of dreams, Swift achievement followed vision ; Soon the hilltops, crowned with morn, Heard the cheerful chugging challenge Of the automobile horn. Gone the power of miles and distance; Give us roads all smooth and hard And old Hampton by the ocean Is in Washington's front yard ! Even the sky above your forehead Cleft by eagles' wings of old Is now beaten by the pinions Of the airplane, swift and bold, While the winds that sweep your valleys Bring us from some Broadway attic Speeches, songs, orchestral music, Boom of bass drum, horn and static.
Old man of the mountain, Guardian of primeval lumber, In this busy generation
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Aren't you almost a back number ? Don't you feel abashed and humbled, Up there 'mid the silent hills While the sound of human progress Every town and city fills ? And the Granite State with others, On this happy natal day, Sings its song of glad achievement And with joy pursues its way From the frontier and the backwoods To the city made of gold Of which the poets and the prophets Through the twilight years have told?
Then replied the Silent Watcher Of Franconia's shaded deeps, He who, like the God of heaven, Never slumbers, never sleeps. O you little puny rhymster, With your little childish dreams, 1
Listen while I truly tell you How this noisy progress seems As I watch it from my hilltop While the ages slip away, For a thousand years in passing Are to me but as a day, As a watch in midnight stillness, As a swiftly melting cloud, And I often ask the question, . "Why should mortal man be proud ?"
Glad I am to see the cities Rise where wigwams used to be, But I do not call it progress If the folks are not more free, If where red man's poisoned arrow Sped its trail of grief and death Now the hand of greed and hatred And foul slander's hellish breath Sparing decently men's bodies Kill their souls-what is the gain? Why is this a big improvement Over heaps of bodies slain?
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Good it is that automobiles Speeding swiftly to and fro Banished have our isolation And the world its own may know. But unless as better neighbors Kind in spirit and in heart We may dwell in peace together
We had better stay apart. Hermit minds need hermit bodies ! Where there's snobbery between No one can fill up the spaces With a tank of gasolene.
Let them go by wheels or airplane On the road, or up above,
If they bring to every nation
Hands that help and hearts that love.
But if selfishness still lingers
Like a boarder in the fall Let us be "Irreconciliables"
And erect a Chinese wall !
That the wireless brings its message Over land and over sea Is a marvel that brings wonder
Even to a Man like me !
But the wonder is that people Now that sound waves, like the spray, Splash their message through the silence Have so little new to say !
Stock reports and bed time stories Through the mystic midnight come Weather records, base ball battings -And the prophets still are dumb!
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Address of Rev. Burton W. Lockhart
[Dr. Lockhart saw fit to change the subject of his ad- dress from "New Hampshire and the Christian Ministry" to "The Clergy and The Sesqui-Centennial."1
At the close of the Revolutionary War, the Clergy of New Hampshire and New England, for I cannot separate the two in this paper, was essentially Puritan, and, so far as it is Pro- testant, it is still Puritan. To understand the influence of our Clergy in our development, we must remember that the Puritan's moral and spiritual ideal was the passion for perfection. His ideal in government was to make the laws of the State embody and enforce as far as pos- sible the laws of God; his ideal in education was to provide every citizen with such mental dis- cipline as would enable him to understand and obey first of all the Divine Law, and secondarily and inclusively, the laws of the State. In every- thing, morals, education and politics, religion was the main concern. That was, and that re- mains, the program of the Clergy of New Hampshire.
The Puritan movement arose in England in a renascence of the personal conscience. True religion is a personal matter between the soul and God. The individual has the responsibili- ty of obedience to his own heavenly vision. He must, therefore, be free to follow his vision. In such matters as conscience, all external com- pulsion, whether ecclesiastical or civil, is essen- tially unfree, irreligious. Hence arose the great Puritan principle of religious and civil liberty. In spiritual things, the Church must be free from State control. Congregationalists insisted even in the autonomy of each individual
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church. And if the Church must be free in its own sphere, the State must also be free, for a free Church can exist only in a free State. Thus we see that with the Puritan Clergy, liberty was a basic principle. And it was in the name of liberty that our ancestral soldier-saints fought a hundred battles and finally carved out a new world to redress the balance of the old.
At the formation of our American Constitu- tion one hundred and fifty years ago, we in- herited this double liberty. With us it was a religious heritage. It did not come from Rous- seau and the French Revolution, but from Mil- ton, Cromwell, and the Puritan Exodus. For these one hundred fifty years we have breathed in this free atmosphere without being conscious of it. It is now time to become conscious. We should learn from the Communistic victory in Russia how possible it is for violence to resume her ancient sway where secular motives domi- nate, and how little religious liberty can mean, when civil liberty is no more. If our people have been tending to forget that real liberty is bound up with real religion, -with religion inner, personal, spiritual and free, and that such religion itself requires civil liberty in which to expand, if they have been lazily thinking that religion is perfectly safe from State meddling, at least with us, and that civil liberty can be trusted to the educated classes, the clever politicians, the laissez-faire of the acquisitive instinct, the biological will-to- power of the strong, let them learn from their own history, and from the history of the world in the last decade, how thin a rim of safety holds civilization from subterranean fires, and that
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this rim in the last analysis is not an appetite but a religion.
R. H. Tawney, in a recent book on Puritan- ism and Capitalism, says that the Puritan in- sistence on individual responsibility led him to understress social responsibility. In his su- preme effort to save, his own soul in a Kingdom of God in Eternity, he too much forgot that So- ciety has a soul to be saved, and that there is a Kingdom of God to be builded right here on this planet. I think this criticism may be truer of English than of American Puritanism. Look at some of the great social movements of our one hundred fifty years. First, the religious conscience moves against slavery and disunion, fights the battles of the Civil War, and writes the Thirteenth Amendment in the Constitution. Next, the religious conscience moves against the liquor traffic and writes the Eighteenth Amendment in the Constitution. Then the re- ligious conscience advocates Women's Suffrage moved by a spiritual logic that woman has the same right to liberty as man. Just now the religious conscience is seeking a larger social justice. It cries with Thomas Carlyle, "I tell thee there is nothing great but justice." It is looking for a juster distribution of the common . wealth of society by a juster method than strife. Also there looms on the horizon, dimly as yet, but visible, the ideal of world peace, founded on a code of international law, admin- istered by an international Court, guaranteed by a League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson. the great American protagonist of this ideal, be- longs to the immortals solely because of it. Puritan of the Puritans, he laid his life on the altar of his mighty dream. If his dream comes
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true, it will be through the working of the Puri- tan leaven in the heart of America and England. It is by faith not by fear that great ideals are realized. It will be well to remember this when economists tell us that scientific invention will abolish war by making it unprofitable. War has seldom been profitable. But man began as a fighting animal. It is only as he rises into the glorious liberty of the children of God that he enters his kingdom of peace.
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