USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire Sesqui-centennial celebration. One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of independent government > Part 5
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It is not true, then, in the last seventy-five years, that our Clergy and Churches have neg- lected social for personal salvation. One thinks of the splendid work done in the education of the negro; of such men as Gen. S. C. Armstrong and Booker T. Washington; of the creation of such institutions as the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A., the Y. P. S. C. E. and kindred asso- ciations. One thinks of the W. C. T. U. which, from 1872 to the present time, has done so much to shake down that stupid superstition of the right of the acquisitive man to traffic in alco- holic poison for power and money. One thinks of educational enterprises like the General Edu- cation Board, and of Chautauqua, that truly democratic college, all the dearer to us because it is the butt of the pharisees of culture. Also, when did the Church ever follow in the wake of armies with such healing in its wings as in the World War? Who can estimate the depth and beauty of the work of the Red Cross through- out the whole world in the last quarter century ? Indeed I think the danger to-day is that the old salutary stress on personal godliness is growing lighter than it ought. For after all, man is God's building, and if the individual is unsound, no combination of him can endure.
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To make and keep the individual morally sound and spiritually awake has been and will continue to be the primary work of our Clergy. And the Clergy will do this, in the future as in the past, by flashing the heavenly vision before the eyes of each man each generation. If the ministry of to-day, and the laity, have given up those extra-beliefs which arose in pre-scientific and barbaric times, that is one of the greatest gains of evolution. The truth retained, which makes us one with the Holy Catholic Church of all the ages, will do for us and our children what it did for our fathers, it will enable us to func- tion in life as victorious ethical persons and not beasts of the field. That truth which is retain- ed, the light and force back of all the creeds, is the truth of God as conscious benevolent pur- pose directing human life to spiritual ends; the truth of man as spirit, not mechanism ; free and responsible, not driven by fate ; capable of right- eousness, therefore, through a chosen co-opera- tion with God, and immortally alive in God- the eternal home, as He is the source of the soul.
This truth constitutes the changeless ortho- doxy of the Church. Nor is there any rival in the field except sin, the ancient foe. For I do not consider as serious that bastard philosophy born of pseudo-science which asserts that God is nothing but a name for energy in evolution ; man nothing but a nervous organism whose re- actions are all compulsory; righteousness only a name for utility; freedom and responsibility, illusions; immortality, the "desire of the moth for the star;" that, in fact, for us men, the bot- tom realities are digestion and procreation with their respective appetites. If such doctrine
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could be set clearly on a basis of demonstration, it would transform truth itself into ironic laugh- ter, society into a bolshevistic mob, and life it- self into an anarchic scramble of naked ap- petite.
At the same time, it highly befits us children of the Puritans, ourselves Puritan still, to march foward with lamps lit and loins girded. Al- ready civilization has half ruined itself by giv- ing free play to its animal appetites, and half debauched its soul by deifying those appetites. But "the gods creep up on feet of wool." As the Puritan faith dies out, the deluge comes.
Address of Hon. Sherman L. Whipple
Your Excellency :
Permit me to express appreciation of your cordial and friendly introduction.
Mr. Secretary,-my venerable and loyal friend-
I salute you! You, to whom so many of us, and the State, owe a debt of gratitude.
Ladies and Gentlemen :
It was that sage philosopher of the Catskills, Rip Van Winkle, was it not, who said, "How soon we are forgot when we are gone?" Mr. Van Winkle intended for his aphorism a general application to all humanity; but to those who follow and profess the law, it would seem to have a unique application. Strive mightily and achieve greatly as the lawyer may in life, in death he is forgotten. His record is written on the sand and the first wave of oncoming events obliterates it.
Who of those outside our own profession,- and how few within it !- know that within a
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century there lived and practised law in Ports- mouth Jeremiah Mason, ranked by the highest authority-as a jurist, the equal of the great Chief Justice, John Marshall-as an advocate, the match of the immortal Webster?
Who quite realizes that New Hampshire's single President of the Union, Franklin Pierce, was in his day a leader at the Bar, and as an advocate unexcelled ?
The lawyer's sole rescue from oblivion is on the Bench or in political life. While the repu- tation and memory of great lawyers quickly fade, the memory of great judges and of great statesmen is more permanent and lasting. Webster is an exception to almost every rule, yet it may well be doubted whether his fame merely as a lawyer would have greatly outlasted that of Mason. And Pierce, of course, as an advocate merely and not as President of the Union, would likely have been little known be- yond the State, and little remembered here.
But why thus ? Why should men who in life so fully occupy the public eye, absorb its inter- ested attention and win its applause, so quickly fade from public memory ?
The answer is difficult, and no short analysis can be complete. Many causes doubtless con- tribute. But the one that contributes greatly, perhaps dominantly, is the little understanding the public has of the true test of a lawyer's merit; the real standard by which his achieve- ment should finally be judged; or of the essen- tial function of the lawyer in our system of ad- ministering justice.
The public loves a vivid contest. It applauds victory. It acclaims a victor. So the fame is great of the lawyer who wins. -
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But, of course, mere winning-while most satisfactory and highly desirable-is no real, certainly no final test of a lawyer's quality. Nor does it mark the highest measure of the lawyer's achievement. On mere success no last- ing fame can rest.
The true and vital test of the great lawyer is, I apprehend, his contribution to the cause of Justice. It is to the cause of justice that the lawyer owes his first duty ; to contribute worthi- ly and well to the upbuilding of the law, upon which alone our social fabric may securely rest ; to reveal and not to obscure the truth, upon which alone justice may be done; and to win vic- tories, which are based upon a righteous cause, rather than by the genius, however brilliant, "that makes the better reason seem the worse."
The true and final test, therefore, of the law- yer's merit, the real standard by which he must be judged, is the measure of his performance of this duty.
There are those-too many, I fear,-in our profession, who will not agree with me in this; who say that a lawyer's whole duty is done when he has spoken for his client alone; that he owes no further duty to justice; that if justice be not done, by the fault of his opponent or his op- ponent's lesser skill, no responsibility attaches to him.
But this cannot be so! Injustice is injustice, is it not? And is he, who by superior talent contributes to bring about injustice, less re- sponsible than the one who for the want of abili- ties is impotent to prevent it?
The boast of a lawyer that he wins cases by skill and talent that he ought not to have won upon the merits of the cause, is a vicious boast,
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-a deadly thrust at Justice in her very Temple.
Judged by this test, the judges and lawyers of New Hampshire have performed well. Of their record they need have no shame. As a whole, they have built up the law; they have supported our institutions and our liberties. They have served justice well.
To speak of a few who have thus worthily achieved,-even of Weare, of Richardson, of Parker, of Doe, of the Smiths, or of Parsons, would be unjust to the many whose contribu- tions have been scarcely less great. To name them all, the time and the occasion do not per- mit.
But we need not seek alone in the past for the cause of pride in Bench and Bar. For, to-day, the lofty standards of the New Hampshire Courts are still maintained. Nor can I refrain from the mention, at least, of Bingham, an- other New Hampshire Judge who would-and in due course, I trust, yet will-grace the high- est judicial tribunal of the land.
All these earnest men, our judges and law- yers, performing well their duties, are rightly the pride of our dear old State. Justice's es- cutcheon in their hands has had no stain. They have kept the faith.
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Address of Mrs. Ida Farr Miller Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of New Hampshire:
"New Hampshire Daughters meet to-day, With joy each cup is brimmin';
We've heard for years about her men, But why leave out her wimmin ? "In early days they did their share To git the state to goin'; And when their husbands went to war Could fight, or take to hoin'.
"Yet, naught is found their deeds to praise In any book of histry;
The brothers wrote about themselves,
And-well-that solves the mistry."
As New Hampshire's sons have gone forth to take responsible positions in all parts of the world, so the daughters have wandered far, per- forming deeds which are worthy of remem- brance at a celebration such as this.
I could mention many women whose child- hoods could be remembered by you who are present to-day, and I know that, in your mem- ories, their qualities of heart and mind will al- ways be recalled, whenever there are occasions for looking back over the years that have passed.
Poets have loved our state and have beauti- fully expressed in their poems the sublimity of its hills and mountains, its woods and valleys; have sung songs of its historic and legendary heroines until all the world is acquainted with the facts of its charm and history.
"O the Mountain Maid, New Hampshire ! Her steps are light and free, Whether she treads the lofty heights Or follows the brook to the sea."
To these splendid women who have spent
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their useful lives within the state, I would pay a deserved tribute; they rendered daily devo- tion to those necessary and valuable tasks, and by their social, philanthropic and charitable work have created a better citizenship, and pro- vided opportunities for a' finer manhood and womanhood.
We recognize that it is such as these that have placed our state in the front rank of pro- gressive commonwealths, and though their work is done, their influence still lives and their good deeds are always gratefully remembered.
We recall Mrs. Sarah A. Blodgett, Mrs. Eliza Nelson Blair, Mrs. Ella L. Follansby, Mrs. Mary Parker Woodworth and many others. Hon. Carroll D. Wright, a distinguished son of New Hampshire, once said that one reason for the decrease in population in New Hampshire was that so many Massachusetts men came here for their wives.
How true this statement is cannot be esti- mated, but perhaps inspired by it, soon after, there was a gathering together in Boston of New Hampshire born women who had been adopted by Massachusetts and there was form- ed an association called New Hampshire's Daughters.
This society came into being in response to a tender sentiment of love and loyalty, and it started a work of devotion to the needs and best interests of our native state. This has contin- ued year after year, with renewed consecration and enthusiasm, and many hundred women have had a share in the good work done. Kate San- born, our first president, sounded our keynote when she said, "Our dear native state, we love it, now what are we going to do about it?"
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This organization period of the New Hamp- shire Daughters, coincided with that period of depression in New Hampshire affairs when New Hampshire farms, a changing and decreas- ing population and a lowering of civic morale, threatened the progress of the state. We were loyal citizens of the communities in which we lived, and did our full duty there, but we never forgot for an instant the love and interest we felt in the homes of our childhood.
"While here the loom of winter weaves The shroud of flowers and fountains, I think of thee and summer eves Among the northern mountains."
Who is there, so blessed in a childhood, spent where the days began with the sun coming up in the east over our rugged mountains and they ended with its disappearance over the hills at the west. Surely we can never forget these first impressions or erase these pictures from our memories and time only intensifies the longing which eventually draws us back.
"Touched by a light that hath no name A glory never sung, Aloft on sky and mountain wall Are God's great pictures hung."
A list of noteworthy achievements of those New Hampshire Daughters would take us the length and breadth of our state, and cannot be given in the time allotted here.
We talked New Hampshire, the best state in the Union, studied its needs, worked for them enthusiastically; joined with them enthusiastic- ally; joined with the organizations here, gave gladly of our talents and money to the many
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good works of forestry, education, help for the aged, orphans, dependent children, hospitals, homes of all sort, historical societies, all helpful objects brought to our attention. We raised scholarship funds that were loaned to worthy girls in the state enabling them to obtain normal school training and which obligated them to give some service in the rural schools of the state.
These New Hampshire Daughters were a fac- tor in helping to establish the New Hampshire Federation of Women's Clubs, and always sup- ported its activities, and contributed to its many laudable objects.
The members have bought back many old homesteads and restored them, have acquired beauty spots all over the state on which the new homes have been built, have preserved other tracts of land for future generations to enjoy.
The words of the poet to the Men of New Hampshire applies with equal force and reason to her womanhood when he says:
"They have the still North in their souls, The hill winds in their breath, And the granite of New Hampshire Is made part of them till death."
New Hamphire women have traveled far in their work of life, have filled very many places of usefulness in educational work, missionary endeavors, as heads of institutions, in the fields of art and literature, in the ministry and as doc- tors, lawyers, social workers, nurses in our own and foreign lands. When thinking of them we may recall the words of our poet, Sam Walter Foss,
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"I have passed the Uncanoonucs and have traveled far away, Through the borderland of mystery upon an endless quest ; But other Uncanoonucs, glimmering in the twilight gray, Lift their hazy summits at the threshold of the West; One misty mountain overpassed upon the march of time, Another summit breaks in view. and onward still I roam Another mountain in the mist which beckons me to climb, Like the Uncanoonuc mountain which I used to see from home."
As we gather here to-day to celebrate the passing of 150 years of independent govern- ment in New Hamphire, the lives of some of our most noted women come to our minds, and it is well that we remember them.
Mary Baker Eddy, whose birthplace on the hills of Bow we can almost see from here, is revered in many homes the world around, and her influence has been far-reaching. Eleanor Hodgman Porter, a native of Littleton, is be- loved over our own land and beyond, for her dear doctrine of Pollyanna. At our 25th an- niversary she gave us a toast.
"To New Hampshire from New Hampshire's Daughters; To New Hamphire's granite hillsides,
To New Hampshire's purling streams,
To New Hampshire's homey firesides,
To New Hampshire' childhood dreams
Here's a toast we fondly offer.
On our silver jubilee,
And our loving homage proffer, May we always loyal be."
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach (Amy Cheney), a native of Henniker, admired as a composer of beautiful music and as a talented pianist, her life has en- riched the world of music and her songs will be sung down through the ages; Edna Dean Proc- tor, also a native of Henniker, whose poems of New Hampshire speak in glowing terms of the strength, beauty and never-ending charms of
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the hills as she knew and loved them; Mrs. Eliz- abeth (Gardner) Bourgereau, whose birthplace was Exeter, but whose reputation as a great artist was made in France, is known wherever art is studied and appreciated; Alice Brown, born at Hampton Falls, a very well known writer of New England stories made interest- ing with the delineation of native types; Phoebe Jenks, born in Portsmouth, an artist of inter- national reputation and high standing; Marilla Ricker, a native of Dover, a national figure, and one of the first women lawyers to appear before the United States Supreme Court; Celia Thax- ter, born in Portsmouth, the poetess of the Isle of Shoals, who beautified her lonely island home and made it a Mecca where many travelers from many lands come to do her homage; Kate Sanborn, native of Hanover, a grandniece of Daniel Webster, brilliant as a teacher, writer and lecturer, and widely known for her witty sayings.
Who can forget "Adopting an Abandoned Farm," "Calendar of Sunshine," "Memories and Anecdotes," and the others "Wit or Wonder?"
"But now our women take their places In pulpit court and college As doctors, teachers, orators They equal men in knowledge.
And when another history's writ Of what New Hampshire's done, The women all will get their due But not a single son.
But no, on sober second thought, We lead, not pose as martyrs. We'll give fair credit to her sons But not firget her Darters."
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Address of Benjamin W. Baker, M. D.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
Our sires from the British Isles did not come to New Hampshire alone; they brought with them their women and children who helped pre- serve their ideals of morality and justice, per- sonal liberty and the home, until these ideals have spread across the continent. With the early colonists came also physicians who as pre- ceptors transmitted their knowledge to succeed- ing generations, and when, one and one-half centuries ago, the people of New Hampshire stood on the threshhold of self-government the physicians played an important part.
Foremost in the public affairs of their day were Matthew Thornton and Josiah Bartlett. Matthew Thornton practiced medicine at Lon- donderry and Exeter, was surgeon with Pep- perell at the seige of Louisburg, President of New Hampshire in 1775, delegate to the Con- tinental Congress in 1776; member of both branches of our State Legislature, and Justice of our Supreme Court.
Josiah Bartlett practiced medicine at King- ston, N. H. He served our state as Colonel of Militia, Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, member of the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and as our first Governor.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote our immortal Declaration of Independence, it was signed by two physicians from New Hampshire-Mat- thew Thornton and Josiah Bartlett. While these men upheld the honor of their state and country, they did not forget their chosen pro- fession. With eighteen associates Josiah Bart- lett organized one of the oldest medical asso-
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ciations in the United States-the New Hamp- shire Medical Society, which was chartered in 1791. Of those present at the first meeting of this Society were Dr. Joshua Brackett, Army Surgeon and Judge of the Maritime Court of the Colony; Dr. Nathaniel Peabody, Lieuten- ant Colonel, Adjutant General, member of the Committee of Safety, member of the Conti- nental Congress, member of the State Legisla- ture and Speaker of the House in 1793; Dr. William Parker, Jr., Army surgeon, Justice of the Peace and Register of Rockingham County Court; and Dr. Isaac Thom, who was surgeon for Stark's regiment at Bunker Hill.
The people of our State have ever been willing to recognize ability regardless of occupation or profession, so after Dr. David Morrill of Goffs- town had served as Representative nine years, had been Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and United States Senator for six years, he was made Governor, in 1824.
Of the many able men produced by the set- tlers of Londonderry should be metioned Dr. Noah Martin, who after a long Legislative ser- vice was elected Governor in 1852.
In our national capitol stands the Gallinger Hospital, fittingly named for Dr. Jacob Galling- er, our physician-senator, who was so beloved by the people of the District of Columbia that they affectionately called him "the mayor of Washington."
While some members of the medical profes- sion have been called to serve in a legislative capacity on account of recognized ability, others have sought election for the sole purpose of creating desirable laws. To this latter class
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belonged Dr. Josiah Eastman through whose persistency an act providing for public libraries was passed in 1848; and Dr. Ezra Mitchell of Lancaster, Civil War Veteran, who cared noth- ing for politics, but was willing to give any- thing that the death rate from tuberculosis in New Hampshire might be lowered. He suc- ceeded in being elected to Legislature, and for years fought against the great White Plague, which at that time was the cause of one death out of every ten. To-day the Sanatorium at Glencliff, for which he labored, is a testimonial that Dr. Mitchell's efforts were not in vain, and that the dread disease is being successfully combatted.
In medicine and surgery there is but one ac- complishment more gratifying than effecting a cure, and that is the prevention of disease. To Drs. Granville P. Conn and Irving A. Watson, our State is indebted for much in the field of preventive medicine. Together they gave New Hampshire a Board of Health of splendid ac- complishment. For thirty years Dr. Conn act- ed as its President, and Dr. Watson filled the more important position of Secretary for an even longer period.
Two other physicians who share together in the honor of a great public work are Drs. Jesse and Charles P. Bancroft, father and son, under whose supervision during a period of sixty years, New Hampshire built up a State Hospi- tal for the mentally sick which compares favor- ably with any in our country.
During the last seventy-five years much has been learned in medicine and more in surgery. Of what other major profession can it be said that for this period any textbook five years old
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has been considered obsolete. The pioneer sur- geons of New Hampshire had a full share in these advances. Dr. Amos Twitchell was the first man to successfully tie the carotid artery. Dr. Dixi Crosby the first to remove the arm and scapula for osteosarcoma. Dr. Gilman Kimball the first to do a historectomy on a correct diagnosis; and Dr. John W. Elliott did the first successful resection for mesenteric thrombosis.
From 1798 to 1814 Dartmouth Medical Col- lege was a great educational factor in our State. During this period of one hundred and sixteen years, she sent out 2175 young men thoroughly drilled in the fundamentals of medicine. Im- bued with the spirit of the Smiths, the Crosbys and the Frosts, and carrying with them the personal memory of such teachers, a large pro- portion of these graduates distinguished them- selves in the profession. I think it may be truly said that there is hardly a large hospital or med- ical college in the United States which has not at some time had on its staff a respected member from New Hampshire. Massachusetts has pro- fited by the works of such men as Cheever, Gay, Otis, Mason, Lund and the Emersons, while New York still honors Dr. Willard Parker. These native sons from the Atlantic to the Pa- cific have looked backward through their boy- hood memories to the pine woods and stone walls of New Hampshire, and like the Psalmist of old, said in their hearts-"I will look unto the hills, from whence cometh my strength."
For several years after the Declaration of Independence there were few cities in New Hampshire. Duty required the doctor to make long drives over country roads; day or night he
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entered the home of the sick as a sympathetic friend ready to do his best for the patient, and receive in return the gratitude of the family, a bag of potatoes, a cord of wood, or, perchance, a load of hay for his horse. The doctor was one of the few educated men of his town. The severity of the physician's life eliminated from this calling all but the mentally and physically strong, and these stalwart, silent, country doc- tors had a great influence in community life. To-day a good education is everyone's privilege, while our best medical schools require eight years collegiate study for a degree in medicine. Forty general hospitals with 1678 beds offer ef- ficient care to the sick; the State provides an equal number of beds for the mentally diseased and defective, and our hospital training schools provide us the blessing of trained nurses. The Board of Health through its twenty-three train, ed workers and its laboratory furnishes anti- toxins, keeps our vital statistics, maintains quarantine against contagious diseases and per- forms a multitude of protective activities.
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