USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire Sesqui-centennial celebration. One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of independent government > Part 6
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In recent years the trend of our population has been toward the cities, consequently the majority of the physicians will be found in the cities and large towns adapting themselves to the newer customs of life and modern methods in medicine and surgery. The progress of science and the transition of events have modi- fied the physician's life, yet medicine was and is to-day essentially an idealistic profession. The physician's success in life is determined by his ability to combat disease and render per- sonal relief to his fellowman. To do this well he must continue to dig deeply in the fertile field of science mindful that ignorance, prejudice
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and superstition have applauded themselves in all civilizations. If our knowledge of medicine and surgery makes the advance in the next one hundred and fifty years which it has in the past, good mental and physical health should be ours in increasing portion. May we hope that at the Tercentenary of the Granite State all parents within her borders shall be cleanly wed, their children nobly bred, properly fed and wisely led.
Address of Hon. Ernest W. Butterfield
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
That far-sighted and clear spoken man, Mar- tin Luther, once declared "The education of the young is a grand and serious thing affecting the kingdom of God and all the world," and, again, "Government as the natural guardian of the young has the right to compel the people."
In 1520, no one else in all the world believed these things. No one believed that not war, nor religion, nor exploration, nor commerce, was a nation's chief business but the nurture and training of its youth. No one believed that a state had a right to compel the children of unwilling parents to go to school or to require childless Smith to pay taxes for schools which Brown's children should attend.
The stalwart men who in the years after 1620 at Plymouth, at Dover and at Portsmouth, at Boston and at Salem faced the forest with their backs to the sea were far separated from schools and schoolmasters. Did they then in despair shelve their few books and sink into a state of illiteracy? Did they send to the mother country petitions that mission schools be estab- lished and financed so that the light of learning
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should not go out? They did neither. Before even they had founded a college that their learn- ed ministry might continue, they solemnly voted, for in 1642 New Hampshire and Massa- chusetts towns had a common legislature :
"Forasmuch as the good education of children is of sing- ular behoof and benefit to any commonwealth, and whereas many parents and masters are too indulgent, and negligent of their duty in that kind,
"It is ordered, that the selectmen of every town in the several precincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant eye over their neighbors, to see, first, that none of them shall suffer, so much barbarism in any of their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices so much learning as may en- able them to read perfectly the English tongue, and to get knowledge of the capital laws, upon penalty of twenty shill- ings for each neglect therein.
"Also, that all masters of families do, once a week at least, catechise their children and servants in the grounds and principles of religion."
We have here the fundamental tenet upon which New Hampshire education has been builded, that is, that it is the parent's responsi- bility and the duty of officers and employers to see that education is for all. For a half of the three centuries of our history, it can hardly be said that we had public schools. Intermittent- ly, schools at a modicum of public expense were opened in the southern and eastern towns where wealth and population made this possible. There are shadowy names of schoolmasters, as Buck- ner, early in Dover but for more than one hun- dred fifty years there were few schools for boys and none for girls.
There was no compulsory attendance and many children in remote homes never saw a schoolhouse or a schoolmaster. Yet education did not fail. Parents taught their children and
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pastors gave instruction in their homes, for education was every man's duty, "a grand and serious thing affecting the kingdom of God and all the world."
Will you compare this New England princi- ple with the standards of other parts of our country? Certain southern states were also early colonized, and by Englishmen as well, but by Englishman who doubted the efficacy of general education and who approved the pon- derous Virginia governor who thanked God that his colony had no common schools. From these states, the southern Appalachian Mountains were populated and illiteracy fell as a pall upon an able and progressive people. These high- landers waited for schools to be established for them and the present decade has found remote counties with general illiteracy; homes with family books preserved as heirlooms but with no one able to decipher the scrolls; counties which now must appeal for outside help that education may begin again; states where legis- lative and organized bans are placed upon knowledge and scientific truth.
Let us not forget that for a long period of our history, without formal schools, parents and in- dividuals carried on and the wisdom of the an- cients was not forgotten.
The idea was even more clearly declared in our ancient New Hampshire Constitution.
"Knowledge and learning generally diffused through a community being essential to the preservation of a free government, and spreading the opportunities and advan- tages of education through the various parts of the country being highly conducive to promote this end, it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools; to en-
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courage private and public institutions, rewards, and im- munities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures and natural history of the country ; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry, and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections and generous sentiments, among the people; provided, nevertheless, that no money · raised by taxation shall ever be granted or applied for the use of the schools or institutions of any religious sect or denomination."
This, too, may be summarized. Education is a grand and serious thing and it is the duty of all magistrates to see that education be com- monly received.
In these two documents we find, I believe, New Hampshire's and New England's unique contribution to national education. In its suc- cessive school laws, New Hampshire has never lost sight of these principles and in the great educational measures of 1919 it declared more clearly than other states that education is for all children an inalienable right of childhood, that parental responsibility must be continued, and that local initiative and state interests must not fail.
Through its history, New Hamphire has had distinguished educators, respected at home and honored abroad. Among these are my able predecessors in the state office, James W. Pat- terson, Fred Gowing, Channing Folsom and, finally, Henry C. Morrison, now a nationally known figure as professor of education in the University of Chicago.
Nearly all of the presidents of Dartmouth College and of our two normal schools, includ- ing the three distinguished scholars who now preside over these institutions, were New Hamphire born or schooled.
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The old time academies, the modern high schools, or the general field of education have been the place of work of men like Hiram Or- cutt, Isaac Walker and Charles L. Wallace, and of women like Harriet L. Huntress, Catherine A. Dole and Luella A. Dickerman, and to-day New Hampshire has a corps of public school superintendents with higher uniform qualifica- tions of training, education and experience than any other state. Of these, Louis J. Rundlett of Concord is dean.
New Hampshire though small in area, wealth and population has contributed most liberally to the educational renown of her sister states. Michigan was the first state to have a state superintendent of public instruction and a uni- fied state system of education but in John D. Pierce, New Hampshire furnished this first state superintendent. Massachusetts was the first state to have a normal school but the first school for the training of teachers was established in Vermont by Samuel Read Hall, a New Hamp- hire man. The first great educational institu- tion to give full education to women was Mount Holyoke, but Mary Lyon in 1822 was conduct- ing at Derry the first seminary for the higher education of girls. New Hampshire furnished the first presidents for Bates and Bowdoin and the first superintendent for Boston. Our Mr. Metcalf in his valuable book, "New Hampshire in History," has listed scores of others who simi- larly have rendered their service in the educa- tional field.
To this list I wish that I might add the names of the thousands of devoted women and men who year by year teach and have taught the youth of New Hampshire. That their work is
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well done is shown by the fact that of all states New Hamphire stands fifth in the proportion of its sons who have won national prominence as recorded by inclusion in the volume, "Who's Who in America." It is shown, too, by the fact that Dr. Bagley in four great combined meas- ures of private morality finds that New Hamp- shire holds the first position among the states.
We still believe "The education of the young is a grand and serious thing affecting the king- dom of God and all the world."
Address of Hon. William N. Rogers
Mr. President and Fellow Citizens:
The part taken by the State of New Hamp- shire in the development of state and nation during the last century and a half is one which must indeed be a source of profound gratifica- tion to all her loyal sons and daughters. In this brief address I am to speak only of the service rendered the nation by New Hampshire men in the growth and development of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.
It is a pleasing and significant fact that the first signature attached to the Declaration of Independence following that of John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, was that of Joisah Bartlett, delegate from the State of New Hampshire. Equally illustrative of the patriotic activities of our State in those early days is the fact that the first signatures to the Constitution of the United States as originally drawn and adopted on September 17, 1787 fol- lowing that of George Washington were those of John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, depu-
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ties from the State of New Hampshire. And when New Hampshire's vote made that Con- stitution a living reality, and a government was established under its provisions, it was this same John Langdon from New Hampshire who was elected president pro tem of the Senate, and who presided over its deliberations when the votes for president were counted. Again, it was this distinguished son of New Hampshire who officially notified George Washington of his election as the first president of the United States of America. ' Thus nearly a hundred and fifty years ago did John Langdon's superior ability manifest itself as temporary presiding officer of the highest branch of the world's most august legislative assembly, thereby affording ample precedent for the action of the Senate of the 69th Congress in selecting as its president pro tem, the present senior senator from the State of New Hampshire. Other prominent men who rendered efficient service to New Hamp- hire and the nation as members of the Senate from this state during the last century were Samuel Livermore, president pro tem, William Plumer, Nicholas Gilman, Jeremiah Mason, Levi Woodbury, Samuel Bell, Isaac Hill, Frank- lin Pierce, Charles G. Atherton, John P. Hale, Daniel Clark, Edward H. Rollins, William E. Chandler, Henry F. Hollis and Jacob H. Gallin- ger. John P. Hale was the first anti-slavery sen- ator, and both Clark and Gallinger were honor- ed with selection as presidents pro tem of the Senate.
New Hampshire men serving with distinction in the national House of Representatives in- clude such names as Nicholas Gilman, Abiel Foster, Jeremiah Smith, Jonathan Freeman,
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George B. Upham, Thomas W. Thompson, James Wilson, George Sullivan, Daniel Webster, Charles H. Atherton, Arthur Livermore, Mat- thew Harvey, Ichabod Bartlett, John Brod- head, Henry Hubbard, speaker pro tem of the 23rd Congress, Jared W. Williams, Edmund Burke, Amos Tuck, George W. Morrison, Harry Hibbard, Mason W. Tappan, Gilman Marston, James W. Patterson, Aaron F. Stevens, Hosea W. Parker, Austin F. Pike, Samuel N. Bell, James F. Briggs, Cyrus A. Sulloway and Sher- man E. Burroughs.
Of all the New Hampshire men who achieved great distinction in the national Congress, the name of Daniel Webster is preeminent. Born in Salisbury on January 18, 1782 he was educated at Exeter, Andover and Dartmouth College, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1801. He practiced law in Boscawen and Portsmouth, and in nine years he had reached the very summit of his profession. Within the next decade he became a leading practitioner before the Supreme Court of the United States. After serving as a member of the 13th and 14th Congress from New Hampshire, he removed to Massachusetts, which state he represented in the 18th and 19th Congress. He continued to
serve his adopted state and the nation as a mem- ber of the Senate from 1827 to 1841. He then became Secretary of State under Presidents Harrison and Tyler, again entering the Senate in 1845. He completed his service in the Senate in 1850 when he became Secretary of State un- der President Fillmore, which position he held until his death at Marshfield on October 24, 1852. Brilliant lawyer and advocate, orator un- excelled in all the history of true eloquence, able
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and distinguished legislator, statesman and dip- lomat, the name of Daniel Webster, native son of New Hampshire, defender and preserver of her greatest institution of learning, lives and will continue to live in the hearts and minds of his countrymen as New Hampshire's greatest contributor to the public service of the nation or the world.
The State of New Hamphire has given to the nation one Chief Justice and three Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Salmon P. Chase, a native of Cornish in this state after a long and honorable career as United States Senator from Ohio, as Governor of that state, and as Secretary of the Treasury under Presi- dent Lincoln, became Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court of the United States on December 6, 1864. He presided at the impeachment trial of President Johnson in 1868 and died in New York City May 7, 1873. Levi Woodbury of Francestown after serving the state as Jurist, Governor, Speaker of the House and United States Senator, became Secretary of the Navy for three years in 1831, then Secretary of the Treasury for seven years, declined an appoint- ment as Ambassador to the Court of St. James and in 1845 was appointed an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving with distinction in that capacity until his death at the age of sixty-one in Portsmouth, on Sep- tember 4, 1851.
The names of Nathan Clifford and John J. Gilchrist recall the services of two eminent New Hampshire Federal Jurists, the former as As- sociate Justice of the Supreme Court and the latter as the first Chief Justice of the United States Court of Claims. Harlan Fiske Stone,
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native of Chesterfield, is now a Associate Jus- tice of the Supreme Court, having been promot- ed to this position by President Coolidge from the office of Attorney-General.
New Hampshire gave one president to the na- tion. His life work is thus briefly and eloquent- ly inscribed in enduring bronze on the statue which this state belatedly but fittingly has erect- ed in his memory.
"Franklin Pierce, Fourteenth President of the United States.
Born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire November 23, 1804.
A Lawyer who loved his profession and was a great leader in it.
Member N. H. Legislature at 25 and Speaker at 27. Congressman at 29.
United States Senator at 32 and resigned at 37.
Later in life declined the office of Attorney-General of the United States, that of Secretary of War, the United States Senatorship and the Governship of his state.
President of the New Hampshire Constitutional Con- vention.
President of the United States.
Died at Concord, October 8, 1869.
Brigadier General U. S. A.
Puebla Contreras Cherubusco
Molino Del Rey Chapultepec
Commissioner appointed by General Scott to arrange an Armistice with General Santa Anna.
'He was a Gentleman and a Man of Courage.'
Ulysses S. Grant"
Admitted to the bar at twenty-three years of age, at forty-three a Brigadier General in the Army of the United States, and at the age of forty-eight elected President of the United States by 254 electoral votes to 42 votes for his
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opponent Winfield Scott, thus carrying all but four states in the Union, Franklin Pierce, says his biographer Sidney Webster, within the brief space of twenty-three years "had accepted or declined the most important of all the posts of honor within the bestowal either of his native state or of the nation. Such a record by con- tinuous, unchecked and rapid advance from the position of a member of the State Legislature, through nearly all grades of service in peace or war, to the highest possible office in the United States is unparalleled. In all this bright career, Franklin Pierce never stooped to get an office, nor found it necessary ever to practice the arts which, too often, these days, bring a man to ele- vated public positions with self-respect com- promised and power of independent action gone."
It is said of Franklin Pierce that he was un- surpassed as an advocate, the most finished ora- tor who ever occupied the presidential chair and the first president to deliver his inaugural address without manuscript.
In connection with New Hampshire's contri- bution to the executive branch of the federal government, it may well be noted that New Hampshire has contributed many cabinet mem- bers to the service of the nation. General Henry Dearborn, native of North Hampton, was Secretary of War under Thomas Jefferson, Levi Woodbury, was Secretary of the Navy and secretary of the Treasury under Andrew Jack- son, continuing as Secretary of the Treasury un- der President Van Buren. Lewis Cass, native of Exeter, was for a time Secretary of War un- der. Jackson and later Secretary of State under President Buchanan.
Imizeani
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Nathan Clifford, native of Rumney, was At- torney-General under President Polk and John A. Dix, native of Boscawen, and one of New York's most noted Governors and United States Senators, was Secretary of the Treasury under President Buchanan. It was Dix who uttered those memorable / words: "If any man hauls down the American flag, shoot him on the spot."
William Pitt Fessenden, a native of Bos- cawen, succeeded Chase as Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln. Marshall Jewell of Winchester was Postmaster General under President Grant, Zachariah Chandler of Bed- ford was Secretary of the Interior and Amos T. Akerman of Keene, Attorney-General. William E. Chandler of Concord served ably as Secre- tary of the Navy under Chester A. Arthur, while John W. Weeks, native of Lancaster, was Secretary of War under Presidents Harding and Coolidge.
New Hampshire's contribution to the Dinlo- matic Service is well worthy of the state. The first United States Consul from New Hamp- shire was George Washington's private secre- tary Tobias Lear of Portsmouth, who was com- missioned to Algiers in 1803. Edmund Roberts also of Portsmouth was named as special agent of the government almost a century ago for the purpose, among other things, of negotiating treaties of trade and commerce with Siam and 'Japan. Successfully completing his mission to Siam, he became sick and died on his way to Japan. Had he lived he might have opened Japan to world commerce at least twenty-five years before such an event was actually achiev- ed. General Henry Dearborn was United States Minister to Portugal in 1822, Nathan
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Clifford was Envoy Extraordinary and Min- ister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, John A. Dix was Minister to France, John P. Hale, Minister to Spain, Christopher C. Andrews, Minister to Norway and Sweden, George C. Fogg and Per- son C. Cheney, Ministers to Switzerland, George H. Bridgman, Minister to Bolivia, John T. Ab- bott and Luther F. Mckinney, Ministers to Columbia and George H. Moses, Minister to Greece and Montenegro.
From the foregoing inadequate and incom- plete review it must be obvious to any fair and impartial observer that New Hampshire though small in territory and population, may well feel a just pride in the part played by it in the build- ing of the nation and in the development of the legislative, executive and judicial departments of both state and federal governments.
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