USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Boscawen > One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Boscawen and Webster, Merrimack Co., N.H., August 16, 1883. Also births recorded on the town records from 1733 to 1850 > Part 3
USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Webster > One hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Boscawen and Webster, Merrimack Co., N.H., August 16, 1883. Also births recorded on the town records from 1733 to 1850 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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If under nature's economies it is impossible for thistles to produce figs, or figs thistles, there must, in the nature of things, be a golden harvest from the seed-wheat,-integrity, honor, self-denial, patriotism, and moral obligation,-sown broadcast by the planters of Contoocook.
The world has not yet come to a full realization of the ennobling, energizing power of the ideal ; that whatever sacrifice men make for liberty, justice, truth, and righteousness becomes a reproductive and eter- nal force, multiplying by its own inherent, vital energy.
As we may never determine just how much each brook, rivulet, rill, and spring contributes to swell the current of the beautiful river sweeping through these intervales, so we may never know what the men of Boscawen, individually or collectively, accom- plished for liberty : we only know that they gave substance, heart, and soul to the holy cause, and that to-day we revel in the rich inheritance bequeathed by them to the world.
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INHERITED FORCE.
By no synthesis, arithmetic, or geometry shall we ever determine the ever-increasing measure of their influence and power ; but would William Wallace Ballard, the timid, shrinking boy, have been one of the first to enlist in the great struggle for the pres- ervation of the Union, fighting a score of battles,- rising from a sick-bed against the protest of the sur- geon at Gettysburg, laying down his life upon that field,-if his grandfather, Eliakim Walker, with soul on fire for freedom, had not stood in the trench at Bunker Hill till his last charge had been fired, never thinking of retreat till all that was possible had been accomplished ?
Would Calvin M. Burbank, bravest of the brave, comrade of Wallace Ballard in the Second New Hampshire, have been the hero that he was, fighting from Bull Run through all the battles to Gettysburg, wounded there at the outset of the struggle, exposed through all the pitiless storm for two days, his clothes riddled with bullets, lying on the field from Thursday noon till Saturday night, carried at last to the hospital, his lofty spirit chafing there at the enforced separation from his regiment, leaving the hospital without permission, to be reported a deserter, making his way once more to the field, to be wounded a second time by a bullet through his face,-would he have been what he was, if his grandfather, Ser- geant David Burbank, had not swept up the heights of Bennington one hundred and six years ago this afternoon, to win that victory for human freedom ? More, would he have been all that he was, if his
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spirit had not been stirred by what he had heard from the lips of his uncle, Benjamin Jackman, soldier of the War of 1812?
If in the years preceding the Revolution there had been no fireside musings on the question of indi- vidual rights, no patriotic action in town-meetings, no soul-stirring appeals from platform and pulpit, would Henry W. Baker and the soldiers of his com- mand have marched unflinchingly to death beneath the ramparts of Wagner, for the preservation of this government of the people ?
If the settlers of Contoocook had been pusillani- mous when the Indians swooped down upon them, if they had fled before the advancing troops of the king on the slope of Bunker Hill, if they had faltered at Bennington, if they had been wanting in that character which comes from self-sacrifice and high resolve, would John Adams Dix, son of Boscawen, ever have written that one sentence which thrilled every loyal heart and gave new life to the paralyzed people of the Northern states? "If any man at- tempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot!" The character of a community is the sum of its devotion, achievements, and victories for liberty, justice, truth, and righteousness.
Inherited character, ever reinforced by precept and example, transmitted from father to son, successive generations enriching the priceless diadem with princely gifts more beautiful than emerald or ame- thyst, more costly than diamonds,-character, founded on the, lofty ideal of patriotism and moral obligation. made the men of Boscawen what they were and are.
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SOLDIERS OF THE UNSEEN ARMY.
I fear that sometimes in the battle for right, when the hands hang down through weariness, when defeat seems near and victory far away, we forget that the Past is the ally of the Future; that all who have made sacrifices for the maintaining of eternal verities are still taking part in the conflict ; that they are soldiers evermore of the unseen army of God.
He whose body once dangled upon the gibbet as a murderer, whom we in our charity or ignorance called a lunatic, became the mighty leader of the ar- mies of the Republic. A million men in the smoke and flame, uproar and carnage, of battle sang his apotheosis :
"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave : His soul is marching on."
" Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,- Yet the scaffold sways the future, And behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above His own." .
Stimulated by the energizing influence of a godly ancestry, with devout consecration and self-sacrifice, lighting each his torch at the altar reared by the set- tlers of Boscawen, Enoch Corser went forth to illu- mine these surrounding hills of New Hampshire with the light of the gospel, Jacob and Henry Little to the distant West to plant churches, Sunday-schools, educational institutions, kindling new fires on other altars, Henry S. G. French to Siam, and Myron Pinkerton to South Africa. They have all passed on
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to become soldiers of the unseen army, but the fires kindled by them will never cease to burn.
I doubt not, Reverend Sir [Rev. Arthur Little, D. D. ]. that there are times, in the Metropolis of the West, when you find yourself in the thick of the battle and are all but ready to faint, you hear the voice of Rev. Ebenezer Price, and an ancestry who always stood manfully for the right, urging you on to nobler effort.
And you, Honored Sir, President of Dartmouth College, are doubtless familiar with the fact that in the early history of the institution nearly one hun- dred young men came to the residence of Rev. Samuel Wood to prepare themselves for the college course. It would not be far from the truth to say that the preparatory department of the college was located on yonder hill.
HONORED SONS.
From his home amid the Salisbury hills came Daniel Webster to pursue his preparatory studies. Here, after his graduation, he began the practice of law. For three years he was a citizen of the town, member of the religious society, school committee. The bell which sends out its peal from the Academy was his gift. From this town he went forth, with the impress of its civilization upon him, to begin his great career.
To the same faithful teacher and pastor came his brother Ezekiel to prepare for college; and here, after completing the course, he established his home, be- coming a citizen, identifying himself with all the in- terests of the town, spending the strength of his
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manhood for its welfare, till, in the full vigor of life, without the quivering of an eyelid or the trembling of a nerve, he closed his earthly labors.
By no analysis may we ever determine to what a degree these two lofty spirits were influenced by the great-hearted man who prompted their recitations, to whom they listened on Sunday, who was ever their counsellor and friend ; nor may we ever know how their characters were moulded by contact with their fellow-citizens ;- but of this we may be sure, that if, instead of the meeting-house, the ring for wrestling had been established,-if, instead of Rev. Phineas Stevens, they had employed a professor of what is now styled the manly art of self-defence,-it is mor- ally certain that the argument in the Dartmouth College case by Daniel Webster would have no place in the reports of the Supreme Court of the Republic ; nor would ever have been delivered in the Senate of the United States that speech of his for the Con- stitution and the Union, which cleared away, as the lightning clears the murky air, all the sophistries that made the Union only a compact,-the speech lof- tiest in inception, mightiest in influence, of any ever delivered on this continent, whose outcome was Gettysburg and Appomattox-the redemption and perpetuity of this government of the people.
Like a mother rejoicing in her offspring, Boscawen may point with pride to a multitude of noble sons and worthy daughters who have crowned her with honor in the world's great parliament .- in the pulpit, the forum, in halls of legislation, in diplomacy, states- manship, schools of learning, and science.
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After such an expenditure of vital force, if the alders are growing where once the plough turned the sod, and on some hearth-stones the fire has ceased to burn, we have this abiding joy and consolation, that the Past is secure ; that for the Future, not till yon- der fertile intervale shall become a desert, not till the Merrimack shall cease its flowing, not till the moun- tains where it takes its rise have sunk to a level with the sea, will the Boscawen meeting-house and town- meeting, and the noble deeds of her illustrious sons, lose their power and influence over the lives, hearts, and consciences of men ; for, under the economies of Almighty God, they have become an indestructi- ble, energizing, uplifting, eternal force.
The president said,-We have before us to-day many living illustrations of the powers and influences which, cradled here in Boscawen, have reached, like the ripples from a pebble thrown into the lake, far beyond our sight, to the distant cities of the West. I have the pleasure of introducing Rev. Arthur Lit- tle, D. D., pastor of the New England church, Chi- cago.
Dr. Little announced as his theme :
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THE POWER OF THE NEW ENG- LAND IDEA.
BY REV. ARTHUR LITTLE, D. D.
The dear old mother invites the children home to- day, to unite in the appropriate observance of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of her birth. Here she sits, in matronly dignity, after a century and a half, laving her unwearied feet in the commin- gling waters of the Merrimack and Contoocook, rest- ing her head reposefully upon the manly breast of old Kearsarge, her hair tastefully adorned with the mod- est ribbon of the Blackwater, Long Pond and Great Pond sparkling like diamonds on her bosom, her face radiant with ripening corn, reddening apples, and purpling grapes, while from hill-top and valley the redolent hemlock, murmuring pine, stalwart beech, beautiful maple, and graceful elm wave their cordial welcome-not more hearty in the invitation, than the response.
Gladly do we come from north and south, east and west, to share in the festivities of the hour, to bring some tribute of affection to the mother on this day of her rejoicing. We make no attempt to dis- claim a feeling of honest pride in the place of our nativity.
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WKSTEIN HANK NOTK (S) CHR.MAI
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It is good to call a momentary halt in the hurried march of life, and look back. This we are sum- moned to do this hour. We are on historic ground, in the midst of great memories. And there is won- drous power in great memories to stir the heart. It is fitting, sometimes, to surrender to these potent in- fluences that come from the past, to listen to the voices of those who, though dead, are yet speaking to us.
" We have need of these
Clear beacon stars. to warn and guide our age : The great traditions of a nation's life, Her children's lustrous deeds with honor rife, Are her most precious jewels-noblest heritage, Time-polished jewels in her diadem."
There was real heroism in the lives of the men and women, who, one hundred and fifty years ago, pushed their way up from the sea-board to this then unbroken wilderness, and in the midst of hardships, exposures, and sacrifices, such as we can now with difficulty imagine, laid deep and strong the founda- tions of this ancient and honorable township. They were under the sway and stress of a great purpose. They sowed : we reap. They labored : we enter into their labor. Reward them for their self-sacrific- ing service we never can. It is in our power, how- ever, to remember them, and reverently speak their names to-day. This is the very least we can do.
We cannot help congratulating ourselves that our faithful historian-all honor to his zeal and devotion in this work-is happily able to reproduce the past, repeople these hills and valleys and homes, and make those whom we love and honor live before us 4
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again to-day. But, in thinking of them, we cannot avoid asking, as to the source of their influence and usefulness, What was the secret of their success ? What was the invisible power that constrained them to come into this wilderness and build their sanct- uary, schools, and home? And this brings me to the thought which it occurs to me to put before you this afternoon.
The Power of the New England Idea.
There is such an idea. Its influence is now uni- versal. It can be traced in every zone and clime. What has been the secret of New England's great- ness ? What has given her the proud distinction she enjoys as the home of liberty, learning, virtue, thrift, religion-all that is most to be desired among men ? How does it happen that these townships have been so prolific in great and good men and women, and been furnishing seed-corn for the conti- nent ? How does it happen ? It does not happen at all. There is no chance in the matter. It is the re- sult of causes that can be named and made operative elsewhere.
The New England idea is four-fold. There are four corners on which the solid structure of this re- public stands, and which will support it as long as they continue firm. There are four basilar ideas which have informed, fashioned, and vitalized this nation.
I. Reverence for God.
This is the most important. Here we find the germ of the American nation. The Mayflower was the product of the Reformation. And the great work
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of the Reformation was to recover God to the people. He was lost prior to this. The people could not find Him. The church and the priesthood monopolized the way and right of access to Him. Against this iniquity Luther thundered out his mighty protest, and claimed the right for himself and all men to im - mediate access to the living God, without the inter- diction or intercession of priest or bishop. The Pil- grim Fathers, who were the founders of this mighty empire, caught and affirmed this spirit and purpose. They were, first of all, God-fearing men. Man they did not fear ; but they did stand in awe of the living God. To them He was very real, very near, very just, very great, and very holy. It never occurred to them to challenge His existence, His sovereignty, and His personal and providential supervision in human affairs. They exalted God in their hearts, in their homes, in their social and political life. He was everything, and, in one sense, they were nothing. They honored His word, His day, and His sanctuary. He was the great controlling force in their lives. They devoted much time to His worship in public. They were not afraid or disinclined to go to meeting. They prayed to Him in the school, in the town-meet- ing, in the court-room, in legislative halls, on Fast days and Thanksgiving days-always, everywhere.
Agnosticism never would have launched the May- flower, never would have built a meeting-house, or a college, or a school ; never would have generated or energized the ideas which have been the supreme glory of this town and this nation. Agnosticism would never have endured hardship and poverty on
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the frontier ; would never have wrung a livelihood from a reluctant soil; would never have wrested these colonies from the hand of British oppression-never. It would have been looking for a place of ease and self-indulgence somewhere.
Reverence for God furnishes the key to the char- acter and success of the men and women who set- tled Boscawen one hundred and fifty years ago. This grand sentiment was deepened in their souls by the great revival movements then in progress in the land.
II. Reverence for Man.
A right estimate of man is possible only to those who have a right estimate of God.
Our fathers and early religious teachers have been charged with an under-estimate of man, with holding and teaching views degrading to man. Not so. They , took the Bible conception of him, which puts him a little lower than the angels, endows him with endless possibilities, recognizes the appalling fact of sin, and of redemption through Jesus Christ.
They believed in man's inherent dignity and worth, in his freedom, in his personal accountability, in his right to make the most of himself, in his lib- erty to worship God without the interposition of priest or prelate, in his immortality. They saw the shallowness of those views of man which found cur- rency in the teachings of writers like Voltaire, Ros- seau, and Tom Paine, who spoke great swelling words about freedom, and rights, and manhood, over- flowing with a sickly sentimentalism, pleading for a liberty which meant license and the ultimate degra- dation of man to the level of the brute.
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"Every man must have a fair chance, because he came from God, must return to God, and is answer- able to God." This was the maxim of the Pilgrim Fathers. Every man has equal right with every other to learn, to enjoy, to think, to rule, to acquire property, to work out his destiny, because all are children of one common Father, and members of one common brotherhood.
The glory of America, according to the conception of its founders, always has been and is that it fur- nishes the best theatre in the world for the perfec- tion of manhood. Nowhere else does manhood mean so much as here.
Schools, colleges, the absence of prerogatives, class distinctions, titles, ranks, all these are designed to augment the stock of manhood ; the best possi- ble external conditions for the sake of the highest internal development ; the race open to all, the prize before all, the condition of its attainment honest merit.
Liberty with the fathers meant opportunity.
"Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave, solemnizing nativities and deaths with equal lustre." This was their creed. And, accordingly, the glory of old Boscawen has been, not the gift to the world of a Webster, a Dix, a Fessenden, but of such a splendid average of men -men who, without being preeminent, have acted nobly, honorably, courageously their part in all the varied walks of life. Untitled heroes most of them have been, but heroes still. Many of them have been crowned above as kings and priests unto God.
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Of course this reverence for man implied even a higher reverence for woman. Accordingly, it has been the proud distinction of New England to fur- nish the best specimens of womanhood the world has ever seen. The queen of the home realm woman has been. The New England mother! Let her name be spoken with tenderness to-day. Here, after all, is the real secret of New England's great- ness. I dare not trust myself to dwell upon this theme. All honor to-day to the bravery and heroism and quiet endurance and faith of the women who aided in the settlement of this town ! Fragrant are their memories still !
III. Reverence for Labor.
The Pilgrim Fathers and their descendants believed in work. This was one of the first and most impor- tant articles in their creed. They were not ashamed of a sunburnt face, a callous hand, a homespun gar- ment. They early learned that character, not clothes, makes the man.
A clean conscience, a clean dwelling, and a clean heart were more to them than all outward show and appearing. Little polish in manners perhaps, not much refinement upon the surface, few of the graces of the drawing-room, slight acquaintance with the shallow conventionalisms and polite lies, but under- neath the exterior, real gentleness and kindliness of heart,-the refinement and cultivation which the gospel always bestows.
Household religion is a good equivalent for a lib- eral education.
One very marked trait of the early settlers of this
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country was their thrift. They had an eye to busi- ness. As Dr. Storrs has said, " 'Give me neither poverty nor riches' was their constant prayer, with an emphasis upon 'poverty.'
"They meant to worship God according to their consciences. But they meant, also, to get what of comfort and enjoyment they could, and of physical possession, from the world in which they wor- shipped ; and they felt themselves co-workers with God when the orchard was planted and the wild vine trained ; when the English fruits had been domes- ticated under the shadow of savage forests, and the maize lifted its shining ranks upon the fields that had been barren ; when the wheat and rye were rooted in the valley, and the grass was made to grow upon the mountains."
One radical difference between those who settled in Massachusetts and in Jamestown, Va., was just at this point. The latter came over to be gentlemen, the former to do honest, hard work.
This idea needs constant iteration and reiteration in the ears of the young people, that one of the great informing principles in this republic is reverence for labor-honest toil with the hands. There is little hope of a youth who feels himself to be above labor -any kind of honorable labor.
An inquiry was made in Springfield, Mass., a while ago, among successful business men, as to their early life. It was ascertained that of one hundred such men, eighty received their early education on the farm.
"Work long, work hard, work cheerfully, work for
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small pay :" this was the motto of those who founded this town and this republic. They were not waiting for something to turn up. They made things turn up, slowly, perhaps, but surely.
How in contrast with this communistic, socialistic spirit, that clamors for short hours and large pay, and strikes, and burns, and destroys if it cannot dictate terms !
Young men, the highway to fortune and influence is by steady industry, taking the work that comes first to hand, and doing it as well as possible. Then you are in the sure line of promotion. There is no trust- worthy, safe, short cut to wealth, or honor, or man- hood. Toil, struggle, frugality, temperance, honesty, persistency, these are the stepping-stones to place, and influence, and usefulness, and power.
IV. Reverence for Law.
This was another potent idea wrought into the very foundation of this republic. It was the fortu- nate inheritance of our ancestors. The English peo- ple from whom we sprang hold in high reverence the law. To them it appeals with awful sanctions. It is majestic. It must be obeyed.
The Revolutionary war grew out of a disregard on the part of the British of their own laws and their own charters. It was all their loyal, colonial subjects demanded, that they should all abide by their own enactments. This, in a moment of cupidity and lust for money and power, they forgot to do. The Eng- lish blood in their colonial subjects was inflamed, and they demanded the protection extended to them by their charters.
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There is an awful sacredness in law, divine and human, and it is an evil day for a man or nation when it is regarded lightly. The Pilgrims and Puri- tans were severely stern in their enforcement of the law. It must be obeyed. Now the pendulum seems to have swung to the opposite extreme : the spirit of lawlessness, how prevalent, how appalling !
The class of people who want liberty without the restraints of law seem to be rapidly increasing in this country. Their conception of liberty is to do exactly as they please, regardless of the rights of other people. We need a revival of the Anglo Saxon conception of liberty, which carries with it the sur- render of some rights for the public good. We need to return to the fathers, and from them learn the art of self-government : I mean, first, of our individual selves, then of our families. We need to be taught that liberty is not primary, but law. We ought not to boast too much that we are a free people, or that we are a law-abiding people.
But I have already consumed too much time, and must draw my remarks to a close. Reverence for God, reverence for man, reverence for labor, rever- ence for law, these are the ideas that have made a thousand New England towns beautiful and strong. These are the ideas that her sons and daughters have taken with them to other parts of this land, and to foreign lands. They are gradually leavening the world.
Let our children and youth be taught to fear God, honor man, respect labor, and obey law. The highest tribute we can pay an honored ancestry is
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to imitate their virtues. The best monument we can build to the memory of the original proprietors of this town is to carry out, according to our greater light, their beneficent intentions. We ought to do better what our fathers did well, for we have much more than they to do with.
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