USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Dublin > The history of Dublin, N.H. : containing the address by Charles Mason, and the proceedings at the centennial celebration, June 17, 1852, with a register of families > Part 8
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Finally, Mr. President, and fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, in closing, allow me to propose - The Progress of Dublin.
If, at the centennial which we now celebrate, we can look back to the past and perceive progress, may those who shall celebrate the next, while, like the sleepers in yonder green graveyard, we, too, shall be sleeping, look back to still greater; and so may this progress go on, from century to century, through all coming time, till time itself shall cease!
Letter from Mr. CHARLES WHITTEMORE:
GENTLEMEN :
Yours of the 31st ult., inviting my lady and self to attend your celebration, was duly received.
In ordinary times, we should not have failed to comply with your kind invitation. It would have afforded us great pleasure to meet our old townsfolk, and commemorate the hundredth year of the settle- ment of our native town. But circumstances, which I need not detail, will not permit us to do so.
A thought, however, has struck me, that I can do something to make the people who assemble glad on this occasion. I, therefore, propose to send, on Friday or Saturday next, a barrel of syrup suitable for lemonade, which will make from 250 to 300 gallons of pleasant drink. I will send it by railroad to Keene, directed to Jonathan K. Smith, Esq., Dublin, N. H.
Permit me to offer as a sentiment: ---
"THE GOOD PEOPLE OF MY NATIVE MOUNTAIN HOME. - May temperance in all things, and especially in strong drinks, prevail among all, both old and young."
Your friend, CHARLES WHITTEMORE.
J. K. SMITH, A. H. FISK, R. N. PORTER,
Committee of Invitation.
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The syrup mentioned in the foregoing letter was duly re- ceived, and contributed not a little to the comfort and pleasure of the occasion. The heat of the weather made it peculiarly grateful to the taste of the people. There was more than suf- ficient for the wants of the multitude of thirsty men, women, and children, who were present.
J. K. SMITH offered the following sentiment: -
"OUR PLEASANT BEVERAGE FROM NEW YORK. - Like prosperity, the sweet alone would cloy us; like adversity, the acid alone would be unendurable; properly mingled, just adapted to our natures, - pleasant, grateful, refreshing."
Letter from Mr. JAMES J. PERRY: -
SOUTH DANVERS, MASS., June 8, 1852.
GENTLEMEN :
Your circular, tendering your very polite and cordial invitation to attend your centennial celebration, was duly received. It would give me the highest satisfaction, could we be present and participate in the festivities of the day. We might there meet, greet, and take by the hand, many that were long our youthful companions in by- gone days. But Danvers has a similar celebration (her two hundredth) the day before; and it is impossible to be present at both.
I propose as a sentiment: -
"DUBLIN. - May she have many sons and daughters 'to rise up and call her blessed."
Respectfully yours,
JAMES J. PERRY.
Messrs. SMITH, FISK, and PORTER.
Letter from Rev. JAMES TISDALE: -
SHUTESBURY, June 11, 1852.
GENTLEMEN :
We are much obliged to you for an invitation to attend the centen- nial celebration at Dublin, but my health, at present, is hardly ade- quate to the duties that devolve upon me, and that must be our excuse for non-attendance.
That it would be highly gratifying to us both to be present, we need not say. Six years we resided in Dublin. During that time, we formed many interesting acquaintances, and received many kind ex- pressions of regard. Some who have departed this life are cherished in our recollection, and others, that are living, have not been forgotten. The industry of the inhabitants, the well-disciplined schools, and well- conducted lyceum, are remembered by us. And, if the providence of
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God had permitted us to be present on the 17th of June, it could not have failed to be an interesting day to us, as it must be to great num- bers that will be present.
Allow me to present the following sentiment: -
"TO THE YOUTH OF DUBLIN. - Would you be favored, blessed, successful, and influential, be obedient to your parents, attentive to the aged, respectful to your superiors, and kind to all."
We present our special respects to the members of the Committee, and kind remembrance to friends and acquaintances.
In behalf of Mrs. Tisdale and myself,
JAMES TISDALE.
Col. JONATHAN K. SMITH, ASA H. FISK, Esq., Dr. RANSOM N. PORTER.
Letter from Dr. AMBROSE LAWRENCE [afterwards Mayor of Lowell, Mass.]: - LOWELL, June 4, 1852.
MESSRS. :
Your favor of the 31st ult., inviting me to be present at the "First Centennial of Dublin," was duly received.
I can only return you, gentlemen, my sincere thanks for your kind- ness in extending your invitation to me, once an unworthy resident of your town. Previous engagements, requiring my presence else- where on that day, will, I hope, be considered a sufficient excuse for what would seem almost a duty.
Allow me to conclude by offering you as a sentiment: -
"DUBLIN. - She has passed one hundred years in prosperity : may she never pass one year of adversity."
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, AMBROSE LAWRENCE.
To JONA. K. SMITH, ASA H. FISK, RANSOM N. PORTER,
Committee.
11. Eighth sentiment: -
"NATIVES OF DUBLIN WHO HAVE NOT EMIGRATED. - The grandeur and beauty of our natural scenery, and the superior advantages for moral, social, and intellectual culture, have outweighed in our minds the splendor of the city and the fertility of the prairie, and induced us to cluster around the old hearthstone and the graves of our fathers and kindred."
A GLEE - "HOME"
12. Ninth sentiment: -
"OUR CLERGYMEN. - While we would duly honor all who have held the sacred office among us, we gratefully recognize one, who, at
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his decease, contributed liberally of his wealth for the intellectual, moral, and religious improvement of future generations; and another, who long has been, and still is, drawing freely from the treasures of his head and heart to promote the same great object."
Rev. LEVI W. LEONARD spoke in substance as follows: --
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, - I am called upon to respond to the sentiment just read. The first clergyman of this town was the Rev. Joseph Farrar. He was ordained here fourscore years ago this very month, twenty years after the date of the first settlement, one year after the town was in- corporated. Few persons now living here ever saw him. That he was well qualified for his office, so far as learning and piety were concerned, has been often certified to me by persons who knew him in the days of his residence in this town. During the first two years of his ministry, we have reason to believe that he was a successful and acceptable preacher and pastor. But ill health wrought a change in him, which was manifested by a partial aberration of intellect. He entertained strange and unfounded suspicions with regard to the conduct of some of his flock. On the side of the hill back of the old church, he built a small house, and there lived for a time, alone. Such difficulties arose, in consequence of his singular conduct, that his services were deemed no longer useful. A council was called, and, upon his request, a dismission was granted, at the end of the fourth year of his ministry.
The successor of Mr. Farrar was the Rev. Edward Sprague. Although nearly thirty-five years have elapsed since his de- cease, yet many of you who are now present have seen his face and heard his voice. During the space of forty years, he was the minister of the Congregational [now Unitarian] Society of Dublin. In the first half of his ministry, it is evident, from what was stated in the address at the grove, that he was straitened in pecuniary means. But at length, by inheriting a portion of his father's estate, he became rich. He then relinquished his salary, and, during sixteen years, he supplied the pulpit, and performed other duties of his office, neither asking nor receiving any pay.
That he felt deeply in his heart for the welfare of the people of Dublin, cannot be doubted. With small exception, he be- queathed them his whole property. To the society of which he was pastor he gave a specified sum, and the rest for the bene- fit of the common schools.
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In the changes of circumstances, interests, and feelings, which are ever taking place, it is too common for the grateful remembrance of departed benefactors to become fainter and fainter, till, at length, little is retained besides their names.
The character of Mr. Sprague, drawn by the hand of a per- sonal friend, is inscribed on the monument erected over the spot where his mortal part was laid in the earth. As you repair to that field where the dead repose, and there recall the memory of the friends who have gone before you, you will not fail, on some such occasions, to read the words chiselled in hard lines upon that marble slab. Let such an act awaken in your hearts a deep feeling of gratitude and a lively sense of obligation. But grateful feelings and kind remembrances are not all that we owe to such a benefactor. It is our duty, so far as we can with truth, to defend his reputation, and especially to remove those misapprehensions which, in his case, have widely pre- vailed.
Persons whose characters are marked by striking peculiari- ties are very liable to be judged erroneously. Their deviation from the common forms of society exposes them to be consid- ered as wrong in intention, when wrong is far from their thoughts. During the whole course of Mr. Sprague's educa- tion, he mingled very little with the world around him. From unacquaintance with the ways and manners of life in the coun- try, and having never been trained in the methods of New England thrift-making, he was exposed to being easily over- reached in such business transactions as were necessary in his domestic arrangements; and there were not wanting persons who would remind him that he had been cheated in a bargain or purchase. This rendered him somewhat suspicious of those with whom he had dealings; and his ways of protecting himself were apt to partake of his peculiar characteristics.
During the period of Mr. Sprague's ministry, it was almost universal with those who made public donations for educational purposes, to establish academies, or to found professorships in colleges, which should bear their names; and many persons, no doubt, thought it strange that a wealthy clergyman should so far mistake the interest of his fame with posterity as to bequeath his property for the support of common schools. But what has been the result of subsequent inquiry in reference to this subject? Public opinion has undergone a change. Al- though academies and colleges are still duly valued, yet com- mon schools, through the efficient labors of Horace Mann, are
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deemed not less important; and, as in them the mass of the people are to be instructed and trained, they are regarded by many as of higher importance. It was the deliberate opinion of Mr. Sprague, formed long before his last sickness, that the improvement of common schools was an object of such mo- ment as to deserve the special aid and countenance of the friends of education. He decided, therefore, in favor of com- mon schools.
For this decision, the successive generations of Dublin will warmly cherish his memory. They will not forget that he sac- rificed the common ambition of having his name attached to a single institution, and bequeathed the largest portion of his estate for increasing the efficiency and usefulness of those un- obtrusive seminaries in which the minds and hearts of the children and youth who dwell here may be formed, we will hope and pray, for righteousness on earth, and blessedness in heaven.
Of the Rev. Elijah Willard, the first pastor of the Baptist Church, I can say that all my intercourse and communication with him was friendly and pleasant, and such as to make me regard him as a faithful Christian minister, seeking the salva- tion of the people of his charge. His fervency and sympathy with the afflicted on funeral occasions are well known to many, both of his own people, and of other inhabitants of the town. To speak more particularly of his character and success as a pastor and preacher, belongs to others more than myself. It is enough for me to say, that, after a ministry of nearly forty years, he came to his grave at the advanced age of eighty- eight; and that, as a clergyman and a citizen, we believe he will be kindly remembered by all who become acquainted with his character and services.
Of the other clergymen who have labored in this town as ministers of the gospel of Christ during my residence here, all are living, so far as I know, except the Rev. Samuel Harris. He preached for the First Trinitarian Congregational Society some two or three years. He had been settled at Windham, in this state. Though his period of service here was short, yet he is remembered as a man of an amiable, substantial character; a preacher of fair ability, but too distrustful of himself to gain marked attention, yet well esteemed by all who knew him.
Of the living clergymen, and of myself, I shall say nothing. Some, indeed, are not present, whose faces we should be glad to see on this occasion. But our days of service are not yet ended. Ere long, however, we shall all pass from time to eter-
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nity. While our days are drawing to their close, we may be per- mitted to indulge the hope that we shall not be wholly forgotten by those for whom it has been our duty to labor as ministers of Christ; and, were we to put up together a prayer to the Father of all, we should, I doubt not, all unite in beseeching him to endue you with wisdom from on high, and to enable you so to improve your social, educational, and religious privileges, that, when you go hence, you may be greeted with "a welcome to the joy of your Lord."
CINCINNATI, O., June 12, 1852.
DEAR SIRS:
It would have given me true pleasure to have been present at your first centennial celebration; and I thank you for your kind invitation. But the occasion comes too early in the season for my acceptance of it; and I must content myself with this very imperfect acknowledg- ment of your remembrance. A host of pleasing memories surrounds the name of Dublin; and, whenever I entered the town - as I have done many, many times, in days departed, and hallowed in the heart and memory - to exchange with that most excellent pastor who is one of the high priests of New Hampshire in more senses than one, a purer air, morally as well as physically, seemed to surround me and exhilarate me. All praise and honor to the noble towns of education, temperance, religion, freedom, righteousness, and peace, in New England, of which yours is one of the purest, highest, and most cele- brated, where the least has been done by nature, and the most has been done by man! The glory of the workmen is their work. I give you, then, as a sentiment: -
"DUBLIN. - 'A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid;' and this one need not hide, ought not to be hid, and cannot be hid."
Most respectfully, your friend,
A. A. LIVERMORE.
To Messrs. FISK, SMITH, and PORTER.
13. Tenth sentiment: -
"OUR SABBATH SCHOOLS: - Moulding, the plastic minds of our youth; so that, by divine aid, they may become 'vessels of honor' in the Christian church."
Rev. SAMUEL F. CLARK of Athol, Mass., a native [not of Dublin, as stated in the former History of Dublin, but] of Shipton, Que., although his youth was passed in Dublin, made the following remarks: -
If I am not mistaken, Mr. President and friends, it was in this town that the boy in the field, when tauntingly inter-
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rogated by a passing stranger with the inquiry, "What do you raise on these barren hills?" aptly responded, "Our soil is rather hard and cold and broken, and we can raise little else; so we build schoolhouses, and raise men."
Some towns excel in agriculture, some in mechanical, and some in commercial pursuits. Ours has gained distinction in neither of these. The branch of enterprise in which this town has been most successful is that of "raising men." We do not claim among her sons and daughters many who are noted for what is deemed a high eminence. But we do claim that those who have been nurtured on these hills have attained to a high level of intelligence, enterprise, and virtue. Other towns may boast of more great names; but very few, indeed, can offer so high a standard of general excellence as must be indisputably conceded to this. While it is true of those born here, that few have been known to fame, it is also true that fewer have been known to infamy. As few have occupied places of rank in busi- ness, literature, or the professions, so there have been few who have been drones in society, and burdens to the community. No town can rejoice in greater freedom from such incumbrances than this. Those who have remained here, or have gone out from their native town, have generally been industrious, en- terprising citizens; such as society always relies upon for sup- port, and of whom it may well be said, at last, "The world has been better for their having lived in it." It is in the nurture and culture of such citizens that this town has gained a no un- enviable distinction.
And now, Mr. President, permit me to advert to the cause of this very desirable success; and, in doing so, it is presumed that the generation which is passing away will excuse it in us, as one of the pardonable foibles of youth, if we assume that this distinction is of modern attainment; nor will you, Mr. President, I presume, take exception, if I search no further back for this cause than our minds may be borne by the senti- ment to which I am called to respond.
No town, it is believed, has enjoyed a more happy sabbath- school influence than has been exerted here for the last thirty years; and we doubt not that to this influence may be attributed no small degree of the excellence of character which we who are emigrants are always proud to hear ascribed to the home of our childhood. Of course, in making this remark, I do not forget the high grade of our common schools, nor by whose influence they have been thus elevated, but of their success it is not to-
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day my province to speak. I may say, however, that the most favored means for intellectual culture can avail nothing de- sirable, unless such culture be accompanied with proper moral and religious instruction; and I am happy to add, that here the two have been most happily combined and directed by the same guardian influence.
Of the Sunday-schools of Dublin, I am familiarly acquainted with but one, and consequently am not able to speak of the statistics or success of the others. This I regret, but I trust there is some one present who is able to do them ample justice. To the seasons which I have spent in the school connected with the First Parish, I shall always revert as among the most profitable and fondly cherished hours of my childhood and youth; and these associations are all the more dear to me, be- cause she who so amiably shares my truest affections ever turns as fondly as myself to these scenes of her early and later re- ligious impressions.
This school was established in the year 1823, and numbered, at that time, one hundred twenty-two pupils, of whom but seventeen are now residents of the town. It has continued to flourish from that time to this under the care of the same de- voted pastor, and many of the same faithful friends, who cherished its incipient growth. It now embraces one hundred sixty pupils, which is not far from its usual number. A very gratifying feature in this school is the unusual number of young ladies and gentlemen who are constant in their attend- ance upon its instructions; and, indeed, in all its desirable features, I may safely say, this excels any of the very many similar schools with which my experience as a teacher, superin- tendent, and pastor, has given me an acquaintance, both in the country and the city. Consequently, its influence upon the young has been marked, so much so as to be observable to strangers; and I remember that an old gentleman of high respect- ability in an adjoining town once remarked to me, that he always knew when he had crossed the line between the towns by the deportment of the boys; for, said he, the last boy, as a traveller passes in, is sure to throw a stone after his carriage, while the first boy he meets in Dublin is as sure to take off his hat and make a bow. Experience in various places has con- vinced me that this is but a fair illustration of the happy suc- cess of our sabbath-schools.
And what now, may we ask, is the secret of the superior influence of this school? For such results do not come by chance.
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Undoubtedly the secret is traceable to more than one cause. Connected with this school have been devoted superintendents and faithful teachers, without whose aid very little could have been attained; but all these, we venture to affirm, will concede to another the higher wisdom and devotion which have been the directing influence over this and the common schools. No pastor has ever devoted himself more assiduously to the culture of the young, or done more for their improvement, than he who has just left this stand, and who, in his remarks, has been too modest to say anything of himself, but to whom, for his untir- ing efforts in our behalf, we who have grown up under his care owe a long debt of gratitude.
I will not now speak of the superior intellectual, moral, and religious influence which his public teaching and social inter- course have shed over the young in this town; for that is obvi- ous to all, but there are other means which have been prodi- gally used for our benefit, and yet so modestly that I fear few of us have ever been sensible of their origin.
I am sure that I need not remind very many who hear me, how, when we were children, we used to repair to the minister's study, in the old tavern-house, which is soon to give place to the new church, - a fitting spot, already consecrated in our memories by the associations to which I allude, - for those little books which his personal kindness always provided so liberally to culture our early love for reading. Thus were those books, furnished at his expense, carried into almost every fam- ily in town, till, at length, they attracted the attention of a practising physician, Dr. Carter, who, perceiving their happy influence, took the matter in hand, and soon induced the people to establish the present juvenile library. The three hundred books then already in circulation were presented by the minister; and from this gratuitous nucleus has grown this library, which now numbers nearly two thousand volumes, and which, under the direction of its librarian,1 has done more than any other influence to mould the acknowledged intellectual character of this town.
Neither is it necessary for me to remind those who have been pupils in this Sunday-school of the annual present of books which has been awarded to each scholar since the first organi- zation of the school. But perhaps all may not be aware, that, for these, they have been chiefly indebted to him who has just
1 Dr. Leonard.
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declined saying anything of what he has done himself, as they are also for all the manuals which have been used in the school for thirty years.
I am aware, that, were I to wait for his permission before divulging these facts to the public, I should be obliged to wait till the next centennial; so I have deferred asking it; nor do I think we are under any obligations to consult him at all in this matter.
I have lately had occasion to refer to the records of the li- brary and the Sunday-school; and, in looking them over, my eye rested on some items of expenses which modesty ought not longer to be allowed to conceal. I will not say that I obtained the perusal of these records under false pretences, because that would hardly be honorable to myself. But I can say that I did not avow my whole purpose in requesting a sight at them; for it was not necessary to do so; and besides, if I had, my princi- pal design in seeking access to them, which was to be able to show the pecuniary expense which the pastor of this school has incurred for the library and the school, might have been de- feated. The result of my investigations and inquiries may be told in few words. The money paid by the minister for the three hundred books first given to the library, together with subsequent donations, would, if put at interest at the time of the several donations, amount now to more than $510; nor does this include the expense of paper for covering the library, which, together with the whole care of the books for thirty years, has been a gratuitous offering of the librarian. I find also that the money which the pastor has paid annually for manuals and presents for one hundred fifty or sixty schol- ars of the sabbath-school, if put at interest at the time of the several payments, would now amount to upwards of $1,114, which, added to the sum expended on the library, swells the amount of his free-will offering for the benefit of his pupils to the large sum of $1,624.
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