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 9
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In these facts, the reflecting mind will not fail to discover the secret of the uncommon success of this school, and of the high excellence which this town has attained in consequence.
Nor do these figures reveal our pastor's beneficence in but a single department of his numerous spheres of usefulness. I say our pastor; because, when he was settled here, and when he commenced these plans of usefulness, he was the pastor of the town. There are others who can testify to similar deeds from the same hand. Nor have I yet announced all I might reveal;
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but I forbear the rest, as well from other considerations as from want of time.
Allow me now, Mr. President, to close these remarks with the following sentiment; in offering which, I do not forget the former minister of the society, who has been remembered with gratitude here to-day, nor yet others, present and absent, who have contributed of their means for the benefit of this town; but, with many thanks to them all for their liberality, allow me to offer: -
"THE TOWN OF BRIDGEWATER, MASS., - Our pastor's native place; Dublin's greatest benefactor."
14. Eleventh sentiment: -
"OUR COMMON SCHOOLS. - Under the guidance of one who has ever pointed onward and 'led the way,' they have risen from 'the District School as it was,' to a condition of which we have no cause to be ashamed."
JEREMIAH BEMIS, Jr., Esq., then of Weathersfield, Vt., a native son of [Weston, Mass., according to the genealogical register of the family contained in the former History of Dub- lin, and, though brought here in early childhood, yet not a son of] Dublin, and a veteran teacher of thirty-seven terms, re- sponded in the following remarks: - -
Mr. President, - In connection with a few words referring to the invaluable services of "one who has led the way" so successfully and so honorably for more than thirty years, I hope you will not deem it inappropriate for me to allude to "the District School as it was" between the years 1795 and 1817.
During fifteen of the seventeen terms of my attendance as a scholar in Dublin, and three terms of the eight in Marlborough, my teachers were of the former town. I do not remember hear- ing any one say, that either of them was unfaithful in teach- ing, did not sustain good order, or, in reclaiming delinquents, preferred not other expedients to corporal inflictions; but, when the former had been unavailable, it was then to be expected that their belief in the utility of the latter would be practically manifested. And may we not conclude that the other schools in town were as well conducted?
The terms were generally not so long as to prevent the em- ployment of an instructor in two districts in the same winter;
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and some scholars attended other schools, when their own were not in operation.
Some of the schoolhouses were old and inconveniently con- structed; others, though recently erected, and far more con- venient and comfortable than their predecessors, contained seats and desks fashioned after a faulty model. In one of them was a stove, in which dry fuel was consumed; and, in each of the others which I had been in, a brick fireplace, mostly supplied with green wood. But few of the books were well adapted to the end designed; and stationery consisted not of "first-rate articles." No apparatus was furnished to facilitate improvement; nor a well-regulated clock, to indicate to idle or tardy scholars precious and inestimable time lost by them forever, and also to admonish the teacher if he came in too late.
Omitting other inconveniences, which caused, apparently, but few if any discouragements, I wish to observe, that, were I to form an opinion of the kindness of parents and others to teachers, the punctual attendance, studiousness, good deport- ment, and improvement of scholars, in all the districts in Dublin, by my experience, as an instructor during eleven terms, in five of them, I should say, their worthy efforts tended, in no small degree, to encourage teachers in discharging their duties.
And now, sir, allow me to say, that, while the "common schools" have been "under the guidance" of the "one" to whom the sentiment refers, the light of science has been copi- ously diffused, the "way" brilliantly illuminated, school-terms lengthened, commodious schoolhouses built, and suitable books, including the Scriptures, used therein, - all obstacles, perhaps, removed; and "they have risen" to their present eminent "condition."
His thorough knowledge of "the way"; his excellent char- acter, that won the confidence, esteem, and respect of those under "his guidance"; his costly, gratuitous library; his oral and printed "Lectures on the Present Condition and Wants of Common Schools," and on other topics connected with them; approved school-books of which he is the author; his exertions, as a member of the Board of Superintending School Committee, from year to year; and the aid of "the Giver of every good and perfect gift"; - are some of his means applied in the accom- plishment of his noble purpose.
Superintending and prudential committees; successful in- structors of the "schools"; parents and guardians who subject
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their children and wards to judicious family government, who discountenance the reading of such books and prints as are mentally and morally detrimental; the munificent bequest of the late Rev. E. Sprague for the annual benefit of the common schools of this town; they who exemplify their detestation of all intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and their abhorrence of the habitual use of other banes which enervate the mind, and partially or totally unfit it for the reception of useful knowl- edge; those whose influence is against the "sum of all villany," and in favor of the "higher law"; and all who have "stayed up his hands" whilst he has "pointed onward," or who have other- wise effectually contributed to the progression; - these are such as ("under his guidance") have aided, either directly or indirectly, the "one who has ever pointed onward, and 'led the way' from 'the District School as it was' to a condition of which we have no cause to be ashamed."
We are not, however, to infer that the schools ever incurred "shame" whilst moving "onward," or that they will avoid it when not doing so.
If some, ascending the "hill of science," should imagine themselves near its summit, and desire unnecessary repose, the "one who" still "leads the way" would kindly and immediately dispel the illusion; or, should others be satisfied with their pres- ent condition and, therefore, wish to attain no higher one, he would remind them of the certainty of their retrogression, and consequent "shame," unless they keep constantly moving "on- ward."
But they will doubtless continue to follow their leader, Rev. L. W. Leonard, D.D., till called to receive as his reward, "a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
Remarks of Rev. GEORGE F. CLARK of Norton, Mass .: -
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, - I feel impressed to add a few words to what has already been said in relation to your common schools. Too much cannot be said in their praise; for no man can estimate - yea, no man can conceive - the influence they have exerted upon the young of your town, and are destined to exert upon future generations.
Grand and picturesque as are your hills; surpassingly beauti- ful and enchanting as is yonder lake; noble and majestic as is Monadnock, that "old mountain-king," rearing aloft his bold head to the clouds; - yet far surpassing all these, and interest- ing above them all, to the patriot and the philanthropist, stand
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your common schools, - those beacon lights that bestud, like glittering emeralds, your rocky hills, and cast their mild radi- ance over your sequestered valleys, - the noblest, the grandest feature of this rough, this rugged place. Yes, Mr. President, it is not your hills and valleys, your mountains and lakes, but your public schools, that have given you a name in the world, - that have immortalized your town. But, sir, how happens it, that this secluded mountain town, shut out, in a great measure, from the world at large, and possessing few of the educational advantages of more favored districts, should possess schools so excellent as to become models for the surrounding towns, if not for the whole state? There is - there must be - a cause for this. Do you suppose, sir, that you or I would ever have heard of Ban de la Roche if Oberlin had not dwelt there? And how many, think you, would have heard of Dublin schools if our Oberlin had not come among us? Yes, the "sentiment" to which I respond tells the truth, - gives the secret of the whole matter, - when it says, "Under the guidance of 'him,' they have arisen" to the high position they now occupy. Truly, as I can testify from my own experience, having been both a pupil and a teacher in your schools, he "has ever pointed onward and led the way." For thirty years, a faithful Palinurus, he has stood at the helm. When he came here a stranger, he saw in vision what is now a reality. Many were the obstacles that stood in the way of his success. But, Columbus-like, he has surmounted them all and anchored, at last, at the St. Salvador of his hopes. Through his untiring perseverance, "the District School as it was" has given place to those "of which you have no cause to be ashamed," of which you may justly be proud.
It may perhaps be said, that "the noble bequest of a former minister is the cause of the present prosperity of your schools." That, no doubt, has had its influence. But money alone could never have produced the results now living before our eyes. Others, no doubt, have been worthy coadjutors. But to the efforts of him who for thirty years has been chairman of your Superintending Committee, your schools mainly owe their elevated character. Frequent visits to the schools, addresses to the children, private conversation with the people, public lectures in the community on the subject of education, are among the means he used to accomplish the end designed. Again, the school-books he has published, practically showing his own interest in the cause, have done much to awaken an
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interest in both parents and children.1 Silently, and without ostentation, he has done his work. You owe to him a debt of gratitude you can never repay. And, if you are deeply sensible you owe it, from my knowledge of the man, I am sure he will ask no other recompense.
My earliest recollections go back only to about the time when our revered friend, to whom I have alluded, came here, and gave a new impetus to the cause of general intelligence.
On the extreme borders of the town, near where there is now a flourishing village, in an old dilapidated dwelling-house, with rough slabs taken from my grandfather's saw-mill for seats, and these upheld by sticks driven into large auger-holes, with nothing to support the feeble backs of the feeble-minded boys and girls that sat thereon, I first made my "bow" to the "school-marm," and placed my feet upon the lowest round of the "ladder of learning." On one side of the room, thus strangely metamorphosed into a "Temple of Science," were ranged the long "dressers"; where the good dame of the house, with exquisite taste, had been accustomed to display her pewter platters and wooden plates, her brown earthen mugs and iron spoons; while underneath were the noble cupboards, where time and again she had stored the bean-porridge and hasty pudding, - those choice viands of a former generation. And well I remember that some luckless youngsters, for child- ish pranks deemed hostile to the peace and dignity of the place, would be elevated to those rather high seats for "little shavers," or shut up in the dark abodes beneath; no doubt to typify the elevated positions they were destined to attain in the world, or the low and dark condition that awaited them, ac- cording to the thickness of the case that enclosed their "mental apparatus." Split sticks were sometimes placed upon our
1 He first gave us "The Literary and Scientific Class-book," - a work that never was duly appreciated by the public generally, but which did much to create, in the young of this town, a thirst for useful and instructive books. I well remember with what eagerness I devoured its pages, even before I was deemed old enough to enter the "classes" for which it was "designed." Soon afterwards came "The Sequel to the Easy Lessons," which is even now [1852] outliving, because intrinsically more valuable than, most books of more modern date. A few years later, the young gladly received "The North American Spelling Book." This, in its plan and adaptation to the end designed, is far superior to any book, of like character, with which I am acquainted. I know of no other book, whose reading and spelling lessons are so admirably graded to the footsteps of the youthful mind. Still later, we have an "Analysis of the Ele- mentary Sounds of the English Language," with an accompanying "Chart," - a work long needed, and earnestly called for, in our schools, and, like everything else emanating from the same source, "perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
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tongues and ears, probably (for I could never fully under- stand their significance) to teach us, poor urchins, that we must neither tell, nor listen to, idle tales in school.
The school-books of that day were "few and far between." And apparatus, for illustrating any of the studies pursued, would have been deemed as great an innovation as, a short time before, was the introduction of choirs into our meeting- houses. In fact, almost the only apparatus I remember to have seen in the schools, during my connection with them as a pupil, was the ferule and the birch, with the occasional addition of "green-hide." With these, the pedagogues of both sexes were accustomed to stimulate the latent energies of the scholars, give not a very gentle jog to their memories, and quicken their tardy steps up the difficult heights they essayed to climb. And I think I have some indistinct recollection, that I was occasion- ally honored with the privilege of letting others see how ad- mirably this apparatus was adapted to the end designed! Still, my native modesty - my rather deficient self-esteem - does not for a moment allow me to suppose it was owing to my superior endowments for such a purpose, that I was so fre- quently selected as the person upon whom this interesting ex- periment was to be tried. Perhaps, from some cause I was not then able to understand, - which, even now, I do not fully comprehend, - I might have been a particular favorite with the teacher. I certainly think they were rather partial to me in that respect.
But those scenes are now past and gone. They live only in the memory of those who were the actors or beholders of them. The rod and the ferule - those relics of a semi-barbarous age - are fast losing their hold upon the affections of this advanc- ing and enlightened era. Already are they looked upon with disgust, with horror. True, now and then, we meet with them; but they only serve to remind us of "the District School as it was." Under a more benign, a more Christian influence are your schools now governed; and in no one respect, probably, have they made greater progress than in this. Yet in almost all respects they may be taken as models. In the discipline, in the manner of imparting instruction, in the qualification of teachers, in the means of elucidating the studies, in the interest awakened in the young, in their regular and punctual attend- ance, in the efforts of their parents to second the endeavors of the teacher, in the new and commodious schoolhouses, - in all these, are unmistakable evidences that the condition of your
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schools is such that the blush of shame will not mantle your cheeks when they are mentioned in your presence.
What is it that causes the young men of Dublin to be so re- spected abroad, and the young maidens to be sought for from afar? What is it that makes the genus "loafer," especially among the young, such a curiosity here? What is it that gives such thrift and enterprise to the inhabitants generally? The superior advantages you have afforded the young for acquiring a generous culture, afford a true answer to these queries.
But, my friends, there are others yet to be heard, and I must hasten on. I have spoken of the past; the present you know; and now a word, in closing, in regard to the future. Excellent as your schools now are, do not harbor the thought that they have attained the zenith of their usefulness, their efficiency. Be not satisfied with the present. Bear in mind that the world is advancing. What is excellent now, will be only mediocrity in the future. To meet the demands of the generations now struggling into life, your schools must go higher than they now are. A hundred years hence, may we not expect that Dublin schools will be as much in advance of what they now are, as they now tower above the first apologies for schools the early settlers, in their poverty, were able to set up? Who can calcu- late how high rank a century will give your common schools? Who can set bounds to the means they will afford for the de- velopment of the human mind? All that now pertains to the school and school-room will, a century hence, be considered as mere baubles and child's play alongside of what will then be enjoyed. These noble schoolhouses you have lately erected, which have added no little to your fame, will then be among the things that were. Far nobler and more splendid houses will have been erected in their stead, which, without any figure of speech, may, in truth, be called "Temples of Science."
Go on, therefore, ye of the present day. Do your part towards the accomplishment of such a result. Cherish these noble institutions as the "apple of your eye"; for they are the main pillars and supports of our republican institutions. By affording a good and generous culture to the young, they alone will "save" and perpetuate the "Union."
Seek, then, to give your children the enduring riches of a true and living education, - an education fit for the age that is approaching, in which they are to act; fit for American free- men to possess; and, above all, fit for those destined for an im- mortal existence in a higher and holier sphere.
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In conclusion, Mr. President, permit me to give as a senti- ment: -
"DUBLIN. - May her common schools ever be such as to encircle her name with a halo of true glory."
Letter from SAMUEL APPLETON, Esq .: -
BOSTON, June 15, 1852.
GENTLEMEN :
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th ult., requesting, in behalf of the Committee of Arrangements, my personal attendance at the celebration of the hundredth anni- versary of the settlement of the town of Dublin, on the 17th inst. For this polite invitation, gentlemen, I return you my sincere thanks. It would afford me much pleasure to join in the celebration proposed by the people of Dublin; and I regret that my age and bodily infirmi- ties will compel me to be absent on that occasion.
I have always taken an interest in the town of Dublin. In or about the year 1786, I resided there for four months, and was engaged, during that time, in teaching two different schools, say of two months each, at eight dollars per month. One of the districts was in the Street, as it was then called; the other was in the easterly part of the town, near Peterborough. In this latter district, it was arranged for the schoolmaster to live with the family that would board and lodge him the cheapest. Having been informed where I was to board, I set out for my new home on foot, carrying the greater part of my ward- robe on my back, and the remainder tied up in a bandanna handker- chief. On arriving at the place of my destination, I found my host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks, ready, and apparently glad to see me. They were to receive, for my board, lodging, and washing, sixty-seven cents per week. Their house was made of logs, with only one room in it, which served for parlor, kitchen, and bedroom. I slept on a trundle-bed, which, during the day, was wheeled under the large bed, where the master and mistress of the house reposed during the night. Every morning and evening, there were family prayers, and readings from the Bible, in which I sometimes took an active part. . . . After spending two weeks at Mr. Fairbanks's, I removed to Mr. Perry's. He was a good farmer, his wife an excellent housekeeper, and I finished my school-term very pleasantly to myself, and, I be- lieve, very satisfactorily to my employers.
Since that time, great improvements have been made in the public schools of Dublin. I am informed that it contains as good schools, and turns out as competent teachers, as any town in New Hamp- shire. In consideration of the "good and healthful condition" of its public schools, and of the "spirit of improvement" which appears to animate those who are engaged in them, I am induced to send to the
2
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town of Dublin my check for the sum of one thousand dollars, to be appropriated to educational purposes in such manner as the Super- intending School Committee shall deem expedient.
With best wishes for the welfare and progress of the public schools of Dublin, for the happiness of its citizens, and the success of the ap- proaching celebration, I remain, gentlemen, very respectfully,
Your friend and obedient servant,
SAMUEL APPLETON.
JONA. K. SMITH, ASA H. FISK, RANSOM N. PORTER, Sub-committee.
Toast from SAMUEL APPLETON: -
"THE COMMON SCHOOLS OF DUBLIN. - Uncommon in excellence."
Letter from Hon. JAMES BATCHELLER of Marlborough, one of the Councillors of the State of New Hampshire: -
CONCORD, June 8, 1852.
GENTLEMEN :
Your communication, inviting me to attend the centennial anni- versary of the settlement of Dublin, has just been received. I regret that my present situation will deprive me of the pleasure of being present. The comparison of the condition of the town of Dublin for the first fifty years with its present condition must be highly gratifying to the present inhabitants. In some respects, no border-town can boast of so great improvement. For the want of water privileges, manufacturing establishments are confined to the extreme border of the town, thus preventing a rapid increase of your central village. But, in agriculture, Dublin has kept pace with the most favored town in the vicinity. But the proud, I may almost say the enviable, con- dition of Dublin consists in the improvement of your common schools, and, as a sure consequence, the general diffusion of knowledge and science among all the citizens. The generous bequest of the late Rev. Mr. Sprague contributed essentially to this happy result. But living individuals (whom it would be fulsome flattery to name) have done everything in their power to bring about the present happy state of things. Their names ought to be inscribed on marble, and handed down to the latest posterity. I can say, without fear of contradic- tion, that no town in New Hampshire can boast of a population of gentlemen, farmers, and mechanics, equal in intelligence, academic and common school education, with those of Dublin. Healthful in- dustry, without slavish drudgery; frugal economy without penuri- ousness; hearty generosity, without wasteful extravagance; sym- pathy for the poor, the downtrodden, and oppressed, with practical efforts for their relief; - these traits of character belong to most of the people of Dublin. These results, I again repeat, are the fruits of
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your unceasing and successful efforts to elevate the standard of your common schools.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JAMES BATCHELLER.
Col. J. K. SMITH, A. H. FISK, Esq., R. N. PORTER, M.D.,
Committee of Invitation.
Letter from Hon. WILLIAM PARKER of Francestown: -
FRANCESTOWN, June 10, 1852.
MY DEAR SIRS:
Your kind note, inviting myself and family to partake in the cele- bration on the 17th of June, was duly received and highly appreciated.
There is more than the invitation which is pleasing to me. Your object is to celebrate the one hundredth year from the first settlement of the town of Dublin. What will be more interesting to them than to carry your people back in idea, as well as you can, to the first tree that was fallen, and by whom, or to the first cabin that was built of logs, the first church that was erected, and the first minister who was in- vited to settle with the few scattered inhabitants? No subject would be more pleasing to me; and, gentlemen, it makes a history not only valuable and interesting to the present, but to all coming generations.
The day you have chosen for your celebration - the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill - is one of many others full of interest to the people of this country. Mark the difference between that day and the present. Then all was doubt and fearful anxiety: at the present time, this is a great nation, with a government of the people, enjoying more of the divine blessings than any other nation on earth.
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