F u ,ChS3 COPY 2.. Glass n x>3 C rank which in such days nought hut the hij^rhest talent can assume, and which then will be conlidcl to none except to such na can show the legitimate title. The hold-faced impudence of the demagogue then quails before the united force of talent and of virtue. The pretenders and impostors disappear — and presumption and ignorance are no longer found in the high places of society. The general court which assembled in May, 1774, having been dissolved by General Oage, then the Royal Governor, another was summoned to meet in the October following, to which he was elected from this Town, as the colleague of Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It was not for him, however, to be satisfied with the passive sup- port which could be given to a good cause by the mere services of a civilian. He sought for more active duties — he was impatient to share the perils and the glory of the camp, and when the opposition assumed the character of regular resistance on military principles, he assumed the sword, and entered the army in 1777, as lieutenant- colonel of a continental regiment, commanded by Col. Uenry Jack- son. In this regiment he encountered some hard service, particularly in New Jersey and on Rhode Island, where he led wliat may be called a forlorn hope, to delay with 20 men the progress of a Hessian regiment of cavalry. His activity and talent, and high military qualities, attracted the attention of the commander-in-chief, whose peculiar excellence it was to judge rightly of tlu; characters (jf men, and he was soon called to his fanjily as his aid. There he remained until the termination of the war, although he was appointed to tli(? chief command of the regi- ment in which he had entered the service, and left the army a full colonel and a brigadier-general by brevet. He was with ^Vashington during all his greater operations — and during many of the trying situations in which that great commander was placed. He was with him at the time of the treason of Arnold — the capture of Cornwallis — and when the army maddened by neg- lect, had resolved to turn their swords upon the congress, and redress their own wrongs. The councils in which he assisted were no petty caballings for the miserable purposes of faction and of office. They were the delibera- tions of patriots and of heroes devising schemes to emancipate a nation, and rescue millions. They fought no battles on paper — they issiied no swelling mani- festoes — they applied themselves to their mighty tasks with the wis- dom of sages and the energies of demi-gods. Early in 1784, (ieneral Cobb returned to his home and resumed his profession. He had now seen life in all its varieties — in the city, in the country, and in the camp — in the highest circles of fashion, and in the obscurest recesses of poverty. He had been associated with the men of other countries — 6 General David Cobb. the warriors of Frederick the Great wliose lives had been passed be- neath tents, and in marches, and battles, of the fiery-spirited Polanders still wearing the swords which they had aimed at the bosom of their king — but striving here to sink the odious character of assassins and regicides, and to take that of the champions of freedom. He was the associate too of many of those remarkable men who, in the early days of the French revolution were placed at its head. He was not only the associate, but the intimate and confidential friend of Washington, Green, Lincoln, Knox and Hamilton. By this extensive acquaintance with every variety of the human character, he had acquired a knowledge of motives, and an insight into the means by which men might be influenced — and he soon had occasion to call into use all the advantages of hia experimental knowledge. Soon after his return from the army, he had received from Gover- nor Hancock an appointment to the bench of the court of common pleas, and was elected by the legislature to the office of major-gene- ral of the fifth division of the Massachusetts militia — thus uniting in his person the chief civil and military functions of the county. A generation have arisen who know no other times tliau such as are peaceful, tranquil and happy. They look around them, they see fair and cultivated fields — the labors of the husbandman crowned with plenty — rewarded with competence. They hear in all directions the sounds of prosperous industry'. The splendid mansions of the man of wealth rises in all its imposing grandeur, adorned with all the embellishments which wealth can bestow. The decorations of taste are brought home to the huts of poverty — the means of comfortable living are within the reach of all — want is driven from the poor man's door — all lie down at night with the consciousness of security, and rise with freshened hopes on the morrow, to commence another day of prosperous exertion. I will now turn you back to other times, and other scenes. The sacrifices made by this state during the war of the revolution were immense — personal property had disappeared — trade was uuset- tled — manufactures were not commenced — the sources of wealth were exhausted — the state debt was so great that the payment of the interest only, occasioned a serious embarrassment in the finances — the lands were deteriorating daily, as there was no market for surpliisses, and of course no encouragement to cultivate — buildings were falling into decay from the want of means to repair them — the paper currency which had flooded the country had sank to its intrin- sic value, which was notliing, and there was no substitute. Private credit had nearly ceased, and there was little confidence between man and man. The public credit had sunk, and was rapidly sinking, and its total prostration was apprehended. The rich were unable and unwilling to lend ; one class had already loaned to the extent of their means, and were pressing for payment, the other put their gold and their silver into their strong boxes and their iron chests, fearing the ravages of the tender laws. The interest of the public debt was accumulating, and there were no means of payment except by taxa- tion, and no objects of taxation excepting the lands. Many were traversing the country with their rags fluttering in the winds, General David Cobb. ' 7 squalid with want, reekiiifj: with filtli, ofTending the senses, and shocking' the fcoliiips. The Htate ji^overnineiit well knew that any further delay in the pay- ment of the interest of tlio debt would produce calamities, which they dreaded even to anticipate, and ultimately destroy the {^ovcrn- nient. They made prodijrious efl'orts to sustain the public credit ; but taxation, heavy taxation, was tiieir only resource. They were well aware that this measure would be productive of temporary distress ; but as well did they know that if they did not adopt it, the escutch- eon of the state, which had borne none but hoiioralile eujblems, would be stamped with bankruptcy and fraud, and that the edifice of government already loosened in its foundations, would tumble into ruins. In one year taxes were imposed to the amount of more than half the income and available n)eans of the people. The canker of usury was already eating into the substance of the farmers, but a crisis had now arrived when the usurer closed his coffers, and refused to lend. The circulating money was not sufficient for the payment of the taxes — oxen, horses, cows and beds were seized by the collectors and sold at auction for a pittance. Creditors attached whatever the collector had spared. The court dockets bore interminable cata- logues of delinquent names. The deep and ominous sounds of discontent which at first were breathed in low murmurs, as the pressure increased, became louder, rose tiien to the tone of defiance, and at length the cries of rebellion in threats and imprecations, in screams and shouts, wild, discordant, and dreadful, rang through the astonished and horror stricken land — the clang of arms was heard — men rose to resist the laws, to be- siege not hostile fortresses, but the very temples in which the laws were administered — to conquer not a public enemy — not invading armies — but to conquer — Great God — to conquer their own courts of justice. The county court was to have been holden in the month of June, 1786. The suits already commenced, and about to be entered, if forced to judgment would cause the ruin of man}'; men wild with distress, ferocious with despair assembled in mobs. They were not armed it is true, but they breathed out the most horril)le threats against the court, whose official existence they were determined to annihilate. Although the people of Massaeliusetts will bear much before they resort to violence, yt^t many were then ready for the last and worst extremities. The court bell began to sound, the mol) be- gan to rage ; but to give some appearance of moderation to their proceedings they despatched a deputation to confer with the court. The mind of our warrior judge was fertile in resource ; he had al- ready' devised a plan to save the law from violation, satisfy the people, and preserve peace, llis plan was submitted to the court ; they all concurred. He proposed to the deputation that the court should be openc^d, the actions entered that attachments might be preserved, and then should adjourn without (Mitering the judgments. The deputation not being able to explain to the mob the result of their conference, a call was made for Judge Cobb. He instantly went amongst them, alone, and unarmed, and with that ready and clear elocution for which he was ever remarkable he explained the ar- 8 * General David Cobb. rangeraent and convinced them of its advantages and its propriety. They dispersed shouting his praises. The next Court was to be holden in September. No means had been opened for the relief of the people — their debts had increased, and their burthens were almost intolerable. The spirit of resistance was then marked with deeper ferocity, and the determination that the courts should not sit, ap- peared to be general amongst all malcontents of the state. Our de- parted friend was no temporizing statesman. He saw that a crisis had arrived, when the law must be supported by force, or yielded to anarchy. He was equal to that crisis. None felt a deeper pity for the distresses of the people — but when to obtain a temporary relief, they sought to overthrow the laws and the government, the tender- ness of his character yielded to an imperious sense of duty, and he steeled his heart against the workings of a compassion fraught with woe to his country. He would not believe that armies involving treason against the commonwealth were the excesses of patriotic zeal; the destruction of social order a redress of grievances, or that rebellion and civil war were certain evidences of the true spirit of liberty. He was determined to support the court and the laws even to the shedding of blood. The militia were ordered out. Court day ar- rived. The robe of the judge was thrown aside. The martial garb was resumed — again the plume waved over his head, and the sword of the warrior flashed bright in the sunbeams. Sounds ominous and threatening arose from the mob. The blood of the people, the blood of the people is to be shed, was the cry, to the onset — but when steady at their posts the citizen soldiers were seen — extended in double lines from the doors of the Court House— when the resolute demeanor of the commander was observed — the tone of defiance sank to that of remonstrance, and the general was entreated to witlidraw his soldiers. " Away with your whining, was his determined and memorable reply. I will hold this court, if I hold it in blood. I will sit as a Judge, or I will die as a General." In an instant all was quieted — the mob stole off secretlj' and silently, and the laws triumphed. But the spirit was not yet quelled, the session of the supreme court was to follow in October. All the western counties were in rebellion, and the rebels were in arms. The spirit extended here. The insurgents rallied their whole force, armed themselves and appeared in battle array on yonder Green, with the avowed in- tention of preventing the sitting of the court by force — the disaffec- tion had spread wide and far, and in this whole county, with the ex- ception of one town, not one entire company could be rallied to the defense of the government — but these were no times for intimidation. Now look back to that scene. Some of you can remember it — aye re- member it as you remember the dark day of 1780. It was nearly forty-four years since. On one side of this village was posted a large body of armed insurgents — on the other the supporters of gov- ernment, the defenders of the laws. The cannon were planted — the matches were lighted and waving. The orders were peremptory that the court should sit — and there was every probability that they could not sit without a battle. Had the government selected for their commander one who was either rash or timid, our peaceful village General David Cobb. 9 inip^ht have witnessed transactions equal in atrocity to the most hor- rible of the French revolution. The rosponsil)ility of the commander was ji^roat, but unconsciuus of wron^, Ik; felt no fear. Ho drew a lino with iiis sword on the ti^round — ho said to tiie rclxd leader, "pass tliat line and I firo, the blood be upon yonr own head." A^ain the laws triumphed — the line was not passed and the court sat in peace. In the night tlio insurg'ents dispersed, and from that day to tliis, in this county, not an arm has been raised to resist the civil authority. To these heroic men this state owes an everlastiiifj^ debt of grati- tude. Entrusted with the military power of the commonwealth, they preserved the peace and the laws, the liberties and the lives of the people. Never were men invested with such powers, wIkj performed their work with more intrepidity, or with less severity. Danger they laughed to scorn, and yet the sight of distress would melt either of them to tears. Like the war-horse of the scriptures, they thundered over the fields of battle and of blood, yet they fled even from the sight of the merited punishment of their own soldiers for offences against discipline. In war like the eagle they snuffed the carnage ; in peace tlie temper of the infant dove was not more gentle. There was no mixture of ruffian and hero in their hearts — like the knights of chivalry their blows were for giants, their tenderness for weak- ness, womanhood and infancy. Their names were Lincoln, Brooks, and Cobb, three of the major-generals of Massachusetts. Long, long will our people have reason to bless their memories — their mingled system of energy and gentleness quelled a wide-spread and danger- ous rebellion, and left no stain of blood behind. Why should they have exposed themselves to the perils and the toils of a civil war in defense of the rights of property? Like the other heroes of the revo- lution their gains in that service had been poverty and suffering and wounds and fears. Had the rebels succeeded and established an Agrarian law, they would have been the gainers. Two of them (B. and C.) led harder lives to earn a bare subsistence than the day laborer who lies down at night, and enjoj's the common blessings of man. The other involved in responsibilities for a companion in arms, dragged his halting limbs, maimed and mutilated in the battles of his country, to the doors of a prison, TIk; sight of the venerable prisoner bending under the weight of years, his iiead wiiitened in his country's service, yet bearing tlu? laurels of many fields of glory, softened even the obduracy of men, who could place a general of the Revolution in the hands of a sherifT, to extort from the compassion of friends the amount of their debts. Shame flushed their cheeks — the hero was nileased, and in time the del)ts were Imnorably paid. Poor as these men were, the considerations of gain or loss, of po- pularity or unpopularity never entered into their views. They had duties to perftjrm and that was enough. They would have performed them, they would have defended the courts, had their names been borne as dependent debt«jrs on half its entries and had its judgments and executions left them to pauperism and beggary. They are now beyond tin; reach of envy, and calumny can no longer riot on their characters. General Cobb, in May, 1789, was elected the sole representative of this town to the general court, and was instantly elevated to the 10 General David Cobb. speaker's chair, which honorable oflBce he sustained until the termi- nation of the session which commenced in January. 1793, having- served four years as the representative of the town and as speaker of the house. He left the chair in consequence of having been elect- ed by the people of the whole state, according to a peculiar mode of choice then prevailing, a member of the third Congress, and took his seat in that body at the commencement of the second term of Wash- ington's administration, and was associated in legislative labors with Ames, Dexter, King, Madison, and Giles, and many other states- men of renown. He left congress in March, 1195, and in the follow- ing year removed with his family to a remote part of Maine. He now disappeared from public life, and devoted himself to agriculture —the cultivation and improvement of his farm. For this pursuit he cherished an inclination akin to enthusiasm, and nothing more de- lighted his heart, than a neat and thrifty cultivation of the land. He was destined, however, to run almost the same career in public life as that through which he had already passed, and to hold the same stations when an inhabitant of either extremity of the state. In 1802 he appeared as a senator from the Eastern District of Maine and was immediately elected president of the senate. In 1808 he was elected to the council, and in 1809 became the second magistrate of the state, by accepting the ofiBce of lieutenant-governor. After a short intermission he was restored to councils of the state, and during the war of 1812 was one of the board of military defence. While a resident of Maine he was appointed chief justice of the court of common pleas, for the county of Hancock, and major-general of the 10th division of the state militia. In a few years after the termination of the war (1815) he retired from public life, and after a short residence in Maine, he returned to his natal spot, to end his days. Such is the narrative of the long career in public life and office of General David Cobb. He was perhaps the most distinguished of our citizens. Aside from the gratitude which is his due as a great public benefactor he is specially entitled to ours. If we were sometimes vexed by the tartness of his reproofs for our want of public spirit, yet candor must admit that his rebukes were intended for good, and that he had given the strongest evidences of his attachment to our welfare. He was the parent of our flourishing academy and through his influence and that alone, was that magnificent donation obtained from the state, which now supports it. He devised the plan of a fund for the support of the ministry, and to him mainl}' is the First Congregational Society indebted for its present ample means. Whenever any public good was to be eff'ected, whether in founding institutions for the support of education, the advancement of morals, the purposes of charity, or the honor of the public, he was active and efficient, giving all his services, and contributing from his own re- sources to the full extent of his means. As a physician he was saga- cious, learned and eminently successful. His presence brought com- fort to the bed of the sick, the alleviations of art, the sonthings of humanity, the words of solace and hope. As a soldier he was fearless and intrepid, calm and collected in danger, rapid and decisive in judgment, and prompt in execution. General David Cobb. 1 1 To tlio courts ho brong'ljt a competent knowledp^c of the law. Al- thf)U}^h ho was not a lawyer, hJH clear perceptioiiH and strong sense eiiablf-d him to detect Hophistry, and to remove the impediments with which artifice and legal ingenuity, too often contrive to embar- rass the progress of justice. As a politician he was distinguished for his love of order, and his attaLhnient to tiie constitution. 1I; this association carries us back to the first settlement of the country — for the president had arrived at adolescence before the death of the first born of New England. When he began to comprehend, the legends of antiquity came fresh and glowing from those who not only received tliein from the holy seers of New England, but who saw the wonders themselves, who could tell him of the Endicotts, the Winthrops and the Dudleys, those iron-nerved pilgrims who bnilt up the church of Christ and the temple of liberty in the Anieric:in wil- derness ; of the mystic eloquence of Vane, Sir Henry, of Leverett who fought by the side of Oliver Cromwell ; of those terrible men who sat in judgment on their king, and doomed to the axe tiie head whicli had worn a crown ; of that romantic war, the exploits of Church, and the desolations of Philip, where men fought for the existence of the English race. But the president himself saw many marvellous things and knew many wonderful men. He heard with his own ears the tiery and im- passioned eloquence of the Cookes, father and son, who for fift}' years wielded the fierce democracy of Massachusetts, and in the royal presence itself, qtiestioned the mandates of royalty. He saw his countrymen arraj'od in arms and on the march to achieve that mag- nificent enterprise, which has shed such glory on our provincial his- tory. But let us examine what our friend himself has known and seen. He knew the talented, eccentric and unfcu'tunate Sliirlcy, once the pride of Massachusetts. He tieard the wail mingling with the slnnit which announced the victory, and the fall of Wolfe. He saw the commencement and the termination, and he was an actor, and an important one too, in that tremendous conflict which gained an empire to the world, and lost it to the British crown. He heard the first and the last trumpet blasts wliicli issued from the lips of James Otis. He saw the budding and the blasting of that mighty mind which shook a throne and reared a republic. For more than four years he stood by the side of George Washing- ton on the battle-field, and in the tent he shared his councils — he heard the sound of liis voice, he felt the pressure of his hand, gras|> ing his own in the spirit of friendship. He witnessed the rise and fall of states and empires. He witnessed the overthrow of thrones and of races of kings 14 General David Cobb. which had endured for a thousand years, and he lived to witness their wonderful restoration. He saw the rise, the progress and the fall of the master spirit of the age, the modern Alexander, who bore the republican banner of France and his own imperial eagles from Egypt to Moscow; whose ambition encompassed the ends of the earth, and grasped the world. He saw the first action of our national constitution; and he assist- ed in framing the organic laws on which depend the prosperity and the grandeur of the nation. He saw our manufactures confined to forges and smithy. He lived to see with his own eyes the existence of a power and capacity in this, to rival nations whose experimental knowledge has been the growth of centuries. Our commerce, in his youth confined to miserable river craft, creeping along the shores and gathering the scanty articles of traffic from a poverty-stricken country, he lived to see encompassing the world and condensing its wealth; a navy formed under his own eye, before which the crescent of Mahomet has waned — before which the tri-colored flag of France has been struck — before which the pride of the queen of the ocean has been humbled. He lived to see the population of his country swelled from one million to twelve; and to see this population surmount the barrier of the Alleghany, sweep down the magnificent rivers of the west, pass the mighty Mississippi, the father of the waters, and advancing with certain and rapid steps to plant the banner of the republic on the shores of the Pacific. This view could be expanded into a volume; but I am compelled to forbear. It is enough to wonder at the past. In anticipating the future, imagination itself is bewildered, astonished and paralyzed. I come now to the closing scene, when that bold spirit which had borne its full part in the great events of the last sixty years was about to take its flight; when that hardy frame which had braved the blasts of the winter, the burning sun of the summer, the night storm, and the battlefield; which had found its resting place on a rock, with a snow bank for a pillow, was extended, weak, prostrate and helpless, on the bed of death. Then when the hand of fate was upon him, when that dark curtain which separates the living from the dead, which, like the curtain that enveloped the sacred spot of the temple, and concealed from the eyes of mortals the things conse- crated to God, was about to fall, he called back to his mind the thoughts, the feelings of his youth — his early recollections — his early associations. " Et dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos." The home of his heart was here, and here he chose his grave. When he was laid in that quiet place "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest," the glorious sun was sinking beneath the western horizon, and the shades of evening were about to fall. No banner waved over his humble grave; no martial dirge sent forth its mingled strains of wail and triumph; no thunder from the cannon announced the fall of a hero. He well knew the heartlessness of public exhibitions of sorrow, and refused to have his grave profaned with " the mockery of woe." General David Cobb. 16 Wlien hifl kindred had departod, one stood at his grave who loved him well; and as he saw the first earth thrown npon his cofTin, he asked himself this question — Is this the end? Will nothing remain of that bright spirit, which once animated that lifeless body, but the dust, soon to be mingled with that which covers it? Can it be pos- sible that those lofty aspirations which grasped at a higher world, by seeking the good of man in this, — those deep philosophic con- templations on the nature of intellect — those profound moral max- ims, bearing the impress of a gonius which, in its contemplations, soared above the earth — those briglit imaginations, almost breathing of the inspirations of prophecy — that divine flame, pervading the bosom of the philanthropist, kindling the fancy of the poet, warning the heart of the hero, seeming to come fresh from a fountain, whose waters having been " troubled by an angel," were mingled with fire, and flashing with beams of living light, can be nothing but modifica- tions of vile matter, the work, the action of a machine of clay, perishable and mortal! No; let the atheist — let the man without a God, console himself with such belief, I will believe that the think- ing mind is a spark from Heaven, changeless and immortal. I will believe that there is a stream of light issuing from the grave, pene- trating the darkness, and mingling with that ocean of light — that light that never yields to darkness — that light that eternally sur- rounds the throne of God. I will believe that my venerable friend exists — exists in happiness, that his sins are forgiven, " for he loved much " — that in the house of our common Father, " where there are many mansions," there is one at least for him. General Cobb was born Sept., 1748. Died April 17, 1830. J,/ 7-/ r Xa^Ji^^. **■ ^^-«^^