E 664 .B75 C7 Copy 1 E 664 .B75 C7 Copy 1 Commemorative Exercises in connection with The Erection of a Memorial Tablet to George Sewall Boutwell In Groton Cemetery May Fifteenth, 1908 Poem by WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER, Esq. Address by THE HON. WINSLOW WARREN BOSTON, 1908 Commemorative Exercises in connection with The Erection of a Memorial Tablet to George Sewail Boutwell In Groton Cemetery May Fifteenth, 1908 Poem by WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER, Esq. Address by THE HON. WINSLOW WARREN BOSTON, 190,8 The Memorial Tablet in the New Groton Cemetery is inscribed : In Memory of GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL Jan. 28, 1818 Feb. 27, 1905 Governor of Massachusetts Representative and Senator of the United States Secretary of the Treasury Illustrious Citizen, Patriot, Statesman Consistent, Brave and Devoted Friend of Human Liberty The exercises began with laying of flowers upon the grave by the George S. Boutwell Woman's Relief Corps, No. 49, Auxiliary to the G. A. R., the George S. Boutwell Post, No. 48, Department of Massachusetts, G. A. B., and the E. S. Clark Post, No. 115, Department of Massachusetts, G. A. R. ; and the singing of Sir Henry Wotton's "The Character of a Happy Life" by a choir of boys from the Groton School. Letters of sympathy and regret were received from the Presi- dent of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Speaker of the National House of Representatives, the Lieutenant Governor — Acting Governor of Massachusetts, the President of the State Senate; from ex-Gove^npr Brackett, ex-Governor Long, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, Gen. W.'&. Bancroft and many others. The poem was read by William Roscoe Thayer, Esq., and the address delivered by the Hon. Winslow Warren as follows : 2 ^5. C\-. y}-rua-rv\* TO BOUTWELL I marvel not that Youth, Impassion'd for the Truth, Cleaves but to her, as bridegroom to his bride; Eecks neither praise nor blame, Heeds not the lure of fame, Knows that her smile were worth the world beside. But when in Age I find Young courage and young mind, And eyes that see their morning vision clear, Like him but lately dead, Who after four-score led Our battle-charge, I marvel and revere. Thou gav'st him life, State, Who wert assigned by Fate The noblest task of all the modern years : To clear a little space Where conscience should have place To worship God, and men with men be peers; A clearing by the sea Where none should crook the knee To king or pope or other man-made lord; A haunt where Peace might dwell With folk who lov'd her well, But still for Duty's sake would draw the sword. Beloved State, and true! Thy blessed gospel flew Throughout the West and loos'd the Old World's chains; Thy thoughts like lifeblood run Thro' ev'ry loyal son Who feels the stir of freedom in his veins. He was thy son ! he heard In youth thy puissant word And prov'd the obligation of thy breed; Obey'd thy civic call, Eose high, nor fear'd to fall Confessing thine instruction by his deed. His laurel'd name shall stand With theirs that sav'd the Land When mad Rebellion shook our cornerstone; His courage never quail'd, His counsel never fail'd, Till Discord ceas'd and Wrong was overthrown. To shine in such a strife Were crown enough for life; The newer labors to new hands belong; But when the younger brood Set bad instead of good, He rose, again a youth, and smote the wrong. Tho' Prudence bade, "Beware !" He answer'd straight, "I dare !" And swept like retribution on the foes; Put compromises by — Half-truth is still half-lie — Nor barter'd his convictions for repose. He heard but to despise The precepts worldly-wise That check the vanward impulse of the soul — The si}', corrosive doubts, The cynic sneer that flouts All virtue and denies the unseen goal. Years never palsied him With disillusions grim, Xor taught the lie that numbers most avail; He held that not to fight For Freedom and for Right — Our captains — is the coward's way to fail. He was not overborne By ridicule or scorn, Nor daunted by the dangers of the time; He even could resist The friends whose love he missed, The comrades of the causes of his prime. To suffer and endure, To keep the spirit pure — The fortress and abode of holy Truth — To serve eternal things, Whate'er the issue brings, This is not broken Age, but ageless Youth. WILLIAM EOSCOE THAYER. Address by the Hon. WINSLOW WARREN But three short years ago all that was mortal of George S. Boutwell was here laid peacefully to rest amid the surroundings he loved so well, and now in this spring time of hope we gather as relatives, friends and fellow townsmen to pay a simple, unostenta- tious tribute of respect and affection to that able, conscientious Christian soldier whose battle was always for the right as he saw it and who ever gave of his utmost for the preservation and moral benefit of his country. Favored beyond most men in the length of his days he was also favored that to the very end he was able to influence his countrymen by words of wisdom and counsel. No pomp or ceremony, no pretentious marble would befit his simple life — if honors came to him in double portion, they were only the reward of faithful adherence to plain duty and of natural abilities which he reinforced by constant and persistent labor. He loved public station but not unless he had won it by his own merit and for the purpose of effecting a public good. Born of the old New England stock — he was himself a typical New Englander — of the kind New England is most proud — a self- made man who in the making had availed himself to the utmost of his opportunities and who claimed by right of birth only the brains that God had given him and the frame that shirked no bodily or mental toil. In form and appearance and manner he reminded you of the Puritan of the olden time but toned and modified and humanized by the spirit of the age in which he lived. Although a large portion of his life was spent in public office and in the whirl of public affairs he loved nothing better than to lay them all aside and enjoy the quiet life of a private citizen in this peaceful town sure of the approbation of his fellow citizens and that confi- dence and respect which came from the simplicity and modesty of his habits, his sympathetic interest in all that concerned their wel- fare, and the rectitude of his life. I might well pause here, for I can pay no higher tribute and nothing that I can say can add to the appreciation of Governor Boutwell which you, his neighbors and friends, already have. The highest proof of a man's sterling worth and character is always found in the love and admiration of those who knew him best in the humbler daily walks of life and who bear him in tender mem- ory for what he was at home among them, rather than for the more showy and brilliant qualities which distinguished him to the outer world. I had known Governor Boutwell more or less all my life, in polities or in business, and it does not in the least diminish my high estimate of his character and attainments if I admit that I often differed from him while acknowledging the purity of his motives; the privilege of intimate acquaintance, however, came to me late in his and my life, but it was when he had reached the full fruition of a noble life — had satisfied a laudable ambition, had left behind an honorable and distinguished career, and in his old age had grasped the opportunity yet left to increase his country- men's indebtedness to him by devoting all his remaining strength and unimpaired intellect to rallying them to the defense of those principles of constitutional liberty for which he had always fought. His life was a singularly varied one and characteristic of our Amer- ican civilization. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, Jan- uary 28, 1818 — his parents were of what Lincoln happily termed "the plain people" — honest, hard working, God-fearing people of old English stock — moderate in circumstances, and whose whole lives were a cheerful struggle against adverse conditions; but their ideas of healthy moral and physical training of youth were fortu- nately of the old-fashioned kind teaching industry, perseverance, mental discipline and the highest regard for truth and principle. The future statesman had few of the advantages of early educa- tion, none but what the common schools afforded in the winter sea- son, for in the summer his time was occupied in work upon his father's farm. When he was of the age of thirteen he left school to go into a store in Lunenberg, where his parents then resided, but he was indefatigable in reading and studying evenings, and at every leisure moment — in 1834 he taught school for a short time in Shirley and then became a pupil himself at a small private school. In 1835 he removed to Groton and became clerk in a store for the sale of boots and shoes and later the manager and owner; but he lost no opportunity of enriching his mind by the study of the best ancient and modern writers — he learned the Hebrew alphabet, and became familiar with the pure English of the Old Testament prophets and the masterpieces of English oratory. To poetry he was not much inclined although he read some of the older poets — fiction he read not at all and science did not appeal to him. The imaginative side of his nature was never greatly developed and his oratorical style was modelled upon that of the English prose writers of the 17th and 18th centuries — giving little play to fancy and showing an utter disregard of rhetorical effect. His range of reading as described by himself shows clearly the bent of his mind as well as his intense studiousness — he writes that between 1835 and 1841 he read the following books — and this was a period when he was actively engaged in business and very busy in current politics — Locke, Say's Political Economy, Smith's Wealth of Nations, Plutarch, Josephus, Herodotus, Lingard, Hume, Smol- lett, Cicero, Demosthenes, Homer, Pope, Byron, Shakespeare, Bos- well's Johnson, Junius, The Tattler, The Rambler, The English Eeviews, Text Books in French, Blair's Rhetoric, Blackstone, Story on the Constitution, The Federalist and De Lohme on the British Constitution. This is an imposing list, if a rather prosaic one, and 8 to many would seem a somewhat strange selection, yet it points very clearly to the object he had in view, to fit himself to take part in public life as well as to lay the foundation for the law — for during all this time he was at work studying his profession, mostly evenings after the day's labor was over, and he was also engaged to some extent in its practice. It certainly furnishes a most suggestive lesson to any who may think that success in life can be attained other than by the hardest kind of work. He took quite an active interest in town affairs and contributed articles on political topics to the press thus attracting the notice and earning the good opinion of his fellow citizens. In 1839 he was chosen upon the school committee of Groton — in 1840 was an ardent champion of Van Buren in the Presidential campaign, and in the same year ran for the Legislature but without success. In 1841, however, he was elected by a major- ity of one and between 1840 and 1850 was elected seven times though it is interesting to note that he met with defeat on several occasions because of his independent attitude on local questions. He had attached himself to the Democratic party with whose general views of a strict construction of the Constitution — regard for the rights of the masses of the people, hard money and a low tariff he was then in full accord — but he was frequently out of harmony with the leaders and held pronounced anti-slavery views which grew in force as his party became more and more under the domination of the slave power. After distinguished service in the Legislature and serving as Secretary of the Board of Education, in 1851 he was elected Gov- ernor of the State by a coalition of the Democrats and Free Soilers and was re-elected in 1852. Though a Democratic Governor he gave his party some anxiety by his independent course, gradually lost sympathy with it and became in 1855 one of the organizers of the new Eepublican party, with which he thenceforward acted so long as he believed it to be true to the principles of liberty. In 1862 he was elected to Congress, having previously filled many important national positions — in 1869 he became Secretary of the Treasury under President Grant — in 1873 Senator from Massachu- setts, and upon retiring in 1877, was appointed Commissioner to revise the statutes of the United States and afterwards to many important positions requiring legal knowledge and ability. In this place I can thus only hastily sketch the course of his life, the details must be for the historian, for his distinguished services during the Civil War, through the reconstruction period, and afterwards, form an important part of the history of his country. It is enough for me to say that in all the positions to which he was called, he served with great distinction, that he was clear in thought, bold and determined in action — thoroughly open and above board — never paltering with his own conscience and despising those who set expediency or profit before right — yet charitable towards honest opponents and with no malice towards those who saw not the right from his point of view. He was a partisan in the best sense of the word — he believed in political parties as necessary though imperfect instruments to conduct the public business, but he never could become a slave to party or set the party name above the party principles. His study and practice of the law was too desultory and inter- mittent to allow of his attaining the high position at the bar to which his abilities entitled him. He never studied law as a sci- ence nor wooed that jealous mistress with the assiduity that success demanded, yet he tried numerous cases with skill and ability, and in the conspicuous and important legal appointments under Government showed a broad grasp of legal principles and a wide knowledge of precedents which if used upon a broader field would undoubtedly have gained for him high honors in the legal pro- fession. During his political career moral questions largely over- shadowed all others and while he had positive views upon purely political subjects, or when Secretary of the Treasury had to deal with broad financial matters — his great field was the moral one which involved slavery, and the efforts for reconstruction after the 10 war. He deprecated war but was a vigorous and constant up- holder of the civil war which meant to him the destruction of African slavery which he thoroughly detested, and so far as in him lay he proposed to remove that awful stigma upon America's fair name before final peace was made. The cost of its removal was as nothing to him as compared with the curse of its existence. He knew not the meaning of compromise upon such a subject — he fought with all his energy and drove his shafts straight to the mark, never pausing to see whether his doctrines or acts won popular favor, so sure was he that they were right. To many his views at times seemed extreme, but they were the result of careful thought with a single eye to the real benefit of his coun- try. His faith in the glorious destiny of America was supreme though it was not a blind optimism which saw no perils in the path, but an unconquerable belief in the wisdom and permanency of re- publican institutions. He stood with Lincoln and Sumner and Andrew and other great statesmen, through the war and after the war, in their de- termination that this country should be placed upon a sound moral as well as political basis. He shared all their views of con- stitutional liberty and all their faith in the rights of men of what- ever color — he felt with them that no man was great enough or good enough to own his fellow man — that every people must be left to determine its own form of government — that the best government of a people by an alien nation was worse than the worst government of a people by themselves — that the Declaration of Independence was no generality but contained imperishable truths not to be set aside when circumstances rendered it inconvenient for us to ad- here to them : — it was not to be expected therefore that in hid later years he could reverse these opinions of his life and he did not. He could never join the ranks of those who fancied a distinction be- tween Americans holding slaves and an American Eepublic holding subjects — he had read in the history of the American Eevolution that taxation without representation was tyranny and he believed 11 it to be tyranny just as much under an American President as under England's George the Third, and worse, from the fact that George the Third had never proclaimed any doctrine to the con- trary. The claim that the Philippine Islands were committed to our care by Divine Providence when he had seen them unlawfully bought from Spain and then filched away from the natives in bloody strife after they had been misled by our promises or actions — he utterly rejected as false and hypocritical. In these views he stood with many of the greatest and wisest living Americans, Republicans and Democrats — but he never stopped to count the number or the weight of his supporters or opponents, he only recognized that principles for which he had fought all his life were at stake and his duty be- came clear. Party dictation or expediency he threw to the winds — denunciations or caustic criticisms were as nothing to him — with infinite regret he severed his long-cherished connection with the Re- publican party and with the old fire undiminished devoted his re- maining years to the upholding of the same doctrines of human liberty for which he had given his earlier ones. He was of the stuff of which martyrs are made and might have exclaimed with Martin Luther — "Here I stand ! — I can do no otherwise. God help me !" Men may disagree with him — may be more willing than he to cut loose the Ship of State from its ancient firm moorings — but no lover of his country, no believer in high ideals, can withhold from Governor Boutwell admiration for his courage, his consistency, his devotion to his own conceptions of truth, and his fearless energy, when his age had fairly entitled him to repose, in giving himself to the cause of human liberty. I have dwelt upon the characteristics of the man rather than upon the details of his career — the emphasis upon his later years is only that they were the ripened fruit of his whole previous life. They illustrate the man of action and of thought — a New England conscience as rugged as her native hills, an indomitable 19 will and courage, a high sense of duty and great abilities brought to the welfare of his country. I have heard greater orators than Governor Boutwell, more pro- found scholars and thinkers, but no one who carried with him a deeper impression of intellectual honesty and clear conviction than he did. There was something in his very manner when he rose to speak, which insensibly attracted the attention of his audience and gave the impression that here was a man who had something to say worth listening to. This effect was enhanced by a slow, earnest ut- terance which grew in intensity and vigor when he desired to em- phasize any part of his speech, the tones of his voice manifesting the depth of his belief and gaining the sympathy and interest of his hearers. He never sought their applause but appealed with start- ling directness to their reason and conscience, seeming almost im- patient of manifestations of approval as though they interrupted the current of his thoughts and impaired the force of his words. He indulged in no glowing periods, rarely showed a tendency to hu- mor, although he was by no means without it; but in sarcasm he was severe and trenchant, yet however pointed it never stooped to insinuation or to unfair personal attack. His language was unaffectedly simple and Ms thoughts were ex- pressed in logical form and so clearly and cogently that they seldom failed to reach the understanding by their apparent frank- ness. He could hardly be said to have had the graces of oratory and he had none of the arts of finished speakers, yet his power over his audiences was very great and his mastery of Anglo Saxon speech gave him a success which more eminent orators might well have envied. Those who seek the lesson of his life as a guide to their own careers may well find it in his self reliance, his utter faithfulness — his untieing labor — his integrity of character and the openness and clearness of his utterances. Of course he erred at times, all men of positive convictions ever 13 will, and no one would have been quicker to admit it than he — in fact, with his pleasant smile and that quiet humor which was so subtle that only those who knew him best appreciated its force, I think he would have charged himself with more mistakes than he really made, for conceit or boastfulness were no part of his nature — but whatever mistakes were his, they were always those of honest judgment and they changed not at all the grand record of his upright life. It is a common remark that a statesman is but a politician passed away, and there is truth in it, provided the politician in his life has been honest with the people, honest with himself, independent and fearless in his convictions and has brought great abilities to the defense of what he thought was right. Measured by such standards many of our politicians may be hopeless of the award of statesmanship hereafter, but not so with Governor Boutwell; he measured up to the highest standards during his life and Ins lamented death full of years and honors, could add nothing to and detract nothing from a fame already secure. I need not speak here of the beauty and simplicity of his home life — y OU? his neighbors and friends, recognize in him the devoted husband, the fond and loving father, and the exemplary fellow cit- izen, interested in local affairs and always ready to give of his advice and co-operation to aid every good movement. Among you he dwelt for over fifty years and, although his public cares and duties compelled long absences, his heart ever turned back to the rolling hills and shady trees of his Groton home where undisturbed he could enjoy his leisure with his family and friends and forget all anxieties and troubles among the books which were the familiar and constant companions of his youth and the solace of his old age. Over his grave we have placed our estimate of the man — no fulsome or elaborate eulogy — but the few simple, plain words which embody his career — words which to all who read will show that here lies buried one of nature's noblemen — one who recognized no 14 superior and no inferior — one who walked among us in unaffected simplicity as a modest unassuming gentleman — yet one who brought great honor to the Nation, the State and the Town in which he lived, by a long life of honorable and consistent devotion to duty — illustrating the enduring nature of a successful career achieved by faithful endeavor and giving to those that come after him an inspiring example of the opportunities which this country affords to those who have the ability, the courage and the will to profit by the privileges of republican institutions. The Rev. Endicott Peabodv pronounced a benediction. li JUN 8 1908 For once we have listened to a funeral oration that had measure. Emerson ranks it among the highest attributes of style, of conduct, of the gentleman or the lady, to "have measure." "Shrillness has been known," he goes on to say, "to put whole drawing rooms to flight." But tho measure in this funeral eulogy was not one imposed by any considerations of literary style or personal conduct. It was the habit of the well-trained New England public conscience, inherited through long descent; and it was most befitting for the occasion of the placing of the marble headstone on the grave of this particular "grand old man." Governor Boutwell. It may have been felt, too, that the grave- stone's plainness is severe in the extreme. But after the start given by the first glance at its uncompromising, sharp-edged whiteness, and the momentary chill from the measured conscientiousness of the eulo- gium, came flooding in the old conviction, with all its exhilaration, that we have bred heroes — cool and strong and severely good men — in New England, and rear them still — such single-minded, simply and truly American citizens of the ideal American Republic as Governor Boutwell and the Spartan band standing up with him to face the sneers and fury of the majority. Such men do not want, indeed cannot bear with merely eloquent and patriotic phrase-making and false "fine- writing," even in eulogy. Governor Boutwell was, at the national crisis which came really after the culmination of his long public serv- ice, the embodiment and personification for the time being of the New England conscience. Mr. Winslow Warren's weighing as in the bal- ances of history, almost as with the scales of justice, Boutwell's long political record — begun in revolt against one party and crowned at its highest with his revolt against the other — was simply more of this proud Puritan conscientiousness that makes us, to less earnest seekers after the highest ideals, seem cold-hearted. The truth is that nowhere burns there with steadier glow the fire of patriotism with the potentiality of mounting to the fierce outburst of consuming flame than ir_ these aame supposedly cold New England bosoms. The chosen few who surrounded Mr. Warren at the grave and in the little Groton town hall consented that their hero was great enough to bear the simple truth and would himself have permitted nothing less and noth- ing else could his assent have been asked. The same touching scenes were enacted over again in the beautiful old historic town as at the funeral — the apparent suspension of ordinary day's work, the old home of the veteran statesman at the end of the straight road from the "depot" again the centre of the town for the day as it had been in his life — the headmaster, too. of the Groton school with a choir of the boys assisting loyally. — Edward H. Clement, in the Boston Evening Transcript, May 23. 16 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 789 031 8 \ LlbKHKY Ul- ^UNUKtib 013 789 031 8