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ADDRESS,

DELIVERED JULY 4, 1876,

LANCASTER, MASSACHUSETTS,

BY REQUEST OF THE CITIZENS.

BY

JOHN D. WASHBURN,

A FORMEE R'.ESII)I£IN'.l‘ 012" THE TOWN.

LANCASTER:
.1876.

W O R O E S T E 1?. :
PRESS OF CHAS. FLAMILTON.

1876.

PREFATORY_ NOTE.

AT a legal meeting of the Voters of Lzmeastexg held
April 3d, 1876, on motion of the Rev. A. P. MARVIN, it
was voted :--—- h

“To refer the subject of the delivery and publication of a

’ Centennial Acldress on the 4th of July next, to a Committee of

five, and that the sum of $150 be app1'op1'iated for the same.”

Elected as saicl Oonmnittee :-———

REV. A. P. MARVIN, R‘1:«3v. G. M. BARTOL,
Cxnms. T. lFLI«:Tc1~II«:R, G. F. OI~;IANDL1£R.
HENRY S. NOURSE.

This Oorntnittee was subsequently o1'g21nized by the
election ofM1~. BARTOL as Ollxaix-xnan, and Of'lM1'.NOURSE
as Secretary and T1*eesu1'e1'. On 111o’rion of M1’. MARVIN,
001. JOHN D. WASHBURN was invited to deliver the address.

Exeeoleee

The following exercises were held in the Meeting—House
of the First Pamish; beginniong; precisely at Ten o’o1oek
A. M. :---

0 RGAN VOLU N TARY.

MY COUNTRY, ’TIS OF THEE.
(Ame7'z'ca..)

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fa.t11e1's died,
Land of the pi15._:,'rirns’ pride,
F1'oI11 every mountain side
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee——--

Lend of the noble freew-
Thy name»-—-I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy Woods and templed hills,

My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees
Sweet freec1om’s song;

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break,”
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee We sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedomfis holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.

6

PRAYER,

BY REV. BENJAMIN VVHITTEMOI-IE, D. D.

 

HYMN,

BY BENJAMIN B. VVHITTEMORE.

Almighty God, whose gracious hand
Hes lL)1'lg sustuiuecl our fatvorecl lend,
Thy people, now, in laynius of praise
Their grateful liearts zuicl voices raise,
And for thy blessing humbly pray

To crown the glory of this clay.

Thy sove1'ei_.g'11 power o’e1' all the earth
Atteiicls the nations in their birth--
Thy wisclom ggiving each, curiglit,

Its meecl of st1'eng;th-—its ueecled ligl1t,
All‘moviug' by Th y W‘oucl’rous plan,

To serve the final good of men.

Thy guiding hand 0111-fathers knew,
’l‘hei1'fuith was strong———thei1' coti1‘ug;e true,
VVith trust in Thee they fealless spoke

The WO1‘C1S that stem oppression broke,
While Liberty, ’micl storm eucl stri;t'e,

Led forth. a. izcwiozz into life.

That nation with resistlese tread.
Forth on its mission boldly epecl,
Though freec1om’s direst foes assailed,
Its loyal heart has never quailecl,
And, in this proud centennial year.

It meets the worlcl without :3. peer.

Lord, We behold our Fatiier-1a1"1cl———

Its b0l‘C1€‘1'.$‘.: wide--—-its beauty g1'amd—
While every plain and niountuiu crest
With fL'eeclo11'1’s Signet seems -impx‘eee%’d,
And o’er its wide domain we see

A country meet, :3. people free.

And shall not this clear heritage

Our deep solicitucle engztge?

Lorcl, for our country 1‘I1ay we 1ive—-«~
Help us clevoted hea1‘ts to give,
That still her clesti1"1y rnay be

To bless 111ankiuc1—~—to honor Thee.

7

READING OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

BY HENRY S. Novnslt.

0 D E ,
BY ltlms. JULIA A. FLIGTCLIIBR C?.mNm'.*

One hunclrecl years ago, our sires

Uxnfurlecl the starry bzunner,

And li_e;l1ti1.1g 1+‘1‘eeclo1n”s Slg‘l.l{fiL1 fires
Even froln their own fllnereztl pyres,

Slmutecl in glucl l~:Ic)s:um.n.l
Old l\’I{l.SES{tCl1llS&3tl3S led the Way!

Her pine tree 1"lzLg l.llllfLll‘lll,l‘{,’,‘
W'l1e2‘eve1‘,—~—-01': the l):1.tt;'le cl:.Ly,—-—-
Tllickest amil (‘lm‘1<est ()’er the f’1‘:1y',

The ernolua of ale.-;tth. was c1u‘linrv~.

The snowy flag laeeicle the blue
Still S2'l.iC1, “ Appeal to l~lCeztve1:1 I ”
Dar ; ftllfl yet clz1.1‘l{el‘ grew its hue,
As micl the battle en1<:>l:<e it flew
Till victory was ,<.,*"1vex.1.
God of our sires, Cl;‘l1ou still art here!
We still, to '.l‘l1ee a.ppeztli11g;,',
Ask 1‘1;1:_a.t tl1i..~; proucl Ce1'1tem1ial year
lllay Leave us 1.10l:)1er, purer‘, freer
1+‘1'om foes arouucl 1155 ST3(3tt1il‘lff'.

Serve, We beseech! Om.‘ na,ti0n’.s; lixeztrt
A myriz-tcl foes cloth (3-Ifl(3l‘lS1l1

Low men in places 11i_:.t.,é'l1 lmve part,

A selfisll §g;1'eeCl cloth lilll Gilfllll mmtt,
Help! lesst on 1' climntry perl.~..-thl

In olclen time, ttQ,‘:.Lill.‘;~}l3 one fee
Forth went our snowy bzumer;

()u1'1l1ewe'1‘l'lz1g;, to—cl:.Ly clotll know

No foeman for its m:.1ilecl ztr1in’s blow,
Yet still we cry, I-I0:~3z1.111;m,!

* Extract from letter of Mrs. Carney; “ It will be known to most. of the older ones assem-
bled, that in the early part of our Itevolutiolmwy V‘V‘ar, uur D1.'lV£l.lZ0f.£‘l‘S all carried the old 11:13.:
of Massachusetts. The field was of wl1ite,-—-in the centre a green pine t1:ee;—-—-the motto,
‘Appeal to Hezwen.’ The stzu--spzulgled bzmuer was not zuloptecl till June 14th, 1776, and
still the Massacllusetts State flag was used with It.

The Hebrew nmanlng of l:losa.nna, ‘Save, we beseech,’ rnzty interest the Stluclay School
children. J

01’ course. the present flag of our dear xmtive State, with its mailed ax-In ready for a fee,
yet its motto of peace. is fmniliar to all.”

8

ORATION,

BY JOHN D. VVASIIBURN.

PSALM 4.-4,

( Version of Tate cf.‘ Brady/.)

O Lord, our fathers oft have told,
In our attentive ears,

Thy wonders in their days performed,
And in more ancient years.

Twas not their coumge, nor their sword,
To them salvation gave;

Twas not their number nor their st1'engt11,
That did their country save:

But Thy right 11a.nd.——Thy powerful a,rm,——-
Whose succor they implored;

Thy providence protected them,
Who Thy great name adored.

To Thee the glory we’I1 ascribe,
From whom salvation came;

In God, our shield, We will rejoice,
And ever bless Thy name.

BENEDICTION,

BY REV. A. P. MARVIN.

In further pursuance of their instructions, the Committee
now publish the Address.

ADDREss

AN accoinplished and eloquent orator, in a
coinmelnorative address delivered some years ago
in a neighboring State, spoke of the early days of
this country  the “Age of Homespun 5” yet to
it he attributed, by Way of contrast to our own,
1nost of the characteristics of a golden age. The

, address was graceful and charming, yet it may be
doubted Whether the pictures of the life of our.

fathers were not too highly colored, and Whether the
inferences which would naturally be drawn from
What Was said, are not, relatively, too unfavorable
to the present day.

For Was the age of homespun and the pillion the
golden age of America ? Are We degenerate sons
of nobler sires, as We gather to-day to co1nmen1-
crate and thank Heaven for the lives and labors
and sacrifices of those who first made their abiding
place in this Commonwealth, fugitives from a
tyranny which sought to fetter the conscience and

bind the soul in bonds of iron, of those also Who,
  2

10

in sacrifice and self devotion a hundred years ago
laid the foundations of this Republic, then strong
only in hope and the possibilities of the future, now
imperial among the powers of the earth ‘B Is not
the present as truly the golden age, bright with the
acquisitions of the century just drawn to its close,
the age of free thought and free men, of intellectual
activity, of universal education, of religious equality,
of scientific attainment, of the steamship, the rail-
way and i“ the thoughts that shalaze mankind?”
Do We not most truly honor the fathers when We
claim honor for their sons as a Worthy race of
descendants Which, on the Whole, has illustrated in
its career the influence of their transmitted quality,
Which, on the Whole, has even improved on the
standard they set up, and Which, though not main--
taining every one of their signal virtues in the
conspicuous degree they themselves did, has yet, in
the main, preserved those and combined them with
other good of which the Fathers dreamed not?
Is it Wise, even in these days of commemoration,
to magnify too much their merit in depreciation of
our own? Honest, conservative, desponding minds
there are to-day, which dwell persistently and pain»
fully on the virtues of the Fathers, excluding all
contemplation of their errors, and sighing over
the decline of the virtues to-day, contrasting our
failures with their attainments, ignoring alike their

11

short—comings and our peculiar and distinctive ex-
cellence. Sighs for the domestic purity of times
gone by, sighs for the simplicity of the Fathers,
sighs for the days When, in our country, political
wcorruption was unknown. Shut your eyes and
listen, and you will hear them breathed somewhere
even to—day. And so are the Fathers glorified and
the children shamed, and by the children’s shame
are the Fathers glorified. Not so would I exalt the
founders of these Colonies and this Republic, rather
show forth their true glory by vindicating the claim
of their sons to legitimacy and honor.

Yet our disposition in this regard was theirs also.
In their day, not a few of them mourned their own
degeneracy, and deplored the existence among them
of evils as grave as those over which a portion of
our community sighs to--day. It is not the char-
acteristic of the present age above all others, to
look back to the past for golden days. It is the
common propensity of every age. Hesiod, early
poet of Greece, but spoke the voice of his contem--
poraries when he said that men must look into a
vague and remote antiquity for the times When purity
and faith prevailed on the earth. Ovid, among the
Romans, describes the simplicity and virtues of the
remote golden age in his musical verse. The loftier
strains of Virgil repeat the same refrain, and
Tibullus echoes the sweet and melancholy tone.

12

But a few years later, the successors of these looked
back to them with longings unutterable. They
became the representatives of the golden age of
morals, hardly less than of letters, and their days

seemed as bright and guileless as had to them the

days of Saturn. Christianity came, lighting up the
dark places of earth with mild difi"usive ray ; yet it
was long before men ceased to look back to the
Greek philosophy as of a loftier and purer type:
nay, some have not wholly ceased to even now. , I
pass over ill.ustrations of similar disposition from the
writers of English literature, but remark that in the

time of our revolution many good men mourned’

over the decay of virtue since the early colonial
days, just as now, in the midst (grant it) of striking
instances of personal and political unfaithfulness,
we recur to the days of the Revolution as our
golden age. i .

To say that this disposition is natural is but
commonplace. We have its foundation in the
character and distinctive quality of every succeeding
past and present. As years elapse individuality
lessens. It is the individual always withering and
the world always more and more. By consequence,
the patterns of virtue were more conspicuous in the

past than now, as were the men of high intellectual

type and attainment. It must follow, as the average

‘of each succeeding age grows higher, that indi-

13
vidual eminence, in anything, becomes less pre-
eminent. Witli this advancing average, the
competitions of life become more vigorous, and the
spirit of . inquiry into individual action more bold
and relentless. Moreover, against some particular
vicious tendency of the present, We see the cor—-
responding virtue, standing out in the record of the

past, and dwell upon it With longinoz A single

illustration Will convey and point my mcaninox
There is to-daya tendency to extravagant habits
of life. V7 e see as we look back that there
Was, as a general proposition, more simplicity a
hundred years ago. By» a false generalization We
are led to the conclusion, that since a certain degree

of simplicity is better than a certain degree of

luxury, those days were therefore all better and
these days all Worse. Simplicity of man.ner of life
is a virtue, therefore those Who manifested this

s simplicity in the past were better than those Whom

more coinplexz habits bind in the present. But how
if that simplicity were mainly the result of narrow
means and limited opportunity? Simplicity is not
the only test of virtue. Was the man Who rode
With his Wife on a pillion in 1676 because his con-
tracted means forbade a carriage, by this circum-—
stance a better man than he who drove in his rude
and cumbrous chaise in 17 76, or than he who drives
in the commodious, even luxurious, carriage of the

14

present day? Does a sound logic compel this
conclusion from this change of circumstance ‘P Is
there a necessary and logical connection between
discomfort and Virtue, or does the latter spring‘ from
the former as its natural fruit? Then must. we
sigh for the hair shirt, or the pillar of St. Simeon
Stylites. Is religious profession necessarily more
genuine fro1n being austere, uncharitable in its

judgments and forbidding in its observances, than

when illustrated by the graces and charities? Is
the man who turns the furrow in a secluded corner
of the earth necessarily and from that circumstance
a better man than he wl1o tends the ‘ loom or guides
the engine amid the busy hum of cities, coming, in
his daily walk, into immediate contact with his
fellow-men ? I

I suggest these queries, challenging this disposi--
tion to consider simplicity of life and its surround-
ings, in the early days of our country, a sufficient
equivalent, and more, for much whicl1 makes life
admirable to-day, --——-for far—-abounding charities, for
sympathies developed and matured by constant
and ready intercourse with men, for knowledge
broadening and deepening its channels, for high
schools and colleges, for the railway, the power
loom, the telegraph, for broad and generous Views
by want of which the simple isolated life is usually
marked.

15

Nor, While denying that enforced simplicity of life
is the sum and embodiment of all virtue and excel-
lence, is it necessary to deny that some return
towards it might Well chasten the spirit of the pres-
ent day, so abounding in the long results of time,
which the Fathers dreamed not of. To such return
this centennial year whicli, as it Were by a special
Providence, brings with it unexampled commercial

‘ disaster and distress, may Well admonish the genera--

tion of to-day. How easy such a return may be is
illustrated by the example of VVashington (Who
maintained at times, and especially during his presi-
dency, a dignity and pomp of state which none of his
successors in that oflice have ventured to imitate).
A curious instance of his self-renunciation, which in
the narration must cause a smile at the naiveté of the
commendation, is related by one of his contemporary
statesmen. “ General ‘Washington has set a fine
example of severe economy. He has banished wine
from his table, and entertains his friends with ru1n
and Water. This is much to the honor of his WlS-
dom, his policy and his patriotism. And this
example must be followed by banishing sugar and
all imported articles from our families. R If necessity
should reduce us to a simplicity of dress and diet
becoming republicans, it would be a happy and a
glorious necessity.” A declaration twofold in its
significance, illustrating the suggestions I have

16

made as to t.he simplicity of revolutionary days, and
the longings even then entertained for a return to
plainer manners.

It is then a false generalization Which concludes,
While lamenting some particular error of the
present from Which the past Was in great measure
free, or all the Ways in which the infirmities
of human nature Work themselves out to-~day,
that We are, on the Whole, degenerate sons,
and this illustrated more frequently than in any
other Way, by the primitive simplicity of man-
ners among the fathers. I claim, on the other
hand, joyfully and in veneration of the men who
laid the foundations of our civil liberties, that, on
the Whole, the present days are the best the World
has seen 5 that, on the Whole, steady progress has
been made in all that develops the better part of
human nature, that our country has grown, not
only in material resources, but, on the Whole, in
public virtue, that occasional lapses, and brief eras
of lapses, when conspicuous instances of unfaithful-
ness in public relations a11d in private trusts have
been brought to light, are not to be taken for per-
manent discouragement, but at most are but the
intermittent recessions of a rising tide, that repin-‘
ing for the absence from the public councils or from
the seats of judicial learning, of men of as conspicu-

ous talent as those of former days is unvvarrantable, r

17

since the pre-eminence of individuals is diminished
by the higher average of those around them. Prob-~

ably no one will seriously claim, on reflection, that

the aggregate intelligence of any public body, is less
now than in earlier days. The difficulty is to make
leadership recognized, when surrounded by so much
that approaches it in original quality.

Let me show how the greatest public evils, like

.those of which we complain to-day, were mourned  

over by one of the purest patriots of the Revolution,
as existing throughout that period. We hold up the
unfaithfulness of public officers as in painful con-
trast to the fidelity of those of the revolutionary era.
Yet John Adams, in 1776, speaking not in the heat
of debate, nor goaded to stern utterance by the
rigor of party necessity, but in the quiet confidence
of domestic life, said, ‘i We are ~most unfaithfully
served i11 the post-oflice, as well as many other
offices, civil and military. Unfaithfulness in public
stations is deeply criminal. But there is no encour-
agement to be faithful; neither profit, nor honor,
nor applause is acquired by faithfulness. But I
know by what. There is too much corruption
even in this infant age of our republic. Virtue is
not in fashion. Vice is 11ot infamous.” VVho de—-
spairs of disinterestedness in public and private
service to—day, and in this regard deplores our
national degeneracy? The same illustrious man
3

18,

said in the same year: “ The spirit of venality, you
mention is the most dreadful and ala.r1nin0' enem *
7 CD
America. has to oppose. It is as *apacious and
insatiable as the grave. ‘We are in the ‘faace
Romuli, non republics Platovzis.’ This predominant
avarice will ruin America, if she is ever ruined. If
God Almighty does not interfere, by His grace, to
control this universal idola.try to the mannnon of
corruption, we shall be given up to the chastise-
ments of His judgments. I am ashamed of the age
I live in.” Does the venality of the present day
call for sterner rebuke than these words convey E’
And with reference to this very simplicity itself,
which is sometimes assumed to be so cliaracteristic
of the beginning of the century just now closed,
Mr. Adams, commenting on N ecker’s essay on the
true principles of executive power in States, says,
“A man who,like myself, has been many more years than Mr.
Necker ever was in the centre of public affairs, and that in a coun-
try which has ever boasted of its simplicity, frugality, integrity,
public spirit, public virtue, disinteriestedness, etc., can judge from
his own experience of the activity of private interest, and perceive
in what manner the human heart is influenced and soothed by
hope. Neglect and sacrifice of personal interests are oftener
boasted than practised. The parade, and pomp, and ostentation,
and hypocrisy, have been as common in America as in France.
When, I hear these pretensions set up, I am very apt to say to

myself, ‘this ‘man deceives himself, or is attempting to deceive
me.’ H

Not a few good men are grieving to-«day over the
tendency of a portion of our people to indifierence to

19

the preservation of the national faith, as presenting
a contrast, in the present time, to the sturdy uphold-
ing of it by the Fathers. Yet, on this point, in his day
and before the close of the last century, Mr. Adams
said: “It is a mortifying circumstance that five
months have been Wasted on a question Whether
national faith is binding on a nation. Nothing but
the ignorance and inexperience of the people can
excuse them} Really We have not a right sense of
moral or natural obligation. "We have no national
pride, no sense of national honor.”

Sadly some deplore the increase of government

‘ influence and patronage, and the tendency of those

in power, at the present day, to press prerogative un-
duly against the liberties of the people, as Well as the
dangers of intense party spirit in its influence on the
popular mind and conscience; and in this regard
contrast the early days of the republic With our
own. Yet this same philosophic statesman, speal=:--
ing, as before, calmly and in familiar correspond-
ence, said, in language which may find its almost
exact application to the circumstances of this
hour, ----

“I have always thought it injudicious to make any attempt
against the governor, knowing, as I do, the habitual attachment
to him, as well as the clifficulty of uniting the people in another.
The consideration he gives to a very profligate party is very
pernicious to the public, but he is stimulated, in part, by the
opposition to him, and he would not do less out of office. The

On

20

constitution of our government is calculated to create, excite and
support political parties in the States, mixing and crossing

, alternately with parties in the Federal Government. It will be a

perpetual confusion of parties. I fear we do not deserve all the
blessings We have Within our reach, and that our country must be
deformed with divisions, contests, dissensions and civil war, as
well as others. * °*" * May God, of His infinite mercy, grant
that some remedy may be found, before it is too late, in the good
sense of this people.”

Many persons, Well-informed in general, strangely
forget the plainest truths of history, in their dispo-
sition to depreciate the present in comparison with
the past. At the time of our great Civil VVar,
nothing was more common than to hear it cited as
a proof of our decline in the spirit of patriotic self-
sacrifice, that it was necessary to offer pecuniary
bounties, inorder to induce men to serve in the
national army. Yet as early as 1776, Congress
offered twenty dollars and a hundred acres of land
to every man Who would enlist for the War, and in
1778 five hundred dollars were offered by towns in
Massachusetts, for recruits for nine months. There
Was no vice in our late army which did not find its
counterpart, in kind if not in degree, in the patriot
army of Washingtoii. Then, as later, the sutler
preyed ‘upon the soldier, and the hoarse voice of
Hook resounded through the patriot camp, with its
selfish and discordant, cry. The same jealousy
among military officers in high command which We
have seen so lately exhibited Warred against the

21

efliciency of the army, and protracted the exhaustive
struggle. A

“I am Wearied to death,” says Mr. Adams, “ with the Wrangles
between military oflicers, high and low. They quarrel like cats
and dogs. They Worry one another like niastiffs, scrambling after
rank and pay like apes for nuts. I believe there is no one princi-
ple which predominates in human nature so much, in every stage
of life, from the cradle to the grave, in males and females, old and
young, black and White, rich and poor, high and low, as this pas-
sion for superiority ;,but I never saw it operate with such keen-
ness, ferocity and fury, as among military oflicers. They will go
terrible lengths in their emulation, their envy and revenge, in
consequence of it.”

Icite these contemporaneous declarations of the
highest authority, not in disparagement of the
Fathers Whom We venerate, but as an encourage-
ment to men of to-day to believe in their times and
in themselves, to show by one witness among many,
and by one Whom all Who listen will admit to be
entitled to the fullest respect, that the very vices We
most deplore among ourselves in public life were
deplored not less deeply by those men Who, amid all
these drawbacks, laid strong and enduring the
foundations of our government. Even better than
they knew did the Fathers build. For who of them,
in the moment of highest prophetic ecstacy, Would
have dared predict for his country the glory and
success it has achieved among the nations of the
earth? If we have not eradicated the vices of
those earlier days, We have added to them the
triumphs of the present, triumphs of intellect, of

22

, personal freedom, of free thought and the advance-

ment of learning 5 and I venture to add, also--—in
view of the severer strain put upon them by the
fiercer competitions of the day-—-of public and
private morals. Notwithstanding the recent

developments, of defalcations, financialldishonesty,

moral delinquency and crime, it‘ may be fairly
claimed as a triumph, at least of the negative
character, that a gigantic civil War has closed and
left behind no greater track of moral ruin. Of civil
Wars it may Well be said, in the language of Burke,
“ They strike deepest of all into the manners of the
people. They vitiate their politics 3 they corrupt
their morals. They prevent even the natural taste
for equality and justice. By teaching us to consider
our fellow-citizens in a hostile light the Whole body

of the nation becomes less dear to us.” Unques-V

tionably, the general history of mankind confirms

these declarations of Mr. Burke, and, compared with \

What might reasonably have been expected to follow
in pursuance of this rule, our actual experience has
been exceptional in the lightn.ess of the evils We
have suffered.

A modest scholar, in dwelling upon the disclosures
of the past few years, l1as claimed that “A it may be
considered one of those epidemics of crime which

have frequent parallels in the history of the past,

and is not a symptom of incurable national decay

23 ‘

and corruption.” VVith peculiar felicity, he cites a
similar state of affairs in England in the time of
Williaiii III., and especially in the years 169él——5.

.The characteristics of those times have been

graphically portrayed by Macaulay’s brilliant pen.
He says :—---- T

“The peculations and venality by which the ofiicial men of that
period were in the habit of enriching themselves had excited in
the public mind a feeling such as could not but vent itself, sooner
or later, in some formidable explosion. But the gains were
immediate; the day of retribution was uncertain, and the plun-
derers of the public were as audacious as ever, when the
vengeance long threatened and long delayed suddenly overtook.
the proudest and most powerful among them. The Whole
administration was in such a state that it was hardly possible to

track one offender without discovering ten others.”

Then follows the long catalogue of public crimes
and illustrious criminals. All, as in our own case,
the temporary recessions of the rising tide of ClVll--
ization-—--tlie rule, progress from century to century;
the recessions of a few years in each century lost in
the contemplation of the past. And all this pro-
gress hut the omen and prophecy of What is yet to
come. We stand on this Centennial Day at the
opening of a century at the close of which our

successors may look back upon us, in the comparison i
of our attainments in all that makes human life T

desirable with their own, as barbarians. I11 the
providence of God, in the light of Christianity, in

24

the light’ also of Science---—her younger sister, infinite
possibilities of progress are before us. Imagination
fails to grasp or define the results of an advance for
‘another century proportionate in any degree to that
of this closing one. Wliat truths of nature will not
science then have revealed ‘P VVhat arts of life will
then obtain, inconceivable now ? Wliat shall it
now be said will then be impossible ? Wliat con-
ditions are to usmore inconceivable than were one

hundred years ago that power in the expanded drop

of water to drive 1nan’s iron chariot over land and
sea, or thatmysterious agency of the skies which,
obedient to man’s command, gathers with instanta-—

T neous grasp the scattered intelligence of the eastern

and western worlds and lays it on our table fresh
every morning of the year ? The impossibilities of
to-day fade away then before the unimaginable

possibilities of the future. These cannot be defined

nor foreshadowed, and the boldest visions shrink
from taking shape or form.

“ Vast images in glimmering dawn,
Half shown are broken and withdrawn.”

Their embodiment in attainment through the agency

of the restless and aspiring soul and mind of men,

our successors here, rests alone with God. Yet, in his
Providence, I hold it clear that, bright as is this day of
our success and glory as a nation, a country, a race,

25

these successors of ours, looking back to What We
Were, shall descry an infancy of l1ope rather than
a manhood of attainment; and, judging us with
charity,--—-exaggerating, perhaps, our merit as they
contemplate some passing or signal demerit of their
oWn,--—--will yet insist that, after all, we Were but the
“ancients of the earth, and in the morning of the
times.” ‘
I must once more guard against the possible
suggestion that in What I have said earlier in this
address, I design to depreciate or undervalue the
past. Not so I I would but judge it fairly, and do
justice to the present in ‘the comparison. VVhat I
mean is, that the present shall not be undervalued by
reason of its errors, and to that end I remind you
that our Fathers had to contend With the same evils
in their day, which pressed upon them to the point
of discouragement-—-at times, even, of ”despair-—--
and drove them in their time back to the past for
brighter and purer exaxnples. It is the danger to
Which the conservative mind is subjected (and its
judgments aregenerally to be treated with respect
because its aspirations are generally for virtue), to
feel that all the progress of the present is 1nore
than offset by new and heretofore unexperienced
evils. Isit not true that most of the conventions

I and conferences of so—callecl conservative men and

politicians are marked by expressions of glorificaa
4

26

tion of the past, in disparagement of the present?
Do they not generally exclude its sliort-comings, its
expression of the Vanity of human hopes, the exact
counterpart it presents to our own trials, from their
field of Vision? Buoyantly, therefore, and- with
belief in the present, I remind you that our trials of
faith were theirs also, that our hindrances and dis-«
appointments Were theirs also, and beg you to
believe with me that as they overcame We shall
overcome also, if We doubt and despair not by the
Way.

It is appropriate to this Centennial year that its
celebration of the" National birthday should be
marked by considerations and congratulations local
in their nature, as Well as by those relating to the
greatness and glory of our country. The reasons
which led to the colonization of this land, so remote
from what, in that early day, Was known as the
Christian World, the considerations Which, in the
next century, led to the establishment here of a
Republic, o the National struggle, the National
Victory, have been in the past and Will be to—day,
set forth in completeness by orators Who, from their
more distinguished position, address a field large as
the country. And the President of the Republic,
reiterating therein the expressed Wish of the
National Congress, has suggested that the ad-
dresses delivered to-day in the various towns of the

27

land, may be, in some degree at least, based on and
made to illustrate the local history of those places ;
so that they may to some extent, by statement or
reference, constitute a permanent addition to the
details and materials of the history of the country.
No suggestion could be better timed or more truly
in accord with the spirit of the day. The history of
our country is, in a degree at least, the sum of the
histories of its towns and cities. In the usual
exercises in honor of the anniversary of the
National Independence, the disposition of orators

  has almost invariably been to dwell upon the

aggregate glory of the country, rather than upon
the less conspicuous and, it may be confessed, less
interesting details of municipal experiences. Yet
these illustrate the whole subject, a.nd a knowledge
of a them is indispensable to a full comprehension of
the growth and true grandeur of our institutions.
Here are the primal springs of empire. From the
town meetings, in communities like this, emanated
the influence and declarations which stirred the
National conscience, strengthened the National heart
and sustained the National arms in the great
struggle of the Revolution. And I will show you
from the original records of this town, that from its
meeting-house went forth lofty utterances in
denunciation of the pretensions of the mother
country, and in determination to obtain redress of

28

grievances, years before the Declaration of Inde-A

pendence had rung its notes of liberty through the
land. In contemplating then the history of our
town we turn from maturing results ‘to primary
beginnings, from the comprehensive and general to

the essential and elemeiitary particular, “non sectari g

rirvulos, .5-ed petere fonies.”
Nor should the leading points in the history of a

town be suffered to remain unfamiliar to its inhabit- -

ants of successive generations. There may be little
room for originality or claim to the credit of

research and investigation, yet he renders no unim-i _

portant service who, by bringing these points anew A

before the men of to--da aids in the creation of a
9

familiarity which must animate and inspire. W110
first explored that wilderness which now blossoms
around us like the rose? What influence led to.
that exploration, and laid the foundation of the
consequences Which followed ‘P Wl1e1'e was the first
house built? VVhere was the rude meeting--house,
whose walls first listened to the voice of public
prayer in this valley ? Who was the first ma.rt‘yr in
the great crusade, which ended, though conducted
long with varying fortunes, in the triumph of
Christianity over Heathenism, and of Civilization

over Barbarism here ? In the Providence of God it_

was ordained that the red man should disappear
from our land, and that landber peopled with a new

29

race which should, in the course of time, c develop
all its wondrous possibilities. Wl1a.t were the rela-
tions of this valley to that aboriginal and fated
people? Independence of foreign do1nination was
to be won by blood and sacrifice. "What part did
the Revolutionary Fathers of this town bear in that
heroic and protracted contest? With what spirit
did they meet the onset of imperial power, and with
what endurance bear the exhausting strain of long
discouragement and deferred hope ? A vast rebel--
lion against the government of our country was to
be met and overthrown, and rivers of blood flow, to

which those of the Revolution were but mountain .

rills. How did the sons of our sires rise to this new
crisis, and prove from what lineage they sprung ?
You see that these inquiries bring us at once to
the contemplation of the springs of National great--
ness, while the answers v.;hicl1 might be truly made
to-day (for I shall not attempt to answer all),
inspire us with -honorable pride which needs no

‘concealment or apology, and kindle anew our

attachment for our birthplace. , A“ blessing follows.
For as is eloquently and earnestly observed by
Southey :--—-

“‘Whatsoever strengthens our local attachments is f'avo1'able
both to in<;li‘vidual and national character. Our home——our birth-
place—--our natrive land; think for awhile what are the virtues
which arise out of the feelings connected with these words, and

30

if you have any intellectual eyes, you will then perceive the con-
nection between topography and patriotism. Show me the man
who cares no more for one place than another, and I will show
you in that person one who loves nothing but himself. Beware
of those who are homeless by choice. You have no hold on a
human being whose affections are without a tap-root. The laws
recognize this truth in the privileges they confer on freeholders,
and public opinion acknowledges it also in the confidence which
it reposes on those who have what is called a stake in the
community.”

In cordial compliance, then, with the executive
recommendation, I ask you to contemplate with n1e
some of the leading points in the history of our
town; its original settlement and the character and
purposes of its founders, its early growth, its con-;~
tests with the natives, at first mild and hospitable,
afterwards hostile a.nd determined on the extermina-
tion of the white man. Consider, not only here and
now, but elsewhere should any suggestions here
made be found a worthy basis. of reflection, what
were the characteristics of its several epochs, from its

original settlement to its destruction and temporar 7.

abandonment; from its re-settlement up to, and in--
cluding, the Wai" of the Revolution; from the close
of the Wa1° of the Revolution up to, and including,
the Wa1' of the Great Rebellion 5 three epochs of
local histor r, during which I think we shall agree
that patriotism and public virtue grew, that intelli-
gence diffused itself with time, that increasing social
order marked all the eras of our history; that, though

31

there have been occasional failures to come up to the
high standard of the duty of the hour, there never
has been degeneracy, and that this statement finds
fullest illustration in the record of honorable resolve
and action which closes the story of each of the last
two epochs.

Most ancient of the sister townships of this
county, honorable as the gentle mother from whose
loins of virtue eight daughter municipalities have
sprung who now arise and call her blessed, digni-
fied in her age yet wearing it hale a.nd green,
rejoicing not in the mere elements of material
growth and prosperity, but rejoicing rather in what
she has brought into the world, so that instead of
illustrating the swarming growth of population
within her borders, she has wo.n the proud title of
“Mother of Towns,” beautiful in the calm repose of
natural attraction as when her wondrous charm first
revealed itself to the ardent gaze of the adventurous
King, who, first of white men, from the neighboring
summit, like Balboa “silent upon a peak in Da-
rien ” surveyed this lovely valley, our native town
bids us welcome to her borders to--day, and invites
us to read anew her simple, yet honorable, annals.

And first of all, before entering upon even this
brief historic sketch, must full acknowledgment be
made of what has been accomplished for the writer
or speaker of to-—day by the faithful and untiring

32
labors of "Willard. His exhaustive research has left
little to be discovered by those whose task it is, non

pa.ssz'bus ceguis, to follow him. It was my privilege
to know him, and in the years of my own pro--

fessional study which were the later years of his

life of usefulness and honor, to call him my friend.
From him I learned to read the lesson of the past,
and enjoy its contemplation. Unallured by the
sordid from the intellectual, his delight was in his-
toric studies and he found in them a full and rich

_ reward. He loved this town, the home of his early

manhood, where he passed happy years of study and
practice relieved by the pleasures of historic and
antiquarian research. What he has done to perpet-~
uate its history is itself a part of that history. And
it is but justice to his memory to make the admis-
sion that, in my own researches upon this subject, I
have found little which he has not somewhere
stated, or to Which his imemoranda have not given
a clue. Unworthy the orator who attempts to arro-
gate to himself the credit of others’ labors, or who,
if obliged from the very necessities of the situation
to appropriate their results, does not emphatically
and unreservedly make all acknowledgment, and
pay his cheerful tribute of gratitude.

“The persons interested in th9.'.s- plantation being
most of them poor men, and some of them corrupt
in judgment, and others profane, it went. on very

33

slowly, so that in two years they head not tlzmee

. 72,o'u.s'es built, and he whom they had called to be

t72.e«i7** 922'2I9‘vi.s‘te7‘~ left tlzem for tlzeiw clelag/3.” Harsl1
Words, if taken in their liteml sense, to fall f1'o111 the
lips of the ge11e1'ous anczl l1igl1-soulecl VVi11tl11;-op, who
j11clgecl so kiilclly, micl Whose life was the embodi-
ment of almost every Cl11'isti::u1 and St21t(3SI'11£L11llli{G
giraeeg ancl they were spoken, ancl not 1111el1m*itz1.li>ly,
of the men who first tliiclettook the fo1111Claitio11 of
this plalitatioil of Na.sl'1mVay, 1'e:1el1iI1g out froln the
oo111pamt:iVe Wilderness of "W"a.tertoW11 and Cam-
b1‘iclge, to grasp possession of 2111 absolute Wilder-
mess, never t1:*oclclen before by the foot of Wliiite 1112111,
but which tl1ei1* successors, in ai11othe1* ee11tu1~y,
eohvertecl into a gmcleii of bloom zmcl fruit. And
I quote this cleolai1_'a.t~io11 of VVi11tl:11'op in the outset,
as an earnest of my purpose to deal justly with the
past in What is to be said of our local liistory, nor
aoeorcl it an umlue glory f1‘o:1:11 its being f.€1.r.

But While it is oer-tz;1.i11 that "W"i11tl11'*op would eon-
seiously do no injustice to these men, it is fair to
elaiin tlmt his juclgn:1e11t of them 111ig11t have i been
colored by his own l1ighe1' social 1*elaltio11s, zmcl by a
degree of i111pa,tie11ee at their failures. These were
not of the highest class of the 111e11 Who founclecl
Massachusetts. No nzmies like those of "Winthrop
and Saltonstall a.11cl Enclieott we found upon the

eamly 1*eeo1°cls of this town, zmcl it Was reserved for a.
5

84

succeeding generation to make even one of them
illustrious. That they were plain men is obvious.
Their callings were humble and obscure. They
were no doubt “ corrupt in judgment” and “ 1T)1‘Ofa.1'l@,”
in the sense that they were not comiected with the
church, and to that sense, I believe, the e.x1;)1*cssio1is
of ‘Winthrop may be fairly limited. Nor Will I
claim for them in their settlement of Lancaster any
of the exalted purposes which led the men of 1620
or those of 1630, to the remote and barren shore of
Massachusetts. Thomas King was the first English-—
man, so far as can at this day be discovered, who
saw the Valley of the Nashawayg and he saw it,
juclgiiig from subsequent events, rather With the eye
of the speculator than of the religious or political
enthusiast. The history of the settlement may be
concisely set forth. Sholan, the chief of a small
and peaceful tribe, ruled in this Valley, having his
home between the VVaushaku1n lakes. Une.1nbar-
rassed by that dignity which in riper civilizatioiis
becomes a monarch, he Was in the habit of n1a1~::ing
trips to ‘Watertown, carrying his rude merchandise
to a market of consumption or distribution. There
he met King, who was induced by his representa-

tions to Visit this Valley. Imagination may portray

in glowing language, if it will, his feelings and
resolves as he gazed upon its beauties. The
record only is that he, with his associates, purchased

35

la lziifge tract of land of Sholan, had a deed of it

made to liimself and them, never came here to
reside, tli1ouf;‘l1 he Witli others built a trucl‘<i11g-—
house, 1r'elapse(l into the obscurity f1'o1n which his-
tory rescues him for the p111'pose of 1'ecofg;11izi11g
him as the o1~igi11al founder of this town, and
disa.ppea1e*ecl in due season froni among men.

It is obvious that my present purpose only allows
me to pass in rapid review the inen or the events of
this early day of our 1nnnicipality. I must remind
you of the chief points and cil1“a1'acte1*s in our local
history, leaving further illustrations to be set forth
in notes, syhould such fuither illustrations eventually
be deemed necessary. For the exact and full details
of any of the epo(;%l1s, or even its signal eVents,'the
hour for Wlnch I can reasonably ask your attention
W0'l1l.(l 11ot.s11:t‘fie.e, and I must dwell more pa.rticu—~

l la.rly upon this occasion on the relations of our

fathers here to the great crisis of the Revolution.’
The first epoch, then, can only briefly be con-
sidered, in respect of the fotiiidiiig and building up
of the town as a set.tle1nent. and a municipality, and
of its relations with the abo1‘igi11al tribes. As King
is entitled to be reineinbered as its discoverer,
Prescott has the l1ig'l1e1* distinction of being the
first of the associates to become a permanent settler.
A plain maxi too, following the u11p1'etendi11g calling
of a blacl~:sn1itl1, he had yet strong lines of character

36

and a tenacity of purpose which no considerations of
convenience or comfort could shake. His name is
associated, through one illustrious descendant, with
the highest Walks of American literature, and
through another with the glories of Bunker Hill.
Silently, with no voice of eloquence to be listened
to by an earthly eternity of scholars and men of
letters, called to no share in the great contests for
personal and political independence, honorably, as
discharging all his duties here of primitive pioneer,
faitlifully, as sWe1"vi11g never from his deliberate and
chosen purpose, he lived and died in this valley, an
example for all generations of his successors here,
of true single»-hearted manliness.

You see I am speaking of plain men, and the

language of eloquent panegyric or stately eulogiiiin

has no place here. They Were the rude forefathers
of this hamlet. Not one of them held a position in
church or state Which inakes his name ‘familiar to
later generations, even of those who dwell Within
the precincts of his valley home. The story of
their life and efibrt here is of the simplest. It Was
in 16-13 that Sholan gave the deed to King and his
associates, and the deed was approved by the
General Court. King, a real estate speculator
after all, sold out his interest to his asso-
ciates. They signed mutual covenants with
each other to begin the plantation Within a given

37
time. But none of them came save Prescott, and
even his coming was delayed. The effort at settle-
ment in 164+]: failed, as recorded by Wi11tl11'o1).
Further effort Was inade, under the auspices of the

General Court, in 164:3, but this failed also. The  

°"u11clertalre1's” even petitioned the General Court to
take in the grant, but that body, impressed with the
iinportance and value of the location, decreed that
the p1a‘nt:;ition should not be destroyed, but rather
encourager,l, that it should remain in the power of
the Court to dispose of the planting and ordering of
it, the diflicul.ties being attributed to the fact that
the persons engaged in the business Were “ so few
and so unineet for such a work.”

Thus the enterprise feebly struggled on till 1653.
Oinitting details and names, this is the abstract and
brief chronicle of that early time. Ten years of
intermittent struggles had however resulted in the
establishment of nine families in the town, and the
liberty of a township was granted, not by formal
act of incorporation, but liberty of a township
under certain conditions, to be subsequently
enlarged to full liberty of a township accorcling
to law, on fulfilment of the conditions.

This “ liberty” may be found in an early Volume
of the Colonial Records. It is curious, as illustrat-
ing not only the manner of legislation at that time
but the stress laid on Religion and Loyalty as the

38

conditions of the life of a municipality. The Court,
among‘ other things, ordered that “ a Godly minister
be maintained among them, that no evil persons,
enemies ‘ to the laws of this Comnionwealth, in
judgment or practice, be admitted  inhabitants, and
none to have lots eoiifirined to them but such as take
the oaths of fidelity.” Even those who claim that this
8XCl11SlO11 for 111€l.ott'.eI‘ of opinion is inconsistent With
the ideas of the present day of political and reli-
gious toleration Will not Witlihold a ineed of respect
from that legislative body in Massachusetts which
made thus a due regard for the claims of religious
faith and political loyalty conditions precedent to a
mere municipal existence.

In the first year, 1653, this community, infant--
like, only crept. Not entitled to the full liberty of a
township, the inhabitants laid out their lots, and

made and subscribed their covenant, a code of A

]"Gg"L1latlQ11S, quaint and primitive, l)11tllOOl{l11g to the
peace and good order of the eoniinunity. And now

the story of their progress is that of the attempt of  

the infant to reach outfor itself, to try to Walk, to
1na.ke up its own .juclg1r11e11tsl as to What oourse to
follow, and then, despa,i1*idng, turn for solaoe,‘support
and guidance to the maternal arms. For they eould
not use that liberty Wherewith the Ge11e1'al Court
had made them free, and in 1657 petitioned for a
g‘uardia1'1, frankly admittiiig that they Were unable



to rnaiiagc their OW11 afl’airs. Their prayer was

g*ra11ted. Conimiissioncrs were appointed to at1r'1*ange
their aitfz1i1's ft» r them. Uiider tlieir authority, the
needful 1:‘1i1'11r1*iieipa1 1‘eg‘stuiz1tti<)11s were established,
grievaiices re1ncdied,, h1'iidg;'es c.1'ccted,, Water power
utilized, a 1ninista1'y established, the boundaries of
the town fixecl, 1‘(:E“h‘Et'1<‘i-(L‘t‘:i-Olylbg lilllritillg the nurnber of
inhabitants 1'e1r.nmr*cdi, mpitril in 1o’(i3, confident int
their St1‘E?1)g‘fl"), self?~1'e1.iantt, and now justified in
that coiifidence, they asked aag‘zi.i11 for liberty of
eelf—g'oVer11111ent, and wi’e1'e again invested with full
township liberties. And now peace prevailed, and
a We11——ordered co1:1m1t111i.ty iahored toget1:1ie1** for the
co1nn:1on. good. T110 ea1'th yielded a rich harvest to
the earnest toiler of the valley. Population. began
to i11c1‘ease, and a fut.ure of prosper:ity seemed as
secure as was the actual achieVe1nent of the past.

And yet a more than Assyria.n desolation was at
hand.

The recent carefully prepared and instructive
address delivered Within these Walls niakes it
unnecessary to do more than allude to the calamity
which befell this town at the close of its first epoch
of history. It may be trut'hfu11y claimed for our
ancestors here, that their policy toward the red man
was not argg'1*essiVe, nor did they provoke by any
acts of theirs the storm of war which broke upon
them two hundred years ago, and overwhelmed
them in its ruins.

40

Yet the ‘flaming torch of Pl1ilip spared not in its
aveiigiiiig career this peaceful settlement, and the
ripe fruit of a score of laborious years Was blighted
in a day. That savage soul made no discrimination
in its judgment between communities, if only they
Were made up of White men. And in a single
Winter inorning this town disappeared from the
face of the earth 5 and thus l:1e made a solitude and
called it peace. Peace returned to Massacliusetts,

sir: months later, when Philip died, but still the A

solitude of this Valley was unhroken,———a solitude
more profound than when Kiiig first looked upon
it from the VVattaquodoc. Three years passed, and
not an inhabitant returned. At length, in 1680, the
re—settlement Was undertake11——11eW families came,
as Well as those Who had before formed an attach-
ment here by residence, and the second epoch in
our local history Was begun.

It was begun in poverty and privation, but
resolutely, and this time no man looked back. It
was begun, too, on the eve of Indian Warfare, and
the close of the seventeenth and the first years of
the eigl1tee11tl1 century are marked by a succession
of incursions and depreclations which paralyzed
industry and kept even the hope of prosperity in
long abeyance. The blood of those early martyrs,
"Whiting and Grardner, ministers of i this church, Was
shed for their people. Death and captivity, in

41

equal though Varying horror, hourly lay in Wait, or
pursued With stealthy step each movement of that
people beyond the Walls of their garrisons. The
details of their sacrifices are found in VVillard..
Not till tl1e peace of Utrecht, in 1713, did these
horrors cease.

Witli the establishment of peace, population
and Wealth again increased, and With them
intelligence and influence. In 1721, the people of
“the poor distressed town of Wo1*ceste1*” asked
the favor of the representative of this town to use
his influence in the General Court in their behalf.
Harvard was born,--——-then Bolton, then Leominster.
Wlien the War against Spain was declared, in 17 39,
the men of Lancaster responded With alacrity to
the appeal, and their Whole quota perished before
Jamaica or on the expedition. The men of Lan-
caster lay in the trenches before Louisburg, and
one of her sons commanded a regiment in that
memorable siege. Throughout the French War, the
town was constantly furnishing material resources
and recruits, and it is stated that a large proportion
of its able—-bodied men were in the field. Lake
George, Ticonderoga and Crown Point bore Witness
to their Valor, nor were they Wanting in the last
crowning hour of trial and Victory on the Plains of
Abraham.

Note how the successors of those few feeble and

6

42

“unmeet ” men of our first epoch had grown, before
the close of the second, in strength and influence.
Yet a greater trial of their courage and determina-
tion was at hand. The ‘war of the Revolution, With
its mighty possibilities of weal or woe, was before
them, to close the second epoch.

I call your attention to the history of this town
during the period We have now reached, as disclosed
by its record, with satisfaction and pride. You
have listened to the grand enunciation of political
truths contained in the Declaration of Independ—-
ence, and your hearts have thrilled anew as you
heard once more those noble and familiar Words.
But their simple grandeur and impressiveness find
fit prelude and introduction in the declarations
of the inhabitants of this town as I find them
set forth in the original records of its town
meetings, when the morning of the Revolution Was
dawning. And in these declarations, antedating
by more than three years the Declaration of
Independence, you will perceive an aspiration as
lofty and purposes as determined, proclaimed by
plain men, probably not one of them l;:noWn beyond
the limits of Massachusetts, as Were uttered one

~ hundred years ago by J efferson and Adams.

These brave Words of theirs had in them, I tliink,
the significance of an ultimate determination to be
independent of a government in which they liad no

48

representation. Few in America had at this early
day contemplat.ed a separation from the mother
country. Even after hostilities had actually begun,
the Continental. Congress declared, “‘VVe have not
raised armies With the ambitious design of

separating from Great Britain and establishing _

independent States.” They evince, at all events,
a resolute purpose to obtain a redress of grievances
under the existing government. The relation of

‘the towns of Massachusetts to the early stages of

the formation of the sentiment for l11ClGpG1’1(l€1‘.1C‘e
was most intimate. I do not claim that our own
town was exceptional to others, nor was her
determination announced in more absolute terms.
Her declarations serve to illustrate the general
subject, and so set forth her own position at the
time, and that of similar communities throughout
the State. HOW the towns Were brought into
correspondence upon this subject must be briefly
stated, as necessary to an understanding of the
Votes and resolutions of Lancaster.

The head and front of the Whole movement Was
Samuel Adams, years before the sentiment of the

_CoI1g:ress just quoted Was announced. Against

the opposition of all his colleagues, he proposed
and carried through his plan of Committees of
Correspondence, to be appointed by meetings in the
towns. Of Adams, Governor Hutchinson wrote

44

that he was “the first person that openly and in
any public assembly declared for a total, independ-
ence.” Hutchinson denied the right of the towns
to discuss in their meetings public questions of
general interest. The town of Boston, inspired
by Adams, maintained that right, and in town
meeting, in November, 17 7 2, voted :——:--

“That a Committee of Correspondence be appointed, to consist
o1"'twenty-one persons, to state the rights of the colonists and of
this province in particular, as men, as Christians, and as s11l‘.,>jects,
to communicate and publish the same to the several towns in this
province and to the world as the sense of this town, with the

infiingexnents and violations thereof that have been or from time
to time may be made.” it
The Coinmittee reported to town meeting, setting.
forth their rights and grievances. These last form
part of the history of those towns, and are familiar
to all students of that history. The Boston town
meeting voted to make an appeal, by means of
Committees of Correspondence, to all the towns in
the colony, “ that the collected wisdom and fortitude
of the whole people might dictate‘ measures for the
rescue of their happy and glorious constitution.” A
The responses of the towns were unreserved and
emphatic. The spirit of resistance was awakened.
throughout the land. Many of these responses are
preserved in the records of the Boston Committee,
and sound the clearest notes of American Liberty.
It would be interesting to quote them here, for the

45
action of our towns, acting in their distinctly
municipal character, in contributing to the forma-
tion of a revolutionary sentiment throughout the

land has not been so Widely understood as it ought,

nor so fully appreciated'f But the action and resolves
of Lancaster are typical of them all.

Judge of the spirit which prevailed here, by this_
Warrant for town meeting, for the first VVednesday

V of Jannar , 1773:———

“Wo1'ceste1', ss. To the freeholders and other inhabitants of
the town of Lancaster legally qualified to vote in town aifairs,
Greeting: d i

In his Majesty’s name, you are hereby required to meet at the
meeting house in the second precinct in Lancaster, on the first
Wednesday of January next, at ten of the clock in the forenoon,
then and there to act on the following articles, viz:

1. To choose a moderator for the government of said meeting.

2‘“3’. To take into consideration the Dangerous condition of
our Public Affairs, in particular the Independancy of our Superior
Judges, and to take such measures as shall be thought proper.

3‘“3’. To choose a Committee to draw up our grievanc-es and
Infringements upon our Liberties, and to lay them before the
town, when the town shall so order.-

4=“*1Y. To consider and act upon the request from Boston
Committee. P

5“”Y. To give our Representative such Instructions as the
Town shall think proper, Relative to our Privileges.

6’°“1Y. To choose a Committee to return an answer to Boston
Committee and to correspond with any other Committee Relating
to our Privilege and to inform the town on their Transactions
from time to time.

7 “MY. To act and do anything that the town shall see proper
to withstand the Present Progress of our Enemies in Indeav—
oring to take away our Priviledges,

46

Dated at Lancaster, Dec. 22, 1722, and in the thirteenth year
of his Majesty’s reign.”

At the meeting :---

“On the third article, voted to choose a Committee to Draw up
our Grievances and the I1‘1f1'ing~e1i1ents upon our Liberties and to
lay them before the Town when the Town shall so order,

Voted, to choose seven men for the Committee.

Voted, to choose W111. Dunsmoor, Messrs. John Prescott, Aaron
Sawyer, Jonah Kendall, Joseph W/Vhite, Nathaniel VVyman, Eben-
ezer Allen.

Voted, to adjourn this meeting to Tuesday, the nineteenth of
this instant January, to the meeting house in the first precinct of
Lancaster, at ten o’clor:lc, to receive the report of the Committee.

On the ad_journment from the first V-Vedriesday of January to
Tuesday, the nineteenth of the same, then voted to Receive the
above said committees report.

On the sixth article, voted, that the above Committee be the
Committee to make a return to Boston Committee of the pro-
ceedings of the town of Lancaster. J

On the fifth article, voted to give our Representative Instruc-
tions as Followeth: V

As you are chosen to represent this town in the general assem-
bly of this Province, We take this opportunity of inf'orn:1ing: you
of our sentiments relative to the unhappy state of our Publick
Afiairs. You will Perceive by the Resolves which are herewith
sent to you, the light in Which‘ We View the encroachments made
upon our Constitutional Freedom. Particularly you will observe
our serious opinion of a Dependancy of the Judges of the Supe-
rior Court on the Crown for their support, that they are already
so dependant, or that it is in contemplation to make them so. We
have great reason to fear also an act passed in the late session of
the British Parliment, intituled an act for the better preservation
of his Majesties Dock Yards, &c., Does in a most essential man-
ner infi-inge the rights and Liberties of the Colonies, as it puts it
in the power of any wicked tool of administration, either from
malice or policy to take any Inhabitant from the Colonies and
carry him‘ to Great Britain, there to be tried, which by the
expense and long detention from his occupation would be the

47

destruction of almost any mz-m among us, altho his innocence
n1i§g;l1t finally appear in the clearest manner, and further the late
conunissions for taking persons in our sister colony Rhode Island,
and sending them to Great Britain, there to be tried upon suspi-
tion of burning his majesties scooner Graspie, is an invasion of the
1-ightis of the Colonies and ouglit. to excite the attention of the
Whole contenant. i

VVe expect that you will use your utmost; efforts this session of
our general assembly, to obtain a Radical Redress of our griev-
ances, and we wish you success in your endeavours, and which we
cannot but flatter ourselves from the late happy change in the
American Department you will meet with. VVe confide in your
abilityland firmness in all matters which may come before the
General Court, assuring you of’ the support of this town in all
your legal procee<oli1u1gs, and earnestly praying that the Great Grov-
ernor of the world may Direct and bless you in all your ways.” i

The Committee at an adjourned 1’I1(3GJ[-lllg‘, reported
the fl)llOWi11g Resolves and Instructions :--«---

1. Resolved, that this and every other Town in this Province

have an undoubted right to meet together and consult upon all
matters i1c1te1'esting; to them when and so often as they shall judge
fit, and it is more especially their duty so to do when infringement
is made on their Civil or Religious Liberty.

2‘-113'. ‘tesolved, that the raising a Revenue in the Colonies
without their consent either by themselves or their representatives,
is an Irifringernent of that Right which every freeman has to dis-
pose of his own Property. P

3‘”>'.i tesolved, that the granting a sallary to his excellency the
Governor of this Province out of the Revenue unconstitutionally
raised by us is an Innovation of a very alarming Tendancy.

4“‘”'. That it is of the highest importance to the security of
Liberty, Life and Property that the Publick Administration of
Justice should be Pure and Impartial, and that the judges should
be free from every Byass, either in favor of the crown or the
subject.

5”“. That the absolute Dependancy of the Judges of the

Superior Court of this Province upon the Crown for their support-

48

would, if it should ever take place, have the strongest tendancy
t.o Byass the minds of the Judges, and would weaken our confi-
dence in them. i

6””. Resolved, that the extension of the power of the court
of vice admiralty to its present enormous proportions is a great
grievance and deprives the subject in many instances of that
noble privilege of Englishmen, Trials by Juries.

7‘1”Y. Resolved, that the Proceedings of this Town be trans-
mitted to the Town of Boston.”

I make no apology for producing at length before
you these most interesting and original contribu-
tions to our local history. It is remarkable that
they should never before have seen the light, since
they illustrate so fully and effectively the tone and
spirit of our fathers. .

The warrant for town meeting Sept. 5, 1774:,
shows still further the current of thought and
opinion in the comniunity, soon after the Itassage of

  the Boston Port Bill.

The second article is

“To see if the town will do anything towards the relief of the
sufiering Poor of the town of Boston, occationed by a late act of
Parliment, for blocking up the Port of said town or to act or
Transact anything relating thereto.

3‘”Y. To see if the town will come into any agreement for
non-Importation and non—Exportation of Goods to or from Great
Britain, or to act or transact anything relating thereto.

4"‘. To choose a Committee or Committees to act or do any
thing or things that the town shall think proper to be done or

. acted, by any agreement with any other town or towns in order

to get relief in the best and most easy way from our present
Difficulty, inflicted on us by the late Act of Parliament, and to
act and do any matter or thing that thetown shall see needfnl to
be done, and Report to the Town from time to time what they
have done, and to receive the Town’s orders to act and do what
the Town shall think proper to he done and acted. * * *‘

4:9

9”‘. To pass such votes as the Town shall think Propperi to be

done to get Releaf from those oppressive acts of Parlirnent which *

hath been inflicted on us lately, and to act any thing that said
Town shall think needful Relating to the Congress and to accept
and Ratify what they shall do if sd town thinks fit. , p y

10“. To pass any vote or votes that may be thought needfnl
in order to get Releaf in our present Distressed circumstances, by
our just rights and privileges, as we think, being taken from us.

11”‘. To see if the Town will vote to abide by our Charter
Rights and Privileges.” '

At the meeting it was Voted

“ To choose a committee of seven persons to be a committee of
correspondence for sd county.”

And the Committee was chosen accordingly, of
which VVH1. Dunsmoor was the chairman.‘ ’

“ Voted, that the Committee make report to the Town of their
doings from time to time, as expressed in the warrant.

Voted, that any number, even less than a majority of the above
committee, shall be sufiicient to represent the town as a Com-
mittee of Correspondence. I

Voted, That the Town will Indemnify the Constable for not

returning a list of the Freeholders for Juries, under the late act oi"
Parliament. g V

Voted, to raise fifty pounds, for to buy ammunition with, to
be a town stock.”

At an adjournment of this meeting it was further

“2“. Voted, thatthere be a hundred men raised as volunteers
to be ready at a rninuteis warning to Turn out upon any emer-.
gency, and that they be Formed into two companies and choose
their own ofiicers. T ,

3“. Voted, that the said volunteers shall be reasonably paid
by the Town for any services they may do us in defending our
Libertys and Privileges. ' V is

4”‘. Voted, that Dr. VVm. Dunsmoor be empowered to enlist
.50 men in the old Parish to serve as volunteers.   -

50

55”‘. Voted that Capt. Asa VVhitcomb be empowered to enlist
-. 50 men in the second parish to serve as volunteers.
6”‘. Voted, to buy one field piece for the use of the town.”

,At another adjourmnent, September 28th, it was

“Voted to authorize two field pieces instead of one, and to
send one man for the Proposed Provintial Convention to be held
at Concord on the second Tuesday of October.”

And on December 12, 17 74, it was

“Voted, to choose a. committee of‘ 3 persons to draw’ up an
Association League and Covenant for non—consumption of’ goods,
&c., for the Inhabitants to sign, and Capt. Gates and Capt.
Wllltcolllb were chosen.” a

At another adjourinnent,

“Voted, to buy 5 hundred Wt. of ball suitable for the field A

pieces.”
“Voted, to buy 3 hun‘l“*wt. of Grape Shot.” '
On the 31st October, 177 4, this town

“Voted to choose a Committee to post up all such Persons as
continued to buy, sell, or consume any East India Teas at some
Publick Place in Town, and that Doct. Josiah VVilder, Ephraim
Sawyer and Aaron Sawyer be a Committee for the above
Purpose."

On the 2d January, 17 7 4, it was

“Voted to choose a committee to receive subscriptions and
donations for the sufiiering Poor of the Town of Boston, occa-
sioned by the late Boston Port Bill, and to carry in the donations
to some one of the Committee in a fortnight from this day.’.’

Also, '

“Voted, to adopt and abide by the spirit and sense of the
association of the late Continental Cor1g'1'ess held at Philadelphia
to choose a comrnittee to see that the said association be kept and
observed by the Inhabitants of said Town.

“Voted, that the above committee have no pay, but do the
business gratis.” A

Other Votes Were passed from time to time, in

51%

accord with the spirit of these. Thus I have

allowed these men to describe themselves to you.
Ye shall know them by their fruits, for thus t.hey
resolved, nor did their resolves fail to find embodi-
ment in action when the time for action came. Their
wise prescience foresaw the crisis which must be
approaching, and provided means for meeting it with
vigor. The morning of the 19th of April, 1775,
brought its summons, and the company of minute-

s men, of which I have cited the formation, was

instantly set in motion towards Lexington. The
company of horse repaired to Cambridge to assist in

checking the anticipated advance of the British into.

the country. Thus early in the field in defense of
that liberty they had resolved must‘ be maintained,
our fathers did not cease from their patriotic exer-l
tion an liberty was won. Two of them fell at

Bunker Hill, the first martyrs of the town in the ‘

cause of independence, and few were the regiments
of the Continental army from this section of the
country, in the ranks of which the men of Lancaster
were not found, or in which they did not exercise
commands of more or less dignity. Time will not
allow me to enumerate them. The names of all the

fathers of the town are found on the rolls, and A

VVillard gives a catalogue of 11ot less than ninety-
two persons in the service who thus represented
the early settlers. Exclusively of Lexington and

52

, Bunker Hill, more than three hundred, all, or nearly

all the able bodied men of the town, Were in actual
service in the field. The town encouragted them by
generous bounties, as its records show. There was
a delay in the response to one of the later calls
which seemed like a momentary faltering. It was
in 1780., and a leading patriot of the town declared
that response to the call was impossible, as the
repeated demands of the country had exhausted the
power and resources of the town. But the spirit
of sacrifice shrank not finally before this exigencey.
The men were furnished, liberal bounties were
granted them, and they hastened to the field.

I do not think it can be claimed that the town fur-
nished great military leaders, or that any of its citi-~
zens held lllgh commands. Yet the names of VVhit-
comb and Haskell deserve honorable remembrance

’ among the brave heroes of that day. Of VVhitco1nb

a contemporary relates an anecdote which illustrates
the true greatness of his character.

[From the N620 Eizzglavzd C’/rromicle, Jan. 11, 1776.]

“Deacon VVhitcomb of Lancaster, who was a member of the
Assembly of Massachusetts Bay till the present war commenced,
had served in former wars, and been in difierent eI1g::‘tge1”I1eIltS;
served as a Colonel in the Continental Army, but on account of
his age was left out upon the new regulation. His men highly
resented it, and declared that they would not list again after their
time was out. The Colonel told them he did not doubt there
were sufficient reasons for the regulation, and he was satisfied with
it; he never blamed them for their conduct, and said he would
enlist as a private. Colonel Brewer heard of it, and ofi‘"'ered to

53

res_i_.gn in favor of Colonel W’hitcomb. The whole coming; to Gen-
eral W"ashington’s ears, he allowed of Colonel Brewer’s resigna-
tion in Colonel VVhitcomb’s favor, appointed the former Barrack-
master till he could further promote him, and acquainted the army
with the whole atl'air in general orders. Let antiquity p1'od11ce,:a
more strildng instanceof true greatness of soul.”

Henry Haskell served honorably as a Colonel, and
of Andrew Haskell, a Captain, Willa1r*cl gives a
brief and pleasing sketch, sliowing him to have been
possessed of a spirit of patriotism which rose
superior to personal considerations. These were the
officers of highest rank who served in the war of the
Revolution from this town 5 but there were several
Lieutenants and subalterns, and their record, as Well
as that of the enlisted men, seems to have been one
of honor.

Meanwhile the spirit of patriotism Was maintained

, at home, and displayed itself occasionally in a strik-

ing manner. The town records show that black lists
were prepared of persons who used articles of im--
portation, and of persons supposed to be unfriendly
to the patriot cause. A committee was appointed
to collect evidence ag;ai11st “ such persons as shall be
deemed to be internal enemies to the State.” These
names stand upon the records of the town to--day.
I will not recite them, but it is Worthy of note that
the name of the minister of the town is found there,
though aft-erward stricken off, on his earnest protes-
tation that his country had no better friend than he.

I have thus displayed, drawn from original sources,

54

though with a brevity adapted to the occasion, the
record of this town in the War of the Revolution.
It is one of devotion and sacrifice, early begun and
continued to the end. The articles of confederation
and perpetual union between the colonies were
accepted by thetown in 1778, and "the Constitution
of the Commonwealth in 1780. The second epoch
of our history endediin peace, though in extreme
poverty and distress, ‘and the third epoch began.

Almost its first public event illustrates the single
step from the sublime to the ridiculous. The Gen--
eral Court granted permission for a lottery, upon the
petition of the town, to enable it to raise money
to repair its bridges. And the men who in 17 7,3
uttered the lofty resolves and instructions to their
Representative which have been read, in 1783
accepted the benefit of the provisions of an act
which not only conferred on them powers of folly,
but, in the scope of its provisions contemplated pen-~
alties of infamy. On the 15th of «February, 1783,
this act was passed, and Was approved by John
Hancock, then Governor. 7 The penal section is as
folloWs:—--—-

, “ And it is also further enacted if any persons shall forge, coun-
terfeit or alter a Ticketany and every person so convicted shall be
set on the gallows for the space of one hour with a rope round
his neck, or shall pay a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds to
the use of the Comrnonwealth, or shall be imprisoned not exceed-
ing twelve months, or be publicly whipped not exceeding thirty-

as

1.

nine stripes at the discretion of the Justices of the same Court
who are also hereby empowered to inflict one or more of the said
punishments on such ofi'enders if they see fit.

Feb. 15th, 1783.

In the House the bill having had three several readings passed
to be enacted. .
TI{I::3’1?I-?.Al\I DAT.TON, Speaker.

. * IN SENATE, Feb. 15, 1783.

This bill having had two several readings passed to be enacted.
' i . SAlVIUEL.AI)A1VIS., Prest.

Approved. i
JOHN HANCOCK.”

Surely it is an instance of something like relapse
and temporary degeneracy, that from 1782 to 1790
fourteen classes of this lottery Were drawn, with a
result upon the Whole unfavorable to the cause
directly in hand, and greatly injurious for the
time to the general industry and morals of the
community.

Doubtless the temptation was great to resort to
any means which promised favorably for meeting a
public and exceptional expense. Doubtless c this
portion of the country Was utterly exhausted by
the War. Moreover, a sound circulating medium,
that indispensable basis of commercial prosperity,
was Wanting. Yet the lottery consumed instead of
adding to the general Wealth, and provided a
remedy which aggravated, instead of alleviating,
the community’s disease.

I have left myself no time to dwell upon the

5 6

details of the third epoch, and, indeed, my object
has been, in great measure, to bring before you the
relations of this town to thewar of the Revolution;
This last epoch also had its alternating scenes of
peace and war, though, till towards its close, the
presence of the latter was not felt in a degree of
severity comparable to that of the Revolution.
The causes which led to the rebellion known as
Shays’ war, in 1786, in which Lancaster played an
honorable and patriotic part, are set forth simply
and philosophically in the pages of Rev. Mr.
'I‘l1ayer’s address. A reasonable number of our
citizens joined the forces under General Lincoln, and
remained with him to the end of the controversy.
In the war of 1812, also, the men of Lancaster
were found faithful in arms, and loyally and
patiently bore such sacrifices as that war entailed
upon them.

It was at the close of this epoch that the
crowning proof was given that the spirit of the
fathers lived in the sons. Nearly two hundred of
our best and bravest, the flower of our youth, went
forth from their peaceful homes to defend our

liberties on the field of battle, and to die if need be,

that the republic might live. The history of the
Great Rebellion is yet to be written, and the day
has not come for it to be written in the full
impartial light which lapsing time throws on past

57'

events. It will be a history filled with the story -of

great battles, and long campaigns, and valor
individual and collective such as few histories
have disclosed. In that history, We remember with
pride to—-clay, no Word can be Written which will
reflect discredit on any of the sons of Lancaster
who marched forth to battle beneath our country’s
radiant flag. You Were the Witnesses of the
devotion with Which they dedicated themselves to
thatgreat and holy cause. You saw them press
forward to that mighty conflict, not gaily ‘‘ as to a
festival,” but earnestly, as to the discha.rge of the
noblest duty of the citizen and the soldier. Your
prayers and benedictions followed them. You were
Witnesses of their departure to the field, and you
Welcomed bacla; the survivors of that gallant band

lwith tears of grateful joy,

But other tears fell for those Who Went forth, and
returned not when battles were over and victory
Won. The homes that knew them in their day of
youth and bloom, know them no more forever. Yet
if to the spirits of the departed is granted some
cognizance of What is done in this earthly home of
their affection from Which they have passed to

higher spheres, the lafnowledge of our gratitude

may form a part of their rich and heavenlyreward
to-day. They died for us, and yonder memorial

speaks to us tenderly of the story of their heroic

58

deeds, and tells us how lofty a calling it is to die
that our felloW—men may live, and live not only, but
be free. Nor was it death, but life and immortality
which Waited for them and received them, when
they seemed to us to die. For, in the poet’s Words,
so fitly chosen for inscription on the tablet which
pious gratitude has erected‘ to their memory :——--—-

‘ “ VVe never can be deathless till We die.
It is the dead win batt.les.~ No, the bmve
Die never. Being deathless they but ehaxige
Their country’s vows for more, their country's heart.”