»3 2>> 
 
 
 
 
 ■>■ :)■> .z>._:2i'. j> 
 
 :> ::>^ z> 7>^ -2?^ ' 
 
 
 ILIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 
 
 # . # 
 
 .. .B..74 ! 
 
 # 
 
 .=^^^^..A.e..e)..P..D2. I 
 
 I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.^ 
 
 
 
 
 > ^3> :^ 
 
 5?5 
 
 T^ :>Z>- 
 
 2> -" 
 
 
 2> 
 
 3 >^ 
 
 '::>■■ '■:?K> : 
 
 3 ■ .s> :::» >i> 
 
 
 
 
 
 3» :> > 
 
 
gr 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ > :> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 :> ^^:j> -3>^ 
 
 » )> 
 
 _^^^ 
 
 '2> 0> 
 
 J> )~> 
 
 »' 
 
 !^^^ 
 
 I> 3^ 
 
 > >3 
 
 » 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 r> :>* 
 
 » •>;> 
 
 ». 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 i>> >:3 
 
 ► y> 
 
 > > 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ^ x:» 
 
 ► ^^ 
 
 >>"! 
 
 1^^^ 
 
 \;>> x> 
 
 ' 1)3 
 
 »^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 :3>-;,>z» 
 
 
 >> _ 
 
 ►.> 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ■■i j>]|3> 
 
 :>> 
 
 t> 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 !->'~3L^ 
 
 :);^> 
 
 » . 
 
 ~3I^ 
 
 t>." ^2Z^ 
 
 :>.:> 
 
 •■> 
 
 "^ 
 
 ■>. ^5;^ 
 
 >i> 
 
 ■^* 
 
 ^' 
 
 ^ \3I^ ' 
 
 ::>j3» 
 
 
 'J» 
 
 > ■£> 
 
 I>:2» 
 
 
 
 :> >:> 
 
 ^>2» ■ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 »13». 
 
 ""^ 
 
 »-»!> 
 
 :>S3» 
 
 > j> 
 
 _^^ ^j) 
 
 ^ • :> "~ 
 
 "^^^ ^^ ' 
 
 > 3 
 
 I^^ "r» 
 
 3 Z> 
 
 '^0 33 
 
 ^ > : 
 
 3^- 52> 
 
 :> >z 
 
 » yy 
 
 ^>i:a 
 
 ► 7» 
 
 > >^ji 
 
 ► >> 
 
 :> "O*" 
 
 :>> 
 
 :> ^"^^ 
 
 :> :> 
 
 > 5:::> 
 
 ^> 
 
 ^ ?::> 
 
 ^t> 
 
 >^>i> 
 
 :>3>' 
 
 :> X^3» 
 
 >^ 
 
 > SZ^ 
 
 ^JO 
 
 -> J5^> ' 
 
 :>5> . 
 
 
 
 
 ::> i> 
 
 
 0, 
 
 Z»>3> 
 
 > 
 
 ^ri-.'S) 
 
 s> 
 
 :- >3 
 
 ■r>. 
 
 :>>^ 
 
 »> 
 
 '& 13 2> 
 
 JBH^ ^'■S' 
 
 VH> 
 
 ■> ^Z> 3> 
 
 ""IM 
 
 ►> Orj) 
 
 jm 
 
 >:>'):> ' 
 
 l^n 
 
 > > C 
 
 s> 
 
 • ym ::z 
 
 m* 
 
 > 255 i:: 
 
 aii» 
 
 ■.2» ID 
 
 Hft 
 
 :2» ;^> 
 
 » 
 
 l>^ 2> 
 
 I> •!>. :3r>^> 
 
 
 
 ■5e^ 
 
 55 : 
 
 ::►- 
 
 5^ 
 
 3 >::»:. 
 
 
 », 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 %^ 
 
I »««4>*Jl*^. 
 
 „^AXA ,tt***l««**********«^ 
 
 l>«»»>**********. 
 
 a: 
 
 PRINCETON 
 
 mttEumi 
 
 OCXOBER, SOtli, 1850. 
 
 m. 
 
CELEBRATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSAEY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 IN CORPORATION 
 
 / OF THE 
 
 TOWN OF PRINCETON, MASS. 
 
 OCTOBEIi aOtli, 1839. 
 
 INCLUDING THE ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. CHARLES THEODORE RUSSELL, 
 
 THE POEM OF 
 PROF. ERASTUS EVERETT, 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER EXERCISES OF THE OCCASION. 
 
 "He who regards not the memory and character of his ancestors, deserves to b*- 
 forgotten by posterity." 
 
 / 
 
 WORCESTER: 
 
 TRANSCRIPT OFFICE, WM. R. HOOPER, PRINTER. 
 
 1860. 
 
ACTION OF THE TOWN. 
 
 Pursuant to a warrant issued by the Selectmen of the 
 ToAvn, upon the petition of fifteen legal voters thereof, a 
 town meeting was held at Boylston Hall, on the 22d day 
 of September, 1859, at which meeting it was voted to cele- 
 brate the one hundreth anniversary of the incorporation 
 of the town, on the 20tli day of October next, with ser- 
 vices and observances suitable to such an occasion. And 
 the following persons were chosen a committee to make 
 all necessary arrangements for the same, viz.: 
 
 At Large. — George F. Folger, Addison Smith, John 
 Brooks, Jr., Wilkes Roper, Charles A. Whittaker, George 
 E. Pratt, Edward E. Hartwell, John C. Davis, Ivory Wil- 
 der, Joseph M. Stewart. 
 
 By Districts. — No. 1, Harlow Skinner; 2, Abram Eve- 
 rett ; 3, William H. Brown ; 4, Otis Wood ; 5, Paul Gar- 
 field; 6, George Mason; 7, Samuel Roper; 8, Artemas J. 
 Brooks ; 9, William B. Goodnow ; 10, Joshua T. Everett. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the town, held at Boylston 
 Hall, on the 8th day of November, '' Voted, to publish in 
 book form the exercises of the late Centennial Celebra- 
 tion ;" and chose the following a committee to carry the 
 same into effect : 
 
 Committee. — Joshua T. Everett, Charles Russell, William 
 B. Goodnow, Edward E. Hartwell, Albert C. Howe. 
 
 An organization of the Committee of Arrangements 
 was effected by the choice of William B. Goodnow, Chair- 
 man, and Edward E. Hartwell, Secretary. Sub-committees 
 
were appointed, to whom special duties were assigned ; 
 and the following persons were unanimously chosen as the 
 officers of the day : 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE DAY. 
 
 Hon. CHARLES RUSSELL. 
 
 VICE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 Hon. JOHN BROOKS, Dr. ALPHONSO BROOKS, 
 
 ISRAEL EVERETT, JOSEPH MASON, 
 
 CALEB S. MIRICK, SOLON S. HASTINGS, Esq., 
 
 Dea. henry BOYLES, Dr. WARD N. BOYLSTON, 
 
 EBENEZER smith, RUFUS DAVIS, 
 
 JOHN G. IIOBBS, DANIEL DAVIS, 
 
 MOSES GARFIELD, FREDERICK PARKER. 
 
 TOAST MASTER. 
 
 JOSHUA T. EVERETT. 
 
 chief MARSHAL. 
 
 WILLIAM B. GOODNOW. 
 
 ASSISTANTS. 
 
 HARLOW SKINNER, EDWARD E. HARTWELL, 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWN, GEORGE F. FOLGER, 
 
 GEORGE E. PRATT, OTIS WOOD, 
 
 JONAS B. BROWN, CHARLES T. MIRICK, 
 
 JOHN BROOKS, Jr., ADDISON SMITH, 
 
 ARTEMAS J. BROOKS. 
 
 CHAPLAINS. 
 
 Rev. HUMPHREY MOORE, D. D., Rev. DAVID 0. ALLEN, D. D, 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 Princeton welcomed home her native and adopted sons, 
 October 20th, 1859, to a festival long to be remembered, 
 in commemoration of her one hundredth birthday. As a 
 stand-point from which to look backward and forward, the 
 occasion is deeply suggestive, and the exercises of the day 
 were, in a very satisfactory degree, interesting and im- 
 pressive. 
 
 The weather was unusually cold for the season, yet 
 warm hearts were ready to greet, and were as warmly 
 greeted in return. A family gathering — scattered East 
 and West, North and South — the good old grandmother 
 could hardly expect to see all "who have gone out from 
 her, but who are yet of her," present : but a very large 
 number, from those whose whitened locks proclaimed 
 them the friends of her earlier years, to those who could 
 hardly lisp her name, were there, to exchange kindly salu- 
 tations, to revive old, yet none the less pleasing, associa- 
 tions, and unite in ascriptions of praise to the Father of 
 Mercies, for giving so " goodly a heritage." 
 
 OUT-DOOR DEMONSTRATIONS. 
 
 The festivities of the day commenced with the firing of 
 cannon, the parade of citizens, under the escort of the 
 "Wachusett Cornet Band, and other public manifestations 
 of rejoicing. The streets and many of the buildings on 
 the hill were handsomely decorated, under the su))crin- 
 
tendence of Co]. Beals, of Boston. The Wachusett Hotel 
 saluted visitors as they came up the hill, with the motto, 
 over its portico, " We welcome you home," and the house it- 
 self was profusely ornamented. Across the Common were 
 suspended the flags of all nations, and the Union Congrega- 
 tional Church was gaily decorated with the Colonel's most 
 impressive combination of colors, while in the recess in 
 front hung a full length portrait of "The Father of his 
 Country." Over the pulpit was placed the motto, which 
 told the whole story of the celebration : 
 
 " Peinceton Incorpoeated Oct. 20th, 1759." 
 and other appropriate memorial emblems and mottoes 
 were displayed throughout the town. 
 
 PROCESSION, 
 
 At 10 o'clock A. M., a procession was formed on the 
 Common, under the direction of the Chief Marshal, William 
 B. Goodnow, and his aids, in the following order : 
 
 Aid. Chief Marshal. Aid. 
 
 Escort. 
 
 Thirty of the Sons of Princeton. 
 
 Music — Wachusett Cornet Band. 
 
 President of the day, Orator and Poet. 
 
 Chaplains, Vice Presidents and Invited Guests. 
 
 Rutland Brass Band. 
 
 Rutland delegation, under the direction of Col. 
 
 Calvin G. Howe as Marshal. 
 
 Citizens of Princeton and other towns. 
 
 The boisterous weather made it necessary to repair to 
 the church, (Rev. Wm. T. Briggs',) whither the procession 
 was conducted, and where the chief exercises were held. 
 
EXERCISES AT THE CHURCH. 
 
 When the large audience — filling both aisles and galle- 
 ries to overflowing — had assembled, William B. Goodnow, 
 Chief Marshal, called the meeting to order, and introduced 
 the President of the day, Hon. Charles Russell, who, in 
 coming forward, spoko briefly and in a congratulatory 
 manner of the pleasant circumstances which had called 
 them together ; regretting that they had not now the large 
 and spacious church built by their fathers more than sixty 
 years ago, but which had now passed away. Ho craved 
 the indulgence of the audience while they made the best 
 use of the accommodations they had. He then called at- 
 tention to the exercises of the day, which were as follows : 
 
 I. — Music by the Band. 
 
 II. — A Voluntary by the Choir. 
 
 III. — Reading of select portions of the Scriptures by Rev. Wm. T. Briggs. 
 
 IV. — Prayer by Rev. Humphrey Moore, D. D., of Milford, N. II. 
 
 V. — An original Hymn, composed for the occasion by Joseph W. Nye, of 
 
 East Princeton, was sung by the Choir. 
 
 n Y M N . 
 
 Not as they met — those pioneers, 
 
 One hundred years ago to-day, 
 ]Meet wo, as close those many years. 
 
 Our tribute of respect to pay ; 
 They met, a brave but feeble band, 
 Where now a number great we stand. 
 
 Here, where the savage loved to roam, 
 
 Amid the dim old solitudes, 
 Hath education found a home ; 
 
 And echo now these "grand old woods," 
 With music such as science brings, 
 Where'er slic spreads her golden wings ! 
 
 No longer dormant lay tho fields. 
 
 Stirred by the farmer's clearing plough, 
 
 The pasture wild a harvest yields, 
 Rewarding well his sweaty brow ; 
 
 And yearly doth the fruitful soil. 
 
 Repay him for his days of toil I 
 
8 
 
 And still with ever watchful e3'e, 
 
 Our loved high priest, "Wachusett,'* stauds. 
 While fruitful vales around him lie, 
 
 Baptised in plenty at his hands ; 
 He waves his censor, and the gale, 
 The fragrance beareth through the vale ! 
 
 God of Creation ! bless us hero. 
 
 As on this festal day Ave come ; 
 Be Thou to guide us over near. 
 
 And take us to Thy heavenly home 
 When all our meetings here are o'er, 
 To worship Thee forevermore. 
 
 And when another hundred years. 
 Have rolled upon their course sublime, 
 
 When all our earthly joys and fears 
 Have disappeared with fading time ; 
 
 Here may our children's children meet, 
 
 And joyfully this scene repeat ! 
 
 After this, the following Oration was delivered by Hon. 
 diaries T. Russell, of Boston. 
 
ORATION 
 
 BY HON. CHARLES T. RUSSELL. 
 
 One liundred years ago, to-day, the few and scattered 
 dwellers about the base of Wachiisett, received from the 
 Colonial Legislature, and the Royal Governor, the act 
 which gave them a place and a name among the municipal 
 corporations of Massachusetts. Here and now, upon the 
 soil they settled and subdued, not far from the humble 
 tavern where they held their first town meeting, we, their 
 children, meet on the old and loved homestead, in joyful 
 commemoration of the centennial birthday of our town. 
 
 Gathering on this autumnal morning, at home and from 
 abroad, not strangers nor the public, but townsmen, friends, 
 fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters — a family circle, around 
 the family fireside — at a family festival, our thoughts irre- 
 sistibly turn to family matters. Here, on a Thanksgiving 
 day, seated, as it were, on the settle, by the dear old chim- 
 ney corner, while the dinner is cooking, cold and strange 
 would it be, indeed, did we not talk of family history, with 
 minuteness, even, of remembrance and incident. 
 
 We come, at a mother's kindly call, with a child's filial 
 heart, to meet her, dearer by every wrinkle time sets upon 
 her brow, in her oion home. It is but the impulse of her 
 
10 
 
 early instructions, tlie first warm greetings over, that we 
 reverently bow before our Maker, at her knee, and with 
 the earnestness of childhood, adopt its consecrated words, 
 and 
 
 Thank the goodness and the grace, 
 
 That on our birth have smiled, 
 And in these Christian days, 
 
 Made each a free and haijjjy child. 
 
 Rising from this grateful duty to other service, insensate 
 should we be, did not our hearts, in this interview of filial 
 and parental love, break forth in blessings many, and too 
 strong, perhaps, for stranger ears, upon her who so kindly 
 cared for our youth, and so sweetly smiles on our manhood. 
 
 In our most public proceedings, to-day, we are but 
 townsmen, in town meeting assembled. No article in our 
 warrant authorizes any business but of immediate domestic 
 concernment, and I should be instantly called to order by 
 universal shout, were I to attempt to speak of aught but 
 our own early history, being allowed, of course, to refer to 
 those larger and more general events, which have entered 
 into, modified and shaped it. 
 
 Standing where our fathers stood a hundred years ago, 
 removed from them by a century, the most stirring, active 
 and marvellous, in its progress, history and developments, 
 of any since the Christian era, we find our town sharing 
 always in the general advance quite up to the standard of 
 an agricultural and conservative community, still in all that 
 is peculiar, as little changed as any in the Commonwealth. 
 Yet how grand and striking the contrasts made by mere 
 circumstances, the changes of time, and the progress of 
 knowledge and events, between the days of them, the 
 fathers, and us, the children. 
 
 In the middle of the eighteenth century, the hostile 
 warwhoop had ceased to be heard in the "wilderness 
 country, beyond the Nashua," and around the Wachusett. 
 Sholan no longer kept his royal seat, in sight from this hill, 
 between the Washacums. Lancaster had risen from the 
 
11 
 
 aslies ill which the Narragansett war had laid it. Worces- 
 ter sent out no bodies of soldiery on the report that large 
 numbers of Indians ^' hovered between it and Waclmsett 
 Mountain." And yet of" the first settler in Princeton, the 
 grandfather had been killed, and the father attacked by 
 these same savages ; and the daughter, born as late as 1739, 
 recollected to have gathered blueberries on this very hill 
 with a file of soldiers for protection. Men, younger than 
 many I now address, remembered the Indian fight in 
 Sterling, and the burning of the church and last attacks 
 at Lancaster — remembrances, events jtist then occurring, 
 might well quicken and impress. 
 
 But if the savages, as enemies, had retired, the forest 
 was present. Looking from this eminence, on the 20th of 
 October, 1759, the eye rested upon a wilderness, clothed 
 in all the gorgeous beauty of a New England Autumn, 
 — but unbroken in its whole extent save where some dis- 
 tant pond glittered in the sunlight, or the curling smoke re- 
 vealed the settler's dwelling, or the smouldering fires of 
 the pioneer's clearing. Hubbardston, Sterling and Boyls- 
 toii were not. Westminster was but a twin born sister. 
 No roads threaded these primeval woods. And dweller 
 found dweller, in traffic, mutual aid or social intercourse, 
 by the bridle path and marked tree, escorted by an occa- 
 sional wolf or growling bear. No mail — no weekly post- 
 man, even, brought news from the inner world to these 
 outside settlers. What they learned of the distant homes 
 they had left awaij doion to Shreiosbur7j, Lancaster and 
 Weston and Wate^ioivn, they gathered by chance visits, 
 or the letter some friendly hand casually brought. The 
 Boston Weekly Newspaper, which found its way occasion- 
 ally to some of them, told them from time to time, of the 
 stirring events transpiring around them, and in the distant 
 country to which they owed allegiance. 
 
 Our fathers were the subjects of Great Britain. The 
 act which made them a town, and the warrant which called 
 them together to organize it, were alike in the name of 
 
12 
 
 the second George. Lig4itly, as iu their forest homes, their 
 allegiance ordinarily sat npon them, — there was a peculiar 
 significance to it just now. They were in the midst of 
 sharing actively the first great contest for civil liberty on 
 the continent. Their sovereign was its leader, and king and 
 colonist, cemented by a common interest, alike uncon- 
 scious of the fact, were laying broad and deep the founda- 
 tion of future freedom. 
 
 Hardly more than a century since, France, by military 
 posts and possessions, had drawn a narrowing circle 
 around the English Colonies, and, in a magnificent sweep, 
 claimed jurisdiction from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to that 
 of Mexico. On the Saguenay and Ottawa, amid the soli- 
 tary grandeur of Niagara, at Champlain, and along the 
 whole line of inland waters from Ontario to Michigan, the 
 rude cross marked her faith, and the fleur de lis asserted 
 her power. Her soldiery struggled with Washington for 
 the beautiful basin of the Ohio. '' In the whole valley 
 of the Mississippi, to its head springs in the Alleghanies, 
 no standard floated but hers." The institutions of the 
 middle ages and rising liberty confronted each other in the 
 primeval forest and untrampled prairie. What race should 
 people these vast solitudes, what language make them 
 vocal, — feudalism or freedom, Catholicism or Protestant- 
 ism, which should take root in this virgin soil, — these were 
 the grand issues of that contest Washington opened at 
 Great Meadows, and Wolfe closed at Quebec. 
 
 Long before Marquette, La Salle and Hennepin had 
 explored the Mississippi, from the falls of St. Anthony to 
 its mouth, and reared along its solitary banks the arms 
 of France. French forts were established at Champlain, 
 Ontario, Niagara, Erie, and finally on the sources of the 
 Ohio at Pittsburg, while the unbroken forests swarmed 
 with their Indian allies, from the shores of the lakes to the 
 frowning ramparts of Quebec. Massachusetts not long 
 back had mourned French and savage inroads, of Avhich 
 she dreaded the renewal, at points within our view to-day. 
 
.13 
 
 Tliey had roused the peaceful Quaker spirit of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and the more ardent vigor of Virginia and New 
 York. The races approached, the lines were drawn, the 
 posts taken, the crisis impended, and the rattle of Wash- 
 ington's musketry in the western wilderness " broke the 
 repose of the world," and, as has been well said, " began 
 the battle, which was to banish from the soil and neighbor- 
 hood of our republic the institutions of the middle age, 
 and to inflict on them fatal wounds throughout the conti- 
 nent of Europe." 
 
 In 1750, the French and English Commissioners at Paris 
 had failed to settle the boundaries of their North American 
 territory b}^ negotiation. In 1754, Washington surren- 
 dered at Fort Necessity. The year following, Massachu- 
 setts troops secured Nova Scotia, and became associated 
 with, if they did not incur, the infamy of removing the 
 peaceful Acadians. Braddock, self-willed and impracticable, 
 met his disastrous defeat in the forests of Fort Du Quesne. 
 In 1756, war was finally declared between England and 
 France, and the chivalric Montcalm assumed the French 
 command in America. Pushing through the forest and 
 along Lake Ontario, while Loudoun and Abercrombie lin- 
 gered at Albany, ho captured the fort at Oswego, reared 
 upon its ruins the cross, and by its side a j^illar, bearing 
 the arms of France, and the inscription, '' Bring lilies with 
 full hands." 
 
 Flushed with success, the next year he descended the 
 shores of Lake George upon Fort William Henry, with 
 eight thousand French and Indians, where the gallant Monro 
 maintained a death struggle, till half his guns were burst 
 and his ammunition all expended. In August of that year, 
 Massachusetts issued an order, " for all and every one of 
 his Majesty's well affected subjects, able to bear arms, to 
 repair to Fort Edward, on the Hudson, to serve with Gen. 
 Webb, for the relief of Fort William Henry, which still 
 stands out fighting against a large and numerous body of 
 the enemy." Already the regiments of the counties of 
 
14 
 
 Hampshire and Worcester bad gone forward to the relief 
 of Monro, and, with their associates in arms, but for the 
 inefficiency ot Webb, might have saved ns the sad disaster 
 of that broken-hearted officer's surrender. 
 
 Just tlien, in the language of another, " The English had 
 been driven from every cabin in the basin of the Ohio. 
 Montcalm had destroyed every vestige of their power 
 within that of the St. Lawrence.'' " Of the North Ameri- 
 can Continent, the French claimed, and seemed to possess, 
 twenty parts in tAventy-five, leaving four only to Spain and 
 but one to Britain." England herself, straining every 
 nerve to exhaustion, to aid the great protestant power, 
 then developing itself under Frederic, — borne down by an 
 incompetent ministry, which distrusted the colonies, and 
 was repudiated by the people, seemed incapable of turning 
 the tide of American affairs. Massachusetts, through all 
 her borders, trembled for her security^ and the dwellers in 
 her more unsettled interior,, recalled, with fearful forebod- 
 ings, savage inroads within their personal recollection, and 
 from onuses again active. 
 
 At this moment of disaster and gloom, England's great 
 commoner assumed the guidance of her counsels, and 
 accomplished some of the brightest glories of her history. 
 Entering permanently upon his administration in 1757, 
 challenging the support of the colonies by a generous 
 confidence, throwing to the winds the fears, and boldly 
 reversing the maxims of his predecessors, he matured and 
 executed those plans, which crowned the first great Amer- 
 ican conflict with the entire subjugation of French Amer- 
 ica. 
 
 Animated by his justice, and their confidence in him, the 
 Colonies rallied at once to his support. Massachusetts sent 
 seven thousand troops to the army of that year, and had en- 
 rolled nearly one-third of all her effective men. In July, Am- 
 herst, seconded by Wolfe, captured Louisburg, and in the 
 same month the gallant Howe fell at Lake George, and 
 Abercrombie retreated, disastrously repulsed by Montcalm 
 
15 
 
 from Ticocderoga. In November, Forbes, prompted and 
 sustained bv the energetic spirit of Washington, took Fort 
 Duquesne, and as his country's flag rose over it, gave it 
 the name of that country's protector. The persevering 
 Bradstreet rescued Abercrombie's division from entire 
 disaster by the subjugation of Fort Frontenac, on Lake 
 Ontario. 
 
 In 1759, in the steady march of events, Niagara, Ticon- 
 deroga and Crown Point were taken by the English, and 
 the French driven back upon the St. Lawrence. Montcalm 
 repaired to Quebec, where his sagacious mind saw the 
 decisive blow must be met, and awaited it in fearless but 
 foreboding self-possession. On the 13th of September it 
 fell, and Wolfe, noblest and bravest of British officers, over 
 unprecedented obstacles, achieved, with his life, on the 
 plains of Abraham, the first decisi\:e victory of American 
 liberty on the battle field. Our fathers, in their humble 
 homes in the forest, received, with their act of incorpora- 
 tion, the grateful tidings just then sending a thrill of exul- 
 tant joy throughout the Colonies, and which emancipated 
 them from the further power or fear of French or Indian. 
 
 Such were the times and scenes amid which our fathers 
 lived. Such the stirring circumstances and grand events 
 transpiring around them, — not distant and remote and to 
 them indifferent, — but upon their very frontier, and threat- 
 ening home and fireside. They shared the duties and 
 dangers of the field, and in almost every household, nearly 
 or more remotely mourned its losses. One has only to 
 run over the muster rolls of Chandler, Ruggles and others 
 to see how largely all this region of Worcester County 
 participated in the French wars, and how largely they 
 suffered from them. It is a somewhat curious and inter- 
 esting fact that the first settler of Princeton made himself 
 bankrupt by a purchase of cattle for the supply of the 
 British army in Canada. 
 
 I have detained you longer, perhaps, than I ought, 
 especially after my promises in the beginning, with these 
 
16 
 
 larger and more general events. I have done so because 
 occurring just at tlie period of their incorporation, thej 
 illustrated the times in which our fathers lived, enter into 
 their domestic history, affected their homes and firesides, 
 and were the familiar subjects which filled up the talks of 
 their winter evenings. 
 
 But it is quite time I should turn to history purely our 
 own. In doing so, I desire to say that the short time 
 allowed me for preparation has not permitted me to make 
 all the investigations I could desire — or even to complete 
 all upon which I have entered. I have, however, found 
 several valuable papers and maps, that I supposed were 
 not in existence, and which throw much light upon our 
 early history, and correct some errors in regard to it. 
 
 The territory composing our town, although not settled 
 or incorporated till a, comparatively late period, was yet 
 early known and somewhat explored. Wachusett, as the 
 highest land in the State, became not only an object of 
 interest but a landmark for all the surrounding country. 
 Centuries before a white man set foot upon it, such was it 
 to its savage possessors and frequenters. Could its ven- 
 erable summit speak to us of all it has witnessed, while for 
 ages it looked 
 
 " Upon the green and rolling forest tops, 
 And down into the eeerets of the glens," 
 
 before the eye of civilized being rested upon it, what a 
 history might it unfold ! How much of Indian life and 
 action, love and hate, fidelity and treachery, worship, 
 cruelty, decay and extinction ! What tribes have held its 
 sovereignty, what wild tenants thronged its precincts, 
 what scenes of peace or war it has witnessed, how long it 
 stood in solitary grandeur before human foot pressed its 
 rocky soil, — what captives have been tortured or released 
 at its base, — what assaults and murders planned upon its 
 sides, what settlements marked and devoted from its top. 
 
17 
 
 who gave it the name, you, with such good taste, refuse 
 to change, and witnessed its baptism, far back 
 
 " When the gray chief and gifted seer, 
 Worshipped the God of thunders here." 
 
 We may interrogate it, but we shall interrogate it in vain. 
 Everything that has transpired on and around it, from the 
 lighting of the first Indian fire in its forests, to the last 
 tale of love whispered in the pale-faced maiden's ear, at 
 sunset, on its summit, ia sacredly locked in its faithful 
 bosom, as arrayed in the splendor of its autumnal robes, 
 it looks down, in serene and silent majesty upon our ser- 
 vices to-day. 
 
 Were those venerable sides now to break their long 
 silence, and essay to speak, dead and living would join in 
 equal and earnest protest, from the first mountain Hiawa- 
 tha, who there laid the red deer at his Minnehaha's feet, to 
 the last Summer visitor who there breathed words of love 
 to his Genevieve, till she too 
 
 " Said and blushed to say it, 
 I will follow you, my husband." 
 
 And 
 
 *' Hand in hand, they went together, 
 Through the woodland and the meadow." 
 
 The first reference to Wachusett, unless we adopt the 
 suggestion that it is the hill laid down by John Smith in 
 his map in 1616, is by Gov. Winthrop, in 1632. On the 
 27th of January, of that year, " the Governor and some 
 company with him," says his journal, "went up Charles River 
 about eight miles above Watertown," where " they went 
 up a very high rock, from whence they might see all over 
 Neipnett, and a very high hill due west about forty miles 
 off." Probably this is the first specific mention of any 
 portion of the territory of Worcester County, as its wil- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 derness was never traversed by civilized man, until the 
 expedition toward Connecticut, in 1635. 
 
 In 1643, Governor Winthrop again says, "At this court, 
 Nashacowam and Wassamagoin, two sachems near the 
 great hill to the west, called (Warehasset,) Wachusett, 
 came into the court, and, according to their former tender 
 to the Governor, desired to be received under our protec- 
 tion and government, upon the same terms that Pomhom 
 and Saconoco were ; so we, causing them to understand the 
 articles, and all the ten commandments of God, and they, 
 freely assenting to all, they were solemnly received, and 
 then presented the court with twenty-six fathom more of 
 wampum, and the court gave each of them a coat of two 
 yards of cloth and their dinner ; and to them and their 
 men, every one of them a cup of sack at their departure ; 
 so they took leave and went away very joyful." 
 
 At this time the Nipmucks owned and occupied most of 
 the region now making the south part of Worcester 
 County. How far their domain extended, and what were 
 the precise relations between them and the Nashaways, 
 who held the territory along the Nashua and about the 
 Wachusett, is uncertain The sachem of the latter was 
 Sholan, or Shawman, who had his royal residence, if that 
 term may be applied to a wigwam and corn patch, on the 
 neck of land between the Washacums, in our sight to-day. 
 To his barbaric dominion our territoiy was subject. 
 During this year, upon his invitation. King and others of 
 Watertown, purchased of him a tract ten miles by eight on 
 the Nashua, and began the settlement of Lancaster. This 
 preceded by many years any other town in Worcester 
 County, and was for a half century the nearest settlement 
 to Wachusett. 
 
 In February, 1676, the Indians of this region, among 
 whom were those who had received the pious instruction 
 of Eliot and Gookin, instigated by Philip, joined in the 
 Narragansett war. Assembling in large numbers, they 
 made the disastrous attack upon Lancaster, so familiar to 
 
19 
 
 us from the simple and touching narrative of Mrs. Row- 
 landson. " After many weary steps," says this trusting 
 Christian woman, returning from sufierings and wanderings 
 in the wilderness, " we came to Wachusett." It would 
 seem that she remained herewith a body of Indians during 
 the attack upon Sudbury, and she describes the pow-wow 
 preliminary to that assault. After this, she says, three or 
 four miles distant from the mountain, ''they built a great 
 wigwam, big enough to hold an hundred Indians, which 
 they did in preparation to a great day of dancing." '' They 
 began now to come from all quarters against the merry 
 dancing day." This is the first public celebration within 
 the limits or vicinage of our town of which we have any 
 history. For a curious account of the services, I must 
 refer you to the lady's narrative. 
 
 Meantime, Mr. Hoar had come to secure her ransom, and 
 we have a statement of some diplomatic social intercourse, 
 which rather unfavorably reflects upon our Indian prede- 
 cessors. ** In the morning," says Mrs. Rowlandson, '' Mr. 
 Hoar invited the Sagamores to dinner ; but when we 
 went to get it ready, we found they had stolen the greater 
 part of the provisions Mr. Hoar had brought, and we ma}'- 
 see the wonderful power of God, in that one passage, in 
 that when there was such a number of them together, and 
 so greedy of a little good food, and no English there, but 
 Mr. Hoar and myself, that it was a wonder they did not 
 knock us on the head, and take what we had." 
 
 Here the Indians called their General Court which finally 
 consented to release Mrs. Rowlandson. 
 
 Shortly after, the General Court of the Province, sent 
 Seth Perry as a special messenger to them, and by him a 
 letter addressed to " The Sagamore about Wachusetts, 
 Phillip, John, Sam, Washaken, old Queen and Pomliom." 
 It would seem from this that Mr. Hoar brought letters 
 from them, suing for peace, for it speaks of receiving their 
 letters, and adds, " In your letter to us you say you desire 
 not to be hindered by our men in your planting, promising 
 
20 
 
 not to do damage to our towns. If you will send us home 
 all the English prisoners, it will bo a great testimony of a 
 true heart in you to peace." 
 
 The same year, in a letter to the Council at Hartford, the 
 General Court say, that it was their intention to have left 
 a sufficient garrison at Sudbury and Marlboro', and " have 
 drawn their forces to visit, had it been feasible, the head- 
 quarters of the enemy at Wachusetts ;" but divine Provi- 
 dence ordered it that their forces " by weakness and wants 
 could not attayne that end." They add, we " hope by the 
 first of June to be out with five hundred horse and foot and 
 Indians, on the visiting of the ennemye's headquarters at 
 Wachusetts, taking it in the march to Hadley." 
 
 At this time, beyond doubt, our town was the head- 
 quarters of the hostile Indians. 
 
 In 1681, Mr. Stoughton and Joseph Dudley were ap- 
 pointed by the Court to negotiate with the Nipmucks for 
 their territory. In February of the next year they report 
 that they have purchased of black James, one tract for thirty 
 pounds and a coat, and for fifty pounds, another tract fifty 
 miles long and twenty wide. '^ The northern part towards 
 Wachusett " they say " is still unpurchased, and persons 
 yet scarcely to be found meet to be treated with 
 thereabouts." 
 
 Four years later, Henry Willard, Joseph Rowlandson, 
 Joseph Foster, Benjamin Willard and Cyprian Stevens made 
 the purchase of Puagastion, Fompamamey, Wananapan, 
 Sassawannow and Qualipunit of *' a certain tract of lands, 
 Medows, Swamps, Timbers, Etervils, containing twelve 
 miles square," and known as Naquag. For this they paid 
 twenty-three pounds — which is much higher than the Prov- 
 ince paid for the Nipmuck territory, four years before. 
 Although the price is but eighty cents a square mile, it 
 seems to have been quite up to the market, as fixed by the 
 sale of " adjoining lots." How the grantees discovered the 
 title of these Indian grantors, which escaped the vigilance 
 of the Provincial Commissioners, or what the title was 
 
21 
 
 does not appear. The savages backed their title with very 
 ample covenants of seizin, and set their marks to warranties 
 of the strongest form. 
 
 This purchase included what is now Rutland, Hubbard- 
 ston, Barre, Oakham, a part of Paxton, and the larger half 
 of Princeton. Its northerly line ran nearly a mile north 
 of where we are now assembled, across the whole of the 
 town, to " Greate Wachusett," excluding, however, that 
 mountain. The Indian deed was probably worthless till 
 confirmed by the General Court, and it seems to have been 
 so regarded. We hear nothing of it from its date till 1713. 
 During the intervening period, the Indians possessed or 
 frequented the territory. As late as 1704, an attack was 
 made upon Lancaster, and the Church burnt, and in 1707 
 the Indian fight, as it is called, occurred in Sterling. 
 Occasional ruptures and murders continued up to 1710. 
 
 As late as 1725, Capt. Brintnall was ordered to surround 
 and protect with his company, the meadows in Rutland, 
 while the farmers gathered their hay. 
 
 In 1714, the General Court, upon the application of the 
 sons and grandsons of Maj. Simon Willard, and others, con- 
 firmed to them the land described in the Indian deed, pro- 
 vided there should be sixty families settled thereon in seven 
 years, and " sufficient lands reserved for the use of a gospel 
 minister and school." On the 14th of April of that year, 
 the proprietors held their first meeting, and the Indian deed 
 was put upon record. In 1716, six miles square, constitu- 
 ting the present town of Rutland, was set off for the settlers 
 required by the condition of the confirmation, and meas- 
 ures taken to secure them. The other portions of the ter- 
 ritory were soon after divided into wings or quarters. Of 
 these the east wing constitutes the southerly and larger 
 part of Princeton. 
 
 There are three plans of this Naquag or Rutland pur- 
 chase, on file in the archives of the Commonwealth, at the 
 State House. The last is a very accurate one, presented by 
 Rev. Thomas Prince and others, a committee of the propri- 
 
22 
 
 etors, on the occaeion of asking the grant of a land tax in 
 1749. Upon this the several wings or quarters are all laid 
 down. The east wing is a parallelogram nearly, all its lines 
 being perfectly straight, the east and west each eleven hun- 
 dred and fifty rods, the south sixteen hundred and ninety 
 rods, and the north sixteen hundred rods. Its area variSs 
 somewhat on these and the later plans, a fact not surprising 
 in those days of liberal allowance " for sags of the chain." It 
 contained about eleven thousand and seven hundred acres, 
 and the north line separating it from the Province lands, then 
 unsurveyed and extending far beyond, ran straight from 
 the south-east corner of what was subsequently known as 
 the letter M lot, to the extreme south-west edge of Wa- 
 chusett. The Meeting-House Hill was then called Turkey 
 Hill, and this line ran along the depression between the two 
 Wachusetts, where the road now passes. 
 
 This tract remained in common, neither surveyed nor 
 explored, until 1718, when it was divided by the proprietors 
 into forty-eight farms, of two hundred and thirty-seven 
 acres each. At this time there were thirty -three propri- 
 etors, and at a meeting in Boston, November 5, of that year, 
 one of these farms was assigned to each by lot. The three 
 meadow lots. Pout Water, Wachusett, and Dead Meadow, 
 were reserved for common use. Twelve lots, marked by 
 letters from A to M, were also reserved, eleven for the 
 proprietors, the other " for the first ordained minister of 
 Rutland." The full list of the proprietors, with the lot of 
 each, is recorded in their records. 
 
 The lettered lots were owned in common until September 
 24th, 1734, when, at a meeting of the proprietors at the 
 Royal Exchange Tavern, Boston, these lots, together with 
 the "gores and gussets," as the records have it, were divided. 
 At the same meeting, it was voted that sixty-three acres 
 " in lot No. A, (this included the Meeting-House Hill,) not 
 having been set off to any of the proprietors, by reason 
 of the brokenness of it, be granted to Rev. Mr. Thomas 
 Prince, in consideration of the great care and labor he has 
 
23 
 
 taken in calculating and computing the divisions above 
 mentioned, and other good services performed to the 
 proprietors." 
 
 In November, 1736, the Wachusett, Pout Water and Dead 
 Meadow lots were divided, in the division, one acre of 
 meadow being " valued as three acres of upland." Thus, 
 the whole territory became subdivided and passed to indi- 
 viduals. Of these the Rev. Mr. Prince, as the proprietor 
 of five shares, was the largest owner, although he does 
 not appear to have been a proprietor at the division in 
 1718. Probably still further purchases were made by him 
 before 1759. 
 
 The northerly and remaining portion of the town, 
 comprising at its incorporation, seven thousand two hun- 
 dred and eighty-three acres, is composed of several dis- 
 tinct grants, the history of which time does not permit 
 me to give in detail. The largest and most important 
 was made to the towns of Weston and Watertown. Its 
 circumstances and date have been inaccurately stated 
 heretofore, as I find by the original documents, to which I 
 have recently had access. 
 
 In 1651, Watertown, then embracing Weston, was 
 involved in a controversy with Sudbury, as to boundaries, 
 which the General Court settled in favor of Sudbury. At 
 the same time it passed an order that " Water Toune shall 
 have two thousand ackers of land laid out nere Assabeth 
 River, in respect of such land as was wanting to them, 
 which was granted them formerly by this Court to be the 
 bounds of their toune." 
 
 For some reason, this grant never took effect, or was 
 never located. In 1728, Watertown and Weston, which had 
 then been incorporated, petitioned to have it revived ; and in 
 June of that year, the General Court granted to those towns 
 two thousand acres, to be located in any unappropriated 
 lands of the Province. In November it was selected, sur- 
 veyed, and a plan returned to the General Court. In this it 
 is described as "in tlie unappropriated land, joining to the 
 
24 
 
 Great Watchusett Hill, bounded south.westerly by Rutland' 
 line of their township, every other way by Province land." 
 This tract ran on Rutland line eight hundred and forty 
 rods, or a little more than two and a half miles. Its lines 
 are all strait except the west, which is very daintily deflected' 
 to exclude the mountain, and at the same, include all the 
 valuable land at its base. Wachusett was no favorite with 
 the land seekers, who alike closed their inhospitable lines 
 against it, thrusting it into cold exclusion, till some enter- 
 prising surveyor should bring it in, by a gigantic sag of 
 the chain, or some masterly deduction. 
 
 This tract, commencing at a point on the line of Rutland 
 East Wing, a little south-easterly of the Whitney Hill, ex- 
 tended to East Princeton, including a part of that village, 
 and thence over, or to the north of Pine Hill, to the base 
 of Wachusett, and thence along this to the Rutland line. 
 It was known as the Watertown Farm, and is usually so 
 called in public documents of the time. It was sold by 
 the towns to proprietors, and by them divided into farms 
 of equal value. 
 
 Another large grant of fifteen hundred acres was made 
 to Thomas Plaisted. This tract is usually called the Pot- 
 ash Farm, in the public records. When granted, or for 
 what purpose, I have been unable to ascertain as yet. It 
 seems that Plaisted did not fulfill the conditions of the 
 grant, for in 1760, the General Court directed William 
 Richardson to demand of Timothy Mosman possession of 
 the "fifteen hundred acres granted Plaisted on certain condi- 
 tions which were not fulfilled by him." In 1761, they sent a 
 committee to prevent and prosecute the encroachments of 
 Lancaster upon this farm — that town, then including Ster- 
 ling, claiming some part of it to be within her bounds. In 
 1762, an attempt was made to sell this, a farm of eighty 
 acres west of it, and the Wachusett, at auction, putting 
 them up at a limited minimum price. The same year, Ezra 
 Taylor, as a committee, came up and run the lines of the 
 Potash Farm, and reported that he found the most valuable 
 
25 
 
 part of the timber cut, and adds, " I can't find out any 
 person who has done it, except one Timothy Mosman, who 
 was then in possession." 
 
 In 1764, the General Court, on the last day of its session, 
 granted the farm to Gen. Timothy Ruggles, the speaker, 
 " in testimony of their grateful sense of the important ser- 
 vices he rendered his country during the late war." 
 
 Besides these larger, there were various grants to indi- 
 viduals. In 1729, three hundred acres to Rev. Joseph 
 Willard, of Rutland, and two hundred to Benjamin Muzzy. 
 In 1732, four hundred to Rev. Benjamin Allen, and two 
 hundred, in 1733, to Joseph Stevens, and one hundred and 
 twenty to Joshua Wilder, Jr., in 1743. There were also 
 the Blagrow and the Mayhew farms, and there was included 
 in the town at the incorporation, a considerable area of 
 Province land, of which the mountain was part. 
 
 As early as 1734, some votes were passed by the Rutland 
 proprietors, in reference to "■ bringing forward settlements 
 in the East "Wing," but none were made. The first settle- 
 ment in Princeton was not upon this territory, nor upon 
 the Watertown farm, but by an enterprising pioneer upon 
 a grant he obtained from the Province. This settlement, I 
 think, from evidence in my possession, must have been 
 made three or four years later than has been supposed. 
 Joshua Wilder, Jr., has been generally understood to have 
 been the first settler. He was the grandson of Capt. 
 Nathaniel Wilder, of Lancaster, a man of some celebrity 
 in his time, and grandson of the elder Nathaniel, who was 
 killed in one of the Indian attacks upon that town. He 
 commenced, and for many years occupied, the farm more 
 recently owned by the late Peabody Houghton, and has 
 been generally stated to have settled there as early as 
 1739. But I find on the files at the State House, a petition 
 from him to the General Court at the May session in 1742, 
 wherein he sets forth, '' That the distance between Lan- 
 caster and a new town called Nichewaug is about twenty- 
 five miles. That about ten miles west of Lancaster Meet- 
 4 
 
26 
 
 ing-House there is a track of Province land, which contains 
 about one hundred and twenty acres, lying between land 
 formerly granted to Mr. Plaisted and Allen, and a farm 
 called Blagrows farm, which lys out of the bounds of any 
 Town." 
 
 " That your petitioner, though a poor man, yet he 
 humbly apprehends he hath the character of an Honest 
 and Laborious man, and is minded to settle himself and 
 family thereon." 
 
 '' That, therefore, he is very desirous of obtaining a grant 
 of said land on such conditions as may be consistent with 
 your Excellency's and Honorable wisdom, on as easy terms 
 as may be, and should he obtain it, he apprehends it would 
 be of great service to people travelling from Lancaster to 
 the new towns now settling westward, to have a house to 
 depart to in their travelling." 
 
 Upon this petition, the General Court, April 7th, 1743, 
 ordered that the land be granted, provided the petitioner 
 " does within one year have a good and convenient house 
 built thereon for the accommodation of Travellers, and 
 have ten acres thereof cleared and brought to English 
 grass or plowing within four years, and that he dwell 
 thereon with his family, or have one other good family 
 dwell thereon." 
 
 This grant must have been the farm on which Wilder set- 
 tled. If so, he came here in 1743, and not 1739. I presume 
 this was the first settlement in town, and such would be 
 the natural inference from the statements of Wilder's peti- 
 tion, and the reasons and conditions upon which the grant 
 was made. Nishewaug, Petersham, was being settled at 
 this time, and from its frontier and exposed situation, was 
 an object of interest to the government, and it is stated by 
 the historian of Worcester County, that •' there were no 
 settled towns nearer than Lancaster on the east, and Rut. 
 land to the south-east, and Brookfield to the south, except 
 a few new settlers in Hardwick." The first settlement of 
 our town had thus something of public interest about it, 
 
27 
 
 and was in aid of the pioneer emigrants to the then nearest 
 West. 
 
 Mr. Wilder occupied his farm till after the incorporation, 
 when, having lost his property by a speculation in cattle 
 for the supply of the army in Canada, he sold out and 
 removed to Cold Spring, now Belchertown, where he died 
 in 1762. 
 
 The next settler, and the first in the Rutland part, was 
 Abijah Moore, who began the farm, now occupied by 
 Major Joseph A. Read, in 1750. Here Mr. Moore, who 
 subsequently became a leading man in town and church, 
 shortly after opened a tavern, the first in the place, unless 
 Mr. Wilder's wilderness station had that character. Prob- 
 ably both had reference to the same wants of settlers 
 beyond. 
 
 The third inhabitant was Mr. Cheever, who occupied 
 the Cobb Farm, in the southerly part of the East Wing. 
 The next settlement was in the extreme north-west, 
 between Wachusett and the pond, on the farm more 
 recently occupied by Luther Goodnow, This was made 
 by Robert Keyes, who came there from Shrewsbury. I 
 think it quite probable Mr. Keyes was connected with the 
 first settler b}'^ marriage, as Mr. Wilder's wife was the 
 daughter of Major John Keyes of Shrewsbury. 
 
 These early settlements were in opposite extremes of 
 the town. Each was distant from its nearest neighbor 
 some two miles, and tAvo double that. Two were in Rut- 
 land, and two upon Province land, not in any town or 
 district. 
 
 Mr. Keyes was somewhat noted as a hunter, and this 
 character may have guided his choice of a locality in the 
 woods, under the Wachusett. His settlement became more 
 notorious than the others, by the fact that, shortly after, he 
 lost a daughter, who strayed into the woods, following her 
 older sisters who had gone to the neighboring pond. The 
 country, for many miles round, was I'allied to search the 
 forest for her, and the pond was dragged ; but no traces 
 
28 
 
 or tidings of her were ever bad. It was generally believed 
 then and since that she was carried off by Indians. 
 
 I have recently found upon the files of the General 
 Court, a petition from Mr. Keyes, presented in 1765, in 
 which he says, that "in ye year of 1755 he lost one of his 
 children, and was supposed to be taken by the Indians and 
 carried to Canada. When it was first lost, it was appre- 
 hended to be in the woods, wandering about, and your 
 petitioner was at great cost and trouble in searching the 
 woods for it, but to no good purpose ; after this, he hears 
 that it was at Canada, and that he could get further infor- 
 mation thereof at Porch Mouth, in New Hampshire ; on 
 hearing that he went there, and also sent to Canada after- 
 wards. He advertised said child in the New York papers j 
 upon that he had an account of such child being among the 
 Mohawks, and determined to go after his child last Fall,, 
 but has hitherto been prevented by reason of sickness 
 and deaths in his family. And the loss he hath been at in 
 searching for said child hath been so great, being about 
 one hundred pounds lawful money, that he is not able to 
 bear it, being in a new plantation ; and as there is within 
 sixty rods of his door some Province land lying on ye 
 Watchusetts hill, which would be some advantage to him, 
 providing he could have it; therefore, your petitioner 
 humbly prays this Honorable Court to take his case in your 
 compassionate consideration, and make him a grant of ye 
 easterly half of said Wachusett hill." 
 
 The only record I find in regard to this petition is the 
 indorsement " negatived," in the handwriting of the Sec- 
 retary. It is interesting, however, as the father's account 
 of the searches for his lost daughter. The probabilities 
 are this child perished in the woods or pond. 
 
 The settlements subsequent to 1751, must have been 
 rapid. The next in time was that of Oliver Davis, upon 
 Clark Hill, near the present line of Hubbardston. Mr. 
 Davis was a man of enterprise, as well as mechanical skill, 
 and having purchased a tract of one thousand acres, partly 
 
29 
 
 in this town and partly in Hubbardston, lie built the first 
 saw and grist mill in this immediate region, near where 
 the Valley Village Mills now stand. 
 
 In June, 1758, there were thirty families in town, as 
 appears by the petition of Benjamin Houghton and others, 
 — then presented for an act of incorpoi'ation. In addi- 
 tion, there must have been some score or two of hard- 
 handed yeomen, hewing away with might and main at the 
 primeval forest, to get a clearing and a log house, for the 
 blushing helpmeet they instantly thereupon, every one of 
 them, intended to bring behind him, on a pillion, to these 
 sylvan shades and this mountain home. Why, the dullest 
 ear in the woods could have detected every man chop- 
 ping under these tender circumstances, by the quicker 
 stroke and merrier ring of his axe, or the smarter or more 
 fantastic whistle following each crash that took one from 
 the obstacles between him and his happiness, while in 
 the distant towns below, hearts watched as anxiously for 
 tidings of " the men about the Watchusetts," as did ever 
 Governor Leverett and his General Court, in the days of 
 " Sagamore Philip, John, Sam, Washaken, Old Queen and 
 Pomhom." 
 
 Excellent notions had the sons as well as the fathers, in 
 those days: First freedom; then an axe ; then a clearing; 
 then a house ; then a wife to make it home ; a bible to 
 make it Christian ; honest loving labor to give it comfort, 
 and thenceforth every thing went as regular as clock- 
 work, from the care of the dairy to the christening of the 
 children. 
 
 That a goodly number of these single men were here, 
 is indicated by the fact that seventy-four names of persons, 
 who represent themselves as "proprietors and inhabitants," 
 appear upon the papers connected with the incorporation, 
 while there were but thirty families. 
 
 Many of you may be surprised to learn, that the incor- 
 poration was not obtained until after a severe and pro- 
 tracted struggle of more than a 3"ear, between the North 
 
30 
 
 and South, or in modern language, of quite a sectional 
 character. I have recently found most of the documents 
 which this struggle originated, and they furnish much 
 valuable information in regard to the town at that period. 
 
 June 8, 1758, Benjamin Houghton and others, residents 
 of the Farms, and the northerly part of the Wing, presented 
 a petition, praying ^ that '' certain farms near the great 
 Watchusetts Hill, and contiguous to Rutland East Wing, 
 containing a track of about six miles by three, together 
 with the East Wing of Rutland, containing about a like 
 quantity, upon Avhich there are about thirty families already 
 settled, be erected into a township." Upon this petition 
 leave was granted to bring in a bill ; but nothing more Avas 
 done until the next session, in January 1759. A petition 
 was then presented by Eliphalet Howe and others, inhabit 
 tants of the Bast Wing, praying that the Wing alone, might 
 be made a town. Upon this petition the Council ordered 
 notice, but the House summarily dismissed it, and with it 
 the previous one of Houghton. 
 
 The succeeding February, Houghton and others again 
 petitioned, setting forth " that said farms and Wing being 
 incorporated into a Distinct Township, will make a very 
 good one, and do not contain the contents of six miles 
 square, and that said Wing, by itself, will not be able to 
 defray the charges of building a meeting-house, settling a 
 minister, and maintaining the Gospel among them, and 
 making roads, without an intolerable heavy tax ; " that the 
 farms are not able alone to meet such charges, and " cannot 
 be accommodated to any other town, and will be forever 
 disobliged if not laid to said wing, and both together will 
 find the charges of a new settlement heavy enough ; " that 
 " both wing and farms are at present under very difficult 
 circumstances, by the extreme distance and badness of the 
 roads to the pubhc Worship of God in any other Town." 
 They add, " we can but seldom attend it, and in the winter 
 season are quite shut up, which circumstances are not only 
 distressing to the present Inhabitants, but very Discour- 
 
31 
 
 aging to new Settlers. Wherefore, the humble prayer of 
 your petitioners is, that said wing and farms may be 
 incorporated as above-said." 
 
 This petition was signed by forty-five persons, of Avhom 
 twenty-four resided upon '• The Farms," and twenty-one 
 upon the '' Wing." 
 
 Notice was ordered by the General Court, to be given 
 " to the Proprietors and Inhabitants of the East Wing of 
 Rutland," by inserting the substance of the petition in 
 some one of the Boston Newspapers, to show cause if any 
 they had, at the next session of the court, why the prayer 
 of the petition should not be granted. 
 
 The notice given was defective in form, and Eliphalet 
 Howe and others, by memorial, took adv^antage of this. 
 The petition was thereupon postponed to the May session, 
 and new notice ordered and given. 
 
 At this session, Joseph Ev^eleth and twenty-one others, 
 " Inhabitants and Proprietors of the East Wing of Rutland," 
 sent in a long memorial, " in answer to the petition" of 
 Houghton and others, and praying " that said wing might 
 be incorporated into a Town or District." In this they 
 say, " j^our memorialists beg leave to say, that they are 
 very sure that Every Impartial man that is acquainted with 
 the Situation and Circumstances of said Wing and farms 
 will Readily say that the wing of itself, will make a much 
 better settlement than if the ftxrms are laid to said wing, 
 for this Reason, Because the farms in General, are some of 
 the poorest land, perhaps, that there is in the Province, 
 Lyes in a very bad form, and although the said Proprietors 
 and Inhabitants of said farms, did exhibit a plan to your 
 Excellency and Honors, that appeared that said farms lay 
 in a very good form to be adjoyned to said Wing. Your 
 memorialists beg leave to say, that they are very sure that 
 said plan is not true, — But done, as they apprehend, to 
 Deceive your Excellency and Honors, and as almost all the 
 Best of the land in said wing. Lyes on the Southerly side 
 of it, and the Chief of the Inhabitants living on that Side; 
 
32 
 
 and not only so, but the land on the northerly side Never 
 will admit of Half so good a Settlement as the Southerly 
 side will ; and if the farms should be annexed to said wing, 
 it would Gary the Center of the wing and farms to the 
 very Northerly side of said Wing, which would oblige the 
 two-thirds of the Inhabitants always to travel Three or 
 Four miles to meeting, and the great Difficulty that your 
 memorialists must be put to in making Highways and 
 Building Bridges through a very Rough, Rocky Country, 
 will Burden them so, that they had rather have one-quarter 
 of their Real estate Taken from them, than to be obliged 
 to Joyne with those People, where they are certain they 
 shall always live in Trouble and Difficulty. And as the 
 said wing contains better than twelve thousand acres of 
 Land, and is capable of making a very good Settlement of 
 itself, and cost your memorialists a very great price ; and if 
 your Excellency and Honors should annex the Farms to 
 the wing, we apprehend it would be taking away the 
 Rights of your memorialists, and giving it to those that 
 have no just claim to it." They therefore pray that the 
 petition of Houghton and others may be dismissed, and 
 that the wing maybe incorporated into a Town or District. 
 
 This petition and memorial was referred to a Joint Com- 
 mittee of the General Court, who gave the parties a 
 hearing, and reported, '' That in order to have a clear 
 understanding of the sundry things mentioned in said 
 Petition, that a Committee be appointed and sent by this 
 Honorable Court to view the Farms and the East Wing 
 above mentioned, and Report to the Court, the charge of 
 said Committee to be borne as this Honorable Court shall 
 hereafter order." This Report was accepted, and Gama- 
 liel Bradford, Mr, Witt, and Colonel Gerrish were appointed 
 the Joint Committee. 
 
 This Committee had a view and further hearings, and 
 
 there are sundry papers on file presented to them. 
 
 Among these are the two following of some interest to us : 
 
 "October ye 6th, 1759. — This may certifie whomsoever it may Concern, 
 
33 
 
 that the Land Between Leominster, Leuningburg and Narrowgaseett No. 
 
 2, and as far as the Potash Farm, is Chiefly uninhabitable, and very bad 
 
 land, and no waye fit but for a very few Inhabitants. 
 
 Test our hands : 
 
 EZRA HOUGHTON, 
 JONATHAN WILDER. 
 
 Lancester, October 7th, 1759. 
 These may certifie that the Lands north of the farm Called Potash Farm, 
 betwixt Leominster and Narragansett, is Generally Rough Land, and will 
 admit of but few Good Settlements. Atts : 
 
 JOSEPH WILDER, 
 JOHN BENNIT. 
 
 N. B. — The above subscribers were the gentlemen that layed out the 
 above-mentioned Lands and assisted in Dividing them." 
 
 I apprehend much of this controversy turned upon the 
 so often vexing question to towns of the centre. 
 
 The final result was, that on the 20th of October, one 
 hundred years ago, the act which occasions our festivities, 
 received the consent of the Royal Governor, and incorpo- 
 rated the town with precisely the same bounds asked for by 
 Houghton and others, and according to the plan presented 
 by them. Looking back through all this period, over our 
 history, not one here doubts, that in putting these two 
 sections together in a well-shaped and substantial town, the 
 law makers did wisely and happily. The fears of the 
 southern section, that if joined to the north they should 
 " always live in trouble and difficulty," and which led them 
 in the heat of controversy to say, that they " had 
 rather have one-quarter of their real estate taken from 
 them than be obliged " to do so, were speedily dissipated. 
 From that day to this, never has a town been more free 
 from sectional strife or division. Were y;^u now to 
 propose to separate the two original divisions, if any 
 mortal man could find the line, you would stir up a thou- 
 sand fold deeper, more protracted, and bitter struggle 
 than that which brought them together. If there be one 
 common feeling of joy to-day, it is that we are citizens of 
 a common town. And I trust we mean to remain so, as 
 
34 
 
 long as Wacbusett, our common inheritance, looks down 
 upon a town at all. 
 
 The act of 1759 made the territory, in name, a district ; 
 but in its own language, invested it " with all the privi- 
 leges, powers and immunities that towns in the Province 
 did, or might enjoy, that of sending a Representative to 
 the General Assembly only excepted." They had a right 
 to send an agent to the General Court, a right which they 
 soon after exercised. 
 
 Early in the history of Rutland East Wing, the Rev. 
 Thomas Prince, colleague pastor of the old South Church, 
 Boston, became a large proprietor, owning five of the 
 thirty-three shares. His interest was, probably, at a later 
 period, larger. For this reason, and in respect to him, 
 possibly to smooth matters a little with the Rutland oppo- 
 sition, the town was named Prince Town, a name which the 
 act of 1771 contracted to Princeton. 
 
 The first town meeting was held, and the town organized 
 by the choice of the necessary officers, on the 24th of 
 December, 1759. This meeting was at the tavern of Abijah 
 Moore, where all subsequent ones were held, until the 
 meeting-house was boarded and partially finished, in May, 
 1763. The records of the first meetings are gone from the 
 record book, but it appears, from documents, that Dr. Zach- 
 ariah Harvey was the first Town Clerk. At this time he 
 occupied, I judge, the most prominent and influential position 
 in town. The petition for incorporation is in his hand- 
 writing. He had come here, not long before, from that 
 part of Shrewsbury then called the Leg, and which lies 
 along our eastern border, now a part of Sterling, and 
 resided on the farm more recently owned and occupied by 
 Deacon Ebenezer Parker. 
 
 The first town meeting of w^hich a record exists, was in 
 March, 1761. Dr. Harvey was chosen Moderator, District 
 Clerk, Chairman of the Selectmen, Chairman of the Assess- 
 ors, and Agent to the General Court, a plurality of offices, 
 I think, never since held by one person. There seems to 
 
35 
 
 have been no little trouble and commotion at this meeting, 
 more, bj much, I apprehend, than has ever occurred at 
 any of its successors. There is a protest upon the records, 
 signed by eight persons, declaring the proceedings illegal, 
 " by reason of the meeting not being purged from such 
 persons, or voters, as are unqualified by law to vote." 
 
 But the matter did not end here. The same March, a 
 long memorial was sent to the General Court, by these and 
 other persons, setting forth that there were, at this meeting, 
 '' several votes and transactions altogether illegal and 
 unwarrantable, and unfairly and unduly obtained by means 
 of many persons being admitted to vote at said meeting, 
 that were not legal voters there, and some that were not 
 even inhabitants of the same." They go on, in very plain 
 terms, to charge the Doctor with pretty high-handed and 
 rather awkward measures, and ask to have the pro- 
 ceedings declared void, and another meeting called and 
 new officers chosen. 
 
 The Doctor was called upon by the General Court, '' to 
 render an account of the proceedings complained of." He 
 filed his answer, which is missing, so that we loose his 
 version of the matter. The decision was in his favor, and 
 the proceedings of the meeting were ratified and 
 confirmed. 
 
 At the incorporation, few roads existed. The first of 
 which I can find any trace, was, I suppose, a Province road, 
 from Lancaster to Sunderland. There is a map of it in the 
 State archives. It ran along the north-east line of the 
 town, crossing the edge of Wachusett pond, in "Westmin- 
 ster. The distance by it, as stated on the plan, from Lan- 
 caster meeting-house to Wachusett pond, is eleven miles. 
 This road was in existence as early as 1735, when a grant 
 of land was made to Samuel Kneeland, on each side of it 
 and near the pond. * 
 
 The road, I think, also existed through town to Hub- 
 bardston. The first road, apparently, built by the town, 
 was that from Westminster line by Mr. John P. Rice's, over 
 
36 
 
 Meeting-Honse Hill to Holden. This was in 1762. Upon 
 a map of the town, taken as late as 1793, and filed with the 
 Secretary of State, there are laid down only these three 
 roads. Probably most of the early roads were made by a 
 tax, ''worked out" upon them, as they have been repaired 
 ever since. 
 
 Originally, towns were incorporated, as a general rule, 
 whenever the territory could support a gospel ministry. 
 Hence, the representations in this respect, in the petitions 
 I have cited. This became, therefore, at once the legal 
 duty of the town, and early measures were taken to erect 
 a meoting-house and settle a minister. Instantly there 
 came up this exciting question of the centre, so distressing 
 always in our towns. Several meetings were held upon 
 this trying subject. First, the house was located ; then a 
 vote revoking this ; then a committee from Bolton, Holden 
 and Westminster, were appointed, with a surveyor from 
 Rutland, and one from Westboro, all to " be under oath for 
 the trust committed to them, to survey the town, find the 
 centre, and affix the place for building the meeting-house 
 on." Of what this sworn committee reported, we unfor* 
 tunately have no record. The town refused to accept 
 it, and finally voted to locate the house '' on the highest 
 part of the land given by John and Caleb Mirick, near 
 three pine trees, marked, being near a large flat rock," — the 
 site upon Meeting-House Hill, with which they began. 
 
 Here, in 1762, the first church was reared, as the record 
 has it, " fifty foots long and forty foots wide." 
 
 " Scarce steal the winds, that sweep his woodland tracks, 
 
 The larch's perfume from the settler's axe, 
 
 Ere, like a vision of the morning air, 
 
 His slight framed steeple marks the house of prayer ; 
 
 Its planks all reeking, and its paint undried ; 
 
 Its rafters sprouting on the shady side. 
 
 It sheds the raindrops from its shingled eaves 
 
 Ere its green brothers once have changed their leaves, — 
 
 Yet faith's pure hymn, beneath its shelter rude, 
 
 Breathes out as sweetly to the tangled wood, 
 
37 
 
 As when the rays thro' blazing oriels pour 
 
 On marble shaft and tessellated floor ; 
 
 Heaven asks no surplice round the heart that feels, 
 
 And all is holy where devotion kneels." 
 
 Our fathers were religious men, and long before the 
 building of the meeting-house, maintained religious Avorship 
 portions of the year, in private dwellings, in different parts 
 of the territory. The first eerraon ever preached within 
 our limits was at the tavern of Lieut. Moore, to an audience 
 which a single room held. An old lady living in 1838, told 
 me she remembered hearing a sermon preached there, 
 by Rev. Mr. Plarrington, of Lancaster, in 1759, on the 
 occasion of the District's incorporation. " There were then 
 but a handful of us," said she, "who found our way to 
 church by marked trees." 
 
 In 1767, the Rev. Mr. Fuller was settled, the first minis- 
 ter of the town. In 1768, upon his petition, in considera- 
 tion of this, his settlement, with a heavily burdened people, 
 in what he there terms " a wilderness country," the General 
 Court granted him Wachusett, and the mountain thus 
 passed to private hands. Mr. Fuller Avas dismissed at the 
 opening of the Revolution, from difficulties between him 
 and his people, growing out of that great conflict. 
 
 I do not propose to trace any history of the town much 
 beyond the point I have reached, and especially I do not 
 the ecclesiastical. Since Mr. Fuller's day, religious contro- 
 versies have existed, that are happily buried in the past. 
 I have the charity to believe, what it is but justice I should 
 say, that they have all originated in deep convictions of 
 truth, and a sincere and earnest desire to promote it. Some- 
 times, perhaps, the differences have been greater in appear- 
 ance than in reality. Parties starting, like the streams 
 from our mountain, have for a time followed in opposite 
 courses, only to find themsleves at last in a common ocean. 
 To-day, at least, we look back on all these scenes, as the 
 sun looks on the sea, to draw up thence all that is pure, 
 and sweet, and invigorating, while it leaves all that is salt 
 
38 
 
 and bitter behind. We are not the less attached, as 
 townsmen, because the love of a common Savior con- 
 straineth us, in his service, to adopt different denomina- 
 tional forms or creeds. 
 
 In 1771, an additional act was passed, by which the gore, 
 of three thousand acres, known in after years as No-Town, 
 was annexed to the town. To this addition the town 
 objected, and the next year petitioned the General Court, 
 setting forth that this was a " strip of land extending a 
 great way from the centre, Avhere the meeting-house stands, 
 and that the inhabitants were poor and unable to make 
 roads, and praying it may be set off again." Upon this 
 petition, in 1773, an act Avas passed, setting off from the 
 town all the lands which did not belong to the district ; so 
 that the limits of the town became precisely the same 
 under the acts of 1771 and 1773, that they were in 1759. 
 Not a loot was permanently added. The map filed in 1793, 
 is identical Avith the plan of 1759. The only additions 
 since made are five hundred acres from Hubbardston, in 
 1810, and a like area from No-Town, in 1838. None has 
 been taken off, so that the present area is about twenty 
 thousand acres. 
 
 Of the history subsequent to the act of 1771, I have no 
 time to speak in detail. From that period to the present, 
 as already observed, the changes peculiar to the town and 
 distinct from those resulting merely from participation in 
 the general progress, have been less than in most towns. 
 It was, and still is, purely an agricultural town. Its popu- 
 lation in numbers, has been about the same for half a 
 century. Its growth, prior to that time, was considerable. 
 The venerable historian of Worcester County, in 1793, says: 
 " In little more than thirty years from its incorporation, 
 Princeton is become very considerable among the towns of 
 the County. It has surprisingly increased in number and 
 wealth. The finest of beef," he adds, '' is fatted here, and 
 vast quantities of butter and cheese produced, and from 
 the appearance of their buildings and farms, we must judge 
 
39 
 
 the people are very industrious ; " and he closes a glowing 
 description of the seat of Hon. Moses Gill, thus : " Upon 
 the whole, this seat of Judge Gill, all the agreeable circum- 
 stances respecting it being attentively considered, is not 
 paralleled by any in the New England States ; perhaps not 
 by any on this side of the Delaware." The President of 
 Yale College, Dr. Dwight, in 1797, speaks of Princeton as 
 a rich grazing township, and adds, " the houses of the in- 
 habitants, and the appearance of their farms, are sufficient 
 indications of prosperity, and the people are distinguished 
 for industry, sobriety and sound morals." He also speaks 
 of Governor Gill's establishment "as more splendid than any 
 other in the interior of the State ; " and he adds what 
 impresses us with the character of the surrounding country 
 even then, that in attempting to make his way to Rutland, 
 " he came very near being lost for the night." 
 
 In 1771, there were in town ninety-one dwelling-houses, 
 while in 1790 there were one hundred and forty-four. At 
 the former period there were but one hundred eighty-three 
 and three-fourths acres of tillage land out of the Avhole 
 twenty thousand, and but one thousand and eighty-three 
 of pasture. But little more than one-twentieth of the land 
 had been subdued, and but a mere fraction brought into . 
 cultivation. 
 
 There is one other fact revealed by the valuation of 1771, 
 on file at the Capitol, Avhich may astonish some who hear 
 me, and which makes a heaven-wide difference between 
 those days and ours. There was upon these mountain 
 heights, now all vocal with shouts of freedom for the op- 
 pressed, and denunciation upon the oppressor, then owned 
 and dwelling, a slave — one of the few in the Province. 
 Slavery has existed at the base of Wachusett. The slave's 
 foot has pressed our soil, and the shackles did not fall. 
 
 The number of dwelling-houses here in 1800 were but 
 four more than in 1790, while the population in 1810 had 
 increased only forty-six over that of 1790, and probably at 
 this moment, after nearly seventy years, does not exceed 
 
40 
 
 it by more than two hundred. Nor has the character of 
 the people changed. Sons have succeeded fathers on the 
 old homesteads, and worthily maintained the family name 
 and honor. Were it not a little out of taste in their pres- 
 ence, I should add, were the historian of Worcester County, 
 or the President of Yale again to pass this way, they would 
 transfer to the sons the language applied to the fathers. 
 
 Perhaps the most marked change of the century, or even 
 the last fifty years, is the disappearance of the forest. 
 One returning here to-day, after a quarter of a century's 
 absence, will miss first and most the immense tracts of 
 primeval wood-land he used to see. Next to this absence, he 
 will note a new presence, that of hundreds, of late years, 
 resorting here in the Summer season. The forests have 
 gone, and the fashionables have come. And although 
 every gipsy hat and fluttering ribbon along our highways, 
 from June to September, is a sweet exotic, we would not 
 spare, we cannot help an occasional regret, that the axe 
 has carried its warfare so unrelentingly, and that the wood- 
 man has not here and there spared a tree, a remembrance 
 of days lang syne, and a blessing and a beauty for days to 
 come. 
 
 When I speak of slight changes, I mean, as 1 have said, 
 those special and peculiar to the town. In those that have 
 come from the stupendous progress of the century and the 
 country, it has shared to the full measure of the towns in 
 the Commonwealth. Our fathers, from the days when they 
 served under a King, to those when, in town meeting, they 
 could arraign a President, have gone along in full sympa- 
 thy with every great and good movement around them. 
 Pioneers, they opened the forest, and planted civilization in 
 its depths. They made roads, and built churches. They 
 subdued lands, and reared school-houses. Not in advance 
 of, but never behind, their fellow citizens, they shrank 
 from no duty. From the first gathering of their children 
 to be taught in a private school, to the voting of the last 
 dollar for schooling, they maintained their educational 
 
41 
 
 institutions, as you have maintained yours, up to the 
 standard of the State. They and we settled ministers, and 
 they became unsettled, and singularly, not one in the whole 
 century, in any denomination, has died in the occupancy 
 of a pulpit. And yet, what adds to the singularity, but just 
 one has been involuntarily dismissed, and each has held his 
 place up to the average ministerial tenure of his time and 
 denomination. The fathers and the sons, in matters eccle- 
 siastical, have had their divisions and their controversies, 
 sometimes the outbreak of a pervading change in the com- 
 munity, sometimes special to themselves ; but they have 
 never failed to give the institutions of the gospel an open, 
 earnest and unwavering support, from the day, uniting all 
 in the doctrines of the great Genevan reformer, they gave 
 Mr. Goodrich a call, to that when the conscientious sym- 
 pathies of some led them to prefer to the elder faith the 
 communion of that great church Wesley founded, Whitfield 
 honored, and good men everywhere respect and love. 
 
 In all the great struggles that have %vrought out and 
 distinguished our country's history, the people of our 
 town have been intelligent, early and active participants. 
 They fought the preparatory battles of freedom with their 
 King against the French, and they fought its actual battles 
 with the French against their King. Their records show 
 them to have been early, constant and discriminating sup- 
 porters of all the measures of the Revolution, from its faint 
 rising to its glorious consummation. On two occasions, at 
 least, their action was of character and importance enough 
 to secure honorable mention by the latest and ablest of the 
 historians of the United States. The features of numbers of 
 revolutionary pensioners are too distinctly impressed upon 
 our memories to require the details of services in this 
 war. 
 
 They voted for our State Constitution. With a love for 
 
 State sovereignty too ardent to leave the judgment clear 
 
 and perfect, they opposed the Constitution of the United 
 
 States when proposed. With a patriotism too large and 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 judicious to yield right to consistency, when adopted they 
 supported and sustained it. 
 
 Prior to this, many of them sympathized, and some 
 joined in " Shay's rebelhon," and one, if the truth must out, 
 came nearer being hanged than I hope any one else from 
 the town ever will lor a like or any cause. 
 
 But I must pause. Our Thanksgiving has other ser- 
 vices, which exhausted nature already reminds us we are 
 under solemn obligations to perform. If I began while 
 the dinner was cooking, I am continuing while it is waiting. 
 Let me incur no such weighty responsibility. 
 
 We have come up here from our homes and occupations, 
 to revive associations, to renew acquaintances, to promote 
 kindly feelings, to strengthen affections, brighten sympa- 
 thies, and draw tighter the cords of love that bind us to 
 the old family home and fireside. 
 
 The past and present here unite 
 
 Beneath time's flowing tide, 
 Like footprints hidden by a brook, 
 
 But seen on either side. 
 
 Ab I have sketched the days long gone, and sought to 
 
 " Review the scenes, 
 And Bummon from the shadowy past 
 The forms that once have been , " 
 
 I have only followed the necessities of the occasion, and 
 hope my rude and homely attempt may draw some charm 
 from it. 
 
 And now, as we look upon what our eyes behold; upon 
 these free hills and valleys, robed in the resplendent beau- 
 ties of Autumn ; upon these farms, from which the teeming 
 harvests have just been gathered and garnered ; upon 
 these houses of comfort and plenty ; these homes of con- 
 tentment and love ; these churches, reared for the service 
 of God, and these schools for the education of man ; upon 
 this prosperous, moral and happy people; and then upon 
 the Commonwealth and common Country, that hold over it 
 
43 
 
 the shield of their power and protection, we bend in 
 grateful homage before the Divine author of it all, exclaim- 
 ing, " surely, the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, 
 and we have a goodly heritage." 
 
 But this anniversary has its lesson. As we stand scan- 
 ning others, so others, hereafter, will stand to scan us. 
 While we are relating the past of municipal history, we 
 are making the present. 
 
 For the structure that we raise 
 
 Time is with materials filled ; 
 Our to-days and yesterdays 
 
 Are the blocks with which we build. 
 
 Truly shape and fashion these, 
 
 Leave no 3'awning gaps between ; 
 Think not, because no man sees, 
 
 Such things will remain unseen. 
 
 Build to-day, then, strong and sure, 
 
 With a firm and ample base, 
 And ascending and secure 
 
 Shall to-morrow find its place. 
 
PROGRESS; 
 
 A POEM. 
 BY ERASTUS EVERETT, A. M., 
 
 OF BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 
 The annual bells have rung their hundredth chime 
 Since thou, ! Princeton, wast ushered into time. 
 All hail, old Princeton ! To childhood's earliest home 
 Thy noble sons and virtuous daughters come. 
 From where yon lake reflects the forests green, 
 In whose pure depths the mirrored hills are seen, 
 
 1 From where young Nashua's silver fountain flows, 
 
 2 Or where Pine Hill his lengthened shadow throws, 
 From where thy Boylston's princely villa lies, 
 
 Or Brook's fields salute the eastern skies, 
 aWhere dwelt thy Gill in magisterial state. 
 And taught thy sons what virtues make us great 
 From where thy churches' modest spires ascend, 
 And warn us all to seek in Heaven a friend ; 
 Come from thy utmost borders, here we stand 
 And, brethren all, each grasps a brother's hand. 
 A few have roved in distant lands away 
 From where their infant eyes first saw the day, — 
 To Hampshire's mountains clad in ice and snow. 
 To western wilds where lurks the savage foe. 
 To southern lauds where glows a burning sky 
 And sugared fruits in wild profusion lie. 
 And they too bid thee hail ! They too are come, 
 Thy truant sons and daughters, welcomed home. 
 From prairie, hill and vale assembled here 
 To celebrate with thee thy Hundredth Year. 
 
 Though winds blow fierce from many a woody steep. 
 And wintry storms their boisterous revels keep, 
 Though late the snow dotli in the furrow lie 
 
45 
 
 ■1 And dwarfish Fall-flowerB prematurely die, 
 O'er this loved spot aifections linger still 
 And fondly cluster round Wachusett Hill. 
 
 Progress I sing : — my muse assist the lay, — 
 Allied the theme to this auspicious day. 
 
 A time thex'e was, when all the vast domain 
 Of hill and valley, woodland, lake and plain, 
 From where Katahdin rears his awful head, 
 (By him Penobscot's gelid sjarings are fed) 
 To modern Ophir, California's strand, 
 Whose rivers flow in beds of golden sand. 
 From where the wind-god rules the stormy North 
 And clothes in icy mail the frozen earth, 
 To where the groves in living green appear 
 And Spring and Summer share the equal year, — 
 When all this land so fruitful and so fair. 
 Alike the patriot's pride and patriot's care. 
 Was one vast haunt of savage beasts of prey 
 And Indian warriors fiercer still than they. 
 Algonquins and Iroquois of various name 
 Roamed far and wide and chased the antlered game. 
 Rude Art had taught to bend the supple yew, — 
 From birchen bark to form the light canoe ; 
 With that they learned the furry bear to slay ; 
 With this from lakes to temjDt the finny prey. 
 All this they took as Nature freely gave 
 In ignorance content no more to crave. 
 The kindly earth afforded tuberous roots, 
 Ceres spontaneous, yielded bearded fruits. 
 Kind Nature thus supplied the place of Art 
 And made provision for the grosser part, 
 But no provision made or care had given 
 For that which makes us men and heirs of heaven. 
 
 5 Nor must we fancy this the golden age, 
 With which the poets fill the mythic page. 
 When acorns were the simple shepherd's food 
 And blissful ignorance taught him naught but good. 
 The savage bosom heaved with passions dire. 
 With malice, hate, revenge and deadly ire. 
 Nor men in arms alone the foe engaged : 
 'Gainst age and sex the fiendish warfare raged. 
 The hoary sire that in his arm-chair dozed, 
 The tender babe that in its crib reposed, 
 Matron and maid in mingled slaughter bled 
 And swelled the list of prematurely dead. 
 
46 
 
 The captive little cause of joy they gave, 
 Doomed to a life more dreadful than the grave. 
 Dire was his punishment : for who can tell 
 The tortures practised by these hounds of hell ! 
 Not Nero's hate or Herod's jealous rage, 
 Which stain with blood the classic Gibbon'e page, 
 Not Britain's Queen whose frequent fagots, burned 
 Round Smithfield's stake, her " Bloody " title earned, 
 Where Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer bled. 
 Immortal trio of the martyred dead, 
 Contrived the tortures ingeniously severe 
 Which in our earlj"^ Indian wars ajipear. 
 
 Nor then, loved Princeton, was thy rude domain. 
 Where Peace, Content and Industry now reign. 
 Free from the savage foe that nightly prowled 
 More fierce than famished wolves that round him howled. 
 On th' eastern slope whence old Waehusett swells, 
 
 6 A little girl (for so tradition tells) 
 
 Had strayed from home, what time th' autumnal blast 
 
 Had strewn the frozen ground with golden mast 
 
 And dapi^le squirrel's merry bark did tell 
 
 The huntsmen where his kindred loved to dwell. 
 
 Still lured along by objects strange and wild. 
 
 Many such objects lured the simple child, 
 
 An Indian's feathered plume she sudden spies 
 
 And echo answers to her frantic cries. 
 
 Around her head the threatening hatchet gleams 
 
 And tears and sobs succeed to childish screams. 
 
 The neighbors came from all the country round. 
 
 Resolved the little wanderer should be found. 
 
 They formed a circle, toward the centre drew. 
 
 And gave from time to time the loud halloo. 
 
 They searched each bush, nook, thicket, hollow tree, 
 
 Where'er, by chance, a little child might be ; 
 
 Prolonged the search, nor ceased from day to day. 
 
 Till the last, lingering hope had died away. 
 
 Surmises horrible filled eacli anxious breast, 
 
 Surmises long indulged and then expressed : 
 
 She lived — had gone 'niong savage tribes to dwell : — 
 
 All else conjecture : — tlie sequel none could tell. 
 
 Some said she waded through Canadian snows 
 
 To where St. Laurent's mighty current flows ; 
 
 Some said she pined, a captive, 'neath the skies 
 
 Where Saratoga's healing waters rise, 
 
 7 Or hoarse Niagara in thunder roars 
 
 And down the abyss the ceaseless torrent pours. 
 Her stricken father travelled far and near 
 
47 
 
 As rumours variouB reached his eager ear ; 
 But rumours vain no certain tidings gave 
 And he forgot his sorrows in the grave. 
 
 When but a child, I heard my mother say 
 How thou , fair Rowlandson , wast driven away. 
 Pity and rage by turns my bosom stirred 
 As I the horrors of thy story heard. 
 
 She wandered on with painful steps and slow, 
 And marked with crimson dye the virgin snow. 
 Methinks I hear her pray with stifled breath, 
 " ! God when wilt thou grant relief in death? " 
 The night is darkest just before the day ; 
 Th' all-seeing One watched o'er her weary way, 
 Brought help from far his cherished child to save 
 And granted life to one who asked a grave. 
 
 8 Concord's illustrious son the ransom paid 
 
 On that high rock where we in childhood played ; 
 Near Graves' swamp where Frost his father slew — 
 Half idiot Frost, the dread of all he knew. 
 
 Such tales as these which freeze the youthful blood 
 The ancient annals of our town record. 
 My soul, turn from them. 'Tis well we change the lay 
 From this dark race that long hath passed away. 
 No council fires now shed their fitful flame 
 Or mothers hush their babes with Philip's name. 
 
 Genoa's Pilot launched from Palos' shore, 
 Through unknown seas his timid followers bore. 
 On Guanahani's coast his flag unfurled 
 And gave to Castile's Queen another world. 
 Cabot came next, Caboto rightly named, 
 In Venice born — Venice for beauty famed, 
 Amerigo Vespucci next we see. 
 Born at fair Florence — Italians all the three. 
 This last the land admired and filled his page 
 With fabled splendors of the golden age. 
 Bright golden fishes in the waters played 
 And gold-winged warblers flitted through the glade : 
 The waters flowed in beds of golden sand 
 And hills of gold o'erlooked the happy land. 
 The waving palms in living green were dressed. 
 Whose fruits ran nectar ere the lip had pressed. 
 Green sunny seas the sunny shores did lave 
 And Nature furnished more than man could crave. 
 
 9 The Tuscan thus filled Europe with his fame 
 And this vast continent received his name. 
 
48 
 
 De Soto first drank Mississippi's wave 
 
 And in its turbid waters found a grave. 
 
 All gallant Raleigh's cruel fate bemoaned 
 
 Who on the block for fancied crimes atoned. 
 
 Hudson saw first IVlanhattan's azure ekies, 
 
 Where now a thousand marble mansions rise ; 
 
 There sculptured piles the distant prospect bound, 
 
 There Mammon's self his favorite seat hath found 
 
 And Wall-street stands confessed, his consecrated ground. 
 
 But who shall fitly name the Pilgrim band, 
 That launched their ship from low Batavia's strand. 
 Ploughed the dark sea, nor feared the stormy flood 
 Which bore them nearer to their equal God ! 
 
 " The breaking waves dashed high 
 
 On a stern and rock-bound coast, 
 And the woods against a stormy sky 
 
 Their giant branches tossed : 
 
 And the heavy night hung dark 
 
 The hills and waters o'er. 
 When a band of exiles moored their bark 
 
 On the wild New-England shore." 
 
 Thus Hemans sung sublime and swept the lyre 
 Divinely wild, — her lips were touched with fire — 
 And who shall dare, presumptuous, to explore 
 The upward path which she hath trod before ? 
 10 Our fathers planted here 'mid ice and snow 
 A fruitful vine which hath not ceased to grow. 
 O'er hill and vale it shoots its leafy boughs 
 And distant nations 'neath its shade repose. 
 
 Then first the axe through ancient forests rung, 
 Forests grown old ere yet blind Homer sung ; 
 The sturdy woodman, doubling stroke on stroke, 
 Laid low the towering pine and knotted oak ; 
 The giant trunks in blackened ruins lay 
 And purblind monsters, frightened, fled the day ; 
 Earth's bosom heaved with elemental strife 
 And teemed with a thousand novel forms of life. 
 Man o'er th' Atlantic brought the noble steed 
 Which on Granada's plains was wont to feed, 
 Taught the proud charger of th' embattled field 
 To the mild yoke his patient neck to yield, 
 With daity toil to aid the laboring train 
 
49 
 
 And fit the earth to yield the yellow gra-in. 
 n Such thine, ! Hai'rington , Avhich vre oft have seen 
 Where mustering troops moved o'er j^ou shaven green. 
 When the shrill clarion rent the crystal eky 
 To tell the host the mimic fight -was nigh. 
 His burning nostrils wide and streaming mane, 
 Th' impatient bit which spurned the tightened rein, 
 12 His neck with thunder clothed and eye of fire, 
 Left us in doubt if most we should admire 
 The haughty grace with which the charger trod 
 Or practised skill with which the master rode. 
 Each thrifty farmer with his neighbor vied, 
 By patient implements the sod was plied ; 
 Exotic shrubs adorned the gay parterre. 
 Exotic flowers perfumed the morning air ; 
 The moss-rose bloomed where once the thorn grew wild 
 And all the land a flowery garden smiled. 
 
 The mother countrj' a cruel step-dame proved, 
 Nor loved her children but their tribute loved. 
 She taxed the luxuries and the wants of life. 
 She taxed the husband and she taxed the wife ; 
 Th' imported brandy and the home-brewed malt, 
 The rich man's spices and the poor man's salt. 
 She taxed their sugar, (and she taxed their tea 
 Till Boston Mohawks steeped it in the sea.) 
 Hills piled on hills at length the mountain form 
 Whose cloud-capped top forebodes the rising storm. 
 'Neath such a mountain bound, the Titan strove, 
 In vain, to move the load imposed by Jove. 
 So, taxes following taxes, one by one, 
 Grew mountain loads which made a province groan 
 With giant throws the mountain heaved at length 
 And Britain knew the infant giant's strength. 
 
 AVherc yon proud obelisk stands sentinel 
 To guard the sacred graves of Bunker's Hill, 
 13 1 used to liear my aged kinsmen say 
 " Balls flew like hailstones,'' that eventful day. 
 They in the bloody conflict bore a part ; 
 Their country's call had taught the warlike art. 
 Warren just saw the nation's rising sun, 
 And, falling, died and deathless laurels won. 
 The day was lost, and patriots nobly bled 
 But called for vengeance, trumpet- tongued though dead 
 Then rose the mighty Chief, for valor known 
 And skill in war, and prudence all his own. 
 Biding his time, he fled before his foes 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 As waves are driven when the temjaest blows. 
 
 Sudden he turned — when lo ! his foes dispersed, 
 
 As clouds are riven when the thunders burst. 
 
 He taught the Briton 'nenth his eye to quail 
 
 And on the Hessian poured the leaden hail. 
 
 On Trenton's plains the red-mouthed cannon blazed, 
 
 The hireling wretclies i-outed fled amazed, 
 
 And Pi'inceton's glorious day our fallen fortunes raised. 
 
 Across the flood tli' astounding tidings sped 
 
 And hoary monarchs trembled while they read. 
 
 Not greater panic seized Bel&hazzar's hall 
 
 When menc tekel was written on the wall. 
 
 The thunderbolts of war the hero hurled 
 
 And, conquering, the stars and stripes unfurled 
 
 Which i^iroudly float aloft o'er every sea 
 
 And floating, flap the emblems of the free. 
 
 The Stars of light guide up to glory's path, 
 
 The Stripes are emblems of the nation's wrath. 
 
 We've chosen for our Arms the bird of Jove, 
 
 Acknowledged chief of birds that soar above. 
 
 The Olive proffers peace where'er it goes, 
 
 The Arrows hurl defiance at our foes. 
 
 E Pluribus proclaims our vast extent , 
 
 Unum, the nature of our Government. 
 
 The Shield, our yeomanry, unconquered host. 
 
 Is still our buckler and our country's boast. 
 
 We teach no arts but those of peace and love 
 Brought by the Prince of Peace from heaven above. 
 Let Louis deluge lands in human blood 
 And be, self constituted, the scourge of God ! 
 Our mission is to benefit mankind 
 And, dying, leave a heritage of peace behind. 
 Of warlike arts let Europeans boast. 
 We yet have art enough to guard our coast. 
 E'en if they chance to land, they still shall find 
 We have some cotton-bales to hide behind. 
 Let their siiarp-shooters come with Minie ball 
 With our Sharp's shooters we will shoot them all. 
 
 But who shall sing the progress of the State 
 In all that makes a nation truly great ! 
 The Steam-leviathan holds his steady path, 
 Reckless of time or tide or tempest's wrath ; 
 O'er the vast ocean speeds his trackless way 
 Nor yet reposes in the coast-bound bay ; 
 He mounts the foaming river to its source 
 Before he slackens in his onward course ; 
 
51 
 
 And yet no monumental shaft doth rise 
 To tell the world where Robert Fulton lies. 
 Railroads, Briareus-like, with hundred hands 
 Bind thirty States and one in iron bands : 
 O'er prairie, river, A'alley, hill and plain 
 The iron-floree speeds on his clattering train, 
 Transports the products of a thousand fields 
 Yet meek submission to his master yields. 
 Prometheus, when he stole celestial fire 
 To light man's lifeless clay, provoked Heaven's ire ; 
 Bound on a rock, condemned, he bled 
 While on his h^rt th' insatiate vulture fed. 
 Ah ! mighty Fabulist, thou ill didst know 
 The spark divine possessed by man below. 
 The Great Creator made him lord of all — 
 Animals and elements on this earthly ball. 
 
 14 Who taught the stork to wing her annual flight 
 Taught man to bring her from her airy height. 
 Our Franklin turned the lightning from its way 
 And on the kite-string saw it harmless play. 
 Morse, more i^resumptuous still, prescribed its path 
 
 15 Nor yet for this incensed the heavenly wrath. 
 Field sent the flash along the ocean bed 
 
 And through the deep the royal message sped. 
 Franklin was born on Boston's rounded height, 
 Morso first at classic Cambridge saw the light, 
 Field, Stockbridge proudly claims as all her own. 
 And Massachusetts claims them every one. 
 
 Our childhood's joys, though blotted from the mind 
 Like stars from heaven, have left a light behind. 
 Ah ! halcyon days, when we went forth to snare 
 The mottled partridge and the bounding hare, 
 Squirrels and birds to hunt each 'Lection- day 
 And every Summer spread the new-mown hay. 
 In yonder lake, we took the frequent bath 
 And trapped the muskrat in his furrowed path. 
 When Winter clothed the earth in snowy fleece 
 We staid at home and played at fox and geese 
 Or simple morris (but never cards or dice,) 
 Then sallied forth to skate upon the ice. 
 Returned home late, we said our evening prayer, 
 And soon in sleei^ forgot each boyish care. 
 
 There on the hill, where once a willow stood 
 Close by the pool where played the gosling brood, 
 The hoary grandsire whiled old age away, 
 And pipe and Bible closed each happy day. 
 
52 
 
 The giant clock that clicked behind the door, 
 
 16 To fix exactly noon, eleven and four. 
 The oaken staff with curious dog-like head 
 The chest of drawers and the low-posted bed, 
 The gold-bowed spectacles that helped the sight 
 To read the News and Holy page aright — 
 These precious heir-looms all, we'll treasure still 
 And, dying, leave one to each loved child by Will. 
 
 Transporting joys ! when every Fourth of Slay 
 We witnessed all the feats of Training- day. 
 Oft did the captain chide the raw recruit 
 Who " left the ranks " for gingerbread or fruit, 
 
 17 Laughed at his faults, or deeds of mischief done, 
 Brandished his sword and showed how fields were won. 
 Pleased with his men the good man learned to glow ; 
 Forgot their blunders and their mischief too. 
 Careless their merits or their faults to scan. 
 
 He all forgave ere penitence began. 
 
 Thus to relieve the soldier was his pride, 
 
 And e'en his failings leaned to Virtue's side. 
 
 This th' Old Militia. The " Independent " band. 
 
 Was famed for martial glory through the land. 
 
 They knew the tactics, (all that their captains knew,) 
 
 Both Merriams taught, and Major Dudley too. 
 
 The brothel's Merriam were of warlike fame. 
 
 From warlike lineage too "tis said they came. 
 
 By nature martial both ; — Joseph the Colonel's name ;- 
 
 The other, Amos, called from holy seer of old, 
 
 Was Captain then, and Deacon now enrolled. 
 
 Such troops of late swejit o'er Magenta's plain, 
 
 Choked up Palaestro's riv3r with the slain 
 
 And, while the world looked on in silent awe, 
 
 Fixed the proud Hapsburg's bounds and gave him law. 
 
 'Twere vain to tell the Captains of renown. 
 Or even Colonels, born in this goodly town. 
 'Twere sheer impertinence again to tell 
 What Russel eloquent has told so well. 
 These warlike worthies now have civic grown 
 Fill posts of trust, of honor and renown. 
 And wear with equal grace, the oak or laurel crown. 
 At every party gathering round this hill 
 One served his party, and he served them well. 
 He calmed their petty quarrels, hushed their broils. 
 Professed the creed, " To victors be the spoils,^' 
 And he was bidden, as a fit reward, 
 
53 
 
 This goodly Township's correspondence guard. 
 
 18 He kept the papers too, nor kept too long 
 When State elections drew th' annual throng. 
 Too honest he to fawn or seek for power 
 
 By tricks oft practised in the eventful hour. 
 
 Scarce did the coachman light from ofi' his box, 
 
 When bankers hurried in to learn the price of stocks ; 
 
 And many a blushing maiden he made glad 
 
 With rhyming ditties irom her absent lad, 
 
 By gilt-edged letters made completely well 
 
 Both pining widow and censumptive belle. 
 
 19 The Doctor now prescribes for female ills. 
 Along with gilt-edged letters, gilded pills.. 
 To him the politicians all resort 
 
 For news/rom Zurich or St. James' court, 
 
 Or that last speech the " Little Giant " made, 
 
 And " guess " if Wise or Douglas has the wiser head. 
 
 Little reck I, assured that both must yield, 
 
 And Banks or Seward win the well-fought field. 
 
 Ladies, your smiles suggest another theme, 
 
 20 Ah ! yes, the very same, 'tis Love's young dream. 
 beauteous maidens, how shall I declare 
 
 Your charms ? Vain were the task and I forbear. 
 Consult your mirrors, and you shall almost see 
 What charming creatures your mothers used to be. 
 A grace that mocks the Grecian sculptor's art 
 Beams in the eye and moves in every part. 
 That witching smile and dimple, faintly show 
 Your mothers' beauty thirty years ago. 
 
 Seven sister stars look down from Taurus' height. 
 Seven Grecian Sages saw bright wisdom's light, 
 Seven golden lamps in darkened Asia shone, 
 
 21 And thrice seven preachers, Princeton calls her own. 
 Go forth, ye heralds of the living God ! 
 
 Cross desert, jungle, valley, hill and flood ; 
 Proclaim salvation free, unsold, unbought. 
 And teach the blessed truths the Saviour taught. 
 Pagan and Jew the great Messiah shall own 
 And shine as stars in your eternal crown. 
 
 As early memories throng around the heart 
 And later griefs, for each hath had his part, 
 We heave th' unbidden sigh, an offering given 
 To absent ones, too early called to heaven. 
 Three generations, — all have passed away 
 
54 
 
 Within the century we close to-day. 
 The first had ended this tragi-comic strife 
 Ere we were usliered upon the stage of life ; 
 The second only feeble traces left behind 
 Among the shattered pictures of the mind ; 
 The third in limb and feature yet remain, 
 Entire, unmarred by fracture, blur or stain. 
 
 Pardon, my townsmen, the tribute of a tear 
 Paid to the one m^^ memory holds most dear. 
 On the same day, we drew the vital air, 
 On the same couch forgot each daily care, 
 At the same notch, we turned the steel-yard beam, 
 In the same field, we urged the sluggish team ; 
 In Dartmouth's Halls both sought for wisdom's lore, 
 Both left, when duty called, our native shore. 
 We went far off in Southern lands to dwell : — 
 He died, amd half his virtues none can tell. 
 Oh ! brother, lost one, whither art thou fled ?• 
 Hold'st thou thy nightly vigils by my bed ? 
 Know'st thou the fancies that possess my brain, 
 When in my dreams thou seem'st alive again ? 
 Rejoicest thou before the throne of God 
 No more to smart beneath Affliction's rod? 
 Where'er thou art, in bright angelic spheres, 
 Or sent to calm thy doubting brother's fears, 
 To me the world is palled in frequent gloom 
 For thou art gathered to the mouldering tomb. 
 Though fortune smile — give all she ever gave, 
 My life will be a bark on stormy wave. 
 Lo ! heavenly visions dawn upon my sight, 
 1 see thee clad in robes of living light. 
 And I rejoice that thou hast won the Christian fight. 
 
 i 
 
NOTES 
 
 (1) page 44. 
 
 " Fro?n where yonntj Nashua'' s silver fountain JIows/' 
 
 The Nashua has four sources in the town of Princeton, viz : two which 
 rise on the north side of Wachusett mountain and flow into Wachusett 
 Lake ; one which flows through the farm of Mr. Roswell Osgood ; and one 
 which rises between Pine Hill and Wachusett mountain, &c. 
 
 (2) page 44. 
 
 " Or ivhere Pine Hill his lengthened shadow throws/' 
 
 Pine Hill is very high and verj' precipitous, so that there is no moun- 
 tain of which it can be said so significantly that it throAvs a " lengthened 
 shadow. ' ' 
 
 (3) page 44. 
 
 " Where dwelt thy Gill in magisterial state.''' 
 
 The late Lieut. Governor Gill, of Massachusetts, dwelt in a mansion 
 which stood not far from the present residence of Dr. Boylston. 
 
 (4) page 45. 
 
 ^^ Though late the snow doth in the furrow lie.'''' 
 
 The snows are more abundant about Wachusett mountain than in any 
 other part of the State, except, perhaps, the Berkshire Hills. This moun- 
 tain forms the water-shed between the Connecticut and the Merrimack ; it 
 is about 2900 feet in height. 
 
 (5) page 45. 
 
 The follies of the golden age were revived by Jean Jacques Rousseau, 
 who, in his Essay before the Academy of Dijon, maintained that virtue 
 can be found among the ignorant only, and that vice is a necessary accom- 
 paniment of education. 
 
 (6) page 46. 
 
 " On th'' eastern slope whence old Wachusett swells, 
 A little girl (for so trad'ition tells.)'" 
 
 As the fate of the " Lost Child " has always created great interest and 
 sympathy, I have taken great pains to solve the mystery which has hith- 
 erto surrounded it. Having, Avhile in Princeton at the time of the Cen- 
 tennial Celebration, seen abetter, written by Mrs. Cornelia B. K. Brown, 
 dated at Eaton, New York, in 1827, which gave the death-bod confession 
 of a man who declared that he had murdered the child, I determined to 
 get further particulars, if possible, and wrote Mrs. Brown, scarcely hoping 
 to receive an ausAver. I was agreeably disappointed by the receipt of a 
 
56 
 
 letter, dated " Rockport, Bourbon County, Kansas Territory, Dec. 8th 
 1859." She says: " I gave more credence to the report from the fact, that 
 all the years of my girlhood were spent within half a mile of Mrs. John 
 Gleason, of Princeton, whose name, previous to her marriage, was Mrs. 
 Patty Keyes, sister to the lost child Lucy,and oneofthe'two sisters who went 
 to the pond for sand ; ' and I have many times listened as she related the 
 sad story of the child's disappearance, together with other incidents that, 
 in my opinion, corroborated the truth of Mrs. Anderson's statement. 
 Mrs. Anderson, of Deerfield, New York, witnessed the confession, told it 
 to Mrs. Whitmoi-e, and she gave it to me. Mrs. Whitmore has been dead 
 more tlian thirty years. JMrs. Anderson I never saw, and whether she is 
 still living 1 do not know." 
 
 * ' V * # # # # # « 
 
 " I was told that Mr. Littlejohn was thought to be dying for three daj's. 
 At length he arose in bed, and speaking audibly, said he could not die 
 until he had confessed a murder that he committed many years before. Said 
 he was formerly a neighbor of Robert Keyes, of Princeton, Mass, There 
 was a misunderstanding between the two families. Mr. and Mrs. Keyes 
 lelt unpleasantly to live thus, and went to Mr. S's. to effect, if possible, a 
 reconciliation, which having been, apparently, accomplished, and mutual 
 pledges of renewed friendship exchanged, they, Mr. K. and wife, returned 
 home. But the enmity of Mr. S. had not subsided. He sought revenge ; 
 and afterwards, seeing the little daughter alone in the woods, to avenge 
 himself on the parents, killed her by beating her head against a log, and 
 then placed her body in a hollow log and went to his house. When the 
 neighbors were solicited to assist in searching for the lust, he was among the 
 first, and bein^ familiar with the forest, he volunteered to lead the party, 
 carefully avoiding the hollow log, till night. After dark he went to the 
 hollow log, took the body and deposited it in a hole, which had been made 
 by the overturning of a tree." 
 
 Littlejohn died at Deerfield, New York. The date of his death is all 
 that remains to be learned. This bad man lived on the place now owned 
 by Ephraim Osgood. I have other letters, one from the Town Clerk of 
 Deerfield, and one from Rev. Samuel Everett, of Iowa City, whose wife is 
 a niece of the lost child, both tending to confirm the statements of Mrs. B. 
 The interest of the subject is m^' only apology for having been thus 
 minute. 1 have only to add that the mother was brought to the verge of 
 insanity by the loss of her little girl, and for a long time after her disap- 
 pearance, she always went out at night- fall and called, Lu-cy ! but the 
 echo from the aged forests was the only answer. 
 
 (7) page 46. 
 
 " Or hoarse Niagara in thunder roars. ''^ 
 
 The Avord Niagara, signifies in the Iroquois language, the thunder of the 
 waters. 
 
 (8) page 47. 
 
 '■^Concord's illustrious son the ransom paid 
 
 On that high rock lohere loe in childhood played.'''' 
 
 Mrs. Rowlandson was taken prisoner at the burning of Lancester, Feb. 
 10th, 1765, and after -wandering about with her savage masters for several 
 months, probably till November, she was redeemed by Captain Hoar of 
 Concord. Tradition has fixed the place of her redemption on the high 
 rock known as the Rowlandson Rock, situated in Everettville, Princeton, 
 Mass. On this rock I have spent many a happy hour. Hon. EdAvard 
 Everett, (Mount Vernon Papers, Nov. 19th, 1859,) says : " The captivity 
 of Mrs. Rowlandson is not to be read without tears, after a lapse of nearly 
 two centuries." 
 
57 
 
 (9) page 47. 
 " The Tuscan thus filled Europe icith his fame, 
 And this vast continent received his name.^' 
 
 In living's life and voyages of Columbus, Putnam's Edition, 1849, Vol. 
 in, page 343, I find the loliuwing : 
 
 "Xote to the Revised Edition, 1848. — Humboldt, in his Examen Critique, 
 published in Paris, in 1837, say,s : ' I have been so happy as to discover, 
 very recently, the name and the literaiy relations of the mysterious 
 personage, who (in 1507), was the firet to propose the name of America, 
 to designate the new continent, and who concealed himself under the 
 Grecianized name, Hylasomylas.' He then, by a long and ingenious 
 investigation, shows that the real name oi' this personage was Martin 
 "VValdseemuller, of Fryburg, an eminent cosmographer, patronized by 
 Riene, Duke of Loraine, who, no doubt, put in his hands the letter 
 received by him from Amerigo Vespucci. The geographical works of 
 WaldseemuUer, under the assumed name of Hjdasomylas, had a wide 
 circulation, went through repeated editions, and propagated the use of 
 the name America throughout the world. There is no reason to suppose 
 that this application of the name was iu any wise suggested by Amerigo 
 Vespucci. It appears to have been entirely gratuitous on the part of 
 "WaldseemuUer." 
 
 It is peculiarly gratifying to be able to settle this question by an 
 appeal to the Historian, whose death has recently cast a gloom over 
 Sunnyside, but whose writings his countrymen will not willingly let die. 
 
 (10) page 48. 
 
 "<Suc/t thine, O ! Harrington, ichich ive oft have seen." 
 
 The late Captain Harrington of Princeton is here referred to. He was 
 very proud of his horse which was, indeed, one of the noblest specimens of 
 that noble animal. Persons who used to attend the musters at Lancaster 
 thirty-five years ago will recognize the picture. 
 
 (11) page 49. 
 
 " Our fathers planted here ^mid ice and snow 
 A fruitful vine which hath not ceased to grow." 
 
 Ps. LXXX, 10 — 11. — The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and 
 the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. 
 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the rivers. 
 
 (12) page 49. 
 
 *^His neck with thunder clothed, and eye of fire." 
 Job XXXIX, 19. — Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? 
 
 (13) page 49. 
 
 ' ' I used to hear my aged kinsmen say 
 Balls fell like hailstones that eventful day." 
 
 The kinsmen here referred to are my maternal uncle, Abijah Wood, late 
 of Westminster, who was at the battle of Bunker's Hill, and my grand- 
 father, the late Joshua Everett, who held a Lieutenant's commission during 
 the Revolution, and made a campaign in the Jerseye. 
 
58 
 
 (14) page 51. 
 
 " Who taught the stork to wing her annxial flight.'" 
 
 Jer. VIII, 7. — Yea, the stoi'k in the heaven knoweth her appointed 
 times ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time ot 
 their coming. 
 
 (15) page 51. 
 
 ^''Nor yet for this incensed the heavenly lurath.^'' 
 
 For a long time after the invention of the li<|htning rod, by Dr. Franklin , 
 its introduction was opposed on the ground that it was presumption to 
 avert, in this manner, the judguients of God. 
 
 (16) page 52. 
 
 '"''To fix exactly noon, eleven andfowr.''^ 
 
 Noon was the hour of dinner. At eleven and four our ancesters were 
 in the habit of taking the semi-diurnal dram. This was before the organ- 
 ization of Temperance Societies and a little New England was thought 
 necessary for frequent infirmities, 
 
 (17) page 52. 
 
 ^^ Laughed at his faults, or deeds of mischief done. 
 Brandished his sword and showed how fields were icon. 
 Pleased with his men, the good man learned to glow. 
 Forgot their blunders and their mischief too ; 
 Careless their merits or their faults to scan. 
 He all forgave ere penitence began. 
 Thus to relieve the soldier was his pride, 
 And e'en his failings leaned to Virtue'' s side.''' 
 
 Imitated from Goldsmith : 
 
 "Wept e'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done. 
 
 Shouldered his crutch and showed how fields were won. 
 
 Pleased with his guests, the good man learned to glow, 
 
 And quite forgot their vices in their woe ; 
 
 Careless their merits or their faults to scan. 
 
 His pity gave ere charity began. 
 
 Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride. 
 
 And e'en his failings leaned to Virtue's side. 
 
 (18) page 53. 
 
 "/Ze kept the papers too, nor kept too lo7ig.^' 
 
 One of the tricks of " the party," is to keep back papers which contain 
 news of defeats elsewhere, on the eve of an election, so tJiat the voters may 
 not be influenced by the news. 
 
 (19) page 53. 
 
 "The Doctor now prescribes for female ills." 
 
 Doctor Brooks succeeded Colonel Gill as postmaster, but a few months 
 before the reading of this poem. 
 
59 
 
 (20) page 53. 
 '^Ah.' yes, the very same, 'tis Lovers yourig dream.'' 
 
 " genitoris imagine capta." — Virgil. 
 
 (21) page 53. 
 
 ^^ And thrice seven preachers Princeton calls her own." 
 
 It is thought that Princeton may challenge comparison with any other 
 town of the same population, for the number of Ministers of the Gospel 
 that have been born within its limits. With a population of less than 
 one thousand lour hundred, it has given birth to twenty-one clergymen. 
 Their names, arranged pretty nearly with reference to seniority, are aa 
 follows ; 
 
 Rev. Sylvanus Ilaynes, 
 
 " Abel AVoods, 
 
 " Leonard Woods, D. D., 
 
 " Thomas Mason, 
 
 " AVilliam Mason, 
 
 " Charles Brooks, 
 
 " John Keyes, 
 
 " Humphrey Moore, D. D. 
 
 " Samuel Everett, 
 
 " Joshua Eveleth, 
 
 " Ephraim Eveleth, 
 
 Rev. Oliver Allen, P. D., 
 
 " Elisha Perry, 
 
 " Ebenezer Mirick, 
 
 " Moses Gill, 
 
 " William Allen, 
 
 " Ezra Newton, 
 
 " William P Smith. 
 
 " AY. AV. Parker, 
 
 " AVilliam Phillips, 
 
 " Joel Gleason. 
 
 Rev. Oliver Allen, D. D , late Missionary to Bombay, " Princeton calls 
 her own," as his parents moved from Barre, where he was born, to Prin- 
 ceton, when he was only five years old, and he resided here constantly 
 afterwards. 
 
60 
 
 The Morning Session closed with the singing of an orig- 
 inal Hymn, written by Rev. William T. Briggs, Pastor of 
 the Church in which the services were held, in the tune of 
 Old Hundred. 
 
 II Y M N . 
 
 Here, ■where our fathers stood, we stand, 
 The confluence of a might}" stream ; 
 And voices from the far off land, 
 Blend with the day, the hour, the theme. 
 
 A century past ! A century hence ! 
 To-day the nuptial knot we tie ; 
 We link them in the noblest sense, 
 With thdu^hts and deeds which cannot die. 
 
 By all the memories of this hour — 
 By yonder graves wlicre sleep our sires, 
 By these grand hills whose summits tower 
 High o'er this altar's kindling fires ; — 
 
 By all the gleanings of the past ; 
 By sacred earth, and skies o'erhead ; 
 Here let us vow — while life shall last, 
 To emulate the pious dead. 
 
 And when we sleep l)cneath the sod. 
 Where fathers and wliere mothers lie — 
 Come thou blest Savior — mighty God ! 
 And bear us all to realms on high. 
 
 Benediction, by Rev. John Goodwin. 
 
61 
 
 THE DliSTNER. 
 
 The Procession, escorted by the Band, reached the tent, 
 where an abundant dinner had been prepared by Capt. 
 Fletcher, of Leominster, at about two o'clock. 
 
 When the large company, numbering more than a thou- 
 sand persons, had taken their seats, the President of the 
 day said : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: — Our fathers, we trust, acknowl- 
 edged God in all their ways. As we are about to partake 
 of the fruits of His bounty, the Divine Blessing will be 
 asked by Rev. Dr. Allen. 
 
 Prayer was accordingly offered by Dr. Allen. 
 
 In consequence of the state of the weather, which was 
 blustering and cold, it was judged prudent to return, after 
 the close of the dinner, to the Church, that the sentiments 
 and addresses which were anticipated, might be given there. 
 
 AFTERNOON SERVICES IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 When the company had again taken their places in the 
 Church, which was well filled, the President rose, and 
 having called the assembly to order, said : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: — Assembled as we have been 
 to-day, to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the 
 incorporation of the Town of Princeton, it becomes my 
 pleasant duty, on this occasion, to extend to you a welcome. 
 
62 
 
 Had we met here, ladies and gentlemen, to partake of the 
 repast, Avhich now is among the things that are missing, 
 and must be remembered with those that are gone by ; 
 had we assembled to interchange social congratulations, 
 the day, the occasion would have been worthy of such a 
 gathering. But we meet to-day, ladies and gentlemen, for 
 a higher and more noble purpose. "We come here, I trust, 
 first of all, with our hearts full of gratitude to the Author 
 of all good, and who governs the destinies of nations as 
 well as of individuals, for His great mercy and goodness to 
 our fathers in their time of toil and labor. They established 
 the institutions which we to-day so richly enjoy. We come 
 here to commemorate the deeds and the acts of our fathers. 
 
 But, ladies and gentlemen, I will not detain yon a 
 moment. The speaking for this day and occasion, has been 
 assigned to other and abler minds. Permit me then, sons 
 and daughters of Princeton ; those who have been absent 
 but have now retxirned ; adopted sons and daughters ; 
 strangers who have honored us with your presence on this 
 occasion ; male und female, young and old, rich and poor ; 
 one and all, we bid you a hearty, cordial welcome. 
 
 We will now attend to the intellectual feast of the day. 
 The first sentiment will be announced by our Toast-Master, 
 Joshua T. Everett. 
 
 No. 1. Tlie Day we Celebrate — The close of the first century of our 
 municipal existence. It greets us as freemen ; still in the possession and 
 full enjoyment of all those precious rights of man, intended to be secured 
 to us by the founders of the free republican government of the old Bay 
 State. It stirs anew our sympathies for the oppressed. It inspires us 
 with deep thankfulness for the past, high hopes for the future, and fresh 
 resolves to be ever vigilant in the cause of impartial liberty ; and aifoi'ds 
 the cheering augury that the rounding of another such a period of time 
 will find these hills and valleys radiant with the fires of freedom ; teeming 
 with an intelligent and virtuous people, peaceful as a gentle Autumn day, 
 and free as the whistling winds that play round our own Wachusctt. 
 
 The Band played ''Hail Columbia," in response to the 
 patriotic sentiment. 
 
63 
 
 No. 2. The Sons of Princeton — Our town has reared men of eminence 
 for their geniiit*, their learning, their Avisdom, and their wit ; but we are 
 able to add to-day one distinguished name ^Ioore to the number. 
 
 The Peesident — Will our venerable friend Moore supply 
 what Moore seems to be needed on this occasion? 
 
 Rev. Humphrey Moore, D. D., of Milford, New Hamp- 
 shire, now eighty-one years of age, resjDonded to the call, 
 as follows : 
 
 3Ir. President and Ladies and Gentlemen : — I thought 
 this was a farming town, and that there were teamsters 
 here, who were used to teaming with oxen. When I was 
 a boy, teamsters put the steers and young oxen forward 
 and the old ones behind. (Laughter.) But you have 
 seemed to reverse the order of custom, if not the order of 
 nature ; you have brought up the old ox here to stand in 
 front, not in the rear. But as you hold to improvement 
 and advancement, and to the reversion of nature and 
 custom, I will say a few words. 
 
 I understand from the sentiment read by the Toast- 
 Master, that the sons of Princeton are to be addressed. 
 But where are the daughters ? I find them not in the 
 sentiment expressed. But I suppose the sentiment will 
 allow us to infer that the sows embrace the daughters. 
 (Laughter.) We will take them both together, then. 
 (Renewed laughter.) Fellow townsmen and women, I am a 
 son, an old son — 1 will not say an old boy — of Princeton. 
 I am nineteen years and one day younger than Princeton. 
 I have not any distinct recollection of what transpired 
 during those nineteen years, inasmuch as I was not on the 
 soil of Princeton. But, in 1778, between the 18th and 19th 
 of October, one dark night, it is stated by the records of 
 the town, that one by the name of Moore, came into this 
 place. (Laughter.) I don't recollect the fact. (Renewed 
 merriment.) I do not recollect the circumstances, but I 
 believe tradition, and I beheve the record. And now. 
 
64 
 
 here I stand to make some remarks, which I could wish 
 might prove appropriate. 
 
 In referring to my early life, I will say that five young 
 men, before me, from this town, passed through college. 
 They all became Clergymen, men of talents, men of char- 
 acter, and, I believe, men of usefulness in their respective 
 places. Next after them, one Moore came forward for the 
 purpose of preparing for College. He had but little means 
 for the purpose. The first time he ever saw the inside of 
 a school-house, he was between nine and ten years of age. 
 If I speak of my personal history to the extent of an 
 inch in length, half an inch in width, and no depth at all, 
 will you indulge me ? (Go on, go on !) 
 
 I attended the District school two months and a half per 
 year, till I was fifteen years of age. With the addition of 
 five months instruction, I was a member of Harvard 
 College. My father died when I was twelve years old. 
 He left me one hundred pounds — not of silver, not of bank 
 bills, but in the currency of the State. When I was fifteen, 
 with what little perquisites I had, I was worth the immense 
 sum of twenty-five dollars, and with that sum I fitted for 
 College. (Applause.) I would say this to boys, if they 
 are here, but for the parents who have boys, that they may 
 apply the remark to the boys. 
 
 I graduated at Harvard College some time before I was 
 twenty-one. The first year after 1 left College, I passed 
 six months teaching school, and five months in a Theolog- 
 ical course ; and one month before my year was out, I 
 stood where preachers stand. I did this by labor — intense 
 labor. My mind was fixed on my object, and I went 
 forward with all my might. In 1802, I bolted over the 
 line which separates Massachusetts from New Hampshire, 
 and there I settled in the ministry, and was there a quarter 
 of a century, with a salary of four hundred dollars a year ; 
 and it was but a short time, even then, before the people 
 suspected that I was growing fat, and that I should get 
 too fat if I kept in that course. But, my friends in 
 
65 
 
 Princeton, I lived it through : I am alive yet, and I am 
 here ready to testify to the necessity for, and success of 
 mental labor. 
 
 I will say one word respecting Princeton. I think it a 
 place of remarkable stability. The mountains stand as 
 they did ; the hills stand as they did; the streams of water 
 run in their former course. There is no change in them. 
 Yes, and Princeton is remarkable for its integrity. The 
 farms are of the same extent and the same shape as they 
 were when I was born. Scarcely a house is put up between 
 a house for eighty years, except in some cases, in the 
 middle of the town. And I can testify in behalf of the 
 town — and when in my own region I have been disposed 
 to compliment the town in which I originated, and myself 
 with the same stroke — that Princeton is the Prince of 
 towns for raising oxen, men, and stone wall. (Applause.) 
 
 No. 3. The Town of Princeton — Receiving its name from an eminent 
 minister of the Gospel, and an earnest advocate of civil and religious 
 liberty, we are assured that her people will in future, as they have in times 
 past, honor his name and character, by their zeal and efforts to extend the 
 blessings of Christianity and liberty to all the human race. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Allen, for many years a minister in India, 
 responded. 
 
 Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen: What we 
 have heard to-day concerning the individual whose name 
 is here mentioned, an eminent minister of the Gospel, 
 appears to render it unnecessary that I should say much 
 concerning him beyond this, that he was one of the most 
 distinguished ministers of the day. He was one of the 
 largest proprietors of this town, and was father-in-law of the 
 most eminent citizen of the town — Governor Gill. We 
 have his likeness here, hanging before us, and we had, this 
 forenoon, a bound volume of his sermons in his own hand- 
 writing, and I understood that there was a printed volume 
 also. So that we see he was an author before the public. 
 
 He was one, every way, of nature's noblemen, and com- 
 9 
 
66 
 
 bined a rare asseroblage of qualities, as a patriot, a public 
 man, and a minister of the Gospel, 
 
 So, Princeton has a noble name ; and I may say further, 
 that the first generation of people, as we have heard to-day, 
 were noble men, zealous, yea, jealous for their rights, not 
 only for their rights as citizens, but zealous and jealous for 
 their religious rights also*. 
 
 My memory, although it does not go back so far as that 
 of our venerable friend who has just addressed you, 
 extends back more than half a century, and very distinctly 
 do 1 recollect things that I saw and heard at that time, and 
 among them many sermons from Dr. Murdock, the minister 
 at that time. I can remember among texts, the division of 
 his subject, and his argument and illustrations very well. 
 Some sermons that he preached in connection with foreign 
 missions, made a deep impression on my mind. I remem- 
 ber them more distinctly than anything I heard from him. 
 He preached a series of sermons on the same subject, in 
 connection with the first enterprise in this country for 
 foreign missions. To carry out that enterprise, a subscrip- 
 tion was taken up, and people were astonished at the 
 amount received. This shows how strong a feeling there 
 was among the people. One man said he did not think 
 there was so much money in town, and another did not 
 believe there was so much left in town. 
 
 This spirit was kept in lively exercise for years, and I 
 grew up under these impressions. And so it is not strange 
 that, after having finished my college and professional 
 course, I felt it my duty to engage in that cause ; and 
 thirty-two years ago last Spring, I preached my farewell 
 sermon in the church then on the hill yonder, and took 
 leave of all my friends, as I supposed, for life. In a few 
 days afterwards I embarked for a foreign mission. At that 
 time, such an enterprise was quite a difFerent thing from 
 what it is now, so little was then known of the heathen 
 world. We found India, the country to which we went, 
 very diflerent from what we had anticipated, about as 
 
67 
 
 different as to costumes and customs as it was possible for 
 people to be, and yet belong to the human family. But I 
 had gone, as I believed, for a good purpose, and I at once 
 adopted that country as my own, and such continued to 
 be my views and feelings for more than a quarter of a 
 century. India is a magnificent country ; with the highest 
 mountains in the world ; rivers and plains, scarcely 
 equalled by any in the world, in a higher state of cultiva- 
 tion than is generally supposed ; a country full of people, 
 containing a population six times as large as all the United 
 States, and it was probably as populous two thousand 
 years ago as it is now. And what is remarkable is, that 
 that country, for so many years, had continued almost 
 without change in its customs and manners, and in its 
 social and religious institutions. 
 
 In the providence of God, my health became so much 
 impaired, that after using all the means I could in that 
 country, I was informed that if I would preserve myself for 
 anything more in life, or live any longer, I must leave that 
 climate. I returned gradually, through Egypt, the western 
 part of Asia, and the eastern and western parts of Europe, 
 going slowly here and there, for the improvement 
 of my health, so that I saw much of those parts of the 
 world and people, who were Heathen, Mahomedan, and 
 believers in different corrupt forms of Christianity. 
 
 On returning to this country, I renewed my acquaint- 
 ances with the people here, and I found them, as I had 
 reason to expect, to be worthy of their parents. During 
 my long absence, those whom I had known in their old age 
 were all gone ; those who were then in middle age were, 
 perhaps, half living, but greatly changed ; and another 
 generation had grown up, who were not when I went 
 away. But I found the people so well informed in respect 
 to all the circle of benevolent efforts, that any person who 
 did not know their parents, and what a strong hold the 
 cause of benevolence had taken here, would have been 
 greatly surprised. Such, I doubt not, is the character of 
 
68 
 
 the people now, and such, I trust, it will continue to be for 
 future generations. 
 
 Not many years ago, I met a gentlemen, rather an intel- 
 ligent and well-educated man, who said to me that he had 
 become quite discouraged, that our great benevolent 
 enterprises were proving a failure. Here, said he, the 
 Anti-Slavery cause is likely to prove a failure ; then the 
 Temperance cause and other causes were referred to in the 
 same spirit. I told hira I had not those desponding views 
 concerning them ; that I did not think the creation of the 
 heavens and the earth, which God had pronounced '' good," 
 again and again, and of which He had been and is still the 
 governor, had proved to be a failure. I did not think 
 Christianity, which was ushered into the world with the 
 shouts of " glory to God in the highest ; on earth peace, 
 and good-will toward men," had proved to be a failure. I 
 did not think it ever would fail ; that so far from failing, it 
 would prove the great power to raise men from oppression 
 and sin ; that it had done a vast deal of good for the world, 
 and would do much more. I did not think the efforts for 
 liberty which our fathers made, had proved a failure, but 
 that God had great and glorious purposes to accomplish 
 yet by our nation. I am glad to say this gentleman did 
 not belong to Princeton, and I hope none here ever will 
 take such a view of Christianity, or of the state of the 
 world, or of the governmeot of our country, as he did; 
 but that you will all pray as fervently, and strive as 
 earnestly as though all were depending upon you, and yet 
 trust in God as implicitly for his blessing, as if nothing 
 depended on you. Only go on in this spirit, pressing 
 forward and looking upward, and all will be well with 3''0U, 
 with your posterity, and with the world. (Applause.) 
 
 No. 4. And I -will bring thy seed from the east ; with spikenard and 
 safiron, calamus and cinnamon ; with all the trees of frankincense, 
 myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices, with the powders of the 
 merchant. 
 
 Mr. Everett stated, that it was supposed that this senti- 
 
69 
 
 ment would be responded to by Dr. Myron 0. Allen, of 
 "Wenliam, a son of the gentlemen who had just spoken, 
 born in India. He was not able to be present, but had 
 sent a letter full of noble sentiments. He would read it. 
 
 Wenham. Oct. 15th, 1859. 
 
 J. T. Everett, Esq. : 
 
 It is with deep regret that I find myself obliged to decline your 
 kind invitation to attend the Centennial Celebration of the incorporation 
 of Princeton. I cannot indeed claim it as my birth-place ; but as the 
 residence of my ancestors, and the home of my early years, I shall always 
 feel a deep and filial interest in the good old town. Its grand old hills, 
 swept by the storms of centuries, have impressed their forms upon my 
 mind with all the vividness of reality. Wachusett, Sugar Loaf, the lesser 
 Wachusett, the old Meeting-House Hill, — I can see them yet, as vividly 
 as if gazing from their bald and cloud-capped summits. 
 
 Nor are the natural features of the place its only attractions. Those 
 rugged hills have reared a race of men of clear heads and warm hearts, as 
 well as of stalwart forms. Their kindness to me, a stranger and an orphan, 
 will not soon be forgotten. 
 
 The townahip is the foundation stone of all our fre3 institutions. These 
 independent municipal corporations were, from their origin, republics in 
 miniature. Their meeting — scenes, as they often were, of earnest conten- 
 tion and even wrangling— were schools of republicanism. In them were 
 trained the men who made laws, and erected the superstructure of our 
 State and national institutions. Whoever would trace the history of 
 " Liberty in America,'" must studj' the history of the towns ; he will find 
 them, in miniature, the history of the nation. 
 
 Well, then, may we celebrate the anniversary of our native town. Well 
 may she call back her scattered sons, and there are many of whom she 
 may be justly proud — they are her priceless jewels. A^isely may we medi- 
 tate the stern virtues of our fathers — their example is our noblest 
 inheritance. 
 
 As you request a sentiment, I will venture to offer the following : 
 
 The good old Town of Princeton — May she in the future, as in the past, 
 be the nursery of men solid as her granite rocks, pure as her mountain 
 rills, aspiring like her lofty hills, from the low cares and pleasures of earth 
 to the atmosphere of heaven. The hills of the sunny South, the broad 
 prairies of the West, the " coral stranas " of India, and the distant isles 
 of the ocean rise and call her blessed. 
 
 With sentiments of much respect, truly yours, 
 
 MYRON 0. ALLEN. 
 
 J. T. Everett, Esq., Chairman of Committee on Toasts, &c. 
 
70 
 
 No. 5. Our Native and Natural Productions — While time and experi- 
 ence have taught us the great worth of our Fullers, our Woods, our 
 Bangs, Moores, Aliens, Russells and Everetts ; our Flocks and Herds ; our 
 Wheat, Barley and Corn, we are yet in doubt as to the real qualities of 
 our Cobb. 
 
 The President — And we propose, now, to test the 
 quality of the Cobb — not the ordinary cob, ladies and 
 gentlemen, but the Major Gohh. (Laughter.) 
 
 Thus plainly called for. Major Moses G. Cobb, of Dor- 
 chester, a descendant, by one of the branches of the family, 
 from Hon. Moses Gill, whose name he bears, came forward 
 and said : 
 
 Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen of Princeton : 
 What a theme the sentiment proposes for research and for 
 thought. The farmers of Princeton can scarcely expect me 
 to enter into a discussion of the merits of Agriculture. 
 You are an agricultural township, as the orator has well 
 said to-day ; you are essentially an agricultural town. I 
 can only hope that sooner or later, every State in the 
 Union will have an agricultural department in its executive 
 government, as ours has, and that the national executive 
 will have, as a branch of its fostering care and solicitude, 
 an agricultural department. You, farmers of Princeton, 
 have no cause for reproach in this respect. I believe that 
 you always honored and fostered the science of agricul- 
 ture. Cattle-Show day, at Worcester, Mr. President, is 
 among the ineffaceable memories of my boyhood. I can, 
 even now, feel the pride with which I used to point out to 
 the boys less fortunate than myself, as I supposed, the 
 beautiful products of Princeton ; its handsome cattle, its 
 vegetables, its grains, its almost word-renowned butter and 
 cheese, and if I remember rightly, sir, its good old-fashioned 
 brown bread, made by the housewives and daughters of 
 Princeton, in a large measure, sir, out of that staple of 
 Princeton — Indian corn. But at no time do I remember 
 to have seen exhibited there, any Cobbs. (Laughter.) 
 
71 
 
 I have been aware of the skill, the enterprise, the energy 
 of the Princeton farmers, and the perfection to which they 
 have brought every branch of agriculture, leaving nothing 
 untried which ought to be tried, and trying only those that 
 should be. I am aware, sir, of the increased value, as an 
 article of human diet, both in this country and the old, of 
 Indian corn, the exports having increased in five years — 
 from 1851 to 1857 — from one million five hundred thousand 
 bushels, to over seven million five hundred thousand 
 bushels ; and the export of Indian meal has increased in 
 the same ratio. But I believe it remained for the Princeton 
 farmers to test the quality of Cobbs. On this matter of 
 Cobbs, I believe I have nothing to be ashamed of in my 
 ancestry. Mr. Samuel Cobb, who was quite an early 
 settler in the south-western part of this town, and who 
 was the progenitor of the Princeton Cobbs, was a worthy, 
 sober, well-to-do farmer, and came here from Cape Cod. I 
 believe all the Cobbs in the country came from that section 
 of the State. I believe all the Cobbs, male and female, 
 have been industrious, honest, sober people, fulfilling the 
 trust imposed uj)on them ; and now and then a Cobb has 
 stood out from the general mass of mankind. I will say 
 no more of the family of Cobbs, except to add, that it is 
 a great source of regret to me that there is no family 
 bearing my name in Princeton. 
 
 As for myself, I have come up here to-day, — and I do not 
 know that I shall ever repay the debt of gratitude I owe 
 the citizens of Princeton, who have allowed me to do it, — 
 I have come up to look out upon one of the most beautiful 
 panoramas in the world, almost, the charm of my boy- 
 hood, to breathe its pure and bracing air with the 
 companions of my youth ; to see the '' old folks," and shake 
 them by the hand ; and, let me say, they do not appear a 
 day older than when I was a boy. 
 
 I feel grateful that my boyhood was in this place, where 
 I could trace my home, by metes and bounds, not by a 
 figure on the wall, or on a door, and I have resolved to-day, 
 
72 
 
 that, sooner or later, I shall make my home again in 
 Princeton. (Applause.) 
 
 But, sir, another source of sorrow and regret has come 
 over me to-day. My friend, the Orator of the day, really 
 destroyed my dinner by informing me, seriously, that there 
 was a vote passed in 1760, to this effect : That the meeting- 
 house be painted, provided the Hon. Moses Gill will furnish 
 the paint. Now, I am indirectly a descendant of that 
 honorable gentleman. His name has descended to me, but 
 none of his money, and I was alarmed, at first, to think, 
 that this day, and here, that old resolve should be brought 
 forward, and I be called upon to paint the meeting-house. 
 I found out, however, I thought, a way of escape. There 
 is nowhere a resolve that the house shall be painted. I 
 also remembered the reply of the Irishman to the farmer, 
 who complained that he had not dug his potatoes as he 
 was expected to do. Said he : '' If you want your pota- 
 toes dug, fetch 'em along." So I say, if you want your 
 house painted, fetch it down to Boston, and I will see that 
 it is painted. (Laughter.) 
 
 Let me give this sentiment in conclusion : 
 
 The Farmers of Princeton — The most economical people in the world. 
 They not only know how to raise and shell their corn in the best manner, 
 but they make mince-meat of their Cobbs. 
 
 (Great Laughter.) 
 
 No. 6. The Chair makers of East Princcto7i — May they always be of 
 good, substantial timber, free from all the knots and shakes of bad timber 
 and miscalculation. May their backs not be too crooked to permit them to 
 stand erect and boldly against all vice. May thay be shaved and turned 
 to the perfect model of integrity and virtue, and use just enough of the 
 sand-paper of self-denial to smooth off all the rough corners of intemper- 
 ance, and the use of the weed. INIay the glue of their friendship and love 
 hold them together, and firmly unite them in the pure bonds of wedlock. 
 May they never be stained with crime, but beautifully painted with the 
 graces of humility and charity, and ornamented with the gold-leaf of 
 Christian benevolence and world-wide philanthropy. In short, in their 
 whole model, manufacture, and finish, may they be done up Brown. Nye, 
 more ! May they be like the faithful Stewarts, improving their ten talents, 
 and, in old age, recline in the easy chairs of competence and comfort, and 
 
73 
 
 in their final exit, may they all obtain seats in that glorious train, -whose 
 conductors are the angels of light, and whose depot is the paradise of God. 
 
 This sentiment was received with applause. 
 
 The President — I am sorry there is no one here who can 
 rise from his seat in response to this sentiment, brace his 
 back, extend his arm, and give us a " stretcher." 
 
 One of the manufacturers alluded to in the sentiment, it 
 was hoped would be present to respond ; but as neither of 
 them was present, Mr. Brown, of East Princeton, said : 
 
 I find myself, ladies and gentlemen, very much in the 
 position of the schoolmaster of old times. You recollect 
 it was the custom to make considerable preparation for 
 examination, and it was thought best by some, where they 
 had not made much advancement, to let each member of 
 the school know his position, so that he could answer the 
 question given him readily. Well, it so happened, one of 
 the boys was taken sick, and the teacher did not recollect 
 that, and put the questions in their order, one of which 
 related to the Catholic Church. When that question was 
 put, there was no response ; but finally a boy spoke up and 
 said : " The boy who believes in the Catholic Church, is at 
 home, sick abed." So it appears there is no response 
 here, because the gentleman who was expected to do it is 
 absent. 
 
 Mr. Mirick, of East Princeton, read a rhymed response 
 from J. W. Nye, who was not able to be present. 
 
 When God in Eden's pleasant bowers 
 
 Placed the first happy, human pair, 
 I wonder how they passed the hours 
 
 Without a settee or a chair ! 
 
 Perchance some stone or mound sufficed 
 
 To sit upon while living there ; 
 They doubtless would have been surprised 
 
 If they had seen a Princeton chair. 
 10 
 
74 
 
 Now men, alas, have learned to cheat, 
 
 And little for each other care ; 
 And manufacturers compete 
 
 In turning out the cheapest chair. 
 
 Within our humble vale we'll strive 
 
 To busy be, and banish care, 
 We also calculate to drive 
 
 Up nothing but a first rate chair. 
 
 Thanks for the sentiment so kind,- — 
 
 So full of wishes good and rare, 
 And may its author ever find. 
 
 When he sits down, an easy chair. 
 
 No. 7. The Natural Scenery of Princeton — While her hills and valleys 
 spread out for the eye of man a rich and bounteous feast. Old Wachusett, 
 robed in beauty and grandeur, sits Queen of the scene, and with her 
 waving forest beckons all true lovers of nature to the banquet. 
 
 The President called upon Thomas H. Russell, Esq., of 
 Boston, to respond. 
 
 It is no easy matter, Mr. President, to respond, in suitable 
 terms, to this remembrance of the chief distinction in our 
 natural scenery. It would doubtless be best done in the 
 fewest words. Nothing better can be said, than, there it 
 stands — it speaks for itself. Whether I say so or not, there 
 it does stand, and does speak for itself. It were safe to 
 attempt a word in behalf of our " Old Wachusett," behind 
 its back, or in its absence. 
 
 I have had the opportunity of seeing something of the 
 mountain scenery of New England and its vicinity ; and 
 while the Holyoke, the Catskill, the Kearsage, the Monad- 
 nock, the Green, the Red, and the White, have, each and 
 all, varying characteristics of beauty and grandeur, none 
 surpass our own Wachusett in its most marked and notice- 
 able features of beauty and loveliness. A well defined, 
 isolated, symmetrical cone, rising far above all immediate 
 surroundings, it opens to the view a complete and unbroken 
 circle. In the midst of a country fully and completely 
 subdued to the uses of civilized life, it presents, in no 
 
75 
 
 view, anything of the wild or solitary ; covered with a 
 primeval growth of forest from base to summit, it reveals 
 nothing rugged, and, in the symmetrical outline of its 
 ascent, loses even the true measure of its massive propor- 
 tions. It has not, in this hilly country, the more extensive 
 water views of some of its rivals ; but few can lay claim to 
 so exclusive a local pre-eminence. As one stands on its 
 well defined summit, the eye rests on no view-obstructing 
 neighbor ; the heavens spring from an horizon, a seeming 
 true level, and arch above in a perfect hemisphere ; the 
 distant surface of the eiirth from the same horizon, seeming 
 at the observer's own level, (I know not by what visual 
 law,) sweeps down in a perfect concave to the mountain 
 in its center. As one turns on this center of a seeming 
 grand concave, the eye travels a complete panoramic circle 
 of loveliness ; an unbroken range of town and village, 
 lawn, field, and forest, with silver tracery of streams ; and, 
 here and there dotting the surface, now expanding, and 
 now hiding in some woody recess, many sweet lakes, in 
 their placid waters mirroring all surrounding beauty ; while 
 everywhere are seen evident marks of the human industry, 
 that has subdued and rules over all. 
 
 Standing on some of our New England mountains, and 
 looking upon a vast surrounding of mountain upon moun- 
 tain, and wild unbroken forest, without sign of man, the 
 mind is oppressed with the solitary grandeur and sublimity 
 of the scene, and the awfulness of the presence ; but on 
 the Wachusett, you feel that grandeur is refined of all 
 that is fearful, and one seems to repose as on the ancient 
 watch-tower of the vineyard, in the very midst of a scene 
 of peace, life, and loveliness. 
 
 Mr. President, those of us to whom the natural scenery 
 we look upon to-day is the first we saw of all the great 
 and beautiful works of God, may well love these hills and 
 valleys. We may be pardoned if we dispute the right of 
 distant or other lands or scenes, to diminish ought of that 
 aifection and regard. 
 
76 
 
 It is needless to make a Aveary pilgrimage to the desolate 
 banks ot the Nile, — to seek a crumbling pyramid, buried 
 sphinx, or enigmatical hieroglyphic of perished nations, — to 
 delve in the sands of Euphrates' bank, or to climb to the 
 storyless ruins of Baelbec, — it is needless to do all, or any 
 of these things, to stand in the presence of the venerable 
 past, and look on the face of the ancient. 
 
 Would you look on the venerable — the ancient? Look 
 about you. Have you never thought that, before the 
 history of our race began, — before Moses gave the deca- 
 logue to the descendants of Abraham, — before Persian or 
 Greek, Rome or Carthage strove for the mastery of the 
 world, this old sentinel commenced its long watch over 
 these hills and valleys ? May not the waters of a general 
 flood have rolled and surged over its top ? Have not the 
 storms of six thousand winters beat upon it, and six 
 thousand summers fanned it with their SAveet breath? 
 What if no human eye rested on it for long ages, and these 
 lovely habitations, the great architect prepared for man, 
 waited long their coming tenants, even their savage 
 precursors of civilized life ? " A thousand years are as 
 one day," and " one day as a thousand years" with him, in 
 whose mysterious Providence 
 
 *' Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
 The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; 
 
 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 
 
 How shortly after the discovery of this Continent, this 
 eminence became known, is not certain. Certain it is, that 
 Governor Winthrop, as early as 1631, January 27, and some 
 company with him, ascended Charles river, eight miles 
 beyond Watertown, and there, on the west side of a hill, 
 on a very high rock, they *' might see all over Neipnett, 
 and a very high hill due west, about forty miles off." 
 
 This was our Wachusett two hundred and twenty-eight 
 years ago, — away back almost to the days of good Queen 
 
77 
 
 Bess, — eleven years after the landing of Plymouth, and 
 almost the time of the settlement of Boston. How much 
 of the world's history has transpired since Governor 
 Winthrop, on that Wednesday, more than two centuries 
 ago, looked on yonder, to us, familiar mountain, — a period 
 almost spanning the civilized history of the Western 
 Continent. It has witnessed the birth and vigorous growth 
 of the western nations, as it had before witnessed the all 
 unwritten history of that strange people who possessed 
 the land before us, and yet seems to-day no older. 
 
 Sir, the great duties of life, are not those to which the 
 heart most willingly turns. It marks the beneficence of 
 the Author of the Universe, that above this fundamental 
 permanency , of nature, there rests a mantle of change. 
 The phenominal world is all change. The day has a 
 morning, noon, night ; the year a Spring, a Summer, a 
 Winter. Life has an infancy of weakness, a manhood of 
 strength, an age of decay and death. If all about us were 
 permanent, — no falling leaf — no darkening evening — no 
 decay or death of beauty — no alarm to break our repose, — 
 man would be in danger of forgetting the great purpose of 
 his being, and in fancied fruition of a fleeting present, fail 
 to lay hold of the permanent and eternal. 
 
 It is the benevolence of God that, while we gather here 
 to-day, is mantling thus our hoary monitor in his garments 
 ot bright, but swift passing beauty, — benevolence, that 
 awakens a new life with an opening Spring, clothes a 
 world in beauty, and swift turns that beauty to ashes. 
 
 " Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, 
 
 That lately sprang and stood 
 In brighter light and softer airs, 
 
 A beauteous sisterhood ? 
 Alas ! they all are in their graves ; 
 
 The gentle race of flowers 
 Are lying in their lowly beds, 
 
 With the fair and good of ours." 
 
 How largely we ourselves participate in this element of 
 change. On these hills we have played away our youth — 
 
78 
 
 we cannot come back and play away our age. Our com- 
 panions are gone, — the sports of youth have no longer 
 keenness and relish. We looked then on children, and 
 now, coming back, can hardly believe they are men. The 
 fresh bloom we used to see and look for — ah ! it belongs 
 now to other and new faces. We knock at this door and 
 that, but no familiar form responds. Alas ! the places that 
 once knew them know them no more — and so one hundred 
 years. 
 
 The fathers — where are they? The children — their 
 children's children — where are they ? Three generations 
 have now lived under the shadow of this goodly mountain ; 
 have looked on its familiar face ; have struggled with life 
 and its duties, as we do now ; have cherished its hopes, its 
 affections, and borne its griefs, disappointments and 
 sorrows ; have tilled these fair lands, and peacefully rest 
 in the bosom of mother earth. 
 
 Life is a warfare that knows no rest. The order is 
 always, Twarc/i .' We are of the grand procession of our 
 country. The youngest of us begin to feel the pressure, 
 and hear the admonitory steps of those who come after us. 
 Happy, indeed, if, as we pass along this day under the 
 shadow of our native Wachusett, we seize the great lesson 
 of the moment. Mark the swinging pendulum of Summer 
 and Winter, sunshine and shadow, that measures off" the 
 days of the year, as of our fathers. They sleep — ours 
 to-day the battle of life. If I may be permitted with a text 
 to put an end to a discourse, perhaps too largely tinged 
 with the hues of surrounding nature to indicate the thought 
 I would bear away from these pleasant festivities — from 
 these sacred memories — as our fresh purpose, as we lead the 
 van a second coming century, I would say: ''Whatsoever 
 things are true, whatsoever things are Jionest, whatsoever 
 things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
 things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if 
 there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on 
 these things," 
 
79 
 
 No. 8. The Young Ladies of Princeton — May their virtucB be larger 
 than their skirts, and their faults smaller even than their bonnets. 
 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 No. 9. The Mothers of Princeton — As patterns of virtuous industrj;, of 
 mental and moral worth, may they be reproduced in each succeeding 
 generation. 
 
 No. 10. To-day, while we thank God that our cup of blessings is so 
 full,' let us also pray, that each succeeding generation may possess a 
 Fuller. 
 
 Eetsponse by Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, of Watertown. 
 
 Mj'. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen : — It seems to 
 me that history is ever repeating itself, and as though we 
 had, to-day, one instance of which Solomon tells us is a 
 truth, that '' there is nothing new under the sun." It is 
 not the first time that a Rev. Mr. Fuller has addressed the 
 inhabitants of Princeton, although this Mr. Fuller has 
 never had the pleasure of seeing them face to face before, 
 or of grasping their hands, and telling them that those 
 who bear the name and cherish the memory of their first 
 minister, cherish, also, a love for this place and this people. 
 
 I have been very much gratified, Mr. President, in 
 coming here, and gratified with what I have heard and 
 what I have seen. I might pass some few criticisms on 
 this place, if I chose. I might go back to Boston, and say 
 that everybody who came here '' got high." I had to — I 
 think every one does who succeeds in reaching this ele- 
 vated place. I might, too, go to State street, or Wall 
 street, and tell our merchants, if they want to " raise the 
 wind," they had better come here. (Laughter.) 
 
 I was a little fearful for the practical result of my poet- 
 ical friend's address. He talked about squeezing hands ; 
 but I found I got squeezed all over in passing through the 
 crowded aisles of your church, this morning. Truly, there 
 I found a warm welcome, even on this cold and windy day. 
 
 I believe a part of my grandfather's ministry here was 
 a stormy one, and I was gratified when I received a note 
 
80 
 
 from your Committee, inviting me here to say a few words 
 in reference to him. 
 
 I was glad to hear my friend, Major Cobb, '' shell out," 
 so abundantly, the kernels, out of which good intellectual 
 bread could be made. Yes, it has been pleasant to see my 
 classmates here to-day, — the friend who preceded me,(T. H. 
 Russell, Esq.,) and my friend Cobb, — and that our good class 
 of 1843 was thus represented here by us three — a trinity 
 that I can believe in — three in one — three persons, but one 
 in purpose, mind and spirit. But I did not come up here 
 to speak in this strain. As I was thinking of coming, I 
 was asked by your Orator, for some ancient documents 
 which were in my possession. I was astonished, on 
 searching an old trunk in my attic, to see how many vener- 
 able papers, pertaining to your history, I had inherited. I 
 have in my hand the first Covenant* of this church, with 
 the names of the original settlers on it. Here is the name 
 of Robert Keyes, whose lost daughter has been so touch- 
 ingly alluded to, in the Oration and Poem of to-day. Here, 
 too, are the names of Mirick, and Mosman, and Hastings, 
 and many another of your early settlers, written in their 
 own hands. 
 
 Here is the first Thanksgiving Sermon ever preached in 
 this place. I have, too, an ancient deed — a certified copy 
 — by which Wachusett mountain was given to my grand- 
 father, and I have come to look after my property a little, 
 to know whether it has been entered upon, and whether 
 my timber has been, any of it, removed, without my 
 consent. I fear, alas, that some subsequent deed, however, 
 makes that beautiful mountain the property of some other 
 than me. 
 
 I have, also, here, a letter from Governor Gill, presenting 
 the first Bible ever publicly read in this town ; and, also, 
 mentioning to my grandfather a very beautiful lady, who 
 
 *This document, with that recording the marriages and deaths of the first settlers, 
 was presented, by Mr. Fuller, to the first church, through Kev. Mr. Briggs, at the 
 close of the Centennial Celebration. 
 
81 
 
 resided out of Princeton, I am sorry to say, and whom Mr. 
 Gill believed would have made my grandfather a most 
 excellent wife. 
 
 Here, too, is a newspaper, which was conned diligently, 
 and contains an account of the Massacre in Boston, March 
 5th, 1770. This is the only copy that came into this town. 
 It was gazed at by eager eyes, till hearts throbbed and 
 tears wet the page. It told of slaughter, and an event 
 which made the heart beat high, and the ver}'- turf throb 
 beneath their feet ; and ultimately, doubtless, influenced 
 them to go where they could, as soldiers, avenge that and 
 other later atrocious crimes against liberty. 
 
 But I wish to establish definitely the fact, that my grand- 
 father was a true patriot in those " times which tried men's 
 souls," and in favor of the great principles of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. As a specimen of some of the 
 arguments used to create a contrary impression at the 
 time, I will state one. A man got up in town meeting here, 
 in 1775, and said: "I know Mr. Fuller is not pious, and is 
 a Tory, for I caught hold of him suddenly, the other 
 evening, and in his surprise, he said : ' Let alone of me, 
 by George ! ' Now as he said ' by,' he could not be pious ; 
 and he must have meant George the Third, and of course, 
 then, if he would swear by him, he must be a Tory." Such, 
 sir, were the ridiculous arguments, which were deemed 
 sufficient, in the excited, almost frantic period of which I 
 am speaking, when a righteous jealousy for freedom, 
 assuredly led to some unjust suspicions of those no less 
 friendly to liberty than the most zealous patriots of 
 Princeton. 
 
 But, on this subject, I propose not simply to make cor- 
 rections, but to give proof, and that of an undeniable 
 character — proof in the handwriting of my grandfather, 
 giving his public declaration of his opinions, read in open 
 town meeting, in 1775, These papers were not put upon 
 record then, though referred to in the town records. It 
 was Buflfered to be lost, but, fortunately, I have the 
 11 
 
82 
 
 original document in my hand, here and now. It explains 
 every circumstance which made Rev. Timothy Fuller sus- 
 pected then, and clearly declares his agreement with the 
 principles of the Revolution, and his readiness, even, to 
 fight in their behalf. 
 
 I have come to vindicate his memory; and it is as impor- 
 tant for you to know, that you never had a minister who 
 was not true to liberty, as it is for me to be able to say 
 that I had no such ancestor. Let me, then, read from these 
 ancient documents, the originals of which were once read in 
 Princeton, in 1775. 
 
 " To the Committee of Correspondence, Mr. Thomson, Chairman, to be 
 laid before the Toivn : — 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I am very much surprised to find that any among you should 
 suspect me of entertaining Principles inconsistent with ye cause of liberty, 
 since I have uniformly espoused and supported it, both in public and 
 private, from ye very beginning of our controversy with Great Britain. 
 
 I have always submitted to ye advice of Gongresses, both provincial and 
 continental ; subscribed with my Hand ye Non Importation and Non Con- 
 sumption agreement ; strictly adhered to it ; have never opposed any 
 public Measure taken to preserve ye Rights and Privileges of ye People ; 
 and though I have thought that ye people have run into some Irregular- 
 ities, yet not more than might be exjiected irom every opposition to 
 unconstitutional and oppressive acts of Government. It has always been 
 my firm Opinion, that ye Parliament of Great Britain, in exercising ye 
 Right claimed of binding America in all cases whatsoever, would reduce 
 us to absolute Slavery. I liave, years ago, laid aside ye use of Tea, and 
 urged you to do ye same, that we might defeat their Design of raising a 
 Revenue from us, encouraged our manufactures, and pressed a Union in 
 this and all ye Colonies, that our Resistance might be formidable and 
 successful. ###****# 
 
 I think we have Reason and a Right to Complain, and when our Com- 
 plaints are not heard, and our Grievances redressed, we have a Right to 
 resist. We of Right ought to be as free as ye People of England, accor- 
 ding to Charter. ###*### 
 
 I am sorry to be so unhappy as to fall under the suspicion of being un- 
 friendly to ye Common cause. I believe I am as hearty a Lover of my 
 Country, as any among you, or any in ye Country. I am ready, when 
 Necessary, to fight in ye Defense of it, and of Religion. I think ministers 
 are not called to War, unless ye rest of ye Community are unable to 
 defend it without them, and in such a case I am ready to do my part ; I 
 
83 
 
 would not count my Life dear to me, but would brave every Danger of 
 
 In conclusion : '' What your design is in calling me in Question, I may 
 not determine. If any were so mistaken aijd ignorant of my Principles, 
 as to be really jealous, I am sorry ; but I am Avilling to give account of 
 myself, without being oflfended, and am persuaded that what I have 
 offered above will give you entire Satisfaction as to my firm attachment 
 to ye Principles of civil liberty, and to remove every doubt fi-om your 
 minds; if not, I am willing to carry ye matter before the provisional or 
 
 continental Congress. 
 
 TIMOTHY FULLER. 
 Prixcetox, May 29, 1779." 
 
 This was read, June 2d, 1775, to the town. Another 
 paper was sent to the same Committee, to be laid before 
 the town, June 7th, of which I give the most important 
 part. 
 
 " To the Committee, William Thomson, Chairman, to be laid before the 
 Town : — 
 
 Gextlemex : 
 
 I beg Leave now, to make some Additions with respect to sev- 
 eral things in the Paper which I read to ye Town, on Friday last. I do 
 not believe ye Parliament of Great Britain hath any Right to make any 
 Law whatever binding on ye Colonies, nor to lay any Taxes or duties on 
 us, without our Consent. I am clearly of opinion, that ye acts, called ye 
 Boston Port Bill, that for Altering the Government of this Province, and 
 that for sending Criminals to Great Britain for Tryal, and ye Quebec bill, 
 are unreasonable and unjust, and what ye Parliament have no right to 
 enact, and that ye Colonies are so far from being obliged to submit to 
 them, that it would be criminal in them, and they would be ruined by 
 such submission. It is our Duty, at present, to unitedly exert ourselves to 
 ye utmost, with Dependence on the blessing of Heaven on our righteous 
 Cause, to resist, by Force and Arms, the Execution of those Acts. I look 
 upon it (as) a favorable Providence, that the Colonies of this Continent, 
 and this in particular, are generally so happily agreed in asserting and 
 defending our civil and religious Rights, against ye Invasions of the 
 British Ministry and Parliament, and their venal Army. It is, I think, 
 ye Duty of every man to encourage, and according to his Ability, to 
 promote ye Success of ye Army, now raised by this Colony, for its neces- 
 sary Safety and Defense." 
 
 I think a man who is ready, if necessary, to fight for the 
 cause, or who ofi"ers himself as a Chaplain in her army, 
 would be acknowledged as a true patriot. And it is 
 
84 
 
 gratifying to know, that the people of Princeton came to the 
 same conclusion in after years, that he dwelt here among 
 you, and was chosen your Representative to the Conven- 
 tion, Governor Gill being the rival candidate. Nor can I 
 feel other than an honorable pride, in saying, that his 
 descendants have uniformly loved liberty. It was a grand- 
 daughter of your first minister, who sought to staunch the 
 wounds of those who were fighting in the cause of liberty 
 in a foreign land, who remained in the city of Rome, 
 during its eventful seige, in 1848, and did all a brave and 
 noble woman could do for the cause of liberty. Such 
 noble fruit could have grown on no unworthy tree of 
 ancestors ; and I rejoice to say, as a matter of simple truth 
 and justice, that the principles of freedom, cherished by 
 my ancestors, have been, and are cherished by all his 
 descendants, and that to-day, however on other points they 
 may differ, there is not one who does not long for the 
 diffusion of civil and religious liberty, in our own and all 
 lands, till at last your sun shall not rise on a tyrant or 
 master, or rest on any who are oppressed or enslaved. 
 
 No. 11. Bachelors — Left alone, as they wish, will have no history in the 
 next celebration. 
 
 There was no response. 
 
 No. 12. The Medical Profession — The ignorance of mankind with ref- 
 erence to the laws of life and health, creates its necessity. In the good 
 time coming, their prescriptions will be preventatives of, rather than 
 cures for, disease. Till then, may their pills and powders be harmless. 
 
 To this sentiment, Dr. Nathan Allen, of Lowell, 
 responded. He said : 
 
 I wish to speak a few words, as the only representative 
 of my profession present ; and I wish to speak in behalf of 
 the town, in reference to medicine and health. We had, 
 in the address this forenoon, an account of a physician who 
 occupied the chair in town meetings, and held many high 
 ofiices. For the last hundred years, we have had a noble 
 order of men, well educated in the medical profession, here. 
 
85 
 
 I believe there has been no irregular practitioners in this 
 town, and it has been remarkable for being a healthful 
 place. 
 
 I wish to state three facts. The first is, that, according 
 to the statistics, there has not been a town in this County, 
 that could compare with this in respect to healthfulness. 
 The rate of mortality is less than in any other toAvn, 
 being only one in ninety-three, for many years. But in 
 Sterling, it is one in sixty-seven ; in Holden, one in fifty- 
 six ; in Westminster, one in seventy-five ; in Worcester, 
 one in forty-eight ; while in Boston, it is one in thirty- 
 eight. I find on turning to the record of deaths, last year, 
 that seventeen persons died, of whom eight were over 
 seventy years of age, and three were between eighty-five 
 and ninety. 
 
 Another fact is, that the average length of life here, has 
 been remarkable. This we can show by the ages of 
 persons who have died in a long series of years. The 
 average age here has been over fifty years, while in all 
 the other towns of the County, it has been less. In Wor- 
 cester, it has been but twenty-two years, so that persons 
 may expect to live twice as long here as in Worcester. 
 There have been but two epidemics here in many years. 
 
 Another fact, which is creditable to this town, is that a 
 large donation was given, many years ago, by one of the 
 citizens of this town, Dr. Ward Nicholas Boylston, for the 
 benefit of the medical profession of this State. That 
 donation was given in such a way that large sums are 
 distributed annually, for the encouragement of students of 
 the medical profession. That sum, put to interest at the 
 time it was given, would now amount to more than seventy 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 We see why it is that people will come here from abroad ; 
 and they will come more and more, where such fresh air, 
 and such wholesome diet may be obtained. People who 
 live here do not realize, nor have any adequate idea of 
 their privileges. 
 
86 
 
 Only five or six persons from this town, have entered 
 the medical profession. When I have looked at the history 
 of this town, and considered its advantages with reference 
 to health, I felt proud to refer to it. 
 
 I Avill merely add a sentiment : 
 
 The Inhabitants of Princeton, and the Medical Profession — May their 
 relations in the next hundred years, show as much consistency and liber- 
 ality as they have in the past hundred years. 
 
 No. 13. The next Centennial Anniversary — May our children have 
 reason to venerate us, as we to-day do our fathers. 
 
 No. 14. Princeton'' s Sons — May their aim be as high, their view as 
 broad, and their principles as firm and deep-rooted, as their own Wachusett. 
 
 To this sentiment, John A. Dana, Esq., of Worcester, 
 responded as follows : 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — I congratulate 
 you upon the success of this Celebration. Most heartily 
 do I thank you and the people of this my native town, for 
 this opportunity to exchange with each other kindly 
 greetings and joyful congratulations. Pausing here for a 
 little, at the close of the first century of our town's history, 
 recalling pleasant reminiscences of the past, and with 
 mutual good wishes for the future, we will gather new 
 strength to go forth to its duties, with a stronger heart, 
 and a fuller confidence. 
 
 Sir, I Avill yield to no one, in the strong attachment I 
 feel for the place of my birth, the home of my boyhood, 
 the scene of my early joys, and my boyish griefs. My 
 feelings to-day are keenly alive to the sentiment of 
 Goldsmith's lines : 
 
 " Where'er I roam, whatever realms to see, 
 My heart, untravel'd, fondly turns to thee. 
 
 Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, 
 His first, best country, ever is at home. 
 
 Thus every good his native wilds impart 
 Imprints the patriot passion on his heart ; 
 And e'en those ills that round his mansion rise, 
 Enhance the bliss his scanty fund supplies ; 
 Dear is that ahed to which his soul conforms, 
 
87 
 
 And dear that hill ^Yhich lifts hiin to the storms ; 
 And as a child, when searing sounds molest, 
 Clings close and closer to the mother's breast — 
 So the loud torrent and th3 whirlwind's roar, 
 But bind him to his native mountains more." 
 
 The sentiment to which you do me the honor to invite me 
 to respond, brings me back to my home, by the reference 
 you have made to that mountain, to which I have so often 
 looked when away, and to which I have, with a glow of 
 pride, pointed many as my native mountain. Why, sir, the 
 time has been, when I thought it the highest mountain in 
 the world ! However much wiser I may be to-day in this 
 respect, I have never seen, nor do I ever expect to see, 
 any mountain whose view will stir in my heart more 
 pleasant emotions, than are always excited when I look 
 upon its familiar face. It is an honest old mountain, and 
 if it is not quite so high as some, I am sure it is as old as 
 any, and will last as long. But, sir, the sentiment looks to 
 something else ; it looks to the end and object of all our 
 lives, and the means by which we may make them a success. 
 As a life without purpose can never be useful, so, without 
 a broad view, and a firm foundation on fixed principles 
 of action, it can never be successful. 
 
 The young are often told to set their aims high. Often 
 have I heard it in that little red school-house, and this was 
 told us in such a way, that we were led to think that the 
 wise course was to fix the mind upon some particular 
 object, some place of honor or trust, some high position 
 of power or influence, — that we should single out some one 
 of these, as a particular object of pursuit, to attain which, 
 all our energies should be directed. 
 
 I do not intend to usurp the prerogative of the pulpit, 
 and read you a sermon on this occasion, though it is much 
 easier to preach than to practice. But I will suggest 
 whether we should not labor to inculcate in others, and 
 whether each should not bring himself to feel that all the 
 objects of life, worthy of pursuit by a rational being, should 
 be pursued as a means to an end, and not the end itself, 
 
and that end a two-fold one, — self-culture and development 
 in the individual, and usefulness to mankind. 
 
 Now we all know, that but few can attain to places of 
 eminence, as commonly received and understood. How 
 few of the many who start in the race for wealth, power 
 or station, attain the position for which they strive. They 
 all start with high hopes, with a high, it may be with a 
 noble, ambition. The motto with them is, " aut Ccesar, 
 aut niillus/' and they usually verify the motto — but their 
 verification is very unfortunate. 
 
 What I would urge is, that each should endeavor to 
 develop in himself a complete manhood ; that each should 
 inculcate all the faculties of his nature, — physical, mental 
 and moral, — by such pursuits as are best fitted to his par- 
 ticular organization, without regard to any particular end 
 to be attained, but the general one I have named, and we 
 shall find we have each a position of greatness, which will 
 well reward all our labor. By such a course as this, we 
 shall all find enough to do at home ; we shall all have a 
 business for life on our hands. We need not go far in 
 search of labor or duty ; it lies all around us, and the 
 future, about which we have so much solicitude, will become 
 the present, for the surest way to know our duty in the 
 future, is to do the duty that lies next us. 
 
 And we shall also find, that true greatness lies not in 
 any particular station in life, but in every station. It 
 needs not wealth or rank to give it power ; it has a power 
 all its own. It shines as well in the cottage of the poor, 
 as in the mansion of the rich. 
 
 " What tho' on hamely fare we dine, 
 
 Wear hoddin grey and a' that ; 
 Gie fools their silk and knaves their wine, 
 
 A man^s a man for a' that. 
 An honest man tho' e'er sae poor, 
 
 Is king of men for a' that." 
 
 I close with this sentiment : 
 
 His aims are high who aims a complete, perfect manhood. His view 
 must be broad, and his principles firm, who will attain it. 
 
89 
 
 No. 15. Our Festal Day — "We, this day, tie the nuptial knot between 
 the past and coming century. And our Mother,* though hoary with age, 
 is, (we are happy to know,) vigorous and blithe as ever, and many of her 
 sons and daughters are present to grace the ceremony. 
 
 It was expected this sentiment would have been re- 
 sponded to by Colonel Howe, of Rutland ; but owing to 
 the lateness of the hour, he was obliged to leave the house, 
 before the sentiment was read. 
 
 The following is a volunteer sentiment, left by Colonel 
 Howe : 
 
 The Citizens of Princeton — Their past has been marked by enterprise, 
 benevolence, nnd prosperity. May their future be distinguished by all 
 those virtues which elevate and adorn the human family. 
 
 No. 16. The Wachusett Comet Band — May their lives be so pure, and 
 their strains of music so ennobling, that this old monarch of hills shall 
 proudly own his namesake. 
 
 Responded to by the Band. 
 
 The meeting then adjourned till seven o'clock in the 
 evening. 
 
 EVENING MEETING. 
 
 At a little after seven o'clock, the Church was pretty 
 well filled again, agreeably to the adjournment, and the 
 President, having called the meeting to order, said : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: — Permit me, once more, in 
 behalf of our vigilant Committee of Arrangements, in 
 behalf of the legal voters of Princeton, by whose act we 
 have this day assembled, to extend to you the right hand 
 
 *A large portion of Princeton was, at its incorporation, taken from Rutland. 
 
 12 
 
90 
 
 of fellowship, and to tliank you all for the interest you 
 have taken, on this occasion, which interest has brought 
 you together again this evening, to listen to these closing 
 services. It was a custom of our fathers, to look to God 
 in all their town meetings, — to that Being whose mercies 
 are new every morning, and fresh every evening and every 
 moment. Shall we, in imitation of their example, look to 
 Him on this occasion ? Will Rev. Mr. Cowles lead us in 
 prayer ? 
 
 Prayer was then offered by Rev. John P. Cowles, of 
 Ipswich, a former Pastor in Princeton. 
 
 After music by the Band, the next regular sentiment 
 was read, as follows : 
 
 No. 17. The Second Centennial Celebration — The heroic and successful 
 resistance of our ancestoi'S to British tj'rannj', secured freedom to one race 
 of one age. May it be the glad privilege of those who shall stand here 
 to celebrate one hundred years this day, that the nobler patriotism, and 
 holier self-sacrifice of the friends of unrestricted human rights in this 
 country, have bequeathed impartial liberty to every tribe of every race, 
 forevermore. 
 
 Mr. E. H. Hetwood, of Worcester, called upon to 
 respond, said: 
 
 It may seem unfortunate that it should fall to me " to 
 give the improvement," as the old Puritans would say, of 
 the sentiment just read, fellowshipped as I am with a class 
 of persons who have the reputation of not being very 
 economical of truth, who sometimes have a weakness for 
 telling the whole truth, in dealing with the question of 
 freedom. I appreciate the feelings of that slip of the 
 clerical profession, who, caught holding forth in strait 
 Puritan Boston, without proper authority, was called to 
 order by one who sat in Moses' seat. •' But don't the 
 Bible say, we must preach the Gospel to every critter?" 
 asked the sprig. '^ Yes," replied the venerable divine ; 
 " but it don't say that every critter must preach the 
 Gospel." 
 
91 
 
 I find that, as early as 1763, tho settlers of this town 
 passed resolutions, showing a clear-sighted, resolute and 
 unswerving devotion to the principles of that inspired and 
 immortal declaration, which, in 177G, leaped from the brain 
 of Jefferson, full-armed for the revolutionary conflict. 
 Subsequently, they dismissed their minister, (Rev, Mr. 
 Fuller,) for entertaining, as they erroneously supposed, 
 Tory proclivities — then inaugurating the itinerant method, 
 so popular here, for Princeton has always settled its min- 
 isters on horseback. Thus early did our fathers evince a 
 faith in principle, and a spirit of self-sacrifice of every 
 worldly interest, in adherence to the cause of freedom. 
 They saw that human rights are antecedent to all human 
 governments, and hence above the reach or refusal of all 
 human laws. They made institutions for man. The polit- 
 ical and ecclesiastical policy of the present day, makes 
 man for institutions. It circumscribes the boundaries of 
 human rights ; spells negro with two gs ; preaches Jesus 
 and practices Judas. Our ancestors overleaped the fences 
 of custom and tradition — were the '' rebels," the " insur- 
 rectionists," and " madmen " of their day. Hence, their 
 lesson to us is : '' Break with the huckstering ' law and order' 
 of your age ; project your thoughts from behind institu- 
 tions ; build on ideas ; trample under foot all compromising 
 organizations ; ' be governed by the laws of God, until 
 you can make better.' " 
 
 Some years later, Mr. Fuller returning — a prophet to 
 be honored in his own country — showed, conclusively, that 
 he was right on the question of freedom. In the State 
 Convention, to ratif}'^ the Federal Constitution, he voted 
 against that iniquitous instrument, on the ground of its 
 pro-slavery clauses. I am proud that the representative of 
 my native town took so noble a position in that crisis, so 
 fatal to the black man, — proud that the first clergyman of 
 this district, bore so high a moral testimony to the politi- 
 cians of his age. The test of principle is to disagree with 
 our immediate cotemporaries, when conscience bids. Mr. 
 
92 
 
 Fuller, doing that, proved his superiority. He was 
 taller than his peers — a moral Wachusett, crowned by the 
 light of opposite centuries. Let us thank God that this 
 heroic minister of Christ, had the moral courage to outface 
 his compromising fellows and repudiate a constitution 
 that consigned the black man to perpetual slavery. 
 
 I do not wish to preach you an anti-slavery lecture, but 
 I must say, I was saddened this morning, on looking 
 around, to find not a single motto — significant of the 
 fact, that four million slaves are crushed under the political 
 and ecclesiastical institutions of this country — not one 
 word to alleviate the inefiable woes that weigh upon their 
 hearts. Are not the sainted insurrectionists of '76 still on 
 the side of the oppressed? Do not they yearn to-day, 
 from their higher seats, towards these millions of '' suffering 
 and dumb " victims of a bondage, " one hour of which," 
 Jefi'erson being the judge, "is fraught with more misery 
 than whole ages of that which we rose in rebellion to 
 oppose?" 
 
 Pluck aside the centuries, and see how far we have 
 strayed from that sublime ancestry, which " began with 
 Puritanism and the wilderness ; " from that martyr faith, 
 which, hurling British tyranny across the Atlantic, sounded 
 boldly out into the great deep of equal rights, the 
 Columbus of a true popular sovereignty. In 1641, Mass- 
 achusetts, young, weak, destitute as an orphan girl, spread 
 her arms ''to all who could fly to her from the tyranny and 
 oppression of their persecutors," and pledged them pro- 
 tection and maintenance at the public cost. In 1859, rich, 
 luxurious, powerful, studded all over with churches, 
 colleges, and temples of justice, the Legislature refusing 
 to shelter the hounded fugitive from oppression, deliber- 
 ately votes, (the representative of this town concurring,*) 
 that our soil, hallowed with heroes' graves, shall continue 
 open ground for the slave-hunter 1 Thank God for Massa- 
 chutetts ! She was the first of civilized States in history, 
 
 * See Note. 
 
93 
 
 to abolish slavery by law. It was done in 1780, and the 
 glorious event should be distinguished by a red letter day 
 in our Calender. But in 1789, she went into partnership 
 with slave dealers, and the firm is yet undissolved. When 
 Webster was kicking in his cradle, Washington wrote to 
 New Hampshire for the return of a fugitive woman. But, 
 said he, if the moral sentiment of the people is against it, 
 let her go. In 1859, Massachusetts erects a statue to the 
 man, who. beyond all others, has insulted the moral senti- 
 ment of New England, by commanding her to " conquer 
 her prejudices " in favor of liberty, and return men to 
 bondage, " with alacrity." But why travel so far from 
 home ? I have told you how the early settlers of tliis 
 town, rude, untaught, scarcely able to wring a subsistence 
 from these unthankful hills, risked the ruin of their church, 
 and the loss of educational advantages, by hurrying from 
 their sacred desk, a minister, on mere suspicion of indiffer- 
 ence to the interests of freedom, and of sympathizing with 
 a comparatively respectable despotism beyond the Atlantic. 
 I would gladly forget to say, did truth and the solemn 
 monitions of this hour allow it, that lately there stood in 
 this pulpit, with the consent of these pews, the great Ncav 
 England apologist of the most cruel and remorseless 
 system of bondage in modern history .'■- 
 
 We meet to celebrate the deeds of revolutionists, of 
 traitors, of insurrectionists. To-day, with a chastened, 
 reverent enthusiasm, we take into our hands the consecrated 
 sword, or musket, with which they slew oppressors. We 
 wear next our very hearts, every brave word, whereby 
 they pledged themselves to sink the government, the 
 church, and the world, rather than relinquish justice or 
 liberty. We glory in that Congregationalism which made 
 every man a church ; in that democracy which made every 
 man a monarchy. Those sainted farmers, play-fellows of 
 these venerable hills, wherever they walked, society heaved 
 with the volcanic throes of revolt. We are all the 
 
 * See Note. 
 
94 
 
 children, the heirs apparent, of treason and rebellion. 
 Put your ear to the ground, and you will hear the echoing, 
 earthquake tread of the impending second American Rev- 
 olution. This very week, its Bunker's Hill was fought at 
 Harper's Ferry. The timid, faithless toryism of to-day, 
 pales and trembles at the crack of insurgent rifles, whose 
 echoes still linger among the Alleghanies and Shenandoahs. 
 John Brown, braver than Warren, more self-sacrificing than 
 Lafayette, with his Spartan score of followers, throws 
 himself against a gigantic despotism, in defence of the 
 principles of the fathers. From these sacred graves, on 
 which we stretch ourselves to-day, they speak : " " Go thou 
 and do likewise ; be true to our memoiy ; execute justice 
 for the oppressed ; launch upon equal inalienable rights, 
 and let God take care of the consequences." 
 
 As Luther said, '' God never can do without brave men." 
 The age of brute force, the reign of bullets, is over. Ideas 
 are gradually ascending to absolute power. It is our priv- 
 ilege to rely upon moral force agitation — upon the omnipo- 
 tence of abstract principles. The times " demand an arm 
 of tougher sinew than the sword." It is for us to side 
 Avith the oppressed and down-trodden in the great moral 
 Bunker Hills and Solferinos of human conflict, to make 
 ourselves of no reputation, and suffer the loss of all things, 
 if need be, in defence of Jesus in the ''little ones." Every 
 croAvn of glory must first be a crown of thorns. As for 
 me, I believe in the inalienable and absolute right of every 
 man to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I am 
 for the immediate and unconditional emancipation of every 
 slave of every race, clime, or condition. In the great 
 conflict for the rights of black men, now shaking this country 
 to its foundations, " no union with slaveholders," is the 
 highest moral ground, the only Christian position, the 
 only Pisgah that overlooks the promised land of impartial 
 liberty from this wilderness of compromise. Our fathers 
 rest from their labors. The beloved sleep well. We, also, 
 are before the world, who will judge us according to our 
 
95 
 
 works. To equal our predecessors, vre must surpass them. 
 To do as much, we must do more. 
 
 " New occasions teach new duties ; Time makes ancient good uncouth ; 
 Thcj' must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth. 
 Lo, before us gleam her campfires ! We ourselves must Pilgrims be ; 
 Launch our Maj"flower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea, 
 Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key." 
 
 *NOTE. — The undersigned, a majority of the Committee, having this report in charge, 
 (the minority disclaiming it their province to judge, or express an opinion in the 
 matter,) deem it but simple justice to state, that in their judgement, the remarks of 
 Mr. Heywood, in the particulars indicated by reference to this note, were untrue in 
 point of fact ; and, moreover, were an unwarranted, though we charitably believe, an 
 unintentional trespass upon the proprieties of the occasion. 
 
 CHARLES RUSSELL, 
 WILLL\iI B. GOODNOW, 
 EDWARD E. IL.VRTWELL. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Allen was again invited to speak. He said : 
 
 It has been mentioned to-day, and has been often men- 
 tioned, as a thing very peculiar in the history of Princeton, 
 that a people so intelligent, considerate and conservative 
 as they have always been, should have such a history with 
 regard to the ministry in the town. Since I came into the 
 town, a man said to me, that the present minister of the 
 Church here, is the twelfth or thirteenth, in succession, 
 and that no man has ever died here, holding the pastoral 
 office. He said, further, that the town did not contain the 
 remains of a single minister of the Gospel, of any denom- 
 ination, I, however, satisfied him of the fact, that the old 
 burying ground, on the hill, does contain the remains of a 
 native of this town, who was a minister of the Gospel. 
 
 Why is it, that among people so considerate, and so con- 
 servative, no minister has ever retained the pastoral office 
 till called away by death ? I put this question to myself, 
 and I answer it by saying, that it is because the people 
 have been so religous, and had such exact and clear views 
 of divine truth. I will mention, as an illustration, an anec- 
 dote. A gentleman was invited to become a pastor of one 
 of the Churches here. After considering the invitation for 
 
96 • 
 
 sometime, he declined. He did not, then, give any reason ; 
 but as the people expressed some disappointment at his 
 not accepting their invitation, he told them that he did not 
 decline the invitation for want of salary, for they had 
 offered him as much as he expected. To some of my 
 friends in another town, he gave the following reason : 
 " When I learned how well informed the people were on 
 all the doctrines of Christianity, and when 1 saw every 
 eye fixed on me, and scanning me, I felt as if I was 
 preaching to an assembly of Puritan divines, and that I 
 was not competent to become the minister of such a 
 peoi^le. I declined the invitation solely on that ground." 
 That minister is still living. I think the strong religious 
 character, the clear and exact views of divine truth, and 
 the great importance which the people here attached to 
 every j^^'*'^ o^ tbe system of religion which they had 
 embraced, has had much to do with the changes in their 
 ministry. 
 
 I have heard people in the towns around say : " How 
 the people in Princeton quarrel about religion." But it 
 was no quarrelling, in their view. They were only '' con- 
 tending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the 
 Saints." They could not only tell what they believed, but 
 give reason upon reason, from morning till night. It was 
 no mere disputation, no quarrelling, no wrangling. No. 
 They did it from the highest and holiest feelings. 
 
 I will make a remark upon one thing, which I believe is 
 not alluded to in the histories of this town. There are 
 some things concerning individuals, and families, and com- 
 munities, which can be learned only by observation. It 
 was remarked that the people of this town were a noble 
 people in their intellectual character, and in their political 
 and religious principles and conduct. But they were a 
 noble class of people in another respect — physically, 
 bodily. I never saw such a generation of men. I have 
 had much observation of mankind, and a large experience 
 of the world, but I never saw such men as were here forty 
 
97 
 
 and fifty years ago. I presume those who are old, and 
 growing old, like myself, will be of the same opinion. A 
 stranger in the town, once attended the old church on the 
 hill, and he afterward remarked how he was struck with the 
 appearance of the people. He never saw such people, 
 men and women, sons and daughters. He said he was 
 reminded of the story in the book of Joshua, where the 
 spies reported that they saw the Anakims — giants — in the 
 land, and " we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and 
 so were we in their sight." I remembered, said he, that 
 the Bible says the Anakims lived '' in the hill country," and 
 I supposed, they were extinct, till I came here ; but I find 
 they are still living " in the hill country," around about 
 Wachusett, and among the other hills of Princeton. 
 
 The next sentiment was : 
 
 No. 18. Old Princeton — The good old days of Princeton, made gloriouB 
 by the solid worth, true valor, and wise patriotism of our fathers. May 
 her sons perpetuate her virtues. 
 
 Mr. Everett — The next sentiment has reference to the 
 old men and women who still linger with us, but who will 
 soon pass away to the spirit land. 
 
 No. 19. The Old Men and Women of Princeton — May their last days 
 be their best, and their last pleasures the sweetest. May their declining 
 sun shed mellow beams of light on their i^osterity, and set in glory. 
 
 The President — If there is no one prepared to respond 
 to this sentiment, we will proceed to the next. 
 
 Mr. Everett — I wish we might have some volunteer 
 sentiments, with such remarks as gentlemen may please to 
 offer. We have shaken the hearts of many friends through 
 their hands, to-day, and I would like to hear from some of 
 them this evening. 
 
 The President — I am happy to know that Capt. Amos 
 13 
 
98 
 
 Merriam, from the city of spindles, (Lowell,) is here. We 
 shall be pleased to hear a word from him. 
 
 Capt. Merriam being thus called out, said : 
 
 I am not a literary man, and you must not expect a long 
 speech from me. I have come up here to-day, to see and 
 hear, and I have been extremely gratified with what I have 
 seen and heard. I have not been in this town for many 
 years — nearly or quite a quarter of a century — and most 
 of the old inhabitants I recognize to-day. At the time I 
 left the place, there was not a family here that I did not 
 know very well, having occupied a position that led me to 
 a general acquaintance with the people of the town. I 
 was, for many years, a Selectman, and an Overseer of the 
 Poor, and was, also, a Surveyor, so that I was led to know 
 the people in all parts of the town. 
 
 I rejoice that I have been permitted to meet so many of 
 you whom I once knew, and to listen to the speeches and 
 sentiments that have been uttered. They have brought 
 back to my mind the sterling virtues of this people. 
 The glory and happiness of the people here, does not 
 consist in their numbers, but in their character, and I think I 
 can bear my testimony fully, that the true character of the 
 people has been expressed in the addresses to which I have 
 had the pleasure of listening to-day. 
 
 I will not occupy your time any further, but will offer, as 
 a sentiment, a few words : 
 
 This Centeiniial Day to celebrate we meet, 
 Our friends to see, and them to greet. 
 Before returns another Anniversary day, 
 Three generations will have passed away. 
 Then to all that's good and great aspire. 
 Like yonder mountain, beckoning higher. 
 That Princeton's sons and daughters, yet unborn. 
 May bless the world that they adorn. 
 
 The President — We have with us an adopted son, who 
 is somewhat advanced in years, as many of the rest of us 
 
99 
 
 are, who lias spent many years in Princeton. Let me 
 introduce to you Thomas Wilder, Esq., of Boston. 
 
 Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen: — I am happy to 
 embrace this opportunity, to speak of one, whose name 
 lias not been much mentioned on this occasion. One, who, 
 half a century ago, was known as Master "Woods. In 1802, 
 he conveyed me here from Ashburnham, on the seventh of 
 June. We rode on horseback, and he gave me a very 
 interesting account of every family between these places, 
 pointing out the building where Sam Frost killed his 
 father; the place where the girl was lost ; the eastern part 
 of Wachusett, where Frost killed Captain Allen, and the 
 tree on which he climbed to watch the funeral obsequies 
 of his victim. 
 
 Master Woods was greeted by his appropriate appella- 
 tion, by old and young, where he was known. This led 
 the boy who had taken passage upon the same animal with 
 him, without a pillion, to inquire into his antecedents. I 
 soon learned one important fact, that he was the first 
 school-master of the town, and being self-taught, under- 
 stood how to teach others. Being a man of thought, he 
 strove to promote it by questions suited to elicit thought, 
 and propounding problems to be solved by induction, thus 
 giving to minds a stimulus to develop itself, without 
 depending much upon artificial helps ; consequentl}^, a 
 goodly number of intellectual inhabitants, of both sexes, 
 came forward, honorable to the town and country. We 
 need look no further than his own family for illustrations. 
 I might speak of numbers, but will particularize but one, 
 his oldest son by his last wife, Leonard, whose germ, 
 under paternal culture, gave hopeful promise, and 
 who, encouraged by the means of education, which at 
 that time the public schools afforded, graduated at Harvard 
 with the highest honors of the College, and whose writings 
 are said to be the most lucid in the English language, 
 and are read in all the enlightened parts of the world from 
 
100 
 
 his works, while he filled the chair of Theology, at Andover 
 Seminary. As like causes produce like eflects, it may be 
 seen that the inductive principle which wrought so ellect- 
 ually in Dr. Woods the senior, has been not less so in Dr. 
 Woods junior, now President of Bowdoin College, and 
 who ranks among the first literary men of our country. 
 
 Master Woods did a great deal of public business, and 
 my youthful mind was led to inquire, why he had not an 
 Esquire commission. Well, Hon. Moses Gill, being a mag- 
 istrate sufiicient for the business of the town, at that early 
 period, the office, if conferred, would have been rather 
 sinecure. Yet, it was prior to the Gerrymander, synony- 
 mous with districting the State for political effect, under 
 the administration of Governor Gerry, which all Federal- 
 ists thought almost unpardonable. And Rev. Mr. Holcom, 
 of Sterling, at a supper, where poetic freedom was 
 lawful, remarked it was the greatest piece of wickedness 
 over committed since the rebellion of the fallen angels. 
 How much political hire was used to eff"ect the object, I 
 am unable to say, but Esq.'s came forth like locusts for 
 multitude. Rev. Thomas Mason, of Northfield, Represen- 
 tative of the town for many years, was a son of Princeton, 
 brother of the venerable Joseph Mason, now living on 
 the old farm, between eighty and ninety years old, pos- 
 sessed of mental vigor competent to grapple with almost 
 any subject, and who, by industry, economy and prudence, 
 has furnished a rich legacy for the town. The above rev- 
 erend gentleman, while sitting upon a splendid horse, was 
 asked why he did not ride an humble ass, as did the great 
 preacher when he entered Jerusalem, replied, he was 
 unwilling to ride a jackass, for Gerry had made them all 
 Esq.'s. 
 
 But Esq. Gill, afterwards Lieutenant Governor, conferred 
 upon Master Woods, a more honorable than civil title, even 
 the well-earned appellation of Philosopher, and when he 
 had visitors of philosophic minds, he would send for his 
 Philosopher, and thus introduce him. As he was wont to 
 
101 
 
 wear a leather apron at home, he was not careful to put it 
 off on those occasions. It served the double purpose of 
 preserving some portions of his dress, and also, as parch- 
 ment for data, and a substitute for sand, on which John 
 Newton studied Euclid upon the shores of Africa. "When 
 his cogitations were interrupted, he would make a mark to 
 indicate his soundings. His apron was covered with 
 figures, signs, or hieroglj^phics. 
 
 Mr. President, I am aware by what title I have been 
 introduced to this platform ; but, sir, the paper emanating 
 from the Council chamber, came to me most unexpectedly, 
 and knowing there were more magistrates in Ware village, 
 in which place I then resided, than the business of the place 
 demanded, I thought the best use I could make of it Avould 
 be to lock it up for safe keeping, unaccompanied by any 
 law, hoping it might tend to check the exuberance of 
 Esq.'s. 
 
 No. 20. The memory of our Fathers^-Hy all their deeds of noble 
 daring, by all their toils and sacrifices in planting institutions for our 
 enjoyment, by their manly virtue and holy example, we will cherish their 
 memories forever. 
 
 To this sentiment, the Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, of 
 "Watertown, responded as follows : 
 
 Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen : — I should 
 feel some doubt about trespassing again on your attention 
 and time, were it not that the strain of remark which I 
 felt obliged to offer this afternoon, did not embrace one or 
 two thoughts of that more serious and solemn character, 
 which seem to be becoming to this place and this hour ; 
 and as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Clirist, standing 
 in the town where an ancestor of mine preached the 
 gospel as he believed it, I feel that there are one or two 
 topics upon which I would speak here and now. 
 
 My remarks this afternoon, were for the purpose of 
 removing any undeserved imputation which rested on the 
 patriotism of an ancestor of mine. I propose now to 
 
102 
 
 respond to the sentiment just ofTered, and which seems to me 
 be full of nobleness. I recall much that I have learned 
 from a father and uncles of those who early lived here, for 
 my family have ever treasured each leaf on which the dear 
 name of Princeton was written ; and from those records, I 
 gather some knowledge of their fathers and yours. 1 
 gather the impressions which were indelibly written on 
 their minds. I recall some of the accounts which they 
 gave when they came here everj' year to sing again Zion's 
 songs, and I feel that your ancestors and mine were 
 generally pious, noble men, and that their memory deserves 
 to be cherished. I rejoice in this Centennial Celebration, 
 tliat it was put into the hearts of this people to come up 
 here and keep this joyous day ; and it seems to me we 
 ought to have something more of the serious and devout 
 cast given to our thoughts, which the occasion is so well 
 calculated to suggest, 
 
 I remember hearing my grandfather spoken of as one 
 Avho was instant in season and out of season in his visits 
 to the chambers of the sick and dying; I have a record, 
 kept by him, of the bereavements of the families here.* 
 I find a record of children, breathing out their last sigh ; 
 of old men, by whom he offered the prayer which wafted 
 on the wings of faith the spirit upward ; of mothers in 
 Israel giving their last counsel to childhood, as they had 
 given the first smile that was the earliest sunlight that fell 
 on the infant heart. I know, then, something of the fathers 
 of those who dwell here to-day. That grandfather of 
 mine was never accused of any dereliction of duty — his 
 moral integrity was as unmovable as yonder mountain, 
 (Wachusett,) and pointed upward directly as does that 
 hill. And even as to the charge that '' he did not catechise 
 the children " — I presume the children were willing to 
 excuse him, if it were so — it was said that they had not 
 
 * Subsequently presented, with the first covenant, to the Church in PrinBeton,njy the 
 speaker. 
 
103 
 
 the shadow of a reason for the charge that was made 
 against him. 
 
 As I came here to-day, and saw your decorations, it 
 seemed to me you scarcely needed to " hang your banner 
 on the outer wall," as I saw the whole landscape decked 
 with beauty, as though decorated to honor the God who 
 had created and fashioned these everlasting hills ; when I 
 saw these rich hues of Autumn so gorgeously displayed, I 
 felt there was a banner floating in every breeze, even as 
 though God had garnished the scene for such an occasion 
 as this. 
 
 But, Mr. President, I want to enlarge the sentiment ; I 
 believe in a religion that holds in honor every man and 
 woman who loves God, and Jesus his Son, and humanity, 
 for which that Son died. Love to God, to Christ, to man 
 — that is my Christianity. My creed is, that every human 
 being who endeavors to elevate mankind, deserves to be 
 regarded as a brother, or sister, or mother of every true 
 man. (Applause.) And to all such, of every race of every 
 period, and of each sex, I Avould fain do impartial justice. 
 I wish now to include the mothers of this town in your 
 sentiment of commendation. Too often, in doing justice 
 to man, we forget our sister woman ; too often the memory 
 of the fathers is permitted to overshadow that of noble 
 mothers. I wish to speak of one of those mothers in 
 Israel — my noble and sainted grandmother, once an honored 
 resident of this town. Rev. Timothy Fuller, in going to 
 Sandwich, met a young lady who had charms not only of 
 person, but of mind and spirit, a daughter of the patriotic 
 Rev. Abraham Williams, who sent three sons into the 
 revolutionary fight. That mother said, " Go ; serve your 
 country well ; we will take care of ourselves." One of 
 those sons died in a prison ship of Great Britain. Rev. 
 Timothy Fuller married a sister of those brave young men, 
 Miss Sarah Williams, of Sandwich. During that revolu- 
 tionary struggle, her father resigned his salary, so that his 
 people might not be impoverished. That woman was 
 
104 
 
 ■worthy of such a sire, and of the mother who bore her ; 
 she instilled heroic and honorable principles in her chil- 
 dren, who, if they did not include my father and uncles, I 
 should say were an honor to this place. One, my venera- 
 ble father, became a member of Congress, a Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives of Massachusetts, a man, of 
 whom I may, without impropriety, say, that he honored 
 the place from which he came. (Applause.) 
 
 Ah, sir, we are not to forget such mothers, who, in the 
 quietude of their homes, by the simplicity and beauty of 
 their daily lives, by their unwearied and unceasing care, 
 and in answer to their saintly prayers, shape and mould 
 the hearts and minds of the men of this and all other lands, 
 and impart to them the larger portion of what in them is 
 great and noble. 
 
 "The mothers of our forest-land — 
 
 Their bosoms pillow 'd men, 
 And proud were they by such to stand, 
 
 In hammock, fort or glen ; 
 To load the sure old rifle, 
 
 To run the leaden ball, 
 To watch a battling husband's place, 
 
 And fill it should he fall ; 
 No braver dames had Sparta, 
 
 No nobler matrons Rome, 
 Yet who or lauds or honors them. 
 
 E'en in their mountain home." 
 
 One, at least, Mr. President, shall stand here to-day, and 
 do them honor, and I know that my word on this topic 
 will awaken a response in all your hearts. 
 
 That '' honorable woman " of whom I have spoken, and 
 who once dwelt amid these beautiful scenes, and loved and 
 cherished her country's cause, and was willing, as was 
 her mother, to sacrifice for it, and even consented that 
 her worthy husband, your minister, should fight in its 
 behalf, if need be, (as he bravely proffered this town to 
 do,) shoulder to shoulder with its patriotic " minute men" — 
 that woman, I say, was fit to be commemorated to-day as 
 
105 
 
 the ancestor of another woman no less noble, and of whom 
 America is justly proud, — Margaret Fuller, — who was her 
 descendant, who sacrificed so much for liberty in fair 
 Italy, who suffered privation in Rome during its besiege- 
 ment, and soothed and comforted the wounded Romans, 
 bleeding for their country's cause, and fighting against 
 spiritual, intellectual and physical bondage. 
 
 But, sir, there is yet another thought that I wish to 
 suggest now. We have had many sons and daughters who 
 have come back here to-day, some who were never here 
 before ; but there has been some one here, too, who was 
 also here a few years after the settlement of this place, 
 and that is, the '' Angel of Death." I could not go away, 
 and do justice to my own feelings, if I did not call your 
 attention to the fact that we have had a discourse — a 
 sermon preached to us in the midst of our festivities. We 
 have gathered here, this Autumnal day, and, in our joyous- 
 ness, who thought the '' angel reaper " so near, and ready 
 to bear away another sheaf of his endless harvest? The 
 falling leaf spoke to us of mortality, yet, perchance, we 
 heeded not. We plaintively asked, in reference to your 
 ancestors and the ministers who here once " dispensed the 
 word " in this place — ^' Our fathers, where are they ? and the 
 prophets — do they live forever.?" But, did our own mor- 
 tality come here to us ? Did we think death might be 
 knocking at the very door of some of our tabernacles 
 of clay, even when we were celebrating the memory of 
 those who are gone ? 0, it could not be, that to-day we 
 were to be greeted with that awful word of warning — 
 to-day, in our joyousness, hear the solemn voice, saying : 
 " Ye, too, must die ! " And yet, so it is, — never are we 
 exempt from the Destroyer's presence. 
 
 " Leaves have their time to fall, 
 
 And flowers to wither at the north wind'B breath, 
 And stars to set — but all, 
 
 Thou hast all seasons for thine own, Death ! " 
 
 One who bore the name of one of the old settlers — the 
 14 
 
106 
 
 name of Mirick — dropped dead to-day, and it seems as 
 though God had preached a lesson to us, and given to the 
 minister of this pulpit something to say next Sabbath — 
 something for me to say, and that I should be false to my 
 duty, if I did not say, that we are not only to remember 
 the fathers, but we are to remember that we are to meet 
 them soon. I have sought to do justice to the memory of 
 one, who, for a time, was falsely accused ; see that you do 
 him justice, also. When I go up to the banks of the 
 Merrimac, in New Hampshire, and see the stone erected 
 there to the memory of the first minister of this place — a 
 man who deserves to be perpetually honored here, where 
 he so faithfully labored ; who was not alone your minister, 
 but afterwards your representative in the Convention 
 which ratified our Federal Constitution, whose pro-slavery 
 clauses received his emphatic protest, and required his 
 reluctant vote against that instrument — I think the citizens 
 should remove that honored dust here, so that there may 
 be, not only the dust of one who had ministered here, but 
 especially of the one who first preached the Gospel in this 
 place ; or, if it be too late for that, at least erect a fitting 
 memorial to him, in your church-yard, where the silent 
 dust of one of his children reposes. Were it needful, you 
 might call on me for my full proportion of pecuniary aid 
 in such a work as that. (Applause.) 
 
 My friends, you do indeed v\'ell to cherish the memory 
 of such fathers and mothers as I have sought to commem- 
 orate. For, changing the phraseology, if it could be done 
 so as to include heroic and holy women, as well as men, 
 what heart does not echo those familiar words : 
 
 " Lives of gi-eat men all remind us 
 
 We can make oui- lives sublime, 
 And, departing, leave behind us 
 
 Footprints on the sands of time ; 
 
 Footprints, that perhaps another 
 
 Sailing o'er life's solemn main. 
 Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 
 
 Seeing, shall take heart again. '^ 
 
107 
 
 The Hon. Charles T. Russell, of Boston, the Orator of 
 the day, being called out, spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. President : — I certainly concur most heartily in all 
 that has been said — so well, so beautifully said — by my 
 friend Fuller, who has just taken his seat, of the love for 
 those who are gone, and, I may add, the love for those who 
 are living. There is no place beyond my own fireside and 
 home, that I visit with so much interest as this spot, where 
 I received my birth, and where I received my early educa- 
 tion ; where I have always found sympathy and love, and 
 honor, far beyond, I am afraid, what I deserve. And I 
 desire here and now, and always, to thank the people of 
 Princeton for the good the}' have done me by their insti- 
 tutions, and more than all, by their good and holy example. 
 I had well hoped that, after my long, and, I fear, wearisome 
 address this morning, I should not be called upon to speak 
 to you again, at least to-day. When I was coming up here, 
 a Princeton man told roe a little anecdote, that may illus- 
 trate my position. He said, that some few years ago, 
 he was called upon by a man to butcher a couple of hogs 
 for him. They were enormous, raw-boned creatures, big 
 enough to weigh five hundred pounds apiece, exactly what 
 our old friend, now dead and gone, Mr. Zeke Davis, would 
 call " working hogs." When he came to cut them, however, 
 there was no pork thicker than that, (indicating by a 
 measure of the finger,) in them. The butcher sent them 
 home by a waggish boy of his, who, as he took them out 
 
 of the wagon, said to the owner : " Mr. , don't you 
 
 want to buy some good salt pork?" "No sir," said he, 
 " what should I want to buy salt pork for ; have I not got 
 these two hogs ? " " Well," said the boy, *' I did not know 
 but you luould like to get a little to fry yourn in.'' (Laughter.) 
 I thought that by the time I got through that long 
 address, with its propositions, like the dry bones in Ezekiel's 
 vision, very many and very dry, you would want a little 
 good pork to fry mine in, and would not call on me again. 
 And I am happy to say, you have been eminently success- 
 
108 
 
 ful, and that even the leanness and meagreness of my part 
 of the forenoon service, has been made very palatable, by 
 the rich and superb material in which you have this after- 
 noon " fried it." 
 
 As I came up here, with an address prepared under the 
 pressure of so recent an invitation, I relied upon the same 
 security as that Princeton boy, who consoled his companion, 
 who, with torn pantaloons, was snivelling along home from 
 school. Said his sympathizing mate : '* Have not you got 
 any good old grandmother at home, who will make all 
 straight there ?" So I knew, from long experience, I had 
 a most excellent and indulgent grandmother here, in my 
 native town, who would forgive anything herself, and 
 make anybody else forgive it, too. 
 
 I have, to-day, aimed only to tell you a plain and simple 
 story — homely, but not wholly useless and uninteresting to 
 us, I hope. I have felt, all day, much like apologizing to you 
 in the language of an old friend we all knew, now long dead 
 and gone, but whom you will recognize at once. He went 
 to one of the militia reviews, and when the inspector (I 
 believe I get the right officer — Major Cobb ?) came along, 
 presented his gun and accoutrements for examination. 
 Everything required by law and custom was there. There 
 was the priming-wire and brush, flint, box, and everything 
 to complete the equipment. " But," said the inspector, 
 " your gun looks rather rusty and black." " Yes," said he, 
 " I know it ; but I use it for hunting sometimes, and thought 
 it wa'nt best to scow it — make it glammer so it wouldn't kill 
 no squirrels." For the same reason, I came bringing the old 
 gun just as it was. I thought I wouldn't scour it, lest it 
 should " glammer so," I shouldn't even hit a squirrel with it. 
 
 Indeed, so rusty and old-fashioned am I, that I cannot 
 quite catch the step with all my young friends, who have 
 preceded me this evening, and who have spoken so 
 eloquently on their favorite topics. Much as I dislike the 
 evils of which some have spoken, — and I do, most exceed- 
 ingly, — I cannot quite agree with everything that has been 
 
109 
 
 said upon men and measures. So you will allow me to 
 dissent wherever I like, our's being a free atmosphere, and 
 free highways, Avhere every man is permitted to ride his 
 own hobbyhorse, provided no one is asked to get up 
 behind him. Perhaps I am like an old friend and towns- 
 man, in the memory of many younger than I am. For 
 years he beat the martial drum here for the militia, so 
 pleasantly alluded to by my friend, the poet, to-day. I 
 I believe he did so, back, even, almost to Revolutionary 
 days. All Avent well, till, in turn, the more enterprising- 
 youngsters got up the Light Infantry, in blue trousers and 
 shiny buttons. They must needs have drumming of a 
 more stirring, exciting, fashionable, quickstep style. So 
 they got a modern drummer of skill, to their liking, who 
 put in every modern beat, with all its fantastic elegance. 
 You remember, Mr. President, how, one day, the old 
 drummer stood in your store door, when the company 
 went by, in all the gay movement of a recent march. 
 " Ah ! " said he, " Squire Russell, I like the good old common 
 time ruh-a-dub-dub ; but Cobb puts in the flourishes — the 
 Old Harry couldn't march after him." I cannot say how it 
 may be with that distinguished personage. He is quite 
 apt to get the lock step even with us, if we are not pretty 
 careful when we put in our extra flourishes. Now, some 
 of our young friends " put in the flourishes," of most 
 modern style, and if I can't march after them, I hope it is 
 not because I resemble the " Old Harry," but because old- 
 fashioned and conservative, I prefer " the good old common 
 Bevolutionary time rub-a-dub-dub J ^ 
 
 Mr. President, some who have preceded me, have dwelt 
 upon the ancient institutions of the town. Allow me a 
 word, for what I may call some of the mediiBval ones. 
 My friend Wilder has spoken of his old school-master, 
 Woods. I remember an old school-master here, too ; and 
 when I saw that same master, my friend Wilder himself, I 
 seemed to sink right down into the little green petticoat I 
 used to wear, and my perpendicular master stood right 
 
110 
 
 before me, teaching me my ABC. There was the very 
 book, with all the pictures : 
 
 " A, was an archer, and shot at a frog ; 
 B, was a butcher, and kept a great dog." 
 
 Why, upon earth, the archer shot at such game, I could 
 never understand ; it seemed to me poor business. If it 
 would not have been a couplet that nobody would have 
 believed, I always fancied it would have been : 
 
 " A, was an archer, and shot at a peep, 
 
 And B, was a butcher, and sold his meat cheap." 
 
 (Laughter.) Then came C ; and he was 
 
 " A captain all covered with lace." 
 
 That was our Captain Merriam. 
 
 " D, was a drunkard, and had a red face." 
 
 That fellow w^as a stranger, and lived out of town, and 
 only came up here " 'Lection days ;" (laughter) and so on, 
 to the end. 
 
 Then there Avas the now defunct Light Infantry. I 
 remember the first time they came out. 0, how my mili- 
 tary admiration burst out at May training, and culminated 
 in the sham fight, at Lancaster muster, when the Princeton 
 boys put it to the Sterhng fellows, to the last cartridge, 
 and till they were all as dry of ammunition as the old con- 
 tinentals of Bunker Hill. We put it to them just as we have 
 to the men of old Sutton, and Barre, and Marlboro', every 
 Cattle-show day, for twenty-five years back, and just as we 
 mean to for a hundred to come — only more. (Laughter 
 and applause.) 
 
 Then there was the Engine Company. We had an 
 engine once, — a distinguished citizen gave it to the town. 
 I remember when it was brought out, and you, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, and Colonel Whitney, and Captain Dana and 
 Merriam, and divers of those patriotic citizens around me. 
 
Ill 
 
 were at the brakes, and, I think, the late Mr. Boylston held 
 the " nozzle." (Laughter.) So they worked at it, steady up 
 and down, and it dreadfully screeched, and screamed, and 
 squeaked, but not the drop ot water would the ungrateful 
 machine squirt. And so it went on, till a facetious towns- 
 • man came along, and inquired whether that was " really an 
 Ingun or only a Mulatto." (Laughter.) 
 
 Then there was the Singing School, kept by the father 
 of our friend Howe, where I spent three days, trying to 
 bring the singing of that excellent singer into harmony 
 with mine. But I could never get, for one moment, his 
 " fa, sol, la," to agree with my " fa, sol, la," howsoever I 
 tried, so I gave it up ; but not the Singing School. Ah. 
 no ! I could not forego that for mere musical disagree- 
 ments. I went on to the end ; and at the close of many a 
 "Winter evening, while they were pouring forth Coronation, 
 Old Hundred, Dundee, or Plaintive Martyrs, (I couldn't 
 exactly tell which,) in a harmony, compared with which, 
 " Italian trills were tame," I was distressing myself with 
 the embarrassing question, which young lady I should 
 offer to go home with, — a question, sir, neither then nor now, 
 among the rosy cheeks of these hills, so mighty easy of 
 settlement, for a sensitive heart, just emerging from its 
 teens. (Applause.) There was music here I could under- 
 stand, — time, tune, scale and expression — " piano, dolce, 
 affettuoso, lentando, pianissimo," from soft and plaintive, 
 to the very softest. 
 
 Then, of an October evening, came the glorious huskings. 
 That needs no description. What quantities of Indian 
 pudding here, I stowed under my jacket, on some of these 
 memorable occasions, at my good old grandfather's. In 
 the remembrance of those boyish achievements, how 
 annoyed I have sometimes been, at the capacity of the 
 human organs, on extraordinary occasions. 
 
 Again, I have almost listened, since I came here, to hear 
 the familiar old rattle of the six-horse Albany stage, 
 going like lightning down yonder hill, with Joe Maynard 
 
112 
 
 on the box, cracking his whip over the lenders. And it 
 was not till I recollected that it was Thursday, and not 
 "Wednesday, that I ceased to look about for old Basset's 
 post, peddling some ten score of the '' Massachusetts Spy," 
 from West Boylston line to the boundaries of Westminster. 
 If I were to give you a sentiment, I would say : 
 
 Tlie Institutions of Princeton — Not the ancient, nor the modern, but 
 the mediceval, — the District School, the Light Infantry, the Engine Com- 
 pany, the Singing School, the Husking, and Joe Maynard and old 
 Bassctt's Stage. 
 
 And I think they were of a pretty good kind of institu- 
 tions too. In the lighter frolics and humors of their day, 
 our grandfathers and all about us participated. But they 
 engaged in all these sports and amusements in a way 
 consistent with a deep and fervent piety. They did not 
 suppose that religion made men morose and unhappy, but 
 induced a reverence for God and a respect for man. And 
 thus, while we have ever had a moral and religious 
 community, as such communities always are, I will venture 
 to say there was not a happier, perhaps, I might say, 
 merrier, community on the face of the earth. Certainly 
 we boys can say that we did not suffer in that respect. 
 But my time is quite gone, and I ought not to trespass 
 another moment on your patience. I only add : Princeton 
 — How I love her; God bless her forever. (Applause.) 
 
 Prof. Everett, the Poet of the day, was the next 
 speaker. He said : 
 
 *' I am no orator, as Brutus is ;" but if ever I wished I 
 were, it is at this moment. I have always been proud of 
 being a son of Princeton, and to-day I have felt more 
 proud than ever. When, three weeks ago, I received a 
 request to prepare a poem for this occasion, I told my 
 friends that, as Princeton had produced so many distin- 
 guished men, I felt greatly flattered b}^ the compliment, 
 and I felt the responsibility of a hundred years resting 
 upon me. 
 
113 
 
 Our venerable friend from Boston, (Mr. Wilder,) haa 
 referred to Master Wood?, as an excellent teacher. I thank 
 the gentleman, in behalf of the profession to which I have 
 the honor to belong, for the merited comphments which 
 he has paid to that profession. I left this town long since, 
 and have been engaged in teaching, constantly providing 
 laurels for the brows of others, though I have provided 
 none for my own. 
 
 Last week I wrote to my brother, asking him to give me 
 the names of all the ministers of the Gospel who have been 
 born in this town. He gave me the names of nineteen. 
 Last Saturday night, as I went to the Church Library, of 
 which I happen to be the Librarian, a book was handed to 
 me, called '' The Ba^jtist Pulpit,^^ by Dr. Sprague. In this 
 work, he has given the names of the most distinguished 
 ministers of that denomination who have lived in America. 
 Among them I found the name of Rev. Dr. Abel Woods, 
 the oldest son of Master Woods. Master Woods had two 
 sons who were Doctors of Divinity. Rev. Abel Woods, 
 who began his ministry in 1790, and completed it in 1850, 
 making a term of sixty years that he was in the Gospel 
 ministry. His oldest son was President of a College, in 
 Alabama, and now resides in Providence, Rhode Island. . 
 Dr. Leonard Woods was, for a long period, a Professor of 
 Divinity, at Andover, and his son is a Doctor of Divinity, 
 and President of a College. Then Master Woods had two 
 sons who were Doctors of Divinity, and two grandsons 
 who were also Doctors of Divinity. This is honor enough 
 for one school-master. 
 
 I have one word to say about the mediaeval institutions, to 
 which reference has been made. We are here acting the part 
 of Old Mortality. Those of you who are familiar with the 
 writings of Walter Scott, will recollect how he represents 
 Old Mortality, as going about in the grave-yards, raising up 
 the fallen monuments, and etching out again the characters 
 that had become indistinct, so that they might be easily 
 read by the next generation. We, to-day, are going among- 
 15 
 
lU 
 
 the graves of our fathers, etchiDg out the letters, so that 
 the next generation may read them, and hand them down 
 for a hundred years more. God grant that their suc- 
 cessors may do the same, and so on, till the last syllable of 
 recorded time. 
 
 Let me refer to one institution, which has passed away, 
 and which we would not revive. It was not peculiar to 
 our fathers, but to the age. It was the institution of the 
 Wine Cup. I recollect one personification of that institu- 
 tion, in old Mr. Elijah Rice. We all recollect him — the 
 dear old man. Under that frock which he Avore, although 
 he sometimes carried a jug, he concealed as warm a heart 
 as ever throbbed in a human bosom. Many a time have I 
 sat in my father's barn, and heard him tell tales of the 
 Revolution. The most noble ideas I have of Washington, 
 were kindled at those huskings from the stories of old 
 Elijah Rice. Had I half the powers of description which 
 he possessed, I would relate one of them. Everybody, 
 almost, used rum in those days ; and one day when Mr. 
 Rice was going home with his jug, he was met by Ephraim 
 Beaman, Esq. He was always willing to be met anywhere. 
 Mr. Beaman said, in a very hortatory manner, suitable to 
 the occasion, " You love your worst enemy, Mr. Rice." 
 " We are commanded to," was his quick response. 
 
 As I am the poet of the next hundred years, I will 
 venture to read two brief odes, one of which, may repre- 
 sent the emotions with which our fathers regarded the 
 wine cup, and the other, may represent our own feelings 
 in regard to it. 
 
 THE BACCHANAL'S ODE. 
 
 Sweet soother of luy cares and cure for all my pains, 
 
 Whether thou mantlest with Hispania's treasure 
 Or juice from Rhine or brown Italian plains, 
 Thou art a source of purest pleasure. 
 
 When blithe Burns sang his Jeanie's praise 
 And brightened every feature, 
 'Twas wine inspired his lays 
 And aided nature. 
 
115 
 
 Hail sparkling Wine ! 
 Far dearer than the Vine. 
 I'll drink again 
 My bright Champagne 
 Yet again ! 
 Yet again ! 
 It inspires my song, 
 Makes a short life long 
 And a blessing, 
 A blessing, 
 A blessing. 
 Still again 
 I'll quafl' amain 
 With Bacchus' jolly train. 
 Till giddy, giddy, giddy, 
 And quite unable 
 To hold my cup 
 Or e'en sit up, 
 The lamps all whirl round 
 And sleepy, sleepy, sleepy, 
 
 I fall beneath the table 
 Or on the ■welcome ground 
 And sunk in soft repose, I sleep in peace profound. 
 
 THE BACCHANAL'S PALINODE. 
 
 iFell author of my cares and cause of all my pains, 
 Whether thou temptest with Hispania's treasure 
 Or juice from Rhine or brown Italian plains. 
 Thou poisonest every source of pleasure. 
 
 Where Burns sung Highland Mary's praise. 
 And colored everj^ feature, 
 
 Wine ne'er inspired his lays 
 Or aided Nature. 
 
 No : dearer are the Nine 
 Than the most sparkling Wine. 
 I'll ne'er drink again 
 That cursed Champagne ! 
 Ne'er again. 
 Ne'er again, 
 It hampers my verse, 
 It makes life a curse 
 And a burden, 
 A burden, 
 A burden. 
 
110 
 
 I never again 
 Will fever my brain, 
 With Bacchus' swinish train, 
 Till giddy, giddy, giddy, 
 And quite unable 
 To hold my cup 
 Or e'en sit up 
 The lamps all whirl round. 
 And sleepy, sleepy, sleepy, 
 
 I fell beneath the table 
 Or on the cold hard ground, 
 And lie in dead oblivion lost and sleep profound. 
 
 Mr. EvEKETT, (Toast-Master) : — With your permission, I 
 will now make a motion, full of solemn interest to all. We 
 have reviewed to-day, the century that has just passed, and 
 have looked into the graves of our fathers and mothers, 
 and our grandfathers and grandmothers. I move that, 
 after we have listened to the closing hymn, we adjourn to 
 the call of posterity, one hundred years hence. 
 
 The motion was unanimously carried, and the following 
 hymn, composed by William E, Richardson, of Boston, a 
 native of Princeton, was sung, as the closing exercise. 
 Tune — " Auld Lang Syne." 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 BY WILLIAM E. RICHARDSOX. 
 
 Here gathered round this festive scene, 
 Have met the friends of youth , 
 To pledge once more affection's gift 
 Of Friendship, Love and Truth ; 
 
 Then ere our festive scenes are o'er, 
 
 Ere we our joys resign. 
 
 With hand in hand, each trusty friend 
 
 Shall pledge to " auld lang syne." 
 
 We'll pledge their memories, who of old, 
 Could home and joys forego, 
 Who dared to found for us a home, 
 One hundred years ago ; 
 
117 
 
 Here on this spot their children met, 
 To join with loud acclaim, 
 With grateful hearts to twine a wreath 
 Around their honored name. 
 
 Old age here blends its trembling tongue, 
 With childhood's lisping vow, 
 To join the song whose echoes ring, 
 Round old Wachusett's brow ; 
 
 Then swell the chorus to their praise, 
 
 Join every one below. 
 
 In memory of our pai-ents dead, 
 
 One hundred years ago. 
 
 Time will not grant a scene like this, 
 To us on earth again, 
 Then while we pledge the parting tear. 
 We'll trust in " auld lang syne ; " 
 
 Then may our record brightly shine, 
 
 Prove earthly duties done, 
 
 'Twill gild the page of past " lang syne," 
 
 And gem the one to come. 
 
LETT E R S 
 
 The following letters Avere received by the Committee 
 of Arrangements, from individuals invited, but unable to 
 be present on the occasion of the Anniversary. 
 
 Westborough, Oct. 15th, 1859. 
 W. B. GooDNOw : 
 
 Dear Sir: — It would afford me great pleasure to be 
 present at the commemorative Centennial Anniversary of Princeton, Did 
 not indispensable engagements prevent my attendance, I would most cor- 
 dially accept your invitation. In token of the deep interest I still cherish 
 for the people of your town, I offer the following sentiment : 
 
 Princeton — Elevated and commanding in its natural position. May its 
 inhabitants, in time to come, as in time past, be distinguished for their 
 physical and intellectual vigor; for firmness of purpose, and for the 
 industrious cultivation of its mountain soil . 
 
 Yours, truly. 
 
 E. DEMOND. 
 
 UxBRiDGE, Oct. 15th, 1859. 
 William B. Goodnow, Esq. : 
 
 My Dear Sir: — Your circular, inviting me 
 to attend the Centennial Celebration in Princeton, on the 20th inst., was 
 duly received. I am very grateful for this kind remembrance of the Com- 
 mittee of Arrangements, signified by yourself. It would give me great 
 pleasure to be present on an occasion of so much interest to the citizens of 
 Princeton. I was longer in the ministry there than were any of my pre- 
 decessors, or than have been any of my successors. It was the birth-place 
 of my children. Though I have been away many years, my interest in, 
 
119 
 
 and attachment to the place and inhabitants, have not ceased. But I am 
 now very much of an invalid. I have not strength to enable me to endure 
 the excitement and fatigue of the occasion, which I very much regret. 1 
 shall alwiij-8 rejoice in the temporal and spiritual prosperity of the inhab- 
 itants of Princeton, where I spent so many years, and had so many firm 
 friends, — friends, many of whom have passed tO' the better land. 
 
 With kind regards to your associates on the Committee, and hoping the 
 occasion will pass pleasantly and profitabl}^ I remain, dear sir. 
 Respectfully, yours, 
 
 SAMUEL CLARKE. 
 
 Ellington, Oct. 18th, 1859. 
 To Messrs. Edward E. Hartwell, John Brooks, Jr., George E. Pratt, 
 and others. Committee of Princeton, Mass., appointed to direct and 
 superintend the public proceedings in that town, on the 20th inst., in 
 commemoration of the completion of one hundred years since the incor- 
 poration of the town. 
 
 Gentlejien : 
 
 Yours of the 15th inst., through the agency of Caleb Dana, 
 Esq., of Worcester, came to hand last eve, (the one directed to me in Troy, 
 I never heard from,) is a call upon me for my thanks for your kind and 
 polite attention to me, in desiring my attendance on the interesting occa- 
 sion, — an invitation I should most readily accept, if I had strength and 
 health equal to the journey and the fatigues which must attend it. But, as 
 my health is, I cannot think of it. On the first of May, 1859, I entered 
 on my eighty-fifth year, and all will say, as relates to a man thus advanced, 
 that home is the proper place for him. 
 
 With my best respects for you, gentlemen, personally, and my cordial 
 desire that the occasion may bring together many circles of relatives, 
 located abroad, and large numbers not related, now almost strangers, 
 from long absence from the family mansion ; and that the festivities and 
 exercises of the day, may bo blessed for the highest good of the town, and 
 every family in it, is the warm desire and earnest prayer of, gentlemen, 
 yours, most respectfully, 
 
 JOSEPH RUSSELL. 
 

 :5 5F» 
 
 :s>:>::& 
 
 ■» '.>^"^ 
 
 
 5> )_;) 311^^ 
 
 
 2> )j> ""^ 
 
 >^Vy^T^ 
 
 1> ) j> -231 
 
 i> > > Tt^ 
 
 .2> >' J> ^"^ 
 
 > > :>■ j^Ti 
 
 
 
 £> '^' ^ ^ — -^ 
 
 1 ^^ 
 
 
 
 • >-» ::> > -^ =<* ^ . , /^ 
 
 
 
 >> "3 3 ^ 
 
 :^ >3 -i-^a ::~^- - - 
 -^ -■> •!> "i>5>->s*. ■ ^ 
 
 ^' '^3 y5> : 
 
 ,3SsgNȤE: 
 
 z>:£» 
 
 ^>--"^> 
 
 .^>>3S 
 
 
 
 >>> y» :>x> • i: 
 
 >:> 
 
^ 
 
 
 5 
 
 3> 
 
 3 
 
 
 > 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ::z>" ■ 
 
 5 ^-::^Ly^^ 
 
 >i> z> :>]> J> 
 
 .:>->. 
 
 >«U,J 
 
 » -»j 
 
 
 ^^ z>:)>:> 
 
 , . y)\ 
 
 -■^S^J 
 
 ►!>:: 
 
 ii^S 
 
 >r> z» ::>:> :> 
 
 > >!)■■"; 
 
 »l^ 
 
 » 33> 
 
 
 >> :z» 3 3 '3 
 
 " i . '<?' 
 
 >~i^ 
 
 ' "JTi 
 
 
 - ^ ^> ^i> ^ 
 
 > >>v 
 
 
 
 ''ZUi 
 
 -> ~' .::> 3.i> T3 
 
 ^-*^ ' .\ 
 
 
 '•^ :::> >i> j> 
 
 -> V r 
 
 >t^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 (i^UJi 
 
 > Z» :> :> t:> 
 
 > .'--ii!: 
 
 
 :>z> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ► ::3 
 
 
 > -*.3*^> 
 
 ;.>3> 
 
 
 
 ^3 5^ 
 
 ^ > 3 
 
 
 
 
 '>:z> .:> ■!> 
 
 
 i7>:^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^; 
 
 :^^ .^>r> 
 
 "3^^ > "5 
 
 >v>^ 
 
 ► z» 
 
 
 ^«^ ^ ;:> 
 
 J~^ > I 
 
 i-.^:^ 
 
 i "r» 
 
 _^5> 
 
 '>:^ z> E> 
 
 I^ ' )■ 
 
 i-i^ 
 
 ^>' 
 
 ""^^ 
 
 >^ ::> ^3 
 
 ~^ > " 
 
 v-*-^> 
 
 T» 
 
 "^^ 
 
 ^ ^^^ 
 
 "2^^ _> 
 
 -:-r^ 
 
 _:^ 
 
 ::>> 
 
 •jO ^> 0L> 
 
 ^fc " 
 
 '"■"•:^"» 
 
 ?^" 
 
 
 ^^ ^'^ 
 
 '3;;> -, 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 -^ ^v3 
 
 _z^ . 
 
 
 Tf» 
 
 I> 
 
 
 ^> ■- 
 
 -J> 
 
 -j^- 
 
 ^ 
 
 »'>_J^ _J^^ X>^2^^ 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 '£> 
 
 '-^ " 
 
 ;;> . 
 
 '■S^ "^^ "^o^^I^ 
 
 ■ "^^ 
 
 '"t> J 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 33^ 
 
 >\i _5if ^ 'j^*^!^^ 
 
 " ^~-^ 
 
 
 U^ - ' 
 
 — ^ 
 
 :^Tk ^" ^)>i"~"^fc 
 
 — "^ 
 
 -^^^ 
 
 
 =^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >2>^^l> 
 
 
 J 
 
 J 
 
 
 > 
 
 :> 
 
 
 > 
 
 ~> 
 
 
 -> 
 
 -O 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 >> 
 
 
 :> 
 
 J > 
 
 
 :> 
 
 > 
 
 
 J^ 
 
 ^> 35 
 
 L> 
 
 :z> i> 
 
 > 
 
 ::>-> . 
 
 > 
 > 
 
 3>^. 
 
 > 
 
 . >^T> 
 
 > 
 
 :2> v> 
 
 > 
 
 > > 
 
 > 
 
 r>-5 
 
 > 
 
 ::> J 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 3> ;:r: 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 > _^^^^ 
 
 ::> 
 
 -* H^^ 
 
 :> j> 
 
 2^^ 
 
 >J> 
 
 222^^ 
 
 ^:^ 
 
 ^3^ 
 
 > > * 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 » ^ 
 
 ;;^^ " 
 
 >^ "~ 
 
 » " • 
 
 aL>'::> 
 
 Z3 
 
 ► >'!> 
 
 
 
 » 
 > 
 
 
 ss 
 
 ^*Z!i^^^ 
 
 _^ 
 
 3^ 
 
 
 
 Z> 
 
 
 :>/ 
 
 >^i>. 
 
 
 
 
 3^^ > 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 ilUlllilllllilll 111 llii'lli^l" •'•»"''''"''''''"' 
 014 079 435 1 W 
 
 y'/t'.i'/f^y }<?'.'