- -l 6








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THE
J U B I L E E
OF
AT
JULY 12, 1854.
N EW-YO RK 
S T A N DARD  STEAM  PSESSES,
No. 11 SPRUCE STREET.
1855.








J    I L EOF
THE subject of a Jubilee Celebration at Groton had occupied
the thoughts of some of the graduates of the Academy for some
time previous to 1853. Occasionally it became the theme of
interested conversation. Many considerations seemed to urge
the propriety of such a gathering at an early day. The long
and prosperous existence of the school-its numerous and distinguished alumni-the delightful nature and beneficial influence of similar re-unions-the desire to greet old schoolmates and renew youthful memories, and the feelings of the more
advanced graduates, that their time was short, and that such
opportunities ought to be treasured, altogether seemed to concentrate in the question, " Why should there not be a Jubilee
of Groton Academy?"
In response to this desire, the Trustees, at their meeting in
1853, raised a Committee to take the whole matter in hand,
and act as their discretion should dictate in the premises. The
result of their action was the issuing of a circular of invitation,
which was sent forth in May, 1854, to the graduates of the
Academy in various parts of the country. This circular is here
presented.
LAWRENCE ACADEMY JUBILEE.
THE undersigned, graduates of Lawrence Academy, at Groton, Mass.,
send their friendly greetings to all persons, who have ever been connected
with the Institution, to the teachers and pupils, to the present and former




4             JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
members of the Board of Trustees, to the patrons and benefactors of the
Academy, and to its friends generally; and we invite them most cordially to meet with us, in a Jubilee Celebration at the Academy in Groton, on
Wednesday, the 12th day of July, at 9 o'clock, A. M.
We earnestly desire that the old and the young, of either sex, and of
every calling and profession, should join with us in the literary and festive
exercises of an occasion, the special objects of which will be to recall
scenes and sympathies of deep personal interest, to renew our acquaintance with the revered instructors of our youth, and to greet once more the
friends and associates of our early and happy days.
An address will be delivered by the Rev. James Means, a former Preceptor of the Academy, succeeded by appropriate festivities.
James Walker, Cambridge.       Alvah Crocker, Fitchburg.
Abbott Lawrence, Boston.       James Dana, Charlestown.
John P. Bigelow, Boston.       Joseph F. Hall, Groton.
Joel Parker, Cambridge.        Samuel Adams, Townsend.
Isaac Parker, Boston.          Reuben Whitcomb, Harvard.
Arnold Hutchinson, Pepperell.    Ezra Farnsworth, Boston.
Samuel Lawrence, Boston.       Charles Dickson, Groton.
Samuel W. Rowe, Groton.        William P. Brazer, Lowell.
John G. Park, Groton.          Joel C. Allen, Leominster.
Thomas Whitney, Shirley.       John F. Moors, Deerfield.
Curtis Lawrence, Groton.       Charles B. Farley, Boston.
Francis Skinner, Boston.       William A. Richardson, Lowell.
John M. Cheney, Concord.       Daniel Needham, Groton.
Alonzo Hill, Worcester.        George E. Fisher, Amherst.
J. Q. A. Griffin, Charlestown.
MAY, 25, 1854.
A dinner suitable for the occasion will be protided.
On the 9th June, the large Committee, whose names are appended to the Circular, was assembled in the counting room
of Samuel Lawrence, Esq., in Boston. Hon. Abbott Lawrence
was cleosen Chairman, and William  A. Richardson, Esq., of
Lowell, Secretary.
At this meeting Geo. F. Farley, Esq., Dr. Joshua Green,
and A. E. Hildreth, Esq., of the Board of Trustees, and Mr.
Charles Hammond, Principal of the Academy, were present.
~Mr. Farley, in behalf of the Trustees, stated, that up to that
time, the Trustees had made the preliminary arrangements for
the Lawrence Academy Jubilee on the 12th July next, and that
they now surrendered the whole matter into the hands of the




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                5
Committee of Graduates, who signed the circular, and requested that Committee to conduct the affair as they should think
wise and appropriate..
Rev. James Means, late preceptor of the Academy, had been
invited by the Trustees to deliver an oration on the occasion,
and had signified his willingness so to do.
After the remarks of Mr. Farley, the Committee voted to
proceed to the choice of officers for the Jubilee.
Hon. John P. Bigelow of Boston, was unanimously chosen
President.
Gen. James Dana of Charleston was unanimously chosen
Marshal.
As the large Committee was found too unwieldy for the
easy dispatch of business, all necessary power was delegated
to a smaller Committee consisting of the following gentlemen,
viz:
Hon. Abbott Lawrence, Chairmanr; Alvah Crocker, Esq.,
Samuel Lawrence, Esq., Mr. Ezra Fainsworth, Geo. F. Farley,
Esq., Mr. A. E. Hildreth. William A. Richardson, Esq., Secretary.
By this Committee cards of invitation were issued and sent
to the address of many distinguished persons, in the following
terms:
GROTON, MASS., June, 1854.
DEAR SIR: —
The Alumni and Trustees of LAWRENCE ACADEMY tender to you
an invitation to be present and join with theme in their JUBILEE CELEBRATION, at Groton, on the O1th day of July next.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servants.
This invitation was signed by every member of the Committee, and all replies were requested to be directed to the Secretary, Mr. Richardson, at Lowell.
Mr. Hammond and Rev. Mr. Bulkley of Groton, were appointed to prepare the regular toasts for the dinner table, and
these gentlemen were joined to Mr. Farley, Dr. Green and Mr.
Hildreth, for effecting all those arrangements wllich could be




6           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMYo
made only by persons on the ground where the Jubilee was to
be celebrated.
A Committee of hospitality was appointed which consisted
of the following gentlemen, viz:
John G. Park, Daniel Needham, Curtis Lawrence, Joseph
F. Hall, Samuel W. Rowe, Charles Dickson.
These were all of Groton.
By the joint operation of these Committees and gentlemen
who were interested in the object, the thousand nameless ar]rangements were seasonably made. The place was selected
for the dinner and its festivities —the Church, where the oration
should be pronounced was agreed upon-the dinner itself for
the anticipated multitude was bargained for, and nothing
seemed wanting to make the occasion a triumphant one, but
the assurance of a pleasant and comfortable day.
It was delightful to witness the interest that was taken in the
Jubilee by all classes of the town of Groton. Old recollections
of school days lamentably rusted by time, were sedulously furbished; former acquaintances nearly obliterated by years and
cares, were revived and freshened by the moral chemistry of
the approaching day; the traces of youthful frolics, loves and
friendships almost effaced, were made to re-appear under the
old mortality influence of a Jubilee which promised a wonderful resurrection of forgotten forms and faces, wherein bone
should come to his bone and sinews and flesh should appear,
and breath, even the breath of life should not be wanting.
At last the memorable 12th of July, 1854, dawned upon the
town. An arrangement had been made with the Railroads,
which meet at Groton junction to bring their passengers to
this celebration at reduced fares. A train specially intended
for the purpose was to leave Boston at a convenient hour in
the morning and return at evening for the accommodation of
those who should attend the Jubilee.
The weather was favorable for an occasion of the kind.-.The sun's ardor was tempered by a veil of clouds, and the air
was rendered fresh by a pleasant breeze. At an early hour the
village was alive with strangers who had arrived the night




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.              7
before. The houses of the inhabitants were open to receive
those who had formerly been inmates. Ladies and gentlemen
were strolling about the streets and roads and lanes of the
town, renewing the pleasant associations of by-gone years:, and
trying to recall the exact appearance of some house, or farm,
or tree, or person which time and change had disguised to view.
One would explore the whortleberry pasture where he spent
some Saturday afternoons in pleasant company many years
ago. Another took a companion to the very tree where grew
the largest and best apples which the neighborhood furnished,
where he used to stretch a little the Hebrew permission to eat
in passing through a neighbor's orchard. Here and there:
might be seen hearty hand-shakings after a quarter century's
separation, now and then a pensive retracing of moonlight
walks, taken when the heart's blood was warm, and hopes
were strong and no shadow of a care-laden feature had fallen
on the spirit.
In general, every face was radiant with smiles and every
heart was expanded with happiness. These early appearances,
though not in the programme, were a part of the day. When
these things began, the day was fairly inaugurated. Soon the
railroad carriages brought their large additions to the company,
and the people of the neighboring towns poured in to swell the
multitude who would do honor to the Old Groton Academy.
The Academy yard and building was the place of rendezvous. Thither all steps were directed. For two hours it was
permitted to teachers and pupils of the Academy to mingle together, to find each other out, to enquire of each other's welfare
and history. On that spot where formerly they had met as
teachers and pupils so often, they now met, perhaps for the last
time to remember the past and do honor to their Alma Mater.
On that spot, the scene of their early efforts in the cause of letters, the scene of their youthful sports, where deep impressions were made on the plastic soul of youth; on that
spot they now met to consider what fruit the early promise had
borne, to chasten the present and the future by means of the past
to bring the youth and riper years of their existence face to
face that they might compare notes, to look into the reckoning
of life's long voyage, to heave the log, and take an observa



JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
tion in the calm sunlight of this favorable dclay, before storms
and darkness should settle down upon the deep.
After the recognitions and greetings of old firiends, a loud rap
upon the Academy by the walking stick of Mr. Samuel Lawrence,
called the attention of the multitude to Geo. F. Farley, Esq.,
President of the Board of Trustees.
In a strain of humorous remarks which formed an appropriate commencement to the important business of the occasion, Mr. Farley, on behalf of the Trustees, resigned all control of the day to the graduates who were assembled and to
their officers. He stated the order of exercises which had been
agreed upon as follows, viz: A procession would then and
there be formed of all the persons present to march to the church
of Rev. Mr. Bulkley to listen to a discourse by Rev. Mr. Means.
From the church the procession would march to the tent where
dinner was provided, and where the public exercises of the occasion would be continued to their conclusion. Mr. Farley extended a personal and official hearty welcome to all. HIe announced
the name of Hon. John P. Bigelow as President of the day,
chosen by the Committee of Alumni, and the names of the following gentlemen as Vice Presidents, viz'
Caleb Butler, Esq., Hon. Amos Kendall, Rev. George Putnam, D. D.. Gen. Benj. Adams, Geo. A. Whitney, Esq Isaac Parker, Esq., Thomas Sherwin, Esq., Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D.,
Dr. Rufus Longley, Dr. Geo. Mansfield, Hon. Asa F. Lawrence.
Mr. Farley concluded by committing the further arrangements to the hands of Gen. JAMES DANA, Chief Marshal, who
was aided by tle following gentlemen as assistant marshals, viz:
DANIEL NEEDHAM, of Groton,
MOSES G. COBB, of Charlestown.
ASA S, LAWRENCE, of Groton.
NATHAN THAYER, of Groton.
GEO. F. FARLEY, Jr., of Groton.
JOHN G. PARK, Jr,, of Groton.
NATH. G. PLUMMER, of Epping, N. HI.
EDWARD D. HAYDEN, of Cambridge.
CHARLES O. GAGE, of West Cambridge,
ALBERT BIGELOW, of Groton.




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                  9
Gen. Dana immediately formed the procession in thefellowing1 order, viz.:.
Boston  Brigade Band.
Present members of the Academy.:'Graduates in the order of juniority.;resident of the day —Orator-Chlaplaino
Former Trustees'of the Acadeemy~
Trustees of the present Board.
Former and present' Teachers.
Invited guests and strangers of distinction,
Citizens o6 Groton.
All other persons.
Arrived't',he church, the process of seating the large assembly was admiirably accomplished under the direction of
Gen. Dana and his aids.
Rev. Alonzo Hill, D. D., of Worcester, had been appointed
Chaplahinof the day. After a, voluntary on t-he organ, an apm
propriate and touching prayer was offered by Dr. Hill, whose
recolleetions of his school-days mnoulded the expression of
pious feeling into utterances to which all hearts responded.
The prayer was followed by music:from  the Band.  Greeted
by tlhe upturned faces of the auditory, among whom  were a
large number of beloved pupils and several fellow-teachers,
Rev. Mr. Means arose and proneunced the following discourse,








DISCOURSE.
WE are brought together to-day in obedience to a beautiful
principle of our nature. When we start upon the career of
youth, our regards are all cast forward. There is no past.
Everything is before us. Nothing is behind us. Our new,
fresh souls come forth as a bridegroom  from his chamber.
They exult as a strong man to run a race. They turn all their
energies to the future. Life opens before them a boundless,
unknown field, for exploration, discovery and adventure.
Nothing in youthful experience tends to dishearten, for the divine wisdom orders the limits of that experience within almost
impregnable safeguards. From out this enclosure the youth
looks upon the theatre of human deeds as on an arena where
glory and happiness are to be achieved when he shall have
made suitable preparation for the struggle. The charm is
all in the future. He feels as one brought from a state of
blindness to perfect vision. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. While snatching the wayside
pleasures with zest he yet bounds ever forward, in haste to
solve the more difficult problems which are deemed too great
for his nascent powers.
But when youth has passed away, when the soul has already
grappled with the sterner realities of life, when the burden has
been borne, when responsibility and care have furrowed the
heart as well as the brow, when disappointments have tried
the soul-then the eyes gradually incline to revert their gaze
and look back. Happiness is then neither in the present nor




12             JUBIEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
the fnture,'Tis in the past.  Our days of youths reosemble a
fairy land, where we frolicked and gambolled, as it were, like
elfin sprites, under the mild moonlight of parental and scholastic influence, on the green carpet of careless and rejoiiang unconsciousness,
Though we may have cllimbed the heights of science, ard occupied the proud elevation of Farne's highest pinnacles; though
successful enterprize may have made us envied of all oarr fellows; though the rewards of a noble ambition may have been
achieved, yet we, all alike, look kindly back to our school-boy
days,
Few are so happy in the experience of their riper years that
they have not encountered vexatiois, trials and losses.  If'they
are learned, the toil it has cost them to be so, suggests the happy indifference of youth.  If they are rich, they find nothing
in their riches to'be compared with the unburdened heart of
childhood.  If they are poor, for a stronger reason they remember, with yearning hearts, those days when the distinctions
of wealth and poverty were unknown, or disregarded.  And if
we add the infirmities of the body, progressively experienced
by mortals, and the frequent bereavements and sorrows of
riper years, we shall understand why all so cordially echo the
sentiments of the poet"Our youth, our childhood-that spring of springs:,'Tis surely one of the blessedest things
That nature ever invented;:  hen the rich are wealthy beyond their wealth,
And the poor are rich in spirits and health,
And all with their lot contented."
Thus to-day, my respected auditory, like the great experimeintal pendulum  vibrating in the monument at Charlestown,
having traversed the grand circle of human experience, has returned to the spot whence it started.
This occasion is justly styled a Jubilee.  The Alma Mater
rejoices in her sons and daughters.  They rejoice in the memory of her care and counsels bestowed upon their early years.
They come back after an interval to greet her with filial respect, and each other with fraternal kindness.  They rejoice




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY'13
together. It is a sort of literary thanksgiving, the more precious that it does not occur every year. The venerable mother
calls her sons from far, and her daughters from the ends of the
earth. She-invites them to the scenes of their pupilage; to
the remembrance of early joys, early friendships, early sports,
early instructions, early studies. She seems to take them
again in her arms and press them to her bosom. They, in
turn, throng around her, now greatly changed by time; they
fondly recollect the former days of her simplicity; they seem
to derive new life from her vigorous pulsations, and not one of
them has outgrown a genuine respect and affection for her.
By such a meeting, such a jubilee, the Alma Mater is herself
re-juvenated. Her alumni and alumnue, Medea-like, infuse new
life into her veins, while they affectionately crowd around to
do her honor, and she proudly regards her offspring.
To this Jubilee, then, I bid you all welcome; in the name
of Alma Mater, I welcome you. For the Trustees and authorities of the school, I say to  all  and  single, the graduates and teachers of the old Groton Academy, the graduates
and teachers of the young Lawrence Academy, welcome to our
Jubilee! To the distinguished guests who honor us with their
presence to-day, I bid welcome.  Come from all quarters, from
all employments, from all stations, and mingle your joys together. Leave behind you your cares, your toils, your customary thoughts and feelings. Be renewed and refreshed at the
same fount where long ago you imbibed knowledge and happiness.  Gather around the maternal arm-chair, and recount
your former exploits, as well as your later deeds. Be joyful;
be happy. Be boys and girls once more.
Complying with the spirit of the occasion and the wishes of
the assembly, I shall proceed directly to the consideration of
those things which appertain to the Academy. I shall give
you an historical discourse. My subject shall be, Our Jl1ma
Mater.
What is the proper history of an Academy?  How shall we
detail to you to-day the progress of events from the time of the
incorporation of this school to the present?  There is the history of the funds and their administration by the Board of




14               JUBILEE  OF LAWRENCE  ACADEMY.
Trust.  There is the history of its teachers and its means of in-.
struction. There is the history of its discipline and the influence
it has exerted in the formation of character.  There is the.history of its patronage, the  members brought under its regula.tions.  There is the history of its pupils subsequent to  their
connection with the institution; and, if it were possible to trace
it, the legitimate effect of influences here exerted in contributing
to their subsequent character and position. All these items, and:
many similar ones beside would be needful in order to  a complete history. Our limits do not permit us to explore the whole
field.
Fortunately for the gratification of those interested there are
already published complete arid satisfactory records of the condition  of the Academy in the History of Groton, by its former
venerated Preceptor, whose presence to-day forms a feature of,
principal interest; in a general catalogue of the Academy from
the time of its incorporation,' and  in  a  complete  catalogue
of Lits noble Library, all of which have been given to
the public during the  administration, as Preceptor, of your
Orator to-day.
We will therefore confine ourselves within  narrower limits.
than would be otherwise demanded, and touch upon a few points
of great importance in a general account of its prosperity. This
will afford material for a brief discussion of the true  elements
of success in a preparatory school like this.
One cannot cast an eye over the history of Groton, and  notice the distinguished families and the distinguished individuals
which have had their origin or their residence here, without a
conviction that this was a locality favorable for founding a literary institution.  Few  places in the Commonwealth can boast
a more brilliant constellation of names than this place can.t
* This Catalogue is appended to the account of the Jubilee.
t If it had been within the scope of this Discourse it would have been a most grateful task
to give a short biographical sketch of those families whose members have been connected with
the Academy as Trustees or pupils. It was originally intended to do so. But when it was deter_
mined to print a new edition of the general catalogue and append it to the narrative of the Jubilee,
that purpose was abandoned as superfluous.' The readeris referred to that Catalogue for the fullest information. lIe will find' the whole'lists of Trustees, Teachers and pupils, male and female
with their honors and distinctions there  So far as they could be ascertained the marriages of
the female pupils are given.




J1BILEE OF LAWRNCE ACADEMY.                        15
After the Revolutionary  war was finished, when Independenee was fairly achieved, when a new nation had sprung into;,existence to take its rank among first-rate powers, when busi!ness had settled into appropriate  channels, when the arts of
peace had resumed their activity, then it occurred to the wise
men of this town and vicinity, that they  had  the weighty responsibility of educating their sons and daughters in a manner
worthy of their condition as integral portions of the popular
severeignty of America.
The men who fought and bled in the strife for liberty, after:
such a discussion of popular rights, and  duties of goveriment;
as the world had never before  known-sthese  men were the~"
ones to provide that liberty should not again be forfeited by
the ignorance of its advocates.
Education was, in their estimation, of prime importance.  If
their first efforts were feeble compared to those which similar
enterprizes demand now, yet were they  wisely directed and:
vigorously sustained.  And these qualities gave assurance of:SUtCeSS.
In the year 17,92, Don the 27th of April, a joint stock organization was formed to  raise up an Academy.  Subscriptions
were received from individuals to the amount of ~325, curren-'
cy, ~5 constituting a share.  The town subscribed forty shares,.on which, however, interest only was to be paid from  year tol
year.
With this slender fund a great enterprize was undertaken,
iand an Academy building was raised in November of the next
year, 1793.  That building was never destroyed.  It stands:
yet on the same spot where it was originally placed, though at
present it is not to be recognized in the pile of improvements
which  have been built about it.  There all the graduates of
Groton Academy and Lawrence Academy have been educatedl.'
Upon the list of original subscribers, as they are given in
* This building was at first square, with the entrance at the left-hand corner in front. The
school-roomi was.below. The uppelr story was known as the Academy Hall, and was used for
Exhibitions and Declamations. It.was afterwards furnished for ordinary school purposes, with
seats and desks.  There the Misses Prescot held their,celebrated school during a portion ofits,existence. The first addition to the Academy building was made to accommodate some of
the gifts of books.andapparatus received from Mr. Amos Lawrence. It consisted of a short projection in the rear.. In width it covered nearly one-half the original building, which it equalled
in height. This projection was added in 1842. The next change in the building was made in




I6~               JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY
Mr. Butler's Hlistory of Groton, there are forty-four nanmes, all
of which, with  the exception of four, belonged  to  Groton.
Four were from  Pepperell.  These subscribers petitioned  the
General Court for an act of incorporation, which was granted,
and  bears date September 25, 1793.  The boa.rd  of fifteen
Trustees was duly organized  under this act of incorporation
October 17, 1793.  This was sixty-one years ago.
The association, previous to this, in their desire for the in;struction of their children, had employed  Samuel Holyoke, a
gra  uate  of Harva-rdl College, to teach'in one of the schoolhouses of the town.  He was occupied in teaching about five
months.
Thus was ushered into existence an Institution  whose truly
glorious results are witnessed to-day.  The history of this Institution is like the history of eveirything else American.  No
statesman, no  political economist, however sagacious, could
have anticipated,, from the feeble dawning of our national existence, a youth so vigorous, a manhood  so gigantic,  Those
few wise and prudent men who originally concieved the design
of founding, an Academy here in Groton, had no idea that the
end of the first sixty-years of its existence should behold it occupying a position so proud, surrounded  by gratuates  so  disa
tinguished, from  every learned profession, from  every department of business  from  stations  so  truly  eminent that their
Almna /Mater herself stands astonished at the result.
Up to the present time there have Been twenty-four principal teachers or Preceptors.  T'his embraces sixty-one years..
Such  frequent  changes  would  not warrant the  impression
that  prosperity  has  always smiled  upon  the  school.    It
has had  its  vicissitudes, and  none  of  its  preceptors  can
reproach themselves with having grown rich  upon the emoluments  of their profession., Their  personal  qcualities, their
1847. The beneficence of Mr. William Lawrence enabled the Trustees to give to the building
and grounds their present elegant appearance. This addition to the building consisted in ex.
tending it so far towards the north that the door, until now in one corner, was exactly in the
middlie of the fronht. This nearly doubled the capacity of the building, and.more than doubled
its convenience. The door, however, was not left as before. A pediment vestibule now closes
the former door, and a piazza on each side of this vestibule covers two doors, one appropriated
to the young gentlemen and one to the young ladies of the school. A lithograph of the original
building and an engraving of the present one are given in this book. Graduates will be pleased
to compare them,




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.              17
skill in teaching, their faithfulness in discipline, their general
good management, or the reverse, caused the school to flourish,
or decline. To them individually it answered a purpose for a
short season, and then they left it for more lucrative occupations and more congenial pursuits in other fields. But through
all fortunes and changes, it struggled on, tillit at last, reached
prosperity. Its course resembles the little stream which bubbles
out from the ground far up on the side of a mountain range.
In its feebleness it seems ready to stop at every obstacle to its
progress. But winding its way among tangled bushes, over
stones, through swamps and down precipices, it gathers strength
by insensible degrees. It passes many sweet spots and overcomes many difficulties. It distributes fertility on either side
and rejoices in its own simplicity, till at last it rolls a full tide
out into the green valley, the joy and pride of many hearts.
Of its twenty-four Preceptors thirteen are dead, and so far
as is known, eleven still live. Fifteen of the number are, or
have been ministers of the gospel; seven have been lawyers;
one has received the honorary decree of Doctor of Divinity;
two that of Doctor of Laws; two have filled the post of Professor in College, and one has represented the Commonwealth
in the National Conoress.
Although many of them were connected with the Academy
for a brief period only, their subsequent fame seems in some
sense to belong to us by reflection.
We will briefly enumerate them. It is a matter of regret
that we cannot give their prominent characteristics in a way to
render them interesting to such as were formerly their pupils.
The recollections of our early teachers have always a peculiar
freshness, whether we smile at their terrors, or tenderly recall
their assiduous kindness in training our minds and forminig our
characters. But to gather the traditionary reports of those
gentlemen who have swayed the ferule of authority in Lawrence
Academy for half a century, was a task which time did not
permit us to accomplish. Perhaps some reminiscences of this
sort may be drawn out at a later stage of this day's proceedings.
The first Preceptor of the incorporated Academy was Mr.
Henry Moor of Londonderry, N. H. He graduated at Dart



18                   JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
mouth College in 1793, and began his duties here at the close
of the same year. He continued in office about two years and
gave satisfaction to the Trustees, who paid him a salary of about
$400 per annum.  He died soon after leaving the school.*
Mr.- Timothy Williams was the next Preceptor. He came
from Yale College and continued here about a year. He died
in 1849.t
Mr. Asahel Stearns was next in  the  order  of succession.But his period of service was short.  Mr. Stearns became afterwards a distinguished man. He was born in Lunenburg,
and graduated at Harvard College in 1797. He practised law
at Chelmsford, was County Attorney for Middlesex, Representative in Congress from  1815 to 1S17, Professor of Law  at
Harvard University from 1817 to 1829. He received the honorary degree of L. L. D. in 1825 and died in 1839.
After Mr. Stearns, for one year, Mr. Leonard Mellen was
Preceptor.  He also: graduated at Cambridge and studied law,
but died in 1804 while attending Court at Concord.
Mr. William Merchant Richardson was the next Principal
and held the post from 1799 to 1802.
Mr. Richardson's subsequent distinction is well known to my
audience.  He represented the Commonwealth, in Congress
from 1811 to 1814, and was in 1816 made Chief Justice of the
Superior Court of New Hampshire. Dartmouth College conferred on him the honorary degree of L. L. D. He died at his
residence in Chester, N. H. in 1838.
5: The only vote of approbation of a Preceptor, which the earlier records contain was passed
during Mr. Moor's term of service in the following words::
" 1 Voted unanamously that the scholars have exhibited satisfactory evidence of a hauidsome
proficiency in their respective pursuits, and that the manner in which they have acquitted themselves on this occasion merits the applause of the Trustees.
2. Voted unanimously, that the Preceptor receive the thanks of the Board for his faithful and
assiduous discharge of the duties of his station, sufficiently apparent in the proficiency this day
exhibited by his pupils.''
t The Academy seemed to be gasping for life at this period of its career.  The Trustees met
often and consulted for its welfare: Occasionally they voted " to continue the school another
quarter." And at last we find, at a meeting in April 1797 —they record no visit to the Academy,
no examination —but they vote, as though some calamity had happened, " to discontinue the
school during the next quarter."  It has been suggested that IMr Williams' peculiarities may
account for that state of things. A former pupil of his and personally knowing the incident,
related to some persons at the Jubilee, an amusing history of Mr. Williams to this effect. He
tied a handkerchief around two of his pupils and hanging them over an open door went out of
the house, leaving them to call aid as they best could. He was probably discharged from office
in connection with this freak, though the records delicately avoid all censure.




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                                   19
Mr. Caleb Butler was the next incumbent and held the office
of Preceptor from 1802 to 1810, and also from 1812 to 1815.
Two gentlemen in the interval occupied this post.  Mr. Isaac
Jones was a graduate of William's College in 1810, and was
Preceptor one year. He afterwards became a minister of the
Gospel, and was ordained at Candia, N. H.  He is believed to
be still living in New Hampshire, but all enquiries respecting
him have been unavailing.
Mr. Samuel Woodbury graduated at Dartmouth College in
1811, and soon after took charge of this school.  He was a partner in the practice of law with the Hon. W. AM. Richardson,
but he preferred the self-denying duties of the sacred office and
became a minister of the gospel. He was settled at North Yarmouth, Me. He died in 1819.
Mr. Butler resumed the duties of Preceptor after the two
gentlemen last named. His term of service was longer than
that of any other Preceptor; in all, nearly twelve years. Under
his care the school flourished and sent forth many whose names
give a proud distinction to the Academy and its teacher.
He still lives to rejoice with us to-day in the high state of prosperity  which the  institution  has  attained, en  whose  early  development he bestowed unwearied pains, and to receive the
warm congratulations of pupils, who have ever cherished his
memory with respect.*5
* We regret to record the death of Moh. Butler since the Jubilee. His long connection with
the Academy as Preceptor and Trustee, his warm interest in the Jubilee, the interest which his
presence added to the occasion, seem to require a brief notice of him here.
Mr. Butler was not an ordinary man, though he moved in an ordinary sphere. His traits
were conspicuous ones. His merit is none the less for acting well his part in a circumscribed
theatre.
He exhibited a perfect integrity in all his relations. I-Ie was altogether above the
temptations which so often prove too powerful for human virtue. Widows and orphans, a
class of persons who are frequently the prey of unscrupulous men, and the victims of their own
defencelessness, found in Mr. Butler a reliable agent and adviser. Their property was often in
his hands, but never left them diminished. No feverish desire of riches tormented him. In this
respect he maintained a rare moderation.
This might be supposed  to  be the complement of an  indolent disposition.  But
Mr. Butler was as remarkable for his industry as for his moderation.  He was.:an
early riser and a punctual man.  No one had to wait for him.  Besides the faithful
discharge of his professional duties-and they  were  unusually miscellaneous —he found
time to pursue his favorite studies. I found him reading one of the Latin Historians in the
original, a few years before his death.
To his industry he added a love of order; he was a regular man; nothing like confusion crept
into his business. His habits of rising and retiring were regulated by the heavenly bodies, and
his visits to the Post-Office were regulated by the inflexible time-table of the railroad.
Mr. Butler was a man of great firmness of character. No man could move him from his purpose or opinion, without a good reason. And if he sometimes resisted a good reason,it should be




2 0                 JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
Mr. Abel Conant, of Milford, N.., succeeded Mr. Butler,
and was Preceptor from I815 to 1819. He died in 1836.*
Mr. Ephraim Sherman was the next Preceptor in order, and
remained about two years. He was subsequently a lawyer,
and died in 1822.
lr. Eber Child was employed after the departure of Mr.
Sherman. His term  of office was also about two years. He
became a minister of the gospel and died in 1847.
The next one in order was Mr. David O. Allen, who was
here about a year. He has spent a valuable life in assiduous
missionary labor in Bombay.  Last year I unexpectedly encountered him in Grand Cairo, in Egypt, returning to his native land, with exhausted energies, to spend the remnant of
his days among his friends. It was a surprize as great as unregarded as the exaggeration of a good quality.  Steadfastness in excess is preferable to fickleness.
He cherished a remarkable- fond;ness for some branches of physical science.,He surveyed nearly all the land in the neighborhood, and was almost indispensable in every transfer
of real property.  IHe kept a sharp lookout for all celestial phenomena which his eye' or telescope could command. Re kept a record, of the changes of the weather and the fluctuations of
the mercury. MIr. Amos Lawrence, appreciating the tastes of his " old Preceptor," always enjoined MIr. Butler's free-use of all books and apparatus -which- he gave to the Academy.
Mr. Butler had a strong taste for antiauarian researches. Everybody consulted him upon the
earlier or later history of the town. He had decyphered the early records just passing into
hopeless obscurity-he had mapped the town under the authority of the Legislature, putting
down its roads, streams, ponds and houses, and thus he became qualified to write the History
of Groton, which is before the public, and demands no notice here.
As a teacher, his pupils say that he blended gentleness and discipline happily together, that
he showed enthusiastic interest in the branches which he taught, and deserved to be ranked
among the first instructors of his period. In this respect his works continually praise him.
From this brief notice one would judge that Mr. Butler was a gentleman: of the old school
Hlis were virtues that uphold the State. Great flexibility in such a character we do not look
for. He was slow to admit n ew notions. Agitations in church or state were distasteful. I-e
was conservative of established institutions; yet he was a man of tender feelings, as those well
know who were intimately acquainted with him. Many instances are recalled where he unexpectedly yielded to a deep tide of emotions and showed profound sensibility. He had become
more than any other man, a part of Groton. He will be exceedingly missed, for there- is no one
to take exactly his place. The present times rarely produce such an example.
I am happy to add to this notice a brief extract from a letter of Rev. Mr. Robinson, formerly
pastor of the Unitarian parish in Groton, with which Mr. Butler was connected. M~r. Robinson
says:-" I admired him for his sterling integrity, for his moral independence and courage, for
his consistency, for the staunchness of purpose and principle with which he always defended'what seemed to him to be truth and right, for the simplicity and modesty which rendered him
so unconscious of his own worth. I admired him too for the energy and wealth of his intellect,
for the clearness and soundness of his judgment, for his logical astuteness, for the force and
terseness and piquancy of his style as a writer, for the skill and adroitness which he manifested
in controversy, and which were such that few antagonists would care to encounter them a
second time."
Mr. Butler died of an attack of typhoid fever, on the 7th October, 1854, aged 79 years.
* At the end of Mr. Conant's term of service a bell was purchased for the Academy.  This
was the first and only one used, till Mr. Win. Lawrence gave another, in the year 1846.




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JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                   21
expected, for one Preceptor of Groton Academy to meet another, ion such a region and under such circumstances.
This surprize was much heightened by the fact that AMr.
Allen, after so long -an interval spent in engrossing cares of a
different nature, retained a most accurate knowledge of the
families and persons of the town, of the school and its affairs,
and above all, a most lively interest in its condition and prospects.  Mr. Allen received the honorary degree of S. T. D.
from Amherst Golleg-e last year and now resides in Philadelphia
Mr. Asa F. Lawrence succeeded Mr. Allen and retained the
post for nearly two years.  He was a graduate of Harvard
College in 1824, Afterwards he became a lawyer and resides
at Cambridge. IHe is one of four Preceptors out of the whole
number who are present to-day.
He was succeeded by Mr. Elizur Wright, who was subsequently Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in
Western Reserve College, Ohio, and is now known as the translator of La Fontaine's Fables, and as an editor of great enterprise in Boston.@
Mr. George Beecher was Preceptor from 1828 to 1830.  He
was a graduate of Yale College and became a minister of the
gospel in Ohio.  He died in 1843.tjMr. James Towner the next incumbent was a graduate of
Vermont University in 1823.  He studied theology but was
never ordained.  He is now  dead.
Mr. Horace Herrick had charge of the Academy from  1836
to 1840..  He has since been a minister of the gospel, and is
at present living in'Vermont.  He graduated at Dartmouth in 
1834.
Mr. Ezekiel H. Barstow followed Mr. Herrick and continued to the year 1S44.  He still lives and is occupied in preaching the gospel.  He was also an alumnus of Dartmouth of the
class of 1839.
* Mr. Wright infused new vigor into the affairs of the Academy Circumstances concurring
at this period helped to produce this effect. Mrs. Bra zer's legacy was announced. The Trustees
felt richer than before. Five hundred dollars overe appropriated for library and apparatus
which were purchased and used with great satisfaction.
t The school which flourished under iMr. Wright, flagged under IMr. Beecher. It was reduced
to a mere handful of pupils at one time.




22           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
Mr. Moses TH. Wells the next Preceptor came here for one
year, and then left to'complete his theological studies. He has
since been employed as a pastor in New H-ampshire.
It was my lot to succeed Mr. Wells in 1845. I continued
in the active duties of the post till the latter part of 1851. I
then received permission from the Trustees to be absent for a
season for the purpose of foreign travel and to farm out the
duties of Preceptor to some approved person till my return.Under this arrangement, I engaged Rev. Matthew D. Gordon,
a graduate of Middlebury College, and at the time, pastor of
the Church in Hollis, N. H. to teach for me. Mr. Gordon
continued in office till the summer of 1852.  As I was at the
time  too  far away  for any  extension  of my arrangement with the Trustees, Elr. Gordon's resignation terminated
at once both his and my connection with the school. Mr.
Gordon died in 1853.
Mr. Charles Hammond, the present Preceptor, was secured
by the Trustees after the resignation of Mr. Gordon. [But circumstsnces prevented his immediate presence until 1853. In
the meantime the school was carried on by other teachers.
Up to the year 1848 there have been at this school 1,652
males and 1,122 females; making a total of 2,774 as nearly as
could be ascertained. Since then there have been 425 to 450
males and females, members of the school; making a grand
total of 3,200 to 3,300 scattered far and near over the world.
Of these as many as 170 have received the degree of A. B.
or A. M. at the different colleges of our land.*
A number of our al-umni have been called to preside over
colleges, or occupy professors' chairs.  Seven have filled important stations in the judiciary; one has been a Senator in
Congress and representative of the nation at the Court of St.
James; five have been sent to the Hall of Representatives at
Washington; one has been Post-M5aster General of the United
* We present the following tabular statement: —r                A-. BA.           A..
Ha Yard College.  -  47.  -            30.
Dartmouth "        28. -               17.
Amherst     -  -  12.       - -  -  -    1.
Yale        -      8. -     -          3
Williams  " -.  -               1.
Bowdoin     -.         2.
Middlebury "                           3.
Brown University    -  3.  -    -  -   1.




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.              23
States; and we have contributed largely to swell the ranks of
the three learned professions.
Before leaving this branch of our subject we must speak
briefly of the female teachers of the school. From  the beginning the Academy was designed for boys and girls. They were
not however in separate departments for a long time. The
first female teacher was Miss Susan Clapp who was associated
with Mr. Butler in the year 1808-9. The experiment was
not repeated apparently for many years. In 1821-1823 Miss
Susan Prescott kept a celebrated school which took all the female pupils from the Academy, or so many of them  that an
extra allowance was mad.e to the Preceptor on that account.
And this school was kept during part of its existence in the
hall of the Academy. The Trustees took a kindly interest in
the enterprise and various votes relating to it are on record.
Thus it seems proper to consider it as altogether belonging to
the history of Groton Academy. The several female teachers
who have been employed here deserve a particular mention,
but want of space forbids. They are remembered with affection by their pupils and by many families of the town. They
undoubtedly did their full share of all the good which can be
set down to the account of instruction and discipline in this
school.-'
There are several aspects of the history of this Institution,
which demand attention. Among these is the condition and
management of its finances. In fact, herein consists its real
history.  With funds well husbanded, serious decay and death
are, to a literary establishment, impossible. Without funds, any
existence beyond a fitful and uncertain one, is impossible. I
conceive myself justified therefore in asking your attention
principally to this aspect of the past existence of the Academy.
In the outset, the only resources for the necessity of the
school were the tuition of pupils and the interest on the note
of the Town of Groton for ~200, currency. The price of tuition
was at first only a shilling per week.
After there began to be a fund out of which the sum could
be raised, from three to four hundred dollars per annum was
paid to the Preceptor with one half of the money for tuition.
* See the general Catalogue for their names.




24           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADDMY.
Previously however, great embarrassment was felt in meeting
the expenses of instruction, and the note of the Treasurer of the
corporation was repeatedly given to the Preceptor, to liquidate his claim; which note often remained unpaid for several
years.
In the year 1797, the corporation petitioned the General
Court for a grant of land to relieve them of their embarrassments. They received in answer to this petition, eleven thousand five hundred and twenty acres, or one half of a township
in Miaine. This was subsequently sold for fifty cents per acre.
The tuition was raised in 1795 to twenty cents per week, and
in 1810 to twenty-five cents, and at about this rate it continued
till withia a year or two, when it was again most appropriately raised, in order to give some dignity to the institution,
whose tuition was so low that there was great danger that its
privileges should be despised.
After the money for the Eastern land was realized, the small
fund gradually accumulated by prudent management. In the
year 1825, they report seven thousand four hundred and twenty
two dollars, as in the treasury. This very year also the widow
of James Brazer, Esq., made a will, by which she gave to the
Trustees five hundred dollars, on the death of Samson Woods,
and the same on the death of each of four sisters, and made
the Trustees residuary legates of one half of her estate. The
vote of the Board is thus expressed:  "That this Board feel
sensibly their obligation for the benevolent bequest of Mrs.
Hannah Brazer to this Institution, as expressed in her last
will, and it adds much to their gratification, to know that this
bequest accords with the known and expressed wish of her
husband and our associate, James Brazer, Esq."
A part of this most generous bequest has been realized by
the Board, and has contributed to the prosperity of the school.
James Brazer, Esq. was one of the original subscribers to
the joint stock for the establishment of the school, was elected
a Trustee in 1795, and died in that relation in 1818. His attachment to the interests of the school was very sincere, his
attendance on the meetings of the Board very constant, and
his participation in its business very large. He presented
a silver seal to the Trustees for their use, with their initials,




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.             25
T. G. A., engravad upon its surface. A vote of thanks for this
gift is now on record. After such a connection with the Institution in its feeble beginnings and in its more prosperous
after career, it is exceedingly gratifying to see his generous
attachment outlive his mortal life, and to find it so efficiently
expressed in the generous donation of his widow.  Beside
the grant of eastern land by the State, this was the first considerable sum received by the Academy. It was however by
no means the last; and it is a pleasant fact that we are able to
trace, in a direct line, the funds of this institution back to their
original fountain, in the hearts of men who were subscribers
to its stock in 1793. The other instances which we have to
mention proceeded from the heart of Deacon Samuel Lawrence,
through the hearts and hands of his sons, William  and Amos
Lawrence, who  received their education  in the building
which he assisted to found, for the accommodation of Groton
Academy.
The following is a brief account of their generous benefactions to this school in the order of their occurrence.
In 1838, we find recorded the following resolution on the
Secretary's record of the Board of Trustees, viz.: " That the
thanks of this Board be presented to AMos LAWRENCE, Esq.,
of Boston, for his liberal donation of books and philosophical
apparatus to Groton Academy, and that the Secretary be requested to transmit a copy of this resolution to Mr. Lawrence."
From this time forward the gratitude of the Board was not
allowed to have any rest. The very next year we find the
following record: "At a meeting of the Trustees of Groton
Academy, August 21, 1839, Resolved, That the Secretary of
this Board of Trustees be directed to repeat the expression of
their thanks to Amos Lawrence, Esq., of Boston, for the repeated instances of his munificence to Groton Academy; and
especially for his recent donation of a new and beautiful telescope, and of Bowditch's translation of Mechanique Celeste,
by La Place, in four splendid quarto volumes."
In 1842 there was another gift, which indicates the foresight
of Mr. Lawrence as well as his purpose to prosecute his benevolent designs towards this Institution. Up to this time the




26           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
building which was constructed in 1792-3 had remained substantially unaltered in its external form and internal capacity.
As its future career opened before the prophetic inspiration of
his benevolent heart, and the full tide of attachment to native
town and school-boy scenes set inward upon his soul, he saw
the necessity of some enlargement. He himself knew not how
much was needed, and it was manifestly impossible for the
guardians of the Institution to draw out for his benevolence
an enlarged plan for the future. Feeling his way, however,
cautiously forward, he placed in their hands the sum of two
thousand dollars, to be appropriated according to their judgment in enlarging and improving the school building. The
gratitude of the Board is appropriately expressed in the following resolution:-"Resolved, That the thanks of the Trustees be presented to Mr. Lawrence for his generous aid in furnishing these additional means and facilities for moral and
mental culture; with the assurance on their part that they are
deeply sensible to the increased obligation devolving on
them, to watch carefully over the interests of this Academy,
and do as much as in them lies, in order that it may meet the
expectations of its patrons and friends, and may be a rich and
permanent source of benefit to the community."
In 1844, a letter was received by the Trustees, which was
deemed of sufficient importance to demand a special meeting
of the Board in acknowledgement. The letter itself belongs
so much to the history of the Academy, and is itself the expression of the feelings of a noble heart, now dead, whom we wish
this day to honor, that I give it entire:
BOSTON, April 6, 1844.
To THeE TRUSTEES OF GROTON ACADEMY:GENTLEMEN —Born and educated in Groton, I feel a deep interest in
its prosperity, and especially in your Academy, an institution which my
honored father labored so hard to bring into existence more than half a
century ago, and to which I am indebted for what little education I
possess.
Having been highly blessed of God in my temporal concerns, I have
thought I could not better dispose of a portion of my abundance than to
give to the Academy, over which you preside, a sum of money, for the
advancement of education for all coming time.




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                  27
I therefore, hereby give to Groton Academy the sum of ten thousand
dollars, and direct the same shall be invested in such manner, for the
benefit of said corporation, as the Trustees thereof shall, from time to time,
deem safe and expedient; aud that the net income thereof shall be applied in their discretion. I am especially desirious that such compensation shall be paid to the instructors of said Academy, as shall secure for it
constantly the services of learned persons perfectly competent to all their
duties.
And this gift is therefore upon condition that the present rate of charge
for instruction in said Academy shall not be reduced. But whenever
hereafter, in any year, the whole net income of the present funds and
property of said Institution, and of the fees received for instruction, added
to the net income of said ten thousand dollars, shall be more than sufficient
for the payment of liberal salaries to such instructors, so that a balance
of said income shall remain unexpended, I request the said Trustees in
their discretion, and if they deem it expedient, to pay and distribute such
balance, or any of it, to and among such deserving male pupils. in such
Institution, preparing for a collegiate education, as the Trustees may
think deserving such aid; but not more than one hundred dollars shall be
paid or allowed to any one such pupil in any one year. And in granting
such aid, I earnestly request that no regard may be had to any sectarian
views entertained by the pupils on the subject of the Christian religion.
You will please draw on Lawrence & Stone, Boston, for said sum of
ten thousand dollars, in such sums and at such times as will suit your convenience.               Your obedient servant,
WILLIAM LAWRENCE.
The Trustees noticed this most generous, and the largest
donation they had received up to this time, with an appropriate resolution and a vote, "That the portraits of William  and
Amos' Lawrence, Esqrs. be obtained and placed in the Academy,
to be preserved as a memorial of those benefactors of this institution, if those gentlemen will consent to sit for the same."
In compliance with this vote, the busts of these gentlemen
now adorn the library in the Ilnstitution, not however at the
expense of the Trustees. From their position they look down
upon the successive generations of youth who frequent the
Academy, and who use the library provided for them, as we
may suppose their spirits from the other world look down in
the'exercise of those benevolent feelings with which they regarded them when on earth.
In  1845, in view  of all the benefactions of these  two




28          JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
brothers to this Academy, the Trustees petitioned the General
Court to change the name of the corporation to the " Lawrence Academy at Groton." This petition was readily granted at the next session of the Legislature.
In 1846, Mr. Amos Lawrence purchased the mansion adjoining the Academy lot, the residence of the late James Brazer,
Esq., for the sum of four thousand four hundred dollars, and
conveyed the same to the Trustees for the use of the Preceptors of the Academy in succession. His sentiments were expressed in the conveyance, in the following terms.
"Born and educated in Groton, deeply interested in the
welfare of that town and especially of the Lawrence Academy
established in it by my honored father and his associates, and
grateful for the benefits, which his and their descendants have
derived from that institution, I am anxious to promote its future prosperity; trusting that those charged withthe care and
superintendance of it, will ever strive zealously and faithfully to
maintain it' as a nursery of piety and sound learning."
He also requested that the estate might be put in complete
repair at his expense, for which he paid twelve hundred dollars.  This mansion is one of the most elegant in its situation,
as well as convenient in its arrangements in the town of Groton.
In the same year, Mr. William Lawrence made a donation
to the Trustees of five thousand dollars, to be appropriated in
enlarging and beautifying the Academy building and the
grounds belonging to the Trustees, and purchasing a suitable
bell for the institution. This money was thus expended, and
the present exceedingly elegant appearance of the premises is
the result.
In the year 1848, this generous benefactor of the institution
passed away from the earth. But like the exploits of Samson
his last deed of benevolence exceeded all the rest. He bequeathed to the school twenty thousand dollars; with the annexed  condition, that one thousand  dollars of its annual income should each year be added to the principal until
the amount thus accumulated should become thirty thousand
dollars. In four years more, this will be accomplished, and




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.             29
then the income of the whole thirty thousand dollars is to be
appropriated to the purposes of instruction, charity to indigent and deserving pupils, and improvement of the buildings,
library and apparatus, according to the discretion of the Trustees.
I conclude this history of the financial condition of the
school, by the remark, that apart from its buildings, when all
donations and bequests already specified, shall be fully realized, there will rest in the hands of the Trustees, a productive
fund of about $60,000.
This with the tuition of the school may be regarded as sufficient, at the present rate of salary, to place the institution on
a basis of permanent prosperity. Few institutions of this
sort in our country, are so well endowed.
The institution is indissolubly connected with the name of
Lawrence. As long as youth shall be educated here they shall
be grateful for the existence of that family, whose dead members have done their work so well, and whose living members,
have done, are doing, and shall do, in holy emulation of the departed, and by a sort of necessity of name and nature, if it were
possible, better than they.
And owing to the circnmstances detailed, the benefactions of
this family, the name borne by the Academy, the fact that
this Jubilee has its grand motive in the impulse given by this
name and those who have honored it, I deem it appropriate to
indulge in the following brief eulogies.
Deacon Samuel Lawrence was an original subscriber to the
stock which commenced Groton Academy. He was a member
of the Board of Trustees. He was an efficient laborer for its
interests up to the time of his resignation in 1827. His death
occurred the same year. There were elements in his composition which reappeared in his family after him, and which form
a bond of connection between him and the Academy, in addition to the fact of his having been, for thirty-three years, a
Trustee.
His patriotism was exactly of the type ascribed to the heroes
of 1776, of whom he was really one. He left his newly married wife on their wedding day to join the army at Cambridge




30             JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
on an unexpected summons as minute-man and received a ball
through his hat at the battle of Bunker Hill. The sound principles instilled by Deacon Lawrence into the minds of his
family, must be regarded as the remote cause of their successes,
their honors, and their benevolence. Such fathers. I believe
with great uniformity, are succeeded by such sons. Such
fathers, by an unerring instinct, covet for their sons the benefits of a good education, and are the patrons and supporters of
literary  institutions.  Their noble impulses are not beclouded by any mean or unworthy considerations. Their sons
and daughters grow up to be the honor of the family name
and the glory of the land. Such fathers and such children may
we always have.
Messrs. William and Amos Lawrence, the sons of Deacon
Samuel Lawrence, and the benefactors of Groton Academy, received their education at this school. Both of them cherished
for their native town and the teachers of their youth an ardent
attachment. When they had achieved their fortunes, and had
passed the middle period of life, in compliance with the principles which we remarked upon in the beginning of this discourse, they began to look lovingly back to this town. It was
my good fortune, after becoming the Preceptor in 1845, to have
frequent intercourse with them in this particular regard-the
interests of the school. I shall never forget the impression
made upon my mind by the depth of their feeling and the
strength of their attachment. They were both of them men of
business, had been trained to business habits, and would not
foolishly throw away the funds which God had intrusted to
them as stewards. But it seemed to me then, as the event has
proved, that they were willing to go as far as they could see
their way clear before them, to establish this school on a foundation that never should be shaken.
There was a singular difference in the character of these two
brothers, and there is a similar difference in the results of
their benefactions. I have reason personally to know that
they conferred frequently and earnestly respecting the parts
which they should severally perform in upbuilding this school.
There was an emulation, but there was no selfishness, there








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JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.             31
was no difference of opinion; both loved the Academy, both
wished to bless it and to make it a blessing; each desired to
accommodate the feelings of the other; each was unwilling to
interfere with the other; each was ready to do what the other
declined. Mr. William Lawrence was older in years, but he
was later in commercial experience. He was firmer in health
and had less occasion, in the experience of bodily pain and
dangerous illness, than his brother, to lay to heart the injunction, "Make unto yourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting
habitations." But though he began later, in respect to the
amount bestowed upon this school, he was not behind his
brother. On the contrary, he was before him. He gave
more. And more of that which he gave remains to this day in a
productive form. Out of more than forty-five thousand dollars
provided for the Academy by Mr. William  Lawrence, forty
thousand will remain in the hands of the Trustees, for purposes of instruction; while out of all that was given by Mr.
Amos Lawrence, not one single cent was designed to be, or
now remains, among the cash funds of the Academy.
Many of the donations of Mr. Amos Lawrence to the Academy, however, yet remain to be recorded. And my position at
the head of the school, during the larger part of the period in
which he bestowed his gifts, both enables me to write their
history better than any other man, and demands that I should
do it. Having had the advantage of a long and very intimate
aequaintance, friendship, and intercourse, more resembling the
relation of son and father, than anything else; having assumed
the responsibility of head master to the school, not only with
his cordial assent, but also with his warmly expressed interest,
and his frank declaration that he intended to make the school
excellent in its kind, I became thoroughly acquainted with all
his plans and purposes in this regard, and was the medium, in
general, through which his benefactions were communicated to
the school.
Thirty years ago his health failed, removing him from an
active participation in business, yet leaving him strength sufficient to maintain an active interest in all things that were
going forward in the world around him. Previous to this




32         ~ JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
period, he had been engaged in building up his fortune, and, in
connection with his partners, establishing the reputation of
the commercial firm which is so well known all over the world.
It is not necessary here to speak of his business talents, and
of the remarkable integrity, and high sense of commercial
honor and honesty, which are worthy of all imitation. Let it
suffice that it has been said, as I suppose, by competent authority, thathis financial ability was not surpassed by that of any
merchant ever known in Boston. Subsequent to his loss of
health, he devoted himself, almost exclusively, to the expenditure of his generous income upon objects of charity. Great
is the multitude of those who have been blessed by his bounty.
Their number cannot be specified; for no mortal knows who
they were. The record is on high. Old friends, and the
children of old friends, and even the remote relations of his
old friends, were remembered by him. The needy student, who
pored in discouragement over his books, wondering whence aid
would come to enable him to pay his bills for instruction, and
buy a coat to his back, would be unexpectedly greeted by a
sum adapted to his necessities. The poor clergyman in his
closet, thanked God, and took courage, at the reception of
some bundle of clothing, of books, or a sum of money, sent by
his b enevolent hand. Institutions oflearning, besides Groton
Academy, experienced his bounty. His patriotism could not
endure that the monument on Bunker Hill, where his father
had fought, should linger unfinished.. His bounty penetrated
to all corners. It filled the chinks and crannies where larger
sums would have been inappropriate or ostentatious. It comforted the heart of the widow and the orphan. It spread itself
in innumerable rills over his beloved New England, and penetrated the regions of the West. It knew no class, or sect, nor
acknowledged any rule, but the simple one, to go where need
was. His benefactions to this Academy were innumerable.
At first they were met by resolutions of the Trustees, but during
my connection with the school, they became so incessant, that
it was impossible to report them. Besides the repairs of buildings, the gift of apparatus and books, the deed of the Brazer
estate, the establishment of four scholarships at Bowdoin




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                33
College,-. and the: same number at Williams' College for stu-;dents, from this Academy, it was my: custom, at his:request, to
report to: him the case -of indigent -students, whose wants he
promptly supplied;.and whenever I wished:urgently for money
to pay some teacher, he uniformly supplied it,. A rough estimate which I made, of his benefactions to this Academy, shows
that he (expended from twenty-two: to itwenty-five- thousand
dollars.  aind yet, as I remarked before, not a cent:appearedi
in the productive capital of the-Trustees.  This was charity,,
without ostentation.  I conclude my remarks upon his character, with a: -few extracts from letters which he wrote to me,;
relating to the town and the Academy.  Of the library he says;
in one of his letters: " I trust it will be second to no other
in the country, except Cambridge, and that the place will becomel
a favorite resort -of students of all ages, before another fiftyl
years have passed: away."?'. When he presented: a cabinet.ofl
medals, he writes,. " I present.- them to the Institution,. i llthe
nameof my. grandsons, Francis William -and Arthur Lawrence,. in the hope and expectation of implanting among - their early.
objects of regard, this school, so dear to us.-brothers of the
old race, and which was more dear to our honored father, who:
labored with his hands, and gave from his scanty means,, in the.
beginning, much more in proportion than we are required to
do, if we place it at the head of this class of institutions, by
furnishing all it can want."
Similar results could be multiplied, regarding the Academy,
but it is unnecessary.
The controlling influence -of considerations drawn from a
future world, in all his benefactions, he expressed to me in a
letter upon the preparation of the Brazer mansion for the use:
of the Academy.  " I am hoping," he says, " to be safely housed
by and by, where cold and heat, splendid furniture, luxurious
living, and handsome houses, and attendants in figuring style,
will all be thought of as they really merit."  He found refreshment in thinking of his native town, and writes, on one occa-: sion: "I do feel a joy in the: old home and its connexions, that
helps to keep my worn out machinein motion."  In fact, he
* These scholarships were founded by Mrs. Lawrence, though generally understood to be by
Mr. Lawrrnce. His heart, nevertheless, was interested in the work.




34             JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
never turned his thoughts towards his native town without
pleasure, and all the circumstances of his youth, particularly
of his school-boy experience, were a well of delight to him.
In reply to some communication which I once made to him, he
wrote  "We enjoy every thing connected with the Academy,
of a pleasant nature, and among my early remembrances, the
old Preceptor and his family."
His life was a flower of the sweetest fragrances. It was a
star of the greatest magnitude.  It was a gem  of purest ray.
The singular blending of admirable traits in his character, was
altogether peculiar. Principles of integrity sometimes assumed:
the form of sternness, in the conduct of his own affairs, and
almost of uncharitableness towards the delinquencies of others.
Yet lie was full of all gentleness and all goodness.  Passionately fond of children, and delighting in their society, he was
sympathizing, playful, and affectionate, towards young men
and maidens.  He was a man amongst the greatest men.
Each morning's sun awoke hinm to some benevolent plan; sleep
overtook him at night in the midst of good things which the
day had not been long enough to accomplish; and death came
at last, and at the dead hour of night, to bear him away to
his reward.
"Servant of God! well done;
Rest from thy loved employ:
The battle fought, the vict'ry won,
Enter thy Master's joy."
The voice at midnight came;
He started up to hear,
A mortal arrow pierced his frame >
He fell —but felt no fear.
Tranquil amidst alarms,
It found him in the field,
A veteran slumb'ring on his arms,.
Beneath his red-cross shield:
His sword was in his hand,
Still warm with recent fight;
Ready that moment, at command,
Through rock and steel to smite..
At midnight came the cry,
"To meet thy God prepare!"
He woke-and caught his Captain's eye;
Then, strong in faith and prayer,




A d  (rrf T                 S       r   a     x-d t S
RN~        ~j              tj i l       V        V








JUBILEE. OF LAWRENCE A-CADEMY.              35
His spirit, m'irh a hound,
Burst its epcumb'ring clav-;
His tent, at sunrise, on the grbund,
A darken'd ruin lay.
She pains of death are past,
Labor and sorrow cease,
And. life's long warfare clos'd at labAt:,
His soul is fonnd in peace."
*We may divide the histoiy of th-e Academy, con'veniently,
into three periods.
First, while it was struggling for existence, when the re-,sources from  all quarters were insufficient for its necessities.
When the Trustees were compelled to give their notes instead
-of money to the Preceptor, for his wages.  When on their
records, at many a meeting, may be found repeated the vote,
"to continue the school another quarter."  And:, occasionally,
the vote, " to suspend the school for a season."  This was the
period of faith.  The Trustees were faithful to their duties.
They met several times in the course of a year, and, we doubt
not, they expended all their wisdom, with manifold anxieties,
to get the institution into a condition of assured existence.
And how much admiration does their faith demand!
When they had received a grant from the Legislature, and
realized its market value; when they began to count their
-capital by thousands, and their income by hundreds; when they
were able to meet the necessities of the school by a prompt,
though scanty disbursement; then began the second perioda period of economy.  This was also a day of small things.
But they were the substantial beginnings of greater things to
come. The first fruits of faith were now enjoyed. The scale
no longer trembled between existence and extinction.  The
drowning, sinking institution had hold upon a rope of safety.
A further motive to struggle was held out.  This period was
marked by the exceeding prudence and economy of the guardians of its interests, in cherishing the funds committed to
them.  Every year, besides paying the teacher, or teachers, a
little was added to the funds. Their eye seemed to be fixed on
the fact, that no institution of this kind could stand long without.a liberal endowment. Their experience in the former




36          JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
period proved this. So, without meanly stinting and starving
the school, they felt justified in making annually a small advance in their capital trust.
Such a period of faith and such a period of economy,
was followed by the third stage in its history, when the
benevolent bequests and donations of its grateful friends
and patrons, began to flow in full tide into its treasury,
until now it is placed high above pinching necessity, and no
longer mourns over many principal things needing to be done
which it cannot do. This is the period of its reward. Now,
many hearts of its children turn fondly towards it, and it
begins to feel that matronly pride, which so adorns the mature
years of the faithful mother.  Now, her distinguished sons
bring their glory and their riches unto her —they rise up and
call her blessed.
Sheis able now to furnish the best instruction which the
land can supply. She can afford with liberality to provide for i
all those wants, which preparative- education, in a community
that demands more than any other in the world, creates.
From the records of pupils attending this institution, we see
that their numbers during the past have been fluctuating, and
we presume it has been true of this as of other similar schools,
that where the wages of the teacher depend upon the number
of the pupils, a successful Preceptor has soon found really too
much work on his hands. The capacity of one man to manage and
instruct,iis limited, and beyond a certain number of pupils always
the need of new teachers outruns the:-additional tuition of
the pupils. Thus success itself would be in a measure rebuked.
One must be contented with moderate gains and a small
school, or he must choose between large gains with super-human
efforts, and inadequate pay with competent assistants.., One
of my predecessors once told me that he had always found
those terms most advantageous to him, when his school was
small, and he did all the teaching himself. When the school
grew very large, and he gathered two or three assistants about
him, then the assistants bore away the money, and left to him a
debt, and the glory of a good school. For this reason also, operting in various ways, the terms, of service of Preceptors were
usually very short. In general one or two,, or threeor four years,




JUBILEE: OF:LAWRENCE ACADEMY.            37.
served:.to. satisfy, the experience of the Principals.: Undoubtedly
other causes operated to the same end. But the principal one was
that they.could not afford to keep up the school to a high mark,.and were not' content to keep it: at a low one..:Now, however,:that difficulty is relieved. The funds suffice
to support a sufficient corps of able and competent teachers, and
ithere is..room for' the: expectation, that when the full benefit. of
the funds shall be: experienced,. with a Preceptor exactly adapted to.the post, with a correct:: policy adopted and pursued by
the. Trustees, and with: some other circumstances in exact com/pliaunce with -sound:principles in the management of such institutions,; then all these  minor evils will::disappear:.
In conclusion, we propose to glance at the true elements of,prosperity in such a school as this. We will endeavor to select.those particulars which are essential to its highest prosperity,
while we.show their mutual: dependence on each other. The subject disposes itselfu nder -the following topics;,viz: Funds, Policy,
] Teachers, Pupils and Studies.:So let us regard it.
In the first place, for the efficient operation of a school in a'course of years, there.must be a liberal supply of money.: Money
is the sinews of education as well as of war. A  spasmodic
life can be given to a large school, by the energies of one man,
without funds. But to sustain it at the pitch demanded by the
present age (and future ones will demand more) he must be an
Atlas. Tuition can rarely be depended upon in rural regions,
to provide for the various wants that arise. Hence the necessity of a foundation from which all deficiencies can be supplied.
So long as this school in its early days was without resources,
it faltered and would have failed entirely,had not a kind Provi.
dence raised it up benefactors. But as soon as it could make
an advance to its Preceptors over and above its tuition, it beganl to rise above vicissitudes of an alarming nature, and stand
on an in'dependent ground.
l In the second place, the prosperity of a school depends much
on the management of its guardians. The history of Groton;Academy illustrates this.  When there were no funds, its very,existence depended on the prudence of the Board. After its
capital began to increase,their, economical manag ement made it
available. And:even now in its prosperityj.a little folly on their




38           JUBILEE' OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
part may effectually impede its usefulness. A wise and liberal
policy is demanded at their hands. They have the husbanding
and diffusing of'its resources in charge. They choose the
teachers and:reward them. They have the general supervision
of all the affairs of the school. In their manner of performing these duties, the success of the whole enterprise may
consist. That the institution may be properly instructed, the
rate of wages must be adapted to the: standard generally prevailng in the community. The almost innumerable smaller wants
must be promptly met. As guardians they must watch' vigilantly.
But -this must be so done as net to prevent the easy, smooth, and
agreeable working of its machinery. They have the duty of
counselling those whom they employ to. instruct, as well: as those
who are instructed. And I know of no manner in which genuine
prosperity can be made to dawn upon an institution' more ef
fectually, by a Board of Trust, than by kindly advising, counsel-'ling, encouraging, and helping those who teach and discipline
the school, while the Trustees themselves do not appear.  On
grand occasions their active reserved participation should become conspicious, and it should be used for- such occasions.
In the thirdpface, no. one will doubt the importance of the
teachers in the enumeration of those elements which make a
school prosperous. With poor teachers no school can flourish.
In spite of funds, and prudent guardians it will ultimately fail.
Fortunately it is possible to make changes easily in an Academy. Such a school enjoys an advantage over some higher
seminaries, where an instructor once appointed, holds his office
by a sort of courtesy, whether he is faithful or not. There are
not wanting instances at the present day, where men, elected
to posts of responsibility in College or prefessional school, have
seemed to think the height of human ambition fairly attained,
and have thenceforth intermitted all vigorous exertions. And
there are men in similar situations also, who have imbibed
eroneous opinions, and whom it has been impossible to eject. But
this could noSt possibly occur in connection with a preparatory
school.
An Academy so sensitively feels the influence of public opinion, that a poor teacher is driven from his post by an invinci



JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY              39
ble necessity. This is a fortunate circumstance. The ways in
which a teacher operates upon the prosperity of a school are
so many and so subtle, that the greatest importance attaches to
the office. Taking his competent knowledge for granted, he
must be able to communicate it to others. He must have the
art of controlling as well as instructing young minds. He
should have skill to lead them by gentle methods, as well as to
make them feel and fear his authority. He should be enthusiastic himself in teaching, and be able to rouse enthusiasm  in
those whom he instructs. With such qualities in the teacher
we have the third grand element of prosperity in an Academy.
In the fourth place, much depends upon the quality of the
material which is wrought upon. We would be glad to believe
that this is not true of a school, as it is of a manufactory. And
we do believe, that a school answers a noble end which out of
a poor material makes a prime article. But experience teaches
us how desirable it is that scholars should be of an excellent quality, independently-of the influence exerted over them.
And in proportion to the number of pupils of excellent character and established habits, so is the power of the school to do
good to the material of inferior quality which may come to
hand.
A school is a community. In society, all the evil and disturbance and crime is done by a small minority. In a school also
three or Four evil-disposed pupils can cause more trouble
than all the rest put together. A strong conservative influence,
a decided public opinion in favor of good order and against
disobedience is invaluable.- Any measure therefore which can
be devised to draw to a school this element, would be of excellent effect.
It is known that in English schools and to some extent in
American schools, charity foundations, where the benefit is made
to depend on character, produces an effect which cannot
be expected under other circumstances.  To secure a class of
older pupils whose habits are already formed, is to raise the
tone of a school community immeasurably.  They are the
constant friends and companions of the teacher; they strengthen
his hands and encourage his heart. It is a mark of the sagacity
of Mr. William Lawrence, that he mentioned the appropriation




40.       JURILEE'OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
of his-fund to such a charity, if their should be a surplus after
the urgent -wants of instructions were met,.
In::e fifth pla'e, a:a-g dgooAcademy:shduld have a prescribed
course -of study, accommodated- to -those; who prepare for College, and those who prepare for business:-; n'ot a flexible course,
to-accommodate the fiuctuating feelJngs,;wishes and opinions
of-pupils and pa-rents,who:often make great mistakes; but a
uniform, wise and consisteint.'sunccession of branches'into which
a:-pupil should be required to enter and through-which he should
be required to progress, so long as he remains in the school.,
Such a; currieiclum'arrai'nged' in'two partOs as above indicated,
would also in. the best manner meet the necessities of the female
department as well as the male.
Such a curriculum the Lawrence Academy needs. When it
shall be provided, and when a sufficient charity foundation.shall be laid fo r -indig'ent, virtuous and deserving young men,
iwhen some arrangement to secure. the. gradual and regular in-,crease- of the library shall be made, with the large, fund forr instruction already secured, with the learned and competent
Iteachers who are, now here, under the Adirections of the wise,.prudent and liberal Board of Trust, in' a building, which I hope
will be.constructed to meet its enlarged:nlecessities, the.Lawrence Academy will surpass its, fellows in. this. noble field of
enterprise, and more than answer the just..expectations of the
public and. the hopes of its, founders. and benefactors.
My heart glows within. me with-enthusiasmn  at the prospect
of, its destiny. -: Looking -out from. behihnd its living curt'in of
elms,: over:a landscape of exceeding beauty, to the grand mountain of Eastern Massachusetts and to the noble circle: of:blue
hills which seem placed  to- guard it -around,- its very situation
seems to teach lessons in the fine- arts,- in belles lettersa, and inl
piety, to the youth. who enter and issue from its portals.': A
grateful soil and -ab'uldantt-:harvests year after year, bids; them
respond generously: to the: privileges afforded them: and the
efforts:,bestowed upon them. -The mountains talk'solem"ily to
them in-the same way that they filled the'soul of Homer and
inspired- his sublime,: strains.-  The revolutionary reminiscences
of the.town and neighborhood give an'effeetual and perpetual




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                    41
lesson in patriotism. All nature and all history combine with
the lessons within the School and the ardent attachment of the
Alumni, the life and example of the benefactors, to throw
around them an influence which cannot fail to secure through
successive centuries a repetition of Jubilee occasions, which for
enthusiasm and numbers, shall go far beyond this.
When Mr. Means ceased speaking, the Band played some
appropriate music, and the following Hymn, written  by  a
former pupil of the Academy, Miss M. E. Atkinson, was sung
by the whole congregation.
H'  YM'N.
Great God, thy care in former years
Directed here our youthful feet;
Again thy guardian love appears,
Again, in riper age, we meet.
The gems of truth we gathered here
Still sparkle forth in memory's light;
And friendship's bands, from year to year,
Still grow in brightness and in might.
Still may thy care surround this place,
Thy love this institution bless;
And may no coming age efface
The memory of its usefulness.
Long may it shine, a star of truth,
Emitting bright far-spreading rays;
To guide and bless our rising youth,
To be a light to other days.
M. E. A.
The services were then closed by a benediction from  Rev.
Dr. H3ill, the Chaplain of the day.








THE DINNER.
IMMEDIATELY after the services in the Church the procession
was formed by Gen. Dana and his aids, in the same mnanner as
before, and marched to a beautiful smooth slope of green sward
opposite the village. Here, under an enormous tent, tables
were spread for six or seven hundred. The dinner was provided by John B. Smith, of Boston, whose reputation for such
services is deservedly very high. The whole space was filled in
a few moments. It was an impressive sight to behold the long
files marching noiselessly over the green grass. Every face
was radiant with pleasure. Every heart was prepared for the
rational festivities of the hour. There was a felicity in the
spot chosen for the tent which arrested the attention of the
whole multitude. The charming village of Groton was in full
view, with its sentinel churches; the Academy, around which
all thoughts and feelings clustered, was directly in front; and
the fine range of New Hampshire hills on the left led the eye,
by a pleasing transition, from the village Academy to the
Lawrence Mansion, so indissolubly associated with it.
On the platform, on either side of the President of the day,
were seated distinguished Alumni of the School. Conspicuous
among them, primi inter pares,were Rev. James WalkelD, D.D.,
Hon. Joel Parker, L. L. D., Hon. Abbott Lawrence, Hon.
Amos Kendall, Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., Rev. Alonzo
Hill, D. D., and next to the President sat Mr. Caleb Butler,
the former Preceptor.




44           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
At the request of the President, the divine blessing was invoked by Rev. Dr. Walker.
When hunger was appeased, about 3 o'clock, Gen. Dana
called the attention of the company to the President, who announced and commenced the intellectual part of the festival by
an eloquent speech.
Mr. Bigelow offered salutations appropriate to the occasion,
declining to enter into historical details for reason of their
having been so fully: set forth by the orator of. the day, whose
performance he complimented in very flattering terms.
He then spoke of the founders of the Academy, all of whom
have passed away, their motives,- their determined efforts
in the good cause, upon whose success they had set their hearts,
and the triumphant results which the Alumni had assembled
to celebrate. Mr, r. Bigelow then proceeded as follows;-Little, indeed, could; the foun ders of,this Institution have:
anticipated such a recognition of their humble and modest la-,bors in the cause ofmoral and intellectual culture-that- the
cup of cold water pledged by them to the lips of the "little
ones," thirsting' for knowledge, would ever: be: so: commemora-'ted and appreciated' upon earth.i' It may- be:, (who -shall- gainsay it?.) that the knowledge of this scene constitutes some part'of their r.eward.in Heavyen., Their remains.sleep in their lowly,
graves, with no gorgeous manusoleum, " no storied urn or animated bust" to mark their places of repose;: but the Institution which they established — is, of- itself, their sufficient:monu-'ment, and is destined to: convey to distant times a memorial of
their worth, more enduring than sculpturings of brass or of
marble.
~ There are others of whom, on this occasion, we cannot speak
without swelling heearts and tearful:eyes; -those who, though
not- the founders, were born of th'eir stock, bred in their spirit,:
and failed not in' the days of their prosperity to render homage
to the memory Of a-:-revered  parent, by placing,upon. a secure
foundation. the Institution- of his labors and his love.: The
name it bears wiilo ngg bear witness to their filial piety and
philanthropic interests in the welfare of their fellow men.
Charles Sprague, so loved and honored as a man and a poet,
was an intimate fri-ind: of the lamented William and Amos
Lawrence.. I invited him hither to-day. H-,Ee cannot come, but
sends:a minstrel's tribute to. their memory, in mellifluous
strains, from a harp which, till now, has been silent for many'years: —..




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                45
"These, these no marble columns need,
Their monument is in the deed,
A moral pyramid, to stand
As long as wisdom lights the land.
The granite pillar shall decayThe chisel's beauty pass away;
But this shall last, in strength sublime,
Unshaken through the storms of time."
There are yet others, neither founders nor patrons, whom,
in their several academical generations, we grieve to miss from
a celebration which they would have loved and adorned.
There is not a heart beating at' this' festival which does'iiot
enshrine in affectionate rememberance solme dear fellow pupil,
or haply some beloved teacher, who, we trust, have become
participators in scenes and banquets
" Where no sigh of memory swelleth,
Where no tear of misery dwelleth,
Hearts shall bleed and break no more."
But let us be grateful to the Almighty that so many of us,
even of the older pupils, are still spared to mingle in this festival of rejoicing-to indulge in fond memories of other days,
and grateful appreciation of the blessings of the present hour.
How strong and permanent is:the effect of early impressions.
They render sacred the places of our birth and early training.
They throw a charm over the soil once trodden by our childish
feet. Prosperity cannot efface them; the iron heel of poverty
cannot crush them out. The stern trials of life only render
our early associations more vivid.  The more distant the region or clime in which our lots may be cast, the more strongly
does the heart yearn after the scenes of our youth. Playmates
and schoolmates; the school house in which we mastered the
first rudiments of knowledge; the fields in which we sported
and wandered; even the " old oaken bucket" at which we slaked
our thirst; all, all, become dearer in memory as we advance
in the vale of years.
And I am one of those, who, in the "sere and yellow leaf" of
life, can bear witness to the never ceasing influence of the impressions of which I have spoken.  Although I left this town
before the expiration of the first decade of the years of my existence, yet my mind's images of things and men have ever continued to be, in some sort, connected with the things and men
of the place of my childhood. The hills, the woods, the common, the cemetery, the roads, the ponds, the. brooks, the river,
have always served me as standards, or metres, of similar objects elsewhere.
It is quite certain that if I ever should look upon the Ganges




46              JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
or the Nile, my thoughts, for comparison or contrast, would at
once turn to the modest and beautiful Nashua.  Indeed I can
sympathize with the indignant feelings of the ancient Syrian,
who scorned the suggestion that the waters of a strange land
were superior to those of " Abana and Pharpar," rivers of his
native " Damascus."  Even an abstract idea, a mile for instance,
always has some reference in my mind, to the distance between
my father's door, (yonder beneath those ancient elms,) to a point
half way to " Capel's mills;" then so called. The steeple of
the old meeting house, in regard to architectural height, has
always been my standard of measure; even when looking up
to the loftiest domes and spires of other lands. Then again,
that beautiful amphitheatre of mountains, which girt our western
and northern horizon, has ever been my beau ideal of Alpine
scenery. I remember when they seemed the outer boundary of
the terrestrial world, the blue abutments of the skies!'It was a childish phantasy,'But now'tis little joy'To know I'n frtbher off from heaven,'Than when I was a boy!"
As for MEN, my mind's patterns were all cut out and fashioned
here. I have met with individuals who were greater, but a
nobler race, never! They have nearly all gone, and it could
profit me little to speak good of them, when I did not think
it,. " Can flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death." From
among the goodly band there seems to rise upon my vision, the
stately form, the apostolic presence of the " village preacher,"
there was but one then —the venerable Chaplin! He has
ever been my mental impersonation of a true Shepherd of a
Christian flock;, a fitting representation of the inspired fishermen of Galilee! But alas! he has long since gone, " allured
to brighter worlds and led the way."
But, thank God! the " village master" is still spared. Happy
are our eyes, jubilant are our tongues, which see him'and greet
him at our feast. He has never ceased to be my beau-ideal of
an able and faithful teacher, mingling kindness and discipline
in just proportion, " and if severe in aught, the love he bore to
virtue was in fault."
Preceptor Butler! [the speaker turning towards that gentleman who sat on his left,l we feel that your presence here is the
crowning blessing, and honor of our banquet; where so many
of your academic family affectionately cluster around you!
We offer you the flowing tribute of grateful and loving
hearts.
Our children have learned from us, and theirs will learn from




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.              47
them, to appreciate your character and venerate your name;
a name which will be held in honorable regard while the annals
of the town and of this institution shall exist.  Serene and
happy be the evening of your well spent life; very late be the
summons which shall withdraw you from the scenes of earth.
" Serus in Ccelum redeas!"
Fellow pupils! the roll of our Academy will compare favorably with that of any other similar institution in the land, in
reference to character or numbers. It contains the names of
persons who have been eminent, or useful, in the halls of Legislation, the diplomatic department abroad, the missions of the
Gospel, the pulpit, the judiciary, our colleges, the medical profession, the pursuit of agriculture, trade, and the mechanic
arts. All ages, all classes, from all sections of the country,
have come thronging home to salute and honor our Alma Mater, on this the day of her high festival. Her sons and daughters have come again to sit beneath her shades, to rejoice in
her prosperity, and renew to her the assurances of their fealty
and their love.
It is good for us that we have come hither. The occasion
invites wholesome reflections upon the teachings of the past,
and rightful estimates of the responsibilities of the present. In
its social bearings and results, perhaps it may beneficially influence the remainder of our lives. We read in story, that in
Oriental deserts, the traveler while plodding his weary way
" beneath a burning sky," sometimes descries from afar the
towering and verdant palms, which assure him  of his approach to an " oasis."  He hastens, with eager steps, towards
the coveted shelter, seeking that repose, amidst luxuriant meads
and gushing springs, which may give him strength to struggle
through his pilgrimage to its end.
My dear friends, let me fancy this festival to be an oasis in
our own pilgrimage; a green spot in the wilderness of life.
From the toils and cares, from the hard journeyings and stern
realities of the world, we gather to this jubilee for refreshment
and joy.  Here, for a while, we repose, and devote a few hours
to the interchange of affectionate greetings, to the recalling of
pleasant incidents and sweet associations.  On the morrow, we
resume our pilgrim's staves, and with renewed vigor of heart,
again move forward on the pathway of Human Existence.
After this highly interesting speech, Mr. Bigelow gave the
first regular toast.
1 The oldest surviving Principal of the Academy, who served eleven:
years as an instructor.




48           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
Caleb Butler, Esq., of Groton, rose in reply to this sentiment;
and made the following address:
MR PRESIDENT:
The person -to- whom you have: so kindly alluded in your:
salutatory, and who is the subject- of - the sentiment proposed:,
stands before you.
Having survived the only five instructors who preceded me
in the Seminary, whose-Jubilee we are now assembled to celebrate, and five out of- the- fifteen- who have succeeded m'e,thanks
to a kind protecting Providence, I -have the  pleasure" of:this
day meeting with so many of my former pupils, other Alumni,
the guardians, the patrons, and other friends of Lawrence
Academy,. on this interesting and joyous occasion.
Eleven years, you have been told, a period longer than any
one else has ever held the same office, and longer than:all"my
predecessors united, I was the sole instructor in the instituon,
with the exception of a female associate, a part o-f two years;'
and twenty-nine years I occupied a seat as one of its4 Trustees.
As half a century has elapsed since I-was thus employed, a
retrospective view of some of the changes, alterations, and i'!ni
provements, which have been made in the various pursuits,
customs, and business, of civilized life, and: a comparison of,
some things of olden time with those of the present, will not,
be deemed inappropriate to the present.occasion. But the
great variety of subjects, which might afford instruction as
well as amusement, precludes particular attention to-any one.
Brief notices of a few only can be made. And first, of schools,
and the means and accommodations for instruction of youth.
The unfinished school-houses, through which the-cold. wind
often. whistled, or the long room of some uninhabited dwelling;,
furnished with rough boards for seats and'writing tables, are
strikingly contrasted with the convenient edifices, stools, and;
desks of the present day. The:New England.Primer, Dillworth's Spelling Book, the Psalter, Cocker's Arithmetic, had,
half a century ago, just given place to Webster's first, second,:
and third Parts, AMurray's English-Grammar,-and' Reader, and
Pike's Arithmetic, and these, with the Holy Bible, especially
the New Testament, formed the whole apparatus of' a District
School;-unless the birch and the. ferule be added, as necessary
implements to impress and fix ideas in the minds of youth.
Academies were then in infancy-; but lacked not so:much ini
number as in competent instructors, books, apparatus, and
other means of mental development. The extent of education,
in them at that period to be acquired, was the. preparation to
enter college.




JUBILEE OF'LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                 49
Extremen s are not always the best means to accomplish ends.
It is far from  certainu that the mrlltiplicity of sclhool books.
modern experiments and contrivances to make study easy, are
not a hindrance rather than a help to the full developmeclt
and strengthening of the mental powers and faculties.  Tlhe
mind, as well as the body, requires exercise, eneg etic, prlotracted. even laborious exercise, in order to raise its powers to
full perfection.  If a " royl] road" to Geomnetry and all science
has been discovered, it should not be excliusively travelled,
especially by those whos;e destinies lead them over the rough
mounains- of unexplored territory.  The minds of a Washing
ton, a Franklin, wa Bowditch, and a Webster, Nwere not trlained
up to th-e higkh. elevation they attained in schools, where all
studies were  nla(le easy.  A  retentive memory is an essential
faculty to the acquirement of knowledge; but it should be
considered, that the exercises of a school are nDot solelt fbi the
purpose of stor'ina upl knowledge for future use; but to develope, cultivate. and strengthen the mental powers, and prepare
them for action under  ill contingencies and occurrences of a
life of business3.  If, in the education of vouths, tile inmeiorvy
only be nourished and strclngthered, the store of knowledge
laid up will fail ill its application, for lack of judgment, dicretion, discriaminfation.  A  practice too common, inltrodtuced
in modern imnproveinents, is, opening the whole cyclolcedia al
once to the.studletts, not in separate parts, to be studied in
succession, but for a progression in one and all at thle same
time.  Grammain, Rlletoric, I,oic, Atncieent and Modern Lan.
guages, Chelmistry, Blotany, Geometry, Algebra, Music. and
Astronomy, must be crowded all together into a nmaster's or
miss's brain, iu a shorter time than is requisite to instruct.
profitably andl suceesfullly, in any olne branch.
One practice in academr:ies, during  their state of minority,
has been very judiciously discontinued; I mean the acting of'
long dramatic lpieces by tlhe students.  The titne necessarily
occupied in preparing for even a tolerable representation was
long, and the a ivnllltaltes accruing were comparatively small.
Butthe custom  was general.  Just fifty years ago next' month.
yonder neeting house resounded with laughter and plaudits,
at a pretty good personation of the hunorous charact:rl of Dr.
Olapod, in the comedy called "The Poor Gentlemaln."
A  majority or the d'a,,'ai.' /i, er.s,:?,ce on th1at occasion li;ave
longr sillnce lail tl;eir exits fromu tihis weorld's stage; but tlie
hlero of the play still lives, and the heroine I have the happiness
to see present, both; of who-m have received higher honors, and
attained greater celebrity in the great theatre of life, than the
greatest perfection in the Thespian art could possibly give. As




50           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
great events from "trivial causes spring," it is within the
bounds of probability, that personating the virtuous and ami-able Emily Worthington, and her heroic rescuer, Frederick
Bramble, was incipient preparation for future action on the
great stage, where the actors have since so honorably per —
]formed.
But the changes, alterations, and improvements which have
-taken place in our literary institutions, have been equalled, if
not exceeded, by those in other matters of no less importance.
Our parochial and religious affairs have undergone great and
momentous innovations. Instead of one house for, public wor-!ship in each of our country towns, or two, at most, in some of
the larger ones, we have now two, at least, in the very smallest, and from three to a dozen or more in our large towns.
Parishes, societies, sects, and doctrines, have multiplied in the.same ratio.  Outward appearances, and inward conveniences
for protection from heat and cold, and for sitting, (for standing.
at time of worship, is going out of fashion), are very much
improved.
Church music, which at the commencement of the current
century had just escaped from the interruption of the line-byline reading' of the good deacon, was then mostly of the kind
called fuguing, performed partly by voices, and partly on bassviols, and other less appropriate instruments; the performance
of which, the several parts, following each other in succession,
as, then name denotes, very much resembled the noise of a large
nummber of boys and girls "just let loose from school," chasing
each other in squads, and vieing for pre-eminence in the ait of
screaming.  This farago -has been judiciously laid aside, and
devotional airs have succeeded, performed by modulated
voices, accompanied by the euphonious.organ.
But under all these advantages for comfort in the performance of devotional exercises,:has real goodness; vital piety, and
acceptable worship increased:? If amounts could be accurately
weighed or measured, I -fear a true answer would be in the:negative. Sects and churches have immeasurably increasedl:but church-going people, if not numerically less, are fewer in
proportion to the population throughout the country. Fervent
piety and religious zeal could, in the cold, comfortless houses
of the eighteenth century, keep both preacher and hearer warm;
but charity in the present warm and comfortable places of:worship, is insufficient to keep them cool.
The. discoveries, inventions, and improvements, which will
most of all embellish the history of the last half century, are
the application of steam to the -,locomotion, both by sea and: land, of man, and all moveable matter, and of electro-magnejand_ ofmn  oesnomge




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.             51
tism to the:instantaneous- conveyance of intelligence to unlimited distances. These already affect, or are destined soon to
affect, the whole globe we inhabit. By the first, innumerable
water-vehicles ascend our rivers, against wind and current in
all directions, to the interior, and larger vessels traverse oceans,
heedless of calms, waves, or tempests. By land we travel
without the waste of animal strength, regardless of distance,
or inclemency of weather; onward, onward, we move, without
fatigue or weariness; faster, and. faster, is our only anxiety.
Without the aid of this power, our present happy gathering,
from such wide and distant localities, would scarcely have been
possible. By the last, intelligence is conveyed from one end
of our country to the other, with the rapidity of lightning.
The result of an election day in one of our States, may be
known by the anxious politician before he sleeps, and the passage of an important bill in Congress, appears in the next
mrorning's papers almost throughout our great republic. And,
I venture to predict, that before the close of another half century, the passage of news from Europe, across the Atlantic
ocean, (or rather under the ocean), will so far exceed the apparent motionL of the sun, that it may be read in the morning
papers of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, at the. same
relative hour of the day in which it is published in London or
Paris.
But I have a few words to say on a subjectmore pertinent to the
purpose of our present assembling. On inspection of the catalogue
of the Alumni-of Groton and Lawrence Academy, among those
who were for a:longer or a shorter time under my own tuition,
I find the names' of a good number, some with and some without passing the customary term- in higher seminaries, who have
been actively engaged in the useful employments, acts of philanthropy, and busy schemes of progressive society. Besides
those who have successfully and honorably practiced in the
learned professions, so called, many:have been engaged in
merchandize, commerce, manufactures, and other useful arts;
many of both sexes in the instruction of youth, a profession
more honored and better remunerated now, than when I was
a pedagogue.
Many -have been honored with the highest municipal stations
in tlhe disposal of their fellow citizens, with seats in the several
State Legislatures where they reside; some in the Congress of
the United States; one in the upper house of the highest
court in our nation. Another was for some time the head of
the; national. Post Office department. Several bave been raised
to the judicial bench, an honorn more enviable than any other,
inasmuch as it is more certain:evidence of -honesty and integ



.52           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
rity, as well as of knowledge. One, a native of Groton, is now.'
Chief Justice of the highest judicial tribunal in a neighboring
State; and another has held the same dignity in an adjoining
State.
With unfeigned joy, and I hope an honest pride, I see here
some, who, while preparing to enter college, were endeared to
me, not only as pupils, but as members of my domestic circle:
one, the President of the oldest and one of the most celebrated
literary institutions in our great republic-Harvard University; another, at the head of the Law Department in the same
institution; a third, (was expected, but has been providentially prevented from attendance,) who for his learning and ability in dispensing sacred theolgy, has been honored with the
title of Doctor thereof. Several others I see here remembered
by the same endearing ties of domestic friendship. And yet
another of my former scholars I see here, a native of this town,
who has not only discharged some of the most important trusts
and duties, and been raised to some of the highest honors
already enumerated, but has also served his country in the
still more important capacity of representing it at the court of
St. James-the highest ministerial office in the gift of the
President of the United States.
And now, Mr. President, permit me to say a few words exelusively to you and the rest of my former pupils here assembled, and I will have done.
Lidies and Gentlemen, (for I must not at this time address
you, as formerly, as pupils, over whom I might exercise authority, but as equals and superiors,) it is an opportunity of
rare occurrence that, after a lapse of about half a century, so
great a number of former associates and friends should assemble from such distant localities, to view the scenes of former
acquaintance, and sympathize in reminiscences of some of the
happiest days of youth.
To me, who have always remained on the spot of our former
associations, the pleasures of this meeting consist principally
in knowing that you have left your happy homes to come up
hither under so many prosperous circumstances; that thus far
your journey through a wayward world, full of cares,
troubles and anxieties, has been so favorable and happy; that
you have been actively, honestly and honorably occupied in
-the labors and duties of life; and that you have chosen the
safe paths and h igherwalks which lead to honor, eminence and
fruition.
You will pardon me, (an old man in his dotage, perhaps you
will say,) if I claim some little, influence in the preparation of.your minds and faculties,- for the performance of the high du



JUIBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.             53
ties and trusts of greatness and excellence, and of rendering
you susceptible of the pleasures consequent on acts of usefulness and benevolence. To have originated genius, or intellectual powers, or to have nursed and cultivated them better
than any other could in my stead, I make no pretence. The
credit of having faithfully and conscientiously performed my
duty towards you is all I claim or ask.
And now, with my ardent hopes and desires that the remainder of your lives may be equally prosperous and happy as
have been the portions already spent, and that the decline of
enjoyments in the objects of sense may not be attended by a
decline of intellectual enjoyments, I bid you an affectionate
Farewell.
When Mr. Butler addressed himself to his former pupils,
they all arose and stood respectfully to the close of his remarks. Among them were Hon. Abbott Lawrence, Hon. Amos
Kendall, Rev. James Walker, D. D., Hon. Joel Parker, LL. D.,
Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., Hon. John P. Bigelow, Mr.
Samuel Lawrence, Mr. Isaac Parker, Mr. Henry Stearns, a
number of distinguished ladies, and many respected citizens of
Proton, who have never changed their residence. It was a
touching sight to behold those persons, some of them so greatly distinguished; taking this respectful attitude before the greyhaired teacher of their early years. It brought to mind the
scene of Melehizedec blessing Abraham, and Jacob blessing
Pharaoh.
The second regular toast was now announced:
2. The Lawrence Academy, the mother of us all; her history for two
generations is adorned by the high character of her sons and daughters,
and her fuiture prosperity depends, most of all, upon their faithful regard.
Dr. Putnam, of Roxbury, responded to this sentiment in the
following remarks:
AIR. PRESIDENT:
You call upon me without notice previously given. My situation is such as you will probably remember to have been in
sometimes, when our venerable friend here, (Mr. Butler,) used
to call on you to recite and you had not the lessoa prepared.
It was embarrassing, was it not? I see that even the recollection of it pains you. You felt that it was the pursuit of




54           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
knowledge under difficulties. But you knew the best thing you
could do was to go on and say something, keep talking. The
Preceptor might stare at you, or worse, but you must go on. And
so I will obey you and go on, whatever may come of it.
But I feel another embarrassment. It is some thirty-five
years since I said my last lesson in Groton Academy, and I
have not set foot in the town since, till to-day. I have my
doubts about the identity of- the place7. In great perplexity I
have been trying to settle it in my mind whether this is Groton
or not.  Some things seem like the old place that I knew
in my boyhood, and some do not. I am quite sure that the
road I travelled on so fast this morning by the Junction, is not
the one by which I was brought in a chaise, from the same
spot in Stirling, thirty-six years ago, by my mother-blessings
on her memory! Like so many others:in those days:and these,
I owe: everything I am, or hope to be in this world, to the
early exertions and sacrifices of a good mother.
I have all the morning been following up my inquiries as to:
the identity of the place, but have only got more confused. I
went into the Academy, but the old school-room and the Preceptor's octagon desk were missing. I went up stairs;,and
found a fine collection of books, but I was looking for the, little old library of the "' Social Fraterity," which used to be
kept in a desk in a back room. I could not find it. I remember the moment when the lid of that desk was lifted, and that
library first displayed before my eyes, after my initiation as a
member of the Fraternity. I suppose it was the largest library
I had ever seen. It seemed to me immense. -1 was awed  such
an immeasurable storehouse of knowledge. I have never seen any
that seemed so large since. I have lately passed through the Library of the British Museum, but it did not impress me so much
by its magnitude as did those hundred volumes or so, that I first
looked upon in Groton. The gentleman at my elbow, (Mfr..Abbott Lawrence,) declares it was just so with him.  By-thebye, I have no recollection of those old days more vivid than
that of the intense and triumphant feeling of joy when I was
chosen into the Fraternity.  It was to me the height of honor
and exaltation. It filled me up to the full measure of my capacity for satisfaction. I have had no such honor or success
since-none so all-sufficing.
Continuing my survey of the place, I went to look for a certain old apple-tree that used to bear large, white and very
savory fruit. I think some of the boys of my time must remember it. It used to stand on the side-hill, back of the old
church, a little way from the road. I remember it with special:
distinctness, from the fact that, having one day visited it, and




JUBILEE: OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.             55
from some unaccountable neglect having omitted to ask leave,
I was pursuing my researches and making collections in
Natural History under its boughs, when the owner-I never
knew how he got there-laid his hand upon my shoulder in'an
abrupt manner, and spoke gruffly, and something worse, I believe-a fatal interruption to the objects I had in view. I
have remembered the spot ever since. But there is no such
tree there to day, as there should be if this is really Groton."'
I entered the church with the, rest of the Alumni; but do
you call that Groton church?  Where are the old square
pews? And how comes it that there are doors only on one
side of the building, instead of three? Looking to the pulpit,
I ought to have seen the venerable Dr. Chaplin arise,, with his
stately form and antique garb, or if not him, at least one'0of
the neighboring ministers that he used to exchange with: Mr.
Bullard, of Pepperell, or Mr. Blake,: of Westford, or Mr. LaiVrence, of Tyngsboro'; but no such men at all, only the orator,
Mr. Means, the excellence of whose discourse (and it required
it all,) made me forget for the time that he was out of place in
Groton pulpit, and, pardon the'intrusion, of my brother Hill,
of Worcester —a mere boy who left the school not long beford I
did.
There are two things that I find just as I left them in 18119,
not changed one whit: Wachusett in the distance, and Preceptor Butler on the spot.
I should like to have had time to visit Brown Loaf, especially as it is now about huckleberry time. If that hill'is.
standing in its proper place and proportions I should have to.
give up my doubts I suppose. If it should be missing, or essentially changed, no man living should convince me that I.am:
in Groton. A gentleman on my left declares that Brown Loaf
is safe and holds its own, so I will not trouble you farther with
my misgivings about identity.  Indeed, I need not have said
so much about it; I might have been sure all day that this is
the place, my heart warmed to it so from the first.: A thonsand dim reminiscences have been stealing over me all day
lonf, indefinable, but unmistakable; strange old associations,
that carry me back to boyhood again and put me face to face
with Abel Conant, my grave, learned, faithful and friendly ihstructor. He is not among the living, but I am sure all his
pupils will cordially join me in a tribute of grateful respect {o
his memory.
So, sir, I know it is Groton by the heart's testimony, whatever my eyes may say on the question. And all these changes,
that I was at first disposed to regard with a kind of sorrorw,
are the evidences of progress to a higher condition of pros



56            JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
perity.  The town has grown.  The Academny, thanks to the
inunificence of some of the nobEest of its sons, has spread itself
into a larger institution.  I will cease looking complainingly
for the old landmarks, and will rather congratulute you, sir,
and all these ranks of Alumni, cordially on the flourishing
state of the town and school.
And these young men on my left, if they are Academy boys,
is I take it they are, I congratulate them on their opportunity.
It will be their fault if they do not make a better show, when
they come up here, fifty years hence, in their sixties and seventies, to keep the next Jubilee. And yet the old set have done
pretty well.  Look along down the table, boys.  Here is a
Governor of the State, a Mayor of Boston, a Judge of a. Suprelne Court, a Post Master General, a Law Professor of Harvard, a President of Harvard, a Minister to the Court of
London, and others, if untitled, vet as worthy, I am sure.
Upon lay word, it is rather a goodly array.  I should hardly
have thought, thirty years ago, that the old Academy would
be able to give so good an account of itself, and 1 don't think
IlMaster Butler here would.  But you must beat all that, boys
— you can annd you ought.  You may depend upon it, that
though we all make merry here to-day, there is in the hearts
of us elders a latent undertone of sadness, in the reflection that
we are not what we might have been, and what our early
privileges would have made us, if we had been more faithful.
This is a happy celebration, but I anticipate a happier one
for you fifty years hence. Not that I wish for you higher
titles or better successes than your predecessors have won; but
I wish for you, and I charge yo-u to seek, sound learning, mental discipline, and above all, that worth of character, that nobleness of principle and aim, and that resolute fidelity of life
which, with or without whatever honors and successes, shall
reflect honor on the place of your education, and enrich yourselves with happy memories and lasting happiness,
The President read the following letter from Hon. Robert
C. Winthrop::BOSTON, JUI.Y, 10, 1854
HON. JOHN P. BIGELOW:
My Dear Sir.-1 regret extremely that it will not be in my power to
attend the Jubilee Celebration, at Groton, on Wednesday next, agreeably
to your kind invitation. It would give me real pleasure to unite with you
and Mr. Lawrence in the festivities of such an occasion,  I cannot clairn
to be one of the Alumni of the Academy, but I freely acknowledge a debt
to it, as a citizen of Massachusetts, for having trained and sent forth to
the various dutics of life, so many worthy and excellent pupils. Fifty
years of active and prosperous existence have given it a title to the regard




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                   57
arid gratitude of the whole Commonwealth; while the generous patronage
of the distinguished family whose name it now beard, promises for it a
future still more intelesting and important than its past.
I had not forgotten the circumstance referred to in your friendly note.
There is no doubt, I believe, that the town of Groton was named by Dean
Winthrop, its first selectman, in honor of the family residence of the Wintlrrops in Eng'and, at the time of the Reformation. Adam  alid John
Winthrop were successively Lords of the Manor of Groton two centuries
and a half ago, arid the tomb of the former is still to be seen bentath the
shadow of the church in which they both worshipped.
But. these are reminiscenses of a remote past. Your celebration belongs
to the present, and to those who have made it what it is.
Accept my thanks for your kind attention, with my best wishes for the
prosperity both of the Academy and of the town of Groton, and believe
me, dear sir, very sincerely and faithfully.
Yours,
ROBERT C. WINTHRO P.
P. S. The subjoined sentiment may perhaps serve you a turn at a
pinch:The name of Groton-It was first brought into connexion with New England history by the
d,wnfall of the Monasteries; it owes no little of its present distinction to the elevation of an
ABBOTT.
lIon. Abbott Lawrence was called upon to reply to Mr.
Winthrop's toast, which he did, with his usual ease and grace,
as follows:
MAR. PRESIDENT:
I consented to dine with my friends on this interesting occasion, notwithstanding the state of my health, on the express
condition that I should not be called upon to make a single
remark.  The Committee, or the President, or both, have
Ilroken the contract.  Yet I feel that I should be more or less
than a man-standing as I do upon my native soil, and within
a hundred yards of the spot where I was born,-if I did not
respond to the toast, sent by mny friend, Mr. Winthrop, which
you have just read.  I thank you, ladies and gelltlemen, most
heartily, for the kind manner in which you have received it,
and the welcome you have thus given me.
Six and forty years ago, I left my native town, to sek my
fortunes elsewhere: and yet, to-day, I have the satisfaction of
seeing at these tables several individuals who were among the
pillars of the town, in my early boyhood, all of them appearing
hale and hearty, and competent still to discharge good service
for their fellow-citizens.  I see near me Captain Noah Shat



;58           JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
tuck; -Mr. Stuart J. Park; and my father's near neighbor,
Mr. Ezra Farnsworth, the descendant of Ezra, who was one of
the' early settlers of the town. In referring to this gentleman,.I can state the remarkable fact that the house and farm which
were first occupied nearly two hundred years ago,by Ezra Farnswortli, have been occupied ever since by an Ezra Farnsworth.
And I beg to add, that there is a nephew now with us, in all repectss worthy;;-which gives us reason to anticipate a continuance of the exact old name and homestead, long after the present representative, my venerable friend on my left, shall have
been gathered to his fathers.
It is a source of mournful regret, Mr. President, that I do
not see among us to-day more of my early school-mates. Few,
very few, do I behold.  I see one, at a distance, with hair a
little silvered, whomrn;I take to be Henry Stearns, now of
Springfield, though I am not quite sure. (He bows assent.)
I have not seen, him for nearly half a century. There is also
my excellent friend-and neighbor, Isaac Parker, who was then
one of the best boys, as he is now one of the best men in the
community. And yet another I see, with whom I was intimate
as a boy, James Walker, whose useful and distinguished careel' has fulfilled the promise of his boyhood, and is an honor
to our Academy, where he was prepared for entering the University, over which he now so ably presides.
Early impressions are strong and enduring. I can never
forget when Dearborn Emerson drove the stage between Boston and Grotorn twice a week, which appeared to me the perfection of travelling. How I longed to be a stage-driver! I
remember the Groton artillery, with their two enormous guns
-three-pounders.  Have you ever, Mr. President, heard so
loud a report as those cannon used to make upon the common,
when the North and South Companies, respectively commanded:by Captain Samuel Dana at d Captain Timothy Bigelow,'paraded? -:Ladies and Gentlemen, the greatest military spec-'tacle, in its effect:upon my mind, which I ever beheld, was a
reg-imental muster near " Capell's Mills."  That was, indeed,
something not to be forgotten. It is true that I subsequently
sawv the allied armies, immediately after the Battle of Waterloo, and I have since seen various other grand military displays
fin Europe-; but I have never seen anything which gave me so,vast an idea of military grandeur as the militia muster at
Capell's Mills!; Mr. President, the history of this town possesses much interest.
Its settlenment was commenced two hundred years ago. It was
long a border town. More than once its inhabitants were
murdered, or carried into captivity, by the Indians. It took
an active Dart in the old French vwar and later, on the 19th:e:i-  V'-   th    ol    Frnc,?




.JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY             59
of April, 1775, 101 men, out of a population of 12 or 1400,
marched at an hour's notice to Cambridge, and fought at Bunker Hill. It was, in fact, a nursery of;soldiers, and furnished:
more or less troops throughout the war of the revolution. About
the year 1792, a want of education of a higher character than
could be obtained at the common District schools, was sensibly
felt.  Ihe men who had achieved our Independence, were not
unmindful of the education of their children. They were poor 
in purse, but rich in public spirit, justly believing that civil
liberty could not be maintained without education, religion,
and law. These'veterans -set themselves to work to lay the
foundation of an academy, which was accomplished after much
trial and tribulation. And we, who have enjoyed the blessings
resulting from the: wisdom:- of our fathers,:are assembled here
to-day to commemorate the event, and to do homage to:those:
founders.
Nor do I forget the Teachers of our early days. Among:
the many excellent men who have presided over this Academy,
I shall name but one —who: was my only Preceptor- Caleb:
Butler, Esq., the faithful historian of the town. I desire to
thank God that he is able to be with us to-day, at the ag`e of;
78: and to express publicly my obligations for the sound instruction I received from him. The inhabitants of Groton are
greatly indebted to Mr. Butler for his labors in their. behalf;
but above all, for the eminent example he has set them during
a residence of a full half century; in his love of truth and
justice; in his integrity of character; in all the relations of
life. A sweet aroma hangs about his name, which, I doubt
not, will endure, long after he and all of us shall have passed
away.
To the present pupils of the Academy, I will take this; opportunity of addressing a few words. My young friends, rememnber th'at you possess advantages, at this Institution, now, that
did not exist any where in this Commonwealth; forty years
ago-. Remember that the present is the time for improvement.
Cultivate industry,- integrity, economy, and perseverancei. -Let
your sentiments: be open an:d manly, guided by virtuous desires.'Let your aims be:high. Never be discouraged-. Andu do.-not[
forget, wherever your lot ruay be cast,-klet: none. of us, old or
young, forget-this:day,; ort the good old Town of  Groton.
Mr. Bigelow then::referred to letters in the hands. of the
Committee, which: woild be read, if time' permitted. These
letters were from His Excellency the Governor, Hon. Samuel
Hoar, Judge Bigelow;,:In Peleg Sprague, Hon. Levi Lincoln,
Hon. E. R. Hoar, Rev. Dr. Sears, Mr.: S. H. Taylor, Mr. G.




60                JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
Richards, of Ohio, and several others, accepting or declining
the invitation to be present, which had been extended to them.
All of them expressed the warmest interest in the occasion, the
town, and the Academy.
A  most entertaining and appropriate letter was now  read
from Rev. William  Allen, D. D., former President of Bowdoin
College, as follows:
NORTHAMPTON, JULY 10, 1854.
REV. JAMES MEANS:
Dear Sir:-As I was the teacher of a school in Groton, for a short
time, at the close of 1802, and thus gave my humble aid in furnishing
pupils to the Academy —then under the charge of its first Preceptor,
William Merchant Richardson; perhaps I may be excused for giving a few
of my recollections of more than fifty years ago, as my fiiendly contribution
to the Academy Jubilee. I suppose there are few remaining who can
afford you such ancient, though slight, memories of Groton.
I perceive that the Academy now bears the name of "T'lhe Lawrence
Acadlemy."  This reminds me that it was my happiness to live in the
fanily of Deacon Lawrence. My brief notes mention the names of his
children; Luther, who had just graduated at Cambridge; William, Amos,
Samuel; Sukey and Polly, fine sinaers; and Eliza. How it happened
that I made no mention of Abbott, I cannot explain; whether he was at
the time absent from home, or whether he is now so young a man that
he was nrt then born. I am inclined to thilnk that he was one of my
pupils, anti that I was helpful in giving an early right direction to his
mind! However this may be, though his name is absett from my brief
notes, it has become not a little nnted in Groton, and Lowell, and Boston,
and Cambridge; in our own country and in England.
If there are any old people at your Jubilee, whose memory runneth back
so far, it may gratify them to read the names of a party at Capt. Richardson's, with whom I was associated, Jan. 1, 1802. It was perhaps the first
and last ball which I ever attended. Among the men, were Lawrence,
Brown, Brazer, Munro, Jennison, Richardson, Wellington, Baldwin, Minot,
Mansfield, Hall, Chaplin, Reid, Lewis: several of whom; I suppose, were
school teachers from Cambridge.
The Ladies left their names on record more distinctly; they were, Sally
Brazer, Mary Prescott, Agnes Bancroft, Susin, Sally, and Matilda Chaplin,
Rebecca and Lucy Kemp, Sally Smith, Miss Tartle, Miss Goodrich, Jane
Lewis, Al!s. Gardner, Sukey Lawrence, Miss Ballard,- of Pepperell, Harriet and Charlotte Tuttle, of Littleton.
Shall I mention some of the principal families of the day, in addition
to that of Deacon Lawrence? The much respected minister was Mr.
Chaplin; then the venerable Judge Prescott, and his son, Dr. Prescott;




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                        61
Mr. Timothy Bigelow, the lawyer and statesman, wiih the richest affluence of language, and a rushing tide of emoti(n; the Preceptor, William
M. Richardson, afterwards the Chief Justice of New Harnmpshire; Esquire
Brazer, Deacon Rockwood, Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Sawtell, Major Woods, Major
Mleoors, and doubtless many other worthy names which I have lbrgoltern.
There were then living those who had donie good service for their
country, in the war of' Iidependence, and before. I feel bound to inention,;ne or two. Major Moors was an adjutant in the army at the capture ol
Burgoyne.  He assisted the Hessians to emigrate from  Saratoga to Cambridge.
I was one evening invited to the bountiful table of a neighbor, Mr.
Jonathan Farwell, who had as much humor, joinedt to as much sense   as is
seldom foundl in his condition of life. He was usually called Uncle Jock.
At his house, I went into his father's room, to see the old gentleinran,
thein nearly eighty Sears old. IHe was a small man, but energetic and
animated.  Although his feet were just in the grave, he was as lull of
spirit, as ever. He fought his battles over again. He told me that in
1745, when twenty-one years old, he was at the capture of Cape Breton.
Just thirty years after that event, he was in the battle of Bunker Hill
and was shot tirlough the body. He was a mall of' as much spirit and
energy as 1 ever knew; and he had a proper reverence fijr law and good
governmeolt.  He related to me that, "In the tine of Shay's rebeiiion
the question was,' Shall Jock go out and fight thiern t'  I said, e Yes, 1
would disinlherit a son of minie who would not fight for his country.
Had I as much blood as would bear a seventy-four gun-ship over Grand
Mlonadnoc, I would sp,ll it all infighting those rebels P;
Such were the qoldiers and patriots, which thlenr dwelt inl all the towns
of New  England-the remnanits of the war-noble men, with souls too
elevated to be drawn away from law andi order, frorn truth, justice, freedon, honor, by the seducing hopes of office.
I may end as I began., with alludi[ig to the family of my respected host,
whose name is stamped on the Academy.  There are other iistitutions of'
Science. besides those of Groton and Cambridge, wiere that name will
be held in hoinor; and there are also records o  Ciiristian charity, from
which there will be no effacement, when all the inscriptions and monunients of the earth shall ftde away.
lnhould any part of what I have thus written be possibly deemed at all
appropriate to the good cheer of your dinner table, it is at your service,
with t.he concluding sentiment' On Groton Town."
I am, my dear sir, with great respect,
Your old friend,      WM. ALLEN.
ON GROTON TOWN.
-What constitutes a Town?
Not hill, and rock, and vale, and stream, and lake;
Not woods, and fields, and yellow harvest's pride;




62              JURILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
Not trees, embowering mansions of delight;
Not these alone can constitute a town;'-But ME':, high-minded men," and Women, too,
With boys and girls, themselves, in fresher form;
With schools, academies, all well endowed,
And ordered well; with skyward-pointisg church,
Crowded with worshippers in truth and love;
The nursery of men, who lnopw and prize,
And. sternly dare maintain fair freedom's cause;
The nursery of men, who issue forth,
In manly zeal and steady enterprise,
Diffusing light, or touching springs of wealth,
Which, having gained, they know to use it well;
Of which, if proof you'd see, JUST LOOK AROUND I
Mr. Bigelow read the third regular toast:
3.- Harvard- University —Represented in our gathering by her Reverend:
President, an Alumnus of Lawrence Acadeniy.  His connection with us
shows the intimate connection of our highest seminaries with schools of a
lower grade.
President Walker rose in reply and made the following remarks:
After some allusions to the occasion and  his own recollections of Groton Academy, he proceeded  to  congratulate  the
community on the reforms which had been effected in public
education within the last twenty-five years. HI-e did not wonder not complain that the primary and intermediate schools
were the first to be benefited.  It was natural and right that
the people should begin by providing for the people.  But the
primary and intermediate  schools, in  their improved  condition, will soon create a want which they cannot supply, and
then colleges and universities will come in for their share of
public as well as private sympathy and encouragement. There
cannot be a more truly democratical principal than this, that
the highest forms of moral and intellectual culture should be
put within the reach of the poorest boy in the State.
He also congratulated the undergraduates of the Lawrence
Academy on the auspicious circumstances under which they
were pursuing their studies, warning them, at the same time,
that they must look for distinction and success to personal
qualities.  A better appointed school-room, better methods of
study, and better text-books would help them to get their lessons  after all. however, it is not by such means, but by the
quick eye, and the strong arm, and the iron will, that the battle of life is won.




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.              63
He concluded by offering the following sentiment:
The Lawrence Academy and Harvard College —They have always been
well acquainted-may they be better and; better acquainted.
The President of the day read the next regular toast:
I4. The Cambridge Law School and its honored Head and:Professor —A
worthy representation of our Alumni of the: bar.and the bench.
EHonorable Joel Parker responded to this toast, after being
called upon in a humorous strain by Mr. Bigelow "to let off
his gun."
Mr. Parker said he could not- accuse the President of violating any express agreement not to call upon him to speak, for
[it had not occurred to him that it was necessary to require such
a stipulation;. but if he was in the actual practice of the profession to which his life had been devoted, hle might contend
that there was -al:n:implied agreement. that he should not be
called upon to make a. speech, from the fact that he had had no
notice; or,; if; he should regard this:-as a command, and fall
back upon. his experience in the militia, he might object that
he had no;t been warned to;appear: airmed and equipped for
such a service, and that the President- had therefore no right
to require him  "to let off his gun"  upon the present occasion.
The -President-" If I am to be tried for the breach of any
such -implied agreement, I shall insist that it be by the jury
here assembled."
- Mr.:Parlker-" I can make no objection to that, unless perhaps to' challenge the array' on account of partiality."
Mr. Parker proceeded to say that if:the object of the call
upon him was to- draw from him an expression of the pleasure
which he:felt in participating in the Jubilee, he was ready
freely to, respond to-it.  When this gathering was- first suggested he had projected a journey, which, as proposed, might
have -extended; beyond this period, but he determined at once
that he would be here to testify, by his presence, the interest
he had felt in the Academy since he was a member of it, and
his hearty concurrence in the proposed festivities, and that all
projects which would interfere with the accomplishment of
that purpose should be made to give way to it.
He had some right to feel an interest in the Institution, for




64            JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACAD:EMY.
upon its catalogue were the names of two of his brothers,* and
several nlore distant ielatives, besides classmates and fiiends,
and upon tile roll of its Instructors, besides his most hollored
Preceptort, was one with whom he was afterwards associated
for,  years in a judicial capacity,$ and another who was a valued
membler of' lhe same class in college i  He should aluways rejoice ill its prosp rity.
If, 11owever, it was in part the design of the call to induce
him to enter into the confessional upon this occasion, he thought
he should decline taking that position.  He could not afford
to do it quite as well as the distinguished gentlemen who had
preceded him with some renminiscelses of their boyhood.  He
had been admonished by a slight occurrence this morning,
while on his way to the celebration, to be careful what he said.
A gentleman had inquired of him what year he attended the
Academny, and when lie incautiously named a certain date, the
gentleman, with a very joyous face, replied:' Ali h  that w as a
long time before my day."  He thought he might as well decline any further cross-examination.  If any inquiry was made
respecting Ihis'diligence in the pursuit of his studies, h? would
answer "; /on mni?icordo;" if respecting the success of his recitations, it would be the same,' he didnot recollect."  Lest,
however, this might bring some reproach on his memory, (he
meant his powers of memory), he would say that there were
some thlings of which he had a very vivid remembrance.  lie
well recollected a very learned, kind, and faithful instructor;
and the kindness which lie received while an inmate of his
family, he should not readily forget.  Perhaps he ought, in
justice to the " Preceptor," to say that he believed, that in recommendilng him for admission to Dartmouth College, he acted
upon grammatical principles.  It was not that he was superlatively qualified-or perhaps that he was positively so; but
that lie Was in the comparative degree; that he (Mr. Parker)
thought lie was as well qualified as others who had " gone to
college," and the Preceptor indeed gave that opinion —he
thought so too.  (Entering at the age of' fourteen, a year and
a half in advance, this was per haps as iluch as should be expected.)  He had likewise a very distinct recollection of al
school-mate at the Academy, a scholar of good promise, studious,
sedate, considerate, and: kind.
And upon these reininiscenses, without detaining them further, he -would give:
G, nu;d l.laster Butler; and the Pupil he fitted tc; be President of Harvard
College.
* Asa Parker and isaac Parker.  f Mr. Butler.  4 Chief Justice Richardson.
~ Mr. Woodbury.




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                  65
The fifth regular toast followed.
5. TAe Com monwealth of Mossachusetts-An early and liberal benefactor
of this Institutionl.
In calling upon Gov. Boutwell to respond to this toast, Ir..Iigelow  made many amnusing allusions to former political
times in the Commonwealth, and to their respective participation in them, which called forlh shouts of laughter.  After
replying in the same strain of humor to the remarks of the
President, Gov. Boutwell proceeded, as follows:
It is known to you, sir, that our esteemed chief magistrate
was expected to respond to the sentiment in honor of Massachusetts. In his absence, you have kindly, I cannot say wisely,
sumnimoned me to his place, for there are those within your.jurisdiction on whom your eyes might imost appropriately have
fa1len.  The Ai lumni of this institution, whose history already
belonlls to two centuries, are invited to recognize their obli(gation to the Commonwealth,as its legal founder and early benefactor,
It is something, indeed it is much, to have created and?endowed a seminary of learning, which, in the comparatively
short period of two generations, has educated mnore than three
thousand of the youth of Massachusetts; but if this act wvere
excep)tionai in our history, I would make no example of it at
hoime, nor would I, in any manner, aid in its dissemination
abroad;  not but that it was a good act in itself, but one so
limited in its influence as not to entitle the State to consideration on that account.  The benefaction to this institution was,
however, in futll harmony with the policy of the State from the
first.  It is known on all sides that like appropriationsl hlave
been made to Westford, Framino'ham, New Salem, Willralanm,
tlnd indeed to most schools of this grade.  Many principles of
o overnment and securities for human rights were hbrought fromn
Enrgland, but our system of public instruction is of American,
of Massachusetts, origin.  And however highly we may prize
our jury trial, our system of representation, the writ of habeas
corpus, or an independent judiciary, they all find their chief
security in the education of the people.
This is no new idea in Massachusetts, though neglected in
many States of this Union, and hardly recognized in othe'r
parts of the world.  In 1635 lands were appropriated for the
support of schools.  In 1645 friee schools were set up, and in
L647 they were established by law.  This act was followed by
another, which required every town of one hundred families to




G6          JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
support a grammar school " capable to bring up youth to college." The University at Cambridge had been already established. Our system of public instruction, though launched
upon an unknown sea, was like a well-built ship, whose harmonious and majestic proportions defy the tides and the storms.
But owing to the sparseness of the population, and the
deficiency of teachers, the grammar schools were neglected.
Gradually and of necessity, their places were supplied by
academies.
Pursuing its plan of educating the whole people, the State
made liberal grants to these institutions, and they, in return,
have performed important services in the work of education.
It is true that the energies* of the state are chiefly, if not altogether devoted to what is called the public system-that is,
there is a desire to return to and completely execute the plan
of our ancestors.
The primary schools are encouraged, not sustained, by a
fund; the principal towns are required to support high schools;
four Normal schools are maintained by the public treasury, and
scholarships have been founded in the colleges.
This system contemplates the education of the whole people.
But the time has not yet arrived when academies can be with
safety neglected. Those having means of usefulness, and the
wisdom properly to apply those means, will occupy in the
future even a more distinguished position than now.
But they must seek their prosperity with the general system'f the State. The expenditures of Massachusetts for strictly
educational purposes, are not less than two millions of dollars
a year —that is to say, one three-hundredth part of the property of the State, equal to the valuation, real and personal, of
an average town, is annually consumed in this department.
We may well inquire what and how this returns? A sufficient
return would be found in the elevated character of the people,
without any allowance for the fact that at least one-seventh
have never enjoyed the blessings of New England schools.
It may also be said, without ostentation, that the West is
our debtor, and indeed that we have made valuable contributions to the learning and labor of every state of the Union.
From our system of education has come that wealth, which
has enabled Massachusetts to build within and without her
territory, more miles of railway than any other equal population on the globe. Counting the cotton gin as a Massachusetts
invention, as it is, we may properly set our contributions, by
the agency of mechanics to the useful labors of life, against the
whole American Union besides. The same cause has enabled
us to avail ourselves of the wealth of nature, and in some. —  a-.                                              -- I




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                  67
instances to convert the evidences of our poverty into the
means ot sustenance.
It is said that the river Irewell, which runs by Bolton and
Manchester, is the hardest worked stream in the world.  Next
to it, I believe, is the Blackstone, whose valley and course are
chiefly in Massachusetts.  Massachusetts and Maine will build
this vear three hundred thousand tons of shipping, equal to
one-fiftieth of the commercial marine of the world, and twentyfive thousand tons more than the annual increase of the tonnage
of Great Britain.  It is equal to a fleet of three hundred ships
of a thousand tons burthen each.
These are a part only of the many ways by which general
learning contributes to general wealth and prosperity,  On
such an occasion as this, these remarks may be pardoned;
though it is possible that our enemies may take the opportunity
again to say that Massachusetts is always great in her own
eyes.  I hope, sir, that so she always will be.   A  proper
self-respect  is  necessary to the character of every man
and every  state.   Experience  is  a  lamp  whose  light
penetrates the darkness of the future.  Let us not shut our
eyes to its rays, whether others will see or not, and let 1us observe the requirements of the Constitution, " to cherish the
interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of
them."
The following letters were received by the Committee of
Arraiiggements.
WILLIAMS COLLEGE, JUNE 30th, 1854.
GENTLEMEN:
Your circular of the present month, inviting me to join with you in your
celebration at Groton, on the 12th prox., is just received.
My duties here, I regret to say, must prevent this. Most gladly would
I be present; not merely because it is a literary festival, but because of
the deep interest felt in Lawrence Academy by my friend, Mr. Amos
Lawrence, and because of the connexion instituted by him between that
Institution and this College. That act of his, like his acts generally, was
the result both of affectionate interest anti sound wisdom, and I trust the
connexion will prove increasingly useful to both institutions.
It will always give me much pleasure to hear of the prosperity of Lawrence Academny, and to that, as well as to the high'gratification of all who
may be present, I trust the coming celebration will largely contribute.
With high respect,
Yours,
MARK ]HOPKINS.
HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE, and Others
Committee of Invitation.




068             JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
LYzNNx, JuIY  7, 1854.
DEAR SIR 
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of an invitation to attend
the Jubilee celebration of the Lawrence Academy, at Groton, on July 12;
I regret that it, will not be in my power to be present on so interesting an
occasion.  If toasts shoul d be a fashion at the table, you will allowe me to
send you one, and you will oblige me by offering it in my nan.e:.
TIle ancient Town of Groton-Her sons of an earlier day stood in the front rank of the men
who were battling for Independence; those of the present day show that they know lmwv to
reap the best fruits of it, by their devotion to the cause of education,.
With much respect, I remain,
Your obedient servant,
WMI. H.- PRESCOTT.
GARDINER EMIE.r7 JUL. 1 11, 154.
GENTLEMIEN:
Your friendly greetings of the 25th May, addressed to me, have been
duly received. The best feelings of my heart responded to this call, 
and said, go, and participate in the Jubilee; but the excessive hot weather
of the past week, and some matters of business interpose their objection,
and say, you cannot go; therefore I feel compelled to forego the pleasure',
I had at one time anticipated, of being present at the. Jubilee celebration of
the 12th inst, at the Academy in Groton. Most of my distinct and pleasant
recollections of this Institution go back a period of sixty years-viz: to
July, 1794. Henry Moor was then Preceptor. About this time we had
what we then called the " Great Exhibition." The old nmeeting-hoase was
itted up for the occasion; we had a band of music from Boston, (whichwas then counted as a dcay's journey distant firom Groton); this band had
Peter Smirk, the Dutchman, and the great French horn-blower of his day,
for leader. The exhibition consisted principally of dramatic peDrformance s,
in which most of the pupils took parts, and myself among the rest, and
was honored with the presence of most of the Rev. and Hon. gentlemen
of the vicinity, and an audience supposed to consist of 2,000, persons. This
was a great day for the pupils, and so far as I recollect, was a matter of
great gratification to the older portions of the community,  It wNould have
given me great pleasure to have visited Groton, my native town, on this
occasion, and to have seen some of the few living associates of my early
days.  Gentlemen, I send my cordial greeting to the meeting, with'the
hope that your call will be responded to by a full attendance, and that the
object of the meeting may be fully realized; and to all that have any recollections of, or recognize any acquaintance with me, I send,my particular and kind regards.
Very respectfullyzy our obedient servant%.
EDwVARD: SWAN.
[JAMES WALKER
CTo the Ho.  ABBOTT LAWRENCE,
To the  JOHN P. BIGELOW, and OTiERS,
Graduates of Lawrence Academy, at Groton. Mass.




JUBILEE OF LAWIRENCE ACADEMY.               69
Mr. Bigelow called upon Hon. Amos Kendall, ex-Post Master General, for a speech.
lHe declined, however, to make any extended remarks, and
after expressing his pleasure at witnessing such a gathering,
offered the following sentiment:
New Eng7ancd —Richer than Californi-a. The minds of her sons and
(laughters are her placers.; her teachers are the miners.
The following' sentiment was then offered 
Our Alumni, ewho have adorned and houeored thze Clerical profession.
Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., of Boston, responded to this
sentiment in the following eloquent remarks:
AMR. CHAIRMAN:
I rise in compliance with your call, though it takes me by
surprise.  From intimations made to me of the arrangements
of this meeting, I had presumed that I should have been suft
fered to remain thlroughout a silent participant in the pleasures
and festivities of this hour.  Not the faintest idea., I may add
app)rehensione, was entertained that I should be called up to respond to any sentiment, much more to speak in behalf of a venerable body of brethren and fathers, with whom  it is my
privilege indeed to be enrolled, but who may well claim  other
voices more quickening and eloquent than mine to attenlpt so
Imuch,as an acknowledgement in their name.  Sir, it is a responsibility, a distinction, which I would most gladly shun.
unt your " inexorable kindness " imposes the necessity, and I
must obey.
Mr. Chairman, another consideration I beg to premise.
When the honor of an invitation was extended to me to this
Jubilee, I expressly stipulated, whilst cordially acknowledging
the favor conferred, that in coming here I should be permitted
to occupy the humblest place (as best became me,) in the assemblage of associate guests.  But I find that a chair has been
assigned me, and in a conspicuous place.  Now, sir, a Chair in
such presence is expected to be filled with the gravity of Wisdorn or the gravity of Age.  To the claims of the first I make
no pretensions.  The honors of the second I would fain,  on
this day, decline.  I came hither to feel and live over the Boy.
Yes, sir, once more, and for the last time, to try at least to
feel as when once I was a boy.  I was coming to Groton, dear
old Groton; I was coming to the structure where first I learnt




70              JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
to constr'ue and scan —to the scenes which encompass us-those
beautiful fields and meads, surrounded by yonder blue hills,
" Where erst my careless childhood stray'd,
A stranger yet to pain."
Under these circumstances was it wrong to feel, to wish, to
presume, once more, and for a day, to pass for a boy? My
youthful emotions were brought along with me. But, sir,
your call dispels them. It disturbs me. It awakens me firom
a fond delusion;  the dream  is gone.  I am reminded that I
am no longer a stripling, but a manu; yes, and a veritable old
man ~ that youth with its blithesome clays is past, no more to
return, and that I must submit to the conditions of Age.
Enough have I said of the circumstances in which I appear;
still, I cannot divest myself of a grating sense of incongruity.
It is (my friend, the eloquent orator of' the day, at my side,
will correct me if I quote not the Scripture aright.) it is " as
snow in summer," or " as vinegar on nitre," this call to speak
from one of a " heavy heart."  Yet, in the name of my clerical
associates, the Alumni of old Groton (now Lawrence)' Academy, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank the gentlemen of
the Committee of Arrangeenauts for the complimentary notice
just taken of our character and office. Still, it is not as their
representative, not as a minister, that I would occupy the attention of this company for a brief space longer. I would discard the minister for the reminiscent.  Not that I can forget
the sacredness of the office which I am privileged to hold; not
that I would account it lightly, or as an incumhrance at times,
which may at pleasure be dropped.  No, sir; I remember that
the vows of God are upon me, and sooner shall " my right
hand forget its cunning," sooner shall.' my tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth," than  I consent in any presence or on
any occasion, festive or otherwise, by a conscious act of mine,
to detract from, to ignore-if I may not magnify —the dignity
of the Sacred Office.
But, sir, memory, busy memory, reverts at this hour to distant days.  They come up freshly and stand bright before me.
It was in my childhood, before my eighth summer, when I first
entered as a pupil the doors of " Groton Academy."  Of my
proficiency there, I have nothing to say, save that, if it was
small, it was from no fault of instruction, and at the close of
the period it reflected, little lustre on the institution.  At that
date pupils of both sexes were taught inl the same room, a spacious one —it seemed a Hall to me. They were chiefly much
my seniors, far advanced in youth.  Young men were there
who had passed their minority, and among them Were scholars
who had made great progress —students ardent, diligent and
I                                     




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.              71
ambitious, who knew  and appreciated their advantages, and,
as I need not add, were an honor to the school. It is enough
for me to recall from among them the name of thelate James G.
Kendall, who proved an accomplished scholar, a good, an estimable and learned man, at whose feet, as tutor, I was happy to
sit, as a grateful pupil, some nine years after, when a student in
Harvard University. He, James G. Kendall,was a man destined
to make his mark on the age. He did it. And whether as
pupil of this Seminary, as College Instructor, as member of
our State Legislature, or in the Hall of Congress, and in private life, he was a man equally to be esteemed, honored and
beloved.
But, sir, other memories are revived on this occasion,
and among them  onze, to  which I shall confine  myself,
connected with the, then, honorable Head of this Institution.
On my entrance into the Academy, nothing struck me more
forcibly than the kindly consideration of its Preceptor for the
youngest of his flock. He neglected none. He cared for all. With
a mind richly endowed, which could reach and pass the understandings and aspirings of the most advanced,he had patience and
marked forbearance, often sorely tried, for the shortcomingsof
the weak and backward. He was indulgent to the least The
lad of tender age found in him not only a sage, but gentle and
condescending guide; and the wisdom, which might not be appreciated in its fulness, was yet instinctively revered. He
won the love and affectionate esteem of all about him. And
among the many testimonials, most richly merited, this day
rendered to the distinguished worth and services of Caleb
Butler in the sphere he then occupied, I beg to offer the hulmble tribute of my acknowledgments,for the indulgence extended
to me in my early school-boy days, when placed under his benignant rule. His kindliness and amenity, as evinced in all the
social relations of life, have ever been proverbial. But most
conspicuously were they displayed in the office of which I
speak, and the intercourse he held with all his youthful charge.
The emotions of gratitude thence awakened in my own bosom
have never faded, and cannot grow dim while memory lasts.
Other eulogists may expatiate, as most fitly they should, on
his higher claims to homage in the station which at that time
and for many more years he so honorably filled. I love to recall him as the winning teacher, combining suavity with dignity, mildness with firmness. and who exercised patience unwearied and condescention the most engaging to the humblest
and smallest of all those who souglht instruction from his lips.
His influence, I doubt not, has come down in the school
through the line of his distinguished successors. It still lives,




72             JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
I make no question, still presides in the Seminary, and I trust
will ever survive, contributing, as it cannot fail to do, in concert with other and eminent advantages, to the maintenance of
the high, the undiminished, and yet extending popularity, of
this cherished Institution.
As I dwell on these remembrances, I am  forcibly reminded
of a beautiful but quaint description left by Cotton MIather, of
one of New England's worthies in the days of our forefathers.
In his character of Ezekiel Rogers, the good old minister of
Rowley, and grandson of the famous John, of Smithfield, Mather
says, " IHe was a Tree of Knowledge, but so laden with fruit
that he stoopt for the -very children to pick off the apples
ready to drop into their mouths."  The application of this illustrative saying, in its special personality, needs not to be
pointed out. I shall only avail myself of a hint it offers to
shape a sentiment of broader cast -which is submitted in conclusion:
OLD GROTON (now) " LAWIRENCE " ACADEMY-Long mnay it flourish as a
Tree of KIr!owledge, whose golden bows waving aloft shall tempt the
emulation of the most aspiring, bhut whose humbler stems may droop so
low that even striplings can reach and pluck the fruit from its branches.
The President announced the next regular toast.
6. Our Alumni of the Teacher's profession.
IHe called upon Mir. Thomas Sherwin, of Boston, to reply.
Mr. Sherwin made a brief, but playful and exceedingly interesting speech, in which he alluded to the happy influence of
mixed schools, where the two sexes assist the teacher's efforts by
educating each other. He offered the following sentiment:
The fair Alhumnn of Lawrence Academy-uIn their joys we rejoice; in
their sorrows we mourn; in their intelligence we gain mental vigor; in
their humanity we are transformed into more perfect manhood; in their
heroism we gain courage and strength.
The President then read the following toast:
7. The memory of Our Deceased Benefactors —Their names shall live
forever.
Mr. Samuel Lawrence was called upon to respond to this
sentiment.  He said:
I cheerfully respond to the call from you, MIr. President, and
before doing so, beg to bring before the audience a matter




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADE-MY.              73
which you and some others could have spoken of most feelingly.
Not one word has been said of the large mahogany ferule, formerly kept in the Academy. You, Mr. President, I am sure,
will unite with me in thanking our beloved Preceptor for the
judicious and temperate use he made of it about the time we
were under his care. The occasion, Mr. President, revives so
many memories of the past that I b.g to be indulged in the
reminiscences which I now recall most vividly.
I well remember, being the only audience, when my brother,
Abbott, with great effect, as I thought, rehearsed in the open
air, mounted on a fence, "My name is Norval; on the Grampian Hills my father feeds his flock, &c., &c.," suiting the action
to the word, and pointing to that grand mountain chain in sight
of us, I was so charmed that I sreadily imagined hlim to be the
real Norval.
And now, Mr. President, let me assure you I most heartily
concur in all that the orator of the day has said of MIr. and
Mrs. Brazer, as benefactors to our Institution.  HI-e was a
petitioner for the charter, and a faithful and liberal Trustee
till his death. The bequest made by Mrs. Brazer was munificent, and gave a powerful impetus to its growth.
My first impressions of a very rich man are embodied in
Mr. Brazer.  I have since seen the Barings, Rothschilds,
Girarcd, and Astor, but never has wealth impressed me so
powerfully as in the person of old Esquire Brazer. It is known
to many here, that a reverse of fortune met the only son of Mr.
Brazer.
I have lately become possessed of some facts which, I am
sure, will interest the audience, and, as a Trustee and guardian
of this school, I beg the attention of the boys in particular.
John Brazer, a grandson of our Benefactor, was fitted for college at this Academy, and entered Dartmouth. Before the end
of the first year, his family were unable to meet his expenses.
An excellent and devoted sister stated the case to a gentleman
of Lowell, who advanced the necessary amount during his college life, and took his note. He has since become a distinguished civil engineer in Alabama, and has repaid in full his
debt, the last remittance within the present month.
We have reason to believe, Mr. President, that the wheel of
fortune has again turned in favor of the family of our respected
benefactor; and I beeo to offer as a sentiment:
Our Boys —"' Long may they shine, as stars of truth."
The following letters were designed by the Committee of
Arrangements to be read, but for want of time were omitted.
They are offered here instead.




74             JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
LOD, MICI-I., JULY 4, 1854.
GENTLEMEN:
It is with unfeigned regret, that I must say, that previous engagements,
and other circumstances, will prevent my being present at the proposed
Jubilee in honor of our "Alma (Grand) Mater."'
Nothing, scarcely, of earth's scenes could give me greater pleasure, than
thus to meet with so many of the associates of my early classic course;to take by the hand once more, after the lapse of nearly half a century,
a Lawrence, a Bigelow, a mralker, a Dana, and many others who were
there with me in early youth, but who have since been called to somre of
the most arduous and honorable posts in church and state, while I have
been permitted to "' hold the even tenor of my way," in an uninterrupted
course of classical instruction, in the Academy and the College, for more
than forty years.
mWhy should 1 not, then, continue to be interested in whatever is connected with all such institutions, which have so long been my home, and
especially the one in which, I received the first impulse of all my future
course.
May she continue to rise, like the luminary of the natural world, " Alter
et idem"'-another, and yet Ihe same-till the rays of sound science and
literature, like those of light,, shall shine on every land. And may those
by whose beneficence she has become "another, and yet the same," receive their rich reward in the consciousness of having thus attempted, in
their measure, to imitate the Great "Father of Lights."
I have the honor, gentlemen, and early associates, to subscribe myself
Yours, in the bonds of undying friendship,
RUFUS NUTTING.
To the REv. JAMES WALKER, HON. ABBOTT
LAWRENCE, HON. JOHN P. BIGELOW; and
OTHERS, Alumni of " Lawrence Academy," at Groton, Mass.
PORTLAND, JULY 1, 1854.
Myr DEAR SIR:
With thankfulness for your kind note of invitation to the "Jubilee
Celebration," 1 am obliged to inform you that I must be deprived of the
pleasure of being present on that interesting occasion, the discharge of
my official duties requiring rme to be at Bangor at that time.
When I call to mind what have been the results of education commenced there, as exhibited in after life by the children of the farmers of
Groton, I can be at no loss to account for the attachment, and the noble
generosity of your family to it.
Many farmers in GrotoD, when we were school-boys, although "well to
live,"' had little more of property than their farms, and the stock upon
them; and but for the facilities afforded by that Academy, and the good




JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.                   75
instruction there provided, they would not have been able to give their
children education preparing them for success in almost any condition
of life.
To the great credit of those possessed of more wealth, and of the social
position conferred by professional life, as well as to the farmers, there was
then a common sentiment prevailing in the town, that no one was disparaged by boarding at horne, and walking daily fiom one to three miles to
attend the Academy; and the farmers could thus procure good education
for their children at comparatively little expense, and without reproach.
To the existence of the Academy, nd this common sentiment, do I
attribute it that the Lawrences, Farnsworths, Fitches, Moores,.Rockwoods,
Lewises, Sawtells, Shepleys, and other farmers of that town, were enabled
to send forth children of both sexes who have had no inconsiderable influence in many towns, cities, and States. To the energy, industry, moral
and mental discipline there acquired or strengthened, may be attributed
their subsequent success.
I speak of the children of both sexes, for I call to mind with pleasure
their union in that Academy, for instruction, where they mutually exerted
a favorable influence upon each other's mind and manners; the females
contributing refinement and delicacy, and the males self-reliance and
perseverance; thus better preparing both for the graces and the conflicts
of life.
To your own wife allow me to appeal, as a proof of the superiority of an
education thus acquired over one in which the ornamental branches are
the chief objects of attraction.
Please accept for yourself, and present to all the assembled Alumni, my
hearty gratulations, not forgetting our Preceptor, and best wishes for their
happiness during the present, and in the future life.
I have the honor to be, with much respect,
Your obedient servant,
ETHER SHEPLEY.
HON. ABBOTT LAWRENCE.
Mr. Bigelow now proposed that when the meeting should
adjourn, it should be to re-assemble at the Centennial Jubilee
of Lawrence Academy, some forty years to come.  This was
voted by an unanimous aye.
A toast from the Orator of the day was demanded by the
President, which, after a few  remarks, Mr. Means gave as
follows:
The true end of female education in Lawrence Academy-The qualities
ascribed by Cowley to the wife of his friend. Sir John Evelyn:
"The sweetest garden in her looks,
And in her mind the wisest books."




76          JUBILEE OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.
The whole assembly united in singing Auld Lang Syne, and
the meeting was dissolved.
So ended the public exercises of the proudest and happiest
day perhaps, that Groton ever knew. So ended the festivities,
which were prolonged to the evening of a long summer's day.
But our account of them must not end without paying a merited
tribute to the lion. John P. Bigelow,whose admirable qualities as
a presiding officer are beyonM all praise. By a thousand indescribable touches he gave a happy direction to every occurrence
and kept the whole company in the best humor. His knowledge of men and things, his use and skill in similar situations,
his classic and legal allusions, his spirit fully up to the emergency, were like the most agreeable condiments to the most
agreeable of feasts. At the same time, that delicate shade of
feeling begotten by the spot and its scenes, by tender recollections of friends and days long since passed away, gave a force
and meaning to his words, which could never attach themselves
to mere indifferent, or, so to speak, disinterested humor.
All the inhabitants of the town took a profound interest in
the celebration, and their attachment to the Academy will be
strengthened and perpetuated by it. They will make the
school famous in future years by leading thither their sons and
daugliters, to taste the waters, whose efficacy has already become famous in the history of the early Alumni.