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1149127
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
( f 2/T^«3,.^Z^P<.
3 1833 01145 7154
REHOBOTH, IN THE PAST.
AN
HISTORICAL OEATION
DELIVERED ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, 18G0,
SYLVANUS CHACE NEWMAN, A. M.,
MEMBER OF THE RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY; HONORARY MEMBER OF
THE DORCHESTER HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY; AND GENEA-
LOGICAL, SECRETARY OF THE BLACKSTONE MONUMENT ASSOCIATION.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS
IN SEEKONK, [the Ancient Rehoboth,]
AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE DAY,
COMPLETING TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN YEARS OF ITS HISTORY.
' Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, -which our fathers made."
Josh, xxii., 28.
PAWTUCKET:
PRINTED BY ROBERT SHERMAN, MAIN STREET.
1860.
\
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
Sylvanus Chace Newman,
la the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for Rhode Island.
[COHEESPONDENCE.]
Seezonk, July 6, I860.
Bear Sib, —
At a meeting of the Committee of Arrangements for the celebra-
tion at Seekonk on the 4th inst., holden this day, the enclosed resolve was
unanimously adopted, and it affords me pleasure to be the instrument of
communicating the same to you.
Permit me also to express the sense of gratitude which the Committee, in
common with their fellow citizens, feel for the most acceptable service per-
formed by you on that occasion, and also personally to solicit a compliance
with the very general wishes of our inhabitants.
With profound respect, your obd't servant,
JOSEPH BROWN,
To S. C. Newman, Esq.
[COPY.]
" Eesolved, That the thanks of the Committee of Arrangements be pre-
sented to S. C. Newman, A. M., of Pawtueket, for the interesting and val-
uable Historical Oration delivered by him at the Congregational Church, at
Seekonk, on the 4th inst.
Voted, That the Chairman, Joseph Bi'own, Esq., be a Committee to com-
municate the foregoing resolution, and request a copy for the press."
JOSEPH BROWN, C/miman.
Attest : Wm. Ellis, Secretari/.
Pawtucket, R. I., July 10, 18Ga.
Dear Sir, —
Your kind note of the 6th inst., enclosing a copy of the resolution
of the Committee for the late Festal Gathering in Seekonk, requesting a
copy of my Oration delivered on that occasion, has been received.
I am under obligations to the Committee for their favorable estimate of
my discourse, and, relying upon their judgment, cheerfully comply with
their request.
Be pleased to accept my acknowledgments for the kind terms in which
you have conveyed the request of the Committee, and be assured that I am,
dear sir,
Respectfully your obt. servt.,
S. C. NEWMAN.
To Joseph Brown, Esq., '\
Chairman of Committee, &c.,
Seekonk, Mass. )
DEDICATION.
To THE Inhabitants of my Native Town, having been
HONORED with AN INVITATION FROM THEIR COMMITTEE TO
DELIVER IT, THIS OrATION, WITH WARM GRATITUDE FOR THE
sympathizing attention with which it was received, is
Respectfully and affectionately
Dedicated,
By their Friend,
S. C. NEWMAN.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The following Oration is here printed from the manuscript as origi-
nally prepared and delivered.
In a field so broad, and covering so large a portion of time, it was
found difficult to condense into the limits of a popular discourse much
that might be interesting to the future, in a historic point of view.
Indeed, many of the facts were obliged to be so briefly alluded to as to
render them hardly intelligible to the general reader ; but an attempt
has been made to, in some measure, remedy this, and also to correct
some long standing historic mistakes, by a series of appendant notes,
referred to in the text by reference letters. Much tune and labor
has been bestowed in examining the sources from which early writers
drew their reported facts, and in research for other material relative to
those times referred to in this discourse. And it is beheved that from
the care thus bestowed upon the minutice, the general aspect of this
brief picture of Rehobotu in the Past will be found as substantially
correct as so brief a limit could well admit of.
The author would here tender his thanks to all who may have in any
way contributed to the general success of that interesting Festal Gath-
ering, in favor of which, the Public, as reflected from the Pulpit and
the Press, has already pronounced its verdict.
ORATION.
Fellow Citizens :
The partiality of the projectors of this
pious gathering has placed me in a rather delicate
position, on iiccount of mj relationship to the founder
of this ancient town and church ; but I shall endeavor
to forego all such considerations, and seek to present
ungarnished truth, let its inspiring mantle fall as it
may.
On the centennial milestones that mark the great
highway of civilization, even back to the days of an-
cient learning and artistic splendor, may be seen the
graphic inscription, " We are living in an extraordi-
nary age." This has been the spontaneous exclama-
tion of observing men in every past age ; and it has
been relatively true. Nor has it lost any of its truth
in this, our age ; but rather returns uj)on us in ten-
fold force. We, too, are living in a truly wonderful
age. Nature has commenced revealing her sublimer
mysteries. Science has commenced in earnest to open
her inner temple, and is rapidly upsetting the mis-
takes of the past, and is scattering the seeds of utility
broadcast over the age in which we live. Time is an
insatiable depredator, and by silently appearing to
10
take nothing, is too often permitted to take all. But,
in this age, if we go to the site of Babylon or Nine-
veh, and see nothing externally but a heap of dust —
if in gazing externally at the prostrate columns and
shattered capitals of Palmyra, Baalbec and Thebes, we
read nothing but ruin — if, in fancy, we take our stand
in the dim, hushed temple of Karnak, and by the red
glare of torchlight can read nothing but the dialect of
eternal decay, — yet by skillfully applying the smooth
and polished keys of present Science to the labyrinth-
ian locks of Nature and ancient art, the accuracy of
the present state of the comparative anatomy of things
will cause a few apparently useless fragments to reveal
all the fair proportions of the ancient structure, and
reproduce it in all its dimensions. If Time has dealt
harshly with the sculptured marble, it is now within
the reach of reproduction ; and what is still more won-
derful in this age, if the shade of Time has stealthily
drawn his decomposing brush over the speaking can-
vas, robbing the pictured form of its grace, and tar-
nished the cheek of beauty, it is an achievement of
this age that the fair and manly forms that once sat
by the easels of Titian, Rubens or Raphael, though
defaced by time, or earlier incompetent restorers, can
now, by scientific art, be restored to all the exact
original grace and tints once imparted by the pencils
of those great masters. But among the many other
prominent features of this age, is that of its spirit and
energy in antiquarian research, and in drawing forth
from the musty archives of the past, detached and faded
fiicts, and, through the comparative anatomy of Truth,
restore something of the originals, and place them in
11
more clumble condition, for the benefit of present and
coniino: venerations of men.
In attempting to present on this occasion something
of the original settlers of this venerable town, I shall
not summon them from yonder cemetery, in their
skeletons of bones, and offer them to your mental
view merely in shrouds and coffins, but slvall endeavor
to reclothe them with flesh and sinew, and to drape
them in the habiliments of their once mortal exist-
ence, and, in some measure, present them as they trod
this consecrated platform of religious and social life
two hundred 3'ears ago.
And, first, I will endeavor to present a glance at the
life of the founder of this town and its first pastor.
Dr. Cotton Mather, the learned author of the Magna-
lia, is one of the principal colonial historians who has
given us information on this matter ; but he has fallen
into some mistakes, thereby misleading later annal-
ists, which I have corrected from earlier and authen-
tic sources.
Rev. Samuel Newman was the son of Richard New-
man, who was a glover, or dealer in gloves and other
leathern articles of apparel, and who lived in respecta-
ble standing at Banbury, Oxford county, fifteen miles
from Oxford University, in England. The records of
the church at Banbury show that this child was bap-
tized, or christened. May 24, 1602, and as the rules of
the church required this ceremony within two weeks
from birth, when circumstancis would permit, he was
probably born about the 10th or 12th of May, 1602.
The annals of the times present us with but little
minutiae in his earlier life, so that we can only form
12
our estimate of the boy by surrounding circumstances
and the subsequent man. The family had long been
noted in the realm of England for their uniform adhe-
sion to the Protestant religion, and also for their piety
and general moral rectitude. Under these influences
the boy exhibited studious habits and also contempla-
tive propensities. His parents bestowed upon him ai
good early education, and then placed him at the Uni-
versity of Oxford. He first entered St. Edmund's Hall
for study at the age of fourteen, that department be-
ing a cheaper mode of living, but was afterwards reg-'
istered as a member of Trinity College, Oxford, where
he graduated with its honors October 17, 1620, at the
age of eighteen, [a) With all his early proclivities thus
nourished and cultivated, and his studious intimac}''
with Rev. Dr. Featly, an eminent theologic Professor
and also his intimacy with Rev. William Gouge, (who,
for nine years, was never once absent from morning
and evening prayers, and who read fifteen chapters
of the Bible every day during that nine years,) with
men like these for his chosen associates, though far
superior in years, it is not much of a wonder that a
writer of that age remarked that " lie early became a
very able minister of the New Testament." {b) Dr.
Mather, with his accustomed carelessness in minutiae,
states that the religious persecutions of the times
caused him seven removes froni churches in Eno-land,
and finally his eighth remove to America. The last
is true, but all else is a seven-fold mistake, havino; no
better foundation than his hallucinations of withcraft.
This young and talented ornament to the christian
world temporarily supphed several different pulpits
13
during the absence of their pastors, and was really
settled nowhere till in 1625, then aged twenty-three,
when he was installed pastor of Midhope Chapel, in
the West Riding of Yorkshire ; and on that occasion
his congregation presented their young and brilliant
preacher with this ministerial cane, now two hundred
and thirty-five years old, and a hale old rosewood staff
yet. [Cane exhibited.] He remained at that church
ten years, or until 1635. In that year the degrading
religious persecutions of Archbishop Laud, who was
afterwards suddenly made a head shorter, reached the
climax of bitterness for non-conformity to those whim-
sical outward ceremonials which, to the really intelli-
gent and christian people, so much resembled the old
Roman hierarchy; and it was in that year, 1635, and
not in 1636 nor 1638, as related by some of our early
annalists, that this man, with his young family and a
sister Elizabeth, came to America. In that year there
was a large emigration, and among them a company
who, in the records of Dorchester, are called the
second emigration. Among them was Rev. Richard
Mather, the progenitor of that race in America, and
our Samuel Newman, as passengers together. In that
year, owing to a large emigration from DorcJieder to
Connecticut, including their pastor, Rev. Mr. Warham,
this new company took the ^^lace of those leaving,
and purchased their lands and improvements. Mr.
Mather and the new comers reorganized the church
and drew up a new covenant, which afterwards served
as the basis of nearly all New England, and in this
organization Mr. Newman participated. He resided
at Dorchester four years, instead of one or two, as has
14
often been stated ; and the records of Dorchester say
that he was a useful citizen among them in organizing
their civil and religious condition, and a useful man in
a variety of ways. It does not appear that he was in
the ministry while at Dorchester, any more than as
a member of the church, and perhaps an occasional
preacher, but was engaged in writing his Concordance
to the Bible, and waiting for a suitable field of labor
Avhen called for. He was a freeman of the Massachu-
setts Colony and a housekeeper while at Dorchester j
and in his will, twenty-five years later, mentions his
old house-servant at Dorchester, and makes her a
bequest.
In 1639 the church at Weymouth had got itself into
three contending factions under three teachers, who
were there at the same time, viz : Mr. Hull, Mr. Jen-
ner and Mr. Lenthal. In this state of things the peo-
ple of Weymouth invited Mr. Newman to become their
sole pastor in 1639. He consulted his friends and his
duty, and concluded to gratify their wishes. He im-
mediately sold his lands to Mr. Mather, as appears by
deeds, and took charge of the church at Weymouth,
and' in him all the people of Weymouth cordially uni-
ted ; and thus permanently commenced his ministerial
labors in America. In Weymouth he gave ample sat-
isfaction to all his people, and besides his duties as a
citizen and pastor, he was diligent in carrying forward
his great work, the first /?«// Concordance to the Bible
ever attempted. He remained there till the spring of
1644. His people, joined by others of Hingham, con-
cluding that a settlement at this place would afford
them better lands and a pleasanter location, united in
15
pnrcliasing of Massasoit a territory ton miles square ;
and pastor, cliurch and people, leaving a small minor-
ity remaining, migrated to this spot and settled as a
new community ; and regarding their pastor as their
Joshua, they constituted him, by common consent, the
founder and namer of this new town. The orio-inal
o
Indian name of this place, Seekonk, was a union of
two Indian word^ sec/d, black, and onk, goose, or large
bird ; — thus it meant black goose, or what we call wild
goose ; and the Indians thus named it from the great
numbers of that bird which in that age congregated
in the neighboring Cove, on the west side of this place.
Thus originated this town, to which the pastor gave
the scriptural name of Rehoboth, remarking that " the
Lord hath opened a way for us." He probably had in
inind the twenty-sixth chapter of Genesis, verse 22d,
which reads thus : " And he called the name of it
Rehoboth ; and he said, for now the Lord hath made
room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."
This Hebrew term signified a broad way or street, a
broad place, a plateau, and certainly the topography
of this place will justify its adoption as a proper name.
Having thus traced this pious man from the place
of his birth to this his last abiding place, I will en-
deavor to group together the outlines of his history,
and that of his chosen people, down to the period of
his death. On commencing life anew, each rendered
in the amount of his property, for purposes of taxa-
tion ; and Mr. Newman's amount was £530. {c) The
first houses were log, thatched buildings, with large
stone chimneys ; and they built the town in a semi-
circle, called " the ring of the town," open on the west,
16 •
with the clnircli in the centre, and within a few feet
of this present building ; and the general outlines of
the town are now plainly visible. At this period they
were not considered as belonging to or connected with
either the Massachusetts Colony or the Plymouth Col-
ony, but were, in reality, an independent plantation.
And in this condition, while they could consult their
general wants at the public and fre.guent town meet-
ings, yet they felt the need of something of a court or
tribunal, to whom they should sul^mit ; and to meet
this, the pastor drew up an instrument which yet
remains in the archives of the town, and which still
bears the autograph signatures of the thirty heads of
families as then existing. It provided that once a
year the whole town should have a voice in choosing
nine discreet men from among themselves, and that
the decision of a majority of the nine should be final
in all matters of dispute or disagreement. It was a
very simple arrangement, but as it possessed equity
powers, and was selected by the people themselves,
and called " townsmen," it answered all its purposes,
and has existed, with various alterations of its powers,
down to your present " selectmen," This compact was
signed July 3, 1643. [d) The town was afterwards
annexed to the Plymouth Colony, and so remained
till the union of the two colonies in 1691. The
church instructed the town, and the town provided for
the church ; and for more than a century following
seemed to provide for the church as a part of itself.
The first public meetings were held under the shade
of trees in suitable weather, and in private houses
when the senson required it, l^oth religious and secu-
17
lar. The first we hear of a meeting-honse was in
October, 1646, when a tax was made to bnilcl one.
The meeting-house was partially made and rendered
halntable in 1617, and it stood where now is the wall
of the cemetery, and its south side was where the toml)
now is. In 1618 there was a tax iov finishing the meet-
ing-house. In 1659 they enlarged the meeting-house
by putting on what the vote calls a " new end," and
contracted that it be shinoled as well as Goodman
Payne's house ; and from this period the house lasted,
with some repairs, fifty-nine years, or until 1718, when
they built the second house, fronting with the old one,
but thirty feet east of it. That second house I have
seen ; it had two sets of galleries, one above the other,
and it disappeared in 1814, four years after this pres-
ent house was erected, in 1810, having lasted, with
various repairs, ninety-six years ; and at last became
a residence for sheep and bats, and finally its lumber
was used in erecting the present town-house or hall.
But from this meetino'-house disrression let us return
to their first years. In the absence of bells, they beat
the drum to give notice of the time for public worship ;
and seating the meeting according to seniority and
other orders of respectability was the delicate task of
a yearly committee appointed by the town. In some
parts of New England it was the custom to preach
by the hour, as measured by the hour-glass, and the
preacher must preach till the sand had run out, wheth-
er his ideas had all run out or not; [e) but such was
not the case with this people, — they had an able min-
ister, who measured his discourse by its importance
and his ability in condensing it. Everj^-thing wore a
3'
18
religious aspect ; but they took no part iu those super-
stitious folhes involved in the early laws of Connecticut
nor the persecutions at the headquarters of the Bay
Colony at Boston. The first settlers of this place
were very generally men of good abilities, and of con-
siderable more than ordinary education for those times.
But they were an isolated plantation ; and it provokes
a smile to read on their town records of 1649 the ap-
j)ointment of a committee of two of their ablest men,
John Brown and Stephen Payne, with power to em-
ploy a surveyor ; and for what ? why to accomplish
the difficult task of finding the way to Dedham ! a
journey now traveled in about forty minutes. This
vote alone is a whole chapter in the history of the
difference between their times and ours. They were
on good terms wdth their Indian friends, and having
purchased and paid for their lands, the Indians fully
acknowledged their peaceable possession down to the
time of Philip's war. (/) There was a very faithful
Indian, whose original name ought to have been pre-
served, but whom the settlers called Sam, whether
after their pastor or otherwise I know not, but he
was the general shepherd for the town in watching
their flocks and herds at the great " Ox Pasture," and
driving the cows home at night and distributing them
about in their appropriate yards ; and such was the
esteem in which he was held, that on the books of the
town there is a vote admitting him to all the privi-
leges of citizenship. This is the first instance, and I
think the only instance, in all our colonial history,
where a native born American has been naturalized
on his own soil by a community of foreigners ; but
19
the name of" Uncle Sam"" yet remains a very popular
cognomen for our common country.
Their town meetinsrs were held in their meetins:-
house, and for many years " Father Bowen/' as the
records call Mr. Richard Bowen, was a sort of stereo-
typed moderator ; and he also served as clerk. And
here a word on the term M7\ It was very rarely
applied, and only to clergymen and citizens of much
more than ordinary distinction, and more rarely than
w^e now use the title of Honorable. The common title,
as we now use Mister, was Goodman, and for 3frs. they
used the term Goodwife or Goody ; — thus Goodman
and Goody Paine instead of Mr. and Mrs. Paine. I
mention this little fact because it will throw light on
old books when being read by young persons ; and
this was not a peculiar trait in this people, but com-
mon to that age in all the colonies. Their log houses,
with clay-thatched roofs, resembled a thing two stories
in front and no story in the rear, the back eaves reach-
ing nearly to the ground and towards the north to ward
off storms, and the front facing the south to enjoy the
sun. The fire-place and oven of stone, and chimney-
flue of board lined with clay, were of large dimensions,
so that there were little sitting-rooms on each side of
the huge fire, with oak ])enches for sofas, from which
they could look out of the chimney and see the same
stars, planets and moon which had shone on them in
their native Europe, with inspiring visions of the homes
of their forefathers. Fire-wood was plentiful, and their
food, clothing, furniture and general habits were so
plain and substantial that they knew not the want of
valerian root, homoeopathic globules, or artificial bloom
20
for tlieir cheeks. In these independent castles there
were rehgioiis purity, much innocent merriment and
general neighborhood sociality ; and barley beer, made
by the goody or mother of the family, was the common
beverage when they exceeded water. In this plain,
unsophisticated manner, with pitch-pine knots whit-
tled into candles, they spent their winter evenings in
teaching children to read, write and cipher, and in
cheerful social parties, frequently attended by their
smiling pastor, who, with all his puritan gravity, was
often caught at play with the assembled children of the
whole neighborhood as if they had been his own. (^)
The young men were ambitious in the art of tilling
the soil, and of being found at church on the Sabbath ;
and the girls, though constant at church, were hardly
considered marriageable till, in addition to their daily
practice in the art of housekeeping, they could show
a pillow-case full of stockings of their own knitting,
and woollen, linen and tow dresses enough, spun Avith
their own hands, to last them till tlieir first born dauo;h-
ter would be old enough to begin to pull flax. Every-
body learned a trade, and that trade was, the art or
mystery of being diligent in some real utility. How
different were those girls from ours ! I am not here
to say which are the best ; but if the Great Author of
the celebrated sermon on the Mount were here, he
might see fit to repeat his own words in reference to
many of the young ladies of this age : " They toil
not, neither do they spin, yet Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these." Their mode of
travel was generally on foot. There were but few
horses for horseback, and no carriages other than the
21
ox carts for farming ; and when new comers began to
settle at a distance from the " ring of the town," they
often took their families to meeting; with ox teams.
But with all this simplicity of social condition, they
were a pious, intelligent, law-abiding and hospitable
people, exhibiting much of genuine goodness, and left
an example that entitles the soil that here they once
trod to be regarded as consecrated ground, — conse-
crated to religion, to sound morality and to good citi-
zenship ; and, as such, their memory is entitled to our
gratitude and respect.
Such was the general aspect of this community down
to 1663, the period of the death of their pastor, and
such were the people with whom he held daily inter-
course, and to whom he weekly, and often semi-weekly,
imparted his ministrations. I will now attempt a brief
summary of his life and character ; and in doing this
shall ofter no high-wrought eulogy, but simply present
him in the position to which he is fairly entitled, and
the position which I think he is destined to occupy
in coming ages.
His Concordance. There had been partial Concord-
ances, or rather indexes to certain parts of the Bible,
attempted by Cardinal Charo, in the thirteenth cen-
tury, and by several others in Hebrew, Greek and
Latin, but the first full Concordance in English, that on
w^hich Cruden's and all later ones are based, was writ-
ten or compiled by Samuel Newman. The first edition
was printed at London in 1643, the last year of his
ministry at Weymouth. The second edition was pre-
pared in this town and printed at London in 1650, and
22
the third and last edition, still more complete, was
prepared here and printed at London in 1658, two
hundred and two years ago this year ; and here is the
identical copy he reserved for his own use. It has
been pronounced by Biblical scholars a monument of
learning, genius, industry and skill. To the christian
world, as its sacred literature then was, the admirable
arrangement and perfect execution of this task was a
glittering casket of diamonds, cut from the Scriptures,
and set, for convenience, in j)ictures of gold. Highly
and justly as this perfect guide to every significant
word in the whole Bible, Apocrypha and all, was prized
in Europe and America, this infant tovvm, though then
a wilderness, could claim the honor of its production.
But,
" Each pleasure hath its poison, too,
And every sweet a snare."
His publishers at London failed and defrauded him of
all pecuniary reward for his labors; and about the
time of his death, another edition being called for by
the sales it met with, it was re-published at Cambridge
University, England, under the high-sounding title of
the " Cambridge Concordance," faintly crediting its
authorship to the initial letters " S. N.," in small type,
without stating whether of Old or New England, or
the moon. Perhaps it would be difficult to find in
the whole history of authorship an instance of more
flagrant wrong committed upon a toihng scholar, about
leaving the world, and unable to speak for himself by
a distance of three thousand miles. But it was said by
the Psalmist of old, " The righteous shall be in ever-
lasting remembrance," a reward of far more value than
zo
booksellers' remittances; and I am prond of an op-
portunity, though at the distance of two centuries, to
vindicate his memory on this the original site of his
achievements, though I could wish that the task had
fallen to abler hands. Thus much of this sacred monu-
ment of his literary labors.
His intellectual and eeltgious character, and his
DEATH. It is to be regretted that thirteen years after
his decease, his library and papers, bequeathed in his
will to his son Noah, and successor in the ministry,
fared hard at the burning of the " ring of the town "
on the 28th of March, 1676, by the Indians in Philip's
war. Only a fragment of his diary escaped that con-
flagration, but it is an important one. It was the
private platform of his life, and the one on which
cotemporary writers say he implicitly stood during
his w^hole residence in America. This brief but im-
portant document is as follows :
" Notes or marks of grace I find in myself; not wherein I desire to
glory, but to take ground of assurance, and after our apostle's rules,
to make my election sure, though I find them but in weak measure :
1. I love God, and desu-e to love God, principally /or himself.
2. I desire to requite evil with good.
3. A looking up to God, to see him and his hand in all things that
befall me.
4. A greater fear of displeasing God, than all the world.
5. A love of such christians as I never saw, or received good from.
6. A grief yAiQii I see God''s commands broken by any person.
7. A moui'ning for not finding the assurance of God's love, and the
sense of his favour, in that comfortable manner, at one time as at another ;
and not being able to serve God as I should.
8. A willingness to give God the glory of any ahility to do good.
9. A joy when I am in christian company, in Godly conference.
24
10. A grief, when I perceive it goes ill ivith christians, and tlie
contrary.
11. A constant performance of secret duties, between God and my-
self, morning and evening.
12. A bewailing of such sins which none in the world can accuse
me of.
13. A choosing of suffering to avoid sin."
As his implicit practice of, and adherence to, these
thirteen golden rules, oflfeprings of their great proto-
type in the New Testament, is corrol:)orated hj ample
cotemporary testimony, no other evidence need be
adduced to exhibit his as a well balanced, pure and
lofty christian character. The more they are scru-
tinized from a christian stand-point, the purer and
brighter they will shine. And, to a suggestive mind,
this number of thirteen might appear as rather ominous,
for they would have strengthened the moral force of
that immortal document we have heard read to-day
as the platform of the thirteen new-born States, crea-
ting a vast Eepublic, which can permanently endure
only on a basis of political righteousness.
There are two events in his life which we could
wish had never occurred, because iliQj were misrepre-
sented in the history of those times ; but neither of
them did his character any permanent harm, as they
received their false coloring from the careless use of
words by earlier and partizan historians. I would not
shroud his fliults in the mantle of his virtues, ample as
that would be to cover them, for that would not be
honest. That he participated in the limited vision that
belongs to our mortal" existence there can be no doubt.
The sun itself has spots, and imperfection is clearly
admitted in the twelfth item of his personal platform.
The two events are these : Eight persons, with Oba-
diali Holmes as their leader adopting the Baptist sen-
timents, voluntarily withdrew from this church and
held meetings of their own. The censure imputed
to the pastor by the polemical waiters of those times
consisted in what they tortured into harshness in
c.vcommiinicating these persons from his church, when
all he did in the matter was to formally discontinue
their names as members of his church, after they had
voluntarily w^ithdrawn. The word excommunicate was
not the right term ; it implied an unkindness that he
never manifested. It is true that Obadiah Holmes
was unmercifully and wrongfully whipped for his re-
ligious opinions, but it was done for the exercise of
those opinions in another place, and by the rigid, per-
secuting authorities at Boston, and in a colony that
had no control over Rehoboth. In religious tolera-
tion, the governments of the Massachusetts and Ply-
mouth Colonies were two very different bodies, and
so were the people that sustained them ; and this w^as
one of the freest towns in this colony. But toleration,
in those days, was as far as any of them could see,
and to be tolerant was to be mamanimous. But tol-
eration implies the reserved right to withhold that
which is tolerated. The great idea that perfect relig-
ious freedom, in all matters of conscience, was an in-
herent, inalienable right in man, w^as reserved for an
outcast of the Massachusetts Colony, and not the Ply-
mouth. The sublime truth of "soul liberty" was a
celestial spark that ignited the heart of Roger Wil-
liams alone, but was destined by Omniscience to shed
its radiance over our entiye world. The intolerant
severity wrongfully attrib ited to Relioboth, had no
real existence. And I think that if our aged friend,
who, thank God, still lives, and is with us here to-day,
the venerable and learned historian of the great and
respectable Baptist denomination in this and other
countries, [Rev. Dr. Benedict,] had written his lumi-
nous history under the developments of the present
day, instead of a half century ago, I think that he,
with all his acknowledged ability and fairness of pur-
pose, would have more amply shielded the memory
of this generous and high-minded christian scholar.
The other regretted event is brief. Several citi-
zens, whose zeal probably swerved their judgment,
reported to the pastor that Mr. Holmes had made a
false statement on some matter at court ; and, in a
public discourse on the importance of moral recti-
tude, the pastor alluded to this report, not then suffi-
ciently doubting its truth. Mr. Holmes brought an
action for damages of £100. The pastor appeared at
court, fully admitted the allusion he had made, and
presented the testimony of those who thus informed
him, they further testifying that they were mistaken
and not willful in the charQ-e. The court, seeing- no
evidence of intentional wrong on the part of the ac-
cused or his informers, dismissed the idea of any dam-
age, and ordered that the pastor should pay only the
few shillings of cost. The complainant, Mr. Holmes,
expressed himself perfectly satisfied that the pastor
had intended him no wrongful injury, and preferred
to pay the cost himself; and, in his next public dis-
course, the pastor took occasion to set the whole mat-
ter right. This case still stands thus on the Plymouth
records; yet there have not been wanting religious
partizans who have stated that the pastor of this church
was prosecuted for defamation, damages £100, without
giving its honorable termination. And this complain-
ant was the same Obadiah Holmes who had been for-
merly dismissed from this church at his own request,
but not " excommunicated ;' and his manly feelings ex-
hibited in this case show how little he supposed the
meek pastor of this ancient church had to do with his
being whipped at Boston for his religious opinions by
those ministerial tigers who were so " voracious to do
good."
Hospitality and generosity were marked featin-es
in his character. We read in Goldsmith of a parson
" Passing rich -with forty pounds a year."
Our pastor had fifty pounds a year, but as he was the
largest tax-payer in the toAvn, excepting two, his peo-
ple gave themselves but little trouble about paying
him, deeming their wants for improvements to be
greater than his, and with which he found but little
fault. He loved his church as if it had been his fam-
ih^, and taught his family as if it had been his church ;
and his church was pretty nearly the town. Once,
on a journey from Boston to Rehoboth on horseback,
[after that committee, with their civil engineer, had
found the way to Dedham,] our pastor accidentally
heard of a set lecture to be delivered by Rev. Richard
Mather, at Dorchester, for the particular benefit of
certain noted irreligious men. He resolved to hear
it, and, turning his horse, rode to Dorchester, arriving
28
there just as Mr. Mather was opening his meeting with
prayer. Mr. Mather pressed him into his own place
as preacher for the occasion, thus unexpectedly. Our
pastor delivered one of his off-hand " cJmstian philippics"
and the result was that, in after days, several eminent
christian citizens of Dorchester dated their conversion
from that meeting.
Very few of his discourses were ever committed to
writing. He is described by his almost forgotten co-
temporaries as a lively, energetic and highly eloquent
extemporaneous speaker, whose perspicuous sermons,
like the orations of Homer's Nestor,
" Whose lip .dropped language sweet,"
and which fell like the dews of Hermon on his cap-
tive congregations ; and if stenography or phonogra-
phy had been as common then as now, this old town
might have furnished one of the richest caskets of
jewels in our country's theologic literature.
In a sort of three-fold eulogy pronounced by an
eminent clergyman of those times, the year 1663 is
termed a memorable year, inasmuch as in that year
Norton of the Massachusetts Colony, Stone of the
Connecticut Colony, and Newman of the Plymouth
Colony, — the three divines from whom their respec-
tive colonies were then drawing their largest share of
christian light and influence, — all three expired within
a few days of each other ; a fact to which President
Stiles of Yale College, a century later, adds his cor-
roborative testimony. This remark alone, among the
distinguished men of that age, implied no small dis-
tinction.
29
But althongli lie has lived in the floating paragraphs
of biographical dictionaries, and in the detached and
fading scraps of a too mnch neglected department of
by-gone literature, and in his Concordant folio of Bibli-
cal jewels of utility and energy, yet his grave, in yon-
der cemetery, remains unmarked by a fragment that
tells his name; and his memory is 'almost in the con-
dition of another of more distant times, of whom it
was said : " He was an ornament to the age in which
he lived, but, in the multiplied troubles of the age, he
had no historian, and was forgot."
I have but little faith in what is now passing over
this age under the name of " Spiritualism," but I know
of nothino' in revelation, or in the laws of Nature as
thus far developed in the fields of physical or intellec-
tual philosophy, that positively precludes the idea that
the disembodied existences of just men made perfect
take cognizance and interest in the more refined por-
tions of the mode of existence in which they once had
so great an interest. In the absence of all positive
proof, analogy would seem to fiivor the position that
they do. The apostrophy in rhetoric is based on this
probability. If, then, your departed pastor of this
ancient church, with his beloved Deacons Cooper and
Carpenter, and Goodman Paine, and Wheaton, and
Bowen, and Read, and all that pious band of warm-
hearted christians who, two centuries ago, trod in
cheerful meekness this consecrated soil, — if they are
now witnessing with interest this pious gathering of
their descendants to commemorate them, let us listen
a moment, with the ear of imagination, and catch
some faint resemblance of their thoughts to us, as
30
they are breathed on seraphs' wings and wafted from
their celestial portals.
" Descendants and successors, now gathered on the
spot of our once mortal existence ! With a vision
incomprehensible to you, we turn a moment from
our higher employments, and with sympathetic in-
terest in your present existence, we greet you in the
dialect of earth. When we once breathed the life
that you now breathe, we, like you, were mortal and
imperfect, and stood upon a probationary foundation.
We only acted in earnest the best we then knew, and
in the light of that Revelation which was then our
guide, and should now be yours. In our weakness
we were sustained through our faith in promised
gracC; and clothed in the mantle of the great atone-
ment. Thus equipped in the armor of Christ, who is
now our associate, we were admitted to these realms
where just men are made perfect, and where they
reap the legitimate awards that flow, as a natural
result, from their innate purity, thus made ijerfect
through Divine influence. In the light of these, our
mortal trials and immortal triumphs, we say to you,
live on in the full discharge of your duty ; — to the
best of your ability fulfil every Divine command, and
cling to the atonement, in all its essential conditions,
as your ark of safety. Thus answer the greatest ob-
ject of your mortal existence, and, in due time, come
to us. Then will we joyfully introduce you to scenes
wdiich mortal eye hath not seen, nor ear heard — a
blissful beatitude, unknown and unexpressed in the
dialect of man ; and, with you, enjoy such an exist-
ence, in unfading life, through endless duration. In-
31
habitants of our once earthly abode ! We appreciate
the objects of your innocent, fraternal gathering, the
first of its kind since we were summoned away ; and,
with thoughts like these, we beckon you to a better
world, at the appointed time; and until you thus
meet us — adieu !"
Returning from this digressive apostrophy, we will
close the ecclesiastic portion of our review by de-
scribing the singular death of the first pastor of this
church, and then turn our attention to civic thino-s.
His death was different from that of the ordinary
lot of men, but I do not regard it in that miraculous
light in which it was then viewed, wonderful and ex-
traordinary as it truly was. From the nature of his
Biblical studies in compiling his Concordance, he had
every part of the Divine revelations under constant
rumination, and this, to him, was the means of arriv-
ing at an extraordinary measure of that sanctity which
these great truths, rightly improved, would naturally
inspire. Thus, as he drew towards the close of his
life, he seemed to advance more and more towards
the beginnings of his final triumph over his portion
of our fallen nature ; and a foresight of its joys very
observably, but calmly, irradiated his whole being.
On Sunday, June 28, 1663, 0. S., one hundred and
ninety-seven years ago this year, he delivered his last
sermon, from Job xiv., 14 : " All the days of my appoint-
ed time will I wait, until my change come." In that
discourse he presented a brilliant synopsis of his whole
christian teachings since he had been their shepherd,
informing his sorrow-smitten congregation that his
mission upon earth was closed, and imparted his final
32
and tearful benedictions, though then in perfect health
and but sixtj-one years of age. He was seen no more
mingling in the affiiirs of men, and spent the follow-
ing seven days at his house, in the midst of his family
altar, where his physical nature gradually grew weak
without pain and without any visible cause ; and as
his mortal structure receded, his spiritual being visi-
bly increased in heavenly irradiation. On the fol-
lowing Sunday, July 5, the church drum was silent,
and ceased to call the accustomed congregation, and
men met each other that morning in silent salutation
and with downcast and foreboding countenances. A
few select members of the church spent some time in
an interview with their pastor, at his house, in the
afternoon, of the minutioe of which there is no record,
other than at the termination of it, he asked Deacon
Cooper to close the iKirting with prayer ; immediately
after which, he turned his face from the gaze of mor-
tals towards the wall of the room, and calmly spoke
these words : " And now, ye angels of the Lord Jesus
Christ, come, do your office !" and gently falling back
upon his couch, breathed no more.
Such was the manner of his death, as attested by
Eev. Drs. Mather, Elliot and others ; and accounts of
it were drawn up at the time by several clergymen
and others, and sent to their friends in England ; but
they gave to it a miraculous shade to which these sin-
gular facts were not entitled. The laws of physical
and intellectual life were less understood then than
now ; and there was no miracle about it. It was sim-
ply a result ; not a general, but an occasional result,
flowing from a deeply pious and energetic intellectual
33
christian life ; and was but another of the very few,
but well authenticated, instances of premouifion, or that
premonitory presentiment whereby, for some Divine
Providential reason, unknown to us, but which we have
no right to question, — a well developed instance among
the few who have been permitted to foresee the time
and circumstances of their own exchange of worlds.
His departure was long and deeply lamented by his
bereaved flock, and throughout New England. In his
toil on his Concordance and Biblical studies he was
compared with Neander, a Eector of a German Uni-
versity, who, in the preceding century, had spent
many years of vast labor in making notes and com-
mentaries on the Greek classics of antiquity ; and, in
view of all these facts, an eminent scholar of another
colony wrote the following brief but comprehensive
Latin epitaph to his memory, which, if future piety
and justice should ever set up a stone to his yonder
lonely grave, might, with propriety, be a part of its
inscription :
" Mortims est Neander Nov-Anglns,
Qui ante mortem dedicit raori,
Et obiit ea morte quie potest esse, Ars bene moriendi."
Which permit me to offer in an English dress :
Thus died the Neander of New-England,
Who in his life had learned how to die,
And whose death may be called the Art of dying well.
(h)
For the five succeeding years there was no settled
minister of this church ; but Rev. Mr. Symes, Rev.
John Miles and Rev. Mr. Burkley were severally em-
ployed to supply the desk until March, 1668, when
Noah Newman, youngest son of the former pastor,
5
34
having then completed his preparatory studies, was
ordained as the successor to his fother ; and after ten
years of acceptable and appreciated service, died in
1678, and his grave is yonder, by the side of his father's.
I have identified the location of each, but
-No stone now tells
Their name, their worth, their glory."
The third pastor was Rev. Samuel Angier; from
1679 till his health failed in 1692.
The fourth was Rev. Thomas Greenwood ; settled in
October, 1693. [The record looks like 91, but it is a
faded 3.]
The fifth was Rev. John Greenwood, son of the for-
mer, and ordained 1721. These two Greenwoods were
most worthy and pious men, and their memory should
long be kept green as the woods of perennial summer.
The sixth was Rev. John Carnes, a graduate of Har-
vard, and installed April 18, 1759. He resigned his
post in 1764, and from 1776 to the close of the Revo-
lution was a chaplain in the American army, — nine
years representative in the Legislature, and a mem-
ber of the Massachusetts Convention that adopted the
National Constitution. He died in 1802, aged 78, a
patriotic and pious citizen of unblemished reputation.
The seventh was Rev. Ephraim Hyde, a graduate of
Yale College, ordained May 14, 1766, preached seven-
teen years, and died in 1783, aged 45. He was much
beloved by his people, and his grave is in yonder
cemetery.
The eighth was Rev. John Ellis, a graduate of Har-
vard College in 1750. He was a chaplain in the army
35
tliroiighont the entire Revolution, and installed over
this church March 30, 1785, dismissed, at his own re-
quest, in 1796, from age and infirmities, and died at
Norwich, Connecticut, 1806, aged 78. During the min-
istry of Mr. Ellis, the neighboring and highly respec-
table and flourishing Baptist Church on the south end
of this Common was organized, in 1794. That church
had its origin in a mistaken view of the ownership of
certain legacies bequeathed to this society at an earlier
period. They believed, or appeared to believe, that a
donation made and accepted for a specific purpose, could
be changed for another purpose at the will of a majority
of its recipients ; and they being then in a majority,
barred the doors of this church until the Supreme Ju-
diciary, after a patient and most thorough investigation,
unbarred them and restored order. But no crimination
nor recrimination need now be uttered, for this state
of things soon died away, and the two churches, though
different in Avhat I regard as non-essential human
creeds, have long walked hand in hand in the spirit
of unity ; and down to this day are exhibiting inter-
changes and religious courtesies but rarely met w^ith,
and are setting an example of genuine liberality wor-
thy of all christian commendation ; and they apj)roach
nearer than any instance within my knowledge to that
immortal line in the writings of an English bard, a sen-
timent which will one day pervade the whole world :
" Be all distinctions, in the diristlan, lost."
The ninth pastor of this church was Rev. John Hill ;
installed September 22, 1802, and lost his life by the
kick of a horse in 1816. I was present at his funeral.
36
He was an erudite linguist in Hebrew, Greek and
Latin, and well versed in the varions departments of
English literature. In addition to his very accepta-
ble ministerial duties, he kept a school for the above
named studies ; and was beloved by his church and
the youth under his charge. His wife was Roby
Bowen ; born at Coventry, Rhode Island, November
29, 1766, a lineal descendant, in the fifth generation,
from "Father Richard Bowen," the town clerk and
standing regulator of town meetings in this place two
hundred years ago ; and she still survives in yonder
house of her departed husband, in sight of this church,
and at the age of nearly ninety-four, and being the
nearest link that connects us with the first settlers of
this ancient town. The word grandfather, with two
greats to it, will carry this lady back, genealogically,
to England, at a period when the passengers of the
Mayflower were quietly located in Holland, and when
no Indian in these colonies had ever beheld a pale-
faced European. This fact arose from several gene-
rations being born late in the lives of their fathers.
"Father Bowen" died February 4, 1675, at an ad-
vanced age, [I know not what,] and two families of
his grand-children, containing fourteen persons, lived
one thousand and thirty-nine years, being an average
of over seventy-four years each.
De mortuis nil nisi verum.
The tenth is our friend. Rev. James 0. Barney, the
present pastor, a graduate of Brown University, and
ordained Fel)ruary 4, 1824, and whose labors and
success, and whose long appreciation by this people,
is a subject which will tell its own story ,-
able task, of which I have no prescriptive right to
rob the future historian. Long may it yet be before
his successor shall be finally announced.
Thus much of this ancient church. The town, as it
originally existed, has given birth to seven tow^ns and
fragments of three or four more ; and in the follow-
ing order : Swansea, in 1667 ; Attleborough, in 1694 ;
Cumberland and Barrington as it now is, and Warren,
in 1746; Seekonk, in 1812; and Pawtucket, in 1828.
Thus, to use geographically a genealogical figure, this
old town has had three children and four grand-chil-
dren, — all now living and doing well. The venerable
mother, instead of one log-thatched church and thirty
families, now has thirtj'-eight churches and thirty thou-
sand inhabitants ; and, as ofishoots and adopted chil-
dren, we cordially, in her behalf, extend to you all a
maternal and fraternal arreetino;.
Without time for anything like connected history,
we can only slightly glance at a few of the leading
events within the limits of this mother of towns.
Here, for forty years, lived, and died, the venerable
patriarch who was the first and sole white inhabitant
of Boston, and who raised from English seeds the first
apple in New England. Here, too, Roger Williams,
[whose skeleton, by one of Nature's singular trans-
mutations, now exists in wood,] built his cabin and
planted his first and last corn, before going to settle
the first free State in the world, [i) Here was shed
the first blood in King Philip's war, and here was cap-
tured the last of his commanders; and that direful
38
cirama, which for more than twelve months drenched
New Enghmd in blood, and spread fire and devasta-
tion in every direction, was opened and closed here.
Twenty-nine of the men of this sparsely settled town
were furnished for the army, thirteen of whom were
in the great fight at Narragansett, in Rhode Island ;
and those who remained to take care of the wives and
children, contributed four hundred and eighty-four
pounds, five shillings and five pence, in all, for the
support of that Indian war. These patriotic sacrifices
were in all sorts of sums, from one shilling by Ebenezer
Amidown, to one hundred pounds by Nathaniel Paine.
The great city of New York was indebted to this town
for special favors two centuries ago. After Manhattan
had been settled by the Dutch, they were joined by a
colony of English. This mixed people were without
an organized government, and no man among them
was fitted for the task. They hoiroived the services of
a citizen of this town, who understood Dutch and
English, and had all the other necessary qualifica-
tions in an eminent degree. He straightened their
difficulties, organized a good municipal government,
and was unanimously elected the first mayor of the
city of New York. He was re-elected ; and after serv-
ing two years, thought he had got them trained so
that they could manage for themselves, took leave
of them, receiving their united benedictions, and re-
turned to his family and home in this town ; and his
grave is with us to this day; — the worthy Thomas
Willett. (/) The town has given birth to several
very eminent men, and among them Benjamin West,
the distinguished Professor of Mathematics and As-
39
tronomy In Brown University — a philosopher whose
merits and repntation are co-extensive with astro-
nomical science.
There was another of " Nature's noblemen " amon":
the original settlers of the town, whose grave is with
us to this clay ; — John Brown, who w^as elected and
served as Governor's Assistant for seventeen years.
He was the first magistrate in the United Colonies
who raised his voice against coercive support of the
ministry, taking the stand that all church support
should be voluntary, and backed his precepts by lib-
eral example. He was a man of abilities, intelligence,
piety and patriotism, and was buried with military and
civic honors in 1662. He has worthy descendants, one
of whom is chairman of the Committee of Arrange-
ments on this occasion.
As we glide down into later periods, we are arrested
by the fact that in the affairs of the Revolution this
town acted a noble and patriotic part. The hatred of
oppression and love of liberty coming in contact early,
struck a spark that ignited the united hearts of this
people, and continued to blaze, undiminished, till the
completion of National Independence. The town
unanimously voted instructions to their representa-
tives in the Legislature to resist, to the last extremity,
and inch by inch, every act of aggression on the part of
the British Crown. A letter of these instructions by
the town's Committee of Correspondence, presumed
to have been drawn up by its chairman, Ephraim
Starkweather, breathes a spirit of intelligence, judg-
ment and patriotism, clothed in a soul-stirring elo-
quence, but rarely to be found in the whole annals
40
of that great Revolution, and gave evidence that the
seeds of the subKme eloquence of Otis found a con-
genial and prolific soil in the hearts of the people of
this town.
The drafts upon this town for men, for various peri-
ods of military service, required two hundred and six,
which were all answered promptly. The voluntary en-
listments, for various terms of time, were one hundred
and four. Thus the town furnished three hundred
and ten of its men, from beardless youth to veterans
in age, for the continental army, thirty-seven of whom
served as commissioned officers ; and the records show
but one single desertion from the post of military duty.
Besides furnishing its portion of the supplies called for
by the government for the military chest, the town
voluntarily imposed heavy taxation upon itself for
the comfort of its own absent soldiers ; and the inhab-
itants also made voluntary contributions, six pounds
of which came from this church, for the relief of the
poor of Boston, sufferers by means of the Boston port
bill ; and the treasurer of the Provincial Congress ac-
knowledged the receipt of ten pounds from this town
to help sustain the expenses of that body. Through-
out the Revolution, the patriotic conduct of this people
will bear an honorable comparison with almost any
spot in the whole thirteen colonies, and deserves to
be remembered in gratitude by all their descendants.
And throughout all the past history thus glanced at^
the town has been ample in its provisions for the edu-
cation of its youth, as then compared with surrounding
places ; and perhaps in this is to be found the secret of
much of its early reputation and patriotic influence, {k)
41
But let us turn Irom these tedious locals, and pay
a glancing tribute of respect to our common country,
especially as this is her natal day. Such are the facil-
ities of the present day, and for which we should be
profoundly thankful, tliat the history of the Revolu-
tion, and a good view of our subsequent annals, have
become familiar to the school-boys; but there are
2Joints in our colonial existence which may have too
much escaped the attention of even "children of a
larger growth." By this I mean, there is a sort of
three-fold connecting idea, through which may be
seen the gradual development of our childhood of
colonial history, and our manhood in the final inde-
pendent Union of this Republic.
On the 11th of November, 1620, [old style,] there
was drawn up, on the lid of a chest, on board the
Mayflower, in Plymouth harbor, and signed by forty-
one of the principal men of the first band of Pilgrims,
a platform of civil government which, notwithstand-
ing all the civic and ecclesiastic aberrations from it
in later times, contained the elemental seeds of all
that is now valuable in the civil polity of this great
Western Empire. I think that the more that brief
but comprehensive document is studied, and studied,
too, in connection with the noble and most instruc-
tive farewell discourse of John Robinson, their pastor,
before they left Leyden, the more will this important
and fundamental truth become apparent. {I) This is
the first point in what I denominated a three-fold idea,
the whole essence of which was, under God, human
freedom enshrined in. human progress.
The second point in this progress was in 1652 ; and
6
42
it developed itself through the medium of coinage.
The coinage of money has, in all nations, ever been
considered a prerogative of the government -, and de-
vices upon coin are intended as emblematic of some
leading proclivity of the people. The first coin struck
in North America, at Boston, in 1652, was intended as
a Liberty coin. It was, in later times, and for special
reasons, called the " Pine Tree Shilling," but it was no
such thing ; it was as bold an effort at a Declaration
of Independence as they then dare make, and was
founded on the following passages from the seven-
teenth chapter of the Prophet Ezekiel :
" Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of
Israel. And say, thus saith the Lord God ; a great eagle with great wings,
long wings, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon,
and took the highest branch of the cedar : He cropped off the top, and
carried it into a land of traffick ; he set it in a city of merchants : and it
shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar ; and under
it shall dwell all fowl of every wing ; in the shadow of the branches thereof
shall they dwell."
It is a quite remarkable feature in the Prophet Eze-
kiel, that the success of man, under Divine Providen-
tial blessing, is variously typified under the idea of a
rino; within a rino; — the first as enclosino; the acts of
men, and the outer ring as the surrounding Providen-
tial protection. We are now prepared to present the
solution of this prophetic riddle as exhibited in this
first coin, erroneously, but for reason of fear, called
the " Pine Tree Shilling," pence, and so forth. The
coin has a cedar tree enclosed in a ring, with the word
" Massachusetts " in an outer ring ; and on the opposite
side, " 1652 : XII pence," in the inner ring, and "New
England " in the outer ring, or between the two rings.
This coin was thus struck in the time of the Common-
43
wealth, under Cromwell, when the restraints of mon-
archy were hardly thought of in the colonies. They
thonght that they were a full grown, goodly cedar ;
but they were too fast ; the time indicated in Ezekiel's
riddle had not yet come. In a little time, Charles
Second came to the throne ; monarchy was restored ;
and they began to be fearful about their coin. The
King's Commissioners reported it to him, but knew
nothing about the riddle of Liberty contained in it.
Sir Thomas Temple, who was well acquainted in New
England, and a sound friend to the colonies, and yet
,,a confident of the King, suddenly ameliorated much
of the King's ill feeling from this encroachment upon
his prerogative in coinage. The King asked Sir
Thomas why they dared to coin money contrary to
law? He took some of these shilhngs from his
pocket, and showing them to the King, remarked,
evasively, that these people knew but little about
law ; that they were coined merely for convenience,
not supposing there would be any objections. The
King asked what tree that was? Sir Thomas told
him it was the Royal Oak of Boscobel. [When
Charles Second, in his attempt to regain his father's
throne, was routed by the army of Cromwell, at Wor-
cester, he saved his life by hiding in the thick boughs
of an oak tree at Boscobel ; and after his restoration,
this tree acquired the name of the Royal Oak ; and
Sir Thomas Temple thus evasively called the tree on
the coin the Royal Oak, in honor of his preservation,
adding that they dare not put his name on, being then
under the Commonwealth.] The King, smiling, said :
" They are a set of honest dogs ; let them coin their
44
shillings." And they continued to coin their shillings
and pence, without much alteration, calling it an oak
or a pine, as best suited their whim, only keeping out
of sight the original secret of their cedar tree coin.
There is wisdom to be learned from this second point
in our three-fold idea of the development of American
freedom. They were right, in the great outer ring of
God's ultimate designs, in setting His eagle to crop the
monarchies of the Old World and to replant the twigs to
grow into Republics — setting the first example in our
portion of the earth. But nations, like men, are some-
times impatient and too fast. They thought the small
twig plucked from the top of the prophetic cedar of
Lebanon, and developed in the miniature platform of
the Mayflower, had grown into a goodly tree at Boston
in thirty-two short years, so that it could bear national
fruit, and shelter, in its ample boughs, " all fowls of
every wing;" or, in other words, welcome the op-
pressed of all nations under their protecting shadow.
But such was not the case ; the time had not arrived ;
they had to do more than to " wait a little longer."
; , " Man, jn feebleness, can plan,
But God, in wisdom, executes."
Their emblematic Declaration of Independence was,
indeed, the still, small Vox Dei, but, in His wisdom, not
then to be ratified by the Vox popidi ; but, after a cen-
tury and a quarter more had rolled away, and Divine
Providence had so shaped the affairs of men that all
was ripe, then came, in thunder tones, the Vox Dei,
ratified, in universal acclamation, by the Vox popidi,
and developed itself in the immortal declarative Char-
45
ter of our Liberties, read here to-day ; — and although
they had no further need of the boughs of the cedar,
having received the whole canopy of the stars as our
immortal birthright, yet they retained the az/eut that
cropped the twig, and commissioned his ever-expand-
ing wings to hover over the down-trodden stranger
from every clime, and to forever glitter upon our coin
as an emblem of the great enigma of human freedom
and human rights, (m)
Such is the three-fold idea of the gradual develop-
ment of the great problem of human rights, as seen
in the summary of our colonial history. From the
Declaration of Independence, eighty-four years ago
to-day, the history of the growth and present ener-
gies of our Kepublic is known of all men, and per-
haps is well expressed, in a single word, by the term
Progression. A progress in that art and skill which
are essential to a nation's prosperity, — progress in that
knowledge which Lord Bacon declares to be but an-
other name for power, — progress in those all-conquer-
ing energies which have stamped their impress not
only throughout our own land, but on the distant na-
tions of the Eastern World, and unbarred the icy gates
of the frozen North, — progress in all the elements of
that civilization which is commanding the universal re-
spect of the nations of the earth, — and progress in the
knowledge and practice of Christianity, without which
BO nation can be permanently prosperous or happy.
Such are the leading features of our Republic to-day.
It is true that we can see the threatening penumbra
of a dark cloud in the South, and hear the distant
mutterings of a harmless thunder, and we can occa-
46
sionally pee faint and unmeaning flashes of political
lightning ; but showers are refreshing to the land, and
usually give us a purer atmosphere. It is not in the
power of any men, or parties of men, to rend asunder
our well cemented, bond of Union, merely because it
is not yet what we should all like to have it. We
may be too fast in our anticipations, as well as the
little nation of Massachusetts in 1652, when they
coined their shilling. The halcyon days of a political
millenium are not to be expected till Divine Provi-
dence sees best ; and we must be content to each one
endeavor to clear his own skirts from all wrong, and
" wait a little longer." This year we are only passing
through one of our accustomed quadrennial political
spasms, and before another twelve-month shall have
rolled away, we shall again see a noble spectacle — a
ceremony that makes thrones and diadems tremble —
that of one national administration quietly and sub-
missively laying down the robes of office, and another
administration as quietly and calmly putting them on ;
and all this mighty change, involving the interests of
many millions of our race, at the simple will of the
sovereign people, expressed through a harmless bal-
lot, instead of a hostile bullet.
Our Republic has hardly yet begun its career in
the destiny assigned it. We are yet to pass through
many more revolutions; so that if the statesman of
to-day could re-visit his native home a century hence,
he would search in vain for some of his now familiar
institutions. But these approaching revolutions are
not to be produced by the cartridge-box ; they will
be achieved at the ballot-box, and under an increased
47
inllucnce of the band-box. And although there ma}'
be pohticians who would, if they could, blot out the
prmciples of the founders of the Republic, and sell
their immortal birthright for the potage of office, yet
there is a recuperative moral power always held in re-
serve, and equal to the emergency. To short-sighted
and desponding men it has certainly appeared as if de-
parted greatness itself had fallen into the hands of polit-
ical degeneracy, and that even the principles and fame,
and name and dust of Washino;ton were to be driven
into oblivion. But there is, in the providence of God,
" A sovereign balm fbr every wound,
A cordial for our fears ;"
and the name and fame, and principles and counsels,
and sacred dust of the revered Father of his Country
shall be preserved, and exert their intended influence
on unborn generations of men ; and for this we have
an ample guaranty in the fact that woman, the cheer-
ing solace in man's last extremity, — subhme woman, —
now holds the keys of Mount Vernon.
And now. Fellow-citizens, may that overruling Di-
vine Providence whose protection has encircled the
inhabitants of this ancient settlement through the
sunshine of prosperity and storms of adversity for
more than two centuries, still protect and bless you
and your descendants, down the long vista of coming
ages; and may the lessons of wisdom and fraternal
influence which the motive of your gathering this
day is so well calculated to inspire, be inscribed as
with a sunbeam on the tablets of your town, and all
its churches, and there leave its impress forever.
APPENDANT NOTES.
[Note A.— Page 12.]
Extract from the " Athen.e et Fasti Oxonienses," by Anthony
Wood, Third London Edition ; now in Library of Harvard University :
" Samuel Newman, a learned divine of his time, received education
in this University ; but being puritanically affected, he left it, went into
New England, became a Congregational man, minister of the Church
of Rehoboth there, a zealous man in the way he professed, indefatigable
in his studies, and marvelously read in the Holy Scriptures."
This extract and a correspondence between Wood and Dr. Licrease
Mathei* in 1690, contain some discrepant inaccuracies, but they have
been carefully collated and corrected from the records of the Univer-
sity, so that the sentence in the text contains the facts in a condensed
form. [See said correspondence in Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. YII., p. 187,
Third Series.
[Note B.— Page 12.]
This Dr. Featly was one of the brilliant scholars of his day, and Wil-
liam Gouge was one of the ministers called the " Assembly of Divines,"
and was appouited one of the annotators of the Bible. They each wrote
a prefatory advertisement, which is in the third edition of Newman's
Concordance ; thus giving their high sanction to the merits of his Bibli-
cal attamments. [See more of them in note on the Concordance, and ui
Lempriere's Biographical Dictionary.
[Note C— Page 15.]
Taking into view the then price of lands, the general price of mer-
chandize, and annual cost of living as style was then, and it will ))e
7
50 APPENDANT NOTES.
frtund that £500 was a larger estate than $20,000 would be now.
Thus he was then ranked among their wealthy men ; but he used it as
becoming a meek, pious and humble christian, — eonsidermg it in the
light of a boon from heaven, with which he was bound to be kind,
benevolent and charitable to the less fortunate of his flock.
[Note D.— Page 16.]
" This combination, entered into by the general consent of all the
inhabitants, alter general notice given the 23d of the 4th month [July] .
We whose names are underwritten, being, by the providence of God,
inhabitants of Seacunk, intending there to settle, do covenant and bind
ourselves one to another to subject our persons [torn off — probably,
according to law and equity] to nine persons, or any five of the nine,
which shall be chosen by the major part of the inhabitants of this plan-
tation, and we [torn off — probably, promise and agree] to be subject
to all wholesome [torn off — probably, rides and regulations made] by
them, and to assist them, according to our ability and estate, and to give
timely notice unto them of any such thing as in our conscience may
prove dangerous unto the plantation, and this combination to continue
untill we shall subject ourselves jointly to some other government."
(Signed,) * Walter Palmer, Ephraim Hunt,
*Edward Smith, Peter Hunt,
Edward Bennett, *William Smith,
Robert Titus, John Peren,
Abraham Martin, Zacheiy Roades,
John Matthewes, Job Lane,
Edward Sale, *Alexander Winchester,
Ralph Shepherd, *Henry Smith,
Samuel Newman, *Stephen Payne,
William Cheesborough, Ralph Allen,
*Richard Wright, Thomas Bliss,
*Robert Martin, George Kendrieke,
*Riehard Bowen, John Allen,
Joseph Torrey, Wilham Sabln,
James Clarke, Thomas Cooper.
The orthography as in the original is retained in the above.
Those marked thus * were the first chosen " townsmen," — in Decem-
ber, 1643, and their first meeting as such, January 8, 1643, 0. S.,
APPENDANT NOTES. Ol
and Alexander Winchester was chairman. From a comparison of these
dates and other circumstances, I suppose this compact was made at Wey-
mouth, before the general migration, which most probably did not take
place till the spring of 1644, 0. S.* These thirty names were nearly
or quite all then heads of fiimilies, and may be considered as the original,
actual settlers of Rehoboth, although there were non-resident stockhold-
ers in the company, more or less of whom, at various periods, jomcd
them as later residents.
The phrase " mtending there to settle " will justify this view of the
matter.
Stockholders were those who participated in the expense of fixtures
and improvements, and not speculators in lands, so cheap that seven
towns cost fifty shillings and a coat. [See Note F.
[Note E.— Page 17.]
For many of these early New England habits, see Sears's " Pictures
of Olden Thne," and Palfrey's Hist. New Eng., Vol. II.
[Note F.— Page IS.]
This town was originally bought of Massasoit, in 1641, for ten fiith-
oms of beads or wampum [money]. This was delicate shells strung
like beads, and was the Indian currency. Their white they called
wampum [white], and their black money they called suckauhock — sehi
being their adjective for black. This bead money was nine shillings the
fathom in 1630, but, owing to the fall of tha price of beaver in England,
it was, at the tune of this purchase, only five shillmgs 2>er fathom ; so
that this town cost £2 10s. of English money, and a coat which the chief
made them throw in to boot. This trade was made at the house of lloger
Williams, at Providence, he acting as mterpreter. Thus the Indians,
without a written language, transacted their business in " black and
white " — especially their cash trades. [For Indian Coin, see WilHams's
Key, p. 128.
[Note G.— Page 20.]
These facts are gathered from a brief family record and notes written
by his grandson in an old family Bible which I deciphered twenty years
ago, and then almost illegible.
*The year then commenced on the 25th of March.
52 APPENDANT NOTES.
[Note H.— Page 33.]
Much of this note is extracted from an able but too brief a paper read
before the Old Colony Historical Society by its President, Hon. John
Daggett. Such parts of it as are from his paper are here enclosed in
brackets :
[The work now exhibited to the Society is an interesting relic of the
past. It is the third edition of Rev. Samuel Newman's " Concordance
of the Bible."
This Concordance seems to have been not merely a new work, but
substantially an original work, and the autlior of it was a minister of
the retired settlement of Rehoboth, about ten miles from the ancient
Cohannet [Tamiton],
Most of the first generation of ministers in the New England Colonies
were learned men, educated at the Universities in England — at first,
ministers of the Established Church, who, from non-conformity, were
obliged to flee from religious persecution at home, and to seek an asy-
lum in the American wilderness. Many of them were eminently prac-
tical men, fitted by their varied experience in life to be the advisers, the
guides, or the pioneers, of their flocks in these early settlements. Among
them was Samuel Newman, who followed, or rather led, his people into
the rough and hardy soil of Rehoboth, where an original settlement was
formed in 1643, and where he remained in the laborious and faithful
discharge of his duties as pastor of the first church for a period of twenty
years. He died July 5, 1663.
He was a learned man ; and had a large library for that age. His
English books were appraised at £4 ; his other books at £18 ; by the
latter I understand his classical works m the ancient languages. This
library he bequeathed to his son Noah.
Any one having an ordinary knowledge of books, must see at once
that such a work required great labor, research and discrimination ; and
learned divines who have examined it, and are well qualified to judge of
its merits, say that it is a work of great learning and ability, especially
for that age, when Biblical literature was comparatively imperfect and
limited. It was a work of great utility ; not only in itself, but as laying
the foundation for subsequent works of a similar character. In 1662,
a short time before Newman's death, an edition of this work, somewhat
altered, was published by the learned scholars of Cambridge University,
England, at the University Press, which was afterwards known to the
AT PENDANT NOTES. 53
puLlic as the " Camliriclge Concordance " — thus robbing Newman, tlie
real author, of the reputation which behmged to him. A copy of this
Cambridge edition is in the hands of the writer. Its title-page is "A
Concordance of the Holy Scriptures ; with the various Readings both in
Text and Margin, by S. N. \_University Seal,'] Cambridge. Printed
by John Field, j)rinter to the Universitie 1662." In the preface,
however, the editor (whose name is not given) acknowledges that it is
founded on Newman's work and his plan adopted. On comparmg, it
will be found that Newman's quotations are abridged.
It is related of the author, that, while pursuing the work at Rehoboth,
he was obliged, from the scarcity of materials for light in that infant set-
tlement, to use pine knots for the purpose.
It is justly a matter of no little satisfaction to us that the author of
such a monument of learning and industry, should have completed it
while he was an inhabitant of the Old Colony.
Notices of this work are found in several of the ancient historians and
writers. Mather, in his Magnalia, says of him: "He was a hard
student ; and as much toil and oil as his learned namesake, Neander,
employed in illustrations and commentaries upon the old Greek pagan
poets, our Newman bestowed in compilmg his Concordances of the
sacred Scriptures."
In the celebrated "Life of Hugh Peters," the work is erroneously
attributed to Cruden, who did not publish his Concordance till about a
hundred years after Newman ; the biographer evidently confounding the
one with the other. "The Rev. Mr. Newman, an eminent scholar in
the University of Oxford, Eng., &c. This pious Clergyman with his
pious companions, went and formed the settlement of Rehoboth. They
built a Church and encircled it with a set of houses like a half moon,
facing the west, where they worshipped the Creator with great devo-
tion, and Newman taught their children the arts and sciences gratis.
In that barren soil Newman spent a useful life, and made to himself a
name in the Christian Church that will last as long as the Bible. There
he formed the first Concordance of the Old and New Testaments, which
was ever made in the Enghsh tongue. The energy and Herculean labor
in this necessary Index of the Bible, even astonished both the Old and
New World," &c., &c.
In this edition, of 1658, are two prefaces — one written by D. Featly,
and the other, by W. Gouge. Some interest to us, attaches to their
54 APPENDANT NOTES.
names from their comiection with Newman's Concordance. Who were
they? The first was doubtless no other than the famous Dr. Daniel
Featly, a learned and distinguished divine in England. He was horn
at Charlton, Oxfordshire, March, 1582, and educated at Oxford, and
was made fellow of Corpus Chiisti, 1602. He was distinguished as a
theologian, and by his eloquence as a preacher, was appointed Chaplain
to Su" Thomas Edmond, Ambassador to France, where he remained with
him for three years. Iji 1613 he was Rector of Northhill, Cornwall,
Chaplain to Abbott, the Primate, and Rector of Lambeth. In 1617 he
received the degree of D. D., and was promoted by his patron to the
rectory of All-Hallows, London, which he afterwards exchanged for
Acton ; and finally became the last Provost of Chelsea College, where
he died in April, 1645. He was unprisoned in 1643, for his oppo-
sition to the Covenant, and came near losing his life.
He was the author of " Cygnea Cantio,''^ 1629, and " the scholastic
duel between him and King James," besides some forty religious works
of a controversial character.
William Gouge, the writer of the other preface, was also a distin-
guished divine and author. He was minister of Blackfriars. He was
educated at King's College, where "he was remarkable for not being
absent from morning and evening prayers for nine years, and for read-
ing 15 chapters of the Bible every day." He died Dec. 16, 1653.
He was author of "The whole Armor of God," "Exposition of the
Lord's Prayer," " Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews," and
other religious works. [See Lempriere's Biographical Dictionary.
He [Newman] had a large family of children. Among them was
Samuel, Jr., supposed to be the oldest, who lived and died at Reho-
both ; Antipas, the minister of Wenham, who married Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of Gov. Winthrop, and who died Oct. 15, 1672 ; Noah, who was his
father's successor in the ministry, and who died April 16, 1678. His
wife was Joanna, daughter of Rev. Henry Flint, one of the first minis-
ters of that part of Braintree which is now Quincy ; Hopestill, a daugh-
ter, bom at Weymouth, Nov. 29, 1641, became the wife of the Rev.
George Shove, the third minister of Taunton, and died March 7, 1674.
They had five children — three sons and two daughters. Their blood
still circulates in the veins of our neighbors ; then* descendants are in
our vicinity.
Mr. Newman made a will, which seems not to have been discovered
APPENDANT NOTES. 55
by any of the historians or genealogists. The extracts which I have
obtained from it S3ttle some heretofore doubtful points. His wife's
name was Sibel. He appoints Stephen Paine, sen., Thomas Cooper,
Lt. Hunt, "overseers to give advice to my disti-essed Widow." He
names his three sons, Samuel, Antipas and Noah, and three daughters.
To Antipas he gives some " land at Wenham,'" and to his three daugh-
ters £5 each. Hopestill is mentioned by name. He gives ten shilHngs
to his old servants, Mary Humphrey of Dorchester, Elizabeth Cubby of
Weymouth, and Elizaljeth Palmer of Rehoboth, and the same amount
to " Lydia Winchester, his present servant."
Rev. Samuel Newman was buried in the Old Burying Ground at
Seekonk. His dust has there mingled with his mother earth, but no
monument marks the spot. A man of so much usefulness and distinc-
tion in his day and generation as Rev. Samuel Newman, should not be
suffered to remain without even the ordinary memorials of the dead —
such as mark the last resting place of the most humble tenant of the
grave. We often neglect the living and honor the dead ; but we some-
times honor the living and forget the dead.]
Thus far I have extracted from i\Ir. Daggett's able paper before the
Historical Society. I will now correct a slight mistake or two in the
above, and make some additional illustration in these matters.
" A large family." He had three sons and one daughter [Hopestill].
The " three dau2;hters " alluded to in the will are daughters-in-law, the
wives of his three sons, a very common expression in those times ; and
he gives them [in addition to what he had given their husbands, his
sons,] £5 each, and ten shillings each to his former house-maids, as
mere tokens of his kind personal remembrance of them, calling them
" daughters," &c. The other general features of the will are sufficently
correct as represented by Mr. Daggett.
This third edition of the Concordance is very rare. Tliere is a copy
of it in the Atheuceum at Boston, presented by King William IH., as
stated in gold letters on its cover. The copy which I possess is the one
reserved by its author for his own use. It is a large folio, printed at
London, 1658, in small, antique type, and contains 1370 pages. It
has passed through the ownership of six different clergymen, and was
presented to me in 1858, just two hundred years from the date of its
imprint, by the surviving heirs of the late Rev. Dr. Wight of Bristol,
56 APPENDANT NOTES.
Rhode Island, at the suggestion of Gov. Dhnond and the Hon. Nathaniel
Bullock, to whose kindness and historic and antiquarian proclivities I
am indehted for this interesting memorial of the past.
From President Stiles's MS. diary : " Four very considerable men,
Williams, Blackstone, Newman and Grorton, lived, in a vicinity, with no
connection and little acquaintance." — " Nov. 18, 1771. I lodged at
Mr. Hide's at Rehoboth. [Rev. Ephraim Hyde, the seventh pastor.]
He cannot recover any of Mr. Newman's MSS. ; he supposes they fell
into the hands of the late Mr. Avery, of Norton, by a marriage con-
nection."
Comment. — Blackstone lived in Rehoboth, Williams in Providence,
and Gorton was the factious controversialist at Warwick, Rhode Island,
differing with pretty much everybody else, and sometimes differing with
bimself. Gov. Arnold, in his excellent history of the State, says he was
the " veriest leveller recorded in history." The libraries of Blackstone
and Newman were burnt by the Indians ; and there is no evidence of
much written intercourse between any of these four " very considerable
men." With Gorton he would not be likely to have much intercourse ;
but as there is no written evidence to the contrary, and as the other
three were educated men, and were also men of enlarged and liberal
views for those times, there is no doubt of there having been much more
familiarity and christian courtesy between them than is warranted by the
remark of Dr. Stiles. About the recovery of Newman's MSS., as
alluded to by Mr. Hyde, I have made pretty diligent research, and the
result is that there were none to recover ; — the conflagration at Reho-
both, March 28, 1676, by the Indians, seems to have settled that matter.
The fragment of his papers containing the thirteen articles of his pri-
vate platform [on page 23] first appeared in print in Mather's Magnalia,
and was doubtless preserved through a copy permitted to be taken by
some friend during its author's life time, and which afterwards fell into
Mather's hands. The Latin epitaph on page 33, of which I have made
a rather free translation, was also written by Dr. Cotton Mather, and is
in his Magnalia. And here I desire to record my own impressions of
Mather and his works, without prejudice, and without any desire to
compromise the opinions of anybody else. Dr. Cotton Mather was a
very learned man — a very pious man — a very talented man — a very
good man, and an able theologian and preacher of the gospel, according
to the standard of his times. But his mind was of that imaginative cast
APPENDANT NOTES. 57
which, without a rigid control, rendered him an unsafe historian and
biographer. He would hastily grasp, as with the hand of a great mas-
ter, the appearances that evidently clustered around a fact, and educe
from them his supposed reality, without delving for the truth itself.
He was inattentive to those small but important items— those minutice
in dates, places and delicate colorings of events, which are the rubble-
stones which must ever support the foundations of the structure of true
history. His historic writings [especially his Magnalia] are such as we
should hardly know how to do without, and yet such as we constantly
feel that we dare not implicitly trust. The fact that the IMagnalia,
though professedly an Enghsh book, is continually assaulted with hail-
storms of Latin, was not peculiarly a fault of his — it was a fault in the
taste of the age in which he lived ; and with all these faults, and much
trouble as he has caused in leading subsequent writers astray, he will
ever be entitled to the gratitude of his countrymen, and to an honorable
place in the theologic and historic literatm-e of America.
At. the close of this long note — the last on the founder of Kehoboth —
perhaps it may be a convenience to some of my readers to refer them to
the principal writers who have referred to, or more or less spoken of,
Rev. Samuel Newman.
[Wood's Athen. et Fast. Oxon., London. Mather's Magnalia. Holmes's Am.
Annals, Vol. I., p. 332, 333. President Stiles's Literary Diarj'. Coll. Mass. Hist.
Soc, Vol. IX., p. 191, First Series. Jlorton's Memorial; edited by Judge Davis.
Allen's Biog. and Hist. Die. Elliott's Biog. Die. Bliss's Hist. Rehob. Farmer's
Register; First Settlers of New England. Mass. Hist. Coll., New Series, Vol. VH ,
p. 187. Baylies' Plym. Colony, Vol. I., p. 316; Vol. U., p. 196, 209, 211. John-
son's Wonder Work. Prov., Chap. X., p. 127. Preface to Cruden's Concordance.
Preface to Newman's Concordance, Third Edition of 1658, bj' Dr. Featly and Rev.
William Gouge. Neal's Hist. Puritans, Vol. H., p. 315. Neal's Hist. New England,
Vol. n., p. 341. Young's Chronicles Mass. History of Dorchester. History of
Weymouth. Rec. Banbury, Eng. Rec. Oxford Univ., Eng. Rec. Midhope Chap.,
Yorkshire, Eng.; &c., &c. Many of these contain errors in dates, &c., copied from
one to another, originally started wrong by Cotton Mather; but some of them have
been carefully corrected by the accurate researches made while in England by the
Hon. James Savage of Boston, to whom, for many favors, I have long been under
lasting obligations.]
[Note L— Page 37.]
On opening the grave of Roger Williams, in the spring of 1860, no
remains were found except a good representation of his skeleton formed
of the roots of an apple tree. The root had stretched itself some dis-
tance to reach the grave, in search of the elements of its own subsist-
ence, such as the phosphate of lime, into which the bones had resolved
58 APPENDANT NOTES.
themselves, in the exact shape in which they were originally buried.
And as the root consumed the remains, it assumed the appearance of a
human skeleton made of apple tree root. When some one present en-
quired why there were no other remains, the reply was that the owner
of the orchard had been eatiag him up in the form of apples. [See a
very able paper on this matter, read before the Khode Island Historical
Society, May 18, 1860, by Hon. Zachariah Allen, L. L. D., in which
this curious^but rational development of some of Nature's recondite laws,
is philosophically and eloquently illustrated.
[Note J.— Page 38.]
Would it not be an act of justice, as well as an act of credit, to the
now populous and wealthy city of New York — the first commercial city
on this Continent — to erect a plain, simple but substantial memorial
over this lonely grave of their very worthy first mayor ?
[Note K.— Page 40.]
For many of the statistics in these passages, I am indebted to Bliss's
history, from which I have condensed them. The author of that valua-
ble history of the town, though led astray in some matters as to dates,
&c., by earlier writers, should long be held in grateful remembrance.
With the then scanty and widely scattered materials, he performed a
service for his native town which can never be over-estimated ; and if
he were living now, and could be benefited thereby, I should rejoice in
an opportunity here to say more ; — honor and peace to his memory.
[Note L. — Page 41.]
The following is a verbatim copy of the ori^al platform of govern-
ment at Plymouth. [See Gov. Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, p. 89.
In y" name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-writen, the
loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by y" grace
of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of y" faith,
&c., haveing undertaken, for y^ glorie of God, and advaucemente of y"
Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant
y" fii'st colonic ia y" Northerne parts of Virginia,* doe by these presents
solemnly & mutualy in y" presence of God, and one of another, covenant
*The term Virginia, in the compact above, was the name used before that of
New England. The farewell sermon of John Robinson, their pastor, in Leyden,
alluded to in the passage to which this is a note, may be found in the First Volume
APPENDANT NOTES.
69
& combine our selves togeatlier into a civill body politick, for our better
ordering & preservation & furtherance of y" ends aforesaid ; and by
vertiie hearofto enacte, constitute, and frame such just ^ equal! lawes,
ordinances, acts, constitutions, S^ offices, from time to time, as shall be
thought most meete ^ convenient for y" generall good of y'' Colonie,
imto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness
"wberof we have hereunder subscribed om' names at Cap-Codd y" 11. of
November, in y" year of y" raigne of our soveraigne lord. King James,
of England, France, & Ireland y" eighteenth, and of Scotland y" fiftie
fourth. An°: Dom. 1620.
Miles Standish,
Isaac Allerton,
Samuel Fuller,
John Alden,
* Christopher Martin,
*WilHam MuUins,
Stephen Hopkins,
Edward Dotey,
Edward Leister,
Francis Cooke,
*Thomas Rogers,
*John Ridgdale,
*John Turner,
*James Chilton,
Jolm Billington,
John Goodman,
*Thomas Williams,
*Edward Margeson,
*Ilichard Britterige,
Edward Gardiner,
*John Carver,
Those marked with a star thus * died the first year. The first person
who stepped upon the lauding rock, at the general disembarkation, was
Mary, the daughter of James Chilton, who afterwards married John
Winslow, son of Edward. John Billington was [ten years after] hung
for murder, but left respectable descendants.
William Bradford,
Edward Winslow,
William Brewster,
John Howland,
George Soule,
*Wimam White,
Richard Warren,
*Edward Tilley,
* John Tilley,
*Thomas Tinker,
*Edward Fuller,
Francis Eaton,
*John Crackston,
*Moses Fletcher,
*Degory Priest,
Gilbert Winslow,
Peter Brown,
*Richard Clarke,
*John Allerton,
*Thomas EngUsh.
of Mather's Magnalia. [The italldzing is not in the original of the compact, but I
have marked those words ou which I based my remarks in the Oration.]
00 APPENDANT NOTES.
[Note M. — Page 45.]
For a further illustration of this coinage, see Historical Magazine,
Vol. III., p. 197, and Thomas Hollis's Memoirs, p. 397. A rather
captious reply to the above article in the Magazine, appears in the same
volume, p. 316, but the argument used is a felo de se. I have a good
and well preserved specimen of this coin, and nobody acquainted with the
first limb or twig of " treeology " would ever dream of its being a pine.
CONCLUDING NOTE.— [Personal.]
I here embrace an opportunity to try to correct some wide spread
mistakes. In the course of my genealogical labors, I receive many
letters addressing me by the title of Jiev. How this practice came into
use I do not know ; but as my name is sometimes alluded to by my
friends in the public journals, I suppose the mistake was made by some
one inadvertently associating my name with that of Rev. Samuel New-
man, the founder of Rehoboth, and from whom I am a hneal descendant.
Nor have I any very high opinion of the apphcation of the sacred title
of reverend to men. My only apology for using the term in reference
to others, is in deference to a long standing custom, rendering; it almost
a necessity in definite descrijDtion. The term reverend is used but once
in the Bible, [Psalms cxi., 9,] and there it is applied to the Supreme
Being, alone ! Do we rob God ? or do we claim an equality with Him ?
one or the other seems inevitable. I have not, nor never had, any claim
to such title. Nor is my name Samuel — a name by which I am often
addressed. The name my sainted mother gave me is on the title-page of
this humble production, and has never been altered ; and any additions
or appendages thereto, have been made by the voluntary, unsoHcited acts
of others.
In very early life I was left an orphan, and without education, prop-
erty or friends to help me to instruction. I had an early proclivity for
little books, which gradually extended itself for larger ones ; but the
calls of life could only be answered by daily manual labor, and all book
progress was necessarily slow, fettered and limited, although the hours
which Nature demands for sleep have been too often encroached upon
throughout the past half century. For whatever of Science, Philosophy,
Histoiy, Literature, or attainments in any of the departments of human
learning, I may possess, (and I am often credited with much more than
APPENDANT NOTES. 61
I merit,) I am indebted only to the blessing of Heaven and the common
kindness and sympathy of my fellow men, as I have lived thus far in
life without a teacher. I am a graduate of no school except a email
childrens' school taught by my mother ; yet, for reasons best known to
herself, Brown University saw fit to pick me up as a sort of isolated
sheep from the more favored flock, and generously conferred upon me
one of her Honorary Degrees.
In rehgious matters, I am an outsider to every variety and shade of
religious organization ; yet I am no infidel, nor am I a disrespectful or
inattentive observer and listener at religious meetings. In none of my
by-gone editorial writings, ui no book, pamphlet, letter or docmnent
written by me throughout my past life, have I ever left a single word
that could be construed into any disrespect or want of veneration for the
christian reUgion or for God, whether I see him revealed in the Scrip
tures or geometrizing in the rainbow ; but, on the contrary, I respect,
admire and love, with what I believe to be a christian impulse, all I see
praiseworthy, pure and good in all men, with no desire to take note of their
faults. My worship is summed up in the Lord's Prayer, and my creed
is reducible to eight small words : " Cease to do evil ; learn to do well."
In earlier life, the physical sciences and moral and intellectual philoso-
phy, were among my most congenial pastimes ; but, in later years, anti-
quarian and genealogic investigations are my favorite pursuits ; and I
have many thousand families of the present and past, in systematic
arrangement, — a vast collection, which is designed as a deposit in the
archives of the State of Rhode Island, for the benefit of the future.
I am aware that it is not commendable for one to say or write much
of himself; but if I had died yesterday, and my labors and papers ever
been deemed worth overhauling, not a paragraph of autobiography would
have ever been found among them. Under these circumstances, and to
•correct the mistakes alluded to, perhaps I may be excusably indulged in
this brief exposition. And I only here desire to add, for the benefit of
the youth and young men of this favored age, that although the most
protracted life of man is but a moment in the great cycle of Time, yet,
independent of all the legitimate calls of life, there is a large amount of
surplus time that may and must be devoted to something ; — what that
something is, their future destiny will faithfully illustrate and develope.
Adeo in teneris consuescere multum est. Vir.
62
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FULL AND COMPLETE REPORT
OF THE
ECCLESIASTIC AND CIVIC
BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
AT SEEKONK, [the Ancient Rehoboth,]
JULY 4, 1860.
[PRtTARED AT THE REQUEST OK THE COJIJIITIEE.]
HISTORICAL CELEBRATION.
In the month of May, 1860, a meeting of the Congregational
Church at Seekonk was holden to take into consideration the
subject of projecting some sort of a celebration of the ancient
settlement of that town and church.
A Committee of Arrangements were chosen, and the whole
matter placed in their hands, — the Committee requesting their
pastor. Rev. Mr. Barney, to sit with their body as an advisatory
member. After extending invitations to such as they desired
to take part in the exercises, and receiving their replies, the
Committee issued the following public notice as a programme of
their intended celebration :
ECCLESIASTIC AND CIVIC CELEBRATION,
AT SEEKONK, MASS.
It has been proposed that the Religious Societies and the Citizens of
Seakonk and the seven towns of which the ancient Rshoboth has been
the nursing Mother, should hold a friendly, religious and patriotic gath-
ering at the orig"nal Congregational Church thereof, at Seeko.vk,
on July 4fch, 1860, at 10, a. m., for the purpose of commemorating the
origin and historic scenes of the ancient Rjhoboth, [now S32konk], and
of passing in review the life and character of its orig'.nal founder, and of
pay'.ng respaat to ths ever mamorable birth-day of our Common Country.
That this gathering may be simple and unostentatious, and yet beat-
tjng a religious and patriotic people, the following brief Prograinme has
10
74 THE CELEBRATION.
been adopted, excluding powder and other emblems of War, while at
sunrise and sunset the paals from the Church Bells will "ring out"
their respects for the National Anniversary.
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
I.
Invocation to the Throne of Grace by Rev. Constantino Blodgett, D. D.,
Pastor of the Congregational Church of Pawtucket.
II.
Reading of select portions of Scripture by Rev. A. H. Stowell, Pastor
of the First Baptist Church at Seekonk.
III.
Music and Hymn by the Choir.
IV.
Prayer by Rev. James 0. Barney, present and tenth Pastor of this the
original Church, and who will also conduct the exercises.
V.
Reading of the Declaration of Independence by Hon. Johnson Gardner,
a native of the town, and descendant of one of its early settlers.
VI.
National Ode by the Choir.
VII.
Historical Oration by S. C. Newman, A. M., of Pawtucket, a native of
the ancient Rehoboth, and lineal descendant in the seventh
generation from its founder and first Pastor.
VIII.
Original Hymn written for the occasion.
IX.
Remarks and Benediction by Rev. David Benedict, D. D., of Pawtucket.
At the close of the services, the company will repair to a temporary
Pavilion near the Church, where [at a moderate price] all who desire it
THE CELEBRATION. 76
can join the festive board and partake of refreshment and the enjoyment
of enlightened sociality ; and all who have a taste for this class of historic
gatherings, without distinction of party, creed, sect or sex, and especially
those descendants in neighboring States, the ashes of whose ancestral
forefathers repose in the ancient Cemetery connected with this venerable
Church, are hereby invited to mingle in these sacred and patriotic
festivities.
JOSEPH BROWN,
ROBERT M. PEARSE,
JOSEPH B. FITTS,
ISAIAH HOYT,
WILLIAM ELLIS,
Committee of
Arrangements.
Note. — Several interesting antiquated relics of this people, more tlian two cen-
turies ago, will be exhibited on this occasion.
W^ith this announcenient, printed in circulars with correspond-
ing envelopes for convenience, and in the newspapers in the vi-
cinity, the Committee entered upon the discharge of their duties
with intelligence, ability and energy ; and their success will be
best told in the following account of the result, compiled prin-
cipally from reporters of the press, (for whom the Committee
furnished special accommodations, both in the church and at the
dinner,) commencing with the remarks of the very able reporter
[E. R. Gardiner] of the Providence Evening Press, issued on
the afternoon of July 5.*
While our Providence streets were the scene of the din and
discomfort inseparable from a city celebration of the Fourth, it
was a pleasant fortune to escape from them and participate in a
more quiet and more pleasurable mode of paying respect to the
national anniversary provided in a rural suburb. The broad and
grassy plateau of Seekonk, venerable with historic interest ; its
ancient church and cemetery, containing monuments that now
*Justice requires us to say that the several journals there represented, viz : the
Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle, Pawtucket Observer, Providence Post and Press,
Boston Journal, and some others, all published able but more or less condensed
reports ; and in this description we have drawn more or less from them all, with-
out being able to credit them in detail-
. T8 THB CELEB RATIOZT,
show the date of 1653 ; its romantic loveliness of scenery, its
neat dwellings, its gay pavilion and its happy group of people,
from distant towns and States, returning to do honor to the
founders and the historic scenes of their ancient birth-place,
presented a spectacle long to be remembered by those who wit-
nessed it as it yesterday thus appeared. Never v/as more ap-
propriate place or occasion for such re-union, and never were
the details of a memorial meeting better planned or more suc-
cessfully carried out. In the judicious selection of speakers and
the feUcitous manner in which they performed their duties ; in
the well-timed sentiments and the excellent and abundant cheer
that was provided ; in the numbers and the enthusiasm of the
participants ; in the feeling of deep reverence for the past exci-
ted, and in the loveliness of the day, all was a complete success.
Such interesting festivities have perhaps never before been known
in Seekonk ; never probably were its bright fields and pleasant
drives so well and so extensively appreciated as yesterday. The
d3eds of the men associated with these scenes in early days were
vividly brought up in review before their descendants who had
assembled from the seven towns of which the ancient Rehoboth
has been the nursing mother, to commemorate the fame of a no-
ble ancestry. A deep impression pervaded all that they were
indeed standing on classic ground, and they united as those who
.might never meet again in paying tribute to the virtues and
exploits of their fathers as exhibited on that soil two hundred
years ago.
At an early hour, crowds of people began to gather from the
neighboring towns and villages, and although the railway station
was near the location, — putting the place in connection with the
surrounding country, — yet there were visible at one time, eight
hundred and five family carriages on that broad plateau. It
was by far the largest gathering ever witnessed there since the
settlement of the town ; yet such was tiie admirable arrange-
ments of the Committee, that not a gun, nor even a single pow-
der-cracker, was fired, nor the least appearance of intoxicating
liquors or unbecoming behavior witnessed throughout the day,
THE CEIiEBRATION.
77
in all that sober, reflective, contemplative and jet eminently
cheerful multitude.
The first part of the exercises, those announced in the pro-
gramme, Avas held in the Congregational Church ; and at 10
o'clock, A. M., the appointed time, the venerable edifice was
filled to overflowing. The invocation for Divine assistance was
bj Rev. CoxsTANTiNE Blodgett, D. D., Pastor of the Congre-
gational Church at Pawtucket. The reading of select portions
of Scripture was b}' Rev. A. H. Stowell, Pastor of the First
Baptist Church at Seekonk, and were appropriate selections read
from a Bible printed at Geneva in 1608, and brought by Gov.
Bradford in the Mayflower in 1620, now two hundred and fifty-
two years old. A fervent and very appropriate general prayer
was offered by Rev. James 0. Barney, the tenth and present
Pastor of this ancient church, who also conducted all the exer-
cises in these services by introducing the different participants
at the proper time and place. The Declaration of American
Independence of July 4, 1776, was read in good style by Hon.
JonxsoN Gardner, now of Pawtucket, but a native of Rehoboth.
The Oration of the day was delivered by S. C. Newman, A. M.,
of Pawtucket. It occupied about two hours in its delivery, bub
was of sufficient interest to command the closest attention of the
audience throughout. The Oration was both ecclesiastic and
civic, according to the programme, and the audience gave evi-
dence that the orator of the day had acceptably performed the
task assigned him.
The following original hymn written for the occasion by Rev.
William M. Thayer, of Franklin, Mass., was sung after the
conclusion of the Oration :
What voices from the silent past,
111 ivhispers clear aad low,
That tell of precious seed broad cast,
Two hundred years ago !
When first the Saviour's herald true
Came o'er the ocean wave,
Here to erect an altar new,
And here to find a grave.
Thrice blessed thej — the fathers all —
Wlio suUered. toiled and prayed,
And at the Mnster's early call,
These sure foundation* laid !
Tlirice happy we — their children hpre-
Wlio share their laboi-s now,
And worship God with hope — nor fear
Vt here first Ihiy made their vow I
Long where the sainted fathers trod,
May we guard well the dust
Of him who taught in faith for God I
A dear and sacred trust.
And when in turn our lives are spent.
And tear drops o'er us flow.
May we ascend where Nkwmav went,
Two hundred years ago.
78 THE CELEBRATION.
Spirited and tasteful music was set to these hymns by Dea.
D. B. FiTTS, formerly of Seekonk, but now organist at the Con-
gregational Church in Holliston, Mass., who also wrote an origi-
nal piece of music for the original hymn on this occasion ; and
the singing was beautifully executed by a choir of twenty-five
well trained voices, [Dea. Fitts presiding at the organ,] the
whole being under the direction of Daniel Perrin, Esq., of
Seekonk, a gentleman who exhibited ample qualifications for the
task he was called to sustain.
Rev. David Benedict, D. D., of Pawtucket, to whom had
been assigned the Benediction, prefaced that service with the
following brief but appropriate remarks :
" I am alwaj's pleased with such anniversaries as this. I like these re-
unions of the widely dispersed members of a town. I like these efforts to
preserve the ancestral association of this, the ancient town of Rehoboth,
including what are now seven towns within a territory of ten miles square
purchased of the great Massasoit, the friend of Roger Williams. It has been
the nursery of piety and intelligence, fruitful in talent and worthy in its
moral character. A day like this — so fruitful in honorable and christian
development — will, I trust and believe, remain among our most cherished
recollections to the end of life. And now, may that overruling Heavenly
Protector, who has guided the barque of our forefathers over the stormy seas
of their probationary trials, and conducted them, as we believe, to the man-
sions of eternal rest, be still our Protector to the end of life, and to the same
final triumph, through His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."
These services in the church were of a most interesting char-
acter, and were listened to with uninterrupted attention by an
audience of twelve hundred people, including a very large num-
ber of men of mark in the literary, theological and pohtical world.
And every part of these historic and patriotic exercises was, by
the visibly apparent smiles of Heaven, executed in exact accord-
ance with the original programme of the Committee, and evinced
their ability in all their arrangements.
THE dinner.
A large and beautiful pavilion, providing dining accommoda-
tions for more than a thousand people, had been erected near
the church, to which the congregation next betook themselves
THE CELEBRATION. 79
for the enjoyment of the pleasures of the festive board and of
enlightened sociality. The tables were most tastefully and boun-
tifully spread, and the tent proved none too large for the guests.
After the company were seated, the Divine blessing was invoked
by Rev. Perez Mason of Boston.
The dinner was prepared under the management of James M.
Bishop, Esq., of Scekonk. Every seat was occupied ; he had
enough for all and to spare, and if hundreds had to wait a second
table, none were allowed to go away hungry, whether with or
without one of his thirty-eight cent tickets ; and such were his
most admirable arrangements, in point of assistants, &c., that
but one plate and four tumblers were broken, among all his table
ware, during the whole process until everything was finally re-
turned to its place ; and in addition to order, quietness and social
comfort, the dinner, in a pecuniary point of view, more than real-
ized the most sanguine expectations of the Committee.
After the feast of material good things had been disposed of,
the guests prepared themselves for the enjoyment of the intel-
lectual part of the entertainment, consisting of appropriate sen-
timents and responsive speeches, which formed one of the most
delightful features of the occasion. The President, Rev. James
Dean of Pawtucket, who gracefully presided at this festal board,
announced the intellectual feast in a brief but eloquent speech,
and closed by introducing George Owen Willard, Esq., Editor
and Proprietor of the Pawtucket Observer, as toast-master for
the occasion. The toasts and responses were as follows :
The first sentiment was —
Tlie CJongregational Church of SeekonJc — She this day welcomes the children of
the ancient Rehoboth to the old homestead.
Rev. James 0. Barney, the present pastor, ordained in 1824,
responded as follows :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
Honored, as I feel that I am, to stand in the place of the tenth and
present pastor of this ancient and venerable church, it is my privilege
and pleasure to extend to you her most cordial, christian salutation.
80 THE CELEB RATION.
Though years have passed away since she entered upon her third
century, she is still as hale and healthful as ever, and this day reports
herself to be the mother of seven towns, thirty-eight churches, and more
than thirty thousand living descendants.
We, who are the immediate members of her family^ this day welcome
you all to the " Old Homestead ;" the identical spot wliere our Puritan
fathers and mothers met, more than two hundred years ago, to pray, to
praise and worship God.
We meet and greet you as brothers and sisters, without reference to
party or sect. And as we looli over this great and orderly assembly,
gathered from so many States, towns and churches, our hearts swell
with emotions of love, and prompt us to say, " Behold our mother and
sisters and brothers."
Gathered as we are, we deem it a fitting occasion to render thanks to
our Heavenly Father that we are the children of those pious parents,
who, on these sacred grounds, offered prayers that reached up to the
throne and affected the heart of God, and procured for us the richest
blessings in His gift.
And now, dear friends, as brevity and good sense are to be the order
of the table, and as we know of nothing that more fully and briefly ex-
presses our feelings toward you, we close our welcome by invoking upon
you all this Divine benediction [Numbers vi., 24, 25, 26] : " The
Lord bless you, and keep you ; the Lord make his face shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you ; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace."
The second sentiment was —
The Early Settlers of New En gla7id— They feared God rather than man.
Rev. Perez Mason of Boston responded to this sentiment in
the following manner :
3Ir. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
My fiither was born on this spot, ninety years ago. When three years
old, he was carried by his parents to Grafton, New Hampshire, where
the country was so poor that if the doctrine be true that people receive in
this life punishment for their sins, they must have been grossly wicked !
I have seen the tears course down his cheeks as he told the tale of the
poverty and distress of that noble-hearted band of men and women, the
THE CELEBUATION. 81
early settlers of his adopted towa. There they struggled with pain and
poverty ; and all the cradle they had for years, was one-half of a hollow log.
But they overcame these obstacles, and a few of the family yet remain.
But, Mr. President, amid it all, I feel honored, doubly honored, in
being permitted to be present with you on this occasion. Here some of
the early settlers of New England had then- trials and conflicts, but their
unyielding reliance on God for protection enabled them to triumph.
May their posterity never thmk less of God and the Bible.
You not only had among them, Sir, your ministers, your physicians
and your jurists, but you also had poets ; and well do I remember one
of the effiDrts of one of those rustic bards which was taught me by one
of my ancestors nearly fifty years ago. The young man was burning a
coal-pit then not far from where we are now assembled, and going from
here to Providence, he pui'chased a quart of new rum. On his way
back, he imbil^ed so freely that he became intoxicated, and fell into his
coal-pit and came near behig burned to death ; and after having par-
tially recovered, he perpetrated the following verse, in which there is
probably more truth ijimxi poetry :
" A quart of rum from Providence come ; —
And through that sin, I plainlj' see,
The pit did funk and I got drunk,
And that's the etiul of me."
But, aside from these sunplicities, I rejoice that so much of the puri-
tanic spirit is here to-day. Theirs was a spirit of stern integrity ; and
in listening to the Oration to-day, we found that Rehoboth was on hand
in the Revolution, to furnish her quota of men to defend the liberties of
the country.
As a descendant from Old Rehoboth, I am glad to be here. And I
thank God that many of my ancestors were men who feared Him and
kept His commandments. I feel honored ui the privilege of mingling
in these festivities, and in paying our respects to this venerable mother
of seven towns. God bless her.
The third sentiment was —
The difficulties encountered and overcome by the early settlers of New England,
though formidable in their nature, and apparently well calculated to discourage
and dishearten the most sanguine, yet those very difficulties and obstacles gave a
tone to the character of those early adventurers and their posterity, that has made
New England what she is,
11
82 THE CELEBRATION.
Rev. William M. Thayer of Franklin, Mass., (author of the
" Bobbin Boy,") who was expected to respond to this sentiment,
being absent. Rev. David Benedict, D. D., of Pawtucket, re-
sponds as follows :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Under the circumstances arising from the absence of the gentleman
expected to respond to the sentiment here given, I may reasonably be
permitted to make a few brief remarks, in a somewhat different direction
from what I should if I had intended to make a special response to that
comprehensive field of historic truth.
I am well pleased with celebrations of this kiud, and particularly with
the rapidly increasing efforts which are now so generally being made to
collect and preserve the record of the dofags, the trials and the suc-
cesses of our New England ancestors, — a labor which has been too much
and too long neglected by almost all classes of the American people.
Although I cannot trace my pedigree to the first settlers of Old Re-
hoboth, and have no ancestral claims to a relationship with that worthy
band of men, yet for more than a half century I have been on very inti-
mate terms with a portion of their descendants. In 1804 I became a
resident of Pawtucket, [on the Massachusetts side of the river,] which
was then within the limits of the venerable town whose bi-centennial
anniversary we this day celebrate. Here I found a small but godly
company of the members of this famous community, who united with
the few members of my own order [Baptists] in sustaining religious ser-
vices in the only house of public worship then ha that place. These
people became my steady hearers and supporters until a church of their
own order [Congregationahsts] arose in that place, — an offshoot from
this venerable parent chiu'ch. With the ministers of this wide spread
town and its vicinity, I frequently exchanged pulpits; and I have
preached ui the double-galleried meetmg-house described by the orator
of the day. Thus such an mtimacy was formed with this people, that I
do not come here as a stranger on this joyous and praiseworthy occasion.
And besides, I claim to be a representative of a somewhat numerous
portion of the population of this originally widely extended town, in
which many of our faith have lived and died ; and from which, at differ-
ent tunes, no inconsiderable ninnbers of this class of men, [Baptists,]
both ministers and laymen, have performed important services in other
rco-ions to which they have emigrated.
THE CELEBRATION. 83
Ephraim Starkweather, Esq.,* the very talented gentleman so truth-
fully alluded to in the Oration to-day, was the founder of an important
and highly respectable fomily in that part of the ancient Rehoboth now
called Pawtucket. He was one of the substantial members of the com-
munity to which I have referred. He was a native of Connecticut and
a graduate of Yale College. From this very uitelligent and worthy
clu-istian citizen, I learned the leading facts of the liistory of Newman
and his adventurous associates, and of the transactions of those men
with Massasoit, the famous Indian chief, the early and firm friend of
Roger Williams, — the great outlines of those times I learned from Mr.
Starkweather, long before the valuable labors of Daggett and Bhss were
published to the world.
I had, in my earliest years, formed a very favorable opinion of the
Old Plymouth Colony, within whose ancient boundaries we are now
assembled, and this opinion was strengthened and confirmed as I became
more and more acquainted and familiar, in later hfe, with the records
and character and christian liberality of this ancient people. f
With regard to the toast, to which I have not even attempted to re-
spond, I have only time and strength to say : That the evidences of
"the difficulties encountered and overcome" by our forefathers, are
universally spread over the early history of New England ; they were
the schools in which the perseverance, the honor, the integrity and ulti-
mate standard of liberality of our far-famed New England character was
formed — a character which has left and is yet to leave, and permanently
stamp, its impress on the unborn States yet to belong to our glorious
Union of confederated members of this great Republic, whose birth we
tliis day also celebrate. Those obstacles, overcome by the toil of perse-
verance and high-toned trust m Grod, will long shine as beacon lights for
the stunulatiou of a laudable pride of nationality to the intelligent future.
But, Mr. President, I must close, and only beg leave to add, that the
non-sectarian character of this glorious festival fully appears in the pro-
*That gentleman has a grandson, Hon. Samuel Starkweather, now living in
Cleveland, Ohio, late one of the District Judges of that State. A great-grandson,
James Oliver Starkweather, Esq., is now Cashier of the Slater Bank at Pawtucket.
There is a fact relating to this Ephraim Starkweather of Rehoboth which is not
much known in history, and it is this : Gov. John Hancock, while the storm of
British oppression was lowering over New England, called to his side a board of
private Councillors, as confidential advisors, and this Mr. Starkweather of Rehoboth
was one of Hancock's choice, and served in that private but honorable capacity.
tSee page 26. s. c. n.
84 THE CELEBRATION.
gramme of your Committee, and their admirable execution of it ; and if
I were to offer a sentiment, it would be something like this :
The grave is the sepulchre of all human creeds ; anrl beyond it will be the entire
harmony of all their pious advocates. Fideli certa merces.
The fourth sentiment was —
Tlie Early lEsiory of this Colony— li awakens an honest pride in the hearts of
the people.
Hon. John Daggett of Attleborough, President of the " Old
Colony Historical Society," responded in the following manner :
3Ir. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
I am happy to respond to such a sentiment as the one just proposed.
It is worthy of remembrance on this occasion. The Plymouth Colony —
the " Old Colony," as we familiarly call it — has become a great historic
name. It will fill a noble page in history ; and, as the population of
this country flows westward from the Pilgrim shore, the Old Colony
looms boldly up to view, and will ever be a prominent object through
the vista of the Past. There is the old, lowly home of a great nation —
there, its birth-place.
The general character of the Pilgrims should be held up to coming
generations in everlasting remembrance. They were the unconscious
founders of a great Western Empire. As the swelling population of
this country expands and spreads itself over a vast continent, the fame
of the Pilgrims v/ill go with it, and " grow with its growth and strengthen
with' its strength."
Yes, we are proud to claim such an ancestry — to belong to the land
of the Pilgrims. You are natives of the Old Colony. This ancient
town, whose birth you have met to celebrate, was included in the limits
of this time-honored colony. You are assembled on sacred ground, —
standino- on Pilgrim soil, — that land to which history will look for the
foundations of our institutions and the germs of great events.
The founders of the Old Colony were fitted to carry on, successfully,
the apparently humble, but eventually great enterprise for which Provi-
dence had designed them. They were men of faith and men of courage.
They were men of genuine faith and trust in Providence, or they never
would have forsaken, as they did, their native land for conscience' sake
— that land to which they were bound by the ties of kindred and home.
THE CELEBRATION. 85
It was a trying moment when, in the frail Mayflower, they, exiles though
they were, looked for the last time, with eyes beclimmed with teai-s, on
the green fields and white shores of England — that " dear old England,"
the home of their fathers and the home of their own childhood ; they
never would have severed those ties nor quit those scenes endeared to
them by so many associations, to meet the perils of a wide ocean and an
unknown world, if they had not been moved by a great moral power, —
with hearts trusting in Providence, — sustained by an unfaltering faith, —
men who valued conscience above aU other things. If they had not been
of such a stamp, they would not have turned away from the comforts
and endearments of their native land, to banish themselves to the then
uttermost parts of the earth, and to plant their homes in the wilderness.
They were also men of true courage, or they never could have faced
the dangers and endured the trials to which their situation exposed them
during the early periods of their history. The public and private his-
tory of their lives famishes decisive evidence of this fact. There were
many occasions during their colonial existence which " tried men's souls."
Their readiness to meet danger and death in then* most appalling forms
was fully tested in the bloody scenes of Philip's war, which swept with
such terrible destruction over the infant colony. Within our own limits
was the scene of the most disastrous and hard-fought battle of the whole
war, in proportion to the numbers engaged. One of its severest blows
fell upon the settlement around the very spot on which we stand, in the
destruction, by the torch of the enemy, of the dwellings of the settlers.
You have all read the sad story of " Pierce's Fight;" how with his
sixty-three English and twenty Cape Indians he passed over these Plains
with his little army, doomed so soon to perish on a bloody field ; how
on his passage through the place he was joined by five of oiu' townsmen,
and all went in search of the foe, who were supposed to be in the vicin-
ity ; how they courageously attacked the enemy and j)ui'sued them till
they were drawn into an ambuscade and were finally surrounded by more
than five times their own number. They were thus completely encom-
passed by the enemy. They must then have known their fate. There
was no retreat and no quarter — it was victory or death !
At the commencement of the fight, Capt. Pierce formed his men into
a circle " double-double distance all round," so as to present a front to
the enemy in every direction. There and thus they stood for nearly
tliree hours in these appalling cii'cumstanees, till almost every man fell
either dead or wounded ! This was a test of their courage. Even the
86 ■ THE CELEBRATION.
coward, when surrounded by the "pomp and cii-cumstance of glorious
war," inspired by the enlivening strains of martial music, and attended
by numerous hosts, may rush Ijoldly onward in the hour of battle, but
here our friends had no external aids — nothing to sustahi them but their
own brave hearts ! Well did the old chronicler call this battle-ground
the " Bed of Honor." Honor, then, to the memory of the brave men
who thus died in defence of their firesides and their homes. To be de-
scended from those men is a prouder title of nobility than
" All the blood of all the Howards."
The orator of the day has alluded to some of the eminent men that
have been born in Rehoboth. Within this plantation was born one per-
son who has presided over Yale College ; another who has been Chief
Justice of our Supreme Court ; Benjamin West, a distinguished Profes-
sor in Brown University, whose name is co-extensive with astronomical
science ; Dr. Nathan Smith, a man eminent in literature and philosophy.
All will remember the name of Maxcy, who was born within the limits
of Rehoboth, President of three colleges, one of the most eminent moral
philosophers, and one of the most brilliant pulpit orators of his day.
This is a family gathering — a meeting of the descendants of the early
inhabitants of Rehoboth. Shall we call the roll of the revered dead V
Did time permit, it would be interesting to read over the names on the
list in the presence of their descendants. Some one here present could
respond to almost every name on it. Every one of the founders of
Rehoboth is probably represented here to-day.
Oh, that I could, by some magic art, or rather, by some Divine power,
recall the forefathers of the town from their sleep of two hundred years,
and restore them, for a brief time, to their earthly homes, and here let
them pass in review before us in their antique costumes, with their Puri-
tan manners and customs ; let them here meet their children face to face ;
let them cast a new glance over these once familiar places of their earthly
pilgrimage ; let each venerable form, as he enters and surveys the assem-
bly, recognize his own children in the names and the features we bear !
What a strange vision to them ; how interesting to us ! And how changed
the scene from the early days of the Pilgrims ! Here is the Great Plain,
once encircled by the " ring of the town;" above is the same blue sky
and smiling sun ; and there are the bright waters of the Narragansett.
But all else is changed ; all other things have become new ! The log
house, the red Indian, the interminable forests, have all vanished.
THE CELEBRATION. 87
Forever honored be those who, with brave heai'ts and unwavering
faith, — patient to endure so many sufferings, and to meet so many dan-
gers, — came here to subdue the wilderness, and to plant, on these
beautiful shores of the Narragansett, the institutions of Rehgion, and
Learning, and Freedom — that priceless heritage which you, their chil-
dren, are now enjoying ! Their remains repose in that old Burying
Ground within our sio;ht, and have lono; smce returned to their native
dust ; but they still live in these their children — in the names you bear —
in the example of their lives ; — in the principles which they liave trans-
mitted to you ; they still live in that influence which lingers around to
hallow these scenes of their earthly pilgrimage. God bless their memory.
The fifth sentiment was —
The Clergy of Ancient Eehoboth.
Rev. CoNSTANTiNE Blodgett, D. D., Pastor of the Congre-
gational Church in Pawtucket, responded to this sentiment in
the following appropriate remarks :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
You can scarcely be aware of the task which you have assigned, in
your call upon me. You have called me to retrace through all the past
of the ancient Rehoboth, the character and mfluence of a succession of
humble, modest men, who pursued the "even tenor of their way"
among the successive generations of this rural population. How shall
I measure the influence, how weigh the moral power, of these ministers
of the gospel — whom many, even yet, persist in regarding as httle better
than a series of town paupers, for whose support the town has been
chargeable from year to year ?
But, Mr. President, there is a great law of social and moral influ-
ence, under the action of which it may be seen that the clergy of this
ancient town have been a power among this people, and have left a
record, alike honorable to themselves and to the wisdom and grace of
God, who called them into such a ministry. By oifice and position tliey
have been benefactors in many ways, and to a degree which Ave may
fail adequately to estimate.
And yet there are two Unes of illustrative argument by which we may
make, in a measure, obvious and appreciable the benign influence of the
men who have filled the place of ministers of religion among this peoi)le-
88 THE CELEBRATION.
One line of sucli argument is, to suppose that from the beginning
there had been no such class of men in the town of Rehoboth. Sup-
pose there had never been a Sabbath observed, a sanctuary erected, a
sermon preached, a prayer offered in public assemljlies of worship, at
marriages or at burials. What kind of a town would this have become ?
What had been the character of the people ? What the state of educa-
tion ? What the progress in learning, arts, sciences, and all the amenities
and adornments of a christian civilization ? What would have been from
year to year the value of real estate in the towns mto which the ancient
Eehoboth has been partitioned ? What would be the value of real estate
this day under such a regimen ? We instinctively close our eyes on the
gloomy reality. We dare not picture to ourselves the results of such
an experiment in civil, social, moral and religious training. Ye minis-
ters of the altar of God ! we honor your memory ; we embalm in our
grateful hearts your holy lives and your manifold works of love for the
blessing of your own generation and the generations following ! Blessed
are ye, and blessed shall ye be among men, — to the praise of the glory
of Divine grace !
The other line of illustration is this. Let every minister of religion
be this day banished from all these goodly municipalities into which
ancient Rehoboth has grown. Let every meeting-house be demolished,
and a solemn and perpetual covenant be enacted that there never shall
be another minister of religion, another sanctuary, another sermon, an-
other public or social prayer, in all future years. What would be the
effect of such a measure upon the present condition and the future pros-
pects of this population? What would become of our moral, benevolent,
religious, social and educational institutions ? How would fare our in-
dustrial pursuits ■? What would be the effect from year to year on the
value of these farms and goodly homesteads, where the fathers dwelt
and prospered and worshiped in their day ? How would the grand list
of the towns stand from one decade of years to another ?
Think out the true answer to such questions, and you will agree with
me in the conclusion that we owe an immense debt of gratitude to the
clergy of Rehoboth, and to that God who appointed them to such
ministry.
But who shall attempt to measure the magnitude of the results which
they achieved, when we rise to a view of the influence which they have
exerted on the spiritual and immortal interests of those who have lived
and died under their ministrations, and been sharers in the priceless
THE C E L E B R A T I i^r . 89
benefits which they were enabled to bestow on their contenipuraries, and
through them, on after generations ?
On the broad fields of eternity, our illustration must find its comple-
tion. Into that blessed state we may not follow them now. But in it,
may we ourselves read their completed histories, and learn to bless God
anew for the works and benign influence of the " Clergy of Ancient
Rehoboth."
I only add that it would not become me to attempt to speak of the
personal character and attainments and labors of men so far removed
from our day as are the Newmans and their successors in the ministry.
Of the sacred learning of the elder Newman, we have heard from the
orator of the day. We may suppose them all to have been sound, able,
learned men, qualified for the high functions of their office, and com-
mending themselves to men's consciences, in the sight of God, l^y their
holy lives and their public teachings, drawn, in the true Protestant
method, from the oracles of revealed Truth.
Be it ours, who have entered mto their labors and emljraced from the
heai-t their Protestant faith, to imitate their vu-tues, and to reverence,
cherish and obey that sacred Word, of wliich they were such devout
students and such able expounders. Thus may we, and those who come
after us, stand accepted before the God of our fathers, through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
The sixth sentiment was —
The Medical Profession of Ancient Reliobotli.
Doct. Benoni Carpenter of Attleborough responded to this
sentiment as follows :
3Ir. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
It is good for us to be here to-day. We all claim to be directly or
indirectly, as I suppose, the descendants of Old Rehoboth ; and if there
be one sentiment stronger than another, if there be on^ internal instinct
more potent than all others, it is where a man desires at some time in
his life to return to the spot that gave him birth. I claim, Mr. Presi-
dent, to be one of the direct and hneal descendants of the first Wilham
Carpenter, who lived over on the other side of this Common. Though
born in a different county, I delight to be here, and to see so many of
the Old Rehoboth people surrouudiiig me. And, Sir, I suppose from
12
90 THE CELEBRATION.
tlie sentiment that I am expected to answer particularly for tlie medical
profession that originated in this town; and when I say this town, I
mean within the limits of Old Rehoboth, ineludmg this town and the
towns surrounding. Were I to go into details in relation to these men,
my task would be a difficult one, for whatever else Rehoboth has been,
it certainly has been exceedingly prolific in physicians. I can do no
more in this connection, nor is it proper that I should so do, than sim-
ply give you the names of the medical men who have originated in this
town. I will begin first with that part of Rehoboth now designated
Seekonk.
The first physician in this town of whom I have any knowledge (and
the knowledge I have of him I obtained from my grandmother, who
died one hundred years old,) was Dr. David Turner, residing in the
southern part of Rehoboth proper, near Palmer's River — a physician of
the soul and of the body ; a preacher on the Sabbath, admmistering to
the moral and rehgious necessities of men, and durmg the remainder of
the week takmg care of their physical health. He was a man of a good
deal of wit and a good deal of sensitiveness, a man very much esteemed
by the people of his time. He died in 1757, aged 63.
Dr. Thomas Bowen, who hved near the time of Dr. Turner, was also
a distinguished physician, as well as a military colonel.
One of the first physicians of this town of whom I have any knowl-
edge was Dr. Joseph Bridgham. From him descended the Bridghams
of the adjacent city ; and their name has spread from this town over
different parts of the country.
One of the most distuiguished names in science, especially medical
science, but not lunited to that enth-ely, — a name known all over New
England for the energy of its bearer, — was that of Dr. Nathan Smith.
He originated in that part of Rehoboth near the residence of Dr. Whit-
marsh, in the southern part of this town. A poor boy, he fought his
own way along through life. He had an especial taste for surgery, and
became Professor of Surgery in Yale College. After conthiuing there
in that capacity a great many years, he left and founded the medical
department in Dartmouth College. He was the father of scientific sur-
gery in New England. Nearly all his descendants were physicians.
One died in the city adjacent nearly a year ago.
Another physician originating in this town was Dr. Daniel Thurber,
born not far from Newell's Tavern. He studied medicine and settled in
Bellingham, and was extremely endeared to his people there. There
THE CELEBRATION. 91
may be those here who knew his value among those who employed hun,
and how greatly he was lamented when he passed away.
A family of physicians originated in this town by the name of Bunn,
who were men of great celebrity, and practiced, I think, in Providence.
Another name was that of Dr. Levi Wheaton, who also originated in
Rehoboth, m the southeast part of what is now Seekonk. I will say of
him, in passmg, m the language of Pope, —
" An honest man's the noblest work of God."
If I was ever acquainted with a man whom I lielieved to be strictly and
purely honest, and whom I believed to be devoted to his profession,
who did everything in his power, by study and scientific research, for
the purpose of mitigating the sufferings of mankind, that man was Dr.
Levi Wlieaton.
Another name known to this town was Dr. Ridley. He practiced
during the Revolutionary war in the army. He was a man of a great
deal of eccentricity, and not remarkably well acquainted with the insti-
tutions of this country. I remember attending a patient m some part
of the town where he had previously been visiting. The man had
wanted him to take his pay in com, and shelled out to him all the pig
corn. The old gentleman was not particularly well pleased. But by
and by the same man was sick again, and sent for the Doctor to attend
him. He did not get well, but kept lingering along in his illness for
some time, and finally said to the Doctor, " What is the reason I do not
get well faster "? Here I am, unable to get about, and yet I have been
under your treatment for a long time." " Never mind," said the Doc-
tor, "I am only trying to work that pig corn out of you."
Dr. Hutehings, who died a few years since, and Dr. Allen, of whom
I knew but little, were among the earlier physicians in this vicinity.
This town also gave rise to several men of the medical profession by
the name of Buckliu. One of them went South, and died on his way
to Texas. Another was settled in Holiiston ; while a thu-d was settled
adjacent to this place, and some of us attended liis funeral a few years
since.
I would not forget to mention in the catalogue of medical men who
have originated in Old Rehoboth, the name of Miller, of whom I need
say nothing to any citizen of this vicinity.
In the town of Rehoboth proper, the name of Fuller occurs to me as
92 THECELEB RATION.
about the first physician that practiced here — a man of skill and emi-
nence, especially as a surgeon.
The name of Bullock is also prolific in physicians. One venerable
man of that name, who resided in the southwestern part of the town,
lived to be one hundi'ed years old.
Dr. Robertson studied medicine with Dr. Blackington, and after-
wards went to Boston and became an eminent physician in that city.
The Drs. Blandinn; — I mio-ht mention several of them of that name —
originated in this town. One I must allude to particularly, who studied
medicine here in E-ehoboth with Dr. Fuller, settled in Attleborough,
and afterwards passed to Camden, South Carolina, where he 2Dracticed,
and Ijecame an eminent scholar in natural history. A few years before
he died, his cabinet of natural history was probably larger than that of
any single indi"\adual in the United States. The specimens he left in
Camden, where he died, are beautiful and elegant, and would repay
any individual who takes an interest in that branch of study for making
a journey there to view them.
I now come to my own name, which I would not mention but for the
fact that it has been wonderfully prolific in physicians. Rehol^oth proper
has given rise to certainly eight physicians of the name of Cai-penter,
and how many more I do not know. A very considerable branch of
the Carpenters in Vermont originated in this town of Old Rehoboth.
There are a good many of them who are likewise physicians.
Pawtucket gave rise to Dr. Billmgs, who afterwards left and went to
Mansfield, and died in that town. Dr. Davenport also practiced and
died in this town. Dr. Manchester was another. There is also the
name of Dr. Stanley of Attleliorough. Swansea also gave rise to a
hereditary race of physicians — grandfether, father and son all living-
together at the same time. The eider was a hundred years of age while
the younger was livmg. I know but very little of others in that town
except the Winslows.
In addition to these names, there may be mentioned as among the
physicians of the past, Drs. Fowler, BodlifF, Bliss, Bolton, Thayer,
Wheelock, Johnson and Hartshorn, each of whom were ornaments to
the medical profession.
There is one fact which I very much delight to be able to mention
in relation to the medical men who have originated in Behoboth, and
that is, their perfect exemption from quackery from the beginning to
the end. However scientific they may have been, (and certainly some
THE CELEBRATION. 93
have lieen very much so.) or however much tliey may have been want-
ing in science, one thing they have been true to, and tliat is, the opinion
•that a profession that has existed hundreds and thousands of years must
of necessity, from all the knowledge thus transmitted, be a little more
learned and scientific than the httle windfjills of to-day and yesterday.
They have generally pursued that course that has made them an orna-
ment to their profession and a blessmg to humanity.
Allow me. Sir, in closing, to offer the following sentiment :
Old Rehoboth, in her bvond&t domain — May she contiuue to be, as site has been,
productive of good men and beautiful women.
The seventh sentiment was —
The Legal Profession of Ancient Rehoboth.
Simeon Bo wen, Esq., of Attleborougb, responded in the fol-
lowing manner :
Jilt'- President, Ladles and Gentlemen :
Convened as we are on this anniversary of our national independence,
in the shade of yonder sacred and venerable chui-ch erected to God, and
on this fair and level plain ; basking as we are to-day in the rich sun-
light of a glorious civilization ; rejoicing as we do in the rich fruition of
a thousand blessings — the blessing of peace with all nations, the blessino-
of free schools and of the general diffusion of knowledge, the blessings
of a free government, of a political confederacy of States enjoying civil
and rehgious liberty — it becomes us now and here to look both to the
past and the future, and to consider by what means, agencies and influ-
ences we have reached this national felicity of position, and by what
instrumentalities our present glory and prosperity may be augmented
and perpetuated.
It is, Mr. President, a little more than two centuries ago that these
fair and cultivated fields which we behold today rejoicing in peace and
plenty, and smiling with fruits and flowers, were only a dark and almost
unpenetrable forest, inhabited only by wild beasts and by rowing tribes
of rude and warlike savages.
A little more than two centuries ago it was that an immortal vessel,
the Mayflower, with her precious freight of human souls, was first moored
in Plymouth harbor ; and then and there the Pilgrim Fathers, our ven-
erable ancestors, destined, under Divine aid, guidance and protection, to
94 THE CELEBRATION.
inaugurate a more glorious civilization than the world had ever before
beheld, first stepped foot upon our shores. Then and there, as ever
true to tlieir noble mission and to the dictates of their consciences, they
went forth into the wilderness, under an unpropitious wmtry sky, to
meet and battle with trials, disasters and difficulties.
And with what success was their enterprise and achievements attended ?
Before their omnipotent arm the forest receded ; under their wise ordina-
tion, government was instituted, schools established, churches erected,
and towns and villages sprang up as if by magic. Fully imbued with
religious zeal, stern m morality, rigid in virtue, patient in toil, brave in
the midst of dangers, ardent, earnest and hopeful, they went onward in
their great enterprise conquering and to conquer, and there laid broad
and deep the foundations of a mighty empire. Heroically they lived,
heroically they died; and, dying, they bequeathed to their descend-
ants and to us, then- posterity, a rich heritage — the glory they achieved
and brought with them, and the distinguished example of piety and vir-
tue, patience and fortitude and courage. And when I ask to-day, Mr.
President, what influences and agencies have contributed to make New
England what she now is in morality, intelligence, prosperity and glory,
I would pomt, with reverence and gratitude, to the Pilgrim Fathers.
They passed away, and their descendants, fired with the spirit of the
fathers, took up the work laid down by them ui death, and pushed it
on to a glorious triumph.
We have met here to celebrate this day upon which our fathers adopted
the Declaration of Independence, and to commemorate the virtue of those
patriots who there enrolled their names. We have come up here to
kindle anew the fires of patriotism on the altars of Freedom, and declare
anew our devotion to the cause of Liberty, to renew our mutual pledges
of fidelity to the Constitution and the Union.
But, Mr. President, I was called upon to respond to a sentiment, —
' ' The Legal Profession of Ancient Rehoboth, ' ' — and this may seem like a
digression from my proper course of remark. I will say, there have been
those who were the representatives of that profession within the town of Re-
hoboth, though I think their numbers small compared with the other pro-
fessions enumerated by those who have spoken before me. There have
been but few whose names I can now recall. There is one who is now
among the living who was, a few years ago, an humble attorney within
the borders of these towns. Upon these plains he had his office. Now
he is in honor, and held the last term of our Superior Court at New
THE CELEBRATION. i)o
Bedford. I refer to the Hon. Ezra Wilkmson. Others have gone out
from this town who have shed lustre upon their profession, and have
served and adorned their day and generation.
There is one question which partakes of the nature of an equitable,
constitutional question, that it may not be inappropriate to allude to on
this occasion. And, Mr. President, I would refer you for a moment,
not with the intention of discussing the matter to any length, but briefly
refer to it as a question of local interest, and one for the mention of
which the day is not too good. I allude to the question of the bound-
ary line between this venerable Commonwealth and the State of Rhode
Island. There is an attempt made that a portion of our good old town
of Rehoboth may be severed and given over, ceded, granted to the State
of Rhode Island. Mr. President, it is improper that I should dwell
long upon this subject. But it seems to me a fit occasion to refer those
who are here present as representatives of those towns which are inter-
ested in this question, as a subject worthy of thought. Modern Reho-
both to-day will protest against such a procedure on the part of those
two States. Seekonk has been inclined, by her action in town meeting,
and Rehoboth too, I think, to grant even more than our bountiful Com-
missioners awarded of our territory to Rhode Island. In the first place,
Mr. President, I should object, on the part of Rehoboth, that this thing
should ever happen. I protest against it for this reason, that Rhode
Island has no legal, equitable and constitutional claim to any of the soil
of Seekonk. In the next place, I should protest against it for this rea-
son, that it was not intended that a portion of this old town could ever
be received and granted to a foreign jui-isdiction. Our fathers gave up
to Seekonk a portion of this territory bounded on the west and south
by the Pawtucket River and Providence River. There are benefits,
privileges and immunities which belong to modern Rehoboth which they
are very loth this day to relinquish. I do not believe that such a result
as has been intended by certain citizens in this vicinity will ever happen.
I hope for better things. I hope that these towns will ever remain
together. Although they are separate by different town governments,
yet they are one in everything that makes up a hapjiy community.
They may be distinct like the billows, yet they are ever one like the
ocean. One in a common brotherhood ; one for the Union ; one in
reverence for and obedience to the laws ; one, in short, in everything
that makes a virtuous, hapjjy and prosperous people.
96 THE CELEB RATION.
The eighth sentiment was —
KiwwkJ(je and True Religion — The safeguards of American Liberty.
Hon. and Rev. Sidney Dean, ex-member of Congress from
Connecticut, now Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at
Pawtucket, responded as follows :
3Ir. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am a son of Connecticut, a genuine, old-fashioned Connecticut
Yankee, and probably her only representative present, and, in her
name, I thank you for this kind invitation. It has been generally sup-
posed that a Connecticut Yankee carried about with him, in one pocket,
a whetstone, and in the other, a handful of sharpened pegs, which he
wished to "dicker" off as oats, and that, in general terms, he was a
sharp trader. But do not be frightened ; I do not intend to ask any of
you to trade jack-knives. [A voice — All we want now is some of your
tricks.] We learn those after we come to Massachusetts, and are capi-
tal imitators.
"While hstening to the able historical Oration of our friend, Mr. New-
man, upon the men of marked ability which this ancient and honorable
town of Rehoboth has given to the world, and also the professional re-
sume and classification by the gentlemen who have preceded me at this
table, I have almost wished that I had been born in Rehoboth myself.
It would be an honor to any man to find his birth-name em-olled among
such a list of eminent fellow townsmen, filling as nobly as they have the
different professions. But I can claim a Massachusetts relationship, for
my honored mother was a Plymouth woman, in regular lineage from the
Pilgrims of the Mayflower, and my revered fither was a Taunton man,
and, with the usual pride of Tauntonians, in the time of herring fishery ^
if asked where he came from, could say, "Taunton, Good Lord!"
And thus I claim a kinship with you all. All the idol worship I ever
performed in my life, was performed over a piece of granite rock broken
from the great boulder upon which the Pilgrims landed, and which I depos-
ited years ago among the treasures of the Connecticut Historical Society.
The good old Commonwealth of Massachusetts, God bless her ! She
is one of the brightest stars in the whole ximerican galaxy. There is
nothing that is sohd in morals, high-toned in honor, beautiful in affec-
tion, sterling in education, brave in patriotism, that can excel the old
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
THE CELEBRATION. 97
I know Massacliusetts and her leading sons well. It is an honor to
be born, to live or to die upon her soil. Her people are mteUigent,
educated, generous and brave. I have had the honor to stand by the
side of her selected Representatives, in seasons of trial and of mad ex-
citement, when it recpiired a cool head, a steady and a Hon courage ;
and I know that, for high-toned purpose, courteousness of bearing and
true heroism, they bore the palm proudly. I have seen them stand just
like anvils to the stroke of the sledge, without flinching a hair, but giv-
ing back the true ring of the genuine metal. The race of great men
will never die out of the " Old Bay State," for it will take a thousand
generations to perceptibly dilute her Puritan and patriot blood ; and I
trust she will stand in her mtegrity until the foundations of the ever-
lasting hills are finally removed.
The toast to which I am called to respond is a great truism. Per-
haps I should have reversed the order of statement if I had written it,
if by "knowledge" the author of this toast meant scientific acquire-
ments only. In om- history, the church preceded the school-house, and
the minister the schoolmaster. True religion was the basis upon which
our civil, and I may also add, our political education was reared. I am
not a betting man, but so prominently is this fact in our history, that I
would wager a fortune against a dime, that if any considerable body of
the descendants of the Puritans — say these citizens of Rehoboth — were
to emigrate and settle a township upon some part of our great West,
they would take a meeting-house and minister with them. The school-
house would follow as a necessity ; for where the heart is right, it will
crowd its gi-eat powers up into the brain, and demand for it the education
of the school-room. A christian people is perforce an educated people.
The Puritans found in the Bible the great foimdation principles of all
personal, social and pohtical rights. In their structure of government,
they differed with the rest of the entire world. The governments of the
world were monarchical, either absolute or hmited, but they all em-
braced the fundamental idea of the rightful exercise of power by one
man over another. Our govermnent was based upon the freedom of
the individual. And the nearer we approximate that, the more sunple
and perfect will be the governmental machinery. Governments are a
necessity, but should only be constructed to preserve intact the individ-
ual rights of all within the limits of then jui-isdiction. The moment
government becomes a power to rob the individual citizen of one of his
inherent and social rights, that moment it has adopted the monarchical
13
98 THE CELEBRATION.
basis, and the tendency is to a monarchical machine. The principles
which underlie the two systems, constitute the great rock of difference
between the government estabhshed by our fathers, and those of the
Old World.
The early English Puritans learned these primaiy truths by studying
the Bible at the side of their hearth-stones, and in its exposition by their
venerated ministers at their covenant gatherings. It was upon English
soil that this conflict began, and it culminated in Magna Charta, in the
reign of John, in the year 1215. That instrument, the basis of aU
English freedom, from which our Puritan fathers copied, and upon which
they improved, embraces four points, all striking at despotic power, and
enlarging the area of individual liberty :
1. The sacredness and perpetuity of the right to the writ of habeas
corpus upon the part of the people.
2. The trial of an accused person by a jury of his peers, and no
conviction without the evidence of credible witnesses.
3. The freedom of every person to travel in and out of the Kingdom
at pleasure, except in a time of war.
4. No taxation without representation, the people, in the persons of
their chosen representatives, having the coutrol of the purse.
These were the great landmarks of all liberty ; and under these, the
British government has stood up as a bright light to the Old World.
What is the difference between France and England? I know we
sometimes think how strange it is that the volatile Frenchman should
be always in trouble, brave as he is and lion-hearted as he is. Do you
not know that nowhere in the history of the French government has it
learned the great lesson that for a nation to be free, the individual citi-
zens must be free in every particular ? It has waded through seas of
gore ; its guillotine has been perfectly baptized, time and again, with
the blood of the flower of France, in the great washings of its national
sins, and yet it has never reached that sublime idea of the perfect and
complete liberty of the individual citizen. Neither has Russia learned
it ; and Italy is even now testing the problem, under the leadership of
the brave Garibaldi and his compatriots. Whether she has sufficient
of the Puritan in her composition to give her permanent success, time
alone will determine.
I cannot, in the few moments allowed me, mark the points of im-
provement m our own repubhcan form of government. Thank God,
the American people learned this great tinith early. But the moment
THE CELEBRATION. 99
we depart from it as a national policy, and set up a class that shall hold
the power to control the rights of the people, that moment our galaxy
will go down to its bloody baptism of death.
This is Freedom's natal day, and our festivities are natural, and must
meet the approbation of every patriot. But, as christians and philan-
thropists, let us pause in our rejoicings, and in remembering that we
have four millions of slaves upon American soil, drop a tear over their
sad condition. Their individuahty is utterly annihilated. They are
the governed, without a voice in the character of the government. To
them, our system is the most absolute and odious of monarchies. The
system of ehattelism is not a legitimate offshoot of our republican princi-
ples, but a barbarous excresence, fastened upon us in spite of its incon-
gruity. I will close by suggesting to you that our brethren of the South
and their Northern sympathizers are fast departing from the great prin-
ciple of individual freedom, the bulwark of national liberty, and imita-
ting the elan government of past ages.
Mr. President, I am glad to be here to-day and mingle with the citi-
zens of Massachusetts in what I call a new-fashioned, godly celebration
of the Fourth of July, without powder, without drums, and best and
bravest of all, without intoxicating liq^uor.
The ninth sentiment was —
Onr Common and Sabbath Schools.
Rev. A. C. Childs of Rehoboth responded in the following
manner :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
I have heard of a young African who once listened to a sermon from
one of our missionaries and afterwards repeated it to a group gathered
about him ; and when the missionary told him that he was doing that
which he himself could not do, without being conscious of any superior
ability, the untutored negro touched his forehead with his finger, and
said, " WhDn I hear anything great, it remains there." By great, he
probably meant good. Now, Sir, I have heard so many good things
here to-day, and they have so filled up the space there [pointing to his
forehead] that I am afraid the little I was intending to say is actually
crowded out.
The sentiment to which I am invited to respond is, " Our Common
100 THE CELEBRATION.
and Sabbatli Schools." These are some of the institutions in which we
as an American people are wont to glory ; not that they are altogether
peculiar to us, but because on the influences which go out from them
we are especially dependent for our success as a people. Education
and religion are the two main pillars on which a republic must rest for its
support. It is one thiag to say this and another to feel it; and he who
has caught such a view of his own wants and the wants of the people as
to feel and acknowledge this, is one on whom we may rely for assistance
in every hour of peril.
Next to the family, there is no place where the child is so much in-
fluenced as in the Common School and the Sabbath School. If it is
true, as has been said, " that the child is father of the man," then we
need to watch and see what sort of influences these institutions are send-
ing forbli ; for it is not the schools that educate, but the teachers who are
employed in them. As some one says : " School-houses do not educate
the inmates, and lazy, ignorant schoolmasters quite as little." What
we want is competent teachers ; persons who are in love with their em-
ployment, and who will teach the truth in all exactness and precision,
and with the greatest fullness. We need then have no fear as to the
kmd of scholars we shall have. With such institutions and such teach-
ers, "our sons will be as plants grown up in theu: youth, and our
daughters as corner stones poHshed after the similitude of a palace."
The tenth sentiment Avas —
The Day we Celebrate.
Rev. A. H. Rhodes, Pastor of the Universalist Church at
Seekonk, but residing in Providence, responded to this senti-
ment as follows :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
In the few remarks I shall make in response to this sentiment, I pro-
pose to be rather desultory. In the first place, I would remark that
such an occasion has never before been granted to me, and may never be
again. Dr. Carpenter must have forgotten Dr. Martin. It is my pleas-
ure to say here that I believe I owe the duration of my mortal life,
under God, to the scientific medical skill of that man. I am not at
present a resident of Seekonk. I live in that border State to which
allusion has been made as having attempted to deprive you of some of
THE CELEBRATION. 101
your territory. But as a protest has beeu made against our marriage,
I will not enforce the bans, as forced marriages do not amount to much.
But I suppose, though you will not join us, you will still bring your
corn to market at Providence.
When Napoleon, with his mighty hosts of French soldiers, trod the
soil of Egypt, he presented hunself before that powerful army of brave
Mamelukes, and stimulated his men to their mightiest efforts by pointing
them to the pyramids and saying to them, " Soldiers ! from the heights
of yonder pyramids, forty generations behold your actions." So I would
say, that I believe that the spirits of our fathers are to-day bending over
us from the high battlements of heaven, taking cognizance of this meet-
ing, and readmg the motives of our hearts ; and I believe that our course
is meeting their approbation, and that it is our duty so to cultivate our
spu'itual and moral energies that here in this existence we may ])e able
to apprehend the great fact that those samted dead are mmistering
spirits here.
I am called upon to respond to the sentiment, " The Day we Cele-
brate." To-day we have a lively sense of the privileges of independ-
ence. Tingling m the veins of our fingers is the sense of the great fact
of our fathers' physical emancipation from George the Third. But, my
friends, men and women of America, let me tell you, while you boast over
the glorious achievements of their Revolutionaiy efforts, while you glory
over the historic fact, while you joy over your inalienable rights, there
is an emancipation in the future of which you now but little dream, one
which shall eclipse that from George the Third as much as that great
temple which stood upon Mount Moriah eclipsed this humble church of
the Most High. It is that private emancipation of which we read, when
Christ shall have destroyed the devil and all his works, and shall brino-
to an end all transgression and sin, and the Great Father — not only of
the American brotherhood, but the Great Father of all the generations
of humanity — shall raise us up and make us to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus om* Lord.
The eleventh sentiment was —
The Fourth of July, 1776 — A day of trial to our fathers, but one of joyful remem-
brance to their posterity.
Rev. Francis Horton, Pastor of the Congregational Church
at Barrington, R. I., made the following response :
102 THE CELEBRATION.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
To one bom almost under the shadow of Bunker Hill, and whose
earliest recollections of a venerable grandsire are associated with details
of that memorable field where Warren fell, and whose residence for
years was not far from the spot where was shed the early blood of the
Revolution, nothing can be more grateful than to respond to the senti-
ment just expressed. The 4th of July, 1776, is nearly related to the
17th of June preceding, and to the 19th of April, 1775. The latter of
those historic days is commemorated all the way from Cambridge to
Lexington, with enthusiasm scarcely surpassed by that which is common
to our country on this national holiday. The first martyrs of the Ameri-
can Revolution were found in that vicinity ; and the fair heritage which
they have left to their descendants is pre-eminently precious on that
account. Where now are seen richly cultivated gardens, and splendid
villas, and populous villages, resistance to royal authority was manifes-
ted in deeds of heroic daring and sacrifice, that have rendered the names
of those men immortal.
The battle of Bunker Hill, as is well known, was a significant preface
to the Declaration of Independence. It was a contest indicative of what
was to be hazarded by those then espousuig the cause of freedom.
When the representatives of the United States of America, in Gen-
eral Congress assembled, appeahng to the Supreme Judge of the world
for the rectitude of their intentions, did, in the name and by the author-
ity of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare
that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Inde-
pendent States — and, for the support of this declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, mutually pledged to
each other their fives, their fortunes and their sacred honor — it was a
day of trial, clearly confessed. Then" deliberations for weeks in the
State House in Philadelphia bore witness to the heroism with which
they met the perils of their position. Their words thus had meaning
which we do well to remember ; for their lives, and property, and repu-
tation, were at stake in giving their signature to that solemn covenant.
And our patriot sires throughout the land so u.nderstood it, when they
ratified at once the bold announcement. With what heartiness did they
rush to the support of those principles, cost what it might ! The pre-
sumption was that many of them would be called to expend both their
treasiu-e and their blood in the fearful conflict. Whether even that
would avail for the maintenance of freedom, was no trivial question.
THE CELEBRATION. 103
Yet " sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish," they were resolved
on standing for the right, while they should stand at all. No sooner,
therefore, had the liberty bell rung out the tidings from the tower of
the old State House, that the Declaration of Independence had passed,
than a multitude, anxiously awaiting the decision of that grave question,
shouted their approval in one prolonged acclaim. How admirable the
coincidence, that the very motto on that bell was the inspired sentence,
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land imto aU the inhabitants
thereof." Who could fail of hearmg a summons to that effect, as ap-
pealing to the patriotism of an oppressed people ! What excitement
must have reigned throughout the city as the report of cannons, the
blazmg of bonfires, and an illumination at night, combined in signalizing
the event. Andf as the news spread all over the country, what terror,
as well as courage, must have been inspired. Think of the appalling
hardships to be encountered, the perplexity and distress inevitably to be
experienced, and the painful sacrifices to be endured by many, before
the peaceful fruits of independence would be secured. Ah, it was to
be no mere semblance of strife with the mother country — no luxurious
state of things in court, or camp, or home experience, for the people of
these colonies at the time. Should they succeed in absolving themselves
from all alleo-iance to the British Crown, and in establishing their free-
dom as a nation, it would be an expensive achievement at the best.
How much blood must flow — how much treasure must be expended —
how many homes must become houses of mourning ! Taking the most
hopeful view of the case which reason afforded, heroic souls were they
who coiUd look through the gloom to the glory beyond !
But we bless Heaven that there were men, whom we fondly call our
fiithers, who were fit for the accomplishment of this providential pur^jose.
Whatever we, their natiu-al offspring, may be ready to do or to decline
in the cause of freedom, they dared to do right, yea, to speak, and to
act, to live and to die for popular liberty. Honored be their memories
till the end of time.
Wbat an inheritance is this which has descended to us from our Revo-
lutionary ancestors — what a country — what a constitution of government
— what physical, and mtellectual, and commercial resources ! Where
on the face of the globe is there a combination of such advantages for
the masses of the people, comparable with these ? Who can conceive
of a fairer field for greatness in all the essential elements of national
success ? How has our population increased in eighty-four yeai's, from
104: THE CELEBRATION.
less than four millions to more than thirty millions ! True, sadly true,
reproachfully and most criminally true, four milHons of these are slaves !
And were that fact without a hope of reversal, the doom of America
would be deeper than that of Sodom. But there is a spirit of revival
abroad in the land in relation to the inalienable rights of men, as pro-
fessed by our fathers in their ever memorable Declaration ; nor will it
cease till the General Government is brought into consistency with those
fundamental principles that are in harmony with the law of God, and
are, in fact, immortal ! No treason is it to be true to humanity iu all
its forms, recognizing everywhere the brotherhood of the race. Nor
may secessionists expect the majority of the freemen of these United
States to resign their rights of free speech, and free press, and election
to public ofl&ce of such men as will administer the affairs of government
in accordance with the principles of its illustrious founders.
Let no fanatical sentiments of insurrection be encouraged, and no in-
vasion upon the constitutional prerogatives of individual States, but let
freemen speak and act, as now they may, throughout our widely ex-
tended country, in favor of what is due to all classes, and right for all,
as approved of Heaven, and this year will be signalized a century to
come, with some of the thankfulness which is cherished towards 1776.
The twelfth sentiment was —
The Commouwealtli of Massachusetts.
The thirteenth sentiment was —
Our Common Country.
Owing to the lateness of the hour, these two regular toasts
were not responded to, but instead thereof, the President read
the following letter from Ex-Gov. Clifford :
New Bedford, Jmie 29, 1860.
Rev. and Dear Sir, — On my return last evening, after an absence of
several weeks, 1 found the invitation with which the Committee of Ar-
rangements have honored me, to be present at the proposed celebration
in Seekonk, on the 4th of July next.
1 need not assure you, sir, who know so well my affection for the spot
where my loved and honored mother was born and died, that there is
no occasion of this nature which 1 should participate in with more sat-
isfaction, if it were practicable for me to do so. But my professional
THE CELEBRATION. 105
engagements require my presence at Nantucket next week, to attend the
Supreme Court, and I am most reluctantly compelled to forego the pleas-
ure to which the Committee have so kindly invited me.
With my thanks to them for their remembrance of me on an occasion
of so much interest, and with my best wishes for a most successtul
celebration, I am, dear sir.
Your friend and obedient servant,
JOHN H. CLIFFORD;
To Rev. James 0. Barney.
Joseph Brown, Esq., of Seekonk, then gave an interesting
history of some curiosities which were to be seen in the tent.
These articles were :
Five chairs which were occupied by General Washington and
his staff, when they stopped in Coventry, Rhode Island, on their
march from Boston to New York ; also a stand and a table which
were in the room where Washington lodged on that occasion.
The identical chair in which King Philip sat, near by, when
the town was burnt by the Indians, in 1676. This chair origi-
nally belonged to Preserved Abel, an early settler ; and before
any difficulties had arisen with the Indians, whenever King Philip
visited the " ring of the town," he always called on Mr. Abel,
and was offered the compliment of sitting in this " big arm chair."
There was also exhibited the original iron kettle or stew pot
once owned by King Philip, and in which he had cooked many
a muskrat in his wigwam at Mount Hope. It has been pre-
served one hundred and eighty-four years.
The sword worn by Sir William Pepperell at the capture of
Louisburg, in 1745.
Six silver service cups, presented to the original church as
follows :
One by Capt. Thomas Willet, in 1674 ;
One by Rev. Noah Newman, in 1678 ;
One by Mr. Samuel Newman, in 1747 ;
One by Mrs. Mary Walker, in 1748 ;
One by Mr. Edwin Glover, in 1751 ;
One l)y Mr. David Perrin, in 1754.
14
106 THE CELEBRATION.
These and other articles descending from " days- of yore "
were explained in an able and intelligent manner by Mr. Brown,
the Chairman of the Committee, and was listened to with pro-
found attention and visibly deep interest.
After this exhibition of antique articles, the whole congrega-
tion united in singing the following Ode, originally written by
"William J. Pabodie of Providence for another purpose, but al-
tered to meet this occasion. It was sung in the tune called " Old
Hundred," in which more than a thousand voices united ; and
under the sympathetic influence of surrounding circumstances,
producing a most thrilling efiect — many old patriotic saints giv-
ing vent to their emotions by calling it a "heaven upon earth."
From dwellings by the stormy deep, And yet a nobler boon is ours ;
From city's mart and forest side. Our fathers sought in sore distress,
From sliadow3' vales that softly sleep From lands where stern oppression lowers,
By Narragansett's storied tide — A refuge in a wilderness.
Home to this cliurcb, great God ! we come, They came, they suffered, and the}' died ;
Blest with Thy rich and bounteous store ; Yet planted here a deathless tree,
Beneath yon broad, majestic dome, Beneatli vvliose branches lar and wide,
Thy praise to sing, Thy grace adore ! Kesound the anthems of the free !
For lo ! -where once the savage trod, Theirs was the stern but glorious task,
And fiercely wild the war whoop rung,— ^ To raise its branches high ia air ;
Where dark>y o'er th' unfurrowed sod. Yet Europe's millions vaiuly ask
A wilderness its shadows flung — Its fruit, to taste — its shade to share :—
Ten- thousand peaceful' homesteads rise Be ours the mission, God of love,
O'er all this broad and peaceful land ; To cause its fragrant boughs to spread,
And, pointing to th' eternal skies, Till towering every land above.
Thy pillar'd fanes serenely stand. On every heart its dews be shed-
Great God ! we humbly own Thy Name,
Through the two hundred years now flo-mi ;
And may our children own the same,
Through the two hundred years to come.
When the melody of this piety and patriotism had ascended
to its congenial regions, the Rev. and venerable Dr. Benedict,
the oldest clergyman present, asked of God, and conferred on
all, a Parting Blessing.
Thus concluded these interesting festivities, and the assembly
dispersed, — each individual appearing to feel, as from the depths
of the heart, that the Historical Celebration of July 4, 1^60, on
Seelconk Plain, was an occasion to be remembered for the re-
mainder of life.
ANTI-ERRATUM.
As A MERITED COJirLIMENT TO THE SKILL AND ACCURACY
OF THE Printer, the Author takes pleasure
IN INSERTING THIS ARTICLE INSTEAD OF
A MUCH LESS AGREEABLE ONE,
CALLED " Errata."
GENERAL INDEX,
It may provoke a smile to meet with an index to an affair like this ; but the
author has a reason for it. He has often been so impatient at the loss of time in
seeking for a mere date, name, or isolated fact, in larger books without indexes,
that he has more than once been tempted to take a left-handed oath over some
Comic Almanac that he would never have anything to do with the production of
any book, however small, without giving it an index. Feeling, therefore, some-
thing of the full weight of such inconvenience, and also the responsibility of an
oath strongly hinted at but never really taken, the author trusts that there will
not be much disposition to find fault with a labor which costs the reader nothing,
and may add to his convenience. And it may also serve to help extend the prac-
tice by others.
A.
Age — ages, past, present and future, 9,
10, 19, 47.
Antiquity, 33, 105.
Angier, Rev. Samuel, 34.
Attleborough, 37, 84, 89, 93.
Amidown, Ebenezer, 38.
America, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23, 42, 57.
Apostrophized speech from the depart-
ed, 30, 31.
AtheniE et Fasti Oxonienses, quoted
from, 49.
Athenasum, at Boston, 55.
Avery, Mr., of Norton, 56.
Arnold, Hon. Samuel G.. quoted, 56.
Authorities referred to, 57.
Allen Zachariah, 58.
Autograph of Rev. Samuel Newman, 62.
Allen, Dr., 91.
Abel, Preserved, 105.
Anvils, 97.
B.
Babylon, alluded to, 10.
Baalbec, alluded to, 10.
Banbury, Eng., 11, 62.
Bells, drum used instead of, 17, 32.
Brown, John, 18, 39.
Bowen, Richard, 19, 29, 36,
Boston, 25,27, 40, 42, 44,55.
Benedict, Rev. Dr. David, 26, 74, 78 ; his
speech, 82, 106.
Burkley, Rev. Mr., 33.
Baptist, 25, 26, 35, 74.
Barney, Rev. James 0.,36, 73, 74,77, 79.
Barrington, 37, 101.
Blackstone, Rev. William, 37, 56.
Boscobel, 43.
Bacon, Sir Francis, 45.
Ballot-box, 46.
Band-box, 47.
Ballot and Bullet, 46.
Braintree, town of, 54.
Bullock, Hon. Nathaniel, 56.
Bliss Leonard, historian, 58.
Bradford, William, Gov., 58, 77.
Blodgett, Rev. Dr. Constantine, 74, 77;
his speech, 87.
Brown, Joseph, 75, 105, 106.
Bishop, James M., 79.
Benediction, 78.
Bowen, Dr. Thomas, 90.
Bridgham, Dr. Joseph, 90.
Bucklin, Drs., 91.
Bullock, Drs., 92.
Blackington, Dr., 92.
Blanding, Drs., 92.
Billings, Dr., 92.
Bliss, Dr. James, 92.
Bolton, Dr. George A., 92.
Bowen Simeon, his speech, 93.
Bunker Hill, 102.
110
GENERAL INDEX.
C.
Coffins and Shrouds, 11.
Cane, an ancient one, 13.
Concordance, 14, 21, 22, 29, 31, 33, 49, 52,
53, 54, 55.
Colony, Plymouth, 16, 25, 27, 28, 53, 83,
84.
Colony, Massachusetts, 16, 18, 25, 28, 33.
Connecticut, 13, 18, 28, 34, 96.
Customs and Habits of the first settlers
of the town, 19, 20, 21.
Cooper, Dea. Thomas, 29, 32, 55.
Carpenter, Dea. William, 29, 89.
Communication, inmginary one from the
first settlers, 30, 31.
Cemetery of ancient Rehoboth, 11, 29, 87.
Carnes, Rev. John, 34.
Cumberland, 37.
Congress, 40, 96.
Coin, first in America, &c., 42, 43, 44, 45,
46.
Cromwell, Oliver, 43.
Charles II., 43.
Cartridge-box, 46.
Compact, or first law of the town, 50.
Cruden, Alexander, 53, 57.
Cygnea Cantio, a book, 54.
Cape Cod, 59.
Concluding note, personal, 60.
Creed of the author, 61.
Celebration, history of, 71.
Committee of Arrangements, 75, 79.
Carpenter, Dr. Benoni, his speech, 89,
100.
Carpenter, Drs., 92.
Childs, Rev. A. C, his speech, 99.
Clifford, John H., Ex-Gov., 104.
D.
Dorchester, alluded to, 13, 14, 27, 28, 55,
Drum, 17, 32.
Dedham, 18, 27.
Diary, extract from Newman's, 23.
Death of the founder of Rehoboth, 32.
Declaration of Independence, 42, 44, 45,
74, 77, 93, 94, 102.
Daggett, Hon. John, extract from his his-
torical paper before the Old Colony
Society, 52, 55 ; his speech, 84.
Dimond, Hon. Byron, 56.
Dinner, the, 78, 79.
Dean, Rev. James, 79.
Davenport, Dr., 92.
Dean, Rev. Sidney, his speech, 96.
E.
Elliot, Rev, Dr. John, 32,
Ellis, Rev. John, 34, 35.
Education, 40.
Europe, 22, 106.
Ezekiel, the prophet, 42, 43,
Empire, Western, 41. 84.
Eagle, prophetic, 44, 45.
Edmond, Sir Thomas, 54,
Ellis, William, 75.
Egypt, 101.
F.
Featly, Rev. Dr. Daniel, 12, 49, 53, 54.
Freedom, 45, 97, 99.
Frozen North, 45.
Flint,Rev. Henry,54, 62.
Freedom, human, enigma of, 45.
Fitts, Joseph B., 75.
Fitts, Dea. D. B., 78.
Fowler, Dr. Isaac, 92,
France, 54, 98.
G.
Gouge, Rev. William, 12, 49, 53, 54.
Goldsmith, Oliver, 27.
German University, 33.
Greek Classics, 33.
Grave, 33, 38,39, 84.
Greenwood, Rev. Thomas, 34.
Greenwood, Rev. John, 34.
Genesis, quoted from, 15.
Gorton, Samuel, of Rhode Island, 56.
Government, the first adopted at Ply-
mouth, 41, 58.
Genealogical tables of one family from
each of seven generations, 62.
Gardner, Hon- Johnson, 74, 77.
Gardiner, E. R., reporter, 75.
Garibaldi, Gen., 98.
H.
Hull, Rev. Joseph, 14.
Hingham, 14,
Houses, how built, 19.
Hour-glass, to preach by, 17.
Holmes, Obadiah, 25, 26", 27.
Hermon, dews of, 28.
Hyde, Rev. Ephraim, 34, 56.
Hill, Rev. John, 35.
Historical Society, R. I., 58.
Historical Magazine, 60.
Hollis, Thomas, memoirs, 60.
Hoyt, Isaiah, 75.
Hutchings, Dr. Theophilus, 91.
Hartshorn, Dr. Isaac, 92.
Historical Society, Ct., 96.
Historical Society, Mass., 49, 57,
Horton, Rev. Francis, his speech, 101.
Habeas corpus, 98.
Homer, 28.
Independence, Declaration of, 42, 44, 45,
74, 77, 93, 94, 102.
Indians, 18, 23, 66, 86, 105.
Italy, 98.
GENERAL INDEX
111
Jenner, Rev. Thomas, 14.
Joshua, 15.
Job, last sermon of Newman preached
from, 31.
Johnson, Dr. Artemas, 92.
Karuak, alludetl to, 10.
King James of England, 54, 58, 59.
King's College, 54.
King William 111.. 55.
King John of England, 98.
King George III., 101.
Laud, Archbishop, 13.
Lenthal, Rev. Robert, 14.
Latin epitaph, 33, 56.
Leyden, 41, 58.
Liberty, riddle of, 43.
Lightning, political, 46.
Lebanon, cedar of, 44.
Lempriere's Biog. Diet., 49, 54.
Lord's Prayer, 54, 61.
M.
Mather, Rev. Dr. Cotton, 11, 12, 32, 56, 59.
Magnalia, 11,56,57,59.
Midhope Chapel, Eng., 13.
Mather, Rev. Richard, 13, 14, 27, 28.
Massasoit, the Indian Chief, 15, 51, 78.
Meetings and Meeting-houses, 16, 17, 19,
82, 97.
Mr. and Mrs., what called, 19.
Miles, Rev. John, 33.
Mayflower, 36, 41, 58, 85, 93, 96.
Manhattan, 38.
Mount Vernon, 47.
Millenium, political, 46.
Mather, Rev. Dr, Increase, 49.
Mass. Hist. Coll., 49.
Money, Indian, 51.
Mason, Rev. Perez, 79 ; his speech, 80.
Maxcy, Rev. Dr. Jonathan, 86.
Miller, Drs. 91.
Manchester, Dr., 92.
Magna Charta, 98.
Mamelukes, 101.
Mount Moriah, 101.
Martin, Dr. Calvin, 100.
Mount Hope, 105.
N.
Nature, 9, 10, 37, 39, 68.
Newman, Rev. Samuel, son of Richard,
11, 13, 14, 15, 21, 28, 31, 32, 49,50, 52,
.53,55,56,57,01.
New England, cnstoms of, Ac, 17, 33, 38,
43, 49.
Newman, Rev. Noah, 23, 33, 55, 105.
Nestor, 28.
Norton, Rev. John, 28.
Neander, Michael, 33.
Narragansett, 38, 106.
New York, 38, 58.
Norton, town of, 56.
Newman, Rev. Antipas, 54. 62.
Newman, Dea. Samuel. 54. 62.
Newman, Richard, 11, 62.
Napoleon, 101.
0.
Oxford, Eng., 11, 12, 53, 54.
Otis, James, 40.
Oak, Royal, 43.
Office, robes of, 46 : potage of. 47.
Old Burying Ground at Siekonk, 55.
Ode and Old Hundred, 106.
P.
Payne, Stephen, 18, 19, 29, 53.
Premonition, 33.
Philip, King, 37,85,105.
Payne. Nathaniel, 38.
Plymouth, 41, 58, 93,96.
Pilgrims, 41, 84,86, 93, 96.
Patfrey John G., Hi«t. N. E., 51.
Ptters, Hugh, his mistake, 53.
Progress ot the American people, 45.
Pawtucket, 74. 78, 79, 95.
Pearse, Robert M., 75.
Perrin, Daniel, 78.
Papers, Reporters, &c., 75, note.
Pierce, Capt. Mitchell, his figiit, 85.
Pyramids, 101.
Pepperell, Sir William, 105.
Pabodie, William J., 106.
Quadrennial spasms, 46.
Quincy, town of, 54.
R.
Rubens, the painter, 10.
Raphael, the painter, 10.
Rehoboth, 15, 25, 26, 27, 49, 51, 52, 53,
56, 57, 61, 86, 94, 97.
Read, John, 29.
Ring of the town, 15, 21, 86, 105.
Revolution, contributions from Reho-
both, 39, 40, 41.
Republic, American, 41, 45, 46, 47.
Robinson, Rev. John, 41, 58.
Riddle, on a coin, 42.
112
GENERAL INDEX.
Royal Oak at Boscobel, 43.
Rights, human, 45, 101.
Ridley, Dr., anecdote of pig corn, 91.
Rodiiff, Dr. John F., [born in Germany,]
92.
Robertson, Dr., 92.
Rhodes, Rev. Andrew H., his speech, 100.
Russia, 98.
Science, 9, 10, 93, 97.
Skeletons and Bones, 11.
Seekonk, 15, 37, 55, 71, 95, 107.
Sara, an Indian, naturalized, 18, 19.
Stone, Rev. Samuel, 28.
Stiles, Rev. President, 28, 56.
Spiritualism, 29.
Symes, Rev. Zachariah, 33.
Swansea, 37, 92.
Starkweather, Ephraim, 39, 83.
Starkweather, Hon. Samuel, 83.
Starkweather, James 0., 83.
"Soul Liberty," 25.
Shilling, the cedar or pine tree, 42, 60.
Spasms, political, 46.
Southern States, dark clouds, but harm-
less thunder, 45, 46.
Signers to the first government of the
town, 50; at Plymouth, 59.
Stockholders, what were they? 51.
Sears's Olden Time, 51.
Shove, Rev. George, 51, 62.
Stowelj, Rev. A. H., 74, 77.
Smith, Dr. Nathan, 86, 90.
Stanley, Dr., 92.
Slaves in U. S., 99, 104.
Stew-pot, King Philip's, 105.
Time, 9, 10.
Thebes, 10.
Titian, the painter, 10.
Townsmen, instead of Selectmen, 16.
Toleration, 25.
Temple, Sir Thomas, 43.
Taunton, Indian name of, 52; thirdmin-
ister of, 54.
Thayer, Rev. William M., 77.
Turner, Dr. David, 90.
Thurber, Dr. Daniel, 90.
Thayer, Dr., 92.
Taunton and Tauntonians, 52, 95,
U.
University, Harvard, 34, 49.
University, Brown, 36, 39, 61, 86.
University, Oxford, Eng., 11. 12, 49, 53.
University, Ufeldt, in Germany, 33.
University, Cambridge, Eng., 52.
Union, American, 41, 46.
Vox Dei, or voice of God, 44.
Vox populi, or voice of the people, 44.
Vernon, Mount, 47.
Vista of ages, 47.
Virginia, early name of New England,
58.
Virgil, quotation from, 61.
W.
Warham, Rev. John, 13.
Weymouth, 14, 21, 51, 55.
Williams, Rev. Roger, 25, 37, 51, 56, 57,
78.
Wheaton, Robert, 29.
Warren, 37.
Willet, Thomas, 38, 58, 105.
West, Benjamin, 38, 86.
Worcester, battle of, 43.
Washington, 47, 105.
Woman, 47.
World, Eastern, 45.
World, entire, 26, 37, 97.
Wood, Anthon}', 49.
Wampum, Lidian money, 51.
Will, Rev. Samuel Newman's, 54, 65.
Wight, Rev. Dr. Henry, 55.
Wenham, Mass., 54, 62.
Winthrop, Gov., 62.
Willard, George 0., 79.
Wheaton, Dr. Levi, 91.
Winslow, Drs., 92.
Wheelock, Dr., 92.
Wilkinson, Judge Ezra, 95.
Warren, Gen. Joseph, 102:.
Young's Chrontcles, 57.
Yale College, 83.
THE END.
