Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1825-09-22

sex Historical Society at Salem, Mass. on Tles'
day the 9th inst. A procession Of the socie.y
was formed, which proceeded to a place Of
public worship, where religious services we're
performed before a numerous suditory, inclu-
ding many ladies'. an original ode was sung, and
an address was delivered BY the Hon. Leyere,t
saI,onstall. The Salem Register thus speaks
Of The address and the occasions:
The address of Mr.. Ss.tonstallw was Of
a most interesting character, and COM
nanded the deepest attention Of the an-
dience for more than an hour. lie ad-
yerted in very happy manner to the
first settlement of these shores-the
characteristics, trials, suferings aud
adventures of our Pilgrim Fathers
briefly portrayed the character ofthe
principal men among the Puritans, such
as Endicott, Bradstreet, and others
took a view of the rapid progress of the
settlement--and related many interest,"
ing historical incidents concerning thems
In the course of his Address, he did am
pie justice to the Pilgrims, aud after %
mastery recapitulation of the. ciream~
stances in which they were placed, bs
emphatically asked-"Who would not
rather elaine descent from them, not
withstanding their faults, than from any
other race of men whateyerp lie
spoke ofthe great exertions and sacrif-
ces Of the Colonies, and particularly Of
Essex, during the wars with the abori-
ginals, and with the French settlements
on our frontiers these he considered
wisely designed by providence to pre-
pare them for the great struggle for In
dependence-and during that struggle,
Essex was conspicuous, and had ever
since been remarkable for good order
and sound principles. He alluded to
the character and tate of tie aborigin-
als--their cruelties, he said, were in a
great measure attributable to the insti-
CATION of Europeans-and it could not
be denied that they possessed many
good qualities. and that numerous in
stances oftheir kindness and hospitality
were on record. lie hoped that ue
would pursue them no farther thai the
remnants would not again be driven
from the homes of their fathers-and he
expressed his confidence that our Gov
eminent would not permit such stg-
ma to rest upon US, as we should inev.
itably incur By driving the unhappy
Creeks and Cherokees beyond the
Rocky mountains.
Mr.. S. interspersed his narration Of
facts and historical illusions. with many
entertaining and impressive remarks,
and the conclusion Of his address was
in his finest strain of eloquence. We
do not pretend, in this hasty notice, to
enumerate all the leading topics of this
interesting Address; we hope it will be
presented in full to the public.
The Historical Society, yet in its in.
fancy, has been industrious in the COLI
lection and preservation of many valu-
able memorials of the FIRST settlers of the
County of Essex. This is the first an
niversary which has been honoured
with any thing like public celebration.
Indeed, so great has been the change In
the condition of society, since the peri
cd of the landing of the Puritans here,
that many of their defendants have been
rather more prone to forget than to re-
member the peculiar traits Of their char
acter, under mistaken impression,
that the more they knew of them the
less they should be disposed to honour
em;-but, in judging of them and
their actions, we are too apt to lose sight
H the character of the age in which
they lived, and TO Judge them by STAN
dard of which that age was profoundly
ignorant. The settlement of the Puri-
tans here, was an important era in histo-
nv, & has had an extensive influence up
on the condition of the human race,
and as such is deserving our attention.
In three years more, two centuries will
have elapsed since the period ct their
landing. and it is desirable that anniver-
sary should not be suffered to pass,
without celebration OF such n character
to distinguish it, as posterity may look
back upon with pleasure and pride.
.Nechanick's Institution Yesterday
evening DR. Birkbeck delivered the first
lecture al the New Theatre of the In
situton, in Southampton buildings, on
the general principles of mechanical
science. The principal feature of the
lecture was the description Of a machine
invented by matchmaker of the name
of DER, in America, and not yet
brought into this country, which acts
as crane for raising weights with
power far bevond any before known.
The learned Doctor said il was scarcely