Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-06-10


recalled many of the happy "reminiscences of
the good old time. In the procession were an
array of the sons of Hadley, who have become
distinguished in the various departments of
activity; soldiers of the last war; young men
and women disguised in the clothes and sur
rounded by the implements of the ante-revo-
lutionary period men working at their trades;
citizens in holiday TRIM and children from
the schools. Between 5000 and 1000 people
gathered in the tent. The Introductory exer-
cises were followed by the anniversary address
from Professor Huntington OF Cambridge.
| He spoke upwards of two hours in the pure
and eloquent strain which is peculiar to him,
arranging his materials under the following di-
visions
"The general constitutional character of
! town in the New England scheme of political
life; the natural capabilities and scenery of
the village; the vital origin and incidents of
the early settlements its physical divisions
and developments the conflicts with the ma.
tives and characteristics of Indian warfare
the romance of the Regicides; the moral quail
ity, local customs, and industrial enterprises of
the people the interests of education; popu-
lar superstition the Christian power and ac-
ton of the Hadley church; the character of
the ministry; the transition from the past to
the future"
While speaking of the early local history of
the town, he alluded to the causes of the
scarcity of timber in its neighborhood, in the
following graphic description
"This destruction of the forest and under
brush, was doubtless a periodical business of
/ fhn &c., alr - I, l.k,k1
their pursuit of game. What more magnifi-
cent or awful scene will the Imagination fur
nish, than would be unrolled before spectator
stationed at some earlier time of the unbroken
| forest, on some of these nights, commanding
the long yistas of the valley the slopes and
hill-sides on either side, with the peaks of dis
tant mountains peering through the openings
or soaring above their lines,-there on a dry
November night to witness the whole broad
vnd far-reaching regions swept by swift, fierce
| floods of fame,-the hot red powers of de-
vastation darling from ridge to ridge, plunging
| down into the glens and gorges, running in
lurid sport across the plains, leaping into the
taller oaks and chestnuts, and graphing with
their tops in kissing fury, the wind swaying
the blazing sheets, or whirling aloft and scat
tering around the foliage as if in showers of
| living Goals as thick as hailstones,-the clouds
of smoke rolling aloft into the black concave
overhead, or drifting in the horizon, tongues
of fire set like torches on every hll-top,-the
glowing reflections of the river winding and
| doubling like a crimson sash, loosened from
the melting bosom of the meadows,-the roar
and crackle and Kissing of the heap,-the
crashing of the falling trees,-the screams of
startled birds, and bowls ands shrieks of bis
tered animals,-all creating grander COM
mingling and variety of the powers and voices
of confagraton than any level burning of the
pralrles, and leaving out the tragic elements of
human agony, on a vaster scale of majesty
than Moscow, or any of the burning cities of
the East"
Among the peculiar customs ofthe early Pc
Rod the orator alluded to the following: =
"The records Of the early Court show that
the Hadley people of both sexes were sensitive
to their regulations. In '62 a man by the
name of Fellowes sued Dutch woman bear
ing the suspicious designation of Judith Varl-
| cite, Tor calling him a rogue. But the cases of
crime or serious immortality were very rare,
and the books sustain the uniform integrity
order, and religious self-culture. SANDER was
one OF the most frequent causes of prosecution,
and that not so frequent as one would expect
II the offence were made actionabe at all. So
far as it appears, there never was but one di-
Vorce case in the town. Husband and wife
were sometimes separated, however, before
they were married. That is, the old time fro-
ic of stealing away the bride, just before the
wedding ceremony, by the sudden appearance
OF party of unlimited neighbors, in revenge
for their neglect, and keeping her hidden
or locked up till an invitation was forthcoming
was one of the rude merry-makings of
these neiglborhoods, in their fun-loying moods
In 1867, person was fined for saying $50 it
seems Ill scotfing manner to Justice Part
ridge IN the conrt room, lighting his pipe with
the tongs, and other tokens of disrespect The
law undertook to secure simplicity in female
dress. Five wives and enc maid of the best
qnality in the town, were fined or admonished
IN 10 for wearing silk. Sometimes the guam
uty or Haunting manner of wearing silk is
speclhed. 1t does not appear that mere cir
conference was made a circumstance of guilt
"A SILK hood and scarf, something worm were
produced In court. There can be hardly a
holder sign of rugged democratic equality,
than these suits in the name of Christian NOR
atty, against the wealthieSt families But SO.
cial morality is rarely devoid of one-sidedness ;
and there was obviously disproportion be-
tween the zeal against the women'S wardrobes
and the mems sideboards and tobacco boxes"
The Speaker gave an affecting review of the
ministers of Hadley and of others loved while
they were living and remembered when they
were gathered to the dead, and closed as fol-
lows:
at is right that our long review of the gen
eratlons of the living should halt here where
every generation and long procession halts at
last. By the gateway of mortality every re-
view must pass. There every history must be
sifted. A hundred years hence, how many,
coming after, will have entered To those
who gather to celebrate the third centennial,
what strange and quaint antiquities, surviving
specimens of our customs and fashions and
dwellings and forms of speech will be But
this we know; and let this be our consola-
ton Humanity, Duty, Character, Goodness
Truth, Freedom, Faith, Hope, Charity, will all
be unchanged-keeping their FORM immortal
loneliness, and majesty forever. Glorious is
the fruit of good labors, and the root of wisdom
shall never fade away. Christ, our redeemer,
shall abide, the same yesterday, to-day, and
forever The everlasting word shall live. He
who is without beginning of days, or end of
years,-who said Let there be light over ere.
alton, and there was light who made the first
beams of civilization to play along the valley,
and who is to make the kingdoms of the earth
the Kingdoms of our Lord, shall not leave his
people nor forsake them"
The remaining exercises were varied and
interesting, and continued till late hour. 1t
was undoubtedly one of the most successful
town celebrations ever held in New England.
GEORGE BANCROFT ON JONATHAN Ed