The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-12-09
A Great Cheese.


The Great Political Cheshire Cheese has so
nearly passed out Of the memory of men,
, ,nat we doubt if many of the present genera
ote non nave even heard of the existence of this
@el"or,u,lnary @ instance of political enthusi-
asn. nir. Elihu BUrritt has recently revived
its .istoiy, from which we condense the fol-
lowing account: In the presidential cam
paign preceding the election of Thomas jeff
erson, the Iatner 0i democracy, party spirit
ran high, and the Federalists were unsparino
in their denunciations of Jefferson The par,
sons of New England, especially OF Massachu-
sets, entered the arena, and, turning their
pulpits into hustings, waged war upon re-
ligious basis, denouncing Jefferson as an in
fidel, and placing him upon the same platform
with Voltaire and the other apostles OF athe-
ism. In Cheshire, Mass. ,however,a divine was
found who took mp the cudgels against the in
tolerant bigots by whom he was surrounded.
This was Elder John Leland, a plain, unas-
suming man, but one of the most effective
preachers OF his day. He bent all his energy
and mental power to the support of his own
views, and had the satisfaction Of winning to
the side of Jefferson every member of his con-
gregation, as well as many others; in fact,
Cheshire to man followed his lead. After
the election of Mr.. Jefferson, Elder Leland,
conceived an original plan for announcing to
the world the principles of Cheshire, and one
Sunday proposed to his congregation that, ON
given day, each man and woman who own
ed a cow should bring every quart of milk
given on that day, or all the curd it would
make, to great cider-mill owned by Captain
John Brown, the first man who detected and
denounced the treason OF Benedict Arnold
for the purpose of manufacturing NAM
moth cheese as present to the President.
The idea was received with enthusiasm, and
on the day appointed, the sun was shining
brightly, and everything propitious, the whole
population of the township, men, women,
and children, on foot, in carriages, wagons,
and ox.carts, assembled at the great cider
press, each bringing his or her contribution.
The press had been prepared for the occasion,
and upon the bed had been placed a huge
hoop to serve as cheese box. Into this was
poured the milk, and, when the-last contri-
butIGn had been given in, committee of thA
most experienced matrons of the town at
tended to the delicate task Of mixing, flavor
ing and tinting the largest mass of curd the
world had then seen. This done, the pom
derous machinery was put in motion, the
young men seized the levers, the screws
were turned to the limit of their power, and
the work was accomplished. Elder Leland
then iclosed the exercises by imploring the
blessing OF Heaven upon the undertaking,
after which he said: "Let us further worship
God in a hymn suitable to this interesting
occasion" The hymn 'lined out" by the ell
der was sung to the tune of Near, and the
crowd dispersed. When the cheese was
dried and ready for use, it weighed sixteen
hundred pounds, and could not safely be
transported ON a wagon. 1t was not until
midwinter that it was possible to move 1t.
| when, taking advantage of a heavy fall of
snow, it was placed upon a sleigh, and Elder
| Leland, taking the reins, drove all The way to
Washington, a distance of five hundred miles,
which he accomplished in three weeks. On
arriving in Washington the elder drove at
once to the White House, and presented his
peoples gift to the President in characters
tic speech. The President responded with
deep and earnest feeling to this remarkable
gift, coming from the heart of New England
population; receiving it as token OF his n
deity to the equal and inalienable rights OF
| individual men and States. AT the close OF
the speech, the steward of the President cut
out deep and golden wedge in the presence
of Mr.. Jefferson, the heads of the depart
ments, foreign ministers and many other emf
nent persOnages. 1t was of beautiful an
MOTTO color, little variegated in its appear
ance, owing to the great variety OF curds
| composing it; and, as it was served up to the
company with bread, all complimentad it fol
| its richness, flavor and color.
1t may be interesting to add here that, in
| 1862, a cheese weighing four thousand
pounds was made, from the milk Of fifteen
| hundred cows. by the Steele Brothers, OF Cal
| ifornia, formerly of Delaware county, N. Y.
| and brothers Of General Steele, of the UnioI
| Army) The cheese was exhibited in Sar
| francisco, for the benefit of the Sanitary
| Commission, realizing thereby several thou
sand dollars, and was then cut up and sold Al
dollar lin gold) per pound.