Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1880-01-16
THE GOOD OLD DAYS.
The Extravagant Sprees OF Our Celebra-
ted Forefathers.

The following is from an address by
James Parton before the New York His
torical Society: This venerable society
has seen fit for many years to hold feasts,
especially in June, when the festive
strawberry gladdens the heart of man.
He had asked, why this collation. every
month? What connection between
sandwiches and history? But a vener-
able member had rebuked him, saying
gravely: "Let no man speak disIespect-
| fully of sandwiches here, for sandwiches
built this house" One of the first acts
of the Puritans in 1920 was to abolish
that most time-honored and beloved
| feast, Christmas. Some of them made
the observance of the day a matter of
conscience, and the governor had spared
them "till they should be better in
| formed;" but he had forbidden public
games on that day. But in truth the
Puritans never succeeded in abolishing
Christmas, although they no longer OBJ
served it openly, according to the old
chronicles. They had simply changed
the date on which it had been observed
for 1900 years, and observed it after the
old fashion-on the last Thursday OF
November.
The Puritans had little to make merry
with. For years they had nothing to
drink but water; and often the only
Wand was lobster, with nothing to
make salad of. Then it was that the
clam made its appearance in history.
But often, when the pilgrims had made
ready feast of ground-nuts and clans,
the Indians would come and eat it. To
put stop to these breaches of etiquette
the pilgrims hanged man, not an In
dian-that would not have been strange
or original-but they hanged one oi
their own number for stealing from an
Indian. In this tragic way the clam ap.
peared in history. In this proud and
naughty town the vender of the clam
and even the horse who draws his load
are often mentioned in tones of dispar.
agement; but it is far otherwise inNew
England, where they have "grand an
nual Episcopal clam-bakes."
When America began to export furE
and tobacco and Goldfish, the people O.
the country lived extravagantly. Bring
ing molasses from the West Indies, they
soon learned TO make rum of it, and run
became n circulating medium; but run
our torefathers. Even at the meetings
of the clergy the room was often darl
with smoke of tobacco and the steam o
hot rum. If anyone supposed that ii
colonial times the people were mor'
austerely virtuous than they are now
let him examine the records of the soci
ETY., and he would soon find the magni
tude of his error. John Adams
who began the temperance move
ment in this C untry, record
that the price of rum was il
those times u shilling gallon, thougl
sometimes it was raised to a pistareen
and in small towns there would be
dozen rum taverns, which were alarm
ingly injurious to the people. Othe
records show similar facts. From read
ing Franklin's memoirs, the lecturer, il
common with others, had thought tha
! sage temperance man. But the saga
cious Franklin, who knew well what t.
, tell, omitted to state that after he be
came prosperous gentleman hewas M
longer teetotaller.
, The absurd and barbarous habit o
drinking healths was observed in all it
rigor, but even this was to be preferreC
: to the slangy habits of modern times
: Later, tea and coffee came into fashion
though chocolate had preceded thes
dainties in the popular favor, and til
chocolate was commonly boiled witt
sausages and the whole mess eaten wit
Il spoon. The coffee in olden times wa
: probably very bad, and even as late a
John Randolph's time there was groun
for his immoral remark: waiter,
, this is tea, bring me coffee; if this
coffee, bring me tea."
In the time of the revolution, Will
the army was starving at Valley Forge
! the people in the great cities were liv
ing in luxury and extravaganza; an
later, when the commerce of the countr
was pouring in wealth, the style of liy
ing was incredibly luxurious. The con
sequences Of this extravaganza were Sc
rious. For one thing it broke up Pres
, ident Washington's cabinet. Dinner
did it. The salaries of the secretarie
were all insufficient to keep up the styl
; of living that was thought necessary.