Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1881-10-06
No. As
BLAINE'S "REMINISCENCES.
Recalling the Companions and Scenes
of His Youth.

of His Youth.
! The following letter from Secretary Blaine
was read at the celebration of the centennial
of Washington county, Pa:
! WASHINGTON, d. c., September ), 1881.
John Z. McKennan, Washington Pa:
| DEAR SIR.-I had anticipated great pleas
ure in being present at the centennial cele-
bration of Washington county, but the
national sorrow which shadows every house
hold detains me here. I shall perhaps, never
again have the opportunity of seeing so
many of the friends of my youth and so
many Of my blood and kindred, and YOU
may we'll conceive that my disappointment
is great. The strong attachment which |
feel for the county, the pride which | cherish
in its traditions, and the high estimate which
| have always placed ON the character of its
people increase with years and reflection. The
pioneers were strong-hearted, God-tearing
resolute men, wholly, or almost wholly, of
Scotch or Scotch-Irsh descent. They were
men who according to an inherited MAXIM
CI tllllCN Oll lllClltt VI Oh I'LL
enemy. For twenty years, dating from the
middle period of the Revolution, the settlers
were composed very largely Of men who had
themselves served in the Continental army,
many of them as officers and they impartedan
intense patriotism to the public sentiment. 1t
may be among the illusions OF memory but
| think | have nowhere else seen the Fourth
Of July and Washingtons birthday cele-
1,,4o l. II
gatherings | then attended. / recall great
meeting of the people on the Fourth of July,
1910, on the border of the county, in Browns
vile, at which a considerable part of the
procession was composed of vehicles filled with
Revolutionary soldiers | was but 10 years
old, and may possibly mistake, but l think
there were more than 200 of the grand old
heroes. The modern cant and criticism which
we sometimes hear about Washington not
being, after all, a great man would have been
dangerous both ON that day and in that as
semblage.
These pioneers placed high value on edu-
cation and while they were still on the from
tier, struggling with its privations, they
established two excellent colleges, long since
prosperously united in one. It would be
impossible to overstate the benifcent and
widespread influence which Washington and
Jefferson Colleges have exerted On the civil
ization of the great country which lies be-
tween the Alleghenies and the Mississippi
river. Their graduates have been prominent
IL the Pulpit, at the Bar, on the Bench, and
in the high stations of public life. During
my service Of eighteen years in Congress |
met a larger number of the Alumni of Wash
ington and Jefferson than of any other single
college of the Union. | make this statement
from memory, but feel assured that a close
examination of the rolls of the two Houses
from 1863 to 1881 would fully establish its
correctness Not only were the two colleges
founded and well sustained, but the entire
educational system of the county, long be-
fore the school tax and public schools We're
comprehensive and thorough | remember
in my own boyhood that there were ten or
eleven academies or select schools in the
county where the lads could be fitted for
college In nearly every instance the Pres
byterian pastor was the principal teacher.
Many who willbe present at your centennial
will recall the succession OF we'll drilled
who came for so many years from
the tuition of DR.. AIcCloskey, at West Alex
andria; from the Rev. John Stockton, at
Cross Creek; from the Rev. John Eagleston,
at Buffalo, and from others of like worth
and reputation. 1t was inevitable that
county thus peopled should grow in strength,
wisdom and wealth. It's 10000 inhabitants
are. favored far beyond the average lot of
man. They are blessed with o fertile soil
and with the health-giving climate which
belongs to the charmed latitude of the
fortieth parallel-the middle OF the wheat
and corn belt of the continent Beyond this
they enjoy the happy and ennobling in
iuences OF scenery as grand and beautiful
as that which lures tourists thousands OF
miles beyond the sea. | have myself visited
many of the celebrated spots in Europe and
America, and l have nowhere witnessed a
more attractive sight than was familiar to
my eyes in boyhood from old Indian Hill
farm, where was born, and where my great
grandfather, the elder Neal Gillespie, settled
before the outbreak of the Revolution. The
majestic sweep of the Monongahela through
the foothills of the Alleghenies, with the
,hain of mountains but twenty miles distant
n full view, give an expression OF beauty
md sublimity which can never be effaced. [
ak thus familiarly of localities and child
loOd incidents because your assemblage,
hough composed of thousands, will in effect
De family reunion where the only thing i'll
,rder will be tradition and recollection and
PERSONAL history Identified as have been
or twenty-eight years, with a great and
lOble people in another section OF the Union,
have never lost any of my attachment for
ny native county and my native State. The
wo feelings no more conflict than does a
mans love for his wife and his love for his
mother. Whatever / may be in life, or what
yer my future, the county of Washington,
s it ancently was, taking in both sides of
he MOnongahela, will be sacred in my mem
ry. | shall always recall with pride that
ny ancestry and kindred were and are not
connected with its history,
nd that on either side of the beautiful river,
i Protestant and Catholic cemeteries. five
of my own blood sleep in hon
red graves. Very truly yours,
JAMES G. BLAINE.
sEs Nihilism.
Here is q definition of nihlism, OF which
\ is,c Ii, tlo 4 l;c4 l.