The Portland daily press., 1886-05-31

coRHAM FIFTY YEARS AGO.
An Elegant Tribute to Departed
Worth.
Address of Rev. Or. Prentiss at the
Corham Celebration.

the town of GOrham:
In 1885, not long after the Tooth anniversa-
ry of the town, ceased to be resident of
Gorham, and my visits to it, during the in
teryening half century, have been few and
far between. l have known but little of its
later history. Most of the faces before me
are the faces of utter strangers And yet the
sight of these once familiar scenes has
awakened in me host of sleeping memo
ries. Indeed, ever since receiving the inyi-
tation to be with you ON this occasion, my
thoughts have kept fitting back through
the fifty eventful years that separate 1886
from 1886, and have realized, as never be-
fore, what owet to my native town; how
much in the way of mental and spiritual
training; what precious friendships; how
many of those bright, youthful hopes and
aspirations, that shed such radiance upon
life. And l have rejoiced anew in being a
son of Gorham; where else could have been
born to a goedlier heritage? From what 9TH
er point in the vastness of space could have
entered upon this wondrous stage of exist
ence under happier auspices, or with fairer
outlook.
"Heaven lies about us in our infancy"
My cradle seems to me to have been rocked
on the very verge of the kingdom of God, as
if the Lord had given his angels charge con-
cerning it. In truth, is not a Christian home,
in miniature at least, the veritable kingdom
of God on earth? No; l would not, if l
could exchange my birthplace for any other
spot on the round globe. These things do
not come of mere chance:
SIT is the allotment of the skies,
The hand of the Supremely wise,
That guides and governs our affections
And plans and orders our connections"
NY acquaintance with the Gorham lying
this side of 1886, repeat, is very slight; but
not SO with the Gorham lying far away in
the past just on the other side of 1886. With
that my acquaintance was close, and my rec
objections of it are vivid and full Of pleasant
ness In my minds eye | still see the aged
men and women, the fathers and mothers
the young men and maidens, the boys and
girls of the town, as they appeared five and
fifty years ago. l see them in their homes,
at work in the fields, moving along the an
cient highways, walking the village streets,
sitting together in the school, in the acade-
envy, and in the house of God. / see them
going in solemn procession to the place Of
UuIl6l, dllQ Wy OPNh oAofS = W.
them assembled, like one great family, and
rejoicing together ON festal days, when their
hearts were glad. / can call them all by
their names. The lapse of time has invested
some of them with such an ideal aspect, that
no gallery of portraits by renowned masters
of the art could equal them in dignity and
grace. Especially is this the case, when | go
back to the old farm in West Gorham, where
first | saw the light. Bygone images and
scenes of that home of my childhood steal in
to my mind, to borrow the words of Coler-
idge. Like breezes blown from the spice isl
ands of youth and hope-those two realities
of this phantom world" First of all and ir-
radiating all rises before me the image Of
my sainted mother, who taught me how to
pray, to trust in God, to follow Christ, and
live for Him and His cause. Can ever for
get those Sabbath evening hours, when l
used to kneel down by her side, and hear her
commune with her God and Saviour, even as
| one talketh with friend?
/ count it favor of Providence that my
| boyhood was seasoned with the genial influ-
| ences of nature. | delighted to wander
through the woods and pastures, to watch
| the changing aspects of the sky, and to in
dulge in bright day-dreams, While listening
TO the music OF IAe IlppliHS uiOohS, VI iyins
| on the grass under the trees OF the orchard
and hardening to the songs of birds. The
earliest incident that can recall carries me
back to the summer OF 1919, when was
| three years old. [ refer to the death OF my
| honored grandfather, Major George Lewis,
| whose name | bear. l remember well how
my soul was touched with mingled awe and
| wonder, as l looked upon him lying in his
| shroud. Another never-to-be-forgotten ia
| cident was my first visit to Portland, when
.1.4 oil WILD D1f
| ment-I was chasing butterflies along the
road leading to our neighbor Watson's. Sud-
denly voice. | can almost hear 1t now,
| called me to the house and told me, to my in
| finite delight, that was going with father,
| to Portland. What ride, as through fairy
| land, was that! have journeyed since far
| and wide: have visited many famous cities,
| at home and abroad; have once and again
| crossed and recrossed the ocean; but the
| ride to Portland with my father on that mid
summer afternoon, my first glimpses of the
| beautiful town, the strange. tall-masted
| ships. and the wide sea stretching away be-
| yond, gave me a shock of astonished, raptq-
| rous emotion, which surpassed, L thlnk,
| aught of the kind have ever experienced
| since.
It would be easy to spend all my time in
| talking to you about that Gorham sixty years
| ago. 1t was thrifty, well informed and
| well ordered community, embracing some OF
| the worthiest families Of the town; Fllgrlm
| blood ran in its veins. Gladly would L speak,
| did time allow, of particular families ana OF
| individual men and women-of the Llncolns,
| the Stephensons, the Hamblens, the wat
| sons, the Skillingses, the Sturgises, the
| Cobbs, the Clements, the Fileses, and
| and others, whose names have still the sound
| of old friends and neighbors.. One other
| name it would be an almost unfilial act in me
| to pass without special mention-that OF Ell
| der James Lewis. From the religious point
| of view, he was perhaps, the most striking
| figure in the history of all the sons of Cor
| ham. who have lived and died in the town
| He was not man of culture, or OF large tai
| ents: nobody would call him great in the or
| dinary sense of the term; but how great he
| was in goodness and single-hearted devotion
| to the Divine master whom he served! How
| great he was in sweet simplicity and fervoI
| of spirit How great in apostolic labors as a
| Youthful pioneer, and then as the patriarch
| IF Methodism in all the region round about.
1t has been my privilege to know intimate
| lv MANY of the most eminent ministers OF my
| time: but | never knew one whose lnd1v1du-
| ality was more picturesque and interesting
| than that of my venerated uncle. what a
nIeasant thing it was to seet him riding here
| and there and everywhere, in that queer lit
| tIe gig with that old white horse, on his er,
rands of Christian love and evangelism. Wesl
| Gorham has reason to be thankful tnaI tne
| dust of so eminent servant OF God Is steep
| ing in her bosom. eo+bor +be
farm was sold and our family removed 70 O. tne
village or corner" as it was then calle9 19q,
| And here began a second chapter OF my lIa' i
| in Gorham n chapter of new ana larger eA'
! neriences, Gorham village in 1927, IKE So
| many New. England villages at tllat tIllle ne
was a little world by itself. 1t haa noe oy', ye
been robbed, in measure, OF itS quies oe0iu hy