Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-12-22
CITY AND DISTRICT.
FOREFATHERS, DAY.

II
New Englanders Celebrate the Ami.
| vcrsary Of the Pilgrims' Landing.
AN OLD FASHIONED NEW ENGLAND DINNER GIVEN ny
| TIE CONGREGATIONAL CLUB-AFTER DINNER
RkkCHkS BY LIBRARIAN sPOFFORD, REV. DRs.
sAElLEIT AND BALDWIN AND SENATOR HAwLRY.
The celebration Of Forefathers' day by the Con-
gregati0nal club last evening at the Conprepa-
uonai church was an occasion not only OF great
social enjoyment, but OF intellectual profit and
pleasure. These annual gatherings OF the
descendants OF the Pilgrim Fathers under the
auspices Of this club bring together representa-
i've men and women, and last evening was no ex-
ception to the rule. 1t is pleasant custom to sit
down together to dinner which is prepared with
more or less reference to good old New England
IDEAS In regard to food, and as the supervision Is
entirely in charge Of the ladies OF the club or per-
maps more properly speaking, the ladies Of the
Congregational church. The illusions to the
Joyed are well founded. The members s of Of the
| club and the invited guests were
hour they began to come in The large front doors
OF the church Were kept closed and entrance was
from 10Th street, thus enabling the ladies to throw
Cne Two large class rooms on each side OF the
spacious hall, together with the hall, into one
large reception room, which was very effectively
those Coming She Mraps and
coats were being removed, the guests mingled
socially together: Finally all were invited up
stairs 70 the spacious lecture room, where three
| long tables were spread. The good taste OF the
| ladies' was displayed In this room, well as the
soa neioM, IN inc tasteful disposition OF large
guests were soon seated, and, as the good things
were discussed, they talked and laughed and had
| the descendants OF the Pilgrim Fathers are
noted. After dinner the president OF the club
ME- Mr. L lie Deane raped for order, and the
Prof. BfSchOn as accOmpaniSt, sang a solo with
fine effect. President Deane took the floor, and in
few preliminary remarks welcomed all to the
annual celebration, and then in humorous vein
urged the speakers OF the evening not to follow In
the beaten track and refer in a disparaging way
| 10 the d1nerence In the situation OF the Pilgrim
Fathers and their descendants who had gathered
together to celebrate their landing on the shores
had met in beautiful room With handsome sur
round1ngS, instead Of log hut, and that perhaps
they had partaAen Of better fare, but he hoped
that 1t would not be regarded as discred1table to
| the descendants that such was the case. After
this playful warning to deal gently with the de-
scendants and not be too hard on them, he intro
duced the speakers one after another, showing
himself to be capital tOast-master.
Mr.. sPOFFORDs ADDRESS.
The first speaker was Mr.. A. X. SpOf1Ord, the
librarian OF Congress- who was introduced as a
good pilgrim OF Puritan Stock. who had been
asked to speak Of the influence of the Pur1tans
upon the literature and letters OF the country. Mr.
Spofford began by telling good story OF Irish
man aprOpOs Of the relative Importance of after
| dinner speeches and the dinner itself, and then
proceeded to pay tribute to the Yankee school
master, who could be found everywhere in this
broad land. II not, the Yankee school marin was
soon to be found. The question proposed to him,
most readily answered by the question:, What has
| 1t not done? In speaking OF the noted names in
| literature the speaker said that New England
| Halleck, Emerson, Whittier, Longlellow, Lowell,
Holmes, and Others In history, there is Prescott,
Bancroft, hildreth, Parkman, and others. AS pub
Sumner and Perry. AS photographers, webster
and Worcester; AS journalists, James Watson
Cullen Bryant, Samuel Bowles, while Hawthorne
easily heads the list OF novelists, and among the
critical writer's may be named George William
ell, Bayard Taylor, Richard Grant White, Charles
Dudley Warner, n. P. Willis, and others OF the
elder writer's
gr1ms was not best perpetuated by laudatory
words. but by adopting their sturdy Devotion to
duty, their love OF work and other sterling quail
public sense must be aroused to the dangers arts.
ing from the spirit OF extraYagance and intern.
perance. Intemperance in drink in diet, in dress
and in the press. II is these things, said the
speaker, and not as Carlyle puts it, "the extinct
SINS" tnat we must fight. Whenever there is a
any service in the cause OF God and humanity to
be performed, there should, the sons OF New Eng
lana, oe found ready equipped for the work.
REMARKS BY DIR. BARTIETT.
We IL
lett was brought to his feet by President Deane,
with some reference to the Presbyterians and the
Purttans The reverend gentleman said that it
nad always seemed to him that for very few
people In very little ship, the Purtans had made
great deal OF fuss in this world. The fact OF the
matter Is they have been talked about ever since
they landed here. The speaker said that he felt
emboldened to make q confession, although he
knew that no New England man born would ever do
the same and that Was none OF his ancestors came
over IN the Mayfower; that Elder Bartlett was de-
vVn or no n1.f, I,,<
he came two or three ships afterwards Great
iaughter9 He was an ancestor, but unfortunately
r1ous company OF the first pioneers From an anaiy
Bis or the Puritan character the speaker concluded
that religion and THRIFT were the two principal
QUANTITIES. They were Englishmen and Calvinists,
and the speaker said that there was no historian
who denied to CalviniSm the inspiration OF
our liberty and republican form of government
To-day, he said, more men SwOre by Calvin and
more men swore at Calvin than any other great
leader OF thought In the worlds history. This
proved his power and influence. But the Pilgrims
came here not only, as one OF them sturdify re-
piled to minister who rebuked him for neglect
Ing his religious duties to worship God, but to
eye for the fish basket as well as one for religion
lie thought that the Brooklyn bridge, which he
described as materials m come to bloom, repre-
scented the fish basket side Of national charac-
ter, and the Washington mOnument-that silent
SHAFT ha teaching otis the
the money invested In it, represents no stock,
runs no factories gives no relief to the poor and
tuc uclplcSS, DuC Guc men anu women VINO come
before 1t breathe nObler patriotism.
Mr.. DEANE's LITTLE JOKE.
The applause which the elOQuence of the speaker
evoked was only sttlled when Mr.. Deane arose to
his feet and read letter from Rev. Mr. Green
of Calvary Baptist church regretting his absence
on account OF illness. President Deane looked
rather sadly around after he read the letter and
then Frightening up said that he intended to per-
petrate joke II Mr.. Green had came as was eX-
pected, and he rather guessed he would get it of
any way. He had intended to say in Introducing
Mr.. Green, that the congregattOnalistS were very
large body, but divided into two bodies the wet
ana dry and MI. Green represented the wet. All
the pilgrims laughed over this joke OF their presi-
dent, who next introduced Miss Crooks who sang q
beautiful soprano solo.
REV. Mr.. BALDwIN's REMARKs.
The next speaker was Rev. Mr.. Baldwin, OF the
Union Methodist church, who in q good natured
way gave utterance to such heresies, as for in
stance that he did not know that the Puritans
had done him any good, &c. He said that Maryland
was the nrsI state where religious liberty was Sc
cured. He thought that whatever else New Eng
maintained Calvinism In its purity. Although the
ing he spoke OF tie debt due to New England
DR.. Bartlett, who had been an attentive listener,
Jumped to his feet as soon as Mr.. Baldwin had
taken his seat and asked permission to say word,
which, OF course, was granted.
He then said with considerable emphasis that It
frnc int vfOf3n mt