Morning journal and courier., 1889-09-11

Iodu U buOTL pO6u. lb u6E6 gwen LII full:
 250TH ANNIVERSARY POEM.
 Two centuries and a half have fed
 To the dim chambers of the past,
 Since our forefathers-hither led
 The fortunes of these townships cast.
 How long the ceaseless march of years,
 What perils on an untried way,
 How many doubts and hopes and fears
 Formed what we here behold to-day.
 But they were men of texture true,
 Of virtues stern, in action wise,
 The best that dominant Europe knew
 State builders, heroes In disguise.
 Within their social lines the clew
 Under this sky's frsternal blue,
 Their fearless history we unfold.
 We little know what bangs were borne,
 What desolste days, what sights forlorn
 Crowned on their paths-which, not for fame,
 Nor brutal deeds of high emprise,
 NOT wealth, which drssms of ;s ayarice a'k'
 But nobly did they do their task.
 Their new built homes the savage saw,
 Their lives they held within their hands;
 For years no strength of war or law
 Made this Q safe or happy land
 The ravening wolf and hungry bear
 Hung close upon their daily walk;
 Dread danger taught them to beware
 
 Their refuge, aud town defense:
 O may It, for their memory's sake,
 Still stand unnumbered centuries hence.
 Men were they of lofty strain,
 Picked people, hardy pioneers
 Of all who dared the Atlantic main, How very few have been their peers.
 Plain planters, used to daily toll,
 Who simple lives and pleasures chose;
 New England's cold, unbroken soil
 They made to blossom as the rose.
 The tlth of England never bred
 Farmers whose skill was more than theirs;
 Men who in townships wiselier led,
 Men better versed in life's affairs.
 Godfearing men they-not afraid
 To show their faith on land or sea,
 Who on the ship their covenant made
 Of brotherhood and piety.
 Twas this that helped New England blood
 Mold all tho continent to its fate;
 Each conquering cause, all schemes of good,
 Forces which make nation great,
 Grew out of thoughts they planted here,
 A torch that lighted freedoms flame;
 O may these never disappear,
 But live illustrious. as they came.
 The mother, wife and maiden too.
 Shared hardship with this sacred band
 The work their hands found ways to do,
 Has put it's imprint on our land.
 Their righteous love, their tender grace,
 Their household manners rare and sweet;
 see your homes in many a face
 To-day illustrate and repeat
 We could not-if we would d-forget
 , Their metchless service or their worth
 No sun of hope shall over set
 While such remain to bless the earth
 Guilford! To-day how dear it's sound,
 With Madison, it's next of kin,
 What fairer places shall be found
 Than these our fathers entered in?
 Two centuries and a halfl How long
 The backward vision spreads today;
 NO g1rt or speech, no power of song
 Their biissfui trium phs can portray.
 leave the tale just touched, not told,
 But, while the sun stands in the sky,
 Their history never shall grow old,
 Their cherished memory never die.
 Senator Joseph R. Hawley, who followed, was greeted with much applause. Thhis State of Connecticut, said he, ss many other States, is going through kind of g change. A large proportion of the men of New Eng land have coma> to this country not because they have had any love for it's institutions, but from @ love of change and hope that they may better their condition. Most of them have never heard of the things which our an- csstors have done, and before long the new Connecticut will be remarkably ignorant. The opinion has gained ground that the Pu- ritans were narrow and grabbed. They were a people who believed in something. Mo- hammed had power in his time, and 1t WAS because he believed in something. Agnos- ticism doesn't make heroes. Our fore fathers did not go down to their graves with anything upon their minds that they were not sure of. They were a positive class with strong beliefs. Such men are found everywhere scattered through his- tory. They strived to make the world better than they found 1t. Martin Luther was this kind of a man. wish young men to dwell more than they have upon State history, the <,fC Ckata necticut is eminently peculiar. I have thought that it mas been psralleled by no na- ton of the world. For two centuries this has been free people. Perhaps it was Con- necticut's insignifcance that gave her this advantage. They lived under their first con- stitution written by Joseph Hooker till 1869 in practical peace. No one disturbed them. No rules of England ever gave direct order to or made levy upon Connecticut troops He asked them if they would do this or that. We have never had gover- dross, who we did not elect ourselves. There was never a nation that has had so few changes in 30 long time. For it's independ- ence in the army and the legislative halls of government, l challenge comparison with any state of the world. want our young men to know and think of these things. ask the young men everywhere to inform themselves and believe the history of our State. I ask them to do this everywhere for the sake of the country's liberty and manhood.
 Associate Justice Andrew Bradley of the Supreme court of Washington, D. C., was the next speaker. He spoke of the pleasure which he always felt when attending an an- niversary celebration of old towns He said that he supposed he had no progenitors in Guilford until he received an invitation to attend the two hundred and fftieth anni- versary of the town. Since his arrival he had found that the birth place of his great grand- fathers was in Guilford, and that he was a descendant of one of the founders of Guil- also to learn that he was descended from such fine ola patriotic blood as that of the founders of the good old town.
 An intermissison of few minutes was given here, and during the interval Colts band rendered several selections. After this the second part of the afternoons programme was opened. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson of Cambridge, Mass, the gifted writer and orator, followed with an address upon "Whitfeld and Higginson." Colonel Higginson was very versatile and his address was very interesting. He said he had been somewhat disconcerted in the morning by the question put to him by an innocent young lady who asked him if he really was the Ar. Higginson who used to live in the old stone house. He thought that all this talk about pilgrim fathers was superluons when the pilgrim mothers were not being noticed at all. He wondered if the takers of the occasion had forgotten entirely that there were women in the good old days. He paid fine tribute to the sex. John Hir- ginson, he continued, came to this country with his father in 1920. The speaker imag- ined seeing him bidding an affectionate fare well to old England and it's church in the new world. He grew to manhood, was a teacher in Hartford, then chaplain at Say brook under Miles Standisb, and finally drifted into Guilford in 1641 and lived here till 1859. He married Sarah Whitfield, and this was one of the most fortunate events of his life. They sailed later for England. A storm arose and drove them into Salem har- Dor. The people of Salem begged him to be- come their pastor, which position his father had held and he aoquiesced, remaining there the rest of his days. He lived to be ninety two years old. Through the witchcraft de- fusion there are two things showing that John Higginson stood far above the spirit of his age. His wife, the same Sarah Whitfield, and another woman in the community were offered for the ordeal and his daughter was a.so charged with witchcraft. He makes she best summing of the witchcraft delusion ,f that period. He recognized that New England was settlement of religion and