Norwich bulletin., 1917-06-30

responded MT. cIapp. Norwich is the Rose of New Engiand.
 "The suggestion was accepted; and on an arch under which the procession marched, on Broadway, near Broad words, Norwich, The Rose of New England. That which we call rose, by any other name would smell as sweet: and whether Norwich be called General Jacqueminot, it will still be the American Beauty, the Rose of New England"
 Writing of the celebration of 1909, MT. Gilman directs attention to the fact that comparatively few were then living who remembered the celebra- tion of 1859. Of the prominent men who had served on the committees scarcely score remained. Ali the settled pastors of Norwich ali the leading physicians. most of the prom inent lawyers, the special orators of the day. the after-dinner speakers, Death had claimed all; and, most dis tinguished of all, Governor William A. Buckingham, whose grace and dig nifty as the presiding officer were un- disturbed by forebodings of the inn pending national confiict-not two years in the future-in which his pa trfotic services were to gain for him lasting renown as Connecticuts War Governor"
 new generation had come upoa the stage, as the writer pointed out; new faces were seen at the windows and in the streets, new preachers were in the pulpits, new lawyers at the bar. new doctors at the bedside. and names once familiar on sign boards in the business districts had been repla ced. in large mea sure by those of new corners from foreign lands.
 If any survivor of the Norwich Bi- Centennial could in a moment roll back the wheels of time for half a cen tury, and, reversing the moving pie 1859, writes MT. Gilman, his amaze ment would be as great as was Rip Van Wrinkles. The same skies, the same rocks and hills the same rivers and meadows, all that was created by God would stand forth in perennial beauty: but the work of man would appear strange-y quaint and crude; the old houses of the Antient Town would seem asleep, and the daily life of the good people. their habits and customs, dull and old fashioned.
 He would look in vain for the com forts and eonveniences of modern civ iiization, and would realize that the golden days were not in the past but in /the present and the future: and
  the fathers, a new Norwich had arisen, surpassing all that was dreamed of in their philosophy.
 This summary by Mir. Gilman of the endless changes during the half cen tury between the celebration of the towns bi-centennial and of it's quar- ter millennium suggests how valuable are books exactly like his own.
 All that Norwich residents may learn of life and events in the early years of the old Nine Mile Square is preserved in such few price ess books as Miss Caulkins' History, Miss Per kins' Old Houses of The Antient Town of Norwich and iStedmans record of the Bi-Centennial Celebration of 1859 Without these and a few historical and genealogical papers. the modern seeker after records of the doings when the forefathers and foremotf 8-> of this city were making history. would be as helpless as one who must excavate in oriental ruins in the hope of finding some chance stone bearing puzzling inscriptions to be deciphered.
 The 19lletin's priceless files of the ancient Norwich Courier, beginning back in 1797, furnish most valuable g-impses of early life and affairs; but these are not within reach of general readers.
 be ready to note it's ftercentenary in 1859. and that is forty-tw years ahead, with what joy will those who set about preparing for the celebra- tion peer into the pages of MT. Gill mans scholarly volume; and to how many others will it furnish interest and information and inspiration in the forty-two years between now and theni
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