•;tll , • _ - • • • • = Itan s, • • • •'•.- 4 ! Ii1) 1H t rt v 11- • • • . • • • . . • • . -. • . • diS IFREEDO I d amp ROORE n:ano @LaWIERV amp. VYRORICO Sr 9 • , • I , 4 I .41- rc, F , . IFLEAD„&". 11,.H. , FRAZIER, EDITORS. .- SIXTki - ANNf r jAl , iopeei% & - 40folleqi Ve3fib4), OF trailfvni, Broome Cheinung Luznne, Schuyler, Steuilen Susquehanna - , Tiopl, TORT- Wireming, an'iother Counties, held IIONTROSS, susd. C0.,-PA., On the 2d day . of Spe, A. D.; 1858. The Procession *as formed at the• call cif :Band of Music, in front of Searle's Hotel f 1,1 o'clock a. m., and mart-died, under the I heat on oftol.- Charles D. Lathrop Mar -1 Thal of tlfe day, to the Court Itiouse. There , f.h.e Meeting wassorganized-,—llos. V z. JEs iCP President, in the Chair. The' Order of Exercises was :is follows : 1. Prayer, by, the Rix. DR. PEE . IC, of 'lx- . ierne County, Pa. - 'I, -. ~ I'2. IntrOductory remailta by the President in which he..gat - a l p4etch of the origin of• : . e Association; at d the state of things; hen e first came to Montrbse, in 1818. -1 1 He then introduced I 'the Orator of the day. S. R. B. Liras, Esq., of Montrose; deliv. ,t4ed the following . • . . ORATION: . •T MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOW', CITIZENS:— tt .r e e p ss T . E t S h el e ll r i e ll m g n i t ! n 1 e t • l p e r ft et o n t us, g er t h t l e o ti,. Pas!l.a—d - us we stand,—ftro generations,—the one, / 11 ith ail its v.aried life and memories, lying t bind; the other, with its 'high-hopes, lying ond,—met here, to mingle odr sympathies t gather, ere we part, to meet not ' , again in one. Strange scene,-:--touehing connim i n,--and cold indeed must the heart be that i unmoved iu this , presenee ! . PIONEERS :—W e are glad to. meet you, at t i is annual festival; And so gather .up as we I fluty, and conserve - to .posterity, the scenes d. Memories of the Past.._ Else, in the .I ight ‘ of Time, they would fade. from' our owledge ; and tradition herself would not r-n tpeak to,ourTgratitude. ' .. , But over, the hilarity- Of this oecasibn, lin ers 11--shade' of sadneis. Most of yob r num- fer have already taken their chambers in the ilent balls o.: death; 'and :each 'returning •ear, we see that Death•has been, busy, thin , ring your diMinished ranks. Stern, relent iess death! who,_like time, pathes - not in his aryer, nor knows the weight of . sleep or -' eariness.• On; still on, he goes ,— bruising, - nly„ i v rushi desOlating,—heeding no cries, pity- . ne no sorrows ! ' And yOurgray hairs, dim -1 wed eyes,: bowed forms, atiO unsteady steps, ern us that you, .10u -n us Lountry that lies on, the other„side of the --sapphire &tor," 'where the wicked cease root troubling, and the weary are at rest.-- With some of you, already, tW spirit's ' wings ,: are taint and: weary, and 'you pine - to fold them in that " better" land." F: 1 .‘ It will be Over soon. Since your last meeting, in this capacity,. another year is Oh.e; " an cl . itrio w knell is toiling now, o'er the (lark ..oceatt of the past." Soon these gatherings must cease, for the Pioneers will igll be gone,• w4ere they cannot tell us of the toil, rinFatkon, and gloom, amid Which -they laid the 'enduring-foundations otthis splendid' fabric of human life,an which we. Move. It is - well. Like strou.„r , men armed , who.bnre .` fought—the good fight, and kept file faith," . ook beyond the rugged hills of •the world, and see a window Opened in Heaven, and a Wounded hand 'put forth. in welcome ; then ey pide the armor you have worn so long jsnd well, aiid as you go-down into 'the dark river, with a hope glorified to faith, cry, "I ,shall be over the Jordan to•murrow." H Now,. let us speak of the Present. - Sus= GREHANNA, like her sister Counties, in all• her iurtace; displays signs of human industry and comfort. Sixty years are 'but , a speck in Time, a point in durat.ion and yet a less time has - sufficed 'to work out all this gyeat ntss. Sixty yedrs agd,"this County wai.one unbroken wilderness, where ; save the -wild Indian, human foot had sirce trod, and by- in!an voice 'hnd sauce' startled thp. thrilling and immense solitude, that brooded over all, as it did over chaos, before the world ;as.— Nature held her own. revels, amid her. dark .fore_•t aisles,--upon hill-side and valley,—by fount and by. murmuring brook,—still, sol emn, and majestic,—glorious in the sunshine, '-and awful in,the storm! Note, upon her bilk and long-withdrawing vales cultivation lies, luxuriant and unbound ed. rotiljty and beauty upon us, from field, iirchard;and woodland... Cenitent ed bents gr'az.in every valley; and rich bar. vests'gladden every bill-side. }lnman habi- tations-rise everywhere, in-quiet comfort,'— the School', and 'Church meet us at every Limn, 'and towns and villages dot her surface. The, telegraphic wire informs us of distant events at the: very moment when they transpire and the Steam car that rabbis from city to, ..city, while she'pauses here to take breath, 'receives ouf'-liberal . 'productions, to deposit them, ere nightfall:, in distint markets. • deli rue; Pioriee'ra,=--when you mint, with. lour weary ase and' .paat.,--*.atnp . ed in. the woods; until you could roll up your log hut, --and Saw. wkld Nature toss her.defiant head,' !and shakzuriant tresses, in mockery, of your purly.efforts to subdue her to man, .did y-ou.dreatif that your eyes Would ever • rest upon such a r 'scerte 'as we ivw behold ? How rapidly. has civilization trod Upon .yOur. heels, pouring into •oor: lap, science, art,., wealth, andliberty, until our - whole,lansl has becotpe a theatre of wonders! - Shall We pause her'e, and venture, therent ly, µ ith'hushed - hreath, to lift_thd curtain .tha God hangs over the future,—and look for ward, other: sixty years? 0 . , what changes, chat improvements, what miracles of pro gress, ure revealed, to match the wonders of. the past ! If our growth has been so rapid in our infancy, what shall it he in the strength of ogi manhood ? - For: all this• greatneSs,i we—are indebted, under Providence, to you. ft was a weirkof intense self-denial and . tink this of beginning life in the firest. - Small cotnpaniespenefrate far into :tie wilderness, and begin alone a struggle with Nuture to•wrest frpin her ber 14E1(1.41 stores. The forest is to -4 cleared sway, tialittle openings made, to let in, _the Pan. upon their rude huts, and !their simple Inishandrv. 'Cut off-from the world, almost from all Initrfati assotiations, in solitude -and priation, they goon in the earnest work of hy ing th e foundations of social and j 11 .4 . a. diseipline Imagine few strag- ' gliitt..¢ hats in a boundless wilderness,--no es opt-; no help, no sympathy.. Perhaps ti treat storm is pourinft its forysupon the 'earth'', and . o no- to and . (ro the , mighty !Wrest, It ts:ty ha it, is tniliy,inter ; dud the deep_ spoW.4 lies upon the ground, untracked, save by bet of prey. Surely, these were men of maik7l find impervious ortitude,—ntiised in vicissituae,—and . beaten by the rough winds of litb. But this. discipline promoted - not 'only physical, but also'moral development • Of necessity, their life was plain and fru gal, find their habits industrious. Of neces sity, cut off as they, were from the world, they.ckung together ; in the closest and most self-s.gcrificing friendship. This condition was favorable to virtue. Besides, the• temp tatiotes- that crowd out - - daily life, were to themunknown, And the spirit of money getting, of luxury,luxury,and of display, that con- Vert our crowded life into one hot-bed of un rest, care, and selfish competition, had place in the simpleslife of the Pioneer. Am bition, .avariee, envy, and hate,-i—those: de forming passions, that ate stimulated to such excess in our restless, self-seiking life,—had little incentive in their bteasts, : Let us now go back of all this, and look at the Causes that produced this wonderful ele vation of-humanity in the new world,—so different from all its condition in the old. And_this opens one of the most interesting chapters in the whole bOok of Time,-,bne that illustrates the fact that ciui( and religions freedom arethe elements, the atmosphere, in which alone the physical, Intellectual, and moral nature of man can, be developed to their.fullest proportions. Civil mid religious bondage dwarf and pervert his nature ; and from , age 'to 'age ; humanity descends 'in the scale of being. Centuries of oppression have reduced the once proud and gifted Roman; to the whining, miserable beggar that now cowers under the broken walls of- the seven hilled city, in conscious degradation and finis: ery. Ana so with the Jew, the Greek, and "the Spaniard: No seitthought,or action,—no lofty reason upon the brow, nor elastic free dom in the step, nor proutl i _empire in the eye. Government gives itiNeed to the con sciences, and presenbes all the habits of life, =backed up by'its armies and its dungeons. How can a man grow ? e Catctr-the eagle, - and confine him. how his glossy plumage fides, how his eye dinis, and his whole bearing sinks away into an ex pression of fear and humility! Let hi in go; you have broken • his destiny. Sea what a ery of joy escapes him, and how proudly he soars away into-his native element,—again to °ague the sun,—again to bathe his Wild plumage in the thunder's .hofne.! -It is his NATtRE to be free. Sowith man. The spiritof Liberty broke out in Scotland. and Government butined it at the martyr's stake;—in Spain. and, they. buried it in the Inquisition, in France, and they starved it in -the Bastile,-:-in Germany, and they piere. ed it. with balls. It took refuge in the fast ! ver s es of Wales, behind the dykes in 'Mol l-land, and upon the 'inaccessible Alps. But :ill the tyrants of Et i rope — made a common • . cause against t!, and b:indee. together to it from the world. It was i-their mission ; and an army of martyrs attests how' :well it. was fulfilled. - • Separated from .the oppresed masses- of the Old World, by their invincible love of truth and freedom, the Pioneersgo the New -World !fade adieu • to the' assrliations of hone, encountered the perils of the Ideep, and fmally, , worn and weary, stepped from the deck of the Isiay flower, upon Plymouth rock. There was .the great wilderriessfrowning up on them, peopled with the savage foe ;—and the rigors of an almost:Polar winter{ united with -a scarcity of provisions, and of !shelter. made dip an aggregrkte of distress,". that would have : driven other. men hopelessly ba k to the arms of thraldom. How sublime w : their trust in God ! - "Give-me liberty, origh : Inc death,",-wis the sentinient and- inSpiratt. of their hearts,—the same that afterwards was so uttered in"Patrick.Henry› electric el= oquence, as to thrill the startled eondnent. il s, From _m suche,n, so tried, you, ' ioneers, derive your lineage and -descent.. N. 4 from dukes, earls, or princes; but from i'ature's own nobility, why - were purified by trial as - in ii furnace. . I ``'Twos not in bowers of wanton ease that Free dom and Virtue nursed their sacred energies; but in the bracing aff.`of toil, of that high, rare, ethereal virtue, which alone can give, to Freedom's flowrets, health, beauty, and lustre. Yet another trial awaited . them,—their cup must run over. Praviden-events soon indicated that the political tie that bound the infant colonies to the Throne, must be broken forever,—else • the 'dream of their hearts' would faikand the future ages la ould be unblessed. God was with them still.:-- The siMple provincial was seen rising like the, bunted lion from his slumbers ,• the energies of his mind thrown into powerfufaction ; the shackles which habit had imposed; flung. off; his countenance impressed with' intense de termination, and lighted up with, an expres sion of enthusiasm and feeling.. 411 saw the sudden brilliance with which the patriot was invested ; but most men regarded it as a meteor-light, that would set iu.two-fold dark ness. The result of that contest has, become history: • • Then the most delicate' and difficult' task still 'remained to be done. Iti was to frame aGovernment that should at once secure or der, and yet retain to the citizen 'his individ ual freedom. A new' work,—Upon which Histdry shed little light; for lilt human ex periments had ended in despotism. o, , what Godllike wisdom is now requisite, to save from failure all the dacrifices of the east 'How and where shalllie different powers necessary- to efficient Government, be divided and deposited, and e.heeked'and balanced, so as to move in barmony - together, l and yet not tend to eensolidation '1 The world had never seen this! - Centralization of poiler must be ; avoided; for that begets individual ambition, and that despotism. Franc was in.:Paris ' • hence France was in bondage. Once_tice Ro man Eagle touched, with one wing, the sun rise, and with the other, the sunt, and threw her shadow . ove.tbe world. - So, Britain sl boasted that her'morning drumbeats encir cled,the earth with the martial airs of Old England ;—but their empires were by 'con quest and subjugation,--not.by popular will and choice. ' Power was centrali* ed atßome, and London; while distant ependencies were in disorder and rebellion. Hence, vait ness of Empire,beg,at weakness and dissolu tion. . I But our fathers looked upon the starry heavens, and caught thence the lutninous idea of-a Federal Republie,—One that, tho' ocean-, boUnd, should grow stronger, b its very ex pansion ! The States were el* sovereign ; and yet were to rdvolve, in their respective spheres, around the central Government, shininq 1 ike the ista :ii-their orbits,—the latter with just enough tentriPetgl influence, to bal knee the centriftitt I forces .ot. their natures. And wbetrit was'';'done, they made our Na tion's flag, amiput upon it the likeness of a star,-,-la star for.each State,—and they-wrote dpon it our Natipn's- motto,t—"E Plulihus Mufti"' A polaical constellation ! with the sun rot. its centre,i—not absorbing, but corn ,/ biningall in oneplan of revolving harmony ! They lolled it Ur ion,—one, and yet many I Washington, J his day, beheld the scene and was glad, yranny looked out from rdropb upon thi: wondrous prophetic light, and was amazed Ind fear-stricken.' The op preised of all' la ds greeted its mild radiance with tiery,of em. cipated joy, 'and fled to e like us,—arid gave us our shores,—be their strength. Oh t ltouch not you would pluck or, with . pollute Ond word to tl age haa its distin. age hid to endur I ihe Union, any more than its brightness from the sun, finger, tarnish it. , . ie present generation. Each rive duties. The Pioneer. . 7 to sutler, and to create ; rye enlarge, and improve. s'l the individual conscience, ours it is, to pre Cherish freedom and of the persori, , It May well b 9 doubted whether the peo ple or to-dtry haye the adaptation to this work that belon Al to those of the Pioneer re, and whether p rosperity itself does not debase, rather tha ennoble- character. The race after wealth, begets selfishness, its pos sessiop brings idleness, that, in turn, breeds I .r. all the vices. E ve of display and distinc tion,4that unit/ sal passion,—grows with that it feeds upo until life itself is a mmsk to coverlheartlessness. Foppery., elegant use lessne6, and effe oinacy, take the place of sturdy, robust virtue. Popular ins/It:lions will be impressed %-ith the nop.ularicharacter, whatever that is ; and Freeitorn hertelf is but the hand-maid of .1 virtue. , VO must rem mbar that our institufions are yet - but an e= periment, and that their fail. are wOuld . blot ut the hopes of mankind. The only great s rains our system of govern ment ihas yet en tired, have arisen in the ac rimony arid viriltnce of party strife. The fury of party sp tit must be abated. It is intore>.anra itse f,—that very spirit which banished the pilgrims from the old world. Let us learn,,tO tolerate differences of faith and' opinion in others ; nor expect universal" con formity to our ciirn. flow nar....4 :t i..• h,r pozfer to seek ttl coerce all mind end thought into its ow , t forts Arid manifestations. This is tyranny itsel4---whether exercised by a liii , g, or by a p litical party. _ ter the fever of the hour has e looked back upon a parti -I,all strewed with broken reptitlitions,—the victims of., and been astonished at the of the issui , s and differences pacoon end such perversity. that even if it- beau,. in • is How often, a ,subsided, have san battle-groun honor and,ruine4, udice and hate! trifling char:tad that evited sue We !ben realiz ' d in will,— will aroused, and gill, in bitter conflict.—some• , o open violence and death. linfinitely better than popular e very worst Government, tent at all. • _ I love to contemplate pritni 'meter, and to exhibit it, in resent degeneracy. : And I prine;ple, it set over against times arising in Kingly order is anarchy,—and than no govern For myself, Live" life and ch: conti'/ist with cannot concluth this address better thah by giving Macaula 's eloquent description of the men of the Pio eer age. ' L I "" The PuritAns were ' ' men whose m'nds had derived •a - peculiar character from the daily contemplikion of superior beings and eternal interests). They rejected, with n -4 tempt, the, cere onions homage which other sects:substitut for the pure worship of the' ri Soul, Hence originated their contempt _Tor Skrrestrial ,dist'actions. The difference be tAec the Brea e,st and the meanest of man kind iseeme b d to vanish, when compared with the boundless interval that separated the whore race fro Him on ' whom their own dyes were constantly fixed. :They recogniz ed no title to superiority, but Hi , i 'favor ; and confident of that, favor, they deipised all the acconeplishint4, and all the dignities of the world, If they were unacquainted with the works of philos phers and poets, they were deeply read in he oracles of God, If their , names , were not found in the registers of her alds; in they felt itsured that they were record ed the ~. Book p l f Life. If their steps were not accompanied by a splendid train of me nial 4, legions of (ministering angels had charge over-them. Mir palaces wire houses not made with hauls; their diadems, crowns of glory which sh uld never fade away ! On thq rich and file eloquent,, on nobles and prieSts,.they lo ked down with contempt,— for they esteen ed themselves rich in a more predious treasu e, and eloquent in i,I more sublime lange e ; nobles by the right of an earlier creation and priests by the imposi, tion of a might er hand. " ! The very-. eanest of them was a being to whose fatea to rible and myiterious import ance belonged. For his sake, empires had e! riteri, flourihh , and decayed. s For his sake, theiAliniglity ad proclaimed his will by the' peritOf the eva gelist, and the hart! of the proPhet.• He ad been rescued . by no com mai deliverer, from the grasp of no common foe.l He had ern ransomed by. the sweat of no vulgar a ony, by the blood ofno earth ly Sacrifice. I was for him that,the sun had been darkened that the rocks had been rent, that the dead had arisen, that, ill Nature had shuddered at'the sufferings/,of her expiring God! . il Thus the Puritan was made up of ,two dif ferenferent t men ; the one, all-self-abasement, pen itence, gratitue; passion ; the other, proud, tahn, ' inflexib e, -sagacious. 'lle prostrated himself in`the ust before his Maker,—but he ilet his foot on the neck of his king. The intensity of th it feelings on religious sub -1 jects, made th m tranquil on every other.— One overpow ring sentiment had subjected to itself pityd hatred, ambition and fear. t Death had to • Its terrors, and pleasure its charms. Thel . had their smiles and their ,ted r rs; their ra tures and their sorrows, but not for the things of , this woild. Enthusia: 'assn had clewed their winds from every vul gar passion afni prejudice, and raised 'them above the influence of danger- and of corrup. tion 1 , .' • ' , low. Pioneers ! such men, so portisyed v i one of the , foremost writers in ail the jrld, wereour, ancestry. Is it any won r,that yo , should , have displayed such nage and lf-denial,----you, so nearly ali t* the P itan fathers ! u l e Now, fello v citizens, let us guard this in itatice i 1 us watch over our Country's de co ed ONTROSE, THURSPAI, JUNE 10, 1858. Man, with his fellow mzul in deadly strife, With damning hate hath sought his-brother's life And oft the pall of mourning hath been thrown O'er blegding nations, to support a crown. E'en, our own nation, now so bloss'd - of God, Was born in suff'ring; sorrow, and in blood. Seven long years, in weariness and pain, Our fathers fought and bled; but not in vain— Thrice glorious Patriou,ohmoscnoutu k ,atise and drop a tear for them. Far-famed Wycnoing too has had her share In all the horrors:ol a bloody war, Her soils were butChered by a savage foe— And she was clad in sad habilimedts of wo. Incarnate devils, whOe and red, Fought side by side that day ; And savage yells rose o'er the dead, The living - to dismay. No age, nor sea, nor plea, nor prayer, Co* make the demons Tell ; The Mg:answer t o, their' ears, 'here tornalnrA., alrilsteel. They. t' , .. l :oary lorks of age, The • at:l ! ' 1 -:e-t! • too-- The intant's na;l checked not their rage, But fiercer still they grew. The trearlerie , of that fatal thy Made Hell ashamed of man ; And fiends shrank back , in deep:dismay At old John Butler's clan. The soul is sick, the heart is fain; With readingtheir dark crimes. The heart-felt anguish, who can paint The terror of those times? • But though that day has long since passed, And peace is on that vale, Surviving actors sal! remain To tell the bloody tale. A monument 5o those who fell v Now marks their hallow'd dust; That monument, we know full well, Is well deserved arid just.; But yet a more ofddring one, Replete in every part, More lasting than the chisel'd stone— Is reared within the heart. Or did the iron horse precede your train, And bring alike yourselves and store Safely through snow and mud and rai • Did roads as smooth as pavements the • Run all along each stream, -- O'er every hill, through every gl , Through pleasant Bells and fo is green? Did towns and iillages appear, Where'er you turnedyour yes, Your hopes to-raise s , your s ul to cheer? Your wonder and suyie ? - • A school-house then at very turn. A church with taste ul spire ? Where youth with first fur knowledge burn, And christianFith devotion's fire. in !d Did princely, lions then appear . On every in every vale, The eye to pfease,"the mind to cheer, When hOpe and strength began to fail? Did ore rds bloom and gardens smile Wit every flower that ever grew? So ri that they the soul beguile So many—Eden never knew? lkb, no, my friends, not so indeed— ,/ But one vast riilderness was here,. , Forests to forests did succeed -J.- 1 I And cause us tronble in our onward wsv ! A worthy friend, now pine, a scholar too, _ Seiied with ambition to excel the rest, . - - Had built a cabin, and it Bth was new, And thoughts of glass his soul oppress'd. What could he do ? he struggled with the Paper is not glass; no glais is here; Full fifty miles to where it can be bought; No way to ride ; the path is lone and drear. But to the will all obstacles must yield; To Wilkes Barre, (an unpaetie aware,) he went, 'And there yitb glistening eyes beheld Some 7 by 9, which made his heart content. Twelve lights he bought; and did them up with care, In checker'd'handlechT, to make theeMsecure, Slowly he jogged along, nor did forbear, . • Ills footstep=, till hl: rcac'ted his home once-more. Carefully he laid thcm on the bed, Intending to surprixe His wife who allet table spread Could test her wond'ring eyes. But sad to tell! site in her haste, While an her woik intent, ~ Took up the bundle, there mispluitvl, .A9d to the door it went! honor and integrity,—asa father doth over his owu children. Then our Republic wil be,Andeed, ocean .bound,—her Pacific oast adorned with States and cities, more 'ich and glorious than those that line her Atlaitio borders,—a con tinent, swarming with Ire, in its, highest re finement and exaltation,—sending her' tho'ts atkd influence into everyland,—spreading her sairs.of Commerce on elery sea,—lifting up the down-trodden, and Ibuking tyzanny in all the world. If to be a Roman Citizen, once, " was greater than a kine,"—What shall it be, to wear the prouder titlle d atnerican Citizen? An element in this grot, sovereignty, whose mighty power is plek . O to protect her feeblest son, from the 4ightest„wrong, in the darkest or remotest comer of earth Now, Mr. President, IC I have 'enkindled one new sentiment of gratitude . towa4. our Pioneer fathers,—awalened one new emotion of brie for our Countr . f,—or another pity for ea!th's suffering and ortessed ones, then my humble efforts will be thrice repaid. 4. Music—N.l.l.ring even to old as well as young blood. . 5: B. S. BENTLEY, Lsq., of Montrose, 11.- ing introduced by the President, rend the following • _ - POEM: E'er since old time its coarse on Earth began, Change bath been the never varying lot of luau . , .Empires and Kingdoms, glorious in their day, (lave shone in splendor anci have passed away: Babylon preceded Greet., and greece a'Rotne, Oud mistress of the woa r —she too has gone; Cities and towers and monunents of fame Lie mingling in the dust from whence they came. And man, proud, mighty man, has had his sway ; Where is lie now? Ah, gone and Pass'd away; The high, the low, the nobly and the slave, ard'slept for ages in one common grave. , Let but lour thoughts goback when time began, And follow thence the, destirieS of num— • What wars and bloodshed, and what fearful crimps have stained this fair Earth with crimson lines. Monarchs and despots, tyrants of an hour, Drunliwith ambition and the lust of power, Have bathed the Earth in sorrow and in blood, And giv'n God's image for thaVulture's food. But time forbids us longer now to dwell Upon c lhe scenes and memories of those days And bidling them a long and sad farewell, We comd to speak of more propitious days. In all time past the sem have proudly sung' The glorious deeds of their illustrious sires; So we, who fronra noble rachave sprung, Would light our souls with truo Doetic fires. Ye living Pioneers of that brave band Who left th6ir homes and all to them so dear Wh o c a ms to this, a wrd and rugged land, A land of Forests and in aspect drear! Bow did you come? In coach and four? Thick and unbroken, far and near. No railroads then—the•trees were parked,' Your only road and guide, As through the forests deep and dark, You walked, but could not ride.. But hardy hands were soon employed ; The brush and logs were piled; A road from John to James was made, Though rugged, rough, and wild. It answered for the old gray mare, To draw, oifrough =defiled, If John could James a little spare, Of corn to make some bread. No glass was in the house, those days, But paper was in stead ; And through , the same the sun's bright rays A calmer litht did shed. Oh proud ambition, bane'of human geace. Bow often crest thou lead us all itsy, And make for the. ilts of life increase, The wife and husband stood aghast, They view'd the fragments o'er; • Tea thousand pieces of small glass Lk scattered round the floor. God made the country, man the town bath wide; God's glorious works the Universe pervade ; Ills worlds of light that far above us shine, Draw out our thoughts to him in praise sublime; While all the grandeur of this lower sphere In panoramic, beauty doth appear, The soul to ravish andthe mind to sa. The heart to cheer, and banish every ill, The mighty ocean, surging to and fro— The mighty rivers, with eternal Host— - • The mighty mountains, - pie on toile so high, • To our weak vision sen/ to touch the sky— The dimpling lake in beauty doth display Ten thousantJ diamonds in the moonbeams' play The bills and valleys )Pith their lowing herds, Made vocal ; and he &oyes with happy birds— These sit are glorious, and draw out the soul • To God, the Maker and , the source of all: 'Tis not the man of luxury and pride, 'Tis not the woman fit to be his bride, Who, reared in lashion'and the halls of ease, Whose morbid tastes vain antics please— These never are the ones to go 4. Where the primeval forests grow ; Bnt those of daring soul and mind, Whom discipline hath well refined, Who 'eau with Nettie° hold commune, When earth is robed in richest bloom— Who have.eilicart, a soul, a mind, None of the apc,or dandy kind. These are the men designed of God, To go where man hath'never trod— Where crouch the pantberi.,wolf, and hear, Whose howls disturb the midnight air, - Where the fleet deer and beinnegus fawn Crop the sweet flowers at earliest 'dawn— Where speckled trout, throughout the‘day, In sparkling streams, their gambdls 014. 7 Whore birds, in hopping, chirpingthrongs,- Pour out their sweet melodious songs, _ Do you remember well the day"" • When this whole region did display " • Nought but a forest far and *ide, Of trees that stood in stately pride? Have you the very place forgot You first selected far your hut? . The first blow struck, the first tree fell, 'Are they not all remembered well? , Can you remember how you made Your first log cabin in the shade • Of towering trees that yet o'erhung The little clearing you'd begun? And soon that clearing far and wide Began to spread on every side Tree after tree, bereft of strength, .Lay prostrate on the earth at length, .jAnd being burnt, there might be seen, The groPing crop of corn between; For without help you could not clear i The graded from logs till the second year. Nice pastures then, well fenced and green, Cotklif not, on any side be seen; . • Tint the one cow then lov'd so well, Was found at night by her well known bell ; The old tin horn was blow'd in time To call yon'to the house, to dine; And sweeter sounctwas never heard By hungry man, if long. deferred.. Your sap troughs Made in early Spring, You tapped your trees, and thence did bring • A sugar sweeter than Havana, Or ever came from old Savanna. And often, leaving hnme and work, ' To find some twenty pounds. of pork, , t Yeei:d travel twenty miles or more, Where you t ad'levee been before, ' An with some sugar in a sack, And that suspended 'cross your back, Yeq trudged along, and, as I live, Five pounds for one you'd freely give. The forests now begin to yield ; The sun shines down on waving Seldl • From Earth her bounties you receive; And you again begin to live. You then wrote - home to let them know How'rieh the soil, how crops did grow— Soon others came, and by your side • The forests opened, tar and wider .New Hampshire sends her sons al g; Green Mountain boys help make t throng; Connecticut, that good old State The birth-place of both good a great— Old Massaehusetts,-where th ree In Boston Harbor made th 'r tea— Rhode Island, too, thott very small— Answered at once, her very call— These are the States at sent their sons Inured to hardship at no coeffict shuns-4 They in-this land eir virtues did display - We. know they' represented here to-day. By their stro g arms and nerves; how very soon The rugge wilderpess began to bloom; The fore vanished, like the-smoking flax, Before e hero of the swinging ax; • Vil and farms may now be seen . An mills go up on every stream. .e noble Susquehanna bears to tide - umber and plaster and all else beside That makes return of wealth to those .‘ Who this exciting business chose. Happy as larks that sing at morn, The raftsman, with his sounding horn. Now herds and flocks•of sheep . are seen In pastures or the richest-green. Old Continental bills no longer pass, Nor paper'now is used instead of glass. Our mothers acted well their part ;- Strong courage raised and cheered the heart; They milked the cows, and baked the bread; They swept the house, the table:spread ; They spun and wove, and clothes they made; The bats of straw were of their braid ; The children they both washed and fed, And them undressed and put to bed, On Sunday, with supreme content, They to sonic distant meeting went. They rode old " Dapple," meek and kind— The man before, the wife behind. No silks or satins did they wear, - Bret muslin frock, quite neat but spare. Np hoops they wore, but I confess They would have much improved their dress; For even though they take more space, - They give to form an airy grace ; And if they're made of medium size, They must be fools or ovarreige— Who dare not say, without alarm, They add to comfort, health, and charm. - As backward we our thoughts do send, • Who does not think of - some dear friend Who toiled and struggled in those days, And well deserves our highest praise? - • Could we but knbte and see and feel, • Would some kind power to us reveal • What the'first settlers suffered here, When want and famine gathered- near, When sickness came, and those must die, Whose prayed-for aid noitAcou/d supply, Whose life they knew was ebbing fast;— They felt—they knew it could not last— What deeper anguish who can know, In all our trials here below, I Than watching the expiring breath Of loved ones in the embrace of death? Yet deeper still the wound we feel, WhenSre alone around them kneel,, - Alone to hear the last drawn breathe).- Alone to close 'the eye in death, When all without is dark and drear, Within, coltlaleath and sobs and fear. Tis midnight - and the storm is high; The lightning blazes o'er the sky...e s The thunderrolls. In deep despair, You feel that death is reigning there.., From break of day till kite at night, • The settler tolled with all his might; • And midnight fires„oft blazing high, • Revealed the fact that he was nigh. And as he labored thus alone, He thought of his lov'd ones at home, And kneeling on the ground be prayed That they from famine might . be saved. - But My weakspiii can never tell, Nor 15.4 fit that I should dwell f - • Upor. those scenes, so bard and rife, As settlers learn in early life. How many names might I reeall'' . - Of those remembered by you all,. . Who sharedsvith yon the joy and ww, Abut each did feel and all did know. But memory will much sooner trace • 'Their names, their forma; their inky, and face, And you will bring them in review • More quickly far than I can da, I H. H. FRAZIER, PUBLISHER---V01.7.-el%io, Ali yes! more swift than lightning 'Aldo, ' They'll pass before your minds again, And in this moment while you hear The thrilling scenes of many a year Your quickened minds will alr:reeburri;! And, like the lightning's flash, again • They'll all be with you. Dent you 'see --Them all around as they used to be? , Ah, gone again II - How sad thatiound, • How many lie - beneath the ground Which you find they together trod— ' You yet remain—. They've gone to God: Of many I would like to speak to-day, Some yet alive, but more have passed away ; But one short line for them muitAnew suffice, They live in memory till that' memory dies.' ' But one there is,a friend whom all of us may claim, I need not tell you who heis,or give you now his name; From earliest youth I've kntwn, and I have loved him too, - I hope he, lan friend to me, as site he is to you. • His head„with toil and age, is silvered over now, But what - he is and was is pictured:Am his brow. ng bath he been a traveler o'er life's precarious road, ' Long Lath he labored faithfully for man and for his God. . . ITe, in his ehrlyyouth..when all around was new, : When woods were growing here,. and people were but few, --.... Began his course of usefulness with armor girded on, And-never will he lay it off till life itself iirdone. In all the settler's thrilling scenes he bore his humble part.; In sickness, be was by their side, in sorrow cheered the heart; . . In all ,the varied ills of life, in sadness and in pain, No person ever sought his aid, and sought that aid in vain— band, As often by the of death his bleeding heartswa torn, . . • . So he, his sympathf%ould give to those who deeply mourn. ' it In all the offices of life, in civil and divine, . - 'His virtue and his love of truth along, his, pathway shine=. - - . . We're glad he has been spared to us and spared to - us so long.; • • . And N hope that many happy days to him do'yet be ton g r - • .1 Nire all are glad he hastbtut lived to be with us to- • day— \ A Pioneer irAd he-is, in every God-like way. Oh! may God's blessing ever rest upon that worthy head, • \ Till he shall, after many ygars, be numbered with the dead; - • And when to him the hour shall epme td lay, him( down to die, /. May he exchange this lower earth for better worlds ' on high. _ . / - Will yen, my friends, this day compare ' With sixty years ago? • • - ," When mails were carried far and twit- ' On horseback, as you know . ; . /. / i But now, o'er lands and ocean's depths, * - By lightning and by steam. . Have we like Rip Van Winkle 'slept, Or do we now but dream? • ' • . We have not slept, we do.not dream, . •• No veil is on our eves ; , . • • ' ' • • It is an age of mind and steam, Of and surprise. Could you, my friends, -at all recount , . • The progress of , your day ? _ All obstacles we do surmount,l ' . - No barrier moils our way. • , If we go orrior fifty yea's, - As we the/past have done, 4 . There's z nothing, as it now appears, ..• But w fat may then 'be done. • j i W r may make us oil for light; 'IrV 'through the air may sail ; ' And over rivers take our flight, . In bomb or iron shell. /'"' But I must close—my - friends, farewell ; • Perhaps_ we'll meet no more, i. • I'M we can each to others tell . The scenes of life when o'er.. . I've trespassed long upon your time-e- / •learned I've one lesson by it ; If you are asked to write a poem, . I Only hope you'll try it. ' • Music—.—A -Song-2 home." 7. Rev. A. L. POST, of-Montrose, intro duced by the 'President, to- give . Historical Sketches, from - the latenesS of the .hoir, and the desire to hear from the Old Pioneers, wished t.o . be excused. Not being excused, a he,gave briefoutline of the controversy-be tween Connecticut and Pennsylvania; ,in rela tion to the jurisdiction and title to all North- ern Pa., and of its final settlement; and" con cluded with-a few reminiscences -relative to persons, things, and incidents, connected, mostly, with the History:of Montrose. 8. Music. . ' 9. The response to kpail rot the number of Pioneers who have lied in each County during the year, not 'being•in readipess, Pio neers present were called .upon to give sketch- Es of first settlements. The ball was respond ed to by Scorr BALDWIN, of Bridgewater; Sint MITCHELL, of Montrose, and STEPHEN BAurrunt, of New Milford. The President read a communication deeply interesting from CHARLEPr MINER ESC], author of the " histo ry cf Wyoming," as follows : Letter from Hon e fharles Miner of Wilke* 11 " barre. • RETSEAT, May 22, I@sB Hoir. Wm. JESSUP :—Dear Si r :—lt was not until last evening that I Learned the " Pi oneer and Historical Festival" wag to be holden on the 2d of June. My intention had been, when it Should be held in Susque, hand COunty,-ter be present, if possible, or to send to the meeting a page of, my early' recollections. Will you accept the mite of an early settler whose advent dates in the last century 4 One who Owes'much _to her kindness—who has never ceased to regard her with affection ; and delights to .cherish the remembrance of his early association with, her laborious cheerful, and kind-hearted inbabitents. q On the lth -of Feb.. 1799, the 12tH -ot in company with Capt.-Peleg Tracey, his brother Leon. ard, and Miss Lydia Chapman in one sleigh, —Mr. John Chase of Ne"aburyport, and my self in another, set out from Norwich, Ct,andt arrived at ° Hopbottom the 28th. The long journey of 16 days was owing to the snow having left us on the first - night, only 12 miles on our way, and being obliged to place our sleighs on trundle wheels. - The families of Capt. Joseph Chapman, Andrew Tracey, and Capt. Peleg Tra.: cey, had settled along the creek the year be. fore. Mr. 'Jones, a Welchman ' and Mr. .13Ibomfield Melbourne, his son-in.lave, with , i pleasant fatuity, 'were near. Thomas Parke and his brother Henry from Rhode' blank active, intelligent men, with's black boy, bad erected a cabin the preceding year, a few Miles west-on the . lideshoppen. If you..cast your eye over an early_roap, you will see the names. of Macknaiivilrai Page, and, tiro or three other's,' scattered along the HOpbottom. These were an earlier rune i known as the Nicholson settlers, -! thick off '96.' They had, sold their _improvement's to the Norwich emigrants. Capt.. Chapman and his interesting family occupied the rude hut that had been the habitation 'l.)f Macknamarrii and his cow and pig, no*, though yet' rude, rendered cheer. fill by intelligence, nnstness, and hespitality: Four or five miles below lived, In solitude, 'Joseph Sprague twelve 'or fourteen miles of wilderness intervening between him and Marcey's mill in the settlement in the Tunk henna& 'From Hopbottom -there was nei. flier house nor road west to Wilson's on the upper part of the middle branch of the eight or ten miles.. Montrose was not in existence. , Having made -Agar with Sprague. on " shares, hook a horse•load down•to the Teak ht nnock„ peddled it out, a pound Of sugar fOr a pound of pork, seven and a half pounds for a bushel of wheat, five pounds for - a bushel of corn—saw the Susquetiannq—got a- _grist ground, returned and_ with kir. Chase (a most worthy you - ng man)`" - made knapsasks of coarse shirts, filled Mein with each taking an axe on his shOulder, we 'took the bridle path. by Mn Parke's, and thence fifteen miles , more or less—arrived of .Rin daw or Hyde's at the forks ''of the 131:yalu sing, from whieh place a settlement three cat. - , four years earlier _hadkeen. made !lowa to stream to the river. Trowbridge, witlizbia tape elk, was at the Great Bend. Pavia Barnum, afterwards prince of hotel kkepers, was landlord at Lawsville.' The s z ettlethent at Mufti rd_of the Tjflianys, was three or four years old. All else within the / Great Bend proper, was with the exeeption'of the cabins of the preceding year—j` a 'Yowling wilder ness ?" No ! no !•—'as lovdry a spot as Na ture ever - exhibited to tli,d ackniting ,eye of christian or philosopher( I do not think- a , -ltne drawn due , south. from ‘ Binghamton to4he Tunkhannock, near forty miles, would' have cut a; laid.out road; br come in sigikof n }louse :Or cabin of an earlier date the the preceding summer: Mr: - Brossdn piloted us to lot 39, in Esh er. The vOcabuiary of us intruding- Yankees spoke of/ Usher ' Ruby, Leek, Manor, Dando lo, and Bidwell, as our recognized localities. A hill; descending gently to the south for halt a. mile— r a. spring gushing, film its side, running, through groves of -sugar maple, ,teeeli, cherry, whitewood, and here and-there a monster of a hemlock, through stales now green with springing grass,•we made a' bank cabin, open in front to a huge lo'g against which our fire was kindled—a bed—Cit hem lock boughs—each a blanket—a sik quart ealpp kettle to boil. our ehoeolate—plates and dishes Were soon made from the soft whitewood or maple: Here we took up our quarters for the summer. Chopped awk wardly; slept soundly, except awaked too early for our town habits by the stamping deer, for we had taken possession -of a favor: ite runway. This, if my memory is correct, was about two miles west from where 116nt , rose was . afterwards located. That summer, the last of the century, and the next, popula.• tion poured in rapidly Under the auspjces of Col. Ezekiel Hyde, our Yankee leader. His headquarters were at Rindaw. He •and Mr. Robinson had surveyed 'the land into "town• ships and lots; with accuracy, and they had' been allotted to numerous proprietors. An drew, Tracey, Esq.: at'Dandolo, waS Secreta ry and - Recorder of the company. This was the final effort of Connecticut claimanta under the Indian Delaware Purchase to obtain pos session. . . From 'Wilson's, down the east branch of Wyalusing to the Forks, were Maine, La throp, Whipple, Sweat, Griffiths, Tupper, Pickett, the famous "Painter'..killer, and Beaumont ;r , on the middle branch, at the large salt spring, the Birchards, I think the firFt aria only inhabitants df Ruby ' • oti the north branch, in Locke, Canfields and Brig - ter, the renowned wolf slayer. The Parkes were the only settlers in Bidwell, as Wilson was in the Manor. • " Loved . Ones at It was a time of, suffering No! no!— ofpleasurable excitement. Hope, heilth, thutual kindness. Novelty gilded the scene._ There was just enough of,danger, toil, and privation, to give life a yeliA. My Sunday home was at Mr. Whipple's, whose residence was on the Wyalusing, a mile south of us: He was a capital hunter. An anecdote will give you his character. 7— Just at dusk,,he returned from the woods in high spirits. " i have lum—a large bear, -,:•• we will go out inAhe morning and fetch, him in." Behold ! as'he had; shot in the twilight . ) . he had, killed Nathan Tupper's only cow.— Mr. Whipple, the most forehanded settler, 'had three. -"• NeighborTuPper ' "•said he,," I am sorry—it was an accident. Now choose of mine which yo plea pleas"l wont take your best— let me ave old. Brindle, sho is worth more than mine," said Mr. Tupper ;•-•=" and the mater-was. settled by - th'at higher law—" Do as you would be done by." " Not an iestarice`of dishonesty, or even of unkind ness-do I remember. • Grain - was scarce-- mills distant—a maple stump was burned, hollow* for a mortar—Carly corn pounded, the good Mrs. Whipple stewed pumpkins and of the mixture made capital bleed. The rifle of Mr.' Whipple furnished abundance of venison. Deer were pleaty 7 ;•-:a few elk re mained—on the river hills that encircled us, dive virere the pilot and rattlesnake, where animal fires prevailed.ln the deep bade of - the dense forest they had net yet penetrated. Sr. Patrick had not more effectually cleared • Ireland. The earth was a rich carpet of•ver- t duce, sweet, pure, where the most delicate might repose with a feeling,of perfect securi- A -tr. A ' • I used to 'run Over, by the lot lines, to the' settlement of my good friends,the Birchards, in Ruby, and spend a day of pleasure with them. it was at\ the deer lick at their door, I shot thy first buck. ,If to Norwich, in the fall; I acoom panied lair. John Reyndlds to Long Island,. heeame - acquainted with Capt. Bartlet Hinds and his intelligent family. They, the next" season, removed - and . made the settlement at . what.is now Montrose... The Captain, a tral lant'soldier of the revolutionary war, had been left a widower, with a charming little daughter, and had married a widow lady, in telligent,,and. of remarkably, pleasing inan sriers, Mrs. PoSt, with two Wive Viva wbo are amply able to speak for themselires. Peleg.Tracey, and. Mr s Joseph Chap man, Jr., had each chosen a bride of the old aristocratic family of Leffingwell, in Nor, wich, amiable and excellent ladies—so that if .neighlxas were five, ten, or fifteen • miles apart; in good sleighing, reunions:were not infrequent. I have a - capital anecdote illus. tratiVe of. the Nicholson settlers, _plated by the younger. Mr. Chapman, but omit it u I feel that 1 am already .encroaching on year patience. , Not to weary you, beg kave to nut A note; very briel, , of five , or six of my fri ds wk.) wits In 1789 and • 1800 fellow students with me is Nature's Biech Wood. 'artdenir. 3. Charles lklowrjr. r isfter I - biesme ii prin. =I
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