RE- UN I O N 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SONS AND DAUGHTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 NEWPORT, R. I., 
 
 August 23, 1859. 
 
 By GEORGE C.'^MASON. 
 
 COMPILED AND PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE GENERAL 
 COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 NEWPORT, R. I. 
 
 FRED. A. PRATT 8c CO., CITY PRINTERS. 
 859. 
 
 /' 
 
 

TO THE 
 
 SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF NEWPORT, R. L, 
 
 AT HOME AND ABROAD, 
 
 This Volume is 
 
 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
[C//); Seal.'] Mayor's Office, 
 
 Newport, R. I., Auguft 31, 1859. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 The Committee of Arrangements for the 
 
 Re-union of the Sons and Daughters of the Ifland of Rhode 
 Ifland, on the twenty-third inft., have decided to publifh a 
 full and accurate hiftory of the Celebration, in pamphlet 
 form ; and they would be very glad if you would prepare the 
 Work for pubHcation, efpecially as you felt fo much interell 
 in the Celebration, and labored earneftly for its fuccefs. 
 Yours Very Truly, 
 WILLIAM H. CRANSTON, Mayor, 
 And Chairman of Committee of Arrangements. 
 
 George C. Mason, Efq., Newport. 
 
 Newport, R. I., Oft. i, 1859. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I have the pleafure of acknowledging 
 the receipt of your favor of the thirty-firft of Auguft, as 
 Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, requefting 
 me to prepare for publication a full and accurate hiftory of 
 
VI 
 
 the late Re-union of the Sons and Daughters of this Illand, 
 and in compliance with that wifh, I herewith tranfmit the 
 manufcript for your conlideration. 
 
 At the time of the Celebration, I prepared for the Provi- 
 dence Journal as full a report of all that tranfpired, as the 
 hurry of the moment would permit. That report has been 
 correded and expanded into the prefent hiftory. 
 
 To the above, I have added a hiftory of the Redwood 
 Library, prepared nearly at the fame time and for the fame 
 paper, deeming it not out of place in a record of this kind, 
 inafmuch as it was expefted that the inauguration of the 
 enlargement of the Library would take place on the day 
 following the Re -anion, but which ceremony was unavoid- 
 ably poftponed on account of the illness of the Orator of 
 the day. 
 
 Very Truly Yours, 
 
 GEO. C. MASON. 
 Hon. Wm, H. Cranston, 
 
 Mayor, and Chairman Com. Arrangements. 
 
THE RE-UNION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 "Haft thou come with the heart of thy childhood back ? 
 The free, the pure, the kind ? 
 — So murmur'd the trees in my homeward track. 
 As they play'd to the mountain wind. 
 
 Then my tears gufhed forth in fudden rain. 
 
 As I anfwered. Oh, ye fhades ! 
 I bring not my childhood's heart again 
 
 To the freedom of your glades. 
 
 But I bear from my childhood a gift of tears. 
 
 To foften and atone ; 
 And oh ! ye fcenes of thofe blefs'd years. 
 
 They fhall make me again your own." 
 
 The twenty-third of Auguft, 1859, witneffed 
 an event in the hiftory of Newport, R. I., long 
 to be remembered with joy and pleafure; for, 
 on that day, her abfent fons, for the firft time 
 fince the colony was founded, returned at a 
 given fignal to receive her greetings, and to 
 
8 • THE RE-UNION. 
 
 renew their vows of attachment to the fpot that 
 gave them birth. 
 
 It was a happy thought, that of inviting the 
 abfent fons and daughters of places which have 
 been robbed to ftrengthen more profperous 
 towns and cities, to return for a brief period at 
 an appointed time, and no city or town could 
 enter more heartily into the fpirit of fuch a 
 move than Newport ; for, during a period em- 
 bracing nearly a century, ilie has annually fent 
 forth her children to make a name and a home 
 elfewhere, in preference to bringing them up but 
 indifferently at home. Her refources once were 
 larger ; but time and the fluctuations of trade 
 and commerce have greatly reduced them, and 
 rather than educate her children in idlenefs, to 
 leave them helpleflly dependent, (lie has pre- 
 ferred to fend them forth into the world as foon 
 as they were able to go alone. To colled the 
 furvivors in Newport again, ere the grave clofed 
 over the prefent generation, has been the wiili of 
 many; and to this end, a call was made nearly 
 a year ago, through the columns of the Mer- 
 cury^ as follows : — " It is gratifying, at this feafon 
 of the year, to welcome our young men, as they 
 come, with enthuliaftic delight, to mingle in 
 
ITS ORIGIN. g 
 
 familiar fcenes that are ilill dear as ever to their 
 hearts. It is faid, that the inhabitants of the 
 iflands are always diftinguiflied for the ftrength 
 of their local attachments. This is certainly 
 true of the natives of Rhode liland, and it 
 would be ftrange if they did not appreciate its 
 lovelinefs, lince even ftrangers have called their 
 ifland home the Eden of America. How pleaf- 
 ant it would be, if, for once, the abfent ones 
 could all be gathered together to fpend one 
 happy week at home. Go to New York, Bos- 
 ton, or any other great centre of trade, even in 
 the cities of the far Weft, and there you will 
 find prominent among the merchants, manufac- 
 turers, artifans, bankers and profefTional men, the 
 worthy fons of Rhode Ifland. Who among 
 them will respond to this call for a family meet- 
 ing, and name fome fitting day in the fummer 
 of 1859, when the fons and daughters, now 
 "Exiles of Eden," may rejoice together upon 
 our beach, and listen, once more, to the mufic 
 of the ocean. 
 
 "Breathes there the man with foul fo dead," 
 that he would not make the greateft facrifices 
 to vifit his own dear native ifle, and to be 
 prefent at fuch a family gathering ? We truft 
 not. Let us hear from the abfent ones. 
 
10 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 " It is painful to reflect that the bone and finew 
 of our place is thus continually withdrawn to 
 build up other and diftant cities. Will our cap- 
 italifts ever find it to their interefts to open new 
 avenues of trade, and employ the activity and 
 energy of our young men at home ? Is there 
 no feafible plan by which our refources may 
 be developed, and commerce and manufacture 
 receive an impulfe which lliall draw back the 
 capital and induftry of Newport from other 
 channels ? Muft our beloved city continue to 
 bear the ignoble reputation of being nothing 
 more than a fafliionable watering place *? 
 
 " Thefe, and other queftions of vital interell: to 
 our native ifle, might be profitably difcuffed 
 at a family gathering. Again we commend this 
 fubject to the " Exiles from Eden." How many 
 will come, with warm loving hearts, to meet 
 their Newport friends at home, if their lives are 
 fpared to Auguft, 1859*? Who will refpond to 
 this fuggeftion, and name a day for our family 
 meeting'? — R." 
 
 The St. Louis correfpondent of that paper 
 immediately took it up, and warmly feconded 
 the move made by " R," and this, in time, called 
 out other writers, all of whom as heartily ap- 
 proved of the meafure ; but no fteps were taken 
 
ITS ORIGIN. 1 1 
 
 for the confummatlon of fo desirable an end till 
 the Spring of 1859 ^^^ finally opened, when a 
 day was finally fixed upon, and the word went 
 forth that the abfent Sons and Daughters of 
 Newport were expefted to return on the 23d 
 of Auguft, to be entertained by the Sons and 
 Daughters at home. 
 
 The magnitude of the undertaking, for the 
 inhabitants of a quiet place like Newport, can 
 hardly be comprehended, for up to the lait mo- 
 ment, it was impofTible to fay how many would 
 be prefent from abroad. The exodus which has 
 been going on for fo long a period, has robbed 
 her of the lifeblood which lliould have been 
 retained to infure her own growth and pros- 
 perity. It is a fingular fact that, notwithftand- 
 ing the influx of the pad twenty years, during 
 a period of more than four fcore years, the num- 
 ber of the inhabitants has not changed. To-day 
 the population is no greater than in 1774. The 
 adual difference is only one hundred and fifty ; 
 and whilft this old " commercial emporium " has 
 been ftanding ftill. New York, Providence, New 
 Bedford, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and other places, 
 owe not a little of their fuccefs to the energy of 
 men who here received the rudiments of their 
 
12 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 education, — men who went forth in the fpring 
 time of Hfe, wdth Httle more than a change of 
 'clothing, to make a fortune and a name'. And 
 in this they have been remarkably succefsful. 
 They have done well ; reverfes they have met 
 with, (for no man of bulinefs can hope to efcape 
 thefe things,) but they have been fuperior to 
 them, and with the buoyancy of the waves on 
 which they ufed to ride in childhood, they have 
 furmounted every obilacle, and have gained 
 many a noble prize. 
 
 Newport has reafon to be proud of the fons 
 {he has tranfplanted, and the cities and towns 
 they have benefited by their enterprife and indus- 
 try have shown a proper appreciation of their 
 value as citizens, by elevating them to pofts of 
 honor and truii Providence fent a delegate who 
 has, in times paft, held a diftinguiflied place in 
 the legiflative aflembly of the State, and another 
 (one of the poets of the day,) who has been 
 twice honored as the chief magiftrate in the 
 home of his adoption. And, out of fix repre- 
 fentatives from New Bedford to the State Legis- 
 lature, four of the number hail from this ifland. 
 In the army and in the navy, in the pulpit and in 
 the legiflative halls, in feats of learning and in 
 
ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 13 
 
 the mart, the fons of Newport maintain an hon- 
 orable polition, and, to-day, they have come from 
 the North and the South, from the Eaft and the 
 Weft, to the place of their birth, as children, 
 long abfent, return to the warm and hearty 
 embrace of a mother who knows no change, 
 and whofe life is bound up in the profperity 
 of her offspring. No people were ever more 
 ftrongly attached to the fpot where their early 
 years were paifed than thefe fame iflanders, who 
 may be allowed a more than ordinary degree of 
 enthufiafm when they fpeak of '' the gem of the 
 ocean." There probably is no ftronger feeling 
 in the human heart, than that of attachment to 
 " home," wherever that may be. We see it 
 ahke in the Swifs, ftruggling for a bare fubfift- 
 ence amid the eternal fnows of the cloud-capped 
 Alps ; in the brawny Scot, whofe hills can 
 fcarcely fuftain a ftunted growth of broom and 
 heath, and in the more favored dwellers of a 
 land flowing with milk and honey. Men tranf- 
 planted to other fields, even where their condi- 
 tion has been vaftly improved, have lickened 
 and died without apparent caufe, breathing with 
 their lateft breath the name of " home," and fol- 
 diers who languiilied and drooped have been 
 2 
 
14 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 roufed to deeds of valor by the found of the 
 fliepherd's pipe, which carried the mind back to 
 fcenes dearer to the heart than hfe itfelf Moore 
 wrote nothing more touchingly beautiful than 
 " the Exile of Erin ; " no fong has contributed 
 more to make the name of Burns a houfehold 
 word than " Auld Lang Syne ; " and fo long as 
 there is a fpark of love for this facred fpot in 
 the breaft of man, the name of John Howard 
 Payne will be revered for his gift of " Home, 
 fweet Home." 
 
 Thefe fongs and ballads are entwined around 
 our hearts. We love them becaufe they are 
 true to our natural inftinfts, and fill a place that 
 would otherwife be made void and defolate. 
 Home is the talifman that opens our hearts, — 
 the " open sesame " that unlocks all our affec- 
 tions, — and " home " was the burden of the 
 fong on the twenty-third. 
 
(15) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ORGANIZATION. 
 
 His Honor, Mayor Cranfton, in his annual 
 addrefs, June 6, 1859, ^^^^^^ ^^^ attention of the 
 City Council to the propofed Re-union, and at a 
 fubfequent meeting of that body, on the 2 ill of 
 the fime month, it was voted to appropriate the 
 fum of one thoufand dollars towards defraying 
 the expenfe of the celebration, and a Committee 
 of the following named gendemen were ap- 
 pointed to make the neceffary arrangements: 
 
 WM. H. CRANSTON, Mayor. 
 Board of Aldermen, Common Council, 
 
 John C. Ailman, R. J. Taylor, Pres't. 
 
 Wm. C. Townsend. Thomas Coggeshall, 
 
 John Stoddard, 
 Wm. S. Cranston, Jr. 
 
 At Large, 
 Ex-Mayor Wm. C. Cozzens, and Philip Rider, Esq. 
 
 This was the firft important move to carry out 
 the wiflies of the many in regard to the Re-union 
 of the Sons and Daughters of Newport. 
 
 Subfequently, the above Committee invited 
 
l6 THE R5-UNION. 
 
 the different incorporated bodies in the city to 
 fend delegates to a Convention to be held in the 
 City Hall, and in compliance with this requeft, 
 the following appointments were made : 
 
 Artillery Company, Col. Turner. 
 
 St. John's Lodge, No. i, Gilbert Chace, Esq. 
 
 R. I. Lodge L O. of O. F., Wm. B. Sherman, Esq. 
 
 Newport Hiftorical Society, Hon. Thomas R. Hunter. 
 
 Redwood Library, Geo. C. Mason, Esq. 
 
 Atlantic Div., Sons of T., S. T. Hopkins, Efq. 
 
 Board of Firewards, Ex-Mayor Wm. J. Swinburne. 
 
 Mufical Inflitute, Ira N. Stanley, Efq. 
 
 Philharmonic Society, T. W. Wood, Efq. 
 
 Hook and Ladder Co., W. H. Greene, Efq. 
 
 Engine Co. No. 3, Capt. Julius Sayer. 
 
 '' " 4, " George S. Ward. 
 
 " " " 5, Lewis Lawton Simmons, Esq. 
 
 " " 7, Henry B. Burdick, Efq. 
 
 At a meeting of thefe delegates, in connexion 
 with the Committee appointed by the City 
 Council, Thomas Coggeiliall, Esq. was eleded 
 Secretary and Treafurer, and, on a motion, it 
 was alfo voted that the following named gentle- 
 men be invited to take part in the proceedings, 
 as reprefentatives of the Prefs: 
 
 James Atkinson, Frederick A. Pratt, and George T. 
 Hammond, Efqrs. 
 
THE ORGANIZATION. I7 
 
 It was alfo voted that a meeting of the citi- 
 zens be called at Aquidneck Hall, to fecure the 
 hearty co-operation of the whole public in a 
 matter of fuch general intereft. 
 
 The meeting was accordingly called, and 
 fpeeches were made by Hon. Wm. C. Cozzens, 
 in the Chair, and by Wm. P. Sheffield, John T. 
 Bush, Wm. D. Lake, and Wm. S. Nichols, Efqrs. 
 The following delegates, to reprefent the citizens, 
 were alfo appointed : 
 
 W. p. Sheffield, Efq., John T. Bush, Efq., 
 N. M. Chaffee, Efq., Wm. Newton, Efq., 
 D. T. Swinburne, Efq. 
 
 At the next meeting of the Convention, to 
 facilitate matters, and to divide the duties that 
 devolved on the general Committee, the follow- 
 ing fub-committees were appointed : 
 
 Finance. 
 
 Thomas R. Hunter, William P. Sheffield, 
 
 Wilham Newton, N. M. Chaffee, 
 
 Julius Sayer, S. T. Hopkins, 
 
 F. A. Pratt, G. T. Hammond, 
 
 Wilham S. Cranfton, Jr., G. S. Ward. 
 D. T. Swinburne, 
 
 Mufic, Salutes and Bells. 
 R. J. Taylor, Thomas Coggefhall, Col. Turner. 
 2* 
 
i8 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Illuminations^ Arrangement Printing, and Record of 
 
 of Tent, l^c^ 
 Thomas Coggefhall, 
 Julius Sayer, 
 William S. Cranston, Jr., 
 William B. Sherman, 
 William Newton, 
 John Stoddard, 
 William C. Townsend. 
 
 Vifitors. 
 
 James Atkinfon, 
 
 F. A. Pratt, 
 I. N. Stanley, 
 William H. Greene, 
 
 G. T. Hammond, 
 T. W. Wood, 
 Gilbert Chace. 
 
 Reception and Arrangement. 
 William C. Cozzens, George C. Mafon, 
 
 R. J. Taylor, James Atkinfon, 
 
 William P. Sheffield, Philip Rider, 
 
 Thomas R. Hunter, Gilbert Chace. 
 
 Correfponding Committee. 
 William H. Cranfton, 
 Robert J. Taylor, 
 George C. Mafon, 
 WiUiam C. Townfend, 
 Gilbert Chace, 
 William H. Greene. 
 
 Collation. 
 Philip Rider, 
 James Atkinfon, 
 D. T. Swinburne, 
 Thomas Coggefhall, 
 John T. Bush, 
 Wm. Newton. 
 
 Chief Mar/hall. 
 Hon. WILLIAM J. SWINBURNE, 
 who subfequently made the following appointment of 
 Aids. 
 James Phillips, Henry W. Cozzens, 
 
 James G. Cozzens, Charles H. White, 
 
 J. Edward Nicolai, Henry G. Cottrell, 
 
 Ifaac Gould, Wm. James Coddington. 
 
THE ORGANIZATION. ig 
 
 The Committees, now fairly organized, at 
 once prepared to perform their feveral parts, 
 and the duty devolving on each one received 
 proper attention. That on Finances commenced 
 railing fubfcriptions in addition to the fum ap- 
 propriated by the City. The Committee on 
 Illumination and Decoration made arrangements 
 with Col. Wm. Beals, the well-known decorator, 
 to fupply the neceffary number of flags, felloons, 
 mottoes, arches, lanterns, &c. That on Colla- 
 tion contrafted with Meffrs. G. T. Downing and 
 Isaac Rice, to furnifli refrefliments for twenty- 
 five hundred perfons at dinner, and alfo for the 
 evening's entertainment. The Committee on 
 Tent made arrangements with Meffrs. Prince & 
 Baker, of Bofton, for two large tents, — one 
 capable of feating three thoufand perfons at 
 table, and a fmaller one of the capacity of fifteen 
 hundred perfons. The Committee on Mufic, 
 Salutes, &c., engaged the fervices of the An:ier- 
 ican Brafs Band, and Shepherd's Cornet Band, 
 and arranged with the Artillery Company to 
 fire a national falute on the morning of the 
 twenty-third, and to have the various bells in the 
 City rung at funrife, and during the time the pro- 
 ceffion was moving. The Committee on Print- 
 
20 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 ing and Record of Viiitors ordered a handfome 
 record-book, ruled expreffly for the purpofe, 
 and fo arranged as to give the name of every 
 returned Son and Daughter, with their father's 
 name and the maiden name of the mother, their 
 prefent place of refidence, and their profelTion. 
 The Committee of Correfpondence had a circu- 
 lar prepared, to which reference will be had in 
 the following chapter, and the printing of the 
 different badges w^as alfo ordered, as well as the 
 various tickets to be ufed on the occalion. 
 
 The Badges worn by the returned Sons and 
 Daughters were of blue fatin, bearing the City 
 Seal, and '* Welcome Home, 23d Augutl, 1859." 
 That of invited guefts, members of different 
 focieties not in uniform, or wearing regalia, and 
 citizens who took part in the procelTion, was of 
 white fatin, bearing the City Seal, and " Re-union, 
 23d Auguft, 1859." 
 
 Fac-fimiles of thefe badges are here intro- 
 duced. 
 
 The different Committees, and the Marflials, 
 were furniflied with rofettes. 
 
THE ORGANIZATION. 
 
 21 
 
 WELCOME 
 
 HOME, 
 
 23d august, 1859. 
 
22 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
(23) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE INVITATION AND THE RESPONSE. 
 
 The following Circular was fent to every 
 abfent Son and Daughter, whofe name and 
 addrefs could be afcertained by the Correfpond- 
 ing Committee: 
 
 Newport, R. I., July 18, 1859, 
 
 Dear Sir: The Corref ponding Committee of 
 the Convention compofed of members of the 
 City Council, and various focieties and incor- 
 porated bodies of New^port, organized for the 
 purpofe of providing for the reception and 
 entertainment of the abfent Sons of Newport, 
 who are expefted to affemble in Newport on the 
 twenty-third of Auguft next, to participate in a 
 grand re-union, would moft refpedfully afk your 
 co-operation in afcertaining the number of Sons 
 of Newport reliding in your City who probably 
 will be prefent on that occalion, and to call 
 your attention to the following fuggeftions : 
 
 1. Every Son of Newport, on his arrival in 
 the City, is invited to call at the Common Coun- 
 cil Chamber, in the City Hall, corner of Thames 
 Street and Long Wharf, and there regifter his 
 name in a book prepared for the purpofe, with 
 
24 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the names of his parents, his prefent place of refi- 
 dence, and his profeffion. This book is to be 
 carefully preferved and depohted in the archives 
 of the Hiltorical Society, or in the Redwood 
 Library — a valuable memorial, to be handed 
 down to the generations that may affemble here 
 on a limilar occafion, at fome future day. 
 
 2. Every Son of Newport, thus prefenting 
 himfelf, will be furniflied with a badge or fome 
 diftingu idling mark by which his claims to a 
 place in the proceffion, and during the ceremo- 
 nies of the day, will be recognized. This, the 
 Committee deem indispenfible, for the crowd on 
 that day will be very great, and it has already 
 been intimated that large numbers will be prei- 
 ent, who have no fpecial claims on the Sons of 
 Newport at home, and who, if not thus checked, 
 would probably monopolize the places defigned 
 for thole to whom we wifli to extend a true and 
 hearty welcome. 
 
 The Committee would alfo refpedfully alk 
 that this communication be laid before the Sons 
 of Newport refiding in your City, and that fome 
 one be delegated to reply, in their behalf, to the 
 greeting of his Honor the Mayor, and others 
 appointed for that purpofe. All fpeeches on 
 the occafion will be fkort. This, of neceffity, 
 muft be the cafe, for we wifli to hear from all 
 our abfent friends, and numerous long addreffes 
 would not be the way to entertain thofe we wifh 
 to take by the hand and converfe of Newport 
 
INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 2^ 
 
 as it was, as it is, and as we hope it will be. We 
 fliould like to know, at an early day, the names 
 of thofe who are delegated to refpond. 
 
 After the ceremonies, and for feveral days 
 fubfequent to the twenty-third of Auguft, the 
 different focieties will receive and entertain thofe 
 formerly connefted with them, or now affociated 
 with fimilar organizations in the homes of their 
 adoption; on which occafion there will be ad- 
 dreffes, muhc, &c. 
 
 Believing that every Son of Newport, who 
 has gone out to gather for himfelf and to make 
 a name, will efteem it a privilege and a pleafure 
 to return to the fcenes of his childhood at a time 
 like this, in behalf of thofe we reprefent, we bid 
 them welcome ; and may the memory of the 
 day we are about to celebrate add another hal- 
 lowed aiTociation to the pad, and bind yet more 
 flrongly the ties which have entwined around 
 the hearts and the homes of the Sons of New- 
 port. 
 
 With refped, we remain, dear Sir, 
 Very truly, yours, 
 
 WM. H. CRANSTON, Mayor. 
 ROBT. J. TAYLOR, Pr</?. Common Council. 
 GEORGE C. MASON, Redwood Library, 
 WILLIAM C. TOWNSEND, Alderman. 
 GILBERT CHACE, St. John's Lodge, No. i. 
 WM. H. GREENE, H. ^ L. Co. 
 
 It would be impofTible for us, if we would 
 confine this volume within reafonable bounds, to 
 
26 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 introduce here all the replies received. We 
 fliall, therefore, feleft a Hmited number, to fliow 
 with what fpirit the invitation was received by 
 the abfent ones. 
 
 The firil is from P. W. Engs, Esq., a Son of 
 Newport, and now a diftinguiflied merchant in 
 the city of New York. Unfortunately, he could 
 not be prefent on the occafion, a matter of regret 
 to his many friends in the place of his birth. 
 He fays : 
 
 " It is now nearly fifty-four years fince, leav- 
 ing the place of my nativity, I call: my lot with 
 the people of New York. This period has 
 been, and continues to be, one of adive life, 
 public as well as private ; yet I believe that in 
 the midft of confequent engagements, I have 
 never loft fight of the interefts of Newport, 
 while my frequent vifits there, and intercourfe 
 with my fellow-townfmen, has renewed and pre- 
 ferved former endearments, fo that I have never 
 left the lliores of my native ifland without cart- 
 ing that lingering look behind which fighs for 
 the pad and implores bleffings for the future. 
 With fuch feelings and attachments, you may 
 congratulate yourlelves that I have to fubftitute 
 this communication in place of a verbal one, 
 which would have been anything elfe but 
 ' Ihort,' had I fpoken of one tithe of the fads 
 
INVITATION AND RESPONSE. X] 
 
 and incidents which my memory has ftored up 
 from tradition and obfervation. 
 
 If I felt at liberty to fpeak of men^ and could 
 do it without being fubjeft to the charge of 
 invidioufnefs, I fliould like to call up the mem- 
 ory of our early political fathers, names that 
 have carried with them veneration and refpect 
 among all claffes^ and I would more effe daily 
 refer to the commercial men of Newport, while I 
 would not omit to name thofe who have hon- 
 ored her in the United States Senate, and I would 
 bid defiance to any city of the fame population 
 in our country, to lliow that (lie has fent to that 
 auguft body three men of equal qualification 
 with thofe that went from Newport. 
 
 But it will not be invidious to fpeak of John 
 Bannister and Aaron Lopez, becaufe they were 
 fo identified with Newport in the days of her 
 greateft commercial profperity, that to mention 
 them is to tell of her early commerce — thofe 
 golden days, when, availing of natural advan- 
 tages, our little city held a proud pre-eminence 
 in the feaports of our country, and her mer- 
 chants gave to their calling that character of 
 induftrious integrity which is 'religion at the 
 mart.' It was my fortune to have a grandfather 
 contemporary with thefe, whofe extenlive expe- 
 rience was imparted to many others, of whom I 
 am not afraid to fay, that the records of his 
 capacity as a merchant, call in the fliade any- 
 thing to be met with in this great commercial 
 city of New York, even in the prefent day." 
 
28 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Another letter, dated Waterloo, Augull 12th, 
 is as follows : 
 
 " For myfelf, and my three younger brothers, 
 James, John E., and Henry, all now of Western 
 New York, I have to fay, that although the 
 Quaker in us is fomewhat oppofed to pageants 
 of every kind, yet we do moft heartily approve 
 of the propofed re-union of Old Newport's 
 fcattered Sons. But one of our number has 
 lately returned from Newport, and the others 
 have to regret that it will not be convenient for 
 them to revilit that matchlefs iiland of their 
 birth this feafon. 
 
 Knowing that the programme of Celebration 
 will be carried out by the Committee with that 
 order and true refpectability for which my 
 townfmen were diftinguillied, even in the olden 
 times^ and hoping that the now returned Sons and 
 Daughters will there as brothers mingle together 
 in that brotherly feeling that cafteth out all un- 
 worthy pride and pretenlion, I fubfcribe myfelf 
 an old, but, neverthelefs, an ever mindful, true, 
 loving Son of Newport. 
 
 SAMUEL WILLIAMS." 
 
 The following, from Major Sherman, is dated 
 
 Fort Ridgely, Min., Aug. 11, 1859. 
 Gentlemen : — Your communication of July 
 18th, conveying an invitation, in behalf of the 
 
INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 2g 
 
 citizens of Newport, to the Sons of Newport, to 
 be prefent at the grand re-union which is to 
 take place on the 23d inft., has juft been re- 
 ceived. ' 
 
 It is with painful regret, from circumftances 
 not within my control, that I fliall be unable to 
 join you on fo interefting an occaiion — an 
 occafion, it is hoped, that will be fraught with 
 the happieft refults for the honor and good name 
 of old Newport, and for the future profperity 
 and fuccefs of our beloved Union of States. 
 
 The natives of Newport, after enjoying the 
 privilege of tefting the moral and political char- 
 acter of other communities in which they have 
 fojourned, will, in this re-union, have the ftill 
 greater privilege of comparing their notes, fo to 
 fpeak, and before their feparation forever, fettle 
 upon, by a mutual interchange of fentiments, a 
 religious and political confervative policy that 
 will redound to the prefervation of the Union, 
 the happinefs of future generations, and more 
 indirectly, but not more furely, the peace and 
 welfare of the whole world. 
 
 Never could there be a more propitious feafon 
 for the Sons of Newport to unitedly fow broad- 
 caft over the face of this extenfive land that 
 wholefome confervative policy for which the 
 ancient town is fo diftnguilhed, and, by fo doing, 
 unitedly frown upon all thofe who, in recent 
 days, prefume to hold themfelves above the law, 
 ignore the Conftitution of the land, and fome- 
 
 3* 
 
30 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 times even, under the cloak of religion, im- 
 pioufly preach rank infidelity, difunion, and 
 dillionor. 
 
 I truft in God that this happy re-unioii of the 
 Sons of Newport will not diffolve until a unani- 
 mous pledge be formally, but fincerely given, 
 to train up their children, fcattered over the 
 whole land, with the Holy Bible in one hand, 
 and the Conftitution of the United States, and 
 Laws enafted in purfuance thereof, in the other; 
 and without improperly refilling that licenfe 
 neceflTary to all human accountability, to teach 
 their children the neceflity, due to all found 
 government, of loyally fubmitting their Bible 
 and Conftitution to the interpretation of the 
 proper tribunal. I have the honor to be, gen- 
 tlemen, with high regard. 
 
 Your townfman, 
 
 F. W. SHERMAN. 
 
 Another is from Lieut. Marin, ftationed on 
 board U. S. Ship Ohio, Bofton harbor. 
 
 • My Dear Sir : — I thank you for the kind 
 invitation to join in the Celebration to take place 
 in Newport, on the 23d inft., when the Sons and 
 Daughters of the Ifland of Rhode Ifland are to 
 have a re-union. 
 
 I regret I cannot have the pleafure of being 
 with you on the 23d, for I can well imagine. 
 
INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 3I 
 
 Sir, the happy faces that will furround you on 
 that day, when fo many of thofe now abfent 
 will re-unite in the happy Hie-home of their 
 childhood. 
 
 My fympathies will be with you on that 
 pleafant occaiion, for the ifland has become my 
 home by adoption, and is the birth-place of my 
 children. May they always be proud of their 
 heritage. In your re-union I beg you to accept 
 my humble wifli and fentiment. 
 
 God blefs the Sons and Daughters of Rhode 
 Ifland, wherever they may go. Her Sons are 
 brave and independent. Her Daughters fo fair 
 and good that neither clouds nor fogs change 
 them. 
 
 I am very truly your obedient fervant, 
 
 M. C. MARIN, U. S. N. 
 
 Surgeon General's Office, 
 Washington, August 16, 1859. 
 
 Dear Sir: — Your favor of the 18th of July, 
 inviting me, as one of the Sons of Newport, to 
 be prefent on the 23d inft., has been received. 
 
 I know of no event which would have afford- 
 ed me more pleafure than a re-union with old 
 friends, and viliting old and familiar fcenes. 
 
 There are but few Newporters in this city, 
 and they have been made acquainted with the 
 meeting of the 23d. 
 
32 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 I very much regret that I cannot be with you, 
 but beg leave to tender to you and your affo- 
 ciates my cordial and friendly falutation. 
 
 Refpe&fully and truly, 
 
 R. C. WOOD, 
 
 A[img Surgeon General, 
 
 [Letter from Chief Justice Ames.] 
 
 Providence, Thurfday, Aug. 18, 1859. 
 Wm. C. Cozzens, Esg., Committee, &c. : 
 
 My Dear Sir : — I have already been obliged 
 to decline the polite invitation of the Committee 
 to attend your approaching Celebration, on ac- 
 count of the (late of my health, and of courfe 
 muft requeil you to put into other hands the 
 duty and pleafure of refponding to the toaft in 
 memory of your departed profelTional worthies. 
 They were certainly the glory of the Bar of this 
 State ; and for talent, learning, and accomplifti- 
 ments, were excelled in the Bar of no other 
 State. I am glad that you deiign to honor them 
 as they in their day have honored you, and re- 
 gret that it will not be in my power to take part 
 in the performance of fo pious a duty. 
 
 Very refpedfully, 
 
 Your friend and obedient fervant, 
 
 SAMUEL AMES. 
 
INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 33 
 
 [Letter from Gov. Fish, of New York.] 
 
 New York, Aug. 22, 1 859. 
 
 Dear Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge 
 the invitation which the Committee of Arrange- 
 ments for the Re-union Celebration have (through 
 you) kindly volunteered to me for to-morrow. 
 
 I fliould be moft happy of the opportunity to 
 be prefent on this interefting occafion ; but fome 
 bufmefs engagements call me to New York, 
 and compel me to deny myfelf the pleafure 
 which the acceptance of the invitation would 
 have afforded. 
 
 Very refpeftfuUy, yours, 
 J. HAMILTON FISH. 
 
 Lancaster, N. H., Aug. 22d, 1859. 
 
 My Dear Sir: — Your very kind note, of the 
 17th inft., did not reach me until yefterday. I 
 had been hoping for a long time to enjoy the 
 pleafure of meeting many old friends, at your 
 re-union to-morrow. I underftood from Rev 
 Mr. Brooks, whom I met with in Bofton, in 
 May laft, that the feftival would not take place 
 before the very laft of this month; and that I 
 fliould probably have notice in time to make 
 arrangements for a vilit to the land of my 
 fathers, — to the town, now a city, where the firft 
 twenty-one years of my life were paffed. The 
 delay has been occalioned by your fuppoiing my 
 relidence was in Bofton, inftead of this far-olT 
 
34 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 region, among the mountains of New Hamp- 
 fliire, and upwards of three hundred miles from 
 Newport. My profeffional duties yefterday, of 
 courfe prevented all thoughts of a journey to- 
 day. Indeed, it would have been impofTible 
 for me to have got ready in fo limited a time. 
 I defire to exprefs my fincere regrets that the 
 only opportunity of meeting old friends in this 
 world, is denied me. 
 
 It would have pleafed me much, to have me- 
 morized the virtues of the excellent men whofe 
 lives were fpent in educating fouls for heaven. 
 
 I could have given many interefting remin- 
 ifcences of good Parfon Thurfton, of the Baptift 
 Church. Parfon Eddy, Theodore Debon, Dr. 
 Hopkins, John Bradley, Mr. Tenny, Mr. Smith, 
 of the Moravian Society. My own minifter. Dr. 
 Patten (I recoiled every family who fat under 
 his preaching, and could delignate each pew 
 they occupied in Clarke Street Church.) There 
 was alfo a Methodift minifter, Mr. Merwin; and 
 venerable Parfon Blifs, who lived in "Green 
 End," and who once, on a Saturday, whilft per- 
 forming the rite of baptifm at Gravelly Point, 
 on Long Wharf, fell into the water and nearly 
 loft his life. 
 
 You muft take the will for the deed. It may 
 not be wholly uninterefting to you to know that 
 I am preparing a fmall volume of recolledions 
 of my native place. 
 
 Your name is familiar to me ; I knew the "old 
 folks," and frequently vifited them. 
 
INVITATION AND RESPONSE. 3_5' 
 
 Pleafe fend me a newfpaper containing the 
 beft account of the Celebration, and oblige 
 
 Your Friend, 
 
 GEO. G. CHANNING. 
 
 Wm. C. Cozzens, Esg. 
 
 P. S. The above fignature I commenced fub- 
 fcribing in 1803. The initial ftands for Gibbs, 
 my moft excellent uncle. 
 
 Halifax, N. S., Sept. 4th. 
 
 Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge your 
 circular of the 18th of July, which reached me 
 on the 19th of Auguft. 
 
 Following its fuggellions, I found only one 
 gentleman in Halifax, belides myfelf, a native of 
 Newport — the prefent Chief Juftice of Nova 
 Scotia, Sir Brenton Halliburton, Bt., a gentleman 
 whofe high polition and perfonal worth would at 
 once have pointed him out as the proper one to 
 reprefent the natives of Newport here refident. 
 
 In declining this office from increafing age and 
 feeble health. Sir Brenton defires me to affiire 
 you, Mr. Mayor, and his fellow townfmen, of 
 the warm intereft and good wiflies he ftill re- 
 tains for his native place, whofe earlieft affocia- 
 tions are mingled with civil difcord, troops and 
 arms. 
 
 Concerning the political refult of that conflid, 
 
36 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 he wrote in after years : ' It was a noble attempt 
 to regulate focial happinefs with the llighteft pof- 
 iible interference with individual liberty.' Thus 
 happily expreffing a fentiment in which all men 
 now concur, though, unlike his, their memories 
 cannot carry them back to thofe unhappy times. 
 
 With regard to myfelf, I need not lay how 
 honored I feel by your invitation, and how many 
 friends, the companions of my boyhood, I hope 
 I ftill retain among the Sons of Newport, 
 
 I have the honor to be, Mr. Mayor, 
 Your very ob't fervant, 
 
 S. BERNARD GILPIN. 
 To His Worfliip, the Mayor of Newport. 
 
 Another from Haverftraw, under the fame 
 date, is ligned " Uncle John ;" who Uncle John 
 is has not yet turned up : 
 
 " On ye morning of ye 23d inftant. Providence 
 grant, may I have the hope and good pleafure 
 to fee all my dear Newport friends once more. 
 So go on, go on, go on. Love and Friendfliip 
 to old, old, old Newport Ifland. 
 
 Uncle John." 
 
 Another is from an old gentleman who left 
 Newport feventy years ago, expreffing his pur- 
 pofe to be prefent, and declaring that he was 
 " one of the boys who licked molaffes on the 
 Long Wharf in the laft century." 
 
(37 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DECORATIONS. 
 
 The decorations were numerous, appropriate, 
 and, in fome inftances, very beautiful, and we 
 would, gladly, here introduce a defcription of 
 them all, but muft content ourfelves by refer- 
 ring to the points which attrafted moft attention. 
 Flags and banners were ftreaming from every 
 point; bunting was never more in demand in 
 this old town, even in its days of commercial 
 profperity : flags of every nation in the world, 
 and of no nation under the fun, were given to 
 the breeze; from fteeple and turret, from win- 
 dow and balcony, and from chimney to iign- 
 pofl, bright colored ftripes were hung, — here in 
 feftoons, there in wreaths, now fantaftically en- 
 twined around a motto, or there flaunting in the 
 wind, and everywhere proclaiming that the day 
 was one of general rejoicing, — a feftival in 
 which all hearts were to partake, and which was 
 to cement anew ties already the ilrongefl: and 
 moft enduring of all that find a home and reft- 
 ing place in the heart of man. 
 4 
 
38 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 The City Hall was adorned with the national 
 flag, taftefully arranged over the front, with fef- 
 toons of bunting ; and, in the centre, the motto, 
 ''Hoper 
 
 The ftores on the oppofite corners of the 
 Parade, occupied by S. T. Hubbard and H. H. 
 Young, were handfomely dreffed, as was alfo the 
 whole front of the refidence of Auguftus GofFe, 
 Efq., where was difplayed the motto, ^'-Welcome 
 Romcr 
 
 In the centre of the Parade, an arch with a 
 fpan of twenty feet was raifed, the pillars of 
 which were furrounded with evergreens. The 
 whole was decorated with the "ftars and 
 ftripes," and other flags, and the following 
 motto graced the arch : ''Welcome to our IJland 
 Homer 
 
 The State Houfe was alfo taftefully arrayed 
 in bright apparel ; the balcony, being a confpic- 
 uous place, it was heavily draped with the 
 national flag. In front there was a gilt buft of 
 Wafliington, with the name of the Father of 
 the Country below it. 
 
 Ex-Mayor Cozzen's house, where His Excel- 
 lency, Gov. Turner, was hofpitably entertained, 
 was decorated with flags, and this motto over 
 the door : " Welcome our Gonjernorr 
 
THE DECORATIONS. 3^ 
 
 Engine Company, No. 3, covered the whole 
 front of their houfe with flags and various de- 
 vices. An arch was carried acrofs the ftreet, 
 dreffed with evergreens, flags, &c., and bearing 
 the motto, '' IFelcome'' From the tall enlign 
 ftafF there was a triple line of fignal flags reach- 
 ing from the truck to the ground, and over the 
 entrance door there were two tigers valiantly 
 defending a coat of arms. The members of the 
 Company here entertained their guefts, Colum- 
 bian Engine Company, No. 5, of New Bedford, 
 numbering fifty-feven men, and a band, of fev- 
 enteen pieces, as well as their own band alfo 
 numbering feventeen. 
 
 On the oppolite corner, the rehdence of 
 Wm. Newton, Efq., there was alfo much talte 
 difplayed in the decorations. 
 
 The Liberty Tree was an object of great inter- 
 eft, and we may here be permitted to turn alide 
 for a moment, to give a flight outline of its hif- 
 tory. In 1765, Capt. Wm. Read deeded his tri- 
 angle lot, at the junction of Thames and Farewell 
 Streets, to truftees, a felf-appointed body, and 
 planted a tree in the centre, to commemorate 
 the fpirited oppofition to the Stamp Act on the 
 part of the people of Newport. During the 
 
40 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 time the illand was in the poffeffion of the 
 Britiili, this tree was cut down, but on the return 
 of peace another was planted in its place, the 
 remains of which are ftill ftanding. A plate of 
 copper, oval in form, and nearly two feet in the 
 longest diameter, was engraved by Wm. S. Nich- 
 ols, Efq., in 1823, and nailed to the tree. The 
 infcription is as follows: 
 
 "Tree of Liberty, planted April 25, 1783, by- 
 John Williams, John Stevens, John Henfhaw, 
 Walter Johnfon, Samuel Simpfon, George Perry, 
 Thomas Mumford, Job Townfend, Noah Barker, 
 Thomas Stevens, Benjamin Lawton, Robert Taylor, 
 William Doderick." 
 
 The tree was brought by thefe men from Ports- 
 mouth, on their flioulders. During the lapfe of 
 years, the wood had grown over the plate, fo 
 that but a fmall portion of it could be feen ; a 
 few days prior to the Celebration, the accumula- 
 tion of wood, nearly, or quite three inches in 
 thicknefs, was' cut away, the plate was polillied, 
 and on the morning of the 23d it was beautifully 
 decorated with a wreath, by the ladies in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 In front of the relidence of Rev. Henry Jack- 
 
THE DECORATIONS. 4I 
 
 foil, D. D., a red and white flag was difplayed, 
 bearing the motto, — 
 
 ''God hlefs you and your Children^ 
 
 In the window of Meffrs. Gould's ftore was 
 feen a flag bearing this infcription : 
 
 ''Rhode IJlaiid Colony flag; received from Eng- 
 land by Gov. J mold, 1663; i/fedtdl the vacuation 
 of the Englifi, 1779." 
 
 This was the Colonial flag, and was ufed from 
 the time of the adoption of the Charter, Wed- 
 nefday, November 24, 1663, to the Declaration 
 of Independence, 1776, a period of 113 years. 
 It was hid by the Colony Colledor, John Wan- 
 ton, in the garret of his houfe, and on the re- 
 moval of a chimney it was found, after the lapfe 
 of eighty years, with other revolutionary relics. 
 
 Zenas L. Hammond, Efq., difplayed a large 
 white flag in front of his refidence, bearing the 
 American Eagle, furrounded by the names of all 
 the States in the Union. 
 
 Atlantic Divifion, Sons of Temperance, threw 
 out a flag 40 X 20; and, in front of their hall, 
 they difplayed the triangle and ftar, emblematic 
 of their order, with the motto—" ^here is Safety 
 
 4* 
 
42 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Here" There were, alfo, decorations in tri-col- 
 ored bunting. 
 
 The Daily News office was alfo decorated with 
 flags and bunting, taftefully arranged, with the 
 motto — 
 
 " "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" 
 
 Benj. J. Tilley, Efq., draped his houfe with 
 feftoons of white, blue and red, with a Chinefe 
 kite in the centre, which arrived from San Fran- 
 cifco on the morning of the 23d, 
 
 Decorations of the front of the Hall of Rhode If and Lodge, 
 No. 12, /. 0. of O. F. 
 
 Streamers of bunting, red, white and blue, 
 were fufpended from the centre of the cornice to 
 the jet over the firft ftory, forming a large tent; 
 the fame, alfo, was feftooned acrofs the whole 
 front. Beneath this, and refting on the jet, was 
 a handfome arch bearing this motto — 
 
 " Our Pafs Word^ this Day, is fFelcome" 
 
 Beneath the arch were three female figures, 
 reprefenting Friendfliip, Love and Truth. Suf- 
 pended acrofs the ftreet were flags and dreamers; 
 among which was a white flag reprefenting the 
 
THE DECORATIONS. 
 
 43 
 
 All-feeing Eye, with the rays; under the former 
 was this motto — 
 
 '''' Amicitia^ Amor^ Et Veritas r 
 
 Beneath, a pair of hands clafped in friendfliip, 
 ''Rhode IJlmid Lodge, No, 12, /. 0. of 0. F.," 
 alfo, the Three Links of the Chain. 
 
 Meffrs. Swinburne & Peckham hung out 
 three flags in front of their (tore, fo arranged as 
 to fliow them all to advantage. 
 
 The Mercury office was adorned with a gener- 
 ous difplay of flags; and there was, alfo, a num- 
 ber of flags and feftoons, reaching from that 
 building to the oppofite corners of Thames and 
 Mill Streets. 
 
 At the corner of Pelham and Thames Streets 
 there was another fine difplay; and Meflrs. New- 
 ton & Co. draped their building with flags and 
 dreamers, furrounding a ftar, with the motto — 
 " Welcomer 
 
 The Poft Office was decorated, and difplayed 
 the motto — 
 
 " Union and ReAJnionr 
 
 There was, alfo, a difplay at Kinfley's Exprefs 
 Office. 
 
44 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 The Cuftom Houfe was taftefully adorned, the 
 bunting nearly covering the entire front. 
 
 Engine Company, No. 8, decorated their 
 building with flags and evergreens, with the 
 motto — " Welcomed They alfo kept open-houfe 
 all day, and the many who called there fared 
 fumptuoufly. The members of Engine Com- 
 pany, No. 7, alfo decorated their Engine Houfe. 
 
 Wm. P. Congdon, Efq., dreffed his houfe at 
 the head of Broad Street with national flags, with 
 the motto — " IVekome Home " — fet off to ad- 
 vantage on a raifed platform. 
 
 John T. Stanhope, Efq., fo arranged the de- 
 corations of his ftore on Broad Street, as to repre- 
 fent the front of a large marque, with a ftar in 
 the centre, bearing the motto- — " General Greener 
 
 The Old Stone Mill was decorated with M- 
 toons of tri-colored bunting, flags, &c., and in 
 front of it there was this motto — " "Tltefame Old 
 Mill" There were, alfo, two decorated Hands in 
 Touro Park, for the bands which played there 
 on the evening of the twenty-fecond. 
 
 The Ocean Houfe prefented a very gay and 
 animated appearance. Every part of its long 
 corridors was hung with bright colors, mottoes 
 and other devices, and the effeft of the whole 
 
THE DECORATIONS. ^^ 
 
 was heightened by the prefence of the numerous 
 vilitors, gathered there to witnefs the moving of 
 the procellion, as it entered the tent on the ad- 
 joining lot. 
 
 The tent was adorned with hundreds of Kttle 
 flags, furmounted by the Stars and Stripes; and, 
 within, there was alfo a fine difplay of bright- 
 colored bunting, arranged in feftoons, and around 
 the fides were efcutcheons, each one bearing the 
 name of a Prefident of the United States. 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ILLUMINATION. 
 
 The City, on the evening of the twenty- 
 fecond, prefented a gay and animated appear- 
 ance, for many of the buildings in the principal 
 flreets were illuminated, and from every corner 
 fireworks were fent up, whilft hundreds and 
 thoufands were abroad to enjoy the novelty of 
 the fight. The chief attradion was the " Old 
 Stone Mill," which, with the mufic-ftands on 
 each fide of this venerable relic, difplayed the 
 varied lights of five hundred Chinefe lanterns, 
 arranged with confummate art, and to the ad- 
 miration of all who congregated there to witnefs 
 the fpedacle, and to liften to the delicious mufic 
 of the bands, which played alternately for feveral 
 hours. A finer fight was never witneffed in 
 Newport, and it will not foon be forgotten. 
 
 On the corner of Touro and Beach Streets, 
 S. Abbott Lawrence, Efq., made a fine difplay of 
 brilliant lights and fireworks, on the grounds 
 attached to his eftate. Colored lights were fus- 
 
THE ILLUMINATION. 
 
 47 
 
 pended among the trees, and the whole neigh- 
 borhood was illuminated by a blue light in the 
 centre. 
 
 In Broad Street, the principal illumination was 
 that in front of Mr. John T. Stanhope's ftore, 
 confifting of numerous Chinefe lanterns, arranged 
 in the form of a triangle. 
 
 On Thames Street there was a fine difplay. 
 Ex-Mayor Cozzen's houfe was illuminated with 
 a few Chinefe lanterns, and Aquidneck Engine 
 Company, No. 3, made their houfe very attrac- 
 tive by the liberal difplay of colored lights. 
 After nightfall, the long lines of fignal flags, ex- 
 tending from the ground to the top of their tall 
 enlign-ftaff, were replaced by hundreds of Chinefe 
 lanterns, making a pyramid of colored lights. 
 
 The rehdence of Auguftus GofFe, Efq., on the 
 Parade, was alfo decorated with lanterns and 
 other lights, and the corners of the Parade were 
 very gay and animated. Here, for hours, rockets 
 were fent up, and other fireworks of various 
 kinds were let off by men and boys without 
 ftint. 
 
 Benj. J. Tilley, Efq. illuminated the whole 
 front of his building, and Engine Company, No. 
 8, made a fine difplay at the fame time. 
 
48 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 The Redwood Library was lighted up on the 
 occalion, and for feveral evenings in fucceflion, 
 much to the gratification of the returned Sons, 
 who expreffed the pleafure it afforded them to 
 witnefs the vaft improvement made in every 
 thing relating to that venerable inftitution. 
 
 R. L. Maitland, Efq., decorated his grounds in 
 a fuperb manner, and as the Perry palTed with 
 her living freight, her paffengers were delighted 
 with the difplay. The whole fliore in the neigh- 
 borhood was in a blaze of different colored lights, 
 taftefuUy arranged, and producing the finest 
 effea. 
 
 The Steamer Perry was not outdone on this 
 important occalion, for her owner, R. B. Kiniley, 
 Efq., liberally allowed the expenditure of a gen- 
 erous fum for colored lights, fireworks, &c. 
 
 I 
 
(49 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE GATH ERI NG 
 
 The Gathering commenced a week or two in 
 advance of the day, and as the time drew near, 
 the number of returned Sons and Daughters 
 rapidly increafed. On Saturday, the 20th of 
 Auguft, the regiflry fliowed more than fix hun- 
 dred names already recorded. On Sunday, the 
 influx was very great, and on Monday, at an 
 early hour, the crowd in the Mayor's Office was 
 fo denfe, and increafed fo rapidly, it was found 
 impoffible to continue the regiftry of the names 
 by the flow procefs of writing one at a time; it 
 was, therefore, deemed expedient to unbind the 
 Record, and fpread the ftieets on different delks. 
 This (tep afforded greater facilities for recording ; 
 but even then, as the day advanced, the Com- 
 mittee of Arrangements found it a difficult mat- 
 ter to accommodate all who prefented themfelves, 
 and at the laft moment, on Tuefday morning, 
 many arrived only in time to join the proceffion, 
 without having an opportunity to record their 
 5 
 
50 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 names. Subfequently, many reported themfelves 
 at the Mayor's Office, where their names were 
 entered, and the Hft, which we give at the clofe 
 of the volume, embraces over eleven hundred 
 names. We print only the names of the re- 
 turned Sons and Daughters; the names of their 
 parents are neceffarily omitted, but any perfons 
 desirous of afcertaining thefe, can infped the 
 Record at all times, at the Redwood Library, 
 where it is kept open for the benefit of all who 
 are interefted in the fubjecl. 
 
 How the large concourfe alTembled on this 
 occalion was accommodated and made comfort- 
 able during their stay is ftill a myftery, for the 
 city has never at any time had more fummer 
 vilitors than during the month of Auguft, 1 859. 
 But flill there was room for thofe who were fo 
 near and dear to us. Every door was thrown 
 open, and there was hardly a family in the place 
 that did not number one or more guefls on that 
 day. Every heart warmed with emotion at the 
 fight of the returned Sons and Daughters, and 
 thefe guefts of the city were made to feel that 
 they were indeed at home. 
 
 How many perfons were aftually prefent on 
 the twenty-third, it would be impoflible to fay ; 
 
THE GATHERING. ^1 
 
 we can only arrive at the number by proxlma- 
 tion. There were no lefs than eleven fteamboats 
 employed in bringing paffengers, fome of them 
 of large capacity, and others making two trips 
 each. The Empire State brought from Fall 
 River the paffengers who had arrived there per 
 railroad from Bolton; the Eagle's Wing came 
 loaded, from New Bedford; the Golden Gate 
 arrived, once from Briftol, and again from Eaft 
 Greenwich; the Young America and Jenny 
 Lind, from Taunton and Fall River ; the latter 
 boat made two trips; the Perry, Canonicus, 
 Ifland Home, Our Kate, and G. W. Lyon, from 
 Providence; the Bradford Durfee from Fall 
 River. 
 
 To thefe muft be added the fail-boats and 
 veffels in the bay, employed in bringing paffen- 
 gers from neighboring places, and alfo the 
 number of paffengers landed here feveral days 
 prior to the day of the Feftival. The fteamer 
 Perry, alone, brought from Providence, on Tuef- 
 day morning, one thoufand perfons, and the 
 evening before, (lie alfo had as many paffengers 
 as file could accommodate; and the Eagle's 
 Wing, on her return trip to New Bedford, had 
 on board over two thoufand paffengers. We 
 
^2 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 may fafely fay, that the whole number prefent 
 in Newport on the twenty-third, was not lefs 
 than twenty-thoufand, or more than double her 
 population. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE CELEBRATION, 
 
 The morning of the twenty-third of Auguft 
 was ulliered in with the ringing of bells, the 
 firing of cannon, and other demonftrations of 
 joy, and the decoration of the city, commenced 
 a week in advance, was completed by an early 
 hour. Old men, fome of them ftill ereft in 
 form, and others bowed with age, were ftrolling 
 through the ftreets, looking for the landmarks of 
 their earlier days ; others, ftill in the pride of 
 manhood, were hailing with pleafure every face 
 known to them in earlier years ; and children, 
 
THE CELEBRATION. ^^ 
 
 gleefome and happy, flocked around the fruit 
 and candy (tores, or flood with wondering gaze 
 before the triumphant arches and the fliowy deco- 
 rations of the numerous pubKc and private build- 
 ings arrayed in hoHday apparel. 
 
 At the hour for forming the Proceflion, the 
 Steamer Perry, with the Providence delegation 
 on board, had not arrived, owing to the great 
 number of her paffengers, and it was not till 
 eleven and a half o'clock that the Chief Marflial 
 and his Aids could form the Proceflion, on the 
 Parade, in the following order, under the efcort 
 of the Artillery Company, Col. Turner com- 
 manding. 
 
 AMERICAN BRASS BAWD, 
 
 J. C. Greene, leader, 19 pieces. 
 Newport Artillery, Col. C. W. Turner, 44 mufkels. 
 
 Pawtucket Light Guard, Col. S. R. Bucklln, 45 mufkets ; 
 
 which, by invitation of Col. Turner, of the Artillery, 
 
 afted as body-guard to the Governor. 
 
 His Excellency, Governor Thomas G. Turner, 
 
 accompanied by his perfonal llafF, and by 
 
 Colonel Magruder and Lieutenant Duryea, U. S. A. ; 
 
 Adjutant General E. C. Maurin and Aid; 
 
 Quartermafter General T. J. Stead and ftafF; 
 
 Major General John Gould and ftafF; 
 
 5* 
 
54 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Brigadier General J. S. Pitman and flafF; 
 all forming, by invitation, the Governor's general flafF. 
 
 AID. CHIEF MARSHAL. aid. 
 
 Carriages containing invited gucfls and others. 
 
 Among thefe were two officers of Perry's fleet, at the battle 
 
 of Lake Erie, viz. : 
 
 Lieutenant Thomas Brownell, of this city, 
 
 and 
 
 Dr. Ufher Parfons, of Providence. 
 
 Torrent Engine Co., No. i. Captain William C. Townfend, 
 forty men. 
 
 GILMORE'S CORNET BAND, 
 
 of Pawtucket, W. E. Gilmore, leader, 17 pieces. 
 
 Aquidneck Engine Company, No. 3, Captain Julius Sayer, 
 
 47 men. 
 
 NEW BEDFORD BRASS BAND, 
 
 Ifrael Smith, leader, 1 7 pieces. 
 
 Columbian Engine Company, No. 5, of New Bedford, 
 
 Captain John B. Hyde, 57 men. 
 
 Hercules Engine Company, No. 7, Capt. W. S. Cranton, Jr., 
 
 4O men. 
 
 — MARSHAL — 
 
 Divifion of Free Mafons, comprifmg 
 
 St. John's Lodge, No. 2, of this city, Gilbert Chace, Mafter, 
 
 40 men ; 
 
 Wafhington Encampment, No. 1, Knight Templars, 
 
 of this city, Nathan H. Gould, Grand Commander, 
 
 25 men J 
 
THE CELEBRATION. ^^ 
 
 Newport Royal Arch Chapter, No. 2, John Eldred, 
 
 High Priest ; 
 
 and 
 
 Officers of Grand Lodge of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 — MARSHAL — 
 
 Divifion of Odd Fellows, comprifmg 
 
 Rhode Ifland Lodge, No. 1 2, of Newport, Samuel Eyles, 
 
 Noble Grand, 50 men ; 
 
 Wafliington Lodge, No. 11, of River Point, George W. 
 
 Niles, Noble Grand, 20 men; 
 
 Friendly Union Lodge, No. i, of Providence, 
 
 James A. Smith, Acting Noble Grand, 40 men; 
 
 Eagle Lodge, No. 2, of Providence, 
 
 George Hancock, Noble Grand, 30 men ; 
 
 Hope Lodge, No. 4, of Providence, J. W. Dench, 
 
 Noble Grand, 20 men; 
 
 Narraganfett Encampment, No. i, 
 
 Henry L. Webfler, Chief Patriarch, 30 men ; 
 
 and 
 
 Officers of Grand Lodge of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 — MARSHAL — 
 
 Divifions of Sons of Temperance, comprifing 
 
 Atlantic Divifion, No. 6, Rev. C. H. Malcom, Worthy 
 
 Patriarch, 60 men ; 
 
 and 
 
 Officers of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 — MARSHAL — 
 Newport Mufical Inftitute, 20 men. 
 
56 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Newport Philharmonic Society, 20 men. 
 
 Carriages containing 
 
 His Honor Mayor W. H. Cranfton, ex-Mayor Cozzens, 
 
 and the 
 
 Prefident of the Common Council, R. J. Taylor, Efq. 
 
 Board of Aldermen, Members of the Common Council, and 
 
 School Committee, on foot. 
 
 — MARSHAL — 
 
 Four carriages, containing invited guefts. 
 
 His Honor Lieutenant Governor Ifaac Saunders, 
 
 and other 
 
 Members of the State Government. 
 
 SHEPARD'S CORNET BAND, 
 
 H. F. Shepard, leader, 19 pieces. 
 
 HETURisj^Ei:) soisrs, 
 
 SIX ABREAST. 
 
 Many of them mingled with the different 
 organizations, and we noticed a large number 
 who did not join the ProcefTion until it arrived 
 at the tent. Sons and Daughters were here from 
 Maine, Maffachufetts, Connefticut, New York, 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Louiliana, 
 Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wif- 
 confin, and many other States, and numbered 
 between 1100 and 1200. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 57 
 
 The procelTion, which was a mile in length, 
 proceeded up Broad Street, to Marlborough 
 Street, down Marlborough to Thames, through 
 Thames to Cannon, up Cannon to Spring, 
 through Spring to Broad, up Broad to Mann 
 Avenue, up Mann Avenue to Kay Street, and 
 through Kay Street and South Touro Street 
 to the lot north of the Ocean Houfe, at which 
 point the efcort filed to the right, and the guefts 
 of the day, preceded by His Honor the Mayor 
 and the City Council, entered the tent and took 
 their refpedive places at the tables. The feats 
 to be occupied by different delegations were 
 defignated by tickets confpicuoufly placed at the 
 end of each table, by .which means all confufion 
 was prevented. In the fmaller tent, the ladies 
 who were entitled to feats were congregated, and 
 when the proceffion entered, they came forward 
 and joined their hufbands, friends and brothers 
 at table. 
 
 In the centre of the tent there was a larse 
 platform fuftaining three tables; at the centre 
 table. His Honor, Mayor Cranfton prefided, with 
 R. J. Taylor, Efq., Prefident of the Common 
 Council, at the head of the table on his right, 
 Ex-Mayor Cozzens at the head of the table 
 
58 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 on the left. At thefe tables many of the 
 fpeakers of the day and of the invited guefts 
 were feated; amongft the latter, were numbered 
 His Excellency, Governor Turner and Staff, 
 Col. Magruder and Staff; the Rev. Clergy of 
 the City ; Rev. Dr. Balch, of Baltimore ; Rev. 
 Dr. Vinton, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Rev. James 
 McKenzie, Judge Chambers, ^Hon. Auguft. Bel- 
 mont, Mr. LeRoy, M. Gourand, French Conful ; 
 Dr. Parfons and Lieut. Brownell, furvivors of the 
 battle of Lake Erie ; Paul Morphy, Efq., Gov. 
 Fifk, J. A. and James Brown, Efqrs., Prof. 
 Mitchell, Hiram Fuller, Esq., the Mayor of 
 Baltimore. 
 
 The work of feating fo large a body was by 
 no means an eafy talk, but at laft it was fuccefs- 
 fully accompliflied ; and when all eyes were 
 drawn from the viands, temptingly difplayed on 
 the tables, to the centre of the tent, from which 
 point his Honor Mayor Cranfton had called the 
 company to order, filence prevailed, and then, 
 in a clear and audible voice, he thus addreffed 
 the returned Sons and Daughters of Newport : — 
 
 Retumed Sons avd Daughters of the IJland of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 In behalf of the authorities and the people of 
 Newport, I warmly and cordially welcome you 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 59 
 
 home from your various wanderings and tempo- 
 rary habitations in different parts of the land. I 
 welcome you to the beloved and hallowed foil 
 which gave you birth ; // is hallo-ived foil indeed^ 
 and we Rhode Illanders are always and juftly 
 proud of our noble heritage, — for it was on this, 
 our native foil, that the great and glorious prin- 
 ciple of religious liberty, which had fearfully 
 agitated the old world, and contending for which 
 thoufands of human beings fuffered a martyr's 
 death, — it was here in Rhode Illand, where we 
 were born, that this facred and eternal principle 
 of religious liberty — freedom to worftiip God in 
 an unmolefted manner, according to the dictates 
 of each one's confcience, and abfolute feparation 
 between church and ftate — was firft thoroughly, 
 pradically, and fuccefsfully demonftrated by 
 Roger WilHams, John Clarke, and their affo- 
 ciates. From the firft fettlement of the State to 
 the prefent time, the authorities have ever fcru- 
 puloufly guarded, and the people have ever con- 
 ftantly and facredly cheriflied, this hallowed and 
 immortal right of man. 
 
 In the dark and ftormy days of the American 
 Revolution, no Colony was more firm, devoted, 
 and enthufiaftic in its oppofition to the opprellion 
 
6o THE RE-UNION. 
 
 of the mother country, and the fons of none 
 were more vahant and felf-facrificing in their de- 
 fence of the rights of freemen than our anceftors, 
 the bleffed fruits of whofe rehgious and patriotic 
 efforts we this day enjoy. It was in Rhode 
 Ifland that the firfl: determined reliftance to Britifli 
 tyranny was heroically manifefted by the burning 
 of the British Schooner Gafpee, in yonder bay. 
 Rhode Ifland gave her noble Greene, (who was 
 fecond only to George Wafliington,) and a hoft 
 of others, to the caufe of freedom ; and flie fuf- 
 fered as much as, if not more than, any other Col- 
 ony by the invalions of the enemy. In the laft 
 war with Great Britain, flie was equally valiant 
 and patriotic, and furniflied our heroic Perry, 
 (who was born feventy-four years ago this day,) 
 and many other brave fons of her foil, who accom- 
 plillied prodigies of valor, nobly defended our 
 proud and unconquerable ftripes and ftars, and 
 protected our national honor from all tarnifli and 
 infult. 
 
 This is, indeed, an interefting occaiion; fome 
 of you have returned to your native foil after an 
 abfence of more than half a century ; many of 
 you have wandered from home for a quarter of 
 a century, while hundreds of others have been 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 6l 
 
 miffing from us for many years. To-day you 
 have all come home. Ah I what holy memories 
 and facred affociations are cluftered around and 
 centered in that word — home ! 
 
 " Mid pleafures and palaces though we may roam. 
 Be it ever fo humble, there's no place like home ! 
 A charm from the fkies feems to hallow us there. 
 Which, feek through the world is ne'er met with 
 elfewhere. 
 
 Home ! home ! fweet home i 
 There's no place like home ! 
 
 *' An exile from home, fplendor dazzles in vain ; 
 O, give me my lovely thatched cottage again. 
 The birds fmging gaily that come at my call. 
 Give me thefe, and the peace of mind, dearer than 
 all. 
 
 Home ! fweet, fweet home ! 
 There's no place like home !" 
 
 Among you, I behold fome whofe hairs are 
 whitened by the frofls of more than three fcore 
 years and ten; many beyond the meridian of 
 life, and a large number in the prime and vigor 
 of intelledual and phyhcal ftrength. It is im- 
 poffible to imagine the varied emotions of joy 
 and fadnefs which throb in your bofoms. Our 
 fea-girt illand is as beautiful now as it was in the 
 6 
 
62 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 days of your childhood ; our chmate is as deli- 
 cious and healthy as it was then, and many old 
 landmarks in various parts of the city ftill remain 
 to remind you that you are at home once more. 
 Many of you will obferve that the old churches 
 where yau once worfliipped have all difappear- 
 ed, with a lingle exception, — or have been fo re- 
 moddled that you will fcarcely recognize them 
 as the llirines where you received your early 
 religious inftrudion ; the fchool-houfes where you 
 were educated have moftly, if not entirely, been 
 demoliilied; and on the green fields where you 
 rambled and played in childhood's happy days, 
 coftly and elegant manfions have been ereded. 
 The Newport of to-day is not .the Newport 
 which many of you left: in your boyhood 
 and girlhood years. Still, there are cheriilied 
 and enduring landmarks remaining which you 
 cannot fail to recognize. The noble beaches, 
 where the fublime and eternal anthems to 
 Jehovah are ever heard; the fpacious and beau- 
 tiful harbor, inviting an extenlive commerce to 
 its bofom ; the rock-bound fhore, which has re- 
 pelled the dalliing and maddened waves of the 
 Ocean fince the morning of creation ; the old 
 Stone Mill, with its alternate claflic and matter- 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 63 
 
 of-fact traditionary hiftory, — the Redwood Li- 
 brary, where Dr. Channing "ftudied theology 
 without an inftruSor;" the "Hanging Rocks," 
 where Biftiop Berkeley wrote his "Minute Phi- 
 lofopher;" "Paradife," and Purgatory;" the old 
 Synagogue, the fird erected in the United States, 
 where the Jews ever worfhipped in an unmo- 
 lefted manner ; the Cemetery, where repofe the 
 remains of the Jews who, nearly a century ago, 
 were among the prominent merchants of New- 
 port, at the time the principal importations from 
 Europe were made to this port, and when it was 
 thought by a few progrejfive people that, at some 
 diftant day. New York might pojfihly rival New- 
 port as a commercial and mercantile city, — with 
 other monuments of the paft, nearly all remain 
 unchanged, to remind you that you are once 
 more at home, on your green native ifle of the 
 fea. 
 
 But the companions of your childhood I where 
 are they ? Here, and there, and yonder, are a 
 few whofe warm hands will give you a token of 
 early friendfliip, and your converfations of for- 
 mer days will be pleafant indeed. Alas I as you 
 walk through the cemeteries, you will find that 
 a large number of the comrades of your youth 
 
64 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 are there calmly refting in death's long re- 
 pofe. 
 
 "But their fpirits are with you to-day as you 
 roam. 
 O'er the land of your birth-place, your ocean-girt 
 home." 
 
 Above all, and more facred than all, is the 
 reflection that you have returned, once more, to 
 ftand by the graves of the loved and the loft, thofe 
 who were near and dear to your hearts, and with 
 whom you have paffed fo many happy days in 
 this your ifland home, the fond recolledion of 
 which, will linger facredly in your minds forever. 
 
 I fincerely hope that the time is not very far 
 diftant when all of you will return home and 
 permanently locate on your native foil; if cir- 
 cumftances would permit, I am confident that all 
 of you would be moft happy to do fo ; for what- 
 ever may be our fancies for roaming, or our in- 
 ducements for excitement, and the profpects of. 
 pecuniary gain abroad in early life, as we ad- 
 vance in years, there is an inftinct within us 
 which caufes us to yearn for the home of our 
 childhood, our dear native land. 
 
 " Breathes there the man with foul fo dead. 
 Who never to himfelf hath faid. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 6j 
 
 This is my own, my native land ! 
 
 Whofe heart hath ne'er within him burned. 
 As home his footfteps he has turned. 
 
 From wandering on a foreign ftrand ? " 
 
 We who have remained at home, rejoice that 
 our townfmen abroad have fucceeded fo well in 
 their various avocations in their temporary homes; 
 and we are proud that fo many of you occupy 
 eminent poiitions in your feveral locaUties. 
 
 Although you have been fo richly favored, I 
 am confident that you all hope to return, before 
 the evening of life, fo that your doling years 
 may be quietly paflfed in the cherifhed home 
 and amid the beautiful fcenes where you first 
 beheld the wonderful works of Him who creates, 
 who rules, and who will finally judge the world 
 in righteoufnefs by the unerring ftandard of in- 
 fallible juftice. 
 
 In concluding his addrefs, Mayor Cranfton 
 gave the firft regular toaft : 
 
 Our Invited Guejis, — The Sons and Daughters of the 
 Ifland of Rhode Ifland ; they are welcome, welcome to the 
 endeared fpot of their nativity. 
 
 To this toaft Dr. Walter Channing, of Bos- 
 ton, a returned Son of Newport, replied as 
 
 follows : 
 
 6* 
 
"66 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 DR. WALTER CHANNING, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 RE-UNION AT NEWPORT, 
 
 IN BEHALF OF ITS RETURNED SONS AND 
 DAUGHTERS. 
 
 Mr. Mayor : — I have been deputed by the 
 Committee of Arrangements of this great Fefti- 
 val to reply to your Honors welcome to the 
 Sons and Daughters of Newport here affembled. 
 Accept, Sir, our moft hearty thanks for this wel- 
 come, and for the invitation from our friends and 
 brothers, to attend this Celebration. We rejoice 
 to be here — to be once more in the place of our 
 birth, the home of our fathers, and where are 
 their graves. InftinSively do our hearts turn to 
 that great congregation of our dead — the accu- 
 mulations of more than two centuries, and in 
 filial piety and reverence would we fay, 
 
 Requiefcat in pace. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 67 
 
 We have come, Sir, from voluntary exile, to 
 our father's home ; not as prodigal fons, to make 
 confeffion of fins — of wailed patrimony, and 
 wafted lives, but to meet again our old, yes, 
 earlieft affociates and friends, whom we have not 
 met for many, many years, and, as in a family 
 meeting, talk of the good old tjmes, and give to 
 the prefent fome of their heartinefs and freflmefs, 
 and be made happier and better by their memory. 
 
 We rejoice to be here, to breathe again the 
 pure air in which we drew our firfl breath, giving 
 evidence that we had affumed independent life. 
 We rejoice to walk again the ftreets our feet iirfl 
 trod, to fee again the old places, the Parade — 
 the fcene of our holiday experiences — and which, 
 though fomewhat changed, (i?npraved, I believe, is 
 the word,) flill tells its old flory. We mifs, indeed, 
 the Boiling Spring, that wonder of our young 
 eyes, where was conflant boiling without fire. 
 The boys had poetry in the fervice of the Spring : 
 
 Look yonder, look yonder. 
 
 And fee a great wonder ! 
 
 Four and twenty pots boiling. 
 
 And (for fhortnefs,^ nary coal under. 
 
 The old Court Houfe is in its place ftill, 
 and there is the balcony from which public 
 proclamations were made, on Election Day, of 
 
68* THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the newly induSed Executive of the Common- 
 wealth — to us the greateft ceremony within our 
 knowledge, and which we thought could never 
 be furpaffed. There, at the foot of the Parade, 
 is the old Granary, (which half a century has 
 left in its original proportions,) in which, in my 
 boyhood, was a theatre, and where I went to my 
 iirft play — more than lixty years ago was that 
 event of my life, one which is never forgotten. 
 It was the " Caftle Speftre," and that ghoft, at leaft, 
 has never vaniflied. There is the Old Mill — 
 which never was a mill, but is still in its malTive, 
 enduring ftrength — which has outlived centuries, 
 and has not become a ruin yet, and in which we 
 look for and find the evidences of fettlements 
 in New England, long, long before the Puritan 
 age, from which is dated fo much of our hiftory. 
 We rejoice again to fee and to wander among 
 the places of once folitary beauty which abound 
 within the limits of our ancient town — " The 
 Hill," as it was called — changes, great changes 
 are there. The Redwood Library, which then, 
 in its architedural proportions, tafte, and beauty, 
 flood alone, and which we always pafTed to the 
 beach, is now in the centre of many houfes, the 
 refidences of ftrangers who vifit our beautiful 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 69 
 
 and healthful ifland for pjeafure and health, and 
 who, by the tafte and beauty of their temporary 
 homes, have, by happy contraft, added to the 
 attractions and interefts of the natural beauty. 
 We can hardly make out where we are in thefe 
 changed regions, but we are not difturbed by 
 fuch alterations or additions. They give life and 
 charader to the old repofe. Is it not well that it 
 does fo ? The wealth there ufed has given new 
 value to all the furroundings. How much has 
 the healthfulnefs of pure air and the neighboring 
 fea contributed to the enjoyment and good of thou- 
 fands who may never have enjoyed fuch before? 
 The benefits of fuch a fpot are not confined to 
 the body. The mind and the heart are made 
 better by them. He or file who has felt one 
 emotion of pleafure or of joy in the fcenes here 
 prefented to the eye, has by that very fad been 
 made better. A true thought, a true fentiment 
 is never loft. It declares its being and power, 
 through affociation, with all akin to it; nay, it 
 will do more ; it will be the fruitful parent of 
 new and wider truths, revealing to him or to 
 her the greateft of them all, the moral and intel- 
 ledual conftitution of human nature, and in- 
 ftinSively incline thofe to whom the revelation 
 
70 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 has been made, to the love of all other beauty 
 and all other truth. 
 
 We rejoice, Sir, to be again within fight and 
 found of the grand old ocean, which holds our 
 beloved illand in everlafting embrace, and which 
 We again fee, not as in fome bay or arm of the fea, 
 but face to face. We rejoice that we are again 
 able to liften to the wide-weltering wave, as it 
 now breaks upon our beautiful beaches, and now 
 dailies againft our lordly coaft, rock-ribbed and 
 ancient as the fun, and now in its gentle fighing, 
 as, in its pure livery of foam, it bathes the fmooth, 
 unwrinkled fand. 
 
 I remember, a few years ago, being on the 
 road between France and Spain, when my atten- 
 tion was attraSed by the fudden appearance of 
 the ocean. I afked what it was, and learned it 
 was the Bay of Bifcay ; in other words, the wide 
 Atlantic. You cannot tell how much I was 
 moved by this old friend, in a new place, thou- 
 fands of miles from home, and at once appealed 
 to it in a few verfes, of which are the follow- 
 ing :— 
 
 Thou Ocean, from my diftant home. 
 To welcome me haft hither come ? 
 How happy now to ftay ! 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 7» 
 
 I thank thee for thy prefence here. 
 In memory long I will it bear. 
 
 With thought of Bifcay Bay. 
 
 How ilrange that to this dillant ilrand. 
 The echoes from my native land 
 
 O'er thy wild bofom come ! 
 Yes, dark Atlantic, in thy voice 
 There's that which bids my heart rejoice, 
 
 For ftill it fpeaks of home ! 
 
 Thus, Nature fpeaks in her thoufand voices of 
 beauty and power, and they are never heard 
 truly in vain. 
 
 We rejoice to be again in fight of our noble 
 harbor, with its natural breakwater, old Fort 
 Wolcott. It is not only the handfomeft, but, 
 praftically, the fineft of harbors. In its depth of 
 water, eafe of accefs and fafety, it offers to 
 commerce advantages rarely known elfewhere. 
 We, who have reached old age, remember the 
 harbor as it was in earlier times, when it was 
 filled with fliipping, coming from every clime 
 and region, or going everywhere to which wife 
 enterprife, and fafe fpeculation, pointed the way. 
 Our population was then, half a century and 
 more ago, nearly, or quite equal to what it is 
 now. Commerce was a moft favored purfuit, 
 
72 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 and wealth its frequent produd. We fent 
 onions from Briftol, and New England rum from 
 everywhere. We fent all forts of articles for 
 exchange, and received all forts of merchandife 
 in return. There was a large China, and Rus- 
 fian, and African bulinefs done, and wealth 
 came from it all. Mercantile buiinefs was a 
 profeflion. Young men were regularly taught 
 its principles, and thefe, when truly taught, are 
 rarely forgotten ; how rare, then, were failures, 
 and crifes, and panics, or fufpenlions of fpecie 
 payments. No : there was the Newport Bank, 
 on the old Parade, and there was Mr. Cailiier 
 Mofes Sexias, and you got lilver or gold for your 
 check, for the alking. Thofe who recall the 
 Revolutionary war, cannot forget what Newport 
 fuffered from that unnatural battle between 
 parent and child, and which led to a final fepa- 
 ration between them. No one can remember 
 this without feeling aftonifliment at the healthy 
 reaction, — the abfolute recovery to State and 
 national health, nor how foon and how ilrongly 
 it was marked in Newport by fuccefsful induftry 
 and independence. 
 
 We have thus far fpoken of the natural, the 
 phylical charaderiltics of our native ifland; let 
 
THE CELEBRATION. -70 
 
 US, for a few moments, talk of its Social, its 
 Educational, Religious, and Political inftitutions half 
 a century or more ago. Its people were emi- 
 nently focial. They had the means, and knew 
 their ufe in contributing to focial life. The 
 neighboring country furniilied food of excellent 
 quality, which was abundant and cheap. Every 
 houfe had its garden, and the fineft vegetables in 
 the country were raifed by all. Fifli were as 
 plenty as blackberries, and caught without trou- 
 ble ; and the right to catch was the birthright 
 of all. Then the cow and the pig formed a 
 part of the family circle, and how kindly and 
 carefully were they provided for. Luxuries 
 were within the reach of all. We cannot forget 
 the fruits of that time. Why, peaches were a 
 drug ; we bought them at the cart's tail by the 
 peck or bufliel, and eat them as freely, but much 
 more cheaply, than we now do the {tw berries 
 which ftill grow wild in our woods. Plums, 
 pears, goofeberries, ilrawberries, apples, quinces, 
 were in profufion offered for fale. To think 
 of depending on Jerfey for peaches, or New 
 York for apples, we fliould as foon have thought 
 of fending to either of thofe markets for frefh filh, 
 when ice here was only ufed for Ikating. Talk- 
 
 7 
 
74 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 ing of fruit, a friend of mine, a young lady, went 
 out the other day to buy a peach or two for a 
 friend who was ill. She brought home two for 
 fix cents each, and miferably poor, I thought, at 
 that, faying that the beft were a quarter of a dol- 
 lar each. Here we are living in a climate which 
 is acknowledged to have been foftened by time, 
 and (till the produds of the foil, when horticul- 
 ture was never more fuccefsfully praSifed, are fo 
 fcarce and fo poor that the burgeffes muft have 
 good ftomachs, and great wealth, to buy or to 
 venture to eat them. Newporters were capital 
 livers. Newport was celebrated for its cooks, 
 and where under heaven did or do people live fo 
 long, and where are the women, I will not fay 
 more, but as beautiful as they were, and doubtlefs 
 ftill are, in this little ifland of thirteen by three ? 
 But how of the Educational lyftem of our 
 early days ? It was in exaft harmony with its 
 other focial inftitutions. It could hardly be called 
 a fyftem, for every mafter went upon his own 
 hook, (as is the phrafe.) We had no public 
 fchools. We had no fchool committees with 
 delegated powers, to make a Procuftes bed for 
 education, upon which every boy and girl fliould 
 be ftretched, to learn leffons of equal length. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 75 
 
 whatever their capacity, and who could not get 
 up until they had learned them. We had no 
 medal fyftem to make the ftretching feel lefs un- 
 comfortable, while the poifon of emulation, when 
 fuccefsful in its operation, might lead to reward. 
 Our old fchools were the fimpleft things in the 
 world, and the cheapeft. Few things were taught, 
 and thofe perfedly. There was no flinching, 
 no getting along without work. We were duly 
 whipped and kept, when we failed, and truancy 
 was a high crime. Teaching was cheap, — from a 
 dollar and a half to four dollars a quarter. 
 Books were very few, and very cheap. There 
 were Webfter's Spelling-Book, and Webfter's 
 Third Part. There was the Columbian Orator, 
 abounding in the early oratory of the country, 
 fuch as Hancock's and Warren's Fourth of July 
 orations, and Dwight's and Humphrey's poetry, 
 Morfe's fmaller Geography, Perry's Didionary, 
 and Pike's or Dabol's Arithmetic. The coft of 
 books was nothing compared with what it cofts 
 to buy the books of fome fyftems of this day. 
 In fome of thefe the quarterly expenfe of books 
 is as much as was the quarter's payment for the 
 entire earlier education. If the boy was to enter 
 college, for which but little preparation was then 
 
76 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 required, then he had a Virgil, a Cicero, a Salluft, 
 a Greek Teftament, together with a Greek and 
 Latin Grammar, and a book of Geometry, to get. 
 
 [Here the fpeaker enlarged upon the general 
 fyftem of education in our day, not only in 
 America, but alfo in fome of the countries of 
 Europe.] 
 
 The next inftitution to which I addrefs myfelf 
 is the Church. I ufe the word here generically, as 
 embracing all places devoted to Chriftian worfliip. 
 In Newport, however, it was diftinctive, the 
 word " church " being only applied to the build- 
 ing devoted to the Epifcopal fervice. All others 
 were called meeting-houfes, or, in common fpeech, 
 meetMioufes. Of thefe, there were numbers, and 
 of fuch variety and fed, that I hardly remember 
 two of the fame. There was the Synagogue, 
 which, being the oldeft of the Temples of India 
 and Egypt, deferves the firii: place. The wor- 
 Ihip-day was on Saturday, and how often have I 
 ftood juft within the door, and feen the Ifraelites 
 fliuffling about with their hats on, and the Rabbi 
 reading the evening fervice, all being in motion, 
 I fuppofe, in imitation of the forty years' travel 
 to Canaan. You may remember the command 
 of a prophet to the people, " Take off thy ilioes. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 77 
 
 for this is holy ground;" but there is no com- 
 mand to take off the hat. 
 
 We had Moravians, Saturday and Sunday 
 Baptifts, Methodifts, Newhghts, Calvaniftic, 
 Hopkinfonian, Epifcopalian, Quaker, and oth- 
 ers which I do not remember. To the young 
 (and the youngeft were duly carried to meet- 
 ing,) Sunday was a day of fevere trial. In 
 fummer we fweated and ilept, being hurried up 
 in prayer time. In winter we were frozen. 
 Large and barn-like buildings, full of windows, 
 and thofe often broken, and always loofe in the 
 fafhes, no carpets, very hard cuiliions, and rarely 
 thefe, no furnaces and no ftoves, except the old 
 Dutch foot-ftoves, which the younger members 
 were obliged to carry, much againil the will, to 
 fecure to the older female members warm feet 
 through the moft unconfcionably long difcourfes 
 which ever got the name of fermons. The 
 whole fervice was long, and the longeft prayer 
 feemed to our young minds to partake of that 
 eternity, about the eternal punifliment and eternal 
 mifery of which the minifter fpoke moft, efpe- 
 cially of the firft. Sunday, however, did not end 
 with the bleffing. The interval between morn- 
 ing and afternoon fervice, was filled with reading 
 7* 
 
yS THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the Bible, fpeaking hymns, hearing a fermon, 
 and, always moft gratefully received, dinner. 
 Now when we remember, as all of my day muft, 
 that the preaching was ftrictly theological, tech- 
 nical, fcientific, not to add metaphyfic, you 
 cannot wonder that the young could not and 
 did not underftand or fympathize with it ; nay 
 more, that there were grown men amongft us 
 who did not believe a word of it, who were open 
 infidels. One of thefe was a llioemaker. He 
 was an artift in his myftery : no one could fit a 
 llioe like Manchefter. He was a reader, and a 
 thinker. His iliop ftood not far from Mr. 
 Thurfton's Baptift meeting-houfe. It was an 
 octagonal building, which had ferved for a fum- 
 mer houfe for many years, and had been car- 
 ried to the fpot above referred to, by our artift. 
 He was very flow in fulfilling orders ; he had no 
 rival and could take his time. If you wanted 
 flioes, it behooved you to fpeak for them a fort- 
 night or month before the time. People of any 
 thought for perfonal comfort, nay, luxury, em- 
 ployed Manchefter. A minifter of our Second 
 Meeting-Houfe did fo. He had engaged him 
 for the advanced time, when, to his great furprife, 
 the Monday following, Manchefter appeared with 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 79 
 
 the flioes in his hands. Rev. Mr. exprefled 
 
 his furprife, along with his pleafure, at being fo 
 promptly ferved. " Why, fir," faid Manchefter, 
 to tell you the truth, I worked the whole of yes- 
 terday to finifli them." Thus it was, that while 
 our paftor was zealoully working in his vocation 
 of faving fouls, his faithful flioemaker was as 
 faithfully working in his, upon his foles. 
 
 There was in Newport a clergyman, who is 
 an hiftorical man, and of whom I will fay fome- 
 thing, This was Dr. Samuel Hopkins. He was 
 born in 1721, and died in 1803. He was a man 
 of confiderable talent, and almofl incredible 
 powers of application. He was the author of a 
 fyitem of doctrines which received his name. Its 
 leading principle was difinterefted benevolence. 
 Dr. Ezra Styles publiflied a work entitled " A 
 Contrail: between Calvinifm and Hopkinfianfm." 
 Dr. Hopkins printed many works, I remember 
 him only as a perfon and as a preacher. When I 
 knew him he was an old man of about my pres- 
 ent age, of very large frame, of which he made 
 a moft awkward and ungainly ufe. His face 
 was exceedingly remote from beauty, and muft 
 have been inclined that way in early life. His 
 voice — who can defcribe it. It feemed and 
 
80 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 was quite beyond the control of his will. It was 
 high, and low, and lideways. At times it was 
 almoft inaudible, and fuddenly there came out 
 a roar, or founds of ftrange, ftirring import, and 
 effed. We boys did not know what to make of 
 it, or of him. But with all his phyfical failures 
 he had in beautiful perfection, and exercife, man's 
 higheft faculties, the moral. He was the kindeft, 
 the mofi: charitable, felf-facrificing of men. You 
 loft in his life, his feSarianifm, his manner, his 
 voice. You felt he was a man in his nobleft 
 development, and you could not but reverence 
 and love him. I have heard that he is the hero 
 in the "Miniftefs Wooing," in the Atlantic 
 Monthly. I have not read a word in that frag- 
 mentary, ferial fpecimen of publication, a kind of 
 novel printing exceedingly difagreeable to me ; 
 but how Dr. Hopkins could have been manufac- 
 tured into a lover, it is utterly impoflible for me 
 to imagine. I know in his advanced age he 
 married an old lady, (a Mrs. Weft, I believe;) 
 but I always fuppofed that it was inftinft, not 
 fentiment, which was at the bottom of that mar- 
 riage, at leaft. 
 
 This excellent man was of great plainnefs of 
 fpeech. He fpoke his mind with as little cir- 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 81 
 
 cumlocutlon as poffible. He was buying fome 
 cloth one day, and taking up a yard-ftick, he faid, 
 " Miller, your yard-ftick is too fliort." This was 
 a rebuke for what he thought unfair meafure. I 
 was for fome years fub-hbrarian of the Redwood 
 Library, and kept the key, and had the privilege 
 of making it my ftudy all the time, if I would 
 open the library to the public every Wednefday 
 afternoon. Very rarely did anybody come. 
 Among thofe who did, was Mr. Cleland Kinlock, 
 of Charlefton, South Carolina, who for many 
 years pafled his fummers in Newport. His light 
 was very poor, and I frequently read to him. I 
 remember Gen. Scott was an occalional caller. 
 Dr. Hopkins came now and then, and one day 
 came with him, or about the fame time, a very 
 lingular man, named John Stewart, commonly 
 called JValklug Steicart. He walked over Europe, 
 and Afia, and America, and often paffed a part 
 of his fummers in Newport. You might fee 
 him at the clofe of the day, fitting on the ftoop 
 at Mrs. Carpenter's, in whofe houfe he lodged, in 
 Thames Street, eating his evenihg meal of bread, 
 fruit, and milk. He never eat meat, and thought 
 the killing of animals for food the unpardonable 
 fin. One day, being in the library with Dr. 
 
82 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Hopkins, he had much converfatlon with the 
 Dodor, or, rather, much talk to him. He was 
 patiently liftened to for fome time, when a paufe 
 occurred. The Doctor now fpoke, and in the 
 mod quiet manner, faying, " You-are-a-great-fool- 
 Mifter-Stewart," and here the dodor and philofo- 
 pher departed together, apparently as perfedly 
 good friends as when they entered. 
 
 The multitude of religious feds in Newport, 
 did not leffen individual zeal for one's own. The 
 ftrongeft antagonifm was between the Church 
 proper, the Epifcopalian, and all other denomin- 
 ations. Their church was the true one. It was 
 rich, it lived handfomely, luxurioufly, it was ex- 
 clulive. The feeling towards it is remembered. 
 It was called Tory. It was the Englifli Church, 
 adopting the Liturgy, leaving out King and 
 Queen and the Royal family. Lords and Com- 
 mons and Parliament affembled. There was 
 one ftriking fad in the Church, ornamentation, 
 which I have no doubt had its effect on opinion. 
 The vane on the fpire was furmounted by a 
 crown. Yes, the diadem was therein open day. 
 The firfl: rays of the riling fun flione upon it ; 
 and the laft rays of the fetting fun were refleded 
 from it. It was a matter of thought, how this 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 83 
 
 fymbol of royalty furvived the revolution. But 
 it did ; and when we left Newport in the earlier 
 years of the nineteenth century, there was the 
 crown, and there I saw it to-day. 
 
 Politics was fpoken of as an inftitution of our 
 native town, as was religion and the fchools. 
 But the parties of that day, lixty odd years ago, 
 were not what they are now. There were but 
 two parties to the great iffue which then divided 
 men, here, and every where elfe, in the nation. I 
 cannot imagine any thing which could have 
 been more infulting to thefe parties than the fug- 
 geftion that a fplit could have happened in either. 
 The Federalift, or fometimes the fo-called Tory, 
 or the Democrat, alfo called Jacobin, would have 
 Ihrunk from the poffibility of fuch, and fo many 
 difmtegrations, as rule the prefent political con- 
 dition of the country. So various are thefe, and 
 with fuch hair-fplitting diftindions, that one 
 hardly knows where he is, whether on his head 
 or his heels ; the only reliable perfon being he 
 who belongs to neither fradional fide, or better, 
 to none, without a queftion of either. But fo it 
 was not then; no man could find reft on the 
 fence ; it was picketted all over ; the ground was 
 
84 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the only fafe place to (land on. It was liter- 
 ally, 
 
 *' Under which king, Bezonian ? fpeak or die." 
 
 The boys took fides in the univerfal conflift 
 of opinion. The different parties wore cockades. 
 The Federalifts wore black ones, the Englifli 
 cockade, and were called Englifli Tories. They 
 were torn from our hats, and then was battle. 
 Jay's Treaty was a fubjed of terrible debate and 
 conflid. Well do I remember feeing that great 
 minifter, and noble man, carried in effigy to a 
 vacant lot, in an old cart, with a rope round his 
 neck, and burnt there amid the denunciations 
 and yells of a furious party mob. Liberty poles 
 were railed, with Liberty caps atop. Thefe were 
 cut down by the oppolite party : and then was 
 prepared the tar and feathers for a top drelling, 
 fliould the political enemy of his country be dis- 
 covered. 
 
 General Wafliington died about this time, and 
 for a moment there was peace. We know that, 
 at the clofe of his life, in his lateft years, even 
 he did not efcape the evil power of party. He 
 had been twice eleded unanimoufly to the prefi- 
 dency of the nation. Would this have happened 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 85 
 
 again '? His friends fucceeded once, and eleSed 
 Mr. Adams, in whom Wafhington had confidence, 
 and who had held offices neareft the throne. At 
 the next trial, Mr. Jefferfon beat Mr. Adams, and 
 fince then to this day only two out and out Fed- 
 eralifts, or fuccelTors of that party, have reached 
 the prefidency. Of thefe, one reigned thirty 
 days and the other lefs than two years. Thank- 
 ful fliould we be, and are, that the old and 
 ftrong lines of party are broken — that the people 
 are free to exercife private judgment in poHtics, 
 as well as in every thing elfe. Why, Sir, how 
 large is the chance for Young America, fo called, 
 and, as I think, very unwifely too. We have 
 the Whigs, the Democrats, the Hards, the Softs, 
 the Mixed. The diflocation of parties — the de- 
 compofition of forces — is lofs of individual power. 
 What may turn up was formerly a matter of 
 calculation, of figures, which, fome fay, never lie. 
 But this is not the cafe now. No one knows 
 what the political day may bring forth. Thankful 
 fliould we be for this confummation devoutly to 
 be wifhed — this rupture of parties. We may 
 pick and choofe, or do neither, and lie fafely in 
 our beds. Who of us from abroad knows what 
 are the political rulings here in Newport this 
 8 
 
86 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 day *? For one, I do not. But this we all know 
 and feel. It is our home, and by birthright fo, 
 and to us the belt beloved — the mod beautiful 
 fpot under the ikies. Would not the Father of 
 his country look upon it, as he once did, with 
 deep pleafure, and commit to its hofpitalities, to 
 its pleafures, its wide ocean, thofe dear to him 
 by birth, and doubly fo by apprehended fatal 
 difeafe ? I am fure he would, and in confirma- 
 tion of this I will here introduce a letter which 
 he addreffed to my father, in 1783. 
 
 Newburgh, 7th June, '83. 
 Sir : My Nephew, who will have the honor of prefent- 
 ing this letter to you, has been in bad health more than 
 twelve months, and is advifed to try the climate of Rhode 
 Ifland by his Phyficians. Any civilities which you may be 
 kind enough to fhow him will be thankfully acknowledged by 
 Sir, Yr. Moft OBd. Serv. 
 
 Go. WASHINGTON. 
 
 Wm. Channing, Esq. 
 
 I cannot recur to this venerated hero, and moft 
 honoured man, without being carried back again 
 to our early days, and to that efpecially in which 
 the news came of his death. His laft fpeech to 
 Congrefs was dehvered on the 7th of December, 
 1796. He returned to Mount Vernon to enjoy 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 87 
 
 the pleafures of retirement ; but he was not left 
 to perfed repofe. A war with France was 
 threatened, and he was made Lieutenant-General 
 of all the land forces of the country, the higheft 
 office in the gift of any people ; in this never 
 before held, and but once lince. Wafliington 
 accepted the office upon condition that he fliould 
 not be called into the field till his fervices were 
 adually demanded, and to receive no emolu- 
 ments until he was in a fituation to incur ex- 
 penfe. That time did not come. His public 
 toils were over, but his enjoyment of a private 
 hfe was fliort. On Friday, 13th December, 1799, 
 expofure to rain was followed by inflammation 
 of the throat, and he died Saturday night fol- 
 lowing, aged 67 years. 
 
 Well do I remember the day we heard of his 
 death. It was of a Sunday morning, in church. 
 The minifter, having announced it, read the 
 pfalm in which is this line, — 
 
 "Princes mull die and turn to duft." 
 
 The leader, in finging, came to this line. He 
 began to fing it, his voice faltered, it flopped, he 
 buried his face in his hands and fat down, weep- 
 ing like a child. And why fuch deep emotion, 
 
88 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 fo Itrongly exprelTed ? He was a tall, and very 
 ftrong man. You would have fuppofed that 
 nothing could have fo moved him, efpecially in 
 his place, at that moment : but he had been a 
 foldier under Wafliington, and near to him in 
 the fervice. He had feen and felt his power, 
 his moral dignity, his kindnefs, his devotion to 
 his country. His death to him was as would 
 have been the death of his father. He wept for 
 him as a fon. I was then about twelve years of 
 age. 
 
 We have fpoken of Newport as it was more 
 than half a century ago, and in its phylical, edu- 
 cational, religious, and political afpeds, fo far as 
 they appear to us from the ftand-point of the 
 prefent. We have been obliged to recur con- 
 ftantly to our perfonal obfervations and experi- 
 ence. I cannot but have fome confidence in 
 the corredness of the ftatements, becaufe they 
 are of events and fads of my earlieft knowledge, 
 and if it takes old age to know the force with 
 which our earlieft impreflions are made, and the 
 full power of memory with regard to them, have 
 I not fome claim to be heard concerning them *? 
 To the truly old man, who has retained health 
 of mind and body, human life has but two 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 89 
 
 periods or eras — the earlieft days of conscious 
 youth, and the lateltof age. The time between 
 thefe, and all its events feems comprelTed into 
 the narroweft fpace — fo crowded, fo confuled, 
 that they cannot in their integrity be fummoned 
 before us. In this is the confirmation of that 
 ancient fcripture, " Our hfe is verily a hand's 
 breadth." The occafion has confined me to my 
 earlieft days, and to its inftitutions, and happy 
 fhall I be in the thought that I have faid any 
 thing to intereft and to ferve you. 
 
 A queftion may arife, what have our inftitu- 
 tions done for us, — for its people ? There is 
 embarraflTment in the queftion. Its anfwer muft 
 trench and that clofely upon the perfonal, which 
 all know is a region into which careful men are 
 never anxious to enter. But Newport is not 
 without witneffes that (lie has done fomething for 
 herfelf and for her country. Gilbert Stewart was 
 an artift of the higheft ftanding in both Europe 
 and America, and his works are with us for mem- 
 ory and admiration.* Waftiington Allfton came 
 
 * Stewart, who was a humorift as well as an artift, was 
 very fond of coming to Newport. He flopped at Town- 
 fend's, and often, often have I heard him praife the excellent 
 8* 
 
go THE RE-UNION. 
 
 here a boy, and received here the moft important 
 part of every man's education, for it is in our 
 earhefl: youth are laid the foundations of whatever 
 of charafter, polition, and ufefulnefs to which 
 we may attain. A family of many fons was bom 
 and educated here, many of whom have been 
 profeffional men, and fome of them profeffors in 
 a College. Dillinguillied counfellors and ftates- 
 men are numbered among the natives of New- 
 port, among whom may be named William 
 Hunter, who held a refponfible foreign official 
 polition, and had the belt confidence of his fel- 
 low townfmen, and a wide fphere in his profes- 
 lional relations. James Hamilton was educated 
 here, and attained to important political dis- 
 
 fare and uniform kindnefs in that then famed refort of trav- 
 lellers. *' So eafy is living in Newport," he ufed to fay, " that 
 1 fear there are many lazy dogs around. Why, there were 
 many ports up and down Thames Street, for the convenience 
 of country folks, who faftened their horfes to them when they 
 come to town. But at my laft vifit I found the ports were 
 gone, and I afked Townfend why it was fo. Said he, there 
 ufed always to be two or three sturdy men holding on to 
 every port to keep themfelves from falling down, fo lazy were 
 they : but the Town Council have taken the ports all away, 
 in hope that their old cuftomers or dependejits will go to 
 • work." 
 
THE CELEBRATION. ()1 
 
 tinaion in South Carolina, his native State. I fat 
 in the fame form at fchool with one whom 
 Newport will always hold in cheriflied memory, 
 and honor, — Oliver Hazard Perry. I fee him 
 now in his youth, yes childhood, and remember 
 how attradive he was by the beauty of his face, 
 and the grace of his form. He was fo delicate 
 in appearance that no one dreamed what he 
 would be. He was, I hardly need fay, bred in 
 the Navy, and, in the war of 1812, had com- 
 mand of a fleet, when a young man. The bat- 
 tle of Lake Erie, Newport and the country, 
 and naval hiftory, will never forget, for our hero 
 conquered the fleet of a nation which never 
 loft one before. 
 
 I began by referring to the love of our native 
 place, — to the delire we have to return to it, 
 and the pleafure which coming home always 
 brings with it. Why is it that we thus love the 
 place of our birth ? Why have all men done 
 the fame *? The fon of the mift, in Scott, in 
 his dying hour, begged that he might be turned 
 fo that his eyes could reft once more upon his 
 native hills, and clofe with their lateft vifion bent 
 there. Why did the hero of Virgil, in his death- 
 hour, manifeft his love for the place of his birth, 
 
92 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 which is fo beautifully narrated by that immortal 
 bard ; — et dukes inoriens reminicitiir Argos, Why, 
 why is this *? It is an inftind which gives to it 
 place in the human heart, and expreffion in human 
 thought, life, word. We know not why or what 
 it is. Like poetry, it is born with us, not made, — 
 nafcitur, non fit. It fixes itfelf to fome fpot in 
 God's wide univerfe, and that fpot is, in a word, 
 home^ the place of our birth, the land of our 
 fathers, where we got our earlieft culture, where 
 we laid the foundation of character, pofition, 
 ufefulnefs ; where, in a word, we were made, 
 and from which no new birth can remake us. It 
 was faid to be to circumfcribed regions the 
 inftinft of love of place is confined. This is 
 fhowed in the allufion firft made to Virgil and 
 Scott, and which might in thoufands of others be 
 illuftrated. It is fomething other, I had almoft 
 faid, higher than the old word patriotifm ordin- 
 arily indicates. Is it poflible to love a whole 
 nation ? Does England love India, or love Can- 
 ada ? Can we Americans love our whole world 
 of Union, — who of us loves thofe States which 
 are more than fix thoufand miles from the fpot 
 on which we this moment (land, — here in our 
 honored and beloved honie ? What love can 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 93 
 
 ftand two Immenfe oceans of more than 3000 
 miles each "? You cannot know fuch people. I 
 may fay, races, for they confift of fpecimens of 
 all the human races, Parthians, Scythians, Indians, 
 and what not ? Our courfe of life is different 
 from theirs, — manners, cuftoms, habits. They 
 are above law, " a law to themfelves ; " in fliort, 
 they dig gold, and we dig potatoes. Greece was 
 fo loved becaufe it was hardly larger than the 
 State of Rhode Ifland, and its capital was Ath- 
 ens. Every body knew his neighbour, and his 
 neighbour was every body. They called, and fo 
 did Rome, a man born elfewhere, a barbarian. 
 No matter what his culture, what his refinement, 
 to the Greek he was fooliflinefs, and a ftranger. 
 
 It is a curious fact in psychology that, though 
 univerfal love is a moral duty, we cannot attain 
 to it. Look at the family, — the family and its 
 children. Here is a relation with which a 
 ftranger muft not intermeddle. " Enter not into 
 my fecret," is the language of every fuch human 
 relation, and courtefy, if not principle, enforces 
 and executes the univerfal law. Is it not fo in 
 the larger relations of one's birthplace, his native 
 home ^ Are we not jealous of its dignity, do 
 we not willi it only good, would we not live for 
 
'94 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 its proteSion and welfare, would we not die In 
 its defence? Few, if any, may agree with me 
 in thefe views ; but they are truths to me, truths 
 of experience, and of reafon, and now that we 
 are talking together as members of the fame 
 family, dwellers in the fame home, the lame 
 birthplace, I am not unwilling to exprefs my 
 views concerning it. I live in a State, and in 
 one of the cities of which a great number of my 
 calling are from other States. We were not 
 at once entitled to the rights of citizens. We 
 were immigrants, and like others of that wide clafs 
 in America, we obtained legal relidence or citi- 
 zeniliip in due procefs of law. A certain time 
 was neceflary before we could exercife the right 
 and suffrage — not that this is practically a very 
 highly valued right, for though our polls amount 
 to 33,000, we never, whether for city. State, or 
 United States objects, get half that number 
 checked on our ward voting lifts. As I go with 
 the majority, I never vote, leaving it to thofe 
 more interefted in municipal and other affairs 
 than I am, to fee that they are legally managed. 
 I think that we fee in this iimple ftatement of 
 fafts that he who leaves his birthplace never ac- 
 quires or can acquire, for his new, accidental 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 95 
 
 refidence, the feeling he has for his natural 
 home. It is to this he clings while life lafts, and 
 how deep is that fentiment is abundantly de- 
 clared by this vaft meeting of Newport's fons and 
 daughters. We have left our adopted homes, 
 our occupations, and our bought-pleafures, to 
 come together again to the old family hearth- 
 ftone and altar, and to fee, and to think, and to 
 talk about fcenes and events which made up the 
 earlieft and molt important periods of our lives. 
 The feeling has often been mine, the wifli to 
 come again to my true home, and to pafs the 
 few remaining years of my life where life with 
 me began. 
 
 Some years ago, I printed, not publiflied, a 
 fmall volume of verfes, or, as I call them, 
 "lines with rhyming ends." One of the poems 
 is called " A Summer's Day." I go into the 
 country, and in a familiar grove, and pafs the 
 day in narrating what occurred to me while in 
 Scotland and England, more than half a century 
 ago, as a medical ftudent. In the laft paflage of 
 this poem, fo called, occur the following ftanzas, 
 which exprefs the feeling or delire I have to 
 return to the place of my birth. 
 
96 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 " That vifion of the paft is gone ! 
 In the old grove I fit alone, 
 England beyond the fea : 
 The prefent rufhes on my fight. 
 The flanting fun with mellowed light. 
 Gives the near world to me. 
 
 I fain would Hve in earlier years. 
 
 That day of boyhood's joys and fears, — 
 
 The homeftead far away, — 
 Stand on that neighbour beach again. 
 Lie on the bofom of the main, 
 
 A child with it to play. 
 
 Long years have pafled fince I was there. 
 The willing flave of duty here. 
 
 Yes, here to Hve and die; 
 But ftill the thought will often come 
 And woo me to my native home, — 
 
 To beach, to fea and fky. 
 
 I greet that thought, and revel there 
 In all it is my lot to bear. 
 
 And grateful thank it too; 
 The day may come when to its power, 
 rU joyful give the willing hour 
 
 Again to old and new." 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 97 
 
 Mufic was the next thing in order — " Should 
 old acquaintance be forgot?" — fung by the 
 whole audience. 
 
 The Mayor now invited the guefts to partake 
 of the collation, and the officiating clergyman, 
 Rev. James McKenzie, offered up thanks to the 
 Throne of Grace. 
 
 The collation was handfomely ferved, and 
 confided of profufions of cold meats of various 
 kinds: fruits, cakes, and other refrefliments, 
 waflied down with fparkling cold water. 
 
 After the feaft, the Mayor called the audience 
 to order, and the toaft-mafter, James Atkinson, 
 Efq., gave the fecond regular toaft : 
 
 Our IJland Home — " The pureft gem on the bofom of 
 the ocean. 
 
 Which was refponded to as follows, by ex- 
 Mayor Rodman, of Providence, a returned 
 fon : 
 
 An old lady fat in an antique chair. 
 
 In her home befide the Tea, 
 With a heart as light and as free from care. 
 
 As a happy old lady's could be. 
 9 
 
98 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 And fhe joyous watched the billows wild. 
 
 As they crumbled along the flrand ; 
 While cheerful dreams her hours beguiled. 
 
 Of her children in every land. 
 
 And each rolling wave, as it danced along 
 
 With its vefture of opal fpray. 
 To her lonely heart fang the cradle fong. 
 
 Of her loved ones far away. 
 
 And while fhe fat mufmg and watching the deep. 
 Bright fpangled and crefted with foam. 
 
 Low hymnings were heard, hke the whifpers of 
 fleep. 
 Home ! Mother, we are coming home. 
 
 The old lady fmiling, arofe from her chair, 
 
 A fong of her girlhood humming. 
 And called on her children at home to prepare. 
 
 For their brothers and fillers were coming. 
 
 Then kind ^'Mrs. Redwood arranged her grey hair. 
 
 And dufted her mouldering nooks ; 
 And hung all her piflures with order and care. 
 
 And covered and numbered her books. 
 
 * Redwood Library has been thoroughly renovated during 
 the paft year, and greatly enlarged ; and Mr. King, a native 
 of Newport, but a refident artift of Walhington, has pre- 
 fented to it a large colledion of hiilorical pictures from his 
 pencil. 
 
99 
 
 THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 And old *Madam Trinity opened her eyes. 
 
 With a look of wonder and doubt. 
 And alked Mrs. Redwood, with air of furprife. 
 
 What on earth fhe was fuffing about ? 
 
 Our brothers and fifters are coming, faid Ihe, 
 
 To make us a visit once more; 
 And I'm fixing up and trying to be 
 
 As handfome and fmart as before. 
 
 Dame Trinity then prepared a new drefs. 
 
 And mantled her figure of grace ; 
 And faid to her clock, with pride I confefs. 
 
 Time leaves on my vifage no trace. 
 
 And fo they kept chatting and working the while, 
 
 Aflbrting and ranging the things ; 
 Madame Trinity yielding her crown with a fmile,- 
 
 Mrs. Redwood the tribute of Kings. 
 
 And thus all united, the great and the fmall, 
 
 A welcome for us to prepare. 
 Who are here at our mother's afFeftionate call. 
 
 This feaft of her bounty to Ihare. 
 
 ■^ Old Trinity Church has been newly painted, and other- 
 wife improved fince the library alterations were commenced. 
 The fpire is capped with the crown of England, which was 
 placed there before the Revolution. A confpicuous dial 
 plate adorns the bafe of the fteeple ; but the clock, through 
 late years, has ceafed to perform adlive duty. 
 
lOO THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Oh ! then, let us clafp, all united once more. 
 Our mother's loved, tremulous hand ; 
 
 And pledge to each other the friendlhip of yore. 
 While here round her table we Hand. 
 
 Aye, here round this table as one let us vow. 
 With life's lengthened Ihadows in view. 
 
 That to her, — to each other, we'll ever as now. 
 Be conftant, and faithful, and true. 
 
 Though the North and the South, the Weft and 
 the Eaft, 
 
 May claim and demand us their own. 
 We acknowledge the bond, — but this day, at leaft. 
 
 We are Sons of old Newport alone. 
 
 Thcfe fields and thefe ftreams, thefe rocks and 
 thefe dells, 
 
 Thefe orchards, thefe gardens, thefe bowers. 
 The roar of old ocean, its ftrand and its fhells. 
 
 Are all, by inheritance, ours. 
 
 Then hail to our ifland ! — the home of our birth — 
 
 Thefreeftofallthebleflfree; 
 The loveliefl gem on the bofom of earth. 
 
 And queen of the ifles of the fea. 
 
 Third regular toaft : 
 
 T^e Early Governors of Rhode IJland — The influence of 
 their falutary example, as men and legiflators, has not been 
 loft upon their worthy fucceffors. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 101 
 
 Replied to by his Excellency, Gov. Turner, 
 as follows : 
 
 Mr. Mayor: As I look around upon this 
 beautiful fcene, this gathering of the Sons and 
 Daughters of Rhode Ifland, I can but congratu- 
 late myfelf that I have the privilege of being pre- 
 fent as one of your guefts. 
 
 Although not one of the Sons, my recolledion 
 of the years fpent in this beautiful city, during 
 my boyhood, are of fo pleafant a nature, that I 
 am efpecially gratified to meet on this occafion, 
 my early affociates and friends, many of whom 
 now revifit the home of their youth after long 
 years of abfence. 
 
 But, Sir, intermingled with this pleafurable 
 feeling, is one of regret, that it had not been the 
 privilege of fome abler Son of Rhode Ifland to 
 refpond to the fentiment which you have pro- 
 pofed — one who could do juftice to the virtues, 
 the patriotifm, and the felf-devotion of my early 
 predeceffors in office. 
 
 Rhode Ifland, Sir, is juftly proud of her early 
 
 governors and legiflators, and flie has caufe to 
 
 be proud of the men who fo nobly and fuccefs- 
 
 fully gave their time, their talents, and their beft 
 
 9* 
 
102 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 energies to eftablifh and perpetuate a govern- 
 ment that fliould promote peace, virtue, godli- 
 nefs, and charity. Under that government, we, 
 their defcendants, now enjoy all that a free and 
 enlightened people can delire. 
 
 Let us hope, Sir, that " the influence of their 
 falutary example, as men and legiflators," may 
 never be loft upon the people of this State, 
 whofe privilege and whofe duty it is to feled 
 their rulers, as, under our fyftem of government, 
 we may always look for good governors, good 
 legiflators, and faithful executors of the laws, 
 while the people remain true to themfelves. 
 
 Fourth regular toaft : 
 
 The Hijfory of Rhode IJland — It has been accurately and 
 faithfully written by one of her honored fons, and will ever 
 be prized as a valuable acceffion to hiftoric literature. 
 
 This was refponded to as follows, by Hon. 
 Samuel G. Arnold : 
 
 Mr. President : The terms of the toaft to which 
 L am called to reply, enable me (to adopt the 
 language of a learned fpeaker at the late Pilgrim 
 Feftival, at Plymouth,) "to bring to this brilliant 
 feaft, that homely New England commodity — 
 a few fads ; " fads that may illuftrate why it is, 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 103 
 
 that this vaft affemblage has come up here 
 to-day, to partake of the hofpitahties of your 
 time-honored city, and to renew the holy cov- 
 enant of State brotherhood, that, two centuries 
 ago, made the Illand of Aquidneck and the 
 colony of Providence Plantations one and indis- 
 foluble ; a covenant that withftood the arguments 
 and the menaces of the reft of New England, 
 in defence of the novel idea of felf-government, 
 that carried the feeble colony in fafety, although 
 not unfcathed, through the horrors of Indian 
 wars ; that, through the long period of confliS 
 with France and Spain in the eighteenth century, 
 enabled our forefathers to prepare for that laft 
 great ftruggle for their cheriflied principles, in 
 which it was deftined that they were to take the 
 lead. That covenant of union, formed at Ports- 
 mouth two hundred and twelve years ago, when 
 the Parliamentary patent firft united the feeble 
 and fcattered fettlements into one Colony, rup- 
 tured four years later, ere its real value was fully 
 recognized, but renewed in November, 1663, 
 upon this fpot, when " a more abfolute, ample, 
 and free charter of civil incorporation" was, 
 " with much becoming gravity, held up on high, 
 and prefented to the perfed view of all the 
 
104 "^^^ RE-UNION. 
 
 people," (I quote, Sir, from the record of that 
 memorable day,) — that covenant, I fay, which, 
 in the chequered hiftory of our State, has lince 
 been repeatedly renewed in many a council hall, 
 and on many a hard fought field, may well be 
 again renewed by the defcendants of thofe who 
 formed it. It is for this purpofe that we now 
 welcome back to the green fields, and the lovely 
 fhores of our own Narraganfett, the far-wander- 
 ing Sons and Daughters of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 There are fads, Mr. Prefident, in the hiftory 
 of this, the fmalleft and oldcfi independent State 
 in America — (I say the oldcft. Sir, and before I 
 get through, I will prove it,) — which may well 
 warrant a feeling of honeft pride in all who can 
 claim an heiriliip to Rhode Illand blood; faSs 
 which may caufe that blood to pulfate more 
 proudly through the veins, and may mantle the 
 cheek with the flufli of exultant joy, whenever 
 and wherever they are brought to mind. 
 
 Much has been faid of that perfeft religious 
 freedom which firft in the hiftory of the modern 
 world, was realized in Rhode Ifland. It is lefs 
 known that that kindred plant from a common 
 flock, civil liberty, that was at the fame time 
 proclaimed in this State, was no lefs a novelty, 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 lOj 
 
 amid the philofophical fpeculations of the i yth 
 century. The earlieft of modern democracies 
 was the humble plantation at Providence. In 
 the reprefentative men of the two leading fettle- 
 ments of the State were united the fpirit of civil 
 and religious freedom, which make up the Rhode 
 Ifland idea of intelledual liberty. The firfl 
 charter was obtained by Roger WilKams, the 
 fecond by John Clarke. 
 
 Faffing over a period of half a century, 
 every year of which is replete with ftirring in 
 cident of fraternal il:rife, within and without, or 
 of favage warfare, look for a moment at a fingle 
 point conneSed with the ufurpation of Andros. 
 The lad ad of the Legillature, before religning 
 its power into the hands of a royal governor, was 
 to fall back upon the original fyftem of town 
 governments, exifting prior to the firft charter, 
 by which means the liberty of the individual 
 citizen was preferved, when that of the Colony 
 was cruflied. This ad has been too little re- 
 garded, amid the more falient and brilliant 
 paifages of our hiftory, yet it is one that, more 
 than any other, refleds the fpirit of our ancellors, 
 and does equal credit to their courage and their 
 fagacity. 
 
106 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Palling over another half century, from the 
 refumption of the charter at the fall of Andros, 
 we come down to the period of the fecond 
 Spanifli war. Here I willi to refer to a faft con- 
 nefted with this State that has almoft efcaped the 
 notice of hiftorians. One caufe of that war was 
 the trade with the French and Spanifli Weft 
 Indies, which Great Britain defired to grafp. 
 The old "Molaffes Ad,"paffed in 1733, impofed 
 a heavy duty upon Weft India produce im- 
 ported from foreign iilands into the northern 
 colonies. Rhode Ifland protefted againft this ad, 
 as a burden upon her commerce. Richard Par- 
 tridge, a Quaker, and the fucceffor of Wm. Penn 
 as the agent of Rhode Ifland, was requefted by 
 the Affembly "ftrenuoufly to oppofe" certain 
 additions to the aft, further reftrifting the Weft 
 India trade, that were propofed in Parliament at 
 the commencement of the war. The other col- 
 onies, at the fuggeftion of Rhode Ifland, made 
 Partridge their agent alfo for this purpofe. In the 
 Britifli archives at London, upon a flielf whofe 
 venerable duft is rarely difturbed except by a 
 moufing bookworm, or fome more praftical ftu- 
 dent of hiftory, repofes an ancient document 
 mildewed by the damps of more than a centu- 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 107 
 
 ly's negleS. It is the memorial of Partidge to 
 the Board of Trade, encloling the Petition of 
 Rhode Ifland againft this bill. Now mark the 
 words of that memorial. It afferts that " the bill 
 divefts the colonifts of their rights as Engliflimen 
 in levying taxes againft their confent, and with- 
 out their being reprefented on the floor of 
 Parliament." Taxation without reprefentation, 
 the war-cry of revolution, which in the next 
 generation was to rally the American colonies in 
 the ftruggle for independence, was here firft 
 founded by the Quaker agent of Rhode Ifland, 
 to ceafe only with the difmemberment of the 
 Britifli Empire ! 
 
 Let not my Quaker brethren ftart at this 
 trumpet-tone of war thus firft founded by one of 
 their peaceful fed. Rhode Ifland Quakerifm, 
 Mr. Prefident, was always rational and free, and 
 while it claimed to follow no other banner than 
 that of the Prince of Peace, it never would fub- 
 mit to oppreflion. Colledively, it would not 
 fight ; but it protefted upon paper, it gave fage 
 counfel, in troublous times it did all neceflary 
 and auxiliary duty of the camp, it did every- 
 thing but fight ; and had not the more belliger- 
 ent Baptifts far outnumbered the followers of 
 
108 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Fox, and rendered their fervice in the field fuper- 
 fluous, we might have feen the ftory of the chol- 
 eric Friend repeated on a larger fcale, and the 
 drab coats thrown upon the ground by regiments, 
 with the injunction, " Quaker, lay there." 
 
 A quarter of a century later, we find this col- 
 ony among the foremoft, if not the firft, to pro- 
 pofe an American Union in 1764, when the 
 renewal of this fame fugar act brought the fame 
 queftion of taxation before the Parliament, and 
 roufed the oppofition of the colonies. Four years 
 later, a moft bitter feud, which had long divided 
 the counfels of the colony, was ended by a union 
 of the rival parties for refiftance to England 
 when the queftion had come to involve the fu- 
 premacy of the Parliament or of the people. 
 
 Still four years more, we come to 1772. The 
 Revolution had commenced. The firft blood 
 {lied in the great ftruggle crimfoned the waters 
 of Narraganfett bay; the firft lliot fired in 
 the war told the fate of the Gafpee. Two 
 years more brought the Continental Congrefs, in 
 1774, which a town meeting in Providence was 
 the firft corporate body to propofe, and the Af- 
 fembly at Newport was the firft legiflature to 
 adopt, by the choice of delegates to attend it. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 109 
 
 Two more years bring us to the Declaration of 
 Independence. And now, Mr. Prefident, I will 
 prove what, at the opening of thefe remarks I 
 afferted, that ours is the oldeft independent State 
 in America. On the 4th of May, 1776, two 
 months before the general declaration of the 
 united colonies, the AlTembly of Rhode Ifland, 
 having firil depofed the Governor for lukewarm- 
 nefs in the caufe, fevered the laft link that bound 
 her to Great Britain, by palling the " Ad abjur- 
 ing allegiance to the Britifli crown." That ad 
 conftitutes Rhode Ifland, by two months, the 
 oldeft independent State in the Union. The 
 records of our AlTembly had always doled with 
 the loyal rubric, " God fave the King." At the 
 clofe of the May feflion, the words were changed, 
 and "God fave the United Colonies," appears 
 for the firft time in the archives of the ancient 
 plantations. 
 
 But this theme, Mr. Prefident, is one for vol- 
 umes, not for fpeeches, and I muft give way for 
 others better able to inftrud and to amufe you. 
 In clofing. Sir, I will fay that thefe facts in hiftory 
 all bear upon one point. They all lliow the 
 fpirit of our fathers to preferve the principle 
 which their fathers implanted on this foil, which 
 10 
 
no THE RE-UNION. 
 
 we are to cherifli as a holy heritage. Permit me 
 to offer, as an appropriate fentiment : 
 
 The me??iory of one of the fatheri of Aquidneck and of 
 Rhode Ifland — The learned phyfician, the devoted pallor, 
 the accomplifhed fcholar, the Chrillian flatefman — John 
 Clarke. 
 
 The fifth regular toad : 
 
 The Hiforial Society. — May ii proteft the fair fame of 
 the founders of our political and Hterary inflitutions, — the 
 memory of Abraham Redwood, the beneficent founder of 
 the venerable inflitution within whofe walls Channing ftudied 
 theology without an inftrudor. 
 
 This was refponded to by Dr. David King, 
 the Prefident of the Hiftorical Society, and of 
 the Redwood Library, as follows : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: I thank you from the 
 bottom of my heart for the kind reception which 
 you have given to the toad that honors the His- 
 torical Society, in which, as a citizen of New- 
 port, I have fo deep and fincere an intereft. I 
 have witneffed, not without deep emotion, the 
 enthufiafm, and the joy which pervade the vaft 
 affemblage of the Sons and Daughters of New- 
 port, or, if you will, of Rhode Ifland. Happy, 
 as if by an enchanter's wand, has our honored 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 1 1 1 
 
 Mayor ereded this temporary ftrudure for our 
 accommodation, fince no edifice previoufly 
 exifting here, could contain within its walls 
 an aflembly fo large, and animated by feelings 
 fo intenfe and fo univerfal. How can fuch 
 feehngs be compreffed within material walls? 
 It is to give a free expanfion to thoughts and 
 feelings honorable to our common nature. It 
 is to allow all who honor this feftival with 
 their prefence, to be within light, and within 
 hearing of each other. I catch from the audi- 
 ence the freedom of the occalion. And you 
 will find me trefpalTmg beyond the proper limits 
 of the fentiment to anfwer, which the Preiident 
 of the day has called me upon this platform. 
 Why is it that I obferve this intenfe feeling 
 which glows in this alTembly? It is becaufe 
 we have confecrated this day to a fincere and 
 cordial expreilion of our love and admiration of 
 the land of our birth. Outward nature is beau- 
 tiful and grand. But while we enjoy the verdure 
 of our native foil, the delicious air that breathes 
 over our fertile fields, the unequalled beauty of 
 our harbor and the illes that float upon its fur- 
 face and the grandeur of Old Ocean, impreffed 
 upon our imagination from youth with an ever- 
 
112 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 lading beauty, we cannot forget that Rhode 
 Ifland, I mean the ifland of Rhode Ifland, 
 is not only endeared to our hearts by being the 
 land of our birth, but embalmed in our mem- 
 ories for her illuftrious paft, her great virtues, her 
 great men, and her great achievements. 
 
 What has been the great charaSeriiHc of our 
 people ? I fay the love of freedom, the true 
 fpirit of liberty, has animated the breads of 
 Rhode Iflanders from the commencement of the 
 colony. In 1638, Coddington, with a number 
 of noble affociates, exiles from Maffachufetts, 
 purchafed this ifland of thofe magnanimous Nar- 
 raganfett Sachems, Canonicus and Miantinimoh, 
 and laid here the foundation of an Englifli col- 
 ony. Rhode Ifland "had the image of the 
 Britifli Conftitution." From that time " flie had 
 the fubftance." She elefted her own magi ftrates ; 
 flie made her own laws, and regulated all her 
 internal concerns. Coddington, to whom juftice 
 has never been done — I fay it from long and 
 profound itudy of his charafter — Coddington, to 
 whom juftice has never been done, occupied the 
 fame poiition in the Colony of Rhode Ifland 
 that John Winthrop occupied in the Colony of 
 Maffachufetts. Both were remarkable men, — 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 113 
 
 men of found judgment and great pratlical 
 ability. The legiflation of Rhode Ifland, during 
 his adminiftration, was adapted to the exigencies 
 of the colony, and was founded on the belt 
 maxims of the age. But on the fubjed of re- 
 ligious liberty, on the 16th of March, 1641, 
 Rhode Ifland, while Coddington was governor, 
 promulgated a new maxim of State policy, and 
 anticipated by more than a century the enlight- 
 ened legiflation of a future day. It is with pride 
 that I fay it, that here, on this very fpot, Cod- 
 dington and his alTociates, in 1641, enacted the 
 firfl: law granting complete religious liberty that 
 was ever embodied in the legiflation of a civil- 
 ized State. And this was accompliflied by 
 " outcafts," noble outcafts, as you and I will 
 believe, who, in the language of Burke, were 
 not fo much fent as thrown out, on the bleak 
 and barren fliore of a defolate wildernefs, three 
 thoufand miles from all civiHzed intercourfe. I 
 fay three thoufand miles from all civilized inter- 
 courfe, becaufe, at that time, Rhode Ifland was 
 denied all intercourfe with her civilized neigh- 
 bors of Maffachufetts. 
 
 Let us recoiled, on this day confecrated to 
 good feeling, the motto of their Seal of State — 
 
 10* 
 
11^ THE RE-UNION. 
 
 a motto which will be appreciated at leaft by the 
 fairer and better portion of this audience — Amor 
 vincet omnia. Love conquers all things, indicative 
 of the pacific and, confequently, fuccefsful char- 
 aSer of their policy. Rhode Ifland continued in 
 a career of profperity, not, indeed, without fome 
 adverfity, under the succeffive charters of the 
 Earl of Warwick and of Charles II. Her com- 
 merce, her fillieries, and her fliip-building, all 
 aided in the growth of her refources. In com- 
 mon with her filter colonies, flie fubmitted to the 
 principle of commercial monopoly, impofed by 
 England, from 1660 to 1764. But the Stamp 
 Ad, in 1764, inaugurating a new fyftem of com- 
 mercial fervitude, was refilled inftinSively from 
 the firit by Rhode Ifland. In October, 1764, 
 Rhode Ifland denied the authority of Parliament 
 to enad even laws of trade. She appointed a 
 committee of correfpondence, and recommended 
 to the other colonies union for the protedion of 
 colonial rights and privileges. On the 15th of 
 February, 1765, her remonftrance, like thofe of 
 Connedicut, Virginia, and Carolina, was rejeded 
 with fcorn by the Britifli Parliament ; and from 
 that period until the Revoludon, with the excep- 
 tion of a fliort interval, juft after the repeal of 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 115 
 
 the Stamp Acl, the fpirit of liberty in Rhode 
 Ifland was in open defiance to the authority of 
 the mother country. 
 
 In the fummer of 1765, a band of five hun- 
 dred men feized one of the boats of the Maid- 
 ftone,^an English iliip of war, in the harbor of 
 Newport, dragged it up Queen Street to the public 
 fquare, at the head of Broad Street, where it was 
 burned, amidft the execrations of an indignant 
 people. The Maidftone had tyrannically perfe- 
 cuted our marine, and illegally impreffed our 
 feamen. 
 
 On the 27th of Auguft, the effigies of Auguftus 
 Johnfon, Martin Howard, and Dr. Thomas Mof- 
 fat, the Stamp Mafter, and the two vindicators of 
 the Stamp Ad, were drawn, in open day, in a 
 cart through the ftreets of New^port, and were 
 afterwards hung upon a gallows, ereded near the 
 Town Houfe, amidft the derilion of the people. 
 On the following day, the houfes of Moffat and 
 Howard were alTailed and nearly deftroyed by 
 what was called, in the Tory papers of the day, a 
 mob, but which you and I will believe was com- 
 pofed of the fons of liberty. 
 
 On the 17th of June, 1769, the armed revenue 
 Sloop Liberty was boarded by fome of the people 
 
Il6 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 of Newport. Her cables were cut, and flie was 
 allowed to drive on lliore at the Point. Her mafts 
 and bowfprit were then cut away. Her boats 
 were taken by the people and drawn through the 
 ftreets of Newport to the Liberty Tree, where 
 they were burned as an offering on the a\tar of 
 Liberty. A few evenings after llie was fet on fire, 
 and, drifting from the Point to the north end of 
 Goat Ifland, her blazing wreck far round illumi- 
 nated the harbor. By the diredion of the col- 
 ledor, this armed floop had repeatedly and provok- 
 ingly annoyed our veffels, by overhauling them, 
 when leaving our harbor for their deftined ports. 
 
 In December, 1766, Moffat aiked of Rhode 
 Ifland compenfation for his lofTes, incurred by 
 the popular tumult at Newport, during the 
 Stamp Ad. His claims were founded on the 
 Refolves of the Britiili Parliament, and the par- 
 ticular recommendation of the King. Metcalf 
 Bowler, once a diftinguiflied citizen of Newport, 
 and the Speaker of the Affembly, declared this 
 claim to be groundlefs, and totally inoperative 
 on the minds of the free and independent repre- 
 fentatives of the Rhode Ifland Colony. 
 
 The prefs in Rhode Ifland was clear and ex- 
 plicit in its denunciations of the commercial 
 
THE CELEBRATION. II7 
 
 tyranny of Great Britain. The Newport Mer- 
 cury^ in the year 1 770, had for its motto this re- 
 markable paffage, — remarkable, becaufe exceed- 
 ing in plainnefs and daring any ever adopted by 
 any print, in any other colony, or in any other 
 town: "Undaunted by TYRANTS,— Well 
 DIE or be FREE." All honor to the memory 
 of Solomon Southwick, the editor and proprietor 
 of the Newport Mercury^ in 1770. 
 
 On the 9th of June, 1772, the Gafpee was 
 boarded by a brave fet of men, our noble brothers 
 of Providence. The crew, with Lieutenant Dud- 
 dington, were overpowered and put on lliore. 
 The velTel was burned. All honor to the mem- 
 ory of the men who performed this bold aft. 
 
 The invafion and deftruction of the King's 
 veffels, of the Sloop Liberty, in Newport harbor, 
 and of the Gafpee, in Providence river, were re- 
 garded in England as the moft daring infults, 
 which colony ever offered to the fovereignty of 
 Great Britain. They inflamed the indignation of 
 Lord Sandwich, and he declared that he w^ould 
 purfue the colony until he obtained the disfran- 
 chifement of its charter. 
 
 In 1774, on hearing of the prohibition of all 
 importation of army and ammunition in America, 
 
Il8 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 you difmantled the King's Fort, at Goat Ifland, 
 took therefrom forty pieces of cannon, took every 
 ball and cartridge, and drained the magazines of 
 every grain of gunpowder. 
 
 In 1775, you fent from Newport to the Camp 
 at Cambridge, feveral military companies, of a 
 part of the Army of Obfervation, raifed by 
 Rhode Ifland in the King's fervice. When the 
 drum beat for the commencement of the march, 
 there was a univerfal exclamation from the 
 Tories, affembled near the Court Houfe, (it may 
 have been with a feeling, not of triumph, but of 
 regret,) " There they go with halters about their 
 necks." Many of thefe brave foldiers never re- 
 turned. Some perillied in confequence of the 
 sufferings and hardQiips endured in a winter's 
 march through the wildernefs, in Arnold's Expe- 
 dition to Quebec. Some fell under the walls of 
 Quebec, many, fighting bravely, on the battle- 
 field of the Revolution. Some few, indeed, did 
 return, with laurels of triumph on their brows, 
 but with no fubftantial reward, with nothing 
 around or before them but a defolate home, and 
 the ftern neceffity of laboring for their daily 
 bread. 
 
 The merits and fufferings of the Army of the 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 119 
 
 Revolution, its officers and foldiers, it is not 
 neceffary for me to dwell upon, as it has confti- 
 tuted a theme for fome of the mod eloquent 
 efforts of Rhode Ifland Statefmen. 
 
 The entrenchments on the hills around us, 
 remind us riot only of the glorious battle fought 
 on Rhode Ifland by the troops of Sullivan, of 
 Glover, and Greene, but of the chivalrous fol- 
 diery of France, Rochambeau, De Chaftellux, 
 Lauzun, and others, who, at the inftance of the 
 good king Louis XVI, our noble ally, came in 
 the darkeft moments of our itruggle to our aid. 
 Never can Americans, and certainly never can 
 Rhode Iflanders forget the debt of gratitude we 
 owe to France, or ceafe to venerate the names of 
 the French officers who fought fo bravely for 
 independence, whilfl: we were contending, not 
 only againft England, " but the hireling fwords 
 of German boors and vaffals." 
 
 On this occaiion we cannot forget thofe true 
 Patriots and able Statefmen, citizens of New- 
 port, Samuel Ward, William Ellery, and Henry 
 Marchant, who contributed to cherifli, to control, 
 and to direct the Revolutionary fpirit in Rhode 
 Ifland. One only of their number was permitted 
 to fign the Declaration of Independence, William 
 
120 • THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Ellery. We can imagine with what a refolute 
 heart he did it. With the elder Adams he faid, 
 " Sink or fwim, Hve or die, furvive or perifh, I 
 give my hand and my heart to this vote." 
 
 I have faid enough to lliow that we have 
 caufe to be proud of the land of our birth. 
 
 But, while maintaining our political inftitu- 
 tions, and upholding, by noble efforts, American 
 freedom, we have not neglected our literary 
 inftitutions. At an early period, Berkeley, Red- 
 wood, Collins, gave an impulfe to American 
 learning — an influence which continues to be 
 felt in our community, and which may lead, in 
 time, (God grant that it may,) to the founda- 
 tion of a noble Univerlity on this ifland of 
 Rhode Ifland. 
 
 Channing, born here and trained here for his 
 maturer efforts, is undoubtedly the higheft lit- 
 erary and philofophic charafter we have pro- 
 duced. He is faid, within the walls of the 
 Redwood Library, in the language of your toaft, 
 to have fludied "Theology without an In- 
 ftructor." — But we know that the Eccleiiaftical 
 Polity of Richard Hooker was upon our flielves 
 when Channing frequented our Library, and no 
 man could read Hooker without being materi- 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 121 
 
 ally aided in underftanding that Univerfal Law, 
 to comprehend which, the nobleft minds in 
 every age have afpired. How eli'e could it be, 
 for, in the fublime perfonification of Hooker, 
 her feat is the bofom of God, her voice the har- 
 mony of the world. Undoubtedly Channing 
 called no man mailer, followed faithfully the 
 direflion of his great and noble nature, and 
 obeyed only, fubmifllvely, the laws of the im- 
 mortal intelled, and the higher laws of the 
 Author of his being. Would that we had more 
 Channings, — men who would be true to their 
 nature — true to the noble afpirations which God 
 has implanted in their breads. Mr. Mayor, 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclulion, in behalf 
 of the Hillorical Society, I will fay, that we will. 
 endeavor, on eyery and all occafions, to proteft 
 the fair fame of our Fathers, and to preferve the 
 memory of their achievements and virtues. 
 
 Sixth regular toaft : 
 
 The Founders of Rhode Ifland Colony, and the Founders 
 of the State of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 The reply was from J. Stanton Gould, Efq., 
 of Hudfon, New York, a returned Son. 
 II 
 
122 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Many a high and thrilling thought fwells in 
 the bofoms of Rhode Ifland's Sons when the 
 memory and the virtues of the patriarchs of their 
 race are the fubjeds of their contemplations. 
 
 Rome offered divine honors to the illuftrious 
 men who laid the foundations of her dominion 
 and her glory. Athens commemorated her early 
 heroes and fages in ftory and in fong, and lav- 
 iflied upon them all the wealth of fculpture and 
 of painting. 
 
 We offer no pagan rites to the Coddingtons, 
 the Coggeflialls, the Eaftons, the Clarkes, and 
 their illuftrious compeers who, in fuffering and 
 in forrow, entered upon this domain, and laid the 
 foundations of that noble heritage which has 
 defcended to their ions all robed in lovelinefs 
 and beauty. For them, no incenfe fmokes on 
 fculptured altars ; for them no monumental mar- 
 ble rifes in cloud-capppd majefty to the heavens ; 
 for them no poet has invoked the mufe, nor has 
 the orator linked their names with " thoughts 
 that breathe and words that burn." But we, 
 their defcendants, ever bear them enflirined in 
 our heart of hearts, cheriiliing their memories 
 with a filial reverence and a tender love, which 
 needs no external token to enkindle or intenlify. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 123 
 
 We are fcattered everywhere over the wide 
 earth ; amid the ice-ribbed regions of the Ardic 
 zone, under the burning fun of the equator, on 
 the mountain tops and in the valleys, may the 
 Sons of Rhode Ifland be found ; but wherever 
 they are, whether on the land or the ocean, they 
 bear with them hearts full of love and admira- 
 tion for the patriots and fages who laid the foun- 
 dations of liberty and law fo deep and fo folid 
 in the Eden-like home of their youth and their 
 afFedions. 
 
 Thefe fentiments of filial reverence which He 
 fo deep in our hearts at all times, may well find 
 vocal expreffion on this folemn and aufpicious 
 gathering of the long-feparated but now united 
 Sons of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 Other men have planted ftates and founded 
 empires ; they have exhibited phylical courage 
 on the field of battle, cunning in diplomacy, 
 and ilirewdnefs in legiflation; they have even 
 laid down noble principles of civil liberty, but 
 when they attempted to apply thefe principles 
 to pradice they have failed. 
 
 It is the peculiar glory of the fathers of Rhode 
 Ifland that they did all this, and more, — they 
 adually pradifed what they preached. 
 
124 "^^^ RE-UNION. 
 
 When they declared themfelves the cham- 
 pions of hberty, it was Hberty for all that they 
 meant, not for a fed, nor a race, nor a chque, but 
 genuine, unmiftakable, inahenable hberty for 
 every fon and daughter of Adam, without 
 refpeft to color, or lineage or pofition. 
 
 In 1652, they enaded the firft law that was 
 ever palled by human legillation for unloohng 
 the (liackles of the Have ; they would not daily 
 pray to the Almighty to break every yoke and 
 let the oppreffed go free, while they themfelves 
 were impoling the yoke and inflifting the op- 
 preflion. 
 
 They fcored no Baptift's back with ftripes, 
 no Quaker languiflied in their jails, no witch 
 dangled an unfeemly fpeftacle on their gibbets. 
 With the venerable Roger Williams, they heart- 
 ily hated the " bloody tenant," and as heartily 
 acquiefced in his famous declaration of foul-lib- 
 erty, in that " it is the will and command of God 
 lince the coming of his Sonne, a permiflion of 
 the mod Paganilli, Jewifli, Turkifli, or Anti- 
 Chriftian confciences and worfliips bee granted 
 to all men in all nations and countries, and they 
 are onely to be fought againft with that fword 
 which is onely (in foule matters,) able to conquer, 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 125 
 
 to wit, ye fword of ye fpirit, which is ye word of 
 God." 
 
 Not only was Uberty for the body and the 
 foul enjoined by the law and enforced by the 
 Judiciary, but in the focial intercourfe of man 
 with man, and family with family, of all ranks, 
 feds and politions, its bleffed influence was felt 
 in all its fulnefs. 
 
 " An incident related to me when very young, 
 by my grandmother when flie was very old, will 
 illuftrate the kind relations which exifted among 
 various religious feds in the early times, better 
 than any formal ftatement. 
 
 One pleafant Saturday afternoon in the month 
 of September, a fine brig, with all her canvas fet 
 to the breeze, was, feen gracefully rounding the 
 fouthern point of Goat Ifland ; at the lame time 
 an humble craft was pafTmg the northern point 
 of the fame ifland. The brig belonged to her 
 father, Stephen Wanton, (who reiided in what is 
 now known as the Slocum Houfe, and occupied 
 by John V. Hammet, Efq. She was from the 
 Weft Indies, and was loaded with molaffes, 
 Jamaica rum, lemons, limes, and other tropical 
 fruits. The floop was the Greenwich packet, 
 having, among other paffengers, Nathaniel 
 
 iv 
 
126 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Greene, the father of General Greene, of revo- 
 lutionary notoriety, who was an approved 
 minifter of the Society of Friends. He came 
 for the double purpofe of a focial vilit to his 
 friend Stephen Wanton, and to attend the 
 Friend's meeting on the enfuing day. The 
 arrival of the brig, and of this old and dear 
 friend, made it a holy day in my great-grand- 
 father's family, and they were all prepared for a 
 good time generally. 
 
 The arrival of Nathaniel Greene was foon 
 known through the town, and fliortly after the 
 tea things were removed, a thundering knock at 
 the front door announced the arrival of vilitors, 
 and the two Baptift miliifters of the town were 
 uftiered into the parlor. Hardly had they taken 
 their feats when the Jewifli Rabbi was an- 
 nounced, and then, in quick fuccefTion, came 
 others, until at length every clergyman in town 
 was prefent. After the current of converfation 
 had fairly fettled into a regular flow, another 
 gentleman made his appearance, which caufed 
 a great twinkling in the eyes of each of the rev- 
 erend divines, — it was Dr. Robert Rodman, the 
 mod celebrated punch maker in the colony. 
 There were many great brewers of this drink in 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 127 
 
 thofe days, and to be at the head of the frater- 
 nity was confidered glory enough for any one man. 
 
 The arrival of Dr. Rodman, and of the frefh 
 rum and lemons from the lliip, was, in the united 
 opinion of the clergy, a clear indication that the 
 finger of Providence pointed diredly to a bowl 
 of punch. 
 
 The huge China bowl (now in the poffeffion of 
 my mother) and ample materials were provided, 
 and the doclor was never before fo happy in 
 compounding them. There was not a clallical 
 fcholar around the table who could be convinced 
 that Jupiter, or any of the Olympian heroes, 
 ever tailed nedar half fo good as the liquor 
 which was glowing in the handfome China bowl 
 before them. 
 
 The unity of fpirit which enfued was not 
 aftonifliing ; 
 
 " Like kindred drops, they melted into one." 
 
 Mr. Honyman thought there was not half as 
 much virtue in a furplice as he had always be- 
 lieved, and Parfon Clapp became convinced 
 there was not half fo much fin in the government 
 as he had been wont to imagine ; while the Jew- 
 ifli Rabbi felt a growing conviftion that, if the 
 
128 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 MefTiah had not already come, the noife of his 
 chariot wheels was even now heard in the air. 
 (My grandmother's own words were, " They 
 were as loving as puppies,") which, I take it, 
 comprehends all that can be faid on the fubjeft. 
 
 At length the time for parting came ; friendly 
 farewells were exchanged, and the party faUied 
 into the (Ireet. The Epifcopalian and the Hebrew 
 interlocked their arms with death-like tenacity of 
 grafp, braced themfelves againft the fide of the 
 houfe, and abandoned themfelves to a wrapt con- 
 templation of the heavenly bodies, which were 
 fliining fo glorioufly in the blue vault above 
 them ; the others, lefs devoted to aflronomy, be- 
 took themfelves to the agricultural employment 
 of making Virginia fences, from one fide of the 
 ftreet to the other, with the moft aftonifliing 
 vigor. Nathaniel Greene had been feized with 
 a mild rheumatic affedion in the knees, which, 
 though not fevere enough to prevent him from 
 going up ftairs alone, yet was bad enough to 
 make the afTiftance of a negro rather convenient 
 than otherwife. 
 
 Next morning, all the minifters informed 
 their refpective congregations that they fliould 
 omit their ufual afternoon fervice, and attend 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 129 
 
 the Friends' meeting, recommending them to do 
 hkewife. The old meeting-houfe was accord- 
 ingly filled to repletion at the appointed hour, 
 and a folemn lilence foon fettled on the affem- 
 bled multitude. At length Nathaniel Greene 
 aroie ; (landing lilently for a moment, his eyes 
 paffed flowly round the gathering, taking in each 
 individual countenance in his furvey; then, 
 railing his voice, tremulous with emotion, he 
 told them he had delivered his meffage to his 
 own brethren in the morning, and now his con- 
 cern was for all, efpecially for the riling genera- 
 tion of every name ; he felt that the time of his 
 departure muft foon come, perhaps he might 
 never fee their faces more, and the prefent might 
 be his laft legacy of love. His text was, "Be 
 ye temperate in all things." He fpoke of tem- 
 perance in the indulgence of the palTions, in the 
 purfuit of wealth and of ambition, in eating 
 and fleeping, and, finally, in the ufe of ftrong 
 drinks ; telling them how finful it was to abufe 
 fo great a blelTmg, and that, while its moderate 
 ufe was to be received with thankfgiving, yet 
 to al)ufe it until one could neither Jiand nor go was 
 a grievous fin, difgraceful both to the gentleman 
 and the Chriftian. 
 
130 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 I do not commend the profufe conviviality, 
 but the anecdote is interefting, as lliowing the 
 freedom of the fathers of Rhode Ifland from fec- 
 tarian prejudice and bigotry. Nowhere else, on 
 the face of the broad earth, could fuch a harmo- 
 nious gathering of men of oppolite feds be 
 found." 
 
 For this largenefs of heart, for this catholicity 
 of fpirit, for this wondrous elevation above the 
 prejudices and vulgar paffions of their age, we 
 do, on this occafion, afcribe all honor and praife 
 to the venerable fathers of Rhode Ifland. 
 
 Seventh regular toaft: 
 
 Our Native State — The firft to eftabllfh civil and reli- 
 gious liberty, the firft to arm in oppofition to, and the firft to 
 declare itfelf independent of, the mother country. May 
 peace be within its borders, and profperity within its bul- 
 warks. 
 
 Refponded to by Wm P. Sheffield, Esq., 
 as follows : 
 
 Upon this feftive day, when our wanderers 
 have again returned to the fcenes of their child- 
 hood, to be cheered by the caufes of joy, and to 
 be faddened by the occafions for forrow which 
 have happened fince their departure, to enjoy a 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 131 
 
 re-union of hearts with the companions of their 
 earher Hfe, and be reminded of events in our 
 hiftory by the fight of thefe fields and of the 
 monuments here about us, each one which is 
 affociated with fome event, with fome transac- 
 tion which will awaken fome hiftoric, fome inter- 
 efting recollection; is it not proper that we 
 fliould recur, for a fingle moment, to thofe great 
 principles which animated our fathers, when they 
 firft held forth to the world the lively experi- 
 ment that a civil State might ftand and bed: be 
 maintained with a full liberty in religious con- 
 cernments ^ " They were the firft to eftabliili 
 not only religious, but civil liberty. Under the 
 Charter of 1643, ^^^7 declared that the form of 
 their government fliould be democratical. This 
 form of government was preferved under the 
 Charter of 1663. There is abundance of evidence 
 in our hiftory to fliow how exactly our fathers com- 
 prehended thefe two cardinal principles of their 
 civil policy, — principles of government then at 
 variance with all the experiences of mankind. 
 They contained an emphatic denial of the divine 
 right of kings, which refted upon the traditions 
 of all the paft, and yet our fathers, as it were, 
 reached forward and drew them back from the 
 
132 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 civilization of future centuries. It is not too 
 much to fay, that their difcovery and adoption 
 was the attainment of one of thofe ftepping 
 (tones, in the advancement of civihzation, which 
 is attainable only after an age of trial, and from 
 which fociety ftarts to another and higher eleva- 
 tion toward the univerfal brotherhood of the 
 human family. 
 
 The caufes which induced the fettlement of 
 Rhode Ifland contain evidence of the inflexibil- 
 ity of the purpofes of the men who engaged in 
 that work. Having been cut off from affocia- 
 tion with all of the other colonies, and from all 
 external aids, felf-reliance with them became a 
 necefllty. Thefe virtues thus induced and thus 
 cultivated, they imparted to their defcendants, and 
 this argument of their hiftory, fo familiar to us 
 all, has been, by every generation of Rhode 
 Illand mothers, impreffed by precept and exam- 
 ple upon their children. It is this inftrudion 
 which has been fo forcibly endowed all Rhode 
 Ifland men, even the humbleft in the State, with 
 that blunt independence of charader, which 
 makes them look upon all men as their peers, 
 and only upon angels as their fuperiors. It was 
 this diftinftive element of the charafter which 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 133 
 
 made Wafliington complain that the Rhode 
 Ifland line gave him more trouble than any men 
 in his army; " to which Colonel Olney made the 
 laconic and no lefs charaderiftic reply — " That is 
 precifely what the enemy fay." The men of Rhode 
 Ifland, accuftomed from the beginning to be com- 
 plained of by thofe from without their borders, 
 have, with but little reference to what other people 
 have (aid, fought to be faithful to their own con- 
 vidions, and true to the principles upon which 
 the State was founded. 
 
 Upon the paffage of the Stamp Ad, our legis- 
 lature declared that meafure of opprefllon to be 
 unconilitutional, and that it fliould not be en- 
 forced in the colony. The people organized 
 and deftroyed his Majefty's veffels, the Liberty 
 and the Gafpee. This was before the deftrudion 
 of tea in Bofton harbor, and in May, 1776, the 
 King's name was llruck from all writs and other 
 papers in the colony. Rhode Ifland then de- 
 clared itfelf independent of the mother country. 
 The blight which that war brought upon the 
 profperity of our State is evidenced by much 
 that we can difcover at this late day. The bur- 
 dens borne by the men of that time, the hiftory 
 of the fons of liberty, of the " Newport AfToci- 
 12 
 
134 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 ates" (whom Lorenzo Sabine miftakenly charac- 
 terizes as tories,) the Rhode Ifland blood llied 
 upon almoft every battle-field of the revolution, 
 all atteft the fpirit of the men of that time. It is 
 true Rhode Ifland took time to deliberate before 
 adopting the Conftitution and entering into the 
 union of the States. But, upon mature reflec- 
 tion, it was adopted as their folemn and deliber- 
 ate ad; and palfled be the arm which fliall ever 
 be raifed to ftrike a blow at that Conftitution, and 
 cloven be the tongue which fliall ever be ftirred 
 to weaken the bonds of that union. Thefe leg- 
 acies, fo bountiful in blefllngs, confecrated by 
 the toil, and blood, and plighted faith of our 
 fathers, let us venerate and preferve as w^e ought, 
 and lilence, by a univerfal hifs, the voice of the 
 "black-hearted traitor" who feeks to undervalue 
 the blefllngs of that Conftitution and that union, 
 or to deprecate either their worth or their obliga- 
 tion, for they reft upon the faith of our fathers' 
 pledge, and, as we revere our fathers' memory, 
 we fliall keep that pledge inviolate. 
 
 The battle of Lake Erie was fought and won 
 by Rhode Ifland men, and, though it is nearly 
 half a century flnce that determined band, which 
 fome of you remember, left this, their ifland 
 
THE CELEBRATION. l^^ 
 
 home, to engage in that ftrife, God, in his mercy, 
 has fpared a remnant of thofe who participated 
 in the dangers of that great conflict, and of the 
 glories of that victory, yet to be with us. 
 
 The hiftory of Rhode Ifland, written in the 
 fpirit of philofophy, would prefent a record 
 worthy, and more than worthy, of the palmieft 
 days of the moft renowned State of antiquity. 
 The principles of its founders are at the root, 
 and pervade every part of the government of the 
 United States. All the States of the Old World 
 have felt their influence, and moft of them have 
 yielded fomething to their demands; and the 
 hopeful ftatefman fanguinely looks forward to 
 fome future period of the hiftory of the world, 
 when their application fliall have become uni- 
 verfal 
 
 Eighth regular toaft. 
 
 The former Members of the Newport Bar. — Eminent for 
 their talents and legal acquirements, habitually attentive and 
 polite in all their profeffional relations, they won what they 
 well deferved, the refpeft and eileem of all who knew them. 
 
 Refponded to with great fpirit by C. C. Van 
 
 Zandt, Efq. 
 
136 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Music : — " Wood Up," by Providence Brafs 
 Band. 
 
 Ninth regular toaft. 
 
 Our diftinguijhed Sons of the Jrmy a?id Navy. — The 
 record of their valor adds imperifhable luftre to our hiilory. 
 
 This called out Col. Magruder, of the army, 
 and at prefent in command at Fort Adams, 
 whofe remarks were received with great ap- 
 plaufe. 
 
 Tenth regular toaft. 
 
 The for?ner Schoolmajiers of Newport, — Men eminently 
 qualified for and devoted to the duties of their profeflion ; we, 
 their pupils, are largely indebted to their labors for any fuccefs 
 that has attended our own. 
 
 William L. Dennis, Efq., of Philadelphia, 
 faid it afforded him great pleafure to refpond to 
 the fentiment that paid a merited compliment 
 to the former fchool teachers of Newport. They 
 were citizen teachers of focial pofition and moral 
 worth, who entered upon their duties for no 
 brief period, but for life, and they were fur- 
 rounded by the fons and daughters of their 
 perfonal friends and neighbors, fent to them to 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 .»37 
 
 be educated for life's varied and fevere labors. 
 Eminently qualified for their work, bleffed with 
 good common fenfe, clofe obfervers of men and 
 manners, and, above all, wholly devoted to their 
 profeffional engagements, they rarely failed to 
 fit their pupils for a fuccefsful bulinefs career. 
 It would be extremely interefting, if it were pofli- 
 ble, to fpread out in detail the refult of their 
 labors; but this cannot be done. We know, 
 however, that the comparatively fecluded pri- 
 vate fchools of Newport fent out fcores of men 
 who have filled, and are now filling, places of 
 higheft truft and dilHnftion in the religious, lit- 
 erary, fcientific and commercial world. 
 
 It was no uncommon thing for us (I prefume 
 I fpeak the fentiment of all my fchoolmates) to 
 complain a little of the difciplinary meafures 
 ufed to quicken our memories. All of us will 
 probably agree, that feruling was brought to its 
 higheft rtate of perfedion during our pupilage ; 
 (I very well recoiled my firft introdudion to the 
 old ebony ruler, and my clear convidion that it 
 was equal in power to three galvanic batteries 
 and an eledric eel ;) and yet there is not one of 
 us in the maturity of our manhood, who ques- 
 tions for a moment the necefTity of the apphca- 
 
 12* 
 
138 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 tion, or its ultimate benefit in fecuring better 
 order, and intenfer ftudy. The Ichools of our 
 boyhood were fchools of extraordinary worth; 
 the years we fpent in ftudying Daboll's Arith- 
 metic, Webfter's Spelling Book, and Murray's 
 Grammar, were well-fpent years. Our teachers 
 were, in faithfulnefs and friendfliip, next to our 
 parents, and, as fuch, are entitled to, and will 
 ever receive, our mod: grateful recoUeflions. 
 Mr. D. concluded by offering the following 
 fentiment : 
 
 Our Former School Teachers. — Levi, Eleazer, Daniel, and .1 
 John; men of fcriptural names and fcriptural merit, for they \ 
 did not fpare the rod and fpoil the child. 
 
 Eleventh regular toaft : 
 
 Our Old Pajtors . — Men of fmcere and unobtrufive piety, 
 who devoted their Hves to the befh interelb of their fellow- 
 men, and went to their graves ** hke fhocks of corn ready to 
 be garnered." 
 
 Replied to in the moft tender manner by Rev. 
 James McKenzie. 
 
 Twelfth regular toaft : 
 
 Our Old Dolors. — We are the living monuments of their 
 Efculapian Ikill, and while we gratefully cherifh the memory 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 139 
 
 of a Center, a Turner, and a Waring, wc Hazard nothing 
 in faying that their Kingly treatment was fufficient for every 
 Cafe. 
 
 Dr. Usher Parsons, of Providence, replied 
 to this fentiment as follows: 
 
 Sons and Daughters of Rhode JJland: — We have 
 liftened with admiration to the eloquent remarks 
 that have fallen from the gentlemen who have 
 fpoken, and I am highly gratified by the friendly 
 alluhon to the medical profeffion of Rhode 
 Ifland. I willi that a more competent fpeaker 
 had been called upon to refpond to the fenti- 
 ment, becaufe I am fure that, if properly treated, 
 the medical profeffion of Rhode Ifland, of early 
 times, would make a briUiant page in its hiftory. 
 
 Who was the pioneer and founder of New- 
 port ? It was John Clarke, a phyfician ; and it 
 w^as the fame Dr. Clarke who united with Roger 
 Williams in obtaining from Charles II. a Charter 
 that conferred greater civil and religious privi- 
 leges than had been granted to any other pro- 
 vince, and which continued in force until the 
 adoption of the prefent Conftitution, in 1842. 
 It was he, too, who gathered the Firft Baptift 
 Church, and ferved as a religious teacher until 
 
140 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 his death, meanwhile practiiing medicine, and 
 thus miniftering to the wants of both foul and 
 body. He died in 1676, at the age of 68. 
 
 In 1641, a Dr. Jeffries commenced pradice, 
 and was followed by Doctors Cranfton, the three 
 Rodmans, Ayrault, Vigneron, and Robinfon. 
 Dr. Vigneron came from France about 1690, and 
 died 1764, at the age of 9 J years. He was 
 highly educated and a popular practitioner. It 
 gives me pleafure to pay this tribute of refped 
 to his memory, in the prefence of many of his 
 defcendants now prefent. The name is believed 
 to be extinct. Very recently, however, a gallant 
 naval officer of this city, who fought by the fide 
 of Perry, in the Lawrence, on Lake Erie, named 
 William Vigneron Taylor, was a lineal defcendant 
 of the doctor. Dr. Vigneron's fon fucceeded to 
 his practice, and the fon and grandfon extended 
 their profeffional career to nearly a century. 
 
 There was a cotemporary of Vigneron, a Dr. 
 John Brett, from Germany, a man of good learn- 
 ing, and a particular friend and affociate of Red- 
 wood, and who affifted him in eftablilliing the 
 Library, which flieds fuch luibe on the fame of 
 its founders, and whofe recent additions and 
 decorations render it one of the moil beautiful 
 
THE CELEBRATION. I4I 
 
 and attradive inftitutlons of its kind in the whole 
 country. All honor is due to the enlightened 
 public fpirit and refined tafte of the prefent 
 citizens of Newport, for the renovation of this 
 beautiful inftitution. 
 
 About the year 1750, quite a number of very 
 eminent phylicians arrived at Newport, w^ho, 
 with Brett and Vigneron, made the medical tal- 
 ents of the ifland, equal, if not fuperior, to thofe 
 of any place in America. There were Doctors 
 William Hunter and Thomas Moffatt, from the 
 famous Univerfity of Edinburgh, and foon after 
 came DoSors Haliburton and Oliphant. Dr. 
 Hunter gave the firft courfe of medical ledures 
 ever delivered in America. 
 
 Yes, Rhode Iflanders, to Newport is conceded 
 the honor of inaugurating medical inftruclions 
 by ledures. They were given by William 
 Hunter, in 1754-5 and 1756, and they drew 
 many pupils from Maffachufetts. Dr. Hunter 
 marched to Canada with the provincial troops, 
 as furgeon in the French War. He had the 
 largell: medical library in New England, a por- 
 tion of which was given by his fbn, the late 
 Hon. William Hunter, to Brown Univerlity. 
 Dr. Hunter died in 1777, aged 48 years. 
 
142 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Moffatt was belt known by his 
 Tory principles, and his endeavors to enforce the 
 Stamp Ad, which incenfed the pubHc mind to a 
 degree that caufed the facking of his houfe and 
 deftruction of its contents. He erred in judg- 
 ment, in iiding with the Crov/n, but his medical 
 talents were of a very high order. Dr. Hali burton 
 was highly educated and a popular praflitioner, 
 but was ftrongly tindured with Toryifm. Soon 
 after the Britilli fleet left Newport, it was afcer- 
 tained that he had held a fecret correfpondence 
 with its officers, and this made it advifable to 
 leave for Halifax, where his defcendants were of 
 the firft refpeQabiHty. Judge Brenton Halibur- 
 ton, fon of the dodor, born in Newport, was 
 many years Chief Juftice of the Province, and 
 has this year received the honor of knighthood 
 at the age of 83. Dr. Oliphant was in extenfive 
 pradice, and much refpeded. His defcendants 
 maintain a high focial pofition in New York. 
 
 Dr. Ifaac Senter, a native of New Hampiliire, 
 was a pupil of Dr. Moffatt, but diametrically 
 oppofed to him in politics. Fired with zeal in 
 the caufe of liberty, he, after the battle of Bun- 
 ker Hill, m.arched to Bolton as a volunteer, and 
 was foon after appointed a furgeon in the army, 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 H3 
 
 and marched with General Arnold to Quebec, 
 enduring incredible hardfliips. After the war 
 he fettled in Newport, where, from the death of 
 the diftinguiflied worthies we have named, he 
 took a very exalted pofition as phylician and 
 furgeon, and maintained it until his death, which 
 occurred in 1799, at the age of 46; though 
 wanting in the advantages of European inftruc- 
 tion he made his name and fame known as a 
 writer abroad, and he was elected as a fellow of 
 feveral medical focieties. He educated many 
 pupils, among whom were Drs. Danforth, the 
 medical Hercules of Bofton, and Dr. Water- 
 houfe, the accompliflied botanift, profeffor, and 
 writer, and who introduced vaccination into 
 America, performing the firit operation on his 
 own children. Drs. Danforth and Waterhoufe 
 attained to the age of more than 90 years. 
 
 Cotemporary with Dr. Senter was Dr. Jona- 
 than Eafton, whofe tall and dignified figure in a 
 Quaker garb, I remember to have feen nearly 
 half a century ago in Newport. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Mafon, father of the late Mrs. 
 Com. Perry, fludied medicine in Europe, and 
 was highly refpeded in his profellion. 
 
144 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 At the beginning of the prefent century, a 
 new fet of phyficians mounted the ftage of pro- 
 feffional life, and praclifed many years. 
 
 Drs. William Turner, David King, Edmund 
 T. Waring, Benjamin W. Cafe, and Enoch 
 Hazard, were well known to many who hear 
 me, which renders it unneceffary t6 fay more of 
 them than that they were highly efteemed where 
 ever known, and were active, faithful, intelligent 
 and fuccefsful. Thefe two have paffed away, 
 and, having ferved their day and generation 
 faithfully, have gone to their reward. A new 
 fet of practitioners now fill their places. Far dis- 
 tant be the day when a future biographer fliall 
 be called upon to notice their obituaries, and 
 portray their merits. 
 
 You have every reafon to be proud. Sons and 
 Daughters of Rhode Ifland, of your medical 
 anceitry. I give, as a fentiment : 
 
 The memory of diftinguiflied phyficians of Rhode Ifland, 
 who have well played their part in the drama of profeiTional 
 hfe. 
 
 Thirteenth regular toaft : 
 
 The Ladies. — Newport, in days lang fyne, celebrated for 
 the beauty and accomplifhment of her daughters, will fuftain 
 at the prefent day her ancient reputation. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 H5 
 
 When this was announced, the Mayor rofe 
 and faid : 
 
 The Ladies. — They always fpeak for thcmfelves. God 
 blefs them ! 
 
 When the regular toafts had been read and 
 refponded to, the Preiident called upon Ex- 
 Mayor Cozzens, who fpoke as follows : 
 
 Sons^ and Daughters., and Fellow-Citizens of New- 
 port: 
 
 It is a gratifying light to look over this vail: 
 affembly, and fee fo many hundreds of the 
 natives of this lovely ille returned to their early 
 homes, to hold communion and re-union with 
 their fathers and their fathers' friends. The 
 crowd before me to-day fliows how many go 
 abroad to how few remain at home. As one 
 who has flayed behind, and occupied one fpot 
 for thirty odd years, I am known, no doubt, to 
 many of you; but change, that immutable law 
 of nature, has wrought fo much in our prefent 
 condition, that wc are almoft ftrangers. ^ 
 
 The failiion of the times with gentlemen, to 
 neglect the fcraping duties of the toilet, fo dis- 
 13 
 
146 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 figures man, that, in many cafes, hardly a fem- 
 blance of a Kkenefs to a venerated and honored 
 anceftry can be found, until a formal introduc- 
 tion has been made. This has puzzled many of 
 us thefe laft few days, and many a near relative 
 could hardly recognize the face of a returned fon 
 or friend. 
 
 Different is it, in fome degree, with our old 
 Newport. She has fcraped her face, and 
 renewed many a front of her old buildings, and 
 no doubt, to many of you, long abfent, (lie pre- 
 fents a decided change. My eye refts on many 
 who can recoiled, with me, Newport twenty-five, 
 thirty, aye, forty years ago. I fee one now, 
 whole firil vifit home, after an abfence of nearly 
 forty years, (when I was a boy,) who nettled me 
 exceedingly at his (as I then thought) ridicule 
 of our fleepy condition. I well remember his 
 faying that the only found like that of a hammer 
 he had heard, after feveral days fpent here, was 
 that of a butcher's cleaver in the old Red Mar- 
 ket, chopping a mutton bone, and that, in the 
 ftillness of the place, he heard at a diftance of 
 feveral hundred yards from the fpot. That, and 
 the report of a tremendous y??^'^'-^ from one of our 
 old (liopkeepers, (always noted for the powers 
 
THE CELEBRATION. l/^.J 
 
 of his nafal organ,) were the only founds that 
 met his ear during his viiit. This was Newport 
 dead indeed. Many of you can reahze it, and 
 have no doubt come back to look for the old. 
 Nowhere has more old been preserved ; yet, 
 while you look for the venerated old, you will 
 not negled to witnefs the new. Wherever you 
 look abroad, over our city extended, fee the 
 widened avenue, the new ftreets, the long line 
 of new and elegant manfions which have rifen 
 up ; fee, of a pleafant afternoon, the many hun- 
 dred fplendid carriages which roll by as you 
 ftand at a given point, then go back v/ith me to 
 the time when poor old Sammy Place drove the 
 only two-horfe public carriage in town, and that 
 not half fuftained I 
 
 But, I hear you aik, is all this real ? Or do 
 we read and hear that all this great difplay is but 
 for a fliort feason ? Alas, too true I You have 
 come at a feafon when our honored home puts 
 on her beautiful attire, — when in life and in 
 earneft. Would that it were otherwife ; that it 
 would be perpetual ; that I could fay to you, we 
 are extending our commerce, our manufaSures, 
 our general bulinefs, our railroad to connect us with 
 the reft of mankind. Thefe may come, muft 
 
148 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 come — but when ? Not fo long as all our Sons 
 go forth to build up other cities, and while fo 
 many of us who remain hve on doubts and mis- 
 givings. 
 
 I have not ventured to go beyond the limits 
 of my own memory, for tradition has long fince 
 eftabliflied what Newport was a hundred years 
 ago. Could we but' eradicate the doubting, 
 defpairing character of our people, created by 
 wars, and the fears of wars, from 1776 to 1820, 
 WT might ftill rife and attain that pofition which 
 our natural advantages had given us. But New- 
 port is gradually improving, and file now num- 
 bers many adopted Sons, — men who, becoming 
 tired of the toils, cares, and dangers of a city 
 life, have made this Garden of Eden their home ; 
 and may we not hope that fome of you, the 
 honored Sons and Daughters of Newport, will 
 find in this Re-union a rekindhng of your early 
 attachments, and a defire to return, and help 
 to fwell the number of our increaling popu- 
 lation. 
 
 His Honor, Mayor Cranston, now called on 
 the Delegates from the feveral States and Terri- 
 tories, appointed to addrefs the meeting, defig- 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 149 
 
 nating Kanfas firft, and in her behalf Benjamin 
 C. Card, Efq., fpoke as follows : 
 
 I thank you, Mr. Prefident, for remembering 
 our diftant Territory on this occafion ; and I only 
 regret that fome abler reprefentative could not 
 be here to refpond for Kanfas ; but you will ex- 
 cufe your Committee for defignating me for the 
 duty, when you know that they could do noth- 
 ing elfe — it was a choice (perhaps not a happy 
 one) between me and nobody — for I am the only 
 returned Son from that remote Territory, and I 
 could hear of no other to return with me. But 
 I truft that, before the next gathering of your 
 fcattered ones, our Territory (liall have received 
 fuch an infulion of Rhode Ifland element as will 
 make it a fecond home for us. If Rhode Ifland 
 is a good place to go from, Kanfas is a good place 
 to go to. It is not the traditional " Bleeding 
 Kanfas " of a few years ago — the Kanfas held up 
 as uncomfortably as Mahomet's coffin, between 
 the North and the South, and receiving from 
 each more kicks than pennies ; but the prefent 
 thriving, peaceful, and quiet Kanfas, that invites 
 earned labor to her broad prairies, whofe foil 
 13* 
 
150 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 waits but to be tickled with the plough and it 
 laughs with a bountiful crop. 
 
 Or, if you like not to remain in the plain, go 
 up into the mountain, and try your luck among 
 the auriferous peaks and gulches. Is there gold 
 there ? That Newport curiofity w6iuld foon 
 find out — Newport energy develope, and New- 
 port acquifitivenefs appropriate. I fpeak as one | 
 of you. 
 
 Kanfas, too, has her towns and villages; they 
 are all young, and fome are vigorous and flour- 
 idling, while others are finiilied, and would be 
 fenced, if we could fpare the lumber. We boaft 
 of one town, only four years old, with a popula- | 
 ^•on of 13,000, and fteadily increaling. We 
 have our churches and fchooihoufes, and men 
 and children attend them. We have great 
 rivers, and great fteamers employed on them; 
 we have broad fields of fuperior land, and we 
 want thoufands to till them. We will foon have 
 railroads crofling thofe fields, and reaching to 
 thofe rivers. We have commenced talking 2ihout 
 building them already, and you, perhaps, can 
 tell me how Ipeedily railways are hniflied after 
 they are talked of, and how little there is to do 
 on them that fpeeches will not pay for. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 15' 
 
 Kanfas will foon be praying for admittance 
 into the Union as a State. She has paffed 
 through troublous times to reach the polition, 
 and I ask for her that you fliall receive as kindly, 
 and welcome as warmly, this young S^'Jkr into 
 the Ujiiojz^ as you have to-day your Sons and 
 Daughters to the Re-union. 
 
 At the conclulion of Mr. Card's Addrefs, a 
 gentleman, a returned Son, gave the following 
 toaft : 
 
 Kanfas. — Her only Card is a trump. 
 
 The Delegate from Providence was now called 
 upon by the Mayor, and Hon. William S. 
 Patten, of that city, fpoke as follows : 
 
 The Providence members of the Newport 
 family, in joyful refponfe to the maternal invita- 
 tion, have come to fpend a day with our brothers 
 and filters at the old homeftead. After fepara- 
 tions, fome longer, fome fliorter; after experi- 
 ences, oh ! how chequered with joy and with 
 fadnefs to each of us, we com.e to join the family 
 gathering in the home where we were born. 
 This lliould be, it is, a happy meeting ; yet has 
 
152 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 it elements of fadnefs ; and the heart is untrue 
 to its beft emotions which does not feel and con- 
 fefs them. 
 
 Thofe of us who now return find the froft of 
 years, the fnows of winter, upon many a brow 
 on which we left the bloom of youth and the 
 fummer of manhood. 
 
 We mifs, too, alas that it is so, many a loved, 
 many " an accuftomed face," and " it is little joy 
 to know " that they have left this good home 
 forever ; but there is confolation in our trust, that 
 they have been removed to that better, where 
 we all hope to be reunited. 
 
 To thofe of you, Brothers and Sifters, who have 
 always lived at home, many of us feem hke 
 fpirits of the departed, revifiting the fcenes in 
 which we and you once lived together. 
 
 The young wife of Old Robin Gray was not 
 more surprifed by the reappearance of her former 
 lover, when (lie fupposed 
 
 " It was her Jamie's wraith, for fhe 
 Could na' think 'twas he," 
 
 than the changed appearances of fome of us have 
 furprifed you. 
 
THE CELEBRATION. ItO 
 
 That old Caledonian incident is being repro- 
 duced before your eyes, with new Yankee illus- 
 trations ; for as many ghofts as have been feen 
 in the ftreets of Newport to-day, and can be as 
 well authenticated to all coming generations, as 
 are defcribed in Mather's Magnalia. 
 
 Many a happy year may it be before any of 
 us are laid. 
 
 This, we have faid, is a happy meeting. 
 Never before have we come together as a fam- 
 ily. Never before, as brothers and fifters, has 
 our mother, Newport, gathered her children 
 together, as a hen gathereth her chickens — under 
 her wings; and truly, are we not a pleafant 
 fight? Glad are we to fee each other—proud, 
 happy and grateful are we in our relationfliip. 
 Grateful and happy we feel that we are — and a 
 juft pride we know we are entitled to for a long 
 line of illuftrious anceftors ; godly and gifted 
 divines; eloquent patriots and ftatefmen; learned 
 jurifts; celebrated phyficians, poets, painters; 
 brave and magnanimous naval commanders and 
 military ; merchants, enterprifing and fuccefsful ; 
 artifans, intelligent and Ikillful— among her men 
 — dignity, accomplifliments, refplendent beauty ; 
 every grace that adorns, and every virtue that 
 
154 "^^^ RE-UNION. 
 
 ennobles woman, that " laft, bed gift of God to 
 man " — belong to Newport — and illuminate 
 every page of Rhode Illand hiftory with a bril- 
 liancy which far fparkles over an almoil bound- 
 lefs horizon. 
 
 Such is our family, — here was our birthplace, 
 and here are we met, around our family board, 
 contemplating our paft, enjoying our prefent, and 
 gathering a (lore of pleafant memories, kind 
 feelings, and cheering hopes for our future. 
 Thus reprefenting, (on his native ground,) the 
 fcene your magic painter has fo exquilitely ideal- 
 ized in " The Hours ; " the pail:, the prefent, and 
 the future. 
 
 So much, Brothers and Sifters, for ourfelves. 
 Now, juft a word or two for our mother. 
 
 Till to-day, it is long iince fome of us have 
 feen her loved and beautiful face. Many of us 
 feldom do or can fee it ; for the hard neceflities 
 of hfe, its engroffing cares, or exading duties, 
 have made us exiles, but have never eftranged 
 our affedions from this, the maternal abode. 
 
 The voice of the murmur of the diftant beach, 
 (its greeting now on the ear,) was as our cradle 
 hymn. The light of fwelling ocean, the view 
 of undulating landfcape, verdant and broad- 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 ^5S 
 
 fpreading in peaceful beauty, smiling in the face 
 of a loving Iky ; thefe are the features of our 
 mother, impreiTed by her on the hearts and 
 memories of all her infant children, inefFaceably 
 and indeftru&ible. 
 
 On us flie turns them now, in unfaded youth 
 and lovelinefs, for, 
 
 And her maternal touch ! How it rellores our 
 ftrength, prollrated in the conflict with giant years 
 and toils ; revives our wilted fpirits ; renews our 
 youth of foul, and we lliall return to the conteft 
 invigorated with frefli confidence in viftory, and 
 with a cheerful courage. 
 
 Such, Brethren and Sifters, is our mother to us, 
 and on her ifland home, as once defcribed with 
 enthuiiaftic truth, 
 
 ** A beautiful gem on the bofom of the ocean." 
 
 May we be worthy of her; that, when flie 
 would make her claim of chiefeft honor, ilie 
 fliall point to her children, and fay, with exultant 
 joy, " Thefe are my jewels." 
 
 At this point, the ceremonies were interrupted 
 
1^6 THE RE-UNION 
 
 by the appearance, in the neighborhood, of the 
 Antiques and Horribles, and all appeared anxious 
 to witnefs a proceffion fo novel ; it was decided 
 to adjourn the meeting till evening, at which 
 time it was announced the AddreiTes of the 
 Delegates would be continued. In a few mo- 
 ments the Tent was entirely cleared, and the thou- 
 fands who had been filently liftening to the 
 remarks of their friends, were now convulfed 
 with laughter at the fpeSacle before them. The 
 Antiques and Horribles were under the com- 
 mand of the gallant Captain Lollypop, and as it 
 was one of the attraftive features of the day, it 
 is deferving of fome fpecial notice here. 
 
 THE ANTIQUES AND HORPvIBLES. 
 
 This unique corps was compofed, on the 
 occafion, of the " Punkinvil Rangers," of this 
 city, and the " Block Ifland Guards," of Prov- 
 idence, and never was there any thing in the 
 way of burlel'que more fuccefsful than their 
 appearance. All their movements were con- 
 ducted in the moft ludicrous manner. The 
 faihionable belle, with hoops of the moft extrav- 
 agant dimeniions, was perfonified by one whofe 
 
THE CELEBRATION. 
 
 157 
 
 face had been well blackened with burnt cork. 
 Her gait was unexceptionable, and (lie (liowed 
 the mod: tender follcitude for the fafety of her 
 pet cur. Her rival was mounted on — fliall we 
 fay the frame of a horse ? Certainly it was 
 nothing but ikin and bones. But this defect 
 was rendered lefs confpicuous by the fize of her 
 (kirts, which completely covered all but the ani- 
 mal's head and feet. The band was compofed 
 of ghartly performers. Drawing anything but 
 dulcet founds from the molt outlandilli inftru- 
 ments. Brother Jonathan was there, in all his 
 glory. A vidim of Lynch law was riding on a 
 rail, borne aloft in a cart, his body, from the 
 crown of his head to the fole of his foot, reek- 
 ing with tar and feathers. A printer appeared, 
 dreffed entirely in newfpapers. Jugglers and 
 clowns jingled their bells and cut many pranks. 
 An old woman carried in a baiket, on her (lioul- 
 ders, the living head of a man, which bowed and 
 fmiled to the crowd of wondering eyes bent on 
 difcovering the deception, and his Satanic majefty 
 was feen here, and there, and everywhere. 
 
 It would be impoiTible for us now to give 
 anything like a full defcription of this motley 
 procefTion, or of the crazy old vehicles in which 
 H 
 
Ij8 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 many of the figures were drawn by horfes that 
 were Hterally nothing but Ik in and bones. At 
 the Ocean Houl'e, the hilarity of the guefts, who 
 had just left the dining room, and were prom- 
 enading in the balcony, knew no bounds, at a 
 fight fo novel, and fo unexpeded. There was 
 bowing and fcraping on the part of the " Pun- 
 kinvilites," and burfts of applaufe from the 
 reviewers, who declared this feature to be no 
 fmall part of the day's entertainment. 
 
( i?9 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII, 
 
 PRESENTATION OF BANNER. 
 
 After the ceremonies at the Tent, in the after- 
 noon of the 23d, the Artillery Company, as it 
 left the field, was drawn into line, fouth of the 
 Ocean Houfe, and Ex-Mayor Rodman, of Provi- 
 dence, prefented to the Company a beautiful 
 Banner, accompanied with the following unique 
 Addrefs : 
 
 Mr. Commandant : — An unexpeded, yet very 
 pleafant duty, has been impofed upon me, Sir, 
 by my alTociates from the City of Providence; 
 and I approach its performance mofl: cheerfully, 
 although wholly unprepared with itudied and 
 fitting words. It is the habit of the human 
 mind to love that which is memorial in its char- 
 acter, and to perpetuate the recoUedions of pleas- 
 ant events by tangible records. We fee this in 
 youth. In life's early morn, he fees the Temple 
 of Fame riling in beauty and grandeur before 
 him, and his foul prompts the defire to leave 
 
l6o THE RE-UNION. 
 
 fome little memorial upon its enduring tablets, 
 to tell to thofe who fucceed him in the march of 
 human life, that he has preceded them in the 
 combat. 
 
 We, Sir, (landing here upon the emerald car- 
 pet of our beautiful ifland, feel anxious to leave 
 behind us a memorial of the unclouded pleafures 
 of this feftal day, and to place in your hands, 
 and the hands of your command this, our Banner, 
 as a teftimonial of our appreciation and gratitude 
 for our generous welcome, by our fellow-citizens, 
 and as an expreflion of our high regard for the 
 old and honored Artillery Company of' New- 
 port. 
 
 This little flag is 2.fac~fimik of the one borne 
 by General Nathaniel Greene, during his heroic 
 wanderings through the Revolutionary druggie ; 
 and may the fpirit which infpired him ever 
 aSuate us all as foldiers and as men. Obedient 
 to the patriotic impulfes, he armed himfelf for 
 combat, and when 
 
 *' that Quaker brave 
 
 His anvil unto freedom gave. 
 And made that anvil loudly ring. 
 With giant blows and ftalwart fwing. 
 
PRESENTATION OF BANNER. l6l 
 
 And every time he ftruck his forge. 
 Vowed vengeance to the tyrant George ; 
 What did his patriot mother fay 
 When from his home he turned away ? 
 Nat, if thou tak'it the battle's track. 
 Let not a Ihot affail thy back ! " 
 
 Her fpirit, Brothers, Quaker as llie was, was 
 the true Ipirit of lofty valor; and fliould the 
 clarion blaft of war again peal along our borders, 
 may you and I, as foldiers and as men, rememiber 
 that her's was the true watchword, that the true 
 patriot only kneels to God, and always faces his 
 foe. 
 
 Take this Banner, Colonel Turner, as our 
 memorial offering, to commemorate this aufpi- 
 cious day, and while it fliall awaken pleafant 
 remembrances of the pad, may it ferve to keep 
 our hearts forever green. 
 
 The Color-Sergeant then took charge of the 
 flag, and Colonel Turner refponded as follows: 
 
 Mr. Rodman, ajid Gentlemen of the Frcvidence 
 Delegation of the Sons of Nezcport: — I have the 
 pleafure of accepting, in the name and behalf of 
 I4* 
 
l62 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the Artillery Company, the White Flag which' 
 you have fo kindly prefented us. 
 
 It is particularly pleafant to us that, among 
 the different organizations of this city, with 
 which you have feverally been conneded, this 
 old Corps lliould have been feleSed as the recipi- 
 ent of the liberality and friendfliip of fuch a body 
 of Returned Sons. 
 
 Allow me to affure you this pure White Flag 
 {hall ever remain uniullied. 
 
( 163) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 At 8 o'clock, the Tent was brilliantly illumin- 
 ated with gas, (the gas having been introduced 
 efpecially for the occafion, from the main pipe 
 on South Touro Street,) and Chinefe lanterns. 
 Soon after the opening, the entire fpace within 
 the immenfe canvafs was filled to its utmod 
 capacity — the number prefent being eftimated 
 at not lefs than fix tlioufand. 
 
 At half-paft 8, His Honor the Mayor opened 
 the evening exercifes, and thereupon introduced 
 the Rev. Charles T. Brooks, who was received 
 with great applaufe, and, at once, read the fol- 
 lowing poem, which was liftened to with the 
 moft profound attention and intereft by the vaft 
 multitude prefent : 
 
 RHODE ISLAND'S WELCOME TO HER CHILDREN. 
 
 BY REV. C. T. BROOKS. 
 
 A voice from old Newport, — a welcoming call 
 To her wide-fcattered children and grandchildren all ; 
 Come, wanderers, come home to your beautiful ifle. 
 To the feet of your mother — the light of her fmile ! 
 
164 • THE RE-UNION. 
 
 In her mantle of green and her tiar of blue. 
 She long has been fitting and waiting for you ; 
 The arms of her bays, lo ! flie flretchcs out wide. 
 To waft you all in at the turn of the tide. 
 
 Her foam- whitened headlands run out on the deep. 
 As eager the circling horizon to fwccp ; 
 The tongues of her far-flretching green flopcs explore. 
 Like feelers, each white fpcck on ocean's broad fioor. 
 
 She fends up her hill-tops, that they, too, may fpy 
 Where, haply, fome band of her truants draws nigh ; 
 Old Tammany, Honeyman, Paradife, ftand 
 Looking willfully our o'er the fea and the land. 
 
 In their duiky night-mantles they wait there to greet 
 
 The coming at dawn of the beautiful feet, — 
 
 And a thrill of expeftancy runs through the hoft 
 
 Of the night-waves that fleeplefsly moan round the coaft. 
 
 On the wings of the morning ye come as a cloud. 
 Like doves to the windows ye eagerly crowd : 
 Methinks the old windmills, with clatter and clack. 
 Fling their white arms to welcome the wanderers back. 
 
 The tie of your home was elaftic but firong ; 
 
 Though wide were your wanderings, — your abfcnce 
 
 though long, — 
 Your old mother's apron- ft rings ftill held you faft. 
 They ftretched, but they 've fhrunk, — you are here now at 
 
 laft. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 1 65 
 
 As the fea-bird wheels home to her rock-begirt neft. 
 
 Ye come by your old ocean-cradle to reft ; 
 
 To fit at the feet of your mother awhile. 
 
 And gladden your hearts with her fong and her fmile. 
 
 In the murmuring mufic that fteals on your ear. 
 The ftrain, fweet and plaintive of memory you hear; 
 Your mother's old lullaby fwells from the deep. 
 With which, in your childhood, fhe fang you to fleep. 
 
 Say, home gathered exiles, and feel ye not now 
 That mother's mild breathing float over your brow. 
 As it cheered you fo often in morningtide's flulh. 
 As it foothed you fo often at eventide's hufh? 
 
 Draw clofe to your mother, and look in her face, — 
 No fign of eftrangement or coldnefs you '11 trace ; 
 Come, fit in her lap vC'ithout fcruple or fhame, — 
 Old or young, you are all boys and girls, juft the fame. 
 
 Some changes you'll note in the good lady's drefs. 
 But file wears her old countenance, nevcrthelefs ; 
 On her youthful old brow not a wrinkle is feen, 
 Unfaded her apron of emerald green. 
 
 Some modern adornments you'll find here and there, 
 A sprig or a gem in the old lady's hair; 
 Some quaintly carved cameo, perchance, on her breaft. 
 Or ftones of rare cofthnefs dotting her veft. 
 
l66 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Look out on the Neck, once fo bare and To free. 
 The neck of your mother, the bride of the fea. 
 Where erft (her fole fcarf) his white fpray cloud he flung, 
 And the oHve-brown beads of his ribbon-weed flung ; 
 
 The fl:ranger has laviflied his wealth and his art. 
 To the matron's plain beauty new charms to impart ; 
 
 With pofies and pearls fo bedizened and gay. 
 
 You well might fcarce know your old parent to-day. 
 
 Yet what are all thefe to the noble old dame ? 
 Defpite all thefe charges, her heart is the fame — 
 Her heart is the fame, and the fame it will be. 
 Like the air and the fky, and the rock and the fea. 
 
 Let them deck and improve her as much as they will. 
 
 Her look wears its true old ferenity Hill ; 
 Her blue eye beamed never more brightly than now. 
 The radiance of Heaven is undimmed on her brow. 
 
 She looks on her fides and flie looks on her feas. 
 And flie fays to proud worldlings. My glories are thefe ! 
 She points to the children her fond arms enfold, 
 And flie says, (the true mother ! ) My Jewels behold ! 
 
 Then cling round your mother — drink in the loved tones. 
 Not one of you all flie forgets or difowns, — 
 Not you, ye old men, who could fcarcely retrace 
 Through the dim glafs of memory, a line of her face. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. l67 
 
 Ye left her in childhood, — ye fee her again 
 
 Through the mift-obfcured vifta of three-fcore and ten. 
 
 Yet fhe had not ceafed to remember, if you 
 
 Had forgotten the mother whofe look ye fcarce knew. 
 
 To all of her children, — to old and to young — 
 Her greeting is fpoken, — her welcome is fung. 
 The fea, as it murmurs, and kifles your feet. 
 The fky, as it fparkles, her welcome repeat. 
 
 From Coddington's cove, far acrofs and around. 
 To the Flints of old Sachueft echoes the found ; 
 It ripples and gurgles and fwells in the waves. 
 On fandy-floored beaches, in pebbly-floored caves. 
 
 Old Spouting Rock, eager the gladnefs to Ihare, 
 A fefcive white spray- wreath flings high in the air; 
 And the fpirits imprifon'd below in his den. 
 Growl back a gruff greeting in thunder again. 
 
 And a genuine old fog, (one of Newport's true fons,) 
 Roufed up by the noife of the bells and the guns, 
 At day-break comes out a fpeftator to be, 
 Though where he is, none elfe can be feen or can fee. 
 
 But not thefe wild children of Nature alone 
 Are glad, and exult their old playmates to own ; 
 In the heart of the town, in the fquare and the ftreet. 
 Old houfes are nodding old inmates to greet. 
 
l68 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Dear old time-colored houfes ! they Teem (and well may,) 
 To hold their heads higher than ever to-day ; 
 For though they had two or three ftories before. 
 To-day they have certainly one Jtory more. 
 
 As ye faunter along by the (hops of old Thames, 
 Some wearing new faces, yet keeping old names. 
 In letters time-darkened or touched with new gold, 
 Unmiftakable figns of your welcome behold ! 
 
 As ye pioufly turn toward the head of the town. 
 Curt chronicler ftill of her ancient renown. 
 Though fhattered by Time, the old markfman, you fee. 
 Bare, blafled, yet, upright, the Liberty Tree. 
 
 As the hero rtill fcands to his poll on the deck. 
 When the balls of the foemen have left him a wreck. 
 And the flag's tattered remnants are fliot from the mail, 
 " Don't give up the fliip ! " is his cry to the lall. 
 
 Come to the Hill-top ; there, waiting for you. 
 With flightly changed collume, ftill modeft and true. 
 Friend Redwood looks forth with the forehead he wore. 
 Calm, claflic, majeftic and penfive of yore. 
 
 Fair feat of the Mufcs ! of Memory the Shrine \ 
 All hail ! the bright dawn of a new day is thine ! 
 What ftrange alterations of lot thou haft feen. 
 Since thy columns firft rofe on thii hill-top of green ! 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. i6Q 
 
 No longer Minerva, as once, with affright. 
 
 At the tramp of rude Mars, from her temple takes flight. 
 
 No more it refounds with the hideous noife. 
 
 The clamor and clangor of bats and of boys. 
 
 The cobwebs and duft of negledl fhall no more 
 
 Hang over thy fhelves as they gathered of yore ; 
 
 No more fliall their mute, honored occupants lie 
 
 In the night dews, unmarked fave by Nature's moift eye. 
 
 New times are upon us, old friend, and thou, too. 
 Henceforth, hke the eagle's, thy youth flialt renew. 
 No more here, the bat or the owl, Ihall hold fway. 
 All hail to the dawn of thy new rifmg day ! 
 
 But now, as you turn round the corner hard by, 
 A veteran, older by far, meets your eye ; 
 The mute, but impreffive and thought-ftirring word. 
 Of the oldefl inhabitant waits to be heard. 
 
 For fee, there where filcnt and florm-proof it ftands. 
 And calmly looks down on the waters and lands. 
 The wonder and crown of the beautiful Hill, 
 Myflerioufly fmilcs the majeftic Old Mill. 
 
 Strange reHc of old, immemorial time ! 
 
 Whofe fhadows float round thee in filence fublime, 
 
 Stonehenge of old Newport ! within whofe charmed 
 
 ground. 
 The ghofts of the pall move myflerioufly round I 
 15 
 
lyO THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Thou wondrous old landmark ! when centuries roll by. 
 And nought but the rocks and the Tea and the fky. 
 Unchanged fhall be left of the darhng old town. 
 When every old gable has long lince come down : 
 
 To grandchildren's grandchildren ftill thou fhalt hold 
 High talk of the times and the people of old : 
 Shalt tell how their great, great grandfathers, when they 
 Were children, came hither to wonder and play. 
 
 And when, in fonrie moon-lighted midnight, the gholls 
 Of them who once dwelt here, revifit thefe coafls. 
 And through the changed ftreets feek in vain up and down. 
 Some trace of their dear and familiar old town. 
 
 As at laft to this Mount of Remembrance they bend 
 Their fleps, to the great upper world to afcend. 
 They'll cry, as their eyes meet the reverend Old Mill, 
 " Here, here is old Newport, it lingers here flill ! " 
 
 But, ye who return to your home here to-day. 
 
 Thank Heaven, your old haunts have not vaniihed for aye ; 
 
 Some crooked old lanes tell of hide and feek yet. 
 
 Old gables tell tales that you cannot forget. 
 
 Yes, children, (Ilill children — true hearts grow not old — ) 
 Ye breathe the fame air, — the fame ikies ye behold. 
 Where with fingers enraptured, your kites ye once flew, 
 • And puffing and wondering, your foap-bubbles blew. 
 
 Perchance the old homertead fhall greet you once more ; 
 Perchance the old meadow has long been built o'er ; 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 171 
 
 But here is the clime and the foil and the place. 
 
 Where ye flooped to play marbles — the whip-top to chafe. 
 
 And there, fmooth and hard, lies the broad yellow fand. 
 Where ye once wrote your names with a light heart and 
 
 hand. 
 (Some of you have written your names fmce that day 
 In letters that fhall not fo foon pafs away !) 
 
 For came there not then, from the furf-drum's deep tone, 
 A voice that was heard by the fpirit alone ? 
 The voice you ilill hear in the moan of the fea. 
 That bids you be thoughtful, and reverent, and free ! 
 
 My children — God's children — that voice feems to fay — 
 Where are ye — whence come ye ? give anfwer to-day ! 
 Howe'er o'er the wide world your footfteps might roam. 
 Say, where have your thoughts — have your fouls — found 
 their home? 
 
 As ye enter Farewell Street, the mufmg heart burns 
 To think of that bourne whence no traveller returns; 
 What forms of the glorified rife on the foul. 
 Who trod thefe fair fhores, while they fought the high 
 goal ! 
 
 At Beauty's, at Learning's, at Piety's fhrine 
 Fair Liberty's priefthood, with undlion divine. 
 The Poet, the Prophet, the Martyr they wrought 
 Their work for the ages. Faith's conflidl they fought. 
 
 And where are they now — are they gone ? they are here — 
 The fpirit that quickened them ilill hovers near, — 
 
172 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Their memories, their names, ftill make fragrant the air. 
 True hearts ! Ye this day their companionfhip fliare. 
 
 As penfive, that crowded old grave-yard ye tread, 
 A city to you of the living {jwt dead)^ 
 Ye there hear a greeting more holy and true 
 Than ou)' loudcfh welcomings offer to you. 
 
 There, there is old Newport, fafe anchored at laft. 
 Where partings are over, and changes are paft. 
 And a voice from that hoft of tranflated ones cries : 
 Be thoughtful and thankful — be holy and wife ! 
 
 Aye, children of freemen who gather to-day. 
 
 To your great common mother your tribute to pay. 
 
 It is not the voice of a mother alone 
 
 That fummons her Sons their allegiance to own; 
 
 A mother's low whifper flea Is forth from the ground. 
 But hark! in the wide realm of freedom around. 
 In the deep under-tone the wrapt fpirit can hear. 
 The Father of all — the Great Spirit is near. 
 
 O, then, as ye breathe in this health-giving breeze. 
 The breath of the boundlefs, untamable fcas — 
 As ye tread with free jftep the elailic green turf. 
 With fpirits that dance to the fong of the furf. 
 
 Drink into your fouls, with a tranfport more rare. 
 Deep draughts of that higher, that heavenly air. 
 And nerve your frail faith, in Temptation's dread fhock, 
 Unlhaken to fland on Eternity's rock ! 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 173 
 
 After muiic by the band, the Brooklyn (N. 
 Y.) Delegation was called upon, when Walter 
 Nichols, Efq, a returned Son, fpoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen of the Committee of 
 Arrangements : 
 
 It is one of the beneficent provifions of our 
 nature, that the place of our nativity, as well as 
 every local feature by which it has been diftin- 
 guillied and adorned, is impreffed upon our 
 memory, and retained by it through years of 
 feparation, of trial and viciffitude, — and in the 
 moft gloomy periods of our individual expe- 
 rience they will rife again through clouds and 
 furrounding darknefs as vifions of light, and 
 infpire us with frefli hopes and renewed impulfe 
 and increafed faith in the future. Of all places 
 which have given birth to man, and thus become 
 endeared in the hearts of thofe who were born 
 in them, what place is there more worthy of 
 being remembered, or which has more imperiili- 
 able features by which to imprefs itfelf than this, 
 which to-day we hail as our firll: home among 
 men, and to which you now welcome us. Beau- 
 tiful for lituation, unfurpaffed in natural fcenery, 
 
174 ^^^ RE-UNION. 
 
 genial In its climate, it combines attraSions 
 which have drawn from the moft diftant parts of 
 our common country their richeft, their faireft 
 and their moft diftinguiflied, until wealth, refine- 
 ment and perfonal attradion and worth here hold 
 their court and make their temporary home. 
 And when we add to this its hiftory — contem- 
 porary with the oldeft cities of our land, — which 
 lliows it to have been a corporation endowed 
 with municipal privileges and immunities, when 
 moft of thofe which now outftrip it in the race 
 for trade, population and commercial enterprife 
 were in their primeval ftate, and had no corpo- 
 rate exiftence, the record reveals it as a chofen 
 refort for men of letters, where, in the refined 
 and cultivated fociety which then diftinguiflied 
 it, they could find fympathy, fellowflilp and in- 
 tercourfe, fuch as was afforded by few places on 
 the continent. To this city, then, in which it 
 was the glory of our youth that we were born, 
 and to which for many years we have been 
 counted as ftrangers, — to this city, rich in its 
 reminifcence and recolleftion, we have this day 
 returned by your invitation, and forgetful for a 
 feaion of other aflbciations, we accept your hos- 
 pitality, and reciprocate the fraternal falutation 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 175 
 
 and claim it as our own. Moft of us have been 
 abient many years, and we now come as pilgrims 
 to worfliip at the (lirine of our fathers. Citizens 
 of another State, and with the cares and refpon- 
 fibilities of another community refting upon us, 
 we come, and for a moment lay our cares, our 
 pofitions and privileges at your feet. Waflied 
 once more in the waters of the Atlantic as they 
 break upon your fliore, it is to us a facramental 
 rite, — partaking with you of the bread which 
 here is broken and diftributed by your order, we 
 renew the bond which before exifted between us, 
 and feel that we are indeed Sons of Rhode Illand, 
 and fellow heirs of this goodly heritage. 
 
 It is a glorious privilege that, though we be removed. 
 From fcenes familiar to our youth, and early friends beloved. 
 We now and then may turn again and reft our weary feet. 
 And mark each old familiar fpot whofe memory is fweet : 
 No change in after life to thofe, who happily were placed. 
 Obliterates the pleafant path their early feet have traced ; 
 The ties which riper years have formed give place to thofe 
 
 before. 
 And fome memento viewed again, the wifdom will reftore. 
 
 Let me, then, for myfelf and in behalf of 
 thofe who are with me, and by whofe requeft I 
 fpeak, thank you mod heartily for the welcome 
 
176 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 which you have given ; let me reciprocate the 
 kind and brotherly feeling v^hich you have ex- 
 preffed, and affure you that while the impreffions 
 which are this day renewed have been an impel- 
 hng power in all our paft performance, and an 
 infpiring caufe of our prefent fuccefs, the micm- 
 ory of this day and occalion will mingle with 
 thofe earlier recolledions, and nerve us to a 
 greater effort, and a more ardent ftruggle, to dis- 
 tinguifli ourfelves among the aflembled men of 
 other cities. States and nationalities, and to fus- 
 tain the reputation of the land of our nativity, 
 which fliall henceforth fliare in the honor of our 
 achievement. 
 
 The New Bedford, Maflachufetts, Delegation 
 was next called upon, Ex-Mayor Cozzens pre- 
 fiding, when Robert C. Pitman, Efq., of that 
 city, a returned Son, fpoke as follows : 
 
 With diffidence, Mr. Mayor, fliould I refpond 
 to your call on behalf of the New Bedford Chil- 
 dren, were my only claim to be deemed a true 
 Son of Newport bafed upon the blefled accident 
 of my birth, and refidence for a few weeks of 
 infancy upon this beautiful ifland. But, Sir, 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 177 
 
 when I call to mind that for generations running 
 far back into the paft, my anceftors on both fides 
 have lived in Newport, and now fleep in her 
 quiet graveyards, I feel that the mother will 
 not difown the blood in the heart of her child, 
 although he may have gone from home fo young 
 that file cannot remember his countenance. If 
 you tranfplant from the farthefl north a little 
 fapling, it will retain, in its warmer home, the 
 rigid form that marks its race ; or, if you bring 
 here, from tropic regions, the young flioot, it 
 will have in its growth, the fuperb lift and the 
 airy grace which it inherits. Thus do I find in 
 myfelf feelings, the roots of which reach far back 
 into Rhode Ifland foil. 
 
 But, though I am proud to call Rhode Ifland 
 my mother, all my years have been paffed in 
 MafTachufetts ; and to it I look up as a child to 
 its father. And fo it has occurred to me to fay 
 fomething of the relation of thefe two States, 
 and of the manner in which the influences which 
 furround life in the one, compliment the influ- 
 ences which furround life in the other. Thofe of 
 us who have travelled by land hither cannot fail 
 to have been impreffed by the fudden change 
 which meets us as we enter this Ifland. The rocks 
 
1 78 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 give place to level plains; the rough hard foil 
 difappears, and the earth is decked with genial 
 verdure; and, as if by magic, you have^ paffed 
 from the workday world into fome fair Arcadia, 
 where nature loves you, and flieds her bleffings 
 around with grateful profulion. Such always 
 feems to me the tranfition from Maffachufetts to 
 Rhode Illand life. We pafs from the workiliop 
 to the paradife, from the feverifli bullle of life 
 to the place of repofe, where all the air breathes 
 peace, and every influence diftils reft into the 
 weary foul. And how precious are thefe green 
 cafes in this American life of ours I 
 
 '* Nor lefs I deem that there are powers. 
 Which of themfelves our minds imprefs; 
 That we can feed this mind of ours 
 In a wife paffivenefs." 
 
 Do not miftake me ; the bufy Maffachufetts life 
 is good as well as the tranquil Rhode Ifland life. 
 Beautiful are they when blended together, as in 
 the case of our own Channing, who furniflies fo 
 apt an illuftration of my thought. 
 
 We have heard, Mr. Mayor, a great many 
 eulogies, this afternoon, upon Roger Williams. 
 At home, Sir, I fliould be ready to do (lout 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. l-yg 
 
 battle for him againft all foes; but here, on the 
 foil of Newport, I call to mind that he belonged 
 to Providence, and not to our ifland ; and I con- 
 fefs to have inherited enough of that traditionary 
 jealoufy of Providence, which, I believe, be- 
 longed to Newport, (The Mayor: Providence 
 jealous of us? Mr. Pitman: Ah, yes! the in- 
 ferior jealous of the fuperior, of courfe !) to defire 
 that the memory of one of our own Sons fliould 
 take the place of pre-eminence. Rhode Ifland, 
 we have been told to-day, is "the oldeft inde- 
 pendent State in America ;" we know flie was the 
 hrft to eftablilli religious liberty, but. Sir, civil 
 and religious liberty are but means, and not 
 ends; and they culminate in Spiritual freedom. 
 Of that William Ellery Channing is the apoftle. 
 No man has done fo much to lift the thought of 
 the young men of our land to that higher atmo- 
 fphere where the afcending foul, fpuming the 
 fetters of party and fed, the bondage of the 
 fenfes, and all the alluring " fliows of things," 
 expands in the contemplation of the Unieen 
 and Eternal. Nor is his influence deftined to 
 be Amply local or national. Already are there 
 indications of its growing power over the bell 
 minds of continental Europe. One of her ripelt 
 
l80 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 fcholars, Chevalier Bunfen, has recently fpoken 
 of him in terms of admiring enthuiiafm. 
 
 It is to me to-day a pleafant thought that as 
 his cradle was in Rhode Ifland and his grave in 
 Malfachufetts, fo did these two fifter States pour 
 the influences of their life into his being. You 
 all know how he loved our ifland. "No fpot 
 on earth has helped fo much to form me as that 
 beach," was his declaration. But he loved, too, 
 the State and city of his adoption. " I would 
 not exchange Bofton for any city on the earth," 
 he wrote. And fo his maturer life was made up 
 of thofe beautiful pictures which his nephew has 
 fo finely llvetched in his view of "A Day at New- 
 port," and " A Day in Bofton." Here, in moft 
 undifturbed communion with nature and with 
 her great Author were created within his foul 
 thofe fublime afpirations and thofe lofty thoughts 
 which the intenfer life of Bofton ftimulated into 
 earneft exprefTion. Rhode Ifland, with all its 
 fl^yey influences difpofed to reft, to philofophic 
 reflexion, to facred reverie, — Maffachufetts, with 
 her more eledric mental atmofphere incited to 
 development, concentration, and utterance. 
 
 The mention of Channing recalls to my mind, 
 as one of his favorite haunts, the Redwood 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. l8l 
 
 Library; and I allude to this venerable inftitution 
 for the purpofe of making a pradical suggeftion. 
 As Returned Sons, the defire would feem to arife 
 fpontaneoully in all our hearts to ered fome 
 acknowledgment of your bountiful hofpitality, 
 fome memorial of our happy home-vifit. Some 
 rich depoht of love fliould the Sons of Newport 
 leave behind, as the returning tide bears us again 
 away. What worthier offering could we of 
 Maifachufetts payf than to enrich and adorn, 
 with fome new treaiure, the youthful Study of 
 Channing. 
 
 In concluding, let me fay that moft of thofe 
 whom I reprefent have paffed the adive years of 
 their life in the city of their adoption. Yet 
 Newport is ftill their mother; and though in 
 mid-life we may think moft of our father, as the 
 fliadows lengthen it is natural to draw nearer to 
 our mother once again, and as I liftened, Mr. 
 Mayor, to the expreffion of hope with which 
 you clofed, that all might return before the even- 
 ing of life, " fo that their clofing years may be 
 quietly paffed in the home of their birth," I felt 
 that the wifli muft rife warm from many a heart 
 when " the almond tree lliall flouriili," and " all 
 the daughters of mulic iliall be brought low," 
 i6 
 
l82 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 and " defire {hall fail," that then they might find 
 balmy reft from the fever of life, in this peace- 
 ful harbor, — be fung to their laft fleep by the 
 murmuring voices of the fea, which were heard 
 around their cradle, — and be gathered with their 
 
 fathers. 
 
 The St. Louis, Mo., Delegation was next called 
 
 upon, when James G. Cozzens, Efq., a returned 
 
 Son, fpoke as follows : 
 
 Mr. Mayor — Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 Although not officially delegated by the Sons 
 of Newport in St. Louis, to reply on their behalf 
 to the welcome of the Mayor, yet I cannot let 
 this occafion pafs without faying a few words 
 about this glorious Reunion, in which I have, 
 for a long time, felt a deep intereft. 
 
 I thank you heartily for my lliare of the 
 handfome and cordial welcome extended to us 
 this day, and I think that the reft of the New- 
 porters in St. Louis would do the fame, were 
 they here to partake of your generous hofpital- 
 ity. I know that they were all anxious to come, 
 and I have no doubt but that they are now 
 thinking of us here, and the glorious time we are 
 having. There are five or fix Newport boys in 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 183 
 
 St. Louis, and I am forry that no more of them 
 were able to come ; but circumftances, and the 
 great diftance between here and there, has pre- 
 vented them. 
 
 St. Louis, as you well know, is a city of no 
 little importance, lituated on the weft bank of 
 the Miffiffippi. Not only is her prefent polition 
 among the cities of the Union a prominent one, 
 but her immenfe and rapid growth during the 
 paft few years is unequalled in the rife of cities. 
 Twenty-five years ago, llie fcarcely had ten thou- 
 fand inhabitants; now (lie can count two hun- 
 dred thoufand fouls within her limits, which lim- 
 its comprife an area of fifteen and a half fquare 
 miles, extending for feven and a half miles on 
 the river bank, and three and a halfback. This 
 is not all ; file cannot ftop here ; it is almoft im- 
 poffible for her to go back ; flie muft go ahead, 
 for there is every thing to make her do fo I 
 
 Politico-economical writers alTert that there 
 are three things neceffary to make a great city ; 
 any two will do it ; but the poffeffion of all 
 three cannot fail. Thefe are Agriculture, Com- 
 merce and Manufactures. St. Louis has them 
 all. The produds of the States of Iowa, Minne- 
 fota, Wifconfin and Illinois on the north ; of 
 
184 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Miffouri, Kanfas, Nebralka, Utah and New 
 Mexico on the weft ; and many of the Southern 
 States, — muft find a market here. The trans- 
 portation of all this immenfe wealth of the foil, 
 gives her a commerce unrivalled among weft- 
 ern cities. Then the vaft refources of the '• Iron 
 Mountain," and the " Pilot Knob," befides the 
 hundreds of mines of copper, lead and other 
 metals, muft tend, with the other branches of 
 trade, to make her an extenfive and profitable 
 manufafturing place. 
 
 In noticing the prefent profperity and rapid 
 growth of St. Louis, I would mention the great 
 ftabihty which has always charaQerized her 
 bufinefs tranfaclions, and the firm bafis-on which 
 all her buildings and aflbciations have been 
 eftabliftied. There is not that mulliroom-like 
 growth, fo noticeable in many of our weftern 
 cities. The well-known folidity of St. Louis 
 merchants is finely reprefented in a little inci- 
 dent which I will relate as briefly as polTible. 
 It feems a Kentuckian had, upon the Levee, a 
 flave mart, and, while fitting at the door one 
 day, he noticed a trim-looking Miflburian look- 
 ing in, and thus accofted him : " Would you 
 Hke to purchafe to-day. Sir ? " The MiflTourian 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. igr 
 
 replied in the affirmative, and went in to feled 
 a fervant. He inquired the price of one he 
 thought would fuit him, and was told by the 
 Kentuckian, that the price was I500, and that 
 he might have the cuftomary fix months' credit. 
 The Miffourian thought awhile, not liking to 
 have the burden of a debt for fo long, then, with 
 a knowing fmile, he fays: "Stranger, I had 
 rather pay you fix hundred dollars dov/n, than 
 take the fix months' credit." It is that principle 
 of paying cafli, and relying on their own 
 refources, that has given St. Louis fo found a 
 clafs of merchants. They do not depend on 
 borrowed capital for the means of paying their 
 debts. 
 
 But, ladies and gentlemen, I will not tire you 
 with a dry account of St. Louis. She fpeaks 
 loudly for herfelf I muft, however, fay a few 
 words more about this occafion before I clofe. 
 
 The re-union of the " Sons and Daughters of 
 Newport " was propofed, arranged, and has been 
 glorioufly carried out. Newport now has fome- 
 thing to be proud of, and we all ought to be 
 proud of her. It lliows conclufively that things 
 can be done in Newport as well as anywhere 
 elfe, when (lie is worked up to the fad. At the 
 16* 
 
1 86 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 time it was firft propofed, and even up to within 
 three months of this time, no one thought or 
 imagined that it could or would be carried out. 
 It looked like a large undertaking, and lb it was. 
 But now, at the dole of this day, when we can 
 look back upon the brilliant fuccefs, and the 
 great enthuliafm that has attended it, we can but 
 acknowledge it to be the greateft and moft 
 glorious day Newport has ever feen. 
 
 I have been here all day, and heard fpeeches 
 — fome of them brilliant and eloquent fpeeches, 
 all of them very much to the point, but not one 
 word have I heard concerning the benefit New- 
 port is to derive from this re-union. We have 
 heard of her beauties, of her advantageous 
 pofition, and of the paft and prefent, but the 
 future, (the moft important queftion before her 
 now,) has been but lightly touched upon. 
 
 The queftion of " what can be done ? " is in- 
 deed a difficult one to anfwer, though the caufe 
 of her prefent inaQion is plain enough. New- 
 port boys have left their native ifle, and fought 
 homes and employment in other cities, and it is 
 faid they will all do well. Why? I do not 
 know that they are any fmarter than boys from 
 other places, but it is this : Thofe jhat ftay at 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 187 
 
 home have but Httle to occupy their time. They 
 fee the older men of the city fitting down in in- 
 action — content to get along juft fb, and human 
 nature entices them to fit down too. But when 
 they get away, and go to cities where all is ftir 
 and buftle, and mingle in with the hurry and 
 drive of bufmefs, they are excited to action ; they 
 lee others moving, and they muft move too, or 
 be left behind. It is the excitement of having 
 lomething to do, of feeing others at work, that 
 cauies them to do well, while their native town 
 is (till lagging behind in fpite of all that ilie has 
 to aid her on. We iliould look to this. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, I have already de- 
 tained you too long. I thank you for your 
 attention, and for this hearty welcome extended 
 to us to-day. 
 
 The Nantucket, Maffachufetts, Delegation 
 was now called for, and William R. Easton, 
 Efq., (a Returned Son,) fpoke in an earnelt and 
 efFedive manner, as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladks, and Gentlemen : 
 
 I will detain you but a {tw moments. The 
 field is large, but who would exped to find 
 
l88 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 any choice flowers on any field, however large, 
 over which Newport men have rambled. Sir, I 
 might fpeak of the achievements of my native 
 State, in the War of the Revolution, and of the 
 laurels ilie gained in the laft War with England, 
 but this would be fuperfluous. I might fay 
 fomething of the eminent men whom (lie has 
 fent to the councils of the nation; I might fpeak 
 of the brilliant wit and fcorchi ng farcafm of her 
 Burges,* the calm and dignified logic of her 
 Hunter, the claflical attainments of her Robbins, 
 who, in the Senate of the United States, made a 
 moft eloquent appeal in favor of the claim of 
 Sufan Decatur, the better half of one of the 
 moft gallant and brave of our naval Command- 
 ers, an appeal worthy of himfelf and worthy of 
 Newport. . In the abfence of your honored 
 Mayor from the chair, who has prefided over 
 this vaft affembly with great ability and dignity, 
 I might aflv, emphatically, Sir, what town or city, 
 no larger than Newport, has had two of her 
 Sons in Congrefs, who, for ability, integrity, and 
 fidelity, have excelled the Cranftons ? But, Sir, 
 my chief object in rifing, at this late hour, was 
 
 ^ Born in Mafiachufetts. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 189 
 
 to make due acknowledgment, in behalf of my 
 affociates, the Sons and Daughters of Newport, 
 and refidents of Nantucket, for the kind invita- 
 tion, this cordial reception and hearty welcome 
 to the city of our nativity, and the fcenes of our 
 childhood. 
 
 Sir, in early youth we threaded the ftreets of 
 this interefting and ancient city, we roamed over 
 your fair and fertile fields, inhaling the falubrious 
 and invigorating air ; aye, Sir, we roamed over 
 Rhode Ifland, denominated by Morfe the " Eden 
 of America," and by John Ouincy Adams, '' the 
 molt beautiful gem on the bofom of the ocean." 
 We went to Tammany Hill, to Stone Bridge, to 
 Fort Adams, to the Beaches, to Paradise, and to 
 Purgatory, and, happily, returned even from the 
 laft, unfcathed. I have fpoken of your noble 
 beaches, within the found of whofe waters I was 
 born ; hkewife, a long line of anceftors. There, 
 for the first time, as it were, I heard the voice of 
 God in the majeitic roll and graceful undulating 
 waves of the ocean, as they (pent their force and 
 broke upon your placid fliore. Sir, my bofom 
 fwells with emotion, and embarraiTes fpeech, as I 
 f^and furrounded by fo many of the fair forms 
 and features of the people of ray native ifle, 
 
190 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 defcended from the fame general (lock with my- 
 felf, and fit reprefentatives of a noble anceftry. 
 Sir, I will detain you no longer, but will again 
 thank you for the courtefy and hofpitality ex- 
 tended to us on this mod; interefting and glorious 
 Re-union of the Sons and Daughters of our far- 
 famed and beloved Newport. 
 
 The Rev. William H. Moore, of Hempftead, 
 Long Ifland, a (Returned Son,) was next called 
 upon, and refponded as follows : 
 
 Mr. Major, and my Fellow-Citizens : 
 
 He is a bold man who, at this eleventh hour, 
 attempts to intereft this crowd, almofi: furfeited 
 with good things, and weary of hearing. And 
 were it not that I might feem lacking in courte- 
 fy in refponding to your call, I lliould remain 
 filent. Of our fathers, and their deeds and 
 virtues, many and noble as they were, I con- 
 ceive enough has been faid. 
 
 My feelings of fatisfaction and delight with 
 what I have this day feen and heard, do, indeed, 
 almoil compel me to fpeak. I had thought, Sir, 
 that I had always entertained a fufficiently ex- 
 alted eftimate of this, my native place, and its 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 191 
 
 citizens. I have felt it a religious duty to im- 
 prefs my children with a love for her, and to 
 relate to them her honorable ftory. But I have 
 feen that to-day which fills me with a greater 
 love for Newport, and impreffes me with a pro- 
 founder refpea for her inhabitants. Every thing 
 connected with this re-union has been arranged 
 with fuch a "hberal heart devifmg liberal things," 
 with fuch admirable forecaft, and with fuch 
 refpeclful and affedionate intereft in the abfent 
 children of Newport, as to excite my admira- 
 tion of the authorities and citizens who have 
 brought to fuch a iplendid iffue this grand idea 
 of a family gathering. And it is your due that 
 it ihould be thus publicly dated, that, from every 
 delegation, from whatever quarter gathered, I 
 have heard but one expreffion, that of delight 
 and exultation. All honor to thofe who origi- 
 nated — all honor to thofe who wrought out fo 
 beautifully this affemblage of your ablent broth- 
 ers and fillers I 
 
 When, in addition to all this, I confider the 
 felf-refped which has been exhibited by the valt 
 crowd gathered here and out of doors; when I 
 note the abfence of everything of a difturbing 
 nature, who mult not feel a pride in calling this 
 
192 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 his birthplace, claim that he is a citizen of " no 
 mean city," as St. Paul calls his native Tarfus, 
 and thank God that it was ordained his lot to be 
 bom here'? 
 
 Sir, after what has been feen to-day, I am con- 
 ftrained to aik what Newport cannot accomplifli 
 if flie but fets her hand refolutely to do it ! Be 
 true to yourfelves, my fellow-citizens, be felf-re- 
 hant — feel that your brothers all over the land 
 are with you in every exhibition of enterprife. 
 Feel that you have in your keeping the good 
 name, the honorable fame of this ancient city, 
 and the profoundell feelings of your abfent kin- 
 dred, and Newport muft go forward in a pros- 
 perous career. 
 
 You have founded the filial affedion of the 
 children of Newport, and you have found the 
 plummet finks deep. We have been proud of 
 you ; may you never have reafon to be alliamed 
 of any of us. I give you. Sir, in conclufion, 
 this heart-felt fentiment. 
 
 " Union and Re-Uniov." — May this ever be the heart- 
 throb of every one of Rhode Ifland's Sons and Daughters." 
 
 Thomas P. Rodman, having been invited to 
 addrefs the audience as a delegate from Bridge- 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 193 
 
 water, Maffachufetts, alked leave to fpeak for 
 Plymouth County. He faid that the fentlment 
 exprelTed in the feftivities of this day was that of 
 brotherhood. Plymouth Bay and Mofliafuch 
 River were bright with the light of memory, 
 and both were full of memorials of brotherhood. 
 The " Welcome, Engliflimen," of Samofet, and 
 the " What Cheer " of the red man who fpoke 
 for his comrades to Roger Williams, were alTur- 
 ances of brotherhood. The feeling that glad- 
 dens us to-day, he faid, was the fame that 
 warmed the common human heart in the red 
 men and the white men in the earlieit days of 
 New England hiftory. Ruder feelings held fway 
 afterwards, but, in the beginning, friendfliip and 
 brotherhood prevailed. Rhode Illand claims to 
 have been always true to the principles of broth- 
 erhood ; and Plymouth, unlike Maffachufetts, 
 fhows, in her annals, a near refemblance to 
 Rhode Illand. Religious freedom is the bond 
 of brotherhood. As an illuftration of the prin- 
 ciples of religious freedom, he would offer a 
 metrical rehearfal of an old tale, which might 
 be fact or fable, but which was, be it one or the 
 other, a parabolic ftatement of a univerfal truth. 
 He then read the following poem : 
 «7 
 
194 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 THE THRONE AND THE ALTAR. 
 
 From the valTal realms of a vanquifhed world the conqueror's 
 
 throne around. 
 With eyes of anxious queflioning full, and lips that gave no 
 
 found. 
 Stood miniilers of all the rites that fhadow forth the thought. 
 That breathes in every foul of him who leaves no foul 
 
 untaught. 
 There were thofe in gorgeous fanes that bowed, and at humble 
 
 wayfide Ihrines, 
 That iilent prayed 'mid furging oaks, or 'mid foft whifpering 
 
 pines ; 
 That hailed beneath the dawnlit fky the monarch of the day. 
 And watched him on his mountain march through all his 
 
 glorious way ; 
 That gazed upon the queenly moon and her bright leaders 
 
 feven. 
 That fteadfaft on the ardlic height marfhal the hoft of heaven ; 
 And in the filent voices of the day and of the night. 
 Felt their Maker's and their Father's love, his wifdom and his 
 
 might. 
 And all were wondering why the call that gathered them that 
 
 day. 
 Was uttered by the fearful man who o'er all lands claimed 
 
 fway. 
 
 That wondering but not abjeft throng the monarch proudly 
 
 eyed, 
 ^nd wakening all their ears at once, with ftartling voice he 
 
 cried, — 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 195 
 
 I 
 
 The Living Source of Life in men and all things, do ye own ! 
 In reverent affirmation bowed the numbers round the throne. 
 What is his name, demanded he, — and one by one replied. 
 And he liftened with a mocking look, as one who dared deride 
 The tendernefs of human faith in fatherhood divine ; 
 But ftill the men of humble heart anfwered with word and 
 
 And one from India called him Life : and one from Perlia 
 
 Light ; 
 And one that from Judea came with mitre flafhing bright, 
 Infcribed with an unfpoken name, faid, — From eternity- 
 He is, and was, and is to come, and evermore fhall be. 
 And every one a reverend name breathes forth in fervent 
 
 tones. 
 And calmly thankful felt the ftrength of a power above earth's 
 
 thrones. 
 
 When all had fpoken, then again the proud man's voice was 
 
 heard. 
 And [the hearts of all the worfhippers were troubled at his 
 
 word: 
 At the footftool of one monarch, ye behold above your heads 
 The fceptre of his earth-wide fway : no king befides me, 
 
 treads 
 On aught but tributary foil ; and my altar like my throne. 
 Shall Hand without a rival ; my God ye all mull own ; 
 Zeus is his name in Macedon, and Zeus fhall be his name 
 In every region of the earth where my fword has conquered 
 
 fame. 
 Then filently the wife men thought how this imperious 
 
 change. 
 
196 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Would wonder-flrike the fimple, and all their life derange. 
 But the murmur of remonftrance had not yet gathered found. 
 When a fearlefs man of many years fpoke out thefe words 
 
 profound : 
 Brothers, the ruler of the day, ye know him, and rejoice. 
 When his lone light fills the boundlefs fky, can you give his 
 
 name a voice ? 
 And many names were fpoken, and then the old man faid. 
 And his eye fell on the monarch who gave the word fo dread. 
 No, call him Heliod, by that name, Alexander calls the fun ; 
 And his name throughout the empire muft henceforth be but 
 
 one. 
 The monarch felt the wife rebuke, and fhame his face fuffufed ; 
 He felt one moment as a man, and as a man he mufed. 
 He faw, would that men always faw, that the fubllance, not 
 
 the fhow. 
 Is worth the wife heart's notice, that while men dwell below. 
 By names that partial knowledge writes, fome muft know the 
 
 All in All,— 
 That he only feels God's fatherhood, who men can brethren 
 
 call. 
 
 Several fentiments were then read by Mr. 
 CozzENS, the preliding Officer, one of which, 
 offered by George B. Weaver, Efq., of Middle- 
 town, was complimentary to the yeomanry of 
 our ifland. 
 
 Mr. TouRjEE here fang the Marfeilles Hymn 
 in very fine ftyle. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 197 
 
 His Honor, Mayor Cranston, then came 
 upon the platform, and read the following, the 
 produdion of one of the Daughters : 
 
 OUR HOME BY THE SEA. 
 
 BY A DAUGHTER OF NEWPORT. 
 
 We greet thee ! we hail thee, our home by the Tea ! 
 
 Where the fong of the waves fwelleth fad on the fhore ; 
 Sweet fcene of our birth and our childhood, to thee. 
 
 Thy Sons and thy Daughters are gathered once more. 
 
 Long years have rolled by fmce we bade thee farewell, 
 Our hearts beating high with the fervor of youth. 
 
 While Hope, with her voice like a filvery bell. 
 Sang fweetly of beauty, and virtue, and truth. 
 
 Her fyren-like mufic rang foft Hke a fpell. 
 
 As we bade the dear homes of our childhood adieu ; 
 
 But the wind on the waters rofe high like a knell. 
 As we left the kind hearts that had ever been true. 
 
 We have fought in the din and the battle of life. 
 
 Till our locks, that were brown, are befprinkled with gray ; 
 
 And oft we have paufed in the wearifome llrifc. 
 To figh for our home by the fea far away. 
 
 Once more do we greet thee — but where are the loved 
 Who gladdened the hearth in the bright days of old ? 
 
 17* 
 
198 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 The mother, whofe changelefs afFeftion we proved ? — 
 The fweet little fifter, with trefTes of gold ? 
 
 Alas ! in our beautiful home by the deep. 
 
 There lieth a garden all filent and low. 
 And over it, foftly, the fad willows weep. 
 
 And over it, gently, the night breezes blow. 
 
 And there, with her cold, fnowy hands on her breaft. 
 
 Never more to encircle her child as of old. 
 That mother lies fleeping, and by her, at reft. 
 
 That fweet httle fifter, with treffes of gold. 
 
 And thus, as we greet thee, our birth-place again. 
 We figh for the Ihore where no grave-gardens be — 
 
 But we joyfully welcome the friends who remain. 
 As proudly we hail thee, our home by the fea. 
 
 We alfo add a number of Poems, fent in to 
 the Committee, which will be read with intereft. 
 
 AN ODE FOR THE OCCASION. 
 
 WRITTEN BY A DAUGHTER OF NEWPORT. 
 
 All hail to Rhode Illand ! where'er we may roam. 
 The home of our childhood is ever our home ; 
 And though abfent for years, there is no place on earth 
 Like the home of our boyhood, the land of our birth. 
 There our firft breath was drawn, the firft youthful emo- 
 tion. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 199 
 
 Was flrengthened and nurfed by the breath of the ocean ; 
 Like the waves of that ocean, though far we may roam. 
 Again we come back to our old Ifland home. 
 Then hail to Rhode Illand, &c. 
 
 Years have paft, we're returned in our manhood and prime. 
 To tread the fame foil of our childhood's bright time ; 
 Old Newport remains, but thofe are not here 
 To welcome us back that in childhood were dear. 
 Our parents, where are they ? alas ! paiTed away ; 
 They fleep in " God's acre " the long funny day ; 
 But their fpirits are with us wherever we roam. 
 And rejoice with us now in our old ifland home. 
 Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 
 
 Their fpirits go with us to-day to each fpot 
 That's fo Hnked with the pafl: it can ne'er be forgot. 
 The beach where we bathed, and the pond where we fkated. 
 The fchools, where we ftudied, till with Daboll quite fated. 
 We turned to our grammar, our fpelling and writing. 
 And leiTons unlearned which we aimed at reciting. 
 Till tired of confiement, we all wiflied to roam. 
 Long, long ere the fchoolmailer bade us go home. 
 Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 
 
 At the end of each week, how we boys would all ftrive 
 
 To out do each other from two until five. 
 
 In the fpeeches we made of fo great a variety. 
 
 They muft fadly have tafked our fchoolmafler's fobriety. 
 
 As we tell of thofe days, no one will refute us. 
 
 That Cicero, Cato, and Caesar and Brutus, 
 
200 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 And a great many others were murdered each week 
 By a troop of us boys while endeavoring to /peak. 
 Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 
 
 But the school-houfe has gone, and the mailer departed. 
 And the boys that were with us, fo gay and light-heated. 
 Have grown into men of bufmefs and care. 
 And are fcattered abroad, we could fcarcely tell where. 
 Till to-day, re-united, together we fland — 
 A group of all ages, a Rhode Ifland band. 
 Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 
 
 But many we mifs from the fchool-room and hearth. 
 That claimed our loved Ifle as the land of their birth; 
 Some reft in its bofom, and fome, far from here. 
 Sleep their long dreamlefs fleep without trouble or fear. 
 They await that re-union that 's promifed above ; 
 That '* feaft of all nations," the union of love ; 
 But their fpirits are with us to-day as we roam 
 O'er the land of our birth-place, our ocean-girt home. 
 Then hail to Rhode Ifland, &c. 
 
 HOME, SWEET HOME. 
 
 Mid pleafures and palaces, tho' we may roam. 
 Our hearts, dear Rhode Island, are true to our home, 
 A charm from the Ikies feems to hallow us there. 
 Which, feek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elfewhere. 
 Home ! Home ! fweet, fweet home. 
 Be it ever fo humble, there's no place hke Home. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 201 
 
 We have travelled abroad — we have failed on the Rhine, 
 But ne'er have we met fuch a climate as thine. 
 The ikies are no purer on Italy's fhore 
 Than thofe we now meet in our loved ifle once more. 
 Home, — there's no place like Home. 
 
 Our Beach, how delightful to vifit once more. 
 And bathe in the ocean again as of yore. 
 To gaze on the Spouting Rock, Lilly Pond Glen, 
 And in Paradife roam through the green fields again. 
 Home, — there's no place like home. 
 
 An exile from home, fplendor dazzles in vain. 
 How gladly we hail this dear ifland again. 
 Our dear native ifland ! thou gem of the fea. 
 Oh long have we wilhed to return home to thee. 
 Home ! Home L fweet, fweet home. 
 Be it ever fo humble, there's no place like Home. 
 
 OUR NATIVE ISLE. 
 
 We have gathered — we have gathered 
 
 In our native ifle again. 
 Long divided — widely fevered. 
 
 Come we now from mound and plain. 
 Crowded mart and lonely valley, 
 
 Weftern lakes and Southern fea. 
 Now within our native ifland. 
 
 We will fmg of Liberty. 
 19 
 
202 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Let the anthem rifing, fwelling. 
 
 Float acrofs our lovely Bay, 
 With old ocean's billow blending. 
 
 And the ripple of the fpray 
 O'er our beaches, hills and valleys, 
 
 Smiling to the fapphire fky, 
 Churchyard green and ancient homefteads. 
 
 Wake the fong of Liberty. 
 
 Anthem meet for Newport's children. 
 
 Requiem meet for fainted dead. 
 Far thro' every State and Nation, 
 
 Bid the thundering chorus fpread, 
 'Till each fetter breaks afunder, 
 
 'Till free hands are raifed on high, 
 'Till thro' all this mighty country, 
 
 Burft glad fhouts of Liberty. 
 
 Ellen. 
 
 ACROSTIC. 
 By P. B. 
 
 Wake up, gentle morn ! let the ties which hath bound us. 
 
 Exert us to move in this fplendid array ; 
 Let our Sons and our Daughters who duller around us, 
 
 Confefs that our ardor hath felt no decay. 
 Our hearts muft be open as well as our houfes. 
 
 Magnificence reigning in Newport all day, — 
 Each man muft be true to the caufe fhe efpoufes — 
 
 The tribute is grand that to Friendfhip we pay. 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 203 
 
 O, who, that from home and from kindred have wandered. 
 
 Need be told of the fweetnefs, the joy and the bhfs. 
 Emerging from hearts which in filence have pondered. 
 
 With long cherifhed hopes of a meeting like this. 
 Prepare the rich feaft, and emit the libation. 
 
 Ornament the gay cottage, the palace and dome. 
 Relume the pavilion, recite the Oration, 
 
 Then tell them 'tis Newport thus welcomes them home. 
 
 His Honor then introduced the Toaft-mafter of 
 the day, Mr. Atkinson, who gave, as a doling 
 fentiment — 
 
 The Day We Celebrate. — -May it ever be regarded as a 
 day of joyous reminifccnces, and remembered, as one of 
 perpetual Junjhine, by all the Sons and Daughters of New- 
 port. 
 
 The Mufical Inititute, under the diredion of 
 
 Mr. TouRjEE, then fang the 
 
 VALEDICTORY HYMN. 
 
 When {hall we all meet again. 
 When fhall we all meet again. 
 Oft fhall glowing hope expire. 
 Oft fhall wearied love retire. 
 
 Oft fhall death and forrow reign. 
 
 Ere we gather home again. 
 
204 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 But while we on earth remain. 
 
 Oft we'll gather up again, 
 
 Sweeteft memories of this hour. 
 
 And our hearts will feel the power 
 
 Of the tie unicing here. 
 
 All who hold Rhode Ifland dear. 
 Bearing with us all the while. 
 Loving thought of this dear iflc. 
 
 Ifle of beauty, fare thee well. 
 
 Some of us far hence mull dwell. 
 
 Yet we often hope to come 
 
 Hither to our cherifhed home ; 
 
 Brothers ! Sifters ! Fare thee well ! 
 
 Be it ours in Heaven to dwell, — 
 When the fcenes of earth is o'er. 
 There to meet and part no more. 
 
 At the conclufion of the hymn, the Feflivities 
 of this long-to-be-remembered, glorious Re-union 
 were concluded by linging the Doxology, in 
 which the whole audience united, to the tune of 
 " Old Hundred," 
 
 "Praife God, from whom all bleffings flow." 
 
 i 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 205 
 
 At twelve o'clock, the vaft affemblage of Sons 
 and Daughters had quietly feparated, all of 
 whom hoping, no doubt, that they may live to 
 enjoy, at fome future time, another re-union, 
 equally pleafant, harmonious and fuccefsful. 
 
 A number of Addreffes prepared for the 
 occafion, could not be delivered for want of 
 time. At the folicitation of the Committee, the 
 feveral delegates have furniflied copies of thefe 
 to be inferted in the record, and it is with pleas- 
 ure that we here place them before the reader. 
 The firft is from Thomas Vernon, Efq., a 
 returned Son, and the delegate from New York : 
 
 Mr. Mayor ^ a7id feUow-citizens of Nevjport : 
 
 When, Sir, Grecian colonifts left the mother 
 city, they took, from off the public hearth, the 
 facred fire of home, and carried it with them to 
 their new abodes, where its hallowed glow kept 
 bright within the exile's heart the memories and 
 traditions of his native city. Filial affedion 
 and a common religion rendered ilrong the fealty 
 of the colonifts to the parent city; and, on fol- 
 emn municipal feftivals, the mother city wel- 
 comed back to her bofom her abfent Sons. Mr. 
 
 
206 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Mayor, the hallowed fire of our old Newport 
 hearths t6-^ ftill keep alive in our new homes ; 
 and, Sir, the bleffed offspring of the faith of our 
 fathers, "foul-liberty," is (till our boaft and our 
 pricelefs heritage wherever we go. On this feftal 
 day, joyouily we return to our mother city, and 
 thank Heaven that we were born on a foil fo 
 rich and precious in its memories, fo eloquent 
 and fublime in its hiftory. 
 
 Away, Sir, from our home, we ever proudly 
 claim that the principle which evoked Rhode 
 Ifland into exiftence has exerted, and ftill exerts 
 an influence upon the fortunes of our race, alto- 
 gether difproportioned to the geographical limits 
 of the State. And, Sir, confpicuous in the early 
 ftruggle for the affertion of this principle, were 
 our Coddingtons, our Coggeshalls, our Clarkes, 
 our Hutchinfons, all men of Newport; and. Sir, 
 I believe that the dignity of character, and the 
 fuccefs which diftinguiflies the Sons of Newport, 
 wherever they go, are chiefly due to that felf- 
 reliance and individualifm which the religion of 
 " foul-liberty " nurtured. 
 
 How proud and glorious are the hiftorical 
 affociations of old Newport ! We boail that 
 Newport was once the metropolis of the colo- 
 
 i 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 10'] 
 
 nies and the feat of letters and refinement on this 
 continent. Our noble harbor once briftled with 
 forefts of mafts; here lived merchant princes, 
 known all over North America, and whofe influ- 
 ence and correfpondence was foHcited by Euro- 
 pean houfes ; here, too, the thrifty Jews — our 
 Lopezes and our Touros — filled their ftorehoufes 
 with the merchandife of every clime ; while, in 
 yonder lynagogue, they worfhipped the God of 
 Abraham. So eminent was the pofition of 
 Newport in colonial times, that antiquarians tell 
 us that letters for New York from Europe, in 
 order to reach that modeft fea-fhore town, are 
 known to have been direded to " New York, 
 near Newport, Rhode Ifland." 
 
 Here, too, the lovely climate of our ifland, its 
 pidurefque landfcapes and fea-view^s, and its 
 elegant fociety, attraded the learned of the colo- 
 nies and of other climes. On yonder cliffs the 
 gentle fpirit of Berkeley was v/ont to mufe pro- 
 foundly. Our gorgeous funfets and our mel- 
 lower than Italian fkies, infpired the genius of a 
 Stuart, a King, and a Malbone ; and here 
 
 " An Allfton's foul-cnkindled eye 
 Drank in the glories of our funfec iky." 
 
208 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Here, too, lived famous divines. Here Hop- 
 kins preached his ftern theology, and the learned 
 Styles began to run his career of academic honors. 
 And, in boyhood, our own Channing was wont 
 to wander along our ocean (liore, " dear to him 
 in sunlliine, ftill more attraftive in the ftorm. 
 There he lifted up his voice in praife amidft the 
 tempeft ; there, foftened by beauty, he poured 
 out his thankfgivings and contrite confefTions ; 
 and there, in reverential fympathy with the 
 mighty power around him, he became confcious 
 of power within." As he gazed upon the ocean, 
 boundlefs, uncontrolled, fave by Deity — fit em- 
 blem of human freedom — he conceived the dead- 
 lieft hatred of human oppreflion, and the fondefl: 
 devotion to liberty. 
 
 But, Sir, well alfo may we be proud of the 
 hiftory of Newport during the Revolution ; it is 
 the hiftory of her self-facrifice. Although the 
 favored children of commerce, and certain, from 
 the very pofition of their port, to fall a prey to 
 hoftile plunder, the noble merchants of Newport 
 enthufiaftically facrificed their fortunes to the 
 caufe of their country. Their argofies were 
 deftroyed, and they were themfelves driven from 
 their homes. I believe. Sir, it was this devotion 
 to liberty which coft Newport her power. 
 
 i 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 209 
 
 Dear Sir, to us are thefe memories and thefe 
 aflbciations ; but, dearer ftill, to us, is old New- 
 port, becaufe it is the home of our fathers and 
 mothers — the home of our brothers and filters — 
 the home of our childhood and of our fchool- 
 mates. Dear and precious to us ftill are the old 
 church and the fchoolhoufe ; hallowed to us by 
 innocent pleafures, are the harbor, the ponds, the 
 beach, the creek, the boat-houfe. Sacred, for- 
 ever, to us, is yonder old North Yard, where 
 fleep fo many of thofe whom we loved, over 
 whofe bofoms affeftion will lovingly fcatter the 
 flowers of fummer. 
 
 Whether life be drear or joyous, ftorm or fun- 
 fliine, whatever changes of life await us, yet 
 thou, fair ifle, wilt ever be the fame to us; the 
 fpray-wreathed headland will ever ftretch its 
 brawny neck towards the fea; old ocean's deep- 
 toned voice will ever fpeak to us in thofe fame 
 myfterious, majeftic tones with which flie awed 
 our childhood into thoughtful reverence; the 
 facred dull of our fathers fhall become part of 
 thy hallowed foil ; as lading and unchanging as 
 thefe fliall be our love to thee, dear ille of our 
 fathers ! The fond words of a Newport bard, 
 whofe fweet mufe has thrown a gentle halo over 
 18 
 
210 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the later annals of Newport, have, from child- 
 hood, been precious in my memory, and to-day 
 I would gratefully recall them. 
 
 , *' There is a glory haunts thy fapphire fky. 
 
 Thy emerald fvvell and flopes not foon fhall die ; 
 Old ocean's bofom heaves with pride for thee. 
 And lends the eye of day with love to fee 
 Thine inland beauties and thy feaward fvveep, 
 O, fair, midft faireft daughters of the deep ! " 
 
 The following is from William E. Almy, 
 Efq., of New London, Conn. : 
 
 Mr. Mayor: — The Sons and Daughters of 
 Newport, relident at New London, thank you 
 with their whole heart for this mofk gratifying 
 welcome to their native city. 
 
 The lot of thofe for whom I fpeak to-day has 
 been cad among a kind, a generous, and a 
 fpirited people. We live in fight of lofty mon- 
 uments, which tell of bloody ftrife for liberty ; 
 we live where Arnold's torch ferved but to 
 illume more brightly the pathway to freedom ; 
 we live where rocks, and hills, and dales echo 
 and re-echo the fweet ftrains of their lamented 
 Brainard. Such a people will permit us, on this 
 occafion, to fay that our firft love, and our firft 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 211 
 
 duty, Is to the city of our birth. We are happy 
 to avow it. 
 
 As, a few days fince, we glided ova your 
 beautiful bay, we foon recognized the objeds 
 mod familiar to us. There was "Tammany 
 Hill," there the fymmetrlcal fpire of dear old 
 Trinity Church, to meet the fun in his coming, 
 and be gilded by his morning and evening rays. 
 There the great fortrefs, a monument to the (kill 
 of a Totten; there the afylum, which humanity 
 has ereded to flielter thofe whom misfortune has 
 fmitten with the feverer trials of life ; there that 
 monument, which reminds us of the battle- 
 thunders of Erie, and of the fplendid naval hero 
 — our own brave and beloved Perry, and thofe 
 of his command — there the lime rocks, the 
 clufter of willows, where hilarity and joyoufnefs 
 have fo often reigned ; there the blue rocks, ftill 
 willing to hear the tender tale ; there the dear 
 old State Houfe, the found of whofe bells, on 
 Eledion morn, was fweeter mufic to our juvenile 
 ears than would be that of the combined bands 
 of the world. Here memory comes with a rufli, 
 and claims our tribute to the attradlons of that 
 holiday of the old and the young. We fee the 
 tents, the cakes, the colored eggs, the egg-pop, 
 
212 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the procefTion, the Governor, and we hear the 
 proclamation, and the artillery falute ; we fee our 
 bright pennies and hear their magic jingle — dear 
 and fweet recoUedions, never to be forgotten ! 
 
 Traverling thefe ftreets, we have gazed upon 
 that antiquarian jewel, which, laft evening, was 
 made to dazzle by the cunning of man. We 
 have feen, too, with renewed admiration and 
 fpell-bound feeling, that claffical gem in archi- 
 tefture, founded by a Redwood's liberality. We 
 have feen the Mall, preffed the verdant turf, 
 luxuriated in the grateful fhade. We paufed 
 by the fountain, gufliing forth a fparkling ftream ; 
 who lliall fay it will ever flake our third: for our 
 " ifland home ? " We have ftood by the Jewilli 
 Temple, that myftery of our childhood, which 
 reminds us of the generoiity of a " Touro." We 
 have flood on yonder beach, and renewed our 
 homage to " the glad waters of the dark blue 
 fea," whofe beautifully-fringed billows, as they 
 broke at our feet, feemed to bid us " welcome." 
 Wherever elfe we look, changes are fo great and 
 fo apparent, that we are wont to exclaim, 
 
 " There architcdlure's noble pride 
 Bids elegance and fplendor rife." 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 
 
 213 
 
 It is here that this " loveHeft gem on the bofom 
 of the ocean," fpreads for her votaries her richeft 
 and her grandeft banquet. Is it too much to 
 fay that there are thoughts in embryo, affociated 
 with yonder " Spouting Rock," and its terrible 
 conflicts with the iurging billows, which will yet 
 be fung with rapture by every Son and Daughter 
 of Newport ? Was not Bruce's Addrefs born of 
 the rolling thunder and the lightning's flafli ? 
 
 There Hands the dear old Market, through 
 whofe arches our youthful eyes have gazed on 
 many a joyous fcene. We yield it our grateful 
 homage, and may it endure to awaken afrefli the 
 early joys of returning pilgrims to their native 
 home. 
 
 Mr. Mayor, our hearts glow with a burning 
 gratitude, as we thank the municipal authorities, 
 and the citizens generally of this city, for their 
 affectionate, guardian care over the facred fpot 
 which holds the remains of fo many worthies, 
 and of thofe near and dear to us. 
 
 Science has limited the firings of the mufical 
 harp, but file flirinks from an alike arrangement 
 of thofe of the harp of the heart, which, count- 
 lefs though they be, vibrate in unifon to-day, 
 and echo fvveetly all over and around this 
 
214 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 lovely fpot, Auld Lang Syne, and Home, fweet 
 home. 
 
 Lieutenant Thomas M. Brownell was to 
 reply to the toaft complimentary to the " Heroes 
 of Lake Erie," and thefe remarks he was prepared 
 to offer on the occafion. 
 
 Mr, Frefident^ Ladies^ and Gentlemen : — I rife to 
 tender you my unfeigned thanks for the flatter- 
 ing comphment juft paid to me, and my young 
 friend here, by Dr. Parfons ; alfo, in behalf of our 
 abfent comrades — three in number. We, too. 
 Sir, were once abfent from little Rhoda. It was 
 on the loth of September, 1813, and that fad 
 makes us to-day the guells of the city, to fliare 
 with you its hofpitalities. 
 
 Sir, the memorable tenth was on that day that 
 the gallant Perry led us boys to battle and to 
 vidory, and fliowed to an atloniflied world that 
 the invincibility of the Englifli lion and its 
 wooden walls was broken, and fignally fo ; for, 
 on that day, for the firlt and laft time, England 
 loft a fleet. And this, it has been (aid, was a 
 Rhode Ifland fight. It was ; for Rhode Ifland 
 had more officers and men in that battle than 
 any other State ; and they were led by that good 
 and brave officer, Oliver H. Perry, our fellow 
 
EVENING FESTIVITIES. 21 C 
 
 townfman. Sir, Rhode Ifland did her duty on 
 that day, and will continue ever fo to do, when 
 menaced by her own, or her country's enemies. 
 Her Sons, I am fure, will be ever proud and 
 willing to ftep into the front ranks of danger, 
 to defend the State, or the United States; and 
 you, who are here gathered together at this 
 happy re-union would, if neceffary, flep forward 
 in defence of your liberty, gained for you by 
 your fathers, and not only do as others have 
 done, but far outftrip them in deeds of bravery 
 and daring. 
 
 In concluding, Mr. Prefident, permit me to 
 offer the following toad : 
 
 The Fair Daughters of Rhode Ifland, irmy they be ever 
 happy and bleflbd in fuch a Union as they may choofe. 
 
 The following beautiful lines were contributed 
 by Henry T. Tuckerman, Efq., who could not 
 be prefent on the occafion : 
 
 Though not thy fon. Oh let me claim to be 
 Thy fofter-child, old city by the Tea \ 
 For, cradled on thy waters, I have known 
 The heart of Nature pulfate to my own; 
 Like a loved voice, the fighing of thy trees. 
 Swayed by the dalliance of the weflern breeze. 
 
2l6 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Tender the greeting from that myflic tide, 
 Whofe tepid currents ocean's realm divide j 
 Kindred the welcome of the fummer day. 
 As flits our bark athwart the peerlefs bay ; 
 Cordial the rude embraces of thy wave. 
 In whofe refrelhing arms we gaily lave. 
 And free our courfc along the crefcent fand 
 Whence the broad furgcs limitlefs expand. 
 While from their lucent curves the winds at play 
 Call on fair cheeks the glillening pearls of fpray. 
 And level funbeams crimfon radiance pour 
 Through filvcr mifts that veiled the peopled fhore. 
 On mill and hayftack mellow luftre throw. 
 And bathe the landfcape with an amber glow ! 
 
 Nor lefs endeared the upland where we gaze 
 On the gnarled orchard and the twinkling maize. 
 And watch afar the inlet'a azure fheeh. 
 Like cryfolites each rocky ledge between ; 
 And gable roofs whofe cafements ftill betray. 
 By fond infcriptions. Love's old holiday. 
 
 The hill whofe grafs-grown ramparts yet declare 
 How freedom's champions wreftled with defpair, 
 The Druid grove, which hallowed memories grace, 
 As Channing's thoughts inveft his dwelHng place; 
 The ancient temple in whofe mufic ftill 
 The generous heart of Berkeley feems to thrill ; 
 The Jews, lone flirine and grave none haunt to weep ; 
 The Ihaft that marks where Perry's allies fleep ; 
 The Clifl's green marge, yon Doric home of lore; 
 The funfet hues that Malbone loved of yore — 
 This heritage of nature and of fame. 
 Not ^y Jons only, but thy lovers claim. 
 
( 217) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The Feftival is over, and is now a thing that 
 has pafled ; but long, long will the memory of it 
 be frefli, not only here, but all over this broad land; 
 and wherever the Sons and Daughters who have 
 recently affembled in Newport have anchored 
 for life, their old home, the place of their birth, 
 will be held dearer than ever before. The 
 fcenes witneffed during the paft few days can 
 never be forgotten ; they will be handed down 
 from father to fon, with many another tale of 
 this old iiland and its people ; and the boys and 
 girls of another generation, filled with the fame 
 love and veneration for a fpot lo dear to their 
 parents, will deem it a pleafure and a privilege 
 to congregate here, as their fathers have recently 
 done, and for a limilar purpofe. Born though 
 they may be on other foil, they will never lofe 
 their allegiance to Rhode Ifland, the fpot where 
 their forefathers in peace repofe. 
 
 Nor is the ftrengthening of old ties all the 
 19 
 
2l8 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 good that is to grow out of a re-union, fuch as 
 we have witneffed. Better things than even this 
 will come of it. The afFedions have not only 
 been unlocked, but the whole inner man has 
 been deeply ilirred. That vaft affembly was a 
 unit, and, when one of their number afked the 
 blefTmg of Heaven on the purpofe for which 
 they were gathered, three thoufand men and 
 women involuntarily rofe, and bowed the head 
 in refponfe to thofe folemn words; and eyes, 
 unufed to tears, wept as one eloquent fpeaker 
 after another vividly called up fcenes in which 
 they had all participated, but which, in the 
 lapfe of time, had been almoft forgotten. With 
 all the joy and pleafure of fuch a meeting, there 
 was a ierioufnefs that arretted the attention of 
 thofe who were there merely as fpectators, and 
 who have fince faid they had a higher refped 
 for Rhode Illanders than ever before, high as 
 they have ever held them. They have alfo 
 attefted to the bearing of the Sons here aflem- 
 bled, and the value to be fet on the friendfliip 
 and elteem of fuch men. Nor is this furpris- 
 ing ; for here were thoufands alfembled, taken 
 from all clafles of fociety — men fuddenly called 
 from the homes of their adoption to fee each 
 
CONCLUSION, 
 
 Other, and with no reRraint put upon them but 
 that which a fenfe of propriety would didate ; 
 and yet, in all that concourfe, there was not one, 
 fo far as we have been able to learn, whole 
 condud was not creditable to the whole. This, 
 we take it, is one of the points on which we 
 may dwell with moft pleafure ; for it tells of that 
 difcipline of charader, which marked the eady 
 fettlers of the colony; men whofe example has 
 not been loft on their defendants of to-day. 
 And of the fpeakers it was faid, they were in 
 earneft; the idea of making a fpeech feemed to 
 be the fartheft from their thoughts. They had 
 fomething pertinent to fay; and they faid it 
 with all their hearts, and with an eloquence, the 
 birth of the moment, which carried convidion to 
 every ear. 
 
 Many allufions, public and private, have 
 fmce been made to the pleafure experienced on 
 that day by thofe who were fo fortunate as to 
 be prefent, or had we the fpace at command, 
 we might infert many of thefe letters and 
 printed articles. The following is a private 
 letter; but, as it contains that which muft be 
 gratifying to every Son of Newport, we hope 
 we may be pardoned for introducing it here. 
 It is dated Bofton, Auguft 25, 1859 • 
 
220 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 # * # u £g^ j^g f^y fomething which I have 
 not faid before. My pilgrimage to Newport 
 has given me the lincereft pleafure, which was 
 too much abridged by duties at home. As the 
 poet fays of Gilpin, let me fay : 
 
 " And when he next doth ride abroad. 
 May I be there to fee." 
 
 Not that I rate my beloved town with that 
 hero, nor the re-union with that race of the val- 
 iant citizens. O, no. Sir. It was an incident 
 in my long life which I will never forget. With 
 its memory is affociated my deepeft thanks to 
 thofe under w^hofe generous patronage — the city 
 and citizens of Newport — and thofe alfo in 
 whofe hand were its details. Never was there 
 a better work, or one more nobly done. Indi- 
 vidually do I feel indebted to them for a high 
 and true pleafure, and to all do I render my 
 deepeft thanks. 
 
 Accept my true regard, and believe me, very 
 truly, yours, 
 
 WALTER CHANNING." 
 
 And we clofe with an extraft from a letter to 
 the New York Times, from the pen of fome 
 fpeSator unknown to the Committee : 
 
CONCLUSION. 221 
 
 "Among fome of the (tatements ;nade at the 
 re-union, and which your reporter had, doubtlels 
 neither fpace nor time to prefent, or which were 
 given in the fpeeches dehvered at a late hour of 
 the night to the wonderfully patient audience, 
 there were fome of general intereft, worth 
 noting. 
 
 It was declared that the firft lectures on anat- 
 omy and furgery ever delivered in pubhc in 
 America, were delivered here by Dr. William 
 Hunter ; that the firft inllance of the perform- 
 ance of vaccination occurred here ; the iirft build- 
 ing to be lighted with gas, in this country, was 
 here ; the firll fight of a fleet of the American 
 Navy was under the command of, and principally 
 manned by, Newport men; the firft feafon of the 
 Revolution was that of the taking of the Gafpee, 
 in Narraganlett Bay, and that the firil refiftance 
 to "taxation without reprefentation " was made 
 in a proteft from this Colony ; a copy, and, per- 
 haps, the only one exifting of which, is preferved 
 in London. 
 
 To thefe ftatements of the paft may be added 
 fome memorable fads concerning the Celebra- 
 tion itfelf, viz. : 
 
 1. There was more provifion prepared than 
 19* 
 
222 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 even the v^ company could ufe, and all of it 
 good. 
 
 2. There was not an accident or difturbance. 
 
 3. There was not, fo far as is known, a lingle 
 pocket picked. 
 
 4. There was not any arreft, nor the neces- 
 lity for any. 
 
 Whether there is anything unufual in thefe 
 fads, every reader of yours will know as well as 
 your humble fervant." 
 
( 2^3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 
 
 Every reader of thele pages is probably aware 
 that, during the paft year, great changes have 
 been made, both in the external appearance 
 and the internal arrangements of the Redwood 
 Library — changes efFefted through the liberality 
 of its numerous friends, and which reflect the 
 higheft credit on the tafte and judgment of all 
 who have been inftrumental in accomplifliing 
 this great end. When the work was brought 
 to a clofe, it was decided to commemorate the 
 event by an Inaugural Addrefs, to be delivered 
 on the day following the Re-union, and Hon. 
 George G. King was invited to prepare the 
 Addrels ; but, owing to the illnefs of the orator, 
 the Celebration had to be poftponed, and we 
 here infert a (ketch of the Library, with fome 
 account of its early hiftory, which we prepared 
 at the time for the Providence Journal, as appro- 
 priate to the time and the place. 
 
224 'the re-union. 
 
 its rise, history, and present condition. 
 
 Newport, August 17, 1859. 
 
 The readers of the Journal^ a year ago, were 
 made acquainted with the munificent gift of 
 numerous friends of the Redwood Library, who 
 generoufly fubfcribed and paid in the hberal 
 fum often thoufand dollars, for the enlargement 
 and general improvement of the edifice, and the 
 increafe of the valuable collection of books. At 
 the prefent time, it affords me pleafure to fay 
 that the wiflies of the donors have been carried 
 out in fpirit, and with a fidelity every way com- 
 mendable, and the promoters of fo great a good 
 have the hearty thanks of all who are interefted 
 in this venerable inftitution. 
 
 How the fum above referred to was raifed, and 
 in what way it has been expended, fliall be the 
 fubjed of remark to-day. But firft let me devote 
 a portion of the fpace alTigned to your correfpon- 
 dent, to a general hiftory of the Library, from its 
 foundation to the prefent time. Of necefTity, 
 the iketch mud be brief; but it will suffice to 
 Ihow how the fame noble end may be attained 
 in almoft any town of ten or a dozen thoufand 
 inhabitants, if a few public- fpirited men, like the 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 225 
 
 founders of this Library — the Redwoods, the 
 ColHns, Updikes, Scotts, and others affociated 
 with them, — would but take the initiative, and 
 demonftrate by their own acts the value to be 
 placed on a knowledge of books, not only by 
 the profeflional fludent, but alfo by men engaged 
 in purfuits which are too often fuppofed to in- 
 terfere with a general acquaintance with the 
 whole field of literature. 
 
 The period in the hiftory of Newport to 
 which I am about to refer, was diftinguiflied in 
 many ways. Newport at that day was preem- 
 inent for its cultivated and refined fociety, 
 extended commercial relations, and general pros- 
 perity. To this mart men of bufinefs reforted 
 from all parts of the country; and here, too, 
 affembled diftinguiflied fcholars from abroad, as 
 well as from the different feats of learning in our 
 own land. Here the ftudent found the fineft 
 chemical laboratory in America, and the only 
 garden in the country deferving the name of 
 Botanical Garden ; here he had accefs to valua- 
 ble colleflions of books, not only thofe fent out 
 to Trinity Church by the " Society for Propagat- 
 ing the Gofpel in Foreign Parts," but alfo the 
 private libraries imported at the expenfe of men 
 
226 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 deeply engaged in commercial purfuits for their 
 own improvement ; and here he was introduced 
 to a fociety compofed of thefe fame high-minded 
 men, affociated with eminent divines, lawyers 
 and phyficians, who were in conftant correfpond- 
 ence with the moll learned focieties in the mother 
 country. Culture, not wealth, was the mark of 
 diftindion, and he who could add to the literary 
 enjoyment of his friends, was received into the 
 body he was fitted to adorn. 
 
 This fociety was eftabliflied in 1730, and owed 
 its origin undoubtedly to the prefence of Bifliop 
 (then Dean) Berkeley, who, it is well known, 
 fpent about two years on the ifland at that period, 
 vainly hoping that the promifed grant on the 
 part of the Crown for the founding of a univer- 
 fity at the Bermudas, would be forthcoming, till 
 at laft circumrtances compelled him to abandon 
 his project and return to Dublin. His landing 
 here, though not accidental, as it has fometimes 
 been ftated, was quite unexpeded to the inhabi- 
 tants. He was received on the dock by the rec- 
 tor and congregation of Trinity Church, and on 
 finding himfelf furrounded by men of learning, 
 with whom he could affociate with pleafure, he 
 decided to remain here for a feafon, and at once 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 
 
 227 
 
 joined heartily in their literary purfuits. Mem- 
 bers of all denominations were drawn around 
 him, and his whole time was devoted to acts of 
 benevolence, and the promotion of knowledge. 
 
 It was at this time that the " Society for the 
 Promotion of Knowledge and Virtue" was efiab- 
 liflied, and this is nearly all the information in 
 regard to the Society that we have, for its records 
 have been lolt, probably burned, and it was by 
 the merefl chance that the names of its founders, 
 and its rules and regulations have been faved 
 from a hke mifliap. A century after the Society 
 was formed, (1813,) a gentleman plucked from 
 a burning heap of old papers a diicolored flieet, 
 on which was infcribed all that we know of the' 
 Society. The papers confumed belonged to 
 Judge Edward Scott, an active member of the 
 Society, and the fragment faved is in his hand- 
 writing, as Moderator of the meeting in 1735. 
 
 The following comprifes the names of the 
 original members : Daniel Updike, Peter Bours, 
 James Searing, Edward Scott, Henry Collins,' 
 Nathan Townfend, Jr., Jeremy Condy, and 
 James Honyman, Jr. 
 
 Daniel Updike was the fon of Gilbert Updike, 
 a German phyfician, who emigrated to Rhode 
 
228 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Ifland from New Amfterdam, (now New York,) 
 in 1664. Daniel was educated in his father's 
 houfe, and early applied himfelf to the iludy of 
 the law, in which profeflion he became diftin- 
 guiflied. In Newport he opened an office, and 
 here he fubfequently married a daughter of 
 Gov. Benedick Arnold. In 1722, he was eleded 
 Attorney General, and from that date he was in 
 adive public life. With Bifliop Berkeley he 
 was intimate ; they vifited Narraganfett to- 
 gether, and his biographer, a defcendant, has 
 paid a juft tribute to his memory in the Memoirs 
 of the Rhode Ifland Bar. 
 
 Peter Bours was a merchant — an importer of 
 dry goods — a friend of learning, and not un- 
 known in public life. At the time the Library 
 was incorporated, he was Firft Affiftant Deputy 
 in the General Aflembly ; at the fame time Dan- 
 iel Updike was Attorney General, and William 
 EUery, (father of the {igner of the Declaration 
 of Independence,) an early member of the So- 
 ciety, was Lieutenant Governor. 
 
 But little in relation to the Rev. James Sear- 
 ing has come down to us, beyond the fad that 
 he was eleded Paftor of the Second Congrega- 
 tional Church, in 1731, which office he held up 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 220 
 
 to the time of his death, in 1755. He was fuc- 
 ceeded by Rev. Ezra Styles, who, at the requeft 
 (as he himfelf ttates in his Diary, in 1772,) of a 
 Committee of the congregation, wrote the fol- 
 lowing epitaph, which was engraved on his 
 graveftone : 
 
 "Here hes a Chriftlan Minifter, facred to 
 whofe Memory the Congregation, late his Pas- 
 toral charge, erected this Monument, a teftimony 
 to Poderity of their Refped for the amiable 
 character of the Rev. James Searing, their late 
 venerable Paftor, who was born at Hempftead, on 
 Long Ifland, Sept. xxiii, mdcciv. Received a 
 hberal education at Yale College ; ordained to 
 the paftoral charge of the Church and Chriltian 
 Society meeting in Clarke ftreet, Newport, R. I., 
 
 ; xxi. MDccxxxL, where he ferved in the 
 
 Chrillian Miniftry xxiv. years, and died Jany vi. 
 MDccLv. astat L. He always entertained a 
 rational and fober veneration of the Moft High, 
 whom he regarded as the Father of the Univerfei 
 the Wife Governor and benevolent Friend of 
 the Creation. He was a fteady advocate of the 
 Redeemer and his Religion ; by recommending 
 Virtue and Piety upon Chriftian Principles in 
 his public Inftruclions and in his own excellent 
 example. His contempt of Bigotry, his exten- 
 five Charity and Benevolence, and an exemplary 
 goodnefs of Life, juftly endeared him to his 
 2o 
 
230 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Flock, and not only entitled him, but gained him, 
 that very general acceptance and eiteem which 
 perpetuates his Memory with deferved Reputa- 
 tion and Honor." 
 
 Judge Edward Scott was a lawyer of emi- 
 nence, and diftinguiflied for his attainments. I 
 have feen it recorded that he was uncle to Sir 
 Walter Scott's father. 
 
 Henry Collins was a diftinguiflied merchant 
 of Newport — diftinguiflied not only for his fuc- 
 cefs in mercantile affairs, but alfo for his learn- 
 ing, refined tafte in literature and the fine arts, 
 benevolence and devotion to a wife and general 
 diffufion of knowledge. He was thirty-one 
 years of age, at the time that he affociated with the 
 above-named men, for the purpofe of founding 
 a Literary and Philofophical Society, aQively 
 engaged in bufinefs, and ready, with heart and 
 hand, to profper every good and noble work — 
 one of the ftrongeft evidences of which was the 
 gift of the land on which the Library now 
 ftands, then known as Bowling Green, to fecond 
 Mr. Redwood's liberal offer, to which I fliall 
 prefently have occafion to refer. 
 
 Mr. Collins formed a gallery of paintings — a 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 
 
 231 
 
 rare thing in America at that day. Dr. Water- 
 houfe, recalling, later in life, the impreffion made 
 on him by this Colledion, fays of Henry Collins : 
 "He was a wealthy merchant and a man of 
 tafte. He caused paintings to be made of Parfon 
 Callender, as well as fome other divines, as 
 Hitchcock, Clapp, and Dean Berkeley, which 
 he often admired in the Collins Collection." 
 Tradition alfo fays that moft of thefe portraits 
 were painted by Smibert, who vilited this coun- 
 try with Berkeley, and it is known that Mr. 
 CoUins extended a hearty welcome to, and em- 
 ployed the pencil of every artift who touched 
 thefe (liores. 
 
 There was another noble trait in the character 
 of Mr. Collins, which fliould not go unnoticed. 
 Deferving young men, ftruggling with the world, 
 and anxious to acquire a liberal education, found 
 in him a true friend, and many who, but for this 
 timely affiftance, would have paffed through life 
 unnoticed, became prominent through their ac- 
 quirements, and an ornament to fociety. Every 
 meafure, calculated to promote the public good, 
 he heartily endorfed, and the extenhon of Long 
 Wharf, the building of the Brick Market, now 
 the City Hall, and other public works, owed 
 
232 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 much of their fuccefs to his hberality and coun- 
 tenance. But misfortunes fell upon him in his 
 latter days — the loffes attendant on the applica- 
 tion of the Admiralty rule of '56, led the way to 
 bankruptcy in '65, from the • effefts of which he 
 never recovered; and a few years later, about 
 1770, he died, greatly refpefted and long to be 
 remembered for his noble ads, his liberality, and 
 his generous culture. 
 
 Of Nathan Townfend, Jr., and Jeremy Condy, 
 I know nothing — the names, as affociated with 
 the Society, alone remain to us. 
 
 James Honyman, Jr., fon of Rev._ James Hony- 
 man, who, for more than fifty years, was redor of 
 Trinity Church, was born in Newport, and early 
 attained to a prominent pofition in public affairs. 
 A Iketch of his life will be found in the Memoirs 
 of the Rhode Ifland Bar. He died during the 
 time the Britifli troops were on the ifland, and 
 was interred in Trinity Churchyard. On the 
 ftone placed over his remains, we find this 
 tribute to his worth : " He was eminent in his 
 profeflion as Attorney at Law, and for many 
 years was employed in the moil important offices 
 of government." 
 
 Thefe were the men who organized the So- 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 233 
 
 ciety, and formed a code for the government cf 
 its members. Fortunately, as I have already 
 remarked, a copy of these Rules has been pre- 
 ferved. They are but little known, and it may 
 not be out of place to introduce a few of them 
 here, for they have a direct bearing on the hiftory 
 of the Redwood Library. 
 
 Article i. The members of the Society 
 fliall meet every Monday evening, at the houle 
 of one of the members, feriatim, and converfe 
 about and debate fome ufeful queftions in Divin- 
 ity, Morality, Philofophy, Hiftory, &c. 
 
 Art. 2. The member who propofes the ques- 
 tion fliall be moderator, (pro hac vice,) and fee 
 that order and decency be maintained in all the 
 debates and converfations. 
 
 Art. 3. Every member in order fliall freely 
 give his opinion, with his reafons, having liberty 
 to explain the fenfe of the queftion, or his own 
 expreffion, and to retract or alter his opinion, as 
 to him fliall feem right. 
 
 Art. 4. The member at whofe houfe we 
 meet fliall propofc a quellion for the next even- 
 ing's converfation, the Society to judge of its 
 propriety and ufefulnefs, only nothing fliall ever 
 be propofed or debated, which is a dillinguifliing 
 religious tenet of any one member. 
 
 Art. 5. No member fliall divulge the opinion 
 or argument of any particular member, as to any 
 20* 
 
234 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 fubject debated in the Society, on penalty of a 
 perpetual exclulion. Neverthelefs, any member 
 may gratify the curiolity of any that may inquire 
 the names, number, general delign, method and 
 laws of the Society, and the opinions and con- 
 clulions of the major part, without difcovering 
 how any particular member voted. 
 
 Art. 6. The moderator, for the time being, 
 fhall keep a book^ in which he fliall regifter 
 the queitions and the folutions or anfwers, and 
 another for the fines and forfeits that may become 
 due. 
 
 Art. 7. The queftion ihall be propounded by 
 the moderator, exactly at feven in the evening; 
 or, if he be then abfent, another fliall be chofen in 
 his room, and whoever lliall come after that ihall 
 forfeit one (liilling ; whoever is abfent the whole 
 evening (liall forfeit two iliillings and fixpence ; 
 only the moderator fliall forfeit double," &c. 
 
 This article is the longeft, and embraces a 
 great variety of fines, all of which were to be 
 coUefted " every month, and laid out in books, 
 &c., as the Society fliall think beft ;" and it was 
 this colleftion of books, probably, which was 
 the nucleus of the prefent library. 
 
 Bifliop Berkeley was undoubtedly prefent at all 
 thefe meetings. The late Hon. W. Hunter, in 
 his Centennial Addrefs, (which, by the way, I 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 235 
 
 am happy to fay, will fliortly be printed,) fays 
 of Berkeley's connection with the Society : 
 
 " He propofed many of its themes ; he took 
 a referved and dignified iliare in its conferences ; 
 he derived an exquifite happinefs, much lefs 
 from his own confcioufnefs of fuperiority, than 
 from an opportunity for difcovering and devel- 
 oping nafcent literary talent, and confirming and 
 invigorating every germ of rational faith and 
 Chriftian charity. Under a leader and leQurer 
 like Berkeley, he, the prefiding genius, it is 
 hardly to be doubted that this, the oral, is the 
 beft mode of inilrudion. The Society felt but 
 little need of books when he was prefent. When 
 withdrawn, it was natural, in the abfence of 
 Socrates, to a(k for the Memorabilia of Xeno- 
 phon, the Dialogues of Plato, and the Treatifes 
 of Ariftotle. 
 
 Berkeley, therefore, was the remote, not the 
 proximate caufe of the Inftitution, (the Redwood 
 Library,) and this opinion is confirmed by after 
 facts. He praifed and loved Rhode Ifland. He 
 refers to it, and its inhabitants, in his letters, 
 with affectionate regard. He even thinks it a 
 more eligible fite than Bermuda, for the promo- 
 tion of his great fcheme of educating and evan- 
 gelizing the native Indians. But in clofing his 
 affairs here, he beftowed a large portion of his 
 own valuable library on the Univerfities of Cam- 
 bridge and Yale, and on the laft his White Hall 
 
236 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 eftate, on this ifland. Had the plan of a hbrary 
 been matured, or even held up in hopeful prom- 
 ife, it is fairly prefumable thele gifts would have 
 been, in fome degree, otherwife direded." 
 
 We have feen, then, how the prefent So:iety 
 was formed, who were the leading fpirits, and in 
 what way a colledion of bocks was commenced. 
 In 1735, the number of members had increafed 
 from fix to twenty-four, nearly all of whom were 
 prominent men, and fome of them are known to 
 hiftory. The fines exacted, in Article Seventh, 
 probably amounted to confiderable fums, which 
 were expended in books; and, in 1747, Abra- 
 ham Redwood conceived the happy idea of 
 founding a public library. To promote this, he 
 generoufly offered to beftow five hundred pounds 
 ilerling for the purchafe of books, if a fufficient 
 fum could be raifed to erect a fuitable building 
 for their reception. Henry Collins, as already 
 ftated, fubfequently tendered a lot of land for a 
 fite, and in a fliort time five thoufand pounds 
 were fubfcribed, by different citizens of the town, 
 for the eredion of a handfome edifice. The 
 Library was incorporated the fame year, and the 
 following year the eredion of the prefent library 
 building was commenced, under the diredion of 
 
 ( 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 
 
 237 
 
 Peter Harrifon,* and completed In 1749. Har- 
 rifon was diltlnguiflied in his profefTion, and of 
 him Mr. Hunter thus fpeaks : 
 
 " He had been the affiftant architect of Van- 
 burgh in the erection of the Duke of Marlborough's 
 palace at Woodftock. He was undeniably a 
 man of fcience and tafte. Survey the public 
 and private buildings of this era. Trinity 
 Church, the North Market, the State Houfe, 
 the Malbone Town Houfe, the Wanton Houfe, 
 the Matthew Cozzens, now the Collins Houfe, 
 disfigured as they all have been by time, by the 
 fpoliations of war, and by modern improve- 
 ments. Any inveftigator, comparing them with 
 what exifted in any capital of any one of the colo- 
 nies at xhtfame ti?ne, muft admit in this age, what 
 was cheerfully admitted in that, that little pre- 
 cocious Rhode Ifland proper ilood at leaft equal 
 to any : and this comparifon is unaided by any 
 reference to the Malbone Country Houfe, which 
 preceded them all in point of time, and furpaffed 
 them all in tafteful magnificence. It is evident 
 there were at this era of 1747, allowing half a 
 generation on each fide of it, the moneyed and 
 the mental means, the tafte, (and, if you will 
 moralize,) the profufion and the reckleflhefs to 
 do all this." 
 
 * The name of Jofeph Harrifon has been inferted acciden- 
 tally on the tablet in the library edifice. 
 
238 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 The edifice confifted of a principal building 
 with a fmall wing on each fide, ranging in a line 
 with the weft end of the building, the front, 
 which is ornamented with a portico, fuftained by 
 four finely-proportioned columns. In form, and 
 in nearly all its details, the building is in the 
 ftyle of the Roman Doric, with a flight admix- 
 ture of the Ionic in the rear. The plan of the 
 building, as contraQed for, is preferved in the 
 library, with that for the recent enlargement, and 
 it has been afcertained that the purpofe of the 
 founders was to have it enlarged much after the 
 manner recently adopted, lliould the increafe of 
 the library at any future day warrant it. 
 
 And here I lliould fay a few words in regard 
 to Abraham Redwood, whofe liberality has fur- 
 niflied, for more than a century, the means of 
 culture for the many who have appreciated his 
 generous devotion to the caufe of learning. It 
 would be a pleafure to know more of him than 
 has come down to us. His portrait graces the 
 library walls, but of his perfonal hiftory we know 
 but little. He was born in Antigua, where he 
 poffelTed a large fugar plantation, Calfada Gar- 
 den, which yielded him an income of from 
 £4000 to £7000 fterling. He was educated in 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 239 
 
 Philadelphia in a manner befitting one of his 
 fortune and expectations in life. AttraQed to 
 Newport, he became enamored of Martha Cogge- 
 lliall, to whom he was united in marriage before 
 he was twenty years of age, and here he relided 
 during the remainder of his life, " in a ftyle of 
 opulence," fays Dr. Waterhoufe, " becoming his 
 fortune, mixed with the elegant iimplicity of 
 the Quaker." 
 
 From the fame fource we gather the following 
 facts in relation to this diftinguiflied man : 
 
 " His town houfe and country houfe indicated 
 the riches and tafte of the owner ; his botanical 
 garden was ftored with curious and foreign, as 
 well as valuable indigenous plants, in either hot 
 or green-houfes or in the open air. 
 
 While he indulged himfelf and friends in 
 thefe rational amulements, he was not unmindful 
 of the indigent and unfortunate. Induftrious 
 young men, itruggling on to obtain a comforta- 
 ble livelihood for themfelves, were objeds of his 
 peculiar regard. His munificence was not con- 
 fined, however, to the fcenes of ordinary life, but 
 took fo wide a range as to rank him with the 
 Harvards, Yales and Berkeleys. 
 
 The medical part of them (the books pur- 
 chafed by Mr. Redwood) were excellent. They 
 were amply fufficient to give the medical ftuden^ 
 
240 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 competent Information of all that was then 
 known in the Engliili language on anatomy, 
 furgery, chemiftry, and botany, together with the 
 liiilory of drugs, and their various preparations 
 and ufes, with the hiibry of the progrefs of 
 phyfic, from Hippocrates to Boerhaave. 
 
 After receiving fome donations from certain 
 individuals, it was deemed the fecond beft col- 
 ledion of Engliili books in New England. It 
 was the Redwood Library that rendered reading 
 fafliionable throughout the little community of 
 Rhode Ifland, during feventy or eighty years. 
 It diffufed a knowledge of general and particular 
 hiftory, geography, and ethics. It opened to the 
 youth of both lexes an acquaintance with an- 
 tiquity; it gave them a knowledge of Greece 
 and Rome, with Afia, modern Europe, the Eng- 
 liili claffics, and the belles-lettres generally; it 
 fowed the feeds of the iciences, and rendered the 
 inhabitants of Newport, if not a learned, yet a 
 better read and inquiiitive people than any other 
 town in the Britiili Colonies, and this was owing 
 to the judicious liberality of Abraham Redwood." 
 
 To Mr. Hunter's Centennial Addrefs we turn 
 once more, and there find, in the clofely written 
 pages, thefe glowing words : 
 
 " He (Abraham Redwood) gave freely and 
 deliberately. He needed no prompter. He 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 
 
 241 
 
 gave in his lifetime. He was his own ahnoner 
 and truftee. He directed the apphcation of his 
 own gift to its true ufes. He hved to fee his own 
 beneficent purpofes effeduated. Such a procedure 
 avoids all the difficulties and dangers of death- 
 bed devises or donations, and obviates or ren- 
 der inapplicable all fatire againft legacy-hunting, 
 and all declamations againil: property in mort- 
 main. Do you aik for Abraham Redwood the 
 pomp of eulogy ? Do you call upon me to 
 read, from the golden letters of a lofty and 
 highly wrought monument, a grandiloquent epi- 
 taph of this meek adherent of Barclay and 
 Penn*? You aik for what is inappropriate and 
 inconfiftent. T^his is his monument, and without 
 the formality of the outward inicription, we 
 claim from your inward intellectual emotions the 
 juftice of the application of that lb judicioufly 
 beftowed upon Sir Chriftopher Wren, the re- 
 nowned archited of St. Paul's in London — 
 ''Lector, ft monumentum qii^ris, circumfpice!' Do 
 you aflv for a moment ? look around you." 
 
 Turning to another fource for information — 
 the unpubliilied Diary of Rev. Dr. Styles, now 
 depoiited in the library of Yale College — for 
 information in relation to the library, and Mr. 
 Redwood's connedion with it, we find this curi- 
 ous palTage : 
 
 21 
 
242 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 " This fet out as a Quaker affair ; Mr. Red- 
 wood being a Friend, advifed [and] influenced 
 by his Br. in Law, Thos. Ward, Efq., a DeiiH- 
 cal Baptift ; both thefe Gentl. really defigned it 
 llid. be Catholic & without refped of Teds. Thro' 
 the blindnefs of Mr. Redwood & Ward & Cal- 
 lender (the 2 laft men of great Learning and 
 Penetration,) the Epifcopalians flily got into it & 
 obtained a Majority wh. they are careful to keep. 
 At firft of 46 but 18 were Epifco. In 2y 
 of 91 members 43 were Epifco. Since this they 
 are become a Majority. But no body obferves 
 it but the Founder. The Founder has often 
 told me of it, & faid it was contrary to his Inten- 
 tion; & that this was one reafon of his refuling 
 to fit in the DireSors' Meetings." 
 
 The above appears in the Diary under date of 
 January 16, 1773, and will, undoubtedly, be 
 new to all who are interefted in the library at 
 this day. 
 
 The firit meeting of the Library Company 
 after their incorporation, was held in September, 
 1747, at which time the following gentlemen 
 were chofen officers of the inftitution : Abraham 
 Redwood, FreQdc?it ; Rev. James Honyman, 
 Rev. John Callender, Henry Collins, Edward 
 Scott, Samuel Wickham, John Tillinghaft, and 
 Peter Bours, Directors ; Jofeph Jacob, ^reafurer; 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 243 
 
 Edward Scott, Librarian ; and Thomas Ward, 
 Secretary, 
 
 On the fourth of the following July, the Di- 
 redors prefented a catalogue of the books they 
 propofed to purchafe in London ; the order was 
 fent out with Mr. Redwood's draft for £500 
 fterling, and in return, the Company received 
 about twenty-five hundred volumes. This cata- 
 logue, with the lift of the ftockholders at that 
 time, has happily been preferved. 
 
 I have already freely drawn from Mr. Hun- 
 ter's addrefs, for the reafon that it has never ap- 
 peared in print, and was only heard in 1847 by 
 a favored few who were prefent at that time. 
 Turning to it again, I give here his opinion of 
 these books : 
 
 " The books this five hundred pounds purchas- 
 ed in 1747, were fuch as our forefathers deemed 
 of ufeful literature. There were among them 
 men who had breathed the clalTic atmoiphere, 
 not only of our own Cambridge and Yale, but of 
 the elder Cambridge, and who had trod the quad- 
 rangles of fome of the colleges of Oxford. The 
 original invoice is for fcholars not only a curi- 
 ofity, but a relic. There are fome books there 
 that muft be reverenced, as one of the elder 
 church would reverence the bones of bleffed 
 martyrs." 
 
244 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 And here I find that I muft retrench, left my 
 intereft in the fubjed before me will lead my pen 
 to undue length, if I have not already exceeded 
 the limits affigned to a fingle article. I have 
 traced the rife and formation of the Company, 
 and for a period of nearly, or quite, thirty years 
 it profpered. Its laws and regulations were 
 drawn up by Daniel Updike, James Honyman, 
 Jr., Thomas Ward, and Matthew Robinfon, and 
 early in its hiftory, (1759,) Rev. Ezra Styles 
 was eleded honorary member, and in the follow- 
 ing year he became Librarian, which office he 
 filled during a period of twenty years, almoft 
 living in the Library, where " he wrote many of 
 his learned, not controVerfial,- letters, addreffed to 
 the heads of Jefuit Colleges, to Jewifli Rabbis, 
 and to Prelidents of learned focieties — letters 
 written in Latin or Hebrew." 
 
 But the war of the Revolution came on, and 
 the Library, as well as everything elfe in Newport, 
 felt its blighting influence. The Company was 
 completely broken up, for its members had no 
 tafte for fcenes of ftrife, ' and early fought out 
 more retired places for their homes. They were 
 fcattered, never to return, and the library edifice, 
 left without a proteding hand, was defecrated by 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 245 
 
 foreign troops, who carried off the books of en- 
 tertainment, leaving Httle elfe than foHos on 
 ferious fubjeds; but when this came to the 
 knowledge of Gen. Prefcott, to his honor be it 
 dated, he had a fentinel flationed there to pro- 
 ted it from further injury. 
 
 After the war, the town was greatly deprefled ; 
 enough, however, has been written of thefe times 
 to jultify me in pafTmg over that period without 
 further comment. No one had then a tafte for 
 reading, for every one had to exert himfelf to 
 fecure a bare fubliitence, and of the early friends 
 of the Library, few, if any, remained. In 1788, 
 Abraham Redwood died, in the feventy-ninth 
 year of his age, and this was another ferious lofs 
 to the inftitution, which, after that event, fell 
 almoil into complete difufe. From the obituary 
 notice of Mr. Redwood, made at that time, we 
 make the following extract : 
 
 He founded the Library in this town. He 
 fubfcribed largely to a college, to be built in this 
 State, on condition that it lliould be eftablillied 
 in the county of Newport. He fubfcribed five 
 hundred pounds iterling towards a univerfity, 
 propofed to be erected in this town; and he 
 offered the fame fum to the Society of Friends, 
 21* 
 
246 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 of which he was a member, to endow a fchool 
 in this place, for the inftrudion of Friend's chil- 
 dren. His lefs pubHc acts of generofity will be 
 gratefully remembered by thofe on whom they 
 were conferred, and the poor will never forget 
 that Abraham Redwood was their conftant friend 
 and benefactor." 
 
 The Library was in this neglected state when 
 James Ogilvie, Efq., a native of Scotland, and a 
 man of learning, vifited Newport, in 1810. He 
 at once became interefted in the Library, ex- 
 prefled furprife at its ftate, and volunteered to 
 give a courfe of lectures in its behalf, on the fub- 
 jed of literature. He was very eloquent, and 
 his generofity was not thrown away, for the in- 
 habitants, having recovered fomewhat from the 
 (hock of the Revolution, needed only a guide 
 to turn their attention once more to literature. 
 A paper of earneil: folictitation was drawn up by 
 the late Hon. William Hunter, reminding his 
 fellow-townfmen of their duty, and the Library 
 again became a place of refort. But it had 
 nothing of the fpirit that marked its early hiftory, 
 and Dr. Channing fays of it, at that period, 
 
 " It was fo deferted that I ipent day after day, 
 and fometimes week after week, amidft its dufty 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 247 
 
 volumes, without interference from a fingle 
 vifitor." 
 
 In 1813, Solomon South wick, Efq., of Albany, 
 formerly of Newport, gave to the Library one 
 hundred and twenty acres of land in the State of 
 New York. Abraham Redwood, Efq., of Dorfet 
 Place, Marylebone, England, Baron Hottinguer, 
 a diftinguiflied banker of Paris, and others, lince 
 then, not forgetting King George IV., have made 
 donations to the Library. The laft, and moft 
 important of thefe, is a coUedion of paintings, 
 chiefly portraits of diftinguiflied perfons, painted 
 and prefented by Charles B. King, Efq., of 
 Wailiington, a native of Newport, deeply inter- 
 efted in the Library. 
 
 Art has its miflion, and it is fitting that an in- 
 ftitution, devoted to the diffulion of knowledge, 
 fliould recognize its claims, and aid in the pro- 
 motion of its end. Pictures and (latuary are not 
 deligned to addrefs the eye alone; they have a 
 nobler purpofe, and, if rightly valued, they will 
 become a fource of pure delight. Men require 
 to be led to the ftudy of the'beautiful, and works 
 of art, rightly conceived and harmonioully ar- 
 ranged, are our belt inftruSors, for they elevate 
 
248 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 the charafter, enlarge our views, and give a dis- 
 relifh for meaner pleafures. 
 
 It is Goethe, who reminds us that the ufeful 
 encourages itfelf, for the multitude produce it, 
 and no one can difpenfe with it ; but the beau- 
 tiful muft be encouraged, for few can fet it forth, 
 and many need it. The beautiful, in all its 
 forms, is juft as effential to our happinefs as it 
 was to the German poet; and whilft the friends 
 of the Library cannot but regret that its limited 
 refources, fo far from admitting of the purchafe 
 of works of art, force the inftitution to rely 
 wholly on the generolity of the public for dona- 
 tions of this kind, it is pleafant to refleft that its 
 wants have not paffed unheeded, nor are we 
 left without the affurance of frefli accefHons to 
 the gallery at fome future day. 
 
 I have now noted fome of the leading features 
 in the hiftory of the Library, from the date of 
 its organization down to the prefent time. In 
 1855, the new movement commenced, the fub- 
 jed having been brought up at the annual meet- 
 ing of that year. A gentleman, who has taken 
 a very prominent part in all that has been done 
 to bring about this great change, fuggefted the 
 propriety of making an earned effort to place the 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 249 
 
 Library on a more ufeful and popular bafis, 
 which could be done by opening the Library 
 daily, and by taking active meafures to increafe 
 its influence; and he even went fo far as to ex- 
 prefs the belief that the fum of ten thoufand 
 dollars could be raifed, if a determined and 
 organized effort were made. This was a bold 
 projed for an old, confervative inftitution, like 
 the Redwood, to take up, but a committee was 
 appointed to confider the be ft means of carrying 
 out thefe views, and, at an adjourned meeting, 
 the chairman, in behalf of the committee, re- 
 ported that they were fully prepared to fay that 
 the plan fuggefted was fealible, if met in the 
 right fpirit ; that there was a call for a larger and 
 freer accefs to the books owned by the Company, 
 and that it feemed but right and juft that the 
 few who held fo large an amount of property, 
 principally handed down from father to fon, 
 fliould not ftand in the way of a wider and more 
 general diffufion of knowledge. 
 
 It was alfo fliown that the proprietors, num- 
 bering only about one hundred, held property 
 valued at twenty-five thoufand dollars, including 
 the Library building, cafh inverted, and eight 
 thoufand volumes and works of art. Thefe 
 
2^0 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 books were acceffible to a very limited number of 
 perfons, who only had the privilege of vifiting 
 the Library two or three times a week, for two 
 brief hours on each Hbrary-day, and the diredors, 
 having but limited refources at their command 
 to meet the current expenfes, could annually 
 expend but little in the purchase of new books. 
 
 Thefe, and other points, I cannot here intro- 
 duce, were difcuffed at length, and finally it was 
 propofed that four hundred certificates of new 
 flock iliould be iffued, at the value of $25, for 
 the purpofe of raifing §10,000, and, to the credit 
 of all concerned, it was voted that it is expedient 
 to iffue the above ftock. 
 
 This was the fird great ftep — a ftep that, in 
 itfelf, feemed like a mountain to many, whilft to 
 others who were more fanguine, and, confe- 
 quently, more earned, it was the opening wedge 
 that would prepare the way for the mod benefi- 
 cial refults. A circular was immediately pre- 
 pared, setting forth the condition of the Library 
 at that time, reviewing its hidory in brief, and 
 calling for a liberal refponfe on the part of the 
 public. This refponfe, at the dart, was not as 
 liberal as had been anticipated, and when the 
 financial crifis came on, all further efforts were 
 
THE REDWOOP LIBRARY. 25I 
 
 arrefted for the time being. One gentleman had 
 headed the paper with the fum of one thoufand 
 dollars, and he was followed by a number of 
 others, who were alfo liberal, but fo late as 
 Auguft 18, 1858, it was ftated, at a fpecial meet- 
 ing convened for the purpofe, that lefs than half 
 the amount had been fubfcribed, and unlefs ac- 
 tive meafures were taken to complete the fum 
 by the firft of September, the thoufand dollars 
 above referred to, would be withdrawn. The 
 fpirit with which the work was puflied forward 
 from this time was equal to the emergency, and 
 before the time allowed had expired, the hand- 
 fome fum of ten thoufand dollars had been 
 fubfcribed. 
 
 The number of fubfcribers for this new ilock 
 was about one hundred and thirty ; and the 
 library Company, in accepting the money, was 
 bound to comply with the following conditions 
 — to enlarge and improve the building; to open 
 it daily at all feafons of the year ; and to make 
 fuch additions of books and general reading 
 matter as would place the inftitution on a more 
 popular and fubilantial bafis. Proper fteps were 
 immediately taken to carry out the views of the 
 donors, and the direftors were empowered to aft 
 
252 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 for the beft intereft of the Hbrary. An architeft 
 was accordingly employed to draft plans for an 
 enlargement of the building, which were ac- 
 cepted, and the work, with the amount abforbed 
 in improving the grounds, and its furniture, is 
 about eight thoufand dollars. Five thoufand 
 dollars were alfo placed at the difpofal of the 
 book committee, who have found it a laborious 
 work to make up the deficiencies in the feveral 
 departments, and, at the fame time, keep up 
 with the current literature of the day. The 
 books ordered are not all here, but the Hbrary 
 building has been completed, and is now open 
 to the public, — a place of great refort, and one 
 of the chief ornaments of the town. The old 
 library room is again ftocked with books, and 
 additional fpace has been fecured by extending 
 the wings parallel with the main building. On 
 each fide of the entrance door there is a fmall 
 room — one for the Hbrarian and his alTiftants, 
 and the other for the direSors. In the rear, and 
 extending acrofs what was the principal room, is 
 the addition provided for a reading room — 
 twenty-fix by fifty feet, and nineteen feet in 
 height, lighted by a dome and windows on each 
 end. This beautiful room is handfomely fur- 
 
THE REDWOOD LIBRARY. 253 
 
 iiiflied, and its walls are adorned with nearly one 
 hundred paintings. The tables are iupplied 
 with the leading news and literary papers of the 
 day, and the beft magazines and reviews. In 
 this room converfation and reading aloud are 
 prohibited ; but, in the library room, one can 
 converfe with his friends, if fo difpofed. There 
 is alfo a commodious delk, with writing mate- 
 rials at hand, a fuggeftion book, a bulletin, Sic, 
 &c., and here ladies and gentlemen daily con- 
 gregate to read and to enjoy all the privileges of 
 the inftitution. 
 
 And now I mufi: bring this lengthy article to 
 a clofe. There are many objeds of intereft in 
 the library of which I may fpeak hereafter ; but 
 I will not tax your readers' patience any further 
 to-day, if you will allow me to touch on only 
 one more point connected with this new move- 
 ment. Many of the gentlemen who have fub- 
 fcribed liberally towards the ten thoufand dol- 
 lars have no ufe for more than one or two of 
 the lliares belonging to them, and they have 
 accordingly difpofed of them in ways calculated 
 to do the moft good. One gentleman has 
 placed eighteen fliares in the hands of the dired- 
 ors, to be rented to defer ving young men, who 
 23 
 
254 "^HE RE-UNION. 
 
 will pay the annual tax for the privileges of the 
 library; another has provided for the public 
 fchool teachers and the mod: deferving fcholars 
 in the high fchools, and fo on, each one chooling 
 fome way in which to turn his inveftment to 
 good account. And if Abraham Redwood and 
 Henry Collins could look in on their fuccelfors, 
 to-day, they would fee that they were actuated by 
 the fame defire to promote good, and extend to 
 all facilities for acquiring knowledge. Nor is this 
 all ; for all parties are pleafed with what has 
 been done ; and how could it be otherwife ? 
 Thofe who have contributed the means are grat- 
 ified to fee a great enterprife carried through 
 fuccefsfuUy, and thofe who have heretofore had 
 no intereil in the library now feel themfelves 
 identified with it, and are anxious to promote 
 its welfare. Under thefe circumilances, the 
 work will profper, and the refining influence of 
 a familiarity with books will be wide-fpreading, 
 till all claffes are brought within its fcope. Of 
 this we are fanguine : but who fliall picture the 
 future, now fo pleafingly forefliadowed ? 
 
 AOUIDNECK. 
 
NAMES. 
 
 The following names were regiftered by Returned Sons 
 and Daughters of the Ifland of Rhode Ifland, at the time of 
 the Re-union, in a book prepared for that purpofe, at the 
 Mayor's Office. There were many other natives in the city, 
 at the Celebration, who were unable to regiller their names 
 for want of time. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 John Read, 
 Mary E. Sherman, 
 Fanny R. Sherman, 
 Mrs. Phila WiUiamfon, 
 WiUiam Horfewell, 
 Thomas G. Hazard, 
 John O. Peckham, 
 Ann R. Ellery, 
 James H. Clarke, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 Eail Greenwich, 
 Providence, 
 
256 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Jofeph Albro, 
 
 North Providence, 
 
 Mrs. Cromwell Turner, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 William Cromwell Turner, 
 
 a 
 
 George F. Boone, 
 
 t( 
 
 Edward V. Wellcott, 
 
 C( 
 
 Robinlbn P. Gardner, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 Sarah E. Rounds, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Frederick A. Stanhope, 
 
 (( 
 
 Charles E. Hubbard, 
 
 u 
 
 John Pratt, 
 
 Gloucefter, 
 
 Sarah A. Williams, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Harriett G. Marfli, 
 
 (6 
 
 Abby Arnold Stocker, 
 
 (( 
 
 William H. Weftcott, 
 
 (( 
 
 John S. Palmer, 
 
 U 
 
 Henry A. Heath, 
 
 (( 
 
 Nichollbn W. Bufli, 
 
 (( 
 
 Ifaac N. Stoddard, 
 
 South Scituate» 
 
 Sufan D. Brownell, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Peleg S. Sherman, 
 
 (( 
 
 Sarah A. Sherman, 
 
 a 
 
 William Cornell Barker, 
 
 (C 
 
 Sarah A. Barker, 
 
 (( 
 
 Julia A. Stowe, 
 
 it 
 
 Peleg Sherman, 
 
 u 
 
 Sarah Southwick, 
 
 n 
 
NAMES. 
 
 257 
 
 Catharine M. Pennell, 
 Eliza Pitman, 
 Mary A. Burdick, 
 Thatcher T. Gardner, 
 James Tilley, 
 EHzabeth P. Oxx, 
 Sarah E. Peck, 
 Sarah J. Read, 
 John Read, Jr., 
 F. Coggefliall, Jr., 
 Ann E. Williams, 
 Sarah R. Goff, 
 Addilbn W. GofF, 
 Eleanor E. GofF, 
 Mrs. Nancy Lake, 
 Mrs. Pamelia Aldrich, 
 Mary J. Wilfon, 
 Mary C. Jouvett, 
 Eliza J. Herman, 
 Benedid Dayton, 
 Benedid Dayton, Jr., 
 William Albert Dayton, 
 Robert N. Burdick, 
 Thomas G. Hazzard, 
 Thomas L. Albro, 
 Margaret L. Arnold, 
 23* 
 
 Providence, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 Eaft Greenwich, 
 Providence, 
 
 Warren, 
 Providence, 
 
 Eaft Greenwich, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Hopkinton, 
 
 Providence, 
 South Kingfton, 
 Prudence, 
 Providence, 
 
250 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Rebecca Reynolds, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Louifa Ambrofe, 
 
 tt 
 
 Stephen A. Gardner, Jr., 
 
 Kingfton, 
 
 Edward L. Barker, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Jofeph E. Cranfton, 
 
 (( 
 
 Stephen A. Robinfon, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 Annie E. Tilley, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Adahne Glines, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Amanda D. Cornell, 
 
 a 
 
 Darius D. Buffum, 
 
 Woonsocket, 
 
 Samuel D. Walden, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Harriett W. Allen, 
 
 (( 
 
 Sarah S. Oxx, 
 
 (( 
 
 George C. Townfend, 
 
 u 
 
 W. H. Hudfon, 
 
 (( 
 
 Sarah T. Wilbour, 
 
 (( 
 
 James E. Boone, 
 
 a 
 
 Mary G. Henderfon, 
 
 a 
 
 Benjamin H. Wilbour, 
 
 u 
 
 Maria R. Wilbour, 
 
 a 
 
 Emily N. Wilbour, 
 
 (( 
 
 Maria H. Wilbour, 
 
 (6 
 
 Clara R. Clarke, 
 
 (( 
 
 James Mumford, 
 
 (( 
 
 George M. Coit, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Mercey B. Saunders, 
 
 Providence, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 259 
 
 Samuel Billings, 
 Thomas H. Stedman, 
 Mary E. Champlin, 
 Eliza W. Allen, 
 William B. Spooner, 
 Deziah S. Hoard, 
 Sarah P. Hoard, 
 Lydia Vincent, 
 John B. Manchefter, 
 John C. Clarke, 
 Eliza Coit, 
 Mary Gladding, 
 Henry A. Clarke, 
 Hannah M. Barker, 
 Jane J. Olds, 
 Emma L. Webfter, 
 Cyrus Peckham, 
 Phebe Ann Gray, 
 Henry Burroughs, 
 Richard Palmer, 
 Jofeph L. Burroughs, 
 Thomas Yates, 
 Simeon W. Pike, 
 Arnold James, 
 Franklin James, 
 John Tripp, Jr., 
 
 Barrington, 
 Rocky Brook, 
 South Kingfton, 
 Providence, 
 
 Brirtol, 
 
 Providence, 
 Briftol, 
 Providence, 
 Fall River, 
 Briftol, 
 
 Fall River, 
 South Kingfton, 
 Providence, 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 Little Compton, 
 Providence, 
 
 Prudence Ifland, 
 Providence, 
 
200 THE P.E-UNION. 
 
 Cynthia A. Cooley, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Abby P. Herman, 
 
 (( 
 
 George Irifli, 
 
 Hopkinton, 
 
 John H. Taylor, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Andrew Allen, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 William F. Lawton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Sufan Burdick, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 Margaret W. Hubbard, 
 
 Woonfocket, 
 
 Sufan Difley, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 George Difley, 
 
 (( 
 
 Benjamin T. Albro, 
 
 Prudence Ifland, 
 
 '"^ Eliza Ann Clarke 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Catharine Chace, 
 
 (( 
 
 Eliza W. Dennis, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 Anna C. Talbot, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary E. Clarke, 
 
 66 
 
 Sarah J. Robinfon, 
 
 (6 
 
 Harriett D. Skinner, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Harriet Fowler, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Hattie B. Fowler, 
 
 66 
 
 T. Ada Fowler, 
 
 66 
 
 Sarah Rounds, 
 
 66 
 
 John Vaughn, 
 
 66 
 
 Edward S. Lyon, 
 
 66 
 
 Elizabeth A. Lyon, 
 
 66 
 
 Mary O. Simmons, 
 
 Little Compton, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 261 
 
 Eliza B. Lyman, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 William B. Rider, 
 
 (( 
 
 Mary T. Hathaway, 
 
 t' 
 
 Henry H. Burrington, 
 
 a 
 
 Charles B. Burrington, 
 
 it 
 
 Samuel S. Wilfon, 
 
 a 
 
 Mary A. Chafe, 
 
 a 
 
 Hannah T. Lifcomb 
 
 44 
 
 William T. Bull, 
 
 Kingfton, 
 
 Julia A. Draper, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary E. Wool fey, 
 
 44 
 
 Lydia A. Dawley, 
 
 44 
 
 Henry V. Swan, 
 
 44 
 
 Edward Stanhope, 
 
 Eaft Greenw 
 
 Hannah E. Spencer, 
 
 44 44 
 
 William Gurney, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Sufan C. Cleaveland, 
 
 44 
 
 Cynthia Gladding, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Charles P. Bring, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Henry Taylor, 
 
 Cranfton, 
 
 Mary Francis Taylor, 
 
 44 
 
 Edward T. Allen, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary C. Bowen, 
 
 44 
 
 Dutee J. Pearce, 
 
 Wefterly, 
 
 Rowland R. Hazard, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Eugene E. Hammett. 
 
 4& 
 
262 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Henrietta G. Hammett, 
 Ifaac Hazzard, 
 Cornelius Nichols, 
 William H. Henderfon, 
 Mrs. James Young, 
 Jofeph Seymour, 
 C. W. B. Bennett, 
 Wm. John Tilley, 
 Samuel N. Burroughs, 
 Benedid Peckham, 
 Angennele C. Barker, 
 Caroline F. Waldron, 
 William H. Townfend, 
 Amelia S. Townfend, 
 Benjamin Albro, 
 William Vernon, 
 George W. Taylor, 
 Gardner Thomas, 
 Hannah L. Eaftbrooks, 
 Mary E. Spooner, 
 Mary Cooke, 
 Joanna F. McKenzie, 
 Samuel S. Gladding, 
 Sufan Dennis. 
 Richmond W. Dennis, 
 Charles E. Dennis, 
 
 Providence, 
 North Providence, 
 Peacedale, 
 Providence, 
 
 Warren, 
 Providence, 
 
 Smithfield, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Jameilown, 
 
 Warwick, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Pawtucket, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 263 
 
 Mary E. Dennis, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 William R. Dennis, 
 
 a 
 
 William B. Heniliaw, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Albert W. Luther, 
 
 Jameftown, 
 
 Lydia R. Penno, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Rebecca A. Gray, 
 
 a 
 
 Mary C. Cornell, 
 
 (6 
 
 William C. Tilley, 
 
 (( 
 
 John E. T<nwton, 
 
 Cranfton, 
 
 W. S. Patten, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Eliflia A, Durfee, 
 
 u 
 
 Samuel B. Durfee, 
 
 C( 
 
 Benjamin C. Hubbard, 
 
 (C 
 
 Charles H. Lewis, 
 
 (( 
 
 John P. Mumford, 
 
 (( 
 
 Cyrus W. Johnfon, 
 
 (( 
 
 John H. Peckham, 
 
 Eail: Greenwich, 
 
 Gertrude E. Ambrofe, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Anna E. Ambrofe,^ 
 
 (( 
 
 Mary A. Brown, 
 
 (( 
 
 Clariffa T. Lindfey, 
 
 4C 
 
 Phebe A. Saunders, 
 
 ii 
 
 Phebe M. Cook, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 Charlotte V. Hamlin, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Samuel P. Crins, 
 
 CC 
 
 Louisa A. Tibbets, 
 
 cc 
 
264 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Annie C. Crins, 
 Jofeph Dewick, 
 Jane Melville 
 James P. Siffon, 
 M. C. Taylor, 
 Theodore Ambrofe, 
 Wm. H. Ambrofe, 
 Jofeph S. Richardfon, 
 James H. Blifs, 
 Hannah L. Weeks, 
 Jacob G. Anthony, 
 Harriett M. Billings, 
 Hannah Cottrell, 
 Eliza S. Stockford, 
 Charles Prior, 
 Oliver E. Greene, 
 James Eldred, 
 Cornelius S. Greene, 
 Peleg C. Anthony, 
 Elizabeth EUery, 
 Phila D. Taylor, 
 Elizabeth C. Garland, 
 Jofeph Congdon, 
 Gideon Barker, 
 Mary A. Spink, 
 Charles Lawton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Eaft Greenwich, 
 Providence, 
 
 Cranfton, 
 
 South Kingfton. 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Eaft Greenwich, 
 
 Providence. 
 
 Wefterly, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Wickford, 
 
 Eaft Greenwich, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Scituate, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 Wickford, 
 
 Providence, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 265 
 
 John D. Tuell, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 E. S. Thurfton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 John Wanton Lyman, 
 
 # 
 
 M. G. Ellis, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Harriett L. Stanton, 
 
 (.i 
 
 Abby Stanton, 
 
 a 
 
 James A. McKenzie, 
 
 Tiverton, 
 
 Catharine M. Goddard, 
 
 Coventry, 
 
 Cyrus B. Peckham, 
 
 Smithfield, 
 
 Anna E. Kenyon, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Lavanah M. Kenyon, 
 
 (( 
 
 Annie E. Fofter, 
 
 (( 
 
 Jofeph Almy, 
 
 Smithfield, 
 
 Jofeph Coit, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 John P. Dunbar, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 James G. Keith, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 George Sears Rathbone, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Howard Smith, 
 
 Kingfton, 
 
 John B. Wilfon, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Caroline Eailerbrooks, 
 
 (( 
 
 Martha Hill, 
 
 Cranfton, 
 
 Edward C. Cranfton, 
 
 Woonfocket, 
 
 Mrs. S. H. Thomas, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mrs. Mary A. Townfend, 
 
 (( 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Belph, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Mrs. Martha B. Lawton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 24 
 
 
266 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Abby Prenfort, 
 
 Charlotte Douglafs, 
 
 C. E. Richards, 
 
 James Warner, 
 
 Cyrus Peckham, 
 
 William L. Williams, 
 
 William H. GofFe, 
 
 Lydia E. Thompfon, 
 
 Abby G. Anthony, 
 
 John T. Anthony, 
 
 George A. Mumford, 
 
 Sarah Read, 
 
 R. P. Dunn, 
 
 Robert G. Cory, 
 
 David A. Coit, 
 
 Phebe V. Lyon, 
 
 Hannah S. Harvey, 
 George H. Potter, 
 John Horfwell, 
 Benjamin Cornell, 
 Sarah Ann Whitford, 
 Mary J. Sweet, 
 Alexander M. McG. Bliven, 
 Thomas E. Hudfon, 
 Thomas D. Hudfon, 
 Mary C. Phillips, 
 
 Providence, 
 Fall River, 
 Providence, 
 South Kingfton, 
 Little Compton, 
 Providence, 
 
 South Kingibn, 
 Providence, 
 
 Briftol, 
 Providence, 
 Portfmouth, 
 Providence, 
 North Providence, 
 Providence, 
 Hope Village, 
 Aquidneck Village, 
 Providence, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 2 
 
 John E. Burroughs, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 George H. Pearce, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Richard Boyd, 
 
 a 
 
 Caroline B. Spooner, 
 
 a 
 
 Mary E. Bailey, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Jeremiah C. Blifs, 
 
 (( 
 
 John Gladding, 
 
 (( 
 
 Thomas M. Clarke, 
 
 Hopkinton, 
 
 Hannah R. Randall, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Caleb Corey, 
 
 a 
 
 William L. Martin, 
 
 C6 
 
 Mary E. Snow, 
 
 Phenix Village, 
 
 Minnie V. Snow, 
 
 (( 
 
 Eliza C. Pickering, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary O. Reynolds, 
 
 Wickford, 
 
 Nancy Sweet, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Almira Sherman, 
 
 a 
 
 Harriett G. Dennis, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 Benjamin Anthony, 
 
 Smithfield, 
 
 James P. Taylor, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Sarah S. Horton, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Stafford S. Nickerfon, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Sufan P. Thurlton, 
 
 (( 
 
 George M. Carpenter, Jr., 
 
 (( 
 
 Albert M. Hewitt, 
 
 (6 
 
 Gardner T. Swarts, 
 
 (( 
 
 267 
 
268 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 William G. Swarts, 
 Giles Manchefter, 
 Silas H. Manchefter, 
 Peter T. W. Mitchell, 
 John S. Thurfton, 
 William H. Dart, 
 B. C. Brown, 
 John O. Potter, 
 Alfred B. Chadfey, 
 Elizabeth H. H. Otis, 
 Alfred Potter, 
 Albert Plarrington, 
 George W. Thomas, 
 John B. Cook, Jr., 
 John T. Cornell, 
 Jofeph Watfon, 
 Emehne Pitts, 
 Almira P. Collins, 
 Nathaniel C. Peckham, 
 Ellella Hazzard, 
 Humphrey Almy, 
 Hannah Siffon, 
 John B. Eddy, 
 Nancy Brown, 
 Sarah L. Howard, 
 Mary Billings, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Wickford, 
 Providence, 
 
 Wickford, 
 
 Providence, 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 u 
 a 
 
 Tiverton, 
 
 North Providence, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Coventry, 
 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 North Kingfton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Barrington, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 269 
 
 William A. Greene, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 James Handly, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 Samuel H. Wales, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Eliza S. Brown, 
 
 £( 
 
 Charles Spooner, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Lewis D. Lawton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Michael Freeborn, 
 
 (( 
 
 James M. Maxfon, 
 
 C( 
 
 Abby W. Palmgru, 
 
 (C 
 
 Charles H. Kenyon, 
 
 Tiverton, 
 
 John H. Spooner, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 John Gladding, Jr., 
 
 Brirtol, 
 
 Mary J. Baker, 
 
 Pawtucket, 
 
 Miles B. T.Rwfon, 
 
 Cranfton, 
 
 Sarah A. Lawfon, 
 
 (( 
 
 Henry A. Weeden, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 John H. Ailman, 
 
 (( 
 
 Hannah H. Peckham, 
 
 Smithfield, 
 
 William T. Lawton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary Potter, 
 
 cs 
 
 Sul'an H. Seamans, 
 
 u 
 
 William Fofter, 
 
 Cranilon, 
 
 Henry A. Lawton, 
 
 Scituate, 
 
 Mary Stoddard, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 George W. S. Burroughs, 
 
 u 
 
 Ifaac Lawton, Jr., 
 
 Central Falls, 
 
 24^ 
 
270 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 William S. Clarke, 
 Abby S. Snow, 
 Phebe L. SiiTon, 
 B. L. Burdick, 
 Margaret Briggs, 
 Daniel T. Rodman, 
 Edward H. Burroughs, 
 Richard W. Bufli, 
 William S. Holt, 
 Thomas Dennis Updike, 
 Albert C. Bennett, 
 Robert L. Thurfton, 
 Gideon T. Peckham, 
 Jane D. Scott, 
 Sarah L. Harrington, 
 Amey E. Burdick, 
 Lizzie B. Burdick, 
 James H. Mumford, ' 
 Mary P. Searle, 
 Nathaniel S. Greene, 
 Lydia T. Greene, 
 Mary T. Knight, 
 William Maxon, 
 Mary P. Bentley, 
 William M. Rodman, 
 Phebe Ann Rofe, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 North Providence, 
 South Kingfton, 
 Providence, 
 
 Exeter, 
 
 Wickford, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Providence, ■ 
 
 Smithfield, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Wefterly, 
 
 Providence, 
 Narraganfett, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 271 
 
 Jofhua W. Tripp, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 E. B. Anthony, 
 
 Briilol, 
 
 Daniel Chase. Jr., 
 
 Prudence Illand, 
 
 Robinfon Chafe, 
 
 u 
 
 Benjamin F. Goddard, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Henry Bull Lyman, 
 
 a 
 
 Charles Potter, 
 
 • Prudence Ifland, 
 
 Thomas C. Williams, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 John Gardner, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Elizabeth French, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary Pierce, 
 
 (( 
 
 Frank A. Vars, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 B. Reynolds, 
 
 Wefterly, 
 
 Mary M. Dunham, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Sarah J. Dunham, 
 
 (( 
 
 Ann G. Tilley, 
 
 ti 
 
 William S. Simmons, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Leonard C. Marble, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 John S. Gladding, 
 
 Wickford, 
 
 Hannah Sherman, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 James Perry Butts, 
 
 u 
 
 Jofeph Sanford, 
 
 North Kingfton, 
 
 Benjamin N. Wilbour, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Adaline Townfend, 
 
 (( 
 
 John W. Spooner, 
 
 Brilbl, 
 
 George S. Flarwood, 
 
 Providence, 
 
272 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Mary S. Harwood, 
 Abby Hawkins, 
 Eliza T. Gardner, 
 William H. Simmons, 
 Freeborn Coggefliall, 
 Edmund Albro, 
 William R. Landers, i 
 Mary E. Herrick, 
 Olivia H. Stanhope, 
 Patience B. Whiting, 
 John A. Townfend, 
 Alexander M. McGregor, 
 Charles Davis, 
 Jane Richardfon, 
 Charlotte Lawton, 
 Elizabeth C. Balch, 
 William J. Wyman, 
 Mary T. Richardfon, 
 James B. Hollvins, 
 Michael M. Friend, 
 A. L. Young, 
 W. A. Wilfon, 
 Remington Sherman, 
 Ann Eldred, 
 Feleg Eldred, 
 Mary S. Burroughs, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Pawtucket, 
 Providence, 
 Little Compton. 
 Providence, 
 
 Jr. 
 
 Briltol, 
 Johnfton, 
 Scituate, 
 Providence, 
 
 Block Illand, 
 Eaft Greenwich, 
 Providence, 
 
 Jameftown, 
 
 Providence, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 273 
 
 Samuel Burroughs, 
 George F. Stanton, 
 Henr) B. Potter, 
 Robert Dunbar, 
 William B. Phelps, 
 William H. Clinton, 
 Eliza A. Burroughs, 
 George S. Tilley, 
 Nathaniel C. Vars, 
 M. Juliet Vars, 
 Charles SilTon, 
 Hiram Barker, 
 Ifaac A. Sherman, 
 George Rodman, 
 George P. Smith, 
 Matilda B. Humphrey, 
 William Dunbar, 
 James C. Molten, 
 Sallie Brown Cranfton, 
 Gardner Cottrell, 
 Abby Underwood, 
 George Cooke, 
 Mary Ann Chace, 
 Perry M. Peckham, 
 Stanton Peckham, 
 Sarah Allen Peckham, 
 
 Providence, 
 Brirtol, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Warren, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 Providence, 
 Tiverton, 
 South Kingfton, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Woonfocket, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Greenwich, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Warwick, 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 Fall River. 
 
2y4 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 John J. Peckham, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Lizzie A. Peckham, 
 
 (( 
 
 Edward W. Lawton, Jr., 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 Sarah A. Gladding, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mrs. Salma M. Spink, 
 
 North Kingfton, 
 
 Clarriffa H. Shaw, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Abby Shaw, 
 
 (( 
 
 Wilham G. Sherman, 
 
 Middletown, 
 
 Sarah C. Tallman, 
 
 Portfmouth, 
 
 Eliza J. Kenney, 
 
 Briftol, 
 
 Francis Pitts, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Hannah M. Stoddard, 
 
 (( 
 
 Jofeph S. Peckham, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Mrs. Sarah B. Anthony, 
 
 Providence, 
 
 Mary C. Bowen, 
 
 li 
 
 Annie C. Rider, 
 
 ti 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 WiUiam H. Weaver, 
 William H. Almy, 
 Elijah Sherman, 
 William Milne, 
 Theodore A. Barton, 
 Mary M. Barton, 
 Sarah C. Barton, 
 
 Springfield, 
 Cambridge, 
 Eaft Cambridge, 
 Fall River, 
 New Bedford, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 275 
 
 James Lawton, 
 William H. King, 
 J. P. Burdick, 
 B. Hazzard Stevens, 
 William B. Hill, 
 Oliver P. Barker, 
 Benjamin T. Lawton, 
 Nathaniel Adams, Jr., 
 Sarah B. Burdick, 
 Sarah Burdick, 
 William Y. Potter, 
 William Rogers Taylor, 
 George P. Hammett, 
 James G. Dougherty, 
 George E. Faifneau, 
 Abby F. Barker, 
 Mary S. Lawton, 
 John A. Albro, 
 Sarah H. Bird, 
 Olivia Ellis, 
 John P. Newell, 
 George B. Dunham, 
 Benjamin G. Palmer, 
 Alice Allen, 
 William H. Taylor, 
 Elizabeth Ann Taylor, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 Gardner, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Fairhaven, 
 
 Yarmouth, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 Worceiler, 
 Charleftown, 
 Springfield, 
 Andover, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Cambridge, 
 
 Taunton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Wrentham, 
 
 Belchertown, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
27b THE RE-UNION. 
 
 John W. Hill, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 Henry C. Hill, 
 
 (( 
 
 Thomas Coggefliall, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Caroline S. Coggefliall, 
 
 u 
 
 Peleg Lawton, 
 
 C( 
 
 Mrs. E. W. Allen, 
 
 Nantucket, 
 
 John H. Swan, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 James Hill, 
 
 Springfield, 
 
 Caroline Hill, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 Nathan E. Hammett, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Catherine C. Hammett, 
 
 u 
 
 George L. Peckham, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 Abby C. Peckham, 
 
 (( 
 
 Rebecca E. Brownell, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Daniel A. Chappell, 
 
 C6 ^ 
 
 James M. Lawton, 
 
 ii 
 
 Mrs. William Whitton, 
 
 cc 
 
 Mrs. David Cochran, 
 
 << 
 
 Mrs. Philip Macey, 
 
 Nantucket, ; 
 
 Mrs. Pheby B. Sherman, 
 
 Eaff Cambridge, 
 
 cc 
 
 Elijah Sherman, 
 
 C. C. C. Jernegan, 
 
 N. Bridge water, 
 
 Robert S. Covell, 
 
 Boflon, 
 
 Caroline W. Covell, 
 
 cc 
 
 N. U. Lyon, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Ellen S. Church, 
 
 cc 
 
NAMES. 
 
 277 
 
 Elizabeth S. Church, 
 John C. Wilfon, 
 Frederick A. Euftis, 
 Betfey Dean, 
 Jane L. Folger, 
 Emma L. Tilley, 
 Charles S. Lloyd, 
 Arthur A. R. Bittner, 
 Francis G. Jack, 
 James Horfwell, 
 Solon W. Bufli, 
 Jane Pv. B. Almy, 
 Lydia Floward, 
 Benjamin RulTell Allen, 
 Clarke Crandall, 
 Mary Ann Crandall, 
 Paul Faber, 
 David Mitchell, 
 Joi'eph Clarke, 
 Charles W. Coggefliall, 
 Mary E. Wilcox, 
 William Weftgate, 
 Elizabeth H. Pitman, 
 Francis M. SilTon, 
 James M. SilTon, 
 Charles Lawton, 
 25 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Milton, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Nantucket, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 South Weymouth, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 Medfield, 
 
 South Dartmouth, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Marblehead, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Bofton, 
 Nantucket, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Nantucket, 
 New Bedford, 
 Fall River, 
 North Dartmouth, 
 Taunton, 
 
278 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Sarah A. Cook, 
 D. S. McDougall, 
 G. Barker Peckham, 
 Caroline S. Peckham, 
 John P. Sanford, 
 Sarah Young, 
 Mary Wrightington, 
 Silas Davoll, 
 J. D. Hall, 
 Otis Seabury, 
 Luke Bliven, 
 F. C. Rodman, 
 Samuel D. Hopkins, 
 Thomas P. Rodman, 
 Atherton Shearman, 
 Junius M. Stevens, 
 Walter Channing, 
 Charlotte M. Stall, 
 George A. Wilfon, Jr., 
 E. T. Taber, 
 Amanda G. Taber, 
 James W. Cornell, 
 Benjamin Lawton, 
 Benjamin Peabody, 
 William M. Almy, 
 John W. Peabody, 
 
 Fall River, 
 North Attleboro', 
 Weilport, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Somerfet, 
 Fall River, 
 Bofton, 
 Bridgewater, 
 Swan fey, 
 Bofton, 
 
 Taunton, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Fall River, 
 Freetown, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 279 
 
 John B. WInflow, 
 Alexander P. Moore, 
 Thomas Cooke, 
 Mary H. Leach, 
 Anthony D. Ptichmond, 
 Jofeph Brownell, 
 George E. Peabody, 
 Martha F. Rowland, 
 Robert S. TiUey, 
 Ann Maria Tilley, 
 Edward W. Watfon, 
 Langworthy Almy, 
 Phebe T. Chace, 
 Alfred Peckham, 
 Charles Brownell, Jr., 
 William B. GifFord, 
 Martin V. B. Peckham, 
 William H. Almy, 
 George W. Little, 
 James Weftgate, 
 Jofeph R. Dunham, 
 Stephen Y. Dunham, 
 Nathan Barker, 
 Nathaniel Richmond, 
 Charles Brownell, 
 Robert Allen, 
 
 Cambridge, 
 Nantucket, 
 New Bedford, 
 Roxbury, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Gardner, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 Fall River, 
 
 Middleborough, 
 Gardner, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Eaft Cambridge, 
 Charleftown, 
 Nantucket, 
 Dartmouth, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
2bO THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Samuel E. Sherman, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Ruth T. Sherman, 
 
 u 
 
 Phebe H. Richmond, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Mary Ann H. Cook, 
 
 a 
 
 Robert C. Pitman, 
 
 ii. 
 
 Charlotte A. Perry, 
 
 Fairhaven, 
 
 James W. Shaw, 
 
 Eaft Brighton, 
 
 Sarah A. Davis, 
 
 Somerfet, 
 
 Sarah Ann Swain, 
 
 Nantucket, 
 
 Mrs. A. V. Wheelock, 
 
 Roxbury, 
 
 Lucinda Lufcomb, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Francis Howland, 
 
 4; 
 
 William B. Stall, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 Ruffell J. Peckham, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 George W. Peckham, 
 
 (( 
 
 Mary B. Hudfon, 
 
 (( 
 
 Eliza J- Allen, 
 
 (6 
 
 Mahala Allen, 
 
 ts 
 
 Hiram Sherman, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Mary A. Read, 
 
 a 
 
 James Peckham, 
 
 i(. 
 
 William B. Tilley, 
 
 Taunton, 
 
 Mary P. Booth, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Mary E. Stanton, 
 
 a 
 
 Perry M. Peckham, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Elizabeth B. Stedman, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 William Sanford, 
 
 Taunton, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 281 
 
 Emily P. Stall, 
 Charles Hadwin, 
 William H. Alger, 
 William G. Langley, 
 William McClaflin, 
 Ifaac Fifli, 
 Jane G. Fifli, 
 William S. Clarke, 
 Ruth B. Clarke, 
 Defire Nichols, 
 Albert Jack, 
 Thomas H. Melville, 
 Robert C. Topham, 
 John B. Atkinfon, 
 Eliza W. Cornell, 
 Charles A. Swafey, 
 Mary F. Hammett, 
 Eliza R. Hammett, 
 Edwin Sanford, 
 Charles Sanford, 
 John L. Chafe, 
 J. C. Burdick, 
 Benjamin H. Chace, 
 Sarah C. Chace, 
 George C. Tew, 
 Alfred S. Stanhope, 
 
 Taunton, 
 Worceiter, 
 New Bedford, 
 Fairhaven, 
 Salem, 
 Fall River, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Fall River, 
 New Bedford, 
 Taunton, 
 New Bedford, 
 Lawrence, 
 New Bedford, 
 Fall River, 
 
 Springfield, 
 
 (( 
 
 New Bedford, 
 (( 
 
 Pawtucket, 
 
 a 
 
 Fairhaven, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 Lawrence, 
 
282 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 William T. Wyatt, 
 Benjamin P. Braman, 
 Almira C. Booth, 
 Harriett T. Cafwell, 
 William R. Eafton, 
 William Hadvvin, 
 Thomas R. Peabody, 
 Thomas F. Southwick, 
 Edward Coddington, 
 James D. Slocum, 
 Henry Lyon, 
 Richard Swan, Jr., 
 Sufan A. Pengelley, 
 Catharine B. Fiflier, 
 Thomas R. Miles, 
 Samuel R. Boone, * 
 B. G. Wilfon, 
 B. S. Coggeiliall, 
 J. S. Peckham, 
 Benjamin Almy, 
 William H. Keenan, 
 Samuel R. Keenan, 
 Mary T. Harrington, 
 J. Henry Boone, 
 Jeremiah Greenman, 
 Joliah Greenman, 
 
 Fall River, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Nantucket, 
 
 Taunton, 
 
 Attleboro'. 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Wareham, 
 Fall River, 
 New Bedford, 
 Bofton, 
 Wrentham, 
 New Bedford, 
 Fall River, 
 
 Milford, 
 Fall River, 
 New Bedford, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 
 Benjamin C. Ward, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Deborah Townfend, 
 
 u 
 
 Sufan B. Lewis, 
 
 «( 
 
 Dorcas B. Stret, 
 
 a 
 
 Ifaac E. Peckham, 
 
 (( 
 
 Oliver H. Bufli, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Mary Ann Bulli, 
 
 (( 
 
 Sarah C. Vickery, 
 
 (( 
 
 Mary Ann Pratt, 
 
 «c 
 
 Caroline S. Grey, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Nancy B. Green, 
 
 Rehobeth, 
 
 William B. Scott, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Francis Lake, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Ifaac P. Siffun, 
 
 (( 
 
 Samuel C. Barker, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Alfred Wilfon, 
 
 (6 
 
 T. Hervey Ellis, 
 
 (( 
 
 Abby F. Knipe, 
 
 (( 
 
 Nancy B. F. Brown, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 Henry F. Thomas, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Catharine Dexter, 
 
 Mattapoifet, 
 
 John E. Lyon, 
 
 Taunton, 
 
 Samuel S. Allen, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Richard S. Peckham, 
 
 (( 
 
 John R. Peckham, 
 
 Attleboro', 
 
 WiUiam Gibbs, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 283 
 
284 
 
 Jofeph Southwick, Jr., 
 Henry Sanford, 
 Fanny B. Sanford, 
 Caroline L. Taber, 
 Ifabella C. Taber, 
 William Cranfton, 
 Samuel Watfon, 
 Abby A. French, 
 William T. Allen, 
 David Huntington, 
 Samuel J. Carr, 
 Stephen B. Perry, 
 Benjamin W. Spooner, 
 Richard Mitchell, 
 William H. Sherman, 
 Charles B. Peckham, 
 Mary A. Ide, 
 Jofeph G. Albro, 
 Hannah B. Godfrey. 
 Jofeph H. Lawton, 
 F. C. Lawton, 
 Martha P. Whiting, 
 Edward E. Carpenter, 
 Daniel Cook, Jr., 
 Jofeph S. Freeborn, 
 William H. Chappel, 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Hyannis, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Nantucket, 
 New Bedford, 
 Fairhaven, 
 New Bedford, 
 Fall River, 
 Bofton, 
 Somerfet, 
 Attleboro', 
 North Attleboro', 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 Worcefter, 
 
 Attleboro', 
 
 Palmer, 
 
 Fairhaven, 
 
 Uxbridge, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 285 
 
 Jofeph C. Tew, 
 George R. White, 
 James Hammett, 
 Rebecca A. Goodfpeed, 
 Lydia D. Hammett, 
 George W. Goodfpeed, 
 George W. Taber, 
 Peter G. Munroe, 
 John T. Lawton, 
 Lewis R. Winflow, 
 B. Goddard Mumford, 
 Jane Mumford, 
 Caleb A. Carr, 
 Abby S. Carr, 
 WiUiam W. Stewart, 
 George H. Church, 
 Pardon TiUinghaft, 
 Jofeph S. TiUinghaft, 
 James Taylor, 
 Amelia F. Taylor, 
 George B. Pitman, 
 William Potter, 
 Charles Cannon, 
 Henry R. Wilcox, 
 John B. Tilley, 
 Thomas W. Wiibour, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Hingham, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 Stoneham, 
 
 Bofton, 
 
 Eaft Cambridge, 
 Bofton, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Fall River, 
 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Pelham, 
 Lawrence, 
 New Bedford, 
 
 Gardner, 
 Attleboro', 
 
286 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 John B. Allen, 
 Sufan E. Boyd, 
 E. B. Williams, 
 William H. Freeborn, 
 Tryphena Jackfon, 
 
 Stoneham, 
 New Bedford, 
 Foxboro', 
 Fairhaven, 
 Ouincy. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Abby P. Lathers, 
 
 New Rochelle, 
 
 William B. Goodwin, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 John W. Downing, 
 
 (( (( 
 
 John Hammond, 
 
 Norwich, 
 
 John H. Baker, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Philip B. Sherman, 
 
 Troy, 
 
 George Knight Thorndike, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Mrs. Mary Ann Sheffield, 
 
 Homer, 
 
 Sarah B. Phillips, 
 
 (( 
 
 Elizabeth S. Lane, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Harriett G. Marvin, 
 
 a 
 
 Charles Brooks, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 William H. Moore, 
 
 Hempftead, 
 
 Mrs. J. S. Safford, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Caroline M. Thurfton, 
 
 4( il 
 
 Charles M. Thurfton, 
 
 it «C 
 
 Harriet SiUiman, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 287 
 
 William H. Cranfton 
 Francis Vinton, Jr., 
 William G. Read, 
 Charles T. Freebody, 
 S. F. Gardner, 
 Maria Lewis, 
 James H. Douglafs, 
 Henry Cottrell, 
 Ruth A. Champlin, 
 William L. TiUey, 
 Chriftopher E. Lewis, 
 Benjamin A. Mumford, 
 John R. Mumford, 
 George Sherman, 
 Joanna S. Sherman, 
 Richard W. Swan, 
 James Robinfon, 
 Stephen Cahoone, 
 Jarvis P. Calvert, 
 Philander Shaw, 
 Nancy W. Shaw, 
 Eliza H. Day, 
 Eliza D. Peckham, 
 Thomas T. Sheffield, 
 Anna B. Sheffield, 
 Julia A. Sheffield, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Waterloo, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Buffalo, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Caton, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 Brooklyn, 
 
288 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Harriett N. Bell, 
 Henry T. Irifli, 
 William Engs, 
 -Thomas T. Brewller, 
 John Stanton Gould, 
 Frank M. Breefe, 
 Oliver Hazard Perry, 2d, 
 Ann Caroline Foley, 
 William Childs. 
 Samuel V. Mann, 
 Thomas P. Nichols, 
 Stanton Beebe, 
 M. Louiia Cranfton, 
 Thomas H. Stacey, 
 Mary C. Stacey, 
 Barbara M. Peckham, 
 George H. Melville, 
 W. H. Lawton, 
 A. 11. D. Peterfon, 
 Elizabeth S. Tilley, 
 Benjamin Hathaway, 
 Benjamin Bryer, 
 Benjamin Newton, 
 Harriett S. Ellery, 
 Conrad C. Ellery, 
 Elizabeth S. Peckham, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Syracufe, 
 
 Hudfon, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Williamlburg, 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 44 
 
 New York City, 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 .4 
 
 Montgomery Co. 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Troy, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 44 
 
 New York City, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 289 
 
 Thomas Vernon, 
 Theodore K. Gibbs, 
 John A. Braman, 
 John P. Coggefliall, 
 Edward J. Mann, 
 Eugene B. Stacey, 
 Charles March, 
 Juha Jay Pierrepont, 
 John E. WilHams, 
 Samuel Ellery Vernon, 
 WiUiam G. Turner, 
 George H. Eafton, 
 Abby P. Lathers, 
 Octavia McClure, 
 Eleanor B. Smith, 
 Charles H. Ruifell, 
 Joanna H. Ruffell, 
 Mary G. Ruffell, 
 Robert Hone, Jr., 
 Mrs. G. M. Chamberhn, 
 WilHam B. Bhfs, 
 William Coddington Davis, 
 James Eldred Brenton, 
 Harriett S Wright, 
 Mary G. Farnum, 
 J. Loais Northam, 
 26 
 
 New York City. 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Haverftraw, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 New Rochelle, 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Jamaica, 
 
 New York City. 
 
 Mechanicfville, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
290 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Cornelius Wilbour, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Walter Nichols, 
 
 a 
 
 Henry Molten, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Sufan E. Brewfter, 
 
 Syracufe, 
 
 William H. Douglafs, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Mary A. Douglafs, 
 
 (C 
 
 George S. Coe, 
 
 ct 
 
 Thomas E. Townfend, 
 
 Syracufe, 
 
 Mary R. Brower, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 WiUiam C. Moore, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Francis B. Cole, 
 
 «( ii 
 
 E. Van Zandt, Jr., 
 
 a " 
 
 Thomas S. Marvel, 
 
 Newburgh, 
 
 Augullus Whiting, Jr., 
 
 New York City, 
 
 George Bowen, Jr., 
 
 (( (( 
 
 Elizabeth Bartlett, 
 
 Weft Point, 
 
 Harriet Bartlett, 
 
 (( 
 
 William A. Watfon, 
 
 Aftoria, 
 
 Jeffe Dunham, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Charles B. Babcock, Jr., 
 
 it « 
 
 Alfred G. Peckham, 
 
 (( a 
 
 Alfred S. Childs, 
 
 C( (( 
 
 Phebe C. Phillips, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 Jofeph C. Phillips, 
 
 a 
 
 George F. Turner, 
 
 New York City, 
 
 Irving Atkinfon, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 
 Benjamin Lake, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 John C. Davis, 
 
 li 
 
 William White, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Thomas C. Mumford, 
 
 44 
 
 Mrs. C. M. Rogers, 
 
 (( 
 
 Hannah R. Freebody, 
 
 Waterloo, 
 
 ^enjamin Jahleel Brenton, 
 
 New York, 
 
 Henry A. Clarke, 
 
 (( 
 
 William P. Coe, 
 
 Brooklyn, 
 
 El am Anthony, 
 
 Springport, 
 
 R. M. Shaw, 
 
 New York. 
 
 291 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Edward P. Marfli, 
 William EUery Almy, 
 Richard H. Norman, 
 Thomas P. Norman, 
 James Pitman, 
 George Irifli, 
 Catharine D. Barker, 
 James A. Brown, 
 Abner Weaver, 
 James Allen, 
 Elizabeth Allen, 
 Mary C. Marfli, 
 
 Bridgeport, 
 New London, 
 Ledyard, 
 
 Stonington, 
 Lebanon, 
 
 Myftic, 
 Colchefter, 
 New London, 
 Lebanon, 
 
 Bridgeport, 
 
292 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Sufan Brown, 
 Gardner Hall, Jr., 
 Phebe M. Peckham, 
 Harriet A. Higgins, 
 William H. Higgins, 
 William E. Marfli, 
 Chriilopher V. Peckham, 
 Benjamin Coe, 
 H. C. Bridgham, 
 Elizabeth M. Bridgham, 
 Lydia Lewis, 
 W. W. Peckham, 
 William B. Greene, 
 Stephen A. Greene, 
 Lydia W. Davis, 
 Charles S. Devens, 
 Rebecca J. Fofter, 
 Ralph Malbone, 
 Charles Devens, Jr., 
 Julia A. Barker, 
 George Engs, 
 William A Mumford, 
 Harriet A. Greenman, 
 Charles L. Bofs, 
 Benjamin T. Cranfton, 
 John McDougall, 
 
 Colchefter, 
 
 Weil Willington, 
 
 Lebanon, 
 
 Stonington, 
 
 Bridgeport, 
 Stonington, 
 Groton, 
 
 Myftic Bridge, 
 
 Lebanon, 
 
 Rockyhill, 
 
 Meriden, 
 
 Pomfret, 
 
 Hartford, 
 
 Pomfret, 
 Hartford, 
 Lebanon, 
 New Haven, 
 Hartford, 
 Myftic Bridge, 
 New London, 
 Norwich, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 293 
 
 Samfon Almy, Plalnfield, 
 
 Lydia Brown Congdon, Norwich, 
 
 Andrew Winllow, Bridgeport, 
 
 W. H. Chafe, Hartford 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 William L. Dennis, Philadelphia, 
 
 Edward Gould, 
 
 Lizzie C. Ives, 
 
 Mary T. Kirtley, 
 
 William H. Dennis, 
 
 James C. Congdon, 
 
 Sarah C. Tillinghaft, 
 
 Sarah Throop Munroe Babb, Jerfey Shore. 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Edward Taber, 
 Jofliua B. Manfon, 
 Sophia A. P. Woolfey, 
 Iffachar Cozzens, 
 Thomas C. Clarke, 
 26* 
 
 Jerfey City. 
 Stephentown, 
 Jerfey City. 
 Guttenburg, 
 Camden. 
 
294 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 J. L. Barlow, 
 Thomas W. Swan, 
 Wm. K. Covell, Jr., 
 C. H. Richmond, 
 Margaret A. Lawton, 
 Lewis N. Barlow, 
 Henry M. Shaw, 
 
 Wilmington, 
 North Carolina, 
 Wilmington, 
 North Carolina, 
 Wilmington, 
 
 Indian Town. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 William T. Hazzard, 
 James F. Stevens, 
 
 Georgetown, 
 
 (6 
 
 Caroline A. Bufli, 
 
 u 
 
 Sarah C. Stevens, 
 
 (( 
 
 Helen D. Reynolds, 
 S. R. Carr, 
 H. D. Stevens, 
 
 Charlefton, 
 Georgetown, 
 
 Thomas S. Tilley, 
 
 C( 
 
 OHIO. 
 
 Eraftus P. Coe, 
 James R. Newton, 
 
 Cincinnati, 
 
NAMES. 
 
 Oliver H. GefFroy, 
 Richard B. GefFroy, 
 Caroline M. Shultz, 
 Catharine A. Geffroy, 
 George H. Calvert, 
 J. G. Mofes, 
 
 Cincinnati, 
 
 Newburgh. 
 
 295 
 
 OTHER STATES. 
 
 Jofeph W. Taggart, 
 Charles Bird King. 
 Anna C. Weeks, 
 Auguftus Bufli, 
 William Gardner, 
 James G. Cozzens, 
 Benjamin C. Card, 
 
 Benjamin Ellery, 
 Robert Dennis, 
 
 George A. Downing, 
 Mary E. Scammon, 
 William H. Townfend, 
 Charles C. Stevens, 
 
 Detroit, Mich., 
 Wafliington, D. C, 
 Sanbornton, N. H., 
 De Witt, Iowa, 
 Illinois, 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 Fort Leavenworth, 
 [Kanfas, 
 Mobile, Ala., 
 Wafliington Co., 
 
 [Ind., 
 Mobile, Ala. 
 Franklin, Me. 
 New Orleans, La., 
 Wyoming, Lee 
 
 [Co., 111., 
 
296 
 
 THE RE-UNION. 
 
 Ruth A. Seabury, 
 Margaret E. Silfby, 
 Thomas J. Cotton, 
 Charles H. Mumford, 
 Martha G. Townfend, 
 Jofeph A. Townfend, 
 Andrew V. Townfend, 
 Mary A Wilbour, 
 Martha S. Purcell, 
 Albert C. Green, 
 
 John G. Faxon, ♦ 
 John Topham, 
 Sarah E. Marccy, 
 George W. Gibbs, 
 James Lovie, 
 Eliza C. Marks, 
 
 Maria C. Marks, 
 Abby Beck with, 
 Mary Hunter Pierce, 
 
 Walter Pearce, 
 Emily Carrafco, 
 Anaftafia F. Townfend, 
 Daniel L. Clarke, 
 
 Lynchburg, Va., 
 Georgetown, D, C, 
 Green Bay, Wis., 
 Chicago, III, 
 New Orleans, La., 
 
 Detroit, Mich., 
 Springfield, III, 
 Alleghany County, 
 [Maryland, 
 Walpole, N. H. 
 Wifcaffet, Me., 
 Detroit, Mich., 
 San Francifco, Cal., 
 New Orleans, La., 
 Hamilton, Canada 
 [Weft, 
 
 C( (( (( 
 
 San Francifco, Cal., 
 Bedale, Yorkfliire, 
 [England, 
 Mobile, Ala., 
 Cardenas, Cuba, 
 New Orleans, La., 
 Sangamon Co., 111., 
 
NAMES. 
 
 297 
 
 James W. Mitchell, 
 S. C. Spooner, 
 Sufan M." Brown, 
 Charles H. Northam, 
 Mary C. Babcock, 
 Caroline Spooner, 
 S. R. Ennis, 
 Hiram W. Dawley, 
 Mahaley L. Babcock, . 
 David Bowen, 
 Gilbert C. Bowen, 
 Mrs. Mary Folger Wheeler, 
 apt. Peter Ch afe. 
 
 Mobile, Ala., 
 Andover N. H., 
 California, 
 Sacramento, Cal., 
 Lewifton, Me., 
 
 Lewifton, Me., 
 Rock Ifland, 111., 
 
 Fort Smith, Ark. 
 Lancafter Co. Va. 
 
 FINIS 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 57, 8th line from top, for vorth of Ocean Houfe, 
 read fouth. 
 
 Page 58, 9th line from top, for M. Gourand read M. 
 Gouraud. On fame page, 12th line from top, for Gov. 
 Fijk read Gov. Fijh, 
 
 Page 89, 4th and 7th lines from bottom, for Stewart read 
 Stuart. 
 
 Page 1 10, laft line but one, for Happy read Happily. 
 
 Page 117, laft line, for arni'^ read ar?ns. 
 
 Page 157, loth line from top, iox ghajlly read ghojlly. 
 
 Page 24 1, 7th line from bottom, hr moment XQz.di monument. 
 
 
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