ORATION of Rev. George A. Martin at Guilford, Maine's 100th
By Rev. George A. MARTIN
. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Citizens:
This is the golden day in the history of our town. The sons and
daughter of Guilford responding to her call have come from far
and near to look again upon familiar scenes, to renew the pleasant
acquaintances of other (lays, to live once more in the sweet memo-
ries of the past and to share in the joyful festivities of this centen-
nial occasion.
Our historian and poet have so interestingly and comprehensively
narrated the events of a century of town life that any attempted
addition would be in vain.
The world of 19i6 is vastly different from the world of 1816
when Guilford was incorporated as a town. In order to duly ap-
preciate the achievements of our citizens it is necessary to consider
some of the great world changes which have occurred in the last
five score years.
During the first fifteen years of the 19th century, Europe was as
bloody a field of battle as it is today. Austrians, Germans,
Spaniards, Russians and Englishmen were fighting Frenchmen.
Napoleon's legions were marching everywhere with the shout of
victory. The Battle of Waterloo on which the fate of Europe hung
I
had been fought in June 18, 1815, the year previous to our incorpo-
ration.
France after the downfall of Napoleon, was entering upon a
stormy career which was destined to witness the collapse of the
Second Republic, the Second Empire, and the successful formation
of a republican form of government.
Germany was only a collection of independent states full of
strife, jealousy and hatred. Not for half a century was the domi-
nance of Prussia and the genius of Bismark to weld these discord-
ant factions into the solidarity of the German Empire.
Italy was only a vassal nation of Austria. Scarcely had she begun
to dream of a national existence. Garabaldi and Cavour had not yet
come to free her separated provinces and unite them into a new
Italy.
The Russia of Peter the Great and Catherine was slumbering in
the deep sleep of ignorance, superstition and serfdom.
110 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF -MAINE HISTORY
Brave little Belgium whose heroic defense against the invading
hosts of a perfidious neighbor has won the admiration of the world,
had just declared herself free from Holland and adopted a consti-
tutional form of government.
England powerfully affected by the ideas which grew out of the
French Revolution, was about to undergo an evolution which would
carry on to a successful conclusion the principle of the Magna
Charta, the Petition of Rights, and the enfranchisement of the
masses of her people,
Japan had not lifted her head on the horizon of the world's
vision.
Africa was an unknown continent.
South America with its domestic upheavals and revolutions at-
tracted little interest and attention.
As for ourselves, only twenty-seven years had passed since we
had adopted self government. To the original thirteen states six
had been added. Four Presidents, Washington, Adams, Jefferson
and Madison had served. Florida was in the possession of Spain.
Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California
and a part of Colorado belonged to Mexico.
The Oregon territory was in dispute. Our population, mostly
rural, was about eight millions. Our second war with England
had just closed. We were an isolated people principally engaged in
the conquest of primeval nature and in tile solution of the perplex-
ing problems of representative government.
Whether the creative genius of the men of today is superior to
that of the men of yesterday is a debatable question. The sculpture
of the fifth century, B. C., has never been excelled. The poetry of
the Hebrews is without parallel. Shakespeare as a literarv genius
stands alone and unapproached. 'Music and painting have reached
no higher levels.
We are too near to accurately estimate the real values and far
reaching effects of the nineteenth century. We know that it rep-
resents progress in invention, discovery, science, navigation, educa-
tion, sanitation, government and religion,
The harvest of one century is the seed sowing of another. Thus
the beginning of popular education, architecture, arts and crafts,
painting, libraries, national epics, dramas, organized charity, hos-
pitals, jurisprudence, music, explorations, modern commerce and
self government are to be found in the thirteenth century.
ORATION III
At the beginning of the sixteenth century the world knew only
five great inventions, the sun dial, clock, compass, gunpowder and
printing. In the three succeeding, centuries ten more were added,
the microscope, telescope, barometer, magic lantern, pianoforte,
steam engine, balloon, weaving loom, gas lighting and the cotton
gin. To these fifteen great inventions the last century has added
the telegraph, telephone, wireless, dynamo, phonograph, harvester,
sewing machine, spectroscope, automobile, submarine, airship, pho-
tography, motion pictures and many others which have revolution-
ized commerce and industry.
The wonderful inventive genius of the American -people is re-
vealed in the 35,788 patents that were issued in I913 by our gov-
ernment. In the early days of the Patent office one of the chief
officers resigned because he said the inventive genius of mankind
had exhausted itself.
What progress has been made in the -conquest of disease! Malaria,
yellow fever, smallpox, hydrophobia, typhoid fever, tuberculosis
and black death have been robbed of their terror. Ether, antisep-
tics, the X-rays, and radium have revolutionized surgery. Science
has become man's informer and preserver.
What progress has been made in the navigation of the sea and
the air by the liner, submarine and aeroplane! What progress has
been made on land for travel and commerce by the building of
great highways of stone and steel and the digging of great canals!
Mountains are removed as by faith. Deserts by irrigation blossom
as the rose. Rivers by being harnessed give up their mighty energy
to the service of man. Man's dominion is over earth, sea and sky.
Over $5oo,ooo,ooo are spent every year for the support of our
public schools in which twenty-five millions of school children are
being educated. There are three hundred and forty-four higher
institutions of learning with an attendance of a hundred and-thirty
thousand young men and women. We have grown to the conviction
that ignorance is weakness and knowledge is power. A nation that
could not exist half slave and half free can not exist half ignorant
and half educated.
A new (lay is about to (lawn in representative government.
Never has the world witnessed such a titanic struggle as is taking
place a-cross the sea on the far flung battle lines of Europe. The
shrieking shell, the roaring cannon, the black and burning embers
of once happy homes, the fruitful and fertile fields now bare and
112 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY
desolate, the cry of the widow and the fatherless, the moan of the
starving and the groan of the dying, the blood soaked -round, the
abandoned towns, the ruined cities, the unburied heaps of de-ad sons,
husbands and fathers present an inferno that would have been the
despair of Dante. Whatever may be the outcome we steadfastly
believe that with this rich red blood of a manhood worthy of nobler
tasks, the final chapter of the Book of Kings is being written.
In religion we have come to clearer conceptions of God and duty.
Atheism is dead. Everywhere men believe in God because they
find his intelligence in creation, his purposes in history, his charac-
ter in Christ. More and more creed is becoming deed, -and deed is
becoming, creed. Racial barriers are breaking down. The spirit of
brotherhood is alive and abroad.
"For a' that, an' a' that
It's coming yet, for a' that
That man to man, the world o'er
Shall brothers be for a' that."
In whatsoever period of time the creative genius of man may
express itself the product of his effort becomes the heritage of all
men everywhere, and like the incoming tide lifts every little bark
of human life.
As a fitting background to give setting to the theme of this hour,
the "Spirit of Guilford," I have made this brief survey of the pre-
vailing world wide conditions and some note of the centuries, of
achievement, in order that we may realize that the five generations
which have made their entrance upon the stage of our town life
have been a part of this onward movement of humanity and that
they have made and are making their indenture on our community
life.
The kind of men and women who settled this town were of the
best New England blood and type. They were pioneers of the
Puritan civilization. They possessed strength of body, keenness of
mind, integrity of soul. They had convictions for which if neces-
sary they would die. These they ingrained into the warp and woof
of -the fabric of town life. The elemental virtues of sincerity,
courage, fidelity, reverence, honesty and justice were cultivated and
harvested in their souls. To them lift was far more than cutting
down trees, burning stumps, clearing fields, building stone walls and
erecting log houses. The consciousness that they were laying the
ORATION 113
foundations of a civilization dignified and enobled every task.
Though they knew it not this world spirit of progress and achieve-
ment was brooding over them quickening and guiding them.
Here for a hundred years the spirit of democracy as defined by
Lincoln "a government of the people, for the people and by the
people" has been maintained. In the open forum of town meeting
our citizens have met and counseled together concerning the meas-
ures which were best for public welfare. Here without distinction
of race or class or creed every man has been made to feel that he
was a part of the community, necessary to its success, urged to
express and register his convictions.
Piscataquis Woolen Company
The men who have served this town in official capacity have been
selected on the basis of ability and character. Not one of them ha,
ever betrayed a public trust and the record of all for efficiency of
service is something for which we should be proud.
In towns like this are the springs out of which the life giving
streams of true representative government flow. The purest form
of self government is not always found in its largest representative
assemblies such as national and -state legislatures but often in the
smallest unit where is first registered the consciousness of town
life. There is no greater contribution to the perpetuity of a nation
than in keeping alive in our town the unstained ideal of self govern-
ment as set forth in the Constitution.
I14 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY
Guilford has always been a bee hive of industry. The fertile
and well tilled farms, the commodious and well stocked stores, the
large and flourishing mills daily sending forth to the markets of
the world the products of forest and field witness to our indus-
trial life. Nature has not been prodigal to us in resources of soil
or water power but we have sought to develop them to their utmost
capacity.
These splendid industries on the banks of our beautiful river
have been developed and maintained by public spirited men who
loved their town and had faith in their town. Not once or twice
but many times in financial crises they have hazarded their all to
keep their home industries and provide employment for our town's
people. When the citizens of a town subscribe to this simple creed
"I believe in my town" that town has a glorious future.
The faith, the courage, the optimism, the vision and the success
of this creed has been realized in our homes, our schools, our
churches, our stores, our banks and our mills. Out of this has
come the spirit -of cooperation. We have been spared friction and
strife. In essentials we ;have sought unity. In non-essentials we
have maintained charity. Side by side the farmer, the mechanic, the
teacher, the pupil, the employer, the employee, the merchant, the
banker, the physician, the lawyer and the minister have worked.
They have been co-laborers together. As a community we have
pulled together and out of tbis unity of purpose and endeavor we
have developed one of our greatest assets-a community spirit.
May we not be pardoned if we do pride ourselves in our beau-
fiful village with its well ordered streets and walks, its fine public
buildings, its home owned industries, and its attractive homes, for
we know what toil, what thrift, what sacrifice they represent. They
are memorials to men and women who have lived humbly, frugally,
industrially, kindly and peacefully.
This town has revealed two kinds of patriotism. One is the kind
that dies for one's country, the other is the kind that lives for one's
country. Our loyalty 'has never been questioned. On every field
of battle we have been represented by the bravest of the brave.
The little flags that flutter in the breeze in yonder cemetery are
emblematic of our noble soldier dead. Sorne sleep on Southern
battle fields where the birds sing and the flowers bloom and the
sentinels of heaven watch over them by day and night. Some
ORATION 115
bivouac among the scenes of their childhood where loved ones
cover their mounds with flowers and water them with tears.
"Cover them with flowers
These bold, brave heroes of ours.
And oh! let their memory be
A sacred trust to you and to me."
Some linger in our midst while a grateful people bring tokens of
gratitude and of love for the blessings of a land where there is no
North, no South, no East, no West, but everywhere "liberty and
union one and inseparable."
The call of today is for the same spirit of patriotism expressed in
a different form. America is big, but not big enough for any
hyphenated Americans. America is strong but not strong enough
to neglect a reasonable program of preparedness in these days
when treaties are only scraps of paper. America is rich, but not
rich enough to buy the respect of humanity if she fails to make the
world honor the -rights of her citizens on sea and land.
In the -providence of God America is coming to world leadership.
She must think and legislate in world terms: Her patriots Are
those who strive to maintain those high ideals expressed in the Con-
stitution.
The spirit of learning has always been honored here. These
school houses express our belief in education of hand, heart and
head. In size and equipment of building, in curriculum of studies,
in length of school terms and in qualifications of teachers our
modern educational system contrasts greatly with the little red
school house, the narrow range of studies, the few months of.
schooling and the limited knowledge of the teachers. The opportu-
nities and advantages of today are far superior to those of yes-
terday but the spirit is the same.
Knowledge is not power by virtue of the range or variety of
.subjects studied nor by the kind of a building sheltering teacher
and pupil, nor by the qualifications of the teacher, but by the ability
of the student to think clearly, comprehensively, logically and inde-
pendently. Systems of education come and go but the fundamentals
never change. . The world's greatest bequests are its thoughts.
They alone survive the fall of empires and civilizations. He wbo
can do a common piece of work whether it be the building of a
house, the tilling of a farm, or the writing of a book, better than
1i6 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY
any other will command honor among men. In order to equip
our boys and girls and not send them into the battle of life handi-
capped this town has always pursued a liberal educational policy.
Our churches witness to the spirit of religion. They have shared
in our material progress. Without them there could have been no
progress worthy of the name. Civilization is more than farms,
houses, mills, stores or any form of material wealth. Every nation
has produced a civilization and every civilization has given rise to
a religion. By the acid tests of -time only one has met the world's
needs. It has produced a christian civilization. It alone possesses
the highest ideals for the individual and the state, and the power
to regenerate the roots of moral life. On no other basis can we
account for that tremendous intellectual, moral and religious supre-
macy which New En-land has possessed.
When the reat European war is over and the representatives of
the people gather in Parliament and Durna there will be battles of
ideas such as the world has never known. The results which fol-
lowed the break up of the Roman Empire will not be as far reach-
ing as those which shall follow this war.
The socialization of governments, the industrial and political
emancipation of women, a just settlement of great moral questions
such as temperance, and a new appreciation of the worth of the
individual are sure to come. The test of the age will soon be upon
us and can be solved only in the spirit of Christianity as set forth
in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Fellow Citizens: When another century &hall have -passed we
will have made the Great Adventure. Let us resolve that when
and the scenes which have become so dear to us other generations
gather to review the history of our labors they may find that the
heritage which we have received from those who have -gone before
has not been wasted. May it be true of us as of them that amid the
changing order of the world, the rise and fall of nations, the growth
and decay of institutions and civilizations we may maintain a simi-
lar spirit of progress in democracy, industry, patriotism, education
and religion.
(c) 1998
Courtesy of Tina Vickery of Somerset Co, Maine USGenWeb Project
& The Androscoggin Historical Society
*************************************************
* * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and
libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter
information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other
sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any
other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of
contents.
* * * *
The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the
information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information
must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is
always best to consult the original material for verification.