Worcester County, Massachusetts - Chapter 180: Worcester - (gj;;//;/;^,-;/.), 1889 (part 1 of 2)

Civic And Political History

Worcester at the Close of the Revolution. - In 1783 the town of Worcester had a population of about 2000, devoted mainly to agriculture and slightly to trade. Its municipal expenses were almost solely for the repair of its roads and the maintenance of its schools. The appropriation in the following year for the former purpose was £200, and for the latter, £100. Its means of communication with the seaboard were restricted, although in that very year, on the 20th of October, the first regular stage from Boston arrived in Worcester, and thus began an enlargement of facilities for travel. There was no necessity to divide the town into precincts to accommodate the voters, for the total vote cast iu that year for Governor was only 57, of which John Hancock had 49 and James Bowdoin 8. The right of way in its streets was contested by pedestrians, cattle and swine ; the only restriction on the swine being embodied in a vote of the town in that year that they " being yoked and ringed shall go at large."

But one newspaper was published here, the il/ossac/iusetfs Spy, and its issue was weekly. Flax wa^ spun on the spinning-wheel at almost every home. Wood was the only material used in building. The open fire-place was the only medium of warmth, and alone was burned. Stoves were unknown inventions and coal an unknown agent. Fires were lighted with the spark from the flint, and not with the then unimagined match.

County conventions were not accommodated in any public hall, but were held at some house, that in 1784 being called at " the house of Sam Brown."

The town illustrated from time to time its paternal character, as in the case of Cato Walker, in 1784, to whom it voted an anvil, "he being unable to buy one," - a wiser method, perhaps, of dealing with its poor than later years have developed, though the gift of a stock in trade to every pauper would be attended with rather grave embarrassments.

But the capacity of the people for self-government, and their ability to deal with questions of State and federal policy, had been attained by years of practice and thought. The Representative to the General Court was in fact, as well as in theory, their

A stern sense of duty seems to have dominated them and made the expression of their views, solemnly recorded in their records, a joy and a delight. No more instructive revelation of the customs then prevalent can be had than is contained in some of the reasons adopted January 25, 1782, why the town disapproved of a late act of the Legislature laying an excise on wine, rum, wheel carriages, &c.:

.3(1. That if it is necessary to lay duties for the support of Goverument and suppression of luxury and extravagance, said duties ought to be laid on such^articles only as are merely luxuries, and not on some of those mentioned in said act, spirituous liquors being absolutely necessary for our seafaring brethren coasting along ourshores in Boats and Lighters at all seasons of the year to supply the market with wood, Lumber and Fish ; also for the Farmer, whose Fatigue is almost insupportable in hay time and harvest and other seasons of the year, and for the New Beginners in bringing forward new Townsliips when they have nothing to drink but water, and perhaps are exposed to more Hardships than any other persons; nor on Bohea Tea, which, in populous places, and in many places in tlie country is substituted by many Poor People for their support and sustenance in the Room of milk, which is not to be had, and theyiind it to be a Cheap Diet. ***********

5th. That all Consumers of Spirituous Liquors at Taverns will pay about eight times as much as the Duties amount to, for it is well known that the Tavern-keeper sells his mixt Liquors for two pence more in a mugg tlian before the Excise was laid, when, in fact, the duties on each mugg does not amount to more than a farthing, and so in proportion on other Liquors.

fith. That all Persons living upon the Borders of this Government will purciiase Liquol-s for their own consumption of the neighboring Governments, and thereby avoid paying any of said Duties.

7th, The act exempts all persons from paying Duty who buys at one time 50 lbs. of bohea or 25 of other India Tea, which appears to be calculated to lay a Tax upon the Poor and exempt the Rich.

Delightful surprises, such as this, often appear in the records of the town, and the page is luminous with the light of forgotten views of life, or aflame with controversies long since buried. We get clearer notions of the shrewdness of our fathers and the plain honesty with which they announce their views. We see, too, at times specious reasoning applied to vexing problems, but also grave, earnest, scholarly and powerful presentation of thoughts which the experience of later generations has proved to be profound.

The history of Worcester since the close of the Revolution seems appropriately to be divided into four periods, each having a distinctive feature and each illustrated by a progress peculiarly its own.

Second. From the beginning of traffic over the canal and covering the vast accession of trade incident to the opening of railroad communication with Boston, Springfield, Providence and Nashua, to its incorporation as a city - being the transition period.

Third. From the organization under its charter as a city to the introduction of water and the building of sewers and covering the great material advance occasioned by the variety of its industries and the

Fourth. To the present time, including the iutroduction of multiplied agencies for growth, comfort, elegance and education, being the period of its assured and vigorous manhood.

Within the limits of this article it is not proposed to give with any exhaustive fullness the details of the yearly progress or growth or to cover in any degree the history of the city's industries or deal with its military events, but to confine the treatment to civic matters and important political occurrences.

Fikst Period

The rejoicing over the final and assured separation from the mother country had hardly ceased, the veterans of the Continental army had scarcely changed the privations of war for the more peaceful scenes and employments of home, than new anxieties and new privations awaited them. The blessings of liberty seemed less prized when liberty apparently had resulted in poverty and almost in starvation.

As soon as the war closed English agents and factors came in large numbers to this country and gradually controlled trade. Importations of foreign goods became frequent and numerous. The coin of the country was exported in payment, and thus money became scarce. English creditors, too, pressed with urgency their claims, and suits were brought with alarming frequency.

Massachusetts suffered in an exceptional degree from these and other causes. It had no tobacco and no rice to export; its fisheries had decreased to an alarming degree ; it had nothing with which to p.ay for its imported articles, except coin, and that was speedily exhausted. The private debts in the State amounted, it is estimated, to £1,300,000. In addition to this £250,000 were due its soldiers, besides £1,500,000 as the State's proportion of the Federal debt. Onethird of the -latter was required to be raised on the ratable polls, numbering less than 90,000. Taxes at least must be paid in coin ; so must debts, when the creditor insists. Without commerce, without manufactured articles, without exportable products and without money, the people of Massachusetts were largely forced to the rude expedient of barter and exchange; but that, indeed, aftbrded no relief; the coveted money was not obtained by such methods. Hence creditors did insist, collection was enforced by suit and satisfaction by levy and sale. Property and homes were sacrificed, discontent became general and relief was vainly sought. Courts were crowded with actions and suitors ; lawyers alone were prosperous.

Such was the condition of Massachusetts in 1786, when the General Court met. The alluring remedies proposed in that body were to make real and personal estate legal tender ; to emit paper money which should be irredeemable, and to permit free trade, so far as lawyers were concerned, admitting any person

Worcester's Attitude toward Shays' Rebellion. - It would be a source of greater satisfaction for every citizen of Worcester if the part which that town took in the only serious revolt against the supremacy of law in Massachusetts had been one of absolute and uninterrupted vindication of the rights of the Government. But, considering the force of opinion in almost every town in the county, the easy acquiescence with which most of the towns sent delegates to the County Convention of 178(5, the corporate action of the town of Worcester, in the main, deserves our approbation and compels our admiration.

The contest came solely upon the question of sending delegates to the convention of 1786. In and of itself the mere approval of a convention to consider grievances and suggest legitimate remedies would not at any time merit censure. But when armed revolt against the peace of the Commonwealth was a possible issue, or later when it was an established fact, true patriotism was best shown by a determined refusal to have any part or lot in bodies or measures whose tendency was even remotely towards revolution. Worcester showed a sturdy and persistent opposition for many months, and even though a small majority was obtained once or twice in favor of participating in the convention, the results were disapproved-

The only petition to the General Court which Worcester adopted was in 1784, before public passion was excited. It recited as the grievances which should be remedied :

1st. " The giving into tlie hand of tlie honorable the Continental Congress the Impost to be under their sole controle," and that the act to that effect ovight to be repealed, "not but that we are free and willing that an Impost on all Imported Articles ought and should Imediately take place, but the Revenue thereof ought to be paid into our State Treasury, and in a Constitutional way drawn out by a warrant from the Governor, and, if appropriated to Congress, it ought to be set to our credit, so that we may receive the benefit of the same, which we conceive no Stttte in the Union have any just right to."

4th. "That the people of this State are greatly oppressed and distressad for the want of a ballance of a Circulating Medium, and that the credit of the State greatly suffers from no other motive than the necessity of the people and by reason of the State's holding the property of Individuals binds one part of the people so that the other part makes necessity their opportunity, which much agrieves the good people of this State, and we pray that ways and measures may be found out for Relief" l9t. "That the Eeceiver-General of this extensive Commonwealth Bhould be a Justice of the pleas in the County of Middlesex, by which he is rendered unable to attend bis office as Treasurer of the Commonwealth during the Time he attends the Courts in said County, by which many persons have been, and others no doubt will be, put to considerable Bxpence, besides loss of time and Disappointment, who have business with him as Treasurer."

2d. "As there is a Recommendation of Congress that such otficers as have been Deranged and not in actual service have half pay during life, if said recommendation has or should take Place, we look upon it as a great greavance."

.3d. " That the Membere of the General Court, when acting as Committees of the same, have large wages over and above their pay as Eepresentatives, is a greivance which we thiuk we justly complain of."

4th. "That Eepresentatives having nine shillings per day, Considering the scarcity of money and the difficulty of obtaining thereof, being almost double what they formerly had when money was much plentier and easier to he bad, we think a greivance.",

.5th. " It is a great greivance that there has not been a general Settlement with the Treasurer of this Commonwealth, and with all others who have been entrusted with the expenditure ofpuhlick monies and have not accounted for the same."

7th. "As the Siting of the General Court in the Town of Boston is attended with many inconveniences, we think said Courts siting in said Town a greivance."

8th. "That the siting of the Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peice at the same time much interfear with each other, by which means the County is put to the coast of paying many Justices many days, when much less time would answer the purpose as well."

Thus in 1782, by instructions to its Representative in the General Court, and in 1784 by petition to the Senate and House of Representatives, Worcester announced its grievances. No undue popular excitement existed at either of these times; but in 1786 the case was different. The supposed grievances had not been remedied by legislation or by changed conditions. Many of the people believed their burdens insupportable and saw no relief by constitutional means. Excitement ran high ; demagogues caught the public eye ; unprincipled men sought to lead, and danger began to threaten. In such condition ot things, Worcester sought to allay the impending storm.

The convention, with delegates from a portion of the towns, met at Leicester, but adjourned to August 1.5th, and another attempt was made to obtain the presence of delegates from the remaining towns. A letter from the convention was received by Worcester, asking that it and Douglass and Northbridge might send delegates " to take under their consideration such matters as shall appear to them to be grievances, and for the towns to instruct their delegates concerning a circulating medium or such means of redress as they shall think proper."

A town-meeting was held in Worcester, August 10, 1786, to consider the invitation. Upon the proposition to send delegates, the record states that " it was passed in the negative.''

Thus far through the increasing excitement Worcester had remained firm against becoming identified with the growing opposition to the government. But the movement, gaining force from the presence of delegates from nearly every town in the county and from the armed resistance at AVorcester on September 5th, when the Court of Common Pleas was compelled to adjourn without transacting business, became too strong for successful opposition by the town of Worcester.

A petition for another town -meeting was presented, and in accordance with its prayer a meeting was held on September 2.5, 1786, at which, by a vote of 47 to 29, it was decided to send two delegates to the convention at its adjourned meeting at Paxton on the last Tuesday of September; but the town still retained the power to disapprove the action of the convention, for it voted that its delegates should report their doings at a later meeting.

The conveniion adopted a petition to the General Court. It was presented at a meeting of the inhabitants of Worcester, held October 2, 1786, and was read, paragraph by paragraph, and it was voted not to adopt it. But another trial of strength was demanded by the defeated partjf, and a petition, signed by Dr. Dix and others, was presented for another town-meeting. October 16, 1786, it was voted, by 62 afiirmative to 53 negative, to choose a delegate to " meet in Convention at the house of Nathan Patch on the 2"^ Tuesday of November next." Again, however, the town proposed to be careful of its good name, and it voted that the " Delegate lay the doings of the Convention before the town for their approbation or disapprobation at the next town-meeting after the meeting of the Convention." At the same meeting it chose a committee, consisting of Dr. Dix and others, to prepare instructions for its Representative to the General Court.

Town-meetings were frequent in those days. At the next one, held October 23d, the party of order were in the majority, and the instructions prepared by Dr. Dix and others were refused adoption by a vote of 59 in favor of adoption to 67 against. Other instructions were then adopted, but it is a pleasure to read that a proposition to instruct the Representative to use his endeavor to have the law repealed which obliged each town to keep a grammar school was voted down.

Thus far the town, whenever it ctime to pass upon the acts of the convention, was uniformly found to disapprove. Its last action relative thereto was taken at the meetiug held January 15, 1787, when the report of the delegates was made, and it was voted to dismiss the delegates.

On the very next day, January 16, 1787, the town voted to pay a bounty of twelve shillings and forty shillings per month compensation to each man who

The Rebellion was soon to be overcome. General Lincoln, with his troops, arrived in Worcester on the 22d of January, where he was joined by the soldiers from this county, including many from Worcester, and by the 3d of February the opposition to the established order had vanished. Only two or three from this town were included among the soldiers of the insurgent forces.

It has not been our purpose to treat of the military events which happened in Worcester in connection with and as a part of Sbays' Rebellion, but simply in a brief way to cover the corporate action of the town with reference to it.

The temper of such a loyal and law-abiding citizen as Isaiah Thomas, with reference to the Excise Act in its operation upon him, may be judged by an entry made by him in an old receipt-book, following the copy of a receipt, dated December 16, 1785, of three pounds from him in full for duty on advertisements, from the 1st of August to November 24th. It is as follows :

"N. B. - This is the first duty I ever paid Government for Liberty of Printing a news-paper - the first shackle laid on the Press since Independence, and laid on by the Legislature of Massachusetts only ! ! !"

The original of the above is now in the possession of Charles A. Chase, Esq., treasurer of the Worcester County Institution for Savings. In consequence of the determination of Mr. Thomas not to be subject to an act so painfully suggestive to him of the Stamp Act, the publication of the Spy was suspended for the years 1787-88.

Means of Communication. - At the outset of the trips of the reguhir stage from Boston, through Worcester to Hartford, in 178.3, one left Boston on Monday morning at six, remained in Northborough at night, reaching Worcester on Tuesday and arriving at Hartford on Thursday. Another left Hartford at the same hour on Monday and arrived in Boston in four days. Beginning in January, 1786, coaches left Boston in winter every Monday and Thursday mornings at five o'clock, arrived at Worcester the same day, and reached New York in five days more. The summer arrangement provided for coaches three times a week, in which the journey from Boston to New York was made in four days, which was claimed to be the most expeditious way of traveling that could be had in America. In July, 1788, the carriages were hung upon springs, and the trips made with greater comfort. Increasing speed was constantly made, till the running time from Boston to Worcester was reduced to six hours at the close of this period. Increasing trips were made till stages run daily to Boston, Hartford and New York, and five different lines, three times a week to Boston. There were also lines to Oxford, to Providence, to Northampton, to Keene, to Southbridge, to Dudley, to Athol, and to many other places. New roads and new turnpikes began to be built, connecting Worcester with other places by shorter routes and better roads.

By chapter 67, of the Acts of 1806, Aaron Davis and others were incorporated under the name of the Worcester Turnpike Corporation, to make, lay out and keep in repair a turnpike road from Roxbury to Worcester, " passing over Shrewsbury Pond, and to the north of Bladder Pond, to the street in Worcester near the Court House," and with authority to establish four toll-gates. The turnpike crossed Lake Quinsigamond upon a floating bridge, which, on September 19, 1817, sank, but was soon after replaced by a more substantial structure. Other turnpike corintended to afford Worporations were established,

It is exceedingly interesting, in connection with the subsequent history of the towns of the county, to compare their condition so far as polls are concerned, in 1786. They follow in order :

Thus it is seen that in number of polls Worcester was, in 1786, the seventh town in the county. It may well be a subject of thoughtful consideration as to the operative causes which have secured for it the position of the second city in the Commonwealth.

Within the period of present consideration the conditions were favorable, not for rapid development, but for careful, thoughtful action. Its foundations were not laid in mortar and cement only, but in education, intelligence, taste, a due degree of political wisdom, business sagacity and prudent foresight. It possessed natural advantages in location. As the shire-town of the county it attracted attention, immigration and business. Its area was ample ; its adaptability for trade and manufactures was noticeable. The wealth of the town was in excess of its proportion, according to population ; its income in 1786 was third among the towns of the county. Its inhabitants did not secure foreign capital and foreign corporations for business ventures. Its wealth was localized, its capital was a home capital and every inhabitant had a local pride and local interest. The profits of its trade went into the pockets of its own citizens and not to non-resident stockholders.

It is believed that in an exceptional degree the families of early Worcester have remained and been represented here during a large part of its existence. This fact alone is of no inconsiderable importance. A harmonious union of effort develops strength. An intensified interest and added pride in the home of generations of ancestors come to the loyal descendant. In a population of a few thousand its effect upon the whole is more potent and visible than when distributed among greatly increased numbers.

During this period, with its population never above 4,000, Worcester had among its active and prominent men representatives of the following early fiimilies : Chandler, Paine, Curtis, Rice, Bigelow, Lincoln, Oreen, Goulding, Stowell, Allen, Salisbury, Jennison, Upham, Flagg, Grout, Perry, Thomas, Lovell, Goddard. Mower and others. A brief glance at some of the strong men of this period will enable us to appreciate thepowerthey must have exerted in .shaping events and counseling measures. The services of many were not confined to Worcester, but the nation and the State called them to positions of honor and usefulness.

Levi Lincoln, Sb,., graduated at Harvard in 1772, came to Worcester in 1775, began the practice of law, and became the leader in his profession. Successively judge of Probate, Representative to the General Court, State Senator, member of Congress, Attorney-General of the United States in the Cabinet of President Jefferson, Councilor, Lieutenant-Governor and Governor of the Commonwealth, and finally, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, which latter position was declined, were the fitting reward for his ability and capacity for useful and distinguished service. He was a great advocate and learned jurist, and his portrait, together with that of his eminent son Levi, finds fitting place in the Worcester Law Library.

His interest was not confined to legal and political duties only. He was one of the original members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Edward Bangs graduated at Harvard in 1777, came to Worcester in 1780, and pursued his profession of the law with success. He entered with spirit and energy into service for the best interests of the town ; was for many years selectman, and served with fidelity in other local capacities. He was a stanch and bold advocate of the supremacy of the law at the time of Shays' Rebellion, and was a volunteer in General Lincoln's array. He was Representative, for ten consecutive years, to the General Court; was attorney for the Commonwealth for Worcester County from 1807 till his appointment as associate justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1811, which position he retained till his death in 1818.

Isaiah Thomas, was known as widely, perhaps, as any citizen of Worcester during this period, and honored throughout the land. His service to the home of his adoption from 1778, when he came here for permanent residence, till his death, in 1831, was varied and marked. He not only devoted him-self to the extension of his business, - to establishing a book-bindery (the first in the country); to the building and operation of a mill on the Blackstone River for the manufacture of paper (the second of the kind in the United States) ; to the employment of a large number of presses in connection with the business of book publisher; to the attainment of greater accuracy .and elegance in the printing of books, by which the reputation of his work extended through the country, and attracted to Worcester attention and trade, - but also, by labor, advice and munificence, aided in the extension of the means of education, improvement and culture for his fellow-townsmen. Material advantages were also furnished by him to his town. Lincoln, in his valuable " History of Worcester," refers to them as follows : " The site of the County Court-House was bestowed by him, and the building and avenues on the front constructed under his uncompensated direction. No inconsiderable share of the cost of enlarging the square at the north end of the Main Street, and erecting the stone bridge, was given by him. The street bearing his own name, and the spot where the brick school-house has bten built were his benefaction to the municipal corporation. In the location and execution of the Boston and Worcester turnpike he assisted by personal exertion and pecuniary contribution, and few local works for the common good were accomplished without the aid of his purse or efibrts."

His zeal in the foundation and endowment of the American Antiquarian Society is gratefully remembered by every thoughtfuj student in the land. Reference to his efforts in that respect will be made at greater length in another place.

Nathaniel Paine, graduated at Harvard in 1775, and after engaging in the practice of law at Groton, returned to Worcester, in 1785 ; became county attorney in 1789 and remained such till his appointment as judge of Prob.ate, in 1801, which lat-

Francis Blake, a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1789, removed to Worcester in 1802 and remained here till his death, in 1817. He was a man of brilliant parts, a distinguished advocate and an orator of great force. In 1810 and 1811 he represented the Worcester District in the State Senate. In 1816 he was appointed clerk of the courts.

Dr. John Green, Sr., a physician of large practice and great reputation, was deeply interested in the political movements of the time and actively engaged in local afl'airs. He died in 1799.

Dr. William Paine, a graduate of Harvard, in the class of 1768, returned to Worcester in 1793 and remained here till his death, in 1833. He was a man of intellectual tastes and of large culture. He was " fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, member of the Medical, Agricultural, Linnrean, Essex Historical and American Antiquarian Societies."

Dr. John Green, the second, born in Worcester in 1763, made that his home during life. " He attained to a pre-eminent rank among the physicians and surgeons of our country."

Levi Lincoln, son of Levi Lincoln, Sr., graduated at Harvard in 1802 and began the practice of law here in 1805. He was elected State Senator in 1812. From 1814 to 1822, with the exception of three years, he represented Worcester in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In 1820 he was one of Worcester's representatives to the Constitutional Convention. In 1822 was Speaker of the House of Representatives; in 1823 Lieutenant-Governor; in 1824 associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court; Governor of the Commonwealth in 1825 upon nomination of both parties, and held the office for nine successive terms, till January, 1834.

John Davis, a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1812, was admitted to the bar in 1815 ; began practice here in May, 1816, and soon rose to distinction in his profession and to the merited confidence of the public. In 1824 he was elected a Representative in Congress, and by successive re-elections till 1834, when he was elected Governor of the Commonwealth.

Joseph Allen was clerk of courts for thirty -three years, till 1810; was chosen Representative to the Eleventh Congress and was of the Governor's Council from 1815 to 1818. He was a man of scholarly attainments, of great probity and force of character.

Daniel Waldo, Stephen Salisbury, Samuel M. BuRNSiDE and Benjamin Heyvs'ood were men of large affairs. The latter was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and his grandson, John G. Heywood, is to-day the only member of the society from Worcester.

Dr. Abraham Lincoln and Edward D. Bangs were, together with Levi Lincoln, delegates from Worcester to the convention in 1820 to revise the Constitution of the Commonwealth.

Rev. Dr. Aaron Bancroft was minister of the Second Parish from 1789 for more than half a century. He was earnestly and actively interested in all measures for the advancement of learning and for the promotion of education. A man of great power and beauty of character, beloved and revered.

Within the limits of this article it is not feasible to mention others and it is not possible to do the remotest justice to those already referred to. In fact, it has not been the purpose of the writer to give any adequate account of those mentioned or to attempt a biography of each : that is done elsewhere by other writers ; but the sole aim has been to indicate, by the briefest mention, some of those who gave to Worcester, during this period, their service and their thought. Combined, their power can be better imagined and more clearly conceived than separated under the heads of lawyers, doctors, clergymen, business men. benefactors, etc.

It may be doubted if in any town in Massachusetts of from two thousand to four thousand inhabitants, during a similar period of its history, a greater combination of intellectual force, bu.siness sag.acity, eminent public service and devoted loyalty can be found. With such men and such purpose the growth of a town may be expected to be symmetrical, its foundations ample and secure.

Broadening Activity. - The town soon began to have a more active care for the general well-being of its inhabitants, and for its own good name ; to foster an increasing degree of pride in its citizens, and to contribute more largely to the comforts of life and the ease with which business might be transacted.

In 1786 a petition was presented to the town to purchase a fire-engine, which resulted in the town voting, January 4, 1793, to " grant a sum of money to procure a gooil fire-engine for the use of the town," and shortly after, that an engine-house be built. This action was accompanied by the organization, on January 21,1793, of the Worcester Fire Society, both, doubtless, largely in consequence of the destruction, on January 4, 1793, of the weaver-shop of Cornelius & Peter Stowell. This society was lormed in consequence of " a sense of social duty, for the more eflectual assistance of each other and of their townsmen in times of danger from fire." Its membership was limited to thirty. Its character may be inferred from the names of its original twenty-two members : Joseph Allen, John Nazro, Leonard Worcester,

Nathaniel Paine, Samuel Chandler, Ezra Waldo Weld, Dr. John Green, Samuel Brazier, Thomas Payson, Edward Bangs, Dr. Elijah Dix, William Sever, Theophilus Wheeler, Dr. Oliver Fiske, John Paine, Samuel Allen, Stephen Salisbury, Charles Chandler, John Stanton, Dr. Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Waldo, Jr., and Isaiah Thomas. It is in existence at the present time and its history is honorable and unique.

Swine were soon doomed to wander in less conspicuous places than the Main Street of the increasingly tidy town, and in 1792 it was voted that they should not be permitted to go at large on Main Street. The neater and more aristoci"atic horse and mule still had their privileges unimpaired till 1800, when it was voted that they should not be permitted to go at large, and at the same time all neat cattle, except cows, were relegated to a more private manner of life, while they were given the freedom of the town between April Ist and November 1st. The principal streets of the town in 1783 were Main, what is now Front, part of Summer, Lincoln, Salisbury, Pleasant, Green a,nd Grafton Streets. New streets followed slowly. Mechanic Street was laid out in 1787, and in 180G Isaiah Thomas constructed and gave to the town the street known by his name. After the swine and cattle were cared for and banished from the streets, the next most dangerous class, apparently, were provided for, and the children and youth were solemnly warned by vote, in 1811, not to engage in the frivolities of rolling hoops, playing ball, etc., in the streets.

The last liberties accorded to the brute creation, it is believed, were in 1815, when the town voted to allow new milch cows to go at large in the day-time, but not at night, " the owners thereof having their names branded on the horns of the cows or a strap around the neck with the name marked thereon, that the owner may be found in case of damage.'' The lines were somewhat tightly drawn, for it was further provided that " no person shall turn his cow into the highway without first having the written consent of the selectmen, and no person shall have the benefit of turning more than one cow to feed in the highway the present season."

Worcester apparently believed in protection to home products, and the rights of the farmer were not to be sacrificed. As late as 1814 the town voted to "pay the sum of one shilling bounty on crows heads, killed within the town, provided the heads are covered with feathers.'"

President Dwight in 1812 gave the following description of the town : " The houses are generally well built, frequently handsome, and very rarely small, old or unrepaired. Few towns in New England exhibit so uniform an appearance of neatness and taste or contain so great a proportion of good

The introduction of water for domestic and public purposes was authorized by the following act of the Legislature, and for the purposes of interesting comparison with later acts it is given almost entire :

An Act authorizing Daniel Goulding to Conduct Water in subterraneous Pipes from a Certain Spring in bis own Land, within the Town of Worcester, for the accommodation of himself and some other Inhabitants of the said Town. Bn it enacted, &c.

Sect. 1. That Daniel Goulding of Worcester in the County of Worcester and his heirs and assigns, be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to sinli, place, renew, alter and repair from time to time, as may become necessary, such pipes or i.'onduits of water from the said Spring to such of the inhabitants of the said town as the same may Convene, for the purpose of supplying them with water ; and the said Goulding and his heirs or assigns are hereby authorized to place the said pipes in the land of such Proprietors as may, by some proper instrument in writing grant him or them the privilege thereof, as also on and under such public highways, roads or laud as may become necessary for the purposes aforesaid and with the least inconvenience to the public.

Provided nevertheless that the Selectmen of the said town for the time being may, as they shall judge it e-xpedient, for the purposes of extinguishing fire, or as a precaution or a security against the calamitous effects thereof and under such regulations as they may think reasonable, from time to time make and place Conductors to any part of the said pipes or conduits, for the purpose of supplying water when necessary for the extinguishment of fires as aforesaid.

Sect. 3. That nothing in this Act shall be considered as an excuse for any unnecessary exposure, damage, delay, disturbance or iuconvenience to passengers, carriages or cattle, passing or re-pas-sing over any of said highAvays or public land, but the same shall be considered as a nuisance or trespass in the same manner as if this Act had never been made.

The town in its corporate capacity and individuals forming a joint stock company, aided by the town, combined to maintain suitable schools. In 1784 Dr. Elijah Dix, Hon. Joseph Allen, Hon. Levi Lincoln, Sr., Nathan Patch, Dr. John Green, John Nazro, Palmer Goulding and others procured a lease of land on the west side of Main Street and erected a building known as the Centre School-house, and opened two schools - one for instruction in the elementary studies and the other for the higher branches ot academic instruction. The latter had as instructors many who became distinguished as educators, theologians, lawyers, etc.

The town appropriated in 1799 the sum of one thousand dollars for the maintenance of schools and twenty-five hundred dollars for school-houses, which, by the way, was the first time that the annual appropriation was made in dollars - having been in pounds prior to that time, except in a special appropriation of October 8, 1798. In 1800 ten school-houses were built in various parts of the town. In 182.3 a revision of the educational system was made under the thoughtful judgment of Rev. Dr. Bancroft, Rev. Jonathan Going, Hon. Samuel M. Burnside, Levi Lincoln, Otis Corbett and Samuel Jennison.

A Town Hall was provided for the growing needs of the town, which was dedicated May 2, 1825, with an address by Hon. John Davis. In other ways than by corporate action the town gradually became prepared to enter upon its future career.

In 1804, March 7th, an act was passed by the Legislature incorporating Daniel Waldo, Isaiah Thomas, Daniel Waldo, Jr., Benjamin Heywood, William Paine, Stephen Salisbury, Nathan Patch, William Henshaw, Francis Blake, Nathaniel Paine, Elijah Burbank and others as the president, directors and company of the Worcester Bank, with an authorized capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which at once began business and was the only bank incorporated in the State at the time west of Boston, except one at Northampton, incorporated a few days

More, perhaps, than any other agency which contributed to the highest culture of the town and fostered a spirit of scholarly research and attainment was the American Antiquarian Society, which owed its existence and largely its maintenance to Isaiah Thomas. In consequence of the petition of Isaiah Thomas, Nathaniel Paine, William Paine, Levi Lincoln, Aaron Bancroft and Edward Bangs to the Legislature, representing that they, " influenced by a desire to contribute to the advancement of the arts and sciences and to aid by their individual and united eflorts in collecting and preserving such materials as may be useful in marking their progress not only in the United States, but in other parts of the globe ; and wishing also to assist the researches of the future historians of our country, in their opinion the establishment of an antiquarian society within this Commonwealth would conduce essentially to the attainment of these objects," the society was incorporated October 24, 1812. Its library and treasures have always been open to the public, and its influence from the first upon the people of the town must have been potent.

The laudable spirit of the citizens and the foresight with which the bases of business were laid is seen also in the application for the incorporation of the Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company. It was incorporated February 11, 1823. Manufactures were slowly increasing and seeking firm foothold. The town only needed closer relations of traflic and intercourse with larger centres of population and business to begin a rapid ascent in wealth and influence. The opening opportunity came with the construction of the Blackstone Canal.

Political Sentiment and Service. - The constant and earnest interest which the town manifested in national political movements, the bitter animosities caused by party struggles, are not peculiar to Worcester, and an entrance upon them is perhaps unnecessary and undesirable. A brief mention of one

First : the decision of the court that declared slavery abolished in Massachusetts, was made at Worcester in the case of Nathaniel Jennison vs. John and Seth Caldwell, in which the elder Levi Lincoln was counsel with Caleb Strong for the defendants, and presented the argument that was sustained by the court. The suit was brought for enticing away the plaintifi''s slave "Quock" Walker, wi\s tried in the Court of Common Pleas and judgment rendered for the plaintiff for twenty-five pounds; appealed to the Supreme Court and tried at the September term, 1781, and judgment for defendants on the ground that since the adoption of the Constitution in 1780 slavery did not exist in Massachusetts. The judges who presided at this trial were Justices Sarjeant,Sewall and Sullivan. An indictment was found at Worcester against the above-named Jennison for assault on Walker, which was tried at the April term, 1783, of the Supreme Court before all the justices, including Chief Justice Cushing, and the view adopted by the court in the first-named case was confirmed by the whole court and forever set at rest the question of the existence of slavery in Massachusetts. The census of 1790 contains no return of slaves in this State.

Second : The protest against the War of 1812. - A convention, consisting of delegates from forty-one towns, was held at Worcester on the 12th and 13th of August, 1812, to protest against the continuance of the

Worcester was represented by Hon. Benjamin Heywood, Hon. Francis Blake and Mr. Elijah Burbank. Hon. Benjamin Heywood was chosen chairman. A committee was appointed to " consider and report what measures the Convention ought to adopt, in the present perilous situation of our Country, to mitigate the calamities of the present War with Great Britain, to avert the further evils with which we are threatened, to accomplish a speedy and honourable Peace and to arrest the course of that disastrous policy, which, if persisted in, cannot fail to terminate in the destruction of the rights and liberties of the people."

This committee made a report on the 13th, which, after dealing at great length with the causes which led to the war, the measures undertaken to continue it, the state of commerce resulting from it, continued as follows:

We earnesUy embrace the present occasion to express for ourBelves and in behalf of our constituents a strong and ardent attachment to the Union of the States, and indignantly to disclaim every imputed design to aid in any project which may tend to procure a separation.

History Op Worcester Coumty, Massachusetts

To shorten the duration of the present most impolitick and destructive War, we earnestly exhort the friends of Peace to withhold from the Government all vohiutartj aid and to render no other assistance than is required of them by the laws and the Constitution.

They proceed to say, that if double duties or direct taxes are laid, "we do not, like some men, now in high authority, advise our Constituents to refuse the payment of them and to rise in opposition to the authority by which they are imposed. But if our rulers, afraid to hazard their popularity by the imposition of taxes, request of the citizens to enable them to prosecute this unrighteous War by loaning money to replenish the treasury, we entreat them, as they value the Peace and welfare of their Country, to remember that we have as yet no French emperour among us to force a loan at the point of the bayonet and to refuse the smallest contribution for this unwarrantable purpose."

Third : The opposition to the extension of Slavery. - Missouri applied for admission to tlie Union, and in December, 1818, the Missouri question formally appeared in Congress. In the House of Representatives a motion was made to amend the act by providing that " the further introduction of slavery be prohibited in said State of Missouri and that all children born in the State after its admission to the Union shall be free at the age of twenty-five years." The House adopted the amendment, but the Senate rejected it, and the House refusing to recede, the bill was not passed at that session.

A strong sentiment against the extension of slavery was aroused in the free States, and Worcester and Worcester County were determined to be heard. A convention of the opponents of slavery extension was held in Worcester December 9, 1819.

On Thursday, the 9tb of December inst., agreeably to previous notice, a large number of respectable citizens of the County of Worcester assembled in the Court House in this town, for the purpose of expressing their opinion upon the propriety of preventing the furtlier introduction of slavery into such States as may hereafter be admitted into the Federal Union.

The meeting was organized by the choice of Hon. Solomon Strong as chairman and Levi Lincoln, Jr., as seeretar.v. The Kev. Dr. Bancroft addressed the meeting, and expressed his deep sense of the importance of the subject to the character and interests of our country, and its connexion witii the cause of religion.

Jllr. Burnside moved that a committee be appointed to prepare resolutions expressive of the sense of this Convention upon the subject of the toleration of slavery in tlie country west of the Mississippi.

Hon. Oliver Fiske, Isaac Goodwin, Esq., Edward D. Bangs, Esq., Bezaleel Taft, Jr., Esq., and Samuel M. Burnside, Esq., were appointed on the committee. The meeting was then adjourned till the next evening to receive the report of the committee.

On Friday evening the meeting was opened according to adjournment. The Hon. Oliver Fiske, chairman of the committee, presented a report, consistiog of the following Preamble and Resolutions, which {after a very impressive and eloquent address from the Hon. E. H. Mills, of Northampton, a member of the last Congress, and some pel-tinent observations from John W. Hubbard, Esq., of this town) were, on motion of Hon. Seth Hastings, unanimously adopted : and language of the Federal Constitution (exemplified by the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787, and by subsequent acts and provisions). Congress possess the power of prescribing the terms on which new States to be created from a territory, not a party to the original compact, may be admitted into the Union ; and

" Wheee.is, The voluntary admission of slavery, as a condition, would be a departure from the wise and liberal system of our National Government, and abhorrent to that spirit of freedom so illustrious in our institutions ; and

" Whereas, The extension of slavery would be dangerous, in common, to those States who, in their compact, acted under an implied security, that the moral and political evil of slavery, though not abolished, would never be extended ; and who, by the act of admission of new States, are solicitous to transfuse thespirit and blessings of independence which they possess and are bound to guarantee the rights they enjoy - the first of which being a repiiblicaii. form of government ; and

"Whereas, More especially it would be inconsistent, if not nnjmt, to extend a privilege to new States, formed from a territory acquired by purchase, which has been withheld from those created within the original limits of the United States by an express article in the ordinance of 17.87, which ordinance has since been sanctioned by Congress and has become a permanent law. Therefore

^^Remlmd, That those members of the last Congress who with zeal and perseverance opposed the extension of sltirerfj are entitled to the gratitude of the friends of morality, of religion and the republican character of the United States, and that we deeply regret that any members, especially from those States whose Constitution and laws prohibit slavery, and whose constituents deprecate its practice, should have felt it their duty to give it countenance and support.

"Eesolved, That this Meeting most earnestly request their Representatives in Congress to itse their unremitted exertions to prevent the sanction of that honorable body to any further extrusion of slaitei-ij within the extending limits o£ the United States - more particularly in giving a precedent in the Ciise of the admission of Missouri - a precedent which in future may be the means of depopulating the vast wilds of Africa and rendering our boasted Land of Liberty pre-eminent only as a Marl for Hainan Flesh f

''liesolved. That the foregoing Preamble and Resolves, subscribed by the Chairman and Secretary, be transmitted to the Hon. Messrs. Adams and Kendall as expressing the sentiments of this meeting."

Miscellaneous. - Washington's Second Visit to Worcester. - In the autumn of 1789 President Washington made a tour through New England, and passed through Worcester on his way to Boston, coming from Springfield through Palmer, Warren, Brookfield, Spencer and Leicester. Of his visit here the following account is taken from Wall's " Reminiscences of Worcester :" " Information being received in Worcester during Thursday evening that Washington would be here the next morning (October 23, 1789), a company of respectable citizens, about forty in number, paraded before sunrise, on horse-back, and went out as far as Leicester line to welcome him into the town. The Worcester Company of Artillery, commanded by Major William Treadwell, were already assembled, on notice being given that Washington was approaching, and before he reached here five cannon were fired for the New England States, 'three cannon for the three Statesin the Union, - one for Vermont, which will be speedily admitted, and one as a call to Rhode Inland before it is too late.' When the 'President General ' had arrived in sight of the meeting-house (the Old South Church), eleven more cannon were fired. Washington viewed with great interest and attention the Artillery Company as he passed and expressed to the inhabitants his sense of the honor done him. He stopped at the ' United States Arms '

(now Exchange Hotel), where he took breakfast, and then proceeded on his journey. To gratify the inhabitants, he politely passed through the town on horse-back. He was dressed in a brown suit, and pleasure glowed in every countenance as he came along. Eleven more cannon were fired as he departed. The party of forty citizens before-mentioned escorted him a few miles from the village, where they took their leave. The route travelled was up Lincoln Street, across the upper end of Long Pond, by the old road, through Shrewsbury," etc.

Funeral Honors to Washington. - In common with 80 many towns, not only in the State, but throughout the country, Worcester paid its deep homage to the memory of Washington, and put in the hands of every family, in enduring form, the record of its appreciation.

The Massachusetts Spy of February 26, 1800, gives the following account of the funeral honors paid to Washington by the citizens of Worcester: "On Saturday the inhabitants of this town joined in the national honors paid to the memory of our illustrious Washington. At eleven o'clock the procession formed at the Court-house agreeably to the order published in our last paper. The male youth from eight to eighteen amounted to two hundred and fifty - an impressive sight. The whole number was not less than seven hundred. With solemn music they moved to the South Meeting-house, the pulpit of which was covered with black broadcloth. After a grave and pathetic piece of music the Rev. Mr. Austin addressed the Throne of Deity in a devout and appropriate prayer ; this was succeeded by music, when the Rev. Mr. Bancroft pronounced an eulogy on the character of the deceased Hero and patriot of America, which we think, at least, one of the best we have seen or heard on the subject. The solemnities closed with music. The serious attention, the solemn appearance of the audience through every part of the exercise, witnessed that every heart felt the loss his country had sustained and gave an amen to the truth of the virtues which the eulogi.st portrayed.

" The town returned their thanks to the orator, requested the oration for the press and voted that every family should be furnished with a copy at the town's expense."

Lafayette's Visit. - On September 4, 1824, Lafayette visited Worcester, breakfasted with the Hon. Judge Lincoln, from whom he received an address of welcome, and to which he replied in earnest words. A full account of the interesting occasion may be found in " Reminiscences of Worcester."

Second Period

and Providence originated with citizens of the latter place, notably John Brown, about 1796; surveys were made and acts of incorporation for a canal company sought from Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The former State soon passed the act required.

A petition from citizens of this county to the Legislature of Massachusetts, praying that incorporation might be granted for the opening of "inland navigation from the navigable waters near Providence to the interior parts of Worcester County, and, if feasible, to Connecticut river," was presented at the May session, 1796. A project was at the same time started, " which had the effect, if not the intent, of defeating the former," of constructing a canal from Boston to the Connecticut River. Incorporation was refused for the canal to Providence.

The project was revived, however, in 1822, and meetings were held early in that year here and in Providence with a view to speedy action. Committees were appointed, funds for survey were obtained. Benjamin Wright, chief engineer upon the middle section of the Erie Canal, was secured to make a survey and an estimate of cost of construction. These were completed in September of that year, and report thereof made.

January 14, 1823, our Legislature passed an act incorporating " John Davis, Wm. E. Green, John W. Lincoln, Lemuel Davis, Edward D. Bangs, John Warren, John M. Earle, Dan'l Waldo, Isaiah Thomas, Rejoice Newton, Reuben Sikes, Oliver Fiske, Theophilus Wheeler, John Green, Asa Hamilton, Benj. F. Heywood," their associates, &c., under the name of the Blackstone Canal Company, with authority to " locate, construct and fully complete a navigable canal commencing in or near the village of Worcester." . . . "to the boundary line between Massachusetts and Rhode Island.'' A similar act was passed by Rhode Island, authorizing the construction from tide-water to the boundary between the two States. These corporations were subsequently united, the Massachusetts act authorizing it being passed February 20, 1827.

The first boat arrived in Worcester October 6, 1828. Freight-boats came as far as Uxbridge October 18th, and soon thereafter to Worcester. The cost was about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

The sanguine expectations which were here entertained of the effect of the construction of the canal upon Worcester are illustrated by the following extract from the address of the Hon. John Davis at the dedication of our Town Hall in 1825:

The town, uiiiiideil liy any particnlar advant^ige except that of being the Centre of a thrifty an<i enterprising population, has risen iu wealth and numbers to a degree almost uueiinalled in the interior of New England. It is now in its youth, and its growth ia vigorous and healthy. What will be its future destinies remains to be disclosed by time. Sliould it become the heiul of inland navigation, hence to the wati-rs of the

NarraKfinsett, it is safe, without the gift of prophecy, to predict that this valley will he covered with population, and the exhilarating hurry an<l hustle of trade will pervade places that are now under the peaceful douiiuiou of the farmer ; the spires of new temples, dedicated to the worship of God, will rise up to greet the eye of the heholder ; the mechanic arts, under new couihinatious of capital and skill, will take deeper and stronger root; the tine arts will find an abode among us ; and our hills, under a better cultivation, will put on a gayer and more beautiful attire. This auspicious event, we have great reason to believe, is near at hand. The scruples of the most incredulous seem now to he removed, and if we pursue it steadily there is little doubt of its being accomplished.

It is doubtful if tlie results so confidently looked for would have come in their fulness as the sole effect of the canal, but unquestionably gretit results did Ibllovv. The whole Blackstone Valley was stimulated, new villages sprung up, new industries were started, the water-power was utilized, a new outlet for Worcester products was created, closer business relations were maintained between Worcester and Providence and the seaboard, on the one hand, and between Worcester and the surrounding country on the other. But, more important still, Worcester was made more emphatically a distributing centre for imports over the canal.

A comparison between the number of tons transported each year by means of the canal to and from Worcester is exceedingly instructive : To Worcester, in 1831, 4300 tons; 1832, 4400 tons; 1833, 4663 tons; 1834, 5336 tons ; 1835, 4694 tons.

From Worcester in 1831, 808 tons ; 1832, 890 tons ; 1833, 848 tons ; 1834, 826 tons ; 1835, 739 tons. The amount of tolls collected increased from $1000, in 1828, to $16,464.45 in 1834, which was the highest reached in any year. It gradually declined from the latter year until the last toll was collected in 1848. Between 1825 and 1835, when the Boston and Worcester Railroad was opened, the population of Worcester bad increased from 3650, in the former year, to 6624 in the latter - a much greater increase in those ten years than in the previous sixty years.

Opening of Railroad Communication. - Previous to the opening of the canal the trade of Worcester had been largely with Boston. The effect of easier freight communication with Providence had since then tended to divert its trade from Boston. But it was not only Worcester's trade that was diverted, but, practically, Worcester County's trade. Unquestionably this fact had its influence in hastening the construction of the Boston and Worcester Railroad.

That railroad was incorporated June 23, 1831, and was the first of any length in the State. It was completed and opened for public travel July 4, 1835. A grand celebration took place here on July 6th. A train of twelve cars arriving here at one o'clock brought the directors and a large number of stockholders. The arrangements for the celebration were under the direction of a committee of which Hon. Charles Allen was chairman. The visitors were escorted to the Town Hall, where ex -Governor Levi Lincoln presided, and speeches were made by Governor John Davis, Governor Everett, Chief Justice ArtemasAVard, Hon. A. H. Everett, Hon. Julius Rockwell and others. The terminus of the road was on Foster Street, near Main. Passenger cars ran three times daily each way, occu- ))ying about three hours for the trip. The fare was $1.50 at first, but was raised the next year to $2.00.

77(6 Western Jiailroad vrns completed from Worcester to Springfield in 1839, and trains began running on October 1st of that year. The road was completed to Albany in 1841.

The Providence and Worcester Railroad wag finished and trains began running October 25, 1847, and on November 4th of that year the event was celebrated here. Ex-Gov. Davis welcomed the visitors ; after which a banquet ,was served in Brinley Hall, at which Governor Lincoln presided, with Governor Davis, Judges Charles Allen, Emory Washburn and Thomas Kinnicutt and Hon. Stephen Salisbury as vice-presidents. Speeches were made by John Barstow, president of the road ; United States Senator Simmons, of Rhode Island ; Mayor Burgess, of Providence; President Wayland and Professor Gammell, of Brown University ; President Nathan Hale, of the Boston and Worcester Railroad; Hon. George Bliss, of Springfield, for the Western Railroad ; Judges Allen, Washburn and Kinnicutt, Governor Davis, Hon. Stephen Salisbury, and others.

General Progress. - It was probably in this period that Worcester began to be known as the " Heart of the Commonwealth." That designation was undoubtedly first applied to Worcester County. The first mention of it in print which I have been able to find, as applied to the county, is in the (§;iy of October 12, 1831, in which the county is referred to as being " as justly entitled to the appellation of the ' Head of the Commonwealth ' in agricultural improvement, as it is to that of the ' Heart of the Commonwealth ' from its local situation."

Warwickshire, the central county of England, w-as thus denominated by the poet Drayton in 1613 : " That shire which we the ' Heart of England ' call." And perhaps some scholarly son of Worcester County appropriated it from Drayton to his own beloved county. But clearly the town soon began to covet the title, and with such success that the county was forced, either in love or from necessity, to resign all claim to it.

" Pictorial Views of Massachusetts for the Young," published at Worcester in 1847 by Warren Lazell, where the town is referred to as follows: "Being in the centre of the interior county of the State, and containing a fertile soil and a population noted for industry, intelligence and wealth, this town has long been denominated the ' Heart of the Commonwealth.'" The adoption of that emblem by the city in its seal, confirmed its title to it by adverse user against all claimants.

The first "Village Directory" was published in 1829 by Clarendon Harris, whom we, of this generation, remember with great respect and affection. It purported to contain "the names of the inhabitants, their dwelling-houses and places of business arranged according to streets and squares." It contains two hundred and ninety-seven entries or numbers, divided as follows among the only streets given : Lincoln Square and Main Street, lOii; Summer Street, 20; School Street, 20; Thomas Street, 12; Central Street, 4 ; Mechanic Street, 25 ; Pleasant Street, 7 ; Front Street, 25; South Street, 15; Green Street, 27; Washington Square, 8; Grafton Street, 16; Middle Street, 7 ; Prospect Street, 5.

The town began to move with quick step along the various paths that led to the city of Worcester. With the rapid increase in wealth and population came the necessity for ampler expenditure on the part of the municipality. Methods adequate for the little country village were not sufficient for the now important town. The modest requirements of the former generation were insufficient to properly satisfy the growing needs of the great central town. Municipal comforts and even elegancies must be provided. First of all, the darkness of the streets at night must be relieved. A lamj) association was formed, and in 183.3 the town voted an appropriation for the purpose of lighting the lamps of the association. In 1834 the town voted that the selectmen be requested to petition the Legislature for authority to establish a Fire Department, and on February 25, 1835, necessary authority having been obtained, the Worcester Fire Department was established.

In 1832 a commodious brick school-house was built on Thomas Street, and in 1837 there were twelve districts and an appropriation of seven thousand dollars for schools, which included two thousand five hundred dollars for the Centre District.

The Worcester Manual Labor High School was incorporated in 1834 and dedicated June 4th of the same year. Its organization was largely due to the efforts and munificence of the Hon. Isaac Davis.

Mount St. James Seminary (now Holy Cross College) was also established. The State Lunatic Hospital was located here and portions of its buildine constructed respectively in 1831, 1835 and 183G.

Tlie Inhabitants of the Centre School District in the town of Worcester, as the limits of said district are now ^defined, are hereby made a corporation by the name of the Worcester Aqueduct Company, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining an aqueduct to conduct water from Bladder pond, in said town, to said district, for the extinguishment of fires and for other uses ; and also that the corporation might Tote to raise money, the amount to be assessed upon the polls and estates of the iuhabifantsof said district and collected by the town.

A board of managers, consisting of Stephen Salisbury, Isaac Davis, Wm. A. Wheeler, Henry W. Miller and Samuel Davis, was appointed. Pipes were laid through Prospect, Thomas, Main, Park, Salem, part of Mechanic, Pleasant and Elm Streets, in all about two miles, with fifty-six hydrants. The town paid to the corporation five hundred dollars yearly. In 1847 the pipes were extended about two miles.

The town, in anticipation, perhaps, of its future patronage of music, sought its inspiring and educating influence, and in 1846 voted to give the Worcester Brass Band permission to erect a stand upon the Common and play once a week after July 1st.

One unique fact should be referred to. In 1837 the surplus revenue of the United States was divided among the States and towns, and Worcester received its proportion.

The town voted May 1, 1837, to receive from the treasurer of the Commonwealth its proportion of the surplus in deposit, with the agreement to pay it back when demanded. The receipt of the same is thus recorded ; " Tuesday, May 2, 1837. The town received from the treasurer of the Commonwealth $6084.39, being the two first instalments of this town's proportion of the surplus revenue of the United States."

Worcester was no longer dependent upon one bank. Before incorporation as a city it had, in addition, the Worcester County Institution for Savings (established 1828); the Central Bank (1829); the Quinsigamond (183.3) ; the Citizens' (1836) ; the Mechanics' (1848). Insurance companieswere multiplied: the Manufacturers' Mutual Fire (1834) ; State Mutual Life (1844); Merchants' and Farmers' (1846); and People's Mutual Fire (1847).

Manufactures hecame established, inventive genius was stimulated, water-power was increased, steampower was introduced, industries were multiplied, all without the aid of foreign capital. In the " Directory " of 1848 the unique fact is stated in these words : " All the business is done by private capital ; there is not a single corporation concerned in the management of labor of this town."

Worcester was no longer compelled to resort to Boston newspapers for the daily news. The Worcester Daily Trnnncript was issued June 9, 1845, by Julius L. Clarke, editor and proprietor.

Worcester Influence. - Worcester furnished, during ten years of this period, from its citizens two Governors for theCommonwealth - Levi Lincoln (from 1828 to 1833 inclusive), and John Davis (in 183-t and 1835, and again in 1841 and 1842). Indeed, it is an exceptional fact not only that the Governor of the State from 1825 to 1835 inclusive should have come from this town, but more significant that one should have immediately succeeded the other. The claims of " locality " must have had less influence then than in some years.

The interchange of ofiices, by the will of the people, between these two notable men was equally striking. Levi Lincoln was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the election of John Davis as the successor of the former as Governor. Lincoln remained a member of Congress until he resigned in 1841, when he was appointed collector of the port of Boston by President Harrison. In 1844 and 1846 he was in the State Senate (the latter year as president), and in 1848 was elected Worcester's first mayor.

Governor Davis also remained in public life, serving as United States Senator from 1838 to 1841 ; again as Governor for two years (1841 and 1842); and again from 1845 to 1853 as United States Senator.

Pliny Merrick was district attorney for the Middle District from 1832 until 1843, having previously been county attorney from 1824. From 1843 to 1848 he was judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in which latter year he resigned, and accepted the position of president of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad.

Worcester had during a portion of this period another distinguished citizen upon the bench of the Court of Common Pleas. Emory Washburn was appointed judge in 1844, and remained till December, 1847, when he resigned. He had, prior thereto (in 1841 and 1842), been a member of the Massachusetts Senate.

Charles Allen was also one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas from 1842 to 1844, when he resigned. In 1847 he was nominated judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth, but declined the honor.

Worcester furnished judges of Probate for the county during this entire period, in the persons of Nathaniel Paine till 1830; Ira M. Barton, from 1836 to 1844, and Benjamin F. Thomas, from 1844 to 1848.

In 1834 George Bancroft, a native of Worcester, son of Rev. Dr. Aaron Bancroft, published the first volume of his masterly " History of the United States." Though at that time he had ceased to be a resident of Worcester, still Worcester would not surrender^a qualified proprietorship in him, and viewed with paternal satisfaction the fame of her son.

the real forc.es in the progress of a free people lie deeper than the surface, tliat the abiding principles of justice, sobriety, independence and morality must permeate the whole body and constitute an elevating and propelling power, yet, at least, it must find its expression. Its " Amen " yb?/ows the declaration of its faith, and does not precede it. There must be the " unity of spirit," and thus the words of the faithful leader are the embodiment of the thought and aspirations of the mass.

In this interesting period of the nation's history the people of Worcester were not idle spectators ; her strong men were not apathetic listeners ; they were fearless and determined actors.

The continued attempt of the slave States to enlarge the slave-holding territory of the Union was met at the North by a sentiment of vigorous opposition, moving, however, upon somewhat different lines. The American Anti-Slavery Society was organized at Philadelphia in 1833. It had for its object the entire abolition of slavery. Local societies were formed in the free States. The Worcester County South Division Anti-Slavery Society held its first meeting at Worcester, February 15, 1838. Among its first oflicers from Worcester were Lewis Chapin, vice-president ; Edward Earle, secretary ; Ichabod Washburn, one of its councilors; Samuel H. Colton, treasurer ; and Geo. M. Rice, one of the committee to establish other anti-slavery societies.

Meetings began to be held by it with considerable frequency, at which addresses were made and resolutions adopted, which had a powerful effect in shaping public opinion ; but, nevertheless, they and those sympathizing with them to the full extent of their views were in the minority.

The great majority of the people regarded slavery as a blight and a curse, but directed their efforts mainly to prevent the acquisition of any more slave territory or the admission of more slave States.

The proposed annexation of Texas, with its vast area, was stoutly opposed by well-nigh the whole population of Worcester and Worcester County.

A convention was held at Worcester May 6, 1844, of those opposed to the annexation. It was called to order by Hon. John W. Lincoln, of Worce.ster. Hon. Isaac Davis was one of the vice-presidents. Worcester was largely and strongly represented among the speakers. Charles Allen, Gov. Lincoln, Emory Washburn, Samuel M. Burnside, John Milton Earle and others expressed Worcester's attitude in no uncertain way.

Indeed, a considerable time prior to this, on December 5, 1837, a convention of the ministers of the Gospel of the county was held in Worcester to take action with reference to slavery. It was adjourned to January 16, 1838, when resolutions in earnest condemnation of slavery were adopted. Their spirit may be judged by the following expression of purjiose: " In order to arrest attention, awaken interest, arouse the public conscience at the North and the South, and thus, as far as in us lies, bring into action a train of holy influences which, with the blessing of Almighty God, shall result in the total removal of this evil from our land."

No more secure stronghold of liberty existed in Massachusetts, or at the Xorth, indeed, than Worcester and Worcester County. It was not surprising, then, that from Worcester should come the voice that summoned to the Free-Soil party the earnest friends of freedom, no matter what their former party affiliations had been. Charles Allen was the natural product of Worcester's free soil and free ideas.

An exceedingly interesting case was tried at Worcester at the January term, 1840, of the Court of Common Pleas, relating in some remote measure to the slavery agitation. Dickenson Shearer and Elias M. Turner, both of Palmer, were indicted here for kidnapping a colored boy by the name of Sidney O. Francis, with intent to transport him out of the Commonwealth, and to sell him as a slave. Pliny Merrick, for the Government, is said to have managed the case with great ability. Ira M. Barton, of Worcester ; Mr. Chapman, of Springfield, and Hon. Isaac C. Bates (soon thereafter United States Senator), of Northampton, appeared for the defendants. Worcester was an exceedingly poor place to attempt such an act as these defendants committed. A Worcester County jury convicted both. Shearer was sentenced to the State Prison for seven years and Turner (a boy) was sentenced for eighteen months.

The last Board of Selectmen consisted of F. W. Paine, Horatio N. Tower, Ebenezer H. Bowen, Jonas Bartlett and Albert Tolraan. The days of the township were nearly passed. Its varied and multiplied municipal interests could better be regulated through the instrumentality of city government.

November 8, 1847, on motion of J. Milton Earle, it was voted that a committee of ten be appointed to draw up and present to the Legislature a petition for a city charter. The committee was composed of the following: Levi Lincoln, Stephen Salisbury, Ira M. Barton, Isaac Davis, Benjamin F. Thomas, Edward Earle, James Estabrook, Alfred D. Foster, Thomas Kinnicutt and Ebenezer L. Barnard. This committee was successful in securing the desired act, which was approved by Governor Briggs February 29, 1848. The act was accepted by vote of the inhabitants on March 18, 1848, and the first city government was inaugurated April 17, 1848.

Third Period

The same sagacity and political wisdom which Worcester as a town had so often and so invariably shown continued to direct and dominate her as a city in the selection of her municipal officers. The same sacrifice which her citizens had so often shown in relinquishing personal preferences and abating private interests continued to animate them. The organization of the various departments of a new city, the proper adaptation of suitable methods to new conditions, the introduction of orderly and accurate systems all require earnest thought, active vigilance and laborious devotion.

With rare wisdom the choice was first made. Levi Lincoln, with the education and tastes of a scholar, with the experience and statesmanship resulting from long service in Congress and as Governor of the Commonwealth, with the judgment and prudence derived from connection with large business interests, was selected as Worcester's first mayor.

In her first Board of Aldermen were Benjamin F. Thomas, judge of Probate ; Isaac Davis, with his legal and financial ability ; Stephen Salisbury, eminent in learning and skilled in finance; John W. Lincoln, for many years chairman of the Board of Selectmen, a man of sound judgment and held in great respect; Parley Goddard, James S. Woodworth, James Estabrook and William B. Fox, all men of tried capacity, and held in high esteem. With mature judgment the various departments were organized, and with conservative and watchful care the finances were regulated. To the mayor and aldermen of that first year Worcester is greatly indebted. They labored with intelligent and untiring zeal. Eighty-four meetings of that board were held during the year, and the greater portion of the measures and ordinances adopted had their initiative with them. Isaac Davis was chairman of the Committee on Finance, and with such watchfulness did he and his associates upon that committee regulate the financial aflairs of the new city, that the expenditures were but .fG5,389, the tax but 15.34 on $1000 and the debt reduced. -v

With no boastfulness it can be said that few cities, J if any, in the Commonwealth, have during any period of their existence been favored with mayors of greater ability than was Worcester in its early years. When ' among them may be named Levi Lincoln, Henry ; Chapin, Peter C. Bacon, Isaac Davis, Alexander H. , Bullock, W. W. Eice, P. Emory Aldrich and D. J Waldo Lincoln, we doubt if any citizen of the Com- ', monwealth will question it. Most certainly no edu- /i cated citizen of the State need ask as to any one of, them. Who was /(e .^ What did /le ever do?

Distinguished and honored service in the gubernatorial chair, upon the bench, in Congress, at the bar and in the management of one of the great raih'oads of the country have made their names known at le.ast through the Commonwealth.

The city was equally fortunate during the same time in its choice of legal advisers. Among its solicitors were lawyers of great eminence, - Henry Chapin, Peter C. Bacon, Charles Devens, Jr., Dwight Foster and George F. Hoar. Its other important officers were, in the main, as wisely chosen.

Its first train ran December 18, 1848. The Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad was opened in February, 1850. Tlius in the raid year of the century Worcester was the radiating centre of six railroads.

Itsjpopulation in 1850 was 17,049. Its valuation in the same year was $11,082,501. The ratio of increase in population during the decade from 1840 was 128 per cent., and in valuation during the same period 158 per cent.

No wonder that Mayor Chapin, in his inaugural address in 1 850, should say, " What is to be the extent of our population no one can foresee. We have come to our growth so many times that the prophets have lost their reputation, and we stand where nature and art both combine to make us a great inland city. Year by year the hum of industry grows louder and the footsteps of an increasing population are more distinctly heard."

No wonder that the philosophic mind of the great lawyer, Hon. Peter C. Bacon, should seels: to trace its cause. In his inaugural address as mayor in 1851, among other causes to which he attributes the surprising growth, he says, " not inconsiderably are we indebted for this increase to the superior excellence of our admirably organized and efficiently conducted school system and to our educational advantages, which have attracted vast numbers to a residence amongst us. . . . But the proximate and most efficient cause in the production of these grand results is to be sought in the introduction of railroads, which has made Worcester the centre and focus of no less than six converging railroads, thus affording to us facilities of communication not, perhaps, possessed or enjoyed by any other inland city in the world of no greater extent or population."

Although, perhaps, a diversion, I cannot permit this opportunity to pass without calling more special attention to this admirable address of Mayor Bacon. It evinces profound thought, it covers a wide range of topics, many of them rarely discussed at such a time ; it announces with fearlessness the result of his deep moral convictions and his intended action as a consequence thereof, and I have no hesitation in pronouncing it the most able address ever made by a mayor of Worcester to its City Council.

The decade from 1850 to 1860 was marked in Worcester by a steady and symmetrical growth. The population increased to 24,973, and the valuation to $16,400,900. Municipal taxes had increased from the modest $65,000 of 1848 to $119,067 in 1860. The rate of taxation was still low, it being only $8 on $1000 in the latter year.

same liberties taken with the exterior of the structure, now that it was thus ennobled, as had formerly been the case. The City Council, accordingly, in 1848 by vote directed the city messenger to place upon the exterior walls of the building the following notice : "Stick no bills on this Building."

No political flag could flaunt itself over any of, the streets without due permission. October 13, 1851, the Council voted to permit a flag to be suspended over Main Street from the Whig headquarters at the corner of Main and Central Streets, and within a few days, upon petition of the Democratic Committee, a similar favor was granted it.

The hall in the City Hall was the principal one in the city till Mechanics' Hall was completed, in 1857, which is one of the most beautiful and spacious halls in the State.

In 1855 an attempt was made to procure a lot of land on which to erect a new City Hall. The lot on the corner of Main and Pleasant Street was sought, but upon report of the committee that the price asked was $52,000, the subject was dropped and the Town Hall of 1825 remains the City Hall of 1889.

The first recommendation for the establishment of a Public Library was made by Mayor Bacon in 1851. It was established through the munificence of Doctor John Green in 1859.

In 1856, in compliance with the recommendation of Mayor Isaac Davis, a superintendent of public schools was first elected. In the same year the " New Common " or "Elm Park" was improved and a new street built from Elm to Highland Streets, adjacent to the park. Prior to this time the only park in the city was the "Old Common" or "Central Park," which had been such from time immemorial.

In 1863, Ex-Mayor Isaac Davis ofl'ered to the city a deed of fourteen acres on the shores of Lake Quinsigamond for a park, but the City Council rejected it. It was reserved for his son, ex-Mayor Edward L. Davis, to renew the offer many years after, which was gratefully accepted.

During this time the city had lost none of its influence possessed in former years, but furnished men of eminence for important positions in the State and nation. Emory Washburn was Governor of the Commonwealth in 1854, John Davis was United States Senator from 1845 to 1853, Alexander H. Bullock was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1862 to 1865, inclusive, and Governor from 1866 to 1869, Dwight Foster was Attorney-General of the State from 1861 to 1864, inclusive, and judge of the Supreme Court from 1866 to 1869, Chas. Allen was a member of Congress from 1849 to 1853, Eli Thayer from 1857 to 1861, JohnD. Baldwin from 1863 to 1869. Pliny Merrick was justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1850 to 1854, Charles Allen Chief Justice of the Superior Court from 1859 to 1867, Benjamin F. Thomas judge of the Supreme Judicial Court from 1853 to 1859, Pliny Merrick judge of the same court from 1853 to 1864, Charles Devens, Jr., was justice of the Superior Court from 1867. During this entire time, as in the previous period, citizens of Worcester filled the position of judge of Probate for the county. Thomas Kinnicutt from 1848 to 1857, Dwight Foster to July 1, 1858, Henry Chapin frcmi July 1, 1858, for many years beyond the close of this period, Worcester furnished district attorneys for the Middle District during the greater portion of this time: Benjamin F. Newton from 1851 to 1853, P. Emory Aldrich from 1853 to 1855, John H. Matthews to 1856, E. B. Stoddard to 1857, P. Emory Aldrich from 1857 to 1866, Hartley Williams to 1868.

Worcester sent as its Representatives to the Constitutional Convention of 1853 : Charles Allen, Isaac Davis, John S. C. Knowlton, .1. Milton Earle and Henry Chapin.

The great material advance which the city experienced, stimulated by its easy connection with the seaboard, the interior and the West, as well as by the demands of the war, is so fully covered by Mr. Washburn in his carefully prepared article, that the mere reference to it here is alone permissible.

Introduction of Water. - The capacity of Bladder Pond, now Bell Pond, which the Worcester Aqueduct Company used as its source of supply, was soon inadequate for the demands of the city. The property of the Aqueduct Company had come under the control of the city by purchase in 1848. The aqueduct pipes were extended each year, but individual takers were often deprived of a .supply, because of its insufficiency for the double purpose of extinguishing fires and for domestic ])urposes. Expedients were resorted to in order to increase the body of water available in the pond, principally by pumping from a spring in Gates' lumber-yard.

Ethan Allen presented a petition to the City Council, April 24, 1848, for leave to lay pipes under a portion of Lincoln and Main Streets, "to bring into his grounds from the north part of Worcester the water from some springs in the grounds of Capt. Lewis Barnard, and to such other places as may be necessary to conduct the water from said petitioner's premises.'' Permission was granted on said petition May 6, 1848, for him to lay pipes as far south as the house of Charles Thurber, Esquire. July 23, 1849, he was granted leave to extend his aqueduct pipe "through and over Front Street, as far as Salem Street, for the purpose of supplying families with water."

Hon. Phinehas Ball, in a report made to the City Council, February 9, 1863, states that this aqueduct was then supplying "some thirty-seven diff'erent parties, almost wholly on Main Street'' This same aqueduct is still in use at this day, supplying a few families during a portion of the year. The house of the writer, on Lincoln Street, is among those thus supplied.

The Paine Spring aqueduct was also in use, furnishing in 1863 " at least a hundred and twenty-five families and shops, on School, Union, Main, Thomas and Summer Streets."

The third private .aqueduct was the Rice Aqueduct, "supplying parties in the neighborhood of Grafton and Franklin Streets, to the number of sixty-one families, and two steam-engines which are estimated equal to twenty-four families."

From 1852 to 1864 the subject of an additional water supply was from time to time referred to by successive mayors, and spasmodic .action was occasionally taken by the City Council. The first expert examination of available sources was m.ade in 1854 by Mr. M. B. Inches, a competent engineer, of Boston. Again in 1856 a further examination was made by Mr. Inches and a report made recommending Henshaw Pond and Kettle Brook as the most available source for further supply. At the municipal election in that year the question was submitted to the inhabitants for a yea and nay vote upon the recommendation aforesaid. After the exclusion of the vote in Ward 1, on account of informality, the vote stood, Yeas, 939 ; Nays, 940. If the vote of Ward 1 had been included the yeas would have had a majority of 87. The debt of the city was at that time not quite $104,000, and the inhabitants were by no means unanimous in their desire to increase it four or five-fold by an expenditure for one particular purpose. Thus the matter rested till 1860, when, upon further surveys, it was recommended to obtain legislative authority to take Lynde Brook, which was obtained by act of the Legislature in 1861, but quiet brooded over the waters till 1864. In 1863 Hon. Phinehas Ball made an elaborate report. The citizens felt the urgent need of definite action, and on January 18, 1864, the question was sul)mitted to the voters whether water should be introduced into the city from Lynde Brook ill the town of Leicester in siibstanstial accordance with the report of Mr. Ball. It was decided in the affirmative by a vote of 864 yeas to 282 nays.

Work was soon commenced upon reservoir and conduit pipes, and on November 14, 1864, water was let on for the first time. The city now had a reservoir on Lynde Brook of the capacity of 228,000,000 gallons, the height of the dam being at first twenty-seven feet from the bed of the brook. The debt of the city by reason of the extraordinary expenses of the war and introduction of water, was in 1865 nearly $425,000. Mayor Blake suggested and encouraged the necessary measures and expenditures required by the growth of the city and demands of the future. With the introduction of water came the necessity for the adoption of a system of sewerage. Mayor Blake recommended it in 1866, regarding it " the foremost and most important of any matter which can come before us." Legislation was obtained, and in 1867 work began on a portion of the great central sewer in Mill Brook and some lateral sewers, which was prosecuted in subsequent years.

Political Activity and Influence. - No period in the history of our nation since the Revolution has approached in the magnitude of the issues to be determined the years from 1848 to 1865. Political questions were dignified into the loftiest moral issues. The grandest fearlessness of political action was the result of the deepest convictions of the human soul. " Deep answered unto deep," and heart to heart. Men held freedom dearer than life and partisans became patriots. The stain of political dishonor was cleansed with blood and a nation's life was dearer than one's own.

Worcester had no humble part in this grand awakening, this beneficent fusion of the political with the moral forces. She led ; she did not with cautious and hesitating step follow. The first majestic movement was in the Whig National Convention at Philadelphia, in June, 1848, when Worcester, by the lips of Hon. Charles Allen, made the momentous declaration : " You have put one ounce too much on the strong back of Northern endurance, you have even liresumed that the State which led on the first revolution for liberty will now desert that cause for the miserable boon of the Vice-Presidency. Sir, Massachusetts will spurn the bribe. We declare the Whig party of the Union this day dissolved."

These words met with an emphatic response in Worcester, and when, on June 21st, after the return of Mr. Allen from the convention, a meeting was held to receive him, presided over by our honored Albert; Tolman, its members, its enthusiasm and its earnestness left no doubt as to Worcester's endorsement of his action. One of the resolutions adojited at that meeting defined with a clearness of expression and an intensity of spirit rarely equalled the lofty attitude of Worcester's loyalty: "Resolved, That Massachusetts wears no chains and spurns all bribes; that Massachusetts goes now and will ever go for free soil and free men, for free lips and a free press, for a free land and a free world."

Worcester was fitly chosen as the place for holding the People's Convention of Massachusetts on June 28, 1848, of which Samuel Hoar, of Concord, a name ever honored, was president, and at which Charles Allen, Charles Sumner, Henry Wilson, Joshua" R. Giddings and others made addresses, and who were received by the five thousand freemen there gathered with unbounded enthusiasm.

The Worcester Spy, then under the management of John Milton Earle, was an unmistakable factor of great power in the grand advance that stopped only with Appomattox. On July 5, 1848, in referring to the convention, it said : " They have spoken a voice not to be mistaken and taken a stand never to be receded from till the last battle is fought and the victory won for Liberty and Right." In another article, by a different writer, Worcester's connection with the origin of the Free Soil party is fully considered. It is my purpose simply to refer to it. But I content myself with quoting the words of Senator Hoar in his profound and eloquent address at the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the naming of Worcester with reference to this subject. He says: " But as surely as Faneuil Hall was the cradle of American Independence so surely was Worcester the cradle of the later revolution."

The liberty-loving and determined people of Worcester and Worcester County elected Charles Allen tO' the National House of Representatives, that there his words and their words might be heard in the imperative demand that slavery should not invade another foot of the nation's soil.

The attempt to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the aggression of the slave power caused intense excitement at the North. Worcester's position in relation to the Fugitive Slave Law was pronounced and emphatic. AVe do not need to resort to the memory of men, to the daily talk of Worcester's earnest men, to the files of uiioilicial publications, though these all confirm the fact of the city's deep feeling. I suppose that very few, of the present generation at least, know that in one of the official publications of the city is a declaration of purpose by the mayor of the city, that at once lifts the author of it to a place of unending honor,, and puts his city and our city where no hand can rob it of its glory.

In referring to the Fugitive Slave Law, he says: "If it be asked whether it is intended that the police of the city shall, in its official capacity, aid in its enforcement, I answer. No." He then considers the effect of a decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Priggs vs. Pennsylvania, 16 Peters 608, in its operation upon a law of

Massachusetts, Acts of 1843, ch. 69, which provided that no sheriff, constable or other officer of this Commonwealth should arrest or detain, or aid in the arrest or detention, of any person for the reason that he was claimed as a fugitive slave, and closes as follows : " And it is necessary for me only to add that should any officer of the city, embraced within the provisions of that Act of 1843, be found violating its provisions, I should deem it viy duty to recommend his