RECOLLECTIONS OF PETERBOROUGH.

FROM A SPEECH AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

BY JAMES WILSON, JR.

SIR, when I learned some few weeks ago that it was proposed to celebrate this Centennial Anniversary of the settlement of my native town, I resolved to be present; and in the expectation that I might be called on for a word, I began to search the by-places and corners of my mind, to ascertain whether any thing connected with Peterborough history had been stowed away there, that might be brought out to contribute to the interest of the occasion.

We have heard of the patriotism of our ancestors, of their unanimity in sustaining and devotion to the American cause, in her early efforts for free government. They sought for a government of equal and impartial laws. Permit me to relate to you an anecdote illustrating their profound respect for sound laws.

My grandfather, as you know Mr. President, kept a tavern in a small house, the shape of which sets all description at defiance; but its rickety remains are still to be seen upon the farm of your townsman, Captain William Wilson. A number of persons being assembled at his public house, an occurrence happened, not unusual in the town at that time, namely, a fight. There was a blow, and blood drawn. The defeated party threatened an immediate prosecution, but the spectators interposed their friendly advice, and a reference of the matter was agreed to by the parties. Five good men and true were designated as referees, who undertook to arbitrate upon the momentous matter. A solemn hearing was

gone into. Every person present was inquired of as to the fact. After a deliberate hearing of the parties, their several proofs and allegations, the referees awarded that the aggressor should pay the cost of reference, by a full treat for all the company, and give as damages to the injured man, for the blood lost, an equal quantity of cherry-rum, which they appraised at a half-pint. Ill-blood is sometimes created between the parties to a law-suit, that continues to circulate in the veins of succeeding generations. No such result followed the Peterborough law-suit above reported. The wisdom of the referees was universally commended, as manifested in their liberal award of damages, and their sagacity highly extolled for the discovery of an adequate and proper remedy for healing the wound inflicted upon "the peace and dignity of the State." The referees, the parties and their witnesses all separated perfect friends.

We have heard that one of the prominent traits of the early inhabitants was a fondness for fun. It was on all occasions sought after, and it mattered little at whose expense it was procured. The name of one has already been mentioned, famous for his singular cast of mind and his witty sarcasms "Old Mosey Morison." I at this moment have in mind an anecdote which, by leave, I will relate; and if I omit the name of the individual upon whom the wit was perpetrated, I suppose the chief marshal of the day will take no exception to the relation of the story. Mosey Morison was here universally called, in common parlance, "Uncle Mosey." A young gentleman of no small pretensions to learning and high standing in this town, some forty years ago, went to the town of Nelson, then called Packersfield, to instruct a winter school. In the course of the winter "Uncle Mosey" happened to call at the store of a Mr. Melville, where a large number of the people of Packersfield were assembled, and there met the young Peterborough school-master. The school-master accosted him in the familiar salutation of " How do you do, Uncle Mosey?" The old gentleman, looking away, and manifesting no sign of

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recognition, replied in a cold, disdainful tone: "Uncle Mosey! Uncle! to be sure! I'm na uncle of yours; I claim na relationship with you, young man." On his return to Peterborough, Mr. Morison related the incident to his blood relations, the Smiths, who asked him why he denied the relationship of the school-master. "Why," replied the old man, "I did na wish the people of Packersfield to understand that a' the relations of the Morisons were consummate fools."

I fear, Mr. President, that I am taking too much time in the relation of Peterborough stories. I will detain you with only one more. At one of the stores in town, upon a cold winter's night, quite a number of the people being present, the toddy circulated freely, and the company became somewhat boisterous, and as usual, some of them talked a good deal of nonsense. An old Mr. Morison,* who plumed himself (and not without much reason) upon his talking talent, had made several unsuccessful attempts to get the floor, (in parliamentary phrase,) and the ear of the house. The toddy had done its work too effectually for him, and he gave it up as desperate, and taking a seat in a retired part of the room, he exclaimed in utter despair, "A' weel, a' weel, here ye are, gab, gab, gab, gab,-- and common-sense maun set ahind the door."

I have watched with intense interest, the wonderful improvements that have been carried forward in my native town within the last thirty years. When I was a boy, a weekly mail, carried upon horse-back by a very honest old man by the name of Gibbs, afforded all the mail facilities which the business of the town required. Now, Sir, we

see

stage-coach pass and repass through this beautiful village every day, loaded with passengers, and transporting a heavy mail. Your highways and bridges have been astonishingly improved, showing a praiseworthy liberality on the part of the town to that important subject. Your progress

*Jonathan, the first mechanic in town, and the first male child born in Londonderry.

in agriculture, manufactures, and the mechanic arts, exhibits striking evidence of the advance of improvement. Look abroad now upon the finely-cultivated fields, the substantial fences, the comfortable, yea, elegant dwellings, the superb manufacturing buildings, the splendid churches and seminaries of learning; and in view of all these let the mind for a moment contrast it with the prospect which presented itself to the eye of the first settler, as he attained the summit of the East Mountain, one hundred years ago. Then not a human habitation for the eye to repose on over the whole extent of this basin-like township, one unbroken forest throughout the eye's most extensive range. No sound of music or hum of cheerful industry saluted his ear. It was only the howl of the savage beast or the yell of the still more savage man, that broke the appalling stillness of the forest. What a wonderful change hath a hundred years wrought here, and what unshrinking energy of character was requisite to induce the commencement of the undertaking!

Some of the old objects of interest to me in my younger days are gone. Their places indeed have been supplied by more expensive and elegant structures: still I must say, I regret the loss. And let me ask, Mr. President, are you quite sure that the loss may not manifest itself in some future time? I allude, Sir, to the loss of the old church on the hill there, and the old beech-tree that stood hard by. I look, even at this period of life, upon that spot with a kind of superstitious reverence. Many are the noble resolutions that young minds have formed under the shade of the old beech-tree. Intellectual indolence is the prevailing fault of our times. Under the old beech, in my young days, the great and the talented men of this town used to assemble, and there discuss with distinguished power and ability the most important topics. Religion, politics, literature, agriculture, and various other important subjects, were there discussed. Well, distinctly well do I remember those debates carried on by the Smiths, the Morisons, the Steeles, the Holmeses, the Robbes, the Scotts, the Todds, the Millers,

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and perhaps I may be excused here for adding the Wilsons and others. No absurd proposition or ridiculous idea escaped exposure for a single moment. A debater there had

to draw himself up close, be nice in his logic and correct in his language, to command respectful attention. Abler discussion was never listened to any where. Strong thought and brilliant conceptions broke forth in clear and select language. They were reading men, thinking men, forcible talking men, and sensible men. Bright intellectual sparks were constantly emanating from those great native minds, and falling upon younger minds, kindled up their slumbering energies to subsequent noble exertion. The immediate effect of those discussions could be easily traced in the beaming eye and the agitated muscles of the excited listeners. It was obvious to an acute observer that there was a powerful effort going on in many a young mind among the hearers, to seize, retain and examine some of the grand ideas that had been started by the talkers. This rousing of the young mind to manly exertion, and aiding it in arriving at a consciousness of its own mighty powers, was of great advantage where the seeds of true genius had been planted by the hand of nature. If any of the Peterborough boys, within the last thirty years, have attained to any thing like intellectual greatness, my life on it, they date the commencement of their progress from the scenes under the old beechtree. A thousand times have I thought, Mr. President, if I had the world's wealth at my command, I would cheerfully have bartered it all for the ability to talk as well as those men talked. Antiquity may boast of her schools of philosophy; the present may point to its debating clubs and lyceums, and talk loud as it will of modern improvement: give me the sound good sense that rolled unrestrained from eloquent lips under the old beech, and it is of more worth than them all. I shall always respect the spot where it grew, and even now it grieves me to see the greensward that sheltered its roots torn too roughly by the ploughshare.