THE NEW-HAMPSHIRE BOOK. THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. FROM AN ORATION DELIVERED AT PORTSMOUTH, MAY 21, 1823, ON THE SECOND CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF ITS SETTLEMENT. BY NATHANIEL APPLETON HAVEN. [Born at Portsmouth, Jan. 14, 1790. Died at Portsmouth, June 3, 1826.] Two hundred years ago, the place on which we stand was an uncultivated forest. The rough and vigorous soil was still covered with the stately trees, which had been, for ages, intermingling their branches and deepening the shade. The river, which now bears on its bright and pure waters the treasures of distant climates, and whose rapid current is stemmed and vexed by the arts and enterprise of man, then only rippled against the rocks, and reflected back the wild and grotesque thickets which overhung its banks. The mountain which now swells on our left, and raises its verdant side "shade above shade," was then almost concealed by the lofty growth which covered the intervening plains. Behind us, a deep morass, extending across to the northern creek, almost enclosed the little "Bank," which is now the seat of so much life and industry. It was then a wild and tangled thicket, interspersed with venerable trees and moss-grown rocks, and presenting, here and there, a sunny space covered with the blossoms and early fruit of the little plant that gave it its name. This " Bank," so wild and rude, two hundred years ago was first impressed with the step of civilized man. The influence of local association is strong and universal. There is no one who has not felt it; and if it were possible, it would be useless to withdraw the mind from its effects. We owe many of our deepest emotions, our highest and most ennobling feelings, to the suggestions of external nature. The place which has been distinguished by the residence of one whom we love and admire, kindles in our minds a thousand conceptions, which we can scarcely analyze or describe. The moral beauty of character and sentiment is insensibly blended with the beauty of natural scenery; memory and fancy, alike excited, pass from one object to another, and form combinations of beauty and grandeur, softened and shaded by time and distance, but having enough of life and freshness to awaken our feelings and hold undisputed dominion of our hearts. Here, then, let us indulge our emotions. On this spot our forefathers trod. Here their energy and perseverance, their calm selfpossession and practical vigor, were first called into action. Here they met and overcame difficulties, which would have overpowered the imagination or subdued the fortitude of ordinary men. All that we see around us are memorials of their worth. It was their enterprise that opened a path for us over the waters. It was their energy that subdued the forest. They founded our institutions. They communicated to us our love of freedom. They gave us the impulse that made us what we are. It cannot then be useless to live along the generations that have passed, and endeavor to identify ourselves with those who have gone before us. Who and what were they, who thus fill our imaginations, and as they rise before us, bring to our minds so many recollections of high sentiment, and steady fortitude, and sober enthusiasm? In what school were they formed? and what favorable circumstances impressed upon them that character of enduring energy, which even their present descendants may claim as their best inheritance? The an FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 15 swer to these questions is the subject to which your attention will be directed. The character of individuals is always influenced, in a greater or less degree, by that of the nation in which they live. Sometimes indeed a great genius appears, who seems not to belong either to his age or country; as a sunny day in winter will sometimes swell the buds and call forth the early flowers, as if it belonged to a milder season or happier climate. But in general, to form an accurate opinion of the character of an individual, it becomes necessary to estimate that of his nation at the time in which he lived. Our ancestors were Englishmen; were Merchant-adventurers; were Puritans. The elements of their character are therefore to be found in the national character of England, modified in the individuals by the pursuits of commerce, and the profession of an austere but ennobling form of religion. Such were the men from whom we derive our origin; and such were the circumstances which impressed upon them that peculiar character, which it is hoped the lapse of two centuries has not yet obliterated. We may justly be proud of such a descent; for no ancestry in the world is half so illustrious, as the Puritan founders of New England. It is not merely that they were good men, and religious men, exhibiting in their lives an example of purity and temperance and active virtue, such as no other community in the world could present; but they possessed the dazzling qualities of human greatness. Do we love to dwell upon scenes of romantic adventure? Does our imagination kindle at the thought of distant enterprise, among a strange people, exposed to constant and unusual peril ? Do we turn with delight to those bold and heroic achievements which call forth the energy of our nature, and by that deep excitement which belongs to the hopes and hazards of war, awaken us to a new consciousness of existence? All this is found in the history of our ancestors. They were heroes as well as pilgrims, and nothing is wanting but the pen of |