Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by

JOHN A. POOR,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Maine.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

THE Portland Daily Advertiser of August 30th, 1862, published the following:

THE POPHAM CELEBRATION.

Friday, the 29th, was a most delightful day for celebrating the Two hundred and fifty-fifth Anniversary of the planting of Popham Colony on the Kennebec. Some five or six thousand people, coming from all parts of the country, assembled at Fort Popham on this occasion. In every respect the celebration was a great

success.

Between eleven and twelve o'clock the ceremonies of commemoration, of erecting the Memorial Stone, commenced, Hon. Charles J. Gilman, of Brunswick, the Marshal of the day, reading the following brief statement:

"Two hundred and fifty-five years ago this day, under the auspices of a Royal charter granted by King James, there assembled on the Peninsula of Sabino, and near to this spot, a party of Englishmen, and formed the first civil Protestant government of the New World, and by formal occupation and possession, established the title of England to the continent. In the year 1607, in the month of August, on the 19th day of the month, the Commission of George Popham for the Presidency of the new Government was read. Capt. Raleigh Gilbert, James Davies, Richard Seymour, the preacher, Capt. Richard Davies, and Capt. Harlow, were all sworn assistants.

"In commemoration of this event, the Historical Society of this State, corresponding with citizens in different parts of the State, have instituted this celebration, and it is proposed from time to time, in the valley of the Sagadahoc, on the Peninsula of Sabino, to recall and to illustrate events of the past, and by this and future celebrations to assign to Maine her true historic position. On this spot, under the direction of the distinguished Chief of the Bureau of Engineers, and his accomplished assistants, a fort is in process of construction. In compliance with a petition of John

A. Poor and Reuel Williams, dated Washington, November 18th, 1861, Simon Cameron, then Secretary of War, by the advice of Gen. Totten, determined to associate this fort with the name of Popham and the history of his colony.

"In order that the record of events which have transpired may be made still more vivid and impressive, it has been thought fit and proper to insert in a wall of the fort a memorial stone. The President of the Historical Society, the President of Bowdoin College, the representative of the government of the State, the representative of the government of the United States, and the Grand Masonic Lodge of Maine, in the disposition and adjustment of this stone will participate. Before the commencement of these interesting exercises, let us imitate the example of those who stood here two hundred and fifty-five years ago this day. As the Rev. Richard Seymour, Chaplain of the Colony, was invited to perform acts of religious worship, then, so now do I invite Right Rev. Bishop Burgess, Bishop of the Diocese of Maine, to perform religious worship, according to the ceremonial of the Episcopal Church of that day."

Then followed the impressive services of the Episcopal Church, Right Rev. Bishop Burgess officiating, such religious services as the Popham colonists used, upon their first landing. A brief historical statement was next read by William Willis, President of the Maine Historical Society. President Woods, of Bowdoin Col lege, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Maine Historical Society, next solicited the consent of the State and of the United States to permit the erection of the Memorial Stone. Hon. Abner Coburn responded for the State, Capt. T. L. Casey, of the U.S. Engineers, for the United States. The erection of the Memorial Stone was then completed with Masonic ceremonies by the Grand Lodge of Maine, J. H. Drummond, Grand Master.

Following these ceremonies, which had been interspersed with appropriate music by Poppenburg's Band, of the 17th Regular Infantry, came the Oration by John A. Poor.

THE Address of Mr. Poor, as now published, contains the paragraphs which were omitted for want of time, at the Celebration.

ADDRESS.

WE commemorate to-day the great event of American history. We are assembled on the spot that witnessed the first formal act of possession of New-England, by a British colony, under the authority of a Royal Charter. We have come here, on the two hundred and fifty-fifth anniversary of that event, to rejoice in the manifold blessings that have flowed to us from that act, — to place on record a testimonial of our appreciation of the value of that day's work, and to transmit to future generations, an expression of our regard for the illustrious men who laid the foundation of England's title to the Continent, and gave a new direction to the history of the world.

We meet under circumstances of deep and peculiar interest. The waters of the same broad Sagadahoc,* move onward in their majestic course to the ocean; the green summit of the beautiful Seguin still lifts itself in the distance-standing sentinel and breakwater to beat back the swelling surges of the sea; the flashing foam of the Atlantic still washes the rocky shores of the Peninsula of Sabino, and the secure anchorage of this open bay receives the tempest-tost bark, as on the day that the "Gift of God," the gallant flyboat of

*Sagadahoc, or Sachedahock, is Indian, and signifies, "The going out of the waters," or the mouth of the river. Eaton's Annals of Warren, p. 15.

George Popham, helped into port Raleigh Gilbert's good ship "Mary and John," freighted with the hopes of a new empire. Behind us rises the green summit of yonder mount, around whose sides soon clustered the habitations of the intrepid Popham and his devoted companions; and the same rocky rampart that then encircled this proud bay, stands unmoved amid the changes of two hundred and fifty-five years. All else is changed. The white sails of many a gallant ship now cover this broad expanse of water; a towering light-house rises high above the summit of Seguin, throwing the rays of its Fresnel lens far out into the darkness, and along these rocky shores; habitations of men dot every point of the surrounding landscape, while the stout steamer, unlike the ship of olden time, gladly encounters the rude waves of the ocean.

But the heart of man has changed less than all, in these two hundred and fifty-five years. It still bows submissive to Almighty God, and lifts its voice in prayer and praise, as when in the solemn service of his ritual their pious preacher uttered these memorable words:

At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sins from the bottom of his heart, I will blot all his wickedness out of my remembrance, saith the Lord."

"I will go to my Father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against thee: I am no more worthy to be called thy son."+

All this was permanent and enduring. The same duty and the same dependence upon God, as then, are upon us all. We seem to see before us the faithful

* For description of the localities alluded to, see Note A, in the Appendix. + King James's Liturgy of 1604.