PUBLICATIONS OF THE IPSWICH I. THE ORATION BY REV. WASHINGTON CHOATE, AND THE POEM BY REV. EDGAR F. DAVIS, On the 200th Anniversary of the Resistance to the Andros Tax. AT IPSWICH, JULY 4, 1887. SALEM: SALEM OBSERVER BOOK & JOB PRINT, 1894, Five years ago we met to honor the memory of one of our early settlers who had rendered valiant service to the town and the colony, Maj. Gen. Daniel Dennison. Two years later we gathered on the Meeting House Green and paid tribute to those sturdy men who broke the wilderness and commenced the plantation which soon after was organized as a town. And to-day, on the anniversary of our National Independence, we meet again to celebrate the bold stand taken by Ipswich, two hundred years ago when the inhabitants in legal meeting assembled, enunciated the doctrine that there was no right of taxation without representation, and to commemorate the lofty courage and watchful patriotism of the leaders in that historical transaction. This is an appropriate day on which to refresh ourselves with those events, for they were the shadows and premonitions of our Independence. They were the handwritings on the King's wall which to us seem to have been prophetic of the coming Nation. They were the beginning of the end, for from the day when John Wise stood in the meeting house on yonder hill and in strong terms denounced the arbitrary measures of the agents of the crown, until the last vestige of royalty left our shores, the struggle then begun was continued. And although defeated for the time, the influence of that town meeting, held on that August day two hundred years ago, un der the lead of John Wise, John Appleton, William Goodhue, Robert Kinsman, John Andrews and Thomas French, was felt through all the subsequent struggles with the crown, until our Independence was acknowledged and the principles then put in issue were fully established. Later events, like the wars of the Revolution and the Rebellion, may seem to obscure such early transactions, and make them appear to be of minor importance, yet it is well for us to pause and study those days and the men who made their history, and see how much we are indebted to them for our present prosperity and greatness. The old town has grown much since those days, and has seen two of her daughters, Essex and Hamilton, set up town keeping for themselves, both of whom we have invited to join us in reviving the days of Sir Edmund Andros and the men who dared to defy him. The descendants of the early settlers of Ipswich are scattered far and wide throughout the land and they are all proud to trace their way back to their Ipswich ancestry and we are proud to find them filling positions of trust and honor. One of the noted men of the early days of our history was Reginald Foster who dwelt near the Choate Bridge. His descendants are many and are scattered throughout the United States. Many of them have become eminent in the business or professional world, others have fought on the battle-field or were engaged in naval battles of Colonial and Revolutionary days. settler adorns the Hamilton and I am It gives me great One of the descendants of this early pulpit of the Congregational Church of sure you will be pleased to listen to him. pleasure to introduce to you Rev. Edgar F. Davis as the poet of this occasion. |