that wider field has not made them forgetful of their native mountains. New Hampshire may well be proud to reckon them among her jewels. I regret that my engagements will deprive me of the pleasure of being present. Very respectfully, SAMUEL D. BELL. Hon. Messrs. MARSHALL P. WILDER, CHARLES G. GREENE, and others, Committee. [From Hon. IRA A. EASTMAN, Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire.] Gentlemen: GILMANTON, N. H., October 29, 1853. I have had the honor to receive yours of the first instant, inviting me to attend the adjourned Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire. Absence from home and official engagements have delayed my giving you an earlier answer. I highly commend the object of this Festival, and it would afford me the greatest pleasure to attend, were not my engagements such as to place it beyond my power. New Hampshire may well be proud of her sons residing in other States, scattered as they are to a number exceeding a hundred thousand, and dwelling in every State and territory throughout our vast domain; and of none may she be more proud than of the thousands who reside in Massachusetts. Accept, gentlemen, the assurances of my high regard for you personally. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, TO MARSHALL P. WILDER, and others, Committee, &c. Your ob't servant, IRA A. EASTMAN. [From Hon. ANDREW S. WOODS, Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire.] Gentlemen: BATH, October 29, 1853. An unexpected call to the discharge of official duty will detain me from the festivities of the Sons of New Hampshire, on the second of November. The occasion must be one of great interest, and nothing short of a strong necessity would cause me to forego the pleasure of it. Very respectfully, Hon. MARSHALL P. WILDER, and others, Committee of Invitation. ANDREW S. WOODS. [From Hon. IRA PERLEY, Ex-Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire.] Gentlemen: CONCORD, October 12, 1853. I thank you very heartily for your invitation to attend the adjourned Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire, on the second of November next. I regret very deeply that my engagements will deprive me of the pleasure of meeting with you on that occasion. In answer to your invitation to attend the Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire, on the second of November, permit me to assure you that I would do so with great pleasure, if a previous engagement did not require my being in another place on that day. With pleasure should I be with you; yet would that pleasure be mingled with some painful recollections of the past. Allow me to touch on one of these, personal to myself. At our former meeting a letter from my father, the late Governor Plumer, was laid before you by the illustrious individual who then so happily presided over our festivities. The words of kind commendation and applause with which that letter was communicated by him, and the warm welcome which it received from you, sunk deep into my heart; and when reported by me to the honored object of your approbation, they soothed for him the decline of life, with the grateful assurance that his long term of public service was held in respectful remembrance by that distinguished assembly of the sons of New Hampshire. Pleasing, therefore, yet mournful to me, are the recollections of the past, as connected with that assembly. Nor am I solitary in my regrets. There are others who have kindred griefs. Four years only have elapsed since our former meeting; yet what changes have they not produced! He, the son of New Hampshire of whom every other son is justly proud, is no longer with you at the festive board. He, too, has passed beyond the censure and the applause of his fellow men. Nor has he gone alone or unattended to his rest. Of those who, on that occasion, bore a part in our festival, or were among its invited guests, how many have already ceased from their labors among us! Besides the two already mentioned, there will readily occur to you the respected names of Appleton, Atherton, Bell, Bartlett, Dearborn, Henderson, Livermore, Miller, McNeill, Twitchell, and Woodbury; a bead-roll of merit, on which the sons of New Hampshire may well reflect with mingled emotions of pride and regret. In reference to these and our other departed worthies, permit me to offer you, as a sentiment appropriate to the occasion, The Dead of New Hampshire! They live in our memories; may their virtues reappear in our lives. The Committee of Invitation. WILLIAM PLUMER. Dear Sir: [From Hon. AMOS TUCK, Ex-Member of Congress.] CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, October 13, 1853. While temporarily absent from Exeter, I have received your kind invitation and complimentary card, to attend the Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire, in Boston, on the second of November. I regret that my continued absence in the West will probably prevent my enjoying the happy festivities of the occasion. Greatly obliged for your consideration, I am, Very respectfully, Hon. MARSHALL P. WILDER, for the Committee of Invitation. Your obedient servant, AMOS TUCK. Gentlemen: [From Hon. HORACE GREELEY, Editor of the New York Tribune.] NEW YORK, November 1, 3 P. M. At the last moment, I am compelled to decline your kind invitation to attend your Festival to-morrow. I regret this the more, as I recognize several personal friends among your number, some of whom I have barely met since I left our native State, more than thirty years ago. It is well that those who can should meet to remember, under such genial and pleasant auspices, the rocky home of our childhood. It is not so agreeable, but seems even more imperative, that some of us should remain elsewhere, engaged in labors which cannot be put aside or postponed. On behalf of these, let me venture to propose a sentiment: New Hampshire! May her granite rocks and piercing blasts long ripen sons worthy to succeed her hardy pioneers, and daughters pure as her winter vesture, and fair as her summer bloom. Your obliging invitation to me to attend the Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire, in Boston, on the second of the next month, is received. I should be most happy to avail myself of the occasion to meet the gentlemen who will assemble there, if it were in my power to do so; but the infirmities which nearly fourscore years have brought upon me, oblige me to forego that pleasure, and allow me to make no return for your politeness other than my most cordial thanks, which I pray you to accept. But, gentlemen, though I shall be absent, my thoughts and my hearty good wishes will be with you. I shall fancy myself to be almost in your midst, and shall share with you in all the feelings of joy and of solemnity which the occasion is calculated to afford and inspire, of joy, in the exchange of friendly salutations, in the calling up of pleasant memories of other days, and in whatever is said or done connected with the honor and renown of the State which had our earliest regard and allegiance, and will have our latest and best wishes for its continued prosperity and good name; of solemnity, in view of the seats at your festive board made vacant since your former assemblage by the hand of death. He who presided on that occasion, New Hampshire's most gifted and honored son, his voice is hushed forever! But his words of eloquence then uttered, are still reverberating among the nations of the earth, causing the despots of the old world to reel upon their thrones, and carrying hope and encouragement to the oppressed every where. Let us, who survive him, gather up the lessons of wisdom which he taught, be made better by the example which he set, and cherish his fame which fills the civilized world. I am, with very true regard, I have received your invitation to attend the Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire, to be held in Boston on the second day of November next, for which please accept my cordial thanks. Although eighty-three winters have shed their frosts upon my head and partially veiled my eyes from the blessed light of day, yet my constitution is sound, my health good, and my heart as buoyant and joyous as ever. Therefore I am sincere when I assure you that I could most heartily enjoy the festive occasion to which you have invited me. But distance and the want of sight admonish me to forego the honor I would, under other circumstances, gladly accept. |