CURRENT EVENTS.

By Rev. ELIAS NASON, of North Billerica, Mass.

[Continued from vol. xx. page 373.]

SEPTEMBER, 1866.

2. The Atlantic Cable laid and lost last year is taken up.

3. Republican Convention at Philadelphia; Hon. James Speed, of Kentucky, President.

4. Gold 1.46.-William B. Pike, Esq., late Collector of Customs in Salem, now residing in Groveland, is engaged in writing a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, 6. The Douglas Monument is dedicated at Chicago. President Andrew Johnson attends the ceremonies.

12. Two men are carried over the Niagara Falls.

14. A terrible accident at Johnstown, Pa. A platform on which many people had collected to see the President, falls, killing four persons outright, and wounding nearly one hundred.-The "auld Clay biggin in which Robert Burns, the poet, was born, Jan. 25, 1759, is now offered for sale.

16. A hard frost occurred last night.-The borers of the new artesian well at the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, have, up to the present time, reached a depth of 1,016 feet. They are now working through a sand rock, and have pierced 185 feet of this stratum. Water is flowing from the well at the rate of 15 barrels per hour. Morning Star," is launched this morning at E. Boston. 28. The American Board of Foreign Missions holds its 57th annual meeting at Pittsfield, Mass. Attendance very large.-Mrs. Elizabeth Sargent, of Hingham, Mass., celebrates her 98th birth-day. She was born in Gloucester in 1768.

22. The missionary Brig.

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OCTOBER, 1866.

3. The Steamer "Evening Star," Capt. Knapp, from New York to New Orleans, goes down in a gale 180 miles off Tybee Island. Of about 275 persons on board, only about 30 are saved. Among those lost are Gen. H. W. Palfrey, wife and child.

8. A shark, weighing nearly 1000 lbs. is taken off Point Shirley, Boston Harbor, by Mr. Frederick Grant.-Slight eclipse of the sun, visible.

9. The potato crop is abundant.-Destructive fire in Wiscasset, Me., consuming about 60 buildings.-Gold 1.49.

11. The Monadnock Mountain House is destroyed by fire.-The Massachusetts State Teachers' Association holds its 22d annual meeting in Tremont Temple, Boston. Attendance large.

14. The Soldier's Monument dedicated at Stockbridge, Mass.

19. Indian Summer in all its beauty. The sun sheds forth its mellow, golden light upon the forests now gleaming in the richest and most varied tints of autumn. 20.

Steamer Theodore D. Wagner, from Boston to Charleston, is destroyed by fire. 22. Great storm at the West, doing much damage at St. Louis and other places. 23. George Peabody, the London Banker, has made a donation of $150,000 to Harvard University, for a Museum and Professorship of American Archæology and Ethnology. He has also made a donation of the same amount for the establishment of a Museum of Natural History.

25. The Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md., to which Mr. George Peabody has made princely benefactions, is dedicated.-S. L. Parsons, a carpenter, falls from the spire of the Methodist church in Brookfield, Mass., and is killed.-The venerable Ex-Governor Levi Lincoln, of Worcester, celebrates his 84th birth-day.

28. Madame Adelaide Ristori, the celebrated tragédienne, arrives in Boston. 30. Dr. Joseph Allen completes and celebrates the 50th year of his ministry at Northboro', Mass.-A severe south-west storm, doing much damage on our coast.

NOVEMBER, 1866.

1. The day is clear and splendid. Bar. 30° 12'; Ther. 42° at 2, P. M.

2. The whole number of Churches in the United States of America by the last census, is 54,009; value of church property, over $171,000,000.

6. Two colored men, Charles L. Mitchell, of Boston, and E. G. Walker, of Charles

town, are elected to seats in the Massachusetts Legislature.-The Trustees of the Agricultural College have elected Prof. Paul A. Chadbourne, of Williams College, President of the Agricultural College, in place of Hon. H. F. French, resigned.

7. Deborah Bradford, 93 years old, and who distinctly remembers the incidents of the Wyoming massacre, is now living at Waverly, Pa. She is the sole survivor of the

massacre.

CENTENNIAL AND OTHER CELEBRATIONS.

HALF-CENTURY ANNIVERSARY, AT HARTFORD, CONN., OF THE FIRST LANDING OF DEAF MUTE INSTRUCTORS ON OUR SHORES.-This semi-centennial celebration was in connection with the seventh biennial gathering of the New England Gallaudet Deaf Mute Association, of which Thomas Brown, of West Henniker, N. H., is President, and W. M. Chamberlin, of South Reading, Mass., is Secretary. The exercises were opened on Tuesday evening, Aug. 21st, with a prayer-meeting in the chapel of the asylum, under the auspices of the Boston Deaf Mute Christian Association. On Wednesday a public meeting was held in the Asylum Hill Congregational Church. After opening remarks by the president, Rev. W. W. Turner, for many years Principal of the American Asylum, led in prayer in the sign language. Mr. Clerc then appeared and was received with "loud applause" and enthusiastic demonstrations of interest, the mutes clapping their uplifted hands and waving handkerchiefs in place of Yankee cheers. Amos Smith, of Boston, of the registry of deeds, delivered an extended address in signs to the mute spectators, which was, at the same time, read to the audience by Rev. Dr. Gallaudet. This was a fine production, containing good thought well expressed, with passages of considerable rhetorical beauty. It briefly reviewed the progress of deaf mute instruction in America, and indulged in anticipations for the future. Mr. Smith was followed in brief remarks by Rev. W. W. Turner, Col. Henry C. Deming, and John Carlin, M.A., of New York, a deaf mute artist, distinguished as a miniature painter, an accomplished scholar in at least three languages, and the first recipient of an honorary degree from a deaf mute college. At the close of the forenoon services, the mutes had a dinner in a grove on the grounds of the asylum, which was followed by speeches. In the evening there was a social reunion in the parlors of the asylum. On Thursday, the 23d, the association held its business meetings, in the morning for discussion, and in the afternoon for the election of officers. A service was held at Trinity (Episcopal) Church, in the evening, conducted by Drs. Gallaudet and Clerc, and Mrs. Thomas H. Gallaudet had a reception for the members of the convention, which was dissolved on the next day.

Fifty years ago, Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, then a young minister of Hartford, had sought in France the mode of instruction for mutes successfully developed by the Abbe Sicard, and having mastered it returned, bringing with him Laurent Clerc, one of Sicard's choicest pupils, a son of the mayor of La Balme, to lay the foundation of the American asylum. Dr. Gallaudet died Sept. 10, 1851, aged 63, but his eldest son, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Gallaudet, of New York, is rector of St. Ann's Church for deaf mutes, the first church of the kind organized in the history of the world, while his youngest son, Edward W. Gallaudet, of Washington City, is President of the National Deaf Mute College, the first college ever formed to secure to that class a complete classical as well as higher English training, and authorized to confer all collegiate degrees. Prof. Clerc still lives, and took an active part in the proceedings of this convention, an eloquent and venerable witness to what has been wrought during a single human life-time. His son, the Rev. Dr. Francis J. Clerc, of Carlisle, Pa., and his sonin-law, Col. Henry C. Deming, took active parts with him, as will be seen, in this jubilee occasion.

150TH ANNIVERSARY IN COLUMBIA, CONN.-The exact date of the formation of the church in Columbia is not known. The ecclesiastical society was formed in 1716, by inhabitants of Lebanon, living at what was known as Lebanon crank. The church was doubtless organized about the same time.

On the 24th of October, 1866, a meeting was held in the church at that place, at which Esquire West presided. The large choir furnished the music for the occasion. Rev. Mr. Willard made the opening prayer. T. D. Avery read the history of the church and sketches of the ministers. Among them was Ebenezer Wheelock, D.D.

(a son of Dea. Wheelock, of Windham), who was a famous preacher and co-laborer with Whitefield, afterward the founder and first president of Dartmouth College, and also father of Rev. John Wheelock, for forty years the second president of the college. The successor of Dr. Wheelock, in Columbia, was Rev. Mr. Brock way. Each of these were pastors at Columbia thirty-five years.

Mr. Avery next read an account of the deacons of the church.

In the afternoon, John S. Yeomans, Esq., read a valuable paper, sketching from the original records the history of the society. Dr. Lyman read one or two poems pertinent to the occasion, and furnished another which was sung in the morning.

Mr. Avery read brief sketches of the ministers who had been born in Columbia. One of these, Rev. Charles Little, formerly missionary to India and now minister in Woodbury, Conn., was present and made an address, as also, Rev. W. H. Moore, Secretary of the Conn. Home Missionary Society, Rev. S. G. Willard, and Rev. F. Williams, of Chaplin. The latter made the closing prayer. A bountiful collation was served at the Town-house. It was voted to have the proceedings of the day published in a pamphlet form.

CROYDON, N. H., CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.-The town of Croydon, N. H., was settled in June, 1766, by a few families from Worcester county, Mass. On the 13th of June, 1866, commemorative services were held. A gathering of more than 2000 was had in the open air on the spot where the first immigrants rested after a long and tedious journey into the unbroken wilderness. There were tender reunions of hundreds who had been widely scattered, all the way from Maine to Wisconsin, a privilege not in this life to be repeated. The President of the day was the Hon. William P. Wheeler, of Keene, whose address of welcome was appropriate and impressive. After suitable religious services, the special address, previously provided for, was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Stow, of Boston, whose first eight years were passed in that town. It was not an oration, but a description from memory of the place and the people as he knew them in his boyhood. He gave reminiscences of the fathers and mothers and children whose personal appearance and character he distinctly recalled; of the schools; of the one church, the first minister, the venerable deacons, the one physician, the tything-men, the cemeteries, the employments and the customs of the people. He gave the names of nearly all the families then residing in the town, and sketched their character as an independent, hardy race. He brought out also from the treasures of memory the traditions which he heard in childhood of the adventures and sufferings of the pioneers and the whole of the first generation; and closing with an appeal to all present to act worthy of the better conditions under which they are living.

After a bountiful collation that fed the whole assemblage, the services at " the stand" were resumed, and other speakers gave their reminiscences, some grave and some mirthful, of their respective families.

SEMI-CENTENNIAL BAPTIST SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY, BOSTON.-The semicentennial anniversary of the First Baptist Sunday School, Somerset street, occurred Oct. 29, 1866. The church was appropriately decorated. The exercises consisted of singing by the Sunday school children, addresses by past superintendents, the usual reading of the Secretary's report, and the customary religious services which were conducted by Rev. Rollin H. Neale, D.D., the pastor. The report of the Secretary, Mr. William H. Foster, contained an interesting sketch of the history of the school from its organization fifty years ago. The library of the school numbers one thousand volumes. Among those who made addresses were Mr. William Manning, the first superintendent, and Mr. John N. Barbour, the fourth superintendent.

QUARTER OF A CENTURY CELEBRATION IN CHELSEA.-The church and society of the Winnisimmet Church on Chestnut street, Chelsea, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its organization in the afternoon and evening of Sept. 20, 1866. In the afternoon Rev. Isaac P. Langworthy, the first pastor of the church, delivered an historical discourse before a full and interested audience. Rev. Thomas Laurie, D.D., of West Roxbury, Rev. Joseph A. Copp, D.D., of Chelsea, Rev. Geo. W. Blagden, D.D., of the Old South Church, Boston, and the Pastor, Rev. Albert H. Plumb, took part in the exercises.

Addresses by Rev. Dr. Laurie, Rev. Dr. Blagden, Rev. Mr. Plumb, Rev. Mr. Langworthy, and Dea. Jeremiah Campbell, Dea. Hosea Ilsley, Chas. E. Field, Rufus S. Frost, John H. Osgood; Horace E. Smith, Esq., of Johnstown, N. Y.; Francis D. Ellis, of West Roxbury; James H. Prince, of Winchester; and Jairus Pratt, of East Boston, all of whom are at present, or have been, connected with this church.

The discourse by Rev. Mr. Langworthy has been printed (8vo. pp. 47). It is truly

of an historical character, commencing with an account of the first settlement of Winnisimmet, or Rumney Marsh, the early personages who resided there; their religious movements; the organization and history of their own church, &c., with interesting notes, and a wood-cut of the church edifice.

SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IN NORTHBOROUGH, MASA.-The fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of Rev. Dr. Joseph Allen, as pastor of the First Unitarian Parish in Northborough, occurred Oct. 30th, 1866. The exercises began at eleven o'clock with a voluntary by the choir, in which was a member of the large choir who sung on the day of the ordination, half a century since. The voluntary was the anthem beginning with the words: "I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the house of the Lord"-the same as sung at the opening of the first ordination services. The usual brief invocation followed, asked by Rev. Dr. Hill, of Worcester, and then Rev. Mr. Bartol, of Lancaster, read selections from the Scriptures befitting the occasion. An original hymn was next sung, written by Mrs. F. M. Chesboro'; at its conclusion a fervent prayer was offered by Rev. Calvin Lincoln, of Hingham, after which Rev. Dr. Allen delivered the commemorative sermon. At the conclusion of the address, the hymn sung at the ordination in 1816, was sung to the tune of "Italy." The concluding prayer followed, offered by Rev. Dr. Field, of Weston. An anthem and the benediction closed the services. After the formal exercises of commemoration the people with their friends assembled in the vestry, and enjoyed a truly bountiful and substantial collation, at the invitation of the ladies of the parish.

On the day of the ordination, half a century ago, the exercises were participated in by several eminent Unitarian clergymen. Dr. Allen has preserved and holds as a sacred memento a copy of the order of those exercises. First was the anthem, the same as sung at the semi-centennial. Next, the invocation by Rev. Peter Whitney, of Quincy, son of Dr. Allen's predecessor. Then followed the ordination sermon, which was a very excellent discourse, and was delivered by Rev. Dr. Ware. Following was the ordaining prayer by President Kirkland, of Harvard College, the charge by Rev. Dr. Saunders, of Medford, the right hand of fellowship by Rev. John A. Abbott, of Salem, and the concluding prayer by Rev. Dr. Puffer, of Berlin.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF JOHN PIERCE, OF DORCHESTER, MASS.-On Wednesday, Oct. 3, 1866, was celebrated, in Dorchester, the 124th anniversary of the birth of that good man who was so beloved in life and is still most affectionately remembered by his many kindred and acquaintances, the late Mr. John Pierce, of that town. In the venerable mansion, long his dwelling-place, and now occupied by his oldest surviving son, Samuel Blake Pierce, the two remaining brothers and the two sisters, with a few other members of the family, met on this interesting occasion. The average ages of the four is 84 years, the oldest being in her 92d year.

John Pierce, the father-son of John and Elizabeth Pierce-the oldest of fourteen children, was born in Dorchester, Sept. 22, 1742, but the change from the old to the new style makes the 3d of October the anniversary day. He had four wives, and outlived them all. His children, ten in number, and all by his second wife, lived to maturity, were married, and most of them had large families of children. They were living and all assembled together at the old homestead on their father's 91st birthday, Oct. 3, 1833. He deceased on the 11th of December following. Thirty-three years have passed since that event, during which the annual family meeting has been kept up. The oldest sister, now older than their father was at his decease, has always been present on these occasions. A prominent feature in the gatherings has been the singing of sacred music, in the tunes of olden time, in which all the family joined. Their father and grandfather-John senior and John Junior-were both leaders in the church choir, and Mr. Samuel B. Pierce has in his possession the old pitch-pipe used by his father, while acting as chorister in the first church in Dorchester, for more than forty years. (See Register, vol. xx. p. 278.)

Mr. Pierce was a great-great-grandson of Robert Pierce, who married Ann Greenway. She was a daughter of John Greenway. Her gravestone may still be seen in Dorchester burial ground, bearing the following inscription:

Here Lyes ye | Body of Ann | ye Wife of | Robert Pearce | Aged about 104 year. | Died December | ye 31

1695.

The youngest sister of Mr. John Pierce (Mrs. Hannah Lewis), 20 years younger than himself, died in Dorchester, Oct. 15, 1854, aged 92 years, 6 months, 25 days. His youngest son, Lemuel, who recently celebrated his golden wedding, is now 76 years old, being more than 6 months older than the eldest son was at his decease, viz., the Rev. John Pierce, D.D., of Brookline, who died in 1849, after a pastorate of 50 years.

SOLDIERS' MONUMENTS.

DEDICATION OF THE LADD AND WHITNEY MONUMENT AT LOWELL.-The dedication of the Ladd and Whitney Monument, erected in honor of those two young men of Lowell, Luther C. Ladd and Addison Otis Whitney, who fell in Baltimore, on the memorable 19th of April, 1861, and who, with two others, Needham of Lawrence, and Taylor, whose history is unknown, were the first of our slain, took place on Saturday, the 17th of June, 1865.

The material of this monument is a light-colored granite, the height about twentyfive feet, and the position fitly chosen-the square at the junction of Merrimac and Moody Streets. The whole cost was $4000. The procession consisted of Spaulding's Light Cavalry, 6th Massachusetts Regiment, a portion of the 33d Massachusetts, with their tattered banners telling of severe strife and victory, a battalion from Boston, a company of finely trained juvenile Zouaves, Irish organizations, Odd Fellows, and Masons in plenty, besides the guests-Governor Andrew and several general officers, and gentlemen from Baltimore and Maryland, the city governments of Boston, Lawrence, etc.

The exercises at the monument were Masonic, entirely. After these were finished, prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Blanchard, and an oration was delivered by Gov. Andrew.

The chief feature of interest was the presentation of a beautiful flag to the State of Massachusetts, by the State of Maryland. The day was hot, and the crowd oppressively great. Lowell will not soon forget it.-Congregationalist.

THE CADET MONUMENT.-The Independent Corps of Cadets, of Boston, have voted to erect an appropriate monument in memory of their officers and members who fell in defence of their country. A committee appointed, of which Lieut. Col. C. C. Holines is chairman, have purchased a lot in Mount Auburn, and are now engaged in collecting the necessary funds for the erection of the monument, about two-thirds of which have been already secured. They have selected a design presented by Mr. Theodore E. Colburn, which was exhibited at the Cadet Camp at Nashua last August, and met with universal approval.

The design for the proposed monument consists of a base or pedestal five feet six inches square and six feet high, with an ornamental capping and base, resting on a sub-base one foot high.

The angles of this pedestal are supported by buttresses; the capping on the faces of the buttresses forming acroteria, on which will be carved in bold relief wreaths of victory.

On the four sides of the die of the pedestal there are recessed panels which will receive marble tablets, on which will be carved the arms of the State and corps, the inscriptions and the names of the members of the corps who have lost their lives in the service of their country. The ornamental capping of the pedestal is carried around the buttresses and breaks forward in the centre of each face of the monument to form a pedimental canopy for the inscription panels.

On this pedestal will be erected a rectangular obelisk or shaft three feet six inches square and seven feet high, with an enriched base and capping. On each face of this shaft will be carved in bold relief a Roman sword encircled with a wreath of victory. The obelisk is finished with a frieze with triglyphs at each angle supporting the capping. The upper portion of the monument is finished in a pyramidal form, breaking forward on each face with a solid pediment, on which will be carved a star and the motto of the corps, "Monstrat viam."

The whole monument will be surmounted by the national emblem-the American eagle in repose, cut in granite. The monument will be about twenty feet high, and it is proposed to construct it of white Concord granite, with the exception of the inscription tablets, which will be of polished marble.-Traveller, Nov. 12, 1866.

BRIGHTON, MASS.-The dedication of the Soldiers' monument at Brighton took place Thursday afternoon, July 26, 1866.

The returned soldiers formed at half-past 1 o'clock in front of Masons' Hall, and VOL. XXI.

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