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like Pickwick, upon the rhythmical movements of the battalions, as, with musket, knapsack, powder horn and canteen, they marched and countermarched, and performed their mysterious evolutions, upon the field where

"From the glittering staff unfurled

The imperial ensign, which, full high advanced,
Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind,

With gems and golden lustre emblazed."

How marvellously did the officers appear, as they marched at the head of their companies, or flitted across the campus on mettled steeds, with distended nostrils and foaming mouths, or prancing in side-long motions, excited by the music of

Sonorous metal, blowing martial sounds,"

from all the assembled and tumultuous regimental bands. How these wondering boys watched the motions of "the general commanding," or other superior officer, who, with all "the pomp and circumstance of glorious war," galloped down upon some careless or straggling company, to utter, in guttural tones, the command, that brought them into military line again. How they gazed upon the cavalry, as they advanced, "on sounding hoofs," splendid in their burnished accoutrements fitted to "witch the world with noble horsemanship," and finally, how their nerves thrilled, with excitement, as they witnessed the "sham fight," between companies, selected for the high endeavor, of firing blank cartridges at each other, in imitation of battles more serious.

We may talk humorously of these days of May trainings, and annual musters, but let us not forget their wonderfully beneficial effect in keeping aglow, in the minds of our countrymen, the military spirit, out of which, sprung the achievements connected with our national independence. With

"The drum

And the vile squeaking of the wry-neck'd fife," our fathers kept alive, in themselves and their children, the determination to maintain their country's rights, in the face of all opposition, at home and abroad, and we honor them for so doing, for,

"War is honorable

In those who do their native rights maintain;
In those whose swords an iron barrier are
Between the lawless spoiler and the weak."

They were living in times of great and general excitement throughout the whole nation, when, on all these hillsides and up and down these valleys, questions of state and nation were largely and intelligently discussed. Their town meetings were no tame affairs. The citizens had before them, for settlement, matters of vital concern to them, and grandly and heroically did they meet them. Hence, considering the times in which they lived, and the topics which they had to discuss and settle, in their town meetings, the exertions they were compelled to make for a livelihood, and for independent existence, as a township, we may conclude that, in the veins of our fathers, there was no stagnant blood. We may say of our ancestors, considering their necessities, that they were men and women of prodigious industry, who ate not the bread of idleness. In heat and cold, seed time and harvest, they were busy and frugal, seeking, by all honest endeavors, to wrench, from a hard, unkindly soil, an honorable livelihood. Their children were taught how to work, within doors and without. They tolerated no idle drones.

Their sons were brought up in habits of industry and economy, and early made to feel the necessity of bearing some part in their own maintenance. They either worked on the farm, or were indentured, as apprentices, to some one, who should give them a good trade and, at their majority, a suit of clothes and whatever else might be specified in the indenture. Their daughters were taught to spin and weave, and do all kinds of domestic work, and sometimes to help in the fields, in planting and harvesting. They were taught the rudiments of common learning. They could read, write and spell, in a fashion, not excelled, nor even equaled, by their successors. They were not wanting, in a good knowledge of arithmetic, as far as the "Rule of Three." Thus furnished, these sons and daughters went forth, into the work of life, not to feed on already accumulated patri

monies, but to make their own way in the world, by the sweat of their own faces. If they were deprived of many things, now enjoyed by their children, they yet might say, with Goldsmith, that,

"Their best companions were innocence and health,

And their best riches ignorance of wealth."

Our fathers were men who feared God and honored their rulers, over whom they dared to exercise a watchful care, and to whom, they sometimes hesitated not, to administer sound advice. They were accustomed "to look quite through the deeds of men," to know their civil and religious rights, and were determined to secure and maintain them, in a spirit of independence, scornful ▾ of all undue interference;

"Contentment shares their desolate domain,
With Independence, child of high disdain."

It is no matter of surprise then, that, endowed as the early inhabitants of this town were, with independence, fortitude, industry, frugality and a high sense of honor, in the discharge of their obligations to God and man, they should have achieved the end they had in view, in establishing this town and making it an honored constituent of the state and nation. In their praiseworthy conduct, they have left, a heritage of blessing, to their children and have taught them a lesson of self-reliance, which they are not in immediate danger of forgetting; while, they reverently cherish their memories, as worthy to be enshrined in their own.

Ever since its incorporation, Gardner has been constantly increasing, in growth of population and in all the elements of municipal prosperity. As has been said, in the beginning of this chapter, the population, at the time of incorporation, was about three hundred and seventy-five; in seventeen hundred and ninety, when the first United States census of the town was taken, there were five hundred and thirty-one; in eighteen hundred, there were six hundred and sixty-seven; in eighteen hundred and ten, there were eight hundred and fifteen; in eighteen hundred and twenty, there were nine hundred and

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