Excerpt from Historical Recollections: A Discourse, Delivered at Lebanon, N. H. On Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1830: Embracing the Leading Events in the Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Said Town, to the Close of Rev. Isaiah Potter's Ministry "And thou shall remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no." The usual way the pious mind pursues to strengthen its confidence in God, is to recall former dispensations of divine providence, and thence derive motives for future trust. Moses, in the chapter including the text, avails himself of this circumstance, to induce Israel to confide in God, and render obedience to his commands. They were at a stage in their journey, where the account of God's merciful dealings with them was calculated to elicit their devout gratitude. They had filled up their forty years in the wilderness, and stood on the bank of Jordan, a favorable land-mark where to record the first portion of their history, on their way to the promised land. To refresh their remembrance, their leader recites some of the most interesting Providences of God towards them and their fathers, that they might in future set their hope in God. This should be a leading object in all historical recollections. With this distinctly in view, let us trace the former dealings of God with the inhabitants of this town, and see if we do not find motives of renewed confidence in our heavenly Father, and occasion for sincere regret, that he has been served no better. In doing this, I purpose to review our civil and ecclesiastical history in separate order. The charter granting civil immunities to this town is dated July 4, 1761, in the first year of the reign of George III.; just fifteen years before the declaration of American Independence. The number of Grantees was sixty-two. The majority of these at the time resided at Mansfield, Connecticut, where several of the first proprietors' meetings were holden. Their first meeting is dated October 6, 1761, in which Mr. Nehemiah Estabrook presided as moderator, and Mr. John Salter was clerk. The date of the charter is the same with Plainfield, in this vicinity, two years earlier than Cornish, and three, than Claremont. This accounts for a committee appointed by the proprietors, September 1, 1762, composed of Capt. Nathaniel Hall, Mr. John Hanks, and Mr. John Birchard, "to lay out a horse-road from the old fort No. 4, now Charlestown, to Lebanon." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.