d to the toast to Acton. That he did in
this manner: "Concord Fight. Concord furnished the ground, and Acton
the men." This sally of history and sarcasm was attributed to Parson
Woodbury.

The Governor was made a member of the committee to erect the monument.
Our first real difficulty was upon the inscription. It was claimed
that Davis had said as he took his place at the head of the line "I
haven't a man who is afraid to go." This indicated that cowardice had
been manifested in some quarter. Woodbury insisted that this
expression should be included in the inscription. I was opposed to its
use on account of the implication it contained, and also for the reason
that it was no easy matter to incorporate it in a sentence that would
be tolerable upon granite. Mr. Woodbury wrote two inscriptions.
General Cushing tried his hand. I prepared one or two. Finally
Woodbury triumphed, and the monument bears the words attributed to
Davis. I was invited to deliver the address at the dedication, October
29, 1851, and the Rev. John Pierpont was invited to deliver the poem.
The exercises were in a large tent capable of seating a thousand
persons at dinner. The day was dull but the attendance was large. The
soldiers were on duty at an early hour, and they were ready for dinner
when they entered the tent at about eleven o'clock. The tables were
spread and the soldiers and guests took their seats at the tables, but
under an injunction that the repast would not begin until the address
and poem had been delivered. Fortunately the address came first. The
delivery occupied an hour or more. Mr. Pierpont commenced reading his
poem, but before he had made any considerable progress, a slight
clicking of knives was heard from the extreme portion of the tent. Mr.
Pierpont was an excitable man. He had a reputation as a preacher,
lecturer and poet. It was apparent from his flushed face that his
pride was wounded. I expected that Mr. Woodbury, who was president of
the day, would rise and ask the guests to abstain from eating until
Mr. Pierpont had finished reading his poem. The parson gave no sign,
however. The disturbance increased, and finally, Mr. Pierpont, with
face flushed to purple, threw down his manuscript under the box from
which he was reading, and sat down. I then expected that the president
would demand order. On the contrary, he stuck his hands straight into
the air, and said: "Let us ask a blessing." This he di