The words "Live Free or Die," written by General John Stark, July 31, 1809, shall be the official motto of the state. It was the 1945 Legislature that gave New Hampshire its official motto and emblem, as World War II approached a successful end. The motto became "Live Free Or Die," as once voiced by General John Stark, the state's most distinguished hero of the Revolutionary War, and the world famous Old Man of the Mountain was voted the official state emblem.

The motto was part of a volunteer toast which General Stark sent to his wartime comrades, in which he declined an invitation to head up a 32nd anniversary reunion of the 1777 Battle of Bennington in Vermont, because of poor health. The toast said in full: "Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst of Evils." The following year, a similar invitation (also declined) said: "The toast, sir, which you sent us in 1809 will continue to vibrate with unceasing pleasure in our ears, "Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils."
http://www.state.nh.us/nhinfo/

My only complaint is that all of the restaurants and hotels are grouped together, rather than being separated by destination. If I am going to Hampton Beach, it is unlikely that I would need the name of a restaurant in Wells, Maine. If someone was planning a side trip, they could certainly look up a separate city, or do a region-wide search. I just think it would be nice to be able to pull up restaurants and entertainment in Hampton Beach specifically, rather than having a whole region to choose from (and with me being relatively unfamiliar with the area, it makes it even more difficult! This restaurant might be one town over, or 50 miles away, and I can't tell.) Thanks for listening. As I said, most of my experience with your website is very pleasant.
Elizabeth J
bettvox@mindspring.com

EDITOR'S REPLY: We've got that covered already. When you click on the guides on Dining and Lodging guides on Seacoast, your actually getting data from SeacoastSearch, the largest web site database in the area. If you want to go through items town-by-town, just click on the link to SeacoastSearch or on the sailboat at the homepage and go to SEARCH BY TOWN. When you pick a town, the database shows you ONLY the links in that particular town. Then go to TRAVEL & TOURISM and pick the guide you want. We did it this way because, in a town to town search of 250 categories, there are often few or no listings. We include every web qualified web site in the region, but not all towns have web sites in all categories. (Very few of the Hampton Beach dining and lodging places have web sites, a lower percentage than any place we've seen on the coast, for example.) So we elected on SeacoastNH to show lists only by category in alphabetical order. But those readers who want to travel the alternative route have the option to do so. And remember, we provide this as a free service, so tell everyon you call that you found them on SeacaostNH.com. That's the only way we can increase advertising and keep this site on the air. We are 100% advertising supported and all our services are free to readers and to businesses.
http://www.seacoastsearch.com

As to a parade? We called the city and the receptionist told us to talk to thre Recreation Dept. that sponsors the fireworks, but somehow we got connected to a guy calling the city from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The City then told us to check with the Chamber of Commerce. They told us they do nothing do the July 4 parade and to check with the City. We called the Mayor's office direct, but she was out so they transferred us to the City Manager, but the line went dead. We called back the City Manger's office and they said no parade permit has yet been filed. We're guessing, but not positive, that there is no parade - just fireworks - and we think we know why.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/events/index.html

Frank Meyers: THE PAPERS OF JOSIAH BARTLETT ; Hanover, NH, University Press o f New England, 1979.

Pauline Maier: THE OLD REVOLUTIONARIES; New York A. A. Knopf 1980, includes Bartlett among a half dozen sketches.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/framers/bartlett.html

The CCC is also looking for corporate and community partners to help sponsor its efforts. We have received in excess of ten thousand dollars in grants, cash and in-kind contributions. We are expecting to hear shortly about another $5,000 grant. We still will require an additional $20,000 to fully support the implementation and success of the CCC in its first summer of operation. WE know there must be forty company leaders in the Seacoast who are ready to step up to help launch the CCC. Its an excellent investment in the future of the Seacoast and a meaningful way to demonstrate a belief in young people and in the well-being of the community. For information on becoming a corporate or community sponsor of the Coastal Community Corps, please contact Matthew Lamstein at mlam@mindspring.com or through snail mail at CCC, P.O. Box 1556, Portsmouth, NH 03802.

One of the motto's guiding the development of the CCC comes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. " We can all be great because we all can serve." Please consider becoming a sponsoring partner of the Coastal Community Corps's effort to provide new opportunities for young people of the Seacoast to be great.
Matthew Lamstein of Portsmouth
mlam@mindspring.com

For that state of affairs, Japan understandably felt bitterness toward the putatively "honest broker," the United States. When an uneasy relationship exists between two nations, unpleasant incidents tend to exacerbate ill feelings, and unfortunately, certain elements within the United States very quickly obliged by passing enactments that were blatantly racist. Although such ill-advised undertakings were opposed by the national government, in 1907 and 1913, different governing bodies in California enacted rulings that limited Asian immigration, and set quotas on the number of students of oriental persuasion attending public schools or eliminated that attendance entirely, other than at segregated schools (ipso facto, lesser ones).

Japan became furious about such shoddy treatment of its emigrants and their children, and serious war scares resulted on both occasions. The American territories of the Philippine Islands and Wake atoll were precipitously armed, and marines were sent there to garrison these Pacific outposts until more permanent defenses could be completed. In the Philippines, a substantial military presence evolved during the next three decades, including regular infantry and coast artillery units. At the outset of World War I, Japan moved to besiege and capture Tsingtao, China, the main base of Germany's Pacific squadron, and Japanese participation for the remainder of the war was limited. But Japan was really Britain's ally, and the alliance between Japan and the U.S. during 1917-18 was neither strong nor comfortable. American claims were made that Japan used the alliance to snoop around U.S. protectorates in what Japan perceived to be its own sphere of influence. Not long after the November 1918 armistice, yet another Japanese war scare arose.

In American strategic thinking about the Pacific Ocean for nearly four decades, Japan remained the thinly disguised "Orange" and virtually all fleet maneuvers and army war plans were based on that nation as the probable enemy Visionary American naval and military officers predicted with uncanny prescience the Japanese carrier-borne air raid on Pearl Harbor. So, Japan in no sense disappeared from the cathode ray tube of American concerns and fears. Mr. Robinson's comments on the state of historic preservation within the Granite State-particularly the foolish and short-sighted policy of benevolent neglect at all levels-are right on the money (or alas, lack thereof). (Nelson Lawry served as preservation officer of the Coast Defense Study Group until December 1999, and he wrote Past Perspective for the former Dover Times.)
Nelson H. Lawry of Rollinsford, NH
Lawrynh@aol.com

MR. ROBINSON REPLIES: Wow, somebody is reading! Great to finally get taken to the mat by a good and even polite history writer. My column is never as much about the raw economic facts of history, but rather about the human element, the stories, the people. Terada's visit from Yomiuri Shinmbun simply got me interested in the topic, but did not give me a Ph.D. in Asian economic history. I bow to the critic's expertise and am glad, finally, that I know just enough to care to learn more on this topic. Stay tuned for a number of new features within the next week on the Treaty of Portsmouth on SeacaostNH.com.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please060200.html

As I turned into Wentworth Road, the boat yard on the is still there. The ice cream stand is called "The Ice House". The golf course is now dotted with buildings constructed in a most compatible architecture that make them look like they have always been there. The Smith's house (on the right just before the bridge) looks unoccupied. The island to the right has three huge, elaborate condo structures where the big, spooky, fally-down house once was. The condos rather dwarf Kay Campbell's house (where a lot of the bus boys lived), which is still there. The Ship is a Bistro servicing the spectacular marina that has grown up around the original Ski Shack. It is unpainted and unkempt but still viable. And the boats... WOW!!!! The grounds between the Ship and the hotel are still maintained, gazebos and all, and that part felt very familiar. But the hotel itself is ghostly, surrounded by a chain link fence. The lampposts no longer have lamps and have weathered over the years looking like antique headstones. Everything to the right of the lobby (where the Main Dining Room doors were) is gone, replaced by a mat of crabgrass with an occasional heap of concrete rubble. The section housing the dining room, the kitchens, the Avenida Lounge off the back and the wing that housed the power plant and all the guts of the operation -- GONE!! But over the still-standing porte cochere, remains the lettering "Wentworth-By-The-Sea" -- as if the letters themselves are trying to keep the memory alive by clinging to the facade.
Susan Chapman Melanson, South Hiram, ME
melanson@oakhillfarm.com
http://www.seacoastnh.com/wentbysea/summer2000.html

NH COAST BEACHES: Seabrook Beach, Hampton Beach State Park & North Beach in Hampton, Bass or Rye Rocks and North Hampton State park in North Hampton, Wallace Sands, Sawyer's, North or Foss and Jenness beaches in Rye (and possibly Odiorne State Park if you are adventurous), Great Island beach at New Castle.

SOUTH COAST MAINE BEACHES: Seapoint Beach in Kittery, Long Sands, Short Sands & York Harbor beaches in York, Cape Neddick Beach, Ogunquit and Foorbridge beaches in Ogunquit, Moody and Drakes Island in Wells, Mother's, Gouches, Parson's and Middle beaches in Kennebunk, Colony and Gooserocks beaches in Kennebunkport and Old Orchard Beach. All are shown in the videos.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/101nh/beaches.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/touring/