ship under the spreading trees of the wood, beneath a wintry sky. The armed men, appointed to guard the place of their meeting against the attack of savages, are not here. We are met in the enjoyment of peace and plenty and bright visions of the future; in the temple of Jehovah; surrounded with all that makes society sweet and life happy. We are not few and feeble and defenceless, as they were, dwelling alone in a vast wilderness, and separated by the distance of an hundred miles of trackless forests, from every abode of civilized man. The three little towns that were planted on our river in 1635, have been multiplied to one hundred and thirty-three. The little company of weary exiles, that came here, and with infinite toil and suffering, felled the forests and cleared the fields, and laid the foundations of our state, have been augmented to three hundred thousand, forming a constituent and happy part of a great nation,—a nation of more than twelve millions of people, blessed with intelligence, with liberty, with religion and general happiness beyond any other nation on earth.

When we contemplate this scene and survey the mighty changes that have taken place within the period referred to, we are instinctively prompted to inquire for the cause. We wish to trace back to their source, those events which we feel have had so important an influence in moulding our destiny and deciding the condition in which we are to pass the brief period alloted us on earth. We feel an interest to know who were the agents in effecting this mighty transformation; what motives brought them to this field of their toils; what principles guided them in laying the foundation of those civil and religious institutions which distinguish our lot; what fortunes attended them during their sojourn on earth; how they lived, how they died and where is the place of their graves. Our interest is greatly increased in the inquiry, when we learn that the men, from whom we have received our goodly heritage, were our fathers, our own venerated ancestors; that their blood runs in our veins; that we hear and repeat their names, eve

ry day, in the greetings of social intercourse; that they still live in the midst of us, in their descendants, our own relatives and neighbors and friends. Who is there that claims, even a distant connection with the fathers of our city and state; or who, that only shares in the common blessings which have resulted from their virtues and their toils, but must feel an interest to know something of their character and history, and by what means they laid so deep and strong the foundations of our strength and glory?

It is right, then, fellow citizens, that by public meeting and proper observances, we should celebrate the memorable era of the settlement of our city. It is a service which we owe to the memory of men to whom under God, we cannot but feel, that we are indebted for the best and most valued blessings of our condition. It is a service which we owe to ourselves, as it is adapted to cherish in us that reverence and affection which are due to benefactors; to excite in us the love and

the imitation of their virtues and to lead us to a grateful recognition of that wise and beneficent providence, which so kindly watched over their destiny and ours. It is a service which we owe to our children and to those who shall come after us, as it is fitted to show them the estimation in which we hold the blessings transmitted to us by our fathers; and the concern we feel that these blessings should continue to be prized and preserved by them, and handed down, in all their integrity and excellence, to the latest posterity.

It is fit then, I repeat it, that we consecrate this day to the memory of our fathers. And here, in the enjoyment of institutions, planned by their wisdom; in the possession of fields, subdued by their care, and of a territory defended by their valor and their blood; happy in a rich and most abundant heritage of blessings,—all to a greater extent than probably any of us are aware, the fruit of their counsels, and labors, and prayers; we are met to perform the meet service of recollecting the virtues,

and recounting the toils, the sufferings and achievements, of the venerated men, who, on the 9th of Nov. 1635,* took possession of these grounds and consecrated them forever to virtue, to knowledge, to liberty and religion. We are assembled near the spot, where they first pitched their tents, and first raised their voice in prayer and praise. We can trace out the places where many of them lived. With a slight effort of imagination, we can see them, after a wearisome journey of fourteen days in the wilderness, arrived on the banks of the river and laboriously transporting themselves with their little ones to the opposite shore. We behold them, with slow and anxious step, winding their way among the trees in search of a suitable place for their habitations. We see them measuring off their lots, and erecting their rude cabins, along the banks of the little river, which was the part of the town first settled. We follow them through all their toils, their dangers,

*Appendix. A.