90 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



government is but half understood, the fact of our free citizen- 

 ship has worked its way into the depths of the popular heart, 

 and occupies the thought of the most liberal statesmen there. 

 If we expect the status of our labor to attract attention, we 

 must enable it to hold its position. We need not go to others ; 

 but others come to us. And wherever we desire to open unre- 

 stricted commerce let the genius of our constitution precede 

 the genius of our trade. That the day is coming when our 

 territory is to be enlarged, I cannot for a moment doubt. The 

 peaceful annexation of Canada to our northern border I believe 

 to be a growing necessity, both for herself and for Great Britain ; 

 and I know well how readily our people would rejoice in the 

 establishment of a reciprocity with that colony, which is based 

 upon one nationality and one flag. And when our sway shall 

 be thus enlarged, our great design will fail unless we carry 

 with us a system of intelligent, dignified, well-requited labor. 



How, as we contemplate this great land which is our inher- 

 itance, do the obligations which go with it weigh upon our 

 hearts, now, more than ever, under the law of universal free- 

 dom. You and I rejoice in the dignity of independent manhood. 

 To no man should this joy be denied. Whatever of prosperity, 

 whatever of cultivation, whatever of refinement and education, 

 whatever of that comfort and repose which carry joy into our 

 housholds, and good order into our communities, can be secured 

 by wise and enlightened labors, let us do all in our day and 

 generation to secure it. New England has done much for the 

 glory of the land. And when she calls upon us, her sons, to 

 maintain those principles upon which her greatness rests, to 

 what a host of prophets and wise men does she point, as our 

 teachers and guides. As they believed in education, in social 

 and civil equality, in a wide-spread prosperity as the foundation 

 of a well-ordered community, in the power of a proud and 

 honest people, so should we. Rejoicing that the trials of 

 their day are over, and that we stand upon a common soil 

 dedicated to one high and humane civilization, I appeal to you 

 to cherish the institutions which they transmitted, and to hold 

 high the American system of government and society, as the 

 banner under which all the sons of toil shall find justice and 

 protection. 



