COUNTRY MEETING. 9 



on record in the annual reports of this Board and through 

 these they will continue to speak. 



A year and a half ago we celebrated the 250th anniversary 

 of the settlement of Springfield, which for a long time in- 

 cluded every town now adjoining with some more distant. 

 Holyoke, Agawam and Hampden are the grandchildren of 

 Springfield, the two former having been set off from West 

 Springfield and the latter from Wilbraham. Westfield was 

 for a long time the west field of this settlement and Chicopee 

 was a part of Springfield within the memory of this gener- 

 ation. 



We shall be happy to show you, as far as opportunity on 

 your part will permit, the many interesting features of this 

 city. 



In Court Square we have a statue to the memory of 

 Miles Morgan, — one of Springfield's earliest settlers, — with 

 blunderbus at shoulder and hoe in hand, showing the 

 Puritan as he engaged in the every-day aflfairs of life. It 

 was erected by a descendant who has just passed away. And 

 also a monument by a generous citizen to the memory of 

 those from this locality, who within our time oflered their 

 lives that " Government of the people, by the people and 

 for the people, might not perish from the earth." 



In Stearns Park, almost overlooked from the windows of 

 this hall, has just been erected by the Chapin family a 

 statue to the memory of Dea. Samuel Chapin, one of the 

 first deacons of the first church of Springfield, designed to 

 show the Puritan on his way to the Sunday meeting, with 

 his back turned on all worldly things, with face firmly set 

 and with Bible in hand, suggestive of kingly resolutions 

 guided by truth. 



Our churches, our schools, our free public library and our 

 newspapers are all in line with those ennobling thoughts 

 which made the Puritan the man for his time. We have 

 those Government works which during the war turned out a 

 thousand rifled muskets a day, of which the old Quaker said 

 to his nephew, who had just enlisted for the war, " I under- 

 stand they are the best." We have many and varied manu- 

 facturing industries, from the common sewing needle to the 

 railway car and locomotive. We have, what perhaps may 



