No. 4.] ADDRESS OF GOV. RUSSELL. 15 



and the commercial capital of the Commonwealth, she is most 

 glad to have you present in her borders to-day as the repre- 

 sentatives of this noble profession of agriculture. 



I regret extremely that His Honor the Mayor could not 

 have been present ; but he is an extremely busy man, and I 

 regret to say that at this juncture, when he is particularly 

 occupied, sickness has invaded the office over which he pre- 

 sides, and has thrown upon his shoulders an amount of work 

 wholly unexpected. He desired me to say to you that he 

 deeply regretted his absence ; that it would have been a great 

 personal satisfaction to him to have been present, and to 

 have extended to you, as its chief magistrate, a cordial wel- 

 come to the city. 



Gentlemen, I trust that your deliberations will be most 

 fruitful in results, and that this meeting will be followed by 

 many others which the city of Boston will always be glad to 

 have held within her borders. 



ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY GOV. WM. E. RUSSELL. 



Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you will permit me, I will 

 introduce myself. I assure you it is a great pleasure 

 to me to come as chairman of this Board to this meet- 

 ing, and to express not only my personal good wishes to 

 the Board, but also to bring with me the greeting of the 

 Commonwealth, and express her great interest in the matters 

 over which you have charge and in that great industry which 

 has done so much to build up her strength and her prosperity. 

 Though officially I am chairman of this Board, I do not mean 

 to avail myself of the privilege of that position to inflict 

 upon you a speech this morning, notwithstanding the formal 

 announcement on your programme. Nor do I intend to 

 touch upon those special subjects with which you deal, or to 

 assume to have upon them any knowledge that is worthy of 

 your attention and your consideration. I have come this 

 morning, in the most informal way, to bring to you the greeting 

 of the Commonwealth, and to assure you of the keen and con- 

 stant interest she always has taken and always will take in 

 agriculture, her entire confidence in the work that this Board 

 has done, and her belief that it can assume even greater 

 duties and responsibilities. 



