•• GROWTH OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 17 



brazen metals, and the glare of bonfires and illuminations ; 

 and, better than all, — more soul-stirring than all, — that under- 

 tone of song and eloquence which, all over the country, in 

 fervent verse and dignified prose, recited the mighty deeds 

 wrought by our wise and heroic fathers in the brave days of 

 old. And here, permit me to pause a moment to recall to 

 your recollections the name of that noble poet, whose vener- 

 able age almost spans the entire duration of our government, 

 whose admirable life is honorable to human nature, and whose 

 fame is one of the most excellent possessions of the Republic. 

 His youthful mind was formed amid the scenery of Berkshire. 

 As a citizen of your beautiful town, he made him friends of 

 mountain and of glen, of brooks, and birds, and of flowers ; 

 and here and there, bit by bit, in a name, in a single phrase, 

 or, now and then, in a poem, he has given the features of this 

 lovely scenery an exquisite setting in his enduring verse. 

 Bryant has friends the world over. Wherever literature is 

 cultivated, and the noblest qualities of manhood respected, 

 there is his name honored and beloved. But nowhere does 

 he find a heartier appreciation than among the denizens of 

 Southern Berkshire, who walk the paths which he once 

 trod so lovingly, who hear the music of the same mountain 

 streams, who pluck the asters and the golden-rod by the way- 

 side, who climb to the same wood-crowned summits, who 

 look in dreamy ecstasy across the wide expanse of flowery 

 meadows, and gaze with equal admiration — though lacking 

 the poetic gift — upon the splendors of our "Autumn Woods," 

 when — 



" Ere, in the northern gale, 



The summer tresses of the trees are gone ; 

 The woods of autumn, all around our vale,. 

 Have put their glory on." 



His voice, too, was heard amid the chorus of our national 

 festivities, and I repeat his centennial ode here, as forming, 

 in some sort, the key-note of my address. The verses are 

 familiar to you all. He turns, in a few stanzas, to the past 

 and to the future. He utters words of thankfulness, of warn- 

 ing, and of hope. He recalls the blood- and fire, the strifes 

 and hopes of bygone years. He is not forgetful of our pres- 

 ent greatness, he is grateful for our past success ; but, with 



3* 



