and I am here to address yon rather in your general character of citizens of "the 

 Great Republic," than in youi* more special character as farmers. 



One hundred years of Independence ! A hundred years of toil. A hundred 

 years of manly and successful toil, crowned all along by golden and abundant har- 

 vests. The Centennial of American Independence ! Let us rejoice that we behold 

 this epoch, so freighted with refreshing remembrances of the past. A thought 

 — compelling time. An era of memory, of recollection ; recalling a long line 

 of generous and heroic deeds ; suggesting thoughts of triumphs ; but not so 

 much the brutal triumphs of the battle field, as those better victories of peace. 

 Triumphs of industry ; of commerce ; triumphs of the will over obstacles ; of 

 the mind over nature ; of conscience over animal impulses ; triumphs of be- 

 nevolence and humanity. It is a time of good words, of congratulations and 

 of eulogy. Let us drink inspiration from the inspiring past ; and being con- 

 tented in the present, let us be fearless of the future, while resolving to do as 

 our fathers did, to uphold the right at all hazards, and to overcome the evil 

 with the good. 



While contemplating the higher aspects of our civilization, the grandeur of 

 our achievements, the might of our power, ancj the splendor of our w^ealth, we 

 must be careful not to take too narrow a view. We must accord in some sort 

 to others, that which we claim for ourselves. We must recognize the fact that 

 this hundred years which has done so much for us has been, likewise to the 

 nations of Europe, a cycle of unprecedented expansion. The whole civilized 

 world has partaken of the impulse imparted by the invention of steam. There 

 has been a general improvement, a general advancement, a general ameliora- 

 tion. We are called upon to recognize a universal benefit, to rejoice in an 

 almost universal joy. "Commerce," as John Stuart Mills has nobly said, 

 "first taught nations to see with good will the wealth and prosperity of one 

 another. Before, the patriot, unless sufficiently advanced in culture to feel the 

 world his country, wished all countries weak, and poor, and ill-governed but 

 his own. But commerce has changed all that, and is leading up to a general 

 recognition of that generous doctrine of the solidarity, the fellowship, the com- 

 mon brotherhood of man." The christian church claims this doctrine as its 

 own. But it is one thing to have an elevating theory, it is another to live in 

 accordance with it, to pray for it, and better still to labor for it. Because 

 actual striving towards a good thing is the better part of prayer. The physical 

 world, when properly interpreted, reacts healthfully upon the moral world. A 

 healthy, material progress leads to better living and better doing. Commerce 

 becomes the handmaid of conduct when she knits peoples together by the bonds 

 of common interest. Nations brought into closer relations are learning slowly, 

 perhaps, but still surely, to sympathize with one another's sufferings and dis- 

 tress. They, also, partake of one another's prosperity, and are co-workers in 

 the task of diffusing comfort and happiness among men. Learning, as we are 

 learning, in this age, to entertain a broad and generous sympathy ; rejoicing, 

 as we are learning to rejoice, in the general prosperity of all, we are yet con- 

 fronted by the fact that some races do not progress ; that some never advance 

 beyond the conditio n of savages ; that others, like the Asiatics, reach a condition 



