ADDRESS 



Pilgrim sailors of 1620, — she should once more, in 

 these less heroic times, have stood as firm and bled 

 as freely in behalf of the legacy of her sires. But 

 as I trace this New England spirit, — not alone display- 

 ing itself in devotion to an idea — not merely willing 

 to wear the crown of martyrdom for the sake of Free- 

 dom and good government, — but the spirit that has 

 leavened the whole mass of our Northern population — 

 the spirit that acts, that educates, that strives against 

 obstacles in the physical world, as well as in the world 

 of thought, — as I trace this spirit, constantly winning 

 us new victories from the dominion of Nature, — con- 

 stantly adding State after State to the roll of the 

 original thirteen, — manifesting its energies in every 

 mile of railway, not less than on every battle field, that 

 tend to cement and sanctify the indivisible Unity of 

 the Republic, — I cannot find myself on New England 

 soil without some feeling as of the touch of hallowed 

 ground — without some word in grateful recognition of 

 the grand names and grand events that cluster about 

 New England history. 



And when we turn from the part New England has 

 taken in building up the fabric of our national polity, 

 from the services of her sons in the field and her states- 

 men in the cabinet, to the less splendid but scarcely 

 less important annals of her industrial achievements, 

 we are only met by renewed evidences of the same 

 energy and foresight. We find her the pioneer in our 

 foreign commerce, — her sails and seamen carrying the 

 stars and stripes into every ocean, — one-third the 

 tonnage and more than one-half the shipbuilding of the 

 whole Union* now registered at her ports, — and her 



Note. — *See Appendix A. 



