by defiance of the royal governor, and afterwards by taking a hand in his capture and imprisonment. In all of the early wars with the Indians and French Woburn did her full duty. But though loyal to king and governor as long as they were just to her, she was more loyal to the liberty and rights of the people. In the great agitation preceding our Revolution, again she uttered her indignant protests against unjust taxation and tyranny. When agitation ripened into revolution, she sent her sons to fight at Lexington and on many a battlefield for liberty and independence. So, three generations later, when there came a glorious struggle again for liberty and for the preservation of the Union our fathers had welded together with labor and with love, again went forth the sons of Woburn, ready to suffer for freedom's sake, and to die for love of country. So, too, in her later life is found constant evidence of the enterprise, patriotism, and public spirit of her citizens. It is seen in the great industries which have brought fame and prosperity to the town, in its many public improvements, and in the watchful care of the attractions which Nature with lavish hand has given you, and which make Woburn a pleasant place in which to dwell. It is strikingly shown in your magnificent public library, which, as it educates and uplifts the people, tells of the generosity and public spirit of a son of Woburn. All these things, so creditable and honorable in your history, are also typical of the life of our Commonwealth. As you early planted the church and school, and organized the town-meeting, so she throughout her life has ever been devoted to religion, education, and self-government; and from these have sprung an intelligent, liberty-loving, God-fearing people. As here there have been resistance to tyranny, struggle for independence, and suffering and sacrifice for union and liberty, so too has Massachusetts, marshalling these forces out of all her towns, stepped forth to lead in every great agitation for the rights of a people, the maintenance of their institutions, and the preservation of their country. With vigor and fidelity she watches over the interests of her citizens; with a strong arm she guards their rights; with a loving heart she relieves their suffering; with wise and progressive legislation she seeks to lessen the toil of labor, and to benefit and uplift the masses of her people. The power, prosperity, and progress of the Commonwealth rest upon her cities and her towns. In them she lives and moves and has her being. May the time not come when anything is done to destroy their autonomy, infringe their rights, or impair that system which was the foundation of the Commonwealth, has been for two hundred and fifty years the bulwark of our liberties, and is to-day gratefully recognized as the source of our independence, prosperity, and happiness. SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION OF THE CHARITABLE MECHANICS ASSOCIATION, OCT. 6, 1892. I GLADLY answer your cordial welcome to the Com monwealth by extending her congratulations to this society, and her best wishes for the success of this its Exhibition, which is evidence of its continued prosperity and industry, and not less its public spirit. I am glad, too, as a member of this society, greatly honored by election to it, to express my personal interest in its work and exhibition. I have been thinking to-day, as perhaps have many of you, of the origin of our Association. I have pictured in my mind that sturdy band of mechanics, "more in number than the stars of heaven," so Paul Revere declared, who gathered with him at the old Green Dragon Tavern, and there conceived and founded the society. I have admired again their public spirit and broad philanthropy, which determined them to put their society. closely in touch with the life of the people, and to aid them by gentle charity and useful public service, as well as in their material interests and industries. So they declared its purpose to be to relieve distress, to help the cause of education, as well as to promote useful inventions and industries, and to take part in all matters of public importance. How strange it seems to us now that for the first ten years of its life the Legislature refused to give it a charter, because, as the record shows, of "an apprehension that it was a combination to extort extravagant prices for labor"! Had the timid conservatism of that day prevailed, there would have been lost to Massachusetts one of her great institutions, and to her people the blessings that have followed from its success. I have thought that if its founders could come back. and look over its long and useful life of nearly one hundred years, they would rejoice to see how true it had been to the spirit and purposes of its founders. They would find that it had been quick and generous to relieve poverty and distress; that it had been useful and true to the cause of education; that it had done much to promote industries and inventions, especially by these great exhibitions, which advance the cause of industry, give instruction and pleasure to a whole community, and mark the growth and development of our material prosperity. By such exhibitions could almost be written the industrial history of our Commonwealth and our country. They would find, too, that on many a public occasion this Association had borne a conspicuous part, and had rendered useful aid to many a public undertaking. Of the many instances, let me recall one which the Commonwealth will ever remember with gratitude. When the monument on yonder Bunker Hill paused in its upward movement, and the work seemed destined to fail, this Association remembered and put into action the eloquent words of Webster, spoken at the laying of its corner-stone: "Let it rise to meet the sun in its coming, let the earliest light of day gild it, and let parting day linger and play upon it." It felt at once. the touch of a vigorous hand, and rose in its majesty to completion, ever to remind us of the independence and glory of our country. So, too, it will remind us |