Springfield 1636-1886, History of Town and City, by Mason A. Green ...

SPRINGFIELD, 1636-1886. 435
niiniously burned on Boston Common, have felt his heart cheered and his
spirit soothed, even under the infliction of that burning stigma, could he have
foreseen that when near two centuries should have passed, on an occasion like
this, amidst thousands of an admiring posterity, his name would l)e repeated with
respect, gratitude, and veneration, as the great founder of what we behold around
us? Could I hope, sir, that after the lapse of 200 years, my humble name would
be remembered with kind feelings of those wlio shall come after us, as one who
had sought to promote the public good, I should deem any labor, care, and sacrifice
as cheaply encountered for such a recompense. If to the moral interest of the
festival which has called us together you add the attractions of nature at this
pleasant season of the year, and in this beautiful region, you will not wonder,
sir, at our readiness to leave the noisy streets and smoky atmosphere of the city
for a visit to the banks of this most lovely river. A poetical writer, a native of
our sister State which bears the name of the Connecticut, has exclaimed in the
most beautiful lines of a long work —
" Thy parent stream, fair Hartford, met his eye,
Far lessening upward to the northern sky
No watery gleams through happier vallej's shine.
Nor drinks the sea a lovelier wave than thine."
Man}^ speeches were delivered upon this occasion. Charles Stearns
drove a nail into this thesis upon the vvall of au ancient town's his-
tory in saying, "The interlopers will endeavor to leave old Spring-
field in as good condition as they fonnd it." George Bancroft, the
future historian, chose as his toast the noted Capt. Samuel Holyoke,
" the hero and the martyr of the Falls fight. His memory shall be
cherished till the cataract of the Connecticut ceases to roar ; his fame
shall stand as imperishable as the mountain that bears his name."
A toast was proposed to the county of Berkshire (a part of the
original county of Hampshire), which was hailed "not as a
colony, but as an independent and sister county. May our union be
still more strongly connected by the increasing enterprise and public
spirit of the inhabitants of both counties." This was a fitting intro-
duction to the toast of Col. Robert C. Winthrop, a descendant of
John Hampden, whom he extolled, and said, " A noble name, and
;