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

SPRINGFIELD, 1630-JSS6. 559
countrj' of us all, proud in her strength and her freedom, with tlireats for none.
and with fear for none. (Applause.)
A quarter of one thousand years have passed. The same oceans bathe our
shores on either hand; the deliglitful river rolls, as then, noiselessly to the sea;
over us is arched the blue sky ; the rain falls ; the dew is dispelled ; men grow
old and die ; God's bright constellations are set in the heavens above by night,
as then; and yet in all that man has done in industrial progress and development,
how complete the change I Nature's sounds then delighted the ear, nature's
decorations then pleased the eye; now, two thoiisand children are ready to chant
the hymn of peace and success. Their sweet notes take the place of the savage
cry; and added to the gems of nature, man's hands wreathe the festoons of
beauty, and spread over all the brilliant light of lieaven.
Where shall we look for the sources of tliis development? Touching the
springs of their power we shall fail of our duty if we do not represent, as far as
may be, the same influences, so that a quarter of a thousand years hence men
may rise up and call us blessed. The founders of this community, as of others
scattered through our Commonwealtli and in New England, had confidence in
man. They put their trust in manhood, pure, upright, courageous, enduring,
fearless, God-fearing men, and they recognized tlieir duty to contribute in ever}'
possible way to the development of- that manhood. As the right of that man-
hood, first and foremost, they placed his lil)erty. and they came to this country
that they might have a fair, free field for its exercise. That he might appreciate
his freedom, and that he might write out on the pages of history the grandest
achievements, they made him an educated nmn; tliey cultivated his mind, puri-
fied his heart; they lifted up his soul. And the men of that time hesitated not
to put their hands to toil. It was no fashion of that time to be ashamed of man-
ual labor. It was then creditable for a man to earn his daily l^read. Looking
back we waste our sympathy upon the people of that early day if we carry them
condolence, because they were obliged to labor day by day. Why, that very
strife against the elements of nature, that fight for life itself, lirought out the
strength within them, and made them the brighter and better men ;
gave them
families of children that generation upon generation have blessed the people for
them. No puny, sickly, sentimental, mawkish specimens we are forced to call
humanity, but good, strong, energetic, tough-fibred, moral, upright, religious men
and women. But given liberty, given education, given tlie fruits of toil, there
was needed the restraint of law, and that the fathers supplied. Liberty, not
license ; freedom, and yet a recognition of the equal rights of others ; and that
they worked into the foundation of the government, so that it has stood in firm
security to the present time.