Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/99

Rh They being dead, yet speak through this statue today. Make us in some measure worthy of the heritage which they have bequeathed to us As we recall this glorious band, the chosen few, on whom the Spirit fell, O God, to us may grace be given to follow in their train.

With his family do Thou bless Thy servant, the donor of this memorial, designed perpetually to remind us of the service and sacrifice of the heroic dead. As the mystic cords of memory bind the Oregon country to Robert Booth today, do Thou bathe all our souls in the passion of Calvary, that like him we, too, with persuasive tongues, may tell how Christ died to save men, and still lives to bless and help them.

Our commonwealth and our common country we commend unto Thee. Keep us true to Thy word and Thy will and Thy work,—to all our cherished institutions, our American traditions, and our Christian ideals. O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget. Accept, we beseech Thee, this the work of our hands; and bless all who participate in this dedication, and witness this unveiling. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

January 6, 1921.

His Excellency, Ben W. Olcott,

Governor of Oregon,

Salem, Ore.

Dear Governor: For a long time I have cherished the hope that some day I might be able to express in a degree my admiration and appreciation of the Ministers of the Gospel, who as Circuit Riders became the friends, counselors and evangels to the pioneers on every American frontier and who so largely directed the thought of our citizenry and shaped the course of our civilization and who, in their last and possibly their best work, were in-