Page:Scenes in my Native Land.pdf/207

Rh such a meeting would be highly interesting. The sons of Massachusetts have reason to revere and love their native soil. She is the mother and nurse of a mighty people. In the very cradle her sons had to fight the battles, and use the wisdom of mature manhood. And while the descendants of those who landed on her rocky coast have gone abroad, and amount to nearly five millions of souls, she holds on her way, with her soil trodden by the free, and the air of her mountains still breathed by a noble race of men. Her hills, her valleys, and her limpid streams remain as they were, save that the former are greatly beautified by the hand of man, and the latter pressed into his service and made the source of increasing wealth. Her enterprise too has opened a path through her mountains of rock, and the iron horse with ease climbs up and goes down what once seemed almost impassable barriers of nature.

"But that which is the pride of Massachusetts, is her sons and daughters; they constitute her glory, whether they remain here, beautifying the old homestead, or whether they go out to expend their indomitable energies under warmer skies and on richer plains. Among these, Berkshire has furnished her full share,—offspring who would honor any parent. These we should rejoice to see gathered at the hearth of their mothers, to hold a day of congratulations and of sweet recollections. We love these sons and daughters none the less because they have gone from us, and we