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tic coast, were confronted with the problem of building a nation on an untried basis, and whose form of government was yet untested. Sagacious statesmen, looking to all parts of our national problem, saw that a colony, firmly planted in the extreme parts (and this was then our Western border), would not only be an influence to perpetuate those principles they had fought so hard so secure, but it would be an integral factor in cementing incongruous elements manifesting themselves in the country. Washington, Jefferson, the Adamses, Franklin, and others, saw in the country "westward of the mountains" something more than a mere colony, where men could retrieve their fallen fortunes. They saw States whose people, bound by the strongest ties of kindred and of patriotism, would unite with the older States in perpetuating those principles that all the world is slowly recognizing as the only ones on which a nation can live. And so the colony became, in a large measure, national in character, and hence national in its influences. Many colonies had gone out to other localities, many have gone out since, but how many can point to influences such as led this band in the years 1787 and 1788. The success or failure of this colony carried with it the final success or failure of freedom in America. Its success or failure decided the individual ownership of land; the township system of government, and the inalienable rights of man in person, speech, property, religion, and education. Among its first acts was the employment of teachers, both secular and religious, and before a church was built or a school house seen, secular and religious teachings were established.

The founding of this colony was watched with greater solicitude by public men, and was better known, than that of any colony in our history. Its planting meant new States in the country westward of the Alleghenies, and new States meant an increase of population, wealth, resources, and power. Hence, one is not surprised to see it often mentioned in the correspondence of Washington

and others, a few of whose names I have recalled. 1 need not repeat their assertions here; they are familiar to all.

I have only casually glanced at the national features connected with the planting of this colony. The subject itself is far-reaching and important, and on this point I will only add a word to the young among us-study well this question. Learn its bearings on our history. Plant firmly in your minds all that relates to it, and should you be called in after life to assume such a duty for your country, see to it that the lofty and enduring principles that actuated the men at the close of the last century, be your chief guide. Such an example and such a history could have no higher eulogy.

Aside from the national effects produced by and growing out of this settlement, is it not equally profitable to note the effect produced in local or State affairs? How has this settlement and its establishment affected the State in which it was founded? Has it left an impress that can be shown through the first century of our history? Can we read it on the pages of our history of to-day-the end of the cycle?

The annals of few States in our Union present a more striking array of names than Ohio, and few States possess a local history more conspicuous in our country's life. A State founded on the principles established on these shores one hundred years ago, could not help attracting to itself the best elements of the older States. As a consequence we see in the history of Ohio, especially in its early years, a strong, predominating element consisting of the best and most progressive men of our country. A State where the choicest blessings of civil and religious freedom could be assured, not only to themselves, but also to their children, was a magnet that, of its very nature, would attract just such men.

Ohio, which, in 1788, was the home of wild beasts and wilder men, and which ranks seventeenth in admission

into the Union, to-day stands third in the family of American States in population, wealth, resources and advancement. Not an American State has made greater progress, and no part of our Union excels that set aside in that matchless organic law-the Ordinance of 1787-to freedom and education. One does not need to recite the facts necessary to prove the statement; the hands of progress, refinement, and culture can be clearly traced in all parts of America where these principles have been made the fundamental and the controlling influences.

I shall leave to those who speak to us at this meeting to amplify these ideas. I have merely opened the door, and I am glad to bid you enter and enjoy the feast of intellectual good things that awaits us.

ADDRESS OF JUDGE JOSEPH COX.

THE BUILDING OF THE STATE.

THE first settlement in this State, at Marietta, and organization of the Northwest Territory, under the Ordinance of 1787, were the most notable events in the history of our country, and deserve to rank among the greatest of the civilized world. The Territory having been wrested from the domination of foreign nations by the combined strength of the American Colonies after the eight years' struggle of the Revolutionary war, it became at once a subject of intense interest as to what disposition should be made of it. The soldiers of the Revolution, who had periled their all in defense of the country, claimed it as the common inheritance of all the Colonies, and to be disposed of by a central government. Virginia, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts also made claims of different kinds to it, and it was not until 1786 that these conflicting contentions were settled, and it was agreed by their relinquishment that the land should be the property of the United States, then existing under the "Articles of Confederation," to be formed into States, and to be admitted into the Union when so formed, upon equal footing in all respects with the original States, and the land disposed of for the common benefit of all the States, the manner and conditions of sale to be regulated exclusively by Congress.

Consider the vastness of the territory thus to be controlled, embracing nearly 240,000 square miles, or 150,000,000 acres! A land not then fully explored by white men, but so far as known, considered to be one of boundless forests, immense swamps, extensive prairies, impassable rivers, rough and barren hills, yet rich in all the possible resources for future habitations, but filled with wild beasts alert in pursuit of their prey roving

bands of savages numbering, as was supposed, nearly sixty thousand warriors, claiming title to the soil, and jealous of every encroachment on their hunting grounds by their enemy, the white man. This wilderness, thus beset with hardships and danger, if settled, must be by men and women reared in the civilization of the Eastern States, abandoning their long-cherished homes and all the comforts and refinements to which they had been accustomed, and taking a long and toilsome march over the Alleghany mountains. The hostile Indian must be appeased by treaty or kindness; these failing, by war, ere their new homes or lives were safe. The wolf, and bear, and panther must be kept from the door by long and weary watches; the wilderness must be cleared by hard and exhaustive toil before bread could be raised, and all this, with the sickness, incident to a new country, wearing their strength and lives away.

All this aboriginal rudeness and savagery lurked at the western border of the old States, a standing menace to all peace and security. No treaty had thus far been sufficient to prevent this. The independence of the colonies having been achieved and acknowledged, the eyes of the world were turned to America as the paradise of nations, where man could be the arbiter of his own destiny, and there was every probability that the available lands along the eastern stretch of the Alleghanies to the Atlantic Ocean would be rapidly filled by the incoming hosts from foreign lands. National needs, as well as national security, required that the vast Western territory should no longer be the sole homes of savages, but should be reclaimed and converted into homes for civilized men.

But who shall be equal to this great task? Where are the men with sufficient nerve and muscle to face these dangers and conquer them? With a rich and powerful government behind them to protect and aid, the demand might easily have been filled. But a long and exhaustive left the nation almost hope

war had depleted the Treasury,

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