and rapping for order introduced a programme of after-dinner speeches. Senator Hawley was the first to respond. In the course of a felicitous address he said:

The New England Puritan, from whom you are descended, was not the sour, stern, narrow bigot he has been painted. He was the necessary outgrowth of civilization and Christianity. There are always people, when rulers get lazy and tyrannical, who arise and rebel against the existing order of things. Mahommet was a Puritan, for that matter; and so was Martin Luther; and so was the founder of the Jesuit order. I don't believe the Puritan was such a sour old fellow. For my part, I think he was a great deal happier than a great many people nowadays who don't know what they do believe, and say they don't understand God. It seems to me that a god who could be understood by poor finite creatures like ourselves wouldn't amount to a great deal. I cannot think that the men of the present day who have no beliefs are happy. The Puritans believed in a system of reward and punishment, and the non-believers in anything, who have so much to say in the present day and generation, must be shortsighted indeed if they cannot see that by natural law and in common justice the man who does wrong will be sorry for it either here or hereafter. I had rather be mistaken and believe something worth while and worth speaking for, and if need be, worth fighting for. (Applause.)

The Puritan knew about guarding church and government. He had an idea he was here for some purpose, and he went around looking for what it was. You in Ohio, descendants of Puritans, also have an idea that you are in the world to accomplish something. (Applause.) When the Puritans came to Hartford they brought with them not only their wives and their children and their household goods, but also their preacher and their church. By and by they took their march westward, and wherever they went communities grew. Sometimes when modern affairs make me feel weary and disgusted I wish that the Puritan were back with all his disagreeable characteristics, if he had any. He would at all events have principle and stability. They say the wives of the Puritans had more to endure than the Puritans themselves, because they had to endure not only the privations of their circumstances but the Puritans also. (Laughter.) Now I am doubtful if the Puritans were so hard to endure.

Senator Sherman was the next speaker. He said:

I am exceedingly glad that I witnessed the celebration in Cleveland yesterday. It was a magnificent scene. I have seen many gatherings in cities throughout the country on similar occasions, but I only voice the opinion of all who were with me yesterday when I say that an occasion of the kind where such good feeling and good order prevailed is unparalleled. There are usually some naughty boys who want to make trouble. Some usually partake of whisky or some other liquids to fortify themselves and add to their joy. Nothing of this occurred in the vast crowds that filled your streets, avenues and buildings. Fifty years ago I resided for a short time in the city of Cleveland and intended making it my home, and have always had a good opinion of the city. This morning I determined to see all that I could in a short time, and I was driven around through the principal parts of Cleveland. I was both surprised and gratified at the progress and growth of this great city. What I said yesterday I repeat to-day with still greater emphasis, that Cleveland is destined to spread all along these shores. Cleveland's pre-eminence is assured by several things she possesses: The high order of the character of her people, her fine schools, and her favorable location. The time has gone by when the towns of pre-eminent growth are to be the river towns. Fifty years ago it was different. In the early history of the city, Cleveland's growth was not rapid; Cincinnati far outstripped her. The rivers were then the great channels of trade; now the lakes carry the commerce. Navigable rivers gradually run out, but the lakes never run out. This lake will endure long after all the generations of Cleveland have passed away.

One more thought I have to present and I am ready to conclude. We have some neighbors across the way who own half of all these great lakes, except Lake Michigan. They are our kin. Canada is the Scotland of America. Whatever she does is of interest to us. I do not favor annexation, nor do I look for it; but I would vote to arrange with her the warmest reciprocal relations. The time is not far distant when she will sever her relations with the European government which now controls her and will stand alone. This is an age and this a continent of republics. She would have done it long ago if England had treated her as harshly and unfairly as she did us prior to 1776. În a not far distant day Canada will set up housekeeping for herself.

God bless her. We have nothing but republics on this continent save what lies north of us, and speed the day when we will rule and occupy this continent, the United States, Canada and Mexico. (Applause.) You in this company to-day may see the time when all over North America there will be governments for and by the people to the glory of God and the spread of Christianity.

The Arion Quartette sang, "This is the Lord's Own Day," after which Governor Bushnell spoke words of greeting to the Ohio editors and to the guests from Connecticut. He said:

This visit to Cleveland is not only one of surprises to me, Senator Hawley, but one of mingled pleasure and regret. Every event is a pleasure, and the regret is that the days are not longer, and that we have not more endurance. You have tried in Cleveland, not only to make it pleasant during all the hours of the day, but during nearly all the hours of the night as well. I don't know what you expect of our friends from Connecticut, but yesterday you expected me to ride a horse all yesterday afternoon and then dance all night. (Laughter.) I was able to do that formerly, but now

it is different.

What constitutes the difference I won't say, because I won't insinuate that any of you are old enough to understand the reason.

Gentlemen of Connecticut, I welcome not only you, with all the cordiality in the world, but the people of Cleveland as well, to this tent. It is fitting that we enjoy this New England dinner under the shadows of these great and creditable institutions of learning. When we look out we ponder upon their greatness and the greatness of the city they honor. I take extreme pleasure in welcoming the editors of Ohio to this spot. It was my pleasure and privilege a few months ago to visit the mother State and invite Governor Coffin and his staff to be present at this time. We are glad that that invitation has been accepted. We are glad to show you hospitality, gentlemen, and only wish that there were more of you. To all a most hearty welcome. I never was an editor, but I was once in the newspaper business and I think I know something about it. To the energy and enterprise of newspaper men we are greatly indebted. The city of Cleveland could not have made so good a report nor been so good a city had it not been for the newspapers. Much is due to the editors, formulators of public opinion. Be of good cheer, gentlemen. The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. The people may be wrong, and you may not be able all at once to teach them the truth; but keep at it. In good time they will be right. I have every confidence in them. I have a great respect for you, gentlemen of the press. I had better have. (Laughter.) I was told a great while ago that the pen was mightier than the sword, and I have found it so.

We are delighted to see you all. This is one of the finest cities in Ohio, and as I am a great way from Cincinnati I am willing to say the largest. The city is a magnificent one, and growing rapidly; any one can see that. I see it from one time that I visit Cleveland to another, and my visits are not far apart. I shall make them even more frequent in the future, and the city of Cleveland and myself will, I hope and trust, come closer and closer together. I wish continued prosperity for the city, State and nation, and I prophesy peace and plenty.

President Sherwin next said:

We have with us to-day a friend and neighbor, a Western Reserve man, whom we all delight to honor. We shall be most delighted to hear from him at this time. It gives me great pleasure to present to you at this time ex-Governor William McKinley.

Major McKinley was hailed with applause. He spoke as follows:

It gives me sincere pleasure to meet and address for a moment the New England Society of the city of Cleveland and Western Reserve of Ohio. Those of us who are not descendants of the Pilgrims of New England join cheerfully with those who are to pay high tribute to the men who did so much for civilization and for the establishment of free government on this continent. There has been every variety of characterization of the New England pilgrim and pioneer-some of it of a friendly nature, but far too much of it captious, harsh and unjust. At this moment the picture of the Puritan painted by that gifted son of New England, the late George William Curtis, whose memory we revere and will ever cherish, rises before me. He said that the Puritan was "narrow, bigoted, sour, hard and intolerant, but he was the man whom God had sifted three kingdoms to find as the seed-grain wherewith to plant a free Republic," and that he had done more for liberty than any man in human history.' It is said that the blood of New England courses through the veins of a quarter of the population of the United States. I know not how this may be, but I do know that the ideas, principles and the conscience of New England course through every vein and artery of the American Republic. (Cheers and applause.) Well may you be proud to be descended from New England people, for never was anything more happily said of them than these words by Whittier:

No lack was in thy primal stock,

No weakling founders builded here;
They were the men of Plymouth Rock
The Huguenot and the Cavalier."

The Puritan has fought-aye, and died-on every battle-field of the Republic, from Concord and Bunker Hill to Gettysburg and Appomattox. (Great applause.) And the torch of liberty he lighted still illumines the whole world. I bid you, again in the language of our beloved Whittier,

'Hold fast to your Puritan heritage;—

But let the free light of the age,

Its life, its hope, its sweetness add

To the sterner faith your fathers had."

There was another period of hand-clapping as Major McKinley resumed his seat.

Alderman J. Kennedy Childs, of Hartford, was then called upon and spoke briefly. He said:

When we of Connecticut received your cordial greeting last winter we felt that it was more than a mere formal courtesy. The warm heart-beating of relationship and kinship seemed in it. We feel that we are not strangers to you; we are your own kith and kin. You have founded and built up a vast municipality, into which you have injected the sterner principles of our forefathers, modified and softened by more gentle and beautiful influences. The city of Hartford is a mother proud of her child. But the mother, now that you have grown so large, feels more like an elder sister than a mother. We don't want you to feel that we are so far in the background as to be out of the reckoning. We who are here feel less like the parent than like the elder brother, though some of our young men, I suspect, feel an interest in your ladies that they would characterize as other than brotherly. From the large quantity of flowers that emanate from the Hartford headquarters, and the vast flower bills that are accumulat