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where to be seen, but of the original red man, who then held these broad domains by grant from God Himself, and of the first white settler, who in obedience to a law of progress, implanted within his bosom, by the same All-Wise-Creator, wrested these lands for the purpose of cultivation and improvement from their pagan proprietors, few trustworthy traces remain.

One hundred years hence, and we too, will have passed away. Not one of all those, now here present, will remain, to tell the story of these our times. Our children's children will doubtless meet on occasions like this, perhaps to celebrate on this very spot, the centennial of the organization of this Historical Society, under whose auspices, we are this day principally convened. If so, I fancy the names ot Gridley and of Fatzinger, of Hadley, of Welles and their associates will then be recalled, and their unselfish labors, their intelligent researches, their zeal for the truth of history, their taste and their generous liberality, will form themes for orators and poets, yet unborn. But none of us will be there, and it is because all of the living will die and pass away, as all of the past have died, that monuments and commemorations, like those we are about to unveil and inaugurate, become useful and important. They serve as the landmarks of progress, and become standing witnesses of the truths which shall be narrated in history. As the annual recurrence of the festival of Christmas, the solemn fast of Good Friday, and the joyous feast of Easter, bear perpetual, intelligent and demonstrative testimony to the reality of the birth, the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, so may these secular festivals memorialize to coming generations, the occurrences of important, material and political events.

It seems very proper that we who live in this highly favored land, and in this active and inventive age, should make, for posterity, memorials of our time, more endur

ing even than that of inscriptions on granite and brass; and that we should rescue, from oblivion, the mementoes and characteristics of an earlier age and people, before every trace of them shall be forever covered up or swept

away.

Go forth then, ye gleaners, and gather up the fragments of our early and local history, that none may be lost. See to it, that forest and stream, lake and river, hill and valley, rock and mound, be made to tell that which they have seen, and to surrender to your careful and conscientious keeping, the secrets and the treasures committed to their charge. Let your stalwart men follow in the footsteps of the Indian hunter, and on the trail of the savage warrior, while your young men and maidens, in the very exuberance of youthful glee and health and enthusiasm, shall tread again amid the shadows of the moonlit evening, or the early dews of the rosy morning, the fairy rings which encircled the giant oaks, beneath whose spreading branches, tales of love and war were whispered, in a language long since lost, during the centuries which have passed.

Our County is full of mementoes of an earlier age, and of a people no longer seen among us. It is the ascertained birth-place and the probable burial place of one or more of the most distinguished of Indian orators; and there is not a rood of land along its lakes and rivers, which has not been lighted by the council fires, witnessed the war dances, and heard the harvest and hunting songs of the Senecas, the Cayugas, the Onondagas, the Oneidas and the Mohawks; while every sunny knoll has been crimsoned with the blood of victims to heathen rites and savage customs; and every shady dell has witnessed the fierce and sanguinary struggles between a receding paganism and an advancing Christian civilization.

To develop, illustrate and perpetuate these mementoes, and to profit by the lessons of history which they silently

teach, is one of the objects for which the Waterloo Library and Historical Society has been organized, and for which this County assembly has been convened.

In the name, therefore, and on behalf of the officers and members of that Society, and in the name and on behalf of the corporate authorities and citizens of the town and village of Waterloo, who will also this afternoon celebrate the semi-centennial of their municipal organization, and in the name and on behalf of the whole people of Seneca, I bid you all welcome, and invite you to assist in the ceremonies of the day.

It is now my privilege to introduce to you the Orator of the day, Lieutenant-Governer William Dorsheimer, who will deliver an oration, which, on the invitation of your committee, he has kindly prepared for this occasion.

Mr. Dorsheimer thereupon delivered the following oration:

MY FELLOW CITIZENS;

THE arrangements which have been made by your committee, assign to another the duty of reviewing the historical events you are assembled to commemorate. I may, therefore, address myself to some of those more general considerations which this occasion suggests.

In view of the scene before our eyes, it is an interesting reflection, that only a century ago an armed expedition came here, which the government had sent against the Indian tribes, just as sometimes in these days, expeditions are sent against the Indians who inhabit the head waters of the Yellow Stone and the Columbia. I know of no other association of this centennial period, which so strikingly emphasizes the changes and progress of the last hundred years. A hundred years ago, all this region which stretches from the Mohawk to the Great Lakes, was covered by an unbroken forest, and owned by a few thousand savages. It is now the seat of the most power

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ful, the wealthiest, and I think I may say, the most liberal and enlightened American State.

I will make it my part to-day, to describe the influences which have, in my judgement, been most influential in producing this change; and I will also mention, what I think are the most important achievements of the century which has passed.

The history of New York has, from the first, been an epitome of the history of the United States. In colonial times, it was the home of an Indian confederation of such power, that its alliance was sought by the principal nations of Europe. The policies of Versailles and St. James were worked out here. Addison describes the presentation of an embassy from the Iroquois at the court of Queen Anne. Here were undertaken the enterprises which gave its chief glory to the administration of the elder Pitt, and here those events occurred, which decided that this continent should be English and not French. Here too, were fought the decisive battles of the revolution. Lexington and Bunker Hill were but a call to arms, Oriskany and Saratoga gave us the French Alliance and made our independence certain.

This has been not only the strategic point in war, but also in government. The first Congress of the Colonies was held in Albany. Our constitution was a model to the framers of the Federal constitution, our laws in relation to railways, insurance and manufacturing corporations, have been copied in other States; and our banking laws are the foundation of the national banking system.

All those forces which, since the establishment of our government, have acted upon our country, and formed our national character, have been in operation here. Here where you live was the first West. Here were first seen those great movements of our population which have been a curious and characteristic feature of our history. New York has always been hospitable to the stranger.

The Dutchmen who founded our State had established a liberal polity, such as was to have been expected from the sagacious merchants of Holland. New Englanders were attracted not only by more fertile soils, but even more by a wider liberty, and by a government which left room for individual freedom. The people of Nantucket. came into the valley of the Hudson, and Yankees from Connecticut came into this Lake Region, and into the Genesee Country, a little further west.

From the first this was a commercial State, the Hol⚫landers had made treaties with the Indians, and the furs and peltries of the forest sought a market at the mouth. of the Mohawk. Independence was hardly achieved before New York began enterprises to facilitate trade with her sister States. 1n 1791, an Act was passed authorizing a survey for a canal to connect the streams of the interior with the Hudson. In 1798, an Act was passed "for opening navigation between Lakes Erie and Ontario." The preamble to the Act of 1817, states in language of singular beauty, the generous and patriotic policy, with which the building of the Erie and Champlain canals was undertaken. I will read it to you:

"Whereas, navigable communications between Lakes Erie and Champlain and the Atlantic Ocean, by means of canals connected with the Hudson River, will promote agriculture, manufactures and commerce, mitigate the calamities of war, and enhance the blessings of peace, consolidate the Union, and advance the prosperity and elevate the character of the United States; and whereas, it is the incumbent duty of the people of this State to avail themselves of the means which the Almighty has placed in their hands, for the production of such signal, extensive and lasting benefits to the human race; now, therefore, in full confidence that the Congress of the United States, and the States equally interested with this State in the commencement, prosecution and completion

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