by her own merit. Long may she live to entertain us by her works, and teach us by her example.

There is another of the other sex, who is bound to you by no tie, but who has yielded to my request, and sent a sparkling contribution to this intellectual banquet. He may be known to some of you as a regular contributor to the Knickerbocker, and as an occasional correspondent of some of the journals in this State. He would enjoy this scene, were he present, and for his sake and yours, I regret his absence. I suppose I ought to tell you who he is. He is one of my fellow-citizens, who deals in iron for gain, and courts the muses for fun-brimful of mirth and with a wit that is keener than a Damascus blade. He is a living refutation of the truth of a paragraph in Hudibras, to the effect that

"A man of quick and active wit

For drudgery is more unfit,
Compared to those of duller parts,

Than running nags to draw in carts."

Alike a man of business and a poet, success attends his efforts in both departments.

"Our friends, the Clergy, who have figured so largely and so successfully in these exercises, will pardon the spice of levity which may, by a careful examination, be detected in the verses which I am about to read. Yes, I know they will. I see it in their benevolent faces, and I remember, too, that

the holidays of the

Clergy are "few and far between," and I am persuaded that they enjoy this to the very "top of their bent."

"But it is time I should tell you the name of my friend who has been so kind to us all. It is George H. Clark, and here is what he sends "greeting," as the Lawyers say:

GEO. H. CLARK'S WOODBURY CENTENNIAL POEM.

Mysterious notes were abroad on the air-
Significant hints of some weighty affair:
Rumors increased till they rose to a shout,
And now we all see what the stir was about.

Ye modest admirers, who've nothing to say,
Make room- -for spread eagle is coming this way,
We stand, as it were, in our forefathers' shoes,
And the time for tall talking's too precious to lose.

Here frolicsome age shall grow young at the core,
And youth shall strike hands with the boys of threescore;
Brim full of good feeling-Oh! call it no folly-
We've assembled on purpose to laugh and be jolly.

Ye attorneys-turn over a holiday leaf;
The facts are before you-and here is the brief!
So give us as much as you please of your jaw,
But don't, if you love us, don't let it be law.

Ye grave Boanerges-who thunder at sin,
Let your features relax to a good natured grin:
Pretermit theological chafing and chat,

And talk about buttercups, birds, and all that.

Forget, O my friends, in this glorified hour,

The Parson who vanquished that dreadful pow-wow-er;
But remember the Backus and Bellamy jokes,

And up and be merry like rational folks.

Sink the shop, O ye trader in dry goods, to day,—

Just look at the prospect right over the way!

Don't the sight of the Pomperaug hills and green valleys
Beat all your gay patterns on muslins and challies?

Ye medical men- -whose dreams are of drugs,
Omit for a while your professional shrugs:
Give the go-by to boluses, blisters, and nux,

And think of the dandelions, daisies, and ducks.

Ye farmers-the nearest to Nature's own breast,
Who draw from her stores what her children love best;
Who irradiate towns with fresh butter and cheese,
And tickle our palates with lamb and green peas;

We remember your haymows so fragrant in June;
Your pumpkins, as large and as round as the moon;
The green corn we roasted and ate on the sly,
And the rye 'n 'ndian bread, and the-Oh! let us cry!

It makes my mouth water to talk of such things,—
The truth is, you farmers are Nature's own kings:

And the queens!-would you see the true test of their worth?
Just look at those boys! arn't they proud of their birth?

Of course, we'll remember, and speak of with pride,
Seth Warner, and others who fought by his side:
And grand Ethan Allen-the hero all over-
Who conquered Fort Ti, in the name of Jehovah!

Historians assert that you'd only one witch-
But history inakes an unfortunate hitch;
For witches still flourish-as witness the groups!
Though for halters and faggots you substitute hoops.

Then a health to old Woodbury-merry or grave—
And long in the land may her progeny wave,
Nor forget where their excellent grand-mothers sleep,
While their own little babies are learning to creep.

"Now, my friends, I have disposed of the props upon which I have relied to sustain me in the event, that my own thoughts should fail. I am left to my own resources, and begin to be apprehensive that you may be mirthfully inclined when I am serious, and seriously disposed when I am gay. Topics were plenty, yesterday morning, but in the two days' speaking they have been, for the most part, used up. All the leading features in your history have been passed in review. Those men who have distinguished themselves most among you have also been already noticed. Of some of them too much could hardly be said. First and foremost among the intellectual giants in our State, was the Hon. Nathaniel Smith, who was born and lived, until his death, within the ancient limits of this town. He was indeed a great man. Without the advantages of early culture, he worked his way to the front rank of the legal profession, at a period when the ablest men,

who have been known in the courts of this State, were in full practice. He stood among them primus inter pares. As an advocate he had great power, and his efforts were attended with marked success. At a later period he was an ornament to the Bench, and has left a record upon the pages of our Reports of which the worthy President here, (his son,) may well be proud.

"I must be indulged in saying a few words of another member of the profession who has recently passed away. He was one of the originators of this celebration, and one of the Committee to carry out the plan adopted a year ago. The vacant chair upon the stage draped in mourning, reminds us of him, who, had he lived, would have mingled in these festivities with a keen relish. He (the Hon. Charles B. Phelps) was a man of genius, and a highly respectable member of the Bar. A ready debater, he was always equal to the emergency of an occasion. He had a keen wit and overflowed with humor.

"A merrier man

Within the limit of becoming mirth,

I never spent an hour's talk withal."

"He had, moreover, a kind heart, which displayed itself on all suitable occasions, and long will he be remembered for his many good deeds. You will hardly "look upon his like again.""

"You will pardon me for speaking a word of another gentleman of another profession, who has long since gone to his rest. I mean the Rev. John R. Marshall, who was the first Episcopal clergyman in this town. He was an eminently good man, and much beloved by those to whom he ministered in holy things. He planted a vine here which he carefully nurtured while he lived, and which flourishes now in full vigor. He closed his ministry here with the termination of his life, leaving behind him many blessed fruits, "Allured to brighter worlds and led the way."

"There are many others who have distinguished themselves here in the different professions, and many who have gone from among you, and distinguished themselves elsewhere, who deserve to be mentioned on this occasion, did time permit. There have been, too, very many equally worthy and estimable men, who never attained to any particular prominence in the eye of the world, men who pursued the noiseless tenor of their way, but who have done their share in building up your institutions, and in making this valley bud and blossom. They were the fathers and the grand-fathers

of many whom I see before me, and this gathering attests the interest which their posterity feel in their memory. While the blood of some of them courses in the veins of their descendants, their names have become extinct among you. This is true of the names of my maternal grand-father and grand-mother, (Perry and Beers,) names once well and favorably known here. One of the latter name (Hon. S. P. Beers,) has addressed you to-day, but he has resided elsewhere for more than half a century. From his account of himself, nearly seventy years ago he had the ambition to sit cross-legged upon a tailor's bench, but because perhaps (in the language of the old song,) "the money came slowly in," he concluded to pursue the legal profession, supposed by some to be more productive. It would seem from his statement that he is now an old man, which, from his full head of brown hair, (which I envy,) and his youthful appearance, we should all doubt, had we not confidence in his veracity, and did we not know that he had been the popular commissioner of the School Fund, since the earliest recollection of the "oldest inhabitant." The sons of many have emigrated to other portions of the country, and thus have their names become extinct here. The daughters, although eminently worthy of trust in all other particulars, cannot be relied upon to bear up a name. In this particular, however honest they may be, they resemble the most practiced rogues. They are, with now and then a solitary, (not to say melancholy exception,) in search of an alias, and are quite sure to find and adopt it. I have always wondered why they mark their linen with their maiden names. Nearly two days have been spent here in glorifying our grand-fathers. But there has been, as there now is, a "betterhalf" of humanity, of whom I have heard nothing said. I marvel that such an omission could have occurred in such a presence. A "mutual admiration society," composed exclusively of men, I confess is not to my taste. We have heard much about great men -good men-valiant men-self-taught men, and about "all sorts and conditions of men." It has been from the beginning-menmen-men; nothing but men. Had they no mothers-no wives? Men have indeed fought the battles of the country; felled the forest trees; tilled the earth, and toiled in the different professions and trades. But woman has toiled too amid dangers which appalled the stoutest hearts. She has braved suffering in its countless forms, such as woman only knows, and submitted to privations with a patient meekness of which woman is alone capable.