Litchfield enquirer., 1858-07-22
GRAFTON OF HON. S. c. GOODRICH. Attic Wo0d6nry Celebration. July 5td, 1858.


 M;. PresMem :-In looking round on this Urge assembly, the inquiry arises. why are t.sese people here ? Here are the fathers of t.te town, the learned professions the school lDaster of the school. Here are whole neigh borlloods-znofth end, south end, east side, and west side; Quassapaug, Pompenang, and Norncwuug, with good sprinkllng of South bury, and some of the dwellers ill Transglo- dien. Now what motive has broken through the urgent.labors of the blow and the sythe- this midsummer day--a,id brought together this assemi,lage from the hills and valleys of Litebfsld County
 If Iwere to ask the grave and reverend sen iors, the Seleetmcn, and Justices of the Peace, why are you here ?tkey might say it was meet tor the fathers to preside over the festivities of the children; ard they would be right. Were l to ask the reverend clergy, why are you here they m:ght say say, it is meet al proper for the shepherd to participate in the festivities of tine flock and they would be right Were to ask the members of the Bar, why are you here they might suggest that they will be expected ou this glorious occasion to offer a few words in season and they too would be right. WsreeI to ask the physicians why are You here they might reply that, inasmueh as 1lle whole town are exposed to surfet of cold water and sandwiches, it is meet and proper that the guardians of the public health should be here and perhaps they too might be right
 Bat, sir, passing by these magnates suppose we were to ask the boys--not such old boys as you and I, sir-but the real boys, and inc girls loo, if you please if we"should ask them why they are here, what would be the answer? l can give it to you, sir, and plain, straight an- swer it would be. They would one and all tell you taat Mey came here because they oamted to :!
 Well, sir, confess that am boy enough to . have come for the same reason-bccause wanted to. It is true your committee very politely invited me to come, and to say few words, and consented. But wish to state that it was expressly understood that I was not to be considered the ORATOR OF THE DAY. I I,ever made Fourth of July oraton in all my le pnd it is too late to begin. So did not come to make speech just came because l wantedto Sir l think it good to be here, tnd cal assign some reasons for it.
 Iii tie first place it is good to be here-here iu the midst of these tabernacles of rock, and l,lIl and forest-at this season, because it is pleasant It is now the verge of the summer soIstice, the very noon of the year. We are at that point when the sun is highest in the heav- ,,ls, and when the genial light of day lays long .>t upon tue earth. Look around and see the i. lis upon . hundred hills becko,ing the hus- ].,ntlliIan to the harvest. The earth is clothed in the richest vegetation, the forests, the giants c.. the soil, are crowned with their leafy honors. ., few weeks since was here, and the whole .ildscape was dead now it is covered with ltfe., What Il creation from death to life :! How beautiful, how wonderful are the miracles of nature, every day, every hour passing before us What miracle, for instance, is morning that familiar incident Every time l wit: ness it., it. strikes me as new creatlon-a world brought out of darkness uto lgh'. What miracle is summer, succeeding to win ter buds, flowers, fruits, glowing ill the soil So lately locked ill snow and ice. 5 How beaut- ful, how wonderful arc these things as evidences of divine art and power how grateful as the bclledctions of father to his children Sir, is it not good to be here
 And it is good to be here for another reason i; it is the 4th of July it is the birthday of our National Independence. These words are so familiar that fear we are not apt to feel their real significance. Sir, that act of Independ e,,ce which has been read to-day, was not mere sound or ceremony. It gave us Liberty and Union. It gave us government, and ntl- der it we have prospered as no other people have pfospered. New nations and nation- al peuce and wealth do not spring out of the ground Look around and see the s,ect4ce before us Look at this vi' Iage of Woedbury, a type of hundreds of other villages in.New England. We'll, sir, let me say thatthere are no such villages in any other part Of the. world. On the continent of Europe, French village, or German village, or an Italian village, is a thing so totally different that the one cannot be compared with the other The Continental village is like the dirty suburbs of a large city, with mean houses, filthy streets, aud squald inhabitants. In France, or. Germany, or Italy, you often see what is called village, a thousand inhabit- ants crowded together in tenants of stone and Y snOrtar, and in space not larger than good Woodbury farm. And the people, being igno- rant and oppressed, are poor, servle and mean They have been brought up to eat and drink, to fast and feast, to stand or kneel, to think, speak, feel, nay oven to vote, if they have vote, as the authorities civil and religious, tell them to, There is no such thing as personal independence the Church and State swallow up everything How different is it here ]! Nearly every man, farmer or mechanic, lives in his own house. By it's side is the garden. around the farm. Look at yonder streets, vel vrted with grassy lawns, and with steeple-like elnls and naples stretching in stately avenues for miles, and binding town to town, and viii lage to village. Look at the inhabitants- every man qualified by education to form just opinions upon the great questions of life: All men here stand upon the footing of equality, in the church. and state before the courts, in town meetings, in the elections whether for the choice of a selectman or President of the United States. What would any man here present--the; very .humblest of this assembly ---say, should some Judge Phelps or Squire Bull, attempt to control his vote
 We'll, sir, say it is good to be here, and to call to mind those things 1t is good to call