Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-05-07

From the New York Tribune, May btn'
Massachusetts.
In this mighty uprising of great nation,
Massachusetts led the van. That privilege
was hers by right. The children OF the men
who faced unarmed, in State street, Inc nre
OF British troops; who waited on bunker
Hill till they could see the color OF Inc ei es oI
the approaching foe before they pulled trig'
ger; who drove back from Lexington, win
such arms as they cold snatch from over Inc
kitchen fireplace, the best disciplined soldiers
of Europe, were not the men to hesitate at
such n time as this. And it was well for
Massachusetts that she had Tor Chief Magls-
trate one whose foresight had anticipated
events, and whose large judgment had pro
vided for them. eve are ready to start on
the Instant" said the people, but have not
the means" "Send on your men, replied
the governor, "ihe means are ready ior ny
his dgent care, for mouths they had been
provided. The wires which carried the proc,
lamation of the president to Boston, mad
hardly ceased to vbrate, ere Massachusetts
men, dropping the tools Of their trades, ana
the implements of farming, hurried rom
workshops and fields, gathered IN village
squares, as their fathers did cighty-slx years
ago, and commenting wives and children
and parents, to the kind care OF nelghborS,
themselves at headquarters, ready for service.
There were instances where the alarm was
rung out from village steeples, and men
sprang from their beds, fell into the ranks al
the place Of rendezvous, and ere the sun hau
lit the homes which many of them were never
to see again, were on their way to nght ther
country's battles. Before a soldier from any
other state, except few from Pennsylvania,
had reached the capital, these first minute
men OF Massachusetts were coolly surveying
the shores of Virginia from behind the walls
of Fort Monroe.
How quickly Others followed these, and now
straight path they made to the defence OF
the government at its seat, there is no need OF
telling, The troops of Lowell and Lawrence
have followed with bowed heads and many
tears their honored dead to sacred graves and
all Massachusetts repeats the dying words OF
one of these men--"All hail the stars and
stripesl" Send home their bodies "tender
ly," was the prayer of the governor when
asking for the unnamed dead, for where rights
are so reverenced and men are so prompt Ill
their defence, Man, be his condition or estate
what it may, is sacred. The monumental
marble that marks the nineteenth of April in
Massachusetts is not yet white enough, nor
piled high enough in memory of her sons,
Nor do the three first offerings laid upon the
altar of our country give her pause Though
the way to the capital closed over that spot
still red with the blood of her sons-cosed
only for brief space as sure as that Bal
tiniore standeth la new path was opened
and still Massachusetts led the van. We
do not forget our own brave boys of the
Seventh, knit now to the Massachusetts
9Th by bonds stronger than that of brothers,
but there is not one OF them who Will not
gratefully acknowledge how uncertain Their
fate would have been but for the presence OF
the others. There was needed the trained
muscles of working men as well as the courage
OF loyal hearts. "All who are working men,
said Col Butler, when he saw that railroad
was to be rebuilt before they could win their
way to Westinghouse who are working
men step forward" And the whole regiment
advanced All know how the willing hearts
and the skilled hands OF the two regiments DID
that duty how the man who made the en-
CINE repaired his own work; how engineers
and artisans of all necessary crafts were found
among that efficient and hardy band OF eastern
men, till at length the whole road was COM
plete save single rail 1t was sought Tor in
vain; every nook and corner was scanned, but
still that one remaining link was wanting
without which the work was incomplete. 1t
was Il Massachusetts man who rose to the
emergency. With eyes and faculties sharpen
ed by use, and the habit of overcoming obSa
Giles, he surveyed the ground, considered proba'
bilites, aud weighed chances. Then, with an
instinct as unerrng as that of an Indian who
reads in the turning of a leaf the pas
sage of foe, he made his way to
deep stream, at some distance, ex'
amined its banks, and stripped. Three times
he plunged TO the bottom, and the third time
brought up the missing rail 81 am working
for my county, not for pay" he said, when,
amid the cheers of the 7th's men, one Of them
offered him piece OF gold.
Still does she not linger. To the first quota
Of troops required ct Massachusetts,, she aided
a third and double that whole number she is
now ready to send into the field in defense OF
the Union We in this commercial Meropo
lis have poured out money like water, and are
ready give of our men and our efforts without
stint But we have only talked OF arming
vessels Tor the prott ction of tile commercial
marine. Massachusetts has acted The gov
ernor announces to the federal government:
that his state has equipped armed and manned
two sea-going steamers, which he offers for
their service, and ii not wanted there, they
are to be used for the protection of the New
England coast. First on land and first on the
sea!
When the governor of that state issues his
yearly proclamation for a day OF thanksgiving
and prayer to be read in all the churches, he
appends to it blessing to BE- invoked on the
good old state In this time OF doubt, OF dan
ger, and OF trial, every heart in this land res
ponds to that prayer: COP SAVE THE COM
MoNwEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS