Centennial records of the women of Wisconsin

              '      ¦ ' CENTENNIAL   EECOEDS. 171
we hope to take each other by the hand and go "forward." Let us all embark to¬ gether with the noble pui-ijose of giving and receiving in accordance A^dth the great law of compensation Avhicli God has estabUshed. Our bark is a smaU one and wfll make but a faint ripple upon the great national and international current which is dafly and hourly surgmg with the inflowing tide of multiplied tributaries. But we look forward to the time when with song and cheer, the American people a\t11 unitedly and proudly launch their grand old ship of State upon its broad bo¬ som with all its precious fi-eightage, culled from every land and cUme. The spirit of liberty which inspired and sustained our forefathers as they landed from the Mayflower and knelt upon Plymouth Rock, is stfll, thank God, our presiding genius. They gave us a prophetic symbol, a grand tableau vivant, unconsciously deUneating mental and moral quaUties which have and wiU distinguish America's sons and daughters, from independence, seventeen hundred and seventy-six to cen¬ tennial, eighteen hundred and seA'enty-six, and from century to century. The firmness and power evinced by men, the suffering and endurance of women these hundred years have sflently witnessed. We are again brought face to face Avith these persons and scenes, and the finger of God is pointing out to us with renewed significance our obUgations as the inheritors of a destiny so dearly bought. Let us give ncAv allegiance to the worth and grandeur embodied hi the simpUcity, faith and integrity, which are the treasures of our royal buthriglit. Let its beautiful herakh-y be painted upon canvas, Avrought in needlework, carved in wood and sculptured in marble by the men and women of to-day, as loving mementoes to be preserved in our national archives for those of the next century to behold and emulate, as we now review and haUow the spirit and genius of seventy-six. May our names and memories be as dear to our posterity by the sacred infiuences of faith in God and love to humanity, as are those of our Pflgrim fathers and motli- ers to us and our chfldren; as the drum beat of the reveille upon the ear of the sleeping soldier is the voice of our jubilee falUng with musical cadence upon our aAvakening sensibilities. The centuries are clasping hands, currents of thought and inspu-atioii are mingUng, untfl the surging air is vital with holy enthusiasm. The women of the Avorld are uivited to aid in swelUng the commemorative offerings of this glad era. Men have wrought, struggled and achieved, always inspired, and in tunes of great national emergency, they have been directly aided by women. But we have iieA'ertheless been passing through the iron age — its pres¬ sure is stfll upon us, and we are weary with the weight. We find ourselves to¬ day standing upon the threshold of a more enUghtened order of civiUzation, where different combinations are required to nobler ends, as God reveals the way. We need not stop to analyze critically; we have only to advance, heeding our best im-