All being seated in the order indicated in the diagram, the President rose and addressed the audience as follows:
Gentlemen, Fellow Craftsmen, Brethren—
I am entirely unable to give expression to the feelings of my heart on this occasion. Never before have I experienced a more overwhelming sense of the poverty of language to express in adequate terms the emotions that are struggling in my bosom for utterance, but which can find no tongue. I thank you, gentlemen, for the honor you have conferred upon me, but to the pleasure which it affords, is added a weight of responsibility, that to one unaccustomed as I am, to scenes like these, is oppressive and embarrassing. But when I remember that I am standing, as I know I am, among my friends, all of whom are more anxious to conceal than expose my defects, I am reassured, and feel that whatever expectations may have been formed, you will all be satisfied with that spontaneous outpouring of the heart, which however much it may lack in worldly wisdom, is the best and clearest index of the soul, and perhaps the most gratifying response that friendship and gratitude can give. Again, I thank you, gentlemen, for the honor you have conferred upon me; but think not that I am so lacking in all proper humility as to be insensible of the cause to which I am mainly indebted for it. There is a circumstance in the life of the individual who is now addressing you, which although it may constitute no just claim of merit, has been regarded by you a sufficient reason for placing him in the situation he now occupies. The circumstance to which I have referred is perhaps no otherwise important than as connected with the early history of the city in which we are; a city that has sprung almost like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, full grown. No, gentlemen. I am mistaken. Rochester is not full grown. Its past history is replete with wonders, but its future destiny, I trust, will not be less marked by extraordinary progress and the development of all the elements of its manufacturing and commercial prosperity and greatness.
When I look around, it is impossible for me to realize that I was the first printer who established business in this city. How brief a period in the history of a nation; how long in the life of man, has since elapsed. It is now more than a quarter of a century ago since I first came to this place. What were the precise motives that influenced me in choosing this as the place of my location, it is perhaps at this time difficult for me to say; nor can it be a matter of any consequence for you to know. It certainly had few attractions at that period; yet there were those even then who believed it destined to become a place of great importance, and their anticipations, sanguine and extravagant as they were supposed to be, have been in its rapid growth, more than realized. My main object, however, in coming here, was to establish myself in business, and to acquire, what every young man should be ambitious to acquire, not unearned and sudden wealth, but a hard earned competency, the just reward of labor and perseverance, and an unblemished reputation.
It would not be difficult for me to enumerate many incidents in the early history of this place. They are fresh in my recollection; but most of the actors have passed away: death has been busy here, and borne from you many of the "first settlers," and I will not remove the covering that shrouds them from the living, and cause them to appear before you either for amusement or instruction. But when I remember what Rochester was, and what it is, so closely associated with its rise and progress is one individual, that I cannot disconnect him from it or fail to see in its prosperity the wisdom and forecast with which he always seemed to me eminently endowed. Well do I remember the impression he made upon my youthful mind. He was a venerable man, and now through the lapse of more than a quarter of a century, I distinctly recognize the grave and circumspect demeanor that distinguished him and impressed all who saw him with a deep sentiment of respect. I speak of the gentleman who was the founder of this city, and whose name it bears—Col. Nathaniel Rochester. Other individuals are perhaps entitled to nearly equal credit and distinction. Some of them are yet living actors in the busy drama of life; efficient and influential members of your society, but I cannot enumerate them all, and will not make a distinction that might seem invidious. Let me however, say to you, gentlemen, that Rochester in 1847, with its busy, thronging population; its well paved streets; its magnificent churches; its elegant private mansions; its well built rows of stores; its flouring mills; its manufactories, and its work shops, is no more the Rochester of 1816, than the most finished piece of sculpture is the unhewn, rough and shapeless marble of the quarry: that this wonderful change has not been the work of a few individuals. It is not my wish, nor is it my purpose, to detract from the merits of any person; but Rochester as it is, is the creation of a mightier power than individual effort. The prodigious results seen here have been produced by the active and combined energies of a whole people, and are in part the necessary consequence of advantageous local position, and the enterprise and industry of every section of the State.
But, I have been digressing. We have come not here to trace the history of Rochester, but to pay deserved honor to the illustrious dead. We have met as brethren of one profession; as printers, proud of the virtues and the fame of a member of our fraternity. Franklin was a printer; and is there a member of the craft who is not proud of the distinction which he acquired. He may not be the worthier by what was done by that great man, but as he catches a glimpse of the bright halo that encircles his name and character, he will feel that a reflected glory rests upon himself, and with a steadier eye and firmer step ascend the rugged pathway that leads to the goal of an honorable ambition. But Franklin was not only a printer, he was a philosopher, a statesman and a patriot. He did not belong to our craft alone; that was his starting point, but in the race of life, the apprentice boy placed himself among the most distinguished of men. How
