Of course, it is not expected that the representatives of the School
Committee will have very much to say. You have listened very
attentively to all that has been already said, and I think that the
ground has been still further covered in what has already been said.
It may not be known to all present that this Society, merging
community of interest at the time when the camp fires of the
Revolution had just burned out, associated themselves together for
mutual protection and for one another's general good. It was to
relieve the unfortunate, the widow and the orphan that brought
together the great mechanic minds of the past, and all a-down the past
century we can find that they have always been ready, always been
anxious, always been willing to lend the hand of kindness and
attention to those whom they found in need, to assist, to protect and
to care for. Robinson, in one of his poems, has said, "Who will break
the bread of sorrow? Who will give the cup of sympathy? Who breathe of
sympathy to those who are suffering, and relieve with the cup of
sympathy the sorrowing ones of earth?" I do not think I have quoted
that exactly, but it has been the motto of this Society ever to
protect those who needed their protection; to care for those who
needed their care and their bounty, and to-night we find the result of
this care and protection, in the graduates of the Class of '90-'91. I
leave this matter with you for reflection. We all know and realize
what it is to be a member of the General Society of Mechanics and
Tradesmen, and I, for one, am thankful to be able to say to you in
hearty welcome and in hearty greeting that the evidences are now
before you of the well-being, and the comfort, and the joy, and the
happiness of the graduates of the Class of '90-'91.