ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:

We have assembled under the sanction of constitutional authority for the purpose of consulting together on the promotion of the highest and best interests of the State of Maine. As fit representatives of an intelligent constituency, I have the honor to welcome you to the Capitol of the State, and congratulate you that you hold a position which has heretofore been occupied by worthy and distinguished legislators.

It is with feelings of personal pride that I acknowledge the high honor which has been conferred upon me by the independent suffrage of a majority of the people of this State. I have accepted the position of Chief Executive, and taken the oaths of office with a profound sense of its responsibility and of my incapacity to meet fully the expectations of the people, but this feeling is supplemented by a desire and determination "to act well my part," to the best of my ability. I, therefore, respectfully claim the indulgence of all.

The real object of government has been clearly defined in the preamble of our National and State constitutions; let our acts be in accordance with the wise teachings and principles therein expressed; and from the purposes indicated, let there be no departure.

Before entering upon our Legislative duties, it becomes us to follow venerated customs, and acknowledge with grateful hearts our obligations to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe; to thank Him devoutly for the manifold blessings bestowed upon our State in the past, and to humbly implore Divine aid

and guidance for the future. The obligation and oaths which we have taken under the constitution, should render our responsibilities a matter of constant solicitude; that there should be an exact and just observance of all those principles of economy and demands of justice which constitute and measure wise legislation. One of the early Governors of the "District of Maine," mentioned "piety, justice, moderation, temperance, industry and frugality as the essentials of good government." Let us not fail to heed and follow the wise teachings of our fathers, "for they left deep footprints wherever they trod."

Since the adjournment of the last Legislature, the American people have passed through the trying experiences of a Divine dispensation which has before visited this nation. The wisdom of such repeated inflictions baffles man's comprehension; but we calmly submit, since the responsibility rests with a Supreme Power, whose acts are far beyond human understanding. President Garfield was a representative American; commencing at the lowest round of the ladder, he reached the highest summit of earthly honor. On his funeral day, the people of Maine stood thoughtfully beneath the shadow of a national bereavement and rendered their tribute of sincerest sorrow for the loss of their beloved President. Then, as when Washington, Jackson and Lincoln died, partisan feeling was forgotten in universal grief.

It is one of the out-growths of civilization and education, the leaven which preserves our nation, not to measure personal character by the standard of partisanship, but justly to award to all truly great men the meed which belongs to conscientious acts of patriotism and lofty statesmanship. It is the calm and reflective judgment which is rendered after passion, selfishness and partisan criticism have lost their influence, that makes up a just and reliable history of events and writes the true biography of great men. Let us be ever ready to perpetuate the memory of our great leaders by suitable and enduring memorials and monuments.