goodly heritage which thou hast given us, for the civil and religious privileges which we enjoy, and for the multiplied manifestations of thy favor and goodness towards us. Grant us grace to show forth our thankfulness to thee for these thy mercies, and to live in holy obedience to thy righteous laws. We implore thy blessing on our Chief Magistrate and all others in authority, that they may so discharge their several duties as most effectually to promote thy glory, the interests of true religion and virtue, and the peace and honor and welfare of the State and Nation; and to us who are assembled to revive the memories of the past, and to renew old acquaintance, grant thy special blessing and grace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

3.-Song--"Auld Lang Syne." Arion Quartette.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to min'?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of o' lang syne?

CHORUS-For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

4.-Inaugural Address, by Harvey Rice, President of

the Association.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE ASSOCIATION: The occasion which convenes us is one of unusual interest, especially as it is the first annual convention devoted to public exercises, which we, as an organized fraternity, have attempted to hold.

While we who are early settlers have been busy in our time, time has been busy with us, and has crowned the heads of most of us with the silvery frostwork of age. The crown is one of honor, which honorably connects us with that heroic phalanx of early pioneers who were active in subduing a wilderness and in transforming it into a civilized land of happy homes the rich inheritance of the living present and the destined patrimony of the unborn future.

It is the leading object of this association, as expressed in its constitution, "to meet in convention annually, with a view of bringing its members into more intimate social relations, and collecting all such interesting facts, incidents, relics and personal reminiscences relative to the early history and settlement of Cuyahoga county as may be regarded of permanent value, and transferring the same to the 'Western Reserve Historical Society' for preservation."

It is in this way, and only in this way, as it seems to us, that the lessons of pioneer life, with its joys and its sorrows,

its trials and its hardships, can be rescued from oblivion and inscribed, as they should be, on the heart tablet of every child in the land. These are the grand aims of the association. It will be readily inferred, therefore, that the association does not convene for the purpose of celebrating an annual "festival" in the ordinary sense of that word, but rather for the purpose of enjoing "a feast of reason and a flow of soul," with simplicity of preparation and with a desire to create and leave a record of its work as a bequest to posterity. This it proposes to do by appropriating its funds arising from membership fees to the publication of an annual pamphlet containing its proceedings, with notices of its deceased members, and distributing the pamphlet gratuitously to the members of the association, so that we shall have, in time, a valuable history of the original pioneers and early settlers of our city and county, to which we, and they who follow in our footsteps, can refer, and derive both profit and pleasure. In fact, every generation has its early settlers, in whose life experiences all succeeding generations become interested. Thus time consecrates character, and embalms it. Hence our Association has the elements of perpetuity, and will, we trust, perpetuate itself.

If we look back into the records of early times, we shall encounter the surprising fact that a little less than a century ago this beautiful region which we now occupy was a part of

that vast unexplored territory whose western boundary was supposed to be lost in the golden twilight of the setting sun, and whose wild domain seemed destined to remain forever hushed in the silence of its own solitude, save when awakened here and there by the dismal howl of the wolf, and still more dismal warwhoop of the savage.

From time immemorial, a powerful Indian tribe, known as the Eries, occupied the south-eastern shore of Lake Erie, from whom the lake derives its name. They were a warlike race, and as evidence of this, have bequeathed to our times a series of earth mounds, some of which are still visible at different points along the lake coast. The origin and object of these mounds furnish a mystic problem, which our modern antiquarians have not, as yet, satisfactorily solved. It is quite probable, however, that these mounds were designed to mark not only the battle fields, but the sepulchres of the brave Eries, who lived, flourished, and became extinct at a date which belongs to the pre-historic ages. After their extinction they were succeeded by fragments of various migrating tribes, who continued to occupy the ancient domain of the Eries, especially the Valley of the Cuyahoga, for a long period of years, and in fact became "monarchs of all they surveyed."

Yet this wild region had a much higher destiny-a destiny which its dusky occupants did not comprehend. Their prophets, however, frequently predicted that a superior race