“The First Company in Hartford antedates us by a few months, but the First Company was what its name implies, the Governor’s Guard. The Second Company came at the call of the danger to liberty and its first act was to make response to the call of Lexington and Concord. Under the man, then a magnificent patriot, Benedict Arnold, the company marched to the defense of their endangered brethren in Massachusetts.
“And these men, before they left, listened to a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, the benediction of which went with them throughout their march. They marched to the powder house—they asked for ammunition; the selectmen of the town denied their request. Arnold drew up his men before the door, and said: ‘We will give you five minutes to comply with our request; if the ammunition is not then forthcoming we will break down the doors and help ourselves.’
“That was the spirit with which they started on their march to Cambridge, and that spirit has animated the command through all these years. It has been our privilege to have been represented in every war the country has waged from 1775 to the present day, beginning with the attack upon West Haven, to repel which the company marched as a body under the command of Captain Hezekiah Sabin. Down through all the wars and in the most conspicuous battles, representatives of this Governor’s Guard have been found, shoulder to shoulder with the patriots of other States and other towns, contending for our liberties.”
The next speaker, Hon. Ebenezer J. Hill, was presented as one who needs no introduction to New Milford. Congressman Hill said:
“One year ago I united with some of your citizens in celebrating the fiftieth birthday of New Milford’s offspring, the town of Bridgewater.
“To-day I congratulate you that the parent has reached the hale and hearty age of two hundred years.
“While New Milford has had many trials and sore experiences, the old town shows no wrinkles, or scars, but is fresh and blooming and ready to enter upon the third century of its career with a courageous heart and unfaltering purpose to maintain in the future, as in the past, the splendid character of our New England civilization.
“There is no higher standard in the world than that, for it was established in the beginning of our history by men who feared none but God. Our fathers built upon the granite hills of New England communities and States, which, though small in area, have been mighty in influence, molding and shaping the destiny of the nation, and through it giving to the whole world an example of self-government, based on the sanctity of the home, the common school, freedom of religion, and the New England town meeting. With these maintained, the prosperity of the future is assured, for, while old age with all its weaknesses comes to men with the passing years, the lapse of time, if rightly used, should make a community or a nation stronger and more enduring.
“Temporary success may come from many causes, but, in the long run, it is character which counts, not only in the individual, but in the nation as well.
“A few weeks ago I visited the site of old Panama, a city on the Isthmus to which it gave its name. It was founded in conquest and plunder, a century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. A hundred and fifty years later, in conquest and plunder, Morgan and his pirate crews swept it from the earth; and now, nothing but an old church and tower, almost hidden in the tropical jungle, mark the spot where this once flourishing and populous city stood.