A Grass Lake Response

Manchester, Chelsea and Grass Lake nów lnok down npon their ueighbors iroin h pinnacle of greatuess on wbich they were placed by Mrs. W. F. Shaler, in a speech responding to the toast "Grass Lake, Cbelsea and Manchester" at an L. O. T. M. banquet in Grass JLake, a speech which deserves to go tnundering down the ages as long as the rays of history shall irradíate the path of time, and which in its effulgence rivals the most famons utterances of the bard of Willis. The response vas as follows: "Toastmistress and Ladies: Grass Lake- Chelsea - Manchester! Seats of empire in qneenly realms! more beautifnl for situation than the enduiing city of whioh the enraptnred Psalmist sang ! glorióos with stately tnrrets and gleaming toweis - witb lofty domes and elender spires ! vestibules of the homes of the immortals ! the abodes of fair women and brave men ! what words of mine can do justice to thee, lovely brides of our goodly land? Dwelling amid the splendors of this trinmvirate of marta, where white-winged peaoe abides, we envy not the great metropolis of onr own land, her rush of life and mighty opnlenoe; nor London, the modern Babyion, with her architectural grandeur and titled greatness; nor Paris, city of palaoes and evanesoent gayety ; nor the romantio glories of the castle-crowned heights of thefthine; nor imperial Rome, with her orumbling trinmphal arenes and mctüdering greatness ! We envy them uot, for amid the stately splendors of these magnificent cities there flow rivers whose blaok waters are composed of misery and want, sorrow and tears, crime and death, and which, to onr experience, are unknown. Onr fair towns, virtnons and happy, sit enthroned amid expanses rich with autumn's frnitage and fanned by breezes sweeter than the perfnrued wiads of Araby the Biest. Withiu their delightfnl preoincts gladness dwells and plenty holds conrt, as the gracefnl bnt substantial forms of many about me attest. It is uot all of life to live nnless yon live in one of these three retreats of bliss, and it migbt be risky to deny tbat bnt for the rise of onr trio of imperial towns, Colombns' gloiy wonld be imperfect. Then hail, Grass Lake! forevermore qneenly ! against whose foundation walls the waters of the mighty deep beat in stormy auger, or sigh in osculatory bliss! Hail, Chelsea! charming empress of the plains! with thy thonsand graces and a moeaio of emerald and gold stretching away on every side to the azure rim of the bending skies! Hail, Manchester! fair bride of tbe crystal river that weds thee to the all embracing sea and jeweled with virtues as bright as the stars in the blue floor above thee! All hail, trinnjvirate of smiling' Queens! may thy radiant retinnes gathered here in this glad bour, clasp fraternal hands and may the golden bonds of friendship bind us one to another nntil the curtain drops and tbe drama of life is ended." Phew! Now may the bard of Willis, and that older bard, the Latin Horace, faide their diminished heads.