Massachusetts has always led her sister States. At the call to arms, her sons have been first in the field, and first to die for the common good. Her schools and colleges, her institutions of charity, and her statutes have furnished models for the new states of the great West, and for foreign republics. In her manufactures and mechanic arts, in the products of her inventive genius, in maritime enterprise, in the building of canals and railroads, and in every undertaking to develop the resources and promote the prosperity of the country, she has been first and foremost. With so proud a record, and with almost exhaustless means at her command, we do not believe our noble state is yet ready to abandon the lead; nor that the consideration of a few millions of dollars will prevent her from breaking down the barrier which divides us from the West, and by which the great stream of Western traffic has been so long checked and diverted. Rather let us trust that, by wise legislation, a liberal policy, and a cordial support of the gentlemen to whom the conduct of this enterprise is entrusted, the great work of De Witt Clinton will be perfected, and the noble design of Loammi Baldwin executed, by the completion of the Hoosac Tunnel, before it shall be announced from Sardinia that the Alps are pierced and France and Italy have joined hands under the Grand Vallon. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Facts and Figures Concerning the Hoosac Tunnel, by John J. Piper