Rev. Harris K. Smith Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church Rev. John F. Plumb Arch Deacon and Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church Rev. Stephen Heacock Pastor of Advent Christian Church ] and the ‘weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin,’ I come here and find refreshment and repose. The large city has certain great attractions, and, in some respects, life in it is far broader and greater than it can be elsewhere. That is the reason I went to New York. But the town, and the _small city_, have other advantages, and it is by those that my love of this place is kindled. And so, on this birthday of New Milford, I want to speak of those qualities which I prize so highly in this place. “And, first on the list, comes personal freedom. Thackeray said that England had fifty million people in it, mostly fools. Well, when you have an enormously big city, there are so many fools gathered together there, that it is not feasible and practicable for the sensible people to be free. You must not carry a pistol, because there are so many ‘gumps’ that cannot be trusted with firearms. You cannot let people walk on the grass, or they will destroy the foliage. It is all paternalism. The law is taking care of you. You cannot let people take their children into the park on a sled. They might get hurt. A cordon of police guard the ice on the part of the lake that is not safe. If they did not, some idiot would skate into the water. Now, I resent being protected from myself. I feel like Ben. Franklin, ‘Where freedom is, there is my country.’ “Another good treasure you have is simplicity. Life here is less complex. There are so many things in city life that demand attention that our energies get scattered, and our attention diverted, and our ways conventional and artificial. It is hard to express just what I mean; but life up here is less confused and more elemental and natural and real. That is a good thing. Then, you have the sunshine and the air and the open fields. You have what people who come up here from the Bowery call ‘_loneliness_.’ It is aloofness. One can withdraw here, can get away, can get out of sight, can hear that still small voice which speaks only through the peace of nature--can ‘flee as a bird to the mountains.’ One idea of holiness is that which is set apart. Your landscape has a holiness which is not shared by shaven lawns punctuated by statuary. Our national emblem is the eagle, and there is an eagle spirit in the American people which likes the cliffs and the forests better than the boulevards and the parks.