he Water Board
was; and where would the city of Boston be, if the friends of that
enterprise had not succeeded? Act here to-night, and then let the city
government do its part. Objections may be made by some gentlemen, made
conscientiously; but, five years from now, these gentlemen will not
remember that they raised any objection.

This meeting is called for the purpose of giving the city government to
understand that the business-men, the working-men, of the city, mean
what they say, when they say that they want public parks; and there is
no question that an impulse will be given to the action of the city
government by this meeting. We are the city of Boston; and the members
of the city government act for us.

Gentlemen, it is getting late, and there are those to follow who will
entertain you better than I can. But I propose to close with a little
story which I heard; and it was in church that I heard it, in an
excellent sermon. Just after the war of 1812, our laboring men stood, as
they stand to-day, idling about the wharves and public places. That was
the case in a little town to the east of Boston. They had enterprising
men, as we have now; and one day a gentleman stepped into a bank, and
said to the president, "Mr. President, I am going to build a
ship."--"What do you know about shipbuilding?" asked the president.
"Nothing. But I can do the business; and there are men here who can do
the work. We have the money, and there are the men. I will build the
ship, and sell it; you will get your money back; and the profit will be
divided among the men." The idea was a novel one; but the president
wanted to set the wheels of business in motion; and so he said that he
would give an answer the next day. The gentleman called promptly the
next morning; and the president informed him that the directors had
agreed to advance the money. The gentleman then went out among the idle
men, and said, "I am going to build a ship, and I want you to do the
work. I will pay you enough to live on; and, when the ship is built, we
will divide the profit." So they went to work as co-partners, and built
the ship, this gentleman generously attending to the business. The ship
was built and launched and sold, the money was paid to the bank, and the
profits divided. That was the first ship built on the Merrimack in
Newburyport, which has since become one of the largest shipbuilding
places in Massachusetts.

So we want something to set the wheels i