t this fountain does not pour out its blessings for Cincinnati or
for her visitors and guests alone. Cincinnati is one of the central
cities of the Nation--of the great continent. It is becoming the
convention city. Witness the National assemblies in the interest of
commerce, of industry, of education, of benevolence, of progress,
of religion, which annually gather here from the most distant parts
of America. This monument is an instructor of all who come. Whoever
beholds it will carry away some part of the lesson it teaches. The
duty which the citizen owes to the community in which, and by
which, he has prospered, that duty this work will forever teach. No
rich man who is wise will, in the presence of this example,
willingly go to his grave with his debt to the public unpaid and
unprovided for. Many a last will and testament will have a
beneficent codicil, suggested by the work we inaugurate to-day.
Parks, fountains, schools, galleries of art, libraries, hospitals,
churches--whatever benefits and elevates mankind--will here receive
much needed encouragement and support.

This work says to him who, with anxious toil and care, has
successfully gathered and hoarded--Do not neglect your great
opportunity. Divide wisely and equitably between the few who are
most nearly of your own blood, and the many who in kinship are only
a little farther removed. If you regard only those reared under
your own roof, your cherished estate will soon be scattered,
perhaps wasted by profligate heirs in riotous living, to their own
ruin, and you and your fortune will quickly be forgotten. Give a
share--pay a tithe to your more distant and more numerous
kindred--to the general public, and you will be gratefully
remembered, and mankind will be blessed by your having lived!

Many, reflecting on the uncertainty of the future, will prefer to
see their benefactions distributed and applied while they are still
living. Regarding their obligations to the public as sacred debts,
they will wish to pay as they go. This is commendable; perhaps it
is safest.

But at some time and somehow the example here presented will and
must be followed. All such deeds are the parents of other similar
good deeds. And so the circle within which the blessings flowing
from this fountain are enjo