NORTH KENNEBEC SOCIETY. 193 



In another place, in the same book, this author portrays an- 

 other of this order of men, as he appeared in a season of be- 

 reavement, or when all his family had been led away from his 

 sight, by the hand of death. This is his lani^uage: 



" All gone, all vanished ! he deprived and bare, 

 How will he face the remnant of his life ? 

 What will become of him ? we said, and mused 

 In sad conjectures. Shall we meet him now 

 Haunting with rod and line the craggy brooks ? 

 Or shall we overh'-ar him, as we pass, 

 Striving to entertain the lonely hours 

 With music,' (for he had not ceased to touch 

 The harp or viol which himself had framed. 

 For their sweet purposes, with perfect skill.) 

 What titles will he keep ? will he remain 

 Musician, Gardener, Builder, Mechanist, 

 A Planter, and a rearer from the Seed ? 

 A man of hope and forward-looking mind 

 Even to the last ! Suth was be, unsubdued." 



These reflections from these men of thought and insight, bring 

 to view the characteristics of the wise and pure-hearted work- 

 ingman, and .help us to attain a firmer position, and a loftier 

 attitude, in the conviction that, upon free and wisely directed 

 labor, rests the greatness of personal, individual character, or 

 reposes the power and the honor of the community, or the 

 ■ nation. 



I will now speak of another disposition which you manifest 

 here, namely, the disposition to appreciate, and to take a be- 

 coming pride in this region which you call your home. 



I look upon this valley of the Kennebec as a beautiful 

 domain. Go with me to the top of Irish Hill, or to some emi- 

 nence overlooking the family of lakes, but a short distance to 

 the west of us, or to the crown of one of those wooded heights, 

 within our view, in Vassalborough^ or, if you prefer, go with 

 me to all of these points, and look with me from each, upon the 

 territory outspread below. In some regions there are grander 

 and bolder features in the landscape ; in others, there are 

 broader and more fertile plains ; and lands in other zones, are 

 not swept half the year by the cold winds of the north, or hur- 

 ried as long in the deep snows sent upon the gales and 

 storms which blow from above the icebergs of the Gulf of Lab- 

 rador and the Arctic Sea; yet, nowhere is there a better or 

 a finer combination of topographical aspects; nowhere does the 

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