178 * NORTU AROOSTOOK SOCIETY. 



So much then for Maine as a whole. And now, in regard to that 

 portion of«it which is your home, the far famed, the noted Aroos- 

 took. It is no exaggeration to call it, what it has so often been 

 called, the best part, the garden of Maine. It is not the language 

 of hj'perbole to say, that the sun never shone on a more glorious 

 land than the American Union ; that, of our Union, — New England, 

 the land of the pilgrims, is the best of it all. That Maine, as has 

 already been said, has no superior among her sister States, and 

 that this new, vigorous and gi'owing county of yours has no equal 

 in Maine. 



There is excellent soil in other portions of Maine, but no where 

 else so large tracts of uncqualed fertility. No where else is every 

 lot in town after town as it is here, capable of becoming an excel- 

 lent farm. No where else, is the labor and expense of converting 

 the wilderness into a fruitful field so small as here. And no where 

 else do so beautiful crops reward the labor of the farmer. 



The wise policy of the State, in recognizing the eternal truth, 

 that land like air and water is not the exclusive property of any 

 man, but the common property of all, and that every unoccupied 

 spot belongs to him, and him only, who will first enter, and live 

 upon it, and improve it, is rapidly settling your county with a class 

 of industrious, enterprising, intelligent, and worthy citizens, who 

 will soon cause these wild woods to give place to luxunant har- 

 vests, and happy homes. 



Your silvery streams, that have for ages rolled on and on, through 

 dark and silent forests, disturbed only by their own ripple and roar, 

 will ere long glide past verdant fields, be harnessed to busy ma- 

 chinery, and become the slaves of thousands of wheels and spindles. 

 Busy and thronged villages and towns will start up everywhere 

 as if by magic, and ere long the iron horse, whose provender is 

 fire, and whose muscles are revolving ^vheels, will come snorting 

 into your villages, his speed outstripped only by the electric fluid, 

 which will come flashing along the wires. The realization of all 

 this is only a question of time ; and shorter will be that time than 

 most of us anticipate. 



And now, friends, what is there to prevent your having your 

 every want supplied ? To prevent your having all that heart can 

 wish? What is there to prevent the future generations of this 

 county from having a healthy, vigorous, virtuous and enlightened 

 parentage ? What prevents your bringing up your children as 

 they should be, training them to be men and women in the noblest 



