1907.] FUTURE OF SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWNS. 283 



contagious, so that it would be easy to show how that three- 

 quarters of a million dollars had been expended for public 

 interests in that corner of the state, through the stimulus of 

 Norfolk's example. The Library, the Gymnasium, the 

 University Club, the Boys' Oratorical Contests, the wealth of 

 music, choral and orchestral, enjoyed by the whole vicinage, 

 all sprang out of an original love for the town of Norfolk, 

 which eventually overflowed its borders. 



Yet when it began in a simple way, Norfolk, now a thriving 

 community, was a quiet little town of about a regiment and a 

 "half, that had been declining in population for decades, and 

 was nearly three hundred short of the census of i860. Town 

 loyalty and public spirit in other words, do not depend upon 

 the size of the town, nor the thrift of the town. Indeed, a 

 small town is more sure of enjoying it than a larger one. For 

 a man finds it easy to make a darling of his village, but it is 

 "hard to put your arms around a city. 



The President. There being no further business this 

 converition now stands adjourned without dav. 



