THE FIRST HALF CENTURY OF THE INSTITUTE. 37 



silhouettes and photographs ; old-time articles of wear 

 and furniture ; relics and curios of great variety ; geolog- 

 ical, mineralogical, botanical and natural history speci- 

 mens, and whatever else may properly serve the end in 

 view. 



And it were strange if some of these humbler local 

 societies were not able to gather, from the widely scattered 

 sons and daughters of their respective towns, many a 

 memento or prize of particular value to themselves, such 

 as the larger, central institution, in its vaster work, might 

 possibly miss. Treasures come back to us that might 

 else be lost. But whether they come from near or from 

 afar, all do good by kindling a new interest in the higher 

 things ; and it is especially gratifying and significant that 

 even the school children of the vicinity often come to see 

 and inquire, so that what they have learned in their regu- 

 lar daily studies may be made more vivid to their minds 

 by the object lessons they find. In numberless ways the 

 study of history is quickened and fostered, tastes are ele- 

 vated and ennobled, character is developed, and all are 

 somehow made to feel that man does not live by bread 

 alone, and that he does not bear the root, but the root him. 



We congratulate the Essex Institute on the splendid 

 work it has done. There is no end to the good it may 

 yet do, — and with it, I would fain hope, the sister societies 

 of which I have spoken, — in restoring, as far as may be, 

 the picture of the New England of our fathers, and, in 

 adding, still, to the great sum of human knowledge. They 

 are all ornaments and blessings to the towns or cities 

 where they exist, promoting their intellectual, moral, 

 social and even business prosperity, by their presence, 

 activities and influence. You have heard of the excellent 

 and venerable Presbyterian clergyman, who, after a very 

 long pastorate, still held on to his thinning and wasting 

 congregation, until the price of real estate itself around 



