46 BULLETIN OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE. 



antiquities and handle your precious heirlooms. When 

 my sketch was completed I sent it to the antiquarians of 

 Salem for criticism, to Dr. Wheatland, Messrs. Waters, 

 Rantoul and Upham. I expected to have it returned to me 

 in tatters. I was delighted to find it in such condition 

 that it could still be printed. Mr. Upham expressed his 

 surprise that I had been able to get so thoroughtyinto the 

 atmosphere of Salem. My reply was, that one who had 

 lived sixteen years in Salem, and loved it as I did, must 

 carry with him something of the atmosphere of the place. 

 As a reward of merit Mr. Upham presented to me for 

 my sketch one of his discoveries concerning the contro- 

 versy between the cottagers and commoners of Old Salem. 

 Probably he and I were the only two persons in the 

 United States who understood that question. 



I most heartily second the appeal of your President and 

 the President of the University for a larger endowment 

 and a full display of the historical and literary treasures 

 in the Essex Institute. I do this partly for a personal 

 reason, namely, to vindicate my reputation as a truth 

 teller. I have travelled in all parts of the union ; I have 

 visited state universities, laboratories and museums, and 

 whenever, in answer to the boasting of some institution 

 which had nothing to show in comparison with your 

 treasures, I have begun to speak of these things in Salem, 

 a look of incredulity has stolen over the faces of my 

 hearers, and a polite but increasing reserve indicated the 

 belief that I was exaggerating. The presence of our 

 English friend, Sir Dominic Conaghi, suggests a similar 

 experience by way of illustration. I was travelling in 

 Switzerland with an Englishman who dilated upon the 

 habit of exaggeration common to Americans. I asked 

 for a sample. " Oh I" he said, " they tell big stories about 

 everything ; the size of their farms, for instance." "Well," 



