LILLY EATON'S ADDRESS. 369 



naturally tends to expand the mind, and enlighten the under- 

 standing ; wake up the slumbering genius, kindle the imagina- 

 tion, and direct it to noble and heavenly objects, and thus to 

 purify and exalt the soul. He sees, 



" 'Tis love that paints the purple morn, 

 And bids the clouds, in air upborne, 



Their genial drops distil ; 

 In every vernal beam it glows, 

 It breathes in every gale that blows, 



And glides in every rill." 



Especially should the Middlesex farmer rejoice in his profes- 

 sion and his home, because " his lines have fallen in such pleas- 

 ant places, and he has so goodly a heritage." Our soil may not 

 possess as deep alluvion, nor yield as spontaneous increase, as 

 some localities at the south and west ; we may not be able to 

 raise their yams and sweet potatoes, their cotton, and sugar, and 

 tobacco ; but while all the essentials of life are the products of 

 our soil, with a great variety of the delicacies, we are able, by 

 our health and enterprise, and by our habits of labor, industry, 

 and economy, to command in profusion, with our surplus pro- 

 ducts, the luxuries of other climes, without their diseases and 

 annoyances. It is likewise true, that we may have to toil more 

 assiduously than the cultivators of more fertile lands, but then 

 our health and strength, and the salubrity of our climate, not 

 only enable us to do so with ease, but with pleasure and profit. 



The Middlesex farmer is privileged with the best market 

 places in the land. With three cities, and numerous manufac- 

 turing villages in her limits, all flourishing, and rapidly increas- 

 ing in population and wealth ; possessing, in the fairs of Bright- 

 on and Cambridge, the best cattle fairs in the country ; in close 

 proximity with the metropolis of New England, and surrounded 

 on all sides, in immediate nearness, as is the Middlesex farmer, 

 with other large and flourishing cities and towns, he is always 

 sure of a good home market. Or, if he desire to avail himself 

 of more distant marts, the huge steam horse stands champing 

 and foaming upon the iron tracks, that diverge from our county 

 in every direction ; and on our harbors and rivers float the 

 ships, that sail to every quarter of the globe. 



