6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



unfaltering courage to achieve success. He was wonderfully 

 prosperous. There were very few men in western Massa- 

 chusetts whose yearly income was equal to his. But did he 

 make his money by grinding the faces of the poor? His 

 employees were his partners, the sharers of his prosperity. 

 He was their best friend ; they loved and trusted him ; he 

 cared for them, and gave and loaned them money as they 

 needed. And whom did he not help? His large, warm 

 heart responded to every appeal. It opened his purse to 

 supply every want. The churches and schools were en- 

 larged and strengthened by his zeal and liberality. For 

 this town hall and the public library we are indel)ted to 

 his love for Easthampton. He gave his time and strength 

 and money gladly and without stint for everything that 

 promised to be a blessing to the town. It was his aim to 

 do all possible good to others, to bless everybody but him- 

 self. His very presence was a rebuke to meanness and self- 

 ishness, and an incitement to deeds of kindness. His great 

 love shone in his face, and in the grasp of his hand you felt 

 the throb of his warm heart. And his spirit lives in the 

 midst of us to-day, moving us to imitate his example, and 

 strive not to get, but to give. 



Of what priceless worth to this community are the lives of 

 these two men, — Samuel Williston and Edmund H. Sawyer. 

 But who can estimate what it was worth to them to live as 

 they did, — not to win fortune and fame for themselves, but 

 to bless the world? Could they have made a wiser choice? 

 (]ould any other purpose have so crowned them with honor? 

 Did ambition ever win or riches ever purchase such glory as 

 rewards their unselfish devotion ? Is not an earnest, unselfish 

 life the best life for every man to live? I do not mean best 

 in its promises and hopes, best for the next world, but best 

 now, every day, because of the satisfying joy which is every 

 day poured into the soul. I have no feith in a religion that 

 demands wretchedness and suffering here as the price of 

 eternal happiness hereafter. The life that deserves eternal 

 joy will have a blessed foretaste of it here. Our Lord de- 

 clared that whoever gives up all earthly good shall receive 

 manifold more, not in the far-off future, but in this present 

 time. Good deeds pay down. Self-sacrifice is rewarded on 



