1897.] ESSAYS. 45 



What wonderful progress has been made in these' latter years in 

 Agriculture, in Horticulture, iu Floriculture, in Literature, in Science, 

 in Art, especially in Medical Science (which goes to prolong human 

 life) ! What comforts and luxuries are enjoyed today by the hum- 

 blest people, that were uulvuown to the wealthy a few decades ago ! 

 Ui)on a recent visit to Washington, in going from my hotel to the 

 capitol, I passed by the statue of Benjamin P'ranklin, on Pennsylvania 

 Avenue. I looked up in the face of what seemed to be a kindly, 

 benevolent old man, and said to myself : Could the stone heart beat, 

 could the marble lips move, could the tongue speak, what would he say 

 to his countrymen now? What would he say to this capital city of 

 the nation ? What would he say to the electric light, the telephone ? 

 What would he say to the electric cars, the phonograph, the Atlantic 

 cable, the flying colonial express which runs from Washington to Bos- 

 ton in twelve hours? (It took two weeks for the news of the Decla- 

 ration of Independence to reach Boston from Philadelphia by the 

 swiftest transportation then known.) What would he say to the army 

 of employes in the United States Post-Offlce Department? (He was 

 George Washington's Postmaster-General and a member of his Cabi- 

 net, and he kept all the accounts of the Department himself, and did 

 not have a clerk.) What would he say if he could see plants growing 

 by electricity iu the night? What would he say to the improvement 

 in printing, which was his profession ; to the sun pictures or photo- 

 graphs, now [)rinted by the million iu the cheapest papers? Think of 

 the cheapness of literature, of the public libraries, and the educational 

 facilities that are within reach of the poorest and humblest of our 

 people. But these privileges bring with them added responsibilities 

 for the way in which we use these blessings. 



If I can get a good living, and something more, iu sterile New Enor- 

 land, and the soil of my farm is no better than that of thousands of 

 others in Massachusetts, is it not an inducement and encouragement 

 for those who live in the more fertile soil from the Potomac to the Rio 

 Grande and from the Golden Gate to the Hudson, to engage iu this 

 same honorable occupation. 



On the morning of a memorable battle Napoleon Bonaparte pointed 

 his gleaming sword toward the morning sun, and said to the officers 

 that stood about him, "Behold! Behold! the sun of victory!" May 

 the same sun of victory shine on all connected with the Worcester 

 County Horticultural Society, and upon all engaged in Horticulture 

 and Agriculture, and may they be characterized far and wide for their 

 harmony, contentment and prosperity ! 



