ESSEX SOCIETY. 73 



tended with any great sorrow or grief. They are not sure, sep- 

 arate from the influence of prejudice and habit, that the far 

 OFF are better than the near by ; certainly not in the state in 

 which we can have them. The avidity with which the grapes 

 of this county are sought when they can be obtained from the 

 woods and wild places about, the gladness with which they are 

 received when gratuitously bestowed, the price which they de- 

 mand when exposed in market, are sufficient proofs that the 

 fruit as it grows in this State, is in sufficient demand to justify 

 an extensive cultivation, and to leave no just ground of grief, 

 that we cannot possess those which adorn and bless other lands. 

 God has divided these things as it has pleased him, and the 

 committee are fully persuaded that He has not left us in this 

 particular without witness that He is good, and that with Him 

 there is no respect of persons. 



They must believe the grape of this country possesses as 

 many valuable properties as those of other countries of a simi- 

 lar latitude, or perhaps we should rather say of a similar clime. 

 Why should it not be so ? Ours may not possess some of the 

 excellences which are found in those abroad. On the other 

 hand, there are qualities of a valuable nature in ours, which 

 theirs have not. A warm climate may produce better fruit 

 than one that is cold, but this is not the question now before 

 us. The question is, can foreign grapes be produced generally 

 which upon the whole are better than ours. The committee 

 think not. There are peculiarities which it is thought well to 

 mention, by which many of the grapes of this and some other 

 countries are distinguished from each other. One of these is 

 the foxy taste of ours, and musky taste of theirs. The com- 

 mittee are not certain but these flavors are equally unpleasant, 

 at first, to all, or that they do not become equally pleasant after 

 a little use. The greatest difference, perhaps, may be found in 

 the fact that one has by a train of circumstances, not important 

 to mention, worked itself into fashionable connection, the other 

 is yet mixed with uncultivated life. This disrelish to the 

 foxy taste of our grapes which many entertain, may be, as 

 many such aversions have been, overcome. The oldest por- 

 tions of the community can well recollect the time when many 

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