ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 3 



servations and his wise inferences. It was said of liim, at his 

 death : " How much the society is indebted to his exertions is 

 well known to all acquainted witli its operations. His high rep- 

 utation, his knowledge of agriculture and zeal for its advance- 

 ment, combined with a readiness and happy talent in communi- 

 cating information, either orally or in writing, enabled him to 

 render probably greater services than would have been in the 

 power of any other individual." " It may be mentioned, as an 

 instance of his zeal for the society, that, but a few weeks before 

 his decease, he wrote the memorial, presented on their behalf to 

 the legislature, for a continuance of the grant to the agricul- 

 tural societies of this State." His presidency extended from 

 1818 to 1828, and was the last public office held by him. The 

 memorial presented by this society to the fiimily of Colonel 

 Pickering, after his decease, was a tribute of respect and regard 

 alike worthy of himself and of those whom he had so long and 

 so faithfully served. And his farm at Wenham, where he ap- 

 plied those principles of agriculture which he so carefully inves- 

 tigated, now bearing the marks of his industry, reminds us ever 

 of his devotion to the cause, and of the peaceful years which 

 closed his long and useful life. 



Passing from the distinguished founder of our society along 

 the line of worthy presidents, Howes and Mosely and Duncan 

 and Kittredge, I come to the name of one whom many of us 

 remember as the genial gentleman, the fervid orator, the honest 

 statesman, the pacific lawyer. The sixth president, Leverett 

 Saltonstall, was one of the most admirable, and stands nearest 

 in our history to the first and greatest. " Pickering and Salton- 

 stall," said Mr. Daniel P. King, in his eulogy of the departed 

 statesman, " worthy names, worthily associated ; no encomium 

 of ours can add one green leaf to their ever-fresh chaplets ; 

 their deeds, their talents and their virtues have secured for them 

 an enduring fame." And he adds : " Descended from a Puritan 

 family, Mr. Saltonstall made an honored name more honorable ; 

 of New England stock, he was worthy to represent the stern 

 virtues of New England ; they were his pride and his only 

 boast. Truth, honor and virtue he worshipped always, not be- 

 cause of the sure and adequate reward which they pay, nor 

 because it is fashionable occasionally to make a pilgrimage to 

 their altars, but because for their own sakes he loved truth and 



