28 REMARKS OF GOV. EVERETT. 



property of an absolute despot, — rather a chief of brigands than 

 a sovereign, — who once or twice a year sends out his armed 

 hordes to scour the territory, to sweep together, without the 

 shadow of law or pretence of right, whatever they can lay their 

 hands on ; leaving the wretched peasant little else than what he 

 actually grasps with his teeth. Such is the system introduced 

 into some parts of Hindostan, by their Mahometan conquerors, 

 and it has had the effect of breaking down the civilization of 

 countries once refined, learned, wealthy and prosperous, into a 

 condition very little better than that of the North American sav- 

 age. Contrast this with the system on which our lands are held 

 and occupied, in pursuance of which, as a general rule, it is divid- 

 ed into small farms, the property of those who till them, who have 

 every inducement and facility to better their condition, and who 

 / feel themrelves on an equality with their fellow citizens in every 

 other pursuit. It is plain that over such a population no govern- 

 ment could exist but one like that beneath which we live, in 

 which the people are the direct source of power. Where this is 

 the case, it is equally plain that whatever improves and raises the 

 condition of husbandmen, tends directly to sustain and fortify the 

 social fabric. 



A very celebrated ancient poet exclaimed, " Oh, too happy 

 farmers ! did you but know your blessings." If this could be said 

 of the farmers of Italy, at the close of the civil wars, subjects of 

 an absolute prince, and a part of them only the owners of the land 

 they tilled, it may well be repeated of the husbandmen of JNevv 

 England, the proprietors of a soil, which furnishes a competence 

 of all the good things of life, and the possessors of an amount 

 of blessings never surpassed, if ever equalled. Not among 

 the least of these privileges, is the rich birthright of patriotic 

 recollections which has come down to us from our fathers, 

 and of which no portion of the country has more to boast 

 than the ancient county of Essex. It is no mere compliment, 

 sir; — the county of Essex is a distinguished part of the 

 State. It would be easy, within the limits of this single 

 county, to find, in the history of other times, bright exam- 

 ples of all the traits of character and conduct which promote 



