ADDENDA. 



At the sixty-second Institute of the Essex Agricultural 

 Society, held at Topsfield, Dec. 28, 1888, the afternoon 

 subject considered was, " Whittier, the Poet of our New 

 England Homes," and his influence upon the homes of our 

 farmers. 



President Ware, in introducing the essayist, spoke of agri- 

 culture furnishing special inspiration for poetic thoughts, and 

 said that Whittier was to the farmers of New England what 

 Burns was to Scotland. 



It was unanimously voted that the Secretary send the fol- 

 lowing greeting from the Society to the poet, Whittier : — 



Dear Friend : — The farmers of Essex County send greeting", 

 their most hearty congratulation upon the health of body and 

 mental vigor with which you have reached and passed your eighty- 

 first birthday. 



We also congratulate you that, in the good providence of our 

 Heavenly Father, you have been preserved to see the time when 

 your poems are read and prized by every nation on the globe ; 

 and we, your neighbors and friends, rejoice with you, as we con- 

 template the marvellous power of your words upon all classes of 

 our fellowmen, both in peace and war ; and we beg to assure you 

 that in no places are your poems read with more interest and 

 pleasure, or your words of tenderest love cherished with a purer 

 admiration, than in the homes of the farmers of your native county 

 of Essex. They also express the hope that your life may long be 

 preserved to shed its hallowed influence upon the world. 



The receipt of the same was acknowledged by the poet by 

 the following letter : — 



Oak Knoi.t,, Danveks, 12 mo., 30, 1888. 

 David W. Low, Esq., Secretary Essex County Agricultural Society. 



Dear Friend: — Thy letter conveying the congratulations and 

 kind wishes of the Essex County Agricultural Society at its meet- 

 ing on the 2<stfi inst. 1 have received with no common satisfaction. 



