ADDRESS. 



Mr. President^ Fellow Members of the Essex Agricul- 

 tural Society, Ladies and Gentlemen : — It is the practice 

 of orators in addressing Agricultural Societies to congrat- 

 ulate them upon the glorious success of the exhibition, the 

 magnificent show which greets them on every side, unpar- 

 alleled in the annals of the Society and perhaps unequalled 

 by any other society. 



This is all very well when it happens to be true, but with 

 all due respect to the worthy and talented gentlemen who 

 have had the honor and privilege of addressing you, I must 

 say that had this statement been true every time it has 

 been uttered, a state of perfection would by this time have 

 been reached in Cattle Shows. It is much easier to say a 

 pleasant thing than an unpleasant one, and you no doubt 

 go home feeling better satisfied with yourselves and with 

 all mankind when you have been told that you have 

 attained the highest eminence that can be attained in the 

 noblest calling of man. It is therefore with considerable 

 reluctance that I touch a different keynote. 



In another respect, I propose to depart from the example 

 set by my predecessors, i. e., in omitting to state that "I 

 do not presume to instruct the farmers of this county in 

 their business." You, Mr. President and Trustees of this 

 Society, could only have chosen me to deliver this address 

 because you knew that my education and experience ren- 



