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sermon ; yet I feel proud of belonging to a farm which has pro- 

 duced at least two remarkable crops — the Associationists and the 

 Second Massachusetts Regiment. I believe that the Brook Farm 

 Association were not remarkable for their vegetables, but they 

 themselves were certainly a remarkable crop of men. One of 

 them, Mr. Ripley, has been one of the editors of a great New 

 York paper ; another, Mr. Dana, has been Assistant Secretary of 

 War during the last four years ; another, Mr. Geo. William Cur- 

 tis, is well known as a distinguished writer, orator and politician ; 

 and another, Mr. Hawthorn, has taken the first rank among Amer- 

 ican novelists. 



And then, early in 1861, the Second Massachusetts Regiment 

 was recruited and drilled on Brook Farm, under Colonel Gordon, 

 now General Gordon. What a record has theirs been ! It has 

 seen long marches, disastrous retreats, great defeats, and great 

 victories. It has been through so many battles that every private 

 in the ranks has seen more of war than the Field Marshals of Eu- 

 rope. We used to speak of a regiment being " decimated," to 

 express a great loss ; but what word shall we invent to express the 

 sacrifice of life in regiments which, like the Second and Twentieth 

 Massachusetts, instead of losing one in ten, lose eight or nine. 

 Wherever the Second Massachusetts went, whether in Banks's 

 retreat, the Peninsula campaign, the battle of Gettysburg, or on 

 Sherman's march through Georgia, it was one of the regiments 

 which, on account of its perfect discipline and unflinching courage, 

 always had the post of danger and honor. General Slocum, to 

 whose army corps it was long attached, said to a friend of mine, 

 that when he wanted to stiike a blow he always had to take the 

 Second Massachusetts " for the edge of his axe." 



But to come from this digression to the business before us. 

 This is a meeting of farmers, their wives, daughters and sons, who 

 come together in harvest time, to compare notes about farming, 

 and to show each other specimens of their Avork during the year. 

 It is a meeting of neighbors, who bring their biggest apples and 

 longest ears of corn, and talk together about the best kind of plows 

 and phosphates. It is a good thing, especially for farmers, to 

 meet in this way. Farming, with all its advantages, has this dan- 

 ger, that it tends to routine and the want of enterprise. A man 



