*5 



ing, have trod in the paths of social life, of trade and 

 commerce and agriculture, in all the untried walks and 

 ways of men who laid the foundations and built this fair 

 fabric of government. It can never be in vain that we 

 bring before us the long, illustrious procession of honored 

 names of the Colony, the Province, and the Revolution, 

 and of later years. It is a strong, natural propensity to 

 do so, if they be of our kindred, but it is no less a solemn 

 duty to acknowledge the obligation Ave are under to 

 them, whether of our kindred or not. Their honor, their 

 devotion to a sense of duty, their achievments, their 

 lives — all are our common heritage. Nor can we preserve 

 what they wrought for themselves and for us, without a 

 careful and an appreciative study and comprehension of 

 what they were and what they did. 



Nowhere as in this ancient county of Essex, can we 

 walk about as in their very footsteps, and stand as it 

 were in their very presence. The very ground on which 

 we tread, in many parts of this county seems almost 

 resonant with the echoes of their footsteps, and the air 

 filled with the voices of the sturdy men and brave 

 women, the picture of whose lives and character two cen- 

 turies have not dimmed, to him who looks upon it with 

 loving eyes. 



Here in Essex, the best farmer — as he is the best citizen 

 always — believes in Essex county, in her history, her 

 traditions, the character of her people from the first until 

 now ; nor does witchcraft or the persecution of Quakers 

 and heretics shake his faith. He believes in the seed 

 originally planted here more than two hundred and fifty 

 years ago, and in the vitality and product of it, as it has 

 appeared and grown generation after generation until 

 now. He believes in Conant and Endicott, and Brad- 



