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-square miles, being territorially one of the smaller coun- 

 ties, while it is the third in the aggregate, and second in 

 the density, of population, can be found so many cities 

 and large and populous towns, as well distributed over 

 the county, the people of which are chiefly engaged in 

 manufactures, where all are consumers and few producers 

 of the farmers' products, furnishing a market almost at 

 his door for every product of farm and garden, and a 

 steam railroad to every town in the county save Nahant 

 and West Newbury, and to the latter, a horse railroad. 



Consider for a moment, and as you consider, imagine 

 you have a map of the county before you. There are 

 I/ynn with 50,000 inhabitants ; Salem with 30,000; Glou- 

 cester with nearly or quite 25,000 ; Newburyport with 

 15,000 : Haverhill with about 25,000 ; Lawrence with 

 40,000, together with the large towns of Marblehead, 

 Peabody, Beverly, Danvers, Amesbury and the Andovers. 

 And then add to the permanent population, the large and 

 constantly increasing number of summer residents, almost 

 literally covering our marvellously beautiful sea-shore, 

 for three or four months of the year, giving employment 

 to hundreds of mechanics and laborers, and ready to eat 

 and pay for about everything the farmers of that part of 

 the county can raise. And consider further, that of the 

 three hundred and fifty towns in the Commonwealth 

 more than half of the towns of Essex are within the first 

 one hundred in population — that in the manufacture of 

 boots and shoes, leather, carriages, clothing (including 

 hats), and flax, hemp and jute goods, in fisheries and 

 quarrying, and ship building, the county of Essex takes 

 the lead of every other, except, in some few instances, 

 Suffolk. 



Think again of the mills and machine shops of Law- 



