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prevail to an extent no less alarming than deplorable, among 

 the laboring population of that country ? Surely, if moral 

 beauty is of a higher order than that which belongs to art 

 and nature, we might claim the palm in our comparison of 

 scenery, upon this distinction alone. 



Reminded of his country's greatness and renown by what 

 he saw before him, our Poet, as you may remember, proceeds 

 to a descriptive enumeration of her heroes and statesmen, her 

 philosophers and bards, — and it is worthy of remark, that in 

 all his catalogue of glory, there is scarcely a name — from 

 Alfred to Hampden — from Bacon to Newton — from Chaucer 

 to Milton — which belonged any more to him, than it belongs 

 to us. And do not we experience the same kindling memo- 

 ries, whenever we survey the much-loved scenery of our 

 native land? Need I remind you that in the chronology of 

 New England, or at least in that of " the Massachusetts," Es- 

 sex comes next to Plymouth, or that Endicott was here, before 

 Winthrop came ? Among our ancestors, the pioneers of Es- 

 sex, and their descendants from that day to our own, it is our 

 privilege to trace a long, illustrious line — and were not the 

 theme all too fruitful, 1 could wish for no pleasanter task 

 than here to revive, for an instant, their names and their vir- 

 tues. 



Let us not forget that a distinguished ancestry sheds no 

 lustre on degenerate children. Say rather, the more re- 

 nowned our fore-fathers, the more conspicuous our dishonor, 

 if we fall greatly below them. While we aim at a more 

 profitable culture of the earth than our fathers attained — or 

 could, perhaps, attain, — let us bear in mind that there are 

 other fields, — fields of the intellect, — fields of the heart, 

 from which they gathered many a glorious harvest, and that 

 the momentous question, whether these shall yield us only 

 weeds and briars, or golden, imperishable fruits of joy, will 

 be determined solely by our care, or our neglect of them. 



As we run over the ample list of our Essex celebrities — 

 both the living and the dead — we find many statesmen, ora- 



