154 



and the view good, though there was the common haze 

 lurking in the distance. 



In the evening the Institute held a meeting in the 

 drawing-room of the Crawford's, commencing at eight 

 o'clock. The usual preliminary business of the Institute 

 meetings having been suspended, the PRESIDENT said : 



The Essex Institute seldom holds a meeting beyond the 

 limits of Essex County. It is a local institution, and its 

 objects are the collecting and preserving materials that 

 will elucidate the natural and civil history of the county 

 of Essex, and also the promotion of the .arts, literature 

 and science, by its meetings, lectures, publications, exhi- 

 bitions, etc. 



On several different occasions, it has deviated from the 

 usual course and held meetings elsewhere. In August, 

 1867, at Kittery, Me., to visit, among other places of 

 interest, the mansion once owned and occupied by Sir 

 William Pepperell a wealthy and enterprising merchant 

 of the middle of the last century, who aided by his means 

 and individual services in the raising of an expedition for 

 the taking of Louisburg. This enterprise was crowned 

 with success, and he was rewarded with a Baronetcy from 

 George II. He was the first person born in New England 

 who received this honorable distinction. Portsmouth and 

 its surroundings, Kittery and Newcastle, are rich in asso- 

 ciations connected with the Colonial and Provincial peri- 

 ods of our history. In 1870, a visit was made to Ply- 

 mouth, Mass., where was noticed the rock on which the 

 forefathers lauded, and the interesting historical relics in 

 Pilgrim Hall. In 1875 a pilgrimage was made to Con- 

 cord, Mass., where life was first sacrificed in an open 

 resistance to British arms, the opening drama in the 

 Revolution ; and also where we could stand beside the 



