MIDDLESEX FELLS. 



203 



supporter of the Middlesex Pells project, and his life was 

 probably sacridced by overwork in endeavoring to arouse pub- 

 lic interest in its behalf. He was a Life Member of the Appa- 

 lachian Mountain Club, and a frequent attendant upon its 

 meetings and excursions. Jan. 9, 1884, he read a paper on the 

 " Sanitary Effect of Forests." * An appropriate eulogy, which 

 I am permitted to quote, was contained in the address of 

 President T. W. Higginson before the Club, Jan. 13, 1886 : — 



" We miss from among us the face of that devoted friend of all out- 

 door explorations, Elizur Wright. I have known him almost all my 

 life : first, as the fearless ally, and at times the equally fearless critic, 

 of William Lloyd Garrison ; then as the translator of La Fontaine's 

 Fables, — a task for which he seemed fitted by something French in his 

 temperament, a certain mixture of fire and bonhomie, which lasted to 

 the end of his days ; then as a zealous petitioner before the legislature 

 to remove the lingering disabilities of atheists ; and then as the eager, 

 hopeful, patient, unconquerable advocate of the scheme for setting 

 apart the Middlesex Fells as a forest park. I served with him for a 

 time on a committee for that seemingly hopeless object, and shall 

 never forget the inexhaustible faith with which he urged it. In his 

 presence it was almost impossible not to believe in its speedy success ; 

 all obstacles seemed little before his sanguine confidence, and each 

 scattering donation of a dollar or two filled him with renewed faith, 

 although it was plain that tens of thousands of dollars must be forth- 

 coming to accomplish the end. Scarcely any one was ever present 

 at these committee meetings except the three old men in whom the 

 whole enterprise appeared to centre, — Wilson Flagg, John Owen, 

 and Elizur Wright. They were all of patriarchal aspect ; and as they 

 sat leaning toward each other, with long gray locks and gray beards 

 flowing, I always felt as if I were admitted to some weird council of 



1 Among the numerous articles written by Mr. Wright, the following may 

 be mentioned in addition to those noticed in the text : The Park Question ; 

 The Park of the Future; Middlesex Fells (several papers); The Forests; 

 Middlesex Fells, Boulevards across Mystic. Valley; Middlesex Fells, Suburban 

 Park between Medford and Stoneham ; Our Water Supply, address in the Town 

 flail, Maiden, March 31, 1881 ; Oh for a Worthy Palm (poetry) ; The Legend of 

 Cheese Hock (poetry) ; The Voice of a Tree from the Middlesex Fells, Tran- 

 script, Oct. 10, 1883; The Public Domain,— the Atmosphere of Heaven the 

 Atmosphere of the People; Forest Culture from a Sanitary Point of View ; 

 The Massachusetts Law; Answers to L, Medford Mercury, Jan. 9, Oct. 30, 

 1885 ; " Fas est ah hoste doceri," Medford Mercury, Nov. 6, 1885. 



