ADDRESS.

Mr. President, and Members of the Essex Agricultural Society, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a matter of the most interesting nature, calculated to call forth our most sincere congratulations, that we come up to our annual festival covered and crowned with so many blessings, which the good and gracious God of the seasons has been pleased to vouchsafe unto us.

We have come, in most instances, from homes of peace, and plenty, from fruitful fields and meadows, rich with corn and crops of various kinds in great abundance. We have come from our flocks and herds, bearing it may be upon our persons the invigorating breath of our healthful companions, mingled with the aroma of new mown hay and the fragrance of the wild flowers upon which our careless feet have trodden. We have come from the scenes of our toil and our triumphs, where we have learned many a valuable lesson, both in success and defeat. From the earth that received the seed into her generous soil and returned it back to us increased a thousand fold, and from our helpers in our work, in the house, in the stalls, and on the farm, lessons of faith and trust, of hope and courage, of patience and perseverance, even from the

sturdy ox, that bends his willing neck to take the yoke, as well as from the subtle forces and elements that have arrested our attention and challenged our progress; and there is abundant cause for thankfulness to the bountiful giver of all good, that we can meet together at this beautiful season of the year, under this autumnal sky, and surrounded by such auspicious circumstances, to greet each other with such cordiality and friendship. For more than the display of our flocks and herds, or of our fruits and flowers, and more even, than the display of the products of genius, or the mechanism of man or maiden, more, and better than all of these, is the meeting and the joyous greeting of old friends. It is this that gives to our society more than half of its power. As the old Romans looked forward to the return of their harvest festival with supreme delight, so we of old Essex look forward to our annual feast, through all the swift flying days of the year, not as the old Romans, to offer sacrifices to their idol gods, but to meet together as fellow-workers, in a common calling, to give and to receive the congratulations of our friends, and to examine and admire the works of God and man, to look into the faces that have browned under the summer sun, and brightened under the harvest moon, and if we do not fill our halls with idol gods, we do what is better, for we bring with us our sons and our daughters, our wives and our mothers; and this feature of our feast is all the more enjoyable when we reflect on the fact, that we bring together the best minds and the best hearts, the best men and the best women, of Essex County.

In the midst of our congratulation, with some of us at least, our hearts like muffled drums are beating, as we think of those who have fallen in death the past year; for the fatal

reaper has been busy among our chief men, and an unusually large number of our most honored and honorable members have passed away. There was Edward H. Little, of Newbury, George W. Boynton, of Georgetown, Samuel Moody, of West Newbury, Thomas J. Clark, of Salisbury, Moses P. Payson, of Rowley, Thomas E. Payson, formerly of Rowley, Andrew Dodge, of Hamilton, Henry A. King, of Peabody, all of them good men and true. Peace to their ashes, and all honor to their memory.

In addressing you to-day, I am somewhat perplexed in making choice of a subject for your consideration. Not that the range of thought is at all limited, but more because it is spacious; and my perplexity is increased as I contemplate the long list of honored personages who have discoursed to you upon almost every subject connected with your high vocation. "Surely what shall the man do that comes after the King's?" As I looked abroad over the varied list of subjects, several of them have invited my attention. The soil we till has not been exhausted yet! The crops we cultivate are so numerous and varied in their nature and their adaptation to soil and climate, as well as the means of transporting them to market, that we might spend an hour profitably in their consideration. The cattle that graze in our pastures, or stand in our stalls, present a most interesting subject, and as I was thinking of these, my old familiar friend, the family Horse, called my attention to his condition and wants, and asked me to speak in his behalf, or at least to ask this venerable Society why it is that the ungainly Ox is allowed to pull and back the heaviest load possible, to the great admiration of his owner, and the winning of the first premiums? And why the draft Horse is allowed and encouraged to lift at the cart or the