Yale, to the ten worthy fathers, who assembled at Branford, in 1700, and laying each a few volumes on the table, said, 'I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony;' and Harvard, to the dying munificence of an humble minister of the gospel, who landed on the shores of America, but to lay his dust in its soil; but who did not finish his brief sojourn, till he had accomplished a work of usefulness, which, we trust, will never die. Whence originated the great reform in our prisons, which has accomplished its wonders of philanthropy and mercy, in the short space of eight years, and made the penitentiaries of America the model of the penal institutions of the world? It had its origin in the visit of a missionary, with his Bible, to the convict's cell.— Whence sprang the mighty temperance reform, which has already done so much to wipe off a great blot from the character of the country? It was commenced on so small a scale, that it is not easy to assign its effective origin to a precise source. And counsels and efforts, as humble and inconsiderable at the outset, gave the impulse to the missionary cause of modern times, which, going forth, with its devoted champions, conquering and to conquer, beneath the great ensign of Messiah,— has already gained a peaceful triumph over the farthest islands, and added a new kingdom to the realms of civilization and Christianity. ADDRESS DELIVERED AT BRIGHTON, BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 16TH OCTOBER, 1833. It is generally admitted, that since the institution of cattleshows in this country, the condition of our agriculture has been manifestly improved. Before their establishment, our husbandmen seemed to want those means of improvement, and encouragements to action, which are enjoyed by their fellow citizens engaged in several other pursuits. Instead of living together in large towns, they are scattered over the surface of the country. Instead of having two thirds of every newspaper which appears, filled with advertisements or information relative to their occupation,-as is the case with the merchants,—the most they could promise themselves was, that the weight of an enormous vegetable should be faithfully recorded; and the memory of some calf, with two heads and six legs, be handed to posterity. They held no conventions and assemblies, like the clergy and physicians;—were not brought together like the lawyers, at the periodical terms of court, to take sweet counsel with each other, for the public good; and seemed not to possess, in any way, the means of a rapid comparison and interchange of opinion and feeling. Since the establishment of the cattle-show of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, and those of the several county societies, this state of things has been greatly amended; and to a considerable degree, I imagine, through the agency of these institutions. The cultivators of the soil are now brought together. Their agricultu ral improvements, their superior animals, their implements of husbandry, the products of their farms,-their methods of cultivation, are all subjects of inquiry, comparison, and excitement. The premiums proposed, have given a spring to the enterprise of the cultivators; not on account of the trifling pecuniary reward which is held out, but under the influence of a generous spirit of emulation. The agricultural magazines and newspapers take up the matter in this stage, and give notoriety and permanency to all that is done or doing. The knowledge of every improvement is widely diffused. Increased prosperity begins to show itself, as the reward of increased skill and knowledge; and thus the condition of the husbandman is rendered more comfortable and more honorable. A word of exhortation has become by usage a part of the ceremonial on these occasions;-and it has been thought not unseasonable, that the husbandmen's festival should afford some brief opportunity for the expression of opinions on important interests connected with their pursuits, and for the inculcation of the sentiments which belong to the vocation, standing, and usefulness of the farmer. You have just left the exhibition grounds, where you have been eye-witnesses of the dexterity of our ploughmen; where you have admired the display of the strength and docility of the well-trained draught cattle; where you have examined the animals brought forward as specimens of the improvement of their various races. You have not, of course, retired from this animated and interesting scene, thronged as it is by the assembled yeomanry of the Commonwealth, the living masters of the great art of agriculture,to come together here, with the view of gaining additional knowledge of matters of practical husbandry. This, I am well persuaded, at all events, is not expected from me, and I shall have fulfilled the object for which I have been invited to appear before you, on this occasion, if I shall succeed, in any degree, in bringing home to the minds of those whom I have the honor to address, the importance and respectability of the occupation of the farmer, and his comparative condition in this and other countries. In the first place, then, let us say a word of the importance of the pursuit of the husbandman. What rank does agriculture hold, in the scale of usefulness among the pursuits of men in civilized communities? We shall arrive at a practical answer to this question, by considering, that it is agriculture which spreads the great and bountiful table, at which the mighty family of civilized man receives his daily bread. Something is yielded by the chase, and much more by the fisheries; but the produce of the soil constitutes the great mass of the food of a civilized community, either directly in its native state, or through the medium of the animals fed by it, which become, in their turn, the food of man. In like manner, agriculture furnishes the material for our clothing. Wool, cotton, flax, silk, leather, are the materials, of which nearly all our clothing is composed; and these are furnished by agriculture. In producing the various articles of clothing, the manufacturing arts are largely concerned, and commerce, in the exchange of raw materials and fabrics. These, therefore, to a considerable degree, rest on agriculture, as their ultimate foundation; especially as it feeds all the other branches of industry. If we suppose the population of this State to consume in food and clothing, on an average, half a dollar a week each, (and that is about half the cost of supporting a slave in the Southern States), it will give nearly fifty-two millions of agricultural produce consumed in Massachusetts in a year. In addition to this, is all that is consumed by the domestic animals, and all that is raised and not consumed, but exported, or otherwise given in exchange for articles of value, which are preserved and accumulated. Agriculture seems to be the first pursuit of civilized man. It enables him to escape from the life of the savage, and the wandering shepherd, into that of social man, gathered into fixed communities, and surrounding himself with the comforts and blessings of neighborhood, country, and home. The savage lives by the chase, -a precarious and wretched independence. The Arab and the Tartar roam, with their flocks and herds, over a vast region, destitute of all those refinements, which require for their growth the features of a permanent residence, and a community organized into the various professions, arts, and trades. They are found now, after a lapse of four thousand years, precisely in the same condition in which they existed in the days of Abraham. It is agriculture alone, that fixes men in stationary dwellings, in villages, towns, and cities, and enables the work of civilization, in all its branches, to go on. Agriculture was held in honorable estimation, by the most enlightened nations of antiquity. In the infancy of commerce and manufactures, its relative rank among the occupations of men was necessarily higher than now. The patriarchs of the ancient Scripture times cultivated the soil. Abraham was very rich in cattle, in gold, and in silver. Job farmed on a very large scale: he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses. In Greece, the various improvements in husbandry, the introduction of the nutritive grains, and the invention of convenient instruments for tilling the soil, were regarded as the immediate bounties of the gods. At a later period, land was almost the only article of property; and those who cultivated it, if they were freemen, were deemed a more respectable class than manufacturers and mechanics, who were mostly slaves. Among the Romans, agriculture was still more respected than among the Greeks. In the best and purest times of the republic, the most distinguished citizens, the proudest patricians, lived on their farms, and labored with their own hands. Cato the censor was both a practical and scientific farmer, and wrote a treatise on the art ;— and who has not heard of Cincinnatus? When the Sabines had advanced with a superior army to the walls of the city, the people, although at that period greatly disaffected toward the patricians, demanded that Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, one of that unpopular class, should be created Dictator,—that is, that all the laws, and the power of all the magistrates should be suspended, and despotic authority vested in his hands. Livy, in relating the occurrence, cannot help breaking out in the exclamation, That it is well worth the attention of those who despise every thing on earth but money, and think that there is no place for honor or virtue, except where wealth abounds. The sole hope of the Roman empire, (adds he), in this the day of her extremity, L. Quinctius, was cultivating, at this time, a farm beyond the Tiber, which still bears his name, and which consisted of four acres. There he was found by the messengers who were sent to hail him as Dictator, leaning on his spade, or holding his plough. After having raised an army and defeated the enemy, he laid down, in sixteen days, the dictatorship, which he was authorized to hold for six months, and on the seventeenth day, got back to his farm.** * Liv. lib. III, § 26. |