26 



dyer, before it reappears in tliu form of cloth. And what does the cloth avail, 

 till the tailor, witli his divine art, finishes — tlie man. 



So men want not timber or stone, but houses, baras, ships, temples of educa- 

 tion, and temples of religion ; and here, again, the yield of the Agriculturist 

 must be subjected to the almost numberless manufacturing processes, of masonry 

 and architecture. 



It is obvious to remark, tlierefore, that it is the distinction of Agriculture, tbat 

 it furnishes the material for all the manufacturing and exchanging processes — 

 that there is nothing in the hands of the Artizan, or the Merchant, that has not 

 been in the hands of the Farmer. Agriculture thus hes at the foundation of the 

 economical structure of society. 



But it is entirely proper here, to submit the caution, that too much of rela- 

 tive dignity and importance must not be assumed to Agriculture, in consequence 

 of this distinction. To him who enjoys the final product, the initial, the medial, 

 and the finishing processes, are all equally important. 



It is true, that without the raw material furnished by the Agriculturist, the 

 occupation of the Artizan, and the Merchant, is gone forever. But without the 

 processes of art and of exchange, without the Merchant and the Artizan, what 

 would be the value of the raw material? Would it be produced at all ? It Ls 

 tme, that the structure cannot stand without the foundation. But what is the 

 value of the foundation, if no superstructure is to be erected upon it? Would 

 the foundation be laid at all ? 



It is no disparagement to Agriculture, that it cannot say to Manufacture, I 

 have no need of thee. It is no disparagement to both, that they cannot say to 

 Commerce, We have no need of thee. Neither is it any disparagement of these 

 thi-ee great industrial interests of societj-, that they cannot say to the Professions, 

 We have no need of you. Nor yet, does it disparage all these — aye, it ennobles 

 them all — that they cannot say to Education, We have no need of thee. 



Tlic truth is, we are members, one of another, with mutual uses and depend- 

 encies. As in the natural body, so there is a divine harmony running through 

 the whole structure of the body economical. One member cannot sufter without 

 all the other members sufter with it. 



But to elaborate this thought more thoroughly and minutely: 



I. Agriculture is interested in the prosperity and improvement of the manu- 

 facturing interest, throughout the whole circle of the Useful Arts : 



In the first place, manufacture takes the raw material of Agriculture, and 

 Agriculture takes in return the perfected product of manufactiu-e. A commercial 

 process may intervene : but the essence of the whole transaction between Agri- 

 culture and Manufacture is, Avhen completed, a barter of the products of the one 

 for the products of the othei\ The existence of the Arts, creates a demand for 



