668 



continue to fan the luxuriant verdure that mantles the bills and carpets 

 the valleys, and yet 77ian, v?ithout a constant draft upon his own re- 

 sources, would perish from alternate heat and cold, or starve in the 

 vestibule of nature's granary. The stern decree, "In the sweat of 

 thy face shall thou eat bread," still rests in pristine vigor upon the 

 whole brotherhood of humanity. The fearful lesson has been writ- 

 ten a thousand times upon the page of human suffering. Meager 

 famine induced by indolence or crime, has often exacted the most ap- 

 palling tribute of life. 



Even mental and physical activity, strenuous and continued, cannot 

 alone purchase immunity from want. The noblest conceptions of 

 genius have been penciled on canvas, and chiseled on marble, whilst 

 the pangs of hunger were consuming the artist. At the very time 

 when myriads of husbandmen were forced to toil in rearing those 

 useless pyramids, men died of starvation within their shadow. Im- 

 pelled by ambition or revenge, intellect has schemed, and men have 

 strenuously labored to make desolate the fairest portions of the globe, 

 trampling in the dust the bounties of nature garnered up by care 

 or prudent forethought, and crushing out the image of God from the 

 face of humanity. Generally, as a direct result, the recoil of pinching 

 famine has proved more fearfully terrific than the edge of the sword. 



Intellect, then, must operate in useful channels, and labor must be 

 skillfully directed and diligently applied to the legitimate pursuits of 

 industry. 



It is natural for men, when assembled on occasions of common inter- 

 est, like the present, to indulge in comparison and retrospection. In 

 the midst of gratulations for the eminent success which has crowned 

 your efforts, you instinctively glance over other communities, nations 

 and countries, for the proper measure of your own attainments, and true 

 position in the scale of civilized being. The result to you must be 

 highly gratifying, when tried by any rational standard of morality, of 

 social happiness, general intelligence, public prosperity and civil free- 

 dom. As it regards all matters of practical utility, you may also safely 

 conclude that in mechanic art, inventions and scientific discovery, you 

 have no superior. 



We are also inclined to look far back into the past, and mark the 

 progress in human affairs. We become curious in observing by what 



