State Agricultural Society. 117 



tude. Scott says of one of liis cliaracters, that lie liad a brass collar 

 riveted around his neck upon which was cnpraved, "(jiurth, the son 

 of Beowulj)h, is tiie born thrall of Ccdric of Kotherwood." 



When kings and the nobility could scarcely write their names, the 

 mental condition of the lower orders can well be estimated. At all 

 times oi)pressive, in some lands feudalism was peculiarly odious. 

 Tlie lord had absolute power over the fortunes of the serf, and some- 

 times over his life. lie could hardly be born; he could not marry, 

 jjurchase, hold, or convey property; he could not live nor (lie with- 

 out such jeopardy and loss of estate as declared and vindicated the 

 right of his master and his feudal subordination. The right called 

 that of the "prim urn iioetes" existed in many lands. The bride, 

 instead of going to her husband, became a prey to the feudal lord. 

 In short, the serf was a hewer of wood and drawer of water, a beast 

 of burden. 



The God in him often rcsi.sted these wrongs, more frequently the 

 nobility of human nature induced the lord to remove these burdens 

 and renounce these oppressions. 



It is the task of a Draper or a Buckle to trace the progress and to 

 state the i)rinciples of modern civilization. It must suffice us to say, 

 that from that time when the feudal law ceased to be dominant, and 

 the municipal law became so, the physical and intellectual progress 

 of mankind has been unbroken and almost undisturbed. 



In all this i)rogress, in all the wealth, power, and happiness it has 

 induced, the laboring man has not only had his share, but he has 

 been preeminently blessed. 



As to his present condition, he is the equal before the law with any; 

 his person, his family, his property and highest good are completely 

 under the protection of his State and of its law. 



There is no function of government which he may not execute, no 

 privilege which he may not enjoy. Instead of being a serf, he is a 

 freeman, in means, of independent life, of comfort, and even luxury ; 

 he has all that is to be desired. No insufhcient or squalid garment, 

 no hovel, no privations are his of necessity. His is simply the com- 

 mon lot — to labor and enjoy its fruits. 



Turn where you will in the crowded streets, in the quiet country, 

 there you will iind the laborer, who is such in fact, in possession of 

 that competence which secures him from the dominion of want. All 

 this he has acquired by increased intelligence, and that skill and 

 prudence which are its product. Every avenue to learning is open 

 to him ; the State offers to him the highest opportunities ever tendered 

 to humanity. It is only he who prefers ignorance that retains it. 

 What hai)pier condition can there be than that of him wlio, haying 

 neither poverty nor riches, is saved from care and temptation alike? 



As a general proposition, a California laborer is richer, better jiaid, 

 more powerful than anywhere else, or any other time in the history 

 of the world. 1 do not include in this statement that large class who, 

 calling themselves laborers, will not work, nor still less do I include 

 those whose* misfortunes have incapacitated them to labor. The 

 appeals which these last make, silence criticism and arouse benevo- 

 lence. 



It seems to be supposed that these do-nothings, this tramp brigade, 

 are the natural outcome of the wrong adjustment and distribution of 

 wealth of our day, and that the times, so to specify causes, are 

 responsible for their pitiable condition. Nothing is further from the 



