STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 145 



pine and mammoth sequoia from diminutive seed, so the various 

 useful industries, however liuge tlicir present proportions, have been 

 developed from small beginnings. Others of like character will 

 spring up, flourish, and perchance exceed in magnificence any now 

 in operation. The educated have an immense advantage over the 

 uneducated in comprehending an industry in its length and breadth, 

 in its minutia3 entirety, and are most likely to attain success. But 

 education alone is insufficient to secure satisfactory results in any 

 undertaking; there must be native talent at the foundation. A good 

 watch spring cannot be made out of lead, however much it may be 

 hammered, rolled, and polished ; neither can an efficient workman 

 in any profession be made out of dull and inelastic material. 



The achievements of success are attained, for the most part, by those 

 who understand the relations of things, and hence seldom err in their 

 deductions from any given state of facts. In isolated cases blind for- 

 tune may make millionaires of beggars, or beggars of millionaires, 

 but in general man is the arbiter of his own fate. Possessing fair 

 abilities, he, by observation and close study of science and art, is ena- 

 bled to utilize the forces and materials of nature so as to secure max- 

 imum results at minimum cost. Then, and not till then, is he truly 

 practical — a term too often sadly abused by being employed for pur- 

 poses akin to that of iEsop's lion's skin; but the fiat of nature has 

 gone forth, "The fittest survive." Lions' skins will not avail their 

 wearers in these days of enlightenment. Different avocations require 

 different orders of talent and culture, and as the kind and fineness of 

 a metal contained in a mineral mass are most readily determined by 

 crucial or cupel tests, so the kind and quality of talent of our sons 

 and daughters are best demonstrated by systematic study; according 

 to the kind, quality, and quantity of the talent metal they shall yield, 

 will they be estimated in the treasures of the world. 



The talent of the child is not due to his birthplace, nor to the 

 profession of his parents. The farmer's son by talent may be best 

 adapted to the practice of law^, or of medicine, or of divinity, or of 

 mechanics; or the son of the mechanic, lawyer, divine, or doctor 

 may be best fitted by nature to pursue some other profession than 

 that of his parents. Let every legitimate means be exhausted to 

 ascertain the character of the talent with, which he is endowed; then 

 cultivate it faithfully. Let not ambition or false pride thwart the 

 plan of nature or will of heaven. For " vaulting ambition which 

 overleaps itself, falls on the other side." If he develops a talent and 

 taste to be a blacksmith, woodworker, or useful mechanic of any 

 sort, or a farmer, let him be blacksmith, wheelwright, or farmer, and 

 bid him Godspeed. For they are all the noble sons of honest labor, 

 largely the bone and sinew, nerve, life-blood, mind, and soul of all 

 that is most useful, beautiful, grand, and glorious on earth. By their 

 efforts we subsist, the granaries of the world are filled, cottages, pal- 

 aces, temples of learning and worship, vast cities, are all the work 

 of their hands; the necessaries and luxuries of life are the fruits of 

 their toil, the vast navies and merchantmen are the works of their 

 design and skill. 



Ye mothers and fathers, throw false ambition and false pride to 

 the shades. Give to your sons and daughters trades and professions 

 fitted, to their talents and capacities, and marshal them as live, ener- 

 getic workers in the grand army of progress. 



19'° 



