TRANSACTIONS. 191 



has been said, were born in a great city. Such interest 

 have thev in rural engageuients, that when the duties of 

 office cease, they resume the occupation of the farmer, and 

 claim it as the most honorable position in life. Washing- 

 ton was a farmer, and cultivated a vast estate. Jefferson 

 was a farmer, and ever labored for the farmer's advance- 

 ment. Madison and Monroe, both, were tillers of the soil. 

 Van Bureu, retiring from the presidential chair, gave place 

 to the farmer who lived out in the West, and deemed it 

 no disgrace to devote his time to the culture of his gar- 

 den at Kinderhook. Henry Clay was a farmer, and growed 

 broad fields of corn at Ashland. Webster bred magnifi- 

 cent cattle and cultivated wide acres at Franklin and at 

 Marshfield. John Stark was a farmer, and in the midst of 

 his fields, on the banks of the Merrimack, stands the monu- 

 ment that shall perpetuate the name of the farmer of Der- 

 ryfield. The great statesman of Michigan owns more land 

 than any farmer in the country, and report says that the 

 present chief magistrate of the nation has made purchase 

 of an estate upon which to retire when his official career 

 shall terminate. With such evidence before us, how can 

 we doubt that agriculture, from its earliest existence to 

 this very day, has held a conspicuous and honorable posi- 

 tion among the industrial pursuits of life. 



This honor shall continue — commerce may whiten every 

 sea with its canvas, and bring in its treasures from every 

 clime. Manufactures may cause cities to spring up in a 

 day, by the banks of our wasting rivers, and make the na- 

 tion echo with the clatter of the loom and the blows of 

 the hammer, agriculture may plod on in her quiet and un- 

 ostentatious way, but beneath her tread the earth shall 

 blossom and yield her fruit, and with a generous hand this 

 art of arts shall administer to the necessities of her rival 

 sisters. 



Agriculture is a safe and profitable pursuit. With the 

 exercise of proper care, land seldom depreciates in value. 



