IS [Senate 



last century, was interred by private charity, in the Stranger's bury- 

 ing ground. The essays of Jesse Hawley, which demonstrated the 

 feasibility and importance of a continuous canal from Lake Erie to 

 the Hudson river, were sent forth from a debtor's prison; and De 

 Witt Clinton, whose name is written upon the capital of every co- 

 lumn of our social edifice, was indebted to private hospitality for a 

 resting place. It is the same generous and patriotic spirit which 

 animated these philanthropists, and sustained them in their struggles 

 with the prejudices of the age in which they lived, that I desire to in- 

 voke in favor of agriculture. This spirit, wisely directed, cannot fail, 

 for it has been irresistible in every department it has hitherto en- 

 tered. But let us all remember that the only true way to begin re- 

 form, is to find the source of error; and that if we cultivate Man, 

 the improvement of the animal and vegetable kingdoms will surely 

 follow. 



