120 WISCONSIN AGRICULTUEE. 



The settlement of America opened a new field for tlie exer- 

 tion of tlie physical, as well as the mental energies of the people 

 of Europe. 



Thj,t same system that had shackled the body with chains of 

 servitude, and divested labor of its legitimate reward, sought 

 also to imprison the mind, and impose restrictions upon the right 

 of conscience and religion. From this tyranny they fled, and 

 found upon this continent at once a home on its soil, and a 

 christian tabernacle in its wilderness. A star had arisen in the 

 West, and glanced its sparkling beam into the gloom and dark- 

 ness of Slavery and Superstition in the old world, and by its 

 guidance wise men again " came from the East," to the West, " to 

 worship." Here they found a rich and fruitful soil, untouched 

 by implements of husbandry, which had proved its strength 

 and depth by bearing forests of such vastness, and giant growth, 

 that compared with them, the preserved woodlands and parks 

 of Europe, were but tame and unpoetic miniatures — widely ex- 

 tended plains, covered with spontaneous vegetation, in wild 

 luxuriance, ready for the plow and seed of the husbandman — a 

 climate exactly suited to the various qualities of soil, and its na- 

 tural productiveness— Lakes and Rivers of such extent and mag- 

 nitude, as to afford unrivalled facilities for navigation and com- 

 merce. They found here also, in use among the "Native 

 Americans," new and useful articles of food, before unknown 

 to the civilized world, and which have since become important 

 staples of consumption and commerce, both at home and abroad. 

 Here was a land affording every natural facility and advantage, 

 for an ample and munificent return to the labors of the agricul- 

 turist, ready to be possessed and cultivated. 



To it, the unpaid and oppressed operatives from the estates 

 and work-shops of Europe flocked, as to a land of refuge, and 

 for the first time in many centuries, this class became their own 

 landlords, possessed in their own right habitations and homes, 

 and were permitted to reap and eat, the harvest they had sown. 

 This channel of immigration once opened, all who commanded 

 the means of transportation across the Atlantic, followed fast 

 after the first pioneers ; and this immense drain upon the manu- 



