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ous pulsations, we need not despair of the Republic — we need not despair 

 of the race. 



Life in the country is eminently favorable for religious impressions. 

 I know that cities contain splendid churches, and eloquent preachers, 

 and the persuasive tones of sonorous bells, and the sweet incense of 

 solemn prayers do seldom cease. But after all, these human devices are 

 not worthy of comparison with 



" That cathedra], boundless as our wonder, 

 Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply, 



Its choir the winds and wares, its organ thunder, 

 Its dome the sky." 



In the city, we are surrounded by second causes. On the farm, we 

 receive spiritual influences at first hand. In churches, we see and hear 

 the priest. Under the open sky, we are brought face to face with God. 

 Every object around us is fresh from His forming hand, and still redo- 

 lent of divinity. Who can look abroad upon a landscape, as it is light- 

 ing up with the rays of the ascending sun, or gaze over the same scene 

 as twilight darkens into gloom, without deep and pious emotions ? Who 

 can look aloft to the broad, unbroken expanse of heaven — glittering 

 with unnumbered stars, without thoughts of Him whose almighty arm 

 preserves order among the celestial hosts ? In the town, the soul can 

 always find excitement in amusements and society. In the solitude and 

 quiet of rural districts, it has to make a companion of God. 



Practical righteousness, as well as devotional feeling, find a noble 

 sphere in the country. How direct and irresistible are the appeals for 

 benevolence ! In large towns, persons living in the same block are 

 strangers to each other. Within ten rods of your comfortable homes, 

 the wail of sorrow, and the terrible cry of famine may be uttered, with- 

 out your being the wiser. Citizens are too apt to echo the inhuman 

 cry of Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?" In farming districts it is 

 not so. There, a neighbor's wants cannot be hidden. There, a fellow 

 being's sighs are heard and heeded. 



In the third place, I was moved to gratitude, by the reflection that 

 an Agricultural Fair is a triumph of Christianity. In the olden time 

 men were not totally indifierent to rural pursuits. The Egyptian dei- 

 fied the ox. The Roman boasted of the skillful husbandry of famous 

 generals. When Europe was almost shrouded in intellectual darknessj 



