4Y0 



creating. All the labor it has made miglit have been appropriated to 

 the cultivation of the soil. It may be said too, that it has come out of 

 non-residents, or land speculators. All this may be, yet it does not al- 

 ter the case — it is the natural consequence of neglecting to pay when a 

 debt is due. Do any suppose that there is no speculating spirit in Kent 

 county ? That none of her inhabitants are supporters of the credit 

 system ? Let the books of the mechanics, the huge folios of the mer- 

 chants, the records of the courts, and the black briefs of the lawyei-s, 

 where, in their own classic native tongue, they have depicted the char- 

 acter consequent on the credit system. Let all these be opened and 

 presented before you, and your mouths would be open to exclaim — the 

 charges on the tax list for delinquency, are but a small moiety com- 

 pared to these. 



For our greatest prosperity, thrift and . peace in natural enjoyments, 

 the credit system must be abandoned. That time and money which is 

 lavished to support it, must be converted to the cultivation of the soil' 

 and mechanic arts. We must learn to practice on the old couplet of 

 Franklin : 



"A penny saved is two pence clear, 

 A pin a day, a gront a year " 



Another thing intimately connected with our highest prosperity, is^ 

 we aorriculturists must cease to be robbers. 



Little did you think that your honorable Executive Committee would 

 request a man to address you on this occasion, so recreant to all former 

 usages, as to lump us all off in round numbers, robbers. 



But every one has a right to give a definition to his own words. 

 Robber, in law, according to Blackstone, is one that takes goods or mo- 

 ney from the person of another, by force or menaces, and with a feloni- 

 ous intent. Blackstone was a lawyer, and his definition was well adap- 

 ted to his profession. I am a farmer, and will give my definition, and 

 leave it with you to decide whether it is not as well adapted to farming, 

 as Blackstone's to the law. Robber, then, I define, one who takes from 

 the soil and returns no adequate equivalent. With this definition, the 

 agriculturists of Kent County will, it is believed, on a moment's reflec- 

 tion, excuse my impoliteness, and stand convicted of robbery, by their 

 own consciences. 



