230 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and aggninclizing thought, — must be superadded the sum 

 total of the great number of lives, which, striving for this 

 prize, this success, have foiled, and in bitterness of spirit 

 accept the humble positions and inadequate rewards of sub- 

 ordinates or menials. For the great prosperity is a shining 

 possibility in commercial circles, to which few, very few 

 attain. 



Sometimes the popular idol is the "public man," the man 

 who professes to devote his time and talents to " serving his 

 country." Statesmanship, the art of government, indeed, to 

 men of fine talents, and above any necessity for pecuniary 

 gain, may open the way to noble study and a fruitful life. It 

 is a just reproach to us that politicians, men who seek only 

 self-aggrandizement, have so prostituted great opportunities 

 to vile ends, that men of purity and honor shrink from the 

 inevitable contact which public life imposes. 



The so-called learned professions have a time-honored claim 

 upon our ambitious youth. They have such fine opportunities 

 of work. A trained intellect, armed at all points by knowl- 

 edge, and well fitted for warrare, may vindicate justice, and 

 see equity done between man and man. Research and 

 sagacity may do their utmost to relieve and preserve poor 

 humanity ; higher still, the gifted and sympathetic nature 

 may spend and be spent in those works and words of tender 

 helpfulness which have the power that no theology can take 

 away. All these — the merchant, statesman, lawyer, doctor, 

 priest — have their work and their wages, sufficient food for 

 enthusiasm, and obstacles enough to call out all their strength. 

 Can less be said of agriculture ? 



In the hurry and excitement of the cities, men are exceed- 

 ingly liable to underrate the importance of agriculture to the 

 national prosperity. If farming does not " pay," then nothing 

 ought to pay. If any man has an indisputable right to a 

 fair share of the good things of life, it is he who devotes 

 himself to the production of those necessaries which are to 

 support human existence, both on the farm itself and also 

 wherever men are gathered together for other pursuits. But 

 we must keep in mind the just and exact relations of cause, 

 and effect, and look for no returns disproportionate to our 



