42 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



a happy man with not only one shirt but with, I dare say, at least two. 



The Missouri farmer is not only as happy as a king— he is a king. 

 His farm is his kingdom and his flocks, his cattle and his horses are his 

 subjects, his family is his cabinet, and his wife his prime minister. He 

 has subjects that never revolt, and a cabinet that never leaves him under 

 stress of circumstances; and if he wants to talk about his prime min- 

 ister when his prime minister doesn't do exactly what he wants done, 

 he can go out and talk to his subjects without any danger of having the 

 conversation repeated. 



The Missouri farmer is certainly a man to be envied. It is a trite 

 remark enough that agriculture is the basis of our wealth. That is 

 undoubtedly true, but in looking at that truth, in emphasizing that truth, 

 we have lost sight of one far more important, and that is this : That 

 agriculture is not only the basis of our wealth, but agriculture is also 

 the basis of our morality. It is the conservator of our virtues and the 

 safeguard and bulwark of our republic. It is a fact that if we look back 

 over the history of our world for 2,000 years, we can scarcely find a 

 subject upon which our ideas have not materially changed. In the 

 science of medicine Ave no longer believe that a man can be cured of 

 epilepsy by swallowing the eggs of a snake, or of fever by cutting up 

 the entrails of a frog and taking at intervals. We no longer believe 

 that the quaking of the earth is caused by the imprisoned giants under- 

 neath trying to be free ; in religion we no longer believe that God is 

 appeased with bloody sacrifices or rich gifts ; but it is an interesting 

 fact that on one subject our ideas have not changed in the slightest de- 

 gree, and that is this : That the farmer, the man who lives in the 

 country, the agriculturist, is, as I just announced, the preserver of our 

 morals, our virtues and our religion. Two thousand years ago the old 

 Emperor x\ugustus was so much impressed with this fact that he in- 

 structed his court body to sing the praises of agriculture. He saw that 

 the old Roman virtues had disappeared, that the virtuous Roman char- 

 acter was no longer to be found there, that manhood was gone and 

 virtue was gone, and he was wise enough to know that these things had 

 been preserved by the sturdy Roman who lived in the country, and he 

 said "sing the praises of the farm ; sing of the beauties of nature ; sing 

 of the songs of country life and make it so attractive that these sub- 

 jects of mine will no longer live in towns and cities, but will go back 

 again to the country which was the nurse of all the old Roman virtues." 

 Now, what that old emperor saw was true, is true today ; and I want to 

 impress this thought on you. because it seems to me to add a nobility 

 and dignity and value to your calling. I would say to you men 

 gathered here this morning, that you are engaged in an occupation that 



