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find in these facts some alleviation of bis fear that our lands 

 will be too much engrossed, while the statesman, observ- 

 ing how large a proportion of farms are owned by their 

 cultivators, will see in this happy circumstance one of 

 the most powerful conservators of peace, order, freedom 

 and good and stable government. 



Mr. President and gentlemen, I am neither an opti- 

 mist nor an enthusiast, but, despite the clouds that lower 

 o'er our horizon, I think that I can see a future for our 

 country more prosperous and happy than has yet befallen 

 any portion of the human race. ' I think that I can see 

 more bread for the hungry, more education for the igno- 

 rant, more enjoyment for the weary, more respect for 

 labor, a more widely diffused intelligence and a greater 

 material and intellectual progress than the world has yet 

 known. It may be a dream of the fancy, but it is one 

 that I cherish and fondly hope that I may never see dis- 

 pelled. Should it prove to be reality, one of its chief 

 causes will be the continued growth of those arts whose 

 promotion is the object of your time honored association. 

 And as a grateful posterity will not fail to -honor the 

 memories of the men whose intelligence and energy fur- 

 thered the mighty work, I may safely predict for your 

 society already *so distinguished and so worthy of your 

 great State that title the noblest of all earthly dis- 

 tinctions A BENEFACTOR OF MANKIND. 



