^2 • Addre/s to the Society, 



return it meets will often depend upon circumflanccs which 

 it is not in his power to command — He is therefore at once 

 fatisfied with the neceffity of ufnig the means, as the divines 

 f^y, and of his dependance on the Supreme Being for crowning 

 them with fuccefs ; thus reconciling (at leaft in an earthly 

 fenfe) the intricate dodrines of woih and grace. The con ft ant 

 attention that the farmer is compelled to give to the vrants 

 of his domeftics, and to the animals under his care, render 

 him habitually companionate, humane and careful ; and, if 

 happinefs is to be found on earth, it muft certainly be fought 

 in the indulgence of thefe benign emotions.— As Cicero fums 

 up all humane knowledge in the character of a perfect orator, 

 fo we might with much more propriety claim every virtue, 

 and embrace every fcience, when we draw that of an 

 accompHlhed farmer. — He is the legiflator of an extenfive 

 family, and not only men, but the brute creation, are fubjeded 

 to his laws — He is the magiftrate who expounds and carries 

 thofe laws into execution — He is the phyfician who heals 

 their wounds, and cures the difeafes of his various patients — 

 He is the divine who ftudies and inforces the precepts of 

 reafon — And he is the grand Almoner of the Creator, who 

 is continually difpenfmg his bounties not only to his fellow 

 mortals, hut to the fowls of the air, and the bea/ls of the f eld, 



I was led into thefe reflections by finding myfelf furrounded 

 by gentlemen who are not lefs capable of rendering their 



