^l)c i;avmcr's iHontl)Iu iHsik 



25 



Puhlic 0|>iniQii, is tlie ciiTiiiiistniice, tijat tlie 

 fariiiers are no Iciiigei- crowding tlieir sons iiilo 

 tlie couiilins-liONSfs of oiii- cities, or into tlie pro- 

 fessions, siH «us (oniiorl)' too iri'quoiitlv tlio c;isf, 

 uiiilei- the mistaken suiiposilion that they were 

 thus raiding tlieir cliililren a step in the uorlil, 

 whereas, so fur as trne dignity, honor, and their 

 fiitnre prosperity were concerned, parents were 

 thus too often sowing the seeds of fntine misery 

 10 themselves and their cliihh'en. Instead of 

 raising their condition — drawn witiiin the vortex 

 of city dissipation and ()leasiires, and hegiiming 

 to look Willi a sneer npon the unceasing toil of 

 conntry life — they end, in too many instances, 

 their career in a manner that shows that after 

 contempt for lahor is once fislened in the mind, 

 the path tnust he downward imiil they have lost 

 honor, character, and their all, either in the hor- 

 rors of Crime or the wiles of prolligacy. 



Tlie infiuence of the culm and peaceful pur- 

 Biiits of agriculture upon the welfare of the pen- 

 ]do, as contrasted wiili the splendid glitter of 

 war, is alluded to by Lieut. Gov. Dickinson in a 

 nminier as happy as it is just. We refer to this 

 part, with the more gratification, hecaiise it evin- 

 ces that our puhlio men are hegimiing to fully 

 appreciate not oiily the actual horrors of war, 

 but to more clearly understand its anti-demo- 

 crnlic tendencies in raising the few who are so 

 fortunate as to get the lead, at the e.\pense of the 

 many, «!io have not only to fight the battles 

 during its coniinuance, hut to pay the taxes of 

 war, from their hard-won earnings, in time of 

 peace. For this purpose, his ohjeci is to impress 

 that invaluable democratic axiom, wiiich is, to 

 test the true Jignitij of a |)ursiiit by its power and 

 utility in adding to the happiness and comfort of 

 the great mass of the people. Upon this con- 

 sideration, agricultural labor must be regarded as 

 of dignity inferior to that of no other pursuit or 

 [irolession. 



Yet while such is the true cliaracter of the oc- 

 cupation, he asks, is it not all-imporlant that 

 farmers should be well educated ? In the United 

 States, those employed in agriculture aie three 

 to one, over those engaged in all other employ- 

 ments. In this commercial State, the proportion 

 is nearly two lo one. From this prepoiuleraiice, 

 it is manifest that when the farmers combine, 

 their votes and their influence must rule ilie 

 whole Government — elect the President, and give 

 n tone to all our institutions and every act of 

 legislation. Does not such a power and respon- 

 siiiility justly demand of the farmers, that they 

 should raise the standard of education anifuig 

 themselves, until agriculture shall not oidy be, as 

 it really is, but shall he s|)oken of, as one of the 

 "lilieral" professions? Is there any reason.dile 

 cause why, with a moderate outlay, farmers 

 should not be as well instructed in the useful 

 sciences, and be as extensively informed n(jon 

 matters of general interest, even while pursuing 

 their daily avocations, as [lersons of other |^io- 

 fe^sions? 



A proper beginning in early life, and the stea- 

 dy devotion of a single hour of the long winter 

 evenings to mental pursuits, will soon bring np a 

 race of educated futners, who will make ilieui- 

 selves no less respected and felt in the political 

 and moral movements of the age, than their la- 

 bors npon their farms will become more profit- 

 able, as the details of their pursuit are the more 

 systeniatised and economised under the apjdica- 

 lion of reason and useful knowledge. In this 

 way. improved efliicRtion will bring not only an 

 ample harvest of inliuenee, but of tliaj visihle 

 aiid suh.«iantial return— in the form of increased 

 wealth, which would be one of the most con- 

 vincing proofs of the practical utility of a more 

 liiorough education. 



Extract from the Address of Lieut. Gov. D. S. 



Dickinson, delivered at the Fair of Queen's Coun- 



ti) Agricultural Society, Oct. 17, 1843. 



"We have the high authority of iiistory, sacred 



and profane, for declaring that agriculture is a 



dignified and time-honored calling— ordained and 



favored of heaven, and sauciioned by experience ; 



and we are invited to its piiL-^uit by the rewards of 



the past and the present, ;ind tlie rich promisesof 



the i'uture. While the fierce spirit of war, with 



its embattled legions, has, in its protid triumphs, 



'whelmed n.'ilious in blond, anil wrapped cities 



in fire,' and filled the land with lamenlatioj.i and 



Jnourning, it lias not hrongbt poace niul happi- 



ness to a single heart — dried the tears of wid- 

 ows, or hushed the cries of the or|)hans it has 

 made — hound up or soothed one crushed or 

 broken spirit — nor lieightened the joys of do- 

 mestic or social lili; in a single bosom. Hut how 

 many dark recesses of the earth has agriculture 

 illuininateil wiih iis blessings ! How many fire- 

 sides has it lighted up with radiant gladness! 

 How many hearts has it made buoy.-mt with do- 

 mestic hope! How often, like the good Samari- 

 tan, has it alleviated want and misery, while the 

 priest and Levile of power have pa.ssed by on 

 the other side! How many liimily altars, juid 

 gathering places o( allection, has it erected! 

 How many ilesolate homes has it cheered by its 

 consolations! How have ils peacefnl and gentle 

 influences filled the land wilh pleiiteoiisness and 

 riches, and made it vocal with praise and thanks- 

 giving ! 



"It has pleased the benevolent Author of our 

 existence, to set in boundiess prolusion beliu'e us, 

 the necessary elements for a high slate of cnlli- 

 vation and enjoyment. Blessings cluster nrouiid 

 us like fruits of the land of promise, and sci- 

 ence unfolds her treasures and invites us to par- 

 lake, literally without money anil uithoiit price. 

 Tlie propensities of our nature, as well as the 

 philosophy of our being, serve to remind ns that 

 man was formed tor care and for labor — liir the 

 acquisition and eiijoyment of properly — liir so- 

 ciety and government — to wrestle wilh llio ele- 

 ments around him ; and, ihat by an active exer- 

 cise of his powers and ficullies alone, can he 

 answer llie ends of his creation, or exhibit his 

 exalted attributes. His daily wants, in all condi- 

 tions of life, prompt him to exertion, and the 

 spirit of acipiisition so deeply implanted in the 

 human breast, that 'ruling passion strong in 

 dejitli,' so universally diffused through the whole 

 liimily of man, is the parent of that laudable en- 

 terprise which has caused the wilderness to bud 

 and blossom like the rose — planted domestic en- 

 joyments in the lair of the beast ol ]irey, and 

 transformed the earth (ioiTi an nncjillivated wild 

 into one vast store-house of subsistence and en- 

 joyment. What can be more acceptable to the 

 patriot or the philanthropist, than to beliold the 

 great mass of mankind raised above the degrad- 

 ing influences of tyranny and indolence, to the 

 rational enjoyment of the bounties of their Cre- 

 ator.-' To see, in the productions of man's magic 

 powers, the cultivated country, the fragrant mea- 

 dow, the waving harvest, the smiling garden, and 

 the tastel'ul dwelling, and himself chastened by 

 the precepts of religion, and elevated by the re- 

 finei! ents of science, partaking of the (iuits of 

 his own industry, with the proud consciousness 

 that he eats not the bread oi' iflleness or Iraud : 

 that his gains are not wet wilh the tears of mis- 

 fortune nor wrung from his fellow hy the devices 

 of avarice or extortion ; his joys heightened, bis 

 sorrows alleviated, and his heart rectified hy ilie 

 cheering voice and heaven-born influences of 

 woman! Well may he sit down laider his own 

 vine and fin-tree without fear of molestation, and 

 his nighily repose be more quiet than that of the 

 stately monarch of the east upon his down of 

 cygnets, or the vokipliioiK Sybarite upon bis bed 

 of roses. 



•'The prosperity of those engaged in agricul- 

 tural pursuit.s, depends not alone; upon the suc- 

 cessful cultivation of the field, and the judicious 

 management of the farm. These, to be sure, are 

 of primary iinpoitanco, and indispensable to the 

 success of the undertaking ; liut lliere are oilier 

 subjects which deeply concern their interest imd 

 well being, without a knowledge of which they 

 must fail to enjoy the high station they were des- 

 tined to occupy in the scale of social and iioliti- 

 cal being. 



'• 'I'lie liirmer caiirot gather grapes of iliorns. 

 nor figs of thistles; nor can be reap the fruits of 

 knowledge without its care and cnltivalioii. The 

 vast niiineiical majority id" those engaged in this 

 pursuit, over all others, shows that our moral, so- 

 cial, and poliiical condiiion, is in their keeping. 

 It proves the high privileges they enjoy, as well 

 as the responsibility w liich resis upon them — 

 privileges which they cannot duly estimate, and 

 responsibilities which lliey cannot properly dis- 

 charge without the acquisition of general knowl- 

 edge, anil a high cultivation of the moral powers 

 and faculties. With these, they may raise and 

 sustain tlieir own standard of intelligence, and 



control,*ror good or lor evil, the destinies of gov- 

 ernineiil. 



"'I'lic mind of the professional man is engaged 

 with his particiil.ir calling, striving to become 

 eminent aiul useful, struggling perchance, uitli 

 rivalry on either hand, and realizing ' how Imrd 

 it is to climb the steep where tiime's proud lefii- 

 ph.' shines from far.' His menial vi.-ion is fixed 

 upon a single object. His mind is aci-ustoiiied to 

 run in grooves fiishioned by his pnrsuil — all else 

 palls upon the sense, alitl he too often lives and 

 dies the mere creature of his profes.^inn. The 

 merchant is buried in commerce, and the me- 

 chanic absorbed with inventions and iniprove- 

 nients. But to the farmer, devoied to no iheo- 

 lies, and wedded to no systems, will) the ample 

 volume of nature constantly betbre him: unfold- 

 ing her mysteries and spreading out her alliire- 

 nienls; the deep fonntains of knowledge stand 

 open, and all combines to inspire him with a lovo 

 fur the sublime and beautiful. The glory of the 

 morning suuheam, emblem of hope and gladness 

 — the pearly dew which glilters in his palhway — 

 the flowers which smile around him, and the re- 

 joiciia's of animated naiure, tend tl) fill him with 

 sentimelils of love and adoration, and to elevato 

 and refine bis heart. 



"It is a fallacy no less mischievous than idle, 

 to suppose that there is no learning biilllie learn- 

 ing ot' the stdiools, or that, in the phrase of the 

 day, 'gelling an education' necess.-.rily requires 

 llie individual lo ahanrlon, lor the time being, all 

 oiher emplo) meiils, eiiiil devote liimseK idiernale- 

 ly to study and iiulolence. The pnrsniis of the 

 liuitier, with proper economy and a judicious 

 division of lime, are consistent wilh the prosecu- 

 tion of science and the acquisition of knowledge; 

 and of that knowledge, too, which will enable 

 him to discharge all the relations of life with as 

 much prudence, iitidersianding and fidelily, as 

 him whose only puivnit is study, and which, 

 mingling its streams with the mighty current of 

 luiman afiairs, will teach industry, temperance, 

 and fliigality, and carry relineinent and intelli- 

 gence to ihe lowliest c ihin of the jilains, and the 

 remotest cottage of the mountains. 



"The moral sublimity of the scene is equalled 

 only by the magnitude of our country, tlie diver- 

 sity of her interests, and the vasiness of her 

 population. When the mind's eye tires witli 

 contemplating the untold productions and re- 

 sources of the Empire State, wilh her fertile soil 

 — her broad rivers and inland seas — her exten- 

 sive territory — her nragnificent improvements — 

 her boundless commerce, and her insiiiutions of 

 religion, charity and learning; let it glance for a 

 momeni, for a more extended view-, at ihe infant 

 giants of the west. The wild lierse of the prai- 

 rie now draws the plough over soil uliere erst ho 

 was wont to gambol — the b.-irk which liears tho 

 hardy emigrant to his distant home, returns deeo 

 freighted wilh the productions of his toil — the 

 shrill war whoop has died away in the hum of 

 busy industry — and shall 1 add, painfid and mel- 

 ancholy as is the reflection, rum, the white man';* 

 tomahawk, is fast doing its woik of death npon 

 the Pawnite and Sioux of the border. Stiickeii 

 and persecuted red man ! How fl'W are the hearts 

 that will bleed at the reciial ol' your v\oe,=, nr the 

 tears that will Ijdl around your ln\ily death bed I 

 Look for ihe last time upon the lilile hillocks 

 where repose the rciriains of ihose yut loved, and 

 upon the banks of the stream where yon spoiled 

 in childhood, or listened to tiic shadowy tradi- 

 tions of the past! Tlie mighty warriors "of jonr 



nation are driven from ibeir rustic firesides 



they are hurried lo and Iro like w iihered fbiest 

 leaves before the blasts of autumn, and the few 

 who yet linger will soon cease to iremble! May 

 the deep wrongs which have been vi.siied upon 

 your people, and the wild revenge with w hicli 

 they have been repr.id, alike find n ercy and Ibi- 

 !;ivene.-^s at the great council fire <if eiernily, ami 

 the I'ed man he ushered inio his happy hniitin-' 

 grounds, in a forest ol' liideless and never-d\ii;g 

 beauty. 



"It is the high prerogative of the fanner to say 

 who sliall adiriinister the various dipaiimenls lif 

 nvernment, and io indicale il.s policy. To 



determine whether the 



nolilii .<|iip of stale, in 

 which we are all embarked in conmion, sliall 



I ride proudly onward to her port of dcsiinaiion 



. her anchorage in the harbor tif happini ss and 

 : peace; or whether she shall be torn hy the angrv 

 ■ and eonflicting eleiiieiits of uiiile, to.ssed npoii 



