138 



©l)c iTartiur's iHontl)!}) bisitor. 



MR. BANCROFT'S ADDRESS, 



Delivered al the A'ew York Slate Jigrindlural Fair, 

 Pough/ieepsie, on ThursJatj, September 19, 1844. 

 Mr. President iiiiil genileirien of the Ajirk-ul- 

 tural Sjocieiy — FiiriiicMS oINhw York — The hour 

 of sepunitiui) lur tliis tliizzhng arr;iy ot' heauty, 

 this va>t iiKillitude ol men, is iil hand. Fruits 

 richer than ever grared the (riirdens of Pomona — 

 R paradise ot tiovvers— needlework the inosi ex- 

 act, delicate and even — ingenious l^iriiiing imple- 

 ineiils and mannlactures ol all ^■orls, ciollisot' the 

 finest qnaliiy, lioiii your own looms, and Iroin 

 looms in Massachusells — horses, fit to win prizes 

 nt Olympic games — cattle, such as never lell in a 

 hecatomi) to Jove, and never were dreamed of 

 by the highest genius of the Dutch painters— all 

 these and more have arrested our gaze, and filleil 

 us with wonder and delight. And now 1 am 

 commissioned to summon you, and through you 

 the population of this mighty comnionweallli, to 

 come u;> and join us, as under the auspices of 

 the state, honor and distinction are awarded to 

 agricultural industry anci genius. 



A spectacle like this around me, of culture, 

 order, and the peaieliil virtues, cannot be sur- 

 passed in the world. li\ this hour, hushed he the 

 spirit of party; be it lltlerly exorcised and ban- 

 ished from this enclosure, which is consecrated 

 to the peaceful triumphs of the agriculture and 

 the industry of New York. (Afiplause.) We 

 yield on this occasion to no narrower sentiments 

 than the love of country and of collective man, 

 and We invoke the blessed influence of that uni- 

 versal Providence which watches over the seed 

 time, and niatuies the harvest, (Applause.) 



The theme liir this occasion is the agriculture 

 of New York. But what need of words to speak 

 its praise.' Look around you — the cultivated 

 earth is its ovsn eulogist. The teeming wealth 

 that gushes from its bosom, the returns of iis 

 industry in every form that present themselves In 

 their abundance and perlection to onr never 

 wearied eyes, are the evidences of its magnifi- 

 cence. The trees in your market place, an;! ot! 

 your hill tops, are older than the settlement of 

 civilized man in our America; they are ohler 

 than the presence of the plough on the soil of 

 New York ; ihey are witnesses of the quite recent 

 day when your forests sle])ped down to your 

 river's bank, iind the glades and prairies of your 

 west were imbued with useless luxuriance. .\pid 

 behold the cliange which liiile more than two 

 cemuries have wroughl ; the earth subdued— the 

 forest glades adorned Nvith the white spires of 

 churches, and gleaming with the light of villages 

 — 'ownsnesiluig in every vallev— CTowded cities, 

 coiupeiiiig Willi the largest of the earth, nrofuselv 

 Bii|. plied wiib every article of food. ".And by 

 vyhom has this miracle been wrought.' Bv the 

 rarmers of New York. ((Cheering and ap|iiause 

 of the most iMithiisiastic character.) 



As 1 lurn my eye norllmard, along the banks 

 of ihe Hudson, my mind reverts to the memoi v 

 of one of your ancient landholders, who died 

 bel.ire our inde|)endence. Join wiili me, farmers 

 ol Neiv \„rk. in recalling the gentle and humane 

 Kniiert R. LivuigsKui, the elder, the falher of ihe 

 chancellor. Ilis hoau! was in your viciiiiiv ; Ids 

 mind was gre.iily and firmly, iIioiil'Ii not pi'ssioii- 

 ately, devoted (o your service. 'An only sou 

 biishand of an only daui'liler, Hither of" those' 

 whom the world will not soon foiget; he was of 

 mi lovely a nature, that it seemed as if the fra- 

 grant atmosphere of spring, and the rnelo.ly of 

 Its sweetest huds, and the softened refleciion in 

 your tranquil nver of the grandest scenes, ha,l 

 blended together and melied themselves into his 

 soul. Peace to his memory; let it not perish 

 ainong y'c.ii. Let ,|,e lines on his monument be 

 refreshed anil deepened. 



[We here cast onr eyes round upon the vast 

 beamy and manliness of the 

 oil many a lovely cheek could 



the world, were coiiunenced by the enterprise of 

 yourselves, were undertaken when liiiiners field 

 power. Call to mind the immense structures 

 which make this slate the aslonisbment of the 

 worbl ; its channels for inward communication 

 carried upwards to the waters of the Si. Law- 

 rence, stepping aside to the Ontario, and united 

 at the iiortiiwest with Ihe illimiiable wilderness 

 of our inland se.is; and then join tne in paying 

 tribute to those w ho were servants of the piililic 

 mind in commencing this gigantic system. To 

 De Wilt Clinton, whose capacious mind grasped 

 ill advance the sum of its infinite benefits — whose 

 energetic, vehemenl and commanding will, was 

 to the enterprise like a powerful mill-stream, as 

 it dashes lui an overshot wheel of vast dimen- 

 sions. (.Applause.) To Van Biireii, who, when 

 the bill liir tlie construction of the canal had al- 

 most been abandoned liy its earliest friends, put 

 forth those noble-spirited, well-remembered e.\- 

 ertion.s, which resuscitated it when all seemed 

 lost, and restored it to the approbation of your 

 legislature. (Applaiiise.) Well might those cliiels 

 in the world of opinions embrace each other in 

 the hours of ilieir success. If in action ihey 

 were nfien divided, in this great service they share 

 a_comuion glory. (.Applause.) 



But the fiirmers of New York are not contei.t 

 with iiiiproveuienls in the material world alone. 

 From their generous impulses springs your svs 



assemlilaL'e of (h 



Empire Slate, and 



be S"en the iimisteuing tear, while the nuiverin.r 



compressed lips of these stiirdv sons of th,.- 

 SOI gave equal token that the eloquent spe.iker 

 had touched a chord which vihraled deeply in 

 Ilie hreasts of his audience. The deafenino-"ap- 

 plause having somewhat subsided, Mr. B. con- 

 tinued as follows:—] 



Nor let uie limit il,e achievements of die farm- 

 ers of New York to the subjection and beautiful 

 adornment of its soil. The great works of in- 

 ternal tern.u.MtioM, makins this 8!ato a wonder to vouthful 



tein of free schools. They have proved tlieiii- 

 selves the liberal benefactors of academies and 

 colleges. They, too, have been careful fiir the 

 means of their ouu special culture, and have 

 founded and nurtured societies for promoting 

 agriculture. For an example of the virtues of 

 private life, I name to you the farmer of West- 

 chester county, the pure and spotless Jay, who 

 assisted to tiame our first treaty of peace,"which 

 added Oliio and the lovely west to our agricul- 

 ture. Side liy side \iiili him, I name the f'riend 

 of bis youth, Robert R. Livingston, ilie younger, 

 the enlightened statesman of our revolution, 

 whose ex;;ansive mind succeeded in negotiating 

 for our country a world beyond the ML-sissippi, 

 and gained access for our flag to the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Here, on the banks of the Hudson, he 

 is celebrated as it were by every steamboat, and 

 reuiembered on your liirins lliroiigb his experi- 

 mental zeal. Oil this day be remembered the 

 virtues of Stephen Van Reiissellaer, who first 

 brought Dm ham calile into this slate, and liber- 

 ally diffused the lireed. 



Join with me iiL^o in a tribute to Mitchell, the 

 failtiliil advoi'ate, and perhaps insiitutor of one 

 of Ihe earliest agricnliiiral societies; to Jesse 

 Biiel, who connected science with fact, taught 

 how ihe most liarreii soil may be made vastly 

 productive, diffused bis acquisitions by ibe press, 

 and by lite and by precept was the farmer's tiiend ; 

 (ajiplause ;) to Willis Gaj lord, whose agricultural 

 essays are standard authorities, honorable to the 

 mau and to the state; to Le Roy de Chanmoiit, 

 who kept alive an agricultural society in JeflTersoii 

 county, when all ollieis bad expired, and gave 

 the iiiipiilso to the li^irmalioii of the state society, 

 of which he was llie first president ; to James 

 Wadsworlh, for his skill as a cuhivalor, and still 

 more for his liberal exeriion.*, pouring out thou- 

 sands alier thousands at the impulse of a gener- 

 ous mind, as if from a well-spring of L'ood will, to 

 promote agricultural science in primary schools, 

 (great cheering.) And I should be waniin,<; on 

 ttie occasion did 1 not lender the expression of 

 your regard to the present president of the Stale 

 Society, to the influence of that iustitiiiioii of 

 which he is the boiimed liead ; to its journal of 

 agriculture, to iis amiiial lairs. But let me also 

 entreat its friendly wishes to iis purpose of es- 

 talilishing an aL'ricultuiRl school ; and to llial 

 other more difl^usive design of iiiirodiicing, 

 through iis secretary, scientific works on agricul- 

 ture into school iiliraries. I am happy also to 

 announce that efforts are now making to consti- 

 tute agriculime, as it deserves to be, a branch of 

 instruction In one, at least, ot your universities. 

 (Loud cheers.) 



I have named to von smiie of Ihe benefactors 

 of 



years; he enjoys his own plantations, and takes 

 Ids rest beiieaifi bid contemporary trees. 



But the fiirmer is not limited to tlie narrow 

 circiiNpference of liis own domain ; lie stands in 

 relation with all ages hiiiI all climes. Your so- 

 ciety lias done wisely to urge on tliose who bear 

 Ilie Gospel to iintaiiglit imtion.s, to study their 

 agriculture, and report for comparison every va- 

 riety of tillage. All ages and all climes con- 

 tribute to your improvement. For you are gath- 

 ered the fruits and seeds which centuries of the 

 existence of the human race have discovered and 

 rendered useful. Tell tne, if you can, in what 

 age and in what land the cereal grasses were first 

 Ibund to produce bread.' Who taught to employ 

 Ihe usefiil cow to fiirnisli food for man? When 

 was the horse first tamed to proud obedience ? 

 The pear, the ajiple, the cherry, where were these 

 first improved from their wildness in the original 

 fiuit.' And whose efforts led the way in chang- 

 ing liie rough skin of the almond lo the luscious 

 sweetness of the peach.' All ages have paid 

 their tribute to your pursuit. And for you the 

 .sons of science are now scouring every heath, 

 and prairie, and witderness, lo see if some new 

 grass lies hidden in an unexplored glaile ; if some 

 rude stock of the forests can offer a new finit to 

 Itie baud of culture. For you the earih reveals 

 the innumerable lieds of marl; its mineral 

 wealtli, Ihe gypsUm and the lime, have remained 

 a store fiir jour use from the days of creation. 

 For you Africa and the isles of ili"e Pacific open 

 tlieir uiagiiziiies of guano; for you old Ocean 

 heaves up its fertilizing weeils. (Great applause.) 

 And as the farmer receives aid liom every part 

 of tiie material world, so also his door is open lo 

 all intelligence. What truth is not welcomed as 

 an inmate under his roof? To wliat pure and 

 generous feeling does he fail to give a hor.ie? 

 Tiie great poets and authors of all time.'i are 

 clierished as his guests. Milton and Sha.!i:<peare, 

 and their nolile peei>-, cross his tbresl.old lo keep 

 liim company. For him, too, the harp of Israel's 

 minstrel-monarch was strung; f;or bim the Ii;i8 

 of Isaiah still move, all touchr.d with fire ; (ap- 

 plause ;) and Ihe apostles of the new covenant 

 are liis daily teacber.s. No occupation is nearer 

 heaven. The social ange«, when he descended 

 lo converse with men, broke bread witli the hiis- 

 haiidman beneath the free. Thus the farmer's 

 mind is purified and exijted ; his principles stand 

 as firm as your own highlands; bis good seeds 

 flow like self-inovimv waters. Yet in liis con- 

 nection wiih tlie hii, nan race, the farmer never 

 loses his palrioiisr'.i. He loves America— is the 

 depository of her glory and the guardian of her 

 freedom. He 'juilds nionumenls to greatness, 

 and, wlien destiny permits, lie also achieves he- 

 roic deeds iu ihe" eyes of bis race. The soil of 

 New Yor'rf, Vfhich he has beautified by liis cul- 

 ture, is ccnsecrated by tlie victories in which he 

 shared. E.irlli! I bow in reverence, for my eyes 

 behold the ground wet with tlie blood of rustic 

 martyrs, and hallowed by the tombs of heroes ! 

 Where is the land lo which their fame has not 

 lieeii boine? Who iloes not know the tale of 

 the huii'Jred bilile fields of New York? Not n 

 rock jii Is out fiom the highlands, but the mind's 

 eye se js iiiscribeil upon ii a record of ileeds ol* 

 glory. Not a blade of grass springs at Saratoga, 

 bvit t dkes to itself a longiie to proclaim ihe suc- 

 cess fid valor of palriol husbandmen. (Applause.) 

 li'ere Ibe name of Schuyler, the brave, the gen- 

 erous, the unshaken palriol, shall long be reinem- 

 be red ; the zealous, reliable George Clinton, a 

 mail of soundest heart, a soui of honesly and 

 lionor, a dear lover of bis country and of free- 

 dom. Nor do we forget him, Ihe gallant Mont- 

 goiiie.'y — iwiii martyr with Warren — who left his 

 till in (in the HiiiKson, not, as it proved, lo conquer 

 Quebec, tint to win » iiiighiier victory over death 

 itself. (Cheers.) 



I vetiew ibai tlieine once more, to recount how 

 the Jiirniers of New York have served iheir coun- 

 try and mankind. Tliey were invested willi 

 sovereignly, ami they abdicated. Glorious ex- 

 imple! Highest triiiniph of disinterested jus- 



dure, 

 lioiiie 

 ocean 



I lice! They themselves peacefidy and piiblicfy 

 1 renounced their exclusive aiilhority, and Irans- 



agriculiure in Niw York. Their benefiis en- ._.. ^ ,, „_ 



The pursuits of ihe farmer bind bim lo || ferred power in this repulilic from its leriitory lo 



Oihers may cross coiitinenis and vex I its men. (Applause.) May your inslilulion.«, un- 



; the fiirmer iiiiist dwell near the soil | der Ihe spirit of improvement, I* perpetual. 



winch he sul.dues and fertilizes. His forlunesj May every pure influence gather round vonr 



are tixed and iinniovable. The scene of lirs legislation. May vour illustrious example show 



lalwrs IS ilie scene of his declining » JO the worW the'd'ignitv of lal>or : the sliame that 



