1846.] Agriculture and other Pursuits. 147 



The important connection between agriculture and national 

 prosperity is a subject almost too trite for an occasion like the 

 present. And yet few think of all the relations between these 

 subjects. The products of the soil, which result from its cultiva- 

 tion, are generally thought of as the only contribution which ag- 

 riculture makes to a nation's prosperity. This is, indeed, a main 

 pillar of that prosperity. But, after all, the most important ele- 

 ment of national character, is the character of the citizens. Now, 

 without disparagement to other classes, and other pursuits, the 

 cultivation of the soil is eminently calculated to make genuine 

 men; men of vigorous minds and unflinching nerve; men of stern 

 independence and sterling integrity, who yet bow quietly to the 

 authority which they have themselves delegated to others ; men 

 who are not tossed to and fro by every gust of feeling, but can 

 always be found at the post of duty, whether it be a place of 

 danger or safety; men, in short, who form the stable pillars of 

 society, and are genuine patriots, because they have a tilial at- 

 tachment to the soil which their own hands have cultivated, and 

 where their fathers are buried. Men of similar character are, in- 

 deed, found among all classes, and in every pursuit of social life. 

 But none of these pursuits are so well adapted as agriculture to 

 give them the needful discipline. 



Now just such men as agriculture produces are needed to fill 

 up the ranks of other pursuits in society. For though these other 

 pursuits are of the utmost importance, nay, indispensable to the 

 prosperity of society, and therefore those who engage in them are 

 in a most honorable and respectable path, they are not adapted, 

 like agriculture, to give that physical energy and happy develop- 

 ment of character to the rising generation, which they need to 

 take the place of their fathers. Indeed, all the sedentary pursuits 

 in which men engage, tend rather to the deterioration of the hu- 

 man constitution, so that the sons of mechanics, merchants, and 

 professional men, can only in part fill up the vacancies occasion- 

 ed by death. Nay, an enfeebled constitution often compels them 

 to resort to agriculture to restore its lost stamina. Hence there 

 is needed a foreign supply, to keep the ranks full and strong in 

 these professions. And, where agriculture is in a proper state, it 

 furnishes such a supply. The discipline which the young are un- 

 dergoing on every w^ell-conducted farm in the land, is fitting them 

 to become future artizans, merchants, and professional men. Es- 

 pecially are they preparing there to supply the enormous demand 

 which the cities and larger towns are making upon the country 

 The fact is, that the strong mental excitement, the heavy pressure 

 upon time, the unseasonatile hours, the luxurious habits, and the 

 want of fresh air and exercise, in city life, ere long break down 

 the strongest constitution ; and in a large proportion of cases the 



