68 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



September 1 2, lfi32. 



fouiuhy of Creusot. Their refintil taste will 

 discover many beauties of detail in the ornamental 

 sculptures ; they will examine the effects of simi- 

 lar monuments placed in different positions; un- 

 der trees, upon inclined planes, on level surfaces, 

 against steep declivities, or in receiving peculiar 

 beauties from the neighboring foliage. They will 

 be often snr|>rised in discovering a chef d'cEuvre 

 on the most simple grave stone, and they cannot 

 fail to admire tlie exquisite has reliefs, which dec- 

 orate the sepulchre of Madame Ileim, situated on 

 the top of the hill, near the chapel. They will be 

 pleased to discover a new career opened to artists 

 by this establishment — a new route to mechanical 

 industry, and a new aliment to connnerce. They 

 will be ])ersuaded that an oimlent city can alone 

 give this illustrious example, and that its iuflneuce 

 should extend over the whole of France. 



The establishment of this funereal asylum — the 

 last refuge of the most exalted in reputation, of 

 great renown and of vast o])ulence ; the final 

 bourn of all classes of society ; the place of repose 

 of the most miserable, after long but unfruitful la- 

 bor, has produced an astonishing revolution in 

 public opinion, and has directed the attention of 

 all Paris towards those persons who in their pres- 

 ence disappear from the world. Funerals are no 

 longer a mystery, of v/hich the mourning families 

 alone know the secrets — a mere ceremony of par- 

 ade disguised under a pious veil : grief is no longer 

 obliged to conceal under the shadow of the do- 

 mestic roof a long cherished remembrance, equal- 

 ly honorable to the memory of the virtuous man, I 

 who is no more, and to the hearts of those who 

 survive him. Forgetfulness, ingratitude and ir- 

 reverence towards the dead, denote frigid, selfish, [ 

 and inconstant friends, who are governed solely by I 

 personal interests. The honors of which the de- 

 parted are the object, are not limited to the gloomy j 

 moments of tlie silent funeral ; they are perpetua- 

 ted by the erection of tombs, by the epitaphs en- ' 

 graved upon them, by the cares of which they be- 

 come the objects, and by those pious duties, of' 

 which they are the never failing termination. 



The peculiar manners of each class of society, ! 

 the inclinations, the propensities, and the degree 1 

 of sensibility of each person, is revealed in spite of, 

 himself, by bis conntenance, his looks, and his, 

 conversation, at the time he witnesses the obse- | 

 quies; an<l the measure of the real worth of every 

 individual, is easily appreciated by the sentiments 

 which are excited in those who accompany him, 

 when his remains are transported to the sepul-; 

 chre. Nothing is more varied than the nielan- j 

 choly scenes which this place constantly presents ; | 

 all the virtues of the heart are displayed, and all j 

 the vices are perceived. The rude multitude dis- ! 

 close their feelings without restraint ; they bitterly j 

 weep for those whose loss they legret, and remain 

 cold and uimioved near the tomb of such as died 

 without virtue and without vice, or were but little 

 known to them ; they are severe in their remarks 

 upon those who did not know how to estimate 

 life ; their opinions, always strongly pronounced, 

 truly express the convictions of their minds. 



The observer of manners and customs is not 

 astonished at beholding the si)endthrlft, the game- 

 ster, the debauchee, and the idler, interred in the 

 common pit of the poor ; during their whole lives 

 they had been rushing towards that abyss ; but he 

 is instructed in human calamities when he witness- 

 es the obsequies of the honest man, who had strug- 

 gled in vain, during a long life, against misfortune 



his heart is deeply affected when he sees the or- 

 phan, left without support, without resources, and 

 without friends, shedding tears on the grave of a 

 kind father ; in hearing the lamentations of a 

 mother, calling in vain upon her departed child ; in 

 beholding the desolation of the widow, and is a 

 spectator of that agony of grief, « hich friends 

 evince, and in which the poor ]iarticipate, at the 

 decease of a truly charitable man ; but how deep 

 is his commiseration, on perceiving the most mis- 

 erable of men conducted to his grave, by only a 

 few fimeral assistants ; he liad neither relatives 

 nor friends,— no one pities his sad destiny, — isola- 

 ted in the world, his dreary days were passed 

 without consolation, without the kind proffer of 

 any kind offices,— ever suffering from some new 

 cause of sorrow, some new calamity, some new 

 distress, — always unhajipy. How many shades 

 of sentiment are here manifested. The heart al- 

 ways ])roportions its homage or its disapproba- 

 tion, according to the merits of the person whose 

 ashes are consigned to the tomb ; his deeds alone 

 determine the honor or dishonor which will be 

 evinced at his funeral. 



FOR THE NEW EXGLAND FARMER. 



THE CATTLE SHOAV, AND PLOUGHING 

 MATCH AT BRIGHTON. 



Mr Fessendex — It is very well known, that for 

 a long succession of years, 1 took a deep interest 

 in the Cattle Show and Ploughing Match, at Brigh- 

 ton. It was upon a firm conviction, derived 

 chiefly from having attended the shows at Smith- 

 field and Lewes in England, in 1804, that the tend- 

 ency of such shows was to produce and encour- 

 age im|>roved races of animals. When cattle are 

 sold and slaughtered separately, iherc arc no means 

 of comparing them. Their weight simply is 

 known, but their forms, the proportions of edible 

 and valuable parts to offid is not ascertained. But 

 when from a whole state, or (as at Smithfield,) a 

 whole kingdom, the choice animals arc reserved 

 for exhibition, opportunities are afforded to judge 

 of the comparative merits of difli'rent races. This 

 efl^ect has been so great in Great Britain, that there 

 is no question as to the comparative value of the 

 different races. At least, the question is chielly 

 reduced to two races, the Short Horned, and the 

 Herefordshire. The Devonshire cattle are still, 

 however, believed by many to be as profitable as 

 either of the others. From experience of the ef- 

 fect of cattle shows, it was obvious, that the chiu- 

 acter of our stock improved for n)any years reicu- 

 larhj. I have personally no doubts, that the breeds 

 of our cattle have been greatly and essentially im- 

 proved by foreign crosses. Though a farmer on 

 a small scale, I can safely say, that such has been 

 the result with me, of fifteen years' experience. 



As to the i)lougbing match, there can be no 

 question in the mind of any imprejudiccd >)erson, 

 that the ploughs, and the modes of ploughing have 

 received improvements, of which it would be im- 

 possible to estimate the value. Those who have 

 not taken the trouble to estimate the effects of a 

 saving on one farm, npon the aggregate of 50,000 

 farms, whiidi this state includes, upon the suppo- 

 sition that the local societies dispersed throughout 

 every county of the state have had an equal iiilhi- 

 ence in the improvement of ploughs, an<l the modes 

 of ploughing, as have been produced in Norfolk 

 and Middlesex by the parent society, can have no 

 adequate idea of the advantages produced to the 



state at large by this excitement, and the conse- 

 quent attention of the farmers to the improvement 

 of th-ir implements of husbandry. In my own 

 vicinity, the effects have been far beyond our 

 warmest hopes, and we can have no surer or 

 safer test of this improvement, than the fact, that 

 an establishment for the sale of agricultural im- 

 l>l('meiits in Boston, where none existed before 

 these cattle shows were established, has met witl* 

 great and well deserved success. An opinion 

 however prevailed, which experiment has shown 

 to be wholly erroneous, that the cattle show at 

 Brighton was rendered useless by the county cat- 

 tle shows — that it was a mere paiade w ithout any 

 correspondent benefit. 



Yielding rather too hastily to this suggestion, 

 the Trnsteesof the Massachusetts Agricultural So- 

 ciety suspended their show. But the event proved 

 most distinctly, that the opinion was erroneous. 

 So far from increasing the .splendor and impor- 

 tance of the great central show at Worcester, it 

 rather diminished it, and we are convinced, for the 

 cucouragenient of the county shows, that the great 

 central one, near the mstropolis, is highly impor- 

 tant and essential to the great object of the iarmers, 

 the encouragement by rewards and exhibitions, 

 near the ultimate market of all extraordinary ani- 

 mals. 



Deeply impressed with these views, the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural Society have resolved to 

 conliime their exhibition with all the spirit and 

 energy in their power. They have provided for 

 this purpose, by individual ])ersonal exertion, very 

 superior accommodations for the public, and they 

 hope to open their show the present year, with in- 

 creased advantages. They solicit the attention 

 ami the ^rMcnce of all the friends of Agriculture, 

 of Commerce and Manifactures. These interests 

 are, in their very nature, inseparable. The city 

 of Boston is much nioie interested in the success 

 of this show in its vicinity, than any farmer, or 

 any liuiuing town can be. To the latter, the in- 

 terest is small; to the city, in which all the inter- 

 ests of the state are concentrated, it is vast. If the 

 city authorities view it in this (which I believe to 

 be the true) light, they will, as a body, zealously 

 coo|ierate in giving as much patronage and en- 

 coiuagement as possiide to this show. For what, 

 in fact, does it amount to ? It is the diversion of 

 the trade, which woidd go lo New York, to our 

 own capital. It is securing to ourselves the great 

 cattle market, (the greatest resource of New Eng- 

 land.) These remarks are made at the recpiest of 

 the Committee for the cattle show, and are given 

 with great cheerfulness by one, who is now past 

 ill active exertion, from sincere interest in a great 

 and important question. J. LOWELL. 



Roxhunj, August 30, 1832. 



T. G. Fessenden, Esq. 



Dear Sir — The Editor of the American Farm- 

 er has taken the liberty to introduce my name as 

 the author of an article in the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural Repository without my consent. The ar- 

 ticle was anonymous. It is of no moment to the 

 public, whether that article was, or was not writ- 

 ten by me, but the sanctity of the press is of very 

 srreat moment, and no man has a right to violate 

 it. Least of all, should editors countenance such a 

 violation. It is of no iirportance in the question, 

 whether Mr Smith was or was not correct in his 

 conjecture. He had no right, (however strong and 

 however well grounded his suspicions,) to draw 



