XIV EULOGY. 



over the advancement of man, by leaving the means that 

 conduce to it, in charge, both of the impulses that origi- 

 nate from self, and of the promptings derived from his 

 high moral nature. 



The mind of Judge Buel, fortunately, had the sagac- 

 ity to perceive, both where his industry was the most re- 

 quired, and could be rendered the most available. Of 

 the three great interests, that divide between them the 

 labors of men, namely, the agricultural, the mechanical 

 and manufacturing, and the commercial ; it is not difficult 

 to perceive, that the first has long been the most impor- 

 tant, and the most neglected. The last, or commerce, 

 is much dependent on the other two, and may always be 

 expected to flourish, where either agriculture, or mechan- 

 ical and manufacturing arts, yield their multitude of pro- 

 ducts. Between the other two, there is a mutual depen- 

 dence ; agriculture furnishing the supports of life, and the 

 mechanic arts, in their turn, supplying the instruments of 

 agriculture. Of these two, the mechanic arts had receiv- 

 ed, relatively, much the most attention. To advance them, 

 man's ingenuity and inventive powers had been severely 

 tasked ; and science was required to furnish its contribu- 

 tions ; and the devising and employment of labor-saving 

 machinery attested, in a variety of instances, the triumphs 

 of mind over the inert materials every where abounding 

 in Nature. But, while the mechanic and manufacturing 

 arts were thus prospering, agriculture was allowed to 

 labor on, unaided, and unenlightened in the knowledge 

 of itself. The new and virgin earth, on this continent, 

 that had been, for ages, rearing and receiving back into 

 its bosom the tall tree of the forest, and the waving grass 

 of the prairie, required, at first, in many places, but a 

 small quantity of labor to insure ample returns. When 

 the soil began to give evidence of exhaustion, instead of 

 attempting its restoration, new fields were brought under 

 the dominion of the plough. The great mass of agricul- 

 tural population, so far as their business was concerned, 

 were little more than creatures of habit. Men lived, 

 and labored, and trod the same paths, and performed the 

 same circles of action, with scarcely a single well-settled 



