176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



leiice, — that multiform unity, whose perfection, as a whole, con- 

 sists in the perfection of all its parts. It was much to have in 

 a family, a Mary and a Jared. But it was more to have a 

 Mary, and a Jared, and an Alvah, and an Elijah, and a Clarissa, 

 and an Isaac, and a Sarah, and a David, and a John, and a 

 Rhoda, and a Nathan, and an Ezekiel, and all these under the 

 regimen of the good old times, growing up to manhood and 

 womanhood, so as to become veritable uncles and aunts. What 

 variety in such a family ! Some having an ear for music — 

 leading singers in the choir. One playing on the clarionet, one 

 on the bassoon. One having a taste for mechanics and astron- 

 omy, one bound to go to college, one holding the pen of a 

 ready writer, so that when he set his copies in coarse hand, it 

 was difficult to tell whether it was copper-plate or not. One 

 with a turn for horticulture, others devoted to the general cul- 

 ture of the soil, and all made familiar with the wonders of 

 machinery in the old grist-mill belonging to the family, — a mill 

 which helped supply Washington with flour when his army lay 

 at West Point ; whose great overshot wheel we children, when 

 we made our visits, used to go and gaze at, to get a sense of 

 power. Such a family was a little state ; and such families 

 there are now. I lately saw four young men, with eyes full of 

 intelligence, their hair as black as a raven — devoted to business, 

 yet not so devoted but that one could write a book, and another 

 a scientific article, based mainly on his own observations. Last 

 summer one of them called and wished me to go out to the 

 carriage, where were some of his sisters, beautiful girls, and no 

 questions to be asked. One could see, at a glance, that they 

 were accomplished and good. And how agreeable was my sur- 

 prise, after seeing all this, to be informed that these were only 

 samples of several others, for whom there was not room at that 

 time ! What a family. The truth is, it sometimes seems as 

 though there was too much goodness crowded under one roof. 

 There was only one drawback about this last family (I must 

 be honest), and that was that it was not from New England ; 

 and another drawback, perhaps in the eyes of some still worse, 

 it was from the city. All I can say on this point is, that proba- 

 bly the family originated in New England, and tliey show their 

 appreciation for her hills and homes by yielding, as often as 

 they may, to that magic power which the country more and more 



