MILTON P. BRAMAN'S ADDRESS. 539 



despatch with which every part of the fabric is elaborated and 

 brought into shape, communicate corresponding impressions to 

 the mind. The ideas of operatives are moulded by the processes 

 about them, and acquire an energy, order and quickness which 

 give a new cast to the intellectual character. Agricultural op- 

 erations are generally of a slow and quiet nature. They do 

 not admit of the application of that extensive, complicated and 

 rapidly moving machinery, which is made use of in the manu- 

 facturing arts. The force of steam is said to have been, in 

 some instances, made use of to move the plough, but then the 

 celerity with which it is drawn through the furrows, must be 

 limited by the power of speed in the person who follows. Un- 

 less an apparatus should be invented which should sustain and 

 guide itself, or admit of being directed by a person to whom it 

 should at the same time serve as a conveyance, the use of this 

 wonderful agent, for such purposes, is of questionable practica- 

 bility ; and even then, it could be employed only in those 

 smooth and clear soils, where no fast stones and other impedi- 

 ments cKist, to render a rapid progress destructive to the im- 

 plement. 



Now the mental habits of the farm laborer, take, where no 

 counteracting circumstances exist, the cast of his employment. 

 The slow manner in which it is conducted, and its unexciting 

 nature, exercise an assimilating influence upon his tempera- 

 ment. The ox has little elasticity in his movements. The 

 farm horse has a reputation for spirit, certainly not high. The 

 processes of vegetation are so gradual as to make growth im- 

 perceptible, so silent that they emit no sound to the acutest 

 ear. How different in their character and effects on those with 

 whose pursuits they are connected, from the water-fall and the 

 propelling wind, and the steam engine, and the swift revolving 

 wheels, and the whirling spindles, and the unceasing din which 

 turn the very brain into a locomotive, and strain the nevves to 

 as high a tension, as the thread is twisted into strong and tena- 

 cious fibre, from the loose filaments of cotton. 



There is a difference between agriculture and some other 

 employments, derived from the diverse situation in which they 

 are pursued. A large portion of manufacturing operations is 



