ACxRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 47 



Gentlemen, in order that the dignity of your work may 

 be preserved and increased, mind and muscle must work to- 

 gether. Science and labor must unite. Tlie philosopher and 

 the farmer must grasp each other's hands in token of unceasing 

 fidelity. 



Another stand point, from which we may view the dignity of 

 agriculture, is that of social life. This topic alone, is sufficient 

 to occupy our whole attention, at this time. Even within such 

 limits, I feel myself wholly unable to do it full justice. 



Agriculture is in truth an art of peace. Whenever there is 

 a quiet enjoyment of the administration of government, then 

 we behold progress in every art and every science. More beau- 

 tiful to the sight, is the field of toil, than the blood stained 

 battle field. More ennobling to the view, is a happy band of 

 reapers, than all the savage array of military glory. Many a 

 prouder hero has handled the implements of husbandry, than 

 he who has wielded the sword. It is a fact, which no one will 

 dispute, that the open fields of any country are an index of its 

 political and social state. It may, indeed, sometimes happen, 

 that the sciences and the arts of common life flourish in seasons 

 of political unrest, but such signs must be interpreted as indi- 

 cating the real state of society, which will sooner or later fully 

 develop itself. As a general thing, whenever the cultivated 

 fields of a country, or those designed for cultivation, are neg- 

 lected, we suspect some political or social calamity to be the 

 real cause. But when, on the contrary, we see fruitful fields, 

 thrifty herds and orderly dwellings, we suspect no such evils. 

 We may in this way discover, not only the political condition of 

 a people, but also its progress in civilization. A government 

 will generally be, what the intelligence and character of the 

 masses make it. To learn what is this character, we must not 

 Seek out a few who possess learning and the greatest scientific 

 attainments, but we must go out into the open country, and 

 see what are the habits of the people in common life ; what 

 intelligence they exhibit, and what arts they possess, and 

 especially behold to how great an extent they cultivate the soil. 

 Go to those countries inhabited by a savage and barbarous 

 people, and you will observe that they have little knowledge of 

 the nature of the soil, and of a large variety of its products, 

 while they show but little skill in tilling the ground. They 



