AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 49 



in arclicry. Under their administration, America was truly a 

 wilderness. It had wild forests, wild beasts and wild men. 



But how has the face of the country, as well as the character 

 of its inhabitants, changed. Much of the reputation which 

 our Puritan forefathers sustain, at this day, as well as our real 

 worth as a people, is owing to the circumstances connected with 

 their settlement in New England. A band of noble hearted 

 men, bound together by the sympathies of a religion which was 

 independent of the ecclesiastic dominion of their native land, 

 found an unbroken wildnerness, of which they gained an easy 

 possession. The subduing of this wilderness united them in 

 such action as increased their mutual sympathy and respect. 

 The land cleared and cultivated by themselves, was in a visible 

 sense their own. They looked upon its improvement as having 

 been secured by their own efforts. The spot cultivated by each 

 family, received from it the endearing appellation of home. 

 Mutual sympathy, and we might also add, the policy of defend- 

 ing themselves against the attacks of a savage foe, brought 

 them together into communities. The disposition thus to unite 

 has continued to our own time. We behold this structure of 

 society throughout New England. While we have our com- 

 mercial centres, the bone and muscle of our Northern States 

 are in the agricultural districts. Manufactories have lately, it 

 is true, drawn largely upon the intelligence and strength of the 

 people ; but what we may call strictly New England society — 

 regarding the appearance which it has always presented — com- 

 prises those who cultivate the soil. 



It is true, confining our attention still to the fact, that many 

 influences besides that exerted by the union of men in the 

 interest of one pursuit, have contributed to our present social 

 condition. But when we consider the fact that the political rela- 

 tions of our ancestors were almost entirely broken up by leav- 

 ing the mother country, and also the fact, that society thus left 

 forms itself anew from the elements of individual character, 

 and more than this, when we know that our opinions are greatly 

 modified by circumstances, we are led to conclude that the 

 necessity of seeking the first resources of independence in the 

 soil, had a large influence in moulding our social fabric. We 

 have oidy to examine our laws relating to the security of estates 

 in land, which give an individual a title to a measured portion 

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