652 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



when he who does nothing will be nothing, and when there 

 will be no aristocracy, but that of labor; no noblemen, but the 

 workers." 



But the worker must also be a thinker; he must become 

 nature's ardent student, and work out, and think out the won- 

 derful processes ever going on in her strange crucible. He 

 must not be discouraged that he knows so little yet of those 

 things which are constantly under his observation ; that the 

 knowledge man has accumulated in all the generations of his 

 existence, forms but a small mound in comparison with the 

 unknown. 



It is not to be expected that the farmer shall have an exact 

 knowledge of the construction of the trees and plants which he 

 cultivates with so much care ; or of the anatomy and physiol- 

 ogy of the animals which he rears. He cannot learn the 

 precise habits of the insects which destroy his crops, their 

 periods of coming and retiring, or the oifice which it is de- 

 signed they shall fill in the economy of nature. Yet a general 

 knowledge of the laws which govern them, and a constant 

 observation of their habits, will divest us of much of the repug- 

 nance felt towards them, and lead us to a profound contem- 

 plation of the wisdom and goodness of the Great Architect 

 of all. 



We plant the seed, and behold the germ springs to the light 

 and air. What wonderful operations are still carried on ! The 

 tree assumes the most stately, as well as graceful forms — the 

 buds, the leaves, blossoms and fruits appear, surpassing in 

 beauty all art of the most skilful hands. It furnishes fuel, 

 shade, fragrance, sustenance, oftentimes protection against 

 summer heats, or winter winds, and always beauty to the 

 landscape. 



But the farmer too often stands in the midst of his trees, his 

 plants, and flowers, of his corn, and grass, and grain, which he 

 has caused to grow, and looks upon them as the result of a 

 mere mechanical operation. He overlooks that wonderful and 

 mysterious agency which prepares the food, diversified ds it is, 

 and sends it to the farthest bud and leaf of a monarch of the 

 forest, or the minutest tendril of the tiny vine. He ploughs, 

 because it is easier to plant and hoe in a loose soil, forgetting 

 that, in a fine tilth, there are millions more mouths to receive 



