SIMON BROWN'S ADDRESS. 657 



outer courts, at least, and inquire whether there is not in their 

 contemplation some compensation for his constant physical 

 application? Birds are eminently the friends of the farmer ; 

 without them it may well be doubted whether his labors upon 

 many crops would not be utterly in vain. If so they demand 

 our attention in a mercenary point of view. But there is an- 

 other gain — they exert a direct influence upon the heart; many 

 of our earliest associations are of the birds ; their habits of 

 migration and return, their amazing powder of wing and artistic 

 skill, and their attachment to old locations, and devotion to 

 their young, have been the themes of admiration in all lands. 

 A study of their habits gives sweetness of tone to the heart, 

 quiets its fears, allays its griefs. How wonderful, that when 

 warned by the approach of winter, our pleasant summer friends 

 have left us, others, far into the arctic regions, should come to 

 enliven the dreary landscape ! Then with glistening wing 

 comes the pine grosbeak and the snow bunting. The howling 

 storm and driving snow are but pastime to them. 



In the comparative leisure of winter and the intervals of labor 

 from field-work on the farm, and in the house, the study of 

 birds will prove a delightful and profitable recreation. Knowl- 

 edge acquired of this part of animated nature, is poicer, as 

 much as physical strength to guide the plough, or swing the 

 scythe, is power. It makes men and women stronger, better, 

 more useful, and draws away the mind from what has become 

 the dull routine of life, delving on the farm. Such knowledge 

 heals the discontent which broods upon the mind like a night- 

 mare ; heaps up the imaginary gold in California, or kindles 

 the ig-nis fatuKS light about the lawyer's office, the merchant's 

 desk, or mechanic's bench, and brings compensation for sun- 

 burnt cheeks, hard hands, and coarse apparel. But there are 

 numerous other attractions to study and reflection, both in the 

 animal and vegetable kingdoms about us. 



Have you examined the plant at your feet, the tree at 

 your door — investigated the currents of the sap, and learned 

 " how the sweet perfume and delicate hues of the flower, the 

 oil of the olive, the sugar of the cane, the narcotic juice of the 

 poppy, the nutritious farina of the cereal tribes, and the poi- 

 sonous extract of the nightshade, are all elaborated by the 

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