26 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



in God must regard them as an attempt to interpret a part of 

 that revelation of himself and of his own eternal attributes 

 which the Infinite Creator has made in establishing this goodly 

 frame of the visible universe. And since communion with Him 

 and participation in his divine joys is the highest conceivable 

 good, no pursuit of scientific truth is useless in this the highest 

 religious aspect. 



The arts of life, on the other hand, seek usefulness for mate- 

 rial ends. Printing, for example, and writing do not seek truth 

 nor the diffusion of knowledge ; their ends, as arts, are accom- 

 plished when they have presented us a legible and handsome 

 page, and the printer is unconcerned, as a printer, whether that 

 page contain truth or falsehood. The mechanic, of whatever 

 grade, is seeking an entirely different end from that sought 

 by the man of science, and neither should expect or demand 

 continued assistance from the other. The artisan, or mechanic, 

 or agriculturist is seeking to serve the body — preparing some- 

 thing whose end is, so far as his art is concerned, merely mate- 

 rial and temporary. The man of science is seeking only the 

 gratification of the intellect ; discovering immutable and eternal 

 truths, the ideas of God : which, even when embodied and re- 

 vealed through the fleeting rainbow or the fading flower, are 

 themselves everlasting. 



Yet both classes of men are working over the same materials, 

 and in the same great laboratory of nature. It follows of neces- 

 sity that they must each be able to give the other occasional 

 assistance of the very highest importance. The school of life 

 has other and higher lessons to learn than those of either arts 

 or sciences. The social and religious affections are higher than 

 the intellect ; and the great lesson of charity is taught by making 

 us all mutually dependent upon each other, and able to be 

 helpers of each other in all things. The miner, the farmer, 

 the mechanic or manufacturer, are not seeking directly to 

 advance scientific knowledge ; but they all do advance it indi- 

 rectly, and are suggesting by their discoveries and inventions 

 problems to the man of science which sometimes lead him to 

 his most striking revelations of the laws of the universe. On 

 the other hand, the scientific investigator, although seeking 

 nothing for its uses, is continually discovering truths which 

 have material utility. The conic sections offer the most marked 



