ADDRESS. 



GENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY AND FELLOW CITIZENS : 



The first act of the Almighty, after " the dry land appeared," 

 was the creation of a plant, and sowing its seed, that of savage 

 man, in his progress of civilization ; and the earliest achievement 

 in the industrious arts was the construction of a plough. Whether 

 we refer to the mythology of antiquity, or the authentic records 

 of historians, agriculture has been the harbinger of the highest 

 state of moral and intellectual improvement, which has ever been 

 reached in any age or climate. Those pursuits which were 

 commenced merely for the purpose of furnishing the necessaries 

 of life, and were long held in degraded estimation, have ultimately 

 claimed an elevated rank among all nations, at the most glorious 

 period of their existence. No matter how various may have 

 been the character of once barbarous tribes, or how dissimilar 

 their countries, habits and customs, still they have all followed 

 the same route, in the career of refinement ; and those which 

 have become most celebrated for exalted attainments in litera- 

 ture, science and the arts, have also been equally distinguished 

 for their superior skill in the cultivation of the earth. Not only 

 the rich valleys and plains were converted into luxuriant fields 

 and splendid gardens, but the rugged mountain, arid desert and 

 stagnant morass successively yielded to the labors of tillage, and 

 magnificently harmonized with the developements of mind, the 

 sumptuousness of wealth, and the embellishments of taste. 



The vicissitudes to which nations have been subjected, form 

 memorable eras in the history of agriculture. In the primitive 

 ages, it was limited in the objects embraced within its attention, 



