Essay on Sheep, 41 



and love of agriculture which distinguished 

 that nation of warriors. 



Columelhi (uncle of Columella who has left 

 us an excellent treatise on agriculture), a rich 

 colonist, who lived at Cadiz during the reign 

 of Claudius, and made agriculture his pleasure 

 and his pursuit, was struck with the beautv of 

 the wild rams that were brought from Africa 

 to be exhibited at the Roman games. He 

 coupled those with Tarentian ewes, which were 

 celebrated for the softness of their wool, and 

 procured by this means a race whose fleeces 

 resembled that of their dam in softness, and 

 that of their sire in the colour and fineness of 

 the wool. Whether any permanent change 

 was effected by this experiment of Columella's, 

 I know not; but as Spain was at that tmie 

 highly civilized, and as agriculture was a fa- 

 vourite pursuit of all who were not occupied 

 in war, I think it highly probable that this 

 experiment laid the foundation for a general 

 improvement in the sheep of the country. 

 If it did, Spain is more Indebted to the patriotic 

 efforts of one enlightened farmer, than to the 

 ablest of her statesmen. How much should it 

 excite the laudable ambition of virtuous men to 

 know that there is no condition in life in which 

 they may not be useful, and that God has often 



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