DR. SPOFFORD S ADDRESr. i 



nevolent design — to multiply the iiuits of the earth, the great 

 mine of real wealth, and sLore-house of sustenance for man and 

 beast. 



That kind of fictitious consequence, which struts in rufiles and 

 gloves, is fairly out of fashion. This may be styled the age of 

 utility ; and that man, as well as that machine, that is of no use, 

 is very little valued ; and the person who should in this age and 

 nation, wear appendages or ornaments to show that he did noth- 

 ing, would at the same time, in the estimation of an immense ma- 

 jority, be making himself ridiculous, and showing himself worth 

 nothing. Riches to any amount now give no exemption from this 

 universal law ; but on the other hand, if a man has capital, he 

 is considered under increased obligation to attend to business, 

 and he is hardly excused when he provides business enough to 

 ensure the industry of himself and household, but he is looked to 

 for the plans and the capital which is to employ the hands, and 

 furnish subsistence for his whole village or neighborhood. 



This is among the most important improvements of the pres- 

 ent age, and it has had a most salutary effect upon agriculture 

 that so many men of talent, property and education, have cho- 

 sen this as the object of their pursuit, and the sphere of their in- 

 dustry. To the young and ambitious, the tiresome labour and 

 the slow acquirements of the farmer, have often appeared repul- 

 sive ; they have sought out some readier source of wealth, or 

 what they might have considered a more genteel employment. 

 They have often turned their backs upon advantageous settle- 

 ments, and birthrights of inestimable value, to seek In distant 

 lands, or foreign climes, for sources of gain and scenes of excite- 

 ment and novelty. In a small proportion of instances these 

 hopes have been realizetl ; but in innumerable others, they have 

 ended in sorrow, vexation and disappointment, and thousands of 

 sighs of bitter anguish have risen from the bosom of the broad 

 ocean, or echoed from foreign shores, when memory cast a " long- 

 ing, lingering look" over the pleasant hills and fruitful fields of 

 New-England. 



The learned professions, merchandise, and manufactures, when 

 selected by congenial minds, may have been wisely chosen, and 



