MR. king's address, H 



ed to overleap the modesty of their nature, and to commit 

 breaches against the peace of the neighborhood ? Have we in 

 our gardens no uninvited, intruding guests, plants which we 

 have neither sowed nor watered, which we might offer as a 

 most acceptable dessert to those epicureans of our establish- 

 ment, who place the supreme good in pleasure — the pleasure 

 of living at ease, of faring luxuriously, and of growing fat ? Js 

 it not our fault that these idlers have no better employment than 

 to speculate and philosophize ? Have we no rich alluvial de- 

 posits in ditches, swamp holes or sunken meadows, from which 

 we might make drafts that would return us a liberal interest ? 

 Have we no naked, hungry, exhausted fields with imploring ac- 

 cents begging us to come and dress, feed and recruit them ? In 

 balancing our accounts, do we find that we owe no man aught 

 except love and good will ? Every good farmer finds it pleas- 

 ant and profitable to keep a journal in which he notes every 

 day's employments and incidents ; in reviewing ours, do we find 

 no necessary labor neglected ? Is the place where our example 

 and influence are most felt, a pattern of order and neatness, of 

 well regulated economy as well as of a liberal abundance ? Is the 

 place where our afiections centre, where we most wish to be 

 loved and hope to be remembered, is our home, the happy 

 abode of peace and harmony and contentment ? Have we dis- 

 charged our social and moral obligations — our duties to our- 

 selves and to our neighbour? We profess admiration and grati- 

 tude for the air we breathe, for the sun that warms and enlight- 

 ens and cheers us, for the innumerable comforts of our existence, 

 for this spacious, beautiful and convenient world ; but have we 

 been faithful to that portion of His vineyard over which God has 

 set us as stewards and overseers ? If we can make satisfactory 

 responses to these questions, then have we cause for accumula- 

 ted gratitude, that in the disposition and ability to improve and 

 enjoy, He has given us the crowning blessing. 



An orator with a mind well freighted with learning, or whose 

 lighter imagination soars on bold, rapid and graceful pinions, 

 would lead his delighted audience back into distant ages and 

 over into foreign countries — he would tell you of Italy, once 



