ADDRESS, 



Mr. President and Gentlemen, 



On the return of an occasion full of interest not 

 only to the cultivator of the soil, but to the true lover 

 of his country, you have met together in the Temple 

 of Devotion, for the expression of your grateful praise 

 to the " God of the harvest" ; and for the considera- 

 tion of a topic second in importance to no object of 

 mere earthly pursuit. 



Let me confess, in the outset, what you, otherwise, 

 would not fail to perceive, that I am incompetent to 

 do justice to such an occasion. Though the son of an 

 Essex farmer, devoted, in early life, to the pursuit of 

 agriculture, it is now twenty years since I have been, 

 practically, engaged, unless occasionally, in this 

 healthful and happy occupation. Permit me, then, 

 to express the hope that, as I cannot say what the oc- 

 casion may justly demand, you will give your atten- 

 tion to some general remarks upon the importance 

 and dignity of agriculture as a pursuit ; upon some 



