134 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



prominent, at least, as that of War. If the spirit of the latter 

 is to be fostered where young ideas bud, and often fruit, by the 

 charms of poetry, it cannot be asking too much that the praises 

 of peaceful Agriculture be said in sober prose. The relation 

 which the latter holds to the former, in some of our school 

 books, affords little hope for an improved public sentiment 

 while they continue in popular use. I was induced, not long 

 ago, to examine a reading book for the upper class in schools, 

 read daily by tens of thousands of youth, with a view to as- 

 certain how far its pages contributed to win the young heart to 

 your honorable calling. I found eloquent thoughts on the 

 landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and a humorous account of 

 The fat Actor and the Rustic. There were mirth-stirring 

 pieces, and pieces of sober devotion. There were the Battle of 

 Hohenlinden, and Voices in the Church Yard ; Lochiel's 

 Warning, and a Soliloquy on the immortality of the soul ; the 

 Battle of Flodden Field, and Dr. Slop meeting Obadiah ; the 

 Pleasures of a cultivated imagination, and a New Mode of 

 Fishing ; all excellent in their way. But the only piece I dis- 

 covered that could be properly placed in the category of Agri- 

 culture, was Irving' s burlesque on a Yankee Farmer, who 

 builds a palace of pine boards large enough for a parish church, 

 which he never finishes, " soon grows tired of a spot where 

 there is no longer room for improvement, sells his farm, his air 

 castle, petticoat windows and all, re-loads his cart, shoulders 

 his axe, puts himself at the head of his family, and wanders 

 away in search of new lands, again to fell trees, again to clear 

 cornfields, again to build shingle palaces, and again to sell off 

 and wander." 



This description may doubtless afford amusement to the 

 young tyro, when his self-invented resources fail. It may 

 form an agreeable relief to the puzzles of the black-board, or 

 the conjugations of Lindley Murray, but that it will inspire a 

 farmer's son with respect for farming, or create in him a prefer- 

 ence for his father's business, I do not believe. To counteract, 

 then, the unfavorable influences of the school room, in this par- 

 ticular, our school books should contain a reasonable proportion 

 of reading on agricultural and kindred topics. Every farmer 



