154 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



about a hundred and fifty millions of dollars, of which only sev- 

 enteen millions, or one eighth, were agricultural products. All 

 the rest were manufactured articles ; and a large proportion of 

 these were doubtless consumed by the agricultural part of the 

 community, not as mere luxuries, but as comforts, and even 

 seemingly necessaries. At least, so they would appear, were the 

 community to be deprived of them. For our necessities usually 

 multiply in about the same ratio as our luxuries. The artifi- 

 cial wants created by the latter soon become as clamorous as 

 those which are natural. 



But why should I dwell on this subject ; for every agricultural 

 fair presents us with a practical illustration of the intimate con- 

 nection and dependence between agriculture and the arts. The 

 choicest and richest displays of mechanical skill meet and grat- 

 ify us there ; and many of them, too, have been prepared in the 

 farmers' families, in the intervals of leisure; so that, in fact, to 

 attempt to depreciate manufacturers would be to depreciate 

 farmers themselves. 



The important connection between agriculture and national 

 prosperity is a subject almost too trite for an occasion like the 

 present. And yet few think of all the relations between these 

 subjects. The products of the soil, which result from its cul- 

 tivation, are generally thought of as the only contribution 

 which agriculture makes to a nation's prosperity. This is, in- 

 deed, a main pillar of that prosperity. But, after all, the most 

 important element of national character is the character of the 

 citizens. Now, without disparagement to other classes, and 

 other pursuits, the cultivation of the soil is eminently calculated 

 to make genuine men ; men of vigorous minds and unflinching 

 nerve ; men of stern independence and sterling integrity, who 

 yet bow quietly to the authority which they have themselves 

 delegated to others ; men who are not tossed to and fro by every 

 gust of feeling, but can always be found at the post of duty, 

 whether it be a place of danger or safety; men, in short, who 

 form the stable pillars of society, and are genuine patriots, be- 

 cause they have a filial attachment to the soil which their own 

 hands have cultivated, and where their fathers are buried. Men 

 of similar character are, indeed, found among all classes, and 



