Reports of CommitU 39 



shown by Bketch , even if such objects were only leaves, a bit 



of sky, or any thing which could thoroughly, and correctly transferred to 



canvas or paper. The pencil drawings were mainly from original subjects, and 



yed a dawning of talent which, under proper instruction, might become ■ 

 to the possessor! ; and the work . eidedly superior, and evinced 



an artistic eye and touch. Many of the other articles exhibited were pretty, are! 

 deserving of reward, especi illy the work in wax ; and others to be commended only 

 as they were the results of relaxation from matters of real interest, or the employ- 

 ment of the aged, who have a right to end, as they began existence, with amuse- 

 ment. The landscape of Mr. Allen, entered :hibition, deserves the com- 

 mendation of the Committee, and received the best premium in the encomiums ■.. 

 . bninating observers. 



This department of the fair d« tent, for we Yankees know well 



enough how to work, and are more apt to bend over the muck rake in search of the 

 g >1 1 below, than to gaze at the heaven above. Tb it in New Bngla-tid has 



been from its beginning, a proper appreciation of rational amusement and of art. 

 The first settlers, thrown upon a cold and inhospitable shore, had to scratch for a 

 living eight months of the year, and during the other four needed rest. The : 

 sities of anew country forbade any one, if otherwise permitted, to make the ai 

 occupation. Our ancestors, in cutting loose from the old world, left behi 

 worthy only of anathama, all the social relaxations and gaieties of their more toler- 

 ant fathers, and devoted themselves in their new home to matters only of sei 

 import. " They emigrated that they might have the pi i oik and pr 



sit upon hard benches and listen to painful preachers as long as they would." But 

 solemn children are and should be solecisms, and through their teaching-;, and les- 

 sons from older and wiser heads, the present generation has learned that i 

 relaxations from work are not sinful, and that unless innocent amusements are pro- 

 vided for the young, they will vault over into exce .-■ great study of the 



.lake healthy natures by a due proportion of work and recreation ; to bind the 

 family together by a unison of feeling, and to let all the talents of the indi . i 

 liave fair scope and play. The fine arts impart grace, delicacy and ornament to 

 existence ; and music, painting and drawing are blessed offsets to the ban 

 of every household, and have the mtage of withdrawing their dev< 



from coarser modes of amusement during the interval of business. The young, 

 therefore, who betray a taste for any of these missions of grace, should be enc 

 aged, and have the aid of competent teaehers, and the premiums of our AgricuU 

 Societies can be well bestowed in encouraging with proper discrimination, the el 

 of those who seek to adorn life without banishing its duties. 



Your Committee would recommend that "water color paintings" be added to the 

 present list with the same premiums as are given to oil paintings, and that the 

 ug the rules and regulations < iety that no member can re 



more than one premium in any one division, be made inapplicable to tiie department 

 <>f " Paintings and Works of Art." 



Oil Painting, Mrs Addie F Trimble, Pittsfield, f 

 . !: Mrs E F Carter, Pittsfield, 3; M A Loupe, Gt Harrington, 1. Crayon por- 

 trait, Mrs L M Barnes, North Adams, 4; crayon picture, Mrs Geo L' Powell, L 

 boro, •": crayon drawings, Master Eugene Bowen, Cheshire, 1 ; crayon painting, 



