8 



three hundred annual days of well-reasoned labor. If so, I 

 reach my theme. For Avith such a yeomanry before me, and 

 such a historic enlightenment kindling in the very ground I 

 tread, I stop and ask myself, as I ask you to-day to consider, 

 What are the relations of Agriculture to the best and highest 

 civilization^ 



The civilization of to-day is no doubt better than any the 

 world has seen before. To saj'' that there is no better still 

 beyond and to come, would be too much ; yet no man knows 

 of it save by conjecture- We have to do with that of to-day 

 as the best yet devised, and that for the security and promo- 

 tion of which we are all obligated and re ponsible. If we 

 analyze it, it is a composite thing, multiplied in parts, and 

 full of dependencies. To deal with it in every aspect is more 

 than enough for the wisdom of every statesman, and the acu- 

 men of every teacher. Yet, like all stupendous existence, 

 the more it is studied the better it is known ; and it may be 

 more useful to work awhile at a few of its most salient points, 

 and try to understand them, than to do nothing, on one hand, 

 or, on the other, seek to do the whole when we cannot. And 

 thus, considering the relations of agriculture to the best civ- 

 ilization, let me say, at the outset, that it is The JVurse of its 

 Truest Liberty, 



There may be in it something of imagination, but to me it 

 always seems as if each craft of mankind bore upon its very 

 face something of its spirit and social tendency. The arti- 

 san, even in his freest condition, acts and moves like a man 

 employed under another, and too often, more than this, under 

 the surveillance of his fellow-workmen also. The mere day- 

 laborer, though with us the fact is denied, still wears the look 

 that tells of submissive, unthinking muscle, and too nearly 



