JOHN C. GRAY'S ADDRESS. 207 



The greater part of our population must always be rural, and 

 to every enlightened lover of his country, the occupations and 

 happiness of the farmer must be matters of deep and abiding 

 interest, I have no time to speak of our political and social in- 

 stitutions, in a way becoming the subject. Nor is it at all ne- 

 cessary. Whatever we may think on other matters, I am per- 

 suaded that there is no diversity of opinion among us, as to the 

 great political and moral principles which lie at the foundation 

 of our existence as a people, and by the observance or neglect 

 of which we are to become the model or the by -word of the na- 

 tions. We may difler on many questions not unimportant, but 

 I am satisfied that the rent never descends to the foundation ; I 

 am sure that I speak the sentiments of all of you, in saying, 

 that the threefold cord, which is to bind us together as a free, 

 enlightened and happy community, must be that woven by the 

 combined influence of the School, the Church, and the Fireside. 

 But to a complete and enlarged patriotism, I think it desirable, 

 if not essential, to possess a just appreciation of the material re- 

 sources and natural scenery of our native home, a deep-felt in- 

 terest in its very soil, a wish, if possible, to leave impressed upon 

 it some lasting token of our atfectionate regard. Who can man- 

 ifest such an interest, more extensively or more permanently, 

 than the cultivator ? Whoever rears a single fine flower in 

 front of his dwelling, gratifies hundreds of beholders by a spec- 

 tacle, far surpassing, in grace and loveliness, all the wonders of 

 the chisel or the pencil. Whoever plants a fruitful orchard, or 

 magnificent grove, erects a monument of his taste and benevo- 

 lence, which will call forth the grateful acknowledgments of 

 those who may follow him, at the distance of a century. To 

 what of our own handiwork, to what, that can fall from the lips 

 or the pen of any of us, can we promise a continuance half so 

 enduring? We cannot all of us be farmers, few indeed of us can 

 be able agricultural writers, but we can all do something, di- 

 rectly or indirectly, and let each do what he can to ornament 

 the face of our country — Great parent of Fruits^ and we trust 

 not barren of men, whose bright skies and bracing atmosphere 

 have given health to our frames, vigor to our arms, and elasti- 

 city to our spirits ; which has unfailingly supplied our wants 



