MR. SALToNSi'ALL S aDDRKSS. / 



these things, which are within the reach of every one, 

 and which in themselves seem but trifles, make the most 

 simple farm-house attractive, and that while they improve 

 the taste, they contribute essentially to our enjoyment. 

 As has been beautifully said, " they are the innocent 

 occupation of the young members of the family, the ele- 

 gant luxury of them' all, and they impress even the 

 passing stranger with a sense of the taste and the ease 

 of the farmer. " 



Farmers of Essex — you have then every inducement 

 and every encouragement to persevere. Little perma- 

 nent good of any kind can be effected, except by dili- 

 gence and perseverance, stimulated by the hope of 

 success. The cause of agriculture has recently received 

 a stimulus which it never before ^eh. Its improveiuent 

 in this country and in Eui'ope has been so rapid, and its 

 advance and estimation as a science so great, that it 

 would be an instructive labor to trace its pi'ogiess. 

 This would require a knowledge of its condition at 

 different periods, and of its principles, practice and 

 statistics, which would render the attempt in me vain, 

 even if it could be brought within the compass of a dis- 

 course. 



Nowhere has this improvement been greater than in 

 our Father-land, as England may well be called by the 

 farmers of Essex, many of whom are now cultivating the 

 fields set off to their English ancestors in the "division 

 of lots, " two centuries ago. Agriculture was introduc- 

 ed into England by the Romans, and strange as it may 

 seem, very little improvement was made in the art for 

 many centuries afterwards. Greater progress has prob- 

 ably been made within the last half century than in the 

 sixteen hundred years succeeding the Homan conquest. 

 Is it not astonishing, that in a state of society so advanc- 

 ed as to produce the acknowledged master spirits of 

 England in literature, the arts, and in science, the parent 

 art — the art of arts — should have been passed by as 

 unworthy of their attention, and as wholly disconnected 

 with science? 



The subject is so closely connected with political 



