IMR. stone's address. 33 



tiuue to look iti vain while the work of two years is crowded 

 into one. In placing man here, it was no part of the Divine 

 Plan, that he should thus overreach himself — that he should 

 commit moral, intellectual and physical suicide. If God gave 

 him broad acres to cultivate, he also gave him a mind and 

 body to improve, and he gave him time enough, when properly 

 allotted, to do both. 



Of all active employments, farming is, perhaps, most conge- 

 nial to self-culture. In same mechanical pursuits, success of- 

 ten depends on the concentration of the mind to a single point. 

 The nice calculations that enter into a new invention, or an 

 improvement of an old one, forbid attention to any subject out 

 of that particular line. But it is otherwise with the farmer. — 

 There are many hours in which he may reflect and meditate 

 on topics foreign to his business, without impeding it. He can 

 carry into the field, and digest the contents of a valuable book, 

 while turning the furrow or cultivating the crop, and feel re- 

 freshed by the exercise. And if, as 'tis said, " an empty brain 

 is the devil's workshop," where all sortsof mischief are forged, 

 he is the wisest man, and in the safest condition, who goes to 

 his daily employ, well provided with matter for profitable 

 thought. 



Why, then, should not this truth be kept constantly in view? 

 Why should not every farmer and every farmer's wife, have time 

 for moral and intellectual improvement? Why should they 

 not have a choice collection of books, small though it may be, 

 and time to peruse them? Why should not the one be famil- 

 iar with the best works on Agriculture and Political Economy, 

 and the other with the productions of Moore, Edgeworth, Si- 

 gourney and Beecher 7 Nay, why should not the great truths 

 of Revelation, those that unveil eternity, and impart lustre to 

 the soul's destiny, occupy an occasional hour of undistracted 

 meditation,— of inspection as anxious as was ever devoted to 

 " the contents of a rich man's last will and testament? " 



Industry and enterprise, I profoundly venerate, and feel my- 

 self bound to say and do what I can to give them healthy 

 stimulus. But I cannot close my eyes to the evils of their 

 abuse. All excess is hurtful, and to be deplored. And when I 

 5 



