15 



have its thorn," so, for all the gains we make we are 

 obliged to suffer a loss, which in some cases seems almost 

 to make the gain of doubtful advantage. The great' in- 

 crease in the productive capacity of mankind by the divis- 

 ion of labor has been achieved, I fear, at the expense of 

 some qualities of character where we can ill afford to lose. 

 The man who spends his working days, year in and year 

 out, in the performance of some simple branch of mechani- 

 cal work may get a comfortable living thereby, but can 

 hardly get anything of more substantial value, even if his 

 mental and moral natures are not dwarfed by their en- 

 forced inaction. 



The discipline of the wider practical knowledge and 

 more persistent efforts which were necessary to gain a live- 

 lihood in former times, developed a sturdy race. Living 

 has been made easier, but has not something of indepen- 

 dence and manliness been sacrificed ? It is certainly an 

 open question whether the tendency to lessen the labor of 

 life will result in making life any better. 



Von Moltke, that great German — great in the arts of 

 peace as well as in the art of war — believed war to be es- 

 sential to the highest welfare of the human race. We do 

 not like to endorse that opinion, and yet we know that men 

 develop the greatest capacity and highest character only in 

 schools of adversity, or "in times which try men's souls." 



It is one of the many great advantages of the farmer's 

 career that, so far, it has suffered least from the industrial 

 changes I have been speaking of. You deal with affairs in 

 a broader way than do the artisans, and you occupy a posi- 

 tion of independence which no other calling can confer. 

 While your work is hard it ministers to good health, and if 

 its stimulus to mental activity moves you as it ought, it will 



