ADDRESS. 27 



'if this is right ? Does it become us as townsmen ? Does it 

 become us as christians ? 



The farmer needs some system by which all the improve- 

 ments in his calling may be instantly brought to his notice ; 

 by which he may learn as early as possible the introduction 

 of new machinery and new seeds, new breeds of cattle and 

 new modes of treating the soil. 



I know of no better 'Change for him than farmers' insti- 

 tutes and farmers' clubs, which shall meet regularly and as 

 often as practicable to discuss the modes of farming and the 

 principles which may be most worthy of application. 



Suppose a farmers' club, for instance, established in every 

 town and every village, furnished with a library suitable and 

 accessible to all the reading community, meeting on grounds 

 strictly neutral in politics and religion. What would be the 

 result ? In the first place it would promote the best social 

 feelings and elevate the social qualities and the social position 

 of the farmer. It would increase the intercourse between 

 neighbors, separated it may be by sectarian and unchristian 

 prejudices, as much as if an ocean rolled between them. Men 

 would discover the swCet fountains of humanity welling up in 

 many a heart, where they expected to find only bitterness and 

 hatred. New and enlarged ideas would be spread abroad by 

 lectures and discussions, placing before the thinking commu- 

 nity whatever improvements others are making, and enabling 

 many to adopt them, who otherwise would never even have 

 heard of them. Farmers would become more and more inter- 

 ested in their vocation and more and more satisfied with it. 

 The moment you bring mind to bear on the toils of the hand, 

 that moment you dignify and ennoble them. Mind is the 

 only thing that distinguishes the toils of man from the toils of 

 the brute, and it is for this reason that those occupations, 

 which neither require nor admit of the exercise of mind and 

 thought, descend in some measure to the level of mere brute 

 force. Let the farmer begin to think and to calculate and to 

 educate himself for his calling, and he will have a respect for 



