TRANSACTIONS. 



mijesty." He would be ready to acknowledge his dependence 

 if not on God, yet on commerce and the arts. 



But why should I dwell on this subject ; for every agricul- 

 tural fair presents us with a practical illustration of the inti- 

 mate connection and dependence between agriculture and the 

 arts. The choicest and richest displays of mechanical skill 

 meet and gratify us there ; and many of them, too, have been 

 prepared in the farmers' families, in the intervals of leisure ; 

 so that, in fact, to attempt to depreciate manufacturers would 

 be to depreciate farmers themselves. 



The important connection between agriculture and national 

 prosperity is a subject almost too trite for an occasion like the 

 present. And yet few think of all the relations between these 

 subjects. The products of the soil, which result from its cul- 

 tivation, are generally thought of, as the only contribution 

 which agriculture makes to a nation's prosperity. This is, in- 

 deed, a main pillar of that prosperity. But, after all, the most 

 important element of national character is the character of the 

 citizens. 



Just such men as agriculture produces are needed to fill up 

 the ranks of other pursuits in society. For though these other 

 pursuits are of the utmost importance, nay, indispensable to 

 the prosperity of society, and therefore those who engage in 

 them are in a most honorable and respectable path, they are 

 not adapted, like agriculture, to give that physical energy and 

 happy development of character to the rising generation, which 

 they need to take the place of their fathers. Indeed, all the 

 sedentary pursuits in which men engage, tend rather to the de- 

 terioration of the human constitution, so that the sons of me- 

 chanics, merchants, and professional men, can only in part fill 

 up the vacancies occasioned by death. Nay, an enfeebled 

 constitution often compels them to resort to agriculture to re- 

 store its lost stamina. Hence there is needed a foreign supply, 

 to keep the ranks full and strong in these professions. And, 

 where agriculture is in a proper state, it furnishes such a sup- 

 ply. The discipline which the young are undergoing on every 

 well conducted farm in the land, is fitting them to become fu- 



