4 



Dorian accompaniment " of flutes and soft recorders," had 

 more than restored the faded glories of LacedcTmon.* 



Is it an error to suppose that in frequently selecting their 

 annual orator from men who make no pretension to a famili- 

 arity with the farmer's vocation, the managers of this society, 

 recognize and re-affirm a truth which was illustrated by the 

 singular incident just related? May it not be said of every 

 human enterprise and pursuit, that there are principles, mo- 

 tives, important considerations, which, lying back of theoretic 

 knowledge, and of practical skill, are yet equally essential 

 with these to successful progress ? 



But when we come to such elements of influence and of 

 action, we find ourselves standing on common ground. These 

 are sources of thought and feeling from which all can draw. 

 To unfold their mysteries demands no expert — calls for no 

 prophet's eye, or tongue. Had I imagined, gentlemen, that 

 you would expect me to talk to you learnedly and technically 

 of agricultural principles, processes, and results, certainly you 

 ■would not have seen me here to-day. May I not indulge the 

 hope, that apart from topics which belong to your own speci- 

 alty, even a retired school-master may find something to say 

 not wholly uusuited to the place and hour ? 



To one thus engaged, and who would i\;in make the most of 

 his brief allowance, the selection of topics is not always easy. 

 So numerous are the subjects of interest and of importance, 

 that one is puzzled which to take. Nor is this the whole dif- 

 ficulty. The necessary limitation of time, and the actual lim- 

 itation of patience, preclude a satisfactory discussion of any 

 one theme. Although, during the short period which has 

 elapsed since I received and accepted this appointment, much 

 of my reading has been agricultural, I could expect from so 



*While Mr, Grote sets aside the account given by Pausanias of the two 

 Messenian wars, as being little more than a string of poetical tableaux, he 

 does not attem^Dt to shake our faith in Tyrtoeus — the schoolmaster and the 

 poet — whose martial airs and emphatic exhortations to union and courage, 

 were, as he conceives, well fitted to impress a people like the Spartans. 



