A CHAPTER ON AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 411 



ment of humanity, as to his power over his own destiny, which is 

 thus inculcated upon man ; he learns also tranquillity and patience. 

 He cannot flatter himself that the most ingenious inventions, or the 

 most restless activity, will secure his success ; when he has done ail 

 that depends upon himself for the cultivation and fertilization of the 

 soil, he must wait with resignation. The more profoundly we ex- 

 amine the situation in which man is placed, by the possession and 

 cultivation of the soil, the more do we discover how rich it is in 

 salutary lessons to his reason, and benign influences on his charac- 

 ter. Men do not analyze these facts ; but they have an instinctive 

 sentiment of them, which powerfully contributes to the peculiar re- 

 Ispect in which they hold property in land, and to the preponder- 

 ance which that kind of property enjoys over every other. This 

 preponderance is a natural, legitimate, and salutary fact, which, espe- 

 cially in a great country, society at large has a strong interest in 

 recognizing and respecting." 



We have quoted this sound and excellent expose, of the import- 

 ance and dignity of the landed interest, from a late pamphlet by a 

 great continental statesman, only to draw the attention of our agri- 

 cultural class to their position in all countries whether monarchical 

 or republican and especially to the fact, that upon the intelligence 

 and prosperity of the owners of the soil, here, depend largely the 

 strength and security of our government, and the well working of 

 most of its best institutions. 



Where, then, must we look for the explanation of the fact, that 

 in every country the cultivators of the soil are the last to avail them- 

 selves of the advantages of skill and science ? That every where 

 they are the last to demand of government a share of those benefits 

 which are continually heaped upon less important, but more saga- 

 cious and more clamorous branches of the body politic ? 



Is it because, obliged to trust largely to nature and Providence, 

 they are less active in seizing the advantages of education than 

 those whose intellect, or whose inventive powers, are daily tasked 

 for their support, and who cultivate their powers of mind in order 

 to live by their exercise ? 



These are pertinent questions at this moment ; for it is evident 

 that we are on the eve of a great change in the future position and 



