15 



I feel a pleasure in thus adverting to the impression 

 made upon my own mind, during my various tours in 

 Holland, in the presence of a meeting of agriculturists, 

 many of whom may inherit from the early settlers of New- 

 York, a portion of that industrious and patient blood, 

 which makes every end sure to the determined and per- 

 severing man.* 



I may mention as an indication of the early desire of 

 the Dutch authorities to promote the diffusion of Agricul- 

 tural knowledge, that a very old regulation prescribes at- 

 tendance on agricultural lectures as a necessary branch of 

 study to the established clergy of HoUand.f And though 

 in that, as in many other countries, men of the old school 

 at present act as a drag on the progress of scientific agri- 

 culture, yet enlightened and zealous minds are at work in 

 various parts of the Netherlands, and advance is gradually 

 being made. The name of Mulder ought especially to 

 be mentioned as most eminent among the scientific men 

 of Holland, not only in advancing pure science, but in 

 advocating and promoting its general applications to the 

 agriculture of his native country. 



Italy. — From Holland turn for a moment to Italy, in 

 which country drainage works somewhat akin to those of 

 the Dutch, form the proudest monuments of which even 

 that famed land can boast, of the victory which perse- 

 vering intelligence can achieve over the difficulties and 

 seeming hostility of nature. 



* For a fuller account of the Rural Industry and Drainage of Holland, 

 which I wrote for the Edinburgh Review, see vol. 86, p. 419, of that 

 work. 



t This must be considered an admirable provision, enabling the pastor 

 to advise in regard to the temporal pursuits, no less than the spiritual 

 affairs of his flock. 



