No. 216.] 513 



now, our nice old ladies are honored only less than our handsome 

 young ladies! By " the good old tvay,'' monarchs were clad by even 

 Americans in the light of divinity: and now, the Yankee 



" Would shake hands with the king upon his throne, 

 And think it kindness to his Majesty." 



By " the good old way,^' Columbus would slumber an unknown man 

 in an unknown grave. But the spirit of progress pointed his ardent 

 eyes to another world, baptized by another sea, in the far off Hes- 

 perides: and that race which is the crown of humanity, now swarm 

 on the fertile soil of that new earth, to chain matter to the car of 

 civilization, illumine mankind with the beams of liberty, and send 

 hoary errors crumbling away in the awful shadow of reform. When 

 you can bind the wing of the eagle with a cobweb; when you can 

 stop the world in its motion by a priestly dictum, then attempt to 

 arrest the giant of progress in his majestic career. He who does 

 attempt it before these labors have been accomplished, must only be 

 crushed himself beneath his mighty feet. 



Gentlemen and ladies, this great subject, to which your attention 

 has been callwd, is still before our legislature. As to reports — one 

 has been made in favor of the School and Farm, another against 

 them; so honors are equal. We believe that the legislature has 

 only to become aware of the importance and necessity of an Agri- 

 cultural School and Experimental Farm, to found and liberally en- 

 dow them; for the genius of our legislation has evinced, of late, an 

 unequivocal tendency towards progress. 



We all talk about the dignity of labor. Let us show a sense of 

 that dignity, by enlightening labor. Let no one regard this as im- 

 practicable. I point the doubtful to that magnificent telescope be- 

 fore us. It is an American production. Mr. Lewenberg, the opti- 

 cian, when he proposed its construction, was told by many that a 

 telescope could not be made in the United States, His answer is 

 here made visible in the 8| inch aperture, 14 feet focal length, and 

 1100 highest power. He is now engaged on a telescope of 45 feet 

 focal length, and 21 inch aperture. We will no longer ask Europe 

 to give us an eye with which we can behold the deeds of God in 

 the infinite abyss. America will make her own telescopic vision. 

 Impracticable! Determined men but rarely understand the word. 



We all know that labor is the true pyramid on which reposes the 

 prosperity of the human race. Let us place in the hands of that 



[Am. Inst.] HH 



