No. 216] 539 



" I never thought that Adam had much advantage of us from hav^ 

 ing seen the world while it was new. The manifestations of the 

 power of God, like his mercies, are ' new every morning, and fresh 

 every moment. We see as fine risings of the sun as ever Adam 

 saw, and its risings are as much a miracle now as they were in his 

 day, and I think a good deal more, because it is now a part of the 

 miracle that for thousands and thousands of years he has come to his 

 appointed time, without the variation of a millionth part of a sec- 

 ond. Adam could not tell how this might be. 



" I know the morning. I am acquainted with it, and I love it, 

 I love it fresh and sweet as it is, a daily new creation breaking 

 forth and calling all that have life and breath and being, to new 

 adoration, new enjoyments, and new gratitude." 



The contemplation of the works of man, of his inventions, that 

 seem almost creations, inventions that annihilate space, enable him 

 to outstrip the light in speed, to defy the winds and waves, and 

 conquer the elements, that give him strength at will, that make the 

 forked lightnings his minister^ all these give us occasion for well- 

 founded pride and exultation. We rejoice in men, in ourselves and 

 our capacities; but when we regard the fields and the harvests, the 

 seed and the grain, the clouds and the rain, we remember their 

 Almighty author, compared with whose works, how little, how feeblej 

 and how silly are our best contrivances and most astonishing inven- 

 tions, and we rejoice and exult in the display of the wonders of in- 

 finite skill and immeasurable power. 



In endeavoring to speak of agriculture, I must be general in my 

 remarks, confining myself chiefly to its political and social relations. 

 Of practical agriculture he can know little who does not himself 

 cultivate the ground; if not with his own hands, yet under his con- 

 stant supervision. I am not like the patriarchs of old, or Dandie 

 Dinmont, " cunning in that which belongeth to flocks and herds," 

 and this assembly is a place for most of us to attend with a view 

 of learning, and not teaching. 



One of the first indications of civilization is the advancement 

 and improvement of agriculture; and all histories show that the more 

 refined a people become, the more skilful is their cultivation. 



In all the great empires of the old world, in the East, in China 

 and India, Babylon and Rome, the science of agriculture was carried 



