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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBER 19, 183<-. 



ESSEX A.GRICUI.TI'RA1. SOCIETV. 



The Salem Gazette gives tlie following sketcli of the 

 remarks of Gov. Everett at the Essex Cattle Show. 



After the report of the Coniinittee of Ai-raiijre- 

 rtieiits hml been read, Governot F^verett rose ami 

 made his acki.ort'ledgnients to the Committee for 

 the nmiiner in which they h:id alluded to the cir- 

 cntnataiic.e of his being present. He expressed 

 his eratitiration at the exliibition of the day ; and 

 hi.i eonfi<lence that the boiiiUy of the State was 

 beneficially applied by the Essex Agrioultiiral So- 

 ciety. He stated that tl)e wish had been express- 

 ed that he should address the audience. He felt 

 that in complying with the request, he stepped 

 'beyond the line of usage on such occasions, but 

 he trusted the responsibility of his doing so would 

 be considered as resting- with the Committee, by 

 whom the wish had been expressed. 



The Governor added, that he felt additional em- 

 barrassment in following the orator, who in his 

 very able and interesting discourse, had anticipat- 

 ed many of the general remarks appro|>riate to 

 such an occasion. His only effort could now be, 

 to subjoin a few observations, so simple as to pre- 

 sent themselves without research, and he hoped 

 important enough to bear a repetition, should it 

 happen, as was very probable, that they had been 

 already made by the orator of the day. 



After some remarks on the nature and objects 

 of cattle-shows, and their beneficial influence on 

 the state of the husbandry of this part of the coun- 

 try. Governor Everett proceeded substantially as 

 Ffollows : 



The benefit which has eccnted to oar farmers 

 from these exhibitions, cannot be estimated in dol- 



ls, how is the land held? 



what is the case in many parts of Europe ; but 

 there are countries, where the case is still worse. 

 1 here are countries, where the land, — the whole 

 of it, — is claimed to be the |iroperty of an abso- 

 lute despot, rather a chief of brigands than a sove- 



reiijn, who once or twice a year sends out his 



armed hordes to scour the territory ; to sweep 

 together, whhout the shadow of law or pretence 

 of right, whatever they o;in lay their hands on ; 

 leaving the wretched peasant little else than what 

 he actually grasps with his teeth. Such is the 

 system introiluccd into some parts of Hindostan 

 by their Mahometan con<iuerors, and it has had 

 the effect of breaking down the civilization of 

 countries once refined, learned, wealthy, and pros- 

 perous, into a c.onditinii very little better than that 

 of the North American savage. Contrast this 

 with the system on which our lands are held and 

 occupied, in pursuance of which, as a general rule, 

 it is divided into small farms, the property of those 

 who till them, who have every inducement and 

 fiicility to better their condition, and who feel 

 themselves on an equality with their fellow citi- 

 zens, in every other pursuit. It is plain, that over 

 such a population, no governtnent could exist, but 

 one like that beneath which we live, in which the 

 people are the direct source of power. Where 

 this is the case, it is equally plain, that whatever 

 improves and raises the cond tion of husbandmen, 

 tends directly to sustain and fortify the social fab- 

 ric. 



A very celebrated ancient poet exclaimed, " Oh, 

 too happy farmers, did you but know your bless- 

 ings." If this could be said of the formers of It- 

 aly, at the close of the civil wars, — subjects of an 



Tlie orator has told us | Foster,) and rushed rather than marched to the 



four hours, — 



lars and cents, or measured by the figures employ- absolute prince, and a part of them only the own 



cd to state an increase of agricultural ]irodutts. A 

 few more tuns of hay from your mea lows ; a few 

 itiore bushels of corn or potatoes from youi' tilled 

 lands; a better stock of animals for the dairy, the 

 fold, or the pen, would add something, it is true, 

 to the public and private wealth of the communi- 

 ty ; but if nothing i"arther came of it, it would be 

 ^ matter, in which neither the patriot nor the Chris- 

 tian could take a deep interest. 



Bnt when we consider, that the class of hus- 

 bandmen is mimerically the largest in the commu- 

 nity ; and that on their condition it has been found, 

 in the experieiice of the whole world, that the so- 

 cial, political, anil moral chi.racters of countiies 

 mainly depends, it follows as self-evident, that 

 whatever imprsves the situation of the fanner, 

 feeds the life-springs of the national character. In 

 proportion as our husbandmen prosper, they not 

 only enjoy themselves a larger portion of the 

 blessings of life ; but society is kept in a healthy 

 state, and they are enabled to make amider pro- 

 visions for the education and establishment of their 

 children, and thus leave behind them a posterity 

 competent not only to preserve and assert, but to 

 augment their heritage. 



It will accordingly be found, that the great dif- 

 ferences in the political condition of different 

 countries coincide directly with the different ten- 

 ures on which the land is held and cultivated. It 

 is not that in one country the Government is ad- 

 uiiuistered by an elective President ; is another by 

 S limite<l monarch ; in another by an absolute des- 

 pot. These things are not unimportant ; beeauee 

 forms have a tendency to draw the substance after 

 them. But a far more important question, in de- 

 ciding the political condition of difierent countries 



ers of the lan<l they tilled, it may well be repeated 

 of the husbandmen of New England, the proprie- 

 tors of a soil which furnishes a competence of all 

 the good things of life ; and the possessor of an 

 amount of blessings never surpassed, if ever equal- 

 led. Not among the least of these privileges, is 

 the rich birthright of patriotic recollections which 

 has come down to us from our fathers ; and of 

 which no portion of our country has more to boast, 

 than the ancient county of Essex. It is no mere 

 compliment, sir ; — the county of Essex is a dis- 

 tinguished part of the State. It would be easy, 

 within the limits of this single county, to find, in 

 the history of other times, bright examples of ah 

 the traits of character and conduct, which pro- 

 mote the prosperity and honor of nations in peace 

 and in war. From the early contests with the 

 Indians and French, — from the time when the 

 "Flower ofEssex" fell at "Bloody Brook," — 

 down to the close of the revolution, the fathers and 

 forefathers of those I have the honor to address, 

 contributed a full share of the counsel and treas- 

 ure, the valor and blood by which the cause of 

 the country was directed, sustained, and carried 

 through triuntphant. 



Need I go beyond the limits of the town of 

 Danvers .' Is is not enough to recall the time, 

 not beyond the memory I am sure of some whom 

 I see before me, when a regiment of royal troops 

 was here encamped, a sort of prsetorian band to 

 guard the residence of the Royal Governor.' Need 

 1 do more than remind you of the morning of the 

 19th of April, 1775, when your sires, at the sound 

 of the bell of yonder church, hastened together, a 

 portion of them under the command of your ven- 

 erable fellow-citizen near me, (General Gideon 



field of danger, — sixteen miles in 

 flying into the jaws of death, as rapidly as fear 

 cominonly lends men wings to fly from it; and 

 contributing, — this single town, — this one little 

 town, — oh, prodigality of noble blood, — one 

 sixth of tlie entire loss of that eventful day. Need 

 I, my friends, for the most touching recollections, 

 go beyond the walls of yonder ancient church, 

 consecrated, as it was, by the strange spectacle, 

 (at the meruory of which your tears were culled 

 forth afresh, on last year's return of the great an- 

 niversary,) — the sight of four of your brave sons 

 wi-apped in their bloody shrouds, — the honorable 

 wounds which they had received in their coun- 

 try's cause still freshly flowing? Could I before 

 this audience on such a theme, be wholly mute, 

 would not the grey hairs of the veteran leader of 

 that heroic band, who is now before me, (Geneial 

 Foster) rebuke my silence, and put a tongue in 

 every echo of this building, which would cry out 

 and shame me ! 



Yes, fellow citizcn.s, if anything could make 

 your native land your homes, your firesides more 

 dear to you, it must be these recollections of the 

 precious blood by which they were redeemed. If 

 anything was wanting to inspire you with a pas- 

 sionate attachment to the blessings you enjoy, it 

 would be the thought of the inestimable price, at 

 which they were purchased. 



Nor let us forget, if we have a patriotic ances- 

 try to be proud of, — and if we have privileges to 

 enjoy, — we have also incumbent duties to per- 

 form. The great principles of republican liberty 

 are exposed to danger in peace as well as in war. 

 Prosperity not less than trial may sap the founda- 

 tion of the social fabric ; and there is at all times 

 less danger from a foreign foe, than from party 

 passion, individual selfishness, and general ap- 

 athy. 



It will not, of course, be expected of me to en- 

 large upon the duties which devolve upon our 

 husbandmen with a view to guard against these 

 dangers and perpetuate our institutions in their 

 purity. I can but glance at the topic. But I may 

 say, that the first and most important duty of the 

 husbandman is to endeavor to preserve, and if it 

 may be to strengthen, the broad foundation laid by 

 our fathers, in a deep religious principle. Surely 

 there is no class of the community, whose daily 

 pursuits eught to furnish greater nourishment to 

 the sense of religious things. The reflecting mind 

 it is true, beholds traces of a higher wisdom and 

 goodness in every step of every walk of life; but 

 the husbandman, who drops a seemingly lifeless 

 seed into the cold damp earth,— there in great part 

 to decay, — who sees the vital germ in a kw days 

 pierce the clod, — rise into the air, — drink the 

 sun's rays and the dews of heaven,— shoot up- 

 ward and expand,— array itself in glories beyond 

 the royal vesture of Solomon,— extract Irom the 

 same common earth and air a thousand varieties 

 of the green of the leaf,— the rainbow hues of the 

 petals, the juicy or the solid substances of the 

 fruit which is to form the food of man and his de- 

 pendent animals— I say the intelligent husband- 

 man wlio beholds this, seems to step behind the 

 veil,, which conceals tho mysteries of creative 

 power, and sit down, (if I dare so to speak) in the 

 laboratory of Omnipotence. 



Connected with the cultivatii^tf ikte religious 

 principle, and the natural fruit cf^«l look to 

 our husbandmen for a 



high moral scTSe. The 



