S62 



NEW-YORK FARMER AND 



the two mansions will thus each borrow a splendour Conceit" tingle. The meaning of my sentence which 

 from the other. There are still existing proofs of : is tho cause of the third query, is precisely what Mr. 

 the attention paid to this subject in former times, an I " Anti Indigenous Conceit" has guessed it to bo: 

 instance of which occurs in the apparent connection i" That in entering the precincts of public roads in 

 by avenues between Blenheim Ditchley and Hoy- Europe, we cannot equally obtain tho view of acoun- 

 throp, though, the last mansion is nearly ten miles try ornamented with the majestic and varied beauties 



distant from the first." 



Query 2d. " How are we to understand Mr. Wil- 

 son when he says, " Our remarks will be in accord- 

 ance with the idea of our maintaining and improving 

 one natural, grand, noble and national characteristic 

 of rural excellencies." Does he mean there is some- 

 thing more natural, grand, noble, national and excel- 

 lent in American rural scenery, than what is to be 

 found in Europe, or are we understand by this sen- 

 tence, the mere clink and jingle of words?" 



Answer. — 1 mean the preservation of the remains 

 of our native forest trees and flowering shrubs, ty-c. 

 which are still so universally scattered throughout 

 even our oldest settlements. Loudon in his work 

 above quoted, says, at page 1005, " Trees whether 

 in scattered forests, thickets, or groups, or in com- 

 pact geometre squares, avenues or rows, constitute 

 the greatest charm of every country." And in the' 

 same work, page 993, he says, " The great source 

 of the beauty of every verdant landscape is wood, and 

 so much of the beauty of all woods depends on acci- 

 dental circumstances in their progress from the time 

 of planting till they attain a considerable age, and 

 which circumstances cannot be said practically to be 

 under the control of the gardener ; that however high 

 our aim, however wo may study the natural effects of 

 time, and however correctly we may imitate them, at 

 the end of all our labours, any wood of art will al- 

 ways be far inferior to a wood of nature under the 

 same circumstances." Michaux, page 106, has de- 

 scribed one hundred and thirty-seven trees which in 

 America grow above thirty feet high, of which eighty- 

 five are employed in the arts. In France there are 

 only thirty-seven which rise to that height, of which 

 eighteen serve to form timber plantations, and of 

 •these seven only are employed in civil and marine 

 constructions. But the preeminence of America, in 

 the beauty, variety and magnificence of her forest 

 trees, is universally known ; and while a good pro- 

 portion, as at present, of these are still preserved 

 throughout the country in scattered forests, thickets, 

 oroups, &c. so long will she continue to exhibit to 

 every unprejudiced eye, one natural, grand, noble 

 and national characteristic of rural excellencies, with 

 which Europe nor any other country upon earth, 

 ever afforded a parallel. 



I did not intend that any of my sentences should 

 be understood to mean merely " a clink and jingle of 

 words," and I should be extremely sorry if any of toy 

 answers should make the ears of " Anti Indigenous 



of the hand of nature, as is to be seen in our own 

 country." 



ART. 1G3. — Tke dignity and imparlance of agri- 

 cultural pursuits must direct the policy andmanners 

 of the people, to secure the perpetuity of our civil 

 privileges. 



The pursuit of national objects, is directed by the 

 influence of public opinion ; and it is by this influ- 

 ence that habits prevail which eventuate in the for- 

 mation of national character. In every counhy 

 which has been called civilized, the splendour of 

 wealth has engaged the attention of vulgar minds, 

 and attached to its possessor a superiority to which 

 merit or talents could have no claim. This sense- 

 less admiration of the show and parade of wealth, 

 has been too much encouraged, by the influence of 

 public opinion, in states which have been reputed to 

 be virtuous and free. The possession of wealth does 

 not necessarily tend to improve tho virtues or capa- 

 cities of men; these are to be improved by the pur- 

 suits and the exercises in which they are engaged. — 

 Hitherto, a large portion of the American people have 

 been amused with the idea, that the duration and 

 perfection of political happiness depend entirely on 

 a free constitution, written on paper. But many have 

 ever believed, that v hen the manners of the people 

 arrive to a certain degree of degeneracy, the laws 

 which have usually governed human actions and pas- 

 sions, will decide its fate ; and that such a state of 

 degeneracy can be prevented only by habits of indus- 

 try in the pursuit of objects best calculated to meli- 

 orate the human condition. Should our republic ex- 

 hibit the phenomenon, which has never yet been ex- 

 hibited in the civilized world, that of a nation of hus- 

 bandmen making commerce and the mechanical arts 

 wholly subservient to the interests of agriculture, 

 and enforcing upon our citizens, as it were by a na- 

 tional discipline and the influence of public opinion, 

 habits of rigid temperance and industry, we mighf 

 indulge more sanguine hopes of its immortal dura- 

 tion. History, that monumental record of national 

 rise and national ruin, has taught us that through ev- 

 ery stage of civil society, the miseries attending the 

 condition of man, have been accumulated, in propor- 

 tion to their neglect of the peaceful and happy em- 

 ployment of cultivating the earth. It has been justly 

 remarked by one who has heretofore directed the 

 destinies of our country. " that God has made the 



