HORTICULTURAL. REPOSITORY. 



2GS 



breasts of those that labour in the earth his peculiar 

 deposite for substantial virtue ; the focus in which he 

 keeps alive the sacred fire, which otherwise might 

 escape from the face of the earth : that corruption of 

 morals in the mass of cultivators, is a phenomenon 

 of which no a.go or nation has furnished an example ; 

 it is the mark set on those, who, not looking up to 

 Heaven, to their own soil aDd industry, as does the 

 husbandman, depend for it on the casualties and ca- 

 price of customers : and that the proportion which 

 the aggregate of the other classes of citizens bears, 

 in any state, to that of its husbandmen, is the propor- 

 tion of its unsound to the healthy parts." The voice 

 of reason and nature confirm the truth of these re- 

 marks. There is no occupation, which, like agricul- 

 ture, contributes to the health and energy of the hu- 

 man constitution ; and when attended to as a science, 

 it presents a vast field for the display of intellectual 

 improvement and philosophical investigation. The 

 mechanical arts, such as of masons, carpenters and 

 smiths, particularly, are necessary, not only to aid 

 the farmer in the progress of his occupation, but con- 

 tribute essentially to his convenience and comfort. 

 But a small proportion of this class of citizens, is 

 however sufficient for all the necessary purposes of 

 their respective arts. It is very obvious that without 

 the plough, the hoe, and the harrow, the productive 

 powers of the soil would never have been developed 

 in any degree adequate to the great objects of civili- 

 zation, and of improving the natural condition of 

 man. But in the invention of these arts, which were 

 necessary to improve the science of agriculture, man- 

 kind were gradually led to the discovery of those 

 which increased their riches ; and when by the ac- 

 quisition of a surplus of the produce of the earth, 

 and the introduction of commerce, money was in- 

 vented as the representation of property, and by that 

 means it was found practicable to purchase not only 

 the necessaries but the conveniences of life, the na- 

 tural indolence of the human disposition began to 

 yield to the fascinating charms of luxurious ease. — 

 According to the christian chronology, it was more 

 than three thousand years from the creation of our 

 world, before the use of silver and gold metals were 

 introduced as a circulating medium, and a substitute 

 for the value of property ; during which period em- 

 pires rose, and flourished, and fell. It would be a 

 curious subject to investigate the history of the ori- 

 gin and use of money, and its progressive influence 

 on the manners of civil society. But for any im- 

 portant practical use to Americans, in their present 

 condition, it is sufficient for them to learn whether its 

 present use, or the means which are practised to ac- 

 cumulate it, have a tendency to advance our political 

 isappiness, or to perpetuate the duration of our own 

 lepublican privileges. If the great object of accumu- 



lating money is not to meliorate the condition of our 

 country, by facilitating the means of subsistence ge- 

 nerally, and making our citizens wiser and better, is 

 it not questionable, whether the increase of our mo- 

 ney capital, and our population, will essentially ad- 

 vance the happiness, and the durable strength of our 

 republic ? It has been remarked that the strength of 

 a nation is derived from the character, not from the 

 wealth, nor from the number of its people. And of 

 the truth of this remark, ancient Sparta has furnish- 

 ed us with an example. The republic of Sparta, af- 

 ter Lycurgus had suppressed the circulation of gold 

 and silver coins, and introduced money made of iron, 

 as the only circulating medium, and enforced by law 

 such a distribution of property, that there were no 

 citizens either rich or poor, and with a less popula- 

 tion than the surrounding nations, flourished for ageSj 

 the most powerful and happy republic of Greece, and 

 perhaps of any other that has ever existed. The ob- 

 ject of the celebrated institutions of Lycurgus, was 

 to make her citizens powerful and happy ; bj' making 

 them wiser and better ; by improving their manners 

 and habits, rather than by accumulating their wealth , 

 extending their dominion, and increasing their popu- 

 lation. And Americans should not forget the policv 

 of Lycurgus, so far as' it relates to the importance of 

 forming the habits of our citizens to industry, and 

 their morals to virtue, in establishing a national cha- 

 racter, was enjoined on us by the advice, and exem- 

 plified in the character, of our Washington. When 

 on the occasion of his inauguration to the office of 

 our first chief magistrate, he admonished them to ho- 

 nour the men who with their own hands maintain then- 

 families, and raise up children who are inured to toil, 

 he doubtless saw in this class of citizens the surest 

 pledges of their welfare, and the permanency of our 

 privileges. This remark of our illustrious chief was 

 a salutary reproof to that class of overgrown plan-, 

 ters and farmers, who would degrade the condition 

 of the labouring husbandman to that of the slave. 

 In giving lessons to posterity, his exalted policy was 

 not influenced by partial views nor personal motives; 

 nor by the pride or prejudices of the world. In the 

 experience of a life devoted to the welfare and glory 

 of his country, he found in the employment of agri- 

 culture, the best resources of individual happiness 

 and national prosperity. But although there have 

 been characters renowned for wisdom, for intellectu- 

 al capacity, and for patriotism, who have in every age 

 and country, been disposed to raise the dignity, and 

 improve the science of agricultural pursuits, yet, 

 strange as it may appear, in Republican America, to 

 labour in the field is unfashionable ! Cincinnatus 

 was called from the plough to direct the destinies of 

 an empire, that gave laws to the world ; and to the 

 proffer* of unbounded wealth, and the. splendours »f 



