THE CULTIVATOR. 
34? 
to your improvement. For you are gathered the fruits 
and seeds which centuries of the existence of the human 
race have discovered and rendered useful. Tell me if 
you can, in what age and in what land the cereal grasses 
were first found to produce bread ? Who taught to em¬ 
ploy the useful cow to furnish food for man ? When was 
the horse first tamed to proud obedience ? The pear, the 
apple, the cherry, where were these first improved from 
their wildness in the original fruit ? And whose efforts 
led the way in changing the rough skin of the almond to 
the luscious sweetness of the peach ? All ages have paid 
their tribute to your pursuit. And for you the sons of 
science are now scouring every heath, and prairie, and 
wilderness, to see if some new grass lies hidden in an un¬ 
explored glade; if some rude stock of the forests can of¬ 
fer a new fruit to the hand of culture. For you the earth 
reveals the innumerable beds of marl; its mineral wealth, 
the gypsum and the lime, have remained in store for your 
use from the days of creation. For you, Africa and the 
isles of the Pacific open their magazines of guano; for 
you, (turning to John A. King and some other gentlemen 
from Long Island) old Ocean heaves up its fertilizing 
weeds. (Great applause.) 
And as the farmer receives aid from every part of the 
material world, so also his door is open to all intelli¬ 
gence. What truth is not welcomed as an inmate under 
his roof ? To what pure and generous feeling does he fail 
to give a home ? The great poets and authors of all times 
are cherished as his guests. Milton and Shakspeare, and 
their noble peers,cross his threshold to keep him company. 
For him, too, the harp of Israel's minstrel-monarch was 
strung; for him the lips of Isaiah still move, all touched 
with fire; (applause,) and the apostles of the new cove¬ 
nant are his daily teachers. No occupation is nearer 
heaven. The social angel, when he descended to con¬ 
verse with men, broke bread with the husbandman be¬ 
neath the tree. 
[At this moment, Mr. Van Buren appeared and took 
his seat with the officers and other gentlemen upon the 
platform. He was received with the warmest enthusi¬ 
asm, and it was some time before silence was restored so 
as to enable Mr. Bancroft to proceed.] 
Thus the farmer’s mind is exalted; his principles stand 
as firm as your own Highlands; his good seeds flow like 
self-moving waters. Yet in his connection with the hu¬ 
man race, the farmer never loses his patriotism. He loves 
America—is the depository of her glory and the guardi¬ 
an of her freedom. He builds monuments to greatness, 
and when destiny permits, he also achieves heroic deeds 
in the eyes of his race. The soil of New-York, which 
he has beautified by his culture, is consecrated by the 
victories in which he shared. Earth! I bow in rever¬ 
ence, for my eyes behold the ground wet with the blood 
of rustic martyrs, and hallowed by the tombs of former 
heroes! Where is the land to which their fame has not 
been borne? Who does not know the tale of the hundred 
battle fields of New-York ? Not a rock juts out from the 
Highlands, but the mind’s eye sees inscribed upon it a re¬ 
cord of deeds of glory. Not a blade of grass springs at 
Saratoga, but takes to itself a tongue to proclaim the suc¬ 
cessful valor of patriot husbandmen. (Applause.) 
Here the name of Schuyler, the brave, the generous, 
the unshaken patriot, shall long be remembered; the 
zealous, reliable George Clinton, a man oPsoundest heart, 
a soul of honesty and honor, a dear lover of his country 
and of freedom. Nor do we forget him—the gallant 
Montgomery—twin martyr with Warren—who left his 
farm on the Hudson, not, as it proved, to conquer Que¬ 
bec, but to win a mightier victory over death itself. 
I renew that theme once more, to recount how the far¬ 
mers of New-York have served their country and man¬ 
kind. They were invested with sovereignty, and they 
abdicated. Glorious example! Highest triumph of dis¬ 
interested justice ! They themselves peacefully and pub¬ 
licly renounced their exclusive authority, and transferred 
power in this republic from its territory to its men. 
(Applause.) May your institutions, under the spirit of 
improvement, be perpetual. May every pure influence 
gather round your legislation. May your illustrious ex¬ 
ample show to the world the dignity of labor; the shame 
that lights on idleness; the honor that belongs to toil. To 
the end of time, be happiness the companion of your bu- i 
sy homes, and tne plow ever be found in the hands of its 
owner. (Loud cheers.) 
The farmer is independent. With the mechanic and 
manufacturer as his allies, he makes our country safe 
against foreign foes, for it becomes perfect by its own re¬ 
sources. All America, thanks to New-York, is united 
in the bonds of'internal commerce; our exchanges at 
home exceed our foreign traffic; and were our ships dri¬ 
ven from the ocean highways of the world, America has 
become competent to sustain herself. She has less to fear 
from war than any nation in the world. She may pursue 
her career and vindicate her rights, and call forth all her 
energies in conscious security, (Applause.) But why 
do I say this? To foster a spirit of defiance? Far other¬ 
wise. Let us rejoice in our strength, but temper it with 
the gentleness and spirit of love for all mankind—a love 
that shall perpetuate tranquility, and leave the boundless 
and rapidly increasing resources of the country at liberty 
for its further development. 
Forests of New-York! under the hands of skill, shape 
yourselves into models of naval architecture, and go 
forth upon the seas to reconcile inequalities of climate, 
and confirm the brotherhood of nations. American ideas 
shall travel on your prows, and the genius of humanity 
guide your helm; while we who remain at home will 
water the tree of peace, so that its roots shall strike to 
the very heart of the earth, and its branches tower to the 
heavens: we will so nurture and protect it, that its ver¬ 
dure shall be perennial, that no spirit of animosity shall 
sway its branches, that not even a whisper of discord 
shall rustle in its topmost boughs. (Enthusiastic ap¬ 
plause.) 
One word more, and I'have done. But with that last 
word, I am about to address, though but in imagination, 
the assembled people of New-York. It is a tale often 
repeated, that to do honor to agriculture, the Emperor 
of’China is, himself accustomed in the spring-time of ev¬ 
ery year, to hold the plow and turn a furrow. Under 
our republican institutions, far more is achieved. The 
State itself includes, and is in the greatest measure con¬ 
stituted by its farmers. They themselves are the kings 
that hold the plow and drive the team every day in the 
year. (Applause.) The whole commonwealth watches 
over the farmer. This Society performs its office as the 
agent of the people. They are assembled at our fair, te 
view with honest exultation the products of the farms 
and workshops, and single out this occasion alone, on 
agricultural pursuits to award public honors to exalted 
merit. It is right, therefore, to assume that the Empire 
State itself is present in your midst. 
[At this moment a sudden alarm was created by the 
settling of the stage, which was closely crowded. There 
was a crashing sound, and the whole appeared to be gi¬ 
ving way. Mr. Van Buren was the first to spring up, 
and beg all to be quiet, as there was no danger. Mr. 
Bancroft immediately turned it off very happily—“Yes,” 
he repeated, “ the Empire State is in your midst, and 
when she is here with the broad shield of her parental 
protection over our heads, no evil and no danger can be- 
fal any of us—no, not even to hurt a hair on the head 
of the youngest, and weakest, and tenderest among us”— 
stooping, as he spoke, to lay his hand kindly on the head 
of a little child which had been seated up by its mother 
on the edge of the platform immediately at his feet. This 
little incident elicited great applause, after which Mr. 
Bancroft proceeded.] 
And has it occurred that this great commonwealth— 
the most numerous people ever united under a popular 
form of government—is emphatically a commonwealth 
of the living ? Go to the Old World, and your daily 
walk is over catacombs; your travel among the tombs. 
Here the living of the present day outnumber the dead 
of all the generations since your land was discovered. 
All, all who sleep beneath the soil of New-York, are 
fewer in number than you who move above their graves. 
Look about you and see what the men of the past have 
accomplished. 
Concentrate in your mind all that they have achieved; 
the beauty of their farms, the length and grandeur of 
their canals and railroads, the countless fleets of canal 
boats they have constructed; their ships that have visited 
ievery continent and discovered a new one; their towns 
