THE CULTIVATOR. 
119 
part of which there is no carbonate of lime, while silica and alumina 
are abundant. The district generally is far from fertile, and makes 
little return to the farmer. Now it is the general practice in that 
country to bring sand from the sea-coast, often many miles distant, 
to mix with the soil, by which the productiveness of the latter is in¬ 
creased. It is also the general belief, that the sand benefits the 
soil, by loosening it, though the farmers are aware that the same 
quantity of other kinds of sand, which may also be abtained on the 
coast, will not produce the same good effects. The fact is, that the 
sand brought chiefly, and sometimes almost entirely, consists of car¬ 
bonate of lime, being the triturated fragments of sea-shells, thrown 
on shore by the breakers ; and thus the farmers add, without being 
aware of it, a mineral substance 7 to the land in which it was deficient, 
and which it required to render it somewhat fertile .—Geology appli¬ 
ed to Agriculture. 
Young Men’s Department. 
WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF CULTURE. 
Many plants that are highly nutritious and useful, under culture, 
are useless, and even poisonous, when growing in their natural state. 
The apple is the improvement which culture has produced upon the 
wild acerb crab. The uncultivated peach is said to be poisonous in 
some parts of Asia. The cabbage is believed to have sprung from 
the worthless colewort. The potato is but a small bitter root in its 
natural condition in the wilds of Chili. Mo~t of the plants which 
furnish food to man, are multiplied in their products, and greatly im¬ 
proved in their quality, when subjected to culture. Every year 
brings to our notice some species, hitherto useless, which human in¬ 
dustry is rendering subservient to our wants. Providence has boun¬ 
tifully supplied us with the materials necessary to our condition, if 
we will but prepare them for our use. Industry and perseverance 
are assured of their reward ; and indolence may be sure of meeting 
the penalty incident to the disobeyance of a reasonable command. 
What a beautiful lesson do these facts teach to the young. The 
wild uncultured mind, is like the wild crab, wild potato, or colewort 
—a comparatively useless or noxious cumbrance in society. And 
yet, if brought under suitable culture, how useful—useful to its pos¬ 
sessor, and useful, like the plants we have spoken of, to the family 
of man. The ignorant, selfish being, who lives but for himself, may, 
like the fire-fly, emit a transient light, and is forgotten. He never 
realizes the sublime pleasures that are purchased by knowledge, 
and efforts to do good. While the learned industrious man, appre¬ 
ciating the high duties he owes to society, and actuated by an ar¬ 
dent desire to fulfil them, confers blessings on his species, and, liv¬ 
ing or dead, is the theme of gratitude and praise. 
Untiring vigilance, is the tenure upon which nations can long enjoy the 
blessings of civil liberty. This is confirmed by all history, and by the events 
of our own times. The necessity of exercising this vigilance now, by those 
who are charged with the safe keeping of our civil freedom—the yeomanry 
of our country—and the importance of instructing the young in a knowledge 
of their rights and duties, are very forcibly illustrated in the following ex¬ 
tract, which we make from ths 4th of July Oration of the Rev. Mr. Kirk. 
The middle classes are emphatically the guardians of our freedom. 
“What is a republican government! It is an instrument admira¬ 
bly contrived for the promotion of human happiness. But an instru¬ 
ment always implies an agent; and a good instrument loses its value 
by being in bad hands. What is there, for instance, in our admira¬ 
ble judiciary system, if our judges become corrupt! What is the 
value of trial by jury, if juries are composed of men who disregard 
the sanctions of an oath, or if our court-rooms are to become the 
scene of popular clamor and brow-beating! What is the right of 
speech and opinion, or the freedom of the press, if mobs are to be¬ 
come legislature, judiciary and executive, and to be secretly sanc¬ 
tioned by men who ought to be ashamed, and are ashamed of their 
connexion with them; if men who stand high, and cry, “ the con¬ 
stitution, the constitution,” with this stab in its vital parts! What 
is the elective franchise, and the universal right of suffrage, if the 
greater part of the people had either not intelligence enough to judge 
the merits of candidates, or patriotism and virtue enough to resist 
the bribes of demagogues! They are only the stake for which the 
more skilful play the game of intrigue, fraud and falsehood. They 
only tend to bring into office men who will pander to their vices and 
confirm their blindness and prejudices, to secure their support. Let 
me repeat it'—you are possessed of the most perfect political insti¬ 
tutions that man ever enjoyed—institutions, under whose influence 
may be trained the noblest people the earth has ever sustained. But 
there is no magic in these institutions. They are, after all, dead in¬ 
struments. Like the best tempered sword—^useless in unskilful 
hands—mighty when wielded by the valiant hand of the trained.— 
There are two elements of national greatness : a good constitution 
is the first-—a people who will use it aright, is the other. The one 
w 7 as consumated by the labors of our fathers, vindicated by their 
swords, and bequeathed to their posterity, a monument of the highest 
human glory. But have we now 7 , and shall we have hereafter, the 
second element of political elevation! This appears to me the sub¬ 
ject of deepest interest to this nation—the formation of a national 
character. In that we shall, doubtless, unanimously agree. Whe¬ 
ther we shall also agree as to the features of that character, and the 
means of forming it, remains to be seen. There are certain great 
principles which must be established, and adopted, and practised by 
this W’hole country, to secure the perpetuity of our government. I 
shall frankly state my own views, without forcing them improperly 
upon others, satisfied with the privilege of suggesting them to such 
an assembly, and on such an occasion. 
A numerical majority determines every thing in this country. If 
that majority are capable of exercising proper vigilance, and if they 
are patriotic enough to exercise it, and to see that the constitution 
and laws are rightly administered, the most sanguine need ask no 
more. But if the bare numerical majority who can swear citizen¬ 
ship, are sunk either in intelligence or virtue too low for this, we are 
wrecked—inevitably lost—the day-star of hope sets in the east—the 
cause of human freedom is sold into the hands of some despot—and 
he, the w r orst. of despots, a republican king, who will kindly take the 
crown at the urgent hands of the people, who confess that they can¬ 
not govern themselves. Probably few have held this fact vividly be¬ 
fore their minds—no matter who may now fill your offices; your 
judges may each be a Mansfield or a Marshall; your president a Van 
Buren or a Harrison; your present legislators like the congress of 
; ’76 ; it all furnishes no security, if a bare majority of votes can be 
found, who will sacrifice our country for the bribes or the entreaties 
of the basest demagogues. With this fact vividly in view 7 , let us 
look at another. We have made a bold experiment. Our arms are 
opened to the world. We have said to its every inhabitant—no 
matter what your view’s of liberty, and government, and duty; only 
come among us and become a citizen. It matters not though you 
have no interest in the soil, nor any other local interest; no family, 
no property, no feelings in common w 7 ith us; though you be a refu¬ 
gee from justice; nay, though you have just eluded the hands of the 
executioner. It matters not what are your moral principles; w 7 bat 
your connexion with foreign institutions; nor w 7 hat your secret com¬ 
mission from them; come in among us, and you shall have an equal 
voice in determining the political destiny of this country. Your vote 
may affect the property and business of the country most seriously, 
and though you have neither property nor business, your vote shall 
go as far as that of the most deeply interested in property and trade. 
Nay, we go farther. We say to the despots of the continent, orga¬ 
nize your measures and transport your men, no matter who, nor 
what they are; empty your prisons and poor-houses, and swear eve¬ 
ry minion upon your altar; bind his heart and conscience to your 
own cherished tyranny, and then send him here; and he shall scarce¬ 
ly have landed, before w 7 e will seat him in the places of political 
power, by giving him as much control of the government, through 
the ballot-box, as our best and most enlightened have. 
Now understand me, fellow-citizens ; I am not complaining; for 
I never shrink from carrying out my principles to their legitimate 
extent. I am a true republican, and know no way to be one, but by 
admitting universal suffrage ; and requiring of a man nothing but the 
act of naturalization to constitute him a voter. Yet I say it is a bold 
experiment. It is fraught with dangers, and those dangers ought to 
be surveyed with an anxious eye. The majority, in this country, 
must be made and kept sufficiently intelligent and virtuous to pre¬ 
serve republican institutions. If they are not men of principle, they 
will not require their rulers to be such. If not well instructed, they 
are incompetent to judge the conduct of their rulers. Now, what 
shall we do to secure this great end! How can we guard our coun¬ 
try and its beloved institutions from those very dangers which are 
incidental to their peculiar excellence. Perhaps some regard all 
this as a display of exceeding sensitiveness, discovering danger where 
none exists. ***** There yet may arise great difficulties 
