MISCELLANEOUS ADDRESSES. 223 
There is a charm in this which must last while the spirit of man 
feels and acknowledges the strivings of his own mind and the power 
of God around him. 
We do not reason thus, but we feel it, and it is this mysterious 
and acting charm which has infused its sweetness into the hearts 
of all rural people in all ages of the world. 
That you are not as intelligent and well informed as a parallel 
grade of society in towns, we must allow; that you are as truly 
aware of and united to support your interests, we do not mean to 
assert. Your scattered and isolated mode of life weighs against 
you on these points; but that you have more sincere hearts and a 
sounder morality is as indisputable ; you have pureness of pur¬ 
pose, a simplicity of mind, as well as manners, that are more than 
an equivalent for the polish and conventional customs of society, 
and withal, a cordiality which is only to be found in the good, 
homely, hearty hospitality of a country house. 
I have thus endeavored to make the impression that, while you 
have much to learn, yours is' a happy condition of life, and that 
your pursuit is so essential, and its improvement so important to 
yourselves and the world at large, as to claim for it a high place 
in tlie estimation of mankind; and it is for you to make that 
claim, for the world never respects a man who does not respect 
himself. 
We must take our place then, in that race of honorable compe¬ 
tition in which all the trades and occupations of life have entered, 
and whose goal is the honor and glory of exalting their own pro¬ 
fession, and adding so much to the sum of human happiness. 
Who possess advantages superior to yours? With every qual¬ 
ity of soil, and with the climate which breathes into all the essen¬ 
tial vegetables the breath of life, and into man the atmosphere of 
health, what do you want but to call into action the native 
strength of your own hands? But that mind which gives direc¬ 
tion to the hands must be a cultivated mind, for we should never 
cease to remember that “intellect” is that talent which the good¬ 
ness of God bestowed upon His own image; not that it should be 
buried in the earth, and restored upon the return of its Lord and 
Master in its original simplicity, but that it should be cultivated, 
enlarged, and appropriated to His great design. It is demanded 
