ANNUAL EXHIBITION—ADDRESSES. 
135 
Could the learned Malthus—who proclaimed the gloomy 
theory that war, famine and pestilence were checks designed 
by an All Wise Being to keep down the increase of popula¬ 
tion to a level with the means of sustenance—now rise up 
from his sleep of death and see the population of England 
more than doubled since his day, and that of this country 
multiplied many times, while the people are far better fed and 
better clothed, with less labor and less suffering, wilh the pos¬ 
sibility of famine practically removed, he might change his 
shameful doctrine and adopt a more cheerful and more hope¬ 
ful view of the providence of Grod. With an immense mul¬ 
tiplication of the human species in all civilized countries -which 
have been devoted to the arts of peace and the development 
of their material resources, a bountiful Father has sent us a 
super-abundance of food instead of famine, and has taught us 
to rely on the e:?®iiaustless -bounty of the fruitful earth, and 
upon His benificent promise that seed time and harvest shall 
never fail to supply the daily wants of his children. 
But with all the progress which we have made in improving the 
implements of the farm, we h.ave not reached perfection. No 
bound is set to human ingenuity, and further means may yet 
be devised to shorten labor and increase the products of the soil. 
We cannot hope, nor is it desirable, to avoid labor. This is 
not the object of improved machinery ; to make labor more 
attractive, agreeable and productive ; to bring into subjection 
the rude forces of nature and make them do our bidding and 
increase our stores; to redeem thousands of acres now lying 
waste from wildness and desolation, and to make our countrv 
the granary of the world—these are triumphs we may hope to 
gain from the introduction and use of improved machinery, 
and in'this respect, the effort to improve and to reach a higher 
standard of productive agriculture, commends itself to the 
highest intellect and opens a field for the labors of the noblest 
philanthropy! 
