The American herald of liberty — Exeter, N.H., 1795-03-21 00:00:00, page 1

AGRICULTURE.
»• ■ • ‘ »
[From Dr. William’s Hiftory of Ver
mont]
THE body of the people in
Vrrrtiont are engaged in ag
ricukure. In a hew country*
where the fettlemencs are yet to
be made* agriculture puts on a
• very different appearance from,
that, which it bears in the ancient
and well cultivated fettle meats.
There, the buGnefs to cultivate
and improve the farms which have
already been greatly improved *
To increase the produce, by the
application of more labour and
cultivation, and thus to derive a
greater profit from the land. In
.a hew settlement, the firft bufmefs
of the husbandman is to cut down
the wpods, to clear up the lands,
to fOw them with grain, to ereft
the necessary buildings, and open
the roads; ,and thus to corineft
and form a communication be*
tweer^ the scattered fetclements, *
and niak^ the molt of his labour,
r—Amidst the hard livihg and hard
labour, chat attends the forming
A new settlement, the settler has
the most flattering profpeds
and encouragements; One hun
dred acres, of Kind in a new town,
does not genMllly cost him more
than he can spare from the wages
of one ; or two years, ^elides
maintaining himfelf, the profits of
his labour will generally enable a
young man, id that period of time
to procure himfelf such a trad of
land.'*—When hB comes to dpply
his labour to his own land, the
produce of it becomes extremely
profitable. The firft crop of wheat
will fully pay him for all the eß
penfe he has been at,, in clearing
up, sowing, and fencing his land *
and at the fame time, increase the
Value of the land; eight or ten
iimci the original cost. In this
way, every day’s labdur spent in
clearing up his land, receives High
wages in.the grain whibh it pro
cures, and adds at the fame time a
quantity of improved land to the
fardi. Air acre of land which in
its natural (Ute cbft him perhaps
the half Os one d ay’s labour,is thus
In one year made of that value;that
it will afterwards annually produce
him from fifteen to twenty bu(h
els of Wheat; or other kinds of
produce, of equal value. In this
way, the profits attending labour
bn a new settlement are the great
est that ever can tike place in ag
riculture ; the labourer constantly
' feceivin^ double wages. He re
ceived high wages in the produce
of his corti or wheat j and he re
ceives much higher wages of a
bother kind, in the.annual addition
Os a new traft of cultivated land
to his farm. This double kind
of wages, nature with great be
nevolence and defigh’, has assigned
to the man of industry, when he is
firft making a settlement in theun
cultivated parts of America; and
id two or three years, he acquires
a very comfortable and indepen-
Volume IX.]
Publijbed on Saturdays, by Samuel W in slow, in Main-Street > Exeter, (New-Uampflire) at i Doll, k 25 Cents per annum.
American Herald of Liberty.
own agriculture, are independent
of other Nations, and need npt be
affected by their wah, {evolutions
or convulfioris; but may always
have the means of fupporf rind »•
dependence,among tHemfelves.—
While they haVe that which is
drawn from the cultivation of the
land, they will have evef| thing
that nature and focifety can need
or have made valuable.
The other profeflion, those es
pecially of the liberal arts ate of
great utility, and df high impor
tance, and they are what socie
ty could ndt flourifh wirhoUu—
Bdt they derive their importance
and Utility from the imperfections
of society and do not of them*
selves, add any thing to the
wealth of Nations. The Physician,
the lawyer, the divine, the ftatef
manj and the philotopher, are en
gaged employments of great u
tiiity to mankind* But there U
not one of them that adds any
thing to the wealth and property
of the community 5 They, must all
derive tfieir fupportj from the col
tivritiari of the land. Os all arts
and profeflionS then, agriculture
ought to be esteemed thtf most ufe
ful, and the most important; It
is the art which pioduceth, and
ndurifhes all the rest. The other
arts teach howto prefervethe health
the property; and the mpriH
men j tb enlarge their undefftaritf- 1
ings, and to give a diredron ;
to their minds * But this provides
food, raiment* and fupporc for
them all.
In rid wiy hist £he glory off ha
tions been more expanded, than
by their attainments, and difeov
eries in faience* The mathemati
cians have meafured* and fettled
the dimensions of thefdter system:
But the new fettler,Kat id fad; eri- f
larged the bounds of the habitable f
creation/ The philosophers have.
expanded otrr mind s with the
ideas, and evidence, that the other
plants are inhabited y bnt the
dem subsistence for a. family, de
rived front no other fdufce but the
darth, and his own industry. v
’ In every country, agricultufa
ought to be esteemed, as the riioft
necessary and ufeful profeflion.
The food and raiment by which all
orders of men are fupported,mUft
be derived from the earth. Agri
culture is the art by which this is
cffeded i and of consequence the
art which supports, fuppliesi and
maintains all the re(h It ought
therefore to be esteemed the. pri
mary, the fundamental, and the
most essential art of all; that which
delerires the firft and the gresteft
consideration, and encouragement.
The wealth drdwn frotp agricul
ture, is permanent and durable •,
not lubjetft to the uncertainties at
tending that, which is derived
from commerce; and not depen
dant upon the inclinations, the
difpofidons, or the regulations of
other kingdoms and countries.—
The people chat thus live by their
S A T U R D A Y, March gi, 1795.
Ample and hoheft farmer has made
the earth the place fob more in
habitant chan it ever Bad before.
And wffile the astronomers are so/
justly celebrating the difcoverles,
ahd the iiew .planet of Herfchd,
aft mankind Ihould rejoice that the
Ample peasant in the wjldernefs
has found out away, to make our
pUnetbear more men.
, The employments which are
the most heceffary, arid the most
ufeful to men, seem to be the most
nearly connected with morality
and tirtue. Agriculture appears
to be mote allied co this, than any
of the arts. The man that is con
stantly pur I Uing the bu G nets, which
nature has afligned to him, seems
to have but little to corrupt him.
In the many histories of corrup
tion, there is not any account,
that die body of the huftiandmen
ever became a corrupt, vernal,
and debauched generation! They
must firft be led to deftit their
employments, or they must be
blinded and deceived, before they
can be made fit tools for politi
cians to corrupt, and manage.—
Their profeflion tends to render
them an industrious, hardy* ihcoy
rupted, and honest fee of men.
It is pevei in the body of the
husbandmen, but among the fpec
ulatdrSi politicians, opd leaders of
mobs* that we look tot a fettled
<tade, and high attainments, in
venality and corruption.
Frbm the Herald : A Gazette
for the Country.
THE certainty of a continu
ation of a peace in America
has had a viable effc& on Ameri
can docks; the thermometer by
which is measured mercantile con
fideratibn in the credit of a couti
try. 'Hie rife or fall of ftocki is
otherwise of little consequence to
the public, than as a criterion of
this confidence, /
. It must however afford great
fatisfadion to all the friends of
humanity^ that we are once more
delivered from the impending dan
gers of war; that fdurge of nations,
and most defoiadhg calamity that
can befall fociety.——lndividuals,
thoughtless of conseq uences, and
indulging a nice fenle of honour,
may suppose that is a mere
national pastime; i frblkl, in
which bruifea are indeed given and
received, but a frolick; in tfhich
great qualities are displayed, and
honor feeured by prowess ahd tri.
dmph, \
The real statesman calculates
differently. He fees in war the
light of fire, famine, peft^nce,
murder, and robbery united; he
ftes in war all the feftraints of law
& ciW&atidh removed,al I sav
age paflions^hger^revenge,barred,
Cruelty let table to impel man to
rob, plunder and butcher fils fel
low*man. He lees towns sack
ed—men *tfnen and childen,
driven naked *nd W*® the
WANTED a good Milcht.
C Oa
Enquire ot the Printer. '
W A N r E D;
TO purchase two or three tons of
MOG’» FAT,
for which the cash will be paid by
WOODBRIDGE OnllfG
Ffk !T^, 179!’
■' 4 . . »■ . V-- > ' V -
.* ■ ~*y ■ ■' r' •ZZS.\ , ,V *
wide world over rbn and
laid waste—property, the fruits of
labour and ceconomy>. squeezed
from one human bßingl CO pay;
feed arid clothe another, for plung
ing his bayonet in the bosom of his
fellow- creatures* whom he rievet
before (aw, arid whd never injured
him evep in though —He (ees
the. mild dominion of Law and
Justice bend bpnearfi the iron rod
of a military and ferocious dfelpo^
cifm—he fees the foft, forgiving
virtues of peace and good neigh?
borhood give place to the rancOUf
of party, the ftbrn, unrelenting
bigotry of political faction—he
fees morals grow corrupt and licen
tious —and fair trade converted
into the nefarious practice of pri*
vate fraud arid public {peculation
—he fees churches converted Into
hospitals arid prisons—and Weft
cultivated fields, into barrentaihp^
or fpaciotis tombs. , r
Let us calmly view this icene,
and ask, where js th^ Amerithn,
whose g citude to France, whose
sense of national honor, or whole
love of revenge, would haVe im
peded him into a war, without firft
attempting to maintain peace, e^rl
at the expence of a miHibn or twb
of dollars ? Where is the tiiari whd
will dare to arraign the policy of
negdeiadon ? Even ftere the losses
of our (riearchahts ultimately tp
fall oii the United States* (till if
negotiation has (ecured ptface iq
the country; and a guarantee aginft
further insults and robbery 5 the
queftioh of policy would be de^
cided in favour ^f our Executive.
A single year’s war would have
cost us five times the sum 3 and
peace Would have rested on the
final adjustment of differences be
tween the beligerent powers in Eu^
tope; perhaps five or ten years
hence.
Situated as tfiefe Statesare, odr
intereft* requires ds to hold our^
selves as detached as pofiible from
the contentions of Europeari pow-i
ers. No speculative theories of
government, no prolpcft of ame
liorating the condition of foreign
nations by tbt juftify oUf
taking past in their hoftidties;
The councilors of America, who
Ihatl engage in war, frbin an£
motive, but the absolute and una-»
voidable necessity of feit^defence^
Will deserve the displeasure of all
good Citizens, and be numbered
among the enemies of bur hap
piness.
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[Number 38.