Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1842-01-27

VI
dered that three thousand copies Of the Address
submitted by Mr.. Skinner be printed and circu-
! ted.
| MIR. Skinner has felt constrained by the pres
sure OF his official duties to decline the post of
Corresponding Secretary of the Society, only
! consenting, at the unanimous request of the
Board, To act pro tenn. until another can be APP
poinied.1
! My object is not to propose 10 you the tantai-
zing pursuit of any new agricultural humbug, or
to recommend any tangled machine or pro-
cess for the cultivation of old staple crops; it is
| rather to urge you to reflect on the jntpllectual
condition and habits of American agricuturists
as a class, and to consider how much and how
justly your moral and political influence, as well
as the actual proceeds of your labor, would be
augmented, and more uniformity in prices be OBJ
tanned, by an association to promote Il more thor
ongh and systematic investigation and study Of
subjects and sciences belonging closely allied
TO your immediate pursuits.
Can II be that you Imagine that, because you
have not been regularly trained to civil or mill
tary profession, you may therefore, without loss or
disParagement, leave your mind to stagnate, like
some irreclaimabie morasS, producing naught but
rank and noNious weeds; yourselves, distinguish
ed, If at all, like the famed inhabitants of Bcetia
Tor great physical strength and Developments but
without any of the spirit of chivalry, or the arts
and graces Of science and civilization! Far be
rom citizens of Il free Republic, and especially
from tilcrs of American soil, such iunob!e apa-
thy. Look around at all other vocations, wleih-
or their pursuits be upon the land, or their home
upon The deep-aH hare formed associations for
general improvement.
The HARDY MARINER, boasting any pretensions
to accomplishment mt lin the line of his pursuit. hav-
Ing finished the usual course of mathematics and
navigation, with well stored libraries at his com
mand, delights to beguile his long winter nights
lpulpuS a Saa i'm n,l tI,
and noting the productions of the various coun-
tries he visits, and the lives and actions of navi-
gators and warriors who have distinguished
themselves on his lavorite element. In constant
exercise, amusing or severe, his mind is kept free
from the rust of soth or the debility of inaction.
The SOLDIER, at some military Institution,
maintained for his instruction by general charge
on the community, being early imbued with
elementary knowledge of drawing, gunnery,
strategy, Notifications, and all the death
dealing inventions contributory to the art of at
tack and defence, acquires and carries with him
through LIE a habit of study, and fondness for
military memoirs and biographies, and works on
the science of manslaughter, for which, unfortu-
nately, the Iapacity ard injustice ofmarknd, and
| the wars they produce, have in all ages supplied
but too many materials Alas to lend enchant-
ment to Mts species of reading there needs not
the stimulus of seli-interest the habits Of mil
ltary lie; there seems TO be In nature some
! thing essentially sanguinary hence the nursery
tt.ions of ''Raw-head and Bloody -boncs' and
"Jack the Cantkillcr' are listened to by chill
dren,
'Each trembling heart with grateful terror
Guelled,''
just as at three score and ten, men read with in
tense avidity the bloody realities Of the battle
field. Who, by the way, is not sometimes forced
| to dIstrust the frmness of his republican creed,
when he confesses, how like the rest of man
kind, he is apt to be captivaed by the glare of great
/ -,l,,n
! ted Englishnian of this century, even when pre-
pairing to flesh his maiden sword in the cause of
Greece, exclaning Of him whose aim was uni
versal dominion,
Oils Prowess shall rank with the first of all
ages,
And monarchs hereafter shall bow to his worth.
The songs of the poets, the lessons of sages,
| Shall hold him the wonder and grace of the
earth.
The meteors of history before thee shall fall,
Eclipsed by thy sPlendor, thou meteor OF Gaul!''
| The PHYSICIAN, too will tell yon that HE sees
| no end to the road of inquiry and observation
which lies before him. Botany, chemistry, the ma
| tural history oil man and OF inferior animals,
their physiology, diseases, and remedies present
( to him many fields for research no less useful
! than entertaining, while medical repositories and
| and more elaborate works, without number, serve
| at once to illustrate the never-ending discove-
ries of the active practitioner, and to stimulate
and feed the voraoious curiosity Of the ambitious
student. In numerous colleges, again--ncoporated
and literally endowed for his instruction, he gath
ers the fruit of ages of practical experiment and
scientific deduction. There stands the sliltul
surgeon, with his knife and nerve of iron, to rip
up and lay bare the very fountains of life and Of
! thought; and at his side the chemist with his
crucible, to extract medicine from the rudest min
eral, or i'll the simplest plant that grows upon your
way-sCe to detect s'poison more deadly than the
mad-dog's tooth" Putno his hands the exqui-
sitely delicate and beautiful poppy, and he will
quickly draw from its stem charm that can as
suage put end to the bitterest agonies of the
body or the mind
The LAWYER, again, after reapng all the adj
vantages of established and well endowed kto
schools, is forced to keep pace whether he will or
not with the voluminous decisions Of the courts
and the ever varying enactments of the Legisla-
ture. 10 these he generally adds some knowl.
edge OF the sciences. and close familiarity with
classical literature end the Ii her contributions OF
an ever-eeming press. From these sources the late
MIR. Pinkney, whose ambition of intellectual re-
nown no measure of glory could satiate, was
wont to derive his wonderful powers of lustra-
ton as well as the choicest flowers ofhis oratory.
Ills very last moments, accelerated by an extra.
ordinary exertion of the reasoning faculty in a
case OF great importance, were benuied by d
new and charming fiction from the pen of the
| Great Unknown. Thus did reason and in,apina
ton alternately sway and beguile the mind oil
that great advocate, and lend euIgence TO the las
moments of his brilliant career, as western clouds
are gilded by the rays of the setting SUM-
The MERCHANT, ne whom the farmer supboses
to conhne his reading to prices-cunent and his
: | Deu n hook lscepinU--pypn he tno 10 e,cr al