Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1850-11-20

Vertlse by the year.
Communications addressed to this Office must be
POST PAID.
AN ADD r E S S
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
CHARLES COUNTY AGRICULTU-
RAL SOCIETY,
By Hon. WILLIAM D. MERRICK,
AT THEIR
THIRD .4.N:N'U.aL MEETING,
HELD IN PORT TOBACCO, IN OCTOBER, 1850
Mr.. President, :
and Ladies and Gentlemen:
To heart devoted to the revival Of the
languishing agriculture of our county, no.
thing could be more refreshing and cheering
than the lively interest in that object mani
tested by the assemblage of so large a por-
: ton Of our valued felIow-cilizens as we see
kere collected. And it cannot be wi,hou,
salutary effect upon the same great OBJ
i, that there is so large an infusion Of the
lu,y and fashion, elegance and refinement
the farer portion of society, not only
participating in the proceedings, and COM
peling for the premiums of this our annual
fair, but being, it would seem, even willing,
in their zeal for the cause, TO be taxed with
listening to a pressing discourse from the
unworthy individual who has been selected
to deliver your annual address. Encour-
aged by this, the members of our Society
may we'll be 'mulated to active perseyer-
ance in the good work they have so auspi-
ciously commenced, seeing, as they now do,
such gratifying proofs before them, that
their past labors have not been without
signal SUCCESS, in awakening the attention
and exciting the concurrent good wishes,
end, trust may add, cordial corporation
of so many of those we most love, esteem
and admire, and who so we'll deserve the
love, esteem and admiration of us all. Willis,
the presence Of such an audience must be
eminenly gratifying to you. Mr.. President,
and to the members Of The Society general
ly, the qualification Of him who addresses
you is not unmingled with painful appre-
tensions, arising from the consciousness OF
his inability to do justice to the occasion
and his subject, and the consequent danger
that some may fail in their good feelings and
sympathy with the purposes of our associa-
tion, because Of the defects of your unwor-
thy organ. Agriculture is practical sci
ence. 1t deals, or should deal, with home
ly, practical and plain truths, never indulg-
ing in fguralive imaginings, nor fanciGul
theories. Artificial ornament does not be-
come it; the flowers of rhetoric, the seduc-
tive license of poetry belong not to it. Re-
ality, substance, the actual welfare of man
kind are its elements and principles. In
itself, and in its objects and its results, it is
mos. valuable, and, to the rightly disciplin-
ed mind, it is no less beautiful than valua-
ble. But its beauty and its value are inhe-
rent, and, like the briliancy of the diamond
admit of no ornament. A discourse then
on agriculture, "when unadorned is adorned
the most" must, therefore, disappoin,
those, if there be any such present, who
may have expected to hear pathetic phrases
TO touch the heart, or brilliant metaphors tc
dazzle and deligh! the Imagination, or soft.
ly flowing numbers to melt upon the ear
] must address myself TO barren heaths, snc
crsggy hills, and boggy moors, and invite
your aid, each one, in his proper sphere, te
remove these blemishes from the otherwise
fair face Of the county we inhabi,, and le
convert them into substantial beauties; tt
convert these scenes Of disease and squalit
poverty into verdant fields and teeming mea
dows, and to substitute the richness of tht
golden harvest, the fragrance of the new
mown hay, and the music of the lowing her.
for the waste and desolation with which W,
are now too generally surrounded. invit
you, therefore, not to feast, but 10 prepar
for feast. ] invite you to nerve yourselve
for toll now, that you may rejoice hereafter
and ask you TO GO to the task with pur
pose that will not flag, an eye that will no
wink, and a nerve that will not tire, and
promise you in return, healthy bodies, hap
py homes and joyous hearts.
The question arises, how are these thing
to be accomplished answer, in varou
ways, and each and all are the ways Q
pleasantness and peace. Yonder gloriou
sun does not shed its benignant rays upo
more generally favored region, nor on
better adapted in its natural capabilities /
yield rich reward TO industry, skill an
economy than The region we nhabit. An
II do no, hesitate TO assert, as the result {
fifty years experience and attentive observa
ton, that there is no young man of health
body, sound head and pure heart, couple
with industrious habits, however des,i,ut
Of property he may be, who may not here