The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1852-05-20


cred in the Houses Representatives, April 27,
1852. We select from it the following choice
gem of oratory -
DIGNITY OF AGRICULTURE.
Mr.. Chairman the cultivation of the earth is
the most dignifed and exalted occupation which
any man can engage in-simply because the
earth is the physical source of all life, and the
actual sustainer of existence The earth is the
glory of creation-being the foots.ool of God
1t gives clay to the potter marble to the build
er gems and gold to the miner food and raj
ment to man. 1t gives drink, and shade, and
fuel fruits, and odors, and flowers 1t affords
foundation for the habitations of the living
it gives shelter to the dead ~
We hope to publish this speech in a short time.
as at is one of the best of the session and pre-
sents sound and solid arguments for the bill. We
cannot forbear copying his remarks as to 1.-The
safe defence Of Nation" The honorable gen
tleman says, and says truly -
''Now, Mr.. Chairman, let US inquire why the
young farmers of the country ought TO be en-
couraged {? And in this connection l beg to re-
fer briefly to the remarks of the honorable gen.
tleman from Maryland, [N1r. Bowie. That
gentleman asks
"Are we impregnable against our enemies &?
Have We provided in peace againt the dangers
of war Have We no rivals now TO compete
with val the strong arms and brdUs hearts of
the yeomdHry that you send into yoar forests be a
protection against tee steam napies Of Europe p
No; you must have fortifcatiops You must
have navy, armed at all points, and equal to
cope with them, or the history of this Republic
NAV he written "a f,z;f'
Our oldest and most venerated statesmen warn
ed us, IN peace to prepare for war"
The gentleman desires to retain the land, and
turn it into money, and build navies and forti-
fcations. Sir, the hearts of the people form
the only safe rampant for a nation inwar. The
best defence you provide is to make your
people happy in their permanent homes, so that
they will look to the national invaders as the
invaders of the private hearth Provide occu-
pations which will make the arm strong and the
body harder the heart purer and the spirit
lighter and more buoyant Sir, as truly as
private favors build up in the hearts of men,
temples of gratitude, so truly viii national IA
vors TO your citizens build up in their hearts
temples of patriotism and this bill will per-
form the double occupation of nerving the arm
with labor, and kindling patriotism with the
gift Has there ever been a war, even without
this hberalty, in which the American laborers
were not the first to offer their services to the
country l speak of the laborers of all classes,
as well as of the farmers. You who have been
familiar with the raising of volunteers in our
cities, must know that the young mechanics and
the young laborers swell the column. The more
fortunate and the more wealthy too with equal
patriotism-though not in such large numbers
! are there, but to take the places of command;
while the laborer, the mechanic and the farmer
swell the column. Go to the South, if you
please, and note the volunteering there. have
seen, on many different occasions in the South,
volunteers called out into line, and the first
who marched up farmer boy, scarcely
twenty and the second was farmer boy,
scarcely twenty, and so on to the third and
fourth, until it came to the sixtieth and the one
hundreth They were nearly all farmer boys
working men, with few and exceptions
And they make the best of soldiers. They have
nerved themselves by toll. They know what
labor is. They march all day and all night
without falling sick and spreading pestilence in
tue 1ney are tIe men VINO perform tne
duties of Sir, who fought the. battles of
the Revolution ? The American laborer Who
cleared the wilderness of its savages, in war I?
The American laborer. Go to the records of
our last great war, and you will find that nine
out of ten of the soldiers were of the laboring
men of the country.
Nor is it in this capacity alone that they are
always foremost Whenever there is any work
to be done, or great duties to be performed, the
working -man-the mechanic or the farmer-is
the man to do it. Who constitutes the fire COM
panies in your cities The laboring man. In
my country, we have system of working the
roads ten or fifteen days in each year, and the
first man upon the ground to perform his duty
is the young farmer, with his hoe, or his axe,
or his spade on his shoulder. Sir, the working
men of the country-the farmers and the me-
chanics-as the records show-are the men that
do the manual labor for the public. And hence
1 proclaim it to be our duty, as the organs of
the publi;, that in dispensing the blessings of
government should confer some fayors at
least, upon the American laborer.'
The Free Home ad BIZ.
The Washington Republic thus refers to the
n m aGfn n0d anI h,-tl A