Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1852-12-02
Mr.. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Mr.. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Spring with its genial sunshine, its per-
fumed air and gay life, has come and gone.
Summer with its sul,ry heat, its Dog star,
and golden harvests, has rolled by. too, III
the grand cycle Of time and Autumn with
its "sear and yellow leaf" its matured fruits,
and chilly blasts, is here 10 warn us that an
other year is fast drawing TO close. The
greatest labor Of the Farmer, at least for the
present year, is now over. His crops have
been managed and secured His granares.
by the kindness Of bepeficent Providence.
have been filled with abundance. His grain
for a future harvest has all, or nearly all,
been seeded, and be ceases awhile from his
toll to recreate himself here to-day. He
comes, wearing upon bis brow that con-
tentment so characteristic Of his rural home.
He comes with bis constitution invigorated
by the healthful exercise Of his vocation.
He comes to meet in the spirit Of true friend
ship his brother Farmer; 10 exchange with
him ideas and opinions derived from prac-
tical experience 10 compare with him the
varied products OF skllliuI husbandrv, and 10
excite, The one in the other, deeper and
more lively interest in the great pursuit in
which both are engaged. What glorious
occasion then, Mr.. President, is this where
the "bone and sinew' Of The counTy-aye,
sir, the great brotherhood of the soil, have
met togetLsr for the noble purpose of no,
only cult ratiug social feeling. bot cf enlist-
ing more firmly their hearts, their energies,
and their minds in cause which has no
less an object than the support Of the whole
human family. 1t is pleasant TO witness snch
a scene-and TO be in the midst Of such noble
and patriotic action. The platform here e.
rected, how different from those other plat
forms upon which, so recently thi ous hout
our broad land have been performed SO many
acts of hrs pitur7
truly national for upon Agriculture, as an
art perfected by science, depends, not only
national greatness, but the success attending
all human pursuits. Party spirit, with its
fawning sycophancy, lis embItered feelings
and conventional dogmas, has no place here
to exercise lis restless energies, or 10 work
out lis peculiar purposes. Sectional jea
lousy and seciarian fanaicism have no room
here 10 produce their disturbances. This
platform has been erected by noble-hearted.
honest, peaceful and industrious men. such
as have come here to-day from the hills, ihe
plains and the valleys Of our county, 10 Join !
in their annual festival, and to offer up with
grateful hearts their sacrifices upon the altar
of Ceres. feel no Iile embarrassment,
am free 10 confess, in the position occupy. |
], mere ,yro, a novice of scarcely two
years experience as Farmer, attempting
TO represent This Society on an occasion like |
this, does seem like vanity and presumption,
"Haud equidem, tall me dignor honore."
When look around this large assemblage
of my fellowcounlymen and see before me
so many PRACTICAL, intelligent and skilIful
Farmers and Planters. many Of whom have
grown gray in following out all the details
Of lilsge husbandry, do feel that my true |
position should be as learner, and not as
one qualified TO teach or to instruct. am
too sensible of my inability and my want
OF practical experience, TO suppose for mo-
ment thai ! can shed any new light upon a
subjec. which has already been illuminated
by SO many brilliant minds. ! stand here, !
therefore, to-day not TO CRAFTY the prompt |
ings of an aspiring ambition, or 10 please
the fancy Of a vain pride, but merely 10 dis
charge, SO far as am able, duty which has
been imposed upon me, and which duty. from
the deep inleres, take in Agriculture, have
not felt at liberty to neglect. And to you,
Mr.. President, and The other gentlemen of
the Executive Committee, for The high hon
or you have conferred upon one so unwor-
thy, now tender my most profound ac-
acknowledgements.
Man by nature is social being His
mental and physical organization; his habits,
feelings and inclinations, all peculiarly Fl.
him for state Of society. He has been en-
dowed with intellect-that part Of Deity
which distinguishes him above ali other
animals, and which gives him the power to
control all others. He was placed here the
crowning work of beautiful creation, with
q high destiny to fulfil. He found spread
out before him every thing which was CAL
cula,ed TO awaken and bring into action the
energies of his nature. He found, too, every
thing which was well suited to bear him up
amids. The many vIcisstudes of his checker
ed existence. He received certain laws as
rules of action, and for disobedience TO those
laws he was expelled his once happy home,
and ordered to eat his bread in the sweat
Of his brow. He wen, forth then upon the
earth, tiler Of the soil, commanded by his
necessities and by sacred I'M unctions to sub
due the wilderness and make it "blossom as