New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-01-28
STRUCTURES.
In the address just delivered by Mr.. Everett at
Boston, ON the occasion of the Anniversary Of
Mr.. Webster's Birthday, occurs this passage:

Boston. on the occasion of the Anniversary OF
Mr.. Webster's Birthday, occurs this passage;
"In fact whether as n citizen patriot, or pra' u
sal philosopher, Mr.. WebsteT's mind WIS powerfully
drawn to agriculture. Could he have chosen bis pre-
else position in life, think it would have been that OF
On extensive andhOlder, conducting operations Vi
large farm. At Oxford he said:
" Whatever else may tend enrich and beautify society,"
sAesd always be regarded The great foundation OF national
ain fhe beginning of that address in the Sate-House,
70 which have referred, he said:
Irsfsrd agriculture as the leading interest ofsoceiy
have been familiar with its operations since youth and
always looked The subject with lively ana deep H.
ssreaJ u.,s.....
"A Dedham he called agriculture the main pursuit of
Me- Weighy words from such a source! What Mr..
Webster considered the leading interest Of society
and 'the great foundation Of national prosperity might
well occupy his time his thoughts, and his proiosnd
attention"
Mere verbiage, this. To say that the food and
she raw material of country are OF the first con-
sequence, is a principle acknowledged by the
An ericsn Indians, but il means nothing as a scien-
tiGc, az politico economical principle and the rea-
son IL simple. Society cannot grow with agricul-
tarc alone The American savage raises Indian corn,
sst that does not support him, because his earth
culture il uDaded by other arts. So he calls into
play the chase, and the meat of the buffalo nOur-
isAes him, while its skin and that of other wild
animals form his clothing. But even the chase
added TO crude agriculture does not elevate him
from sayagery or preserve him from decay, for
The American tribes were decaying when dscOv-
nxsd put v,huu the urrvharcui iugoY.,itios end
seientfc discoveries Of civilization are added TO
agriculture working--then it can truly SUI,
tain people, and just in proportion as these
AGENCIES are added, ID becomes nutritious and i'm
portant in the fullest sense thus placing society
above beggary, slavery, savagery, and the tendency
70 starvation and utter annihilaton.
The use of iron is not radically or originally
part of agriculture. 1t grows out of another SCI
ence--mining; and without iron we could have no
civilized agriculture, unless we restored the all
eient Egyptian art of tempering copper; and then
the mining proposition remains the same. The
discovery and application Of chemistry to agricul-
tsre is not radically or originally part of agricul
tsre; and yet, without its lights the earth would
be exhausted here as it has been exhausted in East
ern countries. The modern idea of labor-saying
machinery ID not attached originally or specially to
agriculture yet without it the working farmer is
slave bought and sold like a dumb beast. And
when the raw material is produced, the egricul
ture ended, it is good for nothing, except the me-
sAanic and manufacturing arts shape and utilize it
for civilized man.
We indulge In structures on these "weighty
words because there is an infinite deal Of similar
pserile statement in speeches, addresses, books,
and sermons even, about agriculture. The arts Of
civilized men must in word, be viewed as a
whole, and none can take precedence of the other
Again on another point, Mr.. Everett, speaking
Of Mr.. Webster's eminent constitutional speech
says:
ION the two sides of this great parliamentary con-
test there were displayed as much intellectual powa,
~ much moral courage, much elevation of sou as
in any campaign, ancient modern. And from the
wan Of those old Aseyrisn kings and oonQuerors
whote marble efhgies, now lying ON the floor of
William Appleton's warehouse, after sleeping for
twenty-five hundred years the banks of the Tgtis
have by the strange vicstudes and chances of human
tAiDge, been dug up from the ruins of Nineveh and
transported across the Atantic-a wonder and a show
Il say from the wars of Sennaoherb aud Nimrod him.
self down to that raging in the Crimes, there
never q battle fought whose consequences were
moro important 10 humanity than the maintenance or
overthrow OF that constitutional Union which, IN the
language of Washington, makes us one people
Now without intending the least disrespect TO
due estimation, we take this to be simply sophie
norical. TIE Constitution OF the Union was not
fortified or prolonged by Mr.. Websser's able dis.
susson upon it, The simple facts are, that the Con-
stitution had been found TO work WELL on the whole
and therewas no disposition TO destroy it, No doubt
the notification Of handful Of South Carolina
politicians would have been duly whs,led down the
wind by the people Of South Carolina themselves as
socu ne they discovered it's nonsense practically
working, and any Federal skirmish in that quarter
would have lasted as many nights as days. All this
Boston-W ebster talk about the Constitution, which
simply represents the actual spirit and wants Of
the people, arises from the fact that our ordinary
political matters at Washington are really Rot SO
important as the average State legislation which is
conducted without remark and only makes
local regulations for its authors. SO in
the absence of any radical question at Wash.
isstos, ANAL issues are magaifed aud bloatcd
Into stupendous proportions. schoolboy parallels
ere drawn between the awful condition of the
ssaneling Greeian States Estates which were never
united and these United States if disrupted; par
Adele which have no meaning because tic Greeks,