Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1857-11-20
EDWARD EVERETT ON AGRIoUL
7T ta8to1tsa TUREa 90 n slaoilai,

9th instant, 1t closes with the following
eloquent and instructive paragraphs;
A greater than Burke in, this country
our own peerless Washington, with .
burden Of public care on his mind such
as has seldom weighed upon any other
person, ,--conscious through considerable
part of his career, that the esuccess not only
of the American Revolution, but of the
whole great experiment of republican gov.
ernment, was dependent in no small degree
upon his course and conduct,--yet gave
throughout his life, in time of peace, more
of his time and attention, as he himself
in one Of his private letters informs us, to
the superintendent Of his agricultural
operations, than to any other object at
will not be doubted" says he, in his last
annual message to Congress, 9th of De-
cember, 1850 "that with reference either
to individual or national welfare, agricuI-
ture is of primary importance In pro,
portion as nations advance in population
and other circumstances Of maturity this
truth becomes more apparent. and renders
the cultivation of the soil more and more
an object of public patronage + X X
Among the means which have been en-
ployed to this end, none ha Q been at
tended with greater success than the es-
tablishment Of boards, charged with col
lecting end diffusihg information, and
enabled, by premiums and small pecuniary
aids, to encourage and assist spirit of
discovery and improvement" On the
10th of December, 1893, Washington ad-
dressed along letter to the manager Of his
farms,-the last elaborate production Of
his pon,-transmiting a plan, drawn up.
on thirty written folio pages, containing
directions for their cultivation for several
years to come. In seven days from the
date of this letter his own venerated form
was "sown natural body, to be raised a
spiritual body" aa gsa ia
Nearly all the successors of Washing
ton in the Presidency of the United States,
both the deceased and the living, passed,
or are passing, their closing years in the
dignified tranquility of rural pursuits
One of the, most distinguished of them,
Mr.. Jefferson, invented the hill side plow.
Permit me also to dwell for moment on
the more recent example of the four great
statesmen of the North, the West, and the
South, whose names are the boast and
ornament of the last generation, Adams,
Calhoun, Clay and Webster, who forgot
the colossal anxieties, the stern conten-
tions, the herculean labors, and the thank
less sacrifices of the public service, in the
retirement of the country and the calm,
and healthful pursuits of agriculture.--
One of these four great men it was not
my fortune personally to behold in the
enjoyment of these calm and national.
pleasures; but l we'll remember hearing
him say, with radiant countenance, that
there was nothing in the triumphs or
honors of public life so grateful to his
feelings as his return to his home in Carroll
ma, at the close of the session of Congress,
when every individual on his plantation,
not excepting the hnmblest, came out to
bid him welcome and to receive the cordial
pressure of his hand. II was often the
witness of the heartfelt satisfaction which
Mr.. Adams enjoyed on his ancestral acres,
especially in contemplating the trees plant
ed by himself, thousands of which are now
scattered over the estate While he mini
stored in this way to the qualification and
service of other times, he felt that he was
discharging no small portion of the debt
which each generation owes to its success
sors. AT Ashland, in 1929, I rode over
his extensive farm, with the illustrious
orator and stltesman of the West; and as
the "swinish multitude" attracted by the
salt which he literally scattered from his
pocket, came running about us, in the
beautiful woodland pasture, carpeted with
that famous Kentucky blue grass, he good
humoredly compared them to the Office
seekers, who hurry to Washington at the
commencement of an administration, at
tracted by the well fave red relish Of
good salery. Mr.. Webster, reposing on
his farm at Marsh6ed, from the tolls Of
the forum, and the conflicts of the Senate,
resembled the mighty ocean which, after
assaulting the cloudy battlements Of the
sky, with all the scething artillery of his
furious billows, when the gentle southwest
wind sing truce to the elemental war, calls
home his rolling mountains to their peace
G,l ln,.nlu and ,,nirrnrs IA n ..raa;o... l.