The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-11-19
ADDRESS OF HON. ]. FOSTER MARsHALk.
DeHeerel before the Slate Agricultural
Society, an the State House, on Wedues.

| "'""e"''" ~ "F otdtc -iyTtcuHuTdf Society:
You have assembled again, to celebrate
the third anniversary of your association,
under circumstances Of peculiar gratiiica.
ton to each member. You have invited
llthcr 10y your premiums, medals and d.
Plomas, the industrious planter, the man of
science, the energetic manufacturer, the
ingenious mechanic, the cnterprising mcr-
chant, the skilful artist, and "though last
not least" the aged mother and blusl,ine
maid. Each in their appropriate sphere,
have contributed something of their skill.
industry and ingenuity, and something of
the products Of the soil, to show to the
passing stranger that the people of South
Carolina have awakened from that lethargy
and supinencss, which has SO long paralyzcd
her energies. That we are alive now to
our high calling, the Offering that each
citze" has made to your Far, proves that
spirit of i"q"iry has gone throughout
the length and breadth of our land.
1t has been beautifully said, "that the
earth is great machine, made ready by
! the Almighty to the hands Of man, with its
soil and seasons working for linn ;" and it
may not be unintcrcsting to trace for few
moments the progress that man has made
in exploring the mighty resources of thi,
machine.
The experience of mon for nearly four
thousand years is written in immutable
characters i'll the great volume Of nature
eSh'''t'ng, as it were, Journal of the pro
Sress'vc and rctrogrcssivc operations OF
miild, III It's efforts to explore the hidden
secrets OF the universe. Look into the dim
vista of antiquity, among the dIapidatcd
masses of mural rubbish, strewn through
ont the once gorgeous East, and the wrecks
OF ancient grandeur, meet our gaze at every
turn. Where arc the ancient emporiums
OF agriculture and commerce, Rome, Al
exanlria, Tyre, SiJon, ,Tarsli>h and Thebcs?
The footprint fdesolation are clear and
defined, an' 9TH all their storicd greatness,
they are now almost lost to human KEN
Where, too, are the mighty people who
once occupied on our own continent, the
d'lap'dated palaces of Anahuac, Otumba
Cholula, Oxmutal and Palenque! They
evince, III " silent vcracity," an enlightened
era i'll America. These nations, Ike the
nations OF the East, occupied the most ia
vorcd portions of our continent and yet de
serted palaces and dilapilated tumuli arc
all that is left of this mysterious people.
These nations of the East rose from oh.
security. us tillers Of the so and to such q
point of perfection did they attain III this
department Of industry, that the namo of
l'ushandman has become immortalizcd by
their poets and orators. History, the great
teacher by example, tells US that they, too,
were Republics, and while agriculture flour.
ished the nation prospcrcd in commerce
and the arts. But when luxury, with it's
concomitant evils, passed through the gates
0! their cities, instead of the products Of
the soil, they became an easy prey to eacl,
other, and the conqucrer in his turn fell
into the hands Of the Vandal and the Goth,
They and all their gorgeous grandeur have
been swept into the vortex Of oblivion, and
all that is left to us is the footprints of
their mighty intellect. We read of their
mighty men of genius and learning, Cad
mus, Solomon, a 1crodotus, Socrates
and an Archimides; Of Cicero, Plinv,
Virgil and above all ne read of tile pa
lriot and farmer Cincinnatus, who twice
saved his country from impending ruin.-
May we not pause here for moment, while
we arc in the brilliant march Of intellectual
improvement, and ask the question, are we
yet i'll the meridian height of this grea,
Struggle Of mind over matter, when we
take into consideration tho advancement
that was made in agriculture, commerce
and the fine arts by these mighty nations OF
antiquitya May not the splendid career Of
today be based OH the wisdom, the inven
tions and discoveries that have been made
twenty and thirty centuries ago? May
they not have furnished the rudmcnts of
mechanical elements from which we now
form the fiery vehicles on which mind tri-
umphaptly rides from the "dusty perleus
of antiquity" to its present dazzling achieve
ments?
Diseng"ged from tie gross hallucinations
of past ages imposed by priests and princes,
mind has now mounted the car of progress,
with its feet resting on agriculture-the
reins Of science in one hand and commerce
in the other-is now enligbteuing the world
in its course and invigorating the germs Of
intelIec. and genius. Tins and space a q
measured by its operations, and the world
is embraced at glance. 1t commands the
elements and they obey it! The word is
too circumscribed for it's expansive ,escacl,