Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-03-04

While | deprecate the circumstances
(being confined to my reom as an invahd,)
that have prevented me from being with you
on this occasion, / would not murmur or
complain at the hand Of an all-wise Proyl-
dance that has ordered otherwise. You Will
please accept my warmest acknowledgements
for the honor you have been pleased to con-
fer, by appointing me to preside over your
deliberations for the ensuing year an honor
which | appreciate the mere on account of
its having been conferred unsought and in
my absence. Taking your actions as the
exponent Of your feelings, shall confidently
trust to your indulgence and ferbearance If.
in the discharge Of my duties honestly and
to the best Of my ability. | should net fully
meet all your auticipationa.
] further trust that you will bear with me,
inasmuch as I cannot be with yea at this
time, while / submit to your consideration,
in writing, q few ideas, the substance OF
which has at different times for years past
occupied my mind. 1t has been observed,
as you are fully aware, and it may here be
| emphatieally repeated without fear OF sue
cessful contradiction, that tho arts of AgFi
culture, and those NEST intimately connected
with it, form q subject which claims the
highest consideration, in q temporal point Of
view, that can occupy the attention of man.
The Great Benefactor of our race has placed
within our reach certain elements, which, u
properly husbanded, will not only beauty
the land and cause it to blossom az the rose
but plenty, with all it's attendant blessings
will sit smiling in our gates.
Since the day when the first man, with hi
~oonsort In tho garden Of Eden, commenced
sewing the fg-leaves together for reinaent
these arts have been progressing with more
or less rapidity az the spirit of enterprise
has characterized the different ages of the
world through which they have passed. We
are not compelled to survey the retrospect
far In the distance, to behold the people des-
titute not only of the great mass OF modern
convenienoes, but living In rude huts desti,
tute of chimneys and window glass, but
little superior to those fermedby tho instinct
| of the beaver and some other animals. for
their accommodations. We may direct our
notice of the old Dutch plow, as O specimen
| Of the handicraft Of q generation that has
just passed from the stage of action, the
models of which may yet occasionally DO
seen slowed away among some old rubbish,
as If to preserve q connecting link between
the past, and the future. But we need not
confne our observations to the dwelling, the
pillow. or to perhaps any single article of ae-
cemmodation or husbaRdry, to Illustrate the
wonderful Improvements that have been
made, ever within the last fifty or sixty
years. We may advert to the threshlng
machine, the tanning mill, the moving APP
p~aratus, tie cotton gin, the sewing machine,
tens of thousands Of spindles put in motion.
as it were, Ito the uninitiated) by some
secret magic the steam boat, the canal, the
rail read and the magnetic telegraph, with 8
hest of others, equally useful, that will not
attempt here to enumerate. These facts
speak to our understandings in a language
not to be mistaken, that the powers of the
human mind have not only been making the
lost astounding developments from the
Kingdom of nature, but to impress our minds
that the field of improvement is still before
us. Whd Gun predict that the science OF.
electricity alone (which Is comparatiYelyun-
explored when more thoroughly developed,
shall not prove TO be of the greatest utility
to generations yet unb0rn7 Anticipations
favorable to the conclusions that such may
be the case, appear less visionary and ridi-
culous at the present day, than did those of
Fitch and Fulton in regard TO the future use
of steam to the generation that lived in their
day, more especially as we have already
harnessed the lightning, and made it sub
seryient to great and practical purposes !
Had it been our lot to have met with our
forefathers, not more than one hundred years
ago, in the capacity In which you meet to
day, ia there not the strongest probability;
from what we know of the workings of the
human mind, (Which at this time Is but 9
duplicate of what it always has been,) and
the inherent self-approbativeness of our race,
to believe that that meeting would have
considered Ito members nearer the acme of
perfection in these arts, than tho most en-
lightened among US consider ourselves at
the present day, notwithstanding the great
advances that have been made during that
This brings US to the solution of the great
question as to the most feasible means Of fl-
ture development. What is the experience
of those places that have succeeded in ma a
king the greatest proficiency in Agriculture
and the arts We have been informed Of
fairs, blowing matches, and other modes of
encouraging q spirit of emulation among
farmers, mechanics, sc, in several Of the
old countries, and particularly IN the Island
of Great Britain, as being Of long standing
and of ancient date. May we not, to a GER
tain extent, profit by her success BEING
more than one-third larger than the sin
gle State of Virginia, and supporting not
far short oftwenty millions of human beings.
or from $50 to 200 to the square mile, and
that. too, while burdened with the hereditary
claims and e~xtraavgant pensions of a non
producing aristoeracy, consisting of the mon
arch and mobiles of the kingdom. These
facts. In connection with another fact. that
she furnishes the most thorough bred stock
in the known world, go far to prove the eff
cheney of a system of organization to effect
great ends. The small amount OF time. Ia
Dor and money bestowed on an institution
like this should not be accounted as last
But, on the other hand, its privileges and
benefits should be duly appreciated. In.
taking a survey of the country in order to
point the most thriftless localities, I will
venture the assertion that the skill Of the
most judicious observer would not prompt
him to point out any place where exists a
well-organizsd agricultural society. But bv
some we may be asked,-What is the great
desideratum to be gained over and above
what We have already attained? Have We
not, in the absence of any such organization.
enhanced the value of cur lands an hundred
fold in many instances Do we not al
ready possess more accurate knowledge than
we are able to put in practice2 These things
49,. L. 4-.0 DBL Ill al sf &4