Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1859-01-07

/ instinct calllng, uau upon It's history ana
/ destiny thus far; and also, how have
these effects been proportioned to the ad-
vancement of agricultural science when
they were obtained?
Wit never before or since devised so
subtle, yet SO atrocious scheme for the
enslavement of man, as the institution of
the ancient system Of landed tenure 1t
was built upon two great iniquities-frst,
that the king was the owner of all the
land within his realm, and secondly, that
it should be parcelled out to his followers
on the condition Of military obedience.
1t reversed the divine law, in both of its
principles. 1t took from man what the
ceyy first decree of the Almighty gave
unto him, and established as the sign of
its millennium, the beating of plowsh1res
into swords, and pruning hooks into
spears. 1t made war the first, instead
Of the last occupation Of man. Under
its tyranny, all peaceful arts worked in
gives. Great as have been the triumphs
of Agrieulture-wonlerful as has been
shown to be her civilizing potent
as has been proved to be her reforming
hand, her contest single-armed against
the grim despotism of feudal power would
probably have been ever fruitless Had
not Commerce and Art come to the as
sistance of their rustic but beautiful sis
ter, perhaps she would ever have re-
manned within the ruthless grasp of her
tyrant and oppressor. Nobly has she re-
paid the timely aid given in the long
ages of her weary captivity. With what
patience and long-sufering with what
mute uobility-with what heroic endu-
rance, she bore her incarceration in the
dungeon house of Feudalism, history has
family Swallowed Her efforts, mostly
peaceful, sometimes angry, and now and
then, from accumulated outrage, revolu-
tionary and almost demoniac, have also
been chronicled Pillage and rapinc
were the two monsters that sat at her
cradle and and prowled about her youth
full footsteps. In spite of both, she gath
cred strength and girded herself for the
march which Heaven had set before her.
Amidst distractions that would have
crushed spirit that had not a divine
power at its core, she has pursued her
march, scattering from her golden horn
upon toeming hill and valley her glorious
bounty, until now it is and for years has
been triumphal In the spirit Of a CRATE
ful devotion, you have here erected an
arch in her honor, commemorative of
her peaceful journey through the land
she has blessed. Imperial Titus, weigh
ed down with the trophies of Jud@an
victory, never stood beneath one so grand,
though the spoils Of the world were
seized to illustrate his triumph.
All honest labor, whether of the lNnd,
head, or heart, is divine. The first per-
sonal duty imposed on man, and that too
before the glories of Eden were hidden
from him by the unfolded wings Of the
cherubim, was to dress the earth. The
garden would not have been Paradise
without occupation The drone is not,
never has been, and never will be law
full existence in Gods universe. The
duty of labor was an original law Of
mans being. His first disobedience it
is true, changed that law into one of toll
but even in that, hard and stern though
it be, there are reaches Of happiness and
victorious joys, which Incidence never
knows. The "sweat of the face" to
which he was condemned, no more dis
figures the nobility Of his manhood than
do the glittcring dew-drops of the morn
ing dim the glory Of the flashing brow
which Nature lifts to greet the coming of
her lord. But while all honest labor
fulills the divine decree, no branch of
it is so well adapted to the true condi-
tons Of mans moral nature, as the cul-
tivation of the soil When fire descend
ed from Heaven upon the cities of the
/ plain, the pastoral fields of Abraham and
the mountain refuge of Lot, unstained
by the wickedness of Sodom and Com
orfaii, were unscathed. From that day
to this, in all cities, whether Pagan or
Christian, vice has abounded. There
temptation is always busy-there oppor-
tunity is ever ready. While commerce
and the mechanic arts, and almost all
other branches of labor, concentrate men
in vast centres, where corruption testers
and rascality walks unabashed, Agricul-
ture is ever performing the morally health
full function Of scattering over the face
Of the earth, those who follow its pur-
suits, and thus removing them from the
contaminations Of crowded plague-spots.
In rural life there is little to corrupt,
and every thing to elevate. The agricul-
tarist stands face 10 face with Nature -
He can listen undisturbcd to her utter
anccs Of purity. He sees, day by day,
her glorious manifestations of beauty and
bounty, and his heart is lifted mp in the
homage of gratitude to the Giver Of all !
things. The imaginary wants and pru-
rient desires that invade and corrupt city
life, beset him not. While on the one
hand, the pride of his heart is chastened
by the lessons Of adversely, which every
revolving year teaches him, on the other,
he is nurtured by his calling in that spirit
ofsturdy independence which has made his
class the bulwark of Freedom, in almost
every land and age. His very sports
aud exercises call forth fortitude, self
dependence, patience, and daring, and
thus Of themselves lift him above the
steaming eorruptions Of that Python (
mud Of elfeminacy, wherein are bred
monsters and mscreations, more hateful
than those Of Fable.
While such is the moral power Of Az
rculture, its influence as a social reform
or, under the teachings Of science. must