Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1859-10-06

am happy to greet on the present occasion.
and as one of the farmers OF the State of
New Jersey, and as President of The
Monmouth County Agricultural Society,
to offer few remarks for our mutual
consideration.
The oft-repeated declaration, that man
is social being, need not here be reit
Grated; isolate him from all communica'
ton with his species, with none to sym
pathize with him in the hour of distress
or adversely, and none to rejoice with
him in the sunshine of prosperity, and it
is well established principle of his ma
ture, that though he may be possessed of
all the riches. Of the Indies, yea, even
of continent itself, as an equivalent, he
would spurn it all with well merited con.
tempt.
Permit me, therefore, fellow citizens, in
passing, in review upon what | conceive
to be some of the advantages to be derived
from institutions of this kind, to briefly
alIude to their natural bearings and in
auences upon society.
| 1t is here that we meet the companions
Of our youth and childhood, as well as
those of. our maturer years, from whom,
in many instances, we may have been sep
arated by a considerable lapse OF time.
1t is here that the warmer and more dis
interested emotions of the human soul are
called forth in their liveliest exercise
Here, too the aged and the infirm, while
minglng in their negotiations the pres
ent with the past, are almost, for the time
being, led to forget that they have passed
the meridian of human life, and that the
shades of evening are fast closing upon
them. Here, too, we meet each other
with smiling faces, as though we were in
possession of as great an amount OF hap
piness as this world can afford, and at the
same time ardently desired to impart the
same state of feelings to all around US.
Here, too, we realize more fully the
blessings of civilization and Christianity;
for while we are protected in our persons
and in our property, we at the same time
behold poured out, at our feet, in the
most bountiful measure, the gifts OF an
all wise and munifcent Creator-wlthout
whose supervision, all the combined Wis
dom of man would amount to nothing,
and be as the dust Of the balance.
Here, fellow citizens, is the stand point
to which we may rally from our respect
i've fields of occupation-the farmer from
his acres; the mechanic from his work
shop; the merchant from his counter, and
all other professions with equal facility.
And as one grand mass Of the soverlgns
of free country. contemplate that glo-
rious galaxy of thirty three independent
| Stato cd IN iorb
governed by equal laws, enacted by the
people themselves, Of whom we constitute
a part-a country washed by the rolling
pillows of the mighty Atlantic on the
East, and by the majestic Pacific on the
West, embracing some Of the longest
rivers, the broadcast lakes, the highest
mountains, and the grandest prairies Oh
which the eye of man ever rested.
Nor is our ardor abated when we con
template our own little State; what she
wants in territory is more than made up
in plenitude of her internal resources. and
the liberality Of her sentiments. In pro-
portion to her extent as compared with
her sister States, she may be emphatically
termed the battle field Of the American
Revolution. And when we consider her
subdivisions, with all Difference be it said,
our own County loses nothing in the
comparison, for it is recorded that in the
township of Middletown, in the county
of Monmouth, the first legislature con.
vened that ever met to give laws for the
government of this State, (then Colony
of New Jersey.)
trust that it needs no labored argu
ment to prove to You proposition, with
which your own sentiments so ully &C.
cord, that the healthy action Of the public
mind, the energy and elasticity Of spirit
of any people are vastly improved by
their having proper regard to occasion
ally assembling themselves together for
lawful purposes. But the great question
to the minds Of large proportion of the
people is, " Is this paying concern ~
speak not of the dollars and cents that
may be collected at the gates of the Fair
Ground, but on the score of general util.
lily. Will it pay for the time and money
invested in perfecting its organization,
and in carrying out its details in all the
various bearings To this question, in
the minds of our most public spirited and
enterprising men, with but few exceptions,
| trust there will be but one response,
and that that will be in the affirmative.
True, those barren fields that in almost
every direction some twenty five or thirty
| years ago met the eye of the weary trav.
eler, as he plodded his way through our
district of country, from which so many
of our enterprising sons and daughters
about that time turned away, bidding
last adieu to the fond associations of the
old homestead, and the hearth stones of
their venerable sires and weeping moth
ers, to seek their bread from the Virgin
soil, amid the sturdy oaks and broad
prairies of the mighty West, have in
many instances, without the aid of Agri-
cultural Societies, been much renovated
and improved. And that instead Of
few specimens Of stinted vegetation, we
now behold the golden wheat field and
the towering corn, in all their native
glory. The lowing of the herds is heard
on the plains, and in the yallies, while
the peaceful sheep is seen to feed upon
the gentle slopes.
| Foo much commentator can scarcely
be awarded to generation who, without
organized concert of action, have Thus
been destined by almighty God to work
cut such mighty revolution in the agri-
cultural world, and to- SO successfully
cloo