The Ottawa free trader., 1866-10-06

gather up and add to his own, the better will
he be qualified to conduct his business sue
cessfully and proftably. What matters it
whether he gets new ideas Of his business in
All oral conversation with his neighbor as he
meets him by the way.side, or reads them in
his agricultural journal in the evening at his
freside: In either case he may profit from
them alike. In the first case the field from
which be may gather new ideas is NECESSARILY
very limited; 10 the last, it is broad and
fruitful as2A : - - 2 80 So
The publication Of works on agriculture is
by no means a new thing. Agricultural
works may be met with rs old as on almost
any other subject, and l have heard it stated
that more works have been written on agri-
culture than on any other subec, affecting
the assertior. l have myself a single work
on the Agriculture of England, consisting of
twenty large volumes, uearly century old.
All countries and all ages have produced
their treatises on agriculture, but the pubi-
cations of the present time are much more
pre- hfc than before, and SO sopg rs wideas
result fron new experiences the subject wlll
not be exha1stedx This coustaHt ssnd uni
versal publication OF works on agricultural
subjects from the earliest ages is a perpetual
acknowledgment of their utility and necessity
by those interested in the subject.
In this discourse [ have made no attempt
to teach you agriculture. but rather TO teach
you how you may learn it, aud how you may
study other subjects which may be of advan>
tage to yourselves and to the community of
which you are members. Experience has
shown that in this country at l.as: the farm
is the best auxiliary school for young men.
Look over the list of distinguished men which
this country has produced, from Washington
down, and you will find that more than nine-
tenths of them were farmers sons, and ac>
quired upon the farm fixed habits Of indrl ltry
and sobriety, which enabled them to distin>
guish themselves in after .Eie. The reason is
obvious. Habits Of industry are there neces
sarily acquired. There the temptations To
dissipation, iilehess and extravagance, which
50 iearfully abound in towns and cities, are
There life runs in its more natural
and artificial wants and tastes,
which root out and destroy all those higher
and nobier attributes OF our nature, are not
acquired. Habits acquired and sentiment.
inspired in youth generally stamp the man
through afier life Happily the tendency OF
our ins,iruiIoGs Is such as to seek out aud
develop virtuous talent from all ranks of
society. and those whose early habits are such
SS |" Hfslr'Isttc tucm 1T me fIstct bl Ilic
which is before them viii be sure to outStrip
hose of equal native ability, but whose
habits and principles haze been iorned IN an
,asier school, though their os,ensible aiyan>
ages may nave been vastly superior. The
earlier the actual struggle Of life is CONS
nenced whether from necessity or choice. .
he better will one be qualified to bear ITS
1ur;hens and to fight Us battles. Life is a
continuous battlefield. in which the dis
ciplinei is sure 10 win the day over the raw
recruit who steps into the ranks unframed
and unprepared for the uf;ct, and that
discipline - more readily acquired in agii
,ultnrai pursuits than in any other of the /.
yaiks of life. Hereafter, as heretofore, the I
,rce ma jprit: Of the great aud useful men
It our country must come from the ranks OF
agriculture. How important, then, tha, the ,
armers OF the lard appreciate the rcsponsI~ T.
Jliity that they are TO form the habits al those
who Are to govern this nation. But it =
ipoa the mother, more than the father, that !,
his gre at responsibility rests. She i: IS who |
II ast form the young mind of the ri-ins gen I
,ra,ion for virtue and tor usefulness. 1t | /
IN anything, under the wa,chiul care OF "a
iind providencr owe it 20 the prayers AMI
he precepts of rood mother for my father
Was taken from me before | can remember 7
She i. is who par Is the first seeds of virtue /.
,r of folly IN the young mind. None other
AN have th. same chance to cultivate that
;irgin field of thought that she has. She
deserves the first dawn of intelligence in the /.
Ioung mind, and watches is progressive I
developments with uEdyins Interest. aud
necessarily she is its first teacher, and her
essons make the deepest IMPRESSIONS and
ire tue longest remem oered. This l. vastly
mere 50 IN the country, wherethe mother has
almost the sole care of her children. than in
titles. where the, are too often gwen over T.
he care Of :. proicssed nurse. who cannot
EEL that gushing love and that burning soii- !
ciiude for them. which flows spontaneously
rom the mothers heart. "
To mothers, then, let me say, train
sour children in the fear OF God. and in view
IF the great res ponsibilHy which you bear to
hsm and to Your country. Your sons must
pear their share in the governineu; 0! the
the maintenance of society anc the
support of religion. Your daughters are 10
become the mothers and the teachers of those
who are To come after US, ana as You teach
hem, so vii! they be likely to teach their
children.
Ny theme magnfes itself upon Inc as i
proceed. and should ,,detain you here TIL
night>fall | should still leave almost every
thing unsaid. But | must close. Remem-
ber how much Of your own happiress and
how much Of the destinies our country de-
pend upon the Intelligence and the. virtue of
the laboring classes. and particularly upon
the agricultural populations. Educate the
young Cultivate in them a taste for reading
aud place within their reach such:books as
shall rebound to their gOod watch over their
morals, and teach them to vcnerate onr holy
religion, and that God who holdsIin the hol-
low Of his hand the des,inies of fgIndviduais
ana Of peoples, shall reward you and your
country with unnumbered blessings.
An exta,ic lover down east thus appeals to
his tender. hearted 1nlcinca for a parting