New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-09-18

When | had the honor To receive YOU,
k.ad and uney rccted invitation to visit Nash.
y.Nc CITY famous for its elegance and
refinement, and the scene of so many Thrill.
Ing events and patriotic associations during
the late struggle for Union and liberty, I was
naturally enough very much pleased with
the prospect O! being present on this occa-
-.1n: bat when | was informed that nv visit
va, not "a be either for pleasure or observa.
ton. but 10 make an address, and that the
aid address must be Of character appro-
pria,e to this your third annual agricultural
exhibition, my JOY and enthusiasm received
/, very decided check; the native hue of
resolution WAS sicklicd over with the pale
.ast Of thought" The fact is-and am not
shamcG 10 admit it felt very much as
some Of our general, did when called upon
10 face the enemy On the open field Of battle
1 voyll have gladly been relieved of the
Command. and To have allowed the imposing
task assigned me 10 fall into other and more
Competent hands. But your committee was
COMPOSED oi earnest and resolute men. They
were men from Tennessee, and rs willful as
old Hickory himself. They made no account
q any modest distrusts Of nv ability, would
hear none OF my excuses, and in short would
&c satisfied with nothing less than nv pres
-ncc and speech on this occasion. Well,
Gentlemen, these willul men have succeeded;
they have got me here, but | beg YOU to
remember the old saving, which must have
originated with farmers, Tor the best things
always have originated with them, that lone
man may 'any horse 10 water, hut twenty
cannot make him drink"
The ground of my hesitation about coming
here was not the cholera, for Nashville is
now t0!rrably healthy; it was not the dis.
tancc ! would have 10 travel to get here, for
yuur railway communications are nearly
cqua! l. any IN the country, but the trouble
was ihc address, the appropriate address,
There was the rub. II was the rub then and
L IS Ia" rub now, and instead Of disappear
InG on my approach it is all the more per-
picking when look out upon this expectant
multitude, and remember the high sounding
praises heared upon me in anticipation OF
my coming.
Gentlemen, this is an agricultural and me-
,hahiral industrial fair. am surrounded to-.
DAY by industrious mechanics and farmers
and vOu have got me up here to tell YOU
what | know about farming. Now, | am
neither farmer nor a mechanic. During
The last thlrty-fiyc years have been actively
employed in work which left ne no time TO
study either the theory or the practice of
farming. | could far more easily tell YOU
what don't know about farming than what
do know, though the former would take
more time to tell it than the latter. Well,
gentlemen, do not mean to censurc YOUR
excellent committee for paying me in advance
and insisting upon my coming, thus buyinq
a pig IN bag, not knowing what kind Of an
animal would come forth ut the time. but |
am bold to say that they violated in that act
one OF the first rules Of successful farming.
which Is 10 see that the tools are ALWAYS
placed III the hands that can use them best,
There are, undoubtedly, hundreds of coloIed
men in the vicinity of Nashville, practical
farmers and mechanics, who could address
YOU upon the subjects of this occasion far
more appropriately and effectively than | can
do. This suggestion may seem rather late,
tut 1t may serve you a good turn when the
business of selecting a speaker shall come
round again.
But, gentlemen, there is q SUMMER side to
THIS distressing picture. Since ! am now
here, and there is no possible wav of escape
may at least employ the device of the boy
who whlstled III the graveyard to keep up his
courage. Several considerations serve in
some measure 10 reconcile me to nv task
One of these is the fact that being a public
speaker, have often found myself in Just
such embarrassing situations at other times
and places
- lfyou will pardon me a little autobiography
and, perhaps, little egotism, as well, will
tell you, that like many other men, / have
been all my life long doing extraordinary
thlnSs Tor the first time, some of which had
been better undone. have been constantly
required to undertake the performance of
works which came upon me as surprise, and
Tor which had no previous training or pre-
raraton, and while my work has generally
been rather unskillfully and imperfectly done,
have always had a thoughtful and generous
people for my judges, who have measured
tod A., - a
RUE oil intrinsic excellence, but by the rule
oil my disadvantages, and have thus often
accorded me higher praise than l could pos
albly claim on the score of merit.
Besides this, there is encouragement in the
subject itself. Agriculture is one of the very
Oldest themes, and one upon which only a
genius can be expected TO say anything either
new or striking. Originality is out of the
question. The knowledge already accumu-
lated and recorded on this subject is vast and
minute, and the man who can give but a
glimpse OF one of the many sides of this vast
accumulation of knowledge does not speak In
vain.
In few things, perhaps, more than in farm
ing, does one find that there is nothing new
under the sun. The sages Of to-day do but
reiterate the wisdom of the sages of antiquity.
The perception of truth may be new or old.
but the truth itself is neither old nor new,
but eternal as the Universe. The discovery
OF the fundamental principles of Agriculture
reach far beyond the limits Of authentic his
tory, for men titled the soil long before they
wrote books, and would never have written
books II they had not titled the soil. All the
present rests upon all the past. The very
nest that any in nv circumstances can 10 is
TO teach and preach the discoveries made BY
other men and at other times.
There are doubtless many great truths