inorganic' masses. How they got into the gravel; between what mountain mill-stones, whirled by elemental' storm-winds on the bosom of ocean'ic3 torrents, the auriferous ledges were ground to powder; by what Titanic1 hands the coveted grains were sown broadcast in the placers, human science can but faintly conjecture. We only know that those grains have within them no principle of growth or reproduction, and that when that crop was put in, Chaos' must have broken up the soil. 11. How different the grains of our Atlantic gold, sown by the prudent hand of man, in the kindly alterna'tion of seedtime and harvest; each curiously, mysteriously organized; hard, horny, seeming lifeless on the outside, but wrapping up in the interior a seminal germ,' a living principle! Drop a grain of California gold into the ground, and there it will lie unchanged to the end of time, the clods on which it falls not more cold and lifeless. Drop a grain of our gold, of our blessed gold, into the ground, and lo! a mystery. In a few days it softens, it swells, it shoots upward, it is a living thing. 12. It is yellōw itself, but it sends up a delicate spire, which comes peeping, emerald green, through the soil; it expands to a vigorous stalk; revels in the air and sunshine; arrays itself, more glorious than Solomon, in its broad, fluttering, leafy robes, whose sound, as the west wind whispers through them, falls as pleasantly on the husbandman's ear as the rustle of his sweetheart's garment; still towers aloft, spins its verdant skeins of vegetable floss, displays its dancing tassels, surcharged with fertilizing dust, and at last ripens into two or three magnificent batons like this (an ear of Indian corn), each of which is studded 'In or gån'ic, having no organs; not found with the organs or instruments of life.2 El e månt' al, relating to the elements, here meaning earth, air, fire, and water.- Oceanic (o she ån' ik), pertaining to the ocean. Ti tan' ic, gigantic. The Titanes or Titans was a name applied by the ancients to the sons of Coelus and Terra, figurative names for the heavens and the earth. They were of gigantic size and strength. - Chaos (ka' os) was the name of one of the oldest of the heathen gods. The proper meaning of the term is that confused mass of matter which existed before the creation of the world.-Atlantic gold, it will be seen that the author means by the term, Indian corn, or maze.Sêm'i nal germ, the germ or growing principle of the seed.-Floss, a downy or silky substance.- Baton (bå tỏng'), a staff; a badge of honor. with hundreds of grains of gold, every one possessing the same wonderful properties as the parent grain, every one instinct with the same marvelous reproductive powers. 13. There are seven hundred and twenty grains on the ear which I hold in my hand. I presume there were two or three such ears on the stock. This would give us 1440, perhaps 2160 grains as the produce of one. They would yield, next season, if they were all successfully planted, 4200, perhaps 6300 ears. Who does not see that, with this stupendous progression, the produce of one grain in a few years might feed all mankind? And yet, with this visible creation annually springing and ripening around us, there are men who doubt, who deny the existence of God. Gold from the Sacramento River, sir! There is a săc′rament' in this ear of corn enough to bring an atheist' to his knees. BUT 87. AGRICULTURE-CONCLUDED. UT it will be urged, perhaps, sir, in behalf of the California gold, that, though one crop only of gold can be gathered from the same spot, yet, once gathered, it lasts to the end of time; while our vegetable gold is produced only to be consumed, and, when consumed, is gone forever. But this, Mr. President, would be a most egregious error bōth ways. 2. It is true the California gold will last forever unchanged if its owner chooses; but, while it so lasts, it is of no use; no not as much as its value in pig-iron, which makes the best of ballast; whereas gold, while it is gold, is good for little or nothing. You can neither eat it, nor drink it, nor smoke it. You can neither wear it, nor burn it as fuel, nor build a house with it; it is really useless till you exchange it for consumable, perishable goods; and the more plentiful it is, the less its exchangeable value. Såc' ra ment, an oath or vow; a holy rite; the Lord's Supper.'A' the ist, one who denies or disbelieves the existence of a Supreme Being.-- Pig'-iron (l' urn), masses of iron not manufactured.—* Bål' last, weight put into the hold of vessels, when not loaded, to make them float steadily. 2 3. Far different the case with our Atlantic gold; it does not perish when consumed, but, by a nobler alchemy1 than that of Paracelsus, is transmuted in consumption to a higher life. "Perish in consumption," did the old miser say? "Thon fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die." The burning pen of inspiration, ranging heaven and earth for a similitude,3 to convey to our poor minds some not inadequate idea of the mighty doctrine of the resurrection, can find no symbol so expressive as "bare grain, it may chance of wheat or some other grain." To-day a senseless plant, to-morrow it is human bone and muscle, vein and artery, sinew and nerve; beating pulse, heaving lungs, toiling, ah, sometimes, overtoiling brain. 4. Last June, it sucked from the cold breast of the earth the watery nourishment of its distending sap-vessels; and now it clothes the manly form with warm, cordial flesh; quivers and thrills with the fivefold mystery of sense; purveys and ministers to the higher mystery of thought. Heaped up in your grăn'aries this week, the next it will strike in the stalwart arm, and glow in the blushing cheek, and flash in the beaming eye; till we learn at last to realize that the slender stalk, which we have seen shaken by the summer breeze, bending in the cornfield under the yellow burden of harvest, is indeed the "staff of life," which, since the world began, has supported the toiling and struggling myriads of humanity on the mighty pilgrimage of being. 5. Yes, sir, to drop the allegory, and speak without a figure, it is this noble agriculture, for the promotion of which this great company is assembled from so many parts of the Union, which feeds the human race, and all the humbler orders of animated 'Al' che my, chemistry, as practiced in former times; or the proposed, but imaginary art of the changing of base metals into gold, and of finding some universal remedy for all diseases.—2 Par a cål′ sus, one of the early alchemists, was born about the year 1493, near Zurich, a city in the northern part of Switzerland. He is considered as the founder of the modern science of medicine. He died in 1541, in his forty-eighth year.- Si mil' i tùde, likeness; comparison.* Fivefold mystery of sense, the senses, hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, and tasting.-" Stalwart (stol' wort), brave; bold; strong.- Al' le go ry, a story in which the apparent meaning is not the real one, but is intended to declare some important truth with greater force and spirit. nature dependent on man. With the exception of what is yielded by the fisheries and the chase (a limited, though certainly not an insignificant, source of supply), agriculture is the steward which spreads the daily table of mankind. 6. Twenty-seven millions of human beings, by accurate com putation, awoke this very morning, in the United States, all requiring their "daily bread," whether they had the grace to pray for it or not, and, under Providence, all looking to the agriculture of the country for that daily bread, and the food of the domestic animals depending on them; a demand, perhaps, as great as their own. Mr. President, it is the daily duty of you farmers to satisfy this gigantic appetite; to fill the mouths of these hungry millions-of these starving millions, I might say, for if, by any catastrophe,' the supply were cut off for a few days, the life of the country-human and brute-would be extinct. 7. How nobly this great duty is performed by the agriculture of the country, I need not say at this board, especially as the subject has been discussed by the gentleman who preceded me. The wheat crop of the United States the present year, is variously estimated at from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five millions of bushels; the oat crop at four hundred millions of bushels; the Indian corn, our precious vegetable gold, at one thousand millions of bushels! a bushel, at least, for every human being on the face of the globe. 8. Of the other cereal, and of the leguminous crops, I have seen no estimate. Even the humble article of hay,—this poor timothy, herds' grass, and red-top, which, not rising to the dignity of the food of man, serves only for the subsistence of the mute partners of his toil,-the hay crop of the United States is probably but little, if any, inferior in value to the whole crop of cotton, which the glowing imagination of the South sometimes regards as the great bond which binds the civilized nations of the earth together. EDWARD EVERETT. ' Catastrophe (ka tås' tro fe), unfortunate event; calamity; disaster. —3 Cè real, relating to grain that is good for food.—3 Le gù' min ous, peas, beans, and other vegetables that grow in pods.-Tim'o thy, a name applied to an excellent kind of grass. 88. MEMORY. IS sweet to remember! I would not forego 1. 'TIS The charm which the past o'er the present can throw, For all the gay visions that Fancy may weave In her web of illusion, that shines to deceive. When thoughts of the morrow fall cold on the soul. 8. 'Tis sweet to remember! When friends are unkind, 4. 'Tis sweet to remember! And naught can destroy The balm-breathing comfort, the glory, the joy, Which spring from that fountain to gladden our way When the changeful and faithless desert or betray. I would not forget!-though my thoughts should be dark, 'Vermilion (ver mil' yun), bright red.-2 Rem i nis' cence, memory; remembrance. De lêct' a ble, delightful; very pleasing. 3 (bång' kwet), a rich feast; an entertainment. Banquet |