thorough enjoyment of her work, and without a suspicion that she is capable of anything higher or better.

"The problem which the native American farmer is trying to solve, however, is one which has never before been attempted; namely, the infusion into the agricultural calling of a degree of culture and refinement hitherto only witnessed in towns amongst any class, and never witnessed amongst our farming population at all. In fact, he is trying to live, while laboring with his hands, as only superintendents of labor live in other countries. To say that the attempt is succeeding, or seems likely to succeed, would be to fly in the face of all the facts. There rises from every farmhouse, or at least from the women of it, a wail of discontent, a story of shattered nerves, worn-out muscles, lonely, joyless lives, which are made only the more unbearable by the glimpses which the literature of the day gives of the ease, polish, and excitement of city life, and he is a lucky farmer who gets his children to follow his calling one minute longer than they can help it." 1

This grave allegation has been before the reading public more than a year. I have waited in vain for some answer to show that the case is wholly misrepresented, or at least greatly overstated. But I have met no denial or explanation. Mr. Greeley is the devoted friend and champion of agriculture, yet his recent chapters on farming are pastoral lamentations rather than eulogies. The substance of this grave declaration is, that thoughtful men begin to fear that the American experiment of making the farmer's home the abode of industrious, enlightened, successful, and happy citizens is likely to prove a failure; that, to make the experiment successful, there must be a class of mere farm laborers, who are to have no aspirations, no ambition, no education, no culture; and that only by the aid of these can the farmer reach the ideal at which our fathers aimed. Is this so? I do not assert it. I do not yet believe it. But it has been broadly asserted, and not yet positively and authoritatively denied. If it be true, the consequence will be appalling. The editor of a leading British magazine told me, not long since, that English mechanics had often made a fortune, but he had never known a mere farm laborer in England to rise above his class.

I told you, fellow-citizens, that I would raise questions to trouble you, and that I could not give you a full solution of them. I will endeavor, however, to point out some of the paths which, I believe, will lead to the solution.

1 The Nation, Vol. IX. p. 45.

First, you must take Nature into your counsels, and make her your ally. The mysterious power that she has placed in seeds makes it possible for you to choose them so wisely, that from one you can, with the same labor, produce twice as much as you can from another. Make this power your servant. Explore the mysteries of soil, moisture, and sunshine, and make them your slaves. The egg of a frog and the egg of a fish may be so alike that neither chemistry nor the microscope can detect any difference; yet from the one comes a frog and from the other a fish. Through the whole animal kingdom this mystery runs. You are not wise in feeding a stunted heifer, when the same food would give you the rich and abundant product of an Alderney cow.

Again, the power of mechanics may be made your willing and efficient slave. Where by any contrivance the muscle of the brute or the force of steam can be made to serve you, you may pass up from the position of servant to that of commander. Let the brain take its full share in the work. Watch the next census, to see to what extent the use of machines has increased since 1860, and you will have a good index of the progress made in ten years in the solution of this great problem.

Once more, the diffusion of special knowledge on these subjects is of the utmost importance. The agricultural colleges will do a great work in this respect. But will their students stay on the farms? I doubt it. You must bring culture and special knowledge into the farmer's house and into his fields. For this purpose, such an exhibition as we see here to-day is of the greatest importance. This is a great school of actual, practical results, and every farmer here to-day is both a teacher and a student.

Permit me to say, in conclusion, that there are three forces that must be brought to bear in the settlement of this problem, -the home, the school, and the church, and they are our trinity of saving influences. Among all the American products which I saw at the great Paris Exposition in 1867, none so stirred my pride as an American as the farmer's home and the schoolhouse, which some thoughtful citizen of the United States had erected on the Exposition grounds. To the European laborer we were able to say: "Go to America, and we will give you one hundred and sixty acres of land. You can build

on it such a house as this for eight hundred dollars, and there will be erected near it, at the public expense, such a schoolhouse as that, where your children may be educated without cost to you, except in the taxes you pay." That spectacle preached a louder sermon than the guns of Gravelotte or Sedan.

it;

Make the farmer's home the abode of industry and thrift, such as farm labor can make it; of intelligence and culture, such as our schools and public press can make it; and of purity and truth, such as a broad and unsectarian religion can make and you will have solved the questions that I have raised. And now a word to the young men who may hear me. Get intelligence, culture, and conscience; and then get ground to stand on, ground of your own, and hire out to yourself. Be your own master and pay yourself the wages you earn, and put the profits of your labor into your own pocket. Do not forever be commanded. Command something, if it be only a horse and dray. Be assured that in your own brain and arm lie your fortune and fame. Look to yourself for resources, and whatever you do, let it be only in the last extremity that you go to Washington after a clerkship.

GEN. GEORGE H. THOMAS:

HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER.

ORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL REUNION, CLEVELAND, NOVEMBER 25, 1870.

OMRADES OF THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND, — In

may, the most honorable and the most difficult duty which it was possible for you to assign me. You have required me to exhibit, in fitting terms, the character and career of George H. Thomas. I approach the theme with the deepest reverence, but with the painful consciousness of my inability to do it even approximate justice.

There are now living not less than two hundred thousand men who served under the eye of General Thomas; who saw him in sunshine and storm, on the march, in the fight, and on the field when the victory had been won. Enshrined in the hearts of all these are enduring images and most precious memories of their commander and friend. Who shall collect and unite into one worthy picture the bold outlines, the innumerable lights and shadows, which make up the life and character of our great leader? Who shall condense into a single hour, the record of a life which forms so large a chapter of the nation's history, and whose fame fills and overfills a hemisphere? No line can be omitted, no false stroke made, no imperfect sketching done, which you, his soldiers, will not instantly detect and deplore. I know that each of you here present sees him in memory, at this moment, as we often saw him in life, erect and strong, like a tower of solid masonry; his broad, square shoulders and massive head; his abundant hair and full beard of light brown, sprinkled with silver; his broad forehead, full face,

and features that would appear colossal, but for their perfect harmony of proportion; his clear complexion, with just enough color to assure you of robust health and a well-regulated life; his face lighted up by an eye which was cold gray to his enemies, but warm, deep blue to his friends; not a man of iron, but of live oak. His attitude, form, and features all assured you of inflexible firmness, of inexpugnable strength; while his welcoming smile set every feature aglow with a kindness that won your manliest affection. If thus in memory you see his form and features, even more vividly do you remember the qualities of his mind and heart. His body was the fitting type of his intellect and character; and you saw both his intellect and character tried, again and again, in the fiery furnace of war, and by other tests not less searching. Thus, comrades, you see him; and your memories supply a thousand details which complete and adorn the picture. I beg you, therefore, to supply the deficiency of my work from these living prototypes in your own hearts.

No human life can be measured by an absolute standard. In this world all is relative. Character itself is the result of innumerable influences, from without and from within, which act unceasingly through life. Who shall estimate the effect of those latent forces enfolded in the spirit of a new-born child, forces that may date back centuries and find their origin in the life, and thought, and deeds of remote ancestors,- forces, the germs of which, enveloped in the awful mystery of life, have been transmitted silently from generation to generation, and never perish! All-cherishing Nature, provident and unforgetting, gathers up all these fragments, that nothing may be lost, but that all may ultimately reappear in new combinations. Each new life is thus "the heir of all the ages," the possessor of qualities which only the events of life can unfold. The problems to be solved in the study of human life and character are therefore these:- Given the character of a man, and the conditions of life around him, what will be his career? Or, given his career and surroundings, what was his character? Or, given his character and career, of what kind were his surroundings? The relation of these three factors to each other is severely logical. From them is deduced all genuine history. Character is the chief element, for it is both a result and a cause, a result of influences and a cause of results.