THOUGHTS ON AGRICULTURE.

" excellently does he, in that book called his "nomicks set out the advantages of husba " and a country life?"

When Britain was subject to the Roman annually supplied them with great quantit corn; and the Isle of Anglesea was then 1 upon as the granary for the western province the Britons, both under the Romans and S were employed like slaves at the plough. C intermixture of the Danes and Normans, p sions were better regulated, and the state of age gradually declined, till it was entirely wo under the reigns of Henry VII. and Edwar for they hurt the old nobility by favourin commons, who grew rich by trade, and purc

• The wines of France, Portugal, and Spai now the best; while Italy can only boast wine made in Tuscany. The breeding of is now chiefly confined to Denmark and Ire The corn of Sicily is still in great esteem, a as what is produced in the northern countrie England is the happiest spot in the universe the principal kinds of Agriculture, and espe its great produce of corn.

The improvement of our landed estates, enrichment of the kingdom: for, without this could we carry on our manufactures, or pros our commerce ? We should look upon the lish Farmer as the most useful member of so His arable grounds not only supply his fe subjects with all kinds of the best grain, bu

THOUGHTS ON AGRICULTURE.

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particularly Spain and Portugal: for, in one year, there have been exported 51,520 quarters of barley, 219,781 of malt, 1,920 of oatmeal, 1,329 of rye, and 153,343 of wheat; the bounty on which amounted to 72,433 pounds. What a fund of treasure arises from his pasture lands, which breed such innumerable flocks of sheep, and afford such fine herds of cattle, to feed Britons, and clothe mankind! He rears flax and hemp for the making of linen; while his plantations of apples and hops supply him with generous kinds of liquors.

The land-tax, when at four shillings in the pound, produces 2,000,000 pounds a year. This arises from the labour of the husbandman: it is a great sum: but how greatly is it increased by the means it furnishes for trade? Without the industry of the Farmer, the manufacturer could have no goods to supply the merchant, nor the merchant find any employment for the mariners: trade would be stagnated; riches would be of no advantage to the great; and labour of no service to the poor.

The Romans, as historians all allow,
Sought, in extreme distress, the rural plough;
Io triumphe! for the village swain
Retir'd to be a nobleman * again.

FURTHER THOUGHTS

ON

AGRICULTURE*.

AT my last visit, I took the liberty of mentioning a subject, which, I think, is not considered with attention proportionate to its importance. Nothing can more fully prove the ingratitude o mankind, a crime often charged upon them, and often denied, than the little regard which the disposers of honorary rewards have paid to Agriculture; which is treated as a subject so remote from common life, by all those who do not immediately hold the plough, or give fodder to the ox, that I think there is room to question, whether a great part of mankind has yet been informed that life is sustained by the fruits of the earth. I was once indeed provoked to ask a lady of great eminence for genius, Whether she knew of what bread is made?

I have already observed, how differently Agriculture was considered by the heroes and wise mer of the Roman commonwealth, and shall now only add, that even after the emperors had made great alteration in the system of life, and taught men to portion out their esteem to other qualities than use

* From the Visiter, for March 1756, p. 11.

fulness, Agriculture still maintained its reputation, and was taught by the polite and elegant Celsus among the other arts.

The usefulness of Agriculture I have already shewn; I shall now, therefore, prove its necessity: and having before declared, that it produces the chief riches of a nation, I shall proceed to shew, that it gives its only riches, the only riches which we can call our own, and of which we need not fear either deprivation or diminution.

Of nations, as of individuals, the first blessing is independence. Neither the man nor the people can be happy to whom any human power can deny the necessaries or conveniencies of life. There is no way of living without the need of foreign assistance, but by the product of our own land, improved by our own labour. Every other source of plenty is perishable or casual.

Trade and manufactures must be confessed often to enrich countries; and we ourselves are indebted to them for those ships by which we now command the sea, from the equator to the poles, and for those sums with which we have shewn ourselves able to arm the nations of the north in defence of regions in the western hemisphere. But trade and manufactures, however profitable, must yield to the cultivation of lands in usefulness and dignity.

Commerce, however we may please ourselves with the contrary opinion, is one of the daughters of fortune, inconstant and deceitful as her mother; she chuses her residence where she is least expect

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THOUGHTS ON AGRICULTURE.

of the present distresses of the Genoese, who only choice now remaining is, from what monarc they shall solicit protection? Who can see th Hanseatick towns in ruins, where perhaps the in habitants do not always equal the number of th houses; but he will say to himself, These are th cities, whose trade enabled them once to give law to the world, to whose merchants princes sent thei jewels in pawn, from whose treasures armies wer paid, and navies supplied! And who can then for bear to consider trade as a weak and uncertain basi of power, and wish to his own country greatnes more solid, and felicity more durable?

It is apparent, that every trading nation flourishes, while it can be said to flourish, by the cour⚫tesy of others. We cannot compel any people to buy from us, or to sell to us. A thousand accidents may prejudice them in favour of our rivalsthe workmen of another nation may labour for less price, or some accidental improvement, or natural advantage, may procure a just preference to their commodities; as experience has shewn, that there is no work of the hands, which, at different times, is not best performed in different places.

Traffick, even while it continues in its state of prosperity, must owe its success to Agriculture; the materials of manufacture are the produce of the earth. The wool which we weave into cloth, the wood which is formed into cabinets, the metals which are forged into weapons, are supplied by nature with the help of art. Manufactures, indeed, and profitable manufactures, are sometimes raised from imported materials, but then we are subjected a second time to the caprice of our