pendent Democrats, got up a flaming manifesto in such hot haste that it was said to have been dated on Sunday, and put it forth, cock-a-hoop, half-signed, to the utter discomfiture of all who hoped to prevent the bill from passing. They usurped a lead which belonged to others, and gave an odor of abolition to the whole movement. From the moment I read that ill-advised paper, I despaired of seeing that Southern opposition to the measure, which, under other circumstances, I fully and firmly believe we should have obtained. My worthy friend, Mr. Eliot, of New Bedford, called this protest, in a late speech," the first unmasking of the plot." No it was the first unmasking of our own batteries, and that before they were manned or ready for action; and upon those who adopted this rash policy, not a little of the responsibility for the result must justly fall. We read, in ancient history, of a young Spartan officer who was punished for rushing prematurely and unarmed upon the enemy, even although he gained a victory. What shall be said of those who perilled and lost this momentous stake by their unwise and reckless precipitancy?

It is not enough considered that the real retarders of any movement are often found among those who are claiming to be its leaders. Has it not been so in the case of Temperance? Has not excessive zeal and blind one-idea-ism led at last to the enactment of laws which have created a general re-action, and put back the cause of temperance, we know not how far? Just so has it been, and will it be again, with these ultraists in the cause of freedom. For one, I never witness one of their violent spasmodic agitations about slavery at the North, without looking to see it followed forthwith by some fresh triumph at the South. Our Northern fusion phalanxes, indeed, in the present instance, seem to be taking up the line of march after the mischief is accomplished, as I once saw some of our militia companies (before the days of such prompt disciplinarians as General Edmands and Colonel Chickering), turning out after a riot had been successfully carried through, and parading near the scene as if in celebration of the success of the mob. We had a grand rising about Texas, I remember, after it was irreparably annexed, and now we are to have a grand rally about the repeal of the Missouri restriction, after it is hopelessly accomplished. And while we are thus

engaged, the South will be looking about them for some fresh chances of fortifying their institutions. Our ultraists, will have succeeded in nothing but in alarming them afresh into a feeling that some new defences must be secured. They will have alienated and disgusted all the moderate and reasonable men among them and among ourselves; and, with the aid of the Democracy, some fresh annexation of new territory, or some other repeal, if any thing remains to be repealed, of the restrictions upon old territory, will be successfully attempted. Geographical parties will have been arrayed against each other, and thus, the action and reaction of ultraism at both ends of the Union will go on to the end of the chapter, involving us in a never-ceasing series of mischievous and deplorable measures.

And to this end we are called on to forget the past, to disregard all experience, and to rush into the formation of what has been elegantly denominated a grand "Back-bone Party." No: the vertebral column must support a sounder brain, before I can desire to see it assuming any thing of additional strength or solidity. Better let it remain as fragmentary and fleshless as that of some fossil reptile of the coal measures, if it is only to be employed as an instrument for disjointing the carefully compacted framework of our national body politic, or if it is for ever to serve as a bone of contention among those who ought to be able to live together in unity and concord.

One thing I have resolved on in my own political career, and that is, never to give countenance or support to any policy or any party which tends in my conscientious conviction towards disorganization or disunion. Three or four years of retirement from public office have served to wean me from all inordinate affection for official station, if I ever had any, and I bring to the consideration of the present state of parties the most absolute indifference to any mere personal results. But I am not indifferent, I never can be indifferent, to the honor and welfare of my native State, or of the great and glorious country of which it forms a part.

Others may find their "paramount issues" in whatever secondary or subordinate questions they may see fit to select. I hold nothing, nothing within the range of political action, to be paramount to the honor of Massachusetts, and the integrity of the

American Union, under the Constitutions which severally secure liberty for them both.

Let me only, in conclusion, apologize for the length of this letter by saying, that I do not propose to address my fellow-citizens in any other form, and that this must serve instead of any speech or speeches which I may have been expected to make.

I am, respectfully and truly,

Your obedient servant,

ROBERT C. WINTHROP.

FARNHAM PLUMMER, ESQ., Chairman of the Whig Executive Committee.

AGRICULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES.

A SPEECH MADE AT THE BANQUET OF THE UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, BOSTON, 26 OCTOBER, 1855.

I KNOW of few things, Mr. President, better calculated to take the courage out of a man, than to find himself rising on such an occasion and in such a presence as this, with the full knowledge that he has been advertised, in a hundred bills and broadsides, for a fortnight beforehand, as being relied on to furnish one of the formal addresses for this crowning banquet.

For one, I cannot help feeling that the brute beasts, who are on exhibition with us, have had something of an unfair advantage over their human yoke-fellows in this respect. They have been permitted to come comparatively unconscious into the field. They have been privileged to exhibit their points and show their paces without any solicitude as to the expectation which they may disappoint or gratify. The most ruminating animals among them all have never spent a moment, I venture to say, in considering what sort of a figure they should cut, or what sort of an utterance they should find. They have chewed their cud in undisturbed complacency, even while these uncounted thousands of spectators have been crowding in to gaze upon their qualities. They have, certainly, stood in awe of no reporters. They have pondered no periods, unless, indeed, it be that welcome period which shall put an end to their strange confinement, and send them quietly back to their pleasant pastures or their comfortable stalls. Enviable condition of insensibility and immunity! Theirs is a sort of Know-nothing party, which I could be well content to join, even though it should consign me to "a lodge in some vast wilderness!" "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."

Sir, this is, indeed, a wholly unaccustomed spectacle for this precise locality. So many yokes on Boston Neck, which, in 1775, if I remember right, could not bear even one yoke patiently! It is a novel sight within the limits of any large and populous city, -these flocks and herds and droves of cattle by which we are encompassed! One is well-nigh constrained to exclaim, in the words of the old ruler of Israel, "What meaneth, then, this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" But the question, unlike that which was addressed to the rebellious Hebrews, is happily susceptible of a most innocent and agreeable answer, and one which need involve us in no apprehension of either divine or human displeasure.

This great congress of animals, convened from all quarters of the Union, are here on no errand of insubordination or disorganization. They have come in no partisan or sectional spirit. They have neither assembled to make a platform, nor to nominate a president. No paramount issues disturb their serenity. They have come for the simple purpose of reminding us of the preeminent importance of agriculture among the arts of life, and of the common interests and objects which should unite and animate the farmers of our whole country, from Maine to California. They have come as the chosen representatives of a thousand hills and valleys, to furnish us with a visible type and illustration of the surpassing magnitude of that mighty branch of American Industry, of which they are something more than mere honorary members, and to impress upon us all a deeper sense of the claims which it has upon our most careful consideration and attention.

And beyond all doubt, Mr. President, the agriculture of the United States has long ago reached a condition in which nothing less than the collected wisdom of the whole country is required, to devise the best means for securing its future prosperity and welfare. So far, indeed, as mere farming is concerned, so far as relates only to the modes and processes by which the productiveness of the soil may be increased, and the soil itself saved from deterioration, I do not feel sure that much more is to be accomplished by a National Association than by State or county societies. Even in this view, however, I would by no means undervalue the importance of an organization by which so wide a