The friend of Mr. M----, however he may be mistaken in some of his
opinions, does not want the appearance of reason, when he prefers facts
to theories; and that I may not dismiss the question without some appeal
to facts, I will borrow an example, suggested by a great artist, and
recommended to those who may still doubt which of the two arches is the
stronger, to press an egg first on the ends, and then upon the sides.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

SOME THOUGHTS ON AGRICULTURE,
BOTH ANCIENT AND MODERN,

With an account of the honour due to an English farmer[1].

Agriculture, in the primeval ages, was the common parent of traffick;
for the opulence of mankind then consisted in cattle, and the product of
tillage, which are now very essential for the promotion of trade in
general, but more particularly so to such nations as are most abundant
in cattle, corn, and fruits. The labour of the farmer gives employment
to the manufacturer, and yields a support for the other parts of the
community: it is now the spring which sets the whole grand machine of
commerce in motion; and the sail could not be spread without the
assistance of the plough. But though the farmers are of such utility in
a state, we find them, in general, too much disregarded among the
politer kind of people in the present age; while we cannot help
observing the honour that antiquity has always paid to the profession of
the husbandman; which naturally leads us into some reflections upon that
occasion.

Though mines of gold and silver should be exhausted,
and the specie made of them lost; though diamonds and pearls should
remain concealed in the bowels of the earth, and the womb of the sea;
though commerce with strangers be prohibited; though all arts, which
have no other object than splendour and embellishment, should be
abolished; yet the fertility of the earth alone would afford an abundant
supply for the occasions of an industrious people, by furnishing
subsistence for them, and such armies as should be mustered in their
defence. We, therefore, ought not to be surprised, that agriculture was
in so much honour among the ancients; for it ought rather to seem
wonderful that it should ever cease to be so, and that the most
necessary and most indispensable of all professions should have fallen
into any contempt.

Agriculture was in no part of the world in higher consideration than
Egypt, where it was the particular object of government and policy; nor
w