he infinite bounty of the Almighty; that in our
prosperity we should remember His mercies; in our adversity we should
deplore our transgressions.

It is evident to the most casual observer that the past year has been
significant in the manifestations of divine guidance and goodness.
To-day peace reigns throughout our vast domain. No foreign foe invades
our shores. How superior our condition by way of contrast with our
neighbors on this side of the globe. In contrast with Central and
South America, the home of turbulence and misrule, where ignorance,
combined with a perverted Christianity, has darkened and enslaved;
where the wheels of industry have been impeded and the march to a
higher civilization obstructed--how bold the contrast between these
two sections of our continent--a contrast that must be suggestive to
every thoughtful mind and awaken the question whether this is due to
what some call the fortuities of national life or whether it is the
result of a genius of government that is sublime and a religion that
is divine. And if we turn our eyes over the great deep to the most
favored nations beyond the Atlantic, the contrast inspires grateful
emotions, and we are equally led to contemplate the causes which have
brought about a condition so favorable to us. The most venerable
nations in Europe, countries that have lived through more than a
millennium, are to-day shaken by internal disturbance. Those
institutions which have come down from the hoary past, which have been
considered pre-eminent in the affections and faith of mankind, now
topple to their fall. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,"
whether man or woman; and no government in Europe is in a state of
peaceful security. Alarm dwells in the palace. Fear, like a bloody
phantom, haunts the throne, and the vast nations of Europe, with all
their agriculture and commerce and manufacture, and all their majesty
of law and ordinances of religion, are maintained in a questionable
peace by not less than three millions of men armed to the teeth; while
in this country, so vast in its domain, so complicated in its
population, from North to South, from East to West, preserved in
peace, not by standing armies or floating navies, but by a moral
sense, a quickened conscience, the guardian of our homes, our altars,
and our nation.

Certainly the farmer stands nearest to God. Agriculture underlies all
national wealth. The farmer ministers to the wants of king and
princ