"What!" methinks I hear some hardy son of the field exclaim--"who is this that promises to improve our mode of farming?" _A Citizen, forsooth._ Now let us at the threshold understand each other. I do not intend to meddle much, if at all, with your system of agriculture, though I conceive it quite possible for a man who has been born and educated in a _city_, to furnish important hints for the improvement of rural affairs. My purpose is to interest your attention with subjects which may tend to enlarge and elevate your _minds_. It is a lamentable fact, that too little regard is paid to _intellectual cultivation_, among those who till the earth. A well managed farm, supplied with substantial buildings, and under good fence, is creditable to its possessor, and forms a part of the public wealth. Every individual who thus improves his land, not only enriches himself, but should be considered as a benefactor of the commonwealth. Here, unhappily, the energies of the farmer are limited. This is a radical error. With the pecuniary means which his industry has accumulated, he should increase his own intelligence, and confer upon his children the benefits of _substantial education_. I do not admit as truth, what is frequently asserted, that the best examples of morality and virtue are to be met with in the country; for whereever the improvement of the mind is neglected, those ennobling qualities will be rarely found. It is idle to suppose that our intellectual capacities will yield fruits which dignify and adorn our nature, if they be solely devoted to increase our worldly possessions. The plough turns up from the soil no nourishment for the mind, neither do the scythe and sickle prostrate the vices of the heart. Abstractedly, therefore, a man may be as destitute of good principles who lives amidst rural scenes, as he whose pursuits confine him to the busy haunts and contagious influences of the multitude. But I am beginning to lecture before I have an audience. I took up the pen merely to introduce my proposals to your notice. You have a specimen of my way of thinking. If you like it, so much the better; if not, I cannot promise to serve a more palatable dish--but am always your friend, CIVIS.