Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1837-02-17
VERMONT PHENIx.
BRATTLEBoRo, yr.
Friday Morning, February n, 1887.

him who fils the soiI--thc free and indepen-
ent .anleriean Farmer Far removed from the
temptations which besct the inhabitants Of
cities, and free from the risks and yicissitudes
incident to the business Of the merchant and
manufacturer, he has in this favored land, only
TO pursue s'the even tenor Of bis way" indus
trious and frugal in his habits, and health,
competency, responsibility and peace Of mind
are his sure reward. How different his situa-
ton from that of the peasantry Of Europe,
ground down by the iron hand of despotism
and doomed to labor for bare support, while
the surplus produce Of their toll goes to support
pampered and idle aristocracy. What a
contrast is his lot to that Of the poor and much
injured inhabitants of the Emerald isle, on
whom centuries have been accommodating a
load Of oppression. What American can read
the account of the dreadfnIly miserable situa-
ton Of this unhappy people as portrayed by
DR.. Humphrey on the first page Of this paper,
and not feel ashamed Of the complaints which
we are all too prone TO utter at our hard lot,
wien any little trouble perpIexes us. Who in
America knows what poverty and the suffer-
in9s Of want are, compared with those expert
enced by the Irish people. Let every farmer
read the article referred to, and resolve never
again to complain OF his hard fate. Taxes,
those dreadful taxes Of which we hear so
much, what are they among us compared with
the .draught which is made in any other coun-
try upon the energies and resources Of the
people; and what are these taxes for, Of which
20 many complain and by whom are they levied
Not by an arbitrary despot TO support himself
and his favorites, and promote his own selfish
ends. But they are, or at least should be, the
voluntary contributions of an intelligent peo-
pie, to sustain institutions and carry forward
enterprises authorized Jy themselves.
What New England farmer would wish 10
exchange his situation, with even the proud
and aristocratie. nay if you will ehivalrous,
stakeholder Of the south, dependant on his
slaves to do for him even the thousand little
mental services which Yankee farmer would
scorn to ask another to do for him.
We have often heard an independent or as
some have ii "lorehanded" farmer complain Of
his hard lot, doomed as he is to labor and earn
his subsistence by the sweat of his brow, and /
express his envy at the easier fortune of the
merchant. And so ii is--human nature how
iiscontented! What is there, what can there
be in the lot Of any other mortal which an in
iustrious and frugal farmer Of New England
should envy. Full Of vigor and flush with
health, surrounded by all the substantial conn.,
ofts OF life, with leisure sufficient las every /
atmer may have who will not slave himself) Il
or reading and the improvement of his mind.
md for social intercourse, what more should he 1
iesire. II he has a family of children growing
Up around him, they are strangers to the thou
aud diseases which invade the families of the
ich and luxurious, and greater strangers still
Q the scenes of dissipation and sin, which
orm the sources Of amusement 10 many of the
Inhabitants of cities. Well educated and well
brought up," they will ere long be the sun
crt and comfort of the declining DAYS of their
arents, and "Tise up and call them blessed ,,
But every situation has its trials-and we do ,
ot mean to say the farmer is free from them.
difficulties and trials he doubtless meets with
they are among "the ills that human flesh is q
ieir to-" "But man is discontinued being. I
nd while one desire remains ungratified. and I
nc Inconvenience unremoved, he is naturally Z
'ore disposed to murmur than to be thankful !.
'ther to God or man, for the multiplied I'M !
lerlted blessings with which he is surround
q" The New England farmer therefore.
lust emisrafe, and leaving all the comforts !
nd privileges by which he is surrounded, seek J
the wilds of the far west in face OF. all the !
conveniences and miseries incident to a new I
'untry, that happiness which his enviabIe lot I
rs hitherto failed to impart! i'll
But enough--we intended to have spoken Of d
e obligations which the farmer is under 10 y
e Temperance reformation, and Of various I
her topics connected with the subject, such n
+ reading, newspapers, politics, demagoeues. P
g but our limits fail US. We may resume ?
. subject hereafter. !.
Was there ever such a ridiculous scene pre- o
nted IN any legislative body, as that which P
CURED in Congress on the presentation, by $ $
Adams, of the petitions in regard TO slavery Y
2 the Journal of Congressional proceedings n :,
other column. II seems the old gentleman G.
rs too much for his fiery opponents, and bv Il
tact and generaship, placed them in a most N
enviable and Notifying position. He has Ii
: spent fiiiy years in the practice Of diploma T
in vain. 81
L'tiie as we can say Of Mr. Adams Judgment
discretion, and much as we disapproye Of re
course IN some respects, yet for one thing co
z. ,nank h'm-and that is, for teaching the al az