The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1838-11-27
RaASC CELLAR RlGDU3.
From the Religious Souuenir far 1889
NTRY LIFE.
"Tbe country wins me sun;
7 naver framed n wish or formed plan

That aatter'd me with hopes of earthly bliss,
But there ] laid the scene
God made the country, and man made the town.
WINS said long ago 10y the most religious of our
noets. The line expressed so pithiy what all
the observers and lovers of nature have felt that
it has been quoted and repeated till it has be-
come familiar as household words. sui the
volume, to which this is hut text, is understood
by few. An intimate acquaintance, even, with
nature is rare, and love of it, except in poetic
minds, is the result of cultivation. The mass of
those who live amid the walls that God has rear
ed, and tread the carpets he has spread, must be
taught,
-s with delighted eye
To gaze upon the mountains, TO behold,
With deep affection, the pure ample SKY,
And clouds along its blue abys*es rolPd;
To love the song of waters, and to hear
The melody of winds with charmed ear
For those not gifted by nature, and in whom
the spirit of observation has not been awakened,
are as unobservant of the glorious aspects OF ma
ture, as the child in its nurses arms. The spring
is TO them but the season of planting, the fall OF
ingathering, the summer OF heat, ana the WINTER
of cold They do not see the handwriting OF
God in the opening eay es and gushing waters
Of spring, in the gorgeous beauty of summer, IN
the regal robes of Autumn, nor in the sublime
,lesolatlon of winter, when the country seems
left alone with it's Maker. 1t is pity that there
is so much loss, such a positive waste OF the
means OF Il happiness that is not, like the coar,
passions or depraved appetites of man; that is
not like the mere 'creat'lre comforts, SUBJECT TO
dirnnution or addition by neglect or skill but VIII
last rs long as the sun rises and SETS and the sea
SONS change.
Those who love and understand this word
written in trees and running brooks, should con
decend to he its teachers to the young and IN
observant Curiosity is always alive, 1t only
wants direction; and if those who, like MIR. Bur
chel, from an instinct of kindness, feed children
with sugar plIrns, would, instead, take tiiena
stroll on to some of our mountain sunnitsor to
listen to the wild songs ofour mad streams, or
even at home on tie doorstep, wonid point out to
them n beautiful sunset, they would minister to
their immortal natures, and would have the re-
ward of seeing how the appetite 'groWs ny what
it feeds on
B,t tfere'is something more and higher in the
economy of coun,ry life, than the superior bean-
~ ofthe Outward world, to sustain Cowpers an
titliesis
The divine origin, and benevolent design of
onr social relations is felt country life. HE
seal of our lawgiver is still manifest upon them.
The tie of brotherhood is not only acknowledged
as On abstract TRUTH but is apparent in our daily
intercourse, our joys and our sorrows, our nome
charities, and our greetings by the way side.
But examples, and they are on every SHE, VIII
better illustrate my iltea than volume OF gen
eral assertions. Weddings and funerals are
common 10 all civilized men. Have they not
distinctive character, moral influence, IN the
country?
Our neighbor, Mr. Ellison, is one of the
wealthiest men in the country, hut as he has the
pntriarchal blessing of twelve children, the SONS
Of his numerous family are not beyond the mo
tives to our Indigenous virtues, enterprise ami
industry; nor his daughters elevated above Tor
sunk heIow) the virtues Of domestic thrift, dill
gence and frugality. Mary Ellison, the eldest
girl, if an ordinary character, would have been
n belle, for she has beauty enough to SHINE AS
i, t,tt hor lUIf <
the light off spirit that already has its path
marked in the celestial hemisphere. At two-and
twenty she has attained an elevation that few
reach but through variety OF experience, a
succession of failures and dsapponnens, a.
long process Of that stern schooling which teach
es some well, but almost 10 late. She began
right with the sinple, sure principle OF duty for
her ide, and the will of her heavenly rather
for her rule. Her objects in life were marked,
and her course mapped out, SO that she was IN
no danger of wasting time in the vain pursuits
and uncertain and purposeless wanderIngss III
which SO many are lost. Gentle and attractive
in her manners; she has lin spite of alarming
scarcity ofthe commodity in New England) had
many admirers whom, not accepting MS lovers,
she had converted into friends Hayward Del
ano, was the classnate and intimate at one OF
her brothers.. He is young man whose genius
has mastered the most adve rse circumstances.
tie was early left an orphan and destitute, and
indented to a farmer, but having passion for
study that kept him at his books half the night,
after working hard in the field all day, his en-
ployer voluntarily relinquished his indentures,
and he refusing pecuniary ad offered Ivy socie-
ties and individuals, con:rived, in the intervals of
study, to earn a support and liberal education.
Mary Ellison watched his progress from the
beginning. His vacations We're sometimes pas
sed at her fathers She had an earnest sympa.
thy in his independent and energetic prosecu-
ton of his purpose; and, from the impulse of
noble nature, was far more cordial and what
we may call leading, in her intercourse with him
than if their fortunes had been equal. 1t was
natural, and might have been foreseen by an
unconcerned spectator, a tender sentiment grew
out of this intercourse. Delano INDUCED IN
dreams Off future, and Mary dreamed too
Years passed on. Delano was just about to re-
ceve his license as preacher, when he became