Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1853-10-19

instead of being permitted to indulge in the de-
hghtful employment of dressing and keeping
the garden, and thus receiving divine lessons in
husbandry as he might have done, had he not
sinned. So likewise, the punishment Of Cain
consisted not in his being obliged to till the
ground, but exactly the opposite-in not be-
ing permitted to till the ground and reap the
rewards of industry. And when he was told
that, instead of tilling the ground, he must go
forth as fugitive and vagabond, he in anguish
exclaimed, My punishment is greater than I
can bear"
In like manner nations when, by their crimes,
they cut themselves off from the delightful en-
ployent of cultivating the soil, soon find thier
punishment greater than they can bear; for
they sink at once into obscurity and barba-
rism. --<
We may be satisfied, therefore, that the Ia
Dor of man was never intended as a CURSE
And whatever curse there was upon the
ground, was removed when Noah went forth
from the ark; when the Bow of promise was
made substitute for the flaming sword, and
the holy Patriarch, after having offered up his
sacrifices, commenced tillng the earth anew.
notwithstanding in later times agricultur-
darkened by the eruptions of wickedness and
war, it is destined to shine again with the
greatest possible srlendor in the clear light of
Christianity"
We might have dwelt for a moment on the
happy moral influences of agricultural pursuits
On the well being of society. They are the on
ly delightful occupation that wins the attention
aud cooperation of all classes, from the cradle
of infancy to the utmost Gngerings of decrepi-
tude and age. And as man goeth forth to his
pleasant task, to his work and labor suntil the
evening"" what sublime and harmonious
blending do we find human industry taste and
skill unitedwith Almighty wisdom, power and
goodness-man cooperating with his Maker.
He hears the voice of God whispering in the
breeze; he meets his smile in the bright sun
shine, and benevolent favor in the refreshing
rain and dews of heaven. God nerves the arm
and guides the intellect, while man thus goes
on to develop his glorious purpose. In this
way under the benign influence of the gospel
the lost Eden will be restored and bloom again.
not only in Armenia but in all the inhabitable
earth. 80
And who can look at the magnificent result
of this union of Gods power and mans agency
as here annually exhibited in this such joyful
harvest, the rich profusion of fruits and fow-
ers, and impiously assert that the labors of the
husbandman are attended with curse? AS
well might the fool at the hour of midnight,
lift his eyes to the starry heav vens and say,
"there is no God"
What higher power or higher joy can man.
kind possibly aspire to, than thus to combine
patient rural industry with the smiles of
Beneicient Providence in tilling the ground,
from whence they are taken? What reward
to man so rich and certain as that in cutivat-
ing the fostering earth (which receives him
and nourishes him in his infancy sustains and
bears him through youth and manhood sup
ports him in the langour of infrmity and age:
and when forlorn and rejected by all the world
besides, then, like fond mother embraces him.
and covers him in her bosom; thereby making
his remains sacred and holy, and then bearing
his tomb monuments and titles extending his
memory to posterity, as it were if possible, to
compensate for the shortness ofhis sojourning
here" :
TO this sweet boon in mans pilgrimage to
wandering outcast looks with longing heart
but has not perseverance and resolution sufi-
cient to reach it. For this the Merchant
Manufacturer, Statesman and Warrior, spend
years Of toll and hardships, impatiently waiting
the opportunity to retire ever from the most
lucrative and envied honors of life to the de-
Gghtful employments of husbandry as there
reaching the summit of human happiness, and
the ultimatum of his earthly hopes.
For the full fruition of such animation and
joyful anticipations, where shall we look for
more favorable field than Northern Ohio?-
Although the soil of this region is one of mod
crate fertility still, with the blessing of good
climate, the opportunity of collecting cheap
fertilizing materials, together with the facilities
for reaching good market, what point is
there in the scale of noble independence and
human elevation, that may not be here attain
ed?
According to most creditable estimates,
Ohio is already the greatest wheat-growing
country on earth. Should only one-third of
the land now comprising the Western Reserve
De CulGlNdlou III "H01C' 81 % W PAV""Oo GU 'AAN
rate of twenty bushels to the acre, the yield
would be more than is annually exported from
the whole continent Of Europe to the great
London market, and would also exceed the
amount at present produced by the whole state
of Ohio
tits believed that the improved fruit-bearing
trees will flourish and produce quite as well,
and even better, in the Lake counties of Ohio
than in New Jersey. And it is ascertained
that the small State of New Jersey annually
sends more peaches to market than all France.
It is well known that American apples bear