The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1858-08-20
For the Gate City.
OUT Among tho arms,

Out Among tho Farms.
MKssRs. EprroRs: Cities may be divine
institution, an imperative necessity, rallying
points for the worlds capital and enterprise,
virtual copartnerships Of men toiling up
wards, and carrying society upward in So
oial life and culture, and oil that. They may
be depots on the worlds railway OF trade
and passage, stations along the actual uni
versal telegraphic network OF thought. BE
they this, or anything else, or better, it il
nevertheless very pleasant to get out OF them
in August. And this getting out, arduous as
the attempt may seem in prospect, is not as
great an undertaking Is the crossing Of the
Alps by Napoleon and bis great army. To
lave a car and locomotive almost wholly in
the service Of your digni6ed single self, to
be . favored, well-nourished and almost SOL
itary guest, borne onward by fine new
steamer, however much it may trouble your
sensbilities that somebody is losing so much
money, is not, after all, very laborious or
fatiguing. And, once on wheels again, out
among thrifty corn that calls itself Indian,
and waving grasses that don the title Of
Hungarian, and vast fields Of this years
weeds, that are nstively American-this is a
pure luxury. Forgotten bills payable, that
can't be paid, and bills receivable, that are
never received no longer dreaming OF mort
cages lying under you and judgments hang
ing over you, and harder times ahead; your
spirits casting Of so much dead weight, and
your corporal man replenished with SO much
Of country good cheer, and your face and
life catching the smile and gleefulness of ma
ture, you scarce know yourself by the sense
of feeling or consciousness, and looking into
the glass recognize yourself as somebody
you did know once, 40 long ago that you had
almost forgotten him.
And then, these farmers it really makes
you cool to look at them, out On their farms
No worrying or hurrying, no cares about
country debtors or New York creditors, no
thoughts Of real estate depreciating and
stock gone down to nothing, no fears Of .
crisis and financial end Of human affairs !;
they est their own corn and meat and drink
their own milk and honey, depending on
nothing but their own honest manly toll and
His daily care and unbroken promise VIII
giveth seed.timo and harvest in their season.
IL these "hard times" could but convert
ninety nine hundredths of the drones and
loafers, for We want The hundredth man as
a curiosity and representative of the ge-
nus,-and all the professional spectators
who grow poor on other mems industry and
enterprise. into bona fde producers, con-
tented, happy tillers Of our grateful soil,
what solid comfort and actual wealth could
be wrought out and realised by individual
effort, what GOODNESS and strength would be
poured into tie worlds life, and what new
fountains among the farms could be opened
to replenish the business Of the actual work
ers in the centres Of our commercial and in
telectual life. Out here among the farms !
find "thc COW with crumpled horn, that toss
ed the dog that worried the cat that killed
| the rat that eat the malt that laid in the
house that Jack built" or, in other words,
the rivers that nourish the life Of the city
are fed by the tiny streamlets that have their
rise out among the farms and for town and
country, for the individual and society, what
better wish can We breathe than that every
city idler and dreaming Spectator, vainly
waiting for some windfall, might be trans
formed into patient, independent producer
Of wealth for himself and others, out here
among the farms. Yours, &C.,
/ AGRESTIS.