Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1858-07-23

men of old acquired, and that, too, at a /
time when the facilities for spreading
education and useful knowledge were
comparatively limited. Ii is a fact that
in the farming community Of New Eng
land the standard Of education is not as
high as it was eighty years agOne. The
farmers of those days had more general
nformation-more extended and pro-
founder views of human life-more and
fresher ideas. They had juster notions
of morality, a correct acquaintance with
the laws of the land enough to enable
to conduct business matters with better
judgment and more securely than the
same class of men at present, who can
hardly make a trade with each other out
of which a lawsuit might not be hatch
ed. How many out of a hundred of
them at this day can write free legible
handwriting ?-how many, terse intel
ligible letter?
How many of US have seen the grey
haired veterans of a long, peaceful, rural
| life, men who made their mark in their
day and generation, to whom we have
looked up with spect-relicts of the
giants of other days-going down with
slow and measured pace to the impene-
trable shades. And when shall we see
their ike again ? Not till the standard
of education is raised among the tillers
of the soil; till the young man is educa-
ted on the farm, and for it; till be is
taught home habits and home enjoy
ments; till he has that cultivation of the
mind that fits him to enjoy books and
sources of culture at home, as a relief
from care and labor; till he can relish
simple pleasures, and needs not the ex-
citement of the turf and the noisy fes-
tivities Of a bar-room for his amusement
Farmers, educate your children; give
them priceless boons, of which no money
panic, no commercial crisis, no proving
Iincendiary or midnight thief, no human
agency, can rob them. Inspire then
with love for the beautiful, and to dc
this teach them that thing of beauty
IS a JOY forever by surrounding them
with beautiful objects, natural and artif
. cial. Fill your lawns with trees anC
, beautiful shrubs, and fragrant flowers
your parIors with pictures and vases, anc
objects that delight the sense, and prove
high sources Of culture.
Teach them a love for the cultivation
, of mind and the virtues of the heart, by
surrounding them with good readabl,
books. and procuring for them the tutor
ings of enlightened teachers. This SEEM
/ 10 sound chimericaI and visionary as re
f lating to farmers, but it is a practicable
, thing-more feasible among ruralist
than any other class Of men. The farm
er can do much more in this way for hi
E children than the care-worn jaded mai
4 of profession, whose brain is Away
,overheated. and whose time is too nue.
, occupied to pay the necessary attention
to these minutie. [ am aware that thes
things cost money, and if really thor
!, oughly entered into, will take a large d
Il vidend out Of the yearly revenue, but
= will pay you better than any bank stoc
or bond and mortgage. Make your HON
> beautiful and pleasant to your childre
g make it the elysium Of their childhoo
y and youth-give them advantages fc
,, mental culture, and encourage them
:. il, and they will be far less likely +
roam out West and leave you alon
: in your old age; fewer of them vi
e, wreath the midnight bowl, and fill
e drunkard's grave at six-and-twenty, an
J. when you turn your face 10 the wall, yc
, viii feel conscious that you have di
IL charged your duty towards them, and a
It though perhaps your estate is not ;
al large, you have taught them better no
20 nationally to enjoy what you have lie
20 them; fillial love will watch over al
guard your memory in gratitude moi
L glorious than glittering monuments {
I'd ornamented shrines, and, ike dew {
le Hermon, shall fall holy tears for "
of departed.
- Swanton, Vt.