The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-10-14

! DorrOW and initiate, travel and exchange
and make fortunes by speed and dexteri-
ty IN selling something which they never
made; bat the whole rests 1T last upon
ais primitive activity. BE stands close
to nature; obtains from the earth bread
the food w.-'eh was not he hes caused to
be. And this necessity aud d1t7 gives
the farm its dignity. All men feel this
to be their natural employment. The
hrst farmer was the first man, ard all no
b:i!ty rests on the pose -sion al use of
and. Men do not like Lagl = .rk very
weilj but every man has an exceptional
respect for tIllage, and feeling that this
| is the original calling of his race ; that he
himself is only excused from it BY some
circumstances which may direct it for a
time to other hands. If he had not some
small sAiil which recommends him to the
farmer, some product which the farmer
Will give him corn for, he must himself
return to his due place among the plant
ers Of corn. The profession has its an
cient charm of standing close to God, He
VINO gives. Then / think the pIetv, the
tranquility, the innocence Of the country
man, his independence, and all the pleas
ing arts bclon"ipg to him, the care Of the
beast, of poultry, of sheep, Of fruits, of
trees, and its reaction on The workman.
in giving him strength and plain dig
nifty, like the face ara uanners OF nature,
ali Den are sensible of. All OF us keep
the farm III reserve as an asylum where
to hide their poverty and their solitude,
If they Go not succeed in society. Who
knows how nany remorscful glances are
turned thus away from the competitions
Of tie shop and counting-rooln, from the
mortifylng cunning Of the Courts and the
Senates. After the man has been de-
graded SO that lie has no longer the Wig
or to attempt to achieve labor on the soil, g.,
yet wheu he has been poisoned by town
life and dru@ged by cooks, a,G t5eyy
meal Is force pump to exhaust by sti,n-
plous the poor rerl&inder of his strength,
he resolves: "Well, my children, whom
| have injured, shall 90 bacl; to the iard
to be recruited and cured by hat which
should have been my nursery and shall
now be their hospital"
The farmer Is person Of remarkable
conditions. His Office is precise and im-
portarC, and it Is of no use TO try to pant
him in rose-color. Nau must take him
just as ne stands. Nothing is arbitrary Y
or ae-timental in his condition, anu there
lore one respects rather tIc clements Of
lis o!tc2 than himself. lie bends 70 thy
order OF the seasons and the weather and
the soils, as the sails Of he ship bend to
the wind. lie makes his gains little bv
little, and by hard labor. He is a slow
person, being n ulauod by time and ma
ture, and net 10y city watches. He takes
the bCst Of the seasons, Of the plants, and
Of chemistry. Nature never hurries. ana
atom, BY atom, little by lutte, accomplish
es her work The lesson oae Iearas in
fishing, yachting, hunting, Or in planting,
is the knowledge Of nature; patience with
the delays Of wini and sun, da'eys of The
seasons, excess Of water and drouth, pa
thence with tt 2 sloRn ness OF our feet an,
with the jttlencSs OF our strength, with
the largeuess u sea and land The farm
er, or the man with the noe, times him
self to nature and acquires that Immense
patience which belongs to her. Slow,
narrow man--he has to wait for ms food
to grow. lis luie IS that the earth shall
feed him end fnd him; and in each he
must be graceful spiendor. His spend
ing must be farmers spending aud moi
q merchants.
But though farmer may 5a pinched
on one side, he has advantages on the
other. lie is permanent; he clings tc
his land as the rocks Go. Here III this
town farms remain in the same families
row for seven or eight generations, aad
the settlers of 1855 have their names
still in town and the same general fact
holds good in ali the surrounding towns
in the county. This hard work viii al
ways be done by one kind of men not by
scheming Spectators, not by professors,
nor by readers Of Tennyron, but By men
Of strength and endurance.
The farmer has greaS life, and a great
appetite and health, and means for his
end. lie has broad land in which to
place his home. lie has wood to burn
great fires He has plenty Of plain food.
Ills milk at least is Watcred. He has
saep, better end r.ore Of it than men in
cities. But the farmer mas grand trusts
ooafded to him il the great household 9f
nature. The farmer stands al the door
Of every family and weighs to each their
life. 1t IS for him 10 say whether men
shall marry Or not. Ear'y marriages and
the number C births are iDdlssolubly con-
rec,cd with abundance, or as Burke said
--"man breeds at the mouth" The farm
er is the Board of Quarantine. lie has
not only the life but the health of others
7 1