The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-08-05
9griCulturdt.
X
JTEe Farmer Sa0EsEd be MOTe ar
intellectual W 0PE1eF.

England IN the August number of the
A'tomt,c N,AMLgj and commend it to
ihe sttcaIiJn Of Potter county Farmers {:
p There dwelIs in every mind,
through all callings and ali professions,
the iae4 tt;sl the farmers life is. or may
be, H. or should be, the truest and sweet
est lie that man can live The merchant
may via all the prizes Of trade, the pro-
fessionsl uan may achieve trlumphs be-
youd his hopes, the author may find his
name upon every lip, and his works ac-
c9uutCd among the nations treasures, and
all NAV move amid the whirl and din Of
the most inspiring life, yet there viii come
t. every one, in quiet evening hours, the
vision Of tao old homestead long since
forsaken OF The imagination will weave
a picture Of It's own,-a picture Of rural
life, 50 holucly, yet SO beautiful, that the
heart viii breathe a sigh upon it, the eye
will drop tear upon it, and the voice
will say, 1t we're better 50 =
" Ia a city Ike Boston there are farms
enough imagined every year to make an
other New England Could the faircSt
faucies of that cougeries Of minds be em-
bodied and exhibited, We should see green
meadows sparkling with morning dew
siIver-slipncred rivuiets skipping into mu-
steal abysses, quiet pasture-Iaud5 SHIN
inerng 80 s.eepilyin the sun that the lazy
focks aud herds forget to Craze, and lie
winkjng and ruminating under the trees,
aud yellow fields Of grain, along the
hill-sides, billowy ia the breeze, aud bend
ing before the shadows Of the clouds that
sail above them. And nIingIing and har-
mouiziag with these visions, we should
hear the lowing Of the kline, and the tin
kle of the bell that leads the flock, and the
shout of the boy behind the creeping
plough, and the echoes Of The axe, and the
fall Of the tree in the distant forest, aud
the rythmical clangor, sottencd into u me-
tallic whisper.by the distance, OF the now
ers whetting their acythos. Within these
visions and these sounds there would come
to the minds which give them birth con-
victions that rural life is the best life and
resolutions that, by-afd-bv, in some cold
en hour, when the sun Of life begins to
lengthen the eastward shadows, that life
shall be enjoyed, aud that soul shall pass
at last from the quiet scenes Of Nature
into those higher scenes winch they sym
bolize. There is thought in all this that
the farm is nearer heaven than the street.
"a Renaissance Of the first estate, when
man was lord Of Eden; and this thought,
old as art and artificial lie, cannot be root
ed out Of the mind. 1t has a life Of It's
own, Independent Of reason, above instinct,
among the quickest intuitions Of the soul
"Now this idea, SO universal, 50 identi-
cal in millions Of minds, springing with
such spontaneitg il tie midst Of infinitely
varied circumstances, abiding with such
tenacitY in everv soul, can have its basis
nowhere save in a Divine intention and a
human possibility. The cultivation Of the
farm Is the natural employment Of man.
II is upon the farm that virtue should
thrive tho best, that the body and the
mind should be developed the most health
fully, that temptations should be the
weakest, that social Intercourse should be
the simplest aud sweetest, that beauty
should thrill the soul with the finest rap
lures, and that life should be tranquillest
in its flow, longest in its period, and hap
piest in its passage aud It's issues. This
is the general and the first ideal Of the
farmers life, based upon the nature Of the
farmers calling and a universally recog-
nized human want. Why does the actual
differ SO widely from the ideal? 1t is not
because the farmers labor is hard and
constant, alone. There is no fact better
established than that it is through the ha.
bitual use both Of the physical aud men
tai powers that the soul achieves, or re-
ceives, its most heathful enjoyment, and
acquires that tone which responds most
musically to the touch Of the opportuni-
ties of leisure. Why, then, we repeat,
does the actual differ 50 widely from the
ideal?
"a general answer to this question is,
that that is made an end Of life which
should be but an incident or q mears.
Life is confounded with labor and thrift
with progress; and material success is the
aim to which all other aims are made sub
ordinate. There is no fact in physiology
better established than that hard labor,
followed from day to day and year to year,
absorbing every thought and every phys
ical energy, has the direct tendency to de-
press the intellect, blunt the sensibilities,
and animaize the man. In such a life,
all the energies of the brain and nervous
system are directed to the support OF nu-
triton and the stimulation Of the muscu-
lar system. Man thus becomes beast Of
burden,-the creature Of his calling and
though he may add barn to barn and acre
to acre, he does not lead lie which rises
in dignity above that of the beasts which
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