Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1859-10-28
agritMltnral
The American Farmer.

advantages OF science and skill, OF viz.
tue and industry, owningit the soil which
he cultiyates, and honoring his labors By
the spirit OF an American citizen. Thsss
is tendency to undervalue this iphers
Of life. The pride which professional
and commercial prosperity generstss,
hesitates to acknowledge tie farmer -
social equsl ard even farmers sons
have caught the infection, and joined in
the clamor Of depreciation. Men are
ready enough to be lawyers or physi.
cians,-these are honorable professions;
ready enough TO sell tape by the yard,
or pins by the dozen,-even this is hon-
orable. But to breathe the air of new
ly-turncd earth, to feel its touch, to
hear tie rustling Of growing crops, to
drive loaded wains to market to ex.
change heavy golden grains for gfains Of
heavy gold, to live amid scenes OF E2tn-
raj beauty, amid conditions Of physical
health, Gods trues,, nob1est freemen,-
this is dishoaor. Let US see...
Of flawyers, few rise to cminence, or
even liberal success. Physicians succeed
little better; whilesEmercantile pur-
suits are well nigh a lottery. The best
symbol Of successful merchants 10 found
in the adage of angels visits. How DIFF
f'rent from the preearious prospects Of
these are the prospects Of an intelligent.
skillfnl, industrious, and vir:uous Amer.
ican farmer. Such man, cultivatinG
his own soil. and engaging in no outside
speculation never fails. He never fears
that poverty will come upon him so long
as God fructifes the earth with the dew,
the rain, and the sunshine. To him,
success is as universal and as certain as
the fuldllment Of the divine promise
which assures the seed time and the har-
vest. The pursuits of such man lie ia
conscious proximity to Providence; and
he stands, because he leans directly upon
God. Compare then, his free ard health
ful life with the constrained and unnat-
ural conditions under which professional
men and merchants live. These you
fnd, it may be, shut up by day in great
piles Of brick, Or threading their way
through narrow streets, where the sun
pours down his rays urmitigated by Z
single refreshing breeze; and by night
shut up again in similar walls. changing
the place but keeping the pain. walked in
the morning to the eternal discord ef
rumbling Carts, of milkmen's bells. Of
clies Of chimney sweeps, and barking of
uncounted dogs. Is this life: Do men
lire amid such scenes. or do they only
abide, constrained by some necessity Of
fate or punished foy their sins. Even
the birds shun the city as they would =
prison. All the powers of man are en-
eryated and hurried to decay. With
such scene, contrast the quiet Of wood
lands, pastures, and meadows. delight
ing the eye with their beauty,-the
b lny airs which send vigor through ev-
cry fibre Of mans structure. and make
him strong to serve God and his fellow
men. With tolls and anxieties forg OF
ten, with windows bread open, making
his chamber as wide as the universe, the
farmer eleeps soundly ana sweetly as an
infant, waking in the morning to the
music of birds and bounding to his task
with a physical regeneration. This is
life! How true it is that ''God made
the country. man made the town.
Such comparisons might be indefinitely
pursued, and with similar results. 1t is
enough to say that no mans condition is
more favorable to culture tLan the far.
mel's, and that his opportunities of so.
cial influence are sufficient to satisfy a
true ambition. Science brings its aid to
his labors, and so perpetuaily beckons
him to inquiries in her departments. To
him every evening is free, and during
the winter he may devote himself almost
exclusively to intellectual pursuits. Men
Of genius have often found their inspir,.
ton in cultivated fields. The scenes
which surround him are the very homes
Of studies in botany and geology. Nor
are these scenes less fa.orable to instinct.
ic culture.
The charms Of country life are of al.
most Infinite variety. Fruits more de-
iicious than ever grew in the garden Of
Pomona flowers that would grace a
Paradise; herds OF cattle such as Jupi.
ter never SAW in hecatomb; horses as
noble as ever Contested in the Olympic
hippodIomes all these and much more
strengthen and develop the best quail
ties of his mind and heart. TO stimu.
late the agricultural zeal of his neigh.
bors by illustrations OF his own to pro.
mote intelligence by the libfr support
OF sche OILS to contribute by bis example
ana influence to the Improvement of
roads, bridges, and public buildings to
nourish and sustain the institutions of
religion; to aid the progress of public
morals; to instruct and elevate his de-
pendcnts to add in this way to the
qua itles Of a good farmer the higher and
more comprehensive qualities of chris.
tian man;-this constitutes a life which
has in it far more OF the clements of q
true nobility than are often found amid
the emtlazonry Of rank and the splendid
ceremonies OF oonrts. Such is the true
life OF the American farmer. Ifthere be
demanded an example which will forever
command the veneration of the world.
we turn to one who formed amid the
peaceful scenes Of husbandry the great
character which drew to him a nations
confidence, which made MIN the reposi-
tory oil a nations destiny and who, when
he had fulfilled that mission, returned
to those scenes again, uncorrup.ed by