The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1860-01-26
Gs4VgpIfuraI, sc,
Il a. A.Ne4s Kear7s Sermon for
Farmers.

And noV, farmers, have you done rs
tice 10 your pfOfession, to your families
ana 90 yGur canntry, for the<last year p
ITO your profcssion-haye you cultivated
} our groupt1yT yith all the assiduity and
zeal Of which Jon are susceptible I? Have
you called t5sohr aid all the agriculture
yeading within ytur reach, aud taken al
vice frem those Of your neighhofs vine
are. competent to give it, are your
farms generailF III better condition thar
they > year ago +? Are your fields
better laid OFT and eBclosed~-useless
stones remoyei-your waste grounds less
your ditehes opened-and the general
surface of the ground better adapted for
me raising Of crops? Has your land
been made richer to enable It to yield
,nors, and have you collected large
nmount Of materials to increase your an
pual stock Of manqre? Are your houses
more comfortable, besides being of neat
er appearance, from the labors of the
Year? Have you added to the conven-
fences and safety of your barns, to
make then better adapted to the pur-
poses for which they we're built
Again has Your stock Of cattle and
horses improved, not only in number, but
morc IN quality and appearance, and con
sequently in value? Have you selected
ana Do you raise the best kinds Of sheep ?
we u.ean those kinds that are the most
profitable 70 he ownor2 Have you the
aoSt profitable breed Of hogs, and do yon
carry Just 50 many through the winter as
best condHees to your interest? Inshort,
have you 50 farmed IN all things that you
have no cause Of regret, because you
have giyen to al proper degree Of at
tentign aud aare?
If 80, nc congratulate you; but if not
so-!f you have not done one, part, or
I'D, Of those things, the year has been, in
a measure, lost to YOU, and you have not
done justice to your farm or your profes-
sion Take another year Of probation,
snrH It 20 better account, and let your
diligence give evidence Of thorough re-
formation. But if you will not-if ex-
perience cannot teach, and the prospect
Of harassIng debts hereafter cannot iucite
5ou to noble industry-you will soon
become an evil IN 2 neehborhood, your
example Riil be injurious to others, and
Your slothfulness and unthriftiness vii!
assuredly lay your farm uuder cunIber-
SONG mortgage; and this once IMPOSED,
the neztstep is disposal Of 1t by cred
! tor at auction.
We turn from such, and ask next,
Have you for the last wear done your du-
ty to your family? That is, have YOU
made the labors Of the farm as cheerful to
all your dependents as circumstances
would allow? Have you been SO far kind
and indulgcnt as was consistent With the
proper management of a well regulated
household? Have you attended to the
education Of yCIr children and apprenti-
cos, and as far as one short year allowed,
given them all the opportunities to ac-
qmre information that may be useful to
them hereafter in their several pursuits,
aad that with INTEL igenee they may sup.
port the free institutions Of our country ?
Ifyeu have done this, you have done
yodr duty; but let us at the same time
remark, that education is on the advance;
What was necessary for our generation, is
not enough for them. The march of
jutellect is Onward, and our present at
tainments are comparatively, small, and
all will be still more underyalued, in
Sdvance of the generation 10 come.
Naye you done your duty to your
country Have you given the necessa-
ryald that>he good Of society demands
ut your hands~~to the bridges, roads pub
lis improvemel.>s in yoar respective
neighborhOods, to sc.qois, sominarics of
learning, public morals,>qd rcliaions in
6tit9tions These are all 8,at and inn
portant duties, and in weli~eonIgted
community ought bot 60 be sligTS4 or
forgotten. Society cannot flourish W.,
outthem-they are the stamina that give
stability and health to our country and
its goYarpment, and that man IS unfit for
associated life, he is wanting in principle
and reckless of consequences, who will
not lend his aid to the attainment of these
great and important objects.