The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1871-02-23
Letters from the People.
COUNTRY VERSUS CITY LIFE.

Letters from the People.
. COUNTRY VERSUS CITY LIFE.
Which is preferable, a city or a
country home? Lot us first take a
hasty glance Of the former.
Tho child is taught from earliest
infancy that it must do nothing for
ITSELF nit oven to keep its own per-
son clearly, buta nurse is provided
to perform this Office for it. AS no
advances lin years what can no do
with himself? lie is tho victim of a
false education. Ills fond, foolish
parents, have taught him that labor
is degrading, but ho must employ his
time at something, SO ho goes into all
mannerIof mischief, dissipation and
crime, and if he arrives at manhood,
without becoming the inmate of a
pcnitentisry if be has done well.-
He now lives for self alone. drlvos
fast horses, If he can BY any means
obtain thSm. indulgcs his appetite to
the utmost, onervatcs, and cxhausts
his system, by his course Of profiga-
cy, and becomes wreck generally.
His nights are spent ut tho opera or
theatre and at the close, strOlls 10 q
gambling saloon, whore he finishes
out tho night in gambling and drink
ing (for they go hand in handy and
at dawn, staggers to his bod, TO rise
again when the day is far advanced,
to pursue tho Same round. So ho
goes on, sinking doopcr in vice, tor o
few years, whom his health givos
way, and he sinks into an carly
grave, a victim to his own gratifica
tons and indulgences, engcndered by
the false idea that it is not genteel to
labor.
And what has the world been
benefited for his having livod p
What good dood has no cvor perform.
ed, to cause his name to be remem
bercd with gratitude or pleasure by
any one.
CREATIONS BLOT, CREATIONS BLANK,
This is no fancy sketch, such per-
sons live movo and have q bcing, and
may DO seen in the streets of our
largo towns every day. But VIC will
turn to q moro cheerful picture. Let
us step into the humble home of one
of our western farmers. Hero cnor-
gy and thrift display themselves on
all hands. And just hero, l would
stop to say word of encouragement,
to the often over.worked wife and
mother, and to sustain tho hands
that are ready to hang down.
know that your labors are ar
duous and uncoasing, that thorc arc
a thousand and ono duties to be pcr-
formed, that it requires all the iimo
to keep tho whole machinery in mo-
ton, that you have no time Tor intel
lcctual Improvement, and that your
mind often reverts with sigh to tho
associations of other days, for wo
have many, perhaps a majority of us,
been transplanted from tho refine
ments, Of cultivated society and
homes far away toward the rising
sun. But you have q work to do, a
mission to perform, and must not
become an idlcr in the vineyard
| God has entrusted to your care,
those bright-eycd boys, to train
in habits Of industry and virtue,
that they may WELD an influence
for good in the future, and become
ornaments to society. He has on.
dowed them with health and intel
lcct, and you must SEQ to it that the
one does not become impaired by ex.
cess, or the other dwarfed by neg
Loot. You may DO thankful that
their homo is far removed from the
vltiating atmosphere of city dissi-
patton. Their constitutions will be-
come strengthened: by toll and in
dustry, their health vigorous and
robust by judicious exercise, and
their minds expanded, whiie perus-
ing the book of nature spread out all
around us. In few years your son
will be man (and not q mere effem.
mate hanger on ofsociety) with erect
form, firm step, elastic limb, and So
Der and industrious habits, ready to
carve out his own destiny, or mako
laws for the world. He may not be
able to enter o drawing room with
the grace of a Chesterfield, or enter.
tain q fifth avonuo belle with the
ease of city fop, but he has the
foundation laid for future usefulness.
and with strong common sense for
his guide, and mother nature for
teacher, he cannot be very far wrong.
Then toll on Responding mother, in
your life's work, even though tho
glossy locks, may become prema-
turely mingled with silver, the re-
ward will como by and by. Whom
the city debauchoo lies forgotten in
his last narrow bod, your son may be
grazing the halls of Congress, or oven
tho Presidential chair. And Why not?
Those exalted stations arc within
the reach of all, and are certainly
worth some sacrifice on the part Of
u parent. Your son stands as good
chance to obtain that eminent
position, as did Abraham Lincoln or
U. S. Grant.
Which is tho moro agreeable
picture? Would you not infinitely
prefer tho country homo with all its
tolls and privations, to the other with
its attendant vices and designations
Gompetine, Feb, 1871. S.A, w.
A heavy storm of wind and ram
visited Chicago on Friday night last,
doing a good deal of damage. The
Oakland Congregational church, on
College Grove Avenue was blown