The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1872-09-04
Farm Life-A School Of Man
hood.

Tho whole tendency of farm
life is to devclopo the body healthy
and systematically. The child is
not pcnt up in tho narrnw back
yard Of u city dwelling, nor turned
into tho throngcd and filthy street
to pursue his sports. His oycs
open first upon green fields and
fragrant meadows, aud his first
football out of doors is upon tho
matted grass beneath tho shadowy
trees Of his rural home. lie drinks
in health from every breeze, and
all tho sceno around him calls forth
that playfulness which performs
so important an Office in our early
training.
And this loads us to speak of
the influence Of farm lifo upon
home virtues. No occupation can
bo moro favorable to the culliva-
ton Of those qualities which are
tho charm Of tho domestic circlo.
The farmer is much moro at homo
than is possible with any othor
man. How many thcro arc in
our cities who only sec their fam
lllcs at evening or on n Sabbath.
They 1.-Two for their business, and
this, from its location, takes them
from homo early and late. How
many from this samo cause for
sake ousc-kccping and huddlc
into boarding houses and hotels,
where the charm and beauty Of
the family as God constituted it
arc entirely lost, and children fall
under thousand influences that
would never reach them at homo |!
With tho best arrangements
wealth can command in the city,
it is we'll nigh impossible tc keep
children under tho influence Of
their parents, so that they shall
havo a distinct family character
and bear tho moral as they do the
physical image Of their progcni-
tors.
Parental influence is dissipatcd
amid tho varied social influences
to which they are subjected from
their earliest days. Then what
perploXitics harrass the man Of
business in the city-his capital
often invested in profitlcss ontcr-
prise, exposed to the dcprcdations
of dishonest mon, betrayed, cheat
ed and ruined by knavos and
| bankrupts. From tho worry char
acter Of his business, he has to
trust far more ofhis available means
to the integrity Of his follows than
the cultivator. His debts arc Of
ten scattered over u wido oxtent
of territory, and collections arc
not only expensive, but exceed
ingly uncertain. But his CONNER
cial credit depends upon this un.
certainty, and he is often COM
PEELED to fall back-a ruined man.
Ninoty-fivc failures in q hun
dred among the most business
men in the city tell n sad tale
of Tho pcrploxity and sorrow, the
corroding cares and anguish of
mercantile life. How can father
goaded with these anxietics from
the beginning to tho end of tho
year, do Justice with his children
evon if his business allows him to
be with them q part Of tho time ?
He is not in frame of mind to
superintcnd their education and
to perform q fathers Office.
Tho farm preserves tho family
in its integrity. The homo has
in it that charming word, and
that moro charming thing the
iiresido, around which parents
and children gather, and where
the bright and cheerful blaze
upon tho hearth is but q true type
OF tho flame Of lovo that glows ir
every heart. Tho parents have
beeu drawn together, not by tho
sordid motives Of wealth or the
ambitious desire of social display
bnt for tho qualities seen in cacl
other. The glory Of tho frcside
to tho husband is that the wifo i!
there and to tho wife that ho i:
thcro who is the head Of tho wo
man and tho band in that home
circle. Hero they gather at morn
ing and evening and at noon.-
Their board is almost always sur
rounded with tho Same circle, ant
here they spend their long wintc
evenings togcther.-Ohio Farmer