St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-05-31
The Loneliness Of Farming life in Amer
lea

IN American traveller III the old
World notices. among the multitude OF
things that are new to his eye. the gath
cIing of agricultural populations into
villages. lie has been accustomed in
his own country /" sec them distributed
upon the flrm> they cultivate. The
isolated tarulitc. 80 universal here.
docs not exist 1T all in the greater part
of continental Europe. or i, exists a. Il
comparatively mudcIu institution. ! h,
old populations. of all calliHG> and pro-
LESSONS. clustered together for >clf-dc-
ttu>,. aud built walls around them
selves. Cut from these walls. for miles
around. Went the tillcr> of the soil in
the morning. AMI back into the gate,
they thr"ngrd ut night. Cottages were
clustered around tcUdal castles. and
grew into tow n~; and 50 Europe toI
many centuries was cultivated mainly
hy people who lived in villages and cit
les. many of which were walled. and all
of which possessed appointments of de
Tense. The early settlers III on coun-
t!y took the slime mean, to defend
themselves from the trcachcrnuS Indian.
The towns of lladleV. Hatfield. North
field. and Dcclticld. on the Connecticut
River. are notable examples of this kind
of huilding: and to this day they re
main villages of agricultlnSt>. That
to live We have no question. and we
wish to say Il few words about it.
There j. some reason for the general
disposition of American men and Wo-
men to ~hun agricultural pursuits
which the observers and philosophers
have been slow to find. We see Young
men pushing everywhere into trade. in
10 mechanical pursuits into The learned
professions. into insignificant clerk ~hipS,
INTO >Ilaicd Positions at every sort that
sill take them into towns and support
and hold them there. We find il i'm
possible, +" drive poor people from the
cities with the threat nt starvation, ul
/" c"aN them with the promise OF better
pay and cheaper fare. There they stay.
and >rarve, and sickeu, and sink. Young
Women resort to the shops and the fac
tories rather than take service in farm
cr> hou>c>, where thrN are. received as
members of the family and when they
marry, they seek AN alliance. when
practicable. with mechanics and trades
men VIII" live in villages and large
towns. The daughters of the farmer
NY the farm at the first opportunity.
The towns grow larger all the time. and.
III New England at least. the farms are
Incoming wider and longer, and the
farming population are diminished in
numbers. and, III some localities. dcgra-
died. i'll quality and character.
1t all comes to this. that isolated life
has very little significance to Il social
being. The social life of the village
and the city has intense fascination to
the lonely jewellers on the farm. OF to IA
great multitude of them. Especially i
this the ease with the Young. The
youth "i both sexes who have seen
nothing of the world have an over
whelmIng desire to meet life and to he
among the multitude They feel their
life to he narrow i'll its opportunities
and its rewards. and the puisationS of
the great social heart that comes to
them in rushing trains and passing
steamers and daily newspapers. damp
WIN the dewS of Il hundred hrows.
'hilll them with lomgingS for the places
Where the rhythmic throb is felt and
ncird' hey are not to be blamed for
TINS. 1t Is the most natural thing in the
world. If all of life were labor.-if the
great object of life were the screaming
together of few dollars. more or less.
why. Isolation without diversion would
he economy and profit but so long as