The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1872-07-09
agricultural department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN.


at Middtebury, By f. ID. Douglas. Esq.
Of Whiting.
Human development is subject to laws
aud conditions which were established by
the Creator, and like all his works are
fixed and Interchangeable. 1t is only by
the observance OF these laws and condi-
tions that man can reasonably hope to
rise in the scale Of being, aud accomplish
the great object of his creation. If be
obeys them he will rise to noble manhood
and reap all those blessings which per-
tain to such development. If he chooses
to disregard them he may sink to the low
est depths Of mental, moral and physical
imbecility, or he may attain to any de-
gree OF manly development between these
wide extremes.
These laws apply alike to all mankind.
There is no royal road by which the SOW
ereign can attain to superior personal
worth excepting that by which his most
humble subject may reach the same goal
True nobility is the outglowth of true
manhood. Though society may vote his
mantle unto majesty the man will new
erthelcss be just what he makes himself
"Pigmies are pgmies still, though perched on
Alps,
And pyramids arc pyramids in wales"
That ideal Of nobility is only worthy
of imitation which elevates the man above
all fortuitous surroundings, alike these OF
gilded royalty, or the rough, uncouth ex-
terror begotten By severe but honest toll
like that Of Peter the Great, whose true
nobility appeared more couspicuously
when laborng as a common laborer 10
the shipyards of England, than when sur
rounded with all the regal splendor Of
his throne or like that OF Lincoln, who
was nevertheless a man whether splitting
rails upon the farm, or conducting the af.
fairs Of mighty nation.
Our ideal Of true manhood should EN-.
brace the entire man in its conception.
1t should not elevate as our standard for
imitation the man with weak physical
powers and an undue development Of
brain, nor the physical giant with a mea-
gre brain, nor the man with that morbid
moral development which characterizes
the bigot but that perfect ideal which
poiots only to the full, symmetrical de-
velopment of the mental, moral and ply
steal powers. There is no law of God
more clearly observable to the human
mind than that which requires earnest,
persistent, intelligent labor, as the funda.
mental condition of such development.
1t is as essential to it as the food we eat
or the air we breathe. Without bodily
labor our physical powers become slug.
gish and unhealthy, which must of neces.
sity be followed by both physical and
mental imbecility. Without mental la.
Dor, those organs through which the mind
communicates with the surrounding world
fail to properly perform their functions.
This law of life prevades all animate
nature, and its influence reaches in
modified form even to the iDanimate ere.
alton. The stagnant pool begets putri.
faction and disease. The ocean, even, is
only kept pure by constant agitation. The
air we breathe, were it to cease its mo.
ticn, would become charged with pesti.
lence and death. Stagnatiou implies de.
cay, while healthful, harmonious action
is the life giving principle which bestows
its blessings on every hand.
Superior mental or physical power re.
suits only from the mastery Of difficult
subjects, and the surmountng of great
obstacles. Mere childish activity will
never alone develop manhood. Activity
like that of the fleeing butterfly, which
sports from flower to flower. though it
answers well the demands Of childhood
will develop only childish powers. Mel
Their will that aimless, listless exercise so
often engaged 10 by those whose time
hangs heavy on their hands, lead 10 bet.
ter results. That occupation which taxes
only the physical powers will promote on
ly physical development and where the
mind is only thus stimulated, failure
must result from consequent loss of ply.
steal vitality. That labor is most benc.
fetal which stimulates to the harmonious
development Of The entire man, by en-.
listing both his powers of mind aud BODY
in the earnest pursuit Of worthy objects
Man is endowed by his creator with
such powers Of adaptation to circumstan-
ces, he can cultivate such habits and as
pirations. and engage in such emulations.
that even very intense labor whether Of
the brain or hands, or both combined,
may become to him pleasure rather tnan
burden. 1t is such labor that most
benefits him who engages 10 it, and it is
only by such labor that perfect develop.
ment can be obtained.
How noble the Office of intelligent la.
Dor as viewed from the standpoint 1t
is the grand essential, not only to worldly
success, but through consequent develop.
meDt, to happiness also. lie only will
be ashamed of it who has not been him.
self sufficiently elevated by it to compre.
bend its true nature and appreciate its
importance.
When God pronounced a curse upon
our first parents and said, I'm the sweat
Of thy face shalt thou eat bread" he &c.
companied that curse with a blessing by
causing the very labor which they and
their posterity were from that time oh.
liged to perform to procure their subsst-
ence to result in ennobling their being
and increasing their capacity for enjoy.
ment. We see this illustrated on an ex.
tensive scale in the history of nations.
Where bountiful nature yields sponta.
neously nearly all the necessaries of life,
man will never attain a strong mental or
physical DEVELOPMENT. Hence We look
10 vain through the history of the past
for enlightened progressive nationalities
within The limits of the tropics.
The primary causes of national prog.
ress or decline are climate, government,
religion aud fashions, yet these assume a
national importance only by their inAu.
ence upon its industries. If they stimu.