Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-11-06

hardly over-estimatc the Importance Of keep
ing up tho old Vermont traditions and habits
of industry, frugality and plain living--coun-
try habits, old fashioned rustic virtues. In-
deed, one reason why Vermont can raise
men Is because she is what our city friends
so mdFily call her, rustic. Ages of expert
ence have shown that the Artificial life Of
cities is fatal to character; that intellectual
and moral vigor rs well rs physical. thrive
only in contact with the soil Pick out the
men whose force OF character has at sue
,cessive cpochs changed the course of history
and revolutionizcd the thought and life of
mRn-pick out the men who are to-day max
ing his,ory-and you will find that almost
all of them spent their youth in the country.
To explain this, we should have to give
some Importance to physical innuences--to
the effect OF the various aspects of nature,
the grand mountains. the broad sky. the in.
finite sea-but far more, think, to the NOR
nj scenery of the country, the prevailing
usages, and principles, the social and
moral codes and standards. Industry, for
instance, the necessary condition OF all the
virtues, in tho country is respectable; all
usages and arrangements encourage Il; Ia
illness is disreput,ble. In the city the ten
dency is TO discourage industry; TO conceal
II rs disgrace; to admire and pet those
who are absolved from the necessity of il.
What In the country was stigmatized rs Ia
illness is here envied rs leisure. Look at
another fundamental virtue-honesty. We
produce some rogues and swindlers in the
country but they usually find their way to
the oity-and whyP Beoauso they cannot
bear to live under the blaze of honest coun-
try indignation, and go by instinct where
| the prestige of splendid roguory has hood
winked the moral perceptions Of society in
general. Consider again the matter of
style-how easily moral character breaks
down under its demands. The desire Gu
gendered by city life to shine in society, and
the strain upon ones means brought by eN-
| pensive habits. blight all ideas Of business
honor. destroy the sense Of truth, and de-
moralze the man throughout. do not
need to be told that there are plenty of men
| in large cities, who are industrious. honest
and frugal; but the power expended in rc-
sisting the prevailing Tenderness in the oppo-
site direction ought to have been given to
positive acquisitions. No doubt. also, the
ntenser life Of cities. and their larger oppor-
tunities and inducements for eNertion are
needful for calling out the full power Of
manhood; but the character canno. bc safe
| ly subjected to the strain thus put upon il.
until it has been formed and ripcncd under
| quieter and moro wholesome influences
Most Of the great men were nurturcd in the
country. and were then developed In the
world. They were then potentially great
when they lcft the farm or the mine, or ;hc
| workshop-great IN their moral convictions
and purposes, or they never would have be-
come visibly great in the forum or on the
field.
In order then to be in the right condition
for raising men, we must, here IN Vermont,
hold fast TO those old-fNshioned customs
which favor industry. honesty, frugality, the
plain, fundamental virtues Of character.
Now say this because think il needs TO
be said. We have arrived at that point in
what we call. and what in some respects -
modern progress; whore these old tradi-
tons and habits have to maintain struggle
for existence with opposing habits and in-
fiuences spreading out from our cities aud
even reaching us from foreign lands. It is
already question whether the plain digni-
ty and simple grandeur OF the typical Yer
mont character can hold its own, or wheth-
or 1t is to be suppanted by the smartncss,
the dapper gentility which false and heart
less culture is producing elsewhere. The
problem. rs said before, is not how 10 keep
ut bay all new ideas and modern improve.
ments, but how to maintain in their integri-
ty the old principles amid all changes OF
manners. A man can be industrious aud
yet find time for books and society; he can
be frugal and yet make bis home the abode
Of taste he can be honest without being
churlish. Or rs Mr.. Morrill, put 1t in his
Rutland address "WhIlc n gentleman, So
called does not usually succeed rs farmer.
there is no reason why farmer should not
be n real gentleman" Indeed | do not
know OF anything which the world more
wants to-day than n generation OF cultivated
farmers-men whose intelligence, thrift and
taste shall make farm life attractive and
turn the current now setting toward the eN-
element and iriyolity Of city life back to tho
simpler and purer enjoyments OF country
life. | think | see that day coming in Yer
mont and rejoice over it. But II the day
ever comes when, in the general sentiment
Of Vermont, it coases to be respectable to be
industrious and frugal. and becomes re-
spectacle TO live in elegant idleness and Ia
overspend ones income in making a dis,
play; If ever that day comes when the hon
est, hard working young man and the busy
and thrifty young woman are looked down
upon, and the triher and spendthrift admir-
ed and envied, from that day Vernon
ceases TO raise mon and women and hare
as is her soil and cold her climate, she mus
descend to the humber task Of raising foo,
to support fools.
In the training OF men It is hardly Dooes
sary to say that good schools aud good edu
cational influences in general play mos
important part. It is essential that the low
er schools give to the whole population :
careful training in the rudiments of knowl
edge; it is equally essential that q good pro
portion of the community receive u higher
training. The general intellectual tone Of q
community depends greatly on the numbe
Of highly educated men scattered throug
, it.
= Vermont has not, at tho present day,
sufficiently large number Of these men o
) trained and commanding intellectual power
| Let mo put n test question. For n year pas
the newspapers have had good deal to 81
about the approaching transit Of Venus
How many Of you know OF a man in you
town from whom an inquirng reader coulc
, get tho very moderate amount OF scientiG
Information which would onable HIM to un
derstand the nature of the problemP 1
case Of n question arising in the Sunda
D School as TO the meaning Of an expression
1 in the English version, from how many MOI
/ | hnside the minister nonld Won get an nc