The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-04-10
QUORUM COURT.
THE FARMERS FEAST.
FIRST ConRSE.

F1HSI COURSE.
Anciently the earth received divine
honors--so we read of the sacred soil
She was the Evergreen, the aeouriSber,
or the nursing mother. This mighty
mother brought forth the mystic nouns
tain, the circling stream, the Titanic
trees and green groves, before Pan play
ed upon his pipes, or Echo responded to
his love-lays. The stream sang her
praise, the mountains lifted a SubLtnneT
strain, and every Leaf became Tyre!
This heather notion suggested the su-
blimest sentiments of patriotism among
the early races of mankind. If this
mother, suffered her heart to be Lacerdt-
ed by the pointed pillow. that her children
might lire of her ye-bEood-should they
suffer the strangers steel to drink drop?
They answered, sit is sweet to de for
ones country" 1t was with this feeling
of fondness and deUotion, that the pas
triot prayed, Let me not die on a
strange shore, but sleep on my mothers
could not enter Elysium, but would
wander desolate by the river Styx until
they were deposited in the Earth.
Death by shipwreck was most dreaded,
because they must be buried in the deep
When danger of this was imminent,
they bound all their most cherished
things to their persons with the direc-
ton if their bodies were washed ashore,
the finder would grant them i3lteTnnent
and take all their property for payment.
So firmly is this feeling fixed in the hu~
man heart, that circling centuries will
roll, ere Science succeed in her latest
proposal--to bum the bodies of the dead.
Two OF Tarquin's sons went to inquire
of the Oracle at Delphi, who should be
king after Tarquin. They were accom-
panied by Junius Brutus, young mau
who had suffered much from Tarquin's
tyranny. The Priestess replied, HE
who shall first kiss his mother" Poor
Junius had no mother, but the answer
was always ambiguous, so he pondered
10 in his heart, and when he reached the
smiling shores of Italy, "fell down and
kissed The Earth, for that was the cons
mon mother of all men,
Alas ! how many orphan-lips have
kissed her brown bosom, her green robe
made more beauteous still by streams
of tears! The Earth is entitled to the
tOUing care of her children. Through
all time she nourishes them qTn1S,
clothes, feeds them, and then folds them
in her great arms for the last sleep!
The early Greeks were a gentle race,
but they denied the rites of sepulture,
to traitors, to tyrants, suicides, spend
thrifts, the sGcriLegiOUS and those who
died in debt. The debtors dead body
y r,
because, he had abused the kindness of
his mother! The Earth offered riches
to all who were not ashamed to dig!
How can a mau best discharge his duty
to this mother? The dIUi0e law of labor
is, "To till the ground Whence he a0dS
taken" This word "ti!l" didn't mean
fancy blowing. The thOrns and thistles
were to be torn up. 1t includes the
u hole process of preparation and plant
ino ia nj adj
became husbandman-afa farmer or free
holder--and SO on through successive
etages--every year taking in new
ground" until his possessions are
priRceLy. The Great West has become
a farm-'where all the grain Latin,
grdnWpe) can be planted in one field, y
OEger, through which the Granger goes,
saluted by his smiling rows!
The word grange is Roman by birth,
English by association, and american
by adoption. 1t signified "a corn-tarm
where tithes and rents Gtse religious
the,ho uses were Kept" In church history
grange-house was no unimportant place.
Many quaint legends linger around the
old building--but the ''pGrsOH" or per-
son to whom the tithes were due---has
gone, with all his poor parishioners, TO
the eternal leaping. Their planting is
DONE" Generous Changers, by their
free will offerings, have rendered the
ecclesiastical grange unnecessary in this
country: bat they have combined into
what the French call "Commune," an
Association where unity of interest is
the leading feature. Farmers Feasts
are the fashionable frolics Of the day.
A peep into the past, will show great
difference ID the dishes, in the bill of
fare, and the style of serving. Here it
may be remarked that,
Tebre can be no permanent prosperity
among a people where agricultural arts
are not studied and advanced,