The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-08-01
Make Home Attractive.

80 ""Je uotiS k0Ou W1fk, the
value Of which can hardly be oserestimut,
ed, in warning the youth of country home.
OF the risk they run in rushing TO towns
and especially large cities, where they too
often have to exc out a miserable exis.
tenec, or suffer absolute want.
by way Of preventing calamity, il is
well to look at its cause. Now, what Is
the attraction to young men in the large
cities? They are simply dazzlcd and be-
wildered by what they see and hear
Dress is one Of the first things that attracts
and secures attention; then comes all the
fascination Of places Of amusement, and
the possibility Of great wealth, which 30
few, after all, win. These things contrast
strikingly with tho life of many country
homes, where young men and young women
Cwho, till experience teaches them, can see
only the bright side Of city lifs) are mere
drudges-"hewen Of wood and drawers of
water" Yes, We say drudges, whose lives
are no better than that Of the poorest
drayhorse.
Now, it won't do for Press and Pulpit to
preach to such people that their condition
will be injured by coming to the cities; for
in fact with some of them il is much i'm.
proved; yet, it is well known that the
youth Of the country have rushed to the
cities till various kinds Of trades and pro-
fessions seem likely to be overcrowded,
and hence come want, poverty, hunger
and dirt, suicide, and other crimes too
horrible to mention. The reader NAV now
naturally ask, What Is the remedy? The
answer is simple enough Let home be
made attractive by culture Of mind and
heart, as well as soil. Daily and steady
toll, without any relaxation, breaks down
body and mind. But 1t viii be said we
have to work like slaves to live. No doubt.
many starting with little if any capital in
new country, have hard work and great
privations to undergo, which unfit their
minds for effort; but there are the winter
evenings, when the farmer and his family
surround their own 6reside to cultivate
the affections and improve the mind.
Health, temperance and well-directed in
dustry, soon secure TO even the poorest in
our favored land, comfortable competen-
cy. Then by degrees, home can be made
beautiful by the proper management Of
fruitful soil. 1t viii yield not only what
is necessary to sustain life comfortably,
but also pleasures to crafty the most giit-
ed minds. They, of all others, who till
the soil, come into closest relations with |
Nature. All the sciences are more or loss
intimately connected with the soil. There
is no lack Of food for the mind or body.
Thus, while we have not an enlightened
cultivation of soil and mind, so long will
the young men of the countrx. fee fran
a.-s, oat perhaps miserable existence in
the exacting toll Of traders, who are but
the agents Of the tillers of the soil Let
US have enlightened agriculture, and more
equal distribution of wealth must necessa-
rily follow, The producer and the con-
sumer will then shake hands; the farmer
viii wear as smooth coat as the merchant,
and be at least as well educated; apd,
above all, his relations will be directly with |
the Giyer of all good, who never cheats his |
children; thus his home viii be enriched,
and made happy and beautiful.
If all this be true Of those with little
means, how much more quickly can it be
reached by those who are better of
Many a hard-handed farmer has his land
all paid for, plenty Of money at interest,
and yet not only denies his family, but
himself, the necessaries Of life. Such
people are not the benefacton Of their
race. II is they who drive the young men
and maidens to the cities; who rob the soil
Of Gods bounty, taking all they can get,
but putting nothing back; and who wiring
from their offspring their very hearts
blood, and thus exile them from homes
if such they can be called--to whittier
they know not While these hard-handed
farmers squeeze out the life-blood Of the
young, and cultivate neither mind nor soil.
so long viii the young fee from the homes
of their fathers. Through this bright,
good land-the home Of the weary and
oppressed Of all nations--many people,
especially in the Western and Northwest
ern States, have already not only the ne
cessaries, but the luxuries Of life.
Few, If any, till the soil intelligently.
For the most part the soil is robbed, but
sad day Of reckoning viii come if this
thing lasts. II has already come 10 Vir
giuia, and it win come 70 her sister States,
If the application Of useful knowledge TO
agriculture be neglected. We look for
better results General education will
settle the question; and If the tillers Of the
ground will be true to it and themselves,
all that heart can wish will follow. The
, young viii then stay at home, enjoying all
the blessings that can come from fruit
ful soil.
The Nineteenth Century.