Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-01-08
WHOLE NO. 214.
gaoies' Department.
For the VERMONT FARMER.
Euohre.

time did VIC find for thought or leisure But
now tho season for recreation has arrived,
how shall we spend these long evenings
Shall we who are Patrons spend the hours
Of each society gathering at the card'tabe :
Or shall we in the meantime follow the
teachings of our order, aud take the axe in
our hands, following with plow, spade, and
hoe and with the sickle reap the harvest
which will consequently be ours. Have not
farmers and their wives euchred themselves
out of enough already, in playing this game
at every social party or evening visit that
they chanced to attend during the winter
months The sin of card-playiug to our mind
lies just here. We are cheating ourselves
out of the benefit which these social gather
ings are intended to bestow.
Very many Of us feel decided reluctance
to being introduced to a stranger, for the
reason that we distrust our ability to enter
into conversation with them, and therefore
feel an uncomfortable embarrassment when
introduced. Now this may be easily over
come by practice; and this practice we must
have, in order to overcome the difficulty, for
conversation is an art, and no person need
hope for any degree of perfection in an art,
without practice.
As Patrons we are constantly meeting
with mothers and sisters, who are strangers
to us, and with whom we wish to become ac-
quainted, but when introduced we don't
know what 10 say. And shall we who see
the evil that has beiallen us by practicing
the habit of card.playng, set the example
before our children, and bring them up in
our footsteps to reap the reward Of ignorance
Rather let us SOW only the good seed that
will bear knowledge. We as class get
little time for the improvement of the mind,
and therefore it is all important that We
make right use of it; for -
"While send for the napkins the soup grows cold
While the bonnet is trimming the face grows old,
When we've matched buttons the pattern Is sold,
| And everything comes too late too late."
The present only is ours, but it is a gIor-
Gus possession, and we cannot too highly ap-
preciate Its value. All life, rightly view ed,
consists in the present moment. The past
is gone, the future does not exist, but around
the divine mow clusters all duty, all happi-
ness, all life for as. If we fail to appreciate
the present, and to devote all our energies to
the life that lies close around us, we shall
surely be disappointed in any future to which
We may aspire We look around US, and be-
hold oppression on every hand and the
more we study aud converse upon the subject
the more we see Of it, and the greater our
wonder is, that farmers have submitted to
the yoke SC long. We have been so ignorant
in the past that we did not even discover
that these wrongs existed; and are our op-
pressors the persons who are to extend n
friendly hand and lift us from this slough
Certainly not we must think, study, and act
for ourselves. Intelligence is the thing, and
the only thing that will lift US to the level
which we should occupy. And let us be
striving after it, and be careful not to place
stumbling-bOcks in the way Of our children.
Can we not see that in playing this game Of
euchre we beat ourselves every time
And are tho ladies the only ones who spend
their time foolishly? We think we would as
soon spend precious time on rutfles, hounces,
&C., as in card-playing. But what of the
women who spend one-haf of their leisure
time on dress, and the ether half at the card
table ; will they be prepared to vote intelIi-
gently, should that time ever come to us, and
will these practices hasten that time, and
will this course Of life tend to Danish the
foolish prejudices which many Of the other
sex cherish towards us Quoting the thoughts
rather than the words of many men): "a
woman, and so something Of an idiot ?" Now
we know women who have solid heads, and
brilliant minds, and power to think and act,
which men might envy. On the other hand
so tyrant." Now, knowing that there are
exceptions to these accepted rules, it is abb
surd to give them credence, even in our
speech, and so foster the false idea produced
by them. How many women there are who
are not guilty of foolishy spending their
time, and are more capable Of casting an in
telligent vote to-day than two.thrds Of the
men who cry out absurd" immodest,"
&c. But let us ask, What is true modesty?
True modesty guards virtue, and is ashamed
to do aught that is contrary to right, avoids
everything that is criminal, and is that 4" III
stinct which is limited by the rules OF pru-
dence.' False modesty betrays virtue, is
ashamed to do anything that is opposite to
the views of those with whom the party con-
verses, and avoids everything that is unfash-
ionabe, and nothing is more contemplate.
1t is all right for some to vote for officers in
Good Tempars' lodge, and in the grange,
but to vote for a president would be the
height of immodesty and inconsistency
But we are wandering from our text if
we firmly adhere to the principles of our Or
der, we shall aim to something higher and
better than euchre. II we have not inteli-
gence enough to entertain ourselves wthoat
> this game, let us grasp the present moment,
; resolve to have it, and 1t will be ours. The
only way in which hope can be realized is by
daily persevering effort, and the only way
to live for the future is to live in the present
When we realize the sublime aud glorious
nature Of the present moment, bearing as il
does upon its bosom new events new facts,
new phases Of character, and demanding new
energies and new experience, when we are
> willing to recognize it as the real arena Of
action, and the fountain of happiness, then
will the future yield its true significance, and