Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-05-12
Farm Life.

We find the following able and in
structive article in our excellent CO.
temporary, the Kentucky Fine Stock
Record.
"The great purpose of domestic
life is to attain reasonable degree
Of happiness or well being. We
suppose that this is at least one Of
the ends for which the family rela-
tons were established, and the cul-
ture OF the soil appointed as the pri-
mary pursuit. The first thing, there
fore, that concerns every rural mar
riage is home-a farm of sufficient
size and fertility to yield a support
to honest industry. The time has
passed when fixed home is not an
absolute necessity. The rolling
stone never gathers moss. Wander
ing families cannot prosper. There
is great deal OF happiness in the
possession of a home. The sense of
power is impaired by it. 1t be-
comes the center of attraction to the
newly married pair, and gradually
becomes q link in the chain Of pre-
cious memories. A man can lie
down and sleep sweetly when he
knows that he has on hand the nee
essaries of life provided a year ahead.
In the attainment of a reasonable
degree of happiness, money or its
equivalent is an essential MEANS
We will not say that wealth is nee
essary to happiness, for it is not
But competence is essential. Money
is the product of labor. Here we
are driven back to the simplest
analysis to the law of labor as the
condition of all earthly happiness
that is worthy of the name. To &C
quire 1t, the whole family must CO.
operate, SO that all which they pos
sess and all their enjoyments shall
rise to the mind of each one as the
fruit of united efforts. There is
something very inspiring of real
happiness when the wife, children
and husband can point to their home
and provisions of plenty and say in
truth, all this is the reward of our
mutual labors and cares. This ele-
mcnt Of pure happiness can exist
only in well regulated and thorough
ly disciplined families.
Every family ought to have with
in themselves certain other elements
of happiness, to which money is but
indirectly related. We allude to the
culture of the intellect and heart,
and the wise use of this culture as a
fountain of happiness. In how many
families, when the opportunity oc-
ours to have an evenings release
from labor is there sullen silence,
or rude and boisterous mirth, attend
ed by coarse language or shameful
exhibition Of passion. 1t is painful
to think how many families there
are whose members are utterl y in
capable Of deriving from social in
tercoursc with each other the least
enjoyment. The cause of this must
be sought in the fatal errors of the
parents. There are few persons who
are pure and wise enough to have
control of their own children at an
early age. The mind controls both
the child and the man. Boys whose
minds are not sufficiently developed
to take pleasure in intellectual exer-
cise-in reading and conversations
on interesting and improving topics
will seek animal qualifications
when released from parental re-
straints. And parents who are not
sufficiently enlightened and socially
disposed to interest their families in
conversation, in reading orrehearsing
stories of the past, can never be the
companions of their children; and
where there is no companionship
between parents and children there
is no household abode. In this case
home is not home-it is but place
a prison from which there is a con-
slant wish to escape.
If children are to make men and
women in the true sense of the word,
their home education must be com
menced at the earliest possible pc
Rod. If we mean that our sons shall
be industrious we must not wait till
they have acquired the habits of in
dolence before we begin to teach
them to work. If we would have
them truthful men, we must not let
them become liars before we impress
upon them the obligation to speak
nothing but the truth. And If we
would have our children as compan-
ions, in the noble meaning of the
word, we must not shut them off
from our most intimate social sympa-
thies and the means of enjoying iu-
tellectual pleasure till their whole
being has cut for itself another chan
mel, and has gone away from us.
A home without books and news
papers in abundance, wisely selected
and adapted to the age and tastes of
children, can never know the purest
and most ennobling pleasures which
God has provided for man. 1t can
never be a noble bond of union for
the whole family-the glorious tenn
pie of peace and love. Many a
father ruins his children by penuri-
business in Withholding from them
the means of intellectual culture and
enjoyment. There are rich mems
houses in which both newspapers
and books are strangers. We will
not print the character of their sons
the gun and dog, the bottle, the
pack of cards, and the pistol suggest
their portraits and their worth.
We know that to the mass of far
mers life is engrossed in labor. The
few are rich, the many are poor
While we we'll know that economy
is moral as well rs a social duty,
we also know that wealth alone is
not the supreme end or object of
human effort That wealth ought to
be sought is admitted. Nay, more,
we urge every one to compass it if
possible, but honestly. No man has
a right to inflict upon society 4 set