New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-06-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
sxrxv zUnrhNn aYcoNFs BY e H. AIR. l9mo. PIP
ga j. b. LAppincott q Co.

a f,. heen aaid IA 10 be found in the school dis
trfet Of England In the present volume the lru
mi cradle from which has sprung 20 many representa-
lives OF American society. renowned poets ana famous
TO-. crave Judges and solemn lawgvers, brilliant
eho,ars and eloquent dIvnes is described IN its orR
nal features before Its prmeval simplicity had faded
away IN the march Of artificial refinement Inc new
Fpaud OF the author is the NewEDgand ~ the oiueu
time when the possession OF dweIhnghouse was tne
test of thrifty citizenship. When man married nc a.
opee sot up homestead, and lengthenFd out piS i'-
walls, or scanned and patched them. as occasion ~
ouired His barns ran over, and he built Rreater he
planted an orchard and set out pepars before MS "oU
The roug hness OF toll was ground into us in"see
became ard-featured and hard-fisted HIS WI" Ee"
faded and angular The children we're hEe 'hei
They ware all weather-changed into kino OF pecu"
neasantrv This was the busy honest, hopeni, neipi
New England farmers family 1t was most S'up'o NV
ing but the core Of progressive cuHnre' '"o "u' y
strong character. Their houses ana tnelr e'hio
wore IN keeling with their owuers Inc apihe ueeS
which they set OUT Grabbed fruit and were OF NIUE
- INT they seryed their purpose There were
avs 0ood apples enough for home use. The names OF
.ome Of tbem became household words Long Nose ana
puddue Sweet two rugged, stalwart 'rees' l"o"'
IN the writer's district. The mildly sour Long nose
tasted best when just pucked from the swaro Inc
ealv Pudding Sweet was sucked by the eater as ne sat
mn low branch Of the tree that bore It. " oh
tho whole" tho writer aptly asks, WHAT Iar"
aorendape was better possessiOD better IN memory
tbap its rotous old ofcharda II was Id spring.
q Iose-garden, which scented the air Win u'lar'
and flied the landscape with translehV Ei"fS'
Tn Summer standing the foreground OF lts over
tonnjug ycrdure the houses let out Into II the hoc
meas ~ their vacations Tbeu into the pastures ana I'M
lsents OF wives, and the work trey no. passeu
the glamour of its growth and lts SUNSHINE
In IT, and by 1t, peOpe and things otDerWlSe uu
attractive became beautiful incidents ana aecoeh's u
n, You have not forgotten the bare-armed women
snnshne: the bee hives; the grndstone: the mowers
uheng their scythes and other 1oOse-yng Debris Oh
farm-work the picturesque absorption OF the orcharus
enmmer.life You hold fast In memory some tree or
trees, the rIpeniuG and gradual gathering OF whose
fruits were b, puy features Of your childhood"
The orchard almost ALWAYS started from the BACK ooor
Of the farmhouse, where burdOcRs aud other rank
weeds sent their strong odOrs but IL stretcheu o
yerdure sweet and clean, aud tender as eouIu pe
found only under thetrees Here was the cOuch Vi he
tired laborer and the playground OF eboreh VINO "or
ts in its sod and in time half lived on It's req
and yellow fuage. The LOmbardy poplars which were
planted in front Of these earlier farmhouses were SUM-
eon,pact aggressive trees fast grOwng nut OF shOr
lived vgor and died of early, though SLOW decay. Ihey
were perhaps the natural Outcrop OF generation
which began and ended with shoulder to the
plough and hand to tine distaff; whose CHIEF
literature was TIE Bible; whose law was TRUTH ana
whose highest recreation the rest Of the Sabbath
II the farmers who planted these trees seemed nara
amt serD it was owing largely TO their resoue hdehy
20 the necessities of their vocation They pOneers
the hewers out Of path TO broader culture II~y
were not unlike their own hills, which, though rugged
and Steep were the same me the glory OF {be Iano
scape They the homes to which they had given the
richness and strength OF their days. That powerO asso
citation which from dwelling long III spot ana
which cngs eterDay to it, took deep root in them Al
the same time, there went out from them, into ther
walls and furnishings that sweetness OF lfeexpTession
Inn mall
homes scars enriched Them necessity added to them,
until from very bare beginnings, grew the quantity
furnished picturesque, simply beautiful old farm
houses"
Much of the thrift and honesty peculiar to the New
England race has flowed through this sturdy primitive
stock natural portrait of Of these old farmers
must have been drawn from familiar acquaintance The
last time the author him. he was firmly grasping
pitehfork which planted in his load ana from MS
cart was giving directions to hall score OF stswart
laborcrs. BIS hat was weathcrbeaten. aud lbs gar
ments we're coarse ard hitting. To one unused to eoun
Try life, be would have seemed rough old man-a COM
mon farmer, the worn out owner Of few acres and
little money. gotten by working while others slept one
who doubled the tolls Of Summer and cheated himseI
out of the rest OF Winter sort Of barren waf almost
cast from century upon the shore OF another
Altogether otherwise this man seemed 10 me- had
known him from my earliest childhood. he had done
faithfully the work which had been given him to do
Whatever lay within its scope and possibilities he had
accomplished Whatever of dignity could be given. by
truth and industry and sefrespect to farmers life,
had been given his Forty years before he had been
rustic king in his firlds He was king stil-this
old man of eghty-odd years. There the stamp
OF force upon him. He was old age wiser than youth
decay more potent than growth weakness debating TO
strength Time lad plOughed over him but II his hand
had lost its cunning, his eye had not lost
fits fire. II his body was wenigb spent. bis intellect
was undated. AS he stood. poised upon the fruits
WNN1fp with Ovtn
clear judgment his iaborers Of later generation, he
seemed like the old hero that he was; nalfdenant
copqueror circumstance brave and resistant to the
last. 1t was grand to him, this halfwid son of
nature standing eearcut against the blue held up
by the Instruments aud adjuncts Cd life Of toll
the wriDked aged harvester tossed out at bis last
with sort Of fierce gesture into this transient but sug
gestive, picture Clad homespun rOughened by toll,
acquired Of speech, there was yet about
him certain expression Of Unborn dignity which COM
PEELED respect. His eye piercing; his voice IN
csive; his words few his manner forcble. He was an
honest successful man, who had taken aud held
life by siege and Storm"
The central figure in the early recolections Of the
author is her grandfather, noble Of the NewEng
land SOIL on whose farm she appears TO have spent
many Of the happiest days OF her childhood The old
dwelling stood In the middle of the farm, ana was
approached by long, green lane, overriding with lofty
ems and naples. Just at the entrance was bubbing
spriug whose waters trickled down by the waysde
through beds Of vtolets and wild flag. The lane itself
was fenced by stone wall that loosened by frost
and fretted by Its turf was like velvet. Two
deep wheelruts, which had been worn by years. ran
through II, aud at the further end gate with
huge, upright beam, uncouth. clumsy, aud slow
pu its hinges, about which eed and Lockwood
and piantain grew prOfusey-humbe weeds, but from |
which Hannah, the good maid-ofall-wOrk, dis |
titled dyes and balsams Beauty lay hid in their |
Juices, which the shifty Hannah expressed |
and fastened into the fabrics OF cotton, and
linen, and wool, and which she wrought with patient
nngers. The writer describes the time when she first
passed through the gateway into the farmhouse |
yard, leading her little brother by the hand. |
white-haired old stood in the door TO welcome
us. 1t was late a Summers day late that the |
cattle we're lowing let through the pasturebars