Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-12-28
The Pleasure, of a Country Life.


Not long since we read a report of q
debate in farmers ~lub upon the cues
! ton whether a city Ii G or rural life is
/ the more conducive to happiness and
well-Leing. Strangely enough, the
city life. No doubt this may be ex..
planned by the very frequent inclination
! of people to change their circumstances
and to notice most the disaereeable
features of their environments. What
is pleasant is passed over as matter of
course, while the unpleasant is long
] dwelt upon and ruminated over, until
one feels thai all other circumstances or
! positions are better than those he has
/ become victim TO.
Ii this disposition of the persons were
changed and could become more like
that OF the moralist who put upon his
sun dial: al mark only the pleasant
! hours" then there would be less of the
prevalent dissatisfaction, for every per-
son would find some delights, at least,
ia his mode of lie which would far over
balance whatever there might be dis
| agreeable or unattractive in it. But
there are material differences in the
two manners of living w!lich no DISPOSE
ton of the person can change or avoid
In the city all is artificial. Even the
manners and customs of the people are
strained and less natural than those of
| country jewellers. The close. narrow
streets, the paved roads, the sense
| Of restriction and the absence of
freedom. the sameneSs, the monotonous
! round Of life. and the effect of all these
upon the mind IF the person all tend TO
! dlfTcrcntiate the citizen from the coun-
| tryman. In the country one is ut home
with nature; there is largeness of
| scope aud breadth of view; the free
| fresh air. the ever-chang.ng aspect of
| the scenery, the leisurc-all these have
the effect TO make rural people more OBJ
servant and Studious of their own af-
fairs. In city men study men; in the
country they study things. Perhaps
! there are no other books that mark
! these differences more perfectly than
! the writings of Charles Lamb, who was
n city nan, and those of Wordsworth,
Donall G.. Mitchell and others. whose
thoughts breathe of flowers and fields
and rural scenes. Perhaps no writer
more enjoyed city life, in spite of all
his unhappy domestic and family asso-
Citations, To which he lovingly sacrificed
himself. than Charles Lamb His So
cial enjoyment-, his pursuit of litera-
ture. and his love for the very stones
and bricks with which he had been ac-
quainted from carly boylood: his strug-
! giles and disappointments, and his final
easy old age, after his long mechanical
routine of bookkeeping and counting
up figures all his history. in fact, as
! told by himself in the most charming
manner-gives Us n picture of n man
J born and bred in a city and enjoying
all that could be made pleasant of Il
while he caafed and cited at
its restraints. But one reared in the
country, after reading Lambs expert
ence. never envies him, but rather
thinks how much more he might have
enjoyed rural life had that been his
fortune, and as one reads thoughtfully
he finds himself continually comparing
the two lives, but all to the advantage
of his own. The sun rises. shines and
sets differently TO the city man and the
country man; the rain falls drear ~ to
the one, but pleasantly to the other:
the patter of the drops on the leaves is
musical; the winds, too, make melody,
the gentle rustic soothcS, aad the
clustering storms make the blazing fire
and snug shelter full of comfort in a
country house, while the city man
shvers as the winds howl dismally
about the roofs and chimney tops. just
n this season the differences become
more marked and better defined. We
can even admire the snow crystals in the
country. and ''lhe beautiful snow"
fringing TIE trees and shrubs. covering
the fences with borders of lace-work,
and hid ng. rs under 4 covering of
gentleness and mercy, all the evils in
the world, can only be fully realized in
the country. In the city there is none
OF this beauty and purity: but as the
clear white becomes smirched and
fouled. and soon changes to n mass OF
disagreeable and filthy slop. it seems to
represent all that, once pure, has be-
come degraded and foul in the lower
stratum of the city life.
But there is practical and material
view to be taken of this question which
we can only merely touch upon. but
which occurs to anv one who thinks
upon this subject. The excess of wealth
and the corresponding depths of pow
erty. the uncertainties of life, the cor
rosiye cares, the weary struggles with
adversely. the hopeless defeats. the
furious competition, and the crush and
strife for existence. in which thousands
are trodden under and disappear with
out leav ny any traces, just "a drowned
hody sinks under water. and the last
bubble of the breath floats down and
breaks-all this is unknown in the
country. where industry and careful
ness secure comfort and independence.
and where one can very we'll afford tC
help brother along rather than crowd
him down to rise upon his rGin.-N. Y.
Times.