Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1886-05-05
From the Itinerant.
PLCD
BY REV. ALFRED j. HOUGH.

BY REV. ALFRED j. HOUGH.
OF the wise and holy Maker, of the good and
gracious God,
Men can ask few higher blessings than the
power and gift to plod.
Snowy gift may be attractive, glibly talk of
''going to do"
But it takes the solid lifting of old Plod to
"put her through"
He is mighticr than all genius, greater than
all boosted skill,
Having Tor his inspiration an indomabe
will.
Genius is Il passing metcor-Pod, Il never
setting sun.
Where all else has failed and tainted Plod
has just gone in and won.
He hath reared the mighty cities, with n
strength godlkc. sublime,
Made highway for the nations through the
ancient hills of time.
He hath made the lightning serve him, count
ed stars, and measured space.
Wealth and genius fairly beaten in the mid
die of ife's race!
Hard to rouse aud slow to action, but when
PlOd once says 81 will,'
He is just rs sure to do il as the lightning is
to kill
He was busy at the building of the pyramids
of old
And though kings sought deathless mention,
tits of Plod their tale is told.
Neveryet hath wondering pilgrim meath their
gloomy shadows trod
Without feeling and believing the omnipo-
tence of Plod.
He hath yet beheId no mountains where his
flag he dared not plant,
Just because he didn't whmpcr and sit down
and say 81 can't
In the sober days of ploddng, thirty, forty
years ago,
We had more of solid progress, less of tinsel
and Of show.
Our old mothers taught Their daughters how
to scrub, sew, churn and bake,
How to take turn in hayng on the load or
at the rake,
Milk and drive the cows to pasture, catch and
Harness up old Bill,
Crack the whip and take the produce to the
market or the mill.
Never smarter, wittier lasses traded at the
country store,
And they more than matched the saucy,
smootll-tongued peddlers at the door.
Handsomer they were and .nober in the neat
and simple dress
Than the modern lady strutting in 4 rutiled
wilderness.
The would rather go to meeting, sitting with
happy smile,
In the old pung, cracked and broken, than TO
go in debt for style.
Not dollar would they squander, not an ex-
ira ribbon get,
Fill the paror and been furnished, and the
farm was out Of debt.
They'd have scorned the thought of sitting,
dressed in frills and boughten curs,
While the house was run to ruin by pack of
hired girls;
)r, to be accomplished ladies', make an organ
squeal and moan,
While the old folks, late and early, worked
their fingers to the bone.
Yet with all this sober plodding Nature had
no richer charms
han she gave the happy madens on the
grand New England farms.
'ut this age Of great inventions, deeper
thought and clearer light,
las produced n patent lady, and Dame FASH
ion holds the right.
lot content with sober plodding, tired of
loating and unrest,
il the boys are taking tickets for the prairies
of the West.
nd they need but small persuasion to pull
up their stakes, and 90
o where Nature yields a harvest II she's
tickled with a hoe.
hut I've somehow got the notion that q lad
with prospects fair
ailing in New England valley, is failure
anywhere. {
lie may have the mildest climate he may
have the richest sod,
ut it just amounts to nothing II he hasn't got
the plod.
may be the age is giving birth to more en-
lightened views,
ut 1t doesn't do to farm it in pair OF patent
shoes!
nd 1t simply stands to reason that . man 8
can't till his ground p,
one half the time he's loafing, and the other :
riding round.
arms well shingled, thriving cattle, stoneless
acres rich and broad,
ONE from nothing else, believe me, but the q
steady, sober plod.
lod can bring back for this nation solid q
wealth to farm and mart, r
ny cool hand on the throbbings of her
worldly, restless heart, q
eanse the Senate, raise the people, make q
them great as they are free,
Fad her on with thoughtful courage to her |,
glorious destiny,