The Cecil Whig., 1886-05-15
Roman..: :Anssaot.: Fiction:
THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER.
BY CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER.

At gathering of Pilgrims and stran-
gers in the city of Ouakers, ON the
22d Of December, the person who
opens and shuts this Drawer (and
never has any credit for the things he
keeps out of it) was asked by the ironi-
cal president of the meeting to say
something about The New England
| Farmer. He confessed that he was
glad to do SO, because this so-called
| agricultural pioneer had been very
much misunderstood. And the COM
pany graciously permitted him to make
the following explanation
Two radical misconceptions have
been at the basis ofthis misunderstand-
| ing the first was that he was a farmer,
and the second was that he had a
farm. Under this false conception a
great deal of ridicule has been poured
upon this typical character. 1t has
been said that the only things he raised
were beans, stone walls, and dough-
nuts. 1t has been said that his chief
crop was Goldfish. 1t has been said
that his only luxury was round solid
disk, which could be stacked up in
piles, called pumpkin pie, and that his
inadequate conception of Bacchantic
enjoyment was hard cider.
1t would be lale Tor me to attempt
to shake these popular prejudices. 1t
would have no effect upon the skeptics
to say that in the Patent-office in
Washington his doughnut is the only
doughnut ever invented in the world
that has Jelly inside of it. 1t would
not be believed if l said that the pump
kin pie was made to be used as a
shield in the Indian wars, and that the
stone walls were raised as ramparts be-
hind which this so-called farr.er could
stand and shoot the British. 1t is nee
essary to get outside of all these con-
siderations, and inquire why the Pill
grims came to New England. 1t was
certainly not for the purpose of farm
ing. If Providence had intended New
England as a farming country, the
rocks would have been put deep down
at the bottom and the soil on top, and
there would have been more fertile,
lovely little valleys, and fewer ridges
and sand hills. The Pilgrim had an
other idea than that of farming. His
setting up school-house as soon as
he landed, instead of a phosphate mill
shows that On the first sand-hill is
| land he set his foot on he held a
"meeting" He made a constitution
before he came ashore, and though he
did not, as other adventures had done
before him, set up cross on the new
territory, the world very soon founG
that the constitution had a cross in it
| know it has been said that he came
to New England IN order to give the
Indians and the Quakers and the Bap
fists an opportunity to worship Goo
according to the dictates of his, the
Pilgrims, conscience But this was {
SANDER. He knew he was on thu
Lords side, and he didn't want these
other people interfering with the Lord
work. Especially he wouldn't tolerate
the devil coming in and raiding hi
plantation in the form of witches an(
the like. He is justly called super
stitious by an age and city gwen owe
to spiritism, clairvoyahce, mind cure
"materialzation, and ether certain
ties.
If he had set up merely as farmer
he would have had none of these trou
bles. If his idea had been a fat, ma
terial prosperity, | think he would hav
left his bean hills on the Plymouth
heights to the Indians, and looked TO
land further south. | do not say tina
he was insensible to the nameless charm
of this coast in summer, to the flavo
of the wild grape, the majesty of tn
forest, to the bloom of the Mayfowe
in the spring time, and that he was un
responsive to the deliciousness of tn
, oyster and the clam and the Spanis
mackerel. But he had other things il
his mind when he set about subduin
New England.
1t seemed to him that this was a
excellent land in which to set up
government, and organize a virtuou
society, and develope a theology, an
to cultivate ideas. l gather from cor
temporary documents that he set NOR
n store by education and religion tha
by crops of corn and wheat, and tn;
his exports of fish and lumber wei
temporary expedients while he W;
4 preparing to send out and plant else
where institutions and ideas. He S,
his meeting house on hill. The Gro
he most cared for was men and wome