The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-10-01
LACK OF RURAL INDIVIDU-
Atty.

destined to 60 on l the same olu
ding-dong path from the cradle to the
grave. What has become of our
Whilom boasted independence, when
It was said that the sons of the soil
were the most independent class on
earth 4? We are now about the most
dependent class that "a be started,
and enjoy less of the good things of
this life than any other set of people.
The most of US go through life
without making any mark, or attract
ing any attention even in the little
world of our circumscribed environ
ment; gliding on in the same old
grooves; adhering to the same old no.
tons which are as Interchangeable as
the needle that points to the pole.
Time, with us, indeed, seems to have
come to a stand-still. An original
idea, much less an original action,
never disturbs the dull monotony OF
hum-drum existence; we are mere
passive agents in the hands OF the
powers and influences that be, and no
such thought as change from the
stereotyped order of things ever en-
ters our noodles. Progress, if pro-
gress there be, advances without our
taking a hand in it, and the benefits
we reap from it are solely due to what
4 contributes to the general welfare
by ~imperceptible, gradual diffusion,
and we feel the beneicent effects with
out knowing its operations, or how,
or from whence it originated.
Individuality, that something I'm,
common in us hat looms up out of
the dead level of the surrounding
medium of sameness and mediocrity,
rs as scarce an article as a gem in the
exhausted mine. There is such a
strong family likeless that personality
is completely swallowed up in the
dull, dead sameness that surrounds
rs. We seem to be relegated to the
bondage of a stagnant, unprogressive
conventionality, and become passive
nonentities in this cage of driveling
maction, and blind, submissive faith
to orthodox, absolute dogmatisms.
There is such a sameness between us
that there is no more dissimilitude
existing than there is in a flock of
Southdown sheep, and our individn
atty is such that we cal be led by the
nose by any crooked-horn old ram
that takes the first leap. We lead
simply a bread-and butter existence,
with no more thought or ambition to
+horoero~o @In- &hn EznJ,ipo0
from his i%ce-ribbed, snow-bound
dreariness. Indeed, a great many of
US bring to mind Shirley's description
of a similar set of farmers whom he
said were the men,
$50 near the PRINT. We making, they retain
A sense of nothing but the earth their brains
And barren heads standing as much in want
OF blowing as their ground"
To such as these, life has no aspira-
fions beyond the days existence, and
it is the same old dull drag through,
out the years; the same monotonous
Toun1 with its never-varying refrain.
1t matters not whether this beautiful
earth is clothed in green or draped in
universal drab, life has no poetry for
them; it is all prose, and dull at that.
His mind is occupied solely with the
problem of sheer human, or rather,
BRITISH existence" What shall l eat
and drink, and wherewithal be
clothed 2" His highest ambition is
food and rest his pleasures alimentary,
and his existence as uneventful as an
oysters that never tickled a palate.
In short, life with such is naught but
q lapse of time; the only use made Of
it to subserve the animal cravings and
necessities of a sensuous existence
The end of such an eventful career is
but the stoppage of a pair of breath
ing lungs-one mouth less to feed
He is shoveled into his grave to rot
and there is his fms. The earth set
ties over him, and there his hash (at
last) is settled forever, and he is nc
more missed amid the denizens O.
his kind than the fox that dies in his
hole, and the heritage he leaves be
hind him makes no more impression
than the bubble that bursts in mid
ocean.
Yes, brethren, by all that is sacred
by the solemn duties and obligation
of our humanity, we should strive tx
elevate ourselves out of such a bond
age.
"Never be it ours
To see the sun how brightly it will shine,
And know that noble feelings-manly powers
instead of gathering strength, must droop and pine
And earth, with all her pleasant fruits an,
flowers,
Fade and participate in mans decline"
We owe it to ourselves, we owe i
to our children, to become Olsen
thralled out of this midnight dark
which has well nigh paralyzeC
every ambition to better our lot.
And what is another phase of tina
sad condition Our wives and chill
dren toll and toll and slave from
year to year and go beyond the smok'
of their chimneys except once il
awhile to meeting" as a relief from