The Portland daily press., 1891-11-28
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY.
Collection of Rhyme and Reason
from Old AImanacs.


have bundle of old Almanacs, mostly
the Robert B. Thomas" which wita tue
coming issue has been published one nun
dred years. The Oldest copy ] have is dated
lo0I when 1t was fifteen years old. IL Is
printed by David Carlisle, 1or Jonn Msss ,S,
ana lor sale at his bookstore, 70 Oorhnlii
ae nI9e dollars per gross, elgIs ,s IAN anu
single.
The poetry that heads the months In this
old almanac Is not all of 1t up to the stand
ard required for the modern almanac.
The poetry for January is as follows;
Nov round the hearth with cheerful looks
Inc merry peasants thTong, =. .,o,u 49,,
Anu crack their nuts ana craoA 'iioi JoAes
AND pass the can along"
For March:
IN spite of storm there are some JoysY
zach 1ovial tar to bless,
For Saturday night still comes my boy3
10 drink to 'Polp and 'Bess'"
For April we have very good rhyme
and sentiment:
Slow moves the plough along the field,
The ean an's oaS ae ssnasH u Gef tSe plain
ana nature seems revived again..
For June it is:
Yankee farmers don't give, up
But mind your vegetation
FOR agriculture Is a sort
vi Dulwark to the nation"
One more, that for September;
"Come haste to the muster, ye sweet little
laSses
To dance on the green like your grammams Of
YOre
Where tiddles and sweethearts with charming
careSSeS
Cake. candy and custard are found in full
store"
In the Farmers Calender" department
for January find the following advice:-
He that lives according to reason shall
never be poor. 1t is every mans duty to
make himself profitable to mankind; If
ne can, TO many, If not, 10 feWeri IL not
so neither, to his neighbour; but, however,
to himself"
In the March calender | find :-'Now II
you want your fingers in every mans pie,
ten TO one II you do not get them confoundly
burnt now and their. Let us attend to our
own concerns; such US cutting Scions for
grating, shelliDg seed corn etc"
From the April calendar :-"Your fences
now ought to be your first care. Bad fen
ces is one sign OF a bad husband" Also,
keep clear from quarrels and do not
plague your brains about politics, for he
who quarrels himself into notice, will be
sick Of his bargain"
In June :-"Cut your coat according to
your cloth, cut your clover and mind your
business. Set tobacco plants. What need
have me to go Virginia for tobacco
Every one that has land and disposition
may raise his own"
In July.-"I have more pork in my eel
lar, said neighbor Braggadocia, than ali
the almanack makers in Christendom. File
on your larnin and all that stuff, l
want none of your nonsense, no man shall
teach me faith. Now fOrb0re to dispute
with this great man, for the pr0verb says
you cannot make silken purse out of
sow's ear"
. For August -"Fat paunches make lean
pates.
That Is to say. il you eat aud drink to
excess this hot weather, you will destroy
both wit and understanding. Your brains
will lay In your belly" This old almanac
has the usual round of departments of in
postage department notice the following
rates: Eight cents for forty miles; ten
cents for ninety miles; aud so on to 500
miles the rate on which isl20 cents. every
double letter Is to pay double; every triple
letter. triple" and so on giving rates also
for packages.
The next Oldest almanac / have is 1843,
and then from that on to 1856 among the
older ones.
l have also copy of Ro binson's almanac
of the year 1S43, published in Portland by
VIM. Hyde, which was much of interest to
him who sdmires to study old books.
But the oldest book in my possession
contains some of Cotton Mather's Sc rmons,
and was printed in 1886 in London.
A. p. REED.
So. Bridgton, November, '91.