Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-11-28
RUSTIC LIFE AND RURAL SIM
PLIClTY,
BY MISS ADAH c. DoDD.

q nOtlCe OF the FARMERS luSIitute WAiCH
ended with this paragraph: Several
ladies have been asked to prepare papers /
on The Home" " Farmers Wives,
home of my own, am no farmers wife, "
nor never was a florist, / found both |
Statesman and HERALD had very unkind- |
ly left me with no subject upon which to
write. Then faint hope arose like the
dawn of tranquil day after a night OF
storm and shadow, and with face SO
full of pleading that it would have melt
ed the heart of anything except man,
l called upon two members of the lnsti-
tute Committee, and asked what very
seldom ever ask when duty knocks at
my door viz. to be excused from per-
forming a task for which had not the
time to prepare but man-that adaman-
team rock-answered in firm, stentorian
tones You have put your hand to the
pillow and you dare not look back" Sub
dued. submissive, l turned away and
philosophically murmuied: What
can t be speedily cured must be patient
ly endured" So with a determination
ITO do or die' grasped my pen and this
is what | wrote.
For beauty, health, comfort, and gran
deur give me the forest trees, green
of the country where the wild game of
the woodland freely sports where the
beautiful birds twitter and sing as they
fly from branch to branch making the
air vibrate with their merry song, and
the music of all tremendously blended
into one grand oratorio where the mer-
ry brooklet rushes and roars o 'er rugged
rocks and perpendicular precipices until
it finally finds rest in placid waters of
the &" still water - where every bound
ing step of man gives renewed invigora-
ton every JOYOUS laugh makes the
countenance more radiant every day of
manual labor strengthens the muscle,
adds elasticity to the frame, and buoy
ancy to the spirit. A climate compare
lively free from Dyspepsia, Malaria, and
rheumatic pains where boys delight in
Leap Frog and girls rejoice in = Blind
Mans Bluff" Oh. to hear the happy,
bealthful laugh of the frolicsome, viva
cious country school boy. To see his
cheeks ruddy from the effect of rural
exercise, and hear his joyful, gleesome
tones as he enthusiastically rehearses to
you his games of innocent fun and frolic.
How we exclaim " Oh you young bed
lamites.n Yet nevertheless we know
we love them all the more dearly for
their flow of gladstone spirits.
So many of our city neighbors imagine
that a country boys education is limited
TO his knowledge of blowing corn and
cultivating potatoes. While this is true,
/ am sorry to say, of far too many cases,
it is not necessarily so. But my dear
country lads, if you have learned even
tbis lesson we'll, you have mastered an
honorable profession, and one of which
you need ReUer be ashamed. Farming
Is as much profession as the practice of
law or medicine, / trust the hoary head
ed farmers here present will never get
it into their wise old pates that their sons
are too intelligent for the farm, or their
daughters too accomplished for the Gull
nary department.
Which is more essential to mans
health and happiness a bushel of wheat,
or a smattering of untranslatable He
brew? a palatable dinner, or reel at
the latest cotilion A comfortable farm
house, or an unfrequented attorneys Of |
flee where the dust is rotting the sheep
skin bindings and the poor attorney is
setting with bowed head and sad heart
waiting for the client that seldom comes?
A well kept dairy, with milk pans glis-
tening. and pots of golden butter, or a
fashionably dressed young woman
engaged in reading a dime novel, or puZ
zling over the intricacies of the L'art de
la Mode or Godey's Lady Book? l
leave it to your own judgment to an
swer. Believe me, do not condemn the |
Finer Arts, but do think they ought to
be the secondary consideration in every
home. Every mans first enjoyment is |
home comforts. and his second is home |
beauties. feel sorry for the girl that
has no more Judgment or cannot read
@ thnrOup1lyr thar 70
ask her father for a new dress when his |
stomach is clamorlng for something to |
satiate its hunger but get him just the |
yiands you know he most enjoys and af |
ter he has spent all the time he wants
over the table, call for the necessary ar
ticle and II go his security that you get
1T. You may open your orbs in pIous
horror at this and say that that would be |
taking the artful and undue advantage
of an aged man By no means it will |
be a pleasure fer him to beautifully |
clothe the daughter who has SO bounti- |
fully and palatably fed him. The surest
way to please any man is to please his |
appetite.
We will admit that the youth of the
cities have great many financial advan |
tages over their brothers from the rural
districts but they have also great many
more temptations to dispose of their cap
ital in useless and sinful expenditure. |
They live in community where forgery. |
robbery. ENLIGHTENMENT and crimes of
every description are of daily occurrence;
where it is almost impossible for an i'm
questionable lad to resist the many temp
tations as he is being whirled through
this giddy vortex. You may be thank |
full that you do not have to live amidst
the turnmill of the bustling city. Dc
not become envious of your friends in
some distant municipality, nor sit down
and mourn because your Maker has not
given you the wealth of CrOesus the |
strength of Hercules the beauty of APP |
polio the figure of Adonis the wisdom |
of Minerva; the grace of Diana the posi-. |
ton of Caesar or the indomitable will of
Alexander bnt up and to the work and |
then you will justly merit the position |
you SO much desire. Don't give up to |
those two perserveTing enemies of man
kind ,-Crankiness and Melancholia.-I
who persistently follow in the wake of |
most individuals, or worry over the |
problems mysteriously hidden within the |
realms of the impenetrable future, but |
make use of the beautiful and everlast- |
ing NOtC where blooms the fragrant ros- |
es juss as gTandly colored as those that
charmed the Romans and Caldeans in |
their oriental gardens.
believe one half the failures in this |
life arise from discouragement. Many an
individual has taken up his work in this |
grand march of life with heart as light
as the billow foam, countenance radi- |
ant with enthusiasm. and a step as buoy |
ant as hearty ten year urchin. The battle |
begins and RACES furiously: no one Of
fers helping hand i'll the arduous strug-
gle, but many whisper: Twill fail
said that from the beginning" And
nine cases out of ten your prophecy is |
correct one. The warrior is discourae-
ed he falters, he stops, and is soon for
gotten. In little while his successor
starts in the same business but his pre-.
decessor has all the plans laid, the diff |
culties pointed out with light houses
stationed along the way TO show you the
shoals and breakers every thing is COM
menced but nothing finished the ma
chinery only lacks the starting. This
time the labOrer. succeeds. The papers
are full of his successes every one wants
to grasp his hand and offer his congratu-
lations. Hei courted and lionized by ev-
cry individual and his praises are echoed
from town to town. He gets all the
credit while the true worker is scoffed
at, neglected, and ultimately forgotten. |