Norwich bulletin., 1909-11-27

(written Specially for The Bulletin,
 If ever I get deep enough into The Bulletin secrets to have disclosed tC me the identity of The Man WhC Talks I am going to hunt him up. As the talking Farmer I shall promptly punch his head" This for the excel lent reason that in The Bulletin Of Nov. 13 he openly and in the reading of about five times 7,773 Bulletin sub seribers conveyed, took unto himself made use of and purloined the whole of my text for this weeks talk.
 But l shall punch very gently, be- cause if, as I suspect, he's a bigger man than I, it won't do to start hlm punching back. Also because my sec ond impulse will be to grasp his hand and shake 1t till 1t glows and slap ms back till 1t tingles in congratulatlon on his wisdom and good ideals. Hunt up that Bulletin of the 18th and read over again his second paragraph about the sacredness of a promise. The sacredness of a promise is not felt in everyday life as it should be. '. Some people do not realize that promise should be made with caution, and kept with care" Well, I should say not You remember the story of the Glasgow minister in the olden time who, having had some recent ex- periences with promise breakers, rose in his pulpit the next Sunday morn ing and read the 116th Psalm. When he came to the verse which runs: T said in my haste all men are liars" the dominic paused and. looking over his spectacles at his congregation, shook his head. "Ah, Dauvid, Dauvid," said he, '11ad ye lived in Glasgie, ye might ha' said it at yer leisure" My fellow contributors some people, makes me think of that story. Like David, have sometimes said ''in my haste" Doesn't anybody keep his word any more?"
 Indeed, l think we in the country are worse in this respect than people of the towns. It seems to be a pecu- liariy rural fault. It is one from which farmers suffer as much if not more than any other class. Alas, for the converse; 1t Is also one of which l think we are more often guilty. Some of my farming neighbors who at the outset, perhaps, were fairly careful about keeping their own promises, have been so often and so needlessly dis appointed by those with whom they hold engagements that they seem to have become infected with the conta- zion. Their reasoning, apparently, is that if other people callously break en- agreements with them, they ought to be allowed to break theirs with others. Of course this isn't so; so, other other mans fault excuses them; but that's the way I've had some of them talk to me. anyway. They seem to find, if not an excuse, at least some sort of ex- planation in this line of reasoning.
 As you may have noticed, I'm a great believer in experience meetings" Let me tell you just a few recent experi- ences along this line:
 Some weeks since a man came to me in a great hurry for some fence posts. He wanted them of a specified size and length, all of a certain wood. He knew had them; couldn't I get them out for him at once? It happened that knew he really did need them, and so promised to get him out his four hundred posts. We were fairly busy.I fin the gardens, but by careful plan ming managed, using bad days and odds and ends of days, to get out his order on time. q shall send my team after them Tuesday" he said. To get the last of them we had to neglect some of our own work on Monday, but we did it. Tuesday came, but no team Wednesday, but no team. The posts were not sent for till the second week thereafter. I'll pay for them before a single one is taken was his last
 
 weeks since the last post went-and I've heard no more about pay. Oh, I'm not worrying, for he is perfectly good" But suppose, on the strength of his promise to pay for the posts. I had promised to pay some creditor of mine. relying on the post money? Where would I have been? Tn the soup"-hot soup, tool
 Last summer 1 ordered a new har- ness. I wanted good one, hand made and of selected leather. '"Take your time for it," said to the harness man, but tell me now the very latest date on which you can be absolutely sure to have 1t for me. Take time enough, but don't disappoint me when the time you set comes round" He thought it over. I'll probably have it done in four weeks make it six weeks and I'll be perfectly sure" I never wsnl to his shop to ask for harness till the last day of his six weeks Then ! found the headstalIs done-the rest of the harness was not ready for four weeks more. had been saving money from other uses to pay for that har- ness on the spot. I had suffered some