The Yale expositor., 1910-01-28
S3O.ooo.oO.

collar and tie, while he is seldom guilty
of the act of polishing his boots. In
view Of such serious discrepancies, why
should any inducement be offered to
"keep the boys and girls on the farm ?"
In town made up largely of retired
| farmers no arguments should be needed,
or offered, to refute such charges.
In many respects there is no differ
ence between country life and any other
phase of human existence. The good
and the bad, the refined and the de-
graded, the educated and the ignorant.
the thrifty and the careless, the pro-
gressive and the indifferent are to be
found in all communities, whether in
country or city. No locality can be
said to have monopoly of any class.
If as our immortal Washington has
said Agriculture is the most healthful,
most useful, and the most noble EN-
ployment of man." is it reasonable to
believe that such pursuit is followed
by only the most inferior class of men
If you will turn the pages of Ameri-
can history and read the biographies of
the leading men of this nation, you can
but observe that many of our ablest
statesmen as well as our men of great
industrial capacity, began their careers
upon the farm, out in the quiet fields
with God and nature. In the early
history of our country, the man who
followed the plow took an active part
in all the affairs of state and nation.
In our own day, from all over the coun-
try, young men are being called from
the farm to occupy positions of honor
and trust.
All things considered there is no
hot ri hi faf ola hn
farmers. Did you ever hear of farmers
going on a strike because things
weren't managed to suit them? Or
did you ever know of farmers forming
trust to defraud the public or the
government, or anybody else, of any.
thing due them?
1t is said by some well-informed men
that Nathaniel, one of the disciples of
our Lord, was a farmer, and you will
remember that it was of him that the
Master said, "Behold an Israelite in
deed, in whom is no guile" In other
words, he was an honest man, neither
crafty nor treacherous. If as some be-
lieve, the disciples were chosen as
representatives OF different classes of
men, should not the farmer be glad to
have such representative as Nathan
iel? Then, too, the first man created
was tiller of the soil, and ain His
own image God created him." and God
said of him that he was every good"
"Now list to the story L tell you
OF a life that is Joyous and bright,
OF employment in concord with nature,
Where pleasures with labor unite;
1t is true, it is somewhat old fashioned,
You may think it is quite out of date,
For, say, was not Adam a farmer,
And toiled for the bread that he ate?
Yes, the very first man was farmer,
And toiled that the grain it might grow
In the beautiful garden of Eden
So many long ages ago.
While man was in purity living,
And knew not the nature of sin,
Then to farm was his sole occupation
His duty. Gods favor to win;
But when he was from Paradise driven,
When he from his innocence fell,
| Then turned he to other devices;
Then thought he to buy and to sell.
If man would go back to that Eden,
Which he in his innocence trod,
Let him go to the farm and to nature,
And renew his Communion with God;
| When he turns from the farm to the city,
He finds all things evil and vain;
He encounters temptation and trial,
And Paradise loses again."
We are told that "rural life is lacking
in those things which aid in giving
breadth of education; that in the larger
cities and towns the schools and Ii
braries afford much greater educational
advantages than can be had in the
country" To certain extent this is
true, but is it not equally true that the
student who is born and bred in the
city alone, lacks the knowledge of
nature necessary to well rounded ed
ucation? And is 1t not also true, that
the farm affords'an unparalleled oppor-
| tunity for acquiring much information
not to be found in books? Then, too,
our up-to-date country schools are not
to be despsed; and with conditions in
the country more conductive to health,
the student is less apt to acquire his ed
ucation at the sacrifice of his physical
well-being.
Let no one mistake this for an argu-
ment against higher education for the
country youth. AS our Colleges and
Universities are open alike to students
from city and country, let the country
youth have college education If pos
sible, but let him be sure that he will
seldom find himself at disadvantage
because of his early training in the
country, il he has made the most of his
opportunities there. The farm boy
lacks chiefly knowledge of the ways
of dealing with others, which comes
from contact with the world; but the
city boy lacks knowledge of the real
things of life, which comes alone from
contact with nature.
have no desire to underrate the
people of the city. Each one in his
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