The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-26
THE FARMER OF
ANCIENT TINES

iattened with acorns: the woods yield
their nuts; and the autumn lays down
us manw products: while high
on the sunny rocks the mild vim
tage has ripened. Meanwhile the
sweet babes Irvine around their par
ents' necks: his chaste family main
tain their purity: the COWS hang low
kids wrestlc together with butting
horns on the festal green.
This life Of old the ancient Sa-
bines led: this Remus and his brother
strlctly observed; thus I5turia grew in
strength. and thus too did Rome be-
come the glory and beauty of the
world: and alone and unaided hath
walls" ,
Alas! in the days of Nero. the Ac-
cursed: the hybrid citizens Of Rome
were Wallpapers and half faction
aries. who demanded their daily bread
ana public entertainments, and varied
the monotony of their lives by rob
oerS and assassination. and sporadic
consptracies and rcvolutins. Fed by
the plumber Of distant lands. the real
strength Of the mistress Of the world
lay In the discipline and valor Of the
slona whose boast was that of the
warrior Iiybrlas. preserved by Athen-
aeus:
MY wealth is here. the sword, the
spear. the breast-defending
shield
with this I plow. with this ! SOW, with
WV, this reap tho field,
with this l tread the luscious grape
A. n drink the blood-red wine.
ana slaves around in order wait, and
all are counted mine.
But he that will not rear the lance
upon the battlefield.
on knee must worship ME with
servile head adored
And peal the cry of honor high, and
nail me mighty lord.
But already. a host of mercenaries.
outnumbering by far the genuine
roman contingent. were becoming 4
source OF DANCE to emperor and con-
back to free peoples the skill they had
acquired under their conauerors.
Ihere in the German and Gothic fast
ncsses. among 4 strong and free, peo-
pie. was gathering the war-storm
winch in due season was to overthrow
the Roman empire. falling of its own
weight: and the cruel and sordid pol
'cles OF an ~aristrocracy drunken and
mlsled with wealth. power and lux
ury.
Among the Gauls. too, the genius
and fearlessness of the race had been
preserved in myriads of homes by the
simple life and healthful labors Of the
aEriculturalist. Methods change slow
~ with such a people. and the tradi-
tions and history, the songs and the
of a, nation find there a Holy
OF Holes in which the ark of the ma
tlonai convrnant. with loyalty and de-
Notion, is kept sacred and unforgot-
ten. while the millions Of the cities
despise and forget everything but the
pursuit OF wealth, social and political
prominence and pleasure; to he in
TURN sometimes dcsrised. and nearly
al~ays FORGOTTEN. The agriculture
and productions Of southern Gaul
were like those of Italy, except that
the fig and olive were seldom c%ultivat-
ed even along the Mediterranean
coast.
Britain. under the Romans. was
largely Latinized. except in Wales,
where the CONTAMINATION is still an
aboriginal inhabitant. North of the
Roman wall the Pict and Scot held
the wilderness. or joined the Saxon
and Norsemal1. when they came to
harry the Roman and British settle
ments.
Where the remnants Of the British
held their villages unshared by the
invader. the lands were largely held
in common tenancy here an acre and
there an acre. each holder having IL
practical and exclusive right of tenure
until the fertility of the piece was en-
hausted, and it was abandoned for
another allotment.
Grain was the chief crop, although
many of the Italian vegetables had
been introduced locally. Salads and
pot-herbs were less generally used
than on the continent and this is still
true Of the English of today. Eut the
farmers of the British Isles. then as
now. furnished the warlike levics
which from time to time helped the
dwindling legions to keep back the
Scottish mountaineers and the nor
thern corsairs along the coast.
They too were Il simple and agri-
cultural people. so far as their nor
thern latitude allowed it. and chief
tain and kinslet wrought with sickle
and vain when need pressed without
any sense or thought of lost or inn
paired dignity.
Many curious legends and traditions
show very clearly. that although
slaves taken in war. and ceorls or serfs
were known in both Gaul and Britain,
was much more generus and humane
than the cruel and utter control Of
the Italian S1aHe.OUner