Year: 1879

OF the wise and holy Maker, of the good and gra.


cious God
Men can ask few higher blessings than the power


and grit to plod,
Snowy gift may be attractive glby talk of going


to do"
But it takes the solid lifting of old Plod to put


her through"
He is mightier than all genius, greater than all


boasted skill,
Having for his inspiration an indOmitable will
Genius is passing meteor-Plod, a never setting


sun,
Where all else hath failed and tainted Plod has


Just gone in and won
He hath reared the mighty cities, with a strength


gOd-like sublime
Made highway for the nations through the ancient


hills of time
He hath made the lightning serve him. counted


stars and measured space,
Wealth and genius fairly beaten in the middle of


lifes race!
Hard to rouse and slow to action, but when PlOd


says 81 will"
He is just as sure do it as the lightning is to kill
He busy at the building of the pyramids of old
And though kings sought deathless mention it's of


PlOd their tale is told.
Never yet hath wondring pilgrim meath their


gloomy shadows trod
Without feeling and believing the Omnipotence of


Plod.
He hath yet beheld mountains where his flag he


dared not plant,
just because he didn't whimper and sit down and


say 81 can't"
In the sober days of plodding thirty, forty years
ago,
We had more of solid progress, less of tinsel and
of show
Our old mothers taught their daughters how t.
scrub sew, chun and bake
How to take turn in hayng on the load or at the
rake,
Milk and drive the cows to pasture catch and har-
up old Bill
Crack the whip and take the produce to the market
or the mill.
Never smarter, wtter lasses traded at the country
store
And they more than matched the saucy, smooth


tongued peddlers at the door
Handsomer they were and nobler in the neat and
simple dress
Than the modern lady strutting in ruffled wilder
ness.
They would rather go to meeting, sitting with a


happy smile,
In the old pung, cracked and broken than to go in


debt for style.
Not dollar would they squander, not an extra


ribbon get
Till the parlor had been furnished, and the farm
out of debt
They'd have scorned the thought of sitting dress


ed in frills and bOughten curls
While the house to ruin by pack of hired


girls;
Or to be accomplished ladies' make an organ saueal
and moan
While old foll.S LOT ond
fingers to the bone.
Yet with all this sober plodding Nature had no


richer charms
Than she gave the happy madens on the grand


New England farms
But this age of great inventions, deeper thought


and clearer light
Has produced a patent lady and Dame Fashion


holds the right
Not content with sober ploddng, tired of loafing


and unrest,
All the boys taking tickets for the prairies of


the West
And they need but small persuasion to pull up their


stakes and 20
To whesr Nature yields harvest if she's tickIed


with hoe
But I've some how got the notion, that lad with


prospects fair,
Failing in New England valleys is a failure any


where.
He may have the mildest climate, he may have the


richest sod,
But it Just amounts to nothing if he hasn't got the


plod.
1t may he the aye is giving birth to more cnlight


ened views,
But it doesn't do to farm it in a pair of patent


shoes
And it simply stands to reason that man can't


till his ground
If one half the time he's loating and the other


riding round.
Barns well shingled thriving cattle stonelcss acres


rich and broad,
Come from nothing else believe me- but the steady


sober plod.
Plod can bring back for this nation solid wealth to


farm and mart
Lay cool hand on the throbbngs of her worldly


restless heart.
Cleanse the Senate, raise the people, make them


great as they free,
Lead her on with thoughtful courage to her glor-


Gus destiny.


Y