Year: 1874

Under the hrst head he was sorry to be-
icve that physical manhood in America is
deteriorating. The farm affords the best
place in the world for its development, but
the boys have grown careless about sym.
metry OF form, erectness Of figure and vigor
and command Of muscle, and they either
work with such irregularity or treat their
bodies with such indifference or sap their
vital energies with destructive habits, so
that he thought it true to-day that the
average young men in tho cities, respect
ably and religiously bred, are more muscu-
lar, better formed and capable of endur.
ing aud accomplishing more than the aver
age young men on the farms. Why is it
that these boys have fiat chests, crooked
limbs and uncouth bearings? 1t is because
in too many cases they are worked too
hard by thoughtless and avaricious fathers,
when their young aud tender forms are
taking growth. In this connection he was
reminded Of two young men who were his
youthful mates. Physically his equals,
they were bent on the improvement of u
stony Farm. They went to their graves
from over work Just at the time when they
ought to have attained the perfect strength
of manhood, and to-day he owns that farm,
where the bread and high stone wall stands
as monument of their memory and the
folly of their fathers. The first thing for a
farmer to think Of, therefore, is, what
kind of bodies are the boys getting? The
stalwart man Of early New England was the
rule, and not, as now, the exception. lie
felt his strength and looked upon hardship





as its master. Tall, broad shouldcred, lean,
muscular, with grave and thoughtful
| brow, with jaws as strong as bears and
Which snapped like them upon occasion, he
was tt ancestor for more splendid race
Of men than hold these hills to-day In
looking about his home, he was sadly inn
pressed with the fact that for some reason
the boys Of Guilord are not what they were
when he was one of them seventeen years
ago.


But there is something better than the
body-it is the mind The effect of agri.
culture ought to be to make it greater.
Few men have the opportunity to good,
square and solid thinking that is the farm
ers everyday possession. His work is Of
such a nature that it does not interrupt the
operation of his mind, and if he is great
reader-as many farmers are and all should
be--thc very physical effort which he makes
will only intensity the thoughts that run
coursing through his mind and giving his
convictions the weight Of strength But
there is woeful tendency nowadays to
run into ightness, to break away from the
old way Of substantial thinking and to occu-
py the mind with ephemeral fancies and
new-iaugled notions. 1t makes men light.
1t leads them away from the dignity OF
character and into the fields Of merely SEN
sual and giddy enjoyment. This makes the
farmer boy, who is not continually restrain
ed and polished by the retinements of So
ciety, coarse, rude vulgar and profane and
turns all the grand influences of his calling
into all i'll wind that blows no good liz
was happy to say, as he looked upon this au'
dience and had mingled among them hearing
less profanity and seeing less lightness OF
character than ever on a similar occasion
before, that, fine and creditable as the fair
might be, the best showing which they made
was after all their own conduct and outward
Iy expressed character.


This outdoor life which brings n man
face to face with the armament, and makes
him feel that Gods solid earth is under his
feet, is the best Of all for moral and spiritu
al development. 1t does not inlame man.
passions 1t does not make him mean, and
selfish, and tricky. But Oh the contrary
fills his blood with the animation Of health,
and impresses his moral being with the per-
feet working of natures laws. The tenden'
cy Of these times is to turn men loose upon
a wild sea of fckleness, but the influence oI
the farm is to give them anchorage and
mooring. The rush for hasty wealth and
for great distinction is bedzzening thousands
aud leading them away from the safer and
happier ways of life. We must 90 back to
the Old way of looking at things Life i:
not a reckless game of chance. A goOl crop
does not grow in a day. The best result
can come only from careful nurture, thor
ough culture and patient waiting; No other
pursuit in the world gives man the inde'
pcndence, the feeling OF security, the health
of body, the peace of mind, aud, in all re
spects, unfold the dignity of manhood equa
to the pursuit of agriculture if followed with
reference to the end of life and not the mer,
temporzing means. In this connection Mr.
Murray counseled the boys not to 90 to the
cities. There is only one in seventy whC
meets with durable success, and with even
him the fountains of life are often sapped o
their sweetness and in ftful fever his fam,
soon burns out.


And as for fame, how brief and uusub
stautial thing it is The time has bee
when the very mention of Webster woulC
have attracted men long distances to see him
But another generation has come in, t
whom the pulsatlons Of his era bring only a
subdued sense of distant feeling and to most
of them his name stands only like some great
and branchless trunk. The time was wheI
the name of Harrison kindled bon6res on the
hill sides, but now he is remembered only as
one of the presidents Of the United States
1t is not possible that fame can come to only
a very few aud even to them it is burdeI
and sore vexation. Ask the great men o
the world to-day aud they will tell you how
gladly they would exchange applause for I
nights repose lie had himself, inside and
outside Of his church, the largest audience
perhaps, of any preacher in this country ex
, cept Mr.. Beecher, whose great name an'
, noble work no foul conspiracy could Ii
down, (murmurs Of applause) but he realizes
f only too well that his name and influence a
) preacher must soon fade away and hi
f great congregation forget him. No fame ca
live unless you link it with some great re
) form or use it for the improvement Of som
, great branch Of industry, If he could in
, troduce some better method of tillage, breed
, ing, enjoyment and culture than the method
which make the noblest pursuit Of man S
CALLING aud repulsive to the masses of yout
Q who do not know the crosses and the disap
pointments that lie in other fields, he shoul
be satisfied that he had accomplished a grea
5 work in life. Could he persuade men to thu
, think and thus labor, he should feel that h
| had not preached in vain. And again con


gratulating his audience on their good fol