No. 112. 1 519 



'Communed directly with his God. In that garden was no lawy^ 

 for in following out the peaceful duties of his vocation, Adam had 

 no claims to settle. In that garden was no doctor, for the labor 

 of his hand gave health and strength to Adam, and the invigorat- 

 ing influence of rural pursuits gave a tone to body and mind that 

 rendered the occupation of the doctor useless. Thus it will be 

 seen that what are now considered by many, the noblest -and 

 greatest occupation, had no place in the early day of man. First 

 was the agriculturist, next the mechanic. First the producer, 

 then the consumers, in the thousand varying branches of society, 

 as the world became peopled, from the small shop keeper to the 

 king upon the throne. And alas ! some have been consumers 

 indeed, idle bees in the great hive of men, living upon the accumu. 

 lated kbor and toil of past generations, the few wresting by the 

 sword and the bayonet, the hard earnings of many handed labor. 

 But to return. As rural life was the first of God's ordinations to 

 man, we are led to look to it as containing the germs at least of 

 many valua])le things. Let us endeavor to trace out some of its 

 influences; and first its influence on health. The efifect of rural 

 life upon the health of man has been so often made a subject of 

 panegyjic, and has l>ecome so settled a point that I presume little 

 need be siid in support of it here. We need but point to the in- 

 habitants of the great cities, flying to the country for health and 

 strength, for rest and repose ; we need but compare the p^le faces 

 of the city children with the ruddy countenances of our country 

 boys and girls, to satisfy ourselves that the general opinion is true 

 that rural life is most conducive to health. But more than this, 

 recent statistics show that while with many occupations the aver- 

 age length of life is about forty-five, that of farmers, who foriu a 

 large part of the rural population is sixty-five. If long life is gene- 

 rally the result of steady liabits, regular h i rs, active exerci t and 

 a (pact mind, tliese statistics iH'ove much for a rural life. 



We pass now tu the influence of rural life upon character, and 

 hero I must he understood to moan by character, the development 

 of the physic. il, intellectual, and moral qualities of man. There 

 are certain tendencies in the coarse of human events true alike 

 of nations and of individu.ils ; these tendencies history unfolds to 

 us, and he wlio has read the history of the past carefully and at- 



