348 



gree, upon the infusion of fresh and vigorous inhabitants from the 

 open country. 



Life in the fields is formidable to independence. "Where great num- 

 bers of men are crowded within a few square miles, custom becomes 

 law, and fashion a tyrant. A few of the gifted, or wealthy, utt«r all 

 the original ideas, and perform all the spontaneous acts. The vocation 

 of the rest is to echo and to imitate. Not so with the farmer — he is, 

 almost literally, his own master. -His individuality is in little danger 

 of being so rounded by this fashion, and so squared by that conformi- 

 ty as to be entirely and forever lost. Ruler of his little domain, he ac- 

 quires the dignity and the repose of a sovereign. Dependent only up- 

 on an annual market, where he is morally certain of a living price, if 

 out of debt, he asks no favor of banks, tariff, or dispenser of official pat- 

 ronage. He thinks for himself, and he dares to act accordmg to his 

 own standard of propriety and rectitude. I know that this rustic inde- 

 pendence is sometimes annoying, but in a world of imitation where sin- 

 gularity is considered worse than sinfulness, some decision of character 

 is considered refreshing. 



The country is the peculiar abode, the favorite home of freedom. I 

 -would not wrong the town. I remember many acts of courage, and 

 self-sacrifice, in the cause of human rights, performed by men who ex- 

 changed the pen for the sword ; but I assert a well known fact when I 

 say that liberal principles fare best in the open land. The battles of 

 the Revolution were fought and won by patriot farmers, and at this day, 

 when the money power is so dominant, when it sways the Senate, and 

 awes the pulpit, making peace or war at its nod, and treating eternal 

 justice as of less importance than the market, I thank God that in the 

 country, where men are enriched and ennobled by simple habits and 

 honorable toil, where the heart can keep its sympathies fresh, and its 

 fountains of mercy unsealed and unchoked, there is still some regard for 

 divine laws. 



" That there at least an earnest sense, 

 of human right and weal is shown; 

 A hate of tyranny intense, 



And hearty in its vehemence, 

 As if a brother's pain or sorrow were one's own." 



Yes, the farmer's fireside is a school of freedom. The farmer's heart 

 is true to humanity. While it continues to beat with strong and gener- 



