22 MAINE STATE SOCIETY. 



good, " indeed, — to pass this period in peace ; to enjoy in it the 

 smiles of the verdant earth, and the benignant sky, the love and 

 honor of those of kindred blood, and according minds ; and in the 

 mellow hour of the setting sun, to be " gathered to their fathers. " 

 But let none be driven from these homes by the force of such cir- 

 cumstances, or the power of such influences, as I have referred to. 

 There ought to be no occasion for an exodus of this character. 

 Though you live in a house built of logs, you have the means, and 

 you ought to have the disposition, to make it an attractive home. 

 There may be room, a place for every thing, and every thing in its 

 place, neatness and beauty, the indications of intelligence and refine- 

 ment, within ; there may be trees, and vines, and flowers, -and a 

 charming arrangement of barns, and sheds, and lands, without ; and 

 both within and without, the things of utility and beauty will be 

 wisely blended ; and seasons set apart for toil and pleasure, or for 

 manual labor and mental improvement, and enjoyment will come 

 with proper and agreeable alternation. I have known young men 

 and young women, in such a home, who would grace any sphere in 

 life. They were wise enough to comprehend and to appreciate the 

 advantages and attractions of their situation. I have known others, 

 in apparently better circumstances, who, because the show of every 

 thing around them was perpetually stern, hard and repulsive, and 

 the sound of every voice they heard was metallic and discouraging, 

 were never animated by noble thoughts, or hopeful with great ideas, 

 or cheerful in the Avork of the field, or happy in the converse and 

 the repose of the table, or the fire-side. I remember a young man, 

 the son of a farmer, "who, on account of what he deemed the slavery 

 and unprofitableness of tilling the soil, and the disagreeableness of 

 being confined to the habits, the dullness, and the meniality of 

 agricultural life, when he attained his twenty-first year, left his 

 home, and, after a fortnight's vain endeavor, returned in great sor- 

 row, because no one had hired him to scour the country around with 

 a horse and cart, as a tin-pedlar. He but got relief from his disap- 

 pointment, at length, by learning to peg the soles to the upper-leather 

 of coarse brogans, and occupying a back, unfinished room, in his 

 father's house, in this vocation. I refer to this case, because it is a 

 striking one, and because similar ones are not uncommon, and be- 

 cause the ncedlessncss and the folly of the example, you will readily 



