362 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Never. While I remember that I had a mother — one of the 

 best and handsomest women that Connecticut ever produced — 

 or that I have daughters, I never shall forget how much we all 

 owe to woman. xVnd is there any position that a mother can 

 covet for her daughter, more glorious than to be the wife of an 

 honest, independent, happy farmer, in a country like this ? To 

 be the wife of a man that is looked up to by his neighbors as 

 one whose example may be safely followed — one whose farm is 

 noted, far and near, as a model of neatness and perfectness of 

 cultivation? To be the mistress of a mansion all her own, that 

 may be the envy of every passer-by, because it is so neat, pretty, 

 comfortable ; such a sweet New England cottage home ? To 

 be the angel that flits througli the garden, bidding flowers to 

 bloom, and training roses and lioneysuckles around the bed- 

 room windows; or sweetening their fragrance with her sweeter 

 smiles ; or spreading the snowy cloth beneath the shade of the 

 old oak at the door, to welcome her husband as he returns from 

 his toil ; or even tipping the cradle with her toe, while she plies 

 the dasher with her hand, or busily moves the needle, singing 

 a joyous song of praise the while, that she is the happy and well- 

 loved wife of an American farmer — one of the true and only 

 noblemen of this free land— one that should by rights rank as 

 the pride and glory of America ? 



