THE FARMER. 395 



eternal homo ? Hq bows reverently to this groat idea ; and if 

 he finds in his heart of hearts the call from Sinai and Calvary, 

 he must obey it. He hath heard it not. He finds not in his 

 wrestling the prevailing faith to bear him forward throngh the 

 hours of want and dependence, of struggling and patient toil. 

 Finding this, he does not aspire to this most responsible calling. 



The law is a noble profession when laboriously and honor- 

 ably pursued, but he has the sense to discover that no profes- 

 sion Avill be more exacting upon his time, talents and health ; 

 that the law is "a severe and most jealous mistress," tolerating 

 no other, demanding the patient, laborious, unending examina- 

 tion, of all the details and complications of every business 

 transaction of human life. The more eminent does the lawyer 

 become in his profession, the greater, the more exhausting is 

 the tax upon his time and strength ; and the memory of his 

 most valued efforts perishes with the occasion which called them 

 forth. 



The benign and grateful profession of the healing art ? He 

 knows that the successful practice of this profession must demand 

 the study and memory of a vast variety of principles and rules, 

 gTcat discipline of judgment in applying them to the varieties 

 of particular cases, exposure by night and by day, living in an 

 atmosphere of pain and agony, the sense of great responsibility, 

 the necessity of exhausting labor. 



He knows that in all the professions, his compensation can 

 only be for his own labor, that he can have profit in no way 

 from the labor of others ; and that all his earnings in the aggre- 

 gate can furnish little more than the means of supporting and 

 educating his family. Yet if he finds his heart yearning to- 

 wards any one of these learned professions, he will neither 

 rebuke nor discourage the desire ; for they will lead him along 

 high intellectual paths, will develop the noblest powers of his 

 intellect, and give him opportunity, in high social position, to 

 enjoy and appreciate the treasures of the leading intellects of 

 mankind. 



But his eye has already passed from these brilliant but diffi- 

 cult paths. It rests now upon the great broad highway of 

 manufacturing and commercial industry. Here are the won- 

 ders of art and machinery. Here is the wide field of mechan- 

 ical invention ; the enticing chances of speculation, the 



