LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 235 



all the knowledge he possibly can, not only for the happiness and joy it 

 affords him here, but for the additional reason that he starts out again right 

 where he leaves off. If there is one evil which is a great deal worse than 

 another it is this light reading, this fictitious literature; it is a deadly poison 

 to any youug mind. Notwithstanding, we find in most families and circulat- 

 ing libraries that the majority of the books are of this class. This is because 

 of a perverted taste in the one case, and because their books are more eagerly 

 sought after in the other. Both are doing their work much faster than all 

 the doctors of divinity can undo, and the seeds of mental disease are being 

 sown broadcast all over the land. Let fathers and mothers look to it that 

 their children are supplied with good, healthy literature. Boys and girls will 

 be satisfied with life on the farm providing they are allowed those things a 

 well directed fancy indicates. Let fathers understand that strong desires in 

 his boys disappointed at home will seek them elsewhere, and the chances are 

 that bad associations will cause an intemperate indulgence in those pastimes 

 and recreations that would otherwise have been harmless; not only so, but 

 beneficial. 



Let not this too much, my friends, 



Disturb thy honest breast; 

 This partial view of human kind, 



Is surely not the best. 



The dark side of life belongs to those who are continually making mistakes 

 without ever profiting by them, blue and sour with never a smile or kind word. 

 There are many things that perplex the farmer, and mar his happiness, most of 

 which can be remedied by becoming acquainted with the true condition of life, 

 for every human being is endowed with that which will render him happy; the 

 only difficulty is to know how to use it after he has developed it. Everything 

 we find implanted in the breast of man, we believe to be right because an All- 

 wise Being placed it there. And for every desire, he has created a correspond- 

 ing something to gratify that desire. Now, the thing for man to do is to 

 learn how to make a temperate use of those gratifications. To do this, and 

 bring them into farm life, renders the farm one of the most desirable places 

 on earth. It brings wisdom, charity, and love into the household, and makes 

 home a little Heaven. Farm life is the natural condition of the race. **Dust 

 thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," was spoken by God, of man, show- 

 ing his relations to earth to be natural. The tiller of the soil has a right, and 

 ought to be, the wisest, the most charitable, happiest, and noblest of his race. 

 For his associations are of such a character, and iiis surroundings of such a 

 nature that he is brought in continuous contact with the elements of human 

 happiness. The richest store-house for the intellect is there, geology, botany, 

 chemistry, and entomology, these afford a rich harvest for thought and study ; 

 these the children can be taught and be brought in contact with Nature's 

 laws, thereby creating in them a love for something substantial and good. 

 So employ their time that none will become disgusted with the labor in hand; 

 Give them an opportunity to gratify their desire for recreations. Furnish 

 those recreations yourself rather than to trust to a stranger in after years. 

 Keep their confidence and they will come to believe that home is the most 

 lovely spot on earth. At the base of the prosperity of any people, and especi- 

 ally that of ours, lies this great principle: Make lahor fashionaUe at home 

 by means of the powerful influences of early home education. Endeavor to 

 invest practical labor with an interest that will cheer the heart of each mem- 

 ber of the family, and thereby you will give to your household the grace. 



