1857.] Chronicles of a Clay Farm. 537 



needing problems ! If it be Mind that acts upon Matter, what is it 

 that acts upon Mind? Surely Motive and Interest, and that As- 

 surance of Results, which the most ordinary prudence demands, and 

 the most buoyant energy feeds upon — or dies. 



" Well may a bold experiment startle minds which have been 

 drilled into the habit, because into the necessity, of contracting 

 every prospect, every out-lay, every mental conception, within the 

 compass of an ' agreement for a year !' If there is an attribute 

 which more than others marks the distinction of the human mind, 

 from that of the lower animal creation, it is that it looks forward ; 

 if there is an art that more than others demands the powerful and 

 prolonged exercise of this faculty, it is — Education. Does the pen 

 need to draw the conclusion ? Can the reader of ' Sermons in Stones' 

 decipher no Leases in Clods, no schools of instruction in ' Calx, 

 Silex, and Alumen?'" 



Winter, however, like adversity, has a surprisingly improving in- 

 fluence upon thingsmade of Clay. As each little thaw toward 



spring-time, came and went, the gradual process of granulation had 

 broken down the once wet and reeking spadefuls into the form of 

 dry, loose Mole-heaps. As the tines of the harrow jumped and 

 danced freely through the mingling mass, what a changed appear- 

 ance was left behind ! a dry, rich, earthy scent, sweeter than the 

 breath of an Orange-grove, or the evening incense of the hay-field, 

 rose gratefully up to meet the fresh morning beams that shot their 

 influence /or the first time on the new face of an old field ; the busy 

 gossamer drew its glittering net-work from point to point in a thou- 

 sand geometrical forms over the level surface. 



" Well ! I never thought to see it look like this ! I should think 

 any thing would grow here !" 



Such was the remark I overheard. I suppose it came from one 

 of the horses ; they were the only living things present that were 

 not pledged to an opposite opinion. The observation, however, if 

 ill-timed ; it chimed in with the thoughts that were tumbling over 

 each other in theoretical confusion through the brain of the incur- 

 able Chronicler. What would have been thought of him had he 

 dared to utter them aloud, as they came and went in this strange 

 fashion — 



" The Protoxide into the Peroxide! ha! a beautiful change that 

 Clay, Sand, Peat— and Marl too! a goodly compound. How is it 

 that a sort of instinct seems to anticipate the conclusions of science 



