RURAL LIFE. 



109 



To hlin who has the taste to seek and 

 search into the wonders and beauties, which 

 every vegetable in daily use contains in the 

 principle of its existence, the life of the culti- 

 vator of the soil can never be dull or insipid, 

 though it be passed in seclusion. As the cul- 

 ture of the soil must always be the occupa- 

 tion of the great mass of the human race, it is 

 wisely and bountifully ordered by Providence 

 that " the earth shall yield her fruits," on 

 such simple conditions as to repuire but slight 

 exertion of intellectual power ; and we ac- 

 cordingly find, from time immemorial, that a 

 large portion of the agricultural population is 

 composed of very ignorant people. " How 

 can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, 

 and glorieth in the goad ; that driveth oxen 

 and is occupied in their labors, and whose 

 talk is of bullocks ? He giveth his mind to 

 make furrows, and is dilligent to give the 

 kine fodder," 



These words were written two thousand 

 years ago ; and though the common school 

 system is somewhat improved since then — to 

 say nothing of the equivocal blessings of cheap 

 literature — there is still a large class of til- 

 lers of the soil to whom they may justly be 

 applied. Early habit has inured them to 

 hard labor and rough fare ; and their wants 

 being but little above those of their own cat- 

 tle, their state of existence is not very dif- 

 ferent. They plough, and sow, and reap, as 

 their fathers have done before them, and look 

 with suspicious eye on any innovation upon 

 «stablished customs. 



On the other hand, the philosopher who de- 

 Tights to fathom the mysteries of the natural 

 ^orld, finds in the culture of the soil an end- 

 less field for scientific research, whilst he also 

 finds that the increased returns which result 

 from the application of the principles he dis- 

 covers, enable him to surround himself with 

 many more of the comforts of life, which to 

 him are necessaries, than the clown who could 



not appreciate if he had them. The position 

 of such a man, I take to be one of the highest 

 and most dignified, as it is the most natural, 

 in which man can be placed ; and though there 

 are few whose natural capacities, or whose 

 opportunities of acquirement enable them to 

 reach the highest standard in this character, 

 yet there are thousands of hardy sons of the 

 soil scattered over the length and breadth of 

 our land, who, without other means of improve- 

 ment than are within the reach of all, have 

 yet raised themselves so far above the clown- 

 ish stupidity of the class I first named, as to 

 command the respect of all whose respect is 

 worth having. In every rural community 

 may be found representatives of this class, — 

 men who read, and digest what they read, — 

 men who think for themselves, and in whose 

 conversation the wisest may find pleasure and 

 instruction. They are not men to put them- 

 selves forward ; but he who seeks, will find 

 them enjoying the comforts and fighting the 

 battles of life in comparative seclusion, but 

 with none the less earnestness. They are 

 practical philosophers, though perhaps they 

 know it not themselves, and are noiselessly 

 pursuing such a natural mode of life as many 

 a social reformer is endeavoring to bring 

 about with a vast amount of cumbersome ma- 

 chinery. They feel no want of other sources 

 of happiness than are within their reach ; for 

 their taste for pure and simple pleasures has 

 not been vitiated by the stimulants of fashion, 

 or the excitement of speculation. 



The man whose life has been passed in the 

 din and turmoil of the city, looks often with 

 longing eyes to the quiet repose of the coun- 

 try, and fancies that he too would be happy 

 in such rural scenes. Perhaps the memory 

 of a childish home among the hills, to whose 

 tranquility he would fain return, adds a gild- 

 ing to the picture ; but how often, on attempt- 

 ing to realise his dream, does he find that h( 

 has grasped a shadow ; and yet, it is not th(^ 



