Rural Economy in New England 375 



The craving for stimulants with its disastrous results on the for- 

 tunes of individuals and on the general moral tone of the community 

 proceeded partly from the coarse and unvaried diet of the farming 

 population, and probably to a larger extent, from a desire to relieve 

 at least temporarily the dreary monotony of village life. There 

 are always two opposing views current among the older generation 

 concerning the relative virtues of their early days as compared with 

 the conditions which they see about them in their declining years. 

 Some look back to a sort of Golden Age and view all the features of 

 the past through rose-colored spectacles. Others with a more opti- 

 mistic frame of mind are quite willing to admit that the passage of 

 the years has brought improvement along many lines and do not 

 hesitate to glory in the progress that has been achieved under their 

 eyes during a long life. One of the best sources of information con- 

 cerning the character of social life in the inland towns a century ago 

 are the memorial discourses delivered upon the centennial and other 

 anniversary celebrations of the inland towns and of their churches. 

 In these discourses we find both of the opposing views presented. 

 There are probably elements of truth in both, but as far as the general 

 features of social life are concerned and their effect in stimulating 

 or in depressing the individual, the latter view seems to be more in 

 accord with the facts as we know them. 



The Rev. Mr. Storrs, in reviewing a pastorate of fifty years in the 

 town of Braintree, Mass., said: "And when it is remembered that 

 fifty years ago, and for many after years, no post office blessed the 

 town, nor public conveyance for letters, papers, or persons, was to 

 be had, even semi- weekly, except through villages two miles distant; 

 that but for the occasional rumbling of a butcher's cart, or a trades- 

 man's wagon, the fall of the hammer on the lap-stone, or the call of 

 the plowman to his refractory team, our streets had well nigh rivaled 

 the graveyard in silence, it can scarcely surprise one, that our knowl- 

 edge of the outer world was imperfect, nor that general intelligence 

 and enterprise was held at a discount; and if powder, kettle drums, 

 and conch-shells, proclaimed the celebration of a wedding; or if 

 wine, and 'spirits more dangerous than any from the vasty deep,' 

 were imbibed at funerals to quiet the nerves and move the lachrymals 

 of attendants; or if rowdyism and fisticuffs triumphed over law and 

 order on town meeting, muster and election days, .... it was 

 but the legitimate outflow of combined ignorance and heaven daring 



