BREEDING THE TROTTER 



tion to what I consider the best eulogy written 

 on this famous establishment. It was penned 

 by Rev. Andrew M. Shea, of Ames, la., one of our 

 patrons, and was published, I think, in the Spirit 

 of the West, of Des Moines, la., but is deserving of 

 a wider circulation. I am sorry there is not space 

 here to print the entire article, excerpts from 

 which follow : 



" Life is full of pathos. Change and decay 

 characterize our journey between birth and judg- 

 ment. In obedience to this principle everything 

 advances, either in an increasing or a decreasing 

 series. The solid granite gradually crumbles into 

 dust ; the tall oak of the forest is first a tender 

 shoot, then a green sapling, until, ultimately, it is 

 succeeded by decay. So with the institutions of 

 man they are first seen in the tenderness of in- 

 fancy, then in the beauty of youth, then in the 

 strength of maturity, till age steals on apace, 

 impairing their beauty, wasting their freshness 

 and destroying their strength, till, bowing under 

 the weight of infirmities or ceasing to be among 

 men, their day has become night and their mis- 

 sion history. The experiences and enterprises 

 of Leland Stanford, Robert Bonner and J. Mal- 

 colm Forbes constitute personal illustrations of 

 this transitory life. And now comes the announce- 

 ment of the absolute dispersal of Village 

 Farm, and though Mr. Cicero J. Hamlin, its dis- 

 tinguished founder, at least as great, if not indeed 

 the greatest Roman of them all, still lingers this 

 side of the portals of the grave, it is appar- 



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