262 CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



The evil of retarded and discouraged investment 

 in the soil lies deep, and dates far back. It is not 

 the fault of the Farmer : he is the subject, the time- 



of his tenants ; and neglecting them, seeks his chief associa- 

 tions with men whoso tastes and avocations conform to his 

 own, practically ignoring the occupation on which he relies 

 for his support, and with which it should be his highest pride 

 to claim fellowship ; so long will he, in such position, and 

 with such practice, be, as he richly deserves to be, a sufferer 

 in purse and fortune ; in a false position to himself, and, in 

 the estimation of right thinking men, a recreant to the duties 

 of one who, living fairly up to the mark of his calling, in reality 

 holds the very highest rank in usefulness that a substantial 

 citizen can hold in any country the rank of an independent 

 landholder. 



We purpose no eulogy upon agricultural life. All under- 

 stand it ; all know what it is, who really know any thing in 

 an extended sense. But to the man of acres the large 

 landholder, it does concern him to pay far more attention 

 to his " profession " than he usually does, and what it would 

 be disgraceful and absolute ruin in the incumbent of any 

 other profession or trade in the land not to pay. In this, he 

 but simply discharges his duty to himself and his family, to 

 society, to his country, and to posterity a debt he honestly 

 owes them all, and with which he is charged by the possession 

 of a larger share of the world's goods than is meted to many 

 others no matter how, whether by the accident of birth, or 

 the exercise of his own faculties, he has acquired them. 



