1846.] Rural Life. 85 



property sufficient to enable them to leave the cares and anxie- 

 ties of business, and purchase peace and enjoyment in rural re- 

 tirement. Many favorites of fortune, in our city, have acted 

 wisely in making secure what they had gained, and have retired 

 to the country. Some have selected places on the banks of the 

 noble and majestic Hudson, while others have retired to the more 

 quiet and secluded shade, of hill and dale, darkened forests and 

 golden fields; around their dwellings the delicate and gay of 

 Flora's kingdom have displayed all their beauty and richness; the 

 cool and refreshing shade, the luscious and fully ripened fruit, the 

 growing grass, the waving fields of golden grain, the bleating 

 flocks, the lowing herds, have all lent their aid in the purchase of 

 happiness. But, alas! a void is often felt in the restless heart of 

 the possessor, and this feeling too generally prevails. The active 

 merchant finds the routine of country life too dull, he must either 

 return to the city, run the risk of mercantile speculation, or he 

 must support a house in town for occupancy in the winter months. 

 In nine cases out of ten, they often lose all and die in want. But, 

 let me ask, why is it that country life is so insupportable to fami- 

 lies grown rich in the city? Has rural scenery lost its charms? 

 No: not to those of properly cultivated minds. 



Within a few years the occupation of a farmer has been ele- 

 vated in general estimation; a residence in the country has be- 

 come more desirable among those w^ho have accumulated fortunes 

 in other pursuits, and a taste for useful and ornamental culture 

 evinced, which are full of promise for the future. 



The enjoyment to be derived from a residence in the countiy 

 depends principally on a knowledge of the resources which a farm, 

 however small, is capable of affording. The benefits experienced 

 by breathing air unconfined by close streets of houses, and uncon- 

 taminated by the smoke of chimneys; the cheerful aspect of vege- 

 tation; the singing of birds in their season; and the enlivening 

 eff^ect of finding ourselves unpent up by buildings, and in compa- 

 ratively unlimited space, are felt by most people; but it requires 

 some little knowledge of the process or decline of vegetation 

 throughout the year, and of rural nature generally, to be enabled 



