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intellectual and moral advancement. In earlier times and 

 other lands, men were counted in the aggregate. They were 

 valued as they helped to swell the revenues or retinues of kings 

 and nobles. The government was the unit, and each individual 

 only added one to the roll of soldiers or serfs. With us, 

 the individual is the unit and the government is for the people 

 as well as by the people. 



It is a good omen that public interest in the embellishments 

 of rural homes and villages is widely extending, and that the 

 varied charms of the country with its superior advantages for 

 the physical and moral training of children are attracting many 

 thoughtful men to the simpler enjoyments and employments of 

 rural life. With the growth of public taste the day is not 

 distant when beautiful country seats and villages will abound 

 throughout Connecticut. Dr. Bushnell, with his keen observa- 

 tion and intense love of rural scenery was wont to say, "No 

 part of our country between the two oceans is susceptible of 

 greater external beauty than Connecticut." A taste for rural 

 adornment is a source of physical, mental and moral health 

 as well as enjoyment. The parentage of parks, lawns, trees, 

 flowers, vines and shrubs becomes a matter of just pride and 

 binds one to the spot he has adorned. 



The hankering for city diversions and excitements, and am- 

 bition for easier lives and more genteel employments have 

 brought ruin to multitudes and financial disaster to the nation. 

 A great peril to the land to-day comes from the swelling 

 throngs, ranging from the reckless tramp to the fashionable 

 idler, who are ever devising expedients, foul or fair, to get 

 a living without work. The disparagement of country life has 

 been one of the worst tendencies of the times. 



Every influence should therefore be combined to foster 

 home attachments, for there is protection as well as education 

 in the fervent love of home with its sacred associations. Patri- 

 otism itself hinges on the domestic sentiments. When one's 

 home becomes the Eden of taste and interest and joy, those 

 healthful local ties are formed which bind him first and most to 

 the spot he has embellished, and then to his town, his State 

 and country. Whatever adorns one's home and ennobles his 

 domestic life, strengthens his love of country and nurtures all 



