1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



411 



of the many readers of the Farmer, who knew 

 nothing of the man, and too much of those few 

 friends and acquaintances, to most of whom the 

 success and prosperity of Mr. Carlton were much 

 better known than his early struggles with the 

 "poverty," the "ignorance," and the "slavery" of 

 labor which stand out so prominently in the picture 

 as it is looked upon from the stand-point of "A 

 Farmer's Son." For such readers, and for the 

 credit of farming, it might have been well had he 

 spoken more fully, as we are assured he most truth- 

 fully might have done, of the long career of pros- 

 perity which Mr. Carlton enjoyed after the obsta- 

 cles that beset his early life were surmounted. But 

 this was what the feelings of the writer of that sketch, 

 and the known wishes of the family of his respect- 

 ed relative, prompted him to avoid. And we can 

 hardly believe that many will agree with our young 

 friend, that this biography is calculated to disheart- 

 en the young farmei*. Commencing life without 

 any capital at all, with much poorer advantages 

 of education than are now enjoyed in all parts of 

 New England, he became an intelligent, indepen- 

 dent citizen, discharging with marked efficiency 

 and faithfulness the various duties which that term 

 implies, as a town officer, a juror, and a representa- 

 tive in the Legislature of his State, — it does appear 

 to us that the history of Mr. Carlton affords a 

 most encouraging example and stimulant to tlie 

 youth of our country. Especially from the fact that 

 during his last illness, when he looked upon the 

 past with the same calmness that he did upon the 

 future, and had time to review fully the hardships 

 of his life, which have so disheartened our young 

 friend, he deliberately advised an only son to re- 

 main a farmer. 



But, says our young friend, "he had to work 

 hard." Ah, there it is ! "From sun to sun." Now 

 we admit that farmers do and must work hard. It 

 were worse than useless to deny or disguise that 

 fact. Not the farmer merely, but all his family 

 must work ; not occasionally onl)', but as a general 

 rule, year in and year out. Nor may he hope to 

 succeed unless he act upon the principle expressed 

 by the adage, "a penny saved is two pence clear," 

 which seems to he regarded by "A Farmer's Son" 

 as a dire necessity. 



Admitting, then, the full force of this objection 

 to farming, what shall we reply ? How shall we 

 induce our spirited young friend to "bend his neck" 

 to this "downright slavery ?" Shall we assure him 

 that as he perseveres, labor will grow less irksome ; 

 as it becomes a habit, it will become a second na- 

 ture ; as his neck gets calloused, the yoke will feel 

 lighter ? However much truth there may be in 

 these assurances — and we believe there is very 

 much — we fear they will not satisfy him. We pre- 

 fer to put him on the defensive, by asking, what av- 

 ocation will exempt you from the sad necessity of 



labor ? What path to excellence goes rovmd all 

 toil, all hard work, all drudgery ? The first mile- 

 post on that road is the philosopher's stone, but 

 none have ever reached it yet — none ever will. — 

 Property is the product of labor; and what right 

 have 3'ou, my friend, to the one, while you with- 

 hold the other ? If you produce nothing yourself, 

 nor add anything to the comfort and convenience 

 of those who do produce, what right have you to 

 enjoy the results of their labors ? In more direct 

 terms, are you not guilty of a wrong — a crime — in 

 seeking for any means by which to live without 

 work? in even urging hard work as an objection 

 against flirming ? You would probably shudder at 

 the imputation of sharing the spirit of the gambler, 

 the thief, or the robber ; yet what but the simple 

 desire to live without work — a desire too often re- 

 garded as perfectly innocent — impels to these 

 crimes ? 



Perhaps from this point we look upon the dark 

 side of the picture ; but in all earnestness we de- 

 sire to caution the youth of our land against the 

 dangers of indulging the idea of linng without 

 work, and of forgetting that "he that gathereth by 

 labor shall increase," while "wealth gotten by vani- 

 ty shall be diminished." 



But probably all this has little application to the 

 case of "A Farmer's Son," as he may be looking to 

 some of the many industrial and useful avocations 

 in which the dignity and importance of labor are 

 as fully recognized as upon the farm. In respect 

 to the comparative inducements of these branches 

 of industry and those of agriculture, we should be 

 glad to extend our remarks, but do not propose 

 doing so at this time, and will now only refer to the 

 many articles which have been pubHshed in the 

 Fanner on this subject. 



We must, however, notice another remark of our 

 young friend. He asks, "Who would desire to be 

 a farmer without capital ?" Now, while we admit 

 the great want of capital in farming, we may ask, 

 in reply, in what avocation is not capital needed ? 

 As a merchant, as a manufacturer, or as a mechan- 

 ic, what can he do without capital, except to labor 

 or serve as a clerk, agent or journeyman ? How 

 many thousands of factory operatives and other 

 "hands" contribute to the wealth of every Amos 

 Lawrence, we have no means of judging; but we 

 saw it stated not long since, that Mr. Chickering, 

 the celebrated piano-manufacturer of Boston, em- 

 ployed about three hundred men, and had some five 

 hundred thousand dollars invested in his business. 

 A bare printing-press for one of the daily papers of 

 this city is said to have cost twenty thousand dol- 

 lars. Then, why not work a few years as a jour- 

 neyman farmer, as well as a journeyman merchant 

 or mechanic ? As a general rule, we have no 

 doubt that the journeyman farmer lays up money 

 faster than tlio clerk or mechanic, although "the 



