46 



NEW EN « LAIN D FARMER, 



Aug. 24, 1831, 



^mw ^Ti^ii^m^i i^iissaissa 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUG. 24, 1831. 



FARMERS AND FARMERS' DAUGHTERS 

 We iiave received and published several arli- 

 cles on tlie general eniliarrass'nent of farmers in 

 consequence of debt, and the propriety of their 

 daughters ^ going out to sernict,^ as one of the 

 methods of alleviating or extinguishing the evil 

 complained of. The subject is interesting, and 

 difficult to investigate or allude to without giving 

 offence to ' worth by poverty depressed.' Siill as 

 our correspondent 'Oliver' requests our sentiments 

 m regard to domestics, we will not hesitate to 

 give them. 



The time has been when ' working men' and of 

 course working women were considered as beings 

 of an inferior caste, mere drudges, ordained to 

 minister to the wants, caprice and luxuries of the 

 better classes in the conmiunity. When the feu- 

 dal system flourished in full vigor, large portions 



goes from home on official business. The President 

 of the United States and the Governor of Mass- 

 achusetts go out to work, and ' we the People' pay 

 them for ibcif labors. ^ 



Again, we will suppose the poorest man in Mas- 

 sachusetts receives an indictable injury from our 

 richest citizen. The commonwealth immediately 

 enters into the service of the injured jierson ; and 

 en)plnys certain hired men, such as the Stale's At 



forming the duties iiicmnbent on Imuse keepirjg is 

 qualifying herself, and pulling herself in the way 

 to become the head of a family in her turn. 



If farmers' daughters are willing to become far- 

 mers' wives, let tbeni not hesitate when occasion 

 requires, lo go into the service of other respectable 

 fanners or into any other good, moral, respectable 

 families ; and instead of suffering their spirits to bo 

 wounded, or feeling chagrin or mortification, let 



lorney, the Sheriff, the Grand Jury, the Judges of them make themselves as cheerful, useful and 



the Supreme Court &c, &c, to punish the offen 

 der and to redress the injury. Indeed nil the 

 laudable, if not all the lawful transactions of man- 

 kind in civilized communities cunsist of services 

 rendered and received ; and those persons are 

 most praiseworthy, who render themselves most 

 serviceable. 



In these opinions we are not wholly at issue with 

 our correspondent, '.? Farmer,' who says ' I have 

 daughters that I am endeavoring to bring up in 

 industrious habits. — It is my intention that they 

 shall earn a subsistence by such suitable employ- 



of the human race were vassals, who held real or „ient for females as may be found upon a farm and 



landed property ; (the only possessions at that lime 

 considered of much value) by a servile tennr 

 thus described by IJlackstone, 



about a farm house. To speak plainly 1 mean that 

 they shall tvork for their living, believing that it is 

 the duty and happiness of every member of this 



Besides an oath o( fealty, or profession of faith ^public to do so.' In these sentiments we fully 



to the lord, which was the parent of our oath of 

 allegiance, the vassal or tenant upon investiture 

 did usually homage to his lord ; openly and humbly 

 kneeling, being ungirt, uncovered, and holding 

 up his hands both together, between those of the 

 lord, who sat before him ; and there professing 

 that" he did become bis man from that day forth, 

 of life and limb, and earthly honor." And then 

 be received a kiss from his lord.' 



At that time lords of all denominations, from 

 ' our sovereign lord the king,' to the lordly but 

 beggarly |proprietor of an Irish bog, or an Iligb- 

 land heath looked upon every kindof Irfbor, wheth- 

 er manual or mental as derogatory to the dignity 

 of such flourishing sprigs of nobiliry. It was 

 thought more consonant to lb ; rules of etiquette 

 for the well born lo suffer privations from poverty, 

 which would be deemed intolerable by our day 

 laborers than to earn comparative comfort and 

 affluence by the exei-cise of any u.seful occupation. 



But v/ith all the vices an 1 foibles, whirh stig- 

 matize the present generation of human bipeds, 

 there is among the rellecting |)art no disgrace at- 

 tached to any useful occupation. We generallv ac- 

 knowledge the correctness of the poet's assertion, 



' Honor and shame from no condition rise 



Act well your part, there all the honjr lies .' 

 And in all cases, where parly politics have 

 not misguided )uiblic opinion. 



'Worth makes the man, the wact of it the fellow.' 

 In this country, every man not involved in debt 

 nor convicted of crime is his own master ; but it 

 is bis duty, and should be esteemed his privilege 

 to ren<ler all the services in his power to liis fellow 

 laborers in the great field of humanity. And, 

 every freeman is an acting partner in ihef rm of 

 the United States ; and has a right to and 

 the liabit of receiving benefits frojn the services of 

 its government. And the guvt-rnnient is bound 

 by the constitution and laws of the land to protect 

 every individual member of ibis Company, or As- 

 Bociation in the full enjoyment of the rights to life, 

 liberty, pro])erty, health and reputation. Andrew 

 Jackson and Levi Lincoln are among the heail 

 laborers belonging to this firm, and each of those 

 I iBorking men'' ' goes out to service' whenever lie 



agreeable as possible. If however, they can find 

 any proper useful occupations at home, so be it. 

 Whether they keep bees, manufacture silk, or 

 straw bonnets, our best wishes and benedictions 

 attend them. But if they are aiming the arrows 

 of coquetry at lawyers, merchants, physicians, &c, 

 though we still wish them well, we consider them 

 as v/ithout our jurisdiction, and have nothing to say 

 t o their ladysbijis. 



We will dismiss this subject which is far from 

 being a pleasant topic for discussion, with one far- 

 ther remark. We have often seen with regret the 

 daughters of farmers, not in the most flourishing 

 circumstances, who coidd not comlescend to per- 

 form the house loork of their own family. They 

 were too indolent and lady-like to )iave anything 

 to do with the dairy, the kiichen or the pantry, 

 and would iis soon dig in a ditch as wash a few 

 dishes altera family meal. Everything of this kind 

 must be done by hired help. Now such farmers'' 

 daughters ought to set themselves immediately 

 about the theory and practice of the duties of llie 

 frugal housewife, or forever he deemed incompe- 

 tent lo form or sustain a imilrimonial alliance, with 

 any being except some hero of a novel, existing 

 only in the imagination of some half-crazed spinster 

 of romances. 



concur with the writer. But when he says 'if I 

 know my own heart, I would sooner, infinitely 

 .sooner follow njy daughters to the grave than see 

 them " go out to service". There are indeed many 

 excellent females who are driven lo this necessity, 

 who go through ihe fiery trial with credit, and 

 maintain a character of unblemished inlegrity ; yet 

 who will venlure to describe the distress the anx- 

 iety, the sickne.ss of heart, the anguish of a wound- 

 ed spirit, that the most favored of them are con- 

 strained to endure,' we respect his feelings, but 



do not altogether coincide with bis opinions. If HAMPSHIRE CATTLE SHOW. 



he can find employment for bis daughters at home This annual festival of the Yeomanry of Hamp- 

 in which they can be more respectably, profitably shire, Hampden, and Franklin counties, will take 

 and pleasantly occupied than by going out of the place this year on the 26lh and 27th of October^ 

 domestic circle, let him by all means retain them j two successive days. The variety, nun}ber and size 



under the paternal roof. We conceive the obser- 

 vations of the writer in the Christian Examiner arc 

 not at all api)licable to his case. But there may 

 be young females, daughters of farmers with 

 'moderate means,' who would be more eligibly 

 situated as well as better employed under some 

 other roof than that of their parents. Suppose the 

 |)arents, or either of them should be addicted to, 

 or verging towards intemperance, or in other 

 ways exposing the mendiers of the household to 

 the contagion of bad example, it would be better to 

 'go out to service' than to stay at home and be ruin- 

 ed. In short, general rules with regard to this mat- 

 ter, cannot with any propriety, be prescribed, hut 

 every case should be governed by the circumstan- 

 ces, with which it is attended. 



If the sentiments of ' A Farmer' on ibis subject 

 should become general, the consequences might be 

 nmre injurious than on a superficial view, would 

 he apparent. If Farmers' daughters are not allow- 

 ed to go out to service. Mechanics' daughters may 

 claim the same privilege ; and so on as respects 

 all other classes and vocations in society. Where, 

 then in cases of sickness or other real necessity is 

 female 'help' lo be procured. Suppose ' A Farm- 

 er's' dau<;hters should be married, and leave^hiui and 

 madam for another home ; where then when visited 

 by old age or premature infirnnty are they to pro- 

 cure female assistance ? A young woman by 

 going into a respectable family, to assist in per- 



of the Premiums offered this year exceed those of 

 last year, and offer great inducements to the en- 

 terprising farmers of the three counties ; we are 

 glad to observe a goodly number of premiums of- 

 fered for Horses and Colts, adapted to the Saddle, 

 Harness and Farmers' use ; that this classof animals 

 require regeneration and improvement, there can 

 be no question ; they are poor and spiritless and de- 

 ficient in strength and symmetry in this part of the 

 cormiionweallh to a surprising degree, and it is full 

 time efforts were made to improve them. The 

 raising of Mulberry Tree.s and Silk Worms is en- 

 gaging the atteniion of the society, and liberal 

 premiums are offered for such plarjtations ; much 

 soil in the throe counties is fflted for no other pur- 

 pose than the growth of the Midberry Tree, and 

 the whole attention and culture of Silk Worms can 

 be performed by those whose age and sex unfit 

 them for fatiguing and laborious duties; we hope 

 the raising of Silk Worms will be considered and 

 valued in its proper light by our enterprising far-.' 

 mers. — JVorthampton Courier. 



To Correspondents. — We are obliged to defer many 

 articles ibis week, among which are two from our abla 

 correspondent, Gen. Dearborn — one from Dedham, on 

 Budding — Prospectus of a proposed Botanical Magazine, 

 by Messrs D. & C. Landreth, of Philadelphia. We have 

 received several comnninicalioDS on the subject of Far-- 

 raers' Daughters. 



