17 



nieiiibers, and will be cherished long after those that knew 

 him here shall have passed away. 



He said, "The desire to get rid of farm work should not 

 exist among the young men of an agricultur^ people ; and 

 yet it would be uncharitable to keep them all at home when 

 the cities cannot live without them. It is the fresh activity 

 of the country that feeds the healthy growth and vigor of the 

 town ; and the most distinguished instances of success in pro- 

 fessional, mercantile or mechanical life may l)e traced back to 

 the farm. The raw 1)oy who to-day makes his lirst acquain- 

 tance with the crowded street, in everybody's way, as he 

 stares with dazzled eyes and open mouth at the shop windows 

 and moving wonders about him, will in a few years be found 

 one of the conscript fathers of the city ; a leader among the 

 able and enterprising, a founder of public charities, a bene- 

 factor to the poor, a man of great heart and open hand, 

 mighty in the money market, yet not unmindful that he be- 

 gan with nothing, and readv to assist and encourao-e those 

 who are starting on the same capital. Go to the luxurious 

 mansion of this successful man when he shall have obtained 

 the full zenith of prosperity. Ask him, as he is surrounded 

 b}^ everything th^ is supposed to make existence desirable, 

 on what portion of his eventful life he looks back with most 

 satisfaction. Will he dwell on connnercial gains, or profes- 

 sional eminence, or political honors? Oh, no! He will 

 turn coldly from these aims of his uneasy life back to the 

 time when he knew nothing of the busy world before him, 

 and he will glow with pride as he honestly boasts of his for- 

 mer skill with the scythe, or of the rods of stone wall he as- 

 sisted to lay on his father's farm. He will tell you that often 

 as he has struggled in the hard battle of life, when disap- 

 pointment, which comes to all, has visited him, and as he 

 has been weighed down by a sense of the worthlessness of 

 the prize which has been the object of his exertions, the 

 happy spot where he once played and worked has arisen T)e- 

 fore him to rel)uke him with the peace he abandoned. He 



