1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



413 



year, when the season was more fonvard, he sold a 

 quantity as early as July 12 th. The variety he 

 cultivates came from the French seed, imported 

 two or three years since, and they are prolific as 

 well as early bearers. 



Fur the Netc England Farmer. 



DESIGN AND USEFULNESS OF LABOR. 



BY JOILX GOLUSBURY. 



From the earliest autlientic history of om* race, 

 we leam that man was doomed to till the ground, 

 and to gain his subsistence by the sweat of his 

 brow. This jucUcial sentence was pronounced ujjon 

 him in consequence of his disobedience m partaking 

 of the forbidden fruit. Man was placed in "the 

 garden of Eden to dress it and to Keep it ;" "but 

 of the tree of the knowledge of good and e^^l" he 

 was forbidden to eat. But man disobeyed his 

 Maker ; he partook of the forbidden fi'uit, and the 

 very ground was cursed for liis sake. "Therefore, 

 the Lord God sent him forth from the gai'den of 

 Eden, to till the groimd, from whence he was taken. 

 So he cU'ove out the man." 



Whether the whole race of man could or would 

 have lived on the cai'th, through all ages, and, at the 

 same time, have complied ^^ith the command to "be 

 fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and 

 subdue it," without any labor in cultivating and 

 subduing the gromid, and rendering it fruitful, is a 

 question which admits of some discussion, and on 

 which we do not propose to enter. But it would 

 be well for us to inquire a little into the design and 

 usefulness of man's doom in being obliged to cidti- 

 vate the earth in order to gain a subsistence. And 

 here, if we only stop to consider the nature, design 

 and reasonal)leness of his emplojnnent, or the nat- 

 m-al effects of his labors on his character, his use- 

 fulness and his happiness, we shall be led to con- 

 clude that, however A\icked man may have been in 

 disobepng liis Maker, God has dealt ^^■ith him in 

 great mercy, benevolence and kindness, and made 

 the very labors to which he was doomed the step- 

 ping-stones to his mtue and hapj)iness. 



No one will deny that labor is an honest and hon- 

 orable employment. It is honest, because it is 

 right, and because God has required it. For the 

 same reason, it is honorable. It has nothing in its 

 nature that is dishonest or dishonorable — nothing 

 that is mean, degrading, disgraceful or derogatory ; 

 but, on the contraiy, it has much that is emiobling, 

 elevating and praiseworthy. Nor was it the design 

 of God, in im])osing labor upon man, to degrade 

 him, or to require liim to perform a service which 

 is beneath the dignity of liis character. It was not 

 to degrade man, Init to lift him uj) and make liim a 

 man, that he was sent fortli to labor. The laI)or 

 imposed upon him was a reasonable ser^■ice — such 

 as God had a right to inij)0se, and as man was 

 bomid in duty to perform. All that was required 

 of man was to labor for his own good as well as 

 that of others — to gain his living by liis labor. It 

 was, therefore, not only an honest and honorable 

 employment, but a usefril one — such as conduces to 

 health, prosperity and happiness. 



The laboring man, whetlier he be a firmer, a 

 mechanic, a manufacturer, a tradesman, or a pro- 

 fessional man. is the truly hap])y man. It is the 

 very nature of labor to imjiart happiness to all its 

 votaries. There is a real satisfaction of nnnd ui be 



holding the labors and productions of one's own 

 hands — in overcommg (Ufficulties, and in arri\"uig at 

 certain desirable results. But, on the contrary-, 

 idleness leads to poverty and wretchechiess, and 

 renders a man truly miserable. Hear the language 

 of Solomon upon this point, who has given us a 

 glowing description of the idle man : " I went by 

 the field of the slothful, and by the \incyard of the 

 man void of understancUng ; and lo, it was all gro\Tn 

 over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face 

 thereof, and the stone-wall thereof was broken do\vn. 

 Then I saw, and considered it well ; I looked upcm 

 it, and received uistruction. Yet a little sleep, a Ut- 

 tle slumber, a little fokUng of the hands to sleep : 

 so shall thy poverty come as one that travelletJi, 

 and thy want as an armed man." 



The mdustrious fiu-mer, perhaps, takes more sat- 

 isfaction than any other man. His employment 

 gives symmetry and strength to his frame, energy 

 to his character, buoyancy to liis spirits, and expan- 

 sion to all his faculties. He is Nature's true noble- 

 man. This he manifests by his industry and perse- 

 verance, no less, than by his noble character, his 

 pure thoughts, his sound reasoning, and liis practi- 

 cal good sense. For, though he has been turned 

 out of the beautiful garden of Eden and of inno- 

 cence, yet he has not been dwarfed, either in his 

 mental or his physical powers. He is still a man, 

 possessing all the faculties and powers of a man : 

 nor yet has he been doomed to cultivate a barren 

 waste or a sandy desert, but a soil naturally rich, 

 fiiiitful and productive, where, by his labor and dil- 

 igence, he may make " the wilderness and soUtary 

 place flourish and blossom as the rose." And he 

 has made "the wilderness and soUtiU'y place" pro- 

 ductive of all the comforts, the conveniences, the 

 necessaries and the luxuries of life. 



When we look aroimd us, even in our own laud, 

 and mark the progress of agricultm-e and the me- 

 chanic arts, of science, hterature and general mtelli- 

 gence, — when we see the cities and thrivmg towns 

 with wliich New England is filled, and reflect how 

 rapidly the forest has given way to cidtivated fields, 

 and cultivated fields to busy and prosperous towns, 

 we can hardly reaUze, that, in less than a hundred 

 and fifty years, all this change has been efiected, — 

 that a howluig wilderness has been converted into a 

 fruitful field, occujjied and cultivated by many mil- 

 lions of virtuous, intelligent, enterprising and happy 

 inliabitants. 



liabor, then, is a necessary, a useful, and a \irtu- 

 ous employment. God himself has shown it to be 

 such, not only by requiring it of man, but by his 

 own labors in creating tlie world. According to the 

 Bible, God labored six days, in the work of crea- 

 tion, Avhich he would not have done, had labor been 

 dishonorable or useless. From the very represen- 

 tations of the Bible, therefore, — from the example 

 of God in creating the world and all things thcrem, 

 from all that we know of tlie character of God,^ and 

 of his design in requiring labor of man, we mfer 

 the wise design and the great usefulness of labor. 



Wanvick, 1855. 



Ri'.lLVRKS. — In a former article by this writer, 

 the name was })rinted Goldsmith, Miicn it should 

 have been Goldsbury. 



tW The mother of Horace Grccly died at 

 Wayne, Erie county, Pcnn., on the 27th of July. 

 The" father of Mr. Grcely is still livmg. 



