58 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



of youthful ^ladne^s, gaiety and beauty ! How ma- 

 ny rural halls and city homes are shining, like stars 

 in their own places, in unabated warmth and splen- 

 dor, thuogh hid beneath the broad veil of wintry 

 darkness; — the lover's evening visit, — the song, the 

 wild tale told to the listening circle, or the unfold- 

 ed stores of polite literature, making each a little 

 paradise." 



Man owes his intelligence, say some philosophers, 

 to his hands. Admitting that there is some truth 

 in tliis remark, there would be more truth in say- 

 ing that man owes his intelligence to conversation. 



Fireside meetings are, therefore, the nurseries of 

 intelligence ; for as sure as there is an intelligent 

 member of the family circle, he will communicate 

 his ideas ajid the habits of his mind in a degree, to 

 the other raeml)ers. The fireside is, therefore, the 

 school of intelligence as well as virtue. 



"There every plant of useful knowledge grows ; 



There ecience sprang, and thence Instruciion flows; 



There true philosophy erects her school, 



There plans her problem, and there forms her rule ; 



There every seed of every art began, 



And all that comforts life, and brightens man." 



Melmoth. 



It is in the family circle and around the social 

 hearth, that the influence of woman is most likely 

 to be predominant ; and it is perhaps to this cause 

 that we may attribute the greater respect for the fe- 

 male sex, that is manifest among northern nations, 

 compared with the inhabitants of the South. In 

 Germany, that chivalrous regard for the fair sex 

 originated, to which more than to any other cause, 

 except Christianity, woman owes her emancipation 

 from the slavish bondage, to which she has in all 

 ages been subjected. Around the social hearth, 

 woman is the queen and leader of conversation ; 

 and if phe happens to be possessed of superior in- 

 telligence, her influence in this circle is sure to be 

 felt. A Provincial Academy in France, some years 

 ago, proposed the following question as the subject 



young men seek for amusement in public places 

 where fashion and vice have all the sway, because 

 our women have been educated to think more o. 

 shining in silks and jewels abroad, than of exer 

 cising a charming sovereignty around the parlor 

 fireside. 



Wherever a woman of talent centres her ambi- 

 tion, there will, she shine, unless she centres it in 

 the world of iashion. There, talents and virtue 

 avail but little, because riches only can furnish the 

 materials that are agreeable to fashion, which ap- 

 preciates only what can be purchased with gold. 

 But home is a place where the virtues are sure to 

 be rewarded, and where superior talents and edu- 

 cation are sure to obtain superior sway. 



The purport of these remarks is not to repress 

 the zeal of a rational ambition, but to direct and 

 guide it into a wholesome and virtuous channel. 

 Let the fireside be made the constant theatre of ra- 

 tional amusements and entertaining conversation, 

 and home then will become what it ought to be, 

 the predominating influence in the education of the 

 young. • 



"Few can on Grandeur's stage appear, 

 Each lofty part with true applause sustain ; 



No common virtue safe can steer, 

 Where rocks unnumbered lurk beneath the main. 



"Then happiest he whoso timely hand 

 To cool discretion has the helm assigned, 



Enjoys the calm in sight of land. 

 From changing tides secure, and trustless wind." 



Above all would we recommend to our rural pop- 

 ulation, who constitute the majority of our readers, 

 to make their home a pleasant scene of social in- 

 tercourse. There is no family so humble, that 

 books, and useful and entertaining journals may 

 not enter it, and difl'u.se among its members thac 

 knowledge which has been gathered from all na- 

 tions. There is none so isolated that its evening 

 fire may not be the centre of a rational party of 

 friends, and the nursery of intellect and virtue. 



