THE GENESEE FARMER. 



319 



THE HUSBANDMAN. 



BY F. P. SWEKT. 



■Within the spongy fallow ground 



I sow the yellow corn, 

 Ami many a hill tlH' sef<l hath found. 



E'er sounds the dinner-horn. 



Out in the meadow's dewy calm 



I swing thf ringing scythe ; 

 The corn-craki' knows lull well the steel 



That spares her bniod alive. 



The passive steers against the yokes 

 Btnd their stout siiek-* in twain ; 



And clumsy wheels, wiih muddy spokes, 

 Bear up the laden wain. 



Swnng by my hands, the heavy flail 

 ■ Falls on the unshorkt-d grain; 

 And through the barn the gentle gale 

 Bears off the chaff like rain. 



AsUani they gaze, the l)rindle cows, 



And cUfW iheir <'iid in peace; 

 The hands that guide the stubborn plows 



The fragrant streams release. 



The setting sun the hill-t'ip lights, 



But shadows fill ihe plain; 

 And homeward comes ihe bird in flights, 



And fowls, their roosis ta gain. 



She spreads the evening board with white, 



My quiet wile, lor uie; . 

 And s-ts the children all in sight, 



Their father's face to see. 



The night comes on, and darkness liides 



The children's faces small; 

 To me they are my earihly guides— 



To them I'm all in all. 



The house is still— the crickets chirp, 



And frogs sing in ihe reeds; 

 But undeineath llie trees, so dark, 



I've sown immortal seeds. 



Beautiful Allegory.— The late John J. Crittenden, 

 of Kentucky, was at one time engaged in defending a 

 man who had been indicted for a capital ofiense. After 

 an ehiborate and powerful defense, he closed his efibrt by 

 the following striking and beautiful allegory : 



"When God in his eternal counsel conceived the 

 thou</ht of man's creation, he called to him the three 

 ministers who waft constantly upon the throne— Justice, 

 Truth and Mercv— and thus addressed them: 'Shall we 

 malce man ■■' ' Then said Justice : ' God, mal<e him not, 

 for he will trample upon thy laws.' Truth made an 

 answer also- '0 Gud, make him not, for he will polute 

 thv sanctuaries.' But Mercy, dropping down upon her 

 knees and looking up through her tears, exclaimed : O 

 God make him, I will watch over him with my care 

 thro'u"-h all the dark paths which he may have to tread.' 

 Then God made man and said to him : ' man, thou art 

 the child of Mercy; go and deal with thy brother. 



The jury, when he bad finished, were drowned in tears, 

 and against evidence, and what must have been their own 

 convictions, brought in a verdict of not guilty. 



A Sample of Arkansas Eloquence.—" The Court will 

 please to observe," said an Arkansas lawyer, "that the 

 gentleman from the East has given them a very learned 

 speech. He has roamed with old Romulus, socked with 

 old Socrates, ripped with old Euripides, and cantered 

 with Cantharides! but what, yonr Honor, tvJiat doc& he 

 know about the law of old Arkansaw ? " 



Which is the fastest, heat or cold? Heat, because you 

 can catch a cold. 



A Difficult Question Answered.— " Can any one tell 

 why, when Eve was manufactured from one of Adam's 

 ribs, a hired girl wasn't made at the same time to wait 

 on her?" We can, easy!- Because Adam never came 

 whining to Eve with a ragged stocking to be darned, a 

 collar-string to be sewed on, or a glove to be mended, 

 " right awa}', quick, now!" Because he never read the 

 newspaper uiitii the sun got down behind the palm-trees, 

 and then stretching himself, yawned out, "Aint supper 

 'most ready, my dear?" Not he. He made the fire and 

 hung over the tea-kettle himself, we'll venture, and pulled 

 the radishes, peeled the bananas, and did every thing 

 else that he'd ought to. He milked the cows, fed the 

 chickens, and looked after the pigs himself. He never 

 brought home half a dozen friends to dinner, when Eve 

 hadn't any fresh pomegranates, and* the mango season 

 was over! He never stayed out until eleven o'clock to a 

 " ward meeting," hurrahing for an out-and-out candi- 

 date, and then scolded because poor dear Eve was sitting 

 up and crying inside the gates. He never played bil- 

 liards, nor drove fast horses, nor choked Eve with cigar- 

 smoke. He never loafed around corner groceries, while 

 solitary Eve wa^ rocking little Cain's cradle at home. In 

 short, he didn't think she was specially created for the 

 purpose of waiting on him, and wasn't under the im- 

 pression that it disgraced a man to lighten his wife's 

 cares a little. That's the reason that Eve did not need a 

 hired girl, and we wish it was the reason that none of 

 her fair descendants did.— Life Iltustrated. 



Corners.— Corners have always been popular. The 

 chimney corner, for instance, is endeared to tha beart 

 from the earliest to the latest hours of existence. The 

 corner cupboard ! What stores of sweet things it con- 

 tained for us in youth — with what luxuries its shelves 

 have groaned in manhood! A snug corner in a will! 

 Whoever objected to such a thing? A corner in a 

 woman's heart! Once get there and you may soon com- 

 mand the whole domain. A corner in the Temple of 

 Fame ! Arrive at that and you become immortal. A 

 street corner! Hang around that and you soon become 

 a loafer. 



Gross and vulgar minds will always pay a higher re- 

 spect to wealth than to talent; for wealth, although it be 

 a far less efficient source of power than talent, happens 

 to be far more intelligible. 



Many a man thinks it a virtue that keeps him from 

 turning a rascal, when it is only a full stomach. One 

 should be careful apd not mistake potatoes for principles. 



If you wish to cure a scolding wife never fail to laugh 

 at her with all you might until she ceases, then kiss her. 

 Sure cure. 



Why are country girls' cheeks like French calico? 

 Because they are warranted to wash and retain their 

 color. 



"The impulse of the moment," as the soda-water said 

 to the cork when the string was cut. 



A WHEEL, unlike a horse, runs the better for being 

 " tired." 



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