AND H O U T I (' U L T U R A L II E (i I S T E R . 



PUULISHBD BV JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. BS NOBTH MARKKT STREKT, (Aoiiicultdrai WAi(HOi;it.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, UKDNKSOAY EVKNINO, JULY II, 1811. 



N. E. FARMER. 



For the N. E. Knrinor. 



THE GAP IN THE WALL. 



Ilonr niiicli nion<!y has been thrown nnay in sup- 

 porlinp a lawsuit for the grnliticalion of pnstsion ! 

 and how iiiativ intrilorious hearts would Imvc been 

 gladilenrd hnd (his sum been distribiiled amon^r 

 the needy and suflVrinj ! Vet, it is not the piirso 

 that is alone affected, but the mind and murals 

 s'ltTcr no inconsiderable detriment in consequence 

 ol' a contmtion ki-pt up with such virulence and 

 angry feelinjr. I would that my brother farmers 

 keep clear of litijjation. Surely there is no diffi- 

 culty in so doing We can manage our teams as 

 we wish, and make them yield submissively and 

 obedi' ntly to our direction. The card, the curry- 

 comb, the goad-stick, and lash, are familiar instru- 

 ments in our hands, und it is seldom that we use 

 them indisrrectly. Our cattle go and come at our 

 command, and beco le as fond of us as our very 

 watchdog. ihis shows with what facility we 

 may educate a dumb animal hy a judicious course, 

 and by perseverance. Have we a fiery, wild and 

 restless gelding, we boast of our tact in taming 

 him and reducing him to soberness and use. Thus, 

 ■we tell of the ipiportance of sometimes drawing 

 hard upon the curb, and withholding the spur; then 

 again, of giving a slack rein, and guiding aright 

 the inclination. Here the bump of self-esteem is 

 signally developed in us and we seem to imagine 

 that, in these matters, cur prowess would entitle us 

 to a peiiersl's command. Very well ; but why 

 does tiiis generalship forsake Urf, as soon as we are 

 called upon to turn our forces within, and train 

 and manage our tiiirning passions? It might rea- 

 sonably be supp.ised that the very business and 

 professiv'n of an agriculturist would tend to in- 

 quietuile and a distaste for combativencss, fto use 

 the fasliionuble language,) that any ruffling of the 

 mind would be hut momentary, and that reason and 

 discretion would ever predominate. But yet, we 

 believe, that such an even tenor of thought and of 

 action belongs no more to the husbandman, whose 

 way, indeed, is among the gentle breezes, the purl- 

 ing streams, the odorous herbage and the peaceful 

 flocks, than to any oliier class of our fellow men. 

 At lea.st, It wil; appear so by the little story that 

 follows, which I have thought might be somewhat 

 amusinir, if not instructive to the readers of the N. 

 E. Farmer. Indeed, look which way you will up- 

 on the busy world, enough may be discovered to 

 show the npcessity of an ability in man strictly and 

 resolutely to govern himself. 



Coulter and Trenchall were farmers and neigh- 

 bors owning adjoining lands. Their ancestors 



were uimmg the lirst settlers of the town of F , 



and their families had, for a leng'h of years, inani- 

 festeu a iuvo of sicial intercourse towards each 

 other, without interruption. There was a perfect 

 understanding and a reciprocity of kind and oblig- 

 ing demeanor between these industrious yeomen ; 

 an inliTchangc of business and various kind offices 



j in the way of their vocation. For instance, the 

 I men would change works for convenience and ac- 

 1 cummodation, agreeably to Yankee cu.-tom ; and 

 I the women would change milks, as it is called, in 

 I their dairy affairs. Their sonn and their daugh- 

 ters intermingled in the innocent recreations and 

 I amusements of the neighborhood, and it was said 

 by the gossips tliat Ciipii! had been very industri- 

 I ous among them in more cases than one ; and that. 

 ' no doubt. Hymen would, ere long, bo that way, 

 I with yoke and bow-pin, in the ollicial c.\prcise of 

 his daties. So stood the Coulters and the Treiich- 

 ; alls with respect to each other, when one single 

 I mishap brought ruin and overthrow to all their 

 1 pleasant associations and interesting calrulations. 

 Or, as old t'apt. Whiteacre, in farmer technicals, 

 lo-vpressed it, "tippM up their apple-cart, broke 

 their gearing, and unhorsed all their sociable incli- 

 I nations 1" 



A stout ftone wall marked nut the long line of 

 division between tho homesteads, of these two no- 

 table cultivators of the goil. In the centre of this 

 wall, from end to end, was placed by the parlies a 

 reddish stone of considerable size; thus showing 

 at once each one's particular portion of the divi- 

 sion, the whole of which had been erected by 

 joint labor and expense. "One night, one fatal 

 night," when the rich corn was in the ear, and the 

 farmer's hopes were on tijitoe, some evil-minded 

 varlet, for mischicrs sake, displaced the red stone, 

 and, as it tumbled into the field, others followed, 

 making a breach sufficient for Trenchall's large 

 stock of cattle to pass through, which they did, and 

 made dreadful havoc of Coulter's beautiful corn- 

 field 1 It was not discovered till the depredators 

 had become glutted with feasting, and had laid 

 down to rest amidst the ruins. " What a kettle of 

 fish is here!" exclaimed Capt. Whiteacre, when 

 first he beheld it. And indeed it was a most sorry 

 spectacle. Coulter, when he came to witness it, 

 seemed to lose all sense of reason and propriety. 

 He was out upon Tronchall, like a raving wolf and 

 madman. And in his turn, the latter retorted with 

 unjustifiable rage and violence. In their e.\treine 

 of passion each had committed himself by making 

 base charges and severe and cutting insinuations 

 against the other. Away went Coulter and away 

 went Trenchall for law; while their foolish and 

 imprudent families also joined in the turmoil, and 

 kept their tongues upon the wag, instead of "hold- 

 ing on upon the slack," as Whiteacre advised them 

 by all means, to do. 



Reader, I believe it is not the case that every 

 lawyer keeps a shower-bath to cool the passions of 

 his clients, when they hastily resort to him for ad- 

 vice. It might bo supposed that counsel in this 

 instance, would pause, and seek for evidence against 

 defendant. Perhaps he did so ; but "the blessed 

 uncertainty of the law," you know, always cries "go 

 ' ahead I" and there is generally so much of blind- 

 fold in these matters, that the first clear sight the 

 parlies get, is a, peep through the "little end of the 

 horn." So Coulter got his writ, of course, which 

 I was served upon his antagonist. And thus the 



nail was clinched forever against all friendship and 

 reconciliation. 



It is one thing to commence a lawsuit and drive 

 the entering wedge, and another to maintain it, as 

 was now found by those concerned. Had 'Sipiirc 

 Reason and 'Squire Pnt'ltncc been couns.-! for the 

 parties in this afTuir, insteid of Gahlile and Drnhbil, 

 the suit would have been but of short duratlun ; or 

 rather would, probably, never have existed. As it 

 was, protraction seemed to be the main object. It 

 stood upon the docket from court to court and term 

 nfler term, till the delay of the case of the Red 

 Stime, or Gap in the Wall, became proverbial ; the 

 bill of costs, with its accumulated items, was look- 

 ing fiightful ! and Coulter, taking the advice of an 

 honest old friend of the bar, in order to save as 

 much of his bacon as he could, became nonattil, or 

 as we plough-joggers should phrase it, backed out. 

 The reader now, perhaps, will inquire, why was 

 this, after having begun so earnestly ? The an- 

 swer i.s, that "the race is not always to the swit^, 

 nor the battle to the stnmg ;" more especially when 

 those qualities are but imaginary. "Law is as 

 nice as a new laid egg," says the facetious Ste- 

 vens, "and addle headed people should mind how 

 they get into it." This case verified the sayino ; 

 for it had very peculiar points in it, wherewith ns. 

 tute and sagacious lawyers were somewhat puzzled. 

 The division line of the fence was exactly throuTh 

 the centre of the red stone, and the breach was 

 equal on both sides. Thus the parties stood alike 

 as to the fence. But the people made common 

 cause of it, and all became lawyers and advisers, 

 as is too apt to be the case. " Never give it up, 

 Coulter, the law is all on your side," says one lot 

 of busybodies ; "Hold on like buckram! the law 

 will give you the case, Trenchall," cries another. 

 All which was highly blamable, though "very fre- 

 quent and common," says Capt. Whiteacre, " amoni' 

 those people who are fond of running their noses 

 into other men's affairs." 



"They will never hitch their horses together 

 again," said farmer Wiiiteacre, one day, when con- 

 versing on the subject, "for Coulter is as stiff as a 

 plough-beam, and Trenchall is unbendable as a 

 crow-bar." And so indeed it turned out; for the 

 breach in the wall had made an irreparable breach 

 of tViendship and all neighborly intercourse be- 

 uveen the families. Surly and sullen was every 

 movement whenever they came in contact That 

 cheerful morning hail towards each other, which 

 neighboring farmers are accustomed to, was never 

 after heard. The young people ceased their plea- 

 sant associations ; the changing of works was done ; 

 ilie dairy women looked awry toward each other, 

 and the very milk secnied to turn sour more often 

 than formerly ! O! "how great a matter a little 

 fire kindleth !" Could they hold out.= Could 

 they abide long in such ill, unsocial humor ? They 

 did for two long years, when Coulter, having an 

 excellent offer for his farm, sold out, and pulled up 

 stakes for Kentucky, where he located himself on 

 a first rate soil, and was prosperous and happy, 

 and his sons are now industrious, wcaltliy and re- 

 spectable farmers. Still, " he was a. base villain 



