

&l)c -farmer's iHontljlw tHsitor. 



HI 



The Greatness of Man. 

 Mankind, viewed collectively, as an assemblage 

 of beings, presents to contemplation an object 

 of astonishing magnitude. It lias spread over 

 this wide world, to essay its powers uguinsi everj 

 obstacle and i very element; and to plant in eve- 

 ry region its virtues and its vices. As we pass 



• along the plains, we perceive them marked 

 l>_\ ilie labors, the paths, or the habitations of 

 man. Proceeding forward across rivers, or 

 through woods, or over mountains, we still find 



■.man in possession on the other side. Bach val- 

 ley that opens, and each hill that rises before us, 

 presents a repetition of human abodes, coutrivan- 

 auces, and appropriations; for each house, uml 

 garden, and field, (in some places almost each 

 tree,) reminds us that there is a person some- 

 wh( n: who is proud to think and say, " This is 



mine." 



All the beautiful and rugged varieties of earth, 

 (from the regions of snow to those of the burn- 

 ing sand, have been pervaded by man. If we 

 sail to countries beyond the seas, we find him 

 still, though he may disclaim our language, our 

 .manners, and our color. And if we discover 

 lands ulj ri h • is not, we presently quit them, 

 as if the Creator, too, were a stranger there. 

 Here and there, indeed, a desert retreat is inhab- 

 ited by an ascetic, whom the solemnity of soli- 

 ' tude has drawn thither; or by a felon, whom 

 guilt has ili iveu thither. 



While In' extends himself thus over the world, 

 behold hi- collective grandeur. It appears promi- 

 ni mi in greal cities, built up hy his own hands; 

 it is set t) in structures thai look like temples 

 greeted to time, which promise by their strength 

 to await the latest years of his continuance with 

 frien; and seem to plead by their magnificence 

 against the decree which dooms ihem to perish 

 when he shall abandon them; it is seen in wide 

 "empires, and in armies, which may lie called the 

 talons of imperial power — to give security to 

 fiappiness where that power is just, but for cruel 

 ravage where it is tyrannical ; it is displayed in 

 fleets ; in engines, which operate as if informed 

 with a portion of the actuating power of his 

 own mind; in the various productions of beauty, 

 the discoveries of science, in subjected elements, 

 'nnd a cultivated globe. The sentiment with 

 which we contemplate this scene is greatly aug- 

 mented when imagination hears her flaming 

 torch into the enormous shade w hich overspreads 

 the past, and passes over the whole succession 

 of human existence, with all its attendant prodi- 

 gies. When we have made the addition lea- fu- 

 turity, of supposing the human race extensively 

 enlightened, and apprized of their dignity and 

 power, and combined in a far stricter union, till 

 the vast ocean of mind prevail over all its ac- 

 ' customed boundaries, and sweep away many of 

 the evils which oppress the world — we may 

 pause a while and indulge our amazement. 

 Such an aggregate view of the multitude, 

 achievements, and powers of man, is grand. It 

 has the air of a general and endless triumph. — 

 LiJ'c and Thoughts of John Foster. 



Longevity of the Horse. 



It has long been an impression that the ordi- 

 nary duration of a horse's life is much shorter 

 than it ought to he, and that the excess of mor- 

 tality is the result of carelessness or ignorant 

 management. The great error consists in re- 

 gard 10 the temperament ami general cousiiiu- 

 '.'u n of a horse as altogether different from those 

 of a human being; whereas they are precisely 

 tfie same in all important respects. Disease 

 arising from excessive fatigue, overheating, and 

 exposure to air, want of exercise, improper diet, 

 both as respects quality and quantity, and from 

 many other causes, affects the horse and his 

 master alike, and neglect in either case must ter- 

 minate thtally. Indeed, when a n an or a horse 

 Has acquired, by a course of training, a high de- 

 gree of health and vigor, the skin of eaeh is an 

 infallible index of the fact. It has been often 

 remarked in England, that the skin of the pnej- 

 i'ist, who has undergone a severe course of train- 

 ing, when he prepares hiinsell for the fight, ex- 

 hibits a degree of beauty and exceeding fairness, 

 that excites the admiration as well as the won- 

 der of the spectator. So' with the horse — his 

 skin is the clearest evidence of the general state 

 of his health. Even the common disease ol 



foundering is not peculiar to the horse, but is 

 inertly a muscular affection, to which many 

 men, who have overstrained themselves at any 

 period, are subject. In fact, the medical treat- 

 ment of the horse and his rider ought to be the 

 same; and we confidently believe that if this 

 principle were acti d upon with a moderate share 

 of attention and resolution, the average age of 

 this useful animal would be much longer, and 

 the profit derived from his labors proportionably 

 greater.— ^Norfolk Beacon. 



"Thinks I to Myself." 

 We are indebted to a worthy and observing 

 friend for many of the following hints: 



When I see a mass of chips accumulated in a 



farmer's back yard, remaining year after year, 

 thinks 1 lu myself, if the coarser ones wen: raked 

 out, they would serve lor fuel, while the liner 

 parts Willi the addition of soap-suds, &C, from 

 the house, would afford a valuable source of 



manure. 



When I see a convex barn-yard, thinks I to 

 myself, there is comparatively hut little manure 

 made chare. 



When I sei' banks of manure resting against 

 a bain dining the summer season, serving onlj 

 to rot the building — thinks 1 to myself, thai ma- 

 nure might he better employed. 



When 1 see the ibainnigs of a barn-yard find- 

 ing their way into gullies ami rivulets, while, 

 with small expense, they might be throw ll on to 

 a valuable swill or declivity , thinks I to myself, 

 thai farmer is blind to his own interest. 



When I see a hog-yard not well supplied with 

 materials for making manure, thinks 1 to myself) 

 that man suffers hiss lor want of care. 



When I see a piece of hoed ground ill a mow- 

 ing field, and the turf, stalks and stones, that 

 were carried out by the plough, or harrow, not 

 collected together, thinks i to myself, there is 

 something Slovenish in the case. 



When I see ploughing done, year alter year, 

 in the same track, beside a fence or a gully, till 

 a dyke of considerable height is thrown up, and 

 of course a corresponding leanness in the inte- 

 rior, thinks I to mysell, there is u want of good 

 husbandry. 



When I see a stone wall toppeil out with a 

 single tier of round stone, thinks I to myself, the 

 upper foot in the height of such walls ought 

 never to have been put on, and look out for dull 

 scythes and loss ol hay. 



When I see a fruit tree loaded with twice the 

 top necessary for healing well ; and this perhaps 

 partly dead, thereby keeping the needed rays of 

 the sun from the under crop, thinks I to myself. 

 there is an indication of had husbandry. 



When I see stones piled around the trunk of 

 a fruit nee, thinks I to myself) here is an invita- 

 tion to suckers and to mice, and if dull scythes 

 should follow it would not he strange. 



When I see a total failure of a crop of Indian 

 corn, thinks I to myself, if that man had bestow- 

 ed all the manure and perhaps two-thirds the 

 labor on half the ground, he would have had a 

 fair crop of ruta bags the billowing year. 



When I see a firmer selling Ins ashes for ten 

 cents per bushel, thinks I to mysell] that farmer 

 had belter given his purchaser ten cents to leave 

 them for his corn and grain. — Maine Farmer. 



The Old American Flag. 



From the London Morning Chronicle, July 20, 177(3. 



The American standard is thus described : — 

 The colors of the American fleet have a snake 

 with thirteen rattles, the fourteenth budding, de- 

 scribed in tin- attitude of going to strike, with 

 this mono — " Don't tread on me." It is a rule 

 in heraldry that the worthy properties of the an- 

 imal in the crest hone shall be considered, and 

 the base ones cannot be intended. The ancients 

 accounted a snake, or a serpent, an emblem of 

 wisdom, ami. in certain attitudes, of endless du- 

 ration. The rattle snake is properly a represen- 

 tative of A riea, as this animal is found in no 



other part of the world. The eye of this crea- 

 ture excels in brightness that of any other ani- 

 mal. .She has no eye-lid, ami is therefore an 

 emblem of vigilance. She never begins an at- 

 tack and never surrenders. She is therefore an 

 emblem of magnanimity and true courage. 

 When injured, she never wounds till she gives 

 notice to her cniinies of their danger. No other 



of her kind shows such generosity. When un- 

 disturbed nnd in peace, she does not appear to 

 he furnished with weapons of any kind. They 

 are latent in the roof of her mouth, and even 

 when extended for her defence, appear io those 

 who are not acquainted with her to be weak and 

 contemptible, yet her wounds, however small, 

 are decisive and fatal. She is solitary, and asso- 

 ciates with her kind only when it is necessary 

 fm her preservation. Her poison is at once the 



oecessnry means of digesting her food, and cer- 

 tain destruction to her enemies. The power of 



fascination attributed to her hy a generous con- 

 struction resembles America. Those who look 

 steadily on her are delighted and involuntarily 



advance towards her. She is frequently found 



with thirteen rattles, and they increase yearly. 

 She is beautiful in youth, and her beauty increas- 

 es with her age ; her tongue is blue and forked 



as lightning. 



Exercise. — Exercise gives strength lo every fi- 

 bre, ami energy to all the vital powers. Jim ex- 

 ercise, like most g I practices and habits, may 



be carried to excess. Extreme toil not only 

 shortens life, hut brings less to pas- than steady 



but moderate labor. It is not, therefore, often 

 advisable Ibr farmers to undertake io perform 

 what are called "great days' works;'' for one 

 day of over-exertion may cause weeks of debili- 

 ty, if not months of sickness. 



Value of Honesty. — An old trader among the 

 .Northern Indians, who had sum ' years ago es- 

 tablished himself on the W ,Va., nils a good 



story, with a moral worth recollecting, about his 

 first trial of trading with his red customers. 

 The Indians, who evidently wanted goods, and 

 had both money (which they call sllil-ne-ah) and 

 furs, flocked about his store, and examined his 

 goods, hut for some time bought nothing. Fin- 

 ally, their chief, with a large body of I is follow- 

 ers, visited him; and accosting him with — 



"How do, Thomas; slum me goods, I take 

 four yards calico, three coon-skins for yard, pay 

 yffu by'uiby, to-morrow ;" received his goods 

 and left. 



The next day, he returned with his whole 

 hand, his blankets stuffed with coon skins. 



" American man, I pay now ;" with this he 

 began counting nut the .-kins, until he had hand- 

 ed him over twelve. Then, alter a moment's 

 pause, he offered the trader one more, remark- 

 ing as he did it, " Thai's it." 



"I handed it back," said the trader, tilling 

 him '■ he owed me lot twelve, and would not 

 cheat him." We continued to pass il back and 

 forth, each one asserting thai it belonged to the 

 other. At last he appeared to he satisfied ; gave 

 me a scrutinizing look, placed the skin within 

 the folds of his blanket, sie|i|ied to the door and 

 gave a yell, nnd cried with a loud voici — 



"Come, come and trade with (he pale face, 1)0 

 no cheal Indian : his heart big." 



He then turned to me and said : "You take 

 that skin 1 tell Indian no trade with you — drive 

 you off like dogs — hut now you Indian's friend, 

 and we jours.'' 



Before sundown I was waist-deep in furs nnd 

 loaded down with cash. So 1 lost nothing by 

 my honesty. 



Gems from Longfellow's Kavanagh. 



The End of the World. — To-day, to-mor- 

 row, every day, to thousands, the- end of the 

 world is close at hand. And why should w e 

 fear it? We walk here as it were in tin: 

 crypts of life ; at limes, from the great cathedral 

 above ih, we can bear lie' organ and the chant- 

 ing of the choir ; we see the light Stream through 

 the open door, when some friend 'joes up before 

 us; ami shall we tear to mount the narrow stair- 

 case of the grave, that leads us out ol' this un- 

 certain twilight into the serene mansions of the 

 life eternal ? 



The Setting Sun. — The evening came. The 

 setting sun Stretched bis celestial rods of light 

 DCI'OSS the level landscape, and, like the Hebrew 

 in Egypt, smote the rivers and the brooks and 

 the ponds, and they became as blood. 



A serpent hit a slanderer in his side: 

 What happened then ? The serpent died. 



