10 MY VINEYARD. 



looked so encouraging that I concluded to give np my 

 place in the printing office, and try our fortune at farming. 



I had no foult to find with my employment in the office. 

 I looked upon the business, and still look upon it, as one 

 of the most honorable in which a man can engage. The 

 newspaper is, and must ever be, the chief educator of a 

 free people. All who engage upon it are worthily em- 

 ployed, be they editor, contributor, or workman. No one 

 can estimate the good which the American press has 

 wrought for the American people. That some portions 

 are bad, does not change the result, as they serve to give 

 force and piquancy to the predominant good. 



The w^ages I received were sufficient for the comfortable 

 maintenance of myself and wife. But I could accumulate 

 little to provide against future contingencies. No man 

 can become wealthy by his own labor. Money being 

 merely the representative of labor, the person who accu- 

 mulates, must be able to avail himself of at least a portion 

 of the labor which others perform. If the farmer growls 

 wealthy, it is because, as w^e may say, nature works for 

 him. He sows the seed and the plant springs forth. He 

 gives it a little attention now and then, but when he is 

 away, or when asleep, the plant w^orks on, perfecting the 

 fruit w^hich he takes to market and sells. Tiie trees in 

 the orchard, the vine in the vineyard, the grain in the 

 field, are all laborers in the employment of the farmer. 



