THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



said, " at Wellesley Farms. Some days 1 do not go 

 to the city at all. It is not necessary, because, by 

 telephone, I can keep in close touch with my city 

 affairs, and can direct them as well as if in the store. 

 I spend a large share of my time with experimental 

 farming. You should see my pears!" Then he 

 launched out into an enthusiastic discourse on coun- 

 try life, and what it was doing for health and com- 

 fort and intellectual broadening. Of course, such 

 men have very little to carry into the country, except 

 money and art. They will make some comical 

 blunders, but will be sure to work out notable 

 experiments, and will do a vast deal to make 

 country life every way more admirable. 



With ministers I have special sympathy — men 

 who in this age are compelled to hold on largely to 

 the conservative past, and wear themselves out, be- 

 cause they are not allowed to adjust their work to 

 the living present. They are no longer allowed to 

 be pastors of the old, shepherd sort, and must be 

 keenly alert to hold their own, until their nerves give 

 out with the tension. Then they are " broken down 

 ministers" — sadly at loss for any retreat. Every 

 minister should cultivate horticulture ; and whatever 

 else he does not do, he should secure early in life a 



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