14 



qualm of conscience over any neglect of duty, or the 

 thought that his temporary cessation fv6ni work will 

 lead to pecuniary loss. 



We admit that in New England farming does not or- 

 dinarily afford the prospect of sudden wealth. But 

 what lawful pursuit does give such a promise ? or, giv- 

 ing the promise, makes the promise good ? There is 

 no safe and honorable pursuit which holds out any such 

 prospect ; and, surely, the sudden acquirement of wealth 

 is not such a necessity/ that one should leave the farm 

 with its honest labors and honest independence too, for 

 a calling which has in it any characteristics of the gam- 

 bler's trade. 



The sum of the matter is this, viz : f/te farmer is noto 

 in the very pursuit for which the mechanic, the manufac- 

 turer and the merchant longs ; to which each of them 

 looks, as the crowning happiness of his life's labors ; and 

 for which he only waits till he can secure a '"'' compe- 

 tence" and '-retire from business." B}' a "compe- 

 tence," he means the wherewithal to purchase a country 

 home and a well-stocked farm ! As to " retiring from 

 business " — if he has the necessary knowledge and shall 

 conduct his farm in such a manner as to do himself hon- 

 or, and his pocket no harm, he will find himself still in 

 business, though of a description more pleasing, perhaps, 

 than that he has laid aside ; and, we may add, if he has 

 not the requisite knowledge, he may possibly find that 

 his retirement has brought him into business a little too 

 large for his comfort and his cash. 



When a man has gained a competence in one of the 

 callings to which we have referred, and proposes to '' re- 

 tire," he thinks himself to be entering a golden period 

 of ease and dignitv, over which no clouds will gather, 



