THE HOME EDUCATION OP THE RURAL DISTRICTS. 401 



manners, and gentility. On this son or daughter, or both, the hard 

 earnings of years are lavished ; and they are reared up in the belief that 

 whatever smacks of the country is vulgar that the farmer is neces- 

 sarily ill-bred and his calling ignoble. 



" Now, will any one say that this picture is overdrawn ? I think 

 not. But let us see if there is not a ready way to change the whole ex- 

 pression and character of the picture, almost without cost or trouble. I 

 would point out an easier, happier, and more economical way of educat- 

 ing those children, far more thoroughly, while at the same time the 

 minds of the parents are expanded, and they are prepared to enjoy, in 

 the society of their educated children, the fruits of their own early in- 

 dustry. 



" And first, let the front part of that house be thrown open, and the 

 most convenient, agreeable, and pleasant room in it, be selected as the 

 family room. Let its doors be ever open, and when the work of the 

 kitchen is completed, let mothers and daughters be found there, with 

 their appropriate work. Let it be the room where the family altar is 

 erected, on which the father offers the morning and the evening sacrifice. 

 Let it be consecrated to Neatness, and Purity, and Truth. Let no hat 

 ever be seen in that room on the head of its owner [unless he be a 

 Quaker friend] ; let no coat less individual be permitted to enter it. If 

 father's head is bald (and some there are in that predicament), his 

 daughter will be proud to see his temples covered by the neat and grace- 

 ful silken cap that her own hands have fashioned for him. If the coat 

 he wears by day is too heavy for the evening, calicoes are cheap, and so 

 is cotton wadding. A few shillings placed in that daughter's hand, in- 

 sures him the most comfortable wrapper in the world ; and if his boots 

 are hard, and the nails cut mother's carpet, a bushel of wheat once in 

 three years, will keep him in slippers of the easiest kind. Let the table, 

 which has always stood under the looking-glass, against the wall, be 

 wheeled into the room, and plenty of useful (not ornamental) books and 

 periodicals be laid upon it. When evening comes, bring on the lights 

 and plenty of them for sons and daughters all who can will be most 

 willing students. They will read, they will learn, they will discuss the 

 subjects of their studies with each other ; and parents will often be quite 

 as much instructed as their children. The well conducted agricultural 

 journals of our day throw a flood of light upon the science and practice 

 of agriculture ; while such a work as Downing's Landscape Gardening 

 [or the Horticulturist], laid one year upon that centre-table, will show 

 its effects to every passer-by, for with books and studies like these, a 

 purer taste is born, and grows more vigorously. 

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