38 CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



acts upon Mind? Surely MOTIVE and INTEREST, 

 and that ASSURANCE OF RESULTS, which the most 

 ordinary prudence demands, and the most buoyant 

 energy feeds upon or dies. 



Well may a bold experiment startle minds which 

 have been drilled into the habit, because into the 

 necessity, of contracting every prospect, every out- 

 lay, every mental conception, within the compass 

 of an ' Agreement for a year ! ' If there is an 

 attribute which more than others marks the distinc- 

 tion of the human mind from that of the lower 

 animal creation, it is that it looks forward : if there 

 is an art that more than others demands the powerful 

 and prolonged exercise of this faculty, it is agricul- 

 ture : if there is a thing which adds force and 

 method and precision to this faculty, it is Edu- 

 cation. Does the pen need to draw the conclusion ? 

 Can the reader of ' Sermons in Stones ' decipher no 

 Leases in Clods, no Schools of practical instruction 

 in ' Calx, Silex, and Alumen ? ' 



Winter, however, like Adversity, has a sur- 

 prisingly improving influence upon - - things 

 made of Clay. As each little thaAv, towards 

 spring-time, came and went, the gradual process of 

 granulation had broken down the once wet and 

 reeking spadefuls into the form of dry loose Mole- 



