120 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



U.XPRIjVCIPLED ambitiox. 

 BV T. c. rrssEXDEx. 

 Ambition improperly directed, and destitute 

 of principle, is a fruitful source of human mis- 

 ery, and causes most of the calamities of life. 

 Many of its votaries, instead of rendering them- 

 selves notable become notorious, and obtain in- 

 famy in escaping obscurity. They cannot en- 

 dure the idea of gliding silently down the stream 

 of life into the gulf of oblivion, without leaving 

 so much as a bubble or a ripple behind them ; 

 and therefore trouble the waters as much as 

 possible during their passage from time to eter- 

 nity. It is to be feared that there are more 

 men like Eratostratus, who set tire to the tem- 

 ple of Ephesus for no other purpose than to 

 preserve his name from oblivion, than like the 

 "Man of Ross"' who did good without seeking 

 fame, and tound tiiat 



" One self-approving hour whole years outweighs, 

 " Of stupid starers, aud of loud huzzas." 



But the man is happier both here and here- 



nfter, who 



" .\loii* the cool seqiiester'd vale of life, 

 " Still keeps the noiseless tenor of his way," 



than he who " wades through slaughter to a 



throne," and " shuts the gates of mercy on 



mankind.'" 



J)r. Darwin, in his elaborate work entitled 

 Zoonomia, treats of An^bition as a disease, and 

 thus describes its symptoms, and method of cure. 



" Ambition. — A carelessness about the opin- 

 ions of others is said by Xenophon to be the 

 source of impudence ; certainly a proper regard 

 for what others think of us frequently incites us 

 to virtuous actions, and deters ns from vicious 

 ones ; and increases our happiness by eidarging 

 the sphere of our sympathy, and by flattering 

 our vanity. 



Abstract what others feel, what others think, 

 All pleasures sicken, aud all glories sink Pope. 



" When this reverie of ambition excites to 

 conquer nations or to enslave them, it has been 

 the source of innumerable wars, and the occa- 

 sion of great devastation of mankind. Ca;sar 

 is reported to have boasted that he had destroy- 

 ed three millions of his enemies, and one mil- 

 lion of his friends. 



" The works of Homer are supposed to have 

 done great injury to mankind by inspiring a 

 love of military glory. Alexander was said to 

 sleep with them always on his pillow. How 

 like a mad butcher amid a flock of sheep ap- 

 pears the hero of the Iliad, in the following 

 line lines of Mr. Pope, which conclude the 

 twentieth book. 



His fiery coursers, as the chariot rolls, 



Tread down whole ranks, and crush out liproc;-' soul.". 



Dash'd from their hoofs while o'er the dead they fly, 



Black, bloody drops the sniokin?^ chariot dye : 



The :,piky wheels through heaps of carnage torf. 



And thick the groaning axles droppM with gore. 



High o'er the scene of death Achilles stoo<l, 



All grim with dust, all liorrible in blood; 



Yet still insatiate, still with rage on flame ; 



Such is the lust of never-dying fame ! 



" The cure must be taken from moral wri- 

 ters. Woolaston says Ca:!sar conquered Fompey ; 

 that is, a man whose name consisted of the let- 

 ters C. ae. s. a. r. conquered a long time ago. 



a man, whose name consisted of the letters 

 P. o. m. p. e. y. and that this is all that remains 

 of either of them. Juvenal also attacks this 

 mode of insanity. Sat. X, 166. 



Idemens et sacvas curre per alpes 



Ut pueris placeas, et declamatio fias 



Which is thus translated by Dr. Johnson : 

 And left a name at which the world turnM pale, 

 To point a moral, or adorn a tale." 



IfDr. Cautic may be permitted to add any 

 ingredients to Dr. Darwin's prescriptions, he 

 will give the following moral 



A.NTIUOTES TO AMBITION. 

 A\hen men of arrogance attempt to soar 



Above the limits of their destinVl sphere. 

 Their every effort serves to sink them lower, 



Curtail'd and baffled in their mad career. 

 Yet witless wights, in rash pursuit of fame, 



Strive for pre-eminence of power and place ; 

 \\ ho, if they gain the rank at which they aim, 



Become the heralds of their own disgrace. 

 Some fools are smitten with the love of dress. 



And spend their little all to make a show ; 

 Pride proves the cause and prelude of distress ; 



Attempts at high life bring the coxcombs low. 

 Some splendid sinners, proud of being vile, 



For genleel vices high pretensions urge. 

 Enact the rake and debauchee in style. 



And claim a wreath for meriting a scourge. 

 Some place their pride in wealth, by fraud obiaiu'd, 



Cash, houses, lauds, the purchases of guilt; 

 The conquerer boasts of battles he has gain'd. 



And laurels drench'd in blood unjustly spilt. 

 All such vain-boasters glory in their shame. 



The meed of vice no honor can bestow, 

 ImpelPd by pride, bad eminence their aim. 



They gain, at last, pre-eminence in woe. 



Fron the Old Colony Memorial. 



In the New England Farmer, Oct. 26th, are 

 extracted from President Dwight's tour in New- 

 England, sonic remarks on the Beach Grass, and 

 its utility as manifested by its improvement on 

 Cape Cod. The Editor request^ " any friend or 

 correspondent to furnish informatipn relative to 

 the above mentioned grass," 



Little can be added to the judicious and crit- 

 ical remarks of the respectalde tourist — but it 

 may be remarked, that its production is not pe- 

 culiar to Cape Cod ; it grows spontaneon-ly in all 

 situations similarly constituted. It delights only 

 on the open, exposed beach, and that constitu- 

 ted entirely of white sand, or pure silcx, with- 

 out any adhesive mixture ; it is never seen on 

 the adjoining meadows or upland, although with- 

 in convenient distance to have its seed wafted 

 on them by the wind — and it is believed to be 

 incapable of being produced where there is any 

 soil. 



This harbor is defended from the sea by a 

 beach on either hand, of similar formation ; 

 that on the north side, which extends from the 

 Gurnctt to Marshfield, three or four miles, is 

 called Salt-house beach — that on the south side, 

 and emphatically called the Plifmoulh Beach, ex- 

 tends from Monumet northerly al)out one mile 

 and an half, and are both, more or less, covered 

 with this grass ; and so impressive is the opinion 

 of its utility, that they are protected, and have 

 long been, by special acts of the Legislature, 

 l)re\enting them being fed by the neighbouring 

 cattle. 



From the Vermont Republican and Yeoman. 

 ON WELLS. 



As the preservation of health depends much 

 upon the state and quality of the water in use, 

 it is of the utmost consequence that no efforts 

 should be spared to preserve it in its purest 

 state. For this purpose I would strenously re- 

 commend the use of wells and buckets, although 

 water may be obtained with much greater facil- 

 ity by the aid of pumps. As pumps very mucb 

 lessen the manual labour in procuring water, 

 they certainly answer valuable purposes, except 

 for family uses. It is well known that motion 

 constitutes the life, and conduces essentially to 

 the puritication of water. As pumps receive 

 the water near the bottom of the well, by means 

 of holes in the penstock, the water in the well 

 undergoes very little agitation. This stagnant 

 state of the water is soon accompanied with a 

 disagreeable smell and taste ; and the water be- 

 comes coloured. These changes not unfrequent- 

 ly are very erroneously imputed to the wood of 

 which the pump is made, when, in reality they 

 are all consequences of the stagnation of the ■ 

 water. Water in this state, becomes extremely 

 unwholesome, and insalubrious, and is deprived 

 of its most essential qualities for w ashing. How 

 often have 1 lamented the rum of excellent wells 

 of water by the introduction of pumps! They, 

 however, might be again restored to their for- 

 mer purity and sweetness, by the use of the 

 bucket. — Good water may be designated by its 

 transparency, and its exemption from smell or 

 colour. 



Although the motion of the water, produced) 

 by the bucket, is calculated to preserve its salu- 

 brity, still much care and vigilance are requir- 

 ed in guarding against poisonous and nauseous 

 reptiles which so frequently infest wells. A- 

 mong others perhaps the lizard is as frequently 

 an unwelcome tenant as anj'. This reptile some 

 times grows to a large size, becomes spo'ted, and 

 is reputed extremely venomous. The lest meth- 

 od that 1 have ever discovered to destroy these 

 troublesome animals, which more or less infest 

 more wells, is the following : Put some vessel 

 into the bucket, containing sulphur, with some 

 combustibles, and alter setting tire to these. Ion 

 er the bucket into the well. If the well be 

 deep, it may be necessary to recruit the tire a 

 number of limes, as the moist and dense air w il) 

 serve to extinguish it. But if you succeed ir 

 tilling the w ell with a strong sulphureous smoke, 

 you will drive these animals from their hauiiU 

 in the walls to the bottom of the well, fron 

 whence they may be easily taken when th« 

 smoke subsides. 



Wells that have ever been good, may agaii 

 be restored, by often exhausting the water.— 

 The more water is taken from wells, the pur 

 er and better the water. 



Suppose that a farmer consumes thirty cord 

 of wood yearly — A green cord of wood is com 

 puted to weigh fifty-six hundred weight, and 

 cord of dry wood thirty-eight hundred weight ;— 

 It appears, he that sleds green wood sleds twent; 

 seven tons of water more than the other; am 

 when we come to reflect that it often times hap 

 pens in our hill towns that they sled the woo 

 half a mile up hill — surely it is time farmers be 

 gan to think about things that differ, and wori 

 head work as well as hand work, if they wout 

 thrive, — ibid. 



