RURAL LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND. 405 



and prefers to linger witTi the rustic who does not invite 

 her, rather than with him who, spurred by emulation, 

 tampers with those lovely objects with which nature will 

 not allow the impertinent interference of taste and art. 

 Health waits upon his steps, though he neglects her laws ; 

 Fortune rewards him, though he lays no gifts upon her 

 altar; he thrives though he has but httle calculation, 

 and his industry obtains higher reward than his neighbors' 

 ingenuity. 



But why should this often uncultivated clown be so 

 particular an object of Nature's favors ? Why should 

 Providence bless him with more content than the weal- 

 thy tradesman, who would scorn his whole possessions ? 

 Because the gifts of Nature and the blessiags of Heaven 

 are for the meek and humble, and Virtue loves to bestow 

 her rewards upon those who are simple in their habits 

 and frugal in their desires. Hence, though he possesses 

 but little of the ideal, the lovers of the poetic and pic- 

 turesque are delighted with his creations; and though 

 destitute of culture, the refiaed and the educated are 

 pleased with his company and remember his sayings. 



"We overlook in his conversation those modes of speech 

 and those refinements of thought which we look for in 

 circles of superior social rank. We link him by unavoid- 

 able association with the trees, the rocks, the animals, and 

 the rude implements which are subject to his command. 

 We detect interesting likenesses between him — with his 

 robust frame, his swarthy countenance, and his plain 

 language — and the shepherd swains of the pastoral poets. 

 Bright summer suns and keen winter blasts have imbued 

 him with a kindred cheerfulness and ruggedness; but 

 open skies and independent labor have given him a 

 freedom of deportment and dignity, which, with all his 

 defects of education, elevate him above the level of a 

 clown. 



