324 



MOORE'S RURAL KEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER, 



OCT. i. 



(&Mtt Woti*U- 



HARVflBI HWS 



6. tuple and practical morality » 

 iaiag ear);, working bard, a 

 e might alwaja b 



m» JflKidt-fftwk. 



A VISION. 



jTr.i-.i.i.ii 5a 11 





It was in the jear it It little matter what 



year, what monib, It wua iho rlaff when a great 

 general traced the [ilia of a grea', battle which 

 gained him a great victory— the day when a great 

 ntiit*nm.'m wrote and promulgated a great political 

 manifesto— when a great diplomatist began an im- 

 portant negoclatum— when a great admiral took the 

 command or a great fleet — all great enterprises 

 commanded by the great monarch of a great 

 nation. 



That same day, that same year, in a little room 

 in a little bouse, situated in a little street of a very 

 little town in Brittany, a very poor hodman com- 

 menced a ehapeleft?, rough draught upon a very 

 rough etone. 



All the journali of the time vied wilh one 

 another in celebrating tho deeds and exploits of 

 the great general, who by hia skillful maneuvers 

 bad won the victory. They told how the troops 

 were stationed, where the right wing extended, 

 where the left win? stood, how the cavalry charged, 

 and how tho infantry sustained the shock, while 

 the artillery playtd upon the Hanks and rear guard 

 of the enemy, and how the result was a field cov- 

 ered with the wounded and dead, food for the vul- 

 tures and ravens. They spoke of the honors that 

 awaited the conqueror— of tho orations prepared 

 on bis return— of tho gracious reception of the 

 sovereign — of the successive banquets along his 

 way— of the titles and riches that be so 



History registered also the success of the great 

 statesman, who, on a certain day of a certain 

 took a great political measure, in favor of a great 

 nation, and maintained by it the equilibrium of 

 Europe. Bhe exalted the wisdom, the foresight, 

 the ability of this great mind. Then came the 

 grand diplomatist who had so skillfully manccu- 

 vcred in the labyrinth of negociatione. At last it 

 was the turn of the great admiral; there was a 

 chapter upon hint alone, and his glory contributed 

 to tho eclat of the reign of the great and powerful 

 monarch who bad enrolled in bia service Buch 

 great men. Dot no one breathed a word ol poor 

 JoniN Kerd&ie, of the town of Kergor, in 

 Brittany. 



Ho found no writer to tell his history, no poet to 

 alngit,no artist to paint it. That Iswhyanhomble 

 Bcrlbo undertakes today, in behalf of Johan, an 

 Imperfect Bketcb of a human Hie. 



I will pass in silence the first years of my hero, 

 contenting myself with Baling, that after having 

 followed the habitual course ol tbe vicissitudes 

 and maladies of childhood, Jim ah Kerdbib 

 apprenticed to Joah Konnlkg, a master-builder In 

 tbe village of Kergor. He got along a* well 

 other*, and after having carried the hod, mixed 

 the mort&r, cut tbe stone for several year*, and 

 cended, without metaphor, each roond of his rough 

 business, he reached the top of the ladder. The: 

 the honest JoHAM thought It prudent to take aw ifi 

 He chose her bunest. laborious, diligent, and boo 

 found himself at the head of a family of three 

 children. But he never wanted for work, his 

 housekeeper wns economical, and in good < 

 years they made both ends meet. Hie work, his 

 wife, hla children, and two companions sufficed 

 QU the heart and head of Joqan. He had, ■ 

 rising, no other care than the task of the day— quite 

 like that of the day before, and just like that of 

 to-morrow— no other thought when he was return- 

 ing home, ihan that of the soup which waited for 

 him Bmoklug h, the fire; no prospect than Johah- 

 jiETand Ivoxxn runmog with all haste to meet 

 him, and little Rosin*™ whom he could hear 

 prattling in her cradle, if she was not asleep. Af- 

 tenopper, what b»rm was then rn drluking a glass 

 of cider, and smoking „ lltpe wilh p, HBBB ^j 

 Gisriao? Yet Joass did nut Mow Wmidf ^ 

 luxury erery evening. 



Ho was orderly, sober, plow, u hjg Meestora 

 had been. He was never absent (torn chorch on 

 Sunday, and kneeled at the door if the body of the 

 church was too full; he canght some scrap* from 

 the Cure's sermon and drew from them a moral 



for bis us- 

 consisted 



the board, and that wife and children might never 

 suffer. This brief and naive interpretation of the 

 holy writings was worth many long commentaries 

 of learned doctors. So flowed, in the onirorm cir- 

 cle of daily labor to gain daily bread for his in 

 creasing family, the tranquil life of tbe houest 

 Jonur, of tbe village of Kergor, in the good conn 

 try •! Brittany. 



Bat even tbe most rustic and humble existence 

 has Its decisive honr. It struck for Kzbdhib. It 

 happened one day that he was charged with re- 

 pairing a breach in tbe wall of a certain old castle, 

 situated about three leagues from Kergor, and be- 

 longing to an old and noble fsmily of tbe country. 

 The work done, the housekeeper, in the absence of 

 the family, regaled the poor laborer with the sight 

 of the splendors of the rich manor. Johan saw 

 there what he had never seen, velvet curtains, hair 

 sofas, crjstal mirrors, golden framep, paintings, 

 sculptures I Never since the day when he first en- 

 tered tho Cathedral of Rennes, bad he been so 

 dazzled. As he gazed upon the wonderful specta- 

 cle, bia eyes fell npon a marble statuette that the 

 housekeeper told him was a portrait of the arch- 

 angel Micii.el, brought from fir away, from some 

 church in Italy, she knew not where. 



Johan stopped short before this, and there he 

 could have remained forever. From tho moment 

 that he looked upon the archangel all the rest was 

 eclipsed. Tho little statuette filled the vast gallery. 

 Jouan had often seen augels before, in churches, 

 upon the tabernacles of altars, chubby-faced cher- 

 ubs whom Rosinettf, without wings, resembled. — 

 But tho archangel was quite another thing ; a beau 

 tiful young man of about twenty jears, and who 

 yet seemed to belong to the earth neither by age, 

 anything else. Clothed (Johan saw 

 it thus,) in a luminous armor, all resplendent, like 

 what Monsieur, tho Cure, called " the armor of 

 hand he held the flaming eword, 

 with the other ho pointed to heaven; his large 

 ,tBpread wings sustained him in space, hie feet 

 touched not the earth, bis locks streaming npon 

 the heavenly breeze. A messenger from the Most 

 High, there waa npon him tbe reflection of divine 

 radiance; how describe this vision bo pnre, so 

 calm, so sngelic ! In contemplating it, Johan felt 

 expanding, "Come, It Is time to go!" 

 housekeeper to him. Awaking in snr- 

 [an started ; he took off his cap, made his 

 went away with his head fall of the arcb- 

 ■ him flying before him all along the 

 aim again in his cottage, hovering 

 and little onep.who, climbing upon 

 his vest, and rummaging bla 

 ke him from hia ecetaey. He 

 the glorious archangel For 

 it time, he remembered his dream when 

 and all the day, while hard at work, he had 

 hia eyes the celestial vision. It followed 

 the " Bon-Coin," an unholy place, more fre- 

 quented by tipplers than angels. He found it 

 night, as soon as he closed hia 

 eyelids. Tho archangel had become for hiin, 

 what gold is to the miser, power to tbe ambitions, 

 the loved one to the lover. The whole world was 

 absorbed in this divine type which filled the hear! 

 and brain of the poor Juiian. 



There are some things that we desire to possess, 

 others that wo desire to produce. The firat of 



angeL lie 



knees, hanging t 

 pockets, could not w 

 Blept and dreamed o 



i that of the 



ither belongs to the a 



: first, li 



i line, ] 





:- th-n 



i square figures, and yet tbe 

 He saw it so distinctly and 

 vas certain of being able to 



arohangel beset hi; 

 bo constantly, that 

 copy it if he only knew bow to begin. To draw 

 it waa out of the question, since he had never held 

 o pencil in hie life. But he knew how to cut stone, 

 nye, the hardest. Why should he not try to carve 

 the archangel from a blook, which be transported 

 secretly to a little room, quite at the top of his 

 house? 



On their part, and about the same time, the great 

 general, the stutee-man, the diplomatist, matured, 

 each by himself, the plans of their vast enterprises, 

 while the honest Jodan wbb meditating his great 

 project He looked upon the block of stone, and 

 Btrange thoughts traversed hia brain. Jouan knew 

 hardly enough of writing to sign his name. As 

 for reading, he had not opened a book since he 

 left school, when twelve years old. Bewas, there- 

 fore, scarcely fitted to define the ideas, or rather 

 tho vague sensations that he felt. 



The archangel had evoked for him a new world. 

 He had indeed heard of the great St. Micb-el, the 

 conqueror of Satan, cryiDg with a voice of thun- 

 der, "Who la like to God?" then prostrate, after 

 victory, and adoriDg; but he had never given bim 

 a body and countenance. From whence came to 

 the artist this marvelous divination? What form 

 was before the eyea of his mind, whilst he anima- 

 ted the marble and endowed it with beauty and 

 life? It must be a visitation from on high— a Bpaik 

 of the creative power of Cod. How bad that man 

 felt when, day by day. hour by honr, he saw matter 

 transforming itself and becoming spirit under his 

 hands? and, later, when the admiration and the 

 sympathy of the crowd saluted this incarnation of 

 all that is pure, noble, and holy 1 



Then came the contrast of hfs poor daily task, 

 to him. Johan, a task so monotonous, bo ungrate 

 ful, sa dull! What Ideas could come to light thro' 

 the rude labor of carrying the hod, of laying mor 

 tar and stones? A machine could do bo much.— 

 Joban foresaw In himself something that neither 

 the narrow bounds of his labor, nor 

 necessities of life, could enchain, and 

 opening bis soul took lis upward flight. Why 

 should not he try to fashion an angel, aftei 

 way, in bis little lonely garret In hia leisure h< 

 He went to work, and labored there patiently i 

 day, after bia work was done. Patiently endured 

 grievous mistakes; one day, be chiselled in his 

 rough draught, a too short arm, a crooked leg, 

 grotesque wings; the head, instead of being raised 

 nobly toward benveD, seemed to come out from the 

 cheat Johan did not lose hisconrage; herec 

 menced. He endured without complaints 

 scoldings of his wife, for his distracted 

 thoughtful air, the enticements of the childre 

 play, the reproaches of Pierkk and Gaspaad ■ 



Id not pardon him for deserting the •■Bon- 

 n," He listened submissively to the most seri- 

 remons trances of the master who had surprised 

 i dreaming with his trowel in his hand. Had 

 not his good angel to console him for these 

 puerile troubles? 



flowed past, Bnd if the angel did not 

 > family enlarged, and imposed on the 

 poor mason new effort and labor. His house- 

 keeper waa a good wife, but passionate, quarrel- 

 ccording to her, Johan had need of being 

 d, and she spued no stimulants. He en- 

 dured all with gentleness he thought of the angeL 

 inconceivable what aid and consolation this 

 1 afforded him! Gaspa&d, his companion in 

 labor, fell from a scaffolding and broke his limb.— 

 bad, also, a wife and eome children. 

 Johan took upon himself his work also, and divi- 

 ded his pay with the wounded man. Pibsbb con- 

 fided to him one evening that he was in debt, and 

 feared imprisonment Johan advanced to him the 

 half of the petty sum that he bad amassed by dint 

 hard labor, and worked two honrs longer daily 

 make up the deficit, lor he knew very well that 

 ebhe could return nothing to him. 

 There remained no longer time to work on the 

 gel and the years ran by. In the little fragment 

 a broken mirror, which adorned hia cottage, 

 uan saw his hair and beard growing grey. But 

 ' ' in, although a little lest 



SUvrrtisscracntis. 



Spanish Merino Sheep. 



1 KnbeSt«w tMl Bw*sawi Bw ** "■^SJohi 



k»j';v 



SOW1ETHINC TO DO 



Superior Dv 





SI, OOO !- -Washington Medallion Pen. 





.- he r 







night and went up to his 

 the hard stone. He could not 

 trespass with impunity upon his honrs of rest; his 

 strength declined; he felt it, but without being 

 '- resolve to renounce the work; not that 

 there was attached to it, any ambitious hope of 

 soecess, he knew to well his want of power; but, 

 there waa in Uhb effort of will, in this exercise of 

 the mind and the heart, something which ennobled 

 him, which elevated him above vexations above 

 daily cares, which rendered him more happy,— no, 

 I deceive myself in the word,— more noble and 



Johan had found means to apprentice his eldest 

 son, to send the younger to school, to pay the fees 

 of the doctor for the care given to two of tho 

 children, one of whom died, without reckoning 

 the aid lent to Gaspard, during his hard fever, and 

 the payment of PisHRB'a debts. 



All absorbed by her children and work, Geh- 



■: I,;,,! n 





thinness of Jodan. The blook, cnt and recut, woa 



almost as shapeless as on the first day; Joltan 

 alone found there some vsgne resemblance to hia 

 dear vision, which, always radiant, preceded him 

 on his return, so living and persistent that it 

 seemed to him that two or three blows of the 

 chisel would finish the copy of this divine model. 

 Without touching hia soup, without lighting bis 

 pipe, he embraced his wife and children, and ran 

 to shut himself up in hiB mysterious retreat There 

 he gazed long time upon the ronghly chiselled 

 stone; then, taking the hammer and chisel, he went 

 to work with feverish ardor, But soon unusual 

 languor overpowered him; tie tools slipped from 

 his bands, and he remained motionless, dazzled by 

 tbe interior vision, more and more beautiful, more 

 and more radiant, too heavenly for him to dare at- 

 tempt to reproduce it 



One morning Gertrude awoke and Johan was 

 Dot by her side. She thought that he had set out 

 before the dawn for some distant work. She rose, 

 and went down; the door of the house waa bolted 

 within. She called— no one replied. The children 

 joined her. Alarmed they Bought and ran through 

 all the little house; but they found no trace of 

 Johan. Ivonnet remembered the room into which 

 he had many times seen his father glide stealthily. 

 He asoended tho ladder, entered by the skylight, 

 aud discovered, on his knees, his head bowed upon 

 the rude block, the lifeless body of Johan Kehdkie. 



T;ie u 





upon what vis 

 His body i 



grave a wooden crc 

 threw. Nothing m 

 of his burial. The 

 heart beat nntil it b 



of the village walls 

 of the great genera), I 



aw here below. Who can say 

 they opened? 



lepoaited in the little village 

 Sow erected over the homble 

 oss, that time decayed and over- 

 aore indicates to-day tbe place 

 i before which a human 

 was broken to mend one 

 while the mortal remains 

 great statesman, and the 

 great diplomatist, repose beneath great slabs of 

 white marble, with pompouB inscriptions, not a 



passer-by that Johan Kerdiub, of the little village 

 of Kergor, In Brittany, lived and died there. 



All those great ones of the earth have attained 

 their ideal in this life, their ideal of glory, of pride, 

 of ambition. That of Jon an waa at the same time 

 more modest and higher— he attempted, he was 

 baflled and perished at his work. But who knows 

 what influence that persevering efl\>rr, that un- 

 known and unproductive labor, exerted upon the 

 fate of that immortal soul where it now dwells? 



CHILDEEN'S TEMPER. 



Bad temper is oftener the result cf unhappy cir- 

 cnmstanceB than of an unhappy organization; it 

 frequently, however, baa a physical cause, and a 

 peevish child often needs dieting more than cor- 

 recting. Some children are more prone to show 

 temper than others, and sometimes on account of 

 qualities which are valuable in themselves. For 

 instance, a child of active temperament, sensitive 

 feeling and eager purpose, is more likely to meet 

 with constant jars and rubs, than a dull, passive 

 child; and if he is of an open nature, bis inward 

 irritation is immediately shown in borsts of pas- 

 sion. If yon repress these ebullitions by scolding 

 and punishment, yon only increase the evil by 

 changing passion into snlkiness. A cheerful, good- 

 tempered tone of your own, a sympathy with his 

 trouble, whenever the trouble has arisen from no 

 ill-conduct on his part, are the best antidotes; but 

 it would be better still to prevent beforehand, as 

 much as possible, all sources of annoyance. Never 

 fear spoiling children by making them too happy. 

 Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good af- 

 fections grow— the wholesome warmth necessary 

 to make the heart-blood circulate healthily and 

 freely; unhappiness, the chilling pressure which 

 produces here an inflammation, there an excres- 

 cence, and, worst of all, "the mind's green and 

 yellow sickness — ill-temper.'' 



CENEVA NURSERIES. 



Important to Orehardists and Planters. 



GIFTS-GIFTS!-- GIFTS'! 

 Splendid Gifts ! 



At No. -i30 Chestnut St. 

 THE ONLY ORIGINAL GIFT BOOK STORE 





Wooden Water Pipe. 



SPlRlT_Q g THE AGE. 

 D FRTVATa msTOET 



T THE THE] 

 BY SAMUEL M. SMUCKEB, &,( 



I 



E EMPEROR, THE EMPRESS 



CfcUEKN HORTBNSE, 



?°" NrrBSS CASTIOLIONB. 



OR OP THE 11 



HIS COURT, 



Franco under the Seooml Empire, 



WHKEI.Kl! .t WILSON'S 

 SEWING MACHINES, 



Office 3-1-3 Broadway. New York. 

 Duc&iu or toe Loo 9nrcn 



PQGQQOOQQOC 



LEA & PERKINS' 



worcestershFre sauce, 



Hedioa] Gentleman, 



To UU Brother 



A GIFT WITH EVERY BOOK, 



THE BEST AFPLK PABBB. IB THE WORLD. 



a-a.rs.^5 OUT, 

 ARE OUT! 

 CLARK'S FALL STYLE 



GENTS Dliliss HATS 



' l::'^l' " EV *[^7- IT teluM Street, Rw.bMttr, N. K 



:x,l 



COOOAINE. 



]£iT "uho Ot£ 



5.(i(«>" 





MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 



Aericulrnrnl, Llierarr and Family Newspaper. 

 D. O. T. MOORE, ROCHESTER, K. Y. 



Office, Union Bnildings, Opposite the Court Home. 



ooptM «a to Knrope, ic b ft «V- tod* 



