V
Tho Progressiva Farmer, February 18, 19u2.
a
The Home Circle.
ELEGY IN A COUNTRY CHUBCHYABD.
BY THOMAS
The curfew tolls the knell of parting
dtty ;
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er
the lea ;
The ploughman homeward plcds his
weiry way,
And leaves the wcrld to darkness
and to me.
Now fades the glimmering landscape
on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness
hold?,
Save where the beetle wheels his
droning flight.
And drowsy tinklings lull the dis
tant folds :
Bave that from yonder ivy-mantled
tower.
The moping owl does to tho moon
complain
Of such ms, wandering near her ee
cret bower,
Molest her ancient, solitary reign.
Beneath these rugged elms, that yew
tren's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a
mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers of the ham
let sleep.
The breezy call of incense-breathing
morn,
The swallow twittering from the
straw built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echo
ing horn,
No more shall Touee them from
their lowly bed.
For thrm no more the blazing hearth
shall burn,
Or buy housewife ply her evening
cire ;
No children run to lisp their sire's
return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss
to share.
Oft dir? the harvest to their sickle
yield,
Their turrow oft the subborn
glebe has broke ;
How j(;cund did they drive their
team a-neld I
How bowed the woods beneath
their bturdy stroke !
Let not ambition mock their useful
toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny
obscure ;
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful
smile
The short and simple annals of the
poor
The beast of heraldry, the pomp of
power.
And all that beauty, all that wealth
eVr gave,
Await alifce th inevitable hrur
Tho paths cf glory lead but to the
grave.
Nor you, yo proud ! impute to these
the fault,
If memory o'er their tomb no tro
phies raise,
Where, through the long-drawn aisle
and fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note
of praise.
Can storied urn or animated bust,
t Back to its mansion call the fleet
' ing breath?
Can honor's voice provoke the silent
dust,
Or flattery soothe the dull, cold
ear of death?
Perhaps in this neglected spot is
laid
Some heart once pregnant with
celestial fire ;
Hands that the rod of Empire might
have swayed,
Or vs aked to ecatacy the living lyre ;
But knowledge to their eyes her
ample pge,
Rich with the spoils of time, did
no'er unroll ;
Chill penury repressed their noble
rage,
And Ir Z3 the genial current of the
St-Ul.
Full many a gem of purest ray se
rtno
The durk, unfathomed caves of
oce.nn bear ;
Full mtiLy a flower is bcrn to blush
unseen,
And -waste its sweetness on the
desert air.
Socio village Hampden, that, with
daunt ej-s breast,
Tho little tyrant of his fields with
sto d ;
6:nie mute, inglorious Milton here
may ret ;
Soaio Croruwel!, guiltless of his
country's blood.
The apii'aase of listening Senate3 to
command,
Tho threats of pain and ruin to
desj i'C,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation's
eye,
Their lot forbade ; nor circumscribed
alone
Their growing virtues, but their
crimes confined ;
Forbade to wade through slaughter
to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on
mankind ;
This Is No. 21 of our series of the World's
Best Povius, air.nged especially for The Pro
gressive Farmer by the editor. In this
erlea Bele- tlous from the following authors
Have already appeared: Burns, February, liol;
Bryant, October, lyoi; the Brownings. .Novem
ber, Lortl Byron and Phillips Brooks,
December, 1J101; Thomas Campbell and Kugene
neld, January, 1902.
CRAY.
The struggling pangs of conscious
truth to hide.
To quench the blushes of ingenious
tthame,
Or heap the shrine of luxury and
uride
With incense kindled at the Muse's
flame.
Far from the madding crowd's igno
ble strife.
Their, sober wishes never learned
to stray ;
Along the cool, sequestered vale of
life.
They kept the noiseless tenor of
their way,
Yet even these bones from insult to
protect.
Some frail memorial still erected
nieh.
With uncouth rhvmes and shapeless
sculpture decked.
Implores the passing tribute of a
sigh.
Their names, their years, spelt by
the unlettered Muse,
The place of fame and elegy sup
ply ;
And many a holy text around she
strews,
That teaoh the rustio moralist to
die.
For who, to dumb forgetfulness a
prey,
This pleasing, anxious being e'er
resigned,
Left the warm precincts of the cheer
ful day,
Nor cast one longing, lingering
look behind?
On some fond breast the parting soul
relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye
requires ;
E'en from the tomb the voioe of Na
ture cries,
E'en in our ashes live their wonted
fires.
For thee, who, mindful of the un
honored dead,
Dost in these lines their artless
tale relate ;
If chance, by lonely contemplation
led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire
thy fate
Haply some hoary-headed swain
may say :
"Oft have we seen him at the peep
of dawn,
Brushing with hasty steps the dew
away,
To meet the sun upon the upland
lawn.
"There at the foot of yonder nodding
beech,
That wreathes its old, fantastic
roots so high,
His listless length, at noontide would
he stretob,
And p-ire upon the brook that bab
bles by.
"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as
in scorn,
Muttering his wayward fancies, he
would rove ;
Now dropping, woeful, wan, like one
forlorn.
Or crazed with care, or crossed in
hopelet-s love.
"One rr.orn I missed him on the 'cus-
tompd hill.
Along the heath, and near his fa
vorite tree ;
Another came nor yet beside the
rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood
was he ;
"The next, with dirges due, in sad
array.
Slow through the church-way path
we saw him borne :
Approach and read (for thou canst
read) the lay
Graved on the stone beneath yon
aged thorn."
TIIE EPITAPII.
Here rests his head upon the lap of
earth
A youth to fortune and to fame
unknown ;
Fair Science frowned not on his hum
ble birth,
And melancholy marked him for
her own.
Largo was his bounty, and his soul
sincere ;
Heaven did a recompense as largely
send ;
Ho gave to misfryallhe had a tear,
He gained from Heaven ('twas all
he wished) a friend
No further seek his merits to dis
close, Or, draw his frailties from their
dread abode
(There they alike in trembling hope
repose),
The bcscni of his Father and his
God.
MB. MOODY AND THE QUESTIONABLE
BOOK.
Some one asked the late Dwight
L. Moody if he had read a certain
book. He replied, "No, I believe
there is poise n in it ; at least I have
heard so on good authority." The
friend said, "But wouldn't it be
well for you to read it for yourself ?"
"No," said Mr. Moody; "if I take
poison in my stomaoh the doctor has
to come with a stomaoh pnmp to
take it out. Why should I take poi
son in my mind? I might never be
able to get it out. Exohange.
A YOUNG MAN'S GLORY.
Bf REV. J3NM WATS3X. I. 0. (laa
It is said in the wisest of books
that the glory of a young man is in
his strength,, and every sight-think-ing
person will agree. A young man
who is a weakling affords an abject
sreotaole ; a young man that stands
four tqure to all the winds that
blow, solid and impregnable, is a bul
wark to the Commonwealth. And
the objeot cf this paper is to point
cut that jast as a tree strikes its roots
deepest where the wind blows fierc
est, and as an animal has the thick
est fur where the cold is keenest,
so the strongest oharacter is formed,
not in favorable, but in unfavorable
circums auces.
TIIE VALUE OF STRUGGLE.
When life is easy for a man he is
apt to oome to little ; when life is
hard he has a good ohance of grow
ing into a hero. It is not the lotus
eater who makes history, although
he may contribute a study in poetry ;
it is the Pilgrim Father who is the
founder of a nation, although to
sentimental people he may be an
effence. It is the man who has to
depend upon God and himself, with
out any bounties given, who has to
fight against odds and make his hand
keep his head, who has to start at
the foot of the hill and climb step
by step to the top, it is that man
who comes out in the battle of life.
If any young fellow is complaining
that all things are against him, then
let him pluck up courage and make
all things his servants,
"And on the neck of crowned fortune
Proud"
establish his kingdom ; and lot him
be sure that in this manly struggle
he is fellow soldier with the strong
and brave and pure and and wise of
every age.
IMPORTANCE OF A SOUND BODY.
One thing a young man must do
if he wants to become a strong man
is to make the most of himself physi
cally. Two opposite mistakes have
been made about this matter of eelf-
culture; one has been to despise
thobudy, the other has been to ignore
the soul. He who does not cultivate
his soul will end in becoming a mere
animal ; he who will not attend to his
body is trying to become a ghost.
What God intends and the world
needs is all-round manhood. Neglect
the body, and it will make you suffer ;
abuee the body, and it v ill pall down
your house of life about your ears.
We often fail to localizo weakness
in character. We see a crack in the
second floor and fancy there is some
thing wrong with tho wall there,
and proceed to patch it up ; but the
wrongness is at the foundation. If
a druin has burst, and is souking
round that foundation, then the earth
will sink, and in a little while there
will not be a door swinging free upon
its hinges, there will not be a room
where the air is sweet. Our spiritual
weaknesses ure often in their origin
physical, and the foul vapors
which affeot tho soul spring from
the lower path of an ill kept body.
WIRINESS.
Be thankful if your manhood rests
on the solid rock of a wholesome
constitution. But I wish to muke a
distinction between an unsound and
a merely delicate body, and to bid
delicate men to be of good cheer
You have not wronged your body
and you have no foul taint in your
blood ; the body God has given you
is simply a slender instrument and
limited in its power. Ycu cannot
play a first rate game, nor walk as
far in a day as other men, and you
do ycur work at a greater cost.
Bat yoa also can play the man, and
I would whisper a certain adjective
in your ear. If you are not robust,
very likely you are wiry, which sug
gests tenacity, perseverance, endur
ance and patience, all grand quali
ties.
CONQUERING IN SPITE OF A FRAIL BODY
And history affords a list of men
who through weakness were made
strong and did royal work. Macau
lay has a brilliant passage whero he
describes how the armies of England
were led by an " .hmatio skeleton"
and the hosts of France by "a
hunchbacked dwarf." Tho Anglo
Saxon intellect had never a better
representative than Lord Bacon, and
he was a frail man ; nor modern phi
losophy a more original thinker than
Spinoza, and he was all hi3 life dying
of consumption. Mr. J. R. Green,
the most popular historian of our
time, and Mr. J. A. Symonds, the
authority on the Italian Revival of
Letters, and Robert Louis Steven
son, that brave, bright soul, each did
his work with a delicate body, and
left behind him an imperishable
MacLarea), ia Youij People'! Weekly.
name. And the man who first car
ried the Cross through the Roman
world and planted it at last in the
Capital, the most profound of theo
logians and the bravest of mission
ries, was all his public life an inva
lid and a martyr of inourable disease.
EXERCISE FOR THE STRONG.
If your body is strong and full of
blood, see that you make it a ser
vant, as you would ride a mettle
some horse. Exercise it freely, lest
it become your master and prove a
curse rather than a blessing. The
church and the gymnasium should
stand side by side, for the flesh has
often been subdued, not bj texts,
but by dumb-bells, and the devil cast
out, not at a prayer meeting, but on
tho cross-bars. Bat if your body he
weak, train it the moro carefully,
and use it the more wisely, and be en
oouraged with the thought that a
lofty house may stand securely on
a slender foundation if that founda
tion happens to be an iron gridler.
Then a young fellow who wishes
to deserve the name of man must
make the most of himself practically,
and I mean ho must be prepared to
oarve his way and shape his career
without privilege or favor. The
strong man is willing to stand on his
own merit and asks nothing of so
ciety but an opportunity. Ho does
not want to creep up a back stair,
but presents himself boldly at the
front door. "Give me," he cries,
"a level ohance with other men, and
let the best man win."
PREPARING FOR LIFE WORK.
Of course we have all to be
equipped at the beginning of life
within the shelter of some harbor
and made ready for the voyage. We
ought, therefore, to be grateful for
a good father, for a high-toned
schoolmaster, for the spirit of a no
ble university, for the oversight and
advice and correction of an able
chief, either in our office or
profession. They build the hull and
rig the saili and store the vessel.
Our vessel may also have to be
tugged out to sea where there is
wind to fill the sails and a free sea
board. We ought to be grateful to
tho friend who gives us a start in
life by his name or by his counsel,
and we ought never to forge that
friend or his family after him.
Those are advantages we all need ;
thoso are favors none need be
ashamed to receive, because they do
not reflect on anyone's manhood.
FIGHTING ONE S OWN BATTLES.
But there oomes a time when the
vessel must begin her own voyage,,
and then Gvery man worth tho name
vrill thank his friends tor all that
they have done, and declare him
self ready to start on his own ac
count. There is a small percentage
of young men who would prefer to
lie all their days in harbor, or to bo
towed tho whole voyage, but if a
ship cannot put her nose outside the
bay she had better be broken up,
and if she has to be towed from
Liverpool to San Francisco then there
is no reason for her existence. If
after proper training and a fair trial,
a young man cannot stand alone
and earn his living, he falls from
the ranks of manhood, and the wiaest
thing that can be done for him is to
secure him a small annnity to be
paid weekly. Every man should be
determined to count in life by him
self, and should make people know
that he has his own claim upon tho
respect of the world.
WEALTH A MISFORTUNE TO THE YOUNS
MAN.
Occasionally a young fellow is
tempted to wish that he had a rich
father. But they are not to bo en
vied who aro born with a silver
spocn in their mouths. Riches are
a great tru by means of which a
man can do incalculable good ; they
may also be an entangling snare by
which his manhood will bo ruined.
When a minister comes into a for
tune, he usu.illy develops sore throat ;
and when a doctor becomes rich he is
apt to be more concerned about sport
than about his patients. It is not
the sons of wealthy men whorx ako
the best olerks and whom active
firms covet for their offices, but lads
who come up from the hardy homes
of the country. It is not continual
sunshine and soft winds which make
a hardy race, but gray skies and a
strong air, and the sturdy Scot who
wrests his living out of the cold soil
of his rough land is a stronger man
than the graceful Italian who sleeps
beneath the shadow of vines and begs
his daily bread of the strangers who
visit his beautiful country. j
It is a misfortune to the average I
young man to be an heir to riohes ;
it is a wholesome tonio that he should
begin in honorable poverty. Pov
erty I do not mean pauperism is a
stern but faithiul mother of genius
and of success. Alas that Spencer
died in want of bread ! but at any
rate he wrote "The Faorie Queen" ;
and Milton, in darkness and neglect
the inward vision of his soul being
cleansed imagined the Puritan
Epic. We owe the most of Scott's
novels to the loss of his goods ; and
ou$ of the hardness of his life, like
water from the stricken reck, flowed
tho lyrics of Robert Burns. For the
most part the pioneers of eoience
have been poor men, and the prices
of oonimerce have come from a low
estate. It remains forever true that
the primrose path leads nowhere
save to the sluggard's garden, while
the steep and rugged path leads up
ward to the stars.
SOUL STRENGTH.
And let me add that every man
should make the most of himself
spiritiially. It is good to bo strong
in body, better to be usei ul in life,
best to be victorious in the region of
the will. Defeat here is irrevocable ;
viotory here is decisive. If a man
talis under the power of any sin, he
is a slave ; if he conquer any sin, he
is so much more a man. This is the
ground where each of us must fight
his keenest, longest, and noblest bat
tie. We ought not to complain if
we be tempted, for temptation means
warfare, and warfare makes sol
diers. The richest natures are the
most severely tried, because they
are provinces worthy the winning.'
Tnin natures are seldom invaded,
for they are like the sand of the des
ert in which gr jws neither corn
nor wine. He who thinks will know
what doubt is, and he must think
on till doubt turns into certainty.
It is the man whose emotions are
the fullest who will know the dangers
of passions, but when his heart has
passed through the fire it will be
dowered with a love to God and man
not given to poorer natures.
Our wisdom is to find the sin that
is most cherished by us Koine
through our nature as with a oan-
dle. When we find our sin, we must
face it, we must resolve it shall be
conquered, we must take off our ooat
for the wrestle and grip this foe as
one who fights for his life. And
God will give to every true man the
victory. If the circumstances o
our life and oar work seem to be
against us, then we ought to be the
more vigilant as ngnting in an
enemy's country, watching, praying,
and standing to our arms. If any
man venture on a base word or vile
jest in our preseaoe, then let us
speak out bravely and sharply till
we put him to fehame or drive the.
leper from our company. Soldiers
and we are soldiers have oUen to
be far from agreeable, and if a man
should resent our indignation there
will be better men to approve it;
and if the man whom we have pun
isiied refuse to speak to us again,
it will be no loss, and there still will
be left one or two friends in the
world.
NO ONE HEED DESPAIR
But suppose, young man, you have
fallen and stained your manhood ;
suppose y ou are in debt and cannot
pay ; suppose you have been idle
and miased your chance. Then let
me say to you as a brother, Do not
despair. If innocence be gone, re
pentance is possible. Let me, who
in a measure may seem a stranger
to you, but yet as one who holds
your welfare near his own heart, be
seech you in the name of the Lord
to break the bonds of sin before the
day is closed, and do what you have
to do before you lie down to rest
Speak if you have to speak, write if
you have to write, confess if you
have to oonfesa, make restitution if
that bo your duty.
Act quickly and with all your
might ; strike for liberty, that liberty
which is alone found when we open
the door of our heart to Christ. Had
you given him possession earlier,
this would not have happened. Now
let him have the throne of your na
ture, and you will stand before set
of sun a man free in Christ Jesus.
"There's been another engage
ment," said young Mr. Dolley, who
had been reading the latos war news.
"Oh, dear," sighed Miss Frooks, "I
wish 1 could be in an engagement."
And in a few minutes she was right
in one. Harper's Bazar.
As long as The Progressive Far
mer miintains its present standard I
must have it. Adam Williams,
Wayne Co., N. C.
5Ui
A HUSICAL ROMANCE.
I heard a new
Bulging ganQTy
recently, it was called "A Musics
Romance." Profiting by a lull i
conversation, the young hostess an
nouncod that a lovely story of the
Civil War would be related in mnsi.
cal numbers, and to the one who
should best interpret them a pri
should be awarded. All were pro.
vided with cards and pencils and &
young woman seated herself at the
piano. The hostess then tked
"What was the heroine called?''
Whereupon the familiar notes of
"Sweet Mirie" were heard, and ij
began to be understood that the
names of popular airs given with
much spirit by the pianist would
furnish the answers to the questions
propounded, to be recorded upon the
cards. The story progressed thug;
What was the hero's name? "Robin
Adair."
Where was he born? "Dixie."
Where did they meet? "ComhV
thro' the rye."
At what time of the day wa9 it?
"Just as the sun went down."
When did he propose? "After the
ball was over."
What did he say? "Only one girl
in this world for me."
What did she say? "I'll leave my
happy home for you.'
What did he then bid her? "i
soldier's farewell."
What did the band play? "The
girl I left behind me."
Where did he go? "Georgia."
Where did he spend the nighi?
"Tenting on the old camp ground."
What did the band play when he
came home? "When Johnny comes
marching home."
Where were they married? "Old
Kentucky home."
Who were the bridesmaids? "Two
little girls in blue."
Who furnished themusio? "Whist
ling Rufus." j
Who furnished the wedding feast?!
"Rory O'Gnady."
Where did they make their home?
"On the banks of the Wabash."
What was their motto? "Home,
sweet home."
Where did they always remain?
"America."
The music was a new feature, and
the faot that the airs were so well
known make it the more enjoyable.
The advantage of the winner being
so slight, the pleasure of snooess wag
the more general. February Ladietf'
Home Journal.
While one boy is regretting his
want of opportunities, his lack of
means to get a college education,
and remaims in ignorance, another
with half his chances picks up &
good eduoation in the odds and ends
ot time whioh other boys throw
away. From the same material, one
man builds a palace and another
hovel. From the same rough pieoei
of marble, one man calls out an1
angel of beauty whioh delights every
beholder, another a hideous monster
which demoralizes every one who
sees it. Success.
MAKING IMPBESSIONS ON A CHILI).
It takes but a moment to make an
impression. The impression so quick
ly made may endure for centuries.
In one of the bricks brought from
the ruins of ancient Nuffar by Pro
fessor Hilprecht is a mark made by ft
workman's hand in the long gon8
ages. Meantime kingdoms have
risen and have fallen, and, genera
tions have oome and have gone, but
that impression has never changed.
As it is with the clay briok, and
even more so, it is with the mind
and heart of the child whom we
teach in the home or in the Sunday
school. Impressions are being made
every hour that the ages of eternity
shall not wholly remove. Ought we
not to prize our privilege of impres
sion making on the child's mind and
character? Sunday Sohool Times.
NOT THE SHIEK3.
Hard musolcs are not grown by
soft living. Strong brains are not
made by feeble exercise. Useful,
capable, brave-hearted men and
women do not grow out of boys and
girls who always shun the difficult
tasks and seek only their own eaee
and pleasure. To "endure hardness
as a good soldier" may not ba a
wholly agreeable experience, but it
has its compensations. Do you en
joy yourself most on acldday when
you dawdle around the fire dreading
to do something outside that needs
to be done, or when you march out
and go vigorously about it? The
enviable people in this world are not
the shirks. The enviable people are
those who strive after and obtain
"the godlike power to do and know
whatever for their own or the world
betterment needs to he done or
known. Seleoted.