A lover, wishing to compliment his dulcinea, by intimating that she was a celestial being 128 descended to earth, unhappily called her “a fallen angel.” RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES IN RURAL LIFE. particle of genuine devotion. How necessary, then, that there should be stated occasions, in the country rarely enjoyed except on the Sabbath, to check the progress of this worldly influence upon the soul; to wake up the slumbering elements of its divine life; to impart to them renewed energy; and, thus keeping in healthful vigor the fervors of an enlightened piety! And, even if the religion of the family could be made as spiritual and as controlling as practicable in a world of sin and moral weakness, the distinctive attribute of religion is its social tendency. Alone we may be cold and lifeless; but in the full congregation, heart sympathizing with heart, as face answers to face in the water, we become warmed and animated, and can respond to the declaration that a day in the Lord's courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. The institution of public worship has an incidental advantage. Artificial distinctions in society are unnatural, and under some circumstances exert an unfavorable influence. It is not, probably, an evil, that distinctions in society should exist. It would be difficult to imagine a healthy community without them. There must be persons in the administration of civil government; in the direction of the army and the navy; in the supervision of mercantile establishments; in the management of extensive mechanical operations; and not less so in the direction of agricultural labor, raised above the mass of citizens, clerks and operatives, entitled to exercise authority, and of course to receive that respect, deference, and submission which are unavoidable. Wealth does not a little in the creation of outward distinctions among men. And learning likewise gives its possessors an elevation by no means small. Such distinctions are unavoidable, and should not be condemned. too often give a prominence that is to be deplored. On the one hand, pride enters into them, and produces a disgusting inflation. On the other hand, the common citizen, the poor man, the unlettered man, the laborer, is correspondingly depressed. Now and then a common brotherhood is scarcely recognized. Common sympathies are scarcely felt. Now and then it appears as if individuals belonging to these different classes do not realize that they belong to the same species. This should not be. It should be prevented so far as practicable. But they The institution of public worship is powerful in leveling the feelings of men. In the Christian temple the distinctions of rank are laid aside. All meet on the same broad basis. All have one common faith. There is no human merit. All alike are sinners, depending solely on the grace of God for pardon, acceptance, and mercy. The individual worth millions, and the Good manners, good sense, and money, make gentlemen of our sons. Dr. Franklin says, "He who rises late may trot all day, but never overtake his business." How beautiful the precept, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us !" But who would willingly be thus adjudged? Who is there RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES IN RURAL LIFE. 129 individual who commands the services of tens of thousands, are as destitute of all claims for divine favor, as the poorest beggar who depends on the rich for his daily bread; and, perhaps, in Christian virtue-in the graces of the Spirit-the latter is much more eminent than the former! How heavenly is the spectacle in the Christian temple, to see the humble soldier kneeling by the side of his commanding general, the most servile day-laborer by the side of him from whose earthly charities he is able to live; the poor washerwoman by the side of the lady worth half a million dollars; each alike commemorating in penitence, in faith, and in hope, the death of Him through whose merits they expect salvation; and, on arising and departing, all exchanging, with pressing hands and throbbing hearts, the symbols of a common fellowship! Let the rich and the powerful go away to their splendid mansions; recline upon their silken couches; and feast on the luxuries of an entire hemisphere; yet infinitely better Christians than they were before. Let the poor go away to their humble cottages; partake of the meal of wholesome penury, and then pass the evening as Christians ought to pass it; and how happy and contented are they in the lowly station ordained for them by Providence! Farmers should never consider it a burden to contribute for the support of Christian institutions. These institutions, well maintained, add ten per cent. to the value of all real estate in a town; probably more. As citizens, it makes no great difference whether they belong to one denomination or another. The effect on the community, in all the essentials of the social character, is much the same. And, when we witness the scene sketched in the preceding paragraph, under whatever distinctive name, we cannot fail to greet all, wherever found, whatever their complexion, whatever their language, whatever their outward forms of worship, as brethren in the Christian faith. A more impressive scene is not known in rural life, nor indeed anywhere else, than the sight of a whole population, for miles around, on a pleasant Sunday morning in the vernal season, collecting for public worship on the Church Green. Everything without and within conspires to produce the emotions of chastened piety. The noise and bustle of labor were laid aside, on the previous evening. Stillness reigns with undisturbed dominion. The realm of nature, as if to join in the general homage, is peculiarly lovely. The rich and dense foliage of her forests waving in majesty and beauty; the grass, green and soft, like velvet, in the meadows and upon the roadside; and the perfumes of flowers and aromatics, everywhere regale the senses, and point upward to the Being that made and governs Examine not the pedigree nor the patrimony of a good mau. that does not hope for more mercy at the hand of his Maker, than he has shown to his fellow-man I Being to advise or reprimand any one, consider whether it ought to be in public or private 130 presently or at some other time-also in what terms RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES IN RURAL LIFE. all. In the midst of this quiet loveliness and overpowering suasion, as far as the eye can reach in varied directions, family after family, each in a group by itself, those near by on footthose more distant in carriages, is slowly advancing with pensive air, to mingle in the gathering crowd. With what kind salutations do they greet each other! With what simplicity have they adorned themselves! What a charming contrast between, the surrounding verdure and the white robes of female youth; alike emblematical of unsullied innocence presumed to exist at that period of life, and of the flowing vestures in which the righteous are represented, in their glorified state, to surround the throne of God! Such an election of vestments is a matter of philosophy as well as of good taste. Not absorbing the sun's rays like black, they of course are much cooler; and they may be supposed to denote those personal ablutions particularly needful after a six days' exposure to the dust, when freely perspiring, as all will perspire in labor under a summer sun. For these reasons, as well as for their appropriateness in a religious view, it is a paradox that this subject is so little appreciated. In the church, appropriate neatness of costume is a virtue tending to piety itself; whereas, a gaudy and fantastic display of dress and ornament is in bad taste, originating in pride, and tending to the desecration of the forms of religion. However, it is not designed to discuss this subject here. Another one, alluded to, deserves further consideration in speaking of the religious influences in the country; it is, the grouping of families, each family entire by itself, especially on Sunday. There is around the fireside, and the household altar, in these well-defined associations, a melting pathos that cannot fail of touching the heart of the beholder. There is, in the relations between parents and children, and all of the same household, a social chord which cannot be touched without sending its vibrations to every human bosom. In all well-organized communities we see much to admire, especially authority and submission, like the different shades of the landscape so blended into each other, that it is difficult to define where either terminates and the other begins. But in the family circle, where authority and submission are modified and made sacred by the laws of consanguinity, where the one and the other is exercised in love, like that which binds divinity and humanity in common fellowship; where all enjoy one inheritance and are bound together by one instinct, we should be wanting in the most precious sensibilities of our nature were we to prescribe limits to our admiration and homage. So deeply engraven on the heart of man are the principles that govern us in estimating this subject, that we gaze with Avoid, as companions, passionate men, and sullen men. to do it; and, in reproving, show no signs of choler, but do it with sweetness and mildness. Stander cannot make the subjects of it either better or worse; it may represent us in a false light, or place a likeness of us in a had one, but we are the same: RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES IN RURAL LIFE. 131 unmeasured delight even on analogous grouped alliances in the brute creation. Who can fail to experience pleasure on beholding, in all the grades of this creation, the parent, with her progeny, following their respective instincts, till the latter ceases to need the protection of the former? Who can feel no interest in the feathered songsters of the forest, watching over and feeding their little responsibilities, if possible with more than human assiduity? Who can feel no interest in beholding the female grunter imparting nourishment to her sleek and portly young ? And if the ever-faithful barn-yard fowl, with her sprightly retinue, is made by the inspired writer an emblem of social fidelity, it surely is not beneath our dignity, or the dignity of our subject, that we make kindred allusions. Nevertheless, it is on the occasions to which we have alluded, that the family group appears in more than ordinary loveliness. As with all others, in the Christian temple, all the members of the household lay aside all distinctions of age, of authority, and of rank; and, among the most ardent of their aspirations, is the one that they may most faithfully, and at all times, perform the corresponding duties which originate in their family relation. Can parents thus unite in these hallowed services, and experience no increased feeling of responsibility, for a due regard to the welfare of those by nature and religion made dependent on them? And can children thus unite in them without being the more impressed with their own duties for love and filial submission? And, when on their way homeward, and when again collected in their own domicil, does not the passion of love burn with a flame more pure and effulgent than before; and do not fresh smiles and caresses, as if from the inspiration of heaven, reciprocally cheer each other till lulled to midnight rest and sweet repose? Where else can the joint members of the household thus adorn themselves with this social garniture? Where else can they seek for these renewed and invigorated social instincts, a panoply, that, like the mantle of divine mercy, will never wax old nor decay? Hence, if we would maintain the excellency of the family relation in all its purity and vigor, let the family on all convenient occasions, and especially in the house of God, and on the way to and from that sacred place, maintain its distinctive position. An army moving forward to conflict admits of no promiscuous concourse; its beauty and its grandeur depend on each company or portion of it remaining distinct and in its own place, so that there may be no confusion or disorder. Let a well-disciplined and arranged martial band be contrasted with one of tumultuous formation, and how forcibly will our subject A good wife is the workmanship of her own husband. not so the slanderer; for calumny always makes the calumniator worse, but the calumniated-never. It is curious that some learned dunces, because they can write nonsense in languages that are dead, should despise 132 those that can talk sense, in languages that are living. To acquire MEANS FOR MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. be illustrated! As a well-organized corps appears, viewed in relation to its minor organizations, both in its marching and counter-marching, as well as when stationary under the review of its commanding general, so let families on their way to the Christian temple, when there engaged in its divine services, and also on their way homeward, preserve their own associate character in unbroken order. Let families-ten or twenty-be well grouped, each succeeding another, at a discernible distance from each other, as the several companies of a regiment advance; and who can say there is no beauty in going, like the tribes of ancient Israel, to the courts of the Lord? O, what a glory doth this world put on For him that with a fervent heart goes forth MEANS FOR MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. There is a tongue in every leaf A voice in every rill; A voice that speaketh everywhere, FARMERS often complain that they are deficient in education. For this there is no necessity. Let them support and improve good common schools. Let them avail themselves of the other means of mental improvement within their reach, and they will acquire an education adequate for any occasion they will be called to meet; and they will hold an elevation in society held by no other class of men. It is known that they have a large amount of leisure. Let this be spent in the cultivation of their minds; in laying up stores of useful knowledge. The benefits of the common school have been named. They make a good foundation for any subsequent mental culture. Then let the leisure time of farmers be spent in reading good A great fortune with a wife, is often found a bed full of brambles. a few tongues, says a French writer, is the task of a few years; but to be eloquent in one, is the labor of a life. |