Word Study.

HELPS TO STUDY

com mer'cial fever

desire to enter a commercial life.

light housekeeping-housekeeping on a small scale.

u nan'i mous ly — with all agreeing.

gen er al'i ty that which lacks definiteness or is impractical. flanking the man of the house on both sides in point of age one older, the other younger.

Notes and Questions.

Mention some of the things in the town that seemed attractive to the Bentons. Name some comforts that they had on the farm. What plan would have been wiser than selling out their furniture? Which of their hopes were realized in their new home? Were they worth the sacrifice? Which were not realized? What effect had the confinement of town life had upon their health? Relate the incident that caused the Bentons to return to the farm. How can we show real gratitude for a kindness? In what ways did the Bentons show that they appreciated the farm after returning to it? Make a list of things which city people must buy which country people may have without money. What things might be done in your community to make it a better place in which to live?

HAPPY THE MAN

Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground:

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire:

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find

Hours, days, and years slide soft away;
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day:

Sound sleep by night, study and ease,
Together mixt, sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.

ALEXANDER POPE.

HELPS TO STUDY

Biographical. —Alexander Pope, a celebrated English poet, was born in 1688. He was sickly and deformed, and his education was obtained at intervals. Before Pope was fifteen, he made his first attempt to write a poem. At the age of eighteen, he published a poem that attracted much attention. Pope is more often quoted than any other English author except Shakespeare.

un con cern'ed ly not anxiously.

mixt — mixed, united, mingled.

rec re a'tion-refreshment of strength and spirits after toil. purity of heart, sinlessness.

in'no cence

med i ta'tion-deep thought.

Notes and Questions. What is meant by "content to breathe his native air"? How is he supplied with milk and bread? What does the poet mean by saying" the fields supply him with bread "? How do "the flocks supply him with attire"? Of what benefit are his trees? What should be such a man's condition of mind and body? How does he sleep? How does he amuse himself and improve his mind? What is meant by "paternal acres "?

He who knows the most, he who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

FARMING

The glory of the farmer is that, in the division of labors, it is his part to create. All trade rests at last on his primitive activity. He stands close to nature; he obtains from the earth the bread and the meat. The food which was not, he causes to be. The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land.

Men do not like hard work, but every man has an exceptional respect for tillage, and a feeling that this is the original calling of his race, that he himself is only excused from it by some circumstance which made him delegate it for a time to other hands.

If he have not some skill which recommends him to the farmer, some product for which the farmer will give him corn, he must himself return into his due place among the planters. And the profession has in all eyes its ancient charm, as standing nearest to God.

Then the beauty of nature, the tranquillity and innocence of the countryman, his independence, and his pleasing arts, the care of bees, of poultry, of sheep, of cows, the dairy, the care of hay, of fruits, of orchards, and forests, and the reaction of these on the workman, in giving him a strength and plain dignity like the face and manners of nature, all men acknowledge.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

HELPS TO STUDY

Biographical. Emerson's ancestors for eight generations had descended from ministers. He was born in Boston in 1803. He was a dutiful and loving boy to his mother who became a widow when he was eight years of age. He entered Harvard College when he was fourteen. After his graduation he taught school in Boston. At the age of twenty he began to study for the ministry.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a man who loved his fellow men; his whole life was an endeavor to make the world better and happier; his utterances were full of courage, gentleness, and hope. He said: "Don't bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good. Never name sickness," and "He who digs a well, constructs a stone fountain, plants a grove of trees by the roadside, plants an orchard, builds a durable house, reclaims a swamp, or so much as puts a stone seat by the wayside, makes the land so far lovely and desirable."

rec om mends' him

puts him in a favorable light.

tran quil'li ty- calmness, peacefulness.

re ac'tion-return impression.

Notes and Questions. What is the farmer's part in the division of labor? Explain the meaning of "all trade rests at last on his primitive activity." In what way is the farmer a benefactor of mankind? Why should not all men be farmers? What gives the farmer strength and dignity? Why are men coming to respect farming and the farmer more than formerly?