UIHistories Project: A History of the University of Illinois by Kalev Leetaru
N A V I G A T I O N D I G I T A L L I B R A R Y
Bookmark and Share



Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1876 [PAGE 217]

Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1876
This is a reduced-resolution page image for fast online browsing.


Jump to Page:
< Previous Page [Displaying Page 217 of 224] Next Page >
[VIEW ALL PAGE THUMBNAILS]




EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:



217 The ancient patriarchs always took a helpmeet before they commenced keeping flocks and herds.* Modern farming is but a continuation and modification of the patriarchal institution. It is the natural pursuit of man and the foundation of the world's support. It is the proper nursery of men, and of physical and mental vigor and virtue, and destined to be of intelligence. The recent efforts for agricultural education; the general discrimination of agricultural literature, and the uprising among the dry bones of agricultural stolidity, all point to a future promise. But the most significant sign in that direction is the advance in female education. The introduction into this institution of the farmer's daughters by the side of their sons, is an acknowledgment that the farmer's household is as important as the management of the farm. As much intelligence is needed and is as useful in the qualification of the mistress as of the master. The orderly, neat and able management of the farmer's home is like the balance wheel of a watch, a proper regulator and starting point of all its movements. The old homely and trite saying, that of the income of the farm the wife could throw out of the window with a spoon as fast as the husband could throw in the door with a shovel, has really as much truth as fiction. And not only the household matters distinctively, but the poultry, the dairy, the young animals, the yards and the garden are the care, the delight, and the pride of the thrifty housewife. But more than this, her intelligent and practiced eye can oversee the more important business of the farm and the conduct of the help during the absence or disability of her husband, and she can be at' all times the confidential counsellor and assistant. It was said by David O'Connell, the great Irish agitator, that he could stand without injury the wild bufletings of his political opponents, he could grapple with his enemies and the enemies of his country and maintain his equanimity,of temper and unflinching fortitude, if he had a quiet and comfortable nest at home. The genial smile, the kind word of encouragement, the unfaltering faith in his mission, and the tender care of his wife, was a panacea for all the ills of his stormy life. Many a humble farmer with his sons and hired help have, like O'Connell, found all their toil rewarded by the kindly care and influence of a model matron. Wordsworth has beautifully described the pleasure with which r when returned thirsty and wearied from the field, he sipped the cooling draught from the "moss covered bucket." He might have described with equal pathos the soothing rejuvenating influence of the kindly housewife as she welcomed the laborers from the heat and dust of the field to the shade, the quiet and the homely but luscious meal of their rural home. With what tender recollection in imagination we go back to our ^ boyhood days on the old homestead, the dearest spot on earth. The morning sun is greeted by the cackling of the poultry, the "bleating of the lambs and calves, lowing of the herds, singing of the birds, the fragrance from the flowers of the yard and garden, and the cheerful greeting of the well ordered quiet family as they care for all these numerous dependents, cheered by the model concert of nature's music, and then with stout hearts and willing hands went to the wel-