y girl and woman, no matter what the material of your dress may be,
no matter how cheap and coarse it is, cut it and make it in the fashion.
I believe in jewelry. Some people look upon it as barbaric, but in my
judgment, wearing jewelry is the first evidence the barbarian gives of
a wish to be civilized. To adorn ourselves seems to be a part of our
nature, and this desire seems to be everywhere and in everything. I
have sometimes thought that the desire for beauty covers the earth with
flowers. It is this desire that paints the wings of moths, tints the
chamber of the shell, and gives the bird its plumage and its song. Oh
daughters and wives, if you would be loved, adorn yourselves--if you
would be adored, be beautiful! There is another fault common with the
farmers of our country--they want too much land. You cannot, at present,
when taxes are high, afford to own land that you do not cultivate. Sell
it and let others make farms and homes. In this way what you keep will
be enhanced in value. Farmers ought to own the land they cultivate, and
cultivate what they own. Renters can hardly be called farmers. There can
be no such thing in the highest sense as a home unless you own it.
There must be an incentive to plant trees, to beautify the grounds,
to preserve and improve. It elevates a man to own a home. It gives a
certain independence, a force of character that is obtained in no other
way. A man without a home feels like a passenger. There is in such a man
a little of the vagrant. Homes make patriots. He who has sat by his own
fireside with wife and children will defend it. When he hears the word
country pronounced, he thinks of his home.

Few men have been patriotic enough to shoulder a musket in defence of a
boarding house.

The prosperity and glory of our country depend upon the number of our
people who are the owners of homes. Around the fireside cluster the
private and the public virtues of our race. Raise your sons to be
independent through labor--to pursue some business for themselves
and upon their own account--to be self-reliant--to act upon their own
responsibility, and to take the consequences like men. Teach them above
all things to be good, true and tender husbands--winners of love and
builders of homes.

A great many farmers seem to think that they are the only laborers
in the world. This is a very foolish thing. Farmers cannot get along
without the mechanic. You are not independent of the man of genius.