THE
RURAL MAGAZINE,
AND
LITERARY EVENING FIRE-SIDE.
"VENERATE THE PLOUGH."
Vol. I. Philadelphia, Second Month, 1820. No. 2.
FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.
THE VILLAGE TEACHER.
I cannot exactly tell why it was,that I felt particularly interested inthe prospectus for the Rural Magazine;but I instantly resolved to becomea subscriber, and fell to ruminatingupon the benefits it might conferupon the country. Whether I conceivedat once the idea of writingthese essays, and took to myself a fullshare of its imagined usefulness andcelebrity; or whether my satisfactionarose from disinterested motives, Ifelt a glow of kind feeling towardsthe editors, which expanded itself uponall around me. I dismissed mylittle school at an earlier hour thanusual, and having simply reprimandedsome idle culprits, to whom Ishould otherwise have administeredthe ferule, I devoted the remainderof the afternoon to writing a letter toa friend in town; in which I concludeda declamation upon the worthlessnessof literary fame, by requestinghim to place my name in the list ofsubscribers and contributors.
Since then, the Magazine has frequentlybeen the subject of my reveries;for the design is exactly what Ihave long desired to see attempted.Every man who has travelled half wayup the hill of life, and has gained itsfortieth milestone, will have amassedstores of thought and observation,which he is apt to think of inestimablevalue:—at least I find it so withme. There are many topics on whichI differ from my friends, and in regardto which I am anxious to developemy opinions. Some others to[42]which I attach a greater importancethan is usually done; and many uponwhich my particular station in life hasthrown lights which may be new andinteresting to the public mind. Forthese reasons, I have long desired toextend my voice and authority beyondthe precincts of my little kingdom,and to try the experiment ofschooling the public in some of thosegreat truths, which are too little regardedor understood, and bringingback its taste to the pure and simpleenjoyments of rural life. WhetherI shall succeed in my attempt to gainthe public ear, will depend, perhaps,upon accident; for while the greatestmerit has often languished in obscurity,folly and incapacity have as oftencaught the gale of popular favour.If I fail, I shall not be without consolation;for the most unsuccessfulauthor finds it easier to censure thepublic for want of penetration, thanhimself for want of talent. I trust thatI shall have occasion for no such reflections.It may be an author's vanity,and yet the voice of praise canscarcely reach my secluded abode;but my fancy already paints thebright eyes, and glowing cheeks thatwill hang over these essays, and thesober approbation with which matureage will perceive that they are devotedto the cause of truth and sound morality.Neighbour Schemer is welcometo pass over my numbers insearch of the newest plans of farming,so long as he allows his blooming Emilyto pause over them; and what do Icare though old Lovegain pronouncethem to be stupid stuff? I had ratherpossess the approbation and esteem