The good name and the good counsel of a father, are the best legacies
he can leave to his children; and they ought to revere the one, and
keep in mind the other. The wealth which a man acquires by his honest
industry affords him greater pleasure in the enjoyment, than when
acquired in any other way; and men who by personal labour have obtained
a competency, know its value better than those can who have had it
showered upon them without any efforts of their own. Idleness engenders
disease, while exercise is the great prop of health, and health is the
greatest blessing of life, which consideration alone ought to stimulate
men to pursue some useful employment; and among the almost endless
number of those, to which good laws and well-organized society give
birth and encouragement, there are none equal to the culture of the
earth, none which yield a more grateful return. The pleasures derived
both from agriculture and horticulture, are so various, so delightful,
and so natural to man, that they are not easily to be described, and
are never to be excelled: for in whatever way they are pursued, the
mind may be constantly entertained with the wonderful œconomy of the
vegetable world; and the nerves are invigorated and kept in proper tone
by the freshness of the earth, and the fragrancy of the air, which
blush the countenance with health, and give a relish to every meal.
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