E-text prepared by Al Haines

SUMMERFIELD;

Life on a Farm

DAY KELLOGG LEE

  "When now the cock, the ploughman's horn,
  Calls forth the lily-wristed morn,
  Then to thy cornfields thou dost go,
  Which, though well-soil'd, yet thou dost know
  That the best compost for the lands
  Is the wise master's feet and hands."
      —HERRICK

Second Thousand.

Auburn:Derby and Miller.1852.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
Day K. Lee,
In the Clerk's Office for the Southern District of New York.

TO

MY VENERATED FATHER;

A

PIONEER OF THE LAKE COUNTRY;

WHO

SOWED TRUTH AND GOODNESS IN THE SPRING-TIME,

AND

REAPS PEACE AND HONOR IN THE AUTUMN

OF HIS LIFE;

THIS VOLUME IS WITH LOVE INSCRIBED.

INTRODUCTION.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "GOLDEN STEPS," &c.

Works of fiction are to be approved whenthey subserve the interests of morality andreligion. The Scriptures of the Old and NewTestaments—the ancient classics—the mostdistinguished productions of modern ages—affordstriking illustrations of the beautiful andinstructive lessons of virtue and piety, which may beconveyed in fabulous narration. The Parablesof the Saviour; Milton's Paradise Lost;Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, are samples ofsalutary and saving truth exhibited in stories of theimagination.

I have made myself familiar with the contentsof the following tale, from the manuscriptcopy. The aim of the author is of the highestdescription. He endeavors to instil into theminds of his readers a lesson of the utmostpractical importance, intimately connected with theexperience of every-day life. He would instructthem of the wisdom of being contented with auseful and productive occupation, which ishonorable in its character, healthful in its nature,and conducive to the welfare of society, ratherthan to aspire to callings, not so laboriousperhaps, yet more deceptive and uncertain insubstantial remuneration, and far less calculated topromote public good.

This object the author successfullyaccomplishes. No reader can arise from a perusal ofhis pages, without feeling a higher respect forsuch pursuits as benefit the world, and a strongerinclination to avoid the more showy andworthless callings into which too many are disposedto crowd. The story is most happily conceived,and is narrated in a style highly finished andattractive. There is nothing insipid orover-wrought, in the frame-work or filling up; butall is natural and lifelike. The witty, the lively,the startling, are finely interwoven with themore grave and instructive. A fertile and vividimagination has enabled the author to bringcharacters upon his stage which represent almostevery phase in human nature, and to indulge inpersonal and scenic descriptions, whether inpainting a landscape, or delineating somehumorous or some noble quality of the heart, ofthe most charming character. The reader isenamored with the quiet enjoyments of rural life,and disgusted with the schemes of hackneyedsharpers. A high moral tone runs throughoutthe narrative. Vice is rebuked and punished—virtueis commended and rewarded. The idle,the vicious, the

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