Alexandria advertiser and commercial intelligencer. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1800-1803, 1802-06-23

q The deGfe OF the ilothiul kilietil assh.
TheGe remarks aptly expreis the invlncible
tendency of idlenefs both TO produce ge-
neral ilnbecility of character and gene
rate destructive propeni;ties and habits. A
certain kind of raedium or irkfome dhqul-
etude is never failing concomItant OF
idlenefs. The due poi!e Of human lie,
with refpea 10 comfort as well as uletulA
nefs, conhas in confant fuccsillon OF Ia
bour and ref and any one who never
knew labor, never knew ref lime It.
lelf oppreaes an idle perion, as with the
weighs Of millitone: and, IN order TO
kill time, he has rccoune to the gambling
table and 10 the various perniciaus haunts
of diilipasion. Children and youth, who
are nurfed in the lap Of idlenels, are blight
ed in the bloom for, by an indolenr
iauntering difpo6tlon, which when once
fixed becomes incurable, toe mind is thorn
ofits frepgth and falls an eaiy prey TO AL
kinds Of evil temptations.
On the othe, hand, induary is the bal.
fam oflife to the human frame. 1t equal
ly befriends our health and our morals: It
equally braces the body and the mind.
Il is a powerful curb againa lieencious
difpoftions and pra4ices, as well as an IN
difpeniible prerequilite to the forming OF a
character either respectable or uteful. The
importance of guarding the young againit
idleneis and Of forming in them habits OF
indufry, has been too little conildered,
and yet the experience Of ages has proved,
that idle and diGipatcd youths are COM
monty ufelefs and even nultance TO tocl-
ETY., in the fubiequent periods OF their lives:
while tholc who have been early accuitom
ed to regular courfe of induftry have
found this path, which at hrf ieenaed rough
and irllfome, gradually becoming more
| and more caly and delightlome, and, for
the mott part, they have prefesved thro',
life decent and uiesll character. 1ndqf-
try therefore ought to be encouraged By
! tie 5atmage ge3n5hc otiai01, as well as
by the pecuniary advantages which reeult
| from IL.
There is paragraph IN the Monitor, IA
valuable book tina, is generally rad in tie
American Schools) which fhould be ex.
plunged. 1t is an extract from the letters
of the Earl Of Cheaerfreld TO his ion,
wherein his lordfhip in condefcending to
give directions to his fon on the fubjett
of cutting his hnger nails, remarks" When
the nails are cut down to the quick, 1t IS
hrewd iign that the man is mechanic,
TO whom long nails would be rroubletome;
and if they are longer than his fingers ends
ard encircled with black gum, II tortells
he has been abor0us and meanJ rmPly-
ed," &c. If this paragraph were 10 DC
imply conidered as lelion from Brltiih
nobleman TO his fon, to whole peFion aud
manners he was aiming to give the highea
degree OF European polih, it might pats
without animadyerfloD +; but III It's applI-
cation to American Schools, II is highly
reprehenhble.
There are TO fewer than nineteen IN TWEEN
ty among lie chidgea and youth accatomci
10 read the Monitor at ichQo!s, who are ey
no means exempted by the circumitanees OF
their parents from the naseaity of manual Ia
oor; and they ihould be taught to view IN
dultry as virtue, both necei!sry and lauda-
bic; bot when, on the contrary, they are
taugn at fchool, that "LABooR is MEAN"
many of them will be led thereby to conceive
an inconqrerabe prejudice agsinit ,hole iaoo-
rious, but mott piefuI callings, to which Pro-
yidence had defined them And this 2hturi
prejudice, which they imbibed as part OF
their education, niay likely prove ruinoas to
themielves, as well as greatly injurious to the
general intefeits'o locieiy.
TWAS NOT 10 that the prudent Romans edu-
Gated their children. They llonored ulesul
abour. Cinlnatus, their General held the
plough; and Augueus, their Emperor, wore
garments, which were manufactured by his
wife and daughter. And, if we recur to the
uoft !acred iource Of authority, we there find
1t