Elizabeth-Town gazette. [volume] (Elizabeth-Town, N.J.) 1818-1821, 1818-12-15
MISCELLANY.
From the Connecticut Courant.
THE BRIEF REMARKER.

S5&t II ~ b1tI1IL AS6HnA lhAAI1l
The nation from which we derive our
language has been distinguished above per-
lhaps all others, for steady persevering
Industry : and several old English sayings,
er proverbs correspond with this promi.
bent feature of national character. One
of these ancient sayings of English origin,
Il, Never put off tilI tomorrow what
may be done to-day On the contrary,
eIusgishness aud procrastination are ma
tional attributes of the Spaniards, who,
Enough they act with great spirit and Wig
cur whatsoever they are reused to action,
continue slohful and dilatory at all 9TH
En- times. Nor is it a little remarkable,
That there is Spanish proverb directly
Of opposite meaning TO the English one
Just mentioned. Laborde, in his view Of
Spain, affirms il TO be Spanish proverbi-
al maxim, "That one should never do to-
day what may be put off till tomorrow.
81 Whether it be owing to nature, or to
Education and habit, or from whatever
cause else it may spring, there is in this
goodly land, prevailing disposition to
follow the last ofthOse two opposite max
inns ; though We all are ready to admit the
reasonableness Gifts contrast No infatu-
alton is more deplorable, nor yet more
general, the whole christianized world
over, than the vain hope that leads us to
{ put off from day to day the great work
which must be done, or ourselves for ever
undone. But am to speak not of the
common and most deplorable infatuation
which relates to the concerns of immortali-
~, but of that which concerns our tempo
ral Interests of the fatal error of the
Former the Holy Volume and the Pulpit
give solemn warning ;--of some Of the
mischiefs of the latter it is mine to treat in
This short essay.
Few things are more ruinous, even to
our secular affairs, than customary pro-
crastination. 1t confuses and blights eve
Try kind of worldly business for business
bot attended to in the proper time and sea
son, is either not done al all, or done with
more labour and difficulty, and to less
purpose.
Some men are in the practice of letting
their accounts lie unsettled for several
years together. II is no matter forseoth /;
they are neighbours and close friends, and
can come to reckoning at any time. AT
length settlement between them common
ces. The accounts of each one, however
honest, are swelled beyond the expectation
ofthe other. On both sides, several items
in the books have vanished from the re-
membrance of him who is charged with
Them. A warm dispute ensues; perhaps
an arbitration peradventure an expensive
lawsuit ;-and these close friends are sew
cred for ever.
Some men neglect to make their wills,
though they know their estates would be
Inherited contrary to their own minds and
10 the rule of equity, ifthey should chance
to die intcstate Knowing this, and sin
cerely wishing that right may be done to
their heirs, they are fully determined to
perform the necessary act and deed some
lime or other. "But why just now
Another time will do as WELL" And thus
they delay the thing from year to year,
bill at last the time of doing it is gone by
"a precious widow, or beloved and de-
serving child, is left to suffer through lille
the bitter consequences of this default.
Some Farmers double their labour and
lose half their profits for want OF dong
things in the proper season. Their fields
are overgrown with bushes and thorns'
which little Seasonable lahonr might have
prevented. Their fences and even then
buildings are neglected till the cost Of re-
pairs comes to be increased several iold
besides sustaining train OF inconvenlen
ces and Of serious injuries from the neg
iect. And SO also their crops cost more
lshour, and at the same time are leaner II
bulk or inferior in quality, by reason tina
much ofthe labour that had been bestowed
upon them was out Of season. Nor IS !
uncommon to see farmers Of this sort 10