The native American., 1839-07-06
A POETS CALCULATION,

Concerning the time employed IN Sharing, md the
use that might be made Of 1t. From The Doctor
Volume 5: London, 1888.
The poet Campbell is said to have calculated
that man who shaves himself every day, and
lives to the age of three score and ten, expends
during his life as much time in the act OF shaving
as would have suticed for learning seven Ian
guages. But | will test (as an Ameri-
can would say though lei it be observed in passing
that do not adrocate the use Of Americansm, }
/ will test Mr.. CampbelPs assertion. And as the
Lord President of the New Monthly Magazine
has not favored the world with the calculations
upon which his assertion, if his it be, is founded,
| will investigate it, step by step, with which in
tent have this morning, Saturday May the 18th,
$780, minuted myself during the act OF shaving. :
The time employed was, within second or
two, more or less, nine minutes. neither hurried
the operation nor fingered about it-Every thing
was done in my ordinary, orderly way, steadily,
and without waste Of time.
A professional operator makes quicker work
but he cannot be always exactly to the time, and
at the years end much may have been lost in
waiting for the barber as is gained by his CELEBRITY
of hand.
Assuming, then the moderate average of nine
Imlnues-nne minutes per day amount to an houi
and three minutes per week an hour and three
minutes per week are fifty hours and thrty-sx
minutes per year. We will suppose that our sha-
yer begins to operate every day when he has com
pleted his twentieth year; many, if not most men,
begin earlier-they will do so if'they are ambi-
tious of obtaining whiskers; they must do so their
boards are black, or caroty, or Of strong erowth
There are then fifty years of daily shaving to be
computed; and in that time he win have consum-
ed two thousand seven hundred and thirty houls
in the act Of shaving himself
Now let US see whether a man could in that
time acquire competent knowledge of seven lam
guages.
| do'not, OF course, mean such knowledge as
Professor Person and DR.. Elmsley had attained Of
Greek, or as is possessed by Bishop Bloomfield
and Bishop Monk, but passable knowledge Of
living languages, such would enable man to
read them with facility and pleasure, if not criti-
caly, and to travel without needing either an in
Iterpreter-or the use of French in the countries
where they are spoken.
Dividing, therefore, two thousand seven hun
dred and thirty, being the number of hours which
might be appropriated to learning languages, by
seven, the number of languages to be learnt we
have three hundred and ninety hours for each lam
guage; three hundred and ninety lessons of an
hour long,-wherein, it is evident, that any person
Of common capacity, might, with common dill
gence, learn to speak, read and write sufficiently
well for all ordinary purposes, any European Ian
guagc. The assertion therefore, though it might
seem extravagant at first is true as far as it goes,
and is only Inaccurate because it is far short Of the
truth.
For take notice, that did not srop the razor this
morning, but only passed it, after the operation
ten or twelve times over the palm of the hand
according to my every day practice.-One minute
more at least would be required for stropping.
| There are many men whose boards render it ne
cessary for them TO apply to the strop every day,
and for longer time; and who are obliged to try
first one razor and then another But let US allow
only minute for this-one minute day amount,
TO six hours and five minutes in the year, and in
| fifty years to three hundred and four hours and
ten mlnutes-time enough for an eighth language
Observe also, that some languages are so easy
and others so nearly related to each other, they
vary much less than half the number of hours al
lowed in the computation would suffice for learn
ing them 1t is strictly true that in the time speci-
fed a man of good capacity might add seven more
languages to the seven for which that computation
was formed; and that person who has any re-
markable aptitude for such studies, might in that
time acquire every language in which there are
books to be procured.
See, Reader, what the value of time is when
put out at simple interest. But there is no simple
interest to knowledge. Whatever funds YOU have
in that Bank go on increasing by interest upon in
terest,-tlll the Bank fails.
EXCESSIVE PoLITENEss.-Mr Rowland Hill
was always annoyed when there happenedto lie
any noise in the chapel or when any thing occur