Litchfield enquirer., 1841-06-03
A SHORT PATENT SERMON.


 L;tchfeld, lsAl. M.B. | A SHORT PATENT SERMON.
 ON 1DLENEss; BY LORENZO DOW, JR.
 have selected the following words as text for my present discourse:
 Thus at full length the pampered monarch lay,
 F1attenne in ease, and sumbering life away.
 My hearers-notwithstan that Indus- try, with her bran new broom has swept ten thousand evils into the dust pan of oblivion, still if we look into the dark corners of this wide world, we shall find that the Cobwebs of sloth, large and strong enough to entangle turkey buzzards, are yet hanging there, ob- yet glimmer ir those benighted regions The three-story Patagonian of the south, Wallows in the mire of indolence, and grows fat upon the gravy of ignorance-the Lilli- putian Laplander of the north, lolls in lazi- ness, and willingly puts up with the cold DOT ridge of poverty-the besmeared Hottentot of the east, snooZes in his mud built hut, careless of to-mOrrow's fare, and content to feed with the crumbs that fall from some stray angels bread. 1s.st.sgny friends, while these half.famished n able models of hu. maDity are thus slumbeEiRs amid the stupi- flying vapors of ease, want you to reflect upon what sad condition their poor souls are in. Their thoughts are never thrust be- yond the filthy circle of some selfish desire their hearts lie soaking in the gastric fluid of their stomachS-their understandings are darker than the catacombs of Egypt-cnd their codes of morals are made of natures loose leaves, barely stuck together with the thin paste of instinct.
 My dear friends-sloth is not wholly con- fined to the gloomy arena of heathenism. It often lies at the door of enlightenment, and robs its slime upon the silkep frock of refine- ment. have seen 1t streW the parIors Of the rich with sleepy peoples, and surround the poor mans cottage with noxious weeds. l [ have seen it take all the stiffening out of the stoutest energies of man, and cover youthful ambition with the blue mould of morbidity ; have seen it so fasten itself upon the back of the sluggish traveller as to prevent him | from moving from the track when the rail road car of death was hard upon his heels {; and have even seen people lie down and roll into their graves, like lifeless log, too lazy to exert themselves in their own behalf and I expect that when the last trump shall arouse them from their sepulchral slumbers, they will raise themselves upon | their elbows, and growl like dog with a sore foot because they have been disturbed so soon. When l pass by country farm house, and find old hats, coats and brooches stuffed in at the windows, know that the god of indolence is lounging there, in the midst of want, wo, and poverty-that the rank children of necessity are there running up to seed in the shade of neglect, unmoist. ened by the dews of moral instruction. Inl- SO know that idleness is pampered by the pap of excessive wealth, and that where rich. es abound, the tares of sloth are yielding a bountiful harvest. Lazy fogs surround the head of him whom lucre has luiled to drow- sincss, and he knows not how to shake off the lethargic incubus which sits upon his breast, and sticks faster than blood.sucker to Q idead cat fish. He eats, drinks and sleeps for the sake of diverting his attention from the lumbering wheels of time that roll heavily by; and in the midst of his selfstyled ease there are no such convenient articles as peace and happiness to be found. Why. my friends, have known men of wealth and responsibility. whose physical faculties had become SO parafyzed with indolence, that il would require extra high pressure fever and ague, 10 bring their muscles into active ser. vice. Yes, my hearers, l say have seer such men; and one good chimney sweep IS worth more in well regulated and industri. ous community, than as many such as could be packed between the eastern cape of Afr. ca and the outskirts of eternity.
 O, my friends! regret tO say that idle. ness has of late become a fashionable ac. complishment with too large portion of ouI young population. Employment is getting to be thought vulgar, and toil-hardened hand not fit to be offered for the acceptance of the fair sex. Give me n hard hand, 6 hard head, and soft heart; but instead o which, soft hands, soft heads, and harC hearts, are now all the go in what the dys peptic pimps of etiquette call the LeGu monde The caierpillars of sloth arc making grea havoc in our neglected, juvenile ns,rseries.- They are stripping the young shrubs o promise of fiheirgreenest folRge. and blight ing the buds of enterprise as fast as they ap pear. If matters go in this way much lon ger. the rising generations will soon become , fit for nothing but to be hung up as scare crows in the moral grain fields to frighteI young men into habits of industry. Thos' , who subsisi, like wOodcOcks, by suction, ant wet their brazen brows with artificial sweat are too numerous iO mention. They aY thicker than toads after a shower; they in } fest our public bar.roOms. and block up th , avenues to prosperity. It requires nor powerful gaivanic battery than possess | rcanimate their dying carcases, and SC : their dormant faculties in healthy operN ton.
 Arouse ye |. arouse ye! ye sin.sOakcd son ] of slolh, and, with your hands, lay the COT