The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1849-11-29
The World owes me a Living.
BY HORACE GREELEY.

have H. says some blackleg as he finishes
a luxurious repast; 'here, landlord another
bottle of of your prime Madeiral' Half a
dozen empty y-headed foPs, who sit gazing
on him by stealth in silent admiration, hail
the sentiment with raPturous applause
That's i'll the world owes as a good living
and we will have itl-landlord, more wine
there, we won't go home till morning
/ Let's go it while we are young. Who
cares for expense?' The consequence of
this is, the pilfering of money drawers,
| the ignominious loss of employment, gen.
| teel loaferisma &C., &C., until one of these
( enterprislng gentlemen in eager pursuit of
the good living the world owes him, puts
! the wrong mans name to check, or in
! some kind of a way gets ticket to the
marble palace at Sing Sing, where the
| State provides diving for those it con-
siders deserving. but not such one as con-
! sists with their own estimate of their exal-
ted merits.
| The great error in this case is in the
original maxim. Ii is false and detestable
The world owes. you a living? How
owes! Have you earned ii by good SER
vices? If you have, whether on the anvil
or in the pulpit, or as a teacher, you have
acquired just right to a livelihood. But
| if you have eaten as much as you earned,
or worse still, done little or no good, the
/ world owes you nothing. You NAV be
worth millions and able to enjoy every
imaginable luxury without care or effort;
but if you have done nothing to increase
the sum of human comforts, instead Of the
world owing you anything, as fools have
babbled, you are morally q bankrupt and
! a beggar.
Mankind are just awaking to a con-
clousness of the duty resting on every man
to be active and useful in his day and in
his sphere. All are not called to dig or
heW-or plow or plane-but every man
has sphere of usefulness allotted to him
by Providence, and is unlaithful to his high
trust if he deserts il for idle polnp and
needless luxury. One man may be fitted
by nature and inclination for an artizan,
another for a sailor, and third for mer-
chant; but no man was ever born fitted
for an idler and a drone. Those who
, become such are the victims of perverse
circumstances, and a deplorable false edu-
cation.
But, has not the rich man the right to
enjoy his wealth? Most certainly. We
would be the last to deprive him of it.
He has a natural and legal right to pos
sess and enjoy it IN any manner not inJu-
| rlous TO others; but he has no moral right
to be useless because he has superior
means of being useful. Let him surround
himself with all the true comforts and true
luXuries Of life; let the master piece of art
smile upon him in his galleries, and the
mighty minds of all ages speak to him from
his library. Let plenty deck his board,
and the faces of those he loves gather joy
ously around it. Let him possess in abun-
dance the means of satisfying every pure
and just desire of his nature; and become
wiser, nobler, larger in soul, than his less
fortunate neighbor. But let him never
forget, if he is properly trained, he nev-
er can, that it is his solemn duty to be
useful to his fellow creatures, especially to
the depressed and suf1ering-to labor for
| their benefit, and suffer if needs be for their
elevation.
The servile idolatry with which igno-
power and wealth-the hosannahs which
the trampled millions have sung before
the cars Of conquerers and other scourges
of the earth-are fading and fitting forev-
er. In the twilight which succeeds the
SiOSo udIhHSSS, liloTe comes season OF
moral anarchy, when men, having lost
faith in the juggles which once blinded
and bound them, resolved to believe moth
ing-to decry and PROSTATE all that rises
above the lowest level. Now, the laborer
with his sinew, returns hatred for contempt
once cast upon him, and says,-sW hat
good is there in anything but manual la
Dor? away with all else! those whose labor
is chiefly mental are decievers and moths!'
But this is transitory ebulition. The
world soon learns to respectits benefactors
in whatever sphere, and to realize that he
who trul y and honestly exerts himself in
some department of useful effort, may just
ly claim brotherhood with all who ioil,
and make and earn. Let the rich cease to
look down on the poor-the merchant on
the porter; let each respect the dignity of
man, and whether in his own person or
that of his less fortunate brother - let
haughtiness and pride cease on one side,
and envy, jealousy and hatred, with their
trains of direful consequences, will vanish
from the other, and all animated in common
concord 10 the attainment of the highest
good.