Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1850-02-19
The True Object Of Life.

! The following extract is taken from
/ lecture on Leisure--its Uses and Abu-
ses, found in the new volume of oratons
and discourses by the Rev. DR.. Bethune ::
Commerce or any pursuit which IS
usually called business, is unworthy Of
being considered the proper occupation Of
life. 1t is only necessary to provide or
procure the means Of living. The time
devoted TO it should be considered as tax
upon our immortal being, laid upon us by
the necessities OF that course which sin
brought with it into our world. If so, the
leisure which the necessities Of business
allow, becomes incidentally more pre-
cious, as being the only season when we
can devote ourselves mainly and eXcIu'
Isively to the great end of our being. For
though there is no honest pursuit of life
in which we may not serve God and our
fellow men, no man is fitted for the prac-
ticc of virtue mercy by practice: he must,
| in hours, of rest, study It's theory, con-
template its ends, and wisely grid himself
for the toll.
Iflhere be one hcre, (lhough | am sure
there is not,) who has no higher ambition
lhan to I've q mere man Of business, mere
slave Of mems bodily necessities, a mere
ldolater of his own purse to Lave his Ilie
but . thing Of cotton bags and looacc"
hogshcads, druggeis and dowlasses, mad
der and fustic, town lois, bank stocks, and
exchanges his mind like the advertising
SIDE of daily gazette, or tie weekly PR
ccs current; The sum Of his life, the bal
ance sheet Of his ledger; and who csI-
mates his worth by tie dollars aEd cents
which remain to his credit, who would
choose for his Immortality one eternal Wall
street, and give up crown of glory to be
called the best man upon 80 change ii
there be such an one. he may desPse
those moments Of leisure which business
spares, waste them in sinful sleep, lounge
them away in vapid amuscmcnts, dawdc
over ephemcral magazines, or newspaper
reports Of police cases and shocking ac-
cidents, sQuabbe in the low arena OF par
ty politics, exhaust his breath in blowing
up every bubble Of popular cXcilcmcnt
lisp idle gaIantres in ladies' cars, who
in their souls despise such emptiness, and
| but tolerate the fool as they do pet dog,
or a parret, for want of better company :;
or perhaps do worse, in vulgar dcbauch-
cries.
He may despisc leisure and so it.
bat he must the consequences III this
world and the next. mere merchant
a mere man Of business Who would be
content with such designation what res.
pect can one feel for such a character All
he gets from the world is the credit of be-
/ ing worth so much drosS. little lawnjng
servilitv from those who wish to borrow
of him or owe him already, or the won
dering calculation of how much tie heirs
will divide among them when he leaves
his wealth behind him with his rotting
BODY. Were l such man, | would wish
my name to die with me, and would ask
neither marble nor granite, nor the venaI
page, to preserve the memory OF my sor-
! did selfshness. Let it perish, like the
thistle cut down by the mowers scythe,
or the dry mullen that decays on the bar
rem hill side.
But there is a true grandeur, which,
though we cannot reach, We must admire
and may emulate, in him who devotes the
energies of a wellsrorcd mind to the pur-
suit of commerce, that the fruits of noble
enterprise may enable him to follow the
bent of his disposition in tie spread of
knowledge, and the libcralities Of wide
philanthropy; who can shake off the
meaner iealousies of trade with the dust of
his warehouse who leaves behind him
the idolatries Of covetousness, well pleased
to enter the popuous solitude of his libra
ry and hold communion with the nigh.
ty dead, toioin the social circle and bright
en- the glow of cheerful but rational con,
verse by the warmth Of his own intelIl-
gence, or TO mingle with the evening
crowd, who meet 10 devise and prosecute
new plans for doing good TO his country
men and the world whose walls are
adorned with works of native art, acquired
J by a price which has cheered the child OF
genius in his lone enthusiasm; at whose
table and hearlhstone the scholar and the
man Of science is 4 welcome and delight
cd guest, and whom religion claims as her
consistent and benefcent follower Like
a noble tree, whose roots are struck deep
in the fruitful earth, he stands in gigan-
tic strenth, his higher arms aspiring TO
heaven. while the poor, the sorrowful,
and the friendless, find shelter and food
beneath the shadow Ofhs wide branches.