Litchfield enquirer., 1851-07-10
Lectures to Young Men.
ON VARIOUS IMPORTANT SUBJECTS.
BY HENRY WARD BErcHra

work, neilher should he eat. For we hear
L that there are some who walk among YOU
disorderly, working not al all, but are busy
bodies. Now them that are such we COM
mand and exlIort by our Lord Jesus Christ,
that with quietness they work, and eat their
own bread. 2 Thes. iii. 10. IL.
The bread which we solicit of God, he
gives us through our industry. Prayer
sows it, and Industry reaps il.
AS industry is habitual activity in some
useful pursuit, so, not only inactivity, but
also all efforts without the design Of use.
fulness, are of the nature of Idleness.
The supine sluggard is no more indolent
than the bustling do nothing. Men may
walk much, and read much, and talk
much, and pass the day without an I'M
occupied moment, and yet be substanti.
ally idle; because Industry requires. at
| least, the intention of usefulness. But
gadding. gazing. loungirg. mere pleasure
mongering. reading for the relief Of ennui
these are as useless as sleeping, or do
zing, or the stupidity of surfeit. s
There are many grades of idleness:
and veins of it run through the most in
dustrious life. We shall indulge in some
descriptions Of the various classes of
oilers, and leave the reader to Judge, il
Ehe is an INDECENT man, to which class he
belongs. 7f
l. The lazy man. He is Of very an
cient pedigree; for his family Is minute
ly described by Solomon: How long wilt
thou sleep, D sluggdrds when w;I thou
a,cake out of Sleep This is the lam
guage of impatience; the speaker has
been trying to awaken him-pulling,
pushing, rolling him over, and shouting
in his ear but all to no purpose. He
soliloquizes, whether tits possible for the
man euer to wake up! At length, the
sleeper drawls out a doing petition to
be let alone: " Yft a little sleep, a little
sluna6er, a little folding Of tile hands to
sleep J; and the last words confuse6Iy
break into snore-that sumnolent luI-
laby ofrepose. Long ago the birds have
finished their mathis, the sun has advan>
ced full high, the dew has gone from the
grass. and the labors Of Industry are far
in progress, when our slaggard, awakens
ed by his very efforts to maintain sleep.
slowly energies to perform LIES great
duty Of teeding--with him, second only
in Importance to sleep. And, now, well
rested. and suitably nourished, surely he
will abound in labor. Nag, tie sluggard
,Oiil s0t splow by reason Of the cold. 1t is
yet early spring there is ice in the north:
and the winds are hearty his tender skin
skrinks from exposure, and he waits for
milder days--envying the residents Of
tropical climates, where cold never comes
and harvests waves spontaneously. He
is valient a. sleeping and at the trench
err; but for other courage. the slothfuE
man saith, there is i lion without I shall
be slain 10 the street. He has not been
out to see, but he heard noise, and re-
solutely betakes himself to prudence.
Under SO thriving manager, SO alert i'm
the morning. so busy through the day,
and SO enterprising, we might anticipate
the thrift Of his husbandry. at went by
the field Of the slothful and by the vines
yard Of the man void Of understanding ;.
and 10! twas ell grown over with thorns;.
and nettles had covered the face of it,
and its stone wall was broken down."
70 complete the picture. only one thing.
more is wanted--a description Of his
house--and then we should have at one
view. the lazy man, his farm, and house.
Solomon has given US that also. !" By
much slothiulness, the building decayeth,.
and through idleness of the hands the
house droppeth through" Let all this
be put together, and possibly some read-
err may End an unpleasant resemblance.
to his own af;lirs.
He sleeps long and late, he wakes to-
stupidity, with indolent eyes sleepiiy
rolling over neglected work; neglected
because It rs too cold in spring. and too.
hot in summer, and too labor:ous at all
limes,--a great coward in danger, and
therefore very clustering in safety. His.
lands run to waste. bis fences are dilapT-
dated, his crops chiefly of weeds and
bramblcs a shattered house, the side
leaning over as it wishing, like its owner,
to lie down to sleep: the chimney tum>
bling down. the roof breaking ia. with
moss and grass sprouting in its crevicss /;
tuc wei Witnout pump " WluuiaSSs trap
for their children. This is the very cas-
tie of Incidence.
2. Another idler as useless. but vastly
more active than the last. attends close
" to every ones business except his own.
His wife earns the children's bread. and
his; procures her own raiment and his
she procures the wood she procnres the
water. while he. with hands in his pock-
ct, is busy watching the building Of
neighbor,s barn; or advising another
how to trim and train his vines or he
has heard Of sickness in friends family
ind is there. to suggest hundred cures.
and to do every thing but to help: he is
4 spectator Of shooting matches, 4 sticks
Ter for ring and fair play at every fight.
He knows al the stories of all the falni-
lies that live IN the knvwn If ne can