Semi-weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1852-1853, 1852-03-13
WHAT TO DO IN THE MEAN TIME 2

m has been freOuentIV
3 oco,,a;n+o1ce whose only fault is imPracu-
oob;litv that in life there is but one real alcuy
tb;o ;ss;mnIv-what to do in the mean IlIlie 1o
g.. roo,1;res no demonstration 1t comes noiii0
~ tho exnerence of every man VINO lea's ~ wv :t
From the chmney-pots to the cellars o. 500 -
orroo+ and SMALL scholars and Clowns All GLASSES u
Struggling humanity are Pantuly awe u IL.
The men to whom the question IS Pre-elnlllent!
embarrassing are those who have either pecumary
e,',,actations or possess talents of some particular
lind on whose recognition by others their material
prosperity depends. 1t may be laid down =; is Il
General axiom in such cases, that the WORST 'i"S
q man can do is to sOait and the best thing lie can
do is to scorE that is to say, that III niue e'se
out of ten, doing something has agreat aoN'tiit<
over doing nothing. Such an asSertioi. 49,"
near mere obvious truism, and one requiring nelt
Or nroof nor illustration were it not grelvousy par
,obla 70 the student of the great book OF hle-the
r,nIyr;tten biographical dictionary OF the woflo-
that an opposite system Is too often Preelleo ',
adonted by the unfortunate victims OF tnls cohe'I
ton-ofevery- body question" so clearly ProPoseo'
ond in countless instances so neficiently and indie
finitely answered. q
To multiply dismal examp les of such cases OF
neople ruined, starved, and in variety OF ways
fearfullv. embarrassed and tormented during the
process of expectation, by the policy OF coWardly
sloth or feeble hesitation, might, indeed, point
moral" but would scarcely "adorn tale IL IS
doubtless an advantage to know how to avolu er-
rors. but it is decidedly much greater advantage
to learn practical truth We shall therefore ie"'e
the dark side of the argument with full confidence
10 the memories experience and aginatlon OF our
readers and dwell rather-as both a more saluta-
ry and interesting consideration the brighter
side in cases of successful repartee to the grand
query, which our limited personal observation has
enabled us to collect Besides, there is nothing at
tractive or exciting about intellectual inertia Inc
contrast between active resistance and passive en-
durance is that between machine at rest and
machine in motion Who that have visited the
Great Exhibition can have failed to remark the diff
ference of interest aroused in the TIVE cases What
else causes the preambulating dealers in artificial
spiders suspended from threads to command so
great patronage from the Juvenile population OF
Paris and London /! What else constitutes the SUI
perioritv of an advertiSng-van over stationary
posterl What sells Alexandra Dumas's novels,
and makes balloon ascent such favorite specta-
Gle? Work, man :" said the philosopher hast
thou not GOT all eternity to rest in p And to cork
according to Mills Political Economy" is to more );
therefore perpetual motion is the great ideal prob
lem of mechanicians.
The first case in our museum Is that of a German
officer. He was sent to the coast of Africa on all
exploring expedition, through the agency of the
part pretre, or Jesuit party in France, with whose
Vaccinations against Louis Philippe's government
he had become accidentally acquainted The Jesuits
finding him opposed to their plans, determined to
remove him from the scene of action. In conse-
quence of this determination, it so happened that
the captain of the vessel in which he went out set
sail one fine morning, leaving our friend on shore
to the society and of the native negro popua-
ton. His black acquaintance for some time treated
him with marked civility; but as the return of the
ship became more and more probematical. tamil
iarity began to breed its usual progeny, and the
position. Hitherto he had not been treated with
actual disrespect; but when King Bocca-Bocca cut
him in a most unequivocal manner, he found HIM
self utterly neglected, that the sensation of be-
ing nobody nobody, too among niggers -
for the moment completely overcame him. a feeble
ray of hope was excited shortly afterward in his
respondent heart by hint gathered from the signs
made by the negro in whose hut he lived, that
project entertained in high quarters of giving
him coat of lamp black and selling him as a slave
but this idea abandoned by its originator, pos
sbly for want of opportunity to carry it out. Now
adventurer had observed that so long as he had
a charge of gunpowder left to give away, the black
men had almost worshipped him as an incarnation
of the Mumbo-J jumbo adored by their fathers. Re-
fleeing this, it occurred to him that if by any
possibility, he could contrive to manufacture fresh
supply of the valued commodity his fortunes would
be comparatively secure.
No sooner had this idea arisen in his BRAIN than
with prodigious perseverance, he proceeded to work
toward its realization. The worst of it was that he
knew the native names neither of charcoal, sui
phur nor nitre. No matter his stern volition was
proof against all difficulties. Having once con-
veyed his design to the negroes he found them eager
to assist him, though, as difficulty after difficulty
arose, it required all the confidence of courage and
hopeful energy to control their savage patience
The first batch was failure, and it was only bv
pretending that it was yet unfinished he was ena-
bled to try a second in which he triumphed over
all obstacles. When the negroes had really load
ed their muskets with his powder and fired them
OH IN celebration of the event. they indeed revered
the stranger as superior and marvellous being
For nearly eighteen months the German remained
on the coast. 1t was port rarely visited and the
negroes would not allow him to make any attempt
to travel to more frequented place. Thus he con-
tlnued to make gunpowder for his barbarous
friends and to live, according to their notions, "Hke
prince; )" for to do King Bocca-Bocca justice when
he learned our friends value, he treated him like
man and brother. What might have been his
tate had he awaited in idle dependency the arrival
OF vessel AS it was, the negroes crowded the
beach, and fired off repeated salvos at his depart
ure. Doubtless his name will descend through
many dusky generation as the teacher of that art
which they still practice, carrying on a lucrative
commerce in gunpowder with the neighboring
tribe. small square chest of gold-dust. which
the escaped victim Of Jesuit fraud brought back to
Europe, was no inappropriate proof of the policy
OF doing something sin the mean time" while wait