Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-07-18
For the Tines.
FAST LIVING,

&c He is a frst-rate fellow, but he will never be
worth anythng.''
"Why, is MT he honest and Industrious 50
''Perfectly so, but he is Eot capable of man
agng.''
How often do we hear language like this used
with reference to certain class of young men,
Poor fellow, you are gifted with 100 noble ma
turc to descend to the trickery of trade Or the
schemes of speculation, with aspirations too high
and holy, to be fettered with the things of time
and sense, with religion too pure to bow the knee
at the shrine Of mammon, and offer incense upon
the altar of selfish lust; with heart too generous
to be wholly absorbed in the qualification of its
own selfish desires, and turn deaf ear to the cry
of the destitute and needy around you, therefore
YOU incapable of taking care of YOURSELF
Poor fellow, will you be content to labor every
day of your life for an honest livelihood, when,
by engaging in trade or speculat on, you might
live easy? Will you be content to live in that
humble cottage, while those of your neighbors
rear their imposing fronts so high above? Will
you be contented to spend your evenings at home
with your family and book, while the gay seekers
of pleasure absent at the theatres, the saloons,
and the thousand other places of resort? Will
you be contented to live where your father lived
and die where he died, - unknowing and unknown,
While others roam the wide world DER,
Slipping honey from every flower?
Poor fellow, how we pity You ;-doomed to live
life of poverty and obscurity, unnoticed and
uncared for by the busy crowd, among whom may
be seen those possessed Of less talent, but whom
the world calls wealthy, happy and great. What
pleasure in such a life of confinement and obscu-
rity? What enjoyment in delving from day to
day at hard work, and spending every leisure mo-
ment in coming over the pages of some dull book?
What matters it whether your head is filled with
useful knowledge or be as empty as contribution
box? Do you not know that in these fast days
the external appearance is Indicative of the inner
man? Very much depends upon the fashion of
mans coat or the shape in which he wears his
linen. Though your mind be ever so we'll stored
with ancient and modern lore, you are doomed to
be elbowed from the sidewalk by the brainless
fop, who never had half dozen original ideas,
whose highest ambition is to be in the tin of
fashion, and attract the attention of idle gazers,
and who, parrot-like, has learned to bow with the
multitude, at the shrine of fashion, and chant the
acts of devotion to that goddess. A man might
better be an inhabitant of the moon, than to fol-
low in the wake of the multitude in its eager pur-
suit of the glittering bubbles which float upon
the stream of time, and he is not wise who would
cucumber himself with aught which would hinder
him in the race. An empty head is more easily
kept above water than a full one. l know that a
certain man who was reputed to be wise in his
day, hath said that "wisdom is more precious
than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire
are not to be compared to her % but he lived in
dark age of the world, and the wiser heads of
our day, when 60 knowledge is scattered abroad,''
have determined all such sayings to be obsolete
Truly. We live in fast age, and are fast people,
HENRY.