The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1855-03-08
G0ulationaI.
Are you Satisfied with your PAY I
"Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long"


"Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long"
f 1t would be difficult to preach a fash
f ionable discourse from such an unfash
| ionable text. The hardest points in Job
? Calvin's theology would be less unwel
come to most; if for no other reason, from
, the fact, that theological matters look for
ward to future state, in which unfortu
, nately most acknowledge no very deep O.
personal concern. Anxiety respectin,
such things is to the great mass, usual,
not very distressing. But the doctrine
suggested in our motto, is matter 0
personal and everyday concern.
looks SO directly towards self-denial, tba
tue most skilful demonstration of it vii
probably meet with only frigid dissent
The idea of "getting more" is com
pletely ingrained into the feelings of man
kind; it is evidently plant indigenous tc
the soul. 1t grows with our growth; a.
one says,
tAs if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed upon;'
What is satisfactory this year, is fire.
quently found to come short the next; the
Irshman is contented with scanty fare
of oatmeal and potatoes in his native isle
but he no sooner crosses a half dozer
meridians towards the setting sun, and
becomes the owner of pig, than he learns
to scorn the offer of ga dollar day, and
board himself" with as much apparent
indignation as good patriot scorns the
thought of treason. As in the story o!
the Roman Sibyl, the demand rises as the
bargain draws towards a close.
1t is so everywhere. 1t is even limited
that heads that carry great deal of the.
ology, regard call of Providence with
much more favor, if it is accompanied
with handsome offer"; and it is said
that they esteem their chance of doing
good as much greater, if their situation
is modified by the adjective lucrative, as
we'll as laborious. But this may not be
SO after ALL We only give the common re-
port. We do know, however, that in
most other professions that minister to
the disorders of humanity, such ideas are
very prevalent; so that in the vernacular
tongue of every place We have as yet Wis.,
tied, an unqualified "tloing aceA," appears
to mean simply growing fat on good pay!
To repeat the caption Of our present
article, We ask you, teacher, Are yon sat-
is6ed with your payl Probably not
There is no class of persons so small as
those who are perfectly satisfied with
their lot. The moralist speaks Of the race
to which we beloug, as never being, but
always to be blest We have heard of a
man who publicly offered large estate
in fee simple to any one who was perfect
ly contented with his condition. 1t was
not long before a claimant appeared. The
generous patron of all contented people,
asked him if he was perfectly contented
with his lot; the reply was of course not
otherwise than in the affirmative. Well
then, says he, what do you want of my
farm! He was therefore perfectly safe
in making the offer; his uncommon gen.
erosity could never cost him more than
the price of the advertisement
Respected Teacher, we ask again, Are
you satisfied with your pay' We will
dispose of the "frst person." by saying
for ourselves, that we really want more
pay! Our necessities have grown with
our means. In constituting the phrases Of
life, no words have given US so much
trouble as opus and uSuS signifying needv
We began to follow the chalk in the red
school house at fifteen dollars a month
and boarded ourselves; and as that was
the first time we had converted our wits
into the common currency, we thought
the pay was large; and really We have
never been so we'll satisfied with our COM
pensation since. The more We have had,
the more we have wanted; our "sins and
debts" have been trouble to US all the
way through life. Still We must have the
frankncss to own that we have been paid
much better than we deserve. Whether
a kind Providence, that has always taken
care Of US, will see fit to vote us another
gratuity in addition to what we now have,
remains to be seen
For others we cannot so well speak,
Many teachers are well paid; some, We
think, may possibly receive more than
they earn. The world commits such mis-
takes sometimes, but sins of that sort are
probably neither very numerous or aggra-
vated. In our cities, school keeping
"sustains fair prices;" teachers there have
every reason to be satisfied with their lot.
Indeed We suspect it would be improper
for US to disclose the amount of salaries,
which many receive in and about the
capital of Massachusetts, or all the coun-
try schoolmasters would, in the words of
Cowper,
/" Crowd the roads, inpatient for the town -
In our villages, the case is different
Many are respectfully paid, it is true; but
there are some, nay, many faithful
servants, standing at the posts of the doors
of knowledge, who receive far less than
they earn. They SOW the seeds of wis
dom for so small stipend and under
such disadvantageous circumstances, that
tho s;obt IF the ncracker man" or a ped.