The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1857-11-25
Loaferissn is Death.
q What IS a man.

"What is man.
Tfb;s chief good and market of his time
Be but 10 sleep and feed !? A beast, no more"
HAMLET.
Start not, reader, it is true. Loaferisln
as dcath-tleath of the most dismal and
dangerous kind. There are more kinds
of death than ono. There is tie death of
the body, when sad farowclls arc spoken,
when eyelids droop over sightless eyes,
and pale lips close over yoiceless mouths,
when in silence and mid sorrow the stern
agony is endured, AMI the light and
warmth Of life is exchanged for "the
shroud, the pail, the brcathless darkness,
and the narrow house" This death alone
is inevitable. But as sunlight often gilds
the mountains top, around whose lower
SIDES dark clouds are dl fitting, SO is there
a land Of light and blessedness lying some
where in the q Great Unknown" But
there is a death OF torpor of the mind, q
death of kindly affection, Q death Of gen
erous trust and ennobling faith, a death
Of fixed purpose and noble endeayor,
which lead to no brightness beyond.
Here is a business man, alive to the mu-
steal chimes of silver and gold, keen to
detect the means of pecuniary gain in his
eager, untirng labor for wealth, he has
forgot the wealth of affection, The world
ofintellectual enjoyment which les around
him. The heart is dead, but portion of
his intellect is sharpened into unnatural
lfe. Here is the ignorant day-laborer.
He knows nothing Of the wealth of sci
ence, the lore If history, or the charms Of
poetry. His mind is all uncultured and
inert. But he is not wholly dead. His
heart is alive, He loves bis wife and Joys
In the sweet presence Of his children, and
labors cheeffully for their support. Here
is another whose course in life is fitful and
changing as April skies. He has no fixed
purpose. He goes Oh Ike q sail-vesscl
driven here and there by every wind. and
often beealmcd, instead of moving steadily
onward like steamer brcasting every
opposing wave and dashing aside obst a
cles as the steamer at every pulse-beat of
its fiery heart dashcs aside the spray.
Some part of his manhood is dead. He
has no faith in the o,nnipotence of work,
no just conception of his dignity as man,
no worthy goal in view, and SO his course
Is vacillating and uncertain.
Tie loafer has suffered the triple death
of heart, mind, and purpose. He cannot
love any one worthily, for love makes us
self-distrustful, it awakens desire for no
bier life, it inspires to work. He cannot
even be a good friend, for bis nature is
too sluggish to perceive and meet the
delicate requirements of friendship. His
mind is dead, except that baser part which
gives expression to passion and appetite.
The dignity of man, the divinity of knowl-
edge, the desirablencss of seif-culture, the
unmeasured worth of the soul, all these
inspiring thoughts are lost to him. O,
Loafcr thou art a miserable being. Thy
life is aimless as the beasts. Thou will
gaze on l:fo with an eye as dull as
that of the OK who looks on q beautiful
landscape. Like those piles Of sand
around Michigan City, thou holdest a
place in nature, but thou art ST no use.
Young man, w1u!l YOU be loafer?
It is q small task. ''I'acilis descensus
Auerni est" The way to hell Tor loa-
ferism-about the same thing is easy"
You have only to hate to work, to neglect
to cultivate your mind, to acquire pas
sion for playing all kinds of games and
telling all kinds Of stories, to allow your
self to hang around public places, and the
thing is done. You are defunct dead
and worthless as a bill on n Nebraska
bank, and you bear about your own cpl
taph written Enthusiastically plain-Loafer.
Then be not idle. Drift not like food
wood down the stream Of life. Rather
say:
81 will not waste my spring of youth
In idle dalliance. l will plant rich seeds
To blossom in my manhood, and bear fruit
When | am old.