Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1859-07-12
Ashamed of Ones Business.

1t has been well remarked that 1t was blem-
ish on the otherwise noble character ofSir Wal
ter Scott that he was at heart ashamed of his
business. Enjoying reputation in English lit
erature second only to that Of Shakespeare, ne
yet secretly believed duke, and much the more,
prince to be better man than himself, and
worshipped them accordingly. The ambition of
his life was to found family. For this purpose
he toied to acquire acre afer acre; for this pur.
pose he became partner with bis bookseller;
for this purpose he accepted baronetage, fiat
tered royal debauchee, and defended more than
one fagitious public act. Part of this had its or
gin in the natural cast of his mind, and part was
nourished by his study OF medieval and knight
ly literature Alas .he paid the penalty for his
weakness His son learned to blush, amidst his
sristocratic fellow-of6cers, that his father had
labored for his bread as an author; he himself
became bankrupt in his old age; and now,
though scarcely generation has elapsed since
his death, his name no longer reigns at Abbotts-
ford, his bsronetage is extinct, and his dreams
of country or family destroyed forever.
There are thousands, even in this country, a.
shamed of their business, and with less excuse
than Scott. For in England the law recognizes
hereditary landed aristocraoy, so that certain
social sanction is given to the prejudice existing
against "uew men," But here we have no gov
erning class, the descendants of conquerors, to
boast of eight hundred years of political and 30
cial supremacy. On the contrary, there is not
a millionaire in America who is not either the
architect of his own wealth or the son of one
who was. Not by knightly rapine, thank God
but by honest labor, have the fortunes that ex-
ist here been accumulated. No man in the u
nited States can look down on another as be-
meath him on grounds similar to those which
induce long descended English mobiles to despise
paruenu; for here all are "new men," since
even those who have been weslthiest the long
est differ from the poorest only by having pos.
sessed riches for generation or two. A wise
man will laugh at the folly which induces even
the oldest families in England to claim superi
ority over others, because all claim common
ancestor in Noah, and because virtue and merit,
not birth or wealth, are the true standards by
which to Judge citizen; but how much the
more absurd appears the claim of one American
to be considered better than another on the
score of wealth and family, when all alike are
but men of yesterday.
Instead of being ashamed of ones business,
one should be proud of it. "Never despise your
bread and BUTTER" says an old adage; and the
words should be adopted as q text by every
young man beginning life. The first duty OF an
adult citizen is to be independent of others, and
this nobody can become who does not earn suf-
ticient for q livelihood. Whatever work is hon.
est is also honorable. Society demands different
sorts of handicraft and other avocations, just as
a machine requires levers, beams, fulcrums,
wheels, &c.; and hence blacksmith or plow-
man is just as necessary to the common veal as
a lawyer or doctor, and therefore need be none
the more ashamed of bis calling. To be idle, in
deed, even if one is rich, is to play the part of
causeless appendage to the State, and is condu-
Give neither to the physical, intellectual nor NOR
al health Of all the shsms of modern society,
one of the greatest is the worship of wealthy
and titled drones, who have outlived their real
mission, like the mobiles of England have. But
there is sham still mghtier. 1t is the sham of
despising man for his business, especially in a
republic such as ours, for, in point of fact, cit
izen is honorable only in proportion to the as
sduity with which he follows some honest pur-
suit.-N0rfoLk Ar1uS.