Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-06-28
THE GAZETTE.
TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE IS. lsas.
AS!iAMEp OF ONE'S BUSINESS.

ASH AMEb VT oNf. Dl Oh I.So.
1. ho, beeu well remarked that II Was II
Flemish on the otherwise noble character "t
Sir " alter Scott that he Mas ut heart ashamed
Of hi. business ENJOYING reputation IN
English literature second only I" that al
Shakespeare, he Vet secretly believed duke.
and much the more, a prince. 10 lie u better
man than himself. and wnrshipped them az
rordngly. The ambition Of his life was t"
found family. For this purpose he toled t"
acuuiIe acre after acre. for tins purpJse he
became partner with his bookseller; ior tins
purpose he accepted haronetage, tlattered II
ioyal debauchee, aud defended more than one
hagitious public act. Part "f this had its orr,
gin in the natural cast Of his mind, and part
was nourished hv his study oi medieval and
knightlv literature Alas he paid the pen
atty for his weakness Ills SIN learned To
blush, amidst his aristocratic fell"w-offcers,
that his father had labored for his bread n an
author; he himself became IA bankrupt in his
old aye; and now, though scarcely genera
ton has elapsed since his death. his name II"
longer reigus at Abbottsford. his barnnetag-
IL extinct, and his dreams Of country or FAM
ly destroyed forever.
There are thousands, even III this country.
ashamed Other business, and with less eX-
cuse than Scott For in England the law re-
coruizes hereditary landed arist"cracy. :"
that IA certain social sanction /, given 10 the
prejudice existing against new men. but
here We have no governing class, the deSceli-
dants Of cunuuerors, to boast of eight hundred
wears of political and social supremacy. On
the contrary, there is not millionaire III
America who is not either the architect Of ms
own wealth OF the son OF one VIII" Was. Not
by knightly rapine. thank God. but By honest
labor have the fortunes that exist here been
accumulated Nomau in the United States
can look down on another as beneath him on
grounds similar u those which induce long
descended English mobiles t" despise II pdyre"";
for here all are "new men,; since even those
who have been wealthiest the longest differ
from the poorest only by having possessed
riches tor u generation or two. "A wise man
will au ia al the folly which induces even the
Oldest families in England +" claim Superiori-
tyoyer others, because all clam common
ancestor in Noah, aud because virtue and mer-
1t, not birth or wealth. are the true standards
hy which Ia nudge a citizen; bur how much
the more absurd appears the claim of one
American Ia he considered better than an"-
ttlrr Oh Tie score al Ntuith ""N'
all alike are but men of yesterday.
Instead Of belngashamed of"ne's business,
one should be proud Of 1t. Never despise
Your bread and butter" says an old adage;
aud the words should be adopted ms text by
every young mnn beginning life. The first
duty of an adult citizen is to he independent
ofothers, aud this nobody can become who
does not earn sufficient for livelihood
Whatever work is honest rs aiso honorable
Society demands different sorts Of handlcratt
and other avocations. Just ~ machine re-
auires levers. beams. fulerums, wheels, Nc.;
and hence blacksmith OF plowman Is Just rs
necessary to the common veal as lawyer"r
doctor, and therefore need he none the more
ashamed OF his calling. L" he idle, indeed
even if one is rich, is to play the part OF cause
less appendnge to the State and lis conducive
neither to the physical intellectual nor moral
health. OF all the shams Of modern society
one of the greatest is the worship OF wealthy
and titled drones. who have nutllVen their
real mission, like the mobiles Of England have
But there is sham still mightier 1t Ii the
sham Of despsing n man for his business. eS-
pecially in republic such as ours for IN
point Of fact. 1t citizen is honorable only III
proportion to the assduity with which he fol-
lows some honest pursuit. -AoJ"h 1'@"&'