The Oxford intelligencer., 1860-08-29
-
something To Do.

he mnst find" it. lie must find IL; the
necessity is absolute. AS surely as tub
viii fall to pieces If not filed with water or
blade loose its bright surface and keen edge
il exposed without use, or a steam-boiler ex-
plode unless duly vented, SO surely will the
faculties decay, and the very substance of true
manliness be eaten out, if one has nothing TO
do.
Prescott Inherited a fortune SO ample that
the expenditure ofa thousand dollars month
passed with him for pretty strict economy.
Something to do" was not necessary to him
to satisfy the wants of hislower nature. Food,
residence, pleasure of all kinds were within
his reach, without doing anything. He might
have lived in fine house, worn fine clothes,
drank fine wine and driven fine horses with
out any kind Of labor. lie might even have
worn a certain kind of distinction, like the
young Boston simpleton some years ago who
is said to have eaten 500 bill on piece
of bread and butter, to win wager with an
other simpleton, which should make the most
expensive breakfast. But Prescott had no
taste for the pleasures and no aspiration after
the notoriety of a roue. 1t was Necessary for
him to find something to do which would
employ his faculties, satisfy his sense Of right,
and fulfill his debt to his country aud to man
kind as becometh a good citizen and good
man.
Many Of our young countrymcn are in the
same condition with Prescott when his strong
soul and lofty purpose expressed itself in the
above maxim. The increasing opulence of
our country is rapidly multiplying the num-
Der of young men who come by inheritance
into the possession Of independent fortune.
They have nothing TO do, as far as the neces-
sities of subsistence are concerned. But
they "must find something to do," or be
contemplate and miserable. Independ-
cnt" of toll for the mere supply of their bod
lily wants, they are just as dependent on exer-
ton for a cheerful and honorable existence
as the man who earns his daily bread by his
daily labor
In older communities, where society is
more distinctly organized and classified by
time and the surviving influence of feudal in
stitutions, such persons from class, cement
cd by privilege and decorated by title. Their
very isolation and the spirit of their order
supplies them certain sort Of occupation
enough, at least, to relieve them Of the tre-
mendous burden Of vacant existence. On
the eldest son dcyolves the care of acres and
oftenants. The younger pass into the church,
the army, and such civil Offices as will do for
a gentleman. For gentlemen the government
was made, and administered; and therefore
to gentlemen all its cmployments, excitements,
distinctions and solaces are Appropriated
The paths Of elevated ofliial life must be trod
by patrican feet, and no other. And as the
number of hereditary gentlemen is relatively
small in any community, they are tolerably
well supplied with something to do. In fact,
the very cxigenccs of their position, the con-
cious necessity Of upholding their order, COM
pei them to considerable activity and to a
pretty high intellectual culture. Thus the
spirit Of the order is elevated, selfimprove-
ment to some extent exacted, and mere idle
uess and vanity eschewed; and that part of
life which is not occupied by social, diplo-
matte or military affairs, is filled out by clubs,
yachting, races or field sports. So that,
whether grave or friolous, they have general
ly on hand something to do.
Yet, even in such social conditions, the
misery of vacant life has always been felt
to be one of the greatest evils that wait on
wealth. The old Roman satirist points his
middle finger at this as the special and char
acteristic wretchedness ofthe rich young idler.
" You don't knosc what to do" And one of
the most vivid pictures from the pencil of
Goldsmith is that of "Mordaunt, young, in
genious, accomplished, brave-an English
man. Endowed with abundant wealth, he
exhausted every pleasure which money could
buy, and at the age of thirty, having finished
the round, he made his escape by means of a
pistol, from the dreary vacuity of an existence
without want and without objects"
The case of rich young men with us is at
ended with this Characteristic peril in Pc
'uliar degree. They do not constitute a class;
hey have no common bond, no common re-
iorts of pursuits, no esprit du corps. Every
'ne who is afflicted with plethora of riches,
must just work off the disease, and counter
let the apOplectic and dropsical tendencies of
uch morbid condition, as well as he can,
or himself There are, among us, no offices
n churches or state, or army or navy, appro-
'riated to such unfortunates. The posses
ion, in fact, of patrimonial riches and illus
rious name, though it inspires respect here
S everywhere, is rather hinderaucc than
lelp TO official or political advancement. We
lave known instances in which it was openly
leld to be a disqualification, inasmuch as it
implied the absence of that shrcwdness, dill
renee and activity which are generally found /