Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1861-05-11

Il N"0 ) OuV " the gardener ant
tne nurse have been spoiled for their busi
ness ana their condition, by the sentiment
wu'cn tney nave imbibed with their kuowl
euge' 'ney are made uncomfortable to them
serves, ana TO those whom they serve
10 hUt care how much knowledge a mar
may nave acquired in school. that sehoo
mas oeeh curse to him if its influence ba,
oeen 10 make him unhappy in his place, and
ana 10 I'LL hlm with futile ambitions.
Ane country has great reason to lament
the eHect OF the kind of instruction npon
which l have remarked. The universal
greco lot once is nothing but an indication
VI tpe aPpltlte Tor distinction which has been
diIigently fed from childhood. 1t is aston.
lshlhg 10 see the rush for Office on the oc.
caSlon oi tne chance of state or national
administration. Men will leave uuiet and
remuneratIve employments. subject them.
selves 10 mean humiliatons. simply to get
lheir names into a newspaper, and to
achleVea little official Importance and social
distinction This desire seems To run
through the whole social body, and a kind
OF moral Scrofula, develops itself in var.
ions ways, according to circumstances ond
peculiarites of constitution The oonse
quence Is mat politics have become the Dur.
suit Oh small men, and we no longer have
an opportunity to put the best men into
once 1ne scramble for place among fools
IS 50 great and so successful, that men of
dignity and modesty retire from the field in
disgust. Everybody wants to ''be some.
thug" and In order to "be something y
everybody must leave his proper place in
the world, and assume a position which God
never intended he should fill. Look in
upon q state Legislature once. and Won will
fud sufficient Illustration of nv meaning
Not Que man in five of the whole
NUMBER possesses the first qualification for
making the laws of astate, aud half of them
never read the constitution of the country
mean no contempt for the good honest
men OF whom our state legislature is com.
posed, but wish simply to say that there
is nothing in their quality of mind, habits
OF thought intellectual power, or style of
pursuits that fits them for the great
functions Of legislation. They are there
set OF "nobodeS," mainly for the purpose of
becoming "somehodieS," aud not for
any object counectected with the good Of
the state. st =,
Somehow, all the students in all our
schools get the idea that man in order to
be somebody" must be in public life. Now
think of the fact that the millions attending
school in this country have in some way
acquired this idea, aud that only one in
every one thousand of these is either needed
IN public life, or can win success there. Let
this fact be realized, and it is easy to see
that the nine hundred aud nncty-nne will
feel that they are somehow cheated out of
their birthrght. They desired to be 10
public life, and be Somebody" but they
are not, and so their life grows tame aud
taSteless to them. They are disappointed.
The men solace themselves with petty JUS
tlce'S commission or a town Office of some
kind, aud the woman-some of them-talk
about "woman'S rights" and make them.
selves notorious and ridiculous ut public
meetings. | think women have rights which
they do not at present enjoy, but l have
very little confidence in the motives of their
petticot companions, who court mobs, delight
in notority, aud glory in their opportunity
to burst away from private life, aud be re.
cognized by the public as "SomebodeS." |
insist on this that private and even OBJ.
scure life is the normal condition of the great
multitude of men and women in this world
and that to serve this private life, puplic
life, is instituted. Public life has no legiti-
mate significance save as it is related to the
service of private life. 1t requires peculiar
talents and peculiar education, and brings
with it peculiar trials aud the man best
g., e.; - ,,IJ ho hal lnOf IN a Iapf
ly to assert his fitness for it.
Thousands seek to become "semebodes"
through the avenues of PROFESSIONAL life
and SO professional life is full of "nobodies".
The pupil is crowded with goodiSh "no,
bodes-men who have no power--no "uuc-
tiou"-no nilsson. They strain their braius
to write common-places, aud wear them
selves out repeating the rant of their sect
and the cant Of their schools The bar is
cursed with "nobodeS"as much as the pul,
pit. The lawyers are few the peItifOggers
are many. The bar, more than any other
medium, is that through which the ambitious
youth of the country seek to attain politi
cal eminence. Thousands go into study Of the
law not su much for the sake of the peO-
iession, as for the sake of the advantages i'll
is supposed TO give them for political pre-
feIment. An ambitious boy who has taken
il nlo his head TO be somebody" always
studies law and as soon as he is admitted
to the bar be is ready to begin his political
MuItitudes of lawyers are dis
grace to their profession, and curse to
their country They lack the brains nec-
essary to make them respectable, and NOR
ais requisite for good neighborhood. They
live on qurrels and breed them that they
may live. They have spoiled themselves for
private life, and they spoil the private life
around them. AS for the medical profess
ion. | tremble to think how many enter it
because they have neither piety enough for
preaching, nor brains enough to practice
law. When think of the great army of
little men that is yearly commissioned to
90 forth INTO the world with case OF sharp
Knives in one hand, and magazine of drugs
in the other, heave sigh for the human
race. Especially is all this lamentable
when we remember that it involves the
spelling Of thousands of good farmers aud
mechanics, to make poor professionals men
while those who would make good profess
ional men are oblighed TO attend to the
simple duties of life, and submit to preach
ing that neither feeds nor stimulates them,