Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1867-11-20
Regarding Work and Rest.

1
Now and then, when am tired, when
nave worked long and YEARLY, and have hat
some experience of the attrition of man
with man, and have gained some new light
respecting the moral condition of Imperfect
ana unsanctifed men, [ say to myself
Veil, you have worked more than the or.
binary allotted period of mans life, and
would it not be better for you now to with
draw and give place to younger men, and
spend In elegant leisure the declining peri
cd OF your life ?" 1t is a temptation of the
devil. And when I get rested, when | get
one nights sound sleep, and my nervous
energy Is restored again, and my system is
reinvigorated, am amazed at myself, and
IN the morning fagellate the man that |
knew last night. Retire from life l OBJ
serve that trees keep all their beauty to the
closing periods. How beautiful is the tree
when it comes out of winter and puts on all
Its delicate tints and shades of green. We
then look upon the tree as though it was a
new creation, and we say: Surely, God
never made anything SO beautiful as these
trees; and yet when summer deepens their
hues, and they have become more robust,
and we see what vigor and freshness, and
succulency there is in them, we say ''Af-
ter all give me the summer tints. They are
tar better then the spring delicacies. -
And yet, when the October days have come,
and the last part of the tree-life for the year
is enacted, and we see the gorgeous vel
lows, the rich browns and the magnificent
scarlets, we say: There, the last is the
best. And might we not take pattern
from the tree? Might we not follow up our
youth and manhood with fair colors and del
icate tints to the end Cf life?
do not think man ought to want to
rest in this world. He may desire to a.
chleve the means of setting himself free
from physical taxation. He may say; Il
will relinquish, in measure, this, that
may transfer my activity to other spheres. J"
That is proper for man to do. But for a
man to retire from life and society after he
has been an active force therein, and
filled his sphere with usefulness, and seen
the fruits OF his labor multiplied at his hand,
and known the satisfaction of well-spent
years-nature itself rebukes it. But many
a man at the age of forty-five years, says to
himself Il am worth $500, 900, and what
a fool am TO work any longer / am 60
ing to buy me an estate in the country, and
be gentleman" He buys him an estate,
and undertakes to be gentleman but a
man who has nothing to do is not gentle
man. He goes into the country and learns
how to cape, and learns how to wish he knew
what to do. He goes intothe country in
order to take the cars every morning, and
come to- the city every day to see what is
going on. And he soon discovers that he
has made a mistake, and says: what a
fool | was? l Thought was unhappy, but
| see thatI was not. And he becomes
discontented, and before two years have
gone he sells his country place for fifty per
cent less than he gave, and goes back to tie
city and enters into new partnership, and
says: Il have learned that man had bet
ter not give up business so long as he is a
BILE to attend to it" He could, [ think,
have learned it without going through that
practice. A man ought not to be obliged
to stumble upon every evil oflife in order to
find it out. Something ought to be learned
from other Peoples blunders. There is E.
nough of them IL ". Beecher.