Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-08-23
THE DUTY OF USEFULNESS
BUSINESS FOR EVERY MAN.

There can be no surer evidence Of the de-
cay of people than disinclination to useful
labor and superciious contempt of the labor
That this disposition is growing among us
is sufficiently evident from the efforts of our
thinking men in their afirmations Of the
dignity oil labor, their protests against
luxury, and their deuunciations Of the indie
cent haste to get rich, shown in the mania
for speculation, which makes the needs of a
nation and the food of the poor, objects of
its unholy lust.
But it is not our intention to write a
homily, but simply to speak a few words in
truth and sobcrness on subject that in
timately concerns every young man for him
self, and every citizen for his country. Isk
cept ina state Of society where the produ-
GERS are serfs, thralls, helots, or slaves it
cannot be degrading to work That citizens
Of a democratic republic should look upon
labor as unworthy a man, is as certain a sign
OF the holloWness OF our democratic preten
sions as Is the eagerness with which We &C
cept the senseless decorations and titles be-
slowed by crowned heads. Industry IS a
virtue aud not less duty. The lazy man
who could if he would do share Of the Ia
Dor which Is necessary to comfort and luxury
aud refuses because he has enough Of the
is an abortion not fitted for this working
world. For him there should be paradise
Of enforced idleness where he might vegetate
in fungous luxuriance, nndlsturbed by the
spade OF hoe Of active life.
If the examples of some Of the most ccle-
! brated men are of any value WAatager, their
/ lives would show that the knowledge and
| practice of useful profession did not detract
/ from their fame. Take for instance the life
of the apostle Paul The only literally,
educated man of the first apostles having
/ been brought uD at the feet ofGamaliel and
/ the son Of Pharjsee, himself Pharisee of
/ the "most straitest sect, which corresponds
/ to the /. L. ID. and ID. ID. Of our style, yet
/ he was not ashamed TO work at his trade as
a tent maker. Has man lived since his
/ day who has cxerted more influence on the
/ progress Of the racer Probably not; and yet
/ whilc we de not claim that his occupation
/ and trade as tent maker made him what
/ he was, we do claim that neither his knowl-
edge nor practice Of his craft initiated
against his success as a refoTmer.
But apart from the low considerations of
present profit and the higher ones Of future
notoriety, there is a duty which every hui
man being Is bound to respect. If labor IS
/ not the normal condition Of the race it Is i'm
/ perativc on us now. Allowing that we are
/ IN a transition from idleness Tor rather lazi-
uessl through the ordeal Of labor to the
I Utopia where all We need shall come fully
prepared to our hands, this transition state
demands action.
But the normal and the proper condition
Of the human race is one Of work, and 1t
would not be difficult to prove that this con
4 ditiou Of labor, as a price for enjoyment, is
the divine law as well as the most etectual
means Of human happiness There can be
no more saddening sightthan that Of man
without an object in life except to compass
his own personal enjoyment. No man
purely selfish can be happy. The grand
element of happiness is the consciousness
that we are contributing to the comfort Of
Others He who lives for himself alone.
from the contributions ofothers, misses some
/ of the most exquisite enjoyments of life
/ This is not mere talk but God 5 eternal
/ truth.
In couctry ike ours, where nature pre-
sents to Us thousands Of opportunities, it Is
worse than neglectful to refuse to contribute
/ our share in their Improvement. The faith
or who refuses or neglects to give his son a
/ personal independence by furnishing him
| with a practical knowledge Of useful oc
cupation, condemns him to life Of depen-
/ dence and trouble than which death itself
4 would be preferable. 1t is not necessary in
4 all cases that he should be farmer or a
/ mechanic; the labor of the brain is as useful
/ a. that of the muscle, but the young man
/ should be taught to labor either with mus
/ Gle or brain. That brain labor is more hon
! orablc than that of the hands Is nonsensi-
cal notion, unworthy such . race as that
/ which has for its mission the subjugatiou of
a continent The farmer and the mechanic
If they perform well their parts-are not
only as useful but fully as honorable as the
minister, the lawyer, physician, or editor
La every case labor IS the price of success
and the road to power, and III all cases that
labor is a benefit to the world we live in
/ Scientific 1merioan.
szg Wisdom is the olive which springs
c..., H. boa-t bfaarnz an tho fupy,1a ou1