The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1871-06-28
DEVOTED TO LITER ATURE MORALITY And GENERAL INTELGENC
ON WASTING TIME.

ON WASTING TIME.
"Here, you are, sir, wasting your val
liable time-as they say to me" said
Charles Dickens one morning, many
years ago, as his little boy ran up to
him on the Broadstairs sands, spade in
hand. And we have often wondered
since how many people there are who
know what is meant by wasting time !?
It is very easy to make mistakes on
this subject, for nothing is so deceitful
as appearances. We all know that
Penelope, that classical model of proprie.
ty and all the virtues, employed her
time in weaving garment by day, and
uuraveIing it by night. She did this to
keep off her lovers, who wanted to per-
suade her that her husband Ulysses was
dead. When the suitors found her out,
of course they accused her OF wasting
her time-but at that moment Ulysses
knocked at the door, after seeing many
men and cities. In fact, he had come
home, and the fair Penelope had her
reward after all.
Surely it is waste Of time tor that
old tortoise to try and beat the nimble
hare at running, but the silly old thing
will crawl on, without once stopping, at
about the pace one gets down to the
Strand in cab on rainy day. Present
ly, down comes the hare at furious
pace-thcre is no wasting time with
him, at all events-but, alas when he
arrives breathless at the winning post,
be finds the old tortoise there before
him, fast asleep too. "Ah," says the
hare, 81 wish I had taken my nap at
the end instead of the beginning of the
race, and then l should have won it,
and that tortoise would have crawled in
vain as it is, he has made good use of
bis time, and have wasted mine"
What an idle man that is yonder,
fishing, hour after hour ! Truly mel
ancholy spectacle, as stern old Doctor
johnson would say. GA line with
worm at one end, and a fool at the
other" Wrong again That man is an
eminent statesman, who has escaped to
recruit his weary brain in the company
of the king-fsher and the heron. What
eloquence, wisdom, and wholesome leg
islation do we not owe to such hours of
idleness Z! Nay, do not some of our best
and kindlies. thoughts often come to US
as We sit on the beach and toss pebbles
into the shining sea covered with its
"innumerable smiles ?" Recreation is
not waste when It is rest from real
work, and preparation for more.
We confess We never feel at home
with man who must always be doing
There was French states
man who wrote huge book by snatches,
in those occasional intervals when he
happened to be kept waiting for his
dinner We have not the slightest wish
to see this ante-praudial performance.
We have no doubt it was very dull
book, for men who are never at leisure
are always dull.
Fussy men and idle men are equally
to US. The real worker is
never in hurry, and the real idler, We
may add, is never anything else. Who
ever heard of Lord Palmcrston, or the
Duke of Wellington, or Lord Brougham,
being in hurry? When we see man
in great hurry, we may be pretty cer-
tain that his profession consists in
doing nothing, and that he is doing
that badly. The idlest man we ever
knew was always so much pressed for
time that he never had Eve minutes to
spare for anything. No one need ever
be in such terrible hurry as this. If
we ever find ourselves so, it is probably
because we have been wasting our time.
We have had no system, and have,
therefore, done in an hour what ought
to have been finished in twenty MIMI
tes; or like the hare, We have loitered
on the way, and then We make push
for it, and arrive just in time to miss
the train. How many hares are there
every morning who arrive breathless in
the city, because breakfast was half an
hour late, or because they would not
get up when the clock struck seven.
But our readers have right to ask
what constitutes, as q general rule,
waste of time.
We answer in a single sentence
whatever hinders or prevents you doing
your work in life. Every one realizes
that his duty here consists in applying
himself to some worthy work, and his
time may then safely and without waste
be divided into three periods, preparing
for work, doing work, aud resting from
work. Waste Of time becomes thing
purely relative. What IS mere waste
in one case is real profit in another
The idle man who travels simply for
pleasure, is simply wasting his time
the man who travels for study, or the
man who travels to get rest from work,
or for the sake Of his health, is not
wasting or abusing his time, be is turn-
ing it to good account.
Let the heart be filled with some
good principle Of action, and let the
mind be directed towards some congeuial
pursuit, and then our innocent pleasures
-;li ba .. l;ttTo IN dar1o- of 1aoopera-