New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-05-18
OVER-nPAsT !,

Ii there is ever an excuse for the use d
slang, it may be pleaded in behalf of the ex-
preston 'fast, as applied to modern
manners, and to the method of life in the
large towns and cities of this country.
We grow fast, eat fast, walk fast, talk fast,
read fast, drive fast, in fact the very horses
have learned that what was formerly called
fast trottng, is behind the expectations
OF the owners and jockeys of the present
day; and accordingly they strained them
selves so as to gain a few more seconds
from the great enemy of all impatient spir-
its-time. Regardless of the lessons of
pature, that patient, time-taking worker,
who never will hasten the most trifing Of
her operations, and yet man is ever rush
ing on the child to get through schooling;
the youth and maiden to get into society,
or business, or get married; the man to
get rich or powerful, or both; the mother
to see her children grown; the middle-aged
to better their worldly condition; the old
alb! there the hurry stops, for nobody is in
haste to die. This eagerness to be pushing
on from one period of life to another is
equally displayed in almost every occupa-
ton in which we engage, in our studies and
amusements as well as in our occupa-
lions. We have short methods Of doing
everything, even those that absolutely re-
quire time in order to be we'll done.
French in twelve lessons" g German
without a master, " Reading without
tears" Even the babies must be put to
sleep in hurry, and instead Of the good
old system Of rocking them to a gentle
lullaby, the helpless innocents must be
galloped off to their slumbers by the help
of Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup. Art,
also, whose slowness is proverbial, has
had to yield to the pressure Of our insa-
table haste, and instead of elaborate por-
traits or landscapes wherein the human
face divine or the beauties of the outward
world CLEAN forth in brilliant colors from
the speaking canvass, we have as the success
sors the dingy daguerreotype, the harsh
photograph and the glazing chrome. In
literature, the same desire to get Informal
ton without the adequate labor has given
birth to swarms Of periodical literature,
wherein current events, science, poetry,
fiction, art, politics and religion, every
thing that interests man as living, think
ing, active being may be found treated Of
in a pamphlet Of two hundred pages.
Even the smattering of general knowledge
thus specifically served is, however, too
heavy dish for the majority Of intellec-
tual stomachs, which content themselves
with what they can CLEAN from the daily
papers.
"Of what use" cries the boy Of ff-
teen, already coaxing with ready
razor the reluctant hairs upon his
youthful chin, "of what use this
tedious wading through Greek and Latin
and history? can find anything want
to know with couple of dictionaries zone
common and one classic and encyclo-
pedia." "Do this by hand !" ezclaims
the indignant girl of twelve; ''why, mother,
the machine is in order
Thus it goes. Everything must be done
by lightning or by steam, or by some
quick, cheap process, and few seem to
consider that what is gained in rapidity
is lost in thoroughness or in deIcacy of
finish. Not that we would undervalue
the importance of the modern improve
ments whereby time and labor have been
saved; not that we would abolish the tele-
graph, and steam, and photography. Far
from it. But we would not have these
things become our masters, and push
aside beauty, and poetry, and thorough
ness, and laborious researches for truth
for truths sake, without any regard to the
market value. Everything Of intrinsic
value takes time for its production. The
peach can not spare a single drop Of the
dew or ray Of the sunshine requisite for
its perfect ripening; the lily slowly spreads
its silver leaves to the light, and viii not be
FASTENED by any outside effort, only in
jured thereby; the diamond has acquired
its lustre and its hardness only after ages
Of moulding and polishing in the iron
crucible of time. All the masterpieces of
human skill, with very few exceptions,
have in like manner been accomplished
touch by touch. The works Of Raphael
and Michael Angelo, the compositions of
Beethoven, and Haydn, and Mozart, the
poems Of Milton and Byron, conceived,
perhaps, in fash Of inspiration, could
not assume the form in which they were
given to the world without time and labor.
Thus all the lessons of nature and of
art tend toward the medication Of delib-
Grafton in every undertaking that aims at
excellence The young people of the
present day would do well to heed these
To gulp life is not to enjoy it.
THE FIRST FRUITS.
New York is ablaze with the Greeley