The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-11-25

TnE AMERICAN GENTLEMAN OF LEIs-
uRE.-Did the reader ever see a lost dog
in great city? Not a dog recently
lost, full of wild anxiety and restless pain
and bewilderment, but one who had CIV
en- up the search for master in despair,
and had become consciously vagaoond ?
IF so, he has seen an animal that has lost
his self respect, travelling in the cutters,
Sinking along by fences, making &C.
quaintance with dirty boys, becoming a
thorough coward, and losing every ad.
mirable characteristic of dog a cat is
cat even in vagabondage; but a dog
that does not belong to somebody is as
hopeless specimen of Generalization as
can be found in the superior race among
which he has sought in vain for his
master. We know him at first sight, and
he knows that we know him. The loss
of his place in the world, and the loss of
his objects Of loyalty, personal and off.
cial, have taken the significance out of
his life and the spirit out of him. He
has become dog Of leisure.
trans Atlantic countries. 1t is quite
possible that in Constantinople, where
dogs are plenty and masters comparative.
ly scarce, the canine vagabonds keep
each other in countenance. There is o
a sort Of self.respcct among human
thieves, if only enough Of them get to-
gether. Where beggars are plenty, there
are sometimes generated sort Of pro.
fessional ambition and semblance, at
least, of professional pride and honor
Liquor-dealers form a society, publish a
newspaper, call themselves "Wine Mer.
chants" and make themselves believe
that they are respectable. Stock.gam.
bers in Wall street, by sheer force Of
numbers in combination, make business
semi.respectabe which never added q
dollar of wealth to the country and never
will. and which constantly places the
business interests of the country in jeop.
ardy. So it is possible that in Constan.
tinople lost dogs maintain their self.
respect, by community of feeling and a
consciousness that they are neither excep-
tioual nor eccentric. A dogs sense Of
vagabonjage would seem. therefore, to
depend much upon his atmosphere and
circumstances. In New York he loses
himself with his home in Constantinople
he joins a community,
The American man of leisure is a sort
of lost dog. The people are so busy,
they have SO long associated personal i'm
portance with action and usefulness, that
it is all mans life IS worth to drop out
of active employment. If Vanderbilt
should quietly release his hold Of the
vast railroad interests now in his hands,
and should nevermore show his face in
Wall street. he would practically shrink
into e nonentity. If Stewart should
retire to enjoy his piled.up millions in
the quiet reposc Of his palace, he would
cease to be an object of interest to any.
body. 1t is undeniably true that there
is nobody in America who has so hard q
time as the man of leisure. The man
who has nothing to do, and nobody to
help him to do nothing, may properly be
counted among the unfortunate classes
without regard to the amount Of wealth
he possesses. This is. doubtless, the rea.
son why so many who retire from life
Of profitable labor come back, after few
months or years, to their old haunts and
old pursuits. They see that the moment
they count themselves out Of active life
they are counted by their old acquaint.
ances out Of the world. They become
mere loafers and hangers on ; and cer-
tain sense of vagabondage depresses
them, The climate is stimulating, time
hangs heavy on their hands, business is
exciting, business associations are congen'
ial and attractive and so they 90 back tc
their industries, never to leave them again
till sickness or death or old age remove:
them from the theatre of their efforts.
In Europe We know that the case j;
widely different. The number of mer
who live upon their estates-estatei
either won by by trade or inhnrited
from rich ancestors-is very large, while
r those who have small, fixed incomes
which they never undertake to increase
is larger still. The Englishman Of leis
ure who cannot live at home on his in
come goes to the Continent, and seeks ,
place where his limited number ofpound
per annum will give him genteel lodgings
with life of idle leisure. In such ,
place he finds others in plenty who arr
as idle as he, and who have come ther,
for the same reason that brings him. HI
finds it quite respectable to do nothing
and knows that his command of tn,
means that give him leisure is the subjec
Of envy on the inhabitants, He eats
T, sleeps, reads, visits, writes letters, ant
kills time without any loss Of selfrespec
and without feeling the slightest attrac
tion for buiser lie. Indeed the trades
men who are active around him are look
= ed down upon as social interiors, OIL
account of they that they are under tn
necessity of work, Work is not a gen
: teel thing to do, unless it be done in al
office or profession. Shop.keeping an,
: labor of the hands are accounted vulgar
1t seems impossible to conclude tina
l. the man of leisure can ever hold desira
bic position where labor holds its legiti
mate position. We wish the America
could have more leisure than he has.
: would in many respects, be well for socie
ty that men who have property enough
and ten times more than enough, shoul
: retire from active life to make place 70
= others rather than go on accumulatin
gigantic fortunes which becomes curses
u their owners and the community, Afte
: all if idleness can only be made respecta
J bic and desirable by making labor WI
J gar, we trust that the American gentle
u y man of leisure will be as rare in tn
future as he has been in the past.
We are glad on the whole, that ever
J. American deems it essential to belong
\ \ somebody, to belong to something,
u sustain some active relation to some il