The Portland daily press., 1873-12-05
The American Gentleman Of Leisure.

Did the reader ever see lost dog in great
city? Not a dog recently lost, full of wild
anxiety and restless pain and bewildermep',
bit one who had given up the search for
master in despair, and had becone conscious
ly vagabond? II so, he has seen ar animal
that has lost his sell respect, travelling in the
cutters, slir king along by fences, making
acquaintances with dirty boys, becoming
thorough coward, and losing ssvery admirable
characteristic OF dog. A cat is a cat even
in vagabondage; but dog that does hot be
long to SOMEBODY il as hopeless a specimen
of Decentralization as can he found in the SUI
perior race among which be has sought in
vain tor his master. We know him at first
sfgt t, anu he knows that we know him.
The loss of his place in The world, and the
loss of his objects OF loyalty, personal and
| official, have TAKE n the significance out of his
\ lite and the spirit out OF him. He has be-
come dog of leisure.
We do not know how 1t may be in trans
Atlantic countries. 1t is quite possible that
in Constantinople, where dogs are plenty
nd masters comparatively scarce. the canine
wa. abonds keep each other in cOuntenance.
.T6s,. is a sort of selfIespect among human
th;eyes. if only enough of them get together
Whs,e ,o,. -gars are plenty, there are SOME
times oanes,, ed a sort of professional amb-
ton .nd = sarn, lance, at least. OF professional
nr;ds rTd "u aud bonnr Liquor-dealers form So
cietv nnhlisb a new, paper, call themselves
"Wine Mercbants." a, ID make themselves
believe that they are n speJsaore o o.ocS,
gamblers in Wall street, by SUE, to,Je y,
numbers in combination, maj. oaSn1o 1Inss
semi-respectable which never adde>' aV'a,
of wealth to the country and never W.. al"
which constantly places the business nile
terests Of the country in jeopardy. sN IS
possible that in Coustantinople lost dogs
maintain their self-respect, by commpntty oil
feeling and consciousness that they are
neither exceptional nor eccentric. A dogs
sense of vagabondage would seem, therefore,
to depend much upon his atmosphere aiid
circumstances. In New York he loses him
self with his bone; in Constantinople he
Joins q community.
The American man of leisure is a sort OF
lost dog The people are so busy. they have
so long associated personal Importance WILD
action and usefulness, tnat it is all man
life Is worth 10 drop out Of active employ
ment If Vanderbilt should quietly re-
lease his hold of the vast railroad interests
now in bis hands, md should never more
show his face il Wall street, be would practl-
cally shrink to nonentity. II Stewar'
should retire to enjoy his piled up millions in
the quiet lepcse of his palace, he would Cease
to be an object of interest to anybody. ~ Is
America who mas so baId a time as man OF
leisure. The man who has nothing to do,
and nobody to help him do nothing, may
properly be counted among the unfortunate
classes. without regard to the amount OF
wealth he possesses. This is. doubtless, the
reason why so many who retire from lite OF
profitable labor come back, after few
months or years, to tpeir old haunts and Old
pursuits. They see. that the moment they
A.. 80 tiva lifo ,hau
counted by their old acqnaantarces out OF
THE world. Ihev become mere 4a2fe:s and
hangess-on: and certain sense 0 .yasa-
bonda2e .depresses them. The climate rs
xtimuating, time bangs heavy on tpeil
hands, business is exciting, business aSsoeil'
items are congeuiai and attractive; anu so
ts,er 90 back to their iudustiieS, never
cave fDem cgain till sickness OF deatn or oiu
a ye removes them fir I'M the thea;Se OF their
e:. y0rts.
In Europe we know that the case Is widely
diff .rrnt That number of men who live
upo,a their estaies,- estates either won by
trade. or inherited from rich ancestors
ia yel.v iarye while those who have small, flx-
ed in, comes which they never undertake. TO-
ipcrea se. is larger still. The EnSllshman OF
leisure who cannot live at home on his IN
come gees 10 the Continent, and seeks place
where his limited humber OF pounds per an
,
l:fe of id e leisure. In such a place be finds
Others iu plenty who are as idle as he, and
who have come there for The same reason
that brings him He finds its quite respecta
he to do nothing, and knows that his com
mapd of the means that give bim leisuse is
the subject of envy on the part Of the inhah-
tauts. He eats, sleeps, reads, visits, writes
letters, and kills time without ary loss of
selt-respect, andiwltnout feeling the slightest
attraction for buster life. Indeed, The trades
men who are active around him are looked
down upon as social interiors, on account Of
he fact that they are under the necessity OF
T.. -. rk. Work is not genteel thing to do
W., W.. ,ss it be done in an Office or profession.
Snnn Snm keeping and labor of the hands are ac'
count. count ID vulgar. .he
'oInso H. seo ms impossible to conclude thai sne
man an 1 of Nsure can ever hold desirable Dnsiton ion
ton wher, >labor holds its leSitla,e have more lei
We wish te has. II would, in many resp.c
sure tnan snr ne c jety that men who nave piope''