, 1874-05-10

It Ii said that Americans de young because
they work at high-pressure. Under such cir
cumstances the steamboat is apt to blow up and
the man to fall down,-both ere they have run
their race. TIE young American is certainly not
anxious to die. Yet he pursues the basty Life
| that is wel1-nigh suro to kill him promatuzely
partly from necessity it is true, for when men
run, ho who walks must lose the racs, but partly
from choice also. The ''whip in the sky" Of
of which IN Atlantic poet sang some months
since 1ashea Americans on elsewhere than in
! New England. This working under pressure is
] bad for the worker, no doubt, but ia it for tha
| work?
Some Of tho worlds btst hAndiwork has been
done under the spur OF necessity. Tho page
that is written whils the publishers messenger
is knocking at the door for ''mora copy" is
sometimes the best part Of the book. go11e OF
last moment left him by his bargain with the
booksellers. Later In life, when crushing care
had come upon him, his 1aded brain did not re-
spond so readilY to such stimulus. But then
tE1<<40 ~~A%9e8AsA''
There MAS no breathing space OF idleness. Such
labor not only kills but palaies before it elays-
Good wor. under pressure is done only when
the time prudent man would have davcted to 1t
has first been spent in indolence, or something
akin to it. Roasini affords an admirable
example Of the spur necessity n1ay be to man.
Nothing" said be, excites inspiration like
necessity; the presence Of u copyist waiting for
your work. aud the viow Of manager in despair
tearing out his hair by handfu1s. In Italy, in
my time, all. the managers we're bald at 80.
composed ths overture to 'Othello' In 4 small
room in tbs Barbaja Palace. where the baldeat
and most ferocious Of managers had shut me- up
by force, with nothing but dish Of macaroni !
sud the threat that should not leave the place |
alivo until had written tho last note. wrote ]
the overture 10 the Gazzs Ladra On the day Of !
tho first performance, in the upper loft Of ths !
L. Sca]s, where had been confined BY tho rnan- |
ager, under the guard Of four scene-ahitters, |
who had orders to throw my text out OF the win !
below to transcribo it. In default OF music, I /
was to be thrown ont Of the window myself"
These two potable instances are both examples |
OF admirable intellectual work under pressure. |
A gigantic amount Of physical labor has been
done 10 the same waY, AZ when Paris poured !
bodily into the Champ de Mars in February,
1870, and shaped the fat plain into = vast am !
phitheatre with speed that was miraculous.
This, in truth, showa itself in small ways from |
dav 70 day. 4 man fees from are with bur-
den he could not, at ordinary times, carry
q hAnds-breadth- drowning man clutches
at straw with strength that would /
twist iron. But such efforts cannot be ofteD re-
peated. Work that consumes large part OF
oyery day must be done methodicallY and coolly. |
It may lack the brilliant fnish that passionate |
labor gives, but brilliancy is quaitv rarely re-
quired soldity is the thing needed, md metbod |
often ingurea aoGdity. Only vhen = man can |
afford to rest before and Alter spasm Of toll !
can ha afford TO be spasmodic- The luxury Of |
doing work we'll under pressure belongs only to
people who are wholly their Own masters. When
& weekday naeana work-day at 30 mauy hours
forever sud ever, We must cen jog along 1t
steady, sober pace. It may not injure race
horpo that has beea resting for weaks to Run at
topmost speed sround two-mila courss. but It
would b spt to lip back.
In the will Of the lste Countess Of 1oudon