The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1875-07-15
"Give Us q Rest"

''All work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy Many a youth has rung this
old proverb into the ears of an exacting
sire, and many an apologist for the youth
has defended him on the generally accept
ed truth of the statement. Carry Jack up
to manhood, and the proverb applies with
equal, if not with greater, force.
There are no people on the earth who
should heed the indirect advice therein
given more faithfully than the American.
We are VIGOROUSLY an active, restless,
greedy race. Each minute must turn out
coin of less or greater denomination, or
must add to the laurels of our brows, else
the poor-house is brought into the magma
ton, or the specter of a tameless name
haunts our sleeping and our waking hours.
We begrudge ourselves the res pite of the
legal holidays, and, if it were wholly a
matter of choice and were considered to be
the proper thing to do, we would even rob
God OF the Sabbath, if we could thereby
increase our stock of gain or fame. Apart
from the ethical considerations, there are
other obligations which should be observed
in this connection, and which can be ig-
nored only at our peril. 1t will be un-
necessary for us to present facts to prove
that no man can devote himself as
siduously to work for each of the 365
days of the year without violating the
conditions of his well-being and the
tenets of his better judgment. In our
inordinate thirst for gold we disregard
every requirement of nature and of physi
cal laws; we contemn the counsels of
friends, and despise the advice of physi-
clans. The almighty dollar is our sgnts
tatuus, which, unlike that delusion, we
may obtain, but how often it is with the
loss of everything which can guarantee
its enjoyment. oh, curst desire of
gold," said Roman poet, "what ills
thou bring'st upon the human race ~
And of all the evils that spring from the
love of money none are more pregnant
with disaster to the race than that inor-
dinate desire for wealth which is gratified
at the expense of health. The same is
true of the man who INDUCES in lucu-
brations and unremitted mental exertion
for literary and professional honors. We
must rest. Take life easier. Carry our
vacations along with us-not postpone
them until too late. Nature demands
daily rest. She will have it or ruin i'm
ponds. The increase of paralysis and ap-
oplexy is not due to extraneous and acct
dental causes, by no means. We bring
them upon ourselves by our habitual dig
ging.' We exhaust ourselves in a few
years and then death gathers us in the
twinkling of an eye. As a people we
need education in the science of "tak-
ing rest" 1t is science, absurd as
it may seem, and it has its laws, which
must be needed. 1t is not an infrequent
thing to hear people who inherit won
derful amount of energy, so-called, sneer
at those who leave their business or their
pulpit or their. Office every summer sea-
son for brief release from care, but such
persons, SO wise and so strong, are rather
to be pitied than blamed. They are igno-
rant of physical laws. They sagely pro-
nOunce man a weakling who pursues
such course, but we submit it to a
rational public if they themselves are not
the short-sighted ones and wretchedly in
the wrong.
We should, perhaps, give our people
credit for increasing wisdom on this mat
ter. Since the close of the war two days
have been added to our list of holidays,
and the great increase of our watering
places and the larger per cent. of those
who frequent them augurs we'll for the flu
ture.
Not only are the evils of too close ap-
plication to business Immediately effect
i've, but they give rise to new phases of
organic disease which descend to poster
ity, working ruin upon all future genera
lions. Take out the fire, or open the
safety valve; otherwise, be ready at any
moment for the explosion.-Rochester IN.
~ Democrat.