Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-03-30

pectatiUn. Not unfreqnently the leisure
Is won and entered upon: but it is always
a disappointment. 1t never brings the
happiness which was expected, and ii often
brings such a change OF habits as to prove
fatal, either to health or TO life.
A man who inherits wealth may begin
and worry through fhree-score years and
ten without any very definite object. In
driving, in foreign travel, in hunting and
fishing. in club houses and society, he
may manage to pass away his time;
but he will hardly be happy. 1t
seems to be necessary TO health that
the powers of a man be trained upon
some object, and steadily held there day
after day, year after year, while vitality
lasts. There may come time In old age
when the fund Of vitality will have sunk
so low that he can follow no consecutive
labor without such draft upon his forces
that sleep cannot restore them. Then,
and not before, he should stop work. But,
so long as a man has vitality to spare
ur,on work. ii must be used, or ii will be-
come a source of grievous, harassing dis
content. The man will not know what to
do with himself; and when he has
reached such point as that, he is uncon-
sciously digging grave for himself, and
fashioning his own coffin. Lite needs q
steady channel to run irregular habits
of work and of sleep. 1t needs steady,
stimulating alma trend toward some
thing. An aimless life can never be hap
ny, or, for long period, healthy. said
a rich widow to gentleman, still labor
ing beyond his needs: Don't stop; keep
al IT," The words that were in her heart
were: g If my husband had not stopped,
he would be alive today" And what she
thought was doubtless true, A greater
shock can hardly befall man who has
been active than that which he expert
ences when, having relinquished his pur-
suits, he finds unused time and unused
vitality hanging upon his idle hands and
mind The current of his life is thus
thrown into eddies, or settled into slug
gish pool, and he begins to die.
We have, and have had, in our own
city some notable examples of business
continued through long life with I'M
broken health and capacities to the last.
Mr.. Astor, who has just passed away, I'M
doubleday prolonged his life by his steady
adherence 10 business. There is no doubt
that he lived longer and was happier for
his continued work. If he had settled
back upon the Consciousness OF assured
wealth, and taken the ease that was so
thoroughly warranted by his large pos
sessions, he would undoubtedly have died
years ago. Commodore Vanderbilt, now
more than eighty years old, is notable
instance Of healthy powers, continued by
use. How long does any one suppose he
would live if his work were taken from
his hands, and his care from his mind!
His life goes on in steady drift, and he
is az able now to manage vast business
enterprises as when he was younger.
There was never time apparently when
his power was greater than it is to-day.
Our Nestor among American editors and
poets, though an octogenarian, not only
mingles freely in society, makes public
speeches, and looks after his newspaper,
but writes verses, and is carrying on
grand literary enterprises. Many people
wonder why such men continue to work
when they might retire upon their money
and their laurels; but they are working,
not only for happiness, but for life. Mr..
Stewart is treading in the same path, and
wisely.
The great difficulty with us all is that
we do not play enough. The play toward
which men in business look for their re-
ward should never be taken in lump,
but should be scattered all along their
career 1t should be enjoyed every day,
every week The man who looks forward
to it wants ii now. Play, like wit in lit
erature, should never be grand dish, but
a spice; and man who does not take his
play with his work never las it. Play
ceases TO be play t. a man when 1t ceases
To be Relation from daily work. AS the
grand business of life, play is the hardest
work man can do.
Besides the motives of continued life
and happiness 10 which we have called
attention in this article, there is another OF
peculiar force in America, which binds
us to labor while we live. If we look
across the water, we shall find that nearly
all the notable men die in the harness.
The old men are the great men in Parlia-
ment and Cabinet. Yet it is true that a
man does not so wholly take himself out
of life in Europe as in America when he
relinquishes business. A rich man
in Europe can quit active affairs,
and still have the consideration
due to his talents, his wealth and
his social position. Here, a man has
only 10 count himself OUT of active
pursuits, to count himself out of the
world. A man out Of work is dead man,
even If he is the possessor of millions.
The world walks straight over him and
his memory. One reason why rich and
idle man is happier in Europe than at
home is that he has the countenance of a
class OF respectable men and women liv-
ing upon their vested incomes. A man
may be respectable in Europe without
work. After a certain fashion, he can be
SO here; but, after all, the fact that he has
ceased to be active in affairs of business
and politics make him of no account. He
loses his influence, and goes for nothing,
except a relic with hat on, TO be bowed
to. So there is no way for us but to
keep at it;' get all the play we need as
we go on; drive at something, so long as
the hand is strong and steady, and not to
think of rest this side of the narrow bed,
where the sleep will be too deep for
dreams, and the waking will open into
infinite leisure. -SertbneT'' Monthly
The Value Of Self-Estimati0n.