New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1883-07-18
A Plea for the Idle Man.

A Plea for the Idle Man.
1dleness. we admit, in its general and
commonly accepted sense, is q sin and
a disgrace, to any man who can be just
ly accused Of it. But it is not in it's
general and commonly accepted sense
that we are considering it. The idler
with whom we wish-to deal is he who
can afford to be idle, and who in being
so is neither q tax nor burden of any
sort upon his fellow men; in fine, the
man who has the heart to allow himself
leisure and cares more for the pleasure
it can give than for that obtainable in
the continuous acquisition of money. We
contend that there are idlers and
oilers; in short, the class of do-noth-
ings who do nothing, and another class
of do-nothings (who are such from a
business point of view, who do a good
deal that is useful and beneficial in
their own way whose existence is as
necessary for the we'll being of COM
munity and the encouragement and adj
vancement of art, science, literature,
and social refinement in its midst, as is
the existence of the brain-racked labor
ious energetic business men, for its ex-
tension Of commerce, conversation OF
mercantile greatness and accumulation
of wealth. We ask this: Is not a man
with fair faculties and the power to be
idle without drifting into slothfulness,
intemperance and vice, equal in his own
way, mentally, to man in business who
possesses the same faculties? Now, let
us consider the question fairly and
squarely, and see what there is in it.
First of all, he who is able to do exactly
as he likes, pleases himself, and in do
ing so, having no selfish ambitions to
crafty, or Earring jealousies OF business
success to cramp his good will, he stays
good tempered and generous, and is
pleasant and agreeable to others. If he
has pretty wife he takes time to look
at her, and to notice the bloom on her
cheek, the light in her eye, and the wave
of her hair. His time is not so engross-
ed with the piling up of dollars and
cents that he must needs leave her to
the admiration of other and less busy
men. He comes down to the breakfast
rather late it may be, but smiling, neat
and well-dressed, and clearly, too, for
he has had time to indulge in 4 bath.
He reads his paper slowly, as a careful
ly prepared newspaper is entitled to be
read; he halls with delight the announces
ment of new book, and talks Of it to
his wife. He is the first to notice the
budding green leaves Of joyous spring,
and to welcome the first carols of the
returning birds; he has time to admire
the beauties and workings of nature,
and profit by their lessons; he has time
L. Of @l1 1oc 1,vhio
promising young artist has on exhibit
ton in his studio, and to say q few COM
mandatory or advisory words to him to
encourage him in his upward struggle
to fame; for idler though he be he has
had time to study art and can talk
knowingly about it; he has time to read
the last poem, to examine the last dis
covery in science, or the last invention
in mechanics, though there be appar-
emily no ''money" in either; to consider
the political questions of the day in all
their aspects and bearings, and to vote
intelligently upon them when required;
he has time to find out where his words
can cheer, his hand uphold and his
purse relieve; he has time to eat, to di-
gest, to sleep, to live, to be man and
a good citizen, and he can do all with
out the dread of it's interfering with his
business. The man who can vary his
pursuits, ard has time for everything
for himself, his home, his wife, his
children, his friends-alone knows what
it is to live, and to feel that the genuine
pursuit of happiness does not lie in mon
ey getting. His happiness is not de-
pendent upon q boom in stocks, nor
does "a break all along the line" mean
torture and misery for him. He cares
not if there be corner in wheat, or a
shrinkage in the wool crop, for what
matters either to him, individually? The
one may add a few cents to his monthly
barrel of flour, or the other cut him one
suit short from his tailor, but what of
it? He can stand it and be able to
laugh besides. His hair is not gray
with care, nor his brow furrowed with
anxiety. He has no ships at sea, nor
mortgages to foreclose, no notes to meet,
no judge to bias, orjury to hoodwink.
Never a bore, and he does not talk
SHOP" for he has no shop to talk
about. He is cheerful always, good
company ever, the life and soul of every
social gathering, and the 'jolly good
fellow we laud in song. Who is there
of us who does not take delight-if timo
he can spare to take delight in anything
in the society of the man who has no
aspiring aim, no sordid, greedy, climb
ing motive in life, who is content to
live rs he is, to gossip, to chat, and to
be good tempered; who has time to de-
scribe the places he has visited (when
he had time to leisurely inspect their
points OF interest), to criticise paint
ing he has had time to see, book he
has had time to read, or q speech he
has had time to hear; who has time to
talk OF the thousand little things that
make conversation delightful, and to
comment upon topics of national mo-
ment or foreign interest that he has had
time to reflect upon and understand?
On the day when all men shall be in
business, there will be no more artists,
no more writers, no more statesmen, no
more clever people, no such useless be-
ings, for there will be nobody left who
will have time to give them heed. So
clety, in short, cannot exist without our
oilers; it is impossible without them
San francisco NeaUs- Letter.
A Western Girls Way.
Iheard little story recently, SAYS
New York letter, from the short HISTORY