The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-05-06
On Sameness.

Perhaps one of the leading differ
ences between the thought of Ameri-
cans and of old countrymen lies in the
fact that the American breaches the
one sermon-to do single thing and
to do il well-while the man of the old
hemisphere believes that there are a
number of activities for the mind and
body, the neglect of any of which activ-
tiles would dwarf and narrow the man
and shorten his days.
III an American starts TO DO anything,
he goes at it with such a force, he
thinks of it so necessarily, that after
three weeks he is blood-poisoned with
It, He starts to build a house. From
that moment earth, air, and man be-
comes his enemies. A rainy day Is
the wrath of the Creator instead OF his
beneficence. All bricks come TO be
adobes, and all mortar mud: hard
things crumble, while the soft-hearted
contractor grows stern and unyielding.
The building goes up slowly; the debt
piles heavenward of a night. In
month the unhappy builder cannot
speak or think OF houses with tranquil
mind, because there is a rut IN his
brain the road Is out OF order; there
should be po!l,aX. He advises his
friends never TO build, just as, after
year of wedlC ok lie advises them never
to marry. His friend buys house al
ready built. he goes into 1t with
plumber, painter, carpenter, paper.
hanger, mason, gardener, roofer, timer,
and gasman. In month he comes out
and warns all mankind never to buy
to build.
A well-to-do man of business is in
vited TO write an address for the alum
nj of the academy whence he graduated
years ago with honors which prove to
have been worthily bestowed. Instead
of sitting down and giving a valuable
picture Of his own life and its lesson,
the gentleman. as it were, "cleans
house" within the chambers of his
brain. He reads every thing in fever.
ish haste-he buys new cerebral furni.
ture, carpets, and hangings, and redec-
crates the premises Then he shuts
himself up, alarms his wife, who APP
prehends an apoplectic attack, meets
the enemy and the enemy are his. Yet
the great address smells new and var
nishy. As for your orator, the very
word address drives away his return
ing appetite. Oh! he did it Yes,
Americans ALWAYS do a thing when they
set out to do it, but does it pay? Is
not the system wrong? Should the
mind be a sunglass, always burning
into the LIES force-a lathe, cutting
beautifully into human contentment?
Shall it profit the pillar to be exquis-
itely turned if it be weakened with
every convolution?
The walker tolls six days and nights,
and city full of people cheer him on.
He covers 500 miles. He sails to Lon
don and walks there six days. He comes
back and must now walk 600 in the six
days, as, by additional torture, other
Americans have found it could be ac-
complished. Never public demand
for moderation; triumph with modera-
ton would not be spicy enough. Is it
not an outcome of our national craze
for monotony?
The ethics Of American thought and
industry even clutches the reward of
well-spent lite from the grasp Of old
age. The man Of affairs finds himself
beyond the need of money. Suppose
he sell out and retire; it is collapse it
is death. The subject in Poe's tale had
been kept animated for many months
by a mesmeric force. The force was
withdrawn suddenly, and the subject
crumbled to ashes. The man of affairs
must return to business or he will fin
ish the same way. He must die in the
harness. 1t is the wages of American
SUCCESSIVE triumph of specialism and
concentration.-JOhn McGoUerN, IN
the Century