The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1888-01-07

| Po'iS, anu Is aSlccauiy
Smiled away. ''It is very nice, all very
good but how am | to find the time
for 1t ?" II is not altogether what you
have to do, but, to 4 great extent, how
you look Al what you have to do, that
makes ones time seem so fully occupied.
And who has not met with this char
acter among servants and others whom
we engage to do work for us? They are
not worse in this respect, but certainly
not better, than others. 1t is one of
! the sure signs of something wrong,
either with employers or employed, when
excuses begin to be made for things not
being done On the score of want of
time. "No time" is a dauper signal.
1t either means that too much is given
to be done, which is sometime. the
case; or that heart or will or method is
wanting in the doing OF it, which is
much more frequently the case. We
are concerned now with the latter only.
But who has not met with 1t? You give
an order, perhaps, that some particular
thing is to be done. 1t is perfectly
within the compass Of any man of ordi-
nary activity to do it; and yet you are
almost sure to find it not done, and the
excuse made, with varying degrees of
glarlng untruthfulness, that there was no
time. We have known it the case
where not one occasional direction, but
almost all the daily duties were de-
ranged IN order and left half done, on
the same specious excuse. There was
ageneral chronic irregularlty and uncer-
tainty of performance, a want of relia-
bility as to anything being really done,
like the disturbance caused by the pres
ence Of some unknown mass in the
order and punctuality Of the heavenly
bodies. The man would protest that
he did his best-perhaps even he
thought he did; but the disease was
strong upon him, and the invariable
reply to complaint was the solemn as
severation that he was alway. dong
something, but really chad no time"
Sometimes one who has for years been
turning off his work with ease begins,
though that work remains unchanged,
to make the fatal excuse. When such
is the case, we may look out; for the
man himself is no longer what he used
to be.
These are only specimens or shades
of the character we are considering, and
they are selected in order to show that
it is to be met with amongst all sorts
and degrees of men. Other specimen,
might be given, but we will rather pro-
ceed to inquire into some OF the causes
that produce this sort of character, of
whatever type it may be.
And we will begin by being very
plain. There can be no doubt that
Incidence, either constitutional or ac-
quired by habit, ha, often great deal
to do with the production OF this char
acter. 1t may be safely claimed as an
axiom in the science of life, thar the
more ipdolent man is, the less time
he will have. A gardener who wa, re.
markable for having no time was found |
to be equally remarkable for taking maps
during work-hours in a convenient barn.
One of the most inveterate lions in the |
way of the slothful man is an ever-ready
persuasion that there is no time. And !
just as the spendthrift who wastes his
money has seldom or never any to de-
vote to good purpose, so he who
wastes his time is often in want of it
when he might best make use of it.
And it is singular anomaly that while
the busy man is disposed to reckon his
work by the number Of things he i, OBJ
hged to leave undone, the lazy man is
inclined to measure it with satisfaction
by the very small number of things he
actually accomplishes. 81 have made
eight dollars !" exclaimed 4 man once
with childish glee, who, had he not been
incorrigibly idle, might have made a,
many hundreds, and thought nothing
about it. too.
But the cause which operates with
the b usy man and makes him have no
time is the very opposite of this, often.
1t is because he is too busy, and BY
~ we mean not that he has too much
y rather that he is busy too
a. ;Jo,n one sort of thing. There
work, that is, which d. 'he
living. Men Sacrifice unit " Jul
and burn incense unto their L, ne, |
They not only depend for success, III
their skill and capita, to-thn exclusion
Of God, and attribVts their success, when
got to them rather than to Him; but
more u sths..ss,. this, they give up their very
souls to their business, to the exclusion
OF almost everything else. NJ time to
read, no time to enjoy life, no time for
Improvement of mind, no time for cul-
ture of the soul toward God Except,
perhaps, little on Sundays, no time
for personal exertion IN any Of the
countless schemes for remedying evil
and doing good to men 4; but all-all
for business. Many man is thus con-
sciously or unconsciously an idolator.
There is another cause why even
busy men may sometimes be charac-
terized as having no time. 1t IS be-
cause they are too fussy. Fuslness and
business are similar words, and are
frequently mistaken for each other, but
they are very different things. We have
4 vivid recollection of taking letter OF
introduction once to an excellent old
gentleman, busy Cambridge don. "l