Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1892-08-20
OFFICE HOLDING.
How II >sTs Nssliacss and EaerVates h
Whole Character.

hole AnEf@AAtf
HAD ceased - n = writer " tolera'
NV my tales ana essays and had bN
come a tc,s-aby sooG surveyor Of GUS
toms That waS a,l. But neyerthe'
less IL : anything In; agreeable to be
haunted by q suspicion that ones intel
Les, Is twsnd,iuc away. or eNhaling,
wi-hov. v1u- consciousness, like ether
ont Of uhiar. - that at every glance
Won fnG q smaller and less volatile re-
>i5Uum Qtthc fact there could be no
doubt: and examining myself and 9TH
e~ ! was lei , 10 conclusions, in refer
ence 20 the efCc. II public office on the
character not very favorable to the
mole 81 life in question \ customs
house officer u long continuance can
hardly h q very praiSeworthy or re-
susctab,s parsonage. for many reasons;
one Of these. the tenure by which he
holds his situation, and another, the
very nature 81 his business, which
| though. ! ;ru>. an honest one-is of
such 4 sort that he does not sharein the
| united effort q mankind
An etFect-whjch | believe to be OBJ
| seryab,e more or less in every individ-
/ ual who has occupied the position-is
that while he leans on the mighty arm
a the republic his own proper strength
DEPARTS from him lie loses in an extent
proplrtioncd 70 the weakness or force
Of his original nature the capabilitv Of
selt->upnort II he possesses an un-
usual share Of native energy, or the en-
ervatir- magic OF place does not oper-
ate too long upon him, his forfeited
powers may be redeemable. The eject
cd oficer-fortunate in the unkindly
shove that sends him forth be-
times TO struggle amid a strug-
Cling world-may return to himself
and become all that he has ever been.
But this seldom happens lie usually
keeps his ground just long enough for
his own ruin, and is then thrust out,
with sinews all unStrung, to totter
along the difficult foot Of life as he best
may. Conscious of his own infcriority
that his tempered steel and electricity
are lost-he forever aftcrward looks
wistfully about him in quest of support
external to himself. His pcrvading and
continual hopc-a hallucination which
in the face Of all discouragement and
making light OF impossibilities, haunts
him while he lives, and fancy, like the
conyulsivc throes of the cholera, tor
ments him for a brief space after death
Is that finally, and in no long time, by
some happy coincidence of circum-
stances, he shall be restored to office.
This faith, than anything else,
steals the pith and availability out of
whatever enterprise he may dream of
undertaking. Why should he toll and
MOL, and be at so much trouble to pick
himself up out Of the mud, when, in a
little while hence, the strong arm of his
uncle will raise and support him? Why
should he work for his living here. or
20 to dig gold in California, when he is
so o o to be made happy, at monthly
intervals, with a little pileof glittering
coin out of his uncle's pocket? 1t is
sadly curious to observe how slight a
taste Of Office sutiices to infect a poor
fellow with this Singulardisease Uncle
SANS gold-meaning no disrespect to
the worthy old gentleman-has, in this
respect, a quality Of e%nchantment like
that of the devils wages, Whoever
touches it should look well to himself.
or he may find the bargain to 90 hard
against him, involving, if not his soul.
yet many Of his better attributes; its
sturdy force, its courage and c~onstancv,
its self-reliance, and all that gives the
emphasis to manly character .-Haw-
thorn's Preface to the Scarlet Letter.