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to be idle, but from a niisapprcliension of its relation to the liigbest 

 destiny of num. lie who is (jbli<;ed to wurk is assigned a lower plaee, 

 and we bear men say, witb a kind of exultation, that tliey have risen 

 above work. Now the truth is, no one can rise above work. We 

 can sink below it, but never rise above it, for the reason that it has 

 an honored i)lace in the loftiest stations that can be reached — even 

 in the circuit of Jehovah's exhibition of Himself. There lies in the 

 very beinj;- of an intclligenco this al)ility to work, and it burns like a 

 lire in one who is gootl until it is exercised; and the perennial noble- 

 ness seen in this exercise is a part of his resemblance to his Almighty 

 Maker. A dillbrent view of its resi)ectability would be taken if the 

 truth were realized of the common remarks, that we "must work or 

 steal," for is it not true that if we contribute nothing to the world's 

 stock of goods we have no right to take from it ourselves? At whose 

 expense have we a right to live? By whose efforts are wo to be 

 moved on to the end — and from whom gained we permission to levy 

 a tax in our own behalf, upon our fellows, remote or near? No, the 

 respectable men are those who pay their way through life, and at its 

 close leave as much at least as they have taken ; not tho.se who think 

 the world was made in vain if not for them. And in this view there 

 is much to be revered in the hard hand and rough, brown face of the 

 workman ; there is a title to nobility even in the sweat of him who 

 has an ambition to live as a man should. 1 have alluded to the 

 attempt to distinguish between mental and manual work, and I 

 think much of the feeling of which I now speak has resulted from 

 this attempt. An English writer has observed : " We want oue man 

 to be always thinking, and another to be always working; and we 

 call one a gentleman, and the other an operative; whereas, the work- 

 man should often be thinking and the thinker often be working, 

 and both should be gentlemen in the best sense. As it is, we cause 

 one to envy, and the other to despise, his brother, and the mass of 

 society is composed of morbid thinkers and miscraljle workers." All 

 of us should strive to remedy this evil, and practice and honor both 

 mental and physical labor — resolved to honor our calling, whatever 

 it may be, not be honored by it. For it is not position, gold, equip- 

 age, that make the man; but, with God's blessing, it is resolution, 

 contentment, work, that bring us worthy praise. No man can gain 

 a character by hopes, or dreams, or luck. He must hammer and 

 forge one for himself; and in the eyes of those whose opinion is of 

 any worth, respectability inheres in the character, whether it be 

 wrought out by mental or muscular exertion. An idler cannot pos- 

 sess it. Once more, let us learn its worth from its relation to morals. 

 There is a Latin proverb, that "evil thoughts intrude on an unem- 

 ployed mind as naturally as worms are generated in a stagnant 

 pool," and we find it verified by every day's observation. If you 

 desire to put your son u|)on the highway that will conduct him in 

 the shortest time to ruin, give him his support, and nothing to do. 

 He will be the prey of temptation, and have leisure for any mischief; 

 he will be the victim of unhappy and restless feelings, from whi'cli 

 he will seek relief in dissii)ation ; he will form habits of indolence 

 and recklessness, which will be like anacondian toils, if he ever tries 

 to break tlieir power; and, unless in some rare exception, he will be 

 hopeless of good. Tliere is always hope for a man who earnestly 

 works at anything, for his work is a castle in which he may shut 

 himself and be comparatively safe. Temptation, desire, depravity, 



