at present nothing to say. Those who would not know what to do
with more leisure than they now enjoy, I might advise to work twice as
hard as they do,—work till they pay for themselves, and get their free
papers. For myself I found that the occupation of a day-laborer was the
most independent of any, especially as it required only thirty or forty
days in a year to support one. The laborer’s day ends with the going
down of the sun, and he is then free to devote himself to his chosen
pursuit, independent of his labor; but his employer, who speculates
from month to month, has no respite from one end of the year to the
other.
In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to
maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if
we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations
are still the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a
man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats
easier than I do.
One young man of my acquaintance, who has inherited some acres, told me
that he thought he should live as I did, _if he had the means_. I would
not have any one adopt _my_ mode of living on any account; for, beside
that before he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for
myself, I desire that there may be as many different persons in the
world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find
out and pursue _his own_ way, and not his father’s or his mother’s or
his neighbor’s instead. The youth may build or plant or sail, only let
him not be hindered from doing that which he tells me he would like to
do. It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor
or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is
sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port
within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.
Undoubtedly, in this case, what is true for one is truer still for a
thousand, as a large house is not proportionally more expensive than a
small one, since one roof may cover, one cellar underlie, and one wall
separate several apartments. But for my part, I preferred the solitary
dwelling. Moreover, it will commonly be cheaper to build the whole
yourself than to convince another of the advantage of the common wall;
and when you have done this, the common partition, to be much cheaper,
must be a thin one, and that other may prove a bad neighbor, and also
not keep his side in repair. The only coöperation which is commonly
possible is exceedingly partial and superficial; and what little true
coöperation there is, is as if it were not, being a harmony inaudible
to men. If a man has faith, he will coöperate with equal faith
everywhere; if he has not faith, he will continue to live like the rest
of the world, whatever company he is joined to. To coöperate, in the
highest as well as the lowest sense, means _to get our living
together_. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel
together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he
went, before the mast and behind the plow, the other carrying a bill of
exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be
companions or coöperate, since one would not _operate_ at all. They
would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures. Above
all, as I have implied, the man who goes alone can start to-day; but he
who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may
be a long time before they get off.
But all this is very selfish, I have heard some of my townsmen say. I
confess that I have hitherto indulged very little in philanthropic
enterprises. I have made some sacrifices to a sense of duty, and among
others have sacrificed this pleasure also. There are those who have
used all their arts to persuade me to undertake the support of some
poor family in the town; and if I had nothing to do,—for the devil
finds employment for the idle,—I might try my hand at some such pastime
as that. However, when I have thought to indulge myself in this
respect, and lay their Heaven under an obligation by maintaining
certain poor persons in all respects as comfortably as I maintain
myself, and have even ventured so far as to make them the offer, they
have one and all unhesitatingly preferred to remain poor. While my
townsmen and women are devoted in so many ways to the good of their
fellows, I trust that one at least may be spared to other and less
humane pursuits. You must have a genius for charity as well as for any
thing else. As for Doing-good, that is one of the professions which are
full. Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am
satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution. Probably I
should not consciously and deliberately forsake my particular calling
to
