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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
place , of many thousand acres , hill and valley , wood land aud grass land , limestone rocks and crystal streams , running over pebbly sandy beds . Herds of black cattle and horses ran wild on it , and there were no dwellings but a few rushen huts , occasionally inhabited by the wandering Gauchos , who fed upon the cattle without leave of the owner .
He was not a man to go half-way in any thing , and this Scot who had worked hard half his life with mechanical tools , within four walls , after a twelve-month ' s practice , became a fearless and skilful rider , passing whole days and nights in the open air , as though he had been born and bred a cattle herd . He took to the garb of the country , and was known far and wide amongst the natives by the cognomen of El Gaucho Inglese . For a considerable period his new mode of life was a source of great happiness to him . But , father , could he not have done all this just the same without working so hard for so many years ?
Undoubtedly , boy . And he was one of many examples , how necessary a part of education it is , rightly to train the judgment in early youth , in order to proportion our means to our ends , without unnecessary exertions , and without falling into the other extreme of poverty . This man ' s exertions were for the most part wasted . But where is he now , father ?
Residing in , or rather , I believe , wandering over his estate , mostly well armed , in order that his hand may keep his head , for there are many of his wild neighbours , who , although they do not dispute his legal title , claim equal right to occupancy and produce with himself . After he had been two years in possession , he determined to turn his cattle to account , by salting them down for beef . He consequently attempted to prevent the Gauchos from stealing them , but in vain ,
and only excited their enmity , which once or twice has put his life in peril . Afterwards the war broke out , and almost all the cattle were consumed by the opposite parties . He was thus ruined , if a man can be called ruined who possesses thousands of acres of land , and the means of procuring sufficient food and clothing . As for lodging , there is to my mind none like that with the grassy turf beneath , and the diamonded canopy above .
Will he ever take to work again ? T ^ ever , boy . The spell is broken of patient industry . His mind is not of the class which can reason deeply . He had but one object in view when he commenced—riches . They came and went , and his longing has been satisfied . He is more of a philosopher than he was , philosopher enough to know the fruitlessness of wealth , but not philosopher enough to understand its true uses . Is he happy , father ?
No , boy , he is restless . And a restless man , unoccupied , endures a constant martyrdom . A life without an object is worse than no life at all . But , father , can people live without objects ? I do not understand it . I am never without an object . The only trouble I have , is that my time is too short for all 1 want to do . And it shall be my care boy , so to train thee , that it may be ever thus with thee , and then thy life will be one tissue of happiness .
Untitled Article
768 Juvenile Lessons . ]
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1833, page 768, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2626/page/36/
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