March 13.
'THE Archbishop of York has been criticizing the fruit modern education, no uncommon pastime among our leading men, but from a new angle, He is not concerned with education as it teaches people to get on, but as it fits them to use their leisure time respectably when they have got on. The Archbishop fears that "there are a large number of quite successful men who, when their business is done, spend the rest of the evening in reading the evening paper from beginning to end, including the advertisements." One cannot imagine a county which would more quickly re: sent any accusation of "slacking" than Yorkshire and the Arch-Dishop's criticism has led to some, discussion, But the' "Yorkshire Post" is obliged to, find that too many men, when they retire from business, simply, do not know what to do with themselves, Instead of retirement proving rest-and refreshing, the victim of it nds that as soon as his energies cease to be called upon they begin to decay. He finds himself dull and listless, more easily tired than. ever in his life before, A well known insurance company's actuary, Mr. Cyril Warren, is quoted to the effect that among "black-coat" pensioners, of banks and insurance firms, mortality is found to be exceptionally high in the first year of retirement, higher than' of the succeeding And Mr. Warren believes effect of altering the mode f life, suddenly breaking with the of 40. years or more, and nig unlimited time with nothing to do, is literally to kill the man."
Alternatively, it may be suggest ed that the life of the average business man is so monotonous, that his faculty for real enjoy ment atrophies and when he is not foreed to do a_ particular thing, he has no capacity for doing' anything.
It will generally be agreed that men in the Far East remain "young" much longer than is the case at Home. The circle in which they move is smaller than that of theft fellows in the West, or at any rate than that in which the latter might move, but within it there is greater versity of occupation and in-tei Even the committee meetings which force themselves upon us and the charitable and other social duties in which we. somehow get involved have their value in helping to keep off rust and cobwebs. Against this, when the day of retirement to the Home country comes—it still does for some people—too often the much envied man "runs to seed" in idleness. Because he! can now do what he likes, every thing has lost its savour, other word \joyment. is exactly proportioned to the' difficulty of attainment. When are able to carry on into retirement something of their life's occupation, like a former munijeipal servant we know of, who is now a power in the borough work of the village. in which he has settled. He is not forced to do this work and there is not so much of it as to become! la burden, but just enough make him feel that he has a duty not to be evaded and to give zest! to the remainder of the day. The thought occurs that rural] and even urban municipalities! might get an enormous amount} of their work done in this way! Hfor nothing, if they only knew how to set about it, Shanghail could teach them something in this respect. The quantity of voluntary work done here outside offices cannot be far behind ithe paid work done in them. Of leisure, as of everything else, [the old saying holds true, that; Nature abhors a vacuum.' But tinest of us feel towards it like the man who, on being told that "money was the root of all evil,' begged that he might be given some of the branches. If we might only win to leisurely retirement, we would take our chance with Mr. Cyril Warren jand the Archbishop of York as to our way of using it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.