The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1811-01-01
VDR Guqulr2r.
RICHMOND JANUARY i. 1s1i.
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
THE OLD BACHELOR.
No. w


Atque in e ate agunda
PrGquam quod molestum'st! ita cuque com
paratum
Est in 1tste hominum.
lta Dis est placitum. voluptatem at mGror
comes cOnsequatur
Ouin incommodi plus malique lilies adsit, boni
Ell obtigit qud
hauf in Amphitr. Oct III, Scene 9
Compar'd with all its sorrows, cares and
strife,
How few in every age, the JOYS of nfe'
The Gods decree it-and our signs are vain
So,roSp shall jollou close in pleasures irnin.
Yet give me still, ye Gods, more sorrows.
cares and strife,
So that ye, also, give tn enchanting joys Of
life
1t is but Responding and poor spirited
account Of human life that Pliny, the Ell :.
der, has given, and very unworthy, Think,
OF so great Philosopher. For after a
mournfui dirge, in which he contrasts the
infirmities and miscres of man, with the
superior advantages and enjoyments of
brutes, he cites sentiment which he re
presents as common in his day, that it would
be best for man not to be born or to die
quickly : and to shew tina, 'hese sentiments
were not the capricious illusions of the mo
mcnt, he asserts, in another book, thai the
greatest blessing which God has beloved
upon men, amongst SO many pains & irou
pies OF LIE, is the power of killing them
selves How much more just as we'll as
beautiful the view which Seneca has taken
OF the subject: when, after casting his
eyes up to the Heavens and around upon
the ear,h, surveying the countless variety of
ooJects that have been formed to entertain
and regale us, and contemplating the high
ana perfect capacities tor enjoyment, SEN
sual as well as intellectual that have been
bestowed na h. lie
hnest STRAIN OF eloquence, and calls upon
ms reader to say whether Heaven has not
provided not only for his subsistence, but
even for his luxury, and that with the most
unsparlng hand, the most profuse munifi
cence This feast, however of the senses
and the mind depends tor its enjoyment, like
every other feast. on the health and aDpe
tite with which we sit down to it and this
health and appetite unfortunately for us
as we manage it,) depend in a very great
degree on ourselves. do not pretend chat
any exertIon, on our part will alw avs en-
sure US zest for this banquet because
sickness and sorrow, The common LOT of hu
manity,w have their turn and tnge, for a
time, the whole creation with melancholy ::
but what say is that far The greater part of
the miSerleS as we'll as misfortunes of which
people complain, is purely and entirely their
own work. Look at the character of those
people VINO most frequently make this com
plant of fhe load Of life how rarely will
you hear 1T from innocence and active in
dustry? How often from Incidence, dissi-
patton and vice? Peace must begin at
home. He who receives from his own
heart,w he first awakes in the morning,
the salutatlon OF an approving smile, win,
when he rises and goes forth, see all nj.
ture smile around HIM while the wretch,
whose interrupted slumber is broken by the
cravings of remorse or the pangs of guilt,
will see the image nt his cwn Internal rou-
| BILE and horror reflected from every object
that meets his view. But how are we to
secure his morning salute of smile ?
This question was answered for me bv
peasant IN Swii iceland when visited that
country in 1772. i could moi help being
struck, on my fiist entrance into II, with tho
picture OF national happiness which every
where presente itself. Wherever | turn
ed, heard the hum Of cheerful industry -
wherever looked l saw the glow of health
| and smile of Content. Ii / entered a town.
heard, on every hand the rafting of the
| hammer and clinking of the trowel bea ring
witness to- the progress or wealth and popu
lation 1t L Sauntered into the Country
heard the rosy daughters of industry. sing
ing aloud TO their spinning wheels; or saw
them engaged in that sweetest occupation of
Pripeval innocence, pruning and dressing of
their luxuriant vines and teaching the young
tendrils how to shoot !; if climbed noun.
tain, saw il animated. from it's base to its
Summit, with sprightly flock, that seemed
to be conscious OF the general happiness of
the country, and to partake in it skipping
from rock to rock. with astonishing agility
and browning. briskly and cheerfully, on the
scanty productions of the soil while their
shepherd master. with his hageolet to his
lips and peace and gladness at his heart
poured from the echoing mountains into the
valley that smiled below. the simply wild
and touching notes of his favorte air, the
rams des Uache8.
Affected. almost to tears of pleasure by
this flushed scene of earthly happiness, as
stood looking at it, from the cottage door
OF venerable old peasant; asked him
bow it happened, that in a climate so little
favored by nature, and the far greater part
OF whose soil was surrendered TO mountains
and hopeless sterility, / witnessed all this
peace, all this content, all this glowing
smiling happiness :" The answer is very
short and easy" said this rural philoso-
pher, pleased with the interest which he
saw in my face /; all that you see is the
effect oil tndnstry, protected and not in
numbered by government; for industry is
the mother of virtue and health, and these
are the parents of happiness as idleness
is the mother of vice and disease. the i'm.
mediate parents of human misery. Be
hold the whole secret Of the health. limo
cence and peace of Switzerland 4" Accord
ingly when passed on to Italy, blessed as
that country is with the finest climate that
q tpH Loo, Il, 4