Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-02-02
TOWN N

different ways,i IN the pursuit oi happiness.
The merchant devOtes his days and
nights to the hustle and fatigue OF busi-
ness, he whitens the oceans with his
canvas, and sends his agents 20 the
marts of all the world, stimulated by no
other motives nan the acquisition Of the
means of happiness. The student re-
tires to tho midnight stiffness OF hls clos
ct, and paIes his cheek with Gidnieht
toll, he wipes away the dust Of centuries
from the ponderous tones where learn
ing and research and cloquence have
stored their intellectual treasures, and
by theis lessons, enlarges his mind, while
ne wastes his lie, influenced by the same
universal wish Tho mi.er too, whose
eyes loves no sight but his heaps Of ac-
cumulating gold, and whose ear cares
for no MUSIC but its melodlous chInks /;
who looks upon bis fellow men with no
sensation but repining a, their superior
wealth, or eXuitation at his wi even
he, III thus trcading a stormy path which
can never lead to the Elcorada OF his
hopes, is governed by the all %predomina-
ting object, sou beings end and ann
Happiness is the inhabitant of no partic-
niar cline, nor the reward of any partIc-
uIar pursuit. Philosophers have general
~ considered that n life Of qoiei and re-
tircment rs most conducive TO it and po-
cts have written much and giOwingly in
favour Of the advantages of a country
life while their aDathemas on cities
have been loud and deep But they
should remember, when they speak of
the vice and dissipation of the latter,
that the evil they dcprecate is gathered
from all quarters into Il collected mass
that it is cO%unterpoised by a correspon-
dent accumulation of virtue ; and that,
In the country, if immortality more rare
Iy meets the sight, 1t is because popula-
ton is more thinly spread, and man him
self, whether good or bad, is less fire.
gu ntly encountered
He who %retires, for a few days from
the DIN and dust of a metropolis like
this, at that season Of the. year when
summer has arrayed all nature in lowell
ness and verdure, when birds MARBLE on
every tree, and sounds and sights of a
pleasing character every whore abound,
viii be apt to form a deceptive estimate
Of the e%njoymcnts ola rural life. Poets
have usually been residents Of cities,
and the swee, pictures they paint of the
country are from memory, in most in.
stances,o schoOl-Loy days when all was
sunshine in each. little bre asst But he
who accurately surveys human life, and
measures with an unbiased mind, The
good and evil of each condition, will be-
surprised to find with what a neat ap-
prOach to equality, pleasure and pain are
distri! utcd and how rife almost every
condition is with the means of happi-
ness
Philosophers have spoken in favour Of
the country, from the facilities it affords
for the quiet and seclusion necessary to
study and speculation. A state of phys
ical and mental tranquility uninterrupted
by the noise Of commerce., or the "trip
perry of fashion, by the conflicts of pri.
vate interests, or the madness Of public
excitement, has been represented by
them as friendly to those intellectual uvo-
cations, which afford an exalted and
abundant source of felicity. To him who
wishes to pass his existence in quiet, the
country certainly presents many attrac-
tons, but quiet is attainable also in a
city; and il should be remembered that
the hours which have been passed in
usefulness, are those which the mem ,ry
loves to contemplate, and the city has a
vast superiority in the number and en-
tent of opportunities for man to be SER
viceable to his fellow man.
hany of tho advantages ascribed to
rural life, are found on examination, not
to belong to it, and these which it does
possess are alleged by the same cares.
interrupted by the same disappointments.
and darkened by the same caiamities
which arc the inevitable attendants on
humanity II is natural for the mind that
Is harassed by difficulties, to cast a COW
tot glance abroad from its own situa-
ton, to some other which seems less ex-
posed and to fancy that the attainment
OF that other would augment its happi-
ness. The city ~artlzan, surrounded with
the tumultuous throngs Of business, that
the tranquil life Of the farmer is viewed
with envy; and the farmer, in turn, APP
%prehensive that an arid season NAV parch
up his fields and render them unyielding,
or that a storm may lay his harvest low,
looks back upon the artizan with kindred
feelings to his own
1.-THE scholar, in pursuit acknowledge
can enjoy more thought, befriending
s~,iIl0ess in the country, the city affords
more abundant food, and all who give
credit to the one, for advantages not
possessed ny the other, should remember