Litchfield enquirer., 1832-11-08


 tate. On the precincts of 4lie estate. and in the way of approach to it, was a village Ot no inconsiderable importance, contaIn- ing, should judge, fifteen hundred souls; bot all their secular interests, as appeared, dependant 6n tho patronage of the lord of the adjoining manor. We had occasion |" inquire ior q bookshop. 'His lordship does not think it necessary there should be bookshop here,' was tho reply. '.s
 But they must surely want school books and stationary for comm6n purposes, in such a village as this, and for the populous region round about 5a ast7 sl4r Very liltle of such things is wanted here. The people goto church on Sundays and that his lordship thinks, is learning enough And have they nc liberty here g--no way to get a, bo0ks1'
 And what use of that2 Few people can read. And they have to work, or are some way employed in other business
 But they cannot work all tue while No surely but ,he yonng ones mnst, Iplay and the old ones love beer and gossip
 This lhlle dialogue, and sosne other hko conversations excited curiosity, and cari- osity led tc more inquiry; and tho sub- stance of the information developed was, that this pleasant and retired village had grown up and is sustained by patronage from the Manor, aud that it's business, -and its interests, aud its intellectual and moral cultivation are subject to the control ofthe lord ofthe manor. Nothing of consequences could be done without his leave, or appro- ba,ion. To please him was every ones s.hiof Ku SI,nrf fEf, xvhnla nInr- al atmosphere of the community was a condition of absolute vassalagc. They were remote from intercourse with the br- sy world. Not even a stage coach passed that way.
 On another distnnt part ofihc estate, in our ramble, we fell upon still smaller and more retired village, lenanted only by laborers and herdsmen. The people were simple and altogether uneul,ivated. Being driven into a cottage im shower, we aSk- ed the kind hearted woman finer children I could read ssaa ' l'.2 I sOh no. There was boy in the vil- lage that could read. But he is dead these three years; and we miss him very mucl. ]! Not one hundred rods from this lllle group of cottages is io be found an ariiti- cial rural creation, perfectly insulated from like improvements, which must hayo cost many thousands of pounds, and kept in the most exquisite order, merely to gratify the occasional strollsrs in hc higher conditions of life, who may happen 10 wander there. What is expended in the merc Keeping of this contiguous spot, would educate and l raise to the proper dignity ofhuman nature, 4 this group of immortal beings. who yeget-
 ate and fade away. like tho corn they till in the bosom of the valley below.
 l And is this depression of the many es
 sential to the elevation of the few ? Ger iainly it. is not essential to a proper elevn. ] lion. The noble can only mako them selves moro EoLle tho great ones of.ilie earth can only demonstrate true greatness, by using the means which Providence has put in Their power to improve tlio intellect ual and moral conditioy of their depen- danis, and to raise their fellOw-creatnrcs round then, to inc more worthy and more dignifed relations of society. And ale though arisiocra,ical importance is too of- ten aud too naturally sustained tt the ox- pense of the majority of mankind and al-- though 1t will probably always De found true, that men in high conditions will re- tain their relative superiority as long as they can !; yet the lime seems to have come. when poptlar influence is gradually under- mining tho accidental, advantages of birth, and is likely to depress in its turn those who do not show willingness for the gcn- eral improvement Of mankind. ~
 \. ". Y. Ossrusr. HAPPiNEss. "s Pray, what is earthly happiness { that phantom of which we hear su much and see SD little; whose promisss are con- staniiy given and constantly broken. but as constantly believed; that cheats us with inc sound instead of the substance, and wilhthe blossom instead of the fruil. Like Juno, she is n goddess in pnrsnit. hut cloud in possession, deificd by those who cannot enjoy, and despised by those who can. Anticipation is her herald, and dik- appointment is her companion: the Sat addresses itself to our imagination that uOulu believe, but the latter to our experi- ence ,hat must. Happiness. l!'at grand mistress of ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all it's mazes and means derings, but leads nonc of us by the same route. Aristippus pursued her in pleasure. Socrates in wisdom. and Epicnrus in both i; she received the attention of each, but be- slowed her endeuTments on neither, al- though like some other gallants, they all h...,sad ,f ,,,nre fnvora ihnn thev had vA.