Du Buque visitor. [volume] (Dubuque, Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1836-1837, 1836-11-02
From the Knickerbocker for August.
AMERICAN SOCIETY.

:
tits to the agricultural portion Of GU
community that we must look for tn,
preservation Of our liberties. The sim
plicity of their manners and their iso
lated situation, enable them to think
and judge, and act for themselves. I'm.
influenced by the power Of sympathy
withthe many, and devoid of that rest.
less excitability which places the pop
ulace OF our cities in the power of eve
ry demagogue who harangues then
from the polls to the marketplace, and
who can fire them either to acts of de.
struction or deeds of patriotism, this
sober and independent body of freemen
govern their feelings by their reason,
and their actionsby theirsen of right.
With what consciousness of superb
ority must the farmer look down upon
those who are childishly triumphing in
the possession of fine houses, fine fur
niture, and splendid equipages; and
with what pity must he regard those
who are wearing out their lives and en-
ergies, to gain those gilded playthings
and gewgaws of mature age.-As for
him, he treads the imperial carpetwith
as much indifference as he does the
dusty pathway; and the grassy bank
affords more inviting seat than the
most luxurious ottoman or fauteuil.
From my heart, l honor the coun-
tryman, in whatever situation he may
be found. Look at the wagner beside
his team; the manliness OIL gait, the
flourish of his whip, the very wearing
of his hat, show that he is freeman,
that he feels no superior. Contrast him
with the journeyman mechanic of the
city. L he latter is either copyist Of
others, in different station in life, or
he is embittered by jealousy and envy
OF that class whom he styles the aristo-
cracy, and whom he imagines to be
leagued in antunholy alliance against
the rights and privileges Of his fellow
workmen.
Look atthe wealthy farmer-the man
of character and intelligence. When
among his laborers, he gives them the
right hand Of fellowship, and convers-
es with them as with fellow country
men. Conscious of his own standing
and influence, he assumes no superior
ity, but admits them to his house, and
often to his table. And, in their turn,
they always regard him with that de-
ference and respect which is due, not
to his estate, but to his mind and char
acter.
How different is the man of fortune
in our cities, whose riches are the re-
suit of life devoted to gain. His
workmen, his clerks, his less wealthy
neighbors, are those whose society he
most wishes to avoid. Fearful lest
those with whom he cannot help asso-
eating in the way of business, should
make this acquaintance an opportunity
OF visiting him, he wraps himself up in
the mantle Of self-consequence as the
only way of preventing personal con-
tact. lie looks at his lofty mansion,
his livered servants, and thinks all be-
meath him, whose means will not en-
able him to live in the same luxury and
ostentation. Having commenced az a
pedlar or mechanic, he tries to Danish
it from his memory, and strives more
anxiously to keep this unknown to his
children than he would do had he been
a forgerer or detaulter. He would RAJ
ther meet an enemy than the friend of
his father, or of his own early days;
and his near-sightedness prevents his
recognizing any one who patronised
him in his former trade. Such are the
pitiful shifts, of meanncss, of those
whose only claims to distinction are
their riches and heterogeneous display.
A country life appears to be as ia
vorable to the moral healthfulness Of
man, as it is to his physical well-being;
and its effects are equally manifested
in the day laborer as in the landed pro-
prietor. tits this noble stock of Ame-
rican freemen that will prevent our be-
coming puny and degenerate race. It
is amidst this host that we must look
LOT tnat true worship OF liberty which
is well nigh extinct in the bosoms of
those who bow at the crowded shrine
of mammon.
Wherever human beings congregate
IN masses, there will be found the wor-
kings of human corruption. In the So
ciety of cities, the influence of evil will
everbe morea apparent than thato good,
even II It be not greater, as some have
said. It is true, there is much that is
pure and elevated, there is much that
is high and holy, among the jewellers