Du Buque visitor. [volume] (Dubuque, Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1836-1837, 1836-11-02

nc Huli my cFoWu are lmpeIleu %
their passions-those impetuous lead
ers, whose clamor overpowers tn
claims of truth, integrity, and virtue.
The multitudes that throng our tho
} roughfares, are divided into two com
mon classes-those who are toiling an,
grasping for wealth, and they who ar
ostentatiously spenping it. Look a
the money-seeker; observe his care
. worn his anxious eeahttenafice. Fol
low him to his countingroom; see hin
clutch with nervous eagerness, the sur
he has just gained in the way Of trade
butnot in the way of upright dealing
Look at him as he goes over page afte
page of his leger, and sums up colum,
after column Of its figures, to estimate
the profits of the past year. Newto1
could not have shown half the tremb
j ling anticipation, the eager delight, as
he was about concluding the calcula.
ton that was to establish his great dis
coycry, that this man exhibits as hi.
pen writes down the thousands thai
have been added to his former gains.
This craving desire for wealth is the
fruitful source offraud and forgery, and
of every species of gambling, from the
wild speculation to the lottery and card
table. This lust for gain-this master
passion that deadens every other emo
tion-has spread its baleful influence
far and wide throughout our cities. 1t
is not confined to the avowed worship
ers of mammon; it is only amidst the
money changers, in the outer court of
the temple, that its corruption is; it has
entered within the viel, and those who
have openly protested to have renoun-
ced 'the world and lusts,' by becoming
the followers of Him, who when on
earth, 'had not where to lay his head
even these will lift the sacremental
cup to their lips, while every desire of
their hearts is devoted to the accumu-
lation of money. have heard Chris
tian motherstry to convince their youth
full daughters of the happiness to be en-
Ijoyed in the possession of splendid es-
adjustments, and having wealth at
command. have seen Christian faith
ers give their blooming lovely girls TO
the arms of sensualistsand dotards, and
then complacently and smilingly re-
ceive the congratulations oftheir friends
on the happy occasion. Is this false
picture? Would that it were! But
it is too true! The canker of gain hath
eaten deeply into the hearts core Of
society.
Let us now turn to the money spen-
der, and see what was the object for
which these treasures were 80 anxious
ly laid up. He ha, now left the wor-
ship of mammon for that of fashion.
He surrounds himself and his family
with the splendor that is to gain him
admission into those circles that have
been the haven Of his desires and en-
deavors. At first, he may meet with
something like a repulse; but if he re-
peat his advances, and continue to in
crease the number and brilliancy of his
Fgilded trappings, he will see the gates
Iunclose, and find himself most warmly
welcomed by those who most loudly
condemned hispresumption.
ing gained, it is now requisite for him
to copy the motions, the manners, and
the fashions of those around him. He
finds that these are all drawn from Eu-
ropean models, and in order to make
IA faithful imitation, it is considered
necessary to take his family across the
Atlantic, that they may catch the liv-
ing manners,' from seeing the nobility
passing in their cquipages, from living
near their palaces, or perhaps by the
supreme happiness of gaining admis-
sion to an entertainment given by some
one who is second cousin toa lord or a
baronet. Oh, fashion! what follies are
committed in thy name? To an Eu-
ropean observer, these follies would
be a fit theme for ridicule, but in a true
American, they excite feelings Of the
deepest modification. Can such a one
read or hear Of the conduct of some ira
yelling Americans, and of the Ameri-
can society in Paris, and not feel his
ears Jingle and his cheeks blush with
honest indignation? And it is by So
ciety likethis, both at home and abroad,
that Americans are judged by Europe
ans. The fashionable world, in any
country, is but an unfair specimen Of
national character. tits generally com
posed of the imitators Of other nations
the idle, the vain, and the unintel-
lectual, and this especially SO in our
own country. Our men of character
and ;nfnllioence are occunied on the