Litchfield enquirer., 1836-12-08
RICHES.


 very intelligent person to us while looking at splendid equipage which rattIed dowI Broadway. Et was the eqUipage of mau of wealth-a man of yesterday, a PARvENU in the more fashionable phrase, who mad, fortune suddenly by buying farms ant selling them out in lots, and who was de termined by the splendor of his house, the magni6cence of his entertainments, the richness and variety of his livcries, ilis loud talk and consequential air, to shew that he did not belong to qniet families of some hundred years distinction and wealth, who never offend by Ostentation, or exhibit a heraldry 10 which they are not entitled.- We gazed at several of similar growth the riches which sprung up over night, like Jonah's Gourd--some by speculation, oth- CTS by succession some by fortunate mar rlages, and some more creditable, by me- chanical labor and ingenuity. "Why am not rich Man?'' said my friend. "I n'"st p"r~hooo land here in the west. or tn the moon, nO matter where--I must plunge in the current of speculation, and swim on to fortune and eminence-I must oe rich every body tries to be rich-why shall not I he rich? I am liberal in my disposition, hospitabIe, and free. I should like tO have sucl, coach and pair "a house of corresponding magni6cence, l should like to throw it open several times yearly, for the gay and fashionable throng-I should like you to dine twice a week with me, and punish few bottles of old, very old, Madeira. Why am no, rich? \ deserve to be rich; must be rich," said he, musing, and at intervals dropping his voice as he slowly withdrew his eyes from the long cavalcadc of coach es and ph@tons, and whiskered footmen.
 Hundreds, no doubt, thought as he did i; hundreds expressed the same feelings, and felt the same desires, and all under ihe de- fusion that money is wealth-,hat sheer, palpable gold and silver constitutes riches, and it is under this delusiom that thousands of our citizens rack thoir brains by night, their thoughts by day, toiling aud sweating, and managing, and twisting, and turning out of the common, settled, and regular or- der of things, to get gold and silver, under the impression that with their possession they will be rich. Statesmen, politicians, nay, the government itself, is inoculatcd with the same mania, aud if all could suc- cced, we sh"uld be compelled to blacken our own boots, and wait upon ourselves at table. The delusion, however, consists simply in this-in considering piece of gold the only representative of wealth, and disregafding what we in ourselves possess, which is an equivalent to wealth. We are for the most part, rich without exactly knowing it. The anvil of the blacksmith, is to him, with his handicraft, valuable weigMy lump of gold-he lives by it, and to his mind, habits and wishes, as well as he lives who pays out his eagles and half eagles in the market. So with the painter 50 with the professional man, the sculp- tor, the musician, the man oftalent, all who possess the means of acquiring wealth, are wealthy for, iftenperate and industrious, all their faculties are convertible materials into wealth-nay, arc more valuable, and durable, and available than tle mere man of gold and silver. Let such man swim to the shore from his ship vessel, with the mechanic and man of mind, and see who can succeed tn earning that m0rssl of bread necessary to sustain life. What does the man of princely income do, which gives to him so many supposed advantages, and opens the door to 80 much mooted hap- piEess 2 He rises late-turns day into nighi-dawdIes his time away in triding, finikin employmen,s-drives his horses and dogs-gives grand dinners for ostentation, and large parties for fashion, and is. at best, poor, discontented, dyspepsic patrician, respected only for luis gold and silver, and of no possible use to ihe community. Take the man Of moderate means, and he employs life as life ought to be employed-a mix ture of employment and recreation, Ol pleasure and discreet hospitality. Go down to what is called the poorer classes, but which we call substantially tue rich the hardy mechanic-aDd see how he en- joys life. Rising with the sun, his labor does not cease ,ill the sun sinks into the West. He returns tO his little family and snug tenement at night, and finds an ample board spread by frugal wife the smoking steak inc snnd- r,'p a,f ~nGAe. st:r s~is;sS bread and butter, and an appetite sharpen ed by labor. His repast over, lie takes his chubby boy on his knee, pinches his dirty, rosy cheeks, and runs his fingers through his matted hair-talks with his wife Om household affairs, reads the paper, or con- verses with bis neighbor on the best means of saving the commonwealth, aud when the hour of rest arrives, he stretches himself on l.is hard, but healthy, bed. and soon his senses are s,ecped into forgetfulness, and his sleep is sweet and sound, until the shrilI clarion of the cock awakcns him On the marrow to renewed labor.
 Bat tLen he has no coach. Has he mott