Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1837-06-28

lug nShSl 'S0S dIu HlSlStiuS upon It
turning for them less amount of labor
now wanders mployed; and gladI,
would he accept Of any compensation tha
will avert the danger of starvation. For
tunes, which it cost lifetime to build up
are passing away like shadow He who
but yesterday, reckoned up his wealth BY
millions, would now gladly surrender ali
if thereby he ight save his credit unim
paired, and amid the general ruin find
himself solvent He who, but yesterday
beheld on every side, the trophies of his
successful enterprise, now beholds with
establishment his boarded treasures trans
formed, as if by magic, into bits of worth
less, aye it is well if they be not worse
than worthless paper. 1t reminds US oil
the stories Of enchantment 1t seems as
though we had been living in an ideal
world of groves, and forests, and towers,
and palaces, which. at the waving of the
necromancer's wand, have disappeared in
an instant; and nothing remains but the
barren heath, the arid sand, the naked
rock, stretching away as far as the eve
can reach, knocking expectation after ex-
pectation, until Imagination itself cannot
pass beyond the boundlessness of the des-
olation
You will all then surely agree with me,
that there is evil in the city. If wealth
be blessing, and that you thus consider
it your whole lives have borne testimony,
the loss of wealth must be an evil. If
the capital by which labor is rendered
productive be valuable, it must be ca
lamlty to have that capital rendered USE
less. And since this is not a particular
but general evil, it must have, not a
particular but general cause And this
cause must be more extensive than the
limits of our own country. The same
distress prevails in Europe, and specially
in England, the country with which our
commerce has been most intimately con-
nectcd.
Now, the cause Of these disasters may
be sought for in various directions, accord
ing to the views Of the inquirer. The
political economist would probably seek
for 1t in the ruinous extension of credit
which has of late taken place, and in the
enormous issues Of paper money with
which it is said that some districts Of our
country have been flooded. The politi-
clan would seek for it in the measures oil
government, which some affirm and 9TH
ers DENY TO have had bearing upon the
financial operations of the nation But
the present is neither the time nor the
place for these discussions. 1t will nat
urally occur to any unpreludiced mind
that it is very difficult to hurt a man unles:
he be disposed to hurt himself; and, if he
be so disposed, we need go no further tc
ascertain the cause of his calamities. Tb,
minister of the Gospel looks beyond these
immediate causes to more ultimate cause
He inquiries what have been the mora
tempers which have led men into course
that have been so injurious to themselves
These are the causes with which he ha
to deal. If he can develop these, he ma,
easily ascertain why God hath wrough
evil in the city. His duty os religion
teacher requires him with faithfulness am
affection thus to trace the evil to its source
and to deduce from it those lessons c
moral wisdom which it is intended to con
.vey.
Such will be my object in the preser
discourse. l shall, first, endeavor to |
lustrate the moral causes which have lie
to these disasters; and secondly, sugges
some Of the lessons which may be learne
from the history of the present crisis.
Suffer me then to say, at once, that
apprchend we have grievously erred, bot
in the principles upon which we hay
accumulated our wealth, and in the prlI
ci2Ies upon which zee hare used IT,
|. think it will be acknowledged b
all that this whole community has, f'
some time past, been pervaded by an e
csssive avidity for the rapid 'accumuIatlc
: Of property. In the words of the Scri
s lures, men have fastened to be rich.
. When thus speak, you will not su
pose that am about to denounce as u
e christian the accumulation of property
e genera, or TO censure the natural deSI
: in the bosom Of every man to benefit T.
It condition. II is only as the condition
p every individual is improved, that the co
e dition Of society is meliorated. What a
all the means Of happiness which we no
RI behold around us, where. two hundr'
q years since, nothing existed but the trac
Il less wilderness, but the accumuIat
u wealth of preceding generations So
s. as can see, this desire is not on Y pc
e mitted, but encouraged in the Scriptur.
E. It is intended that a man should grow RI
y, by the labor of his hands. Seest thou
"a man diligent in his business, he sh
" stand before kings. 1t is the design
ne God, that skilfui labor should reap its Il
y remuneration And if to diligence
ne business there be added frugality,
ne gains Of every year will increase
. Ia gains Of the year that preceded it, a
y. !, mus a tendency is at once created iowa
II, competency and independence.