Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1841-10-14

An idle mans brain IL Sal0 10 pc the
DEVILS workshop, while honest industry
lays the foundation of good morals, be-
sides being the safest and most direct
road TO temporal prosperity and hapIi-
ness.
The greatest blessing vouchsafed to
man after his fall, was the denunciation
Of life Of labor, for such is the consttu-
ton of mankind that if not employed they
will become vicious, if merely 10 pass
away time.
Aversion to labor and fondness for a.
musement and luxurious living. engender
spiri. Of gambling speculation which
has so recently rolled over the width and
breadth OF our land with the rspidi,y of q
torrent and the desolation of u tornado.
A facility in mourning debt, does away
with the salutary unwiIingness OF running
in debt, which every honest and discreet
man feels, and produces in the end a
recklessness or unprinciplsd carelessness
as to the fuflment Of engagements, and
the payment Of debts. The slow but
sure gains Of honest industry are looked
upon with the most contemp,uous dlsdaln
by The dashing speculator, who is ever
stimulated by the delusive hope of being
the favored recipient Of the lavlshed
bounty of the blind Goddess. No matter
how many thousands may be ruined year
ly, the hope of acquiring riches at dash,
nerves the sturdy votary Of speculation to
new and untried enterprises, until his
soul is maddened by the thirst for gold,
and he plunges into the torrent to sink or
swim as chance may direct. Those who
support themselves by borrowing, and not
by the regular profits of their estates or
business, acquire moreover, habits Of ex-
travagance, that must end in extensive,
and hopeless bankruptcy. ..
Expansion and overtradings raise the
nominal prices OF commodities and en-
courage undue importations, end by en-
HANGING the price Of articles of export di.
minish in fact our export trade, the ex
porter being prevented from the high
prices here from shipping with the proba-
bilty Of fair profit in foreign countries.
Owners Of ships cannot find freigh,s.
when purchasers cannot afford to give
the present prices OF articles of export,
the carrying trade languishes, and ships
rot at the wharves in numbers.
Abuses Of the Banking system not only
promote speculation, overlrading and lux
ury, but inevitably bring about such fluc.
tuations in prices Us to lead TO cxtrava-
gance at one time and misery at another.
Families are ruined and immoral prac-
tees are resoried to in order to screen
property from the grasp of creditors.
The gripping capitalist too, wrings his u5u-
rious gains from the remains of fallen
fortunes and leaves his unfortunate victims
stepped in poverty to the evry dregs.
Had this country for the last ten OF
twelve years, gone on in regular course
Of progressive industry, how different
would have been the condition of business
men, as well as Of the community al
large. What scenes Of wild eXtrava'
gance and heartrende ring dependency
would have been avoided. The evil eff
fects Of oxtragant speculation fall more
over on the innocent, as well as on the
guilty, on the just as well as on the un'
Just, on the virtuous as we'll as on the
wicked. We have heard of many intel
ligent, accomplished, and amiable females
who have by recent explosion aud IN
paraleled wreck Saving Laws famous
Mississippi Bubblc) been sunk from afflu
ence to poverty, and been compelled &c
ply their needles with aching head and
hearts to the midnight hour for their daily
support, and TO prevent their being thrown
on the cold charity of the world.
Millions upon millions have been, by the
abuses and Encouragement before re-
ferred TO, as absolutely lost to their pro-
pretors as il they had been wrested from
their possession and had been sunk in the
unfathomabe waters Of the great deep.
The national faith and public credit
have sustained the most serious injury,
both at home and abroad, and the moral
tone both Of individuals and communities
has been wofully depressed by the de.
morallzing influences, which have been
so actively and successfully at work.
Habits of industry and economy on the
other hand, give a new impulse to princi'
Piles of moral rectitude in their control
over the public mind, while they promote
gentleness and benevolence in the private
walks of life, while without them neither
individuals nor communities can ever en-
Joy permanent prosperity or attain true
! greatness.