Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1848-08-30
THE IDEAL OF A TRUE LIFE.
DIT HORACE GREELEY.


There is, even on this side Of the grave, haver
where the storms of life break not, are felt bu
IN gentle fluctuations of the unrppled and mirrow-
ing wa'ers-an oasis, not tn the desert, but beyond
ia rest, profound and blissful as that of the sol
der returned forever from the dangers, the hard
ships and turmoil Of war; to the bosom of that dear
domestic CIRCLE whose blessings he never priced a,
half their worth till he lost them.
This haven, this oasis, this rest, is serene and
hale old age. The tired traveller has abandoned
the dusty, crowded, and iostling highway of life,
tor one OF It's shadest and least noted by-lanes.-
The din OF traffic and of worldly strife has no lon
ger magic for his ear-the myriad foot fall of the
cIty's stony walks-is but noise or nothing to him
now. He has run his race of toll, or ambition
His days work is accomplished, and he has come
nome To ENJOY, tranquil and embarrassed the splen-
dor of the sunset-the milder glories of late even
ing. Ask not whether he has, or has not, been
successful according to the vulgar standard of
cess What matters it now whether the multi
tude has dragged his chariot, rending the air with
ldolizng acclamatiOns, or howed, like wolves on
his track, as he fled by night from the fury of those
ne had wasted his vigor TO serve. What availS il
that broad lands have rewarded his toll, that all
has, at the moment, been stricken from his grasp
Ask not whether he brings into retirement the
wealth OF the Indies, or the poverty Of bankrupt
whether his couch be Of down or rushes-his
dwelling hut mansion. He has lived to lit
tic purpose, indeed, if he has not long since realiz-
ed that wealth and are not the true ends of
exertion, nor their absence the conclusive proof of
ill-fortune. Whoever seeks to know if his career
has been prosperous and frightening from its outset
to ITS closeif the evening Of his days shall be ge
NAL and bssful-should ask not for broad acres, or
towering edifices, or laden Golfers. Perverted old
age may grasp these with the unyielding touch of
insanity; but they add to his cares and anxieties
not to his enjoyrnents. Ask, rather-Has he mas
ter nd h,r, rad h.,
lived True Life2
hour knell the conclusion and how few of them
are true ones The poor child Of shame and sin
and crime, who terminates her earthly being in the
couded morning of her scarce budded, yet blghted
existence-the desperate Relon whose blood is shed
by the community, as the dread penalty of its vio-
lated law-the miserable debauchee, who totters
down to his lOathsome grave in the spring time of
his years, but the ullness of his fostering iniqui
ties-these, the world valiantly afirms, have not
lived true lives! Fearless and righteous world! how
profound, how discriminating thy judgments.
But the base idolater of self, who devotes all his
moments, his energies. his thoughts, to schemes
which begin and end in personal advantage-the
grasper of gold, and lands, and tenements-ihe do
voice of pleasure--the man of ignobe and sinister
ambition-the woman of frivolity, extravaganza,
and fashion-the ider, the gambler, the voluptuary
on all these and their myriad compeers, while
horne on the crest of the advancing billOw, how
gentle is the reproof, how charitable the judgment
of the world Nay, is not even dead Chris
tianity, which picks its way so dahtiy, cautious
ly, and inofensvely-which regards with gentle
rebuke, and is regarded with amiabe federation by
some OF the foremost vices of the times is it not
too often oblivious of its paramount duty to teach
men how to live worthily and nobly? Are there
not thousands to whom its inculcations, as far
as duties 10 man are concerned, substantially
negative in their character ?-who are fortified by
its teachings, in the behalf that to do good is cas-
ualty, and not frame OF being-who are taught
by 1t to feed the hungry and cothe the naked,
when they thrust themselves upon the charity of
portly aflluence, but an irksome duty, for which
they shonld be rewarded, rather than blessed
privilege, for which they should be profoundly
gra,eful2 or the millions now weekly listening
to the minisratons of the Christian pulpit, how
many are clearly, wildly impressed with The great
truth, that each, in his own sphere, should live for
mankind, as Christ did for the redemption, nstruc-
ton, and exaltation of the race, and, that the pow
er to do this in his proper sphere abdes equally with
the humblest as the highest? How many centu-
res more will be required to teach, even the reli-
gious world SO called, the full meaning of the term
CHRISTIAN?
a true life must be simple in all its elements
Animated by one grand and ennobling impulse, all
lesser aspirations find their proper places in har-
petite, in habits of life, with corresponding nd-
ference to worldly honors and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, is
the natural result of divine and unselfish idea.
Under the guidance of such sentiment, Virtue is
not effort, but law Of nature like gravitation.
1t is Vice alone that seems decentralization
strous-well nigh miraculous. Purity is felt to be
necessary TO the mind as health 10 the body and
its absence alike, the inevitable source of pain.
A true life must be calm. A life imperfectly di-
rected, is made wretched through distraction. We
give up our youth to excitement, and wonder that
decTepit old age steals upon us so soon. We
out our energies in strife for gold or fame and
then wonder alike at the cost and the worthless
ness of the need "Is 1.-THE life more than meatl''
Ay, truly but how few have practically, consist
emily, so regarded it2 And little as it is regarded
by the imperfectly virtuous, how much less by the
vicious and the worldling? What chaos ofstrug
Cling emotions is exhibited by the lives of the mu
titude2 How like to the wars Of the infatuated
| animalcule in a magnified drop Of water, is the
strife constantly waged in each little mind How
Sloth is jostled by Gluttony, and Pride wrestlet
with by Avarlce, and Dissemination bearded by Mean
ness The soul which is not large enough for tn,
ndw6lliDg Of one virtue, affords Judgment and scop
and arena for hundred vices. But their warfare
cannot be INDUCED with IMMUNITY. Agitation AM
wretchednesS are the inevitable consequences il
! the midst of which the flame of life burns flaringl
and swiftly to its close
A true life must be genial and joyous. Tell IN
not, pale anchorite, of your ceaseless vigils, you
hastings, your scourgings. These arc fit Offering
to Moloch, not to our Father. the man who
not happy IN the path he has chosen, may be yer
sure he has chosen amiss, or is selfdeceived. Z"
love God and little children" says German poe
The good arc ever attracted and made happier b
the presence Of the innocent and lovely. And h
who finds his religion adverse to- OF a restraint NJ
on, the truly innocent pleasures and gayeties ofli
so that the latter do not interfere with and jar uJ
on its submer objects, may well doubt whether /
has, Indeed, "learned Jesus"
, CoNTENTMSST.-If men knew what feici