The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-08-13


ever, is most gu CRITICAL view of the causes
the decline and fall" Of empires
If We found that luxury was universal anon
people-that there was no poor--that ther
was no misery or distress beyond the commo
ills Of life--that, in short, the whole nation wa
sunk in sloth, and Incidence and deness, sur
rounded by abundance, then we might say, VIII
some regret and despair, that man was unit To-
ease and prosperity, and that he was only ener
getic and moral when harassed by difficulties
and threatened with want.
But historians write not the history Of nations
so much as the history of a class or classes to
which they belong, or on which they depend
They have scarcely degned to consider the peo-
pie as having any weight in the scale of pros
perity. Whether well or i'll off, has been to
them matter Of little importance. They only
viewed the surface-the upper class of society,
the action of which was most conspicuous, and
they set down a nation for rich or poor, in pro-
portion as that class lived honorably, or disor-
Derby Hence the excellent RoLLIE, who wrote
ing of the Romans: Those whom neither labor,
nor dangers, nor so many Universities could ever
conquer, ,oere subdued by The sotiness Of repose,
and the aliurements of plenty and prosperity"
We are told by Ivy that PYRRHUs, king Of
Epirus, could not bride that Senate, which, in
the time of JUsURTHA the Numidian, only sought
to sell its decisions to the highest bidder
We find that at later time, every province
groaned under exactions--every free commu
nifty was in desolation-every kingdom, once
contented in its union with liberal Rome, now
complained of oppression, and was ready for
secession. n
But was all this caused by the introduction
of luxury? What is luxury! Did all these
Romans who had become demoralized, reve in
luxury! Did one hundredth part Of them, in
any part of their lives, enjoy one-half the luxury
which the virtuous Roman patrician enjoyed in
the earlier days of the republic? II not, what
demoralized him Could it have been luxury ?
| 1t is quite certain that if decentralization is
caused by luxury, it is equally caused by mis-
cry. And which, in these luxurious times, really
predominated? Wealth or poverty! Luxury
or misery?
1t is no proof that the Roman people were
rich and luxurious, because one man, an extor-
toner, or the heir of an extortoner, spent for
tune on single dinner, or in the confection of
single dish?
1t is no proof that people is luxurious, be-
cause, by long habit and study, men have become
skillful as artists and architects and have built
magnificent palaces and temples for extravagant
ambitious, and greedy men! These artists
would not have been less able, nor would they
have distinguished themselves the less, had they
worked in the interest Of the whole community,
instead of that Of one or several individuals.
But in these deplorabe times of g luxury"
about which historians here and there venture to
moralize, we have the real facts sufficiently d.
vulged, occasionally, to be able to form some
conclusion to the true state of things. We
read of revolts, rebelions, riotings distress, as
sassinations, directed against the rich for mo-
nopolizing theproduce of the earth, and starv-
ing whole provinces and kingdoms. We find
pestilence, and famine, and misery, and wretch
edness, side by side with accumulated wealth
and colossal fortunes; and these fortunes dwin-
ding away through extravaganza and folly, and
through the inability Of a people to reproduce
riches, or to consume the usual amount Of food
or manufactures; till at last the fortune maker
when he can no longer squeeze money from the
people, (who hardly consuming, no longer pro-
duce rs in former days. has no means of re-
making his wealth, but by extortion, swndling,
or crime.
Thus we might say, that the true cause of the
adecline and fall" of nations, is the imperfection
of the laws, which, permitting to every man full
freedom of action, epen 10 The deirimen of his
jelloo.naan lead, by an inevitable course of
things, to the impoverishment and destruction
of the great mass of humanity. The luckier
portion accumulate wealth by greater skill,
more favorable chances, rash adventures daring
robberies, and even by higher moral qualities
until the sum Of all this higher adventure, accu-
mulating and amassing, by contrivances, and by
changes and notifications in the laws and
usages, eats up the unskillful, the weak, the
powerless, the ignorant, and the industrious.
MANNERS AND CUsToMs OF THE LoNDoNERs.
The London correspondent of the Philadelphia In
gurer thus alludes to some of the customs OF the
people of that city, which would be far more
honored in the breach than the observance
"The customs Of some of the people OF the 'men
Of England as Goblet called it, are not such as
we would desire to initiate. 1t is not unusual to
see men walking in the streets with ladies', and
putting the smoke OF most abominable tobacco in
to the faces Of their fair companions. The weed
is not masticated with us, and he who chews
is not esteemed very highly, but cigar and pipe
smoking common, and carried to great ex-
tremes.-Sometimes on going into an eating house,