Semi-weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1852-1853, 1852-04-21
THE PERILs OF COMMERCIAL MEN.

Most men regard the mercantile profession as the
path to wealth, yet statistics reveal ne TACT thas
large proportion of those devoted to mercantile pur-
suits, destined fail. profession so exciting
and in its results must DO attended with
peculiar DANGERS Few persons can pass Though
the trals Of failures. and bankruptcy, without injury
to the elements of moral being. The claims OF
friends the demands Of dependant family. and the
prompings of PRIDE present strong temptations to
Proprate part of the gains OF FORMER years, which
belong legally and morally to creditors.
The excitement Of trade is not favorable to the cul-
vation of the moral nature, and the pressure Of D.
ancia crisis, often makes revelations OF character
not suspected by friends enemies. Men who PROVE
be defauiers, who burn their houses for the insu
rance, who fail .fuiI-hdnded. and compromise with
their creditors, had long BEFORE under the guise oil
fair dealing. resorted to measures which pure con-
science could not approve.
The fret lapse from the path Of virtue is seldom a
final fall The heart of the tree decays long before
the old trunk of it falls, gives evidence of its weak
ness. -
In times of pressure many men become morally
bankrupt whose reputation had been fair. The char
acer which falls in adversely, had been undermined
during prosperity. From these perils there is way
Of escape. A high estimate of mans moral worth
may save him from selEdestruciion.
Intellectual cultivation. moral training, literary pur
suits, and social pleasures, may restrain man from
and liberal mind, which values wealth for the good il
may do, is in little danger of sacrificing himself up.
on the altar of Mammon. Wealth gained by the loss
of character, selrespect and virtue, is dearly pur
us the manly sentiments and virtuous principles OIL
life. The higher wants of the soul, are of more i'm
portance than any material interests. Commerce and
wealth desirable only they afford facilities fol
mental and social improvement
When the energies of life devoted wholly to the
accumulation of material interests, it is only the ear
nest virtue that triumph over temptation, wi hen
early presented, the plausible means of sefpre-
servation. The haste of mutitudes to be rich, is
said be to characteristic Of the people Of this country
An English writer represents the whole American
people, standing behind one long counter, from
Maine to Texas trading against the rest of the world
under the auspices of the Guardian spirit of Mammon
This may be carcature still there must be resem
bance of truth in the representation, would moi
perceive the likeness. 1t may be that in other coun
tries the devotion TO material interests is inordnate
exhaustihg and perlous, yet there is in this country
spirit of daring enterprise, and habit Of innovation
and speculation, which contrasts strongly with the
timd adherence to prescribed mode Of life, and the
fixed lethargic character Of the people of the ole
world.
d" Make haste slowly is good maxim, and i
the spirit of speculation could be restrained among
mercantile men, their moral welfare would be promo
ted without deriment to their material interests, TO
it is fact of striking significance that failures occur
not so much in the prosecution OF Legitimate mercan
tile business, in the attempt to anticipate the prof
of regular trade. by embarking in promising bu
delusive speculation. Mttuaukie Journal