The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-04-28

~V'osooss@rA~
sound philosophy embodied in the brief letter
which we subjoin. Few are theFe fortunate
enough to feel far less to practice, the true phi
losophy which it inculcates. In one respect,
this age of ours is an age Of gold; but wealth
more precious than any to be deved from the
mines of California, lies within the charmed
circle of home, and may be shared by every
contented spirit:
For the Journal cf Commerce.
Messrs. Editors IL wrote to friend in
Maryland few days since, and expressed a
wish TO him that some good luck might occur
to make him rich. The following reply seems
to me worthy Of general perusal, and send it
to you for publication.
Yours, A SUBSCRIBER
CUMBERLAND, Md.
My DEAR FRIEND:-Hut am rich I! have
got boy whose eyes sparkle like Jewels of
the mne," and whose smiles are purely Angelic;
and there is 80 much of heaven in his face, that,
when see him, am out of the ills Of this life.
Why, have such tranquility, such bliss, that
the moments flying are of more value, each of
Them than brightest sands of California.
am rich for daily witness scenes in the
" drama" of the worlds affairs that make me
humble, make me thoughtful, make me thank
full, make INC charitable, make me peaceful.
am rich for [ live in an age big with events
of the worlds progress In my boyhood read
Of the stirring scenes of the American Revolu-
tiOn; of the meteOrc whirl Of Napoleon; of
all such events as would fire the mind Of youth,
and wished that could live at time when
could be in the midst of such mighty events
and now here am, at period in the history of
the world more interesting than any before it
when there is more general, greater develop.
ment of mind than ever before; when there are
mightier revolutions than ever before, and not
so much by leading individual spirits, as by q
universal and voluntary spirit pervading all
classes.
There was time when the poet sang thus |:
+" How fleet is the glance of the mind
Compared with the speed Of its fight,
The tempest itself Iags behind,
And the swift winged arrows Of light! p
Not SO could he sing now, for we follow in
the iightning's wake, and are up with the "glance
of thought"
| am rich. for witness the struggle for the
gold OF California; the lives sacrificed, the des-
perate reaching forth of tottering old age for
that gold which it worships in the rays of the
setting sun, and am happy that the current has
HOt UO|u0 ul0 LIltheT.4
am rich for have virtuous mind, and
have no relish for the society Of the dissolute
and vicious; and their pleasures, to me- seem
all backness.
am rich for have peaceful mind and
though the vcissitudes of life have been many
and severe to me, their effect upon my mind has
been such that the retrospect is softened, and
look back upon my experience and dream
like vista welcomes my view. | am at times
annoyed in my pecuniary fairs, and ! feel that
destiny has given me 10 aservice that is unworthy
of me; but rally from the influence of those
stings when can, as the tree rises when the
storm has passed by, and have hours of tran.
guilty that afford me balance for all the trials
Look out from your window; perchance you
see the fine carriage and the trappings Of wealth
(Which things do not object to; speak not
Of them in a cynical way)-gay in dress may be
the occupants, but possibly the weight of sor-
row upon their hearts, if expressed in pounds,
would stop the wheels of that carriage. Such
reflections must teach us that we each have our
share of wealth in the true sense of that word
live on, and in trouble something always
comes to my rescue; and my wish to be rich is
prompted less by desire for my own gratihca.
ton, than to be able to reciprocate acts of kind
ness | have experienced from others,
You see that turn at the touch Of your pen
to show you that the sun shines here, and TINT
it is not such serious thing to live, and, taken
all in all, this world is about what it was in.
tended to be.
Yours, truly.