The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-01-07


I there is in one respect, so striking IN adjustment
of her capabilities to oar wants that there never
be In the commercial relations Of the tSo Stakes,
any other rivalry than an honorable and bene icial
competition / refer 10 the inexhaustible and ines
Unable wealth Of her coal fields, which are ndis-
peneabIe to the prosperity of our oommercisl
metropolis Not only the city Of New York, but a
large number of our counties, with population OF
q million and half souls and increasing rapidly,
are dependent on her supplies Of fuel for their
fort It is curious geological fact that the instant
reach the northern boundary of Pennsylvani
from her interior, the coal measures disappear !!
Not trace OF this great article Of necessity is to
be found on our side OF the line. What makes it
singular Is that this boundary Is mere statis
tical demarca.ion, not marked out by any great
natural division-not following water course, or
mountain chain, but traversing both rivers and
hills by line parallel TO the equator. May not
regard it as one Of those arrangements of Provi-
dence, which, in our Ignorance our presumption,
we are too apt to ascribe to bliad chance /? say,
may We not regard it as an arrangement OF Provi
dence to bind inseparably to each other these two
great States constituting, they do the heart Of
the American confederaoy,) and 10 give them the
influence they may possibly need, in the progress OF
events, to maintain the integrity Of the Union by
by holding togetheri In the bonds Of riendship
the other associated States!
Heavy responsibilities, grave questions of social and
domestic duty grow out Of our commercial pro emil
nense Extraordinary aggregations Of wealth. un-
less rightly employed, are never desirable When
they are the ministers of luxury and extravaganza
they misdirect industry, pervert the public TASTE
and endanger tho purity Of society and the safety Of
the government. This is the great danger we have
to guard against 1t is the greater because the
chief security Of our free institutions has always
been deemed to rest esseni ally upon the mainte.
nance Of q simple and economical government
do not believe 1t to be possible for such govern
ment to be continued in existence for any length OF
time. unless the social spirit conforms to it.
luxurious and extravaganza people cannot maintain
a simple and frugal government, No matter with
chcf qafn mo ha CIR thayS ha
silently relaxed until they conform to the social oon
dition of the people Private pTofuson comes drst,
next corporate extravagance, and lat Of all public
corruption This, then, ia the great duty which
devolves on us-to make the spirit Of the social
conform to the political organization, and main
tain both in simplicity and economy. l know it
is q very difficult duty whore wealth abounds,
and draws after it the temptations to proiuse
expenditure, with which it is always be-
set But let us hope that it is not impossible.
Certainly, the most superficial view Of our social
organization should be sufficient to Indicate
the folly of all private extra pag ancies which
parsake Of the character Ct permanent investments
The most common manifestations Of lavish expcndi
ture at the present moment ia in costly private
dwellings. We have, like Genoa, our streets Of
palaces, but without her apology for them We
have no orders Of nobility permanent estates, to
support large establishments Private fortunes are
exceedingly evaneecent with US The regular opera
ton OF eur laws is to dissolve the seaumulati0ns Of
wealth which are the fruit Of successful enterprise
There are very few instances in which property re-
mains in a family beyond the second or third genera
tion Our foreeathcrs abolished rules Of primogeni.
ture, hecasse they considered them inconsistent
with the genius Of our institutions
The spirit Of the community has eenformed to this
view Of social duty, and man thinks of leaving
his property BY will Cos he may) to ono child, for
the purpose OF keeping up large establishment
user feeling has become universal and children are
endowed equally with the ancestral goods, or at
least in proportion to their respective claims
merits, as the ancestor appreciates them. Under
these circumstances, nothing can DO more unwiss
than the erection Of costly dwellings, which
can only be maintained by princsly fortunes At
the death of she head Of the family, and the di.
vision OF the ancestral property, no one Of the
children asa general rule has enough to support the
establishment and 1t passes into other hands Moth
ing can be cruel to children than to bring them
up with expectations which cannot be fulfilled and
with habits of life which they are compelled to
abandon The parent, Tor the sake of few years
in splendid dwelling with the certainty that his
death will be the signal for the expulsion Of his
children from it, Nothing can be more inconside-
rate # it is done without reflection, unfee-
ing if it is done with full view Of the inevitable
consequences Look fer the splendid mansions Of
thirty years ago, and SEQ what has become Of them
Scarcely one remains in the family By which it Wa
constructed They are boarding houses, places Of
public exhibition, the workshops Of fashion The
daughter enters the house Of which her father was
the master. and ohsfsrs for Partisan mantills or
bonnet in the sacred chamber in which she drew her
FIRST breath In large commercial city, extending
rapidly, the currents Of business and fashion some
times change, and bring with Ihem these cense-
quences. But they are more frequently the result
OF other causss They are gen orally the asequencs
OF the naoity OF any one OF the children to main
estate which h.. x-,is.. :. Vim 80 '"' o. u
Under these social disabilities, man of fortune
should build house which any one Of his children,
with the share Of the property he s likely to inherit
will not be able to retain If he does, the chances
are ten to one tina. his 1esoen dents, before single
generation shall have parsed away, will be compsll
ed to quit the paternal mansion and do violence to
all the endearing associations which connect them
selves with the family areside and the natal roof
Nothing can be moro Notwithstanding, if this necss
sity Is met with sensibility demoraligsg to
the feelings if it is submitted to with in difference
1t has sometimes been said Of as reproachfuIy, that
we have no local attachmentsno ancestral associa-
tions, which endear to us the places occupied by
thoee who have preceded US in tho journey of life
In community like ours, in a state Of rapid pro-
erosion and change and IL which the philosophy
Of jurisprudence looks to the distribution rather
than the accumulation Of the proceeds OF labor,
localities are unqusstionably apt to be loosely
drawn. This is more especially true in cities, where
private residences often forchly expelled by the
Irresistible encroachnents of commerce aud traits,
In the broader spaces which the country affords.
there is happily left fer the saDctty Of local
attachments, and for the cultivation Of those
Citations which cling to thu spots where the bones Of
ancestors reposs, and where our own eyes, or
those Of our children, first saw the light
] consider it as one of the greatast securities Of
this city, so far as cultivation of the social afeo
lions and virtues ia concerned, that it is closely
connected by railways with the rural districts in its
vicinity la one hour the man of business or the
mechanic mag pass from the close confinement Of
his office, his counting room, or his workshop into
the pure atmosphere Of the country. The effect of
these facilities is to Withdraw from the city, during
the genial seasons Of the year. large portion OF
its inhabitants-to take men away from the town,
where thoy are busy only with their own works,
and place them where they must nece .sarily be
eonversapt with the works Of nature and Of naturo
God As tho clear atmosphere of the country lie the
bss. purifier of the malaria Of towns, so are tao
quietude and the simple occupations of rural life the
most ssluary and efficient eorrectives of the extra
vagsNee snd luxurious habits of the great cites
There is nothing go full of hope aud OF promise for
the purity and the IMMIGRATION OF our social condi-
tion. as the growing, might almost say the prevail
ing, disposition to escape from tho butle the chow
and the ooremoDousness Of the oity, seon as the
genial season re turns, and take refuge from them