Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1855-11-28
CLARIFIED. WEDNESDAY, NOV ss2s,, 1856: -
a Picture of cur Country.

A Picture of cur Country.
America, as she now stands, is a striking
fact. The Western clearings, the imm ense
farmers of the Mississippi Valley, the Lake
trace, the foreign immigration, toiling Africa
chained to the car of commerce, gorgeous and
reckless New York, and sudden San Francis
CO, excite imagination, by all that they imply
and foreshadow. They represent many ideas,
and embody many a wonderful and moving
story for business has it's danger and daring,
its suffering and endurance, and the changes OF,
fortune, in this new world OF boundless resour-
ces and free activity, are more marye elous than
the tales of the Arabian Nights. This bold
enterprise that stretches to the Paciiic, this
skilled and thoughtful race grasping vast EN-
pire like homestead, tocultivate, ,ssna plant,
and adorn this brave army Of worshipers,
marching on irresistibly to the conquest of ma
ture, form a grand spectacle- Though their
weapons-the axe, the plough, and the steam
engine--haye not the lnstres Of poetry that
CLEANS froni the point of tbs sword; though the
heroes of the farm, the workshop, and the
counting house, like village Hampdens, die
ungung, yet great qualities are often exhlbit-
cd in these humble fields of man effort, and
their labors found nations, as those OF the CO.
raj insect lift the basis OF island above the
sea- to the light and air of Heaven. szsass5
But the picture has its dark side. The ca
ger desire for wealth, the ssincessant and Sab
bathless'' pursuit of it has become the univer-
sal passion and occupation. We have that
love of money which is the root OF all evil =
and under the deadly shade of the tree from
that root. the love of knowledge and art, OF
truth, and virtue, and beauty, withers and
| dies. ssIn posterity no alters smoke" The
| cursc. of Midas is upon Our feelings, our
| ideas eur aspirations, are all rned into gold
! and we are starving amid our barren abund
ance. We worship the material, not the spir
| itual the visible and transient, not tue inyisi
bic and eternal. We are practical, not intel
| lectual; and our pleasures are of the senses
not of the reason, Imagination and taste. NJ
are smitten With ethe lust of flesh, and tin
| lust of the eye, and the pride of life.' W
are true disciples of the ethics of interest am
| utility, and our only morality is cashpsyment
Truly has it been said, that she who make
haste to get rich shall not be Innocent"
incorporate drinking be the degrading vice o
one portion OF our people, intemperate none.
making is the besetting sin of another an
much larger portion, and it is difficult to sa.
which is the more pernicious.. One is ric
| of the senses, destroying the mind; the othe
a delusion of the mind, and selfish passion
blasting the moral sentiments, and playin;
the higher powers of the intellect. The poo
drunkard cannot resist the 'sbaueful cup,
which benumbs the soul, ssnnmoulding rea
son IS mintage," and transforming him
:Into the inglorious likeness of beast,
and the infatuated worshiper OF Mammon de
liberately uses his mental faculties for his owl
destruction, prefers the ignoble and low I
the the pure and high, and shuts out the ligh
/ of Heaven from his life. Successful industry
rapid gains, rank prosperity, without counter
acting causes to modify their Influence, hav
stimulated this passion for wealth to excess
and have produced already, in this new coun
try, luxury, venality, corruption, contempt TO
Intellectual pursuits and pleasures, and sneer
ing indifference to ennobling and elevated sen
timent. Hence the vulgar ostentation of OF
cities; hence the general want of literary tast
and culture hence the deplorable frauds o
busin SIS; hence much of the baseness OF on
politics.-North .4nierican Rsrieac.S ea
H