The Nevada journal., 1856-02-22
WHOLE No. 3O3.


A Picture OF OUR CouNTRY.-Amer-
lea, as she now stands, is striking fact.
The Western clearings, the immense farms
of the Missippi Valley, the Lake trade,
the foreign immigration, toiling Africa
chained 20 the car OF commerce, gorgeous
and reckless New York, and sudden San
Francisco, excite imagination, by all that
they imply and foreshadow. They repre-
sent many ideas, and embody many Il
wonderful and moving story; for business
has It's danger and daring, It's suffering and
endurance, and the change of fortune, III
this new world Of boundless resources and
free activity, are moro marvellous than
the tales OF the Arabian Nights.
This bold enterprise that stretches to
the Pacific, this skilled and thoughtful
race grasping a vast empire, like a home
stead, to cultivate, and plant, and adorn
this brave army Of worshippers, marching
on irresistably to the conquest OK nature,
forms grand spectacle. Though their
wcapons-thc axe, the plough, and tho
steam enginc--haye not the lustre of poa-
try that CLEANS FROM the point or thc
sword though the heroes of the farm, TIE
workshop, and the counting house, ike
| village Hampdens die unsung, yet great
qualities arc often exhibited in these ham
bic fields of mans effort, and their labors
found nations, as those Of the coral insect
lit The basis of an island above the seas,
to the light and air Of heaven "a
But the picture has It's dark side. Tho
eager desire for wealth, the s'inccssant and
Sabbathless" pursuit of it has become the
universal passion and occupation. We
have that love of money which is the roos
cf all evil; and under the deadly shade of
the tree from that root, the love Of fknowl
edge and art, of truth and virtue, and
beauty, withcrs and dies SIN prospect
ty no altars smoken The curse of Midas
is upon us. Our feelings, our ideas, our
aspirations, arc all turned into gold, and
we are starving amid our barren abund
ance. We worship the material, not tho
spiritual, the visible and trancient, not tho
invisible and eternal We are practical,
not intellectual and cur pleasures are of
the senses, not OF the reason, imagination
and taste. We are smittcn with "the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and tho
pride of life" We are true disciples of
the ethics of interest and utility, and our
only morality in cash payment. Truly
has it been said, that ''ho who maketh
haste to be rich shall not be innocent"
If incorporate drinking be the degrading
vice of one portion ofour people, iutem-
perate money making is the besetting sin
of another and much larger portion, and
it is difficult to say which is the more per-
nicious. One is vice, OF the senses, des-
troying the mind the othera deIusion Of
the mind, and selfish passion, blasting
the moral sentiments, and palsying tho
higher powers Of the intellect The poor
drunkard cannot resist the "baneful cup"
which benumbs his soul, 'unmoulding rea-
sons mintage," and transforming him
"Iuto the inglorious likeness Of beast"
and the infatuated worshippcr Of fHfamlnon
deliberately uses his mental faculties for
his own destruction, prefers the igncblo
and low to the pure and high, and shuts
out the light OF heaven from his life. Sue
cesssul industry, rapid gains, rauk, pros
pcrity, without counteractng causes to
nodiiy their influence, have stimulated
this passion for wealth to excess, and have
produced already, in this new country,
luxury, venality, corruption, contempt for
intellectual pleasures, and snceiing indif-
ference to ennobling and elevated senti-
ment. Hence tie vulgar ostentation of
our cities; hence the general want of lite
rary taste and culture, hence the deplora-
bic frauds OF business; hence much Of the
baseness of cur politics.-No,td Ameli-
can Rertew.