Houma Ceres. [volume] (Houma, Parish of Terrebonne, La.) 1855-18??, 1856-03-20
APicture of Uncle Sam.

kiuS tdC's % . tn0 1>OAA
view. The Western clearings, the im-
mense farms Of the Mississippi Valley. the
Lake trade, the foreign immigration, toll
ing Africa chained to the car Of commerce.
gorgeous and reckless New York, and sud-
den San Francisco, excite the imagination,
by all that they imply and foresbadow.
They represent many ideas, and embody
many a wonderful and moving story; for
business has its danger and daring, its sui
fering and endurance. and the changes OF
fortune, in this new world of boundless
resources, are free activity, and more mar
veleus than the tales ofthe Arabian Nights.
This bold enterprise that stretches to the
Pacific, this skilled and thoughtful race
grasping vast empire, like homestead
to cultivate, and plant, and adorn this
brave army of worshippers, marching on
irresistibly to the conquest Of nature, from
a grand spectacle. Though their weapons
the axe, the plough and the steam en-
gine-have not the lustre of poetry that
CLEANS from the point of the sword; though
the heroes Of the farm, the work shop and
the counting house, like village Hamps-
den., die unsung. yet great qualities are
often exhibited in these humble fields Of
mans effort, and their labors found ma
tons, as those Of the coral insect lift the
basis Of an island above the sea to the
the light and air Of heaven.
But the picture has its dark side. The
eager desire for wealth, the ''incessant
and Sabbathless" pursuit Of which has
become the universal passion and occu-
patton. We have that love of money
which 10 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.
sin prosperity no affairs smoke" The
curse Of Midas is upon Us. Our feelings,
our ideas, our aspirations, are all turned
into gold, and we are starving amid our
barren abundance. We worship the
material, not the spiritual; the visible
and transient, not the invisible and eter.
nal. We are practical, not Intellectual !;
and our pleasures are of the senses, not Of
the reason, Imagination and taste. We
are smitten with ssthe lust Of tho flesh, the
lust Of the age. and the pride Of life. y
We are true disciples Of the ethics Of in.
terest and utility, and our only morality
il cash payment" Truly has it been
said, that Is he who maketh haste to get
rich shall not be innocent" If intemper-
ate drinking be the degrading vice Of one
portion Of our people, '.intemperate money
making i the besetting SIM Of another
and much larger portion, and il is difficult
to say which is the more pernicious. One
is a vice Of the senses, destroying the
mind the other Z delusion Of the mind,
and a selfish passion. blasting the moral
sentiments and palsying the higher pow
ers Of the intellect. The drunkard can
not resist tho banefll cup" which be.
numbs his soul, unmoulding reason
mintage." and transforming him, ,'s s
slnse he inelosioas likeness Of beast"
and the infatuated worshipper Of Man,
mon deliberately uses his mental faculties
for his own destruction, prefers the ignoble
and low to the pure and high, and shuts
out the light Of Heaven from his life.
Successful industry. rapid gains, rank pros.
perity. without counteracting causes TO
modify their influence, have stimulated TIL.
passion for wealth to excess, and have
produced already, in this now country,
Injury, venality, corruption, contempt 81
Intellectual pursuits and pleasures, and
sneering indifference to ennobling and
elevated sentiments. Hence tho vulgar
ostentaiion Of our cities; hence the gen.
oral want Of literary taste and culture
hence the deplorable frauds Of business
hence much ofthe baseness Of our politics.
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