Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-10-22

we are bound to understand Gods deal
ings ariM the times in sphicA we lire.
Because, by such discreet consideration
of current events we learn The nature O
human conduct, and test the wisdom o.
various courses. r
Because, by such study. We come te
right apprehensions of Gods moral gov.
ernment over this world.
1t is thing to be remarked, how little
benefit men have derived in the long ex.
perience of commercial life.
The same mischiefs occur every ten OF
fifteen years. Courses upon which the Bi-
BILE pronounced sentence two thousand
years ago, are entered upon again and
again, as if nothing were known of them.
God has spoken to him that hath ears to
hear, upon the nature of greedy selfish
ness; upon INSCRIPTIONS devices in busi-
ness; upon making haste to be rich; upon
pride and hard-handedness; upon deceit
and guile; upon the infatuations of hope
and the supreme folly Of unwarrantable
conceit. The blessings Of contentment;
the blessings of a good name; the blessings
of Gods service in stead of Mammon's
bondage-all these have been proved over
and over again, and yet almost without
impression.
have already, this morning, taken
occasion of the serious alarm and trouble
which exist in the commercial affairs of our
country, to address some remarks to Chris
tians for their encouragement, comfort aud
guidance. propose this evening to look
at the subject in its relations to good NOR
ais and to the welfare ofthe community.
L. II is remarkable to see how much
suffering comes upon men, not by disease,
but simply BY difficulty of commercial
breathing.
If the human body be stricken with fever
or palsy; if cholera or plague attack it; or
if the sword or bullet smite it; or if some
weight fall suddenly and crush it; or some
secret wound drow out drop by drop the
blood, We do not marvel. There is cause
adequate to the effect. But if yoa put a
man into an exhausted receiver under
bell-glass, without a particle of air, the
mischief is just the same. No organ suf-
fers, no tissue is lacerated, no muscle crush
ed, no part is poisoned, none wasted or
drained of its vital fluids, and yet the man
effectually dies.
The course of affairs among us has not
been disturbed by the unnatural invasions
of war. The harvests have not failed, and
famine has not reached out its gaunt hands
among us. Disease has not striven in our
midst, nor has industry ceased for lack
either of legitimate enterprise or proper
matter for enterprise.
And yet this great nation, in full health,
with uncounted abundance of harvests, in
its young manhood, stalwart, eager, hope
ful, is suddenly brought up, and trembles
and staggers, as if it would lie down in
faintness. What is the matter!
1t is the want of air. The city cannot
breathe What then Is this commercial air
which is SO needful to life and activity p
1t is the faith of man in man. 1t is mu-
tual trust. 1t is confidence. This is The
air which commerce breathes. And now,
in our midst, although there have been in
discretions, there have been none which
the country could not bear almost with
out check. Men speak of over-stocking
the Market of over-manufacturing, of ovel-
importations, and of extravagance of sar-
ious kinds. / do not say that there have
net been mistakes in these respects, and
great mistakes. But do say that we are
too strong a people to be brought into such
confusion By mere mistakes of this kind
This country has such vigor and such ele-
ments of power, that surface mistakes will
never damage it seriously. There is money
enough, property enough, the need for
goods and manufacturing, but men are all
paralyzed to-day chiefly by fear of each
other. Men look at the best concerns, as
in times of siege they look at bomb shells,
expecting that every one will burst, and
that the only difference between one and
another is in the length of the fuse, and
the time it will take to burn out.
But why should there be this sudden
cessation Of confidence? You trusted those
men yesterday to go around the globe with
your money, whom now you will not trust
to carry it from the bank to the storel. No
change has come over these men. They
are just as honest now as then. Their
morals are as good. Their business is as
safe. On whatever foundation you stood
five months ago, the materials Of that foun-
dation remain untouched to-day. Your
ships are there. Your goods are there
Your shops are there. Your neighbors
are not niggards nor stimulating friends.
They are the same men that you always
knew, just as good, just as bad, unchanged
either tor better or for worse. But the
city is under spasm. No one will take
things to be as they seem. No one trusts.
Every one doubts and fears. .#,
Now, it is to the last degree important
to inquire, Why has confidence gone, and
gone SO suddenly and so completely
Yesterday it blossomed like flowers over
the field; to-day frost has fallen, and all
are black and dropping! What wind has
sent that whitening frost9
In reply to this inquiry, l would say
that in part this panic of fear is without
proper ground. 1t is the over-action Of
causes, on which 1 shall speak which are
real. But we have not stopped at the
legitimate potency Of those causes, but al
lowed our imagination to carry our feal
headlong, and with it our confidence in
each other. Merchants are now, like men
awakened in the night by the attack of an
enemy. All scream and run, one crying
out one thing, another another, all STUN.
bling over each other with insane fear