Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1857-11-05
Pmrsmit of

Pursuit of Gain.
The irresistible impulse that has been
given, within the last few years, to we
ry branch of industry, has been produc-
tive of great good. But every human
benefit is apt to be closely attended by
corresponding evil. The lightning and
the tempest purify the elements, but, at
the same time, are the agents of death
and dcsolation. So, too, while the whole
country bears evidence to the physical
prosperity of our. people, it is equally
evident that there is a,too intense and
absorbing devotion to gain. This af-
fects the whole body polite. It has
changed, and will yet more radically
change, the whole order of society
"The great principle of demand and
supply" said Mr.. Calhoun, in one Of
his speeches on tho Sub Treasury, ego
vernsrthe moral and intellectual world
no less than the business and CONNER
cial. If a community be so constituted
as to cause a demand for high mental
attainments, as if its honors and rewards
arc allotted to pursuits that require their
development, by creating a demand for
intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, jus
tice, frmncss, courage, patriotism, and
the like, they arc sure to be produced.
But if, on the contrary, they be allotted
to pursuits that require inferior quail
ties, the higher are sure to decay and
perish"
Fortunes have been so rapidly accu-
INFLATED i'll our country out of the reg
ular and beaten paths of ordinary pur-
suits, that a rage for sudden acquisi-
tons universally prevails. Wealth is
fast becoming the e~iterion of merit, as
we'll as of individual and social eonsid-
Grafton. The influence of this upon the
intellect and more manly qualities of a
people is disastrous. All the higher
and nobler faculties of the mind dwin-
die away when brought in contact with
the schemes of speculation and the arts
of the stock-board. In that prcsenfe
they are as surely blasted as the green
spot in the desert, when swept by the
~devouring s~irocca. Wisdom, justice,
courage, patriotism, and the like" dc
rive their Inspiration from a very differ
ent source. 1t is true, to make money,
in the sharp competitions of trade, may
require and develop %quickness of judg-
mcnt and promptitude of action-qual-
titles desirable in themselves. but by no
means the highest and most desirable.
That nation has arrived at a critical
stage in its existence, when wealth, and
the ease and luxury it secures, are be-
come the enicI vy;.ccts Of ambitien.
I'm fares the land, to Fastening ills a prey.
Where wealth ~accumulatcs and men decay
The heroic virtues have then depart
ed. Duty and honor no longer hold
sway. In any great crisis affecting for
veal or VOC the good and glory of the
country through all coming time, the
decisive action will be determined, not
by public and patriotic considerations,
but by those which are personal and
pecuniary. The professions. and espe-
pecially the higher career of politics,
will be adopted. not as the means to &C
quirc honor and reputation, and do the
State service, but as the means of max
ing money. Other considerations will
be sacrificed to this. A generous am
bition withers and dies whenever the
passion of acquisition gets possession
of the mind.
1t is on this ground that wars have
been vindicated. 1t has been said that
they withdraw the attention of mankind
from those objects that are dwarfng and
bcnumbing them, and fix it upon things
of a larger and more momentous char
acter. Their bosoms are aroused and
agitated by the march and encounter of
armies, by gallant deeds, and heroic
sacrifices. They become insensibly i'm
bucd with a higher and loftier spirit,
and obey with a~lacrity the call OF honor
or duty. Such is the argument, and
certainly it is not without seeming force
Let us hope, however, that a more eff
fectual means to check the undue and
unrighteous worship of Mammon may
be found in the wider diffusion of a
sound and %cnnobiing literature and the
re-awakening of a more hcalthful moral
tone. --r-