Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-04-27
A I'ictnrc of our Conntry.

America, as she now stands, is strik-
ing fact. The western clearings, the i'm
mense farms OF the Mississippi Valley,
the Lake trade, the foreign immigration,
toiling Africa chained 10 the car of com
merce, gorgeous and reckless New York,
and sudden San Francisco, excite in,ayi-
nation by all that they imply and fore
shadow. They represept many IDEAS and
cmhssy1Dsndy wosdssfai Md MOVING iS iii!.
story; for business has its danger aud dar-
ing, its suffering and ROMANCE, and the
chances of fortune in this new world of
boundless resources and free activity, are
more marvellous than the tales Of the Ara
bian Knights! This bod enterprise that
stretches to the Pacific, this skilled aud
thoughtful race grasping vast empire,
like homestead, to cultivate, plant and
adorn: this brave army OF worshpers,
marching on irresistibly to the conquest
of nature, form grand S. e,tace. Though
their weapons-the axe, the plow and the
steam engine--have not the lustre of po-
etry that CLEANS from the sword, though
the heroes of the farm, the workshop and
the counting -honse, like village IIampdons,
die unsung, yet great Qualities are often
exhibited i'll these humble fields of man s
effort, and their labors found nations, a.,
those of the coral insect lift the basis of
an island above tho sea, to the liyht and
air of Heaven.
But the picture has its dark side. The
eager desire for wealth, the "nccssant
aud Sabbathless" pursuit Of it has become
the universal passion and occnprtion--
Wn haVa fl,of I,ra 1,f IL, a,
root Of all eyiland under its deadly shade
of knowledge and art, truth, virtue and
beauty, witbers and dies. "In prosperity
no altars smoke" The curse of. Midas is
upon US. Our feelings, our IDEAS, our as
pilations, arc all turned to gold, and we
are starving amid our barren abundance.
We worship the material, not the spirit
ual; the visible and transient, not the in
visible and eternal. We arc practical. not
intellectual; and our pleasures are of the
senses, not of the reason, imagination and
taste We are smitten with "tho lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride
fife" We are true disciples of the ethics
ofinterest and utility, and our only morality
is cash payment. Truly has it been said
that che who makes haste to get rich shall
not be innocent" Iftempe,.te drinking
be The degra1ing vice Of on, portion of our
people, in.emperate money making is the
besetting sin of another and much larger
portion, and it is difficult to say which is
the more pernicious One is vice of the
senses, destroying the mind, the other
delusion of the mind and selfish passion,
blasting tho moral sentiments, and palsy
ing the higher powers of the intellect.
The drunkard canno. resist the baneful
cup, which benumbs the soul, "unmoud-
ing reasons mintage," and transforming
him 'into the inglorious likeness of beast, |
and the infatuated worshiper of Mammon
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. Sue
ccssful industry, rapid gains, rank, pros
perity, without counteracting causes to
modify their influence, have stimulated
this passion for wealth to excess, and
have produced already in this new coun-
try, luxury, venality, corruption, con
tempt for intellectual pursuits and pleas
ures, and sneers and indifference to emo,
bling and elevated sentiment. Hence the
vulgar ostentation of our cities; hence the
general want of literary taste and culture;
hence the deplorable frauds of business;
hence much of the baseness of our politics.
american ReUiew.