The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-03-10

anu d luture, IoT winch 1t labOred grandly. Com
merce was not, them the speculation of to-day, or
the hasty adventure of to-inorrow-the short turn
the sharp bargain the keen scented thrift snuff.
ing news in advance of the mail. Glorious breezes
hled Its sails The ''lovesick Winds that waited
cleopatra barge, did not hover round more gor-
geGus canvass Its freight was art, and literature
and civilization. The Sea-weed. clinginp now like
mourning drapery, along the marble walls of Venice
does but assert rightful fellowship with splendor
10 whose trlumphs the whole wide sea was tributa-
ry; The pictures and the statues--tha temples the
palaces and gardens OF Genoa and Pisa-of Flor
ence, Bologna and Scnna-all tell the story of
great thoughts and noble tastes, which gold and
trade may nurture, when nobleness and GREAT
ness deal with them. Judged by such
Notwithstanding all allowances for chance
OF time and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS on the
one side all that it has done for freedom and nel
gence-requiring from it, on the other, fulGlment
OF the obligations since imposed on it, by all the
grand discoveries which science and renius baro
given it for handmaids-Trade, as we find il now
surely In its spirit, far below the level of the
high and intellectual calling, which has made itself
so bright name in history. | speak of its spirit
ana not OF Its material progress-of its influence on
the men who pursue it, and not of its statistics
am looking at the hand of the dyer. and not at
the garish colors which haunt from his door The
Son OF Sirach has said, and hope NAV venture To
say u after him, without offence that "a merchant
shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong, and
huckster shall not be free from SIM | waive tho
question as to whether the Hebrews in the davs
wnen Eccleslastcus was written furnished the most
auVantageous models OF mercantile department, but
| am quite persuaded that the great moralist whom
l nave quoted, told truth in this which was in
tended for all time And if it be so difficult for men
IN the legitimate paths of commerce. to avoid its
corruptlng tendencies, fear that they hardly i'm
prove tnelr chances by entering the still narrower
walks OF what commonly is known as mercantile re-
tlrement. Does man widen the scope of his fac
uties, think you, or improve the opportunities of
competence or leisure, because he withdraws him
sell from actual trade, to look after letting
MS money out on interest? Does he enlaro1
the domain OF his heart, open new sources of
human sympathy, by watching the fluctuations of
the stock exchange? Does the old age of mercan
Tile industry grow in dignity reverence under
such influences? Does it heghten its claims TINS
10 sway the opinions, and rule the counses and
fashion the tastes and habts-nav form the very
destiny or this magnificent republic? Has it not
rather let itself out on usury, with its capital and
made a sOrdid trade of its faculties and onnortnn
ties? There may be-undoubtedly there are-some
characters so privileged, that they can walk through
tue dally temptations Of any calling without a
STAIN on their raiment. There are in the profes-
slons, men fortunately constituted who can find
leisure in the midst of absorbno emnlovment ond
expansion in the very pressure of the most CON
tractlng lnhuences-to whom literature blossoms a
spontaneous waysde flower, along every path.
anu art ana taste and fancy and graceful and re-
nnlng thought and occupation, come smiling and
mlnlstering, like reaper's Joyous children. who
troop around him in the harvest field So too in
IN the pursuits of trade, are men, who gather and
are gener0us-who gras pand yet gve-whose hearts
grow with their fortunes, and whose intellecs ex-
pand with their experience-men with whom lahor
seems compatible with leisure, and whose manly
nature has the ring of metal purer than their
gold. But such is not the common experience Of
the Worid, and 1t were not wise to write philosophy
Tor the Happy Valley, whose soil is the
salt of the earth. We must deal with the rule
though we be thankful for the executions
In H0l6elns Dance of Death-that marvellous
series o. grim portraitures-is painted the COMING
OF tne iatal messenger to men of every condition.
as they aie. Lie arrests the lawyer-an ill-fa
vored varlet you may be sure-an,i drags him
away, (in direction happily not Indicated inst
as he is about to dispute the authority of the sum
mons, and IS producing the precedents to the con-
trary; ne turns pack the physician, who, with the
cup OF healing in his hand, is fastening to stav
death own career, elsewhere. He comes behind
the merchant, who is weighing the golden proceeds
OF some venture, and filings a human bone into the
opposing SCALE The moral of these strange pictures
is that of every day experience and life. II GOES
beyond the plain one, which the vulgar eve see. in
them. 1t is the follv-the absurditv-the wanton
dedicating life and all of hopes and enjoy
ments that may be in it, to one absorbing sole bur
suit-the madness of wasting existence itself in the
search alter the means of existence-instead of
dedicating these, when found to the rational ends
of our being. N">'1
1t is of course impossible that all the baneful
to which we have alluded, can operate
"P'ii thC iiuiN IuudlS WHO compose nation. and
yet fail to affect the national community ITSELF
on cannot have the ocean at rest when
every separate wave in it is tossed as
by, a tempest. Thus there is, in the re-
Puopc OF whch we are citizens, the same
teverish unrest and which makes the citizens them
selves build their house of life upon quicksands-the
same unwllngnesS, perhaps incapacitv to appre-
cate and quietly enjoy the blessings that are round
hooutt. vi our actual greatness and future glory;
Of our expanding wealth and territory and resonr
ses; the whole air is vocal with the tidnos-hut NOT
a man, OF those whom we call statesmen, lifts his
voice to bid us pause and be happy in what we
nave; II we are Tree, to enjoy freedom; if we
are wise, to profit by wisdom; if we are wealthy
ana powerful, to sit down in the sunshine of our
wealth and power. With millions upon millions of
acres which we can neither cultivate nor enioy we
are told that 1t is our policy to go searching after
more. With peace and plenty laupbinp at our
a"Ors, we are made to believe that we should vel
come war, rather than not have the things we can
not need, which are far away from us. Has the age
OF political philosophers, of practical and honest
public thinkers died out altogether wihus? Is there
no one to tell us-with the voice of an authority
Whlch we Will reSpect-that the true yran-
ieur ot nations is to be found in the development
ana happiness OF the human creatures who live
under their inSttutions-ther true powe in the in
,egrlty, and independence and cultivation of their
;ltizens-their own genuine and lofty mission, in
-helr example For one, had rather see the ma
lon, under whose flag | was born, compacted, for
all time, within the limits where our fathers left it
with friendly ana adinlrlng nations GROWING nm
around it, enlightened by its example and blessed
1y its vicinity-with its wealth brought home to be
enjoyed, instead of being wasted in new cOnouests
1r the search after something more-with its intel
ecu devoted to It's own Development instead of be
ng maddened by crusading enterprise and the dis
'ord of ambtiuns-l had rather see this than wit
ness as It's destiny the most magnificent march of
umpire that ever trod human hearts beneath its feet
mad rather see what already is own, made to
blossom with the arts of peace and beauty-than to
lear of province conquered, daily, for pensions
1re-emptlon rights, and land warrants | should
lold one fruitful, Joyous civizing hour of national
'epose, more precious than the most prodigal de-
;ade OF national aggrandizement.
There isl am aware-a great deal of rbe-
-orlc on the other side of these views-a great deal
Df very obvious defamation, about ignoble ease
Individual slOth and national stagnation. But all
ms Is merely begging of the question in dispute.
deny that life OF repoSe-not of idl aneSs but
If leisure and rest-is more gnOble or more unprof
table, IN man or nation, than the thrOb and
hroe-the c0nvulsive preternatural activity of
abor, without enjoyment and without end | do
lot mean that rest, which is typilied by the Chi
lese hieroglyphic of happiness-an open mouth
and handful of rice. | mean the repose which
S the parent OF wise activity, and the restraint
IS well as the substitute, of activity which is not
Slse mean the rest which is won and deserved
~ labor, and which sweetens and invigorates it.
md furnishes its reward. Whence comes this doc
rlne that litc-to be anything-must be forever
n motion! There Is no process of earthly deyel-
'pmeut, which does not need and depend upon re.
pose TO all the green and beautiful things
which deck the earth-the flowers that give it per
ume and the fruits and foliage that make it glad
here is needful the calm sunshine and the
tranquil shade-the gentle rain and tho
more quiet dew. Not gem that flashes, but has
,een chrystallized in the immovabe stiffness of
he great earths breast! 1t is impossible to look
IN the most w0ndrous scenes of physical grandeur,
where the convulsions of nature have left their
races on mountain and valley, without feeling that
he quiet centuries, gliding in between have woven
he tranquil vesture of their beauty [ know no
Inference from this, in the laws of our moral and
Intellectual nature, and believe that to be false
and perncious morality which denies TO
individuals, it is misguided and perverse poIiti-
'al economy which takes away from nations, their
seasons OF leisure ana Misunderstanding them
nat existence was meant to be nothing but a
trugglc, and that it stagnates and is worthless
when its strife grows still.
But it is to be feared that the evils
which we are considering are not so much
he result OF vice or conviction as of instinct
hey seem to have come to from our Anglo
saxon lineage, and are perhaps part of the penal
y which we have to pay for our inherited share of
he restless activity and pred0minance of the race
There Is charming little book by En,He Soupestre
we'll known in English as the '.ARic Phaosopher,''
most delightful, genial picture of simple pleasures
Ind moderate desires - of humble but serene
Enjoyment and homely vet blessed charities
md consultations. | do not however, men
ion the volume merely to praise it-though
deserves all praise and gratitude-but in
uch a volume could be laid in anv part of this vast
continent, which tolls and grows prosperous be-
leath the pressure of Anglo Saxon energy and
Institutions. Can we conceive such book to be
ne truthful story OF life led within the atmos-
,here OF any great city of our confederation-a
lie OF contentment, in the pettiest fortunes-re-
uced to the trst and actual necessities vet happy
useful independent, respected and