Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-10-17
CITY LIFE.

can ne 10 thaI OF " CITY
life and education as c~ontrasted with
that Of the country. Hardly any other
difference is SO striking-dihferent skies
and sun, different political institutions,
different h~emispberes. hardly pro-
duce so obvious and rapid an alteration
in a man as a change from u country to
a city life. The first thing that strikes
a co%untryman on visiting a large city is
the greater polish Of everything con-
nected with the outer man.. The dress
of those he meets, if not more comfort
able, is more finished and tasteful. The
intellect is also more highly cultivated.
It may not be of greater natural force,
but the surface is kept brighter. Their
is a quickness and iuency in converse
ton and an ease in social intercourse
that are only to be attained by the at
triton of mind with mind and the train
ing of polite associations, producing q
smoothuess of surface, like that
wrought on pebbles BY the action Of the
waves, however hard their grain or
coarse their internal texture. One of
the most striking pcculiarities Of a city
life consists in its superior opportuni-
ties. All the news Of the world is daily
brought to the doors Of the city people.
For q small sum they can at any mo-
ment obtain from the great libraries
books on any subject, from tho latest
results of science to the last novels.
Rare works of art and natural collec-
lions from every par: Of the globe sur
round them on every side. If they de-
sire to learn trades or languages, or to
prepare for any profession, or to culti-
yate any natural bent, or to crafty any
cherished longing, the means are Mt
hand. Tho finest opportunities are
afforded also for both receiving
and comforting good. Every shade Of
religious opinion is represented by va
rious societies, and eloquent discourses
may be heard weekly, from those who
most nearly represent their sentiments.
The facilities of religious intercourse
are constant, and the various associa-
tons for benefting the destitute and
ignorant offer the widest range for the
benevolent affections to operate in the
most systematic and effective manner.
It is in the city that the work of caring
for the neglected orphan, or visiting the
sick, of relieving the distressed, and Of
comforting the afflicted, can be carried
on with the greatest success, because
of the system which cooperation affords
in these labors of love. Nowhere are
such works so much needed, and no.
where do they yield their fruits so rap
idly.
But in proportion to the advantages
of a city life will be its dangers, and if
its opportunities for good are great, so
also are its temptations to evil. The
city is ever full Of excitement and ex-
tremes. Men congregatc in thousands,
and many are carried away, on all kinds
of subjects, by mere force of numbers.
Politics, speculation, sport, dissipation,
fashion, are pushed to an extreme, and
nervous e~xcitements, always injurious,
are the result. The temptations both
of expensive luxury and of cheap vice
abound in every city. In the quiet re-
tirement of q country life nature seems
to cherish the virtues. But in the
crowded haunts OF men, the bar-room
eutices, the gambling table lures, evil
companions invite the unwary, conceal
ment is easy and complete, and thou
sands who come from the country, un-
stained by vice but without firmness OF
principle, gradually lose their purity
and are ruined. The rich and the poor,
the gross and the refined, a all find
associates who have penetrated deeper
than themselves into sin, and who are
only too ready to Initiate them into its
fearful mysteries.
With these almost numberless oppor-
tunities for good and for evil that a city
life presents, it is for each occupant,
and especially for every young person,
to choose al first which path he will
pursue, which current to carry him
along. New facilities will continually
open before him for good, if he choose
the good /; for evil, if he drift into that
path, which no one deliberately chooses
but where so many are wrecked for want
of q firm moral principle to resist evil,
Religion is a great safeguard in cities
| Sincere and earnest religious principle
is needed, both to avoid the dangers
and improve the opportunities Of a city
life. He who mainly seeks the selfish
accumulation of money, or the more
social but not less dangerous pleasures
Of luxury and dissipation, only takes
advantage Of the worst elements of city
life, and can only reap the natural re-
suits in a debascd and degraded char
acter. But he who, choosing wisely,
r~csists evil in all its alluring shapes, and
presses forward in the path Of known
duty, will receive from his city life a
balance of mind, II comprehensiveness
of purpose, and n power Of action, that
could not be developed in any other
sphere.
The EASTERN ELECTIONS. - In the
whirl of excitement which inevitably
occurs ct q time like the present, it is
something like affectation to attempt to
pronounce cool and deliberate judgment
regarding the matters involved. Beyond
doubt the result Of the tremendous con.
test in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana aud
! Nebraska is as decided an indication us