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Care, fatigue, vexation, envy, jealousy, loss of health, and a waste of wealth; are the bitter fruits she gives to her devotees; often producing the consumption of poverty, and the pleurisy of blue ruin. She is the Ignis Fatuus of fancy; the farther she is pursued, the deeper the mire in her path.

Idleness is an ingredient in the upper current, which was scarcely known, and never countenanced, in the good old linsey woolsey, tow and linen, mush and milk, pork and potatoe times of the pilgrim fathers, and revolutionary patriots. We now have those among us, who had rather go hungry and be clad in rags, than to work. We also have a numerous train of gentlemen idlers, who pass down the stream of life at the expense of their fellow passengers. They live well, and dress well, as long as possible, by borrowing and spunging, and then take to gambling, swindling, stealing, robbing; and often pass on for years, before justice overtakes them. So long as these persons can keep up fashionable appearances, and elude the police, they are received into the company of the upper ten thousand. Many an idle knave, by means of a fine coat, a lily hand, and a graceful bow; has been received into the polite circles of society with eclat, and walked, rough shod, over a worthy young mechanic or farmer, who had too much good sense to make a dash, or imitate the monkey shines of an itinerant dandy. A fine dress, in the eyes of some, covers more sins than charity.

Among the wealthy, there are many who ride high in the upper current, preferring pleasure to business, bringing up their children in idleness and extravagance, instead of teaching them frugality and economy; and

finally leave the world with their estates insolvent. Their sons and daughters, being ignorant of business, cannot provide for themselves by honest industry, and are often led into the purlieus of vice, and are quickly lost in the maelstrom of iniquity.

Vanity, self conceit, and self ignorance, contribute to swell the upper current. Lying and deceit are ever rolling their frightful surges over the under current of truth, creating a dense fog that is impenetrable, and has proved disastrous to many fine vessels, which had credulity for a pilot, and neglected to cast out the anchor of investigation, and lay to, until the fog was dispelled.

The politics of the present day form the foam of the upper current, and rush on, with a maddening fury, that constantly casts up mire and dirt. Formerly, the political car was moved by the motive power of reason, patriotism, and love of country-now, it is rushed forward by the locomotive of party spirit—and no one can tell how soon we shall be run off the track, and be dashed in pieces.

Aristocracy is also contributing largely to swell the upper current, and is doing much to destroy the republican simplicity of "76.

Sectarianism, in matters of religion, has contributed to swell the upper current, and has often covered charity, humility, and forgiveness, with the waves of persecution and revenge, wounding the blessed Redeemer, in the house of his professed friends.

In short, vice and immorality, in all their deceptive forms, are combined to swell the upper current, and would gladly sink the under current of wisdom and virtue, below the reach of mind; and waft the family

of man, on the fiery billows of sin and corruption, beyond the reach of hope, happiness, and peace. Let us all, in matters of domestic, political, moral, and religious economy; beware of the upper current. Let us fasten the lead of reason, and buoy of Revelation to the line of consistency, and let our soundings be deep and often.

DEATH.

Death is the crown of life.

Death wounds to cure! we fall, we rise, we reign.-Young.

THE thought of meeting this king of terrors, is made unwelcome by most of the human family. Even the Christian is prone to treat the subject unkindly, until he is compelled to approach this grim monster, and, as the acquaintance increases, the insatiate devourer of the body loses his deformity, and, in the end, proves himself a genuine friend. We should all make the acquaintance of this, our final deliverer, voluntarily and at once. Treat death as an enemy, and unkindly leave him to force himself upon us at the last hour! How cruel. Treat death as an enemy! How ungrateful, unwise, and imprudent. Is he an enemy, who delivers us from pains, follies, disappointments, miseries and wo? Is he an enemy, who transfers us from delusive dreams, from the region of bubbles and corroding cares; to a region where all is pure, substantial, enduring joy and endless felicity? It is a libel on DEATH to call him our foe, a king of terrors, an enemy.

Frail man comes into the world crying, cries on through life, and is always seeking after some desired thing which he imagines is labelled HAPPINESS, or is

mourning over some loss, which makes him miserable; a restless mortal body, with an immortal soul, that requires something more than earth can give to satisfy its lofty desires; the soul that hails death as the welcome messenger, to deliver it from its ever changing ever decaying prison house of clay, called man; on which time wages a perpetual war; whitening his locks, furrowing his cheeks, stealing his ivory, weakening his nerves, paralyzing his muscles, poisoning his blood, battering his whole citadel, deranging the whole machinery of life, and wasting his mental powers; until he becomes twice a child; and then delivers him over to his last and best friend, DEATH, who breaks the carnal bondage, sets the imprisoned spirit free, closing a toilsome career of infelicity; opening the door of immortal happiness, returning the soul to its own, original, and glorious home; to go no more out forever. Not to become familiar with death, is to endure much unnecessary fear, and add to the myriads of the other imaginary woes of human life. For the Christian, death has nɔ real terrors-all who are wise, are Christians.

DEBTS.

THE money that has been lost by the ruinous credit system in our country, could it be gathered into one aggregate sum, would be sufficient to pay our national debt, the debts of each state and corporation, and build a railroad from Boston to Oregon. By the last Bankrupt Law, as short a time as it was in force, about one hundred millions of dollars, in bad debts,

were blotted out as by magic; and thousands of honest men, who were better entitled to its benefits, than many who enjoyed them, did not apply for relief. Contracting debts, is not unlike the man who goes to sea without a compass-he may steer clear of rocks, sandbars, a lee shore, and breakers; but the chances are greatly against him; and, if he runs foul of either, ten to one he is lost. The present indiscriminate credit system is a labyrinth, the entrance is easy, but how to get out-that's the question. It is an endless chain, and if one link breaks in a particular community, it deranges the whole. The concussion may break many more, create a panic, and the chain become useless. If this misfortune would cure the evil, it would be a blessing in disguise; but so deeply rooted is this system among us, that no sooner is one chain destroyed, than another is manufactured; an increasing weight is put upon it; presently, some of its links snap, another concussion is produced, and creates a new panic; car after car rushes down the inclined plane of bankruptcy, increasing the mass of broken fragments and general ruin, all so commingled, that a Philadelphia lawyer, aided by constables and sheriffs, can bring but little order out of the confusion. At the outset, especially among merchants, a ruinous tax is imposed by this system, upon the vendor and vendee. The seller, in addition to a fair profit for cash in hand, adds a larger per cent. tó meet losses from bad debts, but which often falls far short of the mark. Each purchaser, who is ultimately able to pay, bears the proportionate burden of this tax, and both contribute large sums to indulge those who cannot, and, what is worse, those who never intended to pay; thus encouraging fraud,

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