MILTON P. BRAMAN'S ADDRESS. 541 



safer and less brilliant path to that which proposes a few mag- 

 nificent prizes, and an immense number of blanks. There are, 

 it is true, those who possess such a strong aptitude for mercan- 

 tile life, whose genius for trading speculations is so remarkably 

 developed, and who have such a great confidence in their pow- 

 ers, that their course of life seems to be pointed out by indica- 

 tions too plain to be mistaken ; and the probability of success 

 preponderates manifestly in their favor. But considering the 

 monitory disclosures which have been made on this subject, 

 the larger portion of those who embark in the pursuits of trade 

 are mere adventurers. They hazard their fortunes on the most 

 uncertain risks. The experiment which they make is like the 

 purchase of a ticket in the lottery ; it is worse than that even, 

 it is a California speculation. 



A magnificent prize in a lottery, a successful adventure for 

 gold in the mining regions, will awaken the aspiration of thou- 

 sands ; they shut their eyes to the vast number of the disap- 

 pointed, and are overpowered and seduced by one of the few 

 instances of good fortune. So the comparatively few, who, re- 

 sorting in early life to the cities for trading purposes, make 

 their way up to the golden summits of ambition, will draw after 

 them a crowd of the young, ardent, and ambitious, who abandon 

 the less perilous and less fascinating toils of rural life, to plunge 

 into mercantile uncertainties in which so many are overwhelmed 

 to rise no more. 



The attractions of a city life are motives of powerful opera- 

 tion with many, whose tastes lead them in that direction. 

 They have no fondness for rural scenes. The green fields, the 

 winding streams, the waving trees, the flowers of spring, hill 

 and dale, and all the majesty and beauty of nature, have no 

 charms in their eyes equal to the crowded streets, and build- 

 ings of lofty and costly proportions, and glow, and bustle, and 

 gaiety, and splendor and fashion, and social enjoyments of a 

 populous city. 



The wish to escape the manual labor of the field is a strong 

 passion. Work there, is work ; it is disagreeable on account 

 of its severity, its uncleanliness, its exposure to the sun and air, 

 and those various influences which are inconsistent with the 



