thee; therefore be at rest from seeking after it. Our dependence on these foreign goods leads us to
our slavish respect for numbers. The political parties meet in numerous conventions; the greater the
concourse and with each new uproar of announcement, The delegation from Essex! The Democrats
from New Hampshire! The Whigs of Maine! the young patriot feels himself stronger than before by a
new thousand of eyes and arms. In like manner the reformers summon conventions and vote and resolve
in multitude. Not so O friends! will the God deign to enter and inhabit you, but by a method precisely
the reverse. It is only as a man puts off all foreign support and stands alone that I see him to be strong
and to prevail. He is weaker by every recruit to his banner. Is not a man better than a town? Ask nothing
of men, and, in the endless mutation, thou only firm column must presently appear the upholder of all
that surrounds thee. He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for
good out of him and elsewhere, and, so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly
rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles; just as a man who stands
on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.
So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel
rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the chancellors of
God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and shalt sit hereafter
out of fear from her rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick or the return
of your absent friend, or some other favorable event raises your spirits, and you think good days are
preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you
peace but the triumph of principles.