The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 19. 131

inefficiency of riches to insure for their possessors that
contentment without which there is no real enjoyment
in life. The melancholy fate of that ecclesiastical
Crmsus, Wolsey, is too familiar not to suggest itself to
the mind of the reader; nor was the fate of Cardinal
Mazarin less humiliating and deplorable, as may be g -
thered from the following passage in his history from
Enfield's and Aikin's Gourd Biography:—
" He was attacked by a disease which his system was
unable to resist. When he became sensible of his dan-
ger, he felt some scruples concerning the wealth he had
amassed, and his confessor plainly told him that resti-
tution was necessary for his salvation, and as it was not
easy to separate his lawful from his fraudulent gains, he
was advised to make a donation of the whole to the
King, in the hope that, as was the case, his Majesty
would restore it to him. And I must quit all this'?'
was one of his latest reflections."

The two following notable illustrations of the vanity
of earthly possessions are too remarkable and too perti-
nent to be omitted on the present occasion. In the
prefatory chapter of Florian's Gonsalve dc Cordova we
find the following striking passage :
" The renowned Ablertni, Prince of the true be-
lievers, put on record the following evidence of the
vanity of ;mmense wealth and illustrious rank :—‘ Fifty
years have elapsed since I became Caliph, during which
time I have possessed and have been satiated with
honours, riches, and pleasures. Rival Monarchs fear
and envy me. Heaven has showered upon me ad that
men can wish for. I have registered the number of
days in which I enjoyed real happiness ; they amount
only to fourteen I Mortals, learn hence duly to appre-
ciate grandeur, the world, and human life.'"

Our next illustration of the insufficiency of wealth to
give peace of mind, is derived from the Diary of a
Lover of Literature, in the Gentleman's Magazine for
November, 1839. The Nobleman who is the hero of
the piece was the late Lord Lauderdale, and the fol-
lowing is an extract from the Diary :
" His Lordship had been taking a ride about his
extensive domain ; on reaching an eminence which
commanded an immense and diversified prospect, Min-
gay was admiring the prodigious extent as well as the
variety of the view, when his Lordship observed, And
now, Mingay, of all you see I believe there is mot an
acre of ground which is not my own.' Good God r
said the barrister, you must be the happiest of men.'
' In the whole compass of this scene, r will venture to
affirm (said his Lordship) that there is not one so mi-
serable.'"

It can hardly be necessary for us here to observe,
that our denunciation of excessive wealth is not intended
to apply to that class of persons who rank high amongst
us as wealthy merchants, but to persons of much more
extensive pos,,eisions than we have ever heard attributed
to the most affluent of our townsmen ; and the indivi-
dual instances which we have adduced in the course of
this article, may serve as an illustration of the meaning
we attach to inordinate possessions.
We have much gratification in bearing testimony to
the liberality of many of our townsmen, who have the
reputation of being wealthy, and whose names are al-
ways to be found on the list of bountiful contributors to
all our public charities.
Of the late Mr. James Cropper we may now speak
without re erve, as any compliments we may pay to his
memory Ilk nnot be justly regarded as a partial or in•
vidious attempt exalt one living member of the com-
munity by depre, g others of our townsmen. Mr.
Cropper was one o - hose who seemed to consider the
wealth which hr had honourably acquired only the means
of doing good to his fellowman. To borrow a very signi-
ficant simile from a celebrated' French author, he ap-
peared to be elevated only to enable him to discover
more clearly the human misery around him. When
once assured that his bounty would not be misapplied,
he dispensed it most cheerfully and most liberally. On
one occasion, when funds were much wanted for the
dissemination of anti-slavery tracts, we happened, by
mere chance, to see his name with the sum of 500/. op-
posite to it ; while no other subscriber, although there
were royal and noble titles in the list, contributed more
than 1501.

As one instance out of many that we could adduce
of the promptitude with which he came forward to
promote any scheme for the amelioration of the condi-
tion of his fellow-men, we avail ourselves of the present
opportunity of stating, that when, in the year 1831, we
published an " Outline of a Plan for the entire Sup-
press;on of Street Begging, " &e., which has been re-
printed in the Description of the Liverpool Night Asy-
lution, Mr. Cropper was so much p!eased with the
proposition, that he made us a tender of 30/. as his
contribution towards making the experiment. This
liberal offer, of which we declined to avail ourselves,

, .
conscious that we could not acquit ourselves of the
duty to our own satisfaction, on account of our other
indispensable engagements, was conveyed to us in a
note which, for the honour of the excellent man, whose
lois can never be sufficiently deplored, we subjoin :
Dingle Bank, 3 mo. 20,1830.

ESTEEMED FIuEND,—Thy proposition of giving a
ration of dry bread, to be eaten on the spot, to any
person asking for it,as a means of suppressing that most
distressing and perplexing nuisance of street begging,
is so simple, and could so easily be tried, that I am
very desirous the experiment should be made. If it
should succeed, it might, very properly, form a branch
of that most excellent institution, the Provident Dis-
trict Society, but there is yet too much of uncertainty
about it to be undertaken by that Society. A novel
experiment is best tried at the expense of a few in-
dividuals. Myself and my sons, and Robert Benson,
will give 101. each, and my friend W, Rathbone, who
is also desirous the experiment should be made, will
give 51., and very likely I may meet with others wil-
ling to contribute. I think if we had 1501. or 200/.

to begin with, it might be tried, in-the first place, simply
with bread, because that would be attended with
least trouble, though in ease of a permanent establish-
ment, by no means the cheapest. We know that a
great portion of the population of Ireland live on pota-
toes only, and in many cases, when salt was subject to
duty, they were deprived even of that. It would not cost
more than a half-penny to supply a person with as many
boiled potatoes as be could eat, whilst many would readily
eat two pennyworth of bread ; but the giving of boiled
potatoes, or any broken meat collected from the inha-
bitants, would require a very different establishment to
that which would be needful for the simple supply of
bread, and as this would be the more substantial food,
it should have the preference as a trial. 'nacre can
be no doubt that this plan would destroy the trade of
begging, because many mendicants, much as they dis-
like work, would prefer it to such humble fare. I
consider that the community is greatly indebted to
thee for the establishment of the very important relief
afforded to the suffering class by the Night Asylum.
I wish the present plan, which is equally simple, may
be equally successful, and I am thy sincero friend,
To Egerton Smith. JAMES CllO£rER.

The following extracts may
MORAL REFLECTIONS ON WEALTH.
appendix and cornme t _ form an appropriate
n ary to our short chapter on
riches
MEDIOCRITY IS THE BEST STATE OF FORTUNE.—
All I desire is, that my poverty
may not be a burthen
us s neitherso
from
oft mof o others
r directlytf
cu;
one w
r atehnnt that l
va).necessitous,gewni
its,
gentleness
etc hnhn eeos
irbss et
farar
os
af
tsfmrot
from
nntoi myself,t
will
l fortuneAoprr e make
mediocrityetarhkv aeet me i
desirable condition, for no man wants power to do mis-
chief. We never consider the blessing of coveting nothing,
and the glory of being full in ourselves, without depend-
ing upon fortune. With parsimony a little is sufficient ;
and without it, nothing ; whereas frugality makes a poor
man rich. If we lose an estate, we had better never
have had it ; he that bas least to lose has least to fear,
and those are better satisfied whom fortune never fa-
uoured, than whom she has forsaken. The state is
most commodious that lies betwixt poverty and plenty.
Diogenes understood this very well when ho put himself
into an incapacity of losing anything. That course of
life is most commodious which is both safe and whole-
some ; the body is to be indulged no farther than for
health, and rather mortified than not kept in subjection
to the mind. It is necessary to provide against hunger,
thirst, and cold : and somewhat for a covering to shelter
us against other inconveniences, but not a pin matter
whether it be of turf or of marble. A man may lie as
warm, and as dry, under a thatched, as under a gilded
roof. Let the mind be great and glorious, and all other
things are despicable in comparison. The future is un-
certain, and I had rather beg of
.myself not to desire
anything, than of fortune to bestow Seneca's
REFLECTIONS UPON WEALTlL—livery man is
rich or poor according to the proportion between his
desires and his employ
with the
is another to
employments ; any enlargement of his
lon. for what he can never obtain, no less an enemy
dwiimshiensutiis;
to his quiet that if he had robbed him of patrimony.
diminution
therefore,
destructionssion;ile
thtaot ht ae
apepiiineess 3 ,
The rich lose all gratifications, because their wants are
prevented ; and added to the lassitude which follows
satiety, they have a pride proceeding from wealth,
which makes them impatient at the loss of pleasure,
though they have no enjoyment from the possession
of it. '[be odour of ten t!.eusand roses pleases but for
a'rnoment ; the pain occasion by ono of the thorns is
long felt. One hardship in the n,:dst of luxuries:
is, to the opulent, as a thorn aniong flowers,
They have a lively sense of it, and the effect of
every thing is increased by contrast. Riches are of
no value in themselves ; their use is discovered only in
that which they procure. They are coveted by narrow
minds (which confound the means with the end), for
the sake of power, influence, and respect
.; or by those
of less cies ated and refined sentiments, as necessary to
sensual enjoyments. It almost always happeL's that the
man who grows richer changes his notions of
Lnoverty,
states his wants by some new measure, and, flyinlj from
the enemy that pursued him, bends
.his endeavours. to
overtake those which he sees before him. Wealth cat:"
not confer greatness ; for nothing can make that great
which the decree of nature has ordained to be little ;
the bramble may be planted in a hot-bed, but it will
never become an oak."— Anon.

=
RAILWAY the opening of the
Railway chapel or church near Folkestone, took place on
Sunday the 10th instant.