Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1837-06-28

the necessities of starving multitudes. ne
cessities which, be it remembered, he him
self has created. He that withholdett
corn, the people shall curse him"
Besides, this mode of acquisition has q
direct tendency to foster the spirit of avar
icious worldIiness. The regular modes Of
accumulation leave the mind unembar-
raised. The man labors upon fixed prin-
iciples; hence he antic pates results with
certainty, and, having used the proper
means, quietly awaits the consequences.
He is free from the solicitude of risk. He,
whose hope of acquisition relies simply
on his own foresight, beholds his property
changing value with every hour; he is
liable to be rendered insolvent by the ar
rival of every packet or of every mail
( The mind, thus directed incessantlyto one
object, clings to it with the tenacity of a
death grasp. The love Of gain becomes
the ruling passion, and it is we'll if all the
nobler impulses of the soul be not paral-
wed forever
But this is not all. Not only does this
LlIOuC vi uIdulSltIOu llHct tllC IlIlIIu W eNc-
rything material, think it, in a special
manner, disengages it from everything
spiritual. The acquisition of wealth, by
the ordinary blessings of God on our in
dustry, depends upon changes which we
all know and feel that God overrules.-
Hence we are wont, in some degree at
least, to acknowledge his hand and to look
to him for his blessing. But when all
that we possess is at the disposal of events
which seem to depend upon second causes,
and when our only resource is our own
sagacity, think there is special tenden-
cy to forgetfulness of God and to trusting
exclusively to our own understandings
Hence. this mode of accumulation tends
to render men morally thoughtless, and to
foster presumption and practical atheism.
The fact that God governs the world be.
comes less and less an element in our cal
culalions. Upon the practical tendencies
of such state Of mind, it is needless that
enlarge.
Now that we, in this city, have been
specially infected with the mania of thus
hasting to be rich,, by no means assert.
On the contrary, suppose the reverse to
be the case. But that such has been the
error of the community IN general, pre-
sumo no one will deny. For mat y
months past, we have heard OF nothing but
the continual rise of prices, of fortunes
made by lands in the east, and the west
and the south, by the purchase of house
lots without number not only in this city
but even in the uninhabited wilderness
of fluctuations in stocks Of every desc rip
ton, of speculations in cotton, and -four
and grain, and provisions, nav in every
thing vendible; so that acquisition by
regular industry seemed to be entirely SUI
perseded, and he appeared to be living in
vain who, by few fortunate purchases
did not place himself forever beyond the
reach of pecunary anxiety.
And | will ask again, have not the re-
suits to which have alluded very signal
Iy followed? Have not all these efforts
at accumulation resulted in most lament
able and miserable failure? Would no
the whole community have been now rich
er by the simple gains Of productive in
dustry7 Have not the moral evils o
which I have already spoken also occur
red? When before did we ever hear sc
many complaints of extortion, and so many
EXPLANATIONS against the unjust use of cap
ital? When before has there been wit
messed so universal thoughtlessness O
COP? When were religious men 81
deeply immersed in worldly cares p
When did the church number so few
~ Il
generally given over to RIGHTEOUSNESS
: Since, then, we have so general,
} sought for wealth in ways which GoD ha
: forbidden; since, rejecting his counsel
| we have chosen to walk by the light O
our own understanding; and since tn
5 moral results of our course were so sooI
and so seriously apparent, might we no
: reasonably expect that GoD would fill u
: with our own devices! And, surely,
l more striking illustration of the blindnes
: and ignorance Of man was never vet be
l held. A whole notion, led on by whe
: seemed the acutest and most sagacions {
1 its citizens, has rushed with one conser
e to the very verge of bankruptcy; and, b
Y the exercise of their own shrewd an
y clear sighted forecast, have mistaken tn
t road to insolvency for the road to vast an
7 lllimitable accumulation.
t II. Secondly. l proceed to offer few
j. remarks upon the error which suppos
e we have committed, in the manner of ap
s propriating our accumulated wealth.
e In the remarks which follow you wi
e not, of course, suppose that I am advoca,
a ING the doctrine that man may not RICH
If fully do with his property as he choose
g. provided be interfere not with the right
u of his neighbor. Nor do l advocate tn
J. principle that the rich are under NOR;
st obligation to live like the poor. believ
IS no such tN'Tg. Because | cannot affor
e particular qualification, this is no reaso