American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1846-12-02
RI ON the Philadelphia Inquirer.l
THE BETRAYED,
Ga THE PERILs OF WEALTH

Or THE PERILs OF WEALTH
"Love's light like meteor, has faded,
The hope and the dream ct my youth
Are lost III the guilt Of another,
The guilt that uusted for truth'"-.9non'
One of the greatest desires of the human IA
milV, or at least, large portion OF mankind In
civilized life, is to become independent, att1nent
to attain position beyond the reach OF Pc
euniary want. five look through society, this
object will be found leading one with tile
multitude. Riches are coveted by oil or near
ly all; and almost every sacrifice is made with
the object of attaining e condition OF WORLDLY
independence. And yet it is conceded mat
wealth by no means brings happiness; That III
many cases it induces habits OF incidence,
throws open new avenues of temptation, and
thus impairs health and shortens life Never
theess, there are hundreds and thousands, who,
already rich, and whose span OF existence is
rapidly drawing TO a close, who, notwlthstand-
ing, toll on as steadily as ever, anxious, 1t
would seem, TO accumulate still more tor their
children, and thus willing to subject those chill
dren TO new temptat ms. We may mention
a case ia point. few years since, a merchant
of this city died suddenly, and lett fortune OF
$4,000, which was divided between his wi
dow, son and daughter. The son was engag-
cd with his father IN business, had become in
torested in commercial pursuits, and thus con-
tinued OH il the good old track He is, per-
haps, worth somewhat more at the present day
than at the decease of his parent. But he has
lived generously aud happily, he attends his
counting room daily, uverlooks his clerks, and
thus usefully employs large portion of his
time. But the widow and daughter. Both
were repuled worth more than they really
were, and they Immediately became objects of
tamntatinn In adUputuFp The
former dsgraced herself by marrying man
much her junior, who has already cuntrived to
make way with large portion OF her fortune
She is by no means conlented, for now that the
deception practsed upon her has become vIsi-
ble-now that she sees that her money was the
object, she indeed feels disappointed aud wretch
ed. The few chains she possessed i'll earlier
life are gone, and she observes, with a shudder,
that her young husband regal DIS her in any but
an atteclIonate spirit, and that even his acts OF
courtesy and attention are forced and constrain-
ed. She was forwarded Of all this, and those
who loved and respected her most, lnteIceded for
hours before she took the fatal step. But the
arts Of plausible aud captivating man were
irresistible with weak and susceptible woman,
and the result Is as we have stated.
The daughter, too, alas her case is still
worse. She was one Of the loveliest of her sex,
amiable, generuu. aud cunhdng. She could
not believe i'll the possibility of a mercenary
marriage. She regarded with horror the idea
of a deliberate scheme of deception. She Tas
gentle, susceptible and aifectonate, and would
have cheeriully made any sacrifice for the OBJ
ject of her choice. To her, reciprocity of feel
ing, mutual regard, were dearer, sweeter than
life. Under such circumstances, she was sin
gled out with deliberate meditation by heart
less fortune hunter, was won, and cheerfully
confided her happiness and her property to his
keeping. Beiore the marriage, some of her
faends ventured to speak of distinct provision
for herself, of the settlement of portion other
fortune in such way as to place it beyond tie
reach of the vlclssltmdes Of trade and specula-
ton. But he heard the suggestion with in
dignation. She had unbounded confidence in
her intended husband, and would do nothing
calculated in the sIrgh' est degree, to imply a
doubt Alas the fatal error. They were mar
RED They lived in apparent peace together
for short time. But twelve months had not
elapsed bofure the scales Of delusIon fell from
her eyes.