Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1847-01-14

other equally useless. All beyond what he needs
is useless. What he has over and above, may
constitute him rich in the vulgar sense, but it is
plain that he is, and can be, no better eff than
any other man who has just enough of the nee
essares and comforts of life; but, contrawise, he
is worse of, having more cares and bigger load
to carry, and all he gets or can get, is his board,
clothing and lodging. This is the sum of the
whole matter, and all that can be squeezed out
of the popular notion of riches
Well, the reader may ask, is there no such
thing as richest Is it phantom, and no sub
stance, that has deluded men so long? No, there
is such thing, but it does not consist in the
Posslon' at any rate, in the exclusive possession
Of Gods gifts, but in the enjoyment, the hearty,
thankful enjoyment of them. Cowper has drawn
the picture Of rich man, in the true sense, at
the head of this article:
"IIis are the mountains and the vnies his,
And the respondent heavens his ENJOY
With popriety that none feel ," &c.
TO have the use and enjoyment of thing, is
all that any reasonable being can desire, and to
have the enjoyment of everything is surely all
that is necessary to constitute wealthy man.
But this sort of wealth implies moral condition,
state of the heart which can unpresumptuously
claim God as Father Only such a mind can
enjoy the out-spreadng and glad universe, wor-
thily; indeed, none other can perceive half its
glory,
Blessed are the meek, said he who spake as
never man spake, for ,hey shall inherit the earth;
and of parallel Scripture we might quote sever
al, all of which seem to teach not only that the
principles of righteousness shall ultimately over
spread the EARTH which is no doubt one of the
senses, but that the ChristanIy-minded do actu-
ally enjoy this world more than others; that they
have clearer dscernment Its beauties, and a
higher relish of all its lawful enjoyments. "What
kind Of weather shall we have tomorrow" said
the traveller to the shepherd of Salisbury Plain
at will be such weather as pleases me" replied
the shepherd, "seeng that it will be such as
peases my Heavenly Father"
Here then is fulfilled our idea of wealthy
man. Wealthy, says the dictionary, defining the
term, in its low and popular sense, means, hav-
ing larger possessions than the generality Of men.
In the Christian sense it means, "having all
things" not to hoard not to possess exclusively,
but to enjoy as a patrimony. His are the rivers
and the mountains, the sun, moon and stars. 1t
is not necessary to hold an exclusive right to any
of these oil jects. Who covets the fee-smple Of
the moon or the Atlantic Ocean, or the milky
way, or the atmosphere that circles the globel
O no. The thought that millions Of other eyes
behold and feast upon the glorious panorama of
the universe, augments, not lessons the JOY
There is bread enough and 10 spare. The whole
living universe may feast, and there shall be
more at the close than at the commencement of
the festival, as when the hungry multitude in the
wilderness began with the five loaves and two
fishes, and when they had finished, the stock of
food OH hand had grown to twelve baskets full
Oh. ParlOr Maga2inc