The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-06

From tAs " Y, Ss~day Tsw<a
THE MIssRiEso OF rae Rich, Should any poor
person do me the honor to read this article, 1
appeal to his sympathiss In behalf Of much
abused and deeply -suifering portion of this COM
munity--the rich.
No class has more need Of sympathy, OF is
more deserving of pity than that which has. in
fiicted upon it, or has voluntarily brought upon
itself, the curse Of riches. .4f
When man has wilfuIly, and with his eyes
open, made himself rich, we may think that he
is scarcely deserving Of our pity. This is nn-
charitable We commiserate the condition Of
the sick when we know that they have ign0-
ranty or even wilfully caused their own diseases,
We pity the ruined gambler, the lost drunkard,
the broken-down debauchce. Why then should
we withhold our sympathy from the rich, who
need it, and many Of whom deserve it! Be-
sides, there are many who doAot bring the temp
tation, the snare, and all the misfortunes Of
wealth upon themselves They are inflicted
upon them by Others. Like many Diseases
wealth Is often hereditary, and descends from
father to son. Children who are born of rich
parents cannot be blamed for their condition,
and are much to be pitied, for that condition is
often very deplorable. The child born of rich
parents is likely to inherit weakened frame,
and scrofulous or otherwise diseased constitu-
ton. Luxury, Incidence, and excess-rich din
ners, late hours, and all fashionable designations
take from men and women the power of hav-
ing healthy offspring; and the child who rs born
with heritage of disease, has of necessity a
heritage of misery. Especially does the condi-
ton OF the mother influence that Of the child.
II mother is INDECENT, lying in bed or lounging
on the sofa during the period of gesation-or
if, as often happens the family physician pets,
and coddles, and pampers, and bleeds, and drugs
her through all this period, the child is sure to
be born with no proper muscular development,
no integrity of nerve, and too often it has some
bodily deformity. Every movement of the
mother seems reflected upon the child If she
lives temporarily, breathes pure air, and takes
daily exercise, her child is almost sure to be
strong and healthy
| The child OF the rich is pretty certain to be
badly treated in its infancy. The weakly mother,
with meddling physician and fussy nurse, ia
confined to her bed for weeks, and the babe falls
into the hands of careless, mercenary, and often
incorporate hirelngs. Either the weakly and
enervated mother has no milk, or she thinks it
vulgar to nurse her own child, and wet nurse
is sought for. She is taken out of the filth of
some Irish cabin. Her own child is left to die
of swill-mjlk, gin, tobacco, and paragorc. She
goes to the home of the rich babe, and there
gorges hersef upon the unaccustomed dainties
Of luxurious table, stiles herself and the babe
in bed ofdown drenches her nerves with strong
tea and coffee, and keeps all the time intoxicated
on beer or porter Can the milk Of a distillery-
fed COW be worse than the milk Of this PAM
pered nurse M
Can we wonder that such a child is sick and
suffering, cross and tormented! II quiet, it is
kept 30 on the porter drank by the nurse, or on
paragoric or Godfrey's cordial. II sick, as
such child must be, the family physician stands
ready with his castor oil his little dose of calo-
mel, his opiate, his lccches-and while the hardy
child Of the poor man is growing up in health
and strength, with well rounded muscles, and
rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes, the child born
to the of riches is too often pale, misera-
Bile, decrepd thing, which, if not cut off in in
fancy, struggles through.a series Of terrible d.
seases to nervous, hystercal, and suffering ma
, turity.
Often, by this system of wet nursing, the
child has double chance Of disease. There
Z are cases in which nurses with salt rheum, or
: going through course of mercury, have nursed
: ahaeren, when every drop of milk was poison,
! and the child has been saturated with disease,
struggled for a few months, and then died.
: | have scarcely begun these miseries of wealth
which commence with existence and 90 on to
: its close. There is no period in the life of the
rich in which their wealth is not positive ply
steal and moral disadvantage. To the poor boy
all the world is before him, and he can choose
his own career. To the rich there is no career
but the vapid one of doing nothing gracefully
no employment but the care Of his property,
which is continual vexation. The poor boy
; may be farmer, mechanician, an artist
teacher, or follow any of the professions. He
; has got living to get-a position to make
competence to acquire The rich boy has none
of these to look forward to. He has no spur,
no motive, no excitement, and his life is bur
then to. himself All annoyance to his friends, and
utterly useless to the world.