Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-08-08
H cnRsE OF RICHES

When we look around and see the reckless
squandering ofproperty, and the deep indulgence
in dissipation by young men, who, on reaching
their majority take possession of large estates,
we are more and more convinced of the unwise,
though universal, disposition of parents to heap
up riches for the enjoyment of their offs 2ring.-I
Fathers will delve day and night, deny them
selves the comforts of life, and undergo all man
ner of privations, in order that their sons and
daughters may step forth upon the arena of life
with the self-importance Of erich young gentle
men and ladies little thinking they are lay
ing the groundwork for their ehildren's e~verlast-
ing infamy and overthrow. Let the reader cast
his eye back for twenty years, and how many
who have possessed the advantages of wealth on
arriving at manhood, have ever made distin-
guished statesmen, eminent professional men, or
commendable patterns in society," Such young
persons are thrown into the giddy whirlpool of
fashionable excitement and dissipation-the bot
tie and the gaming table are their constant COM
panions-unprineipled and designing men be-
come their fatterers and sycophants, and ere
they are aware, they are stripped of their rich
e5 deserted by the vampires that leech-like
stuck closely to them for the blood they extract
ed, and they are-left helpless, hopeless upon the
world, receiving as they deserve. the jibes, seorn
and neglect of those very ones who have led
them on to ruin. Obi in such an hour, how
they curse their riches-curse the misjudged
policy of their ancestors which has brought this
ruin upon thefni Had they been turned loose
upon the world, with a good education-with a
heart buoyed up by a sense Of their mental SUI
periority, genius and power, they might now
have held listening Senates charmed, and carved
their names high in the proud temple of fame
and usefulness. But alasi now, who SO low as
do them reverence7 Such an one NAV excite
the pity Of those who sympathize with the un-
fortunate, but who can extract the poisoned ar
row of remorse which is singing him to the
deathi Hox frequently does the weapon Of the
suicide close the scene, or the grave cover the
bloated wreck Of him, who in a few years has
squandered the hard earnings of honest indus
try, sunk himself lower than the brute creation,
and descended those dark vaults where hope
never comes. Verify riches is a curse Rejoice,
Oh! young man of energy and talent, that you
are not numbered with it. By ~well-applied
means, you may become a public benefaetor, and
the world be the better by your having lived in
it; but had the luxury of wealth been your in
heritance, you might have been a curse to your
country and a foul blot upon the character of
man.
How sensible the ejaculation" give me nei-
ther poverty or riches "-but of the two, to the
young man wishing a respectable position in So
ciety, the former is far preferable for while
the one chills and freezes, it may be overcome
BY determination and q strong purpose to sue
ceed;-yet the other stupefes into a dull, supine
l%nertness, which is made only the more helpless
by being bereft of the only stay upon which it
relied for support. JUVENILE had a maxim,
which reads: We do not commonly find men
of common sense amongst the highest fortune"