The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-04-02
.srI.F.NADE MEN,

n .,..s..s. that the number of those who |
no,erty 10 distinction by their own
!. IN the number OF those who profit
.Ivs,,ases OF inherited wealth TO do
,b. same thing, at least 10 inc proportion OF
me hundred 10 one. We believe the proper
-, "a he much larger. Indeed, il is so rare
,h;,r 10 see man born to wealth, bursting
,,,ourh the letters Of selfndulgence, which
,be facility of gratifying the passions in early
youth is almost certain to impose, that when
ii does occur, il is regarded somewhat 10 the
light of miracle. All that the world has of
science, of literature, of the arts, of those
things which, taken in the aggregate, are called
civilization, it owes in by far the greater pro.
portion to men who have been born in IN.
humber walks Of life. There is another reason
ior this besides the impeachment offered by the
absence of the main stimulant to exer,ion in
the case of the wealthy. The poor are the
majority of the earth, by immense-almost
Uncomfortable odds. Admitting the abilities of
the two classes to be about the same, upon an
average, the presumption, nevertheless, is,
that under all circumstances the poor would
furnish the greater number of distinguished
men. When the inducements TO ideness, and
The absence of the great stimulant, necessity,
are taken into consideration, the chances in fa-
vor of the poorer classes are Overwhelmingly
great.
the result has been perfectly correspondent
with the cause. The history tf our own coun.
try, particularly, is in a very large degree the
history of the tolls, the labors, the sufferings,
the triumphs of men who have risen by their
own exertions. They are the men-ihey have
always been the men-they always will be the
1nen-who now shape-who have heretofore
shaped-who will shape,'in all time, the des-
TIMES Of this great republic. For dozen men
such as Carroll, Hancock, and Jefferson, who
were born with silver sp oons in their mouths,
you will find one hundred dozen who had no
advantages in youth, who raised themselves
by their own unaided exertions, WIN fought
their own battles, and made their own way to
emnence. If the inhertor of wealth occasion
ally overcomes the snares of his position and
seeks and finds distinction, az it should only
be sought, as most certainly il can only be
found, the occasions are exceedingly rare. If
q man ofgreat talents raise hirnselfby his own
exertions to wealth and distinction, it is the
rerest thing in the world TO hear of his descen-
dants following in his footsteps, even though
they he themselves men of talents. They al
most, without an exception, content them
seves with living under the vine and under the
6g.tree planted and watered by the industry
Of their fathers, speedily degenerate into that
class among whom Horace reckons the sui
tors Of Penelope-fugeS consumers maitland
allow whatever they may possess OF mind 10
be overruG by the weeds of sloth and selfish
ness. Nothing in this world, that is worth the
having, can be obtained without labor, and ii
is general rule that the severity of the labor
required is in exact proportion to the value OF
the object pursued. Independence, as it is the
greatest of all the blessings connected merely
with this world, so the desire of attaining unto
il is the most powerful stimulant to exertion.
The wealthy young man wants this stimulan,
entirely-the prize is already in his grasp
here is no occasion for him to labor for it. The
love of fame, that "last infrmity of noble
minds" alone remains, and though that is IN
Coubtedy strong stimulus, its strength bears
no comparison whatever with that the other
we commenced this article. We only meant
10 repeat the we'll known fact, that the world
is far more indebted 10 men of moderate for.
tunes, for the progress it has made, than to the
wealthy or the powerful. This is a truth Of
universal application. Even in aristocratic
England tits so. Her language and her ltera.
lure are the noblest since the days of Greece
and Rome. Suppose they had depended fol
their excellence, on the exeruons Of kings
mobiles, esquires, and wealthy men in general
What would they have been7 Look at Ho
race Walpole's catalogue royal and noble
authors, and judge for yourselves. See how
many there are among that aristocratic mob
whose names you ever head before. Read a
few OF their books, and see what the languages
and Literature of all Europe would have been
had their development depended on them
Thomas Moore, in his Journal lately pub.
iished by Lord John Russell, having diued
one day with the Marquis ofLansdowne, "Sat
between Lansdowne and Mac intosh. Talked
OF Fearon and Brkbeck. The singuzarity o
5ieo such men being produced out of the mid
die classes at the same time; proof Of the in
tetigeace nop spread through that rank ~
England. What it feiH END
IN God kaows." We deeply regretted to see
this wretched specimen of funkeyism in the
diary of Moore, man of so much genius ant
so many fine and manly qualities, and WI
were not sorry to discover that the editor Q
the Southern Literary Messenger had repub
lishsd the rebuke administered by the Londo
Times. In truth, we have seldom seen S
much arrant nonsense compressed into s.
small space. Whence did England deriv
everything that renders her great and glorious
but from the labors and the intellect of he
middle classes I Whence sprung her grea
poeis-her Spencers, her Shakspeares, he
Millions, her Drydens, her Popes, her Add
sans, her Crabbes-whence sprang her philos
ophers-her Bacons, her Rockers, her New
tons, her Lockes-whence sprang her host O
great prose writer's of fction-but from thes