Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-02-21
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"Gold! gold gold! goldI t
Bright and yellow, hard and cold, T
Molten, craven, hammer'd and rolfd, :
Heavy to get, and light to hold
Hoarded, barter'd, bought and sold, {
Stolen, borrowed. squander'd, doled /;
Spurned by the young. but hugg'd by the old,
To the very verge Of the church yard mould;
Prince of many a crime untold
Gold gold! gold gold!
How widely its agency vary
To saye-to ruin-to curse-to bless
As even its minted coins express
Now stamp'd with the image of Good Qeen Bess,
And now of a Bloody Mary"
Money is sought because of its power it
is one of the great evils of the day that
wealth is the basis of social and political
preference. We see it every day, and now
and then at the expense of common honesty
and virtue. The maxim
"Let money, money still
And let virtue follow-1 she 1
We hear it said of this man and of that
-" he has made money" and observed that
he at once becomes the golden calf of his fell
lows-they bow to him and do exceeding hom-
age. And it matters but little through what
degrees of dishonesty, corruption and even
crime he may have crept, in order to secure his
golden pile, he is none the less emulatedby a
hort sighted populace- is it ufici for them
to know that he has " made money" Do we
not see these jewelled lepers, male and female,
constantly recognized as the perfect models
of fashion and excellence? Are not their
splendid mansions and equipage counted as
a proper standard Of morals and intelligence
Is the man who has made money +" ever
set down by the people as a hopeless fonl
Is an heiress ever unpublished in her man
ners or deficient in brain or moral accom-
it is evident, that to make the possession o
money a basis Of social preference and
standard of intellectual worth, is to abuse
blessing even to the extent Of a fatal de
moralization of the community in which sucl
a false preference is suffered to exist.
King Solomon's Vows of money were IA
better than those entertained in modern
times. His maxims were-"A good name
rather to be chosen than great riches" An
9 happy is the man that indeth wisdom. an
tie man LDal geLLeln
the merchandise thereof is better than til
merchandise of silver, and the gain therec
than fine gold" He seemed to have know
that gold and silver became poisonous sting
in the hands that grasped after it.
Money has been called the wheel Of di
tribution-a medium of worth passing froi
hand to hand. In this way it meets ii
wants of the people; hence, the miser WI
cravenly boards it in a strong box mere
abuses it. The miser, no matter how hea,
J, his chest, is not rich. Co" per thought n
: when he apostrophised him
"They call thee rich. I deem thee poor,
Since if thou darest not use thy store,
But savest it only for thine heirs
t The treasure is not thine, but theirs"
The abuse of money is a positive wror
! upon the public. The abuses we have hintt
? at are demoralizing in their tendencies
} Money that is not a blessing to the multitu'
: is a curse to the individual possessor.
I becomes as fire in his hands. The miser
, hated. The rich man makes his wealth l.
, strong fortress of his life, and friends ami
9 around him to do homage. The envenom
: wasps gather DER the table where the me
; CONNECTIONS are to DO found.
! Man should be measured BY no 9th
' standard than what he is-let us not wei
: him with what he has. If the world adnr
. the money creed, let all who claim a high
: destiny than the brute. forsake the desecl
ting temples where the creed is applied a
the worship of gold given, and 20 to a 7
: rrr shrine where intelligence, wisdom a
truth abounds. y
IF