New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-01-24


In oil The literature Of law there is nothing more
strangely interesting than the consistoral reports
| in which are detailed the wh:ms, eccentrictles
alterations and insauities of testators, spread
on 10 the world with sremOTselessress which no,h-
il less than the eager ayarice of sqnabolIng hers
could permit Those wh'se jaied pilates con-
| tiIUa,ly burger for what is called Il" sensation
literature, VIII find in the fifty volumes Of English
Ecce sias;ica c4ses, eryngoes enough to fire their
sullen blood. The morbid Imagination Of Swift ex-
! hersted 5 tf sweltering venom in G5elOusly be-
fulipr humanity; but the hideOus sneers of the
Dea1 Of st. Patrick are c1mplaisance itself IN COM
PARTON with With the cold and naked revelations of
geskutss snd of witlessness which these books
contain. and which Sir William Scott, a man Of
lost lucid intellect plays with and dssects with the
| satisfaction Of dcxterOus surgeon. We have mad
ness With method and Madness without it; we have
! the most wonderful tumble Of whims, crotchets and
conceits; money left to cas- and to parrots, and,
in the last feeble malice Of dwelling revenge, to
hospital; we have forged wills, and wills extorted
BY yuture flock from second childisbness; we
have fearful exhibitions Of human self,hness, and
| still more fearful exposures Of the teDacty with
which, upon the very brink of the grave with the
gloIjes or the goOms Of eternity bursting upon the
view, sriIity has chung to the perishaole posses
SONS of earth. Nor are such cases confined to
England albeit tie whimsicaity of English will
makers is proyeIbial 1t was only yesterday that
we recorded case occurring in this city, in which
,nsn so crazy that il was necessary sometimes for
| the mid. servant to knock him down, was kindly
cared for by two emit rprsiog widows, who received,
Of course bequest Of all his estate, real, personal
and mixed 1t is in this way that the faint of misuse
which continually attaches to possession is rendered
still more Doisome by final misappropriaton. 1t
would be ess repulsiye to our ideas of equity if he
who through Q long life had monOpOlized wealth and
whose purse had been plelb)ric because the purses
of his neighbors were haccid could be compelled to
make the only reparatOn in his power aud to divide
with sound Judgment that which had been gathered
together possibly without honesty, and probably
without generosity. Bat ss society is at present
constituted and With the theory of succession which
now prevails, We Can only hope for tOcrable WIS.,
dom in the management Of their estates from those
who are sill living, satisfied if they spare the world
the Influence Of an evil example, and content them
selves with doing as little wrong as possible. If
| there must be inequalities in the distribution OF
property, surely we have right to demand that
large opportunities shall bring commemorate per-
f,Imance, AID that the capital thus accumulated
shall no; be employed in dcbsuchDg the moral sense
| of those who have been originally defrauded.
The subject Of reckless social expenditure in this
city has recently eDgrossed the public attention, and
/ L l. Lin. al 1ua
| it could hardly have been otherwise. We need not
| enter the palatal residences of the a?enues; We
Feed no. ntrude upon the privacy of the household;
we need not reckon the TuinOus cost Of upholstery
and of furniture, of troops of menialS, OF loaded
tables, and Of well.stocked wine.bins, to form an
| idea of the verse than waste of money which is
| going on in this metropolis. Fashion haunts her
gaudy ensign il our faces as We walk the streets,
| and peers at us through the windows of the car
risges luxury loads the counters Of our tradesmen
with heaped.up temptations to squander; more
than half the goods which are exposed for sale are
utterly useless and the statistics of the Custom
House show into what channels the public wealth is
| lowing, never TO return. The humblest pedestrian
On Broadway, safe in the impersonahy of his pov.
erty, brushes by silks and furs and jewels N a
sin lie Lour Of value sufficient to found hospital or
a college; the poorest wOrshiper in Trinity is of.en
enough reminded that the parish has not laid up all
its treasures in heaven; and the opera if we may
| mention it in this sacred connectoI-is not behind
| tie church in giving evidence of prodigallty. We
bear of homes newly furnished at cost of 800 900,
Ill which il is not possible TO live upon lees than
$25, eco per snnum; we bear Of entertainments, the
cost of which is reckOned BY thousands; We hear
Of bridas, at which the torch Of Hymen burns at
IN expense frightful TO compute; aud We suppose
| that RESI- able man or weman can hardly get
buried IN fashionable cemetery for trihe.
Now there are two considerations which ought
to be presented, aud which We suppose We may
present without being charged with le7eliGg pro.
pelsites. The rich in the first place, owe duty
| 10 Themselves. Rich or poor, living in brown
stone house or in a cellar, naked or clothed with
the fabrics of Eastern looms, starving or suited,
We are all beings accountable, lot ony to each
other but each to himself or 10 herseG, for the use
| of cur faculties and endOwments. II s not The
mere peculiarly bankruptcy which so often follows
reckless living; it is not the unavoidable tempta-
ton TO sill which accompanies love Of display; it
is he utter insolvency 81 mind and heart against
which We wculd most solemnly protest. When
Ne think what life SHOULD be; when We estimate
the possibility Of human culture; when We reckon
how great is u .esustsined, well b iance a aud We.
Iacious nature, with what mingled feelings Of sOr-
row ard disgust Go We regard this devotion to "trip
| IeIts and 70 foes, TO childish yanites snd vulgar
qualifications Placed here 70 do work which
| 10 man can b1 arf pn.siblitY do for q with un-