Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1857-04-17
DYING RICH.

| An active business man is rationa
man, and great blessing to the commu
t uity. Ho keeps in exercise the talent
confded to him, making them blessing
to himself, and source of good to thos
By whom he is daily surrounded He fur
nishes employment to the Industrious
which is far better than bestowing aim.
upon the unemployed. Herein are the ls
gitinate and rational results Of active bust
ness pursuits and wealth getting-,he EN-.
ployment of the qualification of the active
powers, and the reward of industry. But
the savish toll of accumulation merely for
the sake Of possession-the lust of cupid
ity-the remOrseless desire of growing rich
solely or principally to die rich, is one of
the most foolish and dsbasing intentions
which find lodgment in the heart Of man,
What can praise, if praise i: be, have to
do with 'thc dull, cold ear of death ? Wba,
can it profit one, when he is lower and
more insensibls than the sod to have it
sounded above him, "How rich he died 2"
Experience has fully and smphatieally
taught the lesson, that much wealth left
to heirs is, in eight times out Of ten, not
blessing, but rather curse. Its expeca-
tiOn bcguies and Spoils the manly powers;
its possession leads to mis- judgement, to
excess, and finally to exhaustion and ruin.
Wealth is dangerous to all men, but espe
cially to those who acquire it by irheri-
tance, and consequently without having
sustained the toll or secured the maturity
of character that was necessary for its ac-
quisition. The time will Jet come when
men Of wealth will be wise enough to
make gradual distribution of their pro-
perty while l.v,ng-not prospective, bat
operative-thereby having an eye to the
use that is made of it, and participation
in the greatest enjoyment its possession is
capable of giving, that of seeing it do good
to others. They will dismiss the foolish
aspiration-fo foolish, especially in this eoun-
try, where there are neither laws of pri-
mogenituro or entail, by which a success
sion of family millionaires may be kept
up-of dying rich, with the certain rsfee-
ton that the heirs will sooner or later die
poor IT, LV..V"~l but energetic Ian.
cuage on this subject: "After hypocri:es,
the greatest dupes the devil has are those
who exhaust an ANXIOUS existence in the
ve1ations and disappointments of business,
and live meanly and misery only to die
magnificent and rich"
For, like the hypocrite, the only disin-
tcrested motive these men can accuse them
selves of is that Of serving the devil with
out receiving lis wages ; for the assumed
morality of the one is not more etfectual
bar to enjoyment than the real avariee Of
the other. lie who stands every day at
the ledger ill be drops into the grave,ma
negotiate many profitable bargains; but
he has made single bad one, indeed, that
more than counterbaanccs all the rest for
the empty foolery of dying rich, he has
laid down his health, Lis happiness, and
his integrity since, as very old author
observes, "mOrtar sticketh between buying
and selling Enterprise and activity in
business, and passion for honest money
getting are good things in the world, snd
he who uses his talents and capital in this
way is a benefactor to his racs-but he
who does all this for the sake Of dying rich,
is a-not a wise man in any way.