The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-12-05
uETRoPoLIT4N MUSINGS.
An Eplstle % piyes.

Ny DEAR DIVES You and are ou iilchusI pcfhaPn
because we are in the matter OF money, oppostss--a
common matter of monial occurrence You have been
y,ry badly treated Notwithstanding your large wealth,
indeed should rather say because Of it and old
.,nuaintance who has never sought Eyors from you
tt the liberty to send you few words Of comfort and
limitation You are rich, Dives, very rich all the
lsnts turn themselves into gold for your golfers the
s,st prares are strewed all with nuggets which
are sacredy reserved for your mint the boiling waves
hiring YOU fine cargoesthe trees are laden with fruits
bicb In your hands become precious us the apples
adhered by Aladdin in the OF the Genii-the deep
gooes Of the earth all crowded with metals which |
y, realizing the old dream of Alchemy have the power
Of transmitting into gold My friend are SO good
hted YOU will surely pardon garruous Old fellow Tor
Linz the liberty Of frankness you generally enyied
a., nity YOU However liberal and conscientious you
nav he still think there must be am overwhelming and
,ocsa.np Presence around you which, seeming to be-
,os spdibls must be uttering in your the
"a rasnonsibiity You know, well as do, that
no Limits of your enjoyment very narrow. that
tto tronbles OF lfe under the best outward cir
stanees are very many. Ii, In addition to my
H. ,~iyate trials, there should be placed upon my
sborliers the weight OF fortune, think 1t would
crusb me- Houses and lands servants and car
apes are very fine things, and confess that should
OCCASIONALLY be very happy to use some OF your advantages
in sucb matters But when the houses nhabit u.s. and
tbs land buries us alive, AID the horses dive us. and
he servants bully u.s. Dives would rather like Sancho
p0nya be again poor Middle aged Man. am afraid it
m hardly seem respectful to say it, but there some
,b men fof course you are not Of that kind who
.a.m 10 Justify the following definition MmMoSARE
human machine for facilitating commercial exchanges.
They live e labor long, and lust only for money Do
not however for moment, imagine that am about
;. ,n the chorus Of fallacy which the unthinkng
continually shouting in depreciation of wealth. AS
d at the outset think you have been badly treated
particularly in this that You and your class are never
credited with the respect you deserve for your charities
If Won give large of money to any benevolent en-
,nre YOU are invariably charged with ostentation,
and reproached for not discussing your benevolence in
ssparats4 xpences to individual applicants it, feeling
the uncertainty Of all human things and especially the
danger that the largest fortune may not outlast your
u Won choose to reserve your beeacons till you die
people will be to say you gave it not because
Won loved God OF man, but that you dreaded the
devil Now advise you to have nothing to do
with sixpenny charities people who beg are, nine hun
drei and ninety-nine times out of thousand mposers
In the other matter, think you generally make mis-
take and as in the long list of familiar instances the
wealth you intend for charity goes into the pockets of the
legal fraternity know you are not sufficiently appre
GATED or rather that the good deeds of riches
looked When Burke declared of London that I" the
spres Of her charities averted the lightning of Heaven
from her crimes he might have added, that in the
count current Of the credit to charity
much greater than the debit to crime for while benev
oence is always indebted to money the wrong doing is
pretty equally divided amongst all classes. know you
have many engagements and do not want to be bored by
long homily but permit to add that have lying
close to my hand two Volumes each of which contains
lesson for YOU The first is book written in the Peshito
Syrao vernaoular Of which very tolerabe translation
was made in the reign of James the First of England 1t
can be obtained at moderate cost at any of the book
stores aud dare say you remember to have it when
we were both boys and when In the absence of those
social distinctions which have since separated u.s.
times backened your eyes, and you used to tear my
clothing CHANGING to open out a particular portion
of that volume, my attention was drawn to the mar
ratve by the prominent and repeated appearance Of
YOUR name and reading on found very interesting
htionan allegoryof of the consequences Of the
neglect Of his obligations which befc your namesake in
place which shall be nameess. often think OF you in
connection with that parable and when pass the streets
which separate my humble abode from your arstocratc
neighborlood fancy encounter that Lazarus
every corner; sometimes he to have gone back
ward and his the ulcers Of childhood i know
you kndhearted for you used to divide your dinner
with me when we were younger and you never ate an
apple without profering lin boy parlance' the
first bite " am told you do give the crumbs of yonr
table to my poor friend Lazarus but my dear friend
do make your servants shake the cloth for him little
vigorously better give him good solid slice
from your own loaf. The other volume mentioned is
fine folio copy of Chaucer in which have just found
passage, which think may furnish you admirably
practical rules fer your government and the book is
rare will copy passage sin gettcn riches We mustcn
fee dleness and afterwards 10 the riches which We
have geten by you're wit and by you're travail, in
such that men hold you not too scarce
to sparing, fool large, that is to say over
large spender; for right blamcn an
ayaritious because of his scarcity and chincery
in the wise he is TO blame that spendeth large
ly In getten of your riches, and in of EN-, you
hulen always have three things in you're heart that is
to say, our Lord God Conscience, and Good Name Ye
hulen have God in you're heart and for no riches ye
shulen do nothing which may in any manner dsplease
God who is your Creator and Maker And Cassiodore
saith it ia a sign of gentle heart when loveth
aad desireth to have good namel" To which have
only to add my dear sir that, for many years you
have enjoyed the peasuabe excitement Of accumulation
nowI would advise tle peaceful but as
pleasant sensation of doing good with the means which
the Almighty has only loaned you your trading phrase
has it, ION call.
remain, very truly and sincerely your friend, the
MIDDLE-AGED MAN.