Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1863-03-11
Worth of Money.

We hear good deal about the worth
of property. A house is worth ten thou
sand dollars that lot is worth FIVE thou
sand dollars farm is worth eight thou
sand, horse three hundred, a carriage
hve hundred, and so on endlessly. This
IS all very well in its way. But ought not
| the question, sometimes, to be put the
other way, how much is a mans nlonsy
gorth There is a wider range in the val
ue of money than most persons think
And, upon a little inquiry, suspect that
it will be found that all persons who pos
sess money, or who long to possess it, have
way of measuring it, not by dollars, but
by its valne in some sort of pleasure or
article.
One man earns thousand dollars, and
says to himself. there, that puts me one
step out of debt Money to him is a
means of personal liberty. A man IN
debt Is not freeman THE borrower IS
servant to the lender" -L
Another man sees in thousand dollars
a snug little homestead, a home for his
| children, shelter to his old age, a place
| to live in, and good place to die in
But his neighbor only sees one more link
in the golden chain OF wealth. 1t was on
" tbirty-nine thousand last month, he is
worth forty this. And his Joy is in the
growing numerals. He imagines how it
will sound, full, round and hearty, when
men say, she is worth hundred thou
sand dollars" Nay, when it comes to
that, he thinks FIVE better sound than
one, and five hundred thousand dollars is
a sound most musical to his ear,-though
he loves even better yet to call itohalf q
million The word million cuts. a great
swath in mems imaginations. All this es-
innate of money is sheer ambition
The man is vain He thinks
much of himself on account of money,
not of character. 4 man who IS openly
proud Of money i secretly contemptuous
of those who have none.
Another man wishes to see the world.
Every dollar means travel Athousand
dollars means Europe. Two thousand
dollars mean Egypt, Palestine and Greece.
Boys dealing in small sums reckon the
same way. A penny means stick OF
candy; sixpence IS but another term for
ball /; shilling means a kite, andhfty cents
a jack-knife. .-s--
The young Crack sees in his money a
skeleton wagon, and fast nag, Fousing
trot, a Jolly drink. Rnda smashing party.
But many and many a weary soul sees
in every shilling bread, rent, fuel, clothes.
There be thousands who hold on to virtue
by bands of dollars; a few more save
them; few less, and they are lost
Their gayer sisters see feathered hats and
royal silks in their money, or rather in
their fathers and their husbands.
The poor scholar passes daily by the
stall where books tempt his poverty
Poor clothes he is content to wear; plain
and.eyen meagre diet he is willing to sub
sist upon; and as for all the gay dissipa-
tations and extrayagant wastesO of fashion,
able life, he looks upon them without ev-
en- understanding what they mean, as a
child looks upon the milky way in the
heavens, a glowing band of far-away and
unexplored wonders. But D, those books!
He looks longingly at morning he peers
ut them with a gentle eOyetousness at
night. He imagines new devices for earn
ing few dollars. He ponders whether
there IS not some new economy which
can save few shillings- And when good
luck at last brings score Of dollars to
him. with what fervor of haste does he
get rid of them, fairly running to the
stall and fearing at every step, lest some
fortunate man should have seized the
prize. Wasteful man! that night saw too
much oil burnt out in pOring over the Joy
ful treasure. Books are what his money
IS worth. But Others see different visions.
Money means flowers to them. New ros-
as, the latest dahlia, the new eamelia, or
others Of the great houriband of flowers
hat fill the florists paradise-the garden,
Some men see engravings in money;
some pictures some, rare copies of old
books some curious missais. others,
when you say money, think of fruit trees,
Of shrubbery, and arboFetums, and pine
lums, and fraticetums. And we have
reason to believe that there are somepOoF
wretches who, not content with any one
see pretty much all these things
by turns.
But there are nobler sights than these
to be seen. through the golden lens of
wealth father and mother placed in
comfort in their old age; young man
helped through college or established in
business; friend extricated from ruin;
poor woman saved from beggary, and made
suppliant before God for mercies on your
head, every day that she lives; the sick
and unfortunate succored, the orphan ed
ucated, the school founded, the village
lined with shade-trees, free library es-
and thousand such like things.
A man is not to lie known by hour much
money he has, but by what that money is
worth to him. If it is worth only selfish
ness, meanness, stingyness, vanity, and
naughty state, man is not rich if he own
, million dollars. If it mean generosity,
public spirit, social comfort and refine
nent, then he is rich on few hundred.
You must put your hand in a mans heart
to find out how much he is worth, not in
to his pocket.
Curious Remains.