The dollar weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1862-1864, 1864-02-11
Smart Men.

| In common parlance the man who gets
rich by series Of operations bordering so
closely upon fraud that the distinction be-
tween the two is legal rather than a M or
al difference, is called a smart man. He is
admired for his adroitness and envied for
his success. But. as a general rule, wealth
is OF no real use to individuals OF this class.
Their enjoyment consists m ainly in the pro
cess Of accumu lation. not in the result. To
out-geDeral, out-wit and hood wink their
fellow men is their darling employment.
and the questionable celebrity thus obtain
is one OF their greatest .uxuries. They are
proud, too, of their reputation for superior
shrewdness; and the sort of worship which
people OF grovelliug instinct record to prop
erty, irrespective of the manner in which il
is amassed. gives them a sense of impor-
lance which is doubtless very agreeable
They do not apply TO themselves the moral
standard by which conscientious men mea-
sure their acts and motives, but are content
to take the opinion OF weak and despicable
money -worshippers as the true estimate of
their character and position.
Such individuals are, we suppose, happy
TN their t0ay. So are the lower amin ais.
snake in the act of fascinating its prev.
or basking In the sunshine after having
gorged it. feels all that snake can feel Of
pleasure. But happiness is of different
qualities. The higher the moral and intel
lectual aspirations of the man, the more
exalted and intense his sense of enjoy
Does anybody suppose that Elves, the mis-
er. experienced. in counting his gold and
chucklins over its possession. sensations as
delicious as those of Howard while minis
tering to the sick and destitute; or that the
exultation of SPECTATOR. after having made
million of dollars by forcing a rise in a
particular stock, is comparable to that of
Calico when he had solved the problem of
the EaIth's motion, or of Coum bus when
be oeheld from the deck Of his caraval the
shores of the New World?"
A time comes to all men, smart or simple
when the near approach of the unknown fu- |
ture compels a review of the irrevocable /
past When all temporal hopes are al an |
end, memory asserts itself with wonderful
power, and II it presents nothing better than |
a long record of sordid scheming, a career
OF success founded on deception and tergiv- |
ersatlon, the selfish satisfaction of years will
seem to the smart man but a miserable /
equivalent for the stings of remorse which /
a single hours reflection will cause to ran
kle IN his soul. Such smartness does not
pay. The desire to accumulate property is
a Wholesome desire, if it be regulated by
Inc laws OF honor and tempered by the
charities of life. Otherwise it is CURSE
DE who arrives at the limits CT human ex-
stence with millions in his exche9uer, but
with black balance against him in the
book of the Recording Angel, dies a moral
oauPer, and were it permitted him to speak
rom the marble purchased by his ill-gotten
gold. he would contradict his own obituary
notices. and tell the world that
Even here, upon this bank and shoal of time.,,
o say nothing of the life to come, there can
'e no elevated happiness without honesty
u purpose, and a faithful adherence to the
last and greatest commandment" There
S nothing in the world more true than that
smart knave is essentiaIly-both as re-
poets this life md the next--an arraut fool.