Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1872-07-20
RINGS AND RAsCALITY.


In these days of sham and shoddy.
of rings and rascalty, of sharpers and
swindlers, when honesty il almost
Knocked at as an evidence of weakness
and fOlly-it may be we'll at such a
time for the Southern people to reflect
upon what they have been and not to
disgrace their ancestry.
Before the unnatural war waged
upon us by the enemies of the Consti-
tuition, the South was distinguished for
infexible and undertaking integrity.
There were but few large cities and
towns, the mass of the population was
in the country and possessed the sturdy
honesty which usually characteri2es
independent farmers. The corruptions
| incident to fetid commercial centres
did not extend to the South. The am
bilious sought distinction in public
life, and not in money-getting. Hence,
the greed of gain was not a marked
Southern vice, andswindling combina-
tions by capitalists were almost entire
ly unknown.
But the result of the war was not
merely poverty, but political ostracism
also. The old arena for the aspiring
was closed. Hopeless of distinction
in public life, the ambitious sought it
in wealth. Hence, money has got to
be looked upon as the supreme good
at the South as it always has been at
the North; Hence, ourpeople are also
getting to be sharp in forming rings
and combinations, and the greed for
money may yield at last plentiful
harvest of Jim Fisks. The lesson
taught by the life and death of the
New York sharper is very impressive
at this time. Henry Ward Beecher
presented it with great power in his
Boston lecture, and while we have no
respect for the Brooklyn preacher, we
copy a part of his address for the NOR
al it contains:
! have buried four generations oi
men from Wall street in twenty-five
lyears. Wall street is dunghill o1
mushrooms. There is vast growth
of men in every single year, and every
year they are trampled down in hosts
| know but one or two men in that pc.
riod who have been able to make per.
manent gains and hold their gains
And they didn't do it by speculation
they added other means of accumu.
lation, which were the foundation oi
their stability, and | believe that al
the men there are trying to be rich il
uncanny ways and trying to be rich
without paying for what they get-they
are rushing on to destruction. Other,
lnav lnol upnn fhoua 0raat ,norvolnu,
and sudden changes that have taker
place in New York with ridicule.
feel in looking upon them as solemn a,
a .iudgment-day. | have for years been
urging the young men in my church
not to envy the riches of men that
, came not by honest means. | have
again and again prophesied that tn,
day should come that would see then
overwhelmed and ruined. | though
it could not come so soon.
Where now are the men cnsconcct
behind inexpugnablc walls? Scattered
shorn, odious, their households lik,
Niobc weeping and they disgraccd, anC
paralyzcd and cast utterly out of soci
ETY.; the men that were destroying the
integrity of the young, they are a,
Sodom and Gomorrah. And | say tC
the young men that had been partl!
blessed from their integrity, Looi
upon these men, and see how surely
iniduitous gain brings down run ant
disgrace upon their heads"
= OF Jim Fisk, Mr.. Bcccher said:
And that supreme mounlebank o
fortune tho astounding event of thi
Iage-that man with some smartncs,
in business, but absolutely withou
moral sense and as absolutely devoiC
of shame a. the desert of Sahara is o
grass-that this man, with one leap
should have vaulted to the very SUNNI
of power in New York, and for sever
to ten years should have held tn,
the courts in his hands, and the Lcgis
) lature and the most cOnSummatc in
vested interest of the land in hi'
hands an laughed at England, anC
urhod at New York, and matchc,
himself against the financial skill of t
whole city, and out-witted the whole
and rode ont to this hour in glarin.
and prosperity shameless
vicious, criminal, abominablo in hi
lusts and flgrant in his violation o
public dccency-that this man shoul,
have been the supremcst there, an,
yet in an instant, by the hand of a fel
low -culprit, Gods providence strucl
him to the ground And ! am sorr!
, for him. | cannot see a follow beini
20 down-though he has been wickcC
and though he has wrought sorrow IL
every way--l cannot see the ruin of q
man for whom God gave his Son, an'
T. not feel pang in my heart. And yc
I'll say To every young man who hai
looked upon this glaring meteor anC
seen his course of prosperity ant
thought that perhaps integrity was no
9 so necessary, Mark the end of tn,
= wicked man and turn back again Il
the WAYS Of integrity. 1t is right io
you to be rich if YOU don thartor YOU
manhood for il. 1t is right for you t.
be rich, and YOU may be joyful there
in YOU don't lose your conscience
or your power with God. But re
member in seeking your riches ncyc
. lose manhood, for the existence ofiha
/ is the only thing which will make you
I riches blessing and carry a perma
! : nent and abiding influence with them
, Hercis theastoundingstntcmeut mad
by Mr. BeCchCr, that in the shor