The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1877-11-29
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AND CURSE OF RICHES.
The Philadelphia Times furnishes the fo.-
lowing condensed statement OF the develop
ments in the Vanderbilt will case. 1t will
be remembered that of the 500, 900, 600
estimated wealth of the late Commodore
Vanderbilt, s95, 000,0 900 was left to his son
w. H. Vanderbilt. The other children are
sueing to break the will upon the grounds
of undue influences exerted over an alleged
defective mind. The Times says:
''At first sight one would think any such
contest would have but little foundation.
Commodore Vanderbilt was known to the
world as man of good physique, unusually
well balanced mind and average morals. No
one ever questioned his sanity, and he was
not accredited with many of the vices that
attach themselves so naturally TO the man of
fortune. But his death has put an entirely
new face on the matter. In order to get a
larger share Of his money it is necessary to
prove that he was knave or an imbecile, or
task that the children who contest his will
have undertaken. The family skeleton hid
den for quarter of century is drawn forth
and held up in all its hideous and unsus-
pected deformity to the gaze Of the world.
The story told by these children of their faith
er can only bedaub their fathers name with
infamy, expose their mother to Il pity that
must bring the blush of shame to their own
cheeks and involve the Whole family in the
contempt of all respectable society. The
vices charged against Commodore Wander
blt are those peculiar to the lowest grades
of humanity, and the accuser is his own
daughter. 1t is also proposed to prove that
he exposed his first wife to nameless igno-
minies at home and then drove her to
mad-house where he kept her until
its horrors drove her into the grave:
all this in order to give place to
an adventures, and that this adj
ventures being gotten out of the way, an
other was supplied by the eldest son, now
the residuary legatee, for the base purpose
of keeping watch upon the old man in the
matter of the disposition Of his money. 1t
is proposed also to prove that the second
marriage was another step in the conspi-
racy between this eldest son and others to
keep the Cemmodore's mind in subsection,
the second wife being beneficiary, and
that clairvoyants, free-lovers, spiritualists,
quacks, regular physicians, and lawyers were
used in one way or the other, each at price,
for the same general purposes. Was there
ever more disgraceful case before a court
of law? Whether the charges are true or
false, the whole business is offensive beyond
federation and ought to cover the name of
Vanderbilt with shame. There is no excuse
for a contest that involved such disclosure
right-minded people would have sacrificed
every cent they have in the world rather
than come before the public with it. Mrs.
LIE Bau and her brother might well have
taken 1.-THE of their portion rather than ex-
pose the skeleton, and William 81. Wander
bilt should have paid thrice the amount
rather than allow it to be exposed. 1t is as
bad as the Beecher filth.
''The affair serves, however, to impress
1CsSouS VI WItlCu ttiC WoIIu 10 CoutiIuoAiJ
reminded. although it never learns to profit
by them. Trite though they be they cannot
be too often repeated. Riches, however de-
sirable, never bring unalloyed happiness,
and too frequently crime and misery knaw
the heart that is covered by robes of the
finest texture. Somebody has said that the
Almighty shows his contempt for wealth by
the kind of people upon whom he bestows
it, and long before him wiser man said
that the love Of money is the root of all
evil. These. considerations and others in the
same vein that characterize the Scriptures
of all religions and the proverbs of all lands
will not be likely to cause anybody to desist
from the pursuit of riches, but they should,
in the light Of such examples as that Of the
Vanderbilts, make men avoid boarding for
the sake of boarding, or for the sake of
making thankless posterity rich in this
worlds goods. Wealth selfishly bestowed
is ever curse. What shall it profit man
If he gain the whole world and be pilloried
by his children as knavc not fit to
live? There is profit, however, to the law
yers, and noble group Of them have the
Vanderbilt case in hand.