Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-01-19
A word Abou, rlIch peoplo.

exceptions, for now and then people
do become rich by lucky or even
by dishonest "hits ~ nevertheless
money Is the main representative.
Show me man who has made flfty
thousand pounds, and ] will show
you In that man an equivalent of
energy, attention to detail. trust
worthiness, ,punctuality, professional
knowledge, good address, common
sense, and other marketable quail
titles. The farmer respects his vel.
low sovereign not unnaturally, for
IL declares with all the solemnity Of
a sealed and stamped document that
for certain length of time he rose
at O'Clock each morning TO oversee
his laborers, that he patiently waited
upon seasonabie weather, that he
understood buying and selling. To
the medical man, his fee serves as a
medal to indicate that he was brave
enough to face smallpox and other
infectious diseases, and his 9hifre-
spect is fostered thereby. The bar
rister's brief Is marked with the
price of his legal knowledge, OF his
eloquence, or Of his brave endurance
during a period of hope-doferred
briefiessnesS.
Occasionally there are cast up I'm
our social circle rich folks in an un-
happy state Of cynlcism. They are
at a loss what to do with their
money. In making their will they
demonstrate all sorts Of whimsical
ties, passing over any recognition OF
their oldest and most deserving
friends, and leaving their means In
some odd fashion which everybody
laughs at. In such instances IL Is
curious to note the anguish they ex-
perience in being asked to assist in
charitable contributions. In DIR.
Guthrie's Autobiography there ia n
good illustration of this unhappy
state of cynicism into which the
rich are prone to fall. There he re-
lateS how, in a winter OF extraOrdi-
nary severity, he made an appeal to
a lady who had succeeded to a pro-
digious fortune, on behalf of the
starving poor Of his parish. In do
Ing so he had no very sanguine hope
Of success. On being ushered into
her room, she turned round, and
showing her thin, spare figure, and
a face that looked as If il might have
been cut out of mahogany, grinned
and said: 81 am sorry TO see We.
What do you want? 1 suppose you
are here seeking siller?" "1heVery
thing / came for" was the doctors
rank reply. Her next remark de-
how little power her
riches had of comforting happiness
and with all her wealth Of flatterers
what a poor, lonely, desolate, mise
-able creature this possessor OF moro
han million sterling was. "And,"
,he said, "there Is nobody comes TO
'ee me or seek me, but It's money,
he money, they are after" We
lre glad to be able to state that this
old lady gave 20 DIR.
iuthrie fifty pounds for the poor
IN act which we hope shed a CLEAN
# sunshine into her dark life.
1t comes pretty much to this, that
With riches there are sundry draw
Iacks, and that rich people are some
lines as much to be pitied as envied.
All know the sharp penalties eX-
Icted by nature from those whose
Dnly business In life Is the pursuit of
merely personal qualifications.
Wealth gives Importance and salts
action only i'm proportion To it, being
to a useful purpose.
Jnhappily, as has been said, there
re miserable rich people but their
Misery is due to themselves. They
AVE failed to see the vast capacities
or doing good with which they have
,een charged. a wealthy person
Who spends the bulk Of his time I'm
he cruelties of pigeon shooting, or
n some other "spOrt" connected
With the coarse, wholesale destruc-
Ion of innocent creatures, can be
allied neither great nor n good
nan. At best, we can only estimate
Inn rs an accomplished psnic-
.eeper.
Luckily, and influenced by the
vide expansion of modern ideas, the
ich, in the main, rise above paltry
There i obviously
n immense outgrowth in the gene
al distribution of wealth. In innu-
nerable cases the rich have diff
ulty i'm determining how 10 spend
aOney In a way that will prove ben
fetal. The question, "I0whom or
D what cause shall / contribute
loney?" must be a very anxious
ne to conscientious men Of wealth.
How are we to MEASURE" we may
oppose rich men to ask, "the rela-
i've utility Of charities? ? And then
olitlcal economists are down upon
$ If by mistake we help those who
night have helped themselves. lt
, easy to talk against our eXtrava-
ance; tell us rather how TO spend
money as become Christians" that
J to say, for the greatest good Of the
reatest number. The fact IL, riches
aust now be considered by all good
len as "A distinct profession, with
no less Onerous than
hose Of other professions. And this
cry difficult business ought 10 be
earned by studying social science,
nd otherwise with as much care NJ
he professions of divinity, law and
nedicine are learned. Were the
ich i'm this way to accept and pre-
are themselves for the duties Of
heir high calling, no one would
because In the nature Of
hings money tends continually To-
al into the hands Of "A few large
capitalists.
The value Of riches, then, depends
n the use that Is made of them.
10 doubt, as hinted at, they are
ften abused by the thoughtless, the
issolute. But look AT the many
rand results Of properly enjoyed
,ealth! Consider what Is daily be-
lg effected In our own country alone
Y the beneflcence Of wealthy indi-
iduals. What number OF charities
what churches built,
that schools set ON foot, what vast
Enterprises Of a useful kind entered
ltO for the general benefit OF society.
IN these considerations, how absurd
] that silly defamation against the
Of riches, In which GER
ain orders Of persons arc indisereetly
leased to indulge.
--=---~--a -
TODrive Away Rats.
A lady writer in a recent number
( a New York journal discOurses Ia