The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1878-12-05
The Drawbacks Of Riches.

Some recent occurrences in this city
| point more strongly than any hOmily
could to the Inconvenience of great
possessions. Perhaps i'm the mad rush
| for wealth which engages the energies
of most men, some will stop and bless
themselves that they will leave no
riches behind them for heirs To quarrel
over, no estate on which black-mail
may he levied, no inducement for
graveyard ghOuls To disturb his poor
remains when they have once been
buried. For it seems that the inge-
nuity Of man is not exhausted in at
tempts to plunder his estate while he
lives. As soon as he dies, all sorts of
impudent claimants spring up TO
snatch at the riches which he can no
longer defend. Even in his grave he
is not allowed to rest, literally or
liguratively, his memory is blackened,
his fOibles are dragged out and eX-
posed to the public gaze, and his body
is stolen from its Sepulchre, in hopes
of large ransom being offered for it.
We who are not burdened with great
riches may console ourselves that we
shall not leave property so vast as to
tempt the cUpidity of presumptiYe
heirs and adventures, nor so be-
queathed that legatee may he expect
ed to pay rOundly for the stolen body
of the testatOr. Though one may not,
in his life, possess much goods. he may
die without being haTassed by the
thought that Tapacity will pursue him
beyond the grave.
"The Vanderbilt will case" as it is
called, is one of the great scandals of
the time. The robbery of the grave
of A. Il. Stewart is one of the most Of
fenSiVe crimes which has ever shocked
humanity. Had Vanderbilt or Stew
art died poor, neither of these shocking
revelations of greed. yulgarity, and Gu
pidity could have been made. Had
these men not left behind them the
curse of great wealth, the roofs would
not have been lifted from some private
homes in this city, the helpless dead
might have mOldered into dust with
out disturbance. Ii is not that the
dead care, but that the living suffer by
these post mOrtem turmOils. 1t is vain
for us to project our thoughts into the |
vague unseen world and wonder what |
the dead man knows or thinks of the |
prOdigiOus scandal which starts up |
when his grave is covered. 1t is fu- |
tile for us to ask how the disembOdied |
spirit regards the rifiing of his tomb. |
But we who live are likely to think |
that death would have for US new ter
rOrs if we could know that the inmOst |
privacy of our lives should some day |
be blazOned in the newspapers, or our |
frail tenement of clay, when we have |
done with it, should be pilfered, haul |
ed about, and treated as a peculiar |
bOOty-OifensiYe but valuable. 1t is |
better to die poor than TO die beSet by |
horrible visions of what has happened |
TO the memory and mortal remains of |
rich dead men.
And it happens, too, that in many |
instances the plots and cOnspiracleS |
against a rich mans estate, which |
thicken when he is not alive to defend
it, are only combinations of plots and
cOnSpiracies which haraSSed him dur
ing his lifetime. While he lived, his
great riches cost him innumerable |
anXieties. His house must needs be a |
fortress, and his costly delights be par
taken of within strong walls and bolts
and bars. He had reason to suspect
the sincerity of every one who ap-
preached him with an appearance of
friendship. He saw the meaning of
human nature. He could not be sure
Cf the distressedneSs of his own kinS-
folk. He was surrounded by the
Vaccinations of people who regarded
him only as legitimate object Of
plunder. lie was deceived by artful
tales of stipulated distress until he
lost confidence in humanity. He was
haTassed daily with multitudinOus
schemes TO despOil him. If he expand !
ed with generous affection toward any
fellow being, he found his warm i'm
pulses made merchantable, or jealous |
people poisoned him with ISLANDERS to- |
ward his friends. He was like a man |
walking into the midst of savage |
thieves with 4 priceless jewel in his |
bOsOm-burdened with the rich pos
session which all seek To snatch from |
its lawful owner. Yet where 1
is the man who would refuse To he the |
custodian of great riches?
1t is sometimes said that the Al |
mighty shows his estimate of great |
riches in the character of the people 4
upon whom he bestOws them. But il /
happens that many noble men have |
been endowed with vast wealth. NeY-
ertheleSs, II is true that great estates |
have often been fruitful of great mis-
chiefs and miSeries. To those of us I
WIZ llOlu III lONlllI reverence Tie IIltILl-
Ory of dead father or mother, il seems |
a horrible thing that a domestic quar- /
rel over property should drag to light |
the innumerable weaknesses which |
might have been laid forever in the |
grave with the dead mans bones. "If |
a man die, shall he live again!" asks
the skeptieal inquirer. In these days,
though he die, his death does not end all. |
If he leave great possessions behind /
him. He is not permitted to rest in his |
grave, if dissection of his most secret |
motives and impulses can invalidate 1
his last will and testament, or if his 1
wOTn-Out frame can be held for ran
som. There is no length of yillainy, 1
no debt of meanneSs, into which men /
will not go for plumber, And though /
the world is full of unhappy rich men. |
who do not know how 10 live, millions |
stand ready to take their hard places. !
Dives, looking around upon his vast /
possessions, complains that he cares |
for all these. and is only rewarded 4
with food, clothing, and lodging. |
Nevertheless, the average man thinks |
that he, at least, could manage this |
estate with comfort to himself. Let !
the average man consider how Dives
is pursued beyond the grave. and be |
cOntent.-N. Y. Times.