Smyrna times., 1879-10-22
Making Haste to Be Rich.

1t IS very suggestive and impressive
TACT that all warnings seem to be Intellectual
after appetite has become excited and the
power Of the will has been weakened by
indulgence. Tooexpensive habits Of living,
against the warnings Of conscience and the
better judgments of earlier hours Of limo.
cence and honor, have been formed. The
possibilities Of sudden Teath have boon
constantly dwelt upon and made the
subject OF earnest desire and study; the
growing hunger for the social position
and cnJoyments which wealth brings with
1t, has eXlsperated the eager longings to
secure it, hushed the voices of conscience
and reason, and destroyed or demoralized
the force of the will. The man reaches
the point where he is absolutely helpIess
without a supernatural interposition. The
possible and awful ruin before him, the
understandable distress and wretchedness of
his wife and family, the loss Of Il noble
name and character, the open door of n
prison after public trial-all this is like a
wlsp OF straw to hold him back, when he
las once fully yielded himself to the power
OF the temptation, and dwelt in growing
desire upon the one object for which he
must stake everything that is pure and
true.
1t is a fearful thing to cultivate within
the heart an absorbing sensual or worldly
appetite. This habit of looking upon
wealth as the chief object Of life, OF filing
the imagination with pictures of its com
forts, OF subordinatng the cultivation Of
the mind and the higher works of charity,
humanity, and religion to the one struggle
Tor wealth, is perilous in itself to all noble
development and spiritual peace, and is
quite sure to entail some form Of tempta.
ton that will work out the ruin of the
mistaken and too eager aspirant for riches.
The modern form Of this unwholesomc
passion is especially perilous. Men are not
only persistent to acquire large fortunes,
but they are unwilling to await the slow
progress OF honorable gain by honest toll
| They are constantly on the alert for a
chance move on the speculative board
which will bring them thousands at once.
They cannot endure to accumulate by
economy and daily labor. They despisc
the ancient virtues of the fathers. They
want their fortunes in their prime while
! they can, as they say to themselves, enjoy
them; but they rarely do enjoy them.
! They are never satisfied with their gains :
! there IS always a giittcring prize before
! them. They constantly peril everything
III order that they may reach higher
! GoaI, goaded on 10y the same desires that
urged them in the beginning, only a
thousand times stronger for the gratitica,
ton they have enjoyed. 1t is one Of the
rarest Of all events that one who has sud-
denly secured a fortune, by some happy
speculation, retains his wealth for any con.
siderable period. Our cities and towns, our
poor houses and insane hospitals, and our
State prisons, are filled with men who have
hastily and unscrupulously accumulated
wealth and as rapidly dissipated it.
One Of the most important social truths
to be impressed upon our youth until il
crystallizes into habit andinature, is that OF
the sacred character Of the property OF
others entrusted to their care. 1t is never
in any form to be considered their own,
never to be used as their own, never to be
used in any form contrary to the exact re.
QuisitiOns'Of the owners. There
is no safety this side of absolute honesty
and the most unqualified scrupulousness in
the managing of the property Of other
people. The smallest verge from the line
of truth will soon lead into the most de
vious paths and to certain wretchedness.-
/t0n'S Herald