The Baltimore County union., 1881-04-16
Correspondence Baiiimors CoHniy U~ion.
POPULAR DELUsIoNs.
No. ".

BALTIMORE, April 9Th, 1881.
"cOntentmsnt is better than riches" Such Is
the departing vail Of disappointment; the coward
moan Of defeated ambition the whining lament
Of baasd selhshness frustrated In the miseriy ex-
Pectation Of pouring Golcsnda's treasures into
their own Golfers; writhing with the sickening re-
gret that the golden harvest Of their eovstous
dreams has been rcaped BY others siekles; trsm-
bling in fear Of reribution for untold crimes into
which their unscrupulous avarice had betrayed
them. This small scrap of microscopic morality,
chrystalrcd into this cheap form Of
oPhy, Is the total result Of this modern Solomons
life experience.
But 10 Il true that "contcntment Is better than
riches! - Wealth is the deity most reverenced by
mankind. who worship It as . saint hi. idol. All
the happiness Of this life and all Of II. physical
requirements TO be had for money and for that
alone. Place. power, rank, social position all are
dependent upon and must be paid for with money.
Every pleasure. every indulgence, every desire Of
the human heart and mind in this lower world
may be gratded only with money, and everything
upon which life itself depends can only be supplied
through money. Wherefore VIC bow down and
worship IL.
viii eOn,entment feed the starving. cIO,he the
naked. shelter the homeless and friendles.. cheer
and encourage the weary and desponiing. Can
IL purchase pleasures and indulgence fill the soul
with joyous hopes and gloriou. aniieipations -
viii IL gather about Il, in this world Of mammon
the psrnp and gaud. beauty and gladncss that
riches will!
What Is eontentment but satisfied lazincss, self.
ishness in Tepossl or all shiitess, heiples. imbe.
Giles, the meanest and most de.pieable would be a
eonientsd man, could such 'lusus naturm" be
found. This, however. is . moral and ply sical
imPossibility. The true man Is aspiring, forever
striving for advancement, SEEKING and laboring.
with faithful energy, to attain something greater
and higher. Upward and onward" is the device
upon his banner and he brayely battles with the
foes Of his hopes and desires that he may achieve
the victory Of his ambition.
Where would have been the dey eiopmen,s Of re.
lision. science and the arts, where the railroads,
steam engines, teleyraphs. the labor and money
saving machinery Of our day had man been con-
tented. Would the Reformation have burst the
bonds Of priest Graf, aud superstition had men oi
that day eontentediy scquiesced In matters Of
""eo"e' 'e"s'"n! "ouid tue Coiontsu nave re-
belled and their de'eendents have grown into a
vast and powerful nation Of freemcn had they been
coniented as subjsc,s' Would there have been
need Of . Saviour to die for the world had Il been
eontenied world!
Man was created by an intellig gen, author for
the accomplishment Of some national design. in
which man was neeessitated to be an active par.
ticiPant. not mere niolent. contented locker. on
lie was endowed with intelligence to be cultivated
and exercised in enjoying the boun,ies and bless
ings Of n gracious Col. and In working out and
following GU. the great destiny appointed for him
not to be wasted in ron,en,ed 'upinene.. or selfish
indocncc.
That ''eon,entaHent Is better than riches is an
inddei dogma-snothrr popular deiuson.
Faithfully, CngsArEAK..