Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-02

Add the wings-of patience and prayer
With the promise of God in it's scopes;
Your crow of fruitionis there!
-Uiuidm q. Richards. in Youths Companion.
ADVANTAGES OF PROSPERITY.
The Possession of Wealth Not in Itself
Necessarily an Evil-Ncither Great
Riches Nor Extreme Poverty Favorable
to Virtue.
1t is common to moralize on the
dangers of wealth, and to extol the
uses of adversely. We are pointed to
the litigation and strife in wealthy fam
lilies, and piously admonished that
''better is a dry morsel and quietness
Herewith than a house full of sacrifices
with strife" Innumerable homilies
have been written to show that poverty
is a blessing, and that wealth brings
trouble and temptation, with a heritage
of mental and moral feebleness. Those
who talk in this strain have, neverthe-
less, a decided preference for a com
Portable competence.
That there are great compcnsations
for poverty, and great dangers con-
nected with the accumulation and pos
session of wealth, is not denied. One
OF these dangers is suggested by Christ's
warning: "How hardly shall they that
have riches enter into the Kingdom of
God!" Any soul is in peril who allows
earthly treasures, whether large or
small, to absorb his attentions and af-
fections to the neglect of spiritual in
terests. Neither is uninterrupted pros
perity good for the soul. Trials of
some sort seem necessary to keep
men from being so fast-rooted
in pride and forgetfulness of God
as to miss everything most dear to ex-
istence. But there are many hard ex-
periences besides pecuniary disaster
and poverty which serve this purpose.
A man may be uniformly successful in
his business enterprises, and at the
same time be tried by many and sore
disappointments and agonies of heart
which keep him in that earring of right
conviction that is needed to winnow his
bad tempers and sober his confidence"
ihe discipline Of a merciful Providence
IS varied, hence it is possible to be- rich
without becoming utterly hardened and
selfish and missing Heaven. 1t is not
the possession of wealth that disquali-
hes for Heaven but questionable meth
DDS OF gaining and using it. Not the
man who has wealth, but he who sets
his affection upon it to the neglect of
his and others spiritual well-be-
ing is the one to whom the gate of
Heaven is as difficult Of passage as the
eye of the needle to a camel; but these
dangers are avoidable, and when a
worldly competence is Justly gotten
and tJOhtlU annraoiufoI o,J ,,,,l - =:
a blessing. 1t brings exemption from
that gnawing care about u subsistence
Which is usually an attendant of power
W md is as distinctively forbidden, be-
cause as inimical to II spiritual vel
fare, as excessive anxiety for riches.
In spite OF all that has been said to
the contrary, plain people will persist
III regarding poverty as an evil. We
suspect, too, that its spiritual advan-
tages have been very much overrated.
1t is true that better is a little with the
lear OF the Lord and a dinner of herbs
where love is, than great treasure and
trouble and hatred Herewith; but it is
equally true that the destruction Of the
poor IS their poverty, and that piety and
love are as often lacking at the poor
table as at the sumptuous board. There
IS no essential connection between =
meager diet and tine Christian virtues.
insufficient clothing and nourishment
are not means of grace. The fact that
a larger proportion of the poor than
OF the rich are criminals seems
to indicate that poverty has
dangers and temptations quite
as great as are connected with the pos
session OF wealth. 1t is certain that
poverty is not a blessing, and that many
poor people would be better and hap
pier but for the grinding shifts to which
they are subjected. Probably the great
er part OF the attritions and troubles in
households and neighborhoods arc dine
to this cause. Children who are under-
Ted and poorly clad, and parents who
are overworked, are not so D to treat
each other OF society well. Their nov
erty breeds envy and hatred of the rich.
who are not always careful to ion,ue
social distinctions based on worldly
circumstances, or to seek to m]it;oate
the asperlties OF the hard lot of their less
iottuiate nelghbors. Even the psalm
ISL was envlous when he saw the pros
perl1y OF the wicked, and though he
came to the conclusion that he was
very foolish in envying them, he does
not say that earthly abundance is not
desirable. y
Neither great wealth nor extreme
poverty is favorable to virtue. The one
Is apt to bring absorbing anxiety and
greed LOT greater accommodations. or
sloth n %sensuality which war AGAINST
the soul" while the other causes dis
couragement and bitterness Of sonl.
winch often lead to crime. Better than
elther is a competence, with moderate
prosperity, requiring a man to labor.
n TO ind his labor sufficiently r,non'
neratlve to provide comfortably for him.
sel1 n family, and lay by something
Tor s rainy day Then, however small