The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-11
BETTER THAN 4

eff only I were richp You have heard it
vent to it yourself. But, after all, few give
expression to such a wish with any definite
idea. And those who do, who long for riches
u crafty vanity, to make possible life in a
mansion, the enjoyment of carriages and
horses, of sealskin and shekels, are, of all men,
most miserable. Humanity in general is
pretty well satisfied, content to accept the
inevitable, and to make the best of the things
in hand, however meager they may be, and
however far they fall short of illimitable
hopes. There are a great many fine things
that riches will buy, a great many excellent
things that all the wealth of the world cannot
command. OF these latter the foremost is
health. The man or woman who has health,
strong in body and clear in mind, has no occa
sion to envy a Vanderbilt. Let him live in
his palace if he will, surrounded by bric-a-
brac from all quarters of the globe.
He goes in and out for days and years, but
some day he will come out never to go back
again, and from the splendors of his mansion
he will descend to the darkness and quiet of
very obscure quarters. Not a penny of his
wealth will follow him, nor could all of it
combined buy him one moments truce with
death. The apple-faced boy, with but one
s%uspender spanning a shirt made from a
four-sack, may well be envied by kings and
emperors. What are their possessions to him?
he wouldn't exchange places with them for
the accumulations of a Croesus. If the rich
have health and youth, so have the poor. The
poor man who has enough to eat has as much
as the rich man dare consume. Sol far as phys
ical enjoyment is concerned, a decent cloak
may keep one as warm as though of seal
skin. Of course the latter is prefera-
BILE, because prettier; but so far as
real comfort is concerned there
our troubles come through the eye. The
prime minister of pride, the function of that
observant organ is to spy out the plumes and
and bangles which, while adding nothing to
comfort, set off the physical man in a gayer
fashion quite pleasing to reasonable or unreas-
enable vanity.
We do not argue against the possession Of
riches, nor do we attempt to discount the ad-
vantages they afford, if properly administered;
but we do take ground against the unwhole-
some idea that has possession of some, that
without wealth there can be no genuine hap
piness. Such a stand as that is simply to
maintain that the plan of humanity is a fail
ure; for where there is one rich man there are
a hundred poor, and but twenty five well to
do. 1t were folly to maintain that the per
cent. of unhappiness is by that much greater
than the happiness, 1t is pleasingforthose who
know how to enjoy it to be possessed of ample
means, but not all know how to take adj
vantage of wealth in order to obtain the great
est returns.
But, even granting that all rich people are
happy, it were folly for the less rich, on down
to the absolutely poor, to repine. and to refuse
to be as happy as they can. The man who
rides takes his ease. He who is obliged to
walk often has his ~recompense in better health,
brought about by the exercise which necessity
has forced upon him. However rich or poor,
let humanity be content, thankful that things
are no worse, and duly grateful for all the
many blessings that are showered upon them
alike. After all, the great things of earth
are, humanity's common heritage. The rich
cannot lay hands upon them, nor build a
wall about them. any more than they could
hope to fence in the air or monopolize the
sunshine.