The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-04-13

Ine Base Sucn an atmosphere Is ready
to perfection for the nurture of the
worst feeling. Yet it is not wealth.
but the spirit of the wealthy. that
must be arraigned.
Many rich men are free from til.
gross onception-espec is this
true of those who from father to son
are accustomed to ease-yet they some
times forget that there is a certain del
icacy in not making contrasts to2
marked Suppose there is no wron2
IN enjoying a large superfluity. is it
Indispensable to display it. to wound
the eyes of those who lack necessities.
TO haunt ones mdgnihcence at tie
doors Of poverty? Good taste and
sort of modesty always hinder WEI!
man from talking of his fine appetite.
his sound sleep. his eXuberancc of spir
its. in the presence of one dying of
consumption. Many of the rich do not
exercise this tact and so are greatly
wanting in pity and discretion. Are
they not unreasonable to complain Of
envy after having done everything tc
provoke it?
But the greatest lack is that want of
discernment which leads men to ground
their pride in their fortune. TO begin
with. it is Il childish confusion of
thought to consider wealth as Il person
al quality 1t would be hard to find
Il more ingenious fashion Of deceiving
oneself as to the relative value of the
container and the thing contained.
have no wish to dwell on this question.
IT is too painful And yet one cannot
resist saying To those concerned: Take
care: do not confOund what you possess
with what you are. Go learn 10 know
the undcrside of worldly splendor,
that you may feel lis moral misery and
its pucrility." The traps pride sets
for us are 100 Ridiculous We should
distrust association with Thing that
makes Us hateful to our neighbors and
robs Us Of clcarness of vision.
He who yields to the pride Of riches
forgets this other point, The most inn
portant of all that possession is Il pub
lie trust. Without doubt individual
wealth is as legitimate as individual
existence and liberty These things
are iuseparable, ana it is a dream
pregnant with dangers That Offers bat
tie 50 such fundamentals of life But
the lAd3riGual touches society at every
point and all he does should Ice done
with fhn Ns-in1n il, vic
then. is less Il privilege Of which to be
proud than Il charge whose gravity
should be felt. AS there is an appren-
ticeship often very difficult to serve,
for the exercise of every social Office, so
this profession we call wealth demands
an apprenticeship. To know how to
be rich is an art, and one of the least
easy Of arts to master. Most people,
rich and poor alike. imagine that in
Opulence one has nothing to DO but to
take life easy That is why so few
men know how to he rich. In the hands
Of too many wealth. according to the
genial and redOubtable comparison of
Luther, is like harp in the hoofs of
an ass. They have no idea of the man
ner of its use.
so when we encounter man ut once
rich and simple-that is to say. who
considers his wealth as a means of full
filing his mission in the world-wc
should offer him cur homage, for he is
surely mark worthy He has sur
mounted Obstacles borne trials and tri-
umphed in temptations. both gross and
subtle. He does not fail to diScrimi-
nate between the contents of his DOck-
etbOOk and the contents of his head or
fellow men in figures. His exceptional
position, instead of eXalting him.
makes him humble. for he is very sen
slble of how far he falls short of reach
ing the level of his duty. He has re-
mained man. That says it all. He
is accessible. helpful and far from
making of his wealth a barrier to sep
arate him from other men; he makes it
a means for coming nearer and nearer
TO them. Although the profession of
riches has been SO diShOnored by the
selfish and the proud, such a man as
this always makes his worth felt bv
every one not devoid of sense of JUS
tice. Each Of us who comes in contact
with him and sees him live is forced to
look within and ask himself the cues
tion. What would become of me in
such sItuatiOn-shOuld | keep this
modesty, this naturalness, this upright
ness which uses its own as though it
belonged to others?" SO long as there
is human society in the world. so long
as there are bitterly conflicting inter
ests. so long as envy and egoism exist
on the earth, nothing will be worther
Of honor than wealth permeated by the
spirit of simplicity. And it will do
more than make itself forgiven; it will
make itself beloved
More dangerous than pride inspired
by wealth is that inspired by power.
and mean by the word every preroga-
tive that one man has over another, be
it unlimited or restricted | see no
means of preventing the existence in
the world of men of unequal authority.
Every organism supposes Il hierarchy
of powers; we shall never escape from
that law. But l fear that if the love