The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-09-19
Poverty of Wealth.

A great abundance of food does not
make great nation. The invincible
Roman legions lived for days at a
/, time on wheat Which they gathered
and ate as they marched The rich
est men of the earth dine as frugally
as mortar mixers. Andrew Carnegie
could afford to. send vessels to every
land to gather it's deiica cies for his
/ table. his favorite dish is oatmeal
! Frank Nanderlp, head of the City Ma
iienai Bank o. New York could en-
ploy legion of chefs to procure epi-
curean feasts for his delight; Wander
! lip eats only two meals day. The
Duke of Wellington who defeated Ma
poleon at Waterloo could have dined
on ambrosla and nectar. he some
times Toasted his guests, but he limi-
ted his eating TO a boiled potato and
a chop. Some authorities state that
Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was due
to an acute attack Of indigestion.
II does not require wealth to pur-
chase the ideal amount and kind of
food. The man with a million at his
command should not spend any more
for food than cabinet maker Many
a man can trace his physical ills to
rne day when prosperity began to load
his table with luxuries. Plato said
the names physicians designated dis
eases by showed that. their patients
had overeaten and under worked
The men who can afford idieness
seldom want it, No Lincoln, Carlyle
or Washington ever watched the
clock. Edison labors eighteen hours
a day. not because of the final reward
that it will bring. but because of the
/ happiness he finds in 1t. Michae,
/ Angelo, when painting his immortal
! pictures in the Sistiue Chapel, worked
| with such enthusiasm that for weeks
at time he never removed his cloth
/ ing. Walter Scott arose at five in
the morning and wrote some of his
novels when he was employed as a
clerk. Ruskin uttered a great truth
when he said, IF you want knowledge
you must toll for 1t; If food. you must
toll for it; if pleasure. you must toll
for it: toll is the law
If you have wealth you can pur-
chase one hundred outfits of wearing
apparel, but you can only wear one
at a time. Socrates never owned but
one pair of shoes, but his name is inn
mortal. Ii you have wealth you can
purchase beautiful paintings and adorn
your home with statues. That wouldn't
bring you happiness. If you have
wealth. you can purchase furniture IN
laid with gold and upholstered with
fine fabrics. That doesn't mean con.
tentment, When Thoreau lived by
Walden Pond he found a stone one
day that lie fancied and used ii for
a chair, but rolled it away later.
If you have wealth you can pur.
chase a great park and erect a SPLEEN
did mansion. but tradition tells us
that there was a very happy man who
lived in a tub. and when the King
came to see him and asked what he
could desire from the King. Diogenes
replied, THAT you would step from
between me and the sum" If you have
wealth you can possess an organ with
golden pipes. but Beethoven composed
his immortal symphonies on a chear
harpsichord. If you have wealth you
can equip a luxurious studio, but
Turner painted in garnet and mixed
his colors in a broken tea cup.
Money can purchase copies OF Sill
Joshua Reynolds, but God gives the
sunset away free. Money can en-
ploy musicians to perform for a pri-
waite concert but the song Of the lark
IN The tree and the music OF children's
laughter is for the millionaire and
the poor man alike. Wealth cannot
purchase the great things of life 1,
cannot buy contented mind and a
serene life. 1t cannot purchase good
ness and beauty.--Dale H. Carnagey
in Leslie's.