^EALTH. 
 
 < 5 ° Q? • 
 
 jf M. BARKER, PH. D. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 CRANSTON & CURTS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HUNT RATON. 
 
33 1 
 
 "S ' 4-3. 
 
 Copyright 
 
 BY CRANSTON & CURTS. 
 1892 . 
 
Wealth. 
 
 
 i. 
 
 Gbe accumulation of Wealth. 
 
 HE wealth of this nation is increasing with 
 
 1 unprecedented rapidity. We are living in a 
 land highly favored for growth in all those ma¬ 
 terial goods which contribute to the general com¬ 
 fort of the people. We have a prolific soil, great 
 natural resources, a good government, and our 
 workmen receive comparatively high wages. The 
 majority of Americans have it in their power, 
 through industry and frugality, to accumulate 
 some degree of wealth. 
 
 The following facts show that the people of 
 this nation are singularly favored for amass¬ 
 ing wealth. The assessed valuation of real estate 
 and personal property in the United States for 
 1890 was $24,249,589,804. The true valuation is 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 mealtb. 
 
 estimated at $63,000,000,000, or nearly $1,000 per 
 capita. t c .The assessed value of all property has 
 incr^as^/d;uHhԤ:fiLe/past decade $7,346,590,261, 
 a/a afnounf, equiVafcnt to the true value of all 
 
 * « c * ' t 1 ’ ( , r f ' ‘ , 
 
 pr6J)ferty ihe United States Census 
 
 * » I* ‘ * /« i**‘ * e * «. 
 
 The‘year.fy/Qaricings of the people of this na¬ 
 tion are estimated to be $12,000,000,000, and the 
 yearly savings $900,000,000. We have $708,000,- 
 000 in gold, and $475,000,000 in silver coin. The 
 national banks have a combined capitalization of 
 $600,000,000. The savings banks of the United 
 States have $1,400,000,000, the greater part of 
 which has been deposited by persons of moderate 
 means. 
 
 The entire cereal crop of the United States for 
 the year 1891 was 3,465,000,000 bushels. These, 
 with other products of the soil, were valued at 
 $4,000,000,000. The output of our factories 
 reached for the same year the enormous sum of 
 $7,000,000,000. No one can measure the match¬ 
 less possibilities of the future for this nation. 
 Our people are energetic and progressive. They 
 are opening up new avenues for trade and em¬ 
 ployment, and can command the markets of the 
 
Gbc accumulation of ‘HHlealtb* 
 
 5 
 
 world by the cheapness and superiority of their 
 products. 
 
 There are some conditions for acquiring wealth 
 which are important to observe. Among the per¬ 
 sonal elements favoring the accumulation of 
 wealth is the just and proper appreciation of it. 
 There is a rightful love of gain, and an unholy 
 lUvSt for it. The desire to acquire wealth need not 
 sink to base avarice. Self-interest is not selfish¬ 
 ness. Money loved for its own sake is the root 
 of evil, but when sought as a means for nobler 
 ends becomes laudable. No one .should have a 
 contempt for wealth, nor entertain loose ideas of 
 values, as did Esau and the prodigal son. To dis¬ 
 parage wealth is to spurn great opportunities. 
 There are great dangers resulting from an intense 
 devotion to acquiring wealth; but there may be 
 equally great risks attending poverty through loss 
 of self-respect, purpose, and opportunity. The 
 proverb declares that “the rich man’s wealth is 
 his strong city: the destruction of the poor is 
 their poverty.” (Prov. x, 15.) 
 
 The growth of a nation’s wealth is one means 
 of measuring the triumphal march of man from 
 barbarism to culture and civilization. Wealth 
 
6 
 
 WUealtb. 
 
 gives man the command of those forces by which 
 he may be lifted to a higher mental and moral 
 life. In these days there is entirely too much 
 condemnation of rich men. It is no crime to be 
 rich. The man who acquires wealth by legitimate 
 means and with worthy motives is to be com¬ 
 mended. It is evident that the motive to acquire 
 wealth should be fostered by many persons who 
 especially need the opportunities wealth affords for 
 making the most of their faculties and powers. 
 
 Another important consideration in accumu¬ 
 lating wealth is the ciiltivation of the mind. Wealth 
 is produced by man’s physical, mental, and moral 
 activity. It is the joint product of the hands, 
 head, and heart. Physical energy is important ; 
 but mental labor is the largest and most valuable 
 factor in producing wealth. Hence it is that 
 wealth is becoming more and more allied to 
 intelligence. It is the ignorant nations that are 
 infested with paupers. Men grow rich by the use 
 their faculties. A man of intelligence and ex¬ 
 perience creates wealth. There is great scope for 
 the exercise of superior ability in all lines of 
 business. Capital is in search of skilled superin¬ 
 tendence. Few have the ability to organize and 
 
?Tbe Accumulation ot liillcaltb. 
 
 7 
 
 conduct great enterprises. Successful trading is 
 not easy. Hard work and .study are necessary. 
 There are such rapid changes in business condi¬ 
 tions and methods that the man who possesses in¬ 
 telligence and foresight to organize and execute, 
 is more likely to succeed in acquiring wealth. 
 
 The loss to creditors from business failures in 
 the United States for 1890 aggregated $82,000,000. 
 More than eighty per cent of those engaged in 
 business failed through inexperience, incompe¬ 
 tency, or lack of capital. The young man who 
 would enter the twentieth century with the best 
 chances for the highest business career, and equip 
 himself for the highest service, should have the 
 best college training. This should be followed 
 by a knowledge of the details of business through 
 actual experience, before investing money in it. 
 This course will take more time; but it will mul¬ 
 tiply one’s chances for usefulness, and is by far 
 safer, and the reward is certain. 
 
 The training of the intellect likewise qualifies 
 the workmen to meet the new industrial conditions 
 of society. There has been a remarkable shifting 
 of labor during the century. Inventions have 
 greatly modified human conditions. A single 
 
a 
 
 *UHealtb. 
 
 cotton-gin does the work which formerly required 
 one thousand men. A sewing-machine does the 
 work of twelve women. A Boston boot-maker, 
 with one workman, makes three hundred pairs of 
 boots daily. In 1880, three hundred of these ma¬ 
 chines were at work in various countries, and 
 turned out 150,000,000 pairs. Glenn’s California 
 reaper will cut, thresh, winnow, and bag the 
 wheat of sixty acres in twenty-four hours. The 
 Hercules ditcher removes seven hundred and fifty 
 cubic yards of clay per hour. The Darlington 
 borer enables one man to do the work of seven 
 in tunneling, and reduces the cost by two-thirds. 
 One boy, with a knitting-machine, does as much 
 work as one hundred persons could do one hun¬ 
 dred years ago. 
 
 The displacement of labor through machinery 
 is apparent. It is estimated that the machinery 
 in Great Britain is doing the work of 700,000,000 
 men. The invention of Bessemer took 39,000 
 men out of employment. The remarkable concen¬ 
 tration of power in steam and electricity will be 
 more and more utilized, and thereby continue to 
 modify industrial and economic conditions. These 
 circumstances tend to reduce mere physical labor 
 
ftbe Accumulation of Mealtb. 
 
 9 
 
 to the same importance. The work to be done 
 does not always .stimulate thought, nor call out 
 the skill of those employed. The .safeguard of 
 workmen must be in their skill, intelligence, 
 and ability to adapt themselves to new condi¬ 
 tions, and thus to be prepared for higher duties. 
 Our unskilled labor must become skilled. 
 
 The highest productive efficiency is condi¬ 
 tioned on intelligence. Every improvement in 
 the industrial character of the working-class 
 qualifies them for a higher grade of production, 
 and insures better compensation. The highest 
 paid labor is generally that which costs the em¬ 
 ployer least. “ The English cotton-spinner is paid 
 as many shillings as the East Indian spinner gets 
 pence; yet the cotton-cloth of England undersells 
 that of India in Indian markets.” The increased 
 compensation of workmen in the United States is 
 largely due to the fact that they surpass those of 
 any other nation in strength, intelligent direction 
 of force, and ability to use machinery to advan¬ 
 tage. The ultimate explanation of all industrial 
 progress lies in the personal elements of industry, 
 intelligence, and integrity. 
 
 The development oi'the moral qualities also 
 
IO 
 
 TOealtb. 
 
 tends toward the amassing of wealth. Honesty 
 and integrity of character are wealth-creating 
 abilities. Wealth is the sum total of .social pro¬ 
 ducts, and includes all articles that have value. 
 Value is purchasing power, or the quantitative 
 measure of the capacity to serve, and the power 
 to satisfy human wants. 
 
 Man’s moral and intellectual qualities can not 
 be said to have an economic value, because they 
 can not be transferred or exchanged, inasmuch as 
 they are part of himself. They have, however, 
 an ethical value, the products of which make 
 wealth. Wealth is not the qualities themselves, 
 but the product of them. They get their value 
 from the possible service they may render to so¬ 
 ciety. A man’s character and reputation are often 
 spoken of as personal wealth. It is as true to-day 
 as it was in the days of Solomon, that a good 
 name is better than great riches. It is in and 
 through these immaterial relationships that mate¬ 
 rial things become wealth. Intellectual, social, 
 and moral conditions make the land in Ohio 
 command three and four times the price of better 
 land in Mississippi. Moral qualities are becom¬ 
 ing more and more the active forces in pro¬ 
 ducing wealth. The nation’s wealth extends 
 
ftbe accumulation ot THHcaltb. 
 
 ti 
 
 and increases with virtue, justice, and morality. 
 As the moral tone of society rises, it becomes 
 more difficult for a dishonest man to succeed in 
 any legitimate business. Truly, “honesty is the 
 best policy.” 
 
 Honesty and integrity of character to many 
 business men are so much capital. They will tide 
 a man over financial embarrassment, when the 
 man without them, under like circumstances, will 
 fail. Business life is a struggle without credit; 
 and this is based upon confidence in uprightness 
 of character. A true and lofty character is favor¬ 
 able to accumulating material goods. Potential 
 wealth is wrapped up in man’s moral qualities. 
 They help establish confidence, prompt men to a 
 determination to labor, and quicken the will to 
 save. The inequalities of men in regard to wealth 
 do not apply to the higher and nobler qualities 
 of soul. All may share equally in moral and 
 spiritual blessings. These inherent qualities have 
 a twofold blessing. Divine wisdom has “ length 
 of days in her right hand, and in her left hand 
 riches and honor.” (Prov. iii, 16.) 
 
 To accumulate wealth, a man should have the 
 desire for it, and the patience to wait for it. There 
 is no short and easy road to wealth. The ma- 
 
traealtb. 
 
 12 
 
 jority of men can not grasp results without plod¬ 
 ding. Worthy success is step by step up the 
 rugged path of industry. Many of the great for¬ 
 tunes of the past are largely incidental to great 
 opportunities. They have been built up by true 
 investment in commercial centers, or by the util¬ 
 izing of steam and electricity and the rapid ex¬ 
 pansion of railroads. These opportunities have 
 largely passed by. Conditions are growing more 
 fixed as the country becomes more populated. 
 Great fortunes in the future will be fewer, and 
 more difficult to gain. Rapid transportation, and 
 the ready communication in regard to supply and 
 demand, give greater evenness to prices, and af¬ 
 ford less opportunity to acquire large fortunes by 
 speculation and corners. 
 
 Wealth originates in labor. Labor involves 
 the intellectual as well as the physical element. 
 Labor, however, is no exact measure of wealth. 
 The invention of the cotton-gin greatly enhanced 
 the value of the cotton-fields, and the inventions 
 in woolen machinery have brought untold wealth 
 to wool-growers. 
 
 Inasmuch as wealth is regarded as the per¬ 
 manent form of labor, no one should resort to the 
 
XLhc Accumulation of TlXHealtb* 
 
 *3 
 
 expedient of getting something for nothing. 
 Honest service is the true equivalent of wealth. 
 As a man values happiness, contentment, and his 
 moral interests, so he should shun the induce¬ 
 ments held out to make money which is not the 
 reward of service. 
 
 The passion for rapid gain without toil of 
 brain or muscle, is intensified by the hurry and 
 impatience of our day. It does not pay to risk 
 money, peace of mind, and life in the maelstrom 
 of speculation. Luck and shrewdness in some 
 gambling speculation may succeed for a time; but 
 the possessor is likely to lapse into ruin and de¬ 
 moralization. There is nothing gained by sudden 
 riches. They lack the discipline and experience 
 necessary to keep them. It is stated that most of 
 the fortunes made during the years of the war were 
 lost again before the clo.se of 1867. The desire 
 for sudden riches ensnares the young, fosters gam¬ 
 bling, and encourages idleness and extravagance. 
 The slow accumulation of the profits of industry 
 brings wealth as the reward of human foresight 
 and determination. The consciousness that one 
 has rendered faithful service to society by follow¬ 
 ing some solid and legitimate business will en- 
 
14 
 
 Wealth* 
 
 hance the enjoyment of wealth. He is the rich 
 man in whom the people are rich. 
 
 The natural limit of accumulating wealth must 
 be comparatively low. The average wealth of the 
 producers in this country is about $3,000. The 
 limit of the average income from annual produc¬ 
 tions for the same class is only $450. Everybody 
 can not expect to have large wealth; but moder¬ 
 ate sums saved, by years of skillful and persist¬ 
 ent efforts, enable a man to be generous, educate 
 his family, and secure a comfortable maintenance 
 in old age. 
 
 Wealth is largely the fruit of abstinence and 
 economy. Abstinence demands effort. It re¬ 
 quires a power of imagination and strength of will 
 to foresee the advantages of postponing present 
 enjoyment for future accumulations. The savage 
 yields to present demands, and fails to accumulate. 
 His poverty is due to want of industry and self- 
 control. The civilized man forecasts the future, 
 and sees the advantages of putting off till to-mor¬ 
 row what he might enjoy to-day. 
 
 The acquisition of wealth is made by redeem¬ 
 ing the time and economizing petty sums. The 
 safest road to wealth and happiness is by patient 
 
Zhc Bccumulatton ot THHealtb, 
 
 15 
 
 industry and frugal savings. A man saves when 
 he has something to show for what he spends. 
 If a man saves eleven cents a day, it will amount 
 in ten years to $520, and in fifty years to $11,600. 
 If he saves $1.10 a day, it will amount in fifty 
 years to $116,000. The indolent and shiftless will 
 never reach the goal of success. Thrift and in¬ 
 dustry go together. Energy, integrity, and fru¬ 
 gality are man’s best capital. 
 
 Ignorance and waste are the poor man’s great¬ 
 est enemies. Since the beginning of this century 
 the nations of Christendom have engaged in forty- 
 seven great wars, and have expended $130,000,- 
 000,000. The wars of the past have aggravated 
 the miseries of the poor by fettering industries, 
 paralyzing trade, and creating bitter animosities. 
 In time of peace Europe has nearly 4,000,000 
 able-bodied men under arms, maintained at an 
 annual cost of $1,000,000,000. 
 
 The people of the United States are not bur¬ 
 dened with a large standing army, but the annual 
 liquor-bill amounts to $1,200,000,000. All the 
 silver coin of the country is less than $500,000,000. 
 The tariff for the year 1891 only involved, di¬ 
 rectly, the sum of $219,000,000. These facts, 
 
i6 
 
 Mealtffi 
 
 compared with the money spent for liquor, show 
 it to be the supreme economic question in the 
 nation. It costs the people $52,260,000 annually 
 to pay for policing the liquor-traffic. Seventy- 
 three per cent of the total arrests for crime in 
 1891 were made because of drink. Certainly ninety- 
 nine per cent of the cost of manufacturing and 
 sale of liquors impoverishes the community. The 
 good of society, as well as the industrial su¬ 
 premacy of this nation, will depend upon the 
 suppression of the saloon as the greatest demoral¬ 
 izer of our workmen. 
 
 The cost of tobacco to consumers in this na¬ 
 tion aggregates hundreds of millions of dollars. 
 It is more than is given to support all the 
 churches, missions, and all other benevolent and 
 philanthropic enterprises combined. The man 
 who spends ten cents a day for tobacco, could lay 
 it aside on interest, and have $2,888.54 in thirty 
 years. 
 
 Those who refuse to save small sums, and 
 would rather indulge in expensive living, amuse¬ 
 ments, and luxuries, may see the day when, with 
 empty purse, they will grumble at the man of 
 frugal habits, who enjoys a competency. The 
 
Gbe accumulation of THHealtb. 
 
 1 7 
 
 man who would accumulate wealth should give 
 close attention to business, keep his credit good, 
 know whom to trust, never trade beyond his 
 means, never indorse other people’s paper without 
 sufficient guarantee, and adopt a scale of expendi¬ 
 ture according to income. 
 
 It is likewise important to keep a level head 
 when turning fijiancial corners. The state of trade 
 revolves in cycles. About every ten years the 
 period of contraction and depression is followed 
 by a period of expansion and prosperity. In one 
 period there is confidence, activity, growth of 
 credit, and overtrading. The other period is fol¬ 
 lowed by distrust, panic, inaction, and hard times. 
 Where these two extremes do not offset each 
 other, the largest production of wealth can not 
 take place. These conditions involve a loss to 
 capital, and mischief to the laborer, who, during 
 the period of inaction, forms habits of idleness, 
 carelessness, and despondency, which are not easily 
 shaken off. A calm and steady market is best for 
 all concerned. 
 
 I suspect this nation is on the eve of a re¬ 
 vival of unexampled prosperity. The aggravating 
 forces of mischief produced by fears and sus- 
 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 mealtb. 
 
 picions, in a great measure have spent themselves. 
 There is everywhere indication of reviving hope 
 and courage. These are as infectious as fear and 
 distrust. The good crops, the abundance of money 
 on deposit in banks, and the general good feeling 
 awakened by the World’s Columbian Fair, will 
 accelerate the forces at play to bring about a better 
 condition of affairs. Again, the elasticity and 
 buoyancy of our national character, and our abun¬ 
 dant resources and growing population, make it 
 possible, and very probable, that there will be a 
 speedy revival of all trades and industries. 
 
II. 
 
 £be power of Wealth. 
 
 HERE never was a time in the history of 
 
 1 the world when the power of money was 
 greater than in our age. Steatn and electricity 
 have put us in touch with the entire world. Hea¬ 
 then lands throw open their doors to our mission¬ 
 aries and commerce. The organized forms of 
 charity of to-day make even the widow’s mite 
 wield a power for good in the remotest parts of 
 the earth. 
 
 Men struggle and sacrifice for wealth because 
 they crave the good things of the world which 
 money will buy. Wealth commands the resources 
 of the material world. It stands for a magnifi¬ 
 cent house, delights of travel, treasures of art, 
 social .standing, and political triumphs. 
 
 The aggregation of wealth has its abuses as 
 well as its functions. It confers the power to 
 gratify passion, blinds judgment, perverts justice, 
 panders to vice, and buys votes. It not only sub¬ 
 verts the mental and moral life, but menaces our 
 
20 
 
 TOealtb. 
 
 free institutions. Unfortunately, the power of 
 wealth has increased faster than the moral and 
 social sanction of the methods employed to get it. 
 A sober estimate of the power of wealth shows 
 that it is not omnipotent. It is often outranked 
 by intellectual, moral, and spiritual power. Wealth 
 can not touch the heart nor the conscience. It 
 can not buy affections, peace of mind, intellectual 
 and spiritual gifts, nor beauty of soul. 
 
 Wealth has a concentrated power of noble and 
 uplifting service. The few dollars spent on some 
 useless luxuries or harmful indulgence would 
 support a native minister in China or India, and 
 thereby turn the hearts of many in heathen lands 
 to God. Thus wealth may be transmuted, by the 
 aid of the Spirit, into spiritual power, whose influ¬ 
 ence will go on to bless the race. 
 
 Wealth enables a man to execute his own de¬ 
 signs, and convert his thoughts into reality. The 
 possessor of wealth has it in his power to erect a 
 home for the aged, a hospital for the sick, or a 
 library building in his own town or city, or in 
 some college, which will serve as a bee-hive to the 
 old and young who desire to extract from books 
 the noblest and purest thoughts of the present and 
 
Gbe ipovver of inaealtb 
 
 21 
 
 past generations, by which to mold character and 
 elevate the race. 
 
 Better still, wealth enables a man to endow a 
 professorship in a college, and let the income of 
 this fund employ some one who will work in his 
 behalf, and speak in his name for Christ, to pres¬ 
 ent and future generations. By this means a per¬ 
 son may touch the ends of the earth, and enrich 
 the globe with influences through the youth who 
 have sought the instruction and Christian inspira¬ 
 tion which his generosity has made it possible 
 for them to acquire. Men thus multiply their 
 power and influence for g6od by commanding 
 the services of other men, on the line of the 
 greatest good to humanity. “A single woman, 
 winning her bread at the point of her needle, 
 could not found a college, so she made a school 
 of her little room, went to the orphan asylum, 
 and adopted a little boy. She gave him an edu¬ 
 cation, and saw him occupy the foremost pulpits 
 of the land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. How 
 gloriously her own life sunned itself, blossomed, 
 and bore fruit meanwhile!” Thus even a small 
 sum, allied to a heart of love, may be made to 
 wield a powerful influence for good. 
 
TIT. 
 
 £be IReeponsibilitp of Mealtb. 
 
 HE possessor of wealth has a personal respon- 
 
 1 sibility for its management and distribution. 
 This responsibility is based upon man’s obligations 
 to God. He sustains a personal relation to Christ 
 as his Master. He is God’s steward, and is ac¬ 
 countable for whatever ability or wealth he may 
 possess. 
 
 Wealth is a trust-fund of moral and spiritual 
 power. Every man, be he rich or poor, is hand¬ 
 ling trust-funds. God has taken him into part¬ 
 nership with himself. He is a co-worker with 
 God in redeeming the world from sin. In carry¬ 
 ing forward the work, God claims from each one 
 tithes and thank-offerings. He demands a share 
 in all we do or possess. We rob him when we 
 withhold or take our partner’s share. No man 
 has a right to misapply funds that belong to 
 Him. 
 
 Wealth is a part of personality. It is life 
 stored up in this portable form, and should flow 
 
 22 
 
tXbc IReeponsibUitE of mealtb. 
 
 23 
 
 out in genuine simplicity and benevolence. Men 
 acquire wealth by the expenditure of personal 
 force, and they can not escape the Responsibility 
 for its use. Wealth has a potential power of serv¬ 
 ice, and is as fully subject to the: law »of &ervi£e as 
 the powers of the head, heart, will, or hand, Fit¬ 
 ness for sovereignty, in the use of huu<am talehts 
 or money, is measured by ability to serve. No 
 man can serve God, and let his property remain 
 in the service of Satan. The money god, person¬ 
 ified as Mammon, is one of the greatest rivals of 
 Christ in the human heart. The grasping and pe¬ 
 nurious man dethrones God, and sets up riches, 
 and gives them the first place in his thoughts and 
 affections. Our Ford warned men of the subtle 
 and dangerous power of wealth. He condemns 
 the selfishness of poverty as well as the selfish ex¬ 
 travagance of the rich. He holds each one re¬ 
 sponsible for giving according to his ability. Our 
 giving should be the measure of our love to Him 
 whom we serve. The Holy Spirit will implant in 
 the .soul of the willing disciple a world-wide love 
 and sympathy, which will awaken an inten.se in¬ 
 terest in all that concerns Christ and his king¬ 
 dom. When all the powers are enlisted in the 
 
24 
 
 Wealth* 
 
 service of God, men esteem it a joyful privilege to 
 give as unto him. 
 
 God’s kingdom should share first in the results 
 of our prosperity. There are six thousand young 
 people in the colleges of the United States who 
 are volunteers ‘ f©r° Christian mission-work. Con¬ 
 secrated "men and women are ready. How can 
 they go unless they are sent? Money is the es¬ 
 sential requirement for the speedy extension of 
 Christ’s kingdom over the earth. Inasmuch as it 
 takes our time and strength to accumulate wealth, 
 we should employ it to spread the gospel, the 
 power of which is able to transform and enrich 
 the lives of those who to-day bewail the misery 
 that grows out of their heathenish ignorance 
 and superstitions. 
 
 A man has no right to jeopard his obligatio?is 
 to God by entering into investments where he can 
 not cheerfully respond to those calls that involve 
 the extension of God’s kingdom. Many of our 
 Christian enterprises are failing to accomplish the 
 highest service for God and man—not because 
 many men of wealth do not see and feel their im¬ 
 portance, but they are weighed down with other 
 financial obligations in their investments and ex- 
 
Cbe IResponelbUit^ of IliUealtb. 
 
 25 
 
 penses. They find the larger the income the 
 larger the expenses, and consequently their liber¬ 
 ality is rare. Perhaps this will account for the 
 statement made by Mr. Gladstone and Cardinal 
 Manning, that the shrinkage of private charity is 
 contemporaneous with the enormous increase of 
 wealth in England. It is to be hoped that the 
 American people will prove to be an exception. 
 
 In these days when the strong competitors are 
 trying to outstrip the weaker, and where one in¬ 
 vestment generally demands another to protect 
 the one already made, a man should guard against 
 unanticipated claims, in order that he may give 
 cheerfully to worthy objects as the Lord hath 
 prospered him. This conclusion is based on the 
 fact that no man has a moral right to arrogate to 
 himself the privileges of our social and Christian 
 institutions, and reject the duties corresponding 
 with them. 
 
 The majority of men can find an excuse for 
 not giving when appealed to for some benevolent 
 object. It is eminently wise to pla7i ahead con¬ 
 scientiously and systematical^ to give to promote 
 the extension of the gospel. “The liberal soul 
 devisetli liberal things.” Men mortgage the future 
 
2 6 
 
 mealtb. 
 
 to buy a corner-lot or make an investment, and 
 yet refuse to venture a small subscription to some 
 of the greatest Christian enterprises which are the 
 glory of our modern civilization. Men of average 
 means, unincumbered with large financial invest¬ 
 ments, respond most readily to charitable objects. 
 The small gifts of the many have largety built up 
 and sustained Christian institutions which benefit 
 the public. 
 
 Again, men are responsible for the use they 
 make of their wealth while living. Wise men are 
 coming to see the importance of being their own 
 executors and trustees of their own wills. Men 
 of generous impulses, in their struggle to keep 
 pace with modern business methods, alluring in¬ 
 vestments, and personal expenses, often defer giv¬ 
 ing until they can make a more generous offering, 
 or until death has wrenched their wealth from 
 their hands. “What is wrested from me by the 
 grip of death,” says Mr. Gladstone, “I can, in no 
 sense, be said to give.” Hoarded wealth, like 
 the hoarded manna, is both useless and of¬ 
 fensive. 
 
 Bequests in these days frequently open the 
 way for misunderstandings and litigations. The 
 
Gbe IReeponeibUttg ot TiXIlealtb* 
 
 27 
 
 large estates of Mr. Stewart, Mr. Tilden, and others, 
 show how men’s purposes to do good after death 
 are thwarted by legal difficulties. Men ought to 
 give with a liberal hand while living. “It is not 
 -simply a privilege; it is a glory. It develops 
 manhood. It makes the giver a taller, broader, 
 deeper man; it puts him into .sympathy with his 
 fellow-man the world over; it makes him tenfold 
 more a man. Many men are moral dwarfs who 
 might be giants. They live in the malarial val¬ 
 leys of their own mean and selfish natures, when 
 they might breathe the mountain air and ba.sk in 
 the divine sunshine of noble deeds.” 
 
 A prominent millionaire, whose benefactions al¬ 
 ready aggregate nearly three million dollars, once 
 said: “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced. 
 That is the gospel I preach, that is the gospel I 
 practice, and that is the gospel I intend to prac¬ 
 tice during what remains of life.” 
 
 The lesson should be enjoined upon all men 
 of wealth to administer their own benefactions, 
 and carry out their purposes in person, and see 
 the good accomplished. “The risk,” says Bishop 
 Hurst, “is too great and the issues too serious, in 
 the.se days, to intrust too confidingly one’s noble, 
 
28 
 
 mealtb. 
 
 benevolent plans to the doubtful mercies of dis¬ 
 contented heirs and industrious attorneys.” 
 
 The settlement of an estate while the owner is 
 living shows the true financial situation. It is 
 surprising how few estates are well-balanced and 
 automatic. Many heirs find the productive funds 
 of an estate absorbed by the unproductive. A 
 man’s personality is often identified with his in¬ 
 vestments. The power and prestige of his per¬ 
 sonality vanishes at death. Men should take ad¬ 
 vantage of this fact, and avoid any shrinkage of 
 their accumulations. 
 
 We have frequent examples of men of great 
 wealth who have expressed a purpose of doing 
 generous things before they died, but have ended 
 without doing anything. Riches are uncertain. 
 Pride of judgment and business sagacity often 
 lead men to make investments, or to be inveigled 
 into some financial scheme, long after their fac¬ 
 ulties have unconsciously diminished, and they 
 have suddenly lost the accumulation of a life¬ 
 time. The only safe way is to give while the 
 mind is clear and the judgment good. If a man 
 gives bountifully while he has it, he is sure of ex¬ 
 ecuting noble deeds and having God’s reward in 
 
Zhc IResponslbiUtg of TIMealtb. 
 
 29 
 
 this life of “good measure, pressed down, and 
 shaken together, and running over.” We truly 
 save for ourselves what we give to the Lord. 
 
 The great charge -of our Lord is not to be left 
 to our executors; but we are to accomplish it 
 while living. “ Charge them that are rich in this 
 world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in 
 uncertain riches, but in the living God, who 
 giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they 
 do good, that they be rich in good works, ready 
 to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up 
 in store for themselves a good foundation against 
 the time to come, that they may lay hold on eter¬ 
 nal life.” 
 
 Few men of wealth relax their grip on their 
 possessions. It requires a most resolute will to be 
 the executor of one’s own estate. Many persons, 
 like the rich young ruler, will turn away sorrow¬ 
 ful at the thought. Happy is the man who proves 
 equal to the occasion. 
 
IV. 
 
 £be Distribution of Wealth, 
 
 HE distribution of wealth is the problem of 
 
 1 our age. Men need to know more of the 
 objects for which wealth is used than the increase 
 of it. “ Nobody,” says Goethe, “should be rich 
 but those who understand it.” Men who amass 
 wealth do not always make the wisest distribution 
 of it. It requires both knowledge and a right 
 spirit fitly to use wealth. It is not a question of 
 good , but whether the highest good will come 
 through certain uses of money. No man can 
 meet his responsibility by leaving his giving to 
 chance or impulse. Safety lies in following cer¬ 
 tain guiding principles. 
 
 The use a man makes of wealth determines 
 his conception of life. In the light of man’s na¬ 
 ture and possibilities we can better understand 
 the objects for which wealth is most wonthily 
 used. The highest economic and religious ideal 
 should be the physical, mental, and moral better¬ 
 ment of mankind. 
 
Ebe Distribution ot TMcaltb* 
 
 31 
 
 The aim of God’s kingdom is, that his will 
 shall be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 
 He wills the perfection of each human being. 
 His children can not have a lower aim without 
 losing somewhat their identity with him. In the 
 light of this divine ideal for humanity, we should 
 administer trust funds so as to produce the phys¬ 
 ical, mental, and spiritual welfare of the race, 
 thereby helping to restore the fullest measure of 
 the divine ideal to man. 
 
 This ideal may be better than men entertain 
 for themselves or for others. The ideal for man 
 should not be according to present possibilities, 
 but commensurate with their highest capacities. 
 These ideals, if maintained, will elevate the whole 
 tone of society. 
 
 No one can rise to a true conception of life, 
 and maintain a high ideal for the race, unless he is 
 trying to realize it in his own life. Men who 
 consecrate their life to these holy ends link them¬ 
 selves to God and the race. They pour their life 
 into the life of mankind whenever their hands 
 and hearts are open in blessing and love. Chris¬ 
 tianity will be socially and morally effective only 
 in so far as its followers exhibit its power to serve 
 
32 
 
 TKIlealtb. 
 
 the welfare of all men. That wealth, then, is 
 turned to the best account which aids in holding 
 up the noblest conception of life, and sets itself to 
 actualize the fullest measure of manhood for man. 
 
 This exalted conception of life excludes all 
 selfish ends in the use of wealth. Wealth consists 
 in those elements in man’s material environment 
 which contribute to his well-being. Whenever a 
 person passes beyond the idea of well-being in 
 the use of wealth,-he abuses the power delegated 
 to him. The noblest men are independent of ma¬ 
 terial wealth. They do not despise it, because it 
 supplies the means and affords the opportunity 
 for something better. While it is a prerequisite 
 to the best things, yet it remains for each to con¬ 
 trol wealth, rather than have wealth control 
 him. 
 
 A wise use of wealth makes it imperative to 
 retrench all wasteful and injurious enjoyment of 
 the same. It is right to recreate the energies by 
 those diversions which refresh and fit one for 
 better work; but any amusement that unfits a 
 person for work is wrong. Likewise the idle dis¬ 
 play of wealth in social life is an abuse of trust. 
 True friendship develops mental and moral quali- 
 
£be Distribution of Wealth* 
 
 33 
 
 ties. As social beings, we should mingle with 
 men, and learn to appreciate their excellence and 
 sympathize in their interests; but to do this we 
 need not pass the bounds of modest and unosten¬ 
 tatious living. It would be well if the American 
 people would adopt the noble maxim of “ plain 
 living and high thinking.” 
 
 If we would take more time to cultivate the 
 mind and train the affections, we should escape 
 the hollow mockery of much of our social life. 
 The extravagance and dissipation of many men of 
 wealth is a misuse of opportunity, and justly 
 arouses the indignation of the poor. Besides, the 
 expenditure of money in useless articles, sports, 
 or vulgar display of social life withdraws it from 
 supporting honest, productive labor. The extrav¬ 
 agant use of money is certainly unjust to the 
 children. The parent who permits a standard 
 of expenditures in the home which is above the 
 ability of the average man, is preparing to make 
 the children miserable when they come to set 
 up homes for themselves, and must maintain 
 them by honest labor. Worthy and intelligent 
 young men of limited means are practically 
 barred from marrying the daughters of rich men, 
 3 
 
TOcaltb. 
 
 34 
 
 / 
 
 for fear of making them unhappy in a modest 
 home with humble fare. 
 
 Again, the expenditure of a large sum of 
 money in a residence is an unwise policy. Men 
 should have homes of culture and comfort; but 
 to invest a small fortune in a home which costs 
 perplexity and trial to erect, and burdensome 
 taxes and servants to maintain, is a monument of 
 folly. The earning capacity of the average man is 
 limited, and the architectural taste of one man 
 will not always suit another; so that when a man 
 dies and leaves his estate to be sold, a very 
 small amount of the outlay is realized by the 
 heirs. 
 
 Let us remember that the highest virtue is 
 found in self-sacrifice. Men who forego present 
 enjoyment, and generously use wealth for the 
 highest human welfare and the broadest concep¬ 
 tion of human life, find a richer and fuller life for 
 themselves and their families. “He that loseth 
 his life,” says Jesus, “for my sake, shall find it.” 
 The excessive love of gain reacts on a man’s 
 nature, and robs him of generous feelings and 
 nobility of soul. Few have bright, sunny dispo¬ 
 sitions, because they try to rest content with 
 
Cbe Distribution of Wealth. 
 
 35 
 
 “bread alone;” whereas they were made for higher 
 things. “He that loveth silver shall not be satis¬ 
 fied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance 
 with increase.” (Eccl. v, io.) 
 
 Many men of wealth have allowed their habits 
 of economy to merge into covetousness. This 
 spirit grows until they feel poorer as wealth in¬ 
 creases. They soon re-enact the character of a 
 Shylock. They are walking examples of the 
 misnomer, “Poverty of wealth.” Instead of being 
 loved and respected, they are held in contempt by 
 those who know of their cold, hard, and selfish 
 lives. They finally arrive at a sordid, querulous, 
 and unhappy old age, and die unloved and un¬ 
 mourned by their fellow-men. 
 
 Again, the spirit of love and self-sacrifice finds 
 a rich compensation in the home. Selfishness in 
 children will overcome even filial love. On the 
 contrary, noble and generous feelings developed 
 in the family will make the children kinder and 
 more considerate of parents, especially when the 
 infirmities of old age lead them to hope for the 
 most unselfish service. It may be truly said that 
 “charity givetli itself rich, but covetousness hoards 
 itself poor.” The abiding principle contained in 
 
36 
 
 mealtb* 
 
 the promises of our Lord is, that temporal, spirit¬ 
 ual, and eternal blessings attend the liberal soul. 
 
 Distributing wealth to children or heirs is a 
 subject that should receive careful attention. It 
 is natural and right for a man to place the welfare 
 of his family and friends among his first duties. 
 Keeping in view this idea of bettering the condi¬ 
 tion of children through inheritance, a man should 
 be careful not to make an intended blessing prove 
 a curse. We want our children to have the largest 
 life and comfort. How can it be done? 
 
 Happiness is the creation of the mind and 
 heart. It is largely the result of the conscious¬ 
 ness of the normal activity of our highest ability. 
 Life is the substratum of human personality. We 
 intensify life and bring happiness by developing 
 personality. The child has ends in himself. In¬ 
 dependence and freedom are the marks of his 
 superiority and the bases of his happiness. It is 
 the child’s right to perfect his own being, for the 
 destiny of which he alone is responsible. The de¬ 
 velopment of the faculties and the calling out the 
 personality should be the first consideration. The 
 essential condition is, that he shall not be bolstered 
 up and hampered by indulgences so that he shall be 
 
OTe Distribution of TltHealtb. 
 
 37 
 
 deprived of the incentives to work. Unless he 
 can develop his own faculties, and procure his 
 own happiness by individual effort, he is robbed 
 of his right, and becomes restless and unhappy. 
 
 The ideal for our children is not a life of idle¬ 
 ness, but a life of work. Diligence is a duty. 
 Work calls into exercise the best powers. 
 
 The child, to make the highest success of life, 
 must deal with the real world. The child of rich 
 parents lives too much in a visionary world. He 
 does not deal with reality. Real things have laws, 
 and he must submit himself to them in order to 
 .secure confidence in his ability to work. Thus 
 testing his powers, he grows independent and self- 
 reliant. As opportunity offers, he is prepared to 
 take a step higher. The beneficent law of the 
 universe is, that man shall earn his bread by the 
 sweat of his brow. Parents contravene this law 
 when they try to ward off difficulties and re¬ 
 sponsibilities by providing their children with the 
 means of life. 
 
 The father of Hon. Chauncey M. Depew re¬ 
 fused to help him to a dollar, and he had to make 
 his own way in the world. The.se words of his 
 carry a weighty lesson: “Well, I found I had a 
 
3* 
 
 TKttealtb. 
 
 hard lot of it—nobody had a harder one—and the 
 old gentleman stood by and let me tussle and 
 fight it out. I bless him to-night, with all the 
 heart and gratitude I have, for that. If he had 
 taken the other course, what would I have done? 
 I would have been up in Peekskill to-night nurs¬ 
 ing a stove, cursing the men who had succeeded in 
 the world, and wondering by what exceptional luck 
 they had got on; but having my way to dig alone, 
 I got beyond everything my father ever dreamed 
 of. But it was done by fourteen hours’, or six¬ 
 teen hours’,.or eighteen hours’, work a day, if 
 necessary. It was done by temperance, by 
 economy.” 
 
 Men are coming to feel that riches stand more 
 in the way of a young man’s success than poverty. 
 Whenever the child’s conditions are such that 
 they do not invite effort, but he is lulled by kind¬ 
 ness, his faculties become smothered and dwarfed, 
 and he is thereby deprived of the freedom and 
 independence of character which conditions his 
 happiness. Emerson says: “He is no whole man 
 until he knows how to earn a blameless liveli¬ 
 hood.” 
 
 The instincts of our nature receive a fuller 
 
tTbe HMstrtbutlon of TIClealtb. 
 
 39 
 
 ancl higher satisfaction by a heroic life. Wealth 
 fails in its object when it does not serve to in¬ 
 spire the heart and elevate the man. Material 
 goods, at best, are only appendages and auxili¬ 
 aries of personality. Parents repress noble quali¬ 
 ties, and rob their children of the divine right of 
 culture, when they seek to have them escape the 
 rough side of life by making for them a place, 
 and then bolstering them up. Only Socialists 
 and weaklings look for paternal help, and a guar¬ 
 antee from the struggles and hardships incident 
 to life. 
 
 Then, again, wealth heaped upon children 
 often melts away within a few years. The child 
 frequently lacks the impelling motive and the ex¬ 
 ceptional talent of the father. He has not learned 
 to exercise self-denial and abstinence as the bases 
 of .success. There appears to be a divine law 
 that every second or third generation of wealthy 
 families must return to work in the dirt in order 
 to get new life and vigor. 
 
 The children of men of wealth are placed 
 under severe temptations which few can resist. 
 Perhaps the parents, who have acquired the wealth, 
 have found a great saving power in a noble Chris- 
 
40 
 
 OTealtb. 
 
 tian purpose and high aspirations, which the ne¬ 
 cessity of industry and enforced economy in early 
 life has helped to foster. Every dollar given to 
 an unworthy child increases his power of evil, and 
 hastens his self-destruction. Moral wrecks abound 
 through the subtle influences of inherited wealth. 
 Saloons thrive on the hard-earned savings of dead 
 saints. Only a well-developed manhood will en¬ 
 able a person to stand against the organized and 
 legalized forms of social demoralization. 
 
 Wealth should be used to open the door of op¬ 
 portunity to the highest virtues and noblest tal¬ 
 ents. It is far better to spend money in develop¬ 
 ing the faculties within the child than to load him 
 down with material things from without. Chil¬ 
 dren of rich men should be encouraged to work 
 for public ends without any financial consideration, 
 thus making their wealth the property of the 
 many. “The world rightly insists that every man 
 shall do something to justify his claims upon the 
 consideration and honor of society.” Eet them be 
 taught to reject any help or inheritance that would 
 tempt them to turn aside from the exercise of their 
 highest abilities in doing the work God has given 
 them. 
 
Gbe Distribution ot “Mealtb. 
 
 41 
 
 Satan offered the world to turn aside the Son of 
 man from his mission; but He said: “My meat is 
 to do the will of Him that sent me.” With such 
 motives and aspirations, our sons and daughters 
 will be the glory and pride of our homes and 
 nation. 
 
 There are many philanthropic enterprises which 
 are the glory of our age. The most important are 
 the Christian institutions which seek the the glory 
 of God by ministering to the physical, mental, 
 and spiritual needs of the people. 
 
 The increasing appeals for benevolent pur¬ 
 poses show the remarkable growth of all forms 
 of Christian work. Instead of disheartening, it 
 .should encourage us. Remember, sin and dissipa¬ 
 tion are expensive. One saloon costs as much 
 financial outlay as a church. Many persons would 
 be surprised, were they to keep careful account, 
 to see how comparatively little they give to benev¬ 
 olent objects. The givers compose but a small 
 section or class of a community. Some objects of 
 charity appeal .strongly to our sympathy, while 
 others lay claim to our judgment. One speaks to 
 the present, the other looks at both the present 
 and the future. Some forms of charity affect only 
 
42 
 
 Wealth. 
 
 the outward conditions of men. However worthy 
 these objects may be, they may be only temporary, 
 and should be sustained only as a means to higher 
 ends. Permanent benefits are better than tempo¬ 
 rary comforts. 
 
 The best way to raise the conditions of men is 
 to open the way for them to help themselves. 
 The means to be employed to work out the high¬ 
 est welfare of the race is to educate the hands, 
 head, and heart of the youth. God’s method of 
 dealing with men is to give them the opportunity 
 of helping themselves. He gives the soil, the 
 forest, the seed, the rain, and the sunshine. With 
 these conditions, men must carve their own way 
 to fortune. God bestows the opportunities, and 
 leaves man to achieve his own destiny. It is the 
 glory of man to develop his God-given capacities. 
 The true benefactor of the race directs his giving 
 in harmony with the principle of self-dependence. 
 
 The best service we can do for our fellow-men 
 is to help them establish right relations with God. 
 The true reform begins with the hearts of men. 
 If the right spirit is in a man, he will conform his 
 outward life to it. Men will shed their faults by 
 awakening and securing a healthy life within. 
 
XLhc Distribution of Wealth. 
 
 43 
 
 Jesus says: “Seek first the kingdom of God and 
 his righteousness, and all things else shall be added 
 unto you.” The man who helps establish and 
 support Christian churches, missions, hospitals, 
 and the organized forms of Christian activity, is 
 making the wisest use of money. 
 
 The next use of wealth in the order of impor¬ 
 tance is the training of the body and giving it 
 proper conditions for developing the life of the 
 soul. The body should be honored as the temple 
 of the Holy Spirit. Jesus ministered to the phys¬ 
 ical needs of men, and made such ministry the 
 doorway to their hearts. 
 
 It is a serious question how to minister to the 
 physical needs of the poor. There is danger in 
 indiscriminate giving. In this day of organized 
 charity we are likely to relax our efforts and sym¬ 
 pathies by failing to keep in personal touch with 
 the poor and unfortunate, because we delegate the 
 duties to others. If possible, each case .should be 
 personally investigated before bestowing charity. 
 This method blesses the giver and helps the re¬ 
 cipient. 
 
 It is a safe rule to give to develop the inward 
 resources of the poor. Work from within out- 
 
44 
 
 THHealtb. 
 
 ward. Each one should have the opportunity to 
 work and lift himself above want, thereby pro¬ 
 moting industry and preserving manhood. Trade- 
 schools should be established for the young, 
 wherein every industry requiring skill ma^ be 
 taught by willing and capable instructors. 
 
 Men should always have a care and considera¬ 
 tion for the failures of life. Men broken in health 
 or overtaken by misfortune need the best condi¬ 
 tions which a generous use of wealth can bestow; 
 but giving should never be the reward of laziness. 
 The industrious and prudent have no responsibil¬ 
 ity to aid the negligent and shiftless. The worthy 
 poor who are in a state of involuntary depend¬ 
 ence deserve our aid and sympathy; but the pau¬ 
 per who voluntarily chooses to live by the industry 
 of others, should be forced to work, even if it be 
 our “ poor relation.” The divine law is that if a 
 man does not work, neither shall he eat. Charity 
 given to ninety per cent of the street-beggars goes 
 to support the criminally idle and vicious. Men 
 should never reward vice in their efforts to relieve 
 virtue. 
 
 The housing of the poor in our great cities is 
 a question that demands the earnest thought of 
 
Cbe Distribution of Wealth. 
 
 45 
 
 our legislators and philanthropists. It is nothing 
 unusual for a tenement-house in New York City, 
 covering two hundred feet square, to contain six 
 hundred persons. Is it to be wondered that disease, 
 drunkenness, and vice revel in so many of these 
 abodes ? 
 
 Likewise such organizations as the Children’s 
 Aid Society of New York, that received in thirty- 
 two years more than three hundred thousand 
 homeless boys and girls, and helped them to an 
 honest, self-reliant, and useful citizenship, deserve 
 the heartiest support. “ We ought,” says Mr. 
 Gladstone, “ in this life to foster all that makes 
 goodness easier, and set barriers, of whatever 
 kind, across the flowery ways of sin.” 
 
 Men of wealth may largely prevent .social dis¬ 
 turbances, and industrial conflicts which menace 
 their life and property, by carrying out the law of 
 love to those less fortunate. The gratitude so 
 easily awakened by noble public benefactions will 
 help allay jealousies and bitter feelings of the 
 wage-workers, and pave the way for a kingdom of 
 love and peace in which all will be mutually 
 blessed. When the teachings of Jesus Christ are 
 adopted as the standard of life and conduct, then 
 
46 
 
 OTealtb. 
 
 wealth and poverty will join hands in a common 
 brotherhood, based upon liberty, industry, intelli¬ 
 gence, and moral worth. 
 
 The third and last, in order of importance, is 
 the use of wealth for the trainmg of the mind and 
 all the human faculties. 
 
 History teaches us that the highest blessings 
 for the race are the result of intellectual and spir¬ 
 itual forces. Men who establish churches and 
 hospitals, found missions, erect public libraries 
 and museums, and aid Christian colleges, enrich 
 and ennoble the life of the people. Our Christian 
 colleges have well merited the noble exhibitions 
 of large benefactions within late years. Our 
 youth should have roundly developed characters. 
 We have a right to expect that our colleges will 
 train their physical, intellectual, and spiritual na¬ 
 tures for the highest service. 
 
 The Christian colleges are especially centers of 
 power where intelligent and consecrated men and 
 women shall be prepared for wise leadership of 
 the people. We must look to them for the high¬ 
 est type of Christian teachers, editors, statesmen, 
 and reformers. The masses need stronger, wiser, 
 and better leadership. To use wealth in building 
 
tTbe Distribution of Wealth* 
 
 47 
 
 up colleges is certain to result in setting the highest 
 forces at work whereby the greatest number of 
 people will be benefited. 
 
 Many forms of Christian charity which appeal 
 to our generosity to-day will not be needed within 
 another century; the conditions which called 
 them forth will be changed. But there never will 
 be a time when the human faculties and character 
 will not need developing. 
 
 The most permanent form of Christian work, 
 and the most far-reaching results growing out of 
 our benefactions, will be on the line of work done 
 in our Christian colleges. Perhaps the most en¬ 
 viable privilege that a man of means has, is to 
 give twenty-five thousand dollars to establish a 
 professorship in some Christian college, and let 
 the interest of it keep some noble teacher perpet¬ 
 ually employed to instruct and inspire the youth 
 of the land. It becomes a royal heritage to pres¬ 
 ent and future generations. 
 
 Rev. R. S. MacArtliur, speaking of the New 
 England colleges, says: “The great colleges 
 founded in that early day have been the bulwarks 
 of education, of liberty, and of religion. The man 
 who founds, by money or brains, a great univer- 
 
48 
 
 TOealtb. 
 
 sity, which remains loyal to truth and God, does 
 more to bless man and to honor God than man or 
 angel can estimate. He founds the most enduring 
 institution known this side of God’s throne. Ox¬ 
 ford and Cambridge have outlived political earth¬ 
 quakes ; they will outlive all possible national 
 cataclysms. They are more enduring than the 
 British throne. It is conceivable that a republic 
 may take the place one day of the British mon¬ 
 archy ; but amid the crash of thrones and dynas¬ 
 ties, should this change come, these great univer¬ 
 sities will stand unmoved. Empires may rise and 
 fall, dynasties change and decay; but these insti¬ 
 tutions of learning shall be like mighty light¬ 
 houses, resting on the eternal rock, and sending 
 out the light of science and religion, blended into 
 one flame, to illumine the world and glorify God.” 
 
 Men should reflect that within ten or twenty 
 years after their death their names will be almost 
 forgotten, unless they have allied themselves with 
 some great cause that will elevate humanity and 
 honor God. The man who would make a wise 
 use of wealth should cultivate an intellectual 
 vision, generous sympathies, and strong energies, 
 and resolve to carry out, while living, the God- 
 given purposes of his heart. 
 

 . 
 
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