18. The widow's mite is not only equal to the most precious gifts, but it is this mite alone which is a genuine work of mercy.
Only the toiling poor know the happiness of true compassion. Rich idlers are deprived of it.
19. A rich man had everything that people desire: millions in coin, a manigficent palace, a beautiful wife, hundreds of servants, sumptuous repasts, all sorts of dainties and wines, stables filled with a multitude of horses. And he tired of it all, he wearied of sitting all day vw Vvvs. \х«^яг
nificent mansion, he sighed and complained of his weariness. The only thing left for him in the way of joy was eating. When he awoke from sleep, he awaited his breakfast, after his breakfast he waited for dinner, and after dinner he looked forward to his supper. But even this joy did not last. He ate so much that he ruined his digestion and felt no appetite for food. He summoned his physicians. The physicians gave him some medicine and ordered him to walk two hours each day.
And as he was walking by the physician's orders his alloted two hours, ruminating upon his lack of desire for food, a beggar approached him:
"Alms," he pleaded, "alms, for the sake of Christ."
The rich man was engrossed with his own sorrow and did not hear the beggar. ,
"Pity me, master, for I have not eaten the whole day."
When the rich man heard him speak of food, he stopped.
"You desire to eat ?"
"Very much, master, very much, indeed."
"What a fortunate fellow," thought the rich man, and he envied the beggar.
Poor men envy the rich, and the rich envy the poor.
They are all alike. The poor are better off, for frequently they are not to blame for their poverty, but the rich have always themselves to blame for their wealth.
*Н1
COVETOUSNESS
•t
COVETOUSNESS
The sin of covetousness consists in the acquisition of ever increasing quantities of things or money, of which others stand in need, and in the retention of the same, in order to use at will the labor of others.
I.
Wherein is the Sin of Wealth?
1. In our society man cannot sleep without paying for his lodging. The air, the water, the light of the sun are his only on the great highway. His sole recognized right is to walk upon this highway until he reels from fatigue, because he cannot stop, but must keep on moving.
Grant Allen.
2. Ten good men can lie down and sleep in peace upon one mat, but two rich men cannot live in peace in ten rooms. A good man having a loaf of bread will share half with a hungry neighbor, but a conqueror may conquer a continent and will never rest until he conquers another.
3. A rich family may have fifteen rooms to accommodate three persons, yet there will be no room to shelter a beggar from the cold and to give him a night's lodging.
A peasant has a hut seven yards square for his flock of seven souls, yet he readily admits a wanderer, saying: God bids us share with others half and half.
4. The rich and the poor supplement one another. If there are rich, there must be poor also. If there is senseless luxury, that terrible need is likewise bound to exist which forces those that are poor to serve senseless luxury.
Christ loved the poor and avoided the rich.
And in the Kingdom of Truth which he preached there could be neither rich nor poor. Henry George.
5. The tramp is the inevitable complement to a millionaire.
6. The plealsures of the rich are obtained with the tears of the poor.
7. When rich men speak of public welfare I know that it is a mere conspiracy of the rich seeking their own profit . in the name and under the pretext of public welfare.
Thomas Moore,
8. Honest men are not usually rich. Rich men are not usually honest. Lao-Tse.
9. "Do not rob a poor man because he is poor," says Solomon. Yet this robbing of the poor man because he is poor is the most usual thing. The rich always utilize the need of the poor to make them work for the rich or to buy that which they sell at the lowest price.
The robbery of a rich man upon the highways, for the sake of his riches, is a much rarer occurrence, because it is^ dangerous to rob the rich, but a poor man may be robbed» ^ without any risk. John Ruskin. S
Л.
10. People of the working class frequently endeavorrj^.
to pass into the class of the wealthy who live by the laboi^ of others. This they call coming among better people. ВиЦ^ it would be more correct to say "leaving good people to go * among worse people."
11. Wealth is a great sin before God, poverty a great sin before people. Russian proverb. . ^
11.
Man and the Land
1. As I was bom for the land, the land has been also given me to take from it what I need for cultivation aiul planting, and I have the right to demand my share. Show me where it is. Emerson,
2. The earth is our common mother; it feeds us, shelters us, gladdens us and warms us with love; from the moment of our birth, and until we find rest in eternal sleep upon its maternal bosom, it constantly caresses us with its tender embraces.
Yet in spite of this, people talk of selling it, and as a matter of fact in our mercenary age earth is valued in a, market for selling purposes. But selling the earth that was made by the Heavenly Creator is a wild absurdity. The earth can belong only to God Omnipotent and all the children of men who labor upon it.
It is not the property of any one generation—but of all generations past, present and future. Carlyle.
3. Suppose we occupy an island and live by the labor of our hands, and a shipwrecked mariner is cast upon our shore. Has he the same basic natural right as we to occupy a portion of the land and to feed himself by the labor of his hands ? It seems that this right is indubitable. Yet how many men are born upon our planet to whom men living on it deny this very same right. ' Lavelais.
III.
Harmful Effects of Wealth
1. Men complain of poverty and use every means to attain wealth, yet poverty and need give man firmness and
strength, while on the contrary excesses and luxury lead to weakness and ruin.
It is foolish for poor men to seek to change their condition which is beneficial both to body and soul for riches which are harmful to both.
2. Necessity trains and teaches. Wealth confounds.
Russian proverb,
3. The poor man has his troubles, but the rich man has a double share.
4. The life of the rich man is bad both because he can never be at peace for fear that his wealth will take wings, and because as his wealth increases, so do his worries and duties increase. But principally because he can associate with few people only, who must be as rich as he. He cannot associate with poor people. If he were to foregather with the poor he would clearly realize his own sin, and he coutd not avoid being ashamed of himself.
5. Wealth has gold—poverty has joy.
Russian proverb.
6. Riches lead man to pride, cruelty, self satisfied ignorance and vice. Meunier.
7. Callous and indifferent to the woe of others is the man of wealth. Talmud.
8. The life of the rich, being immune from labor, which is a necessity of life, cannot be free from madness. Men who do not labor, that is who fail to fulfill one of the universal laws governing the life of all men, are bound to act like maniacs. They become like domestic animals, horses, dogs, and pigs. They romp and fight and rush from place to place without knowing why.
■u
THE PATHWAY OF LIFE 163
9. Necessity sharpens the wit, wealth dulls it. Fat and laziness drive even a dog to madness. Russian proverb.
10. A merciful man is never rich. A rich man is surely not merciful. Manchu proverb.
11. Men seek wealth, but if they only knew how much of good people lose while acquiring wealth they would as zealously seek to get rid of it as they now seek to acquire it.