Mammon

Thore is nothmg indeed wlneh lalls wuu euci i vilhori:j3 blighl uon human suaceptibiürea indiho line syiapathius oí the heart, aa th.u inillewa of sclf interest. This is a sorry wurld we ive in, aye a njoat villuirious wurld. To ünd au honesi mun ia these dogt'iieratud linisa - a man wlio would acora to takc the udvantage üf lis aeiylibor lor the sake pf lucre, isascarch eiiuivaicir.ni diHiculty to th:it of the philoöO)her's.8iiíie. Almos: all moa are naturaüy or á'rtiñcially villains. Witliia twelve ïnotulu 1 hnvc kiuwii a would-be jtnilc oi" nioraüty swiudle hia bruüierout of aii bïa earthly possesstons, ! and ihon cliucklo at the fraud. In this case büth brothers werc knaves, aad the onc, strange "as it tnriy seem, considerad it a insrít to outroach the otlicr even ia vice. ötitl aftcr the fasluoa of thu world tliey are Ioviag brotlicr.s. - lint the tiuá üt cJiiaaiiguiniiy cuauot cope witíi those of self iaterest. Taey tuelt like wax before the tire of the furnace. Thö iaotto of thede raen ia, "get mncy honesily if you can, but by all menas get inoaey." Tiieir lives unlbld the prnctice of this doctrine. Yet 1 oeyor kaáw a villain who did not aooncr or later overreach liiaisolf. Uypocrisy and ■vico, of cvery character tre inseparable, aad he that habitually takes arjvantae of another's goodneess of heart, will ultima tely betray htmself. As the end of guiit ia infamy, so the utmost daring of u hypócríte vi eventunte in hia own nward wrctcbeducss. Man may pretend to defy and scorn tho wralh to cosnc, but thore isa destiny upua hiai that bida'his soul treinble at the watches of midmght a terror ïri his fatc, that calla treimiloua thóughts into his coward bo3om, and makes hiai reooil like a elave benoath the lash, from the crowd o( bowüdering phantoma that press thcmselveaforo his mental cye. Yet mammon ia to innn "J ;erriblc god : a Juggèniaut thot destroya the ie tcndrils of ifié hfirt, ratlirr than crtishes d deforms the ontward man. The yotmg. the r, tho gifled - the brightest and most ' l of God's crcatiires. aro victima and votarles m the shrine of Plutus. Facuhies are wasted l' virtues are sacrificcd - afi'ections are broken o! iwn - hearls are broken, and heiven is lost. k idail for the transitijry pngeantry of an hour - a I for a grasp of tlic gilded straw thnt floats i pon life's surface, wlien porchance thnt grnsp q iay whclm U3 in interininable ruin. It is i:ot ell for man to bc nbove laa wantn. Indonee naturally nurtures vite', and he on whom irtune lavishes her favors. loses hts proper deBndoncc upon heaven. Midfortune and penuf are goncrally produciivo either of the dus nir ot de3pftration, or the Bubmisswenees to r lic divine will, wliich has an allinity to that f icokness of hcart so eliaractcristic oí i truc i jrirïstiah. The effects of aíHuencn are for the ] nbst part prccÏÉiely opposite. Yet the power if mniiiirion is tle paramount power of ihr , nrtli. JVIind mny . occnsionuily rise abovo tho urbulent waves of oppression, and bhiriö svith hc cfi'ulgcnce of mid-day. But the rei,:n nf nind is regulatod by a llucíuating oidcal - the brtuitous circumatances of liie are altogeliier icccbsary to its dcvelopeiiient, as well as npgre;iation. Even when Matiir'in was ri'tently enjnged in the most brilliant próduciions uf hurian genius - his wants wero sntisfíed-in a ma 1icr too horrible to be detailed. Away from the ■msy luim of city life - in gecluded villaces and etired hamlels. there niny be sonie pure waters oí nature,soriie hcarts uninfluenccd by all the absorbing passions of self-interest - butherc. in this hrongcd city, where numbcrlcss beincs nrc congregated together in the daily purauits of life - all are bowing low at the feet of mammon - all are led away from the path of virtue, honor nnd religión, by that interna! curse - "Uy the sweal