Riches, in the hands of a wise and generous man, are a blessing to the
community in which he lives: they are like the light and the rain, and
diffuse a good all around them. But wealth, when it falls to the lot of
those who want benevolence and humanity, serves only as an instrument
of mischief, or at best produces no advantage to the rest of mankind.
The good man considers himself as a kind of steward to those from whom
fortune has withheld her smiles, and thus shews his gratitude to Heaven
for the abundance which has been showered down upon him. He directs the
superfluous part of his wealth at least, to the necessities of such of
his fellow-creatures as are worthy of it, and this he would do from
feeling, though there were no religion which enjoined it. But selfish
avaricious persons, who are generally knaves, how much soever they may
have, will never think they have enough, much less be induced, by any
consideration of virtue or religion, to part with any portion for the
purposes of charity and beneficence. If the riches and power of the
world were to be always in the hands of the virtuous part of mankind,
it would seem, according to our human conceptions, that they would
produce more good than in those of the vile and grovelling mortals,
who often possess them. Without any merit, these move apparently in
a sphere of ease and splendour, while good sense and honesty have to
struggle in adversity, or walk in the dirt. But the all-wise Disposer
of Events does certainly permit this order of things for just, good,
and wise purposes, though our shallow understandings are not able to
fathom them.
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