In the history of the world’s regeneration, the time had come for this, and there was virtue enough in the people to meet the consequences that have flowed therefrom. These consequences, externally disastrous to individuals as they have proved, have not been severe enough to check the onward advancement of the nation. They are, in fact, a reaction, upon individuals, of consequences flowing from their own acts, and showing them that their acts were evil. The love of wealth, for its own sake, needed to be regenerated. It was a great evil, fraught with unhappiness. Its regeneration could only be effected in rational light and mental freedom. That is, men must see it to be an evil, and freely put it away. But, so long as a man secures the gratification of every lust, just so long he sees it to be good instead of evil. It is only when he is deprived of its gratification, through consequences growing out of its indulgence, that he is enabled to perceive its true quality. And this is just the effect produced upon the general mind by the instability that attends the possession of wealth in this country. A man who loves money for its own sake, and looks upon it as the greatest good, is not at all likely to have his false view corrected, while all is sunshine and prosperity; but, in reverses, he sees with a more purified vision. In a word, then, we believe that the cause why wealth is so unstable a thing in this country, lies in the free scope that every man’s selfish impulses find, and instability is only a salutary reaction. And, in this seeming evil, we recognize a Divine Providence, still educing good. A change in our form of government, as some have thought, cannot, therefore, effect a remedy for the evil which so many lament. Nor is it to be found in penal statutes. It will come only when the whole nation, as one man, shall be guided in every transaction, small and great, by justice and judgment, and not till then. In the mean time, it is every man’s duty, who sees and acknowledges this truth, to do all in his power to give it vitality in the minds of the people. CHAPTER II. HUMAN PRUDENCE. “It’s my opinion, Mr. Carlton, that every man who remains poor through life, or who, once possessing wealth, loses it, has only himself to blame. I am out of all patience with these constant failures that occur in the mercantile community, and set them all down to sad mismanagement, or utter incapacity for business; and I am equally out of patience with the unceasing murmurs of those who have not the means of supplying their wants. The fault, in both cases, is with the individual, and no where else.”