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Show THE "GET-RICH-QUICK" TYPE. Insane Desire to. Amas Wealth Wrecks Happiness of Many. Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy, L.L.D., rector rec-tor of St. John's pro-cathedral, Altoona, Pa., preached last Sunday evening against the ruthless passion for riches whose ruinous results are recorded evry day in the annals of contemporary life. "In the great rush for riches, in the insane desire to heap up wealth and do quickly, men not only wreck their own real happiness and peace of mind," he said, "but they very often wreck th$ property and lives of countless other innocent in-nocent an.1 defenseless people. Every law of God and man-is set aside. 3y the sin of the 'get-rich-quick' individual individ-ual is covetousness, and when that sin becomes fostered in society a complete demoralization follows. To bear false witness against one's neighbor is conceived con-ceived to be a good stroke of business. People recognize the eternal validity of the command, 'Thou shalt not steal,' but in this false atmosphere of the 'get-rich-quick type of man that law becomes be-comes revised to read, 'Thou shalt not steal, unless the sum is large.' "To remain pure and clean, spiritually spiritual-ly speaking, is still conceived to be a wise law, but under the . influence of the pasion of making money rapidly, lust becomes almost deified. "Thou shalt not commit murder' is still announced an-nounced as the eternal law of God, but, alas! when we read of the murder of innocents, of the destruction of life and limb caused through greed ani carelessness that larger dividends may be declared; when we remember how many fortunes have been tainted wiVn the sigh of the oppressed, the wailing of widows and the tears of orphans, wc see that murder is not restricted to the class of people who, under the temptation tempta-tion of sudden passion, rise and strike to death their victim. "Such is the price too many pay for their wealth. And when they have their millions, who will say that they are rich? Are not many of them lacking lack-ing those higher and better gifts which constitute true riches? For to grow rich in the better sense of the term we should covet the things that enrich the mind and adorn the soul in the sight of its Maker. "The meek and quiet spirit, the enduring en-during faith, the brightening hope, te fervent charity these are the best gifts, and to covet them is a holy covetousness." covetous-ness." . . i O'Connell at Canterbury. O'Connell used to relate a good story of his first visit to Canterbury cathedral, cathe-dral, which was the scene of a Catholic pilgrimage recently. He inquired from the verger the exact spot of the death .of Thomas A. Becket, and then knelt down reverently and kissed it. The verger in terror told O'Connell that the dean would instantly dismiss him if he were to allow Popish work like that. O'Connell asked him his fee for showing show-ing a visitor around the cathedral. He said one shilling. O'Connell gave him half a crown; whereupon the verger said: "You may kiss the stone again, sir. without any additional charge, and I will look out and tell you if I see the dean coming." Westminster Gazette. |