This you cannot
say now."
"I can," was the reply. "Circumstances made me poor, and I desired
to be rich. The means of attaining wealth were placed in my hands,
and I used them. Is it strange that I should have done so? It is
this social inequality that makes crime. Your own doctrine, and I
subscribe to it fully."
"Ungrateful wretch!" said the merchant, indignantly, "it is the evil
of your own heart that prompts to crime. You would be a thief and a
robber if you possessed millions."
And he again handed him over to the law, and let the prison walls
protect society from his depredations.
No, it is not true that in external circumstances lie the origins of
evil. God tempts no man by these. In the very extremes of poverty we
see examples of honesty; and among the wealthiest, find those who
covet their neighbour's goods, and gain dishonest possession
thereof. Reformers must seek to elevate the personal character, if
they would regenerate society. To accomplish the desired good by a
different external arrangement, is hopeless; for in the heart of man
lies the evil,--there is the fountain from which flow forth the
bitter and blighting waters of crime.
JOHN AND MARGARET GREYLSTON.
"AND you will really send Reuben to cut down that clump of pines?"
"Yes, Margaret.
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