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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 26, 1872

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 40, No. 24.

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Money.

THE power of “the root of all evil” in these times is overwhelming. Before Mammon, men tremble. It is the god of the rich, and the idol of those less favored. Its influence pervades all ranks and classes of men. Heroes lose their manhood in grasping after it. Honor quails before its influence. Crime is set down as naught in comparison with the respectability (?) and weight which he who possesses a well-lined purse can command. Its influence for good is undoubtedly powerful: but in the hands of the vile and unprincipled it has a tendency to taint and pollute the entire social and moral atmosphere. Backed by money, a man, in these times, can with impunity commit every crime in the calendar, and escape unscathed. He can, if his villainy is deep-seated, and he is in possession of the quality vulgarly denominated “brass,” hold his head high, and ride down all frowns and the contempt of an entire community. He can buy up those who have suffered insult and injury at his hands; and puffed up with his pride of purse and acknowledged influence, he can tread the public thoroughfares with a stately step, and receive the smirking salutations of those who, in their hearts, despise him, while he inwardly gloats over his untold crimes, and plots new schemes for the gratification of his base passions, and injury of his fellow-men. Justice can be subverted; the laws set at defiance; the grossest immorality practiced; and the blackest and most degrading crimes committed without fear, by the depraved, if they can but command at will the influence of money. Such has been, and will be, we suppose, the record of this, as well as all other communities. The strong-minded man ceases to be powerful when tempted with the alluring bait. His knees smite each other, and he quietly worships at the shrine. The weak and puerile readily grasp with nervous activity the glittering bauble, and daily, in all ranks and stations of life, homage is paid Mammon.—Dundas Banner.