The Extravagance of the Rich
A SIGNIFICANT instance of the overgrown luxuries of this time is shown in a lawsuit that is now in progress, in which a woman is seeking to show that her income of $15,000 a year, allotted her by the court, from her husband's estate, for the maintenance of herself and children, is not enough. She is seeking to show that her necessities actually require $100,000 a year. The necessities of no woman and three children can reach such enormous figures. It is only when people have educated themselves in wantonness, extravagance, and luxury, that they feel the need of such expenditures. Did you ever read the fifth chapter of James, and the thrilling story that it presents of the wantonness that would be practised by the wealthy living in the last days? Such incidents have come to be very common; and in the focused light of both history and prophecy, they are most significant and portentous.