upon a home.

But a man can give his money away. Yes, and no one who has ever tried
it will deny that more pleasure is to be derived from the giving
of money to a cause in which one's heart is interested, than can
be obtained from the expenditure of the same amount in selfish
indulgence. But if one is going to give largely he must spend a great
deal of time in investigating and in comparing the merits of the
different enterprises, and I am persuaded that there is a better life
than the life led by those who spend nearly all the time accumulating
beyond their needs and then employ the last few days in giving it
away. What the world needs is not a few men of great wealth, doling
out their money in anticipation of death--what the world needs is
that these men shall link themselves in sympathetic interest with
struggling humanity and help to solve the problems of to-day, instead
of creating problems for the next generation to solve.

But you say, a man can leave his money to his children? He can, if he
dares. But a large fortune, in anticipation, has ruined more sons
than it has ever helped. If a young man has so much money coming to
him that he knows he will never have to work, the chances are that it
will sap his energy, even if it does not undermine his character, and
leave him a curse rather than a blessing to those who brought him
into the world. And it is scarcely safer to leave the money to a
daughter. For if a young woman has a prospective inheritance so
large that, when a young man calls upon her, she can not tell whether
he is calling upon her or her father, it is embarrassing--especially
so if she finds after marriage that he married the wrong member of
the family. And, I may add, that the daughters of the very rich are
usually hedged about by a social environment which prevents their
making the acquaintance of the best young men. The men who,
twenty-five years from now, will be the leaders in business, in
society, in government, and in the church, are not the pampered sons
of the rich, but the young men who, with good health and good
habits, with high ideals and strong ambition, are, under the spur of
necessity, laying the foundation for future achievements, and these
young men do not have a chance to become acquainted with the
daughters of the very rich. Even if they did know them they might
hesitate to enter upon the scale of expenditure to which these
daughters are accustomed.

I have spoken at length in