The Virginia Gazette

From the FOOL.

None but Idiots despise Wealth, and every one as well as every is
Man may justly glory in the Enjoyment, but much more in a fair and
happy
Acquisition of it. What is Wealth, demands a further Inquiry.
Some center it in Gold and Silver, Some in Wisdom and Learning, some
in the Circulation of Business, and Some in Contentment. The different
Opinions of Men evince, that it doth not necessarily or distinctly
Consist in any or either of these, nor in the eventual Possession after this Life, nor in the
absolute present Instant; but its constituent Parts are formed in, and spring from, the
Fountain of Labour and Industry; and then whatever they unite in, constitutes what we
may properly call Wealth.
It brings with it a calm Disposition and Peace of Mind, rational Plenty, and keeps
The Hand, Heart, and Understanding of Man in continual Exercise. The Idle cannot
attain, the Avaritious enjoy, nor the Ambitious perceive its essential Properties: It is an
imperfect Being, if I may so call it, that, like the Course of Numbers, lives in gradual
Progression, and therefore at best can be but partially obtained; and then it remains to
be considered in what Degree it may be obtained, and how enjoyed with the greatest
Glory and Eclat.
This certainly cannot be, where a Man confines it to himself, or within a narrow
Circle, there being no real Difference between having a Store of Goods buried under
Ground, a large Quantity of Cash lock'd up in a Chest, a great Share of Virtue, Wisdom,
or Learning, hid in a Man's own Breast, and Bullion in the Bowels of the Earth. A
Communication of Benefits from any Source, and in any Manner, Shews its Seat of Existence: therefore the Being of Wealth perceived, by its diffusive Qualities, which gives
it its Use, Eminence, and Distinction, without which, like other hidden Things, it could
only have an imaginary Being, or that Kind of Nothingness from whence nothing valuable
or significant is produced. As Labour and Industry give it Being, Benevolence spreads
it around, and a right Judgment gives it its proper Use and Application.
As Wealth is intended by Communication to be the common Support, Pleasure, and
Satisfaction of all, so ought all to contribute to the Acquisition, by their joint Labour and
Industry; and therefore whoever fails herein, according to their best Abilities, are criminal; but are not so for want of Wit and Genius, no more than for want of equal Strength;
therefore wherever any eminent Defect in Nature appears, Assistance must be given by
those who are more perfect, who by such Assistance become the Masters of, or Superiors
to those whom they support; and from this Principle it is that the different Degrees of
Mankind spring, and from whence Subordination had its Origin.
As Wealth, its Use, and Application, came to be understood, the Head gradually got
the better of the Hands; Wit and Skill ruled over and directed bodily Labour, and Art
accumulated to itself the principal Advantages of Human Life, leaving to the Labourer all
the Hardships and Disadvantages, who in a Course of Time sinking under it, fell Burden
to the Ingenious, and became entitled to their Care and Assistance.
This produced what we call the Poor of a Community, who, while they fall to Decay
from the Burthen of Labour, and a scanty Income, are entitled to be supported by the
Generality, for whom respectively they have directly or indirectly laboured, so long as
their Health and Strength permitted; and the young Children of such Men ought likewise
to be the common Care. There are not any else that can properly be called the most
Public Poor; the Unhappy above them should be considered in another Light, and those
below them as Thieves and Vagabonds, of whom the Publick have no Care but to make
them labour, and by that Means prevent their doing Mischief.
The Use and Application of Wealth then is, in the first Place, to provide for the common
Safety and Defence; in the second, to improve the Principal, by encouraging of Manufactures
and Trade; the third, to the Support of the Indigent; and lastly, to our Pleasure
and Satisfaction.
When the great End of Wealth, its universal Benefit is applied, its next Purpose is
certainly to please ourselves in whatever is innocently agreeable, whether in Building,
Planting, or what else may amuse, instruct, or improve; that may employ the Overplus
laudably, or make any Branch of Science flourish; that may here and there raise a
promising Genius to Honour, or give Birth to something great and noble.
Wealth then, of however many Parts it may be composed, appears altogether in the
Power and Art of communicating Benefits; and when idle or uncirculating, is what the
Chymists call caput mortuum, or Dross: Such is the Miser's Hoard, and Such all useless
Accumulations, that are only gathered together for wise Men to laugh at, and Idiots to
gaze on.
As it is calculated to guard us against the Variety of Evils, So it is intended to furnish
us with a Diversification of Delights; but where it is unemployed, a Guard must be set
upon it, and occasions a Diversity of Fears, Pains, and Perils. Thus its Idleness brings
upon us the Evils it should prevent, and impedes the Enjoyment of those Pleasures it
was designed to give; the End and Purpose of the Great Giver is marr'd, and its Use
abused into a Kind of a Non-entity.
If Riches or a Store of Goods in Possession are not Wealth when hoarded or unemployed,
neither are they so when improperly or extravagantly wasted; the Profusion
may produce Good Somewhere, but is oftener the Parent of Riot, Disorder, and Mischief.
A Hoard can do no Good during the Life of the Monopolizer, but may after his Death,
and So become Wealth to somebody; but Profusion is apt to create invincible Evils, and
however in the Event may become Wealth, will hardly ever compensate for the Follies it
has given Birth to.
To make an exact Comparison between these two Errors, is like multiplying o by o,
from whence nothing can result: But it is the Glory of Wealth to give Birth to Industry.
Benevolence, Virtue, Honour, and every Social Good: And when a Man has Wit enough
to find his Way to it, all the rest will be added unto him.