Mr. Goldwin Smith, in a speech made "in connection with,"
but not to, this Congress, took occasion to make a very curious 'remark. He lamented the inequality of fortunes in England more than the inequalities of other kinds. A man who had made a great fortune usually did pore good than harm with it, 'but inherited wealth, as a rule, did more harm than good in the world. Is not that equivalent to saying that wealth can seldom be used well at all ? The young, who cannot acquire, but only inherit it, are sure to abuse it, while those who make it are old before they can begin to do the good expected of them. Mr. Goldwin Smith takes his illustrations from Oxford and Cambridge, but the sons of the rich are not the rich them- selves, and are unburdened either with the power or the responsi- bilities of money. Besides, they are boys ten years longer than other men.
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