Their wealth is given, by God, to be employed for the
best good of mankind; and their intellectual advantages are designed,
primarily, to enable them to judge correctly in employing their means
most wisely for the general good.
Now, suppose a man of wealth inherits ten thousand acres of real estate;
it is not his duty to divide it among his poor neighbors and tenants.
If he took this course, it is probable that most of them would spend
all in thriftless waste and indolence, or in mere physical enjoyments.
Instead, then, of thus putting his capital out of his hands, he is
bound to retain and so to employ it as to raise his family and his
neighbors to such a state of virtue and intelligence that they can
secure far more, by their own efforts and industry, than he, by dividing
his capital, could bestow upon them.
In this view of the subject, it is manifest that the unequal
distribution of property is no evil. The great difficulty is, that so
large a portion of those who hold much capital, instead of using their
various advantages for the greatest good of those around them, employ
them for mere selfish indulgences; thus inflicting as much mischief
on themselves as results to others from their culpable neglect.
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