And because a man is poor it does not follow that he has been a sluggard or a spendthrift. True it is that in the majority of cases our poverty and lowliness are due to ourselves, but still, very often men are poor simply because they are unfortunate. Now, fortune is nothing more or less than the inscrutable providence of God assigning a place to every one, and every one to his own place. Hence, the true Christian's duty is, first, to better his condition if he can by honest industry, and if he fail, to turn to God and say: " Father, Thy will be done." Herein exactly is the mistake of Anarchists and Socialists. With no Christian principles for their guidance, they decry all wealth while madly trying to gain wealth; they covet a rich reward, but are unwilling to endure the preliminary labor. What a farce it is to see, as we often see, that the leaders of strikes and other violent social movements are irresponsible men with not a cent at stake — who have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and who do gain, if not by winning the strike, at least by preying on the pocket of the simple-minded workingman! Those fellows, whose only work is to preach the doctrine of murder and robbery, are not workingmen nor the friends of the workingmen — but criminals guilty of treason, and should be dealt with accordingly. If a nation were to listen to them and follow where they lead, it would soon find itself convulsed with internal dissensions; a slave to that worst of tyrannies, the tyranny of a mob, with no law and no order — with no leisure class with the abilities and the means to advance in the civilizing
