The Richmond palladium., 1856-05-08
TH f DO oIIA1.
BIZ GEORGE LIPPARD.
They brought him a dollar.

hufFyln5 10 colect the last Inohlh ; rent anu
was on the verge Of the miserable court where
) his tenants herded like beasts in their kennels
;. he was there with blank book in his hand.
? when death laid his hand upon him
He was carried home to his splendid man
: sion. He was laid upon bed with a satin
coverlet The lawyer. the relations, and the
preacher sent for. All day long he lay
without speech. moving only his right hand,
IS though in the Act of counting money
AT midnight he spoke.
He asked for dollar and they brought
one to him. and lean and gaunt he sa. up in
his death bed, and clutched it with the grip
Of death.
A shaded lamp stood on the table near the
si.ken bed. Its light fell family around the
splendid room. whore chairs and carpets and
mirrors, silken bed and lofty ceiling all said
gold AS plainly AS lips say it.
| His hair and eyebrows were white His
cheeks sunken and his lips thin and surround
ed by wrinkles that indicated the pattern of
avarice. AS he sat up in his bed with his
neck barred and the silken coverlet wrapped
about his lean frame. his white hair and eve
brows contrasied with his wasted and wrnk-
led face. lie looked like ghost; and though
there was life in his leaden eve-all that life
was centered on the dollar which he gripped
in his clenched fist.
His wife, pleasant. faced matronlv woman
was seated at the foot of the bed. His son. a
young man OF twenty one. dressed in the last
touch OF fashion, sat by the lawyer. The
lawyer sat before the table pen in hand. and
gold spectacles on his nose There was large
parchment spread before him.
''Do you think he will make will?'' asked
his son.
Hardly compus merits yet," the
whispered reply. Wat, he'll be luc.d after
a while"
MY dear said the wife, "had not better
send tor preacher"
She rose and look her dying husband by
the hand. but he did not mind His eyes
were upon the dollar.
He was rch man. He owned palaces in
Walnut and Chestnut streets, and novels and
courts on the outskirts. He had iron mines
in the State, copper mines the lake some
where; he had golden interests in California.
His name was bright upon the records Of TWEEN
ty banks He owned stock Of all kinds he
had halta dozen papers in his pay.
he knew but one crime-to be IN debt ,oith-
out the po,ce7 to pay.
He knew but one virtue-to get money.
That crime he had never forgotten-this
virtue he had never forl often, in the long way
of thirty five years.
To hunt down a debtor, to distress a ten
ant TO turn few additional thousands by
sharp speculation-these We're the main
achievements of his life.
He was good man-his name was upon a
silver plate upon the pew door of a velve,
cushioned church.
He was benevolent man-for every thou
sand dollars which he wrung from tenants Of
his courts or from the debtors who writhed
beneath his heels, he gave ten dollars TO some
beaevoent institution
He was JUS; man-the gallows and Jail
always found him faithful and unwavering
advocate
And now he is dying man--see, As he
sits upon the ped of death, with the dollar in
his cIenched hand
OH holy dollar. object of his life long pur-
suit, what comfort hast thou for him now in
his pain of death?
AT length the dying man survived and die
tated his will. 1t was strange 10 see the mo-
ther and son and lawyer muttering. and some.
times wrangling beside the bed OF death All
the while the tes,stor clutched the dollar in his
ri ght hand
When the will was being read the preacher
came, even he who held the pastoral charge
of the great church, whose pew doors bore
sanity names on silver plate. and whose seats
on the Sabbath days groaned beneath the
weight OF responsibility. broadcoth and satin.
tie came and said his prayers, decorouslv and
n measured words. but never once did the dy-
ng man relax his hold he dollar
Cant you read me something say--quick.
lon't you see I'm goinge" at length said the
-ich man, turning fri ghtened look toward the
preacher
The preacher, whose cravat was of the
Thisest. took book with golden clasps from
me table
And he read:
And say unto you. it is easier for cam
i 10 so through the eve Of needle than for
,ich man 10 enter the Kingdom Of Cod
''Who said these words-who-who?"
airly shrieked the dying man, shskin. the
hand which ,lenched the dollar, at the preach.
sc's head.
The preacher hastily turned over the leaf,
md did not reply.
why did You never tell me of this before?
Why did You never preach from it as l sat in
'our church. Why--rhy2"
The preacher did not reply-but turned over
mother leaf. But The dying man would not
De quie,ed.
And It's easier for camel to go through
he eye Of a needle than for rich man to .
enter the Kingdom Of God. is it' Am not
,ch! What tenant did ever spare-whst
debtor did ever releases And you stood up
Sunday after Sunday and preached 10 us and
never said one word about the csmele'
The preacher in search Of consoling pas
age. turned rapidly over the leaves. and in
confusion came 10 this passage. which he
cad:
go 20 now, We rich men, weep and howl
or your miseries that shall come upon YOU
our gold and silver is csnkcred; and the rust
# them shall be witness against YOU. and
hall eat your flesh as II il we're FIRE; We have
ieaped treasures for the lsst days Behold
he hire of the lahorers who have reapad dow, :