The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-02-25
"He Died Rich.r


count wealth by hundreds Of thousands. and
they said it in elegant parlors, and by uxu.
tious breakfast tables, all over the SQUARES
and avenues Of the great city they said it,
too, in dark alleys. and in sqnald homes
where all his thousands could not buy back
to the millionaire one hour of the life that
was to them a burden and misery. Every
where it was the same story, 'IIe died rich"
Ills family and his friends thought SO, as
they gathered around the bedside of the
dying man; and you reader, would have
thought it too, if you could have looked
around that chamber into which death
was entering with his dumb foot fails and
his ghastly presence. Oh, it was n princcly
room! Rare pictures flushed the walls.
that winter day, with the glory Of .Arcadan
Summers; the faircst blossoms Of Southern
May were piled thick upon the costly carpet;
and the da'ntily embroidered drapcry fell
in soft, crinkIcd clouds from the massive
beadstead. And the owner Of all this ma"-
nfcent lay there dying: and through all
his life Of more than thrcc-scorc years, he
had tolled and struggled for this-to die
rich! lie had bought lands and sold them;
he had sent richly 'rcglted ships to foreign
ports; he had owned shares in railroads,
and stocks in Banks and now!
All! there was an angel who stood at
the bedside of John Russell in that dying
hour, and the man had nothing out Of all
his life to give him no generous, noble.
self sacrificing deeds, which would have
been as gold, and all precious jewels in the
hand Of the angel: SO he wrote down il,
the close IF the last chapter Of John Russcl's
life, "Iie dicd poor.''
And John Russell saw the words rs his
soul followed the angels on that Journey
which sooner or later we must all take, and
he knew then for the first time that all the
labor, and toll, and struggling Of lis life on
earth, had only brought him this verdict at
the bar Of the Kingdom Of Heaven, "IIe
died poor"
"11e died poor \ very few persons
said this of an old man who lay in a back
chamber Of a small dilapilated building,
whose solitary window looked out on the
back garden of John Russell's residence.
The floor was bare, and there was only a
few chairs, table and low bed in tic
room. BY its side stood an old black wo
man, whom the dying man had occasionally
furnished with an armEul of wood. or a loaf
OF bread. She mois:encd his cold lips with
water, or held the taliow candle close to his
dim eyes, SO that he might see once more
the light Of this world. lie had not dol
lar upon earth; his fortune had taken
wings and flown away; his wife and his
children had gono before him, his friends
had deserted or lost sight of him, and now
none remain TO watch with the old man till
death called him, but the grateful old black
woman whom he had saved from starya
ton.
But the angel with the book stood there,
too, and looking over that old mans life, he
saw how many good, and gentle, and gen
erous deeds frightened every year how he
had been kind TO the suffering. and forgiven
such wrongs rs make men friends, and
strivcn, through all the trials and tempta-
tions of his long, sad life, to he true to God
and himself. So the angel wrote under the
last chapter Of this old mans life, and every
letter shone like some rare setting Of dia-
monds, "He dicd rich."
And the old man knew it, too, when hc
stood at the silver Of the Eternal city, and
they led him in the gate and showed him the
inheritance to which he was heir.
There was the house not made with
hands, with its columns Of pearl, and its
ceilings Of jasper, with its pleasant rooms,
and its lofty halls, and lis mighty organs
from which peal forever the notes Of praise
to our God
There, too was the pleasant lanscape,
with its green avenues, its golden pavilons,
its trees waving in the JOY Of the eternal
leaves, and its silver meadow lands sopine
down to the river Of eternal waters. lie
was heir to all these things, and lie took
the title deeds from the hands of Gods an.
gels, and entered into their possession, while
they were saying pityingiy on earth, "IIc
died poor"
All, reader how unlike it is with the
things there. All the wealth of this world
cannot buy one acre of the soil "on the
other side the river,' nor one title deed to
it's pleasant homes on its fountains of sweet
waters; but only live SO that when you sail
out on the great sea Of death, you shall
bear with you to the golden ports those
blessed words Of the angels. "Ile died ricb,''
and you shall be satisfied with your inheri.
tance in the "kingdom of Heaven"
81.
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