Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-06-14
POTENCY OF THE DOLLAR,
NJ GEO. LyPpARD.

They brought him dollar.
he took il, clutched it in his long, skinny
fingers, tried its sound against the bed post,
and then gazed at it long and intently with
his dull, leaden eye.
That day, in the hurry Of business, Death
had struck him, even in the street. He was
hurryiuR to collect the last months rent aud
was on the verge Of the miserable court
where his tenants herded like wild beasts
In their kennels--he was there with his bank
book in his hand, when death laid his hand
upon him. Hlh. =.
he was carried home to his splendid man
sion. He was laid on a bed with a satin COW
erlet, The lawyer, the relations and the
preacher were sent for. All day long he lay
without speech, moving only his right hand,
as though in the act of counting money. f1
At midnight he spoke. .,r
He asked for dollar, and they brought one
to him, aud lean and gaunt he laid mp in his
dsath-bed, and clutched 1t with the grip OF
death. ,.- --. ..........-... ......,
A shaded lamp stood on table near the
silken bed and lofty ceiling, all said goldl as
plain as human lips can say 1t.
His hair and eyebrows were white. His
cheeks sunken, and his lips thin and sur
rounded by wrinkles that indicate the pas
sion of ayarice. AS he sat up in his bed with
his neck barred and the silken coverlct wrapt
about his lean frame, his white hair and eye
brows contrasting with his wasted and
wrinkled face be looked like ghost. And
there was life in bis leaden eye-all that life
was centered on the Dollar, which he gripped
in his clenched fist. 5.. 4g ..f
His wife, q pleasant faced, uatronly woman,
was seated at the foot of the bed. His son, a
young man oftwenty-one, dressed in the last
touch of fashion, sat by the lawyer. The
lawyer sat before the table, pen in hand, and
pold spectacles on his nose. There was Il
huge parchment spread before him,
"Do you think be will make willF asked
the son.
'Hardly conRSs n'enas yet" was the whis-
pered reply. wait. He'll be lucid after q
WHILE"
"My DEAR said the wife, 'had not better
send for preacher2"
She rose and took her dying husband by
the hand, but he did not mind. His eye was
upon the dollar.
BE was rich man. he owned palaces on
Walnut and Chestnut street, and novels and
courts in the outskirts. He had iron mines
in this states copper mines on the lakes some
where, he had golden interests in California:
His name was bright upon the record of
twenty banks he had half dozen papers in
his pay. ... ......
He knew but one crime--to be in debt
without the power TO pay.
he knew but one virtue-to get money.
That crime be had never forgotten In the
long way of thirty-fve years.
To hunt down debtor, 10 distress ten
ant, to turn few additional thousands by
sharp speculation - these were the main
achievements of his life. tl
He was a good man--his name was upon
the pew door of velvet cushioned church.
He was benevolent man-for every thou
sand dollars that he wrung from the tenants
of his courts, or from the debtor who writhed
beneath his heel, he gave ten dollars to some
benevolent institution. ...s
he was Just man--the gallows and the
Jail always found In him faithful and un-
swerving advocate.
And now he Is dying man--seel As he
sits upon the bed Of death, with the Dollar in
his clenched hand. l..t
OF holy Dollar, object of his lifelong pur-
suit, what comfort hast thou for him now in
his pain of death.
At length the dead man revived and die
tated his will. It was strange 10 see the
mother and SON and lawyer muttering-and
sometimes wrangling--beside the bed OF
death. All the while the testator clenched
the Dollar in his right hand, ,,a ~
While the will was being made, the
preacher came-even he who held the pas
ioral charge Of the great church, whose pew
doors bore sanity names on silver plates, and
whose seats on Sabbath day Rroaned beneath
the weight of respectability, broadcloth anc
satin.
BE came and said bis prayer--deoorous J
and ia measured words-but never once die
the dying man relax the hold of the dollar.
"Can' you read me something, say--quick
don't you see I'M goingp' at length said the
rich man, turning frightened look toward
the preacher. 1.a.
The preacher, whose crayat was of th,
whitest, took book with a golden clasp from
marble table. And he read:
"And l say unto you Il is easier for came
TO go through the eye Of needle, than for {
1 awRo Tl said ID those S Ords@wSo4Whowwb W S
fairly shrleked the dying man, shaking tn,
hand which clenched the Dollar, at tn,
preachers head. lspl'e,i ~ 20
The preacher hastily turned over the lea
and did not reply. G-
"Why did you never tell me of this before
Why did you never preach from it as sat Il
your church? Why7 Why2 lr l,'
The preacher did not reply, but turne
over another leaf But the dying man woul
GAnd its easier for a camel to through tn
eve Of needle, than for rich man to ante
the Kingdom Of God, is it7 Then what's I
become of me? Am not rich9 WIS
tenant did ever spare, or did ever release
And you stood up Sunday after Sunday an
preached 10 as and never said one wor
about the camel. Not a word about th
The preacher, in search of consoling pa.
sage, turned rapidly over the leaves, and
his confusion, came TO this passage, which b
reads 1l9e t,''-1 'fp I
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and how
for your miseries that shall come upon yoI
Your gold and silver Is cankered; and th
rust OF them shall be a witness against 70
and shall eat yenr hesh as il were fire; y
have heAped treasure together for the lal
days. Behold the hire of the laborers VIII
have reaped down your fields, which is Of 70
kept BY fraud crieth; and the cries Of thet
which have reaped are entered into tbs ear
Of the Lord Of Sabbath" h9t ~ NlAS
And yet You never preached that 10 me
shrieked the dying man.
The preacher who had blundered throug
the passage Of james which we have quote,
knew not what 70 say9h lal9nE
Then the wife drew near aud stroye 70 con
fort him, and The son (lshb had been reae
ing the will) attempted a word or two fcoI
ISOLATION. ali aiI ig4
Bot with the dollar in his hand he san
into death, talking OF stock, ofrsnt, Of copp,
mine, and camel, Of tenant and debtor, unit
the breath Ian bis lips, rit, lf'sff
Thus he died. 'sii ys t,f saf''
Hsis ~ 5'aiqp