The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1861-03-27

/ ana answering advocate
| And now he is dying mar-see
AS he sits on the bed of death, will
the dollar clenched in his fist
Oh holy dollar object of his lif'
long pursuit, what comfort hast thou
for him, now on his bed of death
At length the dead man revived and
dictated his will 1t was strange to
see the m ,ther and son and lawyer
muttering- and sometimes wrangling
beside the bed of death. All the
while the testator clencled the dollar
in his right hand
While the will was being made, the
preacher came-even he who held thu
pastoral charge of the great church.
whose pew doors bore sanity names
on silver plates, and whose seats or
Sabbath day groaned beneath the
weight of responsibility, broadcloth
and satin
He came and said his prayers-de-
coronsly and ia measured words but
never once did the dying man re-
lax his hold on the dollar.
Cant you read me something
say quickly. don't you see I'm going"
said the rich man at length, turning
toward the preacher
The preacher. whose cravat was Of
the widest took book with golden
clasp, from a marble table, and read,
"And | say unto you it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye OF
needle, than for rich man to enter
the Kingdom of God"
Who said them words-who-
who-who ?" fairly shrieked the dying
man, shaking the hand which clenched
the dollar at the preachers head.
The preacher hastily turned over
the leaf, and did not reply.
"Why did you not tell me this be-
fore ;? Why did you never preach
from it as I sat in yonr church p
Why ?"
The preacher did not reply, but
turned over another leaf But the dy-
ing man wonld not be quoted.
i" 1t is easier for camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the Kingdom of
God, is it? Then what is to become
of me ? Am I not rich ? What ten
ant did I ever spare or did I re-
lease ?
" And you stood up Sunday after
Sunday and preached to US and never
said one word about the camel"
The preacher in search of a consol-
ing passage, turned rapidly over the
leaves, and in his confusion came to
this passage, and read
Go now, ye rich men, and weep and
howl, for your miseries shall come up
on you. Your gold and your silver
is cankered, and the rust of them shall
be witness against you, and shall eat
your flesh as if it were fire ; We heaped
treasures together for the last days
Behold the hire of the laborers who
have reaped down your fields which is
of you kept by fraud crieth and the
cries of them which have reaped are
entered into the ears of the Lord of
Sabbath
"And yet yon never preached that
to me-"
The preacher who had blundered
through the passage of James which
we have quoted, knew not what he
said
Then the wife drew near and stroye
to comfort him, and the son attempted
a word or two of consolation. But
with the dollar In hts hand he sank in
to death, talking of rents, of stocks,
of copper mines, of camels, of tenant
and debtor, until the breath left his
lips
Thus he dieG.
When he was cold the preacher
arose and asked the lawyer whether
the deceased had left anything to such
a charitable society, which had been
engrafted upon the preachers church.
And the wife closed his eyes aud
tried to wrench the dollar from hi:
grasp, but in vain, he clutched it a;
though it were the Only Savior he had
to lighs him through the darkness O
/
eternity.
And the son sat down with dry eyes
and thought of the hundreds of thous.
ands that were now his own.
Next day there was a hearse, fol
lowed by train Of carriages nearly q
mile long. There was q crowd around
the open grave and an elegant sermon
on the virtues Of the deceased by the
preacher. There was fluttering o
Grape badges, and rolling of carriages
and--no tears. They left the dead
man and returned to the place where
sorrow died, even as the Grape was
taken from the door knob.
/ And in the grave.the dead man still