The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1863-08-07
lie Died Rich"


People said this evcrywhcre. when the
morning papers announced the death OF
John Russell, President OF the ----Bank.
They said IL on Wall street, where thcy
count wealth hy hundreds of thousands.
and they said u IN elegant parlors, aud
by luNuriant breakfast tables, all over the
squares and avenues in the great city;
they said II, too, in dark alloys and s1unl.
id homes whore all his thousands could
not tuy back to the millionaire one hour
utthc life that was Co them a burden and
a misery. Everywhere il was the same
story. "llc died rich.
His family aud his friends thought ~
NJ thcv gathered around the bedside or
the dylnr man; aud YOU, reader, wuuld
have Thought So, too, il you could have
hooked around that chamber. in,o which
death was entering with his footballs aud
his ghOstly presence.
oh 1t was n prnccly room. Rare
pictures flushed the wall. that winter
day with the glory of Arcadinn summer,
the laircst blossoms of South m Mays
were piicd thick upon the costly carpc, I;
aud the daintily embroidered drapcry fc II
in solt. crinkled clouds from the ninssiYr
bcdslcad. And the owner OF all mag
niiiccncc lay there dyin~. and through
all his life of moro than tlrccscorn wears,
he had toilcd and struggled for this-tu
die rich He had bought lands aud sold
them; he had seut richly lrcightcd ships
tu foreign ports; he had owned shares IN
railroads aLd stocks in the banks, aud
now!
Ah there was an angel who stood nt
the bedside Of John Russell in that dy-
ing hour, and the man had nothing out OF
all his life to give him no generous, ~.
bic. scli.racriicing deeds, which would
have been pearls aud gold aud all pre-.
Oh jewels in the hand nfthc arg sn
he wrote down the last chapter uf John
Russcll's life. "ITg DEp Poor"
Aud John Russell saw tho words NJ
his soul followed the angel on thut iiur-
ncy. which. sooner or later, W. must take
and he knew them, for the frat time, that
all the labor aud toll, aud s,rugglr for
life on the earth, had only brought him
this verdict nj the bar Of tho kingdom of
Heaven "HE DIED Poor"
"lle died po or Very few persons
suid this ofa old man who luy ina bnck
chamber Of small, dilppdated building,
whrs2 solitary window looked out on the
back garden ol John Russcll's residence.
The floor was bare, and there wero on
" n W ch lirs, table aud low bed
in the room. By its side stood al old
black woman, whom the dying man had
occasionally furnished with an armful
of wood, or loaf of bread. She moiS-
tened his lips with water, "r held thu
tnllow candle close 20 hscycs, so that
he might once moro see the dim light of
the world. lie had no, n dollar upon the
earth; his fortune had taken wings and
flown away; his wife and hildrcn had
gone before him. his friends had deserted
or lost sight of him, hut the grateful old
black woman whom he had saved from
starvation.
But the angel with the book stood
there, too and looking over the old mans
life, he saw how many good, and gentle,
aud generous deeds frightened every
year; how h, hud been kind to the suil.
ering, and forgiven such wrongs MS make
friends. and striyen through all the triuls
and tcmptntions of his long, sad life, 10 be
hut 10 bou ana lllnScli. % tl' anger
wrote undcr the last chapter of this mans
life, and every letter shown like some
rare setting of diamonds, "llR DIED
RIcu."
Aud the old man knew it, too, when
he stood a. the silver gates OF the Etcr.
nal City, and they led him in aud showed
him the inheritance to which he was
heir"
There was the house not made with
hands, with It's columns of pearl, and lis
ceilings ofjasper, with lis pleasant rooms
and its lofty halls, and iis mighty organs,
from which peal forever the notes of
praise 10 our God
There, too, was the pleasant landscape
with its green avenues, its golden pavil-
lions, It's trees waving in the Joy Of cter-
nal leaves, and its silver meadow lands
sloping down to the river of eternal wa.
tcrs. lie was heir to all these things,
for he had laid up for himself crown of
glory in the kingdom above, where, "moth
and rust doth not corrupt"