Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-05-19
For the Journal.
KING GOLD.


ers a. could be detected in as many men Of the
most varied talents, influences and rights. There
are several Of noted strength II is 10 wonderful
power which master Iron uses to urge mankind
along in the road Of civilization. And in truth
/ he sways It with immense success. Copper finds
/ his qualities supreme where iron would iail--
even as the astronomer, who detct T. the phenome-
ma OF the heavenly universe, finds place in life
distinct from the warrior who conquors peoples
and upscts thrones And - down b. the son
weak metal which finds It's destruction in drop
Of water, and then with new ally exercises an
authority in nature which has not yet been meas
urcd
| But above all sits one which rules supreme
not its fellows only, for If the truth may be told
I in whisper, they uither lespse him this one
is a king Of mankind lie is superior 10 all
earthly power. Before his influence rulers have
succumbed, nations have withered, and morality
itself shrinks into insignihcance. There is no
virtue which in this world has not been forced 10
acknowledge defeat before the power Of King
| Gold.
We are apt to think live think ut all--that
il is rarity which has conferred this authority
upon gold. But there must be some error here.
Gold Is scarce enough, Heaven knows, with most
Of us and tyrant though he be We All like him,
and many perhaps make him our god. We wor-
ship, honor and obey him we dread his neglect,
and how often do we not sell our souls that we
may declare b. him our allegiance and win his
| sickly smiles Wherefore this power and what
the anccedents Of this despot2
lie is an old resident amongst us perhaps as
old TO man as man is to the earth. Ills name APP
pears contempDraue0usy with our first father.
For IN the Garden Of Eden there was o land com
passed by the river Pis0n which flowed by the
gold Bearing sands uf llayilah, Genesis ii. 10,
H. IL and the earliest patriarchs were rich in
gold and silver and precious stones, as well a. in
herds and 0Ocks. Abram had anabundunce. and
doubtless knew how b use IT, For If he did not
fliu. ha buVfnrpl EtVt her
mundane treasures and it is not impossible that
he gave the fair Snra some golden ornaments for
her wedding gift There were g1ldsmiths in those
dnys,-ns Bebeknh learned III Size had not already
made the discovery, when from the well in Nle-O-
ponmia after her meeting with Abuham's SER
ynnt, she ran back 10 her home with golden ear
ring and bracelets of ten shckels weight Wheth-
or not her ears were pierced Mt that time is not
/. recorded
But there is more important matter which
better indicates the esteem ia which in those ear
~ DAYS gold was held From the mouth of the
Creator himself Moses received instructions q
use it freely in the completion Of the tabernacle
and as much as twenty-nine talents was found
necessary to give those instructions full effect
What this amount was we are unable 10 deter
mine with exactness, but IL must have been great
Josephus will probably help US here. lie says
that at the time Of the building Of the tabernacle
a talent was equal to hundred Greek mime
, Taking the nina TO be equivalent 10 - ounce
. layoirdup0is q talent would upon this estimat,
, weigh g3 lbs IL %. This may appear great es
pecially when we remember that the king of Am
mon had a crown which weighed n talent but
IN those days crowns were not worn as now the'
did not rest upon the head, but were borne by at
tendants, 50 that there * nothing improbable il
the calculation. The symbol Of monarchy which
used b be worn upon the head on all ordinary
occasions, was of much more humble dimensions
e But If there should be any persons who d1ub
. this estimate concerning the value of an ancient
talent, there D. other good evidence that 1t mus
have been of considerable weight. We are tolt
distinctly that il was as much as an able maI
could cary-and sculpture bears out this state
ment. The golden candlestck was made Of
talen: Of gold. This was lost at the time OF th
b Chaldcan conquest, but that which was made 70
the second Temple fell into the hands OF the 10
mans and was taken TO Rome with other spoil
! from Jerusalem. This event was duly recorde'
q upon the arch Of Titus, where bass-reliei still
shows the candlcstick borne upon the shoulders O
"a several men, who seem to be bending under tn
J weight of the burden. 1t has been d0ubte'
. whether that candestick may not still exist, To-
e tradition SAYS that it was taken back 10 Jerusa
lem, having been first carried into Africa by Gen
scric, A. ID. ass, where century later it was re
u captured 10y Belisarius who took it first 10 Con
y stantin0ple and thence back to the Holy Land
= II it could be iOund-which is not very likely
, il would clear away many present dihculte
mean while there can be no doubt whatever tina
a talent Of gold was no mean quantity.
1t is equally certain that IN the days Of the pa
triarchs the value of gold was not a result Of il
scarcity lt must have been abundantly pent
u full In those DAYS the human family was small
2 the area it occupied was circumscribed, and th
v means Of communication with distant lands wer
r very limited and yet the amount possessed b
solomon must have been enormous. Among th
Z presents brought him by the Queen OF Sheba wer
100 talents of gold, and in one year he receives
as much as 666 talents besides what came TO hin
from merchants and trade and the kings an
governors Of the country. His ivory throne wa
covered with gold. lie had 200 targets and 30
g shields Of beaten gold, all his drinking vessel
: and all other vessels were Of gold " for silye
was accounted as nothing in the days Of Solomon.
/, Ii must indeed have been that Solomon " mad
silver and gold at Jerusalem as penteous a
stones ~
p Nor could David have been very badly of, whe
{ m his trouble he was able 10 guther togethc
Sc for the House Of the Lord an hundred thousln
., talents of gold and a thousand thousand talent
e Of silver.
y Herodotus says that the Massagete, pastors
nation of ASIA had most of their utensils of gold
e and then there is the tradition that in the tempt
= Of Belus at Babylon, there was found statue
Belus with n throne and table--all OF pure gold
: and weighing 500 talents Besides there bein
e in other parts Of the temple gold to the amount
more LAll fsbNN IiitillN hnItbNtls Ailt-t
: are quite capable Of credence, upon knOwledg
:, that great part Of this gold had been nccumu
d lated By conquest and pluEder indeed, much q
% it had doubtless been the property of Solomo
= himself, and had decorated the temple Of the liz
= ing God belore it fell 70 be worshped in the iorI
of molten images by the pagnns of Babylon.
d And where is all this gold now Where is Oh
d god Belus? And the golden covering to tn
K ivory throne, whence Solomon delivered his judy
;. ments, whore is that? the gold Of the drlnkin
vessels, and Of the targets, and Of the Shields
A what has become Of it all2 We cannot suppos
that It is all lost-ior nothing would he more In
. possible. Far more reasonably may il be imae
. med as entering into the material Of moder
crowns and modern iewery, and modern coin,-
mixed up end blended with the gold of SPANS
America, CT California and Australia. For NJ
like of many metals, gold does not perish, an
= hence is more long lived than most Of the mate
4 rials of human workmanship.
e But we have not yet come to explain the caus
- of its worth have yentured hint that Abrar
l. NAV have used it for barter. This is possible
Is hut it does not seem to have had any special yalu
for that purpose in olden times the use OF silye
being more frequently noticed. Abraham live
according to the Biblical chronology about 300
l. years before Christ The siege Of Troy iollowe
is nearly 1900 years b C., and there is passage
n Homer which goes TO show that people bougl
$ and bartered with almost eyerythmg-except th
C precious metals. II | were Obliged 10 give a
II opinion upon the subject, should DE inclined I
t, say that Agamemnon's warriors must have bee
it by trade something like general dealers, witt
IS out any superintendent cash. In the 7th Book {
d the Had we are told that the Greeks, after burr
ing their dead in accordance with the terms of
n truce obtained by ldeus on behalf of the Trojan
d sat down to their evening meal, for -
From Lemuos Isle numerous host had come
y Froghtod with vino and by Ennieus sent,
st Whom fair Hypspyle TO Jason bore
~ For Atreus sons, apart from all the rost
4 OF wine the son Of Jason had dispatched
~ A thousand measures all the other Greeks
fastened 10 purchase, some with brass, and some
Ia With cleaning iron other some with hides,
m Cattle OF slaves AID Joyous waNed the ieast.'
e Gold did not acquire its value from its scarcit,
II nor for its use in the purchase Of c0mmoditie
N More probably it was first valued for its beauty
its purity, its power TO Withstand corroson undo
% the influence oil use, aud the facility with whc
Al il could be wrought all Of which qualities u
10 would render it particularly suitable for the dec
e. ration Of the tabernacle and the adornment of IL
le Temple Then its employment in this partioull
f would further enhance its worth in the estmatio