The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-06-26
The Lick Gifts.


NAV live, to charitable uses and the ben
eft of the people. In another column
the reader will find list Of these dona-
tlons, and their objects. Some are for
the encouragement Of art, others letters,
and others eleemosynary institutions.
The aggregate Of the gifts sums up
about two million dollars. With what
he had before given away in like man
ner, the amount must reach nearly S2,-
100000. It is objected by many that he
did not give more to his kinsman and
his heir. The objection il not good. He
gave very literally to these long ago,
and they are not in want of any of his
property. We think his course is die
tated by the best philosophy of life. A
man ia sovereign of his own property 30
long as he is sane. IL is the aim of
nearly every man to get for himself the
greatest possible good out of what he
owns. This is a law Of nature from
which there is no appeal. The vast ma
iority of people fail to realize this nat
ural wish just because they act ON a
false and unphilosophical theory. The
man who uses his millions in riotous
living is one of the commonest failures.
To him fortune is curse and not a
blessing. II brings him i'll health, re-
morse and speedy death. The man who
hoards his money for the mere sake of
L /, Is1a fa
himself, and is, if possible, a greater
fool than the riotous liver. The man
who accumulates millions only to count
them, is not much above the brute crea-
tion. Dante compares the passion of
ambition to lion, that of pleasure to a
spotted panther, but that Of avarice to
'flean and hungry she-wolf, forever dis
satisfied and always prowling. The
man who boards for the purpose of US
ing his wealth to create family aristo-
cracy, is out of place in a free country,
and should go to England, or some other
country where the institutions are
founded in the idea that an aristocracy
of wealth or blood shall rule. The man
who labors all through his life for the
purpose of amassing great fortune to
will away to noble and good uses after
his death, outranks all the above named
classes. But it is seldom that the wills
of such men are respected, and it near
ly always happens that those who exc
cute them usurp powers not granted by
the testator Girard, Of Philadelphia;
McDonough, of New Orleans, Tor was
it Baltimore?) and Horace Hawes, are
notable examples. James Lick has ta-
ken the wiser and better course Of util.
izing his fortune during his own life
time, so that ne may see and enjoy the
/ beneficial fruits that will spring from his
| donations 1t is not easy to admire this
man too much or to praiae his course
enough. And yet we can not give him
credit for originality. What Is better,
perhaps, is that he has copied the noblest
examples of history. This was the
! fashion of those five remarkable Roman
Emperors who succeeded each other, in
an unbroken era, for nearly a century,
next preceding the reign of Commodus,
and who, without exception, used theiI
boundless power and wealth in the i'm
provement of Italy and the Provinces,
in the creation of aqueducts, baths, the
opening mp of cultivated lands, and gen.
orally in advancing material prosperity
of the people a d assisting philosophy
and art. 1t has been said by modern
writer of ancient history, always most
critical in his judgment of the past, that
no equal number of the human race en-.
joyed so full measure of happiness for
an equal time as the Romans under the
rule Of these five enlightened imperial
philosophers. In giving their lives and
their fortunes 10 the people they made
the best possible use Of them for, them
selves. 1t was AT the same time the
largest liberality and the most compre-
hensive selfshness. Narrower souls and
a meaner sclfshness would have
contented themselves with the seclusion
and rank and sensuous enioyments Of an
oriental despot, regardless Of the sum OF
unalleviated human wretchedness all
around them. These Emperors, more
nearly approaching the Divine nature,
had capacities for pleasures which the
vulgar Crassuses Of the world never can
comprehend. The most striking exam
pie of the kind in modern times is furn-
/ =. L., 0f
sia. At the close of the Seven Years
War he found his country in a state ot
utter desolation. The cities we're in
ruin, the towns destroyed, the farms de-
vastated-no cattle, no horses, no money
; no credit He had boarded twenty-five
; million thalers in anticipation Of anoth
: er years campaign. 1t was his money
for he was an absolute King, unrestrain
ed by any Constitution, and made all
= powerful by his great military triumpbs
E He might have used his money for him
3 self-to crafty the vulgar appetItes OF :
s Louis XIV, or Cartherine II-and le
}, bis subjects do the best they could il
. their distressed condition. He COPIED
: after the philosophy Of Marcus Aurelius
D and used it all to assist his people. Th'
4 result was that in less than ten years tn
t Prussian desolation 1854 had becom
] the most prosperous country in EuroPe
: And no one enjoyed this prosperity p
n much as the King. His enjoyment wa
: derived from the general happiness q
r the people.
It The man who owns a million dollar
and lives in palace. with squalor, Pov
4 erty and distress as his next-door neigh
e Dor, il a fool IL he don't give to imProv
y the landscape and his condition to hi
e neighbors. II Is the smallest part Of a
g agreeable life what man eats, drink
IS and wears. The largest measure Of th
J, enjoyments Of an enlightened min
d flows in from the surroundings. FroI
of a country worth loving and dying 70
h which must be filed with happy an
a. contented people. From a neighbol
e. hood in which general thrift and inte