The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-09-04

i IT.
NcaC York society and Count Luctcn dc
LiSle agreed gerry qOell lDith ono another.
New York society and Count Lucien
de Lisle agreed very we'll with one an
we are become somewhat cautious and
skeptical in our dealings with eminent
foreigners whom we never heard of until
they turn up in Fifth avenue with TO-
mantle and dazzling autobiography and
with omemysterious magnetism, which
ends by attracting the precious metals
out of our pockets, after which the high
born enchanter vanishes. We no longer
embrace this kind of people so impetu-
ously as we did. But though it may be
difficult to distinguish between good
paste and a diamond we all recognize
the diamond itself when we see it. A
charlatan may make US doubt, but a true
man carries conviction with him.
Count Lucien was no charlatan-the
keenest critics were agreed as to that.
His manners were good, without being
too good; mis- refinement was instructive,
and there was touch of soldierly stern
ness III him that gave his bearing weight
and distinction. He spoke little about
himself, and never blew his own trumpet
but he evidently expected to be treated
with consideration, and would perfectly
know how to assert himself upon occa-
sion. His standing, however, was that
Of Il quiet and rather reserved gentle
man, DESTROYS to be ON kindly terms
with good people, and conscious, it
might be, that he could give them at
least as much as they could give him.
These qualities would have made him
acceptable in society, but his wealth
rendered his position unique, and, in
spite of the impossibility of such a thing
as American snobbery, it put some queer
modification into the spectacles Of those
who came in contact with him. Few
spoke to him Or thought of him exactly
as they would have done if he had been
q man Of ordinary fortune.
He actually had the money-that was
the strange feature. The rumor ran
that he was keeping three or four million
on deposit at several New York banks
The rumor was Investigated, and result
ed in the discovery that the millions in
question were indeed there, but they
were millions, not of dollars, but of
pounds sterling. News came from Bos-
ton and Philadelphia that there was as
much more to his credit in those cities
1t leaked out that the great London and
Westminster bank in London was pay
ing Count de Lisle dividends on eight
million pounds. But these vast sums
were but the fringes of the counts for
tune. He was large investor in real
estate and lands; indeed, wag started
the story that he had purchased all of
Manhattan island below Canal street,
with its buildings and inhabitants; but
this proved to be an overstatement.
Such fantastic exaggerations are merely
illustrations of the impossibility of con-
ceiving really great wealth.
A million-ten millions-hundreds of
millions-the mind cannot grasp the idea
of such sums in relation to any single
owner; one seems practically about as
good as another; and, in the effort to
bring them within the bounds of com
prehension, we give way to iests and
fairy tales. Was Count de Lisle's income
twenty-five thousand dollars day-or
fifty thousand-or more? Whether it
were more or less he certainly could not
spend it on himself. And yet the innate
desire in the human mind to see giants
and heroes and gods-men who in their
single persons are the equivalent of ma
Jlons-makes US hope that each new
millionaire will find some way to wear
all his millions as a garment, or, rather,
as skin, in which his own proper life
circulates. Surely the wants of man
are infinite; how, then, can any amount of
money overwhelm him? Be it billion,
every separate dollar of it ought to be
tingling with vitality, and as busy min
istering directly to its owner as are the
corpuscles of his blood. That any of it
should be lying dead seems a reflection
on human ability-on our intellect and
senses. The horse is his who mounts it;
the fortune is his who spends it, No
doubt great riches need great genius, and
even genius needs practice. The power
to make ones self legitimately cost, say,
hundred dollars a minute, night and
day, from years end to years end, and
year after year, is a mighty and admir-
able power, probably not yet attained on
this planet
OF course it is understood that the
spending must be personal, and that it
must have an object. 1t will not do to
throw the gold into the sea, to burn the
banknotes, or even to gamble. Still
less must the ideal millionaire shirk his
burdens by "tYing up his capital" in en-