The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-12-14
Jay Gould and Religion.
New York SUM-

New York Sun.
AS matter Of course, several of the
breaches of New York and Brooklyn
moral:zea over Jay Gould and his
career in their sermons of last Sunday,
and probably the same theme was dis
cussed in hundreds of other pulpits Of
the. Union and the same conclusion
reached, that his methods of accumu-
lating a fortune were positively
unchristian and satanic. A woman
5spiritualistic medium reported on Sun
day evening that she had received q
communication from the unseen world
expressing grave doubts as to his souls
salvation.
Mr.. Goulo's own pastor, the Presby-
terian DR.. Paxton, did not refer to the
dead man directly, but he called for
more charity for those who fail toattain
the Christian ideal The perfection of
Christ, he said, is unattsinable. st the
most, men can only approximate to it.
They can only try overcome their nat
ural tendency to sin, confessing their
inability to succeed with a broken
heart and contrite spirit,
Among DR.. Paxton's herears was
Mr.. Russell Sage, so long and SO init
mately associated with Mr.. Gould, anu
whose own fortune, simultaneously
ACCUMULATED, is one of the greatest Of
this country. At the close of the SER
mon Mr.. Sage partook of the COM
munion, he being astanch Presbyterian
in full fellowship. The late Daniel
Drew, one Of the sharpest of the Wall
street operators, but who was forced to
succumb before the greater skill of Mr..
Gould, was in his time very enthu-
siastic Methodist. He was noted for
the fervency of his prayers and for the
passion of his exhortation to sinners.
Mr.. Gould himself was deeply interested
in the subject Of religion, more espe-
cially during the last years of his life.
He was diigent attendent upon the
services Of DR.. Pazton's Presbyterian
Church, and his religious belief was
unaffected by the skepticism of these
days. A little essay on the.Atonement
which he wrote in lady's album is
described as remarkable for its deep
devotional spirit and orthodox faith.
He died in that faith. So far as we can
learn, there was not trace ofinfdelity
in him. His religious belief was as
orthodox as President Pstton's or DR..
John Halls. He believed in the Bible
as the infallible Word of God, in the
life eternal, in future rewards and
punishments, and his own everlasting
accountability for his course and con-
duct in this temporal life.
It was never charged against Mr..
Gould that be was a hypocrite. No
body could be further removed from
hypocrisy than he was. He was not g
man Of any pretensions whatever. He
never took any pains to change the in
furious estimate of him which prevailed
throughout his successful career. He
left people to draw their own conclu-
sions from his acts, and persistently
followed the line of conduct he had set
out for himself. He did not seek to
sconciliate public opinion, though his
reputation frequently was a serious
obstacle TO his success, even although
the terror of him which it melted may
have been of advantage to him some
times in carrying out his schemes.
Such man would: not be likely to
profess religious belief which was not
sincere. Mr.. Gould must therefore
have expected, during the later years
of his life certainly, that his record on
earth would come before the Judgment
Seat ofGod at the last day. BE must
have felt that the material treasures
he accumulated here were worthless as
compared with the spiritual treasures
he must lay up to escape the eternal
punishment in which he believed.
Is it probable, then, that this man,
so distinguished among his cotem-
poraries for looking calmly ahead st
the logical consequences of what he did,
was persistently conscious of violating
the laws Of God so fagrantly as taese
preachers now accuse him ofhaying
done? Could he have gone down to
death with the conviction that he was
the black and preeminent sinner whom
their words condemn to- eternal punish
ment for his awful misdeeds? -,
These are hard questions to answer,
snd they come up when we reflect on
the careers Of many other strict reli-
gious believers besides Jay Gould.