The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-08-10

Toiled for Humanity---The Western
Missionary.
"Was Jay Gould's Life Worth Living?'
constitutes the subject of the fifth sermon
If the series on "Money," by Rev. Thos.
Dixon, Jr. The text chosen was Matthew
xvi, 26, "For what shall man be prof.
ted if he shall gain the whole world and
orfeit his life?''
In view of our discussions OF the in
,rinsic value OF money and it's relations
@ men and its desirableness the question
arises, Is it worth q mans while to give
bis life, his genius, in the mere getting OF
money? This question can best be an
twered by all analysis of the life OF one
bf the most distinguished Americans who
vas the incarnation of his problem. If
|yer O. man persODified the modern COM
hercial spirit, it was Mr.. Jay Gould.
NTH much of the personal abuse heaped
bpon him by enemies, men who had axes
lO grind at his mill and could not grind
Them because he was sharper man than
they were-with abuse, say, have no
lympathy. Such personal abuse is worth
iUllt eltutI lOI vi q liitbh. ~ 10
usually given by those who have personal
ends to serve, andlts value to the student
IS less than nothing.
NOT A HYPOCRITE.
There are some things that can be said
&bout Mr.. Gould that do not call for con-
IemnatiOn. He gave employment to a
britain number of labOrers. Personally
was temperate and Industrious. He
red for his family He was not hypO-
lite. He gave SO, 900 to missions. He
d not have any religion to speak of,
nd he did not pretend to have aDy-that
so far as have ever heard.
He had plain business notices by which
e lived and in which he died. Those
lottoes were the standards of success in
this age of money getting. They began
in self and ended in self, and his charity
was the charity that began at home and
staid there.
The simple facts arehelived for himself,
he worked for himself, he died for HIM
self. He accumulated a vast fortune
a milliOnaire's fOrtune-estimatedO on an
auction basis at $75,OOO,OOO. On a
gold basis it is certainly worth, as prop
erty is generally estimated, more than
500, 100000. He was the most thor
oughly hated man in America. These
are substantially the facts of his life. He
died at an early age. He had scarcely
turned his tiftieth year. For years be
fore he died he was compelled to live a
most abstemiOus life, to eat the simplest
foods and deny himself the simplest
pleasures.
Is the life OF such man worth living
1t does not seem to me that it is
judged
First-PatriOtically.
BreatheS there a man with soul so dead
That never to himself has said,
This is my own, my native land?
The community is the source of wealth
The essence of wealth is in the cOmmu
nifty which gives it birth, and therefore
any use of money which does not advance
the interests of the community which
gives it value is a violation of the funda
mental principles OF true business. 4
man who grows rich in money should
recognize the fact that the value of hi
money comes from the country in which
it is made. If the great man of whom
we speak ever gave evidence of the fac
that he lived in America rather than il
Africa, the world never knew it. 1t wa
left to other men to build our monuments
to build our institutions of learning, tt
forward great national enterprises AM
to bless the communities which CAV
them birth and from which their lifebloO,
in wealth was born.
TEACHER OF ANARCHY
So far from such O life blessing tn
country, the nation, it directly contrib
uted to feed hatred among classes. Sucl
a life does more to educate in anarch,
and the more desperate principles G
socialism than any force that operate
in more recent times.
The drift Of the ages is toward the re
lieving of the distress of the MASSES, tn
millions. There have arisen men VIII
have recognized this fact, men who pos
sessed enormous wealth, and who hay
used that wealth for the purpose OF hea
ing the arrangements of classes, of eli
waiting the masses of their kind. All thi
might have been the work of Mr. GoulC
but nothing could have been farther froI
his genius-sO far as we know. His Iii
was the life of the successful bushes
man, centered upon self. And the low
of country and humanity in it's broade
sense are irreconcilable utterly with sue
q principle of action. He lived thus fO
himself, and he died in himself. In hi
will he left not dime to the communit
from which he drew it. 1t was left to hi
offspring in trust, for their sole benefit.
SOLD HIS BODY.
Seconds such a life worth Twin
physically? What shall it profit ma
if he gain the whole world and forfeit hi
life?
The modern business world in whic
Mr.. Gould moved was a great furnace
which the nerves Of men are burned u
as fuel. He played at great games, O
whose issue hung colossal fortunes. Il
paid the penalty in the nerve tension an
the ceaseless grind of his body. He live
the life of a miserable slave. He We
compelled to eat the cOarsest foods, tt
simplest foods. He had money enoue
to get the delicacies of the earth, but ]
sold his body, he sold his appetite,
sold his stomach, he sold his digestion
he sold his muscles, his eyes, his hea,
his arms, his feet-he sold his body fc
gold.
The cOmmOnest wOrkingman that ca
ried his pail to his task and ate his di
ner with keen relish was richer in TIL
physical attributes of life than was th
multimilliOnaire, who was mighty as
power in the Stock Exchange. He was
| power that could be felt by the world
industries, and yet how miserable tt
| failure when confronted with the powe
with which man must battle in natur
He had brought to his feet the powers
the commercial world that opposed hir
He saw men who had defied him humble
and in poverty. His word was the ir
perial edict of a car and affected tho
sands of lives, and yet he sold the pow
OF his own being in the process. a lit
| micrObe, SO small that magnfying gla
| must be used to see it, came into
great palace and laid it's little hand {
his lung, and he was compelled to folio,
He was wreck physically at the vel
time when man should be at the heigI
| of his physical powers. What shall
profit man if he gain the whole worl
but forfeit his life?
THE HEART OF LIFE.
Third-Spiritually. Life is IA spiritu
| reality. 1t is not found in matter. 1t
| not found in an analysis of matter,
the abundance of the matter which
man may accumulate about his perso
The things in this world that are wort
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