The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-08-03
Is TT WORTH LTVINGf
REV. THOMAS DIXON ILLUSTRATES
BY JAY eouLo's LIFE.


Csntered on self-Contrast with the Men
who Toiled FOR Hunsnity-Tho western
Missionary.
CAPE CHARLES, Va, July 30.-Rev.
Thomas Dixon, Jr., preached at Cobb's
island today the fifth sermon of the
series on Money" The subject to-day,
WAS Jay Gould's Life Worth LivingT
The text chosen was Matthew xvi, 26,
"For what shall man be profted if he
shall gain the whole world and forfeit
his life?"
In view of our discussions Of the in
trinsic value of money and its relations
to men and its desirableness the ques-
ton arises, Is IL worth mans while to
give his life, his genius, In the mere get
ting Of money? This question can best
be answered by an analysis Of the life
Of one of the most distinguished Ameri-
cans who was the incarnation Of this
problem. If ever man personifed the
modern commercial spirit, it was Mr..
Jay Gould. With much of the personal
abuse heaped upon him by enemies, men
who had axes togrind at hismill and could
not grind them because he was sharper
man than they were-with this abuse,
say, have no sympathy Such personal
abuse is worth little either for or against
a man. 1t is usually given by those who
have personal ends to serve, aAd its
value to the student is less than nothing.
NOT A HYPocRITE.
There are some things that can be said
about Mr.. Gould that do not call for
condemnation. He gave employment to
certain number of laborers. Person
ally he was temperate and industrious.
He cared for his family. He was not a
hypocrite. He gave $4,000 to missions.
He did not have any religion to speak of,
and he did not pretend to have any-that
is, so far as / have ever heard,
Hehad plain business mottoes by which
he lived and in which he died. Those
mottoes 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 are he lived for him
self, he worked for himself, he died for
himself. He accumulated vast for
tune-a millionaire's fortune-estimate
on an auction basis at S75, 100000. On a
gold basis it is certainly worth, as prop
erty is generally estimated, more than
800, 900, 900. 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 scarce
ly turned his fftieth year. For years
before he died he was compelled to live
most abstemious life, to eat the sim
plest 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 landY
The community is the source OF
wealth. The essence of wealth is in the
community which gives it birth, and
therefore any use of money which does
not advance the interests of the com.
munity which gives it value is viola.
ton of the fundamental principles OF
true business. 4 man who grows rich
in money should recognize the fact that
the value of his money comes from the
country in which it is made. If the
great man of whom we speak ever gave
evidence Of the fact that he lived in
America rather than in Africa, the
world never knew it. 1t was left tc
| other men to build our monuments, t.
build our institutions of learning, to for
ward great national enterprises and tC
bless the communities which gave then
birth and from which their lifeblood in
wealth was born.
A TEACHER OF ANARCHY.
So far from such life blessing tht
country, the nation, it directly contrib
| uted to feed hatred among classes. Sucl
life does more to educate in anarchy
and the more desperate principles oi
socialism than any force that operates
| in more recent times.
The drift of the ages is toward the re
lieving of the distress of the masses, thu
millions. There have arisen men whC
have recognized this fact, men whc
| possessed enormous wealth, and wht
| have used that wealth for the purpose 0,
| healing the estrangements of classes, O
| elevating the masses of their kind Al
| this might have been the work OF Mr.
| Gould, but nothing could have beer
| farther from his genius-so far as W,
know. His life was the life of the sue
| cessful business man, centered upol
self. And the love of country and hu
| manity in its broader sense are irrecon
l cilable utterly with such principle O
| action. He lived thus for himself, an(
| he died in himself. In his will he lef
not a dime tothe community from whicl
he drew it. 1t was left to his Offspring
in trust, for their sole benefit.
SOLD HIS BODY.
Seconds such q life worth liying
| physically? What shall it profit mai
If he gain the whole world and forfei
| his life?
The modern business world in whicl
Mr.. Gould moved was a great furnacl
in which the nerves of men are burneG
up as fuel. He played at great games
| on whose issue hung colossal fortunes
He paid the penalty in the nerve tension
and the ceaseless grind of his body. HI
lived the life of q miserable slave. HI
was compelled TO eat the coarsest foods
the simplest foods. He had money
enough to get the delicacies of the earth
but he sold his body, he sold his appe
tite, he sold his stomach, he sold his Iii
gestion, he sold his muscles, his eyes
his head, his arms, his feet~-he sold his
body for gold.