The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-06
4 BRITISH MoxEyMAKER,s LIFE.
Gave Millions to NIoravinns and Chinnmen.
but Nothing to Those Around Kim.
From the W~tstmtnster 0asstte. =

HANe ttltn " -
but Nothing to Those Around Him.
From the Westmtnster Gasette.
People have been asking who was this J. T.
Morton whose will. bequeathinR a quarter OF a
million to the Moravlans. nothing at ali TO tho
manager who had been with him nearly forty
years and had helped him to make his fortune.
g10 to his secretary and daily companion, and
f125,00O to missions for .cvangeiizing China
men, has boon 20 much discussed. The will
has been called extraordinary. Those who werc
acquainted with Mr.. Morton-and hardly any
one had more than acquain.anccship with him
think 1t remarkably Characteristic OF the man.
He wns O native of Aberdeen, and OF the old
Puritan type, a rigid Sabbatarian. "a hard man,
as 1t seemed to most people, but strictly hon.
without, 80 far as could bc known. a particle of
imagination and without sentiment, excepting
sired TO be buried. lie had no money to begin
with, but he could not help making money
cause he had no means for spending any more
than a very small portion Of his income, except
by giving II away in charity, and for this his
rigid conscience could find only a few deserving
objects. His business as. an export GILMAN, an
importer of sardincs, and n maker OF jams and
P1TSs''i in nun many Hny'p otSer s Ways. a RT' b nas hhohe az
something ike prairie value, a large tract Of
consider SnSsder tho Rof lord eTf the manor nHw@Ih% had NO UG ri sntu to
SELL, and he had every tree cut down, the land
BR%l C"ssss bu hP' t fna 5Hw' r E5 B Bsd n sSuI tEe G lcssf
that they would be dricr with no trees near
daily reports Of his business. Which We're as
complete and exact as method could make
1es%' an npd isN's slse bu thf lis b Blp% RsG sna Books asys OF
made a PROFESSION Of his religion. or talked Of it.
nor did he talk of his family or his home.
overlot king Epping Forest and drove through
miles to and from toughton station, but he did
not seem to care. in the least for the beauty OF
the Forest ana 1T was mmG SAID ne never
doors Unlike many men who have amassed
large fortunes. no did not appear to take pleas
In fact, for u good many years. was little there,
but he had q great faculty for making other
people work, and In organization. method, pune
tuaiity, and cxactitude he excellcd painfully.
He had quite an army of young clerks in his
eyaIe a'll low t Ss co out u u of the the o thee I io WASH w9re tb mGr
hands without getting q written permit. made
roturnable in a certain number of minutes,
which were not TO be exceeded, by a second. Yet
people stayed for a long time in his service. al
though except as q servant 1t would be hard to
always paid rent on the day it was due, and he
was among the few landlords who require pay.
ment OF rent on the uuy 1t is due; bur. US he used
to say, il the agreement Is to pay on a certain
day honesty requires that it should be paid on
that day. II the best customer he ever had had
ing On. account of scvernl hundreds OF pounds, he
would have been dunned every day until it
odd penny. If he had been asked why he did
not leave anything to his manager and others
In his employment he would have said: why
should 1? l pay for their services an agreed
price, as | pay my rent, and AZ l pay for the sar-
dimes ] import. If l am to leave money to one
set Of people with whom deal why should |
ESQ each which he left to several widows and
s~pinsters are to be absolutely forfeited in the
event of the bankruptcy, OF tho ,annuitant.
which seems. as if in possible cases it might be
n great hardship, but MIR. Morton would say
that DpOplp must bear the COnseOuencps of their
own misdecds, and in his mind bankruptcy was
almost, II not quite, criminal He was certain
ly not a lovable man. bat it may be taken also
as certain that every clause in his will had been
carefully thought over. and was designed to
carry out what he believed to be his duty in dis
posing of his wealth.