Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1901 — THE MAN OF GOLD. [ARTICLE]

THE MAN OF GOLD.

HoW poor are the rich In their vain display If wealth has no higher aimHow little Is lost when they pass away To the dust from whence they came; Their graves may be decked with the sculptor's art, Their virtues inscribed in stone. But grief will not enter the poor man's hiart. Their kindred will w r eep alone. What to thee is this world, O man of gold, Its rank or its social ties, When thou art as pulseless, as mute and . cold As the clay that o'er thee lies? What, too, are the mortgages, bonds and loans That a mortal proud, When thy fingers, bereft of precious stones. Are hidden beneath a shroud? Look around while there is yet light and see What is it that needs thy aid. A people who struggle for liberty, The ruin a tyrant has made. The widows and orphans of a war’s wild reign, The sick and wouuded, too, Shall they to thee, mortal, appeal in vain When thou hast a work to do? A work to do, nay, a mission is thine. To solace, to aid and cheer. For, art thou not counseled by word divine To remember the poor are here? It is not well for thee, mortal, to know In the light of tranquil, days What comfort and pleasure thou canst bestow With wealth in a thousand ways? Books for the multitude—food for the mind. Knowledge that lifts and refines, Help for the feeble, the homeless and blind. These are humauity'B lines. Art true and beautiful, too, to adorn The landscape, the park and hall, That all inay rejoice, for genius is born To labor and shine for all. Then give of thy treasures, O man of gold, Bestow with a willing hand While wealth is vet thine, and thou wilt behold A work that will ever stand; Wait not till death lays its hand on thy Let not thy gifts be delayed. Give, man of gold, of thy plentitude now, Ere the needy are past thy aid. -Patrick F. Durkan in Scranton Truth.