The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

92 THE LOCOMOTIVE. [June,
ills letters took days and weeks to reach their destination, and often miscarried. But
his expectations liad never soared to such rapid transit, nor to such perfect communica-
tion. On the other hand, he enjoyed the unspeakable luxury of perfect service; his
slaves were drilled like an artillery regiment, and anticipated his slightest desires; his
home was decked with everytliing that was beautiful, and contained the choice products
of the entire world ;
his food and his wines were not only better prepared than tliose of
common jieople, but these were different in substance. He had the intense satisfaction
of feeling himself apart fi'om the lierd of humanity which siUTOunded him ; his superi-
ority was patent to all, and Avas unquestioned. ,
When
he journeyed he did not form a
unit in a crowd on an unclassilied veliicle, as does the American millionaire of to-day,
and when he voyaged a thousand steerage passengers did not share equally with him in
the latest outcome of the shipbuilder's art. His chariot and trireme were his own, and
were beyond the wildest dreams of hope on the part of those beneath him in station
and in fortune. We need not confine ourselves to Rome for illustrations to show that
the rich derived more l^enefit from their riches in the past than they do to-day. The
case of the mediteval baron is one in jioint. He lacked the delicacy and refinement of
surroundings which characterized the Roman, and was, in fact, subject to much we
should consider as hardship. But then he was of rough fibre and hardy nature; his
ideal of liappiness consisted in mastery, and he enjoyed it to the full. In his own dis-
trict lie reigned supreme, not seldom contriving that the king's writ should be of little
avail as against his will. His servants were absolutely under his control, and as regards
his tenants he pushed his interference, at any rate under some forms of tenure, into the
most sacred relations of life. The opinion that he was of a difterent order to common
humanity was not only held by liimself, but was received by his social inferiors, and
acts that would have roused the deepest resentment if attempted by others, were accepted
as natural and right from him. Even so late as the commencement of the 2oresent cen-
tury the baron's descendant— the English lord — was paramount in his own district.
One could neither live in his village without his goodwill nor publish opinions that he
disliked. He was surrounded by people who, to all appearance, regarded him as the
fountain of knowledge and light. The school children curtsied at the sight of his
(H)ach, the laborers doffed their hats before him, Avhile even substantial tenants treated
l)im with extraordinary deference. Every one conspired to give him a good opinion of
himself. What a contrast to all this was the life of Jay Gould! In spite of his millions,
he could not walk tlie streets in safety without an escort. On all sides he saw lowering
faces, and his ears were assailed by tlireats and curses; he knew that men hated him,
and that even those who, for sake of gain, cod])erated with him in business, would have
been glad to have seen the money market freed from his preponderating influence, and
his securities distributed among themselves. His home was the only spot in the world
where he found love and confidence, and, unless the American "help" is much maligned,
he must have had to exercise considerable self-control there for the sake of j^eace and