Like the knights of old, they toil not neither do they spin. They make
nothing, they produce nothing, they invent nothing. They merely gamble
with the savings of others, and find the business infinitely profitable.
Yet they, too, must cultivate the language of sentiment. Though the
world is spared the incubus of their philanthropy, they must pretend, in
phrase at least, that they are doing good, and their satisfaction proves
that nothing so swiftly and tranquilly lulls the conscience to sleep as
the dollar. But, as the actor of melodrama falls far below the finished
tragedian, the heroes of the Street, typified by Mr Lawson, are mere
bunglers compared with the greatest millionaire on earth--John D.
Rockefeller. We would no more give him the poor title of "Mr" than we
would give it to Shakespeare. Even "Rockefeller" seems too formal for
his grandeur. Plain "John D." is best suited to express the admiration
of his worshippers, the general fame that shines like a halo about his
head. He is Plutus in human guise; he is Wealth itself, essential and
concrete. A sublime unselfishness has marked his career. He is a true
artist, who pursues his art for its own sake. Money has given him
nothing. He asks nothing of her. Yet he woos her with the same devotion
which a lover shows to his mistress. Like other great men, Rockefeller
has concentrated all his thoughts, all his energies, upon the single
object of his desire. He has not chattered of things which he does
not understand, like Mr Carnegie. He has resolutely refrained from
Mr Lawson's melodramatic exaggeration. Money has been the god of
his idolatry,--"_Dea Moneta_, Queen Money, to whom he daily offers
sacrifice, which steers his heart, hands, affections--all."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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