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Show John W. Mackay. THE NEWS of John W. Mackay's death in London last Sunday was the subject of general comment by the press of the country on Monday. As far as known, the verdict was favorable. favor-able. His immense wealth created no ill-feelings or jealousies. This is universal, uni-versal, and the reason is' obvious. He acquired it all honestly and dea'lt it out unsparingly to worthy causes. It never gave hi'm the "swelled head," nor caused him to frown on honest laborers.' labor-ers.' from whose ranks ' he" graduated with supreme honors. Their cause he always espoused, and between him and his employes there never was a hitch. His motto was to do to others as he would have others deal with him. This Christian . principle won for him the esteem, love and affection of an army of wage-earners, who sang the praises of the uncrowned bonanza king. Mr. Mackay was born in Ireland, came to America when a boy, began life with limited education, depending solely on his grit and muscle, which were his only stock in trade in entering the battle bat-tle of life. His history up to the time that he became part owner of Virginia's Vir-ginia's rich bonanzas is no different from that of thousands of hardy miners who brave hardships and expose themselves them-selves to numberless dangers in search of hidden treasures. He succeeded where countless miners, equally brave, failed. His great success was not in his new discoveries, but in being able to retain what he honestly found. From an humble follower of the pick and shovel he became a financier, and in that capacity he has acquired national fame comparing favorably with the highest class of European financiers who have reduced the accumulation of wealth to a science. In all his financial enterprises there were no secret machinations, ma-chinations, no trusts, no conserted ef-j ef-j forts to wring from the masses of the people their hard earnings. It was all j on the square. All his schemes, I w hether mining, railroads, telegraphy Jor real estate investments were John i Mackay's. . if they succeeded, as they invariably did, the success wasMeck-ay's. wasMeck-ay's. and if he lost, the loss was not i borne by the public, but by John W. Mackay. who bore his reverses philo- sophically. In this respect his honesty j and integrity present an object lesson which might be wisely imitated by finaciers whose greed and avarice are (the yause of so much contention between be-tween capital and labor. John W. Mackay survived all his partners of Comstock fame. William O'Brien died many years ago in San Rafael, Cal. James Flood, In Germany,' j and James Fair in California. All four were Irish, three were Catholics and one, James Fair, a Protestant. William Wil-liam O'Brien and James Flood, who in life were not practical Catholics, received re-ceived from the church all the honors of Christian burials. The former, on his deathbed, was attended" by the Most Rev. Joseph S. Allemany, then archbishop of San Francisco. The dispatches dis-patches do not tell of John W. Mackay's Mack-ay's last hours in this vale of tears, or of any spiritual consolations which he may have received. Though in the eyes of the church he was simply regarded re-garded as a nominal Catholic who ceased to practice his religion, yet it was well known that he loved the faith of his forefathers, and tenaciously clung to it. Every year the joyous feast of Christmas would remind him of 'the old faith, and he never failed in dispatching his greetings and felicita-! felicita-! tions to the archbishop of San Francisco Fran-cisco on that ever-memorable feast. A I few years ago Archbishop Riordan niec mm in .ew ioik ana reminded him of the necessity of returning to his old allegiance on the approaching Christmas, which was near at hand. Touched by the gentle reminder and reproof, of the distinguished prelate, Mr. Mackay said: "My heart is there and I will soon be able to attend to my duties." We hope the wish was realized, real-ized, if not before bis last illness, at least before the final summons came. Flood and O'Brien, Mackay and Fair formed a quartette that will be long remembered on the Pacific slope. Mackay was the noblest Roman of them all. His contact with princes and royalty rubbed off all the rough corners cor-ners of the rugged miner, and in the prince's palace or ruler's waiting room he was at ease and as much at home" as when sitting on rock on the hillside 'of Virginia or discussing the apex, J spurs and angles of a rich ledge with ! his feHcw-miners in "a log cabin. Kind, gentle and charitable, he avoided notoriety, noto-riety, literally followed the advice of the gospel by concealing from his right the good works which his left hand did. Once he incurred the -displeasure of a politician for espousing the cause of a friend. The irate pledged himself to send Mackay out of, Virginia, as he eiir tered with his blankets on his back. The threat was repeated in Mackay's , presence. Without the least disturb-; disturb-; ance he answered, with a smile, "We'll see." The politician was snowed under' on election day and Mackay moved ; along quietly, attending to his busi r ness. ; The death of his favorite chold i threw a dark cloud over the last years of his life. To him he looked for the i perpetuation of his name and the pre- servation of his immense wealth. Two years ago last Christmas he wrote to a i friend in this city. It was an acknowledgment acknowl-edgment of Christmas greetings. In the. letter he said: "Christmas, which brings happiness to so many, is not for ; me a day of joy. It recalls many sad events which I cannot forget." No doubt reference was made to his child, whose remains rested in Greenwood cemetery. New York. On Sunday death opened for him the gate through which the beloved son passed. His soul has crossed its portals. por-tals. Whilst numberless friends pay tribute to his memory and his remains are decked with garlands of flowers, the great question is are the souls of the father and child united in heaven? Has he tasted of that real happiness which Christian hope points out? To this inquiry there is no answer. This supreme happiness, which is man's last hope, and for which the Christian soul yearns, we wish to be his. and that his soul may rest in peace is our ardent prayer. |