305 



BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 



THE MILLIONAIRE, THE MADMEN, AND THE APOSTLE.* 



Here are three topical books, which make timely 

 rc.iding in these restless d.ws. Two of them deal 

 with the ultimate products of our modern civilisa- 

 tion, tile millionaire at the top, and the mad anar- 

 chists at the lx>ttom. The third and the only really 

 hel|)ful book of the three is Mr. Stanley Lee's 

 " Inspired Millionaires." I have already briefly 

 n'.iticed Mr. Lee's volume, which is more inspired 

 than the millionaires, but the circumstances of the 

 present time seem to me to justify the unusual 

 course of returning to the book, for it contains much 

 meat at which the hungry may cut, and come 

 again. 



I, — John Pierpont Morgan. 



The d.iys of monarchy are numbered. In the 

 pa.st, kings and emperors have led their hosts to 

 battle and to victory; l)ut the future has for them 

 no place. The Socialist has predic-ted the supre- 

 macy of the proletariat, but this prophecy is in 

 vain ; the millionaire has arrived, and his con- 

 (|uest is alrc.idy assured. 



In futur»- the |>fople of the earth may enjoy 

 \ienoL'. or may suffer the toils of war, but not of 

 their own volition. The arbiter of the fate of 

 nations is the millionaire. This can l)e the only 

 conclusion drawn by tlie average heli)le.ss citizen 

 on reading the life story of J. Pierpont Morgan, 

 by Carl Hovey. 



The biographer is no mean artist ; he does not 

 overdo the [)icture in any one particular. He may 

 leave <-ertain things untouched, but lie paints in tln' 

 b.ickgronnd, careful of every detail ; childhood 

 and voutli, thi- finan'-ial nmdition of the '50's. tin,' 

 r.'.ilw.iy tangles, and all other essentials to the r«-ad- 

 er's imderst.inding. Here a line, there a lane, 

 and little by littU- there emerges on the canvas th<- 

 Uilfl outline of a man, not rirthless, but thorougli. 

 no adventurer by a solilier, and yet no pioneer or 

 sapper, l>ut ever tlv gcrK-ral whose bloodless cam 

 paigrLs always spell success. A ma^^terful persfin 

 alitv who seld<«n or hardly ever seems to talk ; 

 not tr<iuliling over miicJi aboirt men, but hi- <Mn 

 marshal nuisscd roliimns of gold with greater pr<- 

 cision than NaiKiK-on dircrted his b.iiialions. Even 

 the great king maker had to submit to the rigours 

 of King Febru.ir\. Hut to J. Pi<-r])ont Morgan 

 there is no we.\thiT ; he m.okes his own clim.iti-. 

 and if he o])erated for a "freeze" zero woulil In- 



badly left. And yet at the age of fifty the name of 

 PieriXMDt Morgan was unknown, save to a restricted 

 circle, ;nid this, at least, is testimony to the man's 

 strength, for he has always dispensed with the 

 " s\veet uses of advertisement.'' 



Thomas Carlyle would have rejoiced to include 

 such a one in iiis gallery of heroes, and the only 

 foible which reveals the millionaire's kinship with 

 common cla\ is his str(jng objection to be wrongly 

 laL)elled as '" Pierrepont," as though he were the 

 \eriest bank clerk, whose acquaimtances ignore the 

 " hvphen Smith " part of his only title to suburban 

 ilistinction. 



Mr Pternont Moruan 



Car! Hovey 's biography is a w<-.llbalanced 

 to real greatness, the author achieving n<it 

 of his subject's gr<Mlness of style, and this 



life- story is the latest 



" Self-Help." 



Mr. 



triliirt" 

 a littli 



cirmment.irv on Smiles' 



* " Tho I*ifo of JoliM_Pierpoiit Moruan," by Carl 

 HoTPV. (Hoiiioniniin. 7s. M. not.) 



" Tlio .Viiiu'cliist* : Tticir Faith ati<l 'riifir Hi'cortl." 

 by K. \'i7,<>tolly. (I,.iiio. IflM. fid.) 



" In«i>ir4 (I Millioniiin*!.' 

 Hioliiir'U, :U. 6.1.) 



l>y Stanley Lim. ' ((;. 



Men lik 

 .in^ active 

 them ? 



,As humli 

 wonder and 



Morgan are 

 world forci>s 



no longer jiortents, they 

 : and who mav control 



<• pawns in the game, we can onlv 

 wait, hoping that in some way. as yet 



