Only a few days ago I was where they wrench the precious metals from
the miserly clutch of the rocks. When I saw the mountains; treeless,
shrubless, flowerless, without even a spire of grass, it seemed to me
that gold had the same effect upon the country that holds it, as upon
the man who lives and labors only for it. It affects the land as it
does the man. It leaves the heart barren without a flower of
kindness--without a blossom of pity.