Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-09-28
POVERTY.

The following passages from "Harry
Franco" concerning the ills of poverty
to those born poor as well as. those who
have suddenly become so, embodies much
that is true and earnestly expressed:
To man who has been born poor,
and who all his life has lived poor, pow
erty is not very terrible evil; it is his
natural condition, in which he has in.
stinctiyely moulded himself, and his wants
are no greater than his means Of satisfy
ing them his appetite is good, his sleep
refreshing, his cares few, and his friends
sincere; for no one thinks it worth his
while to play the hypocrite to a man who
has nothing to give or to lend; the sun
shines for him with as bright an aspect as
for the rich the fresh breeze kisses his
cheek and PLAYS with his locks, as though
he were part oil the elements; the whole
world GU! If doors is open to him, and the
oursdes Of the houses Of the rich, not IN
frequently their best parts, are as much
source of pleasure to him as to their own.
ers. His children are very dear to him,
and almost always rise 10 condition
above their fathers; and his wife although
compelled to labor hard and endure what
other women might consider grevous
burde ms, is always true TO him, and loves
him better, as he does her, for the very
toll and 2rivat on she has had to encoun-
ter for the sake Of him and his children.
But to The poor man who has once been
rich, poverty is the deadliest i'll that can
bela him. When poverty frs, comes to
his dwelling, the first glance of her Tea.
gre image almost drives him mao; indeed,
!. not unfrequenily happens that her cold
lrown kills him outright. But if he can
sustain the first shock of her presence,
the danger will soon be over, and day by
day the unwelcome and hated visltant
will grow less and less repulsive, until
at last the porr man will marvel why she
should have so terrified him in the begin
ming. Absolute, unmltgated want, like
pain and disease, must affect all alike,
but this is not the kind Of poverty we
mean such a condition is hardly known
in our happy land, where there are few ca
SEES Of suffering from want, except amongst
the dssolute and idle; and they are al.
ways wretched, whether rich or poor.
The sudden breaking up and overturn-
ing in the family of merchant when
overtaken BY bankruptcy, cannot be fully
understood, except by those who have ex-
perienced it. lii like clipping the wings
Of wild bird and shutting him up in
cage, to beat his breast against the cruel
wires ofhis prison, while he catches a
GLIMPSE of the blue ether, where his mate
and his companions are soaring with out
stretched pinions above him. The real
deprivation OF the luxuries, or even com
forts. in which he had been used to in
duge, is not the chief cause of suffering
with the poor bankrupt it is the altered
tone Of those with whom he associated
in his prosperity, which gives him his
keenest pang. The easy air of famiIiari
ty of his equal, the deiereniial resp' ct OF
his dependents, and above all the man.
ner OF his creditors, are suddenly changed
in night; his companion becomes cold,
his dependant grows insolent, and his
creditor looks at him with suspicious
glance which seems to accuse him Of
embezzlement and fraud. Of sudden
no feels that his responsibility has o. zed
away from him; and when he finds he
has got nothing but his character 10 do.
pend upon, he begins to distrust his own
virtue, as he discovers that it will neither
gain him credit for dollar, nor insure
hum the respect Of his acquaintance and
he almost wishes that he had taken better
care OF himself when he had il in his pow
er 10 do so. But he has given up to his
creditors the last copper in his pocket;
and he meets with no compassion from
them, if they get copper less than their
dues. He remembers in his trouble how
differently he treated those who were in.
debted to him, and takes comfort in the
recolle ction, but he wonders why men
will continue to treat their fellow beings
according to their possessions, and not &C.
cording TO their merits.