The Arkansas banner., 1845-04-02
THE BEGGAR AND BANKER
A STORY FOR THE MINT;

lect,' replied a sharp but somewhat indig- nant volce-syour honor will please to rec ollect that am beggar and have as much right to the road as yourself' And am q
 banker,' was retorted still more gruf1y and
 angrlly. Amused at this strange dialogue
 leaned over the case, and beheld two citi-
 zens Tn the position which pugiist would denominate squared, their eountenances som what menaclng, and tIIer persons presenting contrast at once ludcrous and instructive
 The one was purse proud, lortlly hammered
 man, apparently in silk, and protecting a car
 cas of nearly the circumference of a hogs
 head; the other ragged and dirty. but equally impudent and self-important person. age; and from a comparison of their conn
 tenances, 1t would have puzzled the most profound NJ. D. which of their rotundities was stored habtually with good yictuals or drink.
 Upon close observation, however, of the countenance of the banker, discovered, al- most as soon as my eye fell upon it, line
 bespeaklng something of humor, and ava
 kenlng curiosity, as he stood fixed and eyed
 his antagonist and this became more clear
 and conspicuous when he lowered his tone
 and asked-'llow will you make right ap-
 pears2 Said the began, sWhy listen a mo-
 ment, and I'll teach you. In the first place.
 do you take notice, God has given me
 soul and body just as good for all the pur-
 poses of thinking, eating and drinking and
 taking my pleasure as he has you-and thea
 you may remember Dives and Lazarus as we
 pass. Then, again, 1t IS free country, and
 here, too, we are on an equallty-for you
 must know that here even a beggar's dog
 may look gentleman in the face with as
 much indifference as he would brother.-
 and you have the same common master;
 arc equally free live equally easy and both
 travelling the same journey, bound to the same place, and both have to die and be bu- ried in the end'
 But interrupted the banker, do you pre- fl tend there IS no difference between T beggar
 and banker" Not in the least as to es-
 sentlals. You swagger and drink wine in
 company of your own choosing-I swagger
 and drink beer, which like better than wine,
 in company which like better than your
 company. on make thousands day per haps-l make a shillingperhaps--if you are conened, am-we are equally happy at
 night. You dress in new clothes; am just
 as comfortable in old ones, and have no trouble in keeping them from soing; if have less property than you, have less to care about; if fewer friends, 1 have less ; friendship to lose; and if do not make as
 great figure in the world, make as great a shadow as you. Besides, my word for 1t,
 have fewer enemies, meet with fewer losses,
 carry as light heart, and sing as many
 songs as the best of you'
 And then said the banker, who had ali
 along tried to slip word in edgeways, IS
 the contempt of the world nothing , 'l'he envy of the world is as bad as it's contempt--you have perhaps the one, and , a share of the other-We are matched there, l too. And besides, the world deals in this l matter equally unjust with us both. You and live by our wits, instead of living by l our industry; and the only difference be- 3 tween us in this particular worth naming Is, 5 that Il costs society more to maintain you , than 1t does mel am content with little, !, you want great deal. Neither ol Us raise grain or potatoes, or manufacture anything [ useful, we therefore add nothing to the com l mon stock J'we are only consumers, and if 3 the world judge with strict impariiality, l therefore 1t seems to me, l would be pro- !. nounced the cleverest fellow.'
 9 Some passer-by here interrupted the 'con- 9 versasion. The disputants separated, appa- : rently good friends, and drew in my head circulating, somewhat in the manner of Alex l ander in the play-'Is there then no differ
 ence between the beggar and the banker
 But several years have since passed away -and now both these persons have paid the
 last debt of nature. They died as they lived, ; the one beggar the 0 her banker. l ex- : amined both their graves when next visited ' their city. They were of similar length " and breadth-the grass grew equally green = above each, and the sun looked down as ?. ?. pleasantly on one as on the other. No hon. :. ors, pleasures or delights clustered round the grave of the rich man. They were both ; equally deserted, lonely and forgotten! T :, thought, too, of the destinies to which they u had passed; of that state in which temporal . distinctions exist not, temporal honors arc > regarded not Where pride and all the cir d cumstances which surrounded this life ney- CT find admitance. Then the distinctions ol u time appeared indeed as an atom in the sun- d a beam, compared with those which gre made II , in that changeless state to which they both | had passed.
 ,e A two-fsted backwoodsman, half horse )r half aIicator and a little touched with tht