Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1850-03-22
M tsre atIc o % 8 /.
Selected by a La
THE RICH AND POOR.
By LYDIA JANE PIERsoN .

By LYDIA JANE PIERsoN.
"Oh. mother, | wish could be as hap
py as Ellenis. She is always cheerful, al
ways has smile on her face, while am
miserable as wicked spirit. And vet /
have everything | want, while Ellen earns
all she has by sewing. | wish had been
poor mans daughter. | know that the
poor are happier than the wealthy"
81 Yes, my child, do believe they are.
Their wants are so few, and their houses
so small, and need so little attention-and
they are not worried by servants and com
pany with children TO grease the carpets
and soil the embroidered chairs and otto
mans. And they are not obliged to keep
up their position by always having the
most costly and fashionable furniture.
dresses, dc. They merely want clothes
to keep them warm, and something to sat-
lsty hunger, which all who will work ard
keep sober can easily obtain. But. Ger
aldine, hardly think you really wish to
be poor, to give up all refined and in;ellec-
tual pleasures, and think merely of how
YOU will get yicnals and clothes"
The poor sewing girls cheek grew red
and pale alternately, while this conycrsa-
ton was progressing in her presence and
during the latter clause burned redder and
redder, until her very brow seemed burn
ing with Indignation and distress. She
said nothing, however, until Mrs. Mum
left the apartment, and then in a low calm
voice she inquired
Do YOU really imagine, Miss Gerald
inc, that poor people think of nothing but
how they may get victuals and clothes !''
They seem to be always laboring for
that end" replied the tboughtess girl, ''and
it Is only reasonable to suppose, that their
thoughts are with their employment
You will find very few such amongst
the very poorest, Miss Geraldine, and per-
NIT me to ask, are there not some amongst
the wealthy not merely intellectual, but
who deprived of their intellectual wealth,
would be utterly incapable of making a
living. Trust me, there are as many I'M
beetles born amongst the rich as the poor.
The children of the rich are blcst with
every advantage of education and if they
are incapable of solid requirements, they
are garnshed with an outside show of
genteel accomplishments and 80 pass
through the world admired and if gentle,
they are respected and beloved when,
had their parents been poor, they would
have been hall-witted, improyident. des-
pissed creatures. But, Geraldine, if the
poor were really the inferior race your
mother represents them to be, how is it
that SO many of them rise from their ranks
to the highest grades of science, honor,
station and riches +? Why is it that some
whose giant genius engraved their names,
in eternal adamant, above the reach of the
blllows of time, to shed lustre on mankind
through all time, were born, lived, and
died poor -
"Al this may be, Ellen, but then you
know the poor are SO apt 10 be dishonest,
so addicted to vice"
That is altogether an unjust aspersion,
Miss Num-" Ellen said, and the color on
her cheeks deepened again; Permit me
to assure you, that the poor are by far the
most honest portion of society. Every
year there are defaults, as they are termed,
amongst the rich and honorable, to \
thousand times the amount of all the poor
steal. If a rich mans wife or daughter
be convicted of shop-lifting, Phrenology
declares that she has the organ of acqui-
sitiyeness unduly developed, and the un-
fortunate lady is put under medical treat
ment; and the very circumstance that
ought to render her crime inexcusable-
namely, that she was under no necessity
is pleaded in her favor. But if poor
woman steal half-worn garment, or a
loaf of bread, she is vile thief, and must
be proceeded against according to law.
And then the poor are so terribly tempted.
For instance, YOU have everything that
you can desire, why should YOU covet
other peoples goods ] have only what
can earn, and that | must divide with
others If there were sum of money cx-
posed, which Of us would be most tempted
to appropriate it All things considered,
the poor are honest to miracle. And as
to vice, some of the poor get drunk; but
oh. how many of the rich indulge in the
same vice, How many rich men go from