Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-02-10
Life'S INEQUALITIES.

Iondcr goes man rolling in wealth and lux
ury he was born to it, he will doubtless die sur
rounded by it. When he departs, they will put
| him in a sumptuous coffin, shining Ike mirror;
and richly lined as over lady's bourdoir; they
will give him stately funeral, and solemn funcr
al rites; and 50 they will send him to his long
home, with long tlourshins of drums and trum-
pets; tiul>ome obituaries will he served up in his
honor, and i'll due time gaudy monument will
rise over his remains in some fashionable rural
cemctary. The poor fellow that ran against him
just now, and whom he cursed so, what differ
ent time he has of it in this world, and is likely
to have. That moving mass of rags began to
draw breath in some dark den of shame and in
fanny; 4 pennilcss fricndless vagabond from the
beginning, thus far he has been kicked and cutfed,
along the highway of life, and he looks as if he
expected to be kicked aud cuffed mp to the clos
: ing scene; the terminus of his sad pilgrimage,
most probably,a prison or the gaows; no flu
nercl ceremonies will bc thrown away upon his
poor carcass no tear he shed over it, no grave
receive it; no, twill be chopped up i'll some pro-
fame dsscctlng room, most likely for the edltica-
ton Of 4 set of noisy students, who will crack
their vile jokes, and puff their filthy tobacco smoke
over it in mockcry-oh, can it be that these two
men are the children of the same Heavenly Pa
rent, alike creatures of his care alike tie children
Of immortality, alike responsible at his barr
Why. why then permit such terrible, such cruel
diSparities Of condition in the outset of their Ca
reer! WHY then continue them thus pcrtina-
ciously to the close: Why, again, these fright
full inequalities as to endowmcnt> There goes
man across the street with bundle on his
hcad-it is his caIling--.he is equal to no other
his head is only fit to balance bundles on-edu-
cation can do nothing for him-heh has been tried
and found wanting-thcrc is nothing there to
educate-vou could no more educate that man
into respectable merchant or competent law
YER than YOU could by culture convert Il squash
into a cluster Of delicious grapes-yes, and the
very next person that You STE there, following at
his heels, but who knows him not Who knows
not the capricious brow, those eyes that flash
glorious fire, that tongue that sends forth its
winged words whose burning eloquencc that sets
the hearts of whole nation blaze! Why, oh
why is our Father in Heaven so prodigal OF his
good gifts to the one, and so cruelty slaring of
them to the other! Why, again, put one I'M
mortal soul in Il poor pa!Iry, contemplate body,
with scarce as"und organ i'll 1t, aperpe!ual source
Of di>lui,t to its owner, yes, a continual STUN
blin"-block in his path, while another is endowed
with glorious set of nerves and muscles, 4 mag
niticcnt pair Of lungs and all other apcrtinances
that can administer to It's wants and delights
Oh, is it fair: Why does one man prosper i'll all
his undertakings, every thing he touches turning
to cold, his bIunders even have happy issue,
while his nc;yhbor, equally amiabc, more intclli
gent perhaps, is forever i'll hot water, cheated by
crafty villains, worried cut Of his life by hard
hearted creditors, and dying poor dcSolatc bank
rupt! Why one fair island is blessed with all
that 4 lamd can be blessed with; made the scat
Of wealth, power, art, science, civilization, while
its ncighhoring sister, equally lovely by nature, is
yet cursed with every evil under the sun, is be-
come the head quarters Of wrctchcdnc>> famine
and death! Why permit these things: Why,
too. permit So much innocent suticrin" in the
world: Why should all these poor wives and
poor children undergo sorrow, poverty, gnOmnv,
for the miSdecdS of husbands and fathers! Why
allow one mans drunkenness or incompetence, to
send hundreds Of souls to their account without
moments warnins' Why allow the insane
ambition of another to bring thousands to nln-
timcl ly end upon the battle field /! Why, too,
all these dire accidents, these tamincs, floods. pes
thence, shipwrccks, earthquakes, conflagrations
What do they mean? What lesson do they
teach: Who can drciphcr thcm' Oh dear.
what child cannot ask these questions What
sage can answer them satisfactorily.
There IS there is meaning, deep hidden
wisdom i'll these arrangements Of Providence,
though our poor feeble wits cannot master it
there is a key to these dreadful puzzlrs-an an
swcr to these soul veXing riddlcs-not here, the
blessed life to come will answer all these qucs-
tions-oh, without that faith, that hope, existence
We're a miserable drcarv farce cindccd-lncanwlllle
are We, because thus ignorant and in the dark,
to break out into rebellion To throw reason
and conscience o, crboard, and let the vile crew
Of appctitcs and passions take command OF the
ship! Oh, no, no, poor children that we are, we
must obey, not question the order of our Parent
scholars, We are arc to learn the lessons when
the Great Teacher sets us, not Sctup course l"r
oursclvcs-a pretty idea, truly that we babes,
in this infant school of our existence, should ar-
ray our little silly notions in opposition to the
Great Governor Of the Univcrsc-bctcr submit,
without useless noise or scutfng to the discipline
prcs,ribcd-how absurd, too, to be kicking ana
rounding, in this pctulant way against the door
which the Master hath closed and barred against
us.-wc cannot enter, we are wasting breath ana
temper, ncglrcting our tasks, and earning hear
ty whipping for orr pans.-Mnsings Of an m