The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1854-12-20


After their arrival in England, Sandford be-
came heir to large estate, then it was, after
Providence had blessed them with a fine boy,
they thought of the past, for parents only can
feel for parents. The remembrance of fa-
theirs kindness, a mothers love came over
Amelia's dream of happiness like a cloud,
frowning on her joy, and dimming the bright
ness of her life's sunshine. That heart can
never know happiness which closes .its doors
against parents love.
'Dear mother, can you forgive me-father,
will you bless your Amelia once more?'
"Say no more, all is forgotten-all is for
given"
'sAnd my brother too, and dear little sis
God bless me, but am SO happy"
To say they were happy is word scarcely
strong enough. Repentance brings happiness
and the sunshine of religion sheds over the soul
that holy ray of light which nothing on earth
can ever dim. It is the star Of Jehovah fixed
eternal in the heart.
Did the landlord seize their little furniture?
No! happiness was theirs, and more cheerful
christmas day could not be imagined than the
one passed beneath the humble roof of Robert
Paxson. Let my readers reflect on the moral
of this sketch, if it creates one throb of pleas
ure and sympathy for the poor family, now made
happy, then is the author fully repaid for his
CHRISTMAS LEGEND.
/ The RUINED BANKER.-We understand that
Mr.. Manchester left this city on Saturday even
ing Since the failure of his banking house, on
| Tuesday it has not been safe for him to be seen
abroad alone. We know not his present place
of abode, or where he intends to settle himself.
One thing is certain-hs days of usefulness in
this city have departed. His property has been
placed in the hands Of ASST gnees, but from what
we can gather, the assets will not meet the liza
bilities. Many of those who are losers, are
hard working men and women. They entrus-
ted their small earnings in his bank, and we
fear they will not be able to get them back. We
aearn that his failure is chiefly attributed to
stock spcculations, borrowing money at large
rates of interest, and extravagant living. Some
months ago he bought fifty thousand dollars
worth of stocks in one of the railway enterpris-
es in this state, which fell on his hands very
rapidly, and his loses were heavy. In our city
there are few, very few, who express any SYM
pathy for the ruined banker, while "curses, both
loud and deep" follow his footsteps like an
echo. One Of the sad evils which follow
wrecked fortunes and wrong doing, is the sor-
rows which fall upon the innocent family. We
shall not attempt q encroach upon the sanctity
of their private griefs.
The present case of failure, and the dsas-
trous consequences following it, are not without
their moral. The bane of modern city life is
desire to make money and to live in a style be-
yond our legitimate means to afford. The old
maxlms of homebred prudence have lost much
of their force, and are rarely practiced. The
desire to outshine our neighbors, or at least to
be equal with them in show making and party
giving, and fine dresses and furniture, and
costly yet uselessS ornaments, are among the
fruitful causes of tight money markets, bank
ruptcy and domestic ruin. No history has ever
recorded the miseries which the slavery of fash
ion and the arbitrary demands of society infict
upon men-a slavery more calling than that of
the servitude Of the southern negro-the many
shifts that are made to keep up appearance, to
hide the truth and to raise money to meet the
notes coming due No wonder we have care
worn faces, premature grey hairs, and effem-
nate constitutions-the legitimate offsprings of
passion to live beyondsour MEANS and to keep
up appearances.
ness will not happen at times even when the
Misfortune is an incident to everything human
ButsWe do mean to say that there is more real
poignant misery, more sleepless nights, and
dreaded days occasioned by this mania for ap-
pearing to be better off than we are, and sup
porting establishments beyond that which we
can legitimately afford, than by any other thing
The case of Mr.. Manchester is a striking in
stance. The false appearance, like false lights
on the sea coast held out by wreckers and pi-
rates to delude the mariner deceives and ruins
many. The poor people, who entrusted him
with their hard-won money, were deceived by
tse false lights which he held out. Up to the
moment of his failure he was considered one of
the wealthest men in the city, but when the
lightning struck, it left the tree bare of fruit
and leaf. Nothing remained but the trunk
scared and worthless. The poor have lost
that which they intrusted to him, and disap-
pointment and unavailable SORROW fill many
hearts.
Nor are these all the evils which course like |
his brings upon the community. The trust
worthy, the solvent the honest and Just suffer
from them. They become in a measure objects |
OF suspicion, especially to those who have the |
least means of ascertaining the truth. They en-
gender in the hearts Of the masses preudices
which therein gangrene and ankle for a lifetime
and exhibit their evil fruits in hatred of banks
and paper money. These become the political
capital of Office seekers and demagogues Pos
ted on :.'Manchesters building yesterday morn
ing, was piece of foolscap paper, on which
was written in a plain round hand, these words:
*'This building was erected by widows tears,
and orphans cries, ,'-the production, perhaps,
Of some seamstress or poor widow, whose little
earnings, the harvest of long years of toll and
midnight watching, were lost to her forever.
In these times of commercial and monetary
distress, it is we'll to reflect upon the means by
which they may be partially avoided, and to
avert recurrence of them in the future
cincinnati Gazette
The United States consul to Asunction, in the
republic of Paraguay, has managed to get into
1 very bad odor with the government of that
republic. An incident has recently brought out
4 manifestation Of the feelings entertained to-
wards him. His brother, Mr. Clement E. Hop
lins, for many years connected with the press
n New York, was struck by an incensed dra-