Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-06-29
The shilling and l.

One day, as | sat by my table. drumming
on it with my fingers, and whistling Yankee
Doodle, with Il quill stuck behind my ear,
the same humming sound commenced again
IN my vest pocket 1t was contcntcd, sell
satisfied sort of Il chirp,-onc that seemed to
tell what crickets say in the chimney .lamh,
or cats purr on the hearth, or the hens sing,
as they stand on one leg in warm place in
the barn yard on IL spring day, and cast SIDE
long glances at the sun.
. Ah. is that you" said, pray how
has it happened that you are not spent ~
.Spent for what !" said the shilling.
.Why," said "thcre are stage fares, and
cigars, and the papers, and church collec-
tions. and oysters, leaving out brandy smash
es from which | am constitutionally exempt,
and Mrs. Virgins who of late calls for moth
ing smaller than bills. As old and as bald
as you are, you surely know for what you
have been spent SO many times.
"Oh dear" said tho shilling, >, you stir
up some old memories. I've been apprecia-
ted very differently by different people at dit
ferent times. I've been tied up IN hand
kcrchief of poor widow all she had, and
! all that stood between her and starvation, on
| one day; and the next have been shoyclled
| from a till into bag marked 'shot, and
counted as the tally of one drink. To the
rich I've been n cigar, and to the poor day s
subsistence. I've paid for many IL long day =
work of the dairy maid, and John, the hired
man, once thought himself very well paid
with cour!e Of u3 day. Even the rosy
checked school mistress, whom you trst re
member carrying a basket almost as big as
herself, and "boarding round, thought her
self very well paid with me for days work.
She is an old woman now and complains that
| there's no girls nowadays they re all Ia
dies, and there's no hireing them for any
thing at less than two dollars week.
"Once," continued the shilling, - could
command bushcl of pOtatocs,-n can
scarcely cnntrol q half peck. Once could
purchase beef steak'-now | can buy only
the similitude of one. Once man could
make comfortable dinner out OF me,-now
he can only do it with Indian meal griddle
cakes and molasscs. o temporal q mores'
q pork and beef caters, you will all come to
Jhonycake vet. Flour and potatoes are the
luxuries of the rich, yet do not be discour-
aged, for by life of industry and economy
you may be able again to taste them. "
Never mind vaticinations, old Don,
said "you re loreigner-a Spaniard and
u catholic, and as all such are liars, there
forc''-sIIold, ' said the coin, Il have de-
clar,d mn intcnHons, and by Mr., MARCY:
Koszta doctrine, am entitled not only to tol
Grafton but to protection. Once escapcC
from tins grave where am Durlcu DCtWccl
the lining and the wadJing Of your vest, in
few days | shall be gathered INTO the mint t.
rcappcar as u now dime ready to commences
another life Locked up here, | am not full
! filling my mission. II | cannot circulate,
am worthless You cannot cat me, you can
not drink me, you cannot Wcdr me- so that
like the mama of old, once boarded, am use
less When your grandfather moved ives
= from Rhode Island, and carried five hundre
round hard. silver dollars in silk stockin
J in the woods with him, when the times cam
that tried mems donidchs, they could not ca
them. When you yourself went to a pie nj
( with your pockets lined with silver thlnkin
, you could buy your dinner. you found n
y dinners to be bought, and were dependant o
! the charity OF your lricnds Will you liy
then, for nothing but to hoard money Eve
il you wish only to accumulate property,
Y it not better to keep the money moving
"A said ! supposed it was,
e "But," continued the shilling, "the natiu
IS is made up of individuals. Where, then,
Ie the wisdom of that tariff policy you are col
is tinually following in order to shut in til
D., money, and to shut out foreign productions
% If the Atlantic were in very deed n sea
5, Ore, and the productions of California WEI
10 shut completely in; ii your pockets were fu
re OF gold and silver, and you had nothing
IT put on your back, or to put in your moutl
,e what better would you be DO you see
n what conclusions you must come ii you a'
init that the affairs of nations are goyernC