The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-06-19
IN DEBT AND OUT OF DEBT.


sions of selfrespcct, what double dealing
How, i'll due season, it will carve the frank,
open face into wrinkles; how like knife
it will stab the honest heart. And then its
transformations. How it has been known
to change 4 goodly face into mask of
brass; how, with the miserable custom of
debt has the true man become a callous
trickster! A freedom from debt, and what
nourislling sweetness may be found in cold
water; what toothsomeness in dry crust :;
what amLrosial nourishment in hard egg
BE sure of it, he who dimes out of debt,
though his meal be biscuit and an onion,
dimes in "The Apollo"
And then, for raimcnt, what warmth in
thread-bare coat, if the taior's receipt he
in your pocket! what Tyrian purple in the
faded waistcoat, the vest not owed for; how
glossy the well-worn hat if it covers not
the aching head Of deLtor Next the
home sweets, the out door recreation of
the free man. The street door falls not
kncll OH his heart; the foot of the staircase
through his anatomy at the rap of his
door he can crow "come in," and his pulse
still beats hcathfuly, his heart sinks not in
his bowels.
Sec him broad. How he returns look
for look with any passenger; how he saun-
tcrs; now meeting an acquaintance, he
stands and gossips, but then this man
knows no debt; debt that casts Il drug in
the richest wine; that makes the food of
the gods unwhoIesomc, indigcsliLlc tla:
sprinkles the banluets Of Il Lucullus with
ashes, and drops SCOT in the soup of an
Emperor; debt, that like the moth, makes
valuelcss furs and vclvcts, enclosing the
wearer i'll u fostering prison, (thc shirt of
Nessus was shirt not paid 70, J debt
that writes upon frcscocd halls, the hand
writing of the attorney, that puts n voice
of terror i'll the knocker; that debt, the
Invisible demon that walks abroad with a
man. now !uickcning his steps. now ma
king him look on I'LL sides like hunted
beast, and which bringing to his face the
,shy hue of death as the unconscious pas
scngcr looks giancingly upon him.
Poverty is Il bitter draught, yet may, and
sometimes can with advantage, be swal-
lowed down. Though the drinkcr makes
wry faces, there may, after all, hc Il whole
some goodness in the cup. But debt, how
ever conlieousiy it may Lc offered, Is; the
cap of Syrcn; and the wire, sl,iccd and
delicious though it be, is poison. The man
out Of debt, though with a flaw in his jer-
kin, u crack in his shoe leather, and hole
in his hat, is still the son of liberty and
free as the singing lark above him but
the debtor, although clothed in the utmost
bravery, what is he but q surf out upon
Il holi'lay-a slave to be reclaimed ut any
instant by his owner, the creditor?
My son, if poor, see wine in the rum
ming spring; see thy mouth water at a last
weeks roll; think Il thread-baro coat the
only proper thing to wear; and acknowl-
edge whitc-washcd garret tie iittcst hous-
ing place for a gentleman; do this, and flee
debt. So shall thy heart be at rest aud the
sheriff confounded.-Douylns Jerrold
Tile Vine, The Olive and tie Cotton Plant
IN Northern Itoty.-Robert II. Lees, Uni
ted States Consul at Spezzia, in reply to a
circular February 20, 1856, issued from the
Patent Office at Washington, gives the
following interesting facts in relation to the
culture Of cotton in Italy: During the oc-
cupation Of Italy by the French under the
first Napoleon, one of his projects WIS the
introduction of the cotton plant, but it
failed generally throughout Northern Italy;
and now cotton is not raised further North
than in some OF the Papal States. The
principal agricultural products of this part
Of Italy are the olive and grape, with
which the whole face of the country is
covered, even up to the SUBMITS Of the
mountains, Which seem inaccessible. The
vine and olive trees are carried up and
cultivated by means Of terraces, constructed
at great expense and labor, and the per-
feet beauty Of their appearance at this sea-
son, with everything in leaf and blossom,
may easily be imagined. The olive trees
are planted in groves very tbickly, and re-
quire little cafe beyond simple scraping
around the roots, and stirring up Of the
soil early in the spring. Between the trees
is planted the vine, to which they seem as
lattice work, festooned with its leaves and
tendrils. The annual value of each tree is
estimated at FIVE francs, (about ninety cents,)
and its hardness is such, that while the
vine for the last five years has been de-
stroyed or rendered unproductive by dis.
ease, the olive has remained unburt. A
great blessing this has been to the peasantry,
for had the olive proved as sickly as the
grape, a fearful famine must have ensused.
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