The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1858-05-06
TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM |
From Emcrson's Magazine.
POVERTY A PRODUCER.

erty are those miners who, shut out from
the light Of day, spend their lives in dark
ness and gloom, but bring Up to the surface
gold and gems, that glitter on the brow of
beauty, or fill the ovcrAowing Golfers of lux
ury.
Wealth is 4 cheat and all the moro Il
cheat, because the satlerers must maintain
their hypocrisy. Poverty is reality it
follows man like a shadow, growing darker
and better defined, by contrast, as he cmcr-
gcs into a stronger light, but ccoming
Fainter and fainter as he descends into the
gloom, until at last the shadow grasps the
reality. The aim of Wealth is to display
itself. The aim Of Poverty is to elevate
itself. This is the secret why Wealth en-
crvates, and Poverty elevates man. We
mean not 10y poverty affect dcs;i.ution, but
state wherein all mans powers are called
into exercise by the stern necessities Of na-
ture i'll opposition to that nalobical wealth
which suffers its posscssor to float chance,
directed, rescckins, sun.gi!dcI lub-
bic on the stream of Time
A fine sight is The rc>isl!,.ss rush Of :,
long train of cars. its yittcriny windows
aifordlng glimp7es Of beauty and fashion,
its seats crowded with wealth and station
but what imparts the momentum .lh
away in there, is Poverty, with sinews of
steel and lungs Of iron, sooty. be.rineL.
and discor,amt-voiccl, hut the soul OF the.
train Of wealth and fashion, and without
which AL their glitter and .all would lie
rowerless. The philosophy Of the Greeks
was woven into their religion; and VIC find
the same idea expressed i'll their fail. Of
the marriage Of Venus, the celes,. beauty
with Vulcan, the Olympian smith. Beatty
that is q type of the non producing
"lasses-weds not the high in station, not
the renowned i'll war, not the pcl.ec, in per-
son, but the strong arm of Poverty the
producer 1t is curious to notice how Prov
iJencc has linked together the different
ci'sscs and conditions Of mcE, to show that
none are independent Of the others. OF
what use is that fragile beauty, that Iclcacy
of form and sliyhtncss of figure, in woman,
were it not for the uncouth strength Of man,
his rough joints and his knottcd mus.
cles
Poverty is the great producer. Its ia5ors,
like the puIsation Of The heart, cannot in.
tcrmit, without death nj once ensuing. All
over the earth. from sunrise until twilight.
AMI through the long, still hours of the
night, willie the shadows crouch in the cor
ners Of the room, increasingly plying the |
needle, or busi!y at his handicratt, to dive
the woll from the door, is Poverty, the |
great producer, at work. Poverty, the Pro-
duccr! 1t works like the giant forces of |
nature, invisible until lis elects compel our
attention.
Poverty is the great producer Of thought.
Nearly all the greatest literary productions
that now auorn our shelves as classics, in |
whose pages lie the grea: thoughts Of their
generations, are tho life blood of Poverty.
They were written with baiIiifs at the desk |
aud constablcs ut the door. The cradles
of the great arc rocked in cottages, and
Genius tends her fostcrlings amidst the rou-
tine Of daily toll. And it is because Of
this-because our literature ncslIcs in no
gorgeous palaces, but comes from the hearts
of those who live real livos, aud who know
lise's trials, that it, more than any other,
includes the wide range Of human emotions
and sentiments, and speaks TO the heart
with a forco that no other language and no
other literature ever possessed.
Poor, blind, but glorious old Homer, the
worlds poet, begged his bread from door to
door, but left the legacy Of the world in the
memories Of his hearers. Milton, too, wore
no crown of earth's honors and wealth.
Poor, blind, alive only because his poverty
and Affections shielded him from ryoal ma
levolence, lie made his lie, to use his own
words, "a true poem-a composition of the
best and noblest things" and he now stands
almost by the side Of those inspired prophets
of old whose lips had been touched by n
live coal from the altar Of Jehovah. "The
world knows nothing Of its greatest men,"
Shakespeare, the Prince of Poets, was cradlcd
in butchers shop, but Ills fame lives, when
those who, clad in purple, sat near the
throne, are forgotten. Newton, the great
philosopher, begged his college to remit linn
the small charge Of apathy shilling. And
our great men have always arisen from the
middle ranks Of life. Webster was rocked
in cradle made from pine log by his en-.
ergetic father, aided Snly by an augur and
an axe. Clay was born'in ahovel, and his
early life was codtiduous struggle for
bread. Franklin, the philosopher and states
man, began life as journeyman printer.