Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-04-21
ORIGINAL PAPERS
For the Spirit of the Age.
A Sketch from Real Life.

| saw the sycophant, with bated breath,
and deferential tone, striving to instil his
insidious dattery into the ear Of power,
"And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee,
That thrift may follow fawning.'
| saw a crowd Of such thronging around
the rich man, eager to gain his favor and
court his friendship. marked the defer
cuce paid to every opinion he uttered-the
influence he possessed and the power he
welded. | saw his popularity, his wealth,
his resources, and | thought his sway over
his fellow man was fixed and enduring
Again | saw, by the trcachery of false
friends-by a reverse of fortune-this mag
nate Of the land reduced to extreme pow
crty-without a house to call his own
Then | saw another phase of human char
acter {: Those hatterers, who before could
only exist in the sunshine Of his smiles,
now dropped off one by one. He passed
on scarcely noticed by those who had once
been proud to call him friend-who bad
enjoyed his hospitality, and who had been
aided by his munificence in the days Of
his prosperity. | thought if these are
friends, let me be friendteSS.
| saw him in an humble cottage, pros
trated by disease and surrounded by a few
Of his kindred. | saw his eyes closed in
death. The grave was opened and his
body sank to its final resting place.
heard the dull rumbling of the clods as
they poured in on his roughly made coffin;
saw streaming eyes and heard the broken
sobs of the mourners, few in number, as
they stood around his grave. When thu
crave was filled one OF the number SAID
ave can do no more for him." Oh! how
mournfully those words struck on my ear
and how they ring there yet. No tear o
sort ow was shed for the cold sleeper, 10y
those who once protested themselves to be
his varmest friends. No! their hearts
were callous alike to his poverty and suf
ferinrs. What cared they for him, atte
he became the poor man!
WHY were they not friends to him il
adversity as well as in prosperity! Sim
ply because such friends land they consti
tute the vast majority in this world wer
most unfeigned worshippers of Mammon
and by his loss of wealth, he was at ono
deposed from his priesthood, and excom
municated from their service. Could tn
dead see how few tears Of sincere grief ar
shed when they die, they would say tn
is Justly called a cold, unfeeling world.
If nv friends love me when forum
smiles only, and flee like summer bir(
when the chilling blasts of adversely CONE
then let me be friendless let me wor
my way through life unassisted-let me
waited along by the favorable breezes
prosperity, or buffet the angry waves
misfortune alone, and at last sink beneat
its dark and turbulent waters unlamentt
and unsung. Did you ever think what
was to he Stunned, despised, and debarr'
from society, because you were poor ID
YOU ever hear the purse-proud aristocr
sneeringly say, 10 he's the son Of a SIM
farmer, or the son of a mechanic 2 WI
what scorn and contempt should such brai
less tops he regarded by the truly wise a
good. "Creation's blot creations blanI
who only rely on the blazonry OF veal
or the adventurous circumstance of br
and station to elevate them, all devoid
merit as they are, above the heads OF 81
rs are Natures true noblemen in all t
constitutes the man. ZOILUS
Lincolnton, April 18th, 1853.