Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-03-10
REvERsEs OF FORTUNE.

The war played SAD havoc WIN the
fortunes of men in the South. Many
who were at the top went to the bottom,
and many who were at the bottom went
to the top. Lean, gaunt poverty OBJ
truded into households that had never
known want that money could procure,
and never felt pang that luxury, had
it been its antidote, would not have be-
guiled. Wealth flowed into hands that
had always been SCARED and blistered
with toil-around hearthstones that had
seen nothing but want, and heard moth
ing but the voice of lamentation. The
palace was exchanged for the howell, and
the howell for the palace The silks and
satins were taken from the windows Of
the rich and hung upon those of the man
who had heretofore beheld them only in
the distance, as we behold the gorgeous
clouds that linger about the setting sun.
Expectations long cherished, promises,
bonds, money, even hope, persisted in a
moment leaving no traces but white
hairs, wrinkled faces and the blasted
vista of the life to be lived The worst
of all was, perhaps, the tumble down of
pride. The naughty spirit could not
composedly walk to the huttering of the
rags that had once been purple and fine
linen. Where the ashes Of his fortunes
lay, he stood and stands changed man
Four yeats have made him an outcast
and if they have not rendered him des-
perate, they have at least broken his
heart
1t is ever pitiable to hear the fallen
refer to the better days they have left
behind them-to the magni6cence in
which they lived-to the influence which
they welded, and to the great people
whom they have known. Misfortune,
like age, broods over the past; and the
only lamp to its feet is that which flames
ont through the portals of memory
Though proud man be young when the
overthrow of his consequence comes, he
rarely attempts in matter-of-fact man
ner to regain his lost position or wealth
The handspring of his power is snapped
asunder, and the manipulations of ambi-
ton are henceforward without electrical
Eject
How different is another picture What
absurd pride, what lndicrous affectation
Of ncosequence, what awkward pretension
to greatness marks him who, from abso-
Lutte rags and want, finds himself sud-
denly the master of houses and lands,
and money. The new honors sit upon
him without grace, and suggest con-
trast so palpable thatit never fails to pro-
woke the ridicule Of men. But if the
manner of the new-found son of fortune ;
be absurd, the internal machinery that
moves him is in good repair, and as {
bright as FURNISHED metal. No sinking I
of the heart there-no futtering on {
wounded wings-no hobbling on despond- |
ing crutches The vista is clear, and
the perspective is woven of bowers of
buds and roses, and nterlaced with rain
bows
But to be a little less fanciful. The
changes of fortune wrought by the war
are beginning to develop practical !
results, and as the business of the people
is resumed, they will start into astonish-
ing prominence. A New Orleans paper !
thus refers to this subject; A few days 4
ago, in a case before one Of our district |
courts, which involved an inquiry into 4
the solvency ola security, one of the wit q
nesses stated that he knew the security
was hopelessly insolvent before the war
whereupon the judge remarked very SEN
sibly and truly The fortunes and posi- /
tons of many Of our people have been 7
reversed by the effects Of the war; many b
who before the war were and had been 7
for many years wealthy, were now hope ?
lessly insolvent, and many who had c
struggled for nearly their whole lives r
against poverty and adverse fortune,
were now in easy and afluent circum-
stances
A distinguished attorney engaged in !
the case stated that he could cite an in
stance within his own experience, con- :
iirmatory of the justice of his honor's
remark He himself had been quiet,
easy and comfortable before the war
but when he returned to the cry without
a dollar in his pockets and applied TO his t
former rich clients TO pay some fees due J
him, he found that they we're as poor as $
he was; and the only person who came
to his assistance aud promptly placed him
in funds was a man whom he had known :
as an insolvent Cor twenty years ,,
WHAT DOES IT MEANT