The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-07-30

bat unfortunately for science and this
essa, Me;huzelar amt here.
Qotes will live In emmy kIimate, and on
emmy vittles, except tanbafk, and If they
ever cum to . square death, it IL Q pro-
found sekret, in the hands of few, to
this day.
MY FIRST MONEY.
It was a sixpenceI New, clean, and
shiny, bearing upon it the image and su-
| prescription of our queen Victoria, D..
e., Britanniarum, &c, just like other six-
pences, but 80 white, so glossy, and 30
well struck, that no other sixpence on
earth could have borne comparison
with It.
This was not fact open to question. I
had already classed it among the articles
Of my belief, when taking the "sixpeDce
delicately between my fingers laid it ten
derly upon my bed, and then knelt down
on the floor in order to have better view
of it. This was my first alteration of
Mammon, my frst worship Of the golden
or, to speak by the card, the silver
calf. was Eve years old the sixpence
was four years and q half my junior.
Four years and halfi This was great
deal, the advantage Of age was mani
festly on my side, and this, ! suspect,
had not . little to do with the semi
patronizing glances which, fotMithstand-
ing my immense veneratioii fof this idol
lied sixpence, occasionally ventured to
throw upon it. For I should not, feel,
have gszed thus at an elder sixpence. An
octogenarian coin, for instance, would have
impressed me with certsin degree Of
awe. 1t might have been round the world
in the breeches pocket of Captain Cook,
| it might have Witnessed Trafalgar from the
waistcoat of Lord Nelson, it might have
passed through the hard fingers of the
Iron Duke. A sixpence Of that sort could
not have been viewed with hippancy.
No, it was better to have young and mex
perienced sixpence, Q sixpence with all its
troubles before ii, like youthful bear. 1t
and were more on footing of equality !;
there was no need for me to stand upon
ceremony with it, and could freely give
vent to my sentiments In its presence
without transgressing the laws of propri-
ETY.. There was no fear Of its looking
sourly at me, as much as to say, "You
| little simpleton, it is lamentable for q coin
like me to fall into such ill-bred hands as
yours. Nsr Burke, nor Sheridan, nor
Charles James Fox, all Of whom knew
most intimately, ever grinned at me as
you do; and the young William Pitt ito
whom was introduced by his illustrious
father the Earl of Chasham) never laughed
at me-"
Thatwas the great advantage of young
sitpence. it being so fresh to the ways of
society. There was no danger of its hav-
ing learned its manners from the Prince
Regent, or modelled its demeanor upon
that of Lord Csstlercagh. 1t could afford
to be indulgent If chuckled too loud, and
could make allowances, if, in the jubilant
pride Of possession, l rubbed my hands
too ecstatically. Besides, considering the
matter from q more material point Of view,
q young sixpence was larger, brighter,
heavier, than an old one; there seemed to
be more Of it; there were no disgrace
full patches of black about it, such as
spoke of sojourn in q dust bin, in the till
of rag-shop, or in the purse of an econ
omical sweep. The features of the Queen
upon it were not dis6gured by scars,
crosses, or knife-marks to prove that its
former possessors suspected the honesty of
their familiars, and were obliged for pru-
dence' cake to mark their coins. 1t had
no unseemly holes bored in it, O. no He
| brew had sweated it to the thinness of q
bit of tin. 1t had everything in its favor
beauty, youth, distinction, and novelty.
| For you must remember it was my fret
| sixpence, the first coin upon which had
ever gazed as my own, the first money of
which had ever had the free disposal
True, few specimens of the currency
had occasionally passed through my
hands, in the shape of fugitive half pence !;
but as my mother had always requested
me to put these into the poor.pox, / could
scarcely be said to have had the full enjoy
ment of them Hence this money was in
deed my first, and, o Plutusl the gold
mines of Peru, made over to me by bond,
duly signed and sealed, would have de-
lighted me less than this sixpence.
It was my father who had given it me,
and under memorable circumstances. He
had been long while involved in one of
those suits In Chsncery, which are the
triumphs of our legislation. Seven-and-
twenty years had 1t lasted, but at the end
of that time, by hsrpy dispensstion of
Providence, he had been 90 fortunate as
to gain his cause. Lawyers, solicitors
and bsrristers had, however, been
to work 30 merrily that, all costs
and expenses paid, there was left
of the estate which formed the
| bone of contention the exact sum of five
pounds ten shillings and twopence. Three
letters and consultation from our family
solicitor, informing as Of this edifying re-
suit, swallowed up the five pounds of this
total, and the conscientious member of Lin
coins Inn then scrupulously forwarded to
Us the remaining ten shilliDgs and two
pence, merely deducting therefrom six and
eight-pence, price of the envelope in
| which the residue was enclosed.
My father thereupon ranged seven six
pences on our breakfast table. my boy"
| he said. "see what comes of going to law
| in Great Britainl Your mother has told
! you that l have won my suit in chancery?"
Yes, papa"
"Well, then, lookl That is all I set of
IT." snd he pointed grimly at the six-
pencea
opened wide my eyes.
Gall that you get of the whole suit n
echoed, with puzzled air, firmly convinced
that q suit in chancery was composed, as
other suits are, of coat, waistcOat and
trousers. "Why, papa, those are only the
buttonsi'
This deplorsble joke had earned me
my sixpence. Ny father had thrown it
over to me, laughing, and, like dog who
is pelted with bone, l had rushed hastily
off with it for fear they should think of
taking it back again
Six. .PBNCHt
For a time anything like cool reflection
was impossible. / was too giddy, too
startled, to think. How think, indeed,
when one has sixpencel My sixpence
was as q moon of which the rays dszed
me; my head swan, my fingers tingled,
my eyes saw whirling through the air in
q fantastic gallop several millions Of six
peDces, all white, all lately issued from
the mint, sll bearing upon them, like my
sixpence, Victoria, D. G., Britsuniarum,
&c, with her Majesty's head at the royal
srmA
At last, however land happily, too, for
was small boy, and unused to these
emosions), the intensity Of my sensations
subsidized. I grew more philosophical,
and after time was enabled to bring
upon the subject that was absorbing me .
becoming amount of self possession. You
know, Of course. what it was, this subject
thst was sbsorblpg met It was the ex.
pendisure of ms sixpence. Like Chan.
caller oishs EIebeqasg With the surplus Of