The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-03-18
TALES OF THE BORDERS
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS-
BT JOHN MACKAY WILSON
CORTINUED.

JoHE MAcEAT WILSON.
CoEuNUED.
burst into tears as be spoke and put
the money in ny hands. The kindness Of
Z the one merchant had affected me more than
the chilling irony of the other The one
reused my indignation, the other melted my
/ heart. But | was indebted to both; for
! both had given me lesson Of what the
world was, aud both bad rendered me more
sensible Of the dependence and hopelessness
of my situation.
In order to husband my resources,
proceeded to London on foot, and when
arrived there found myself to be like q
bird in a wilderness or a helmless vessel Cd
a dark sea. The magnitude of the city, its
busy thousands, its grOaning warehouses,
where the treasures and luxnries Of every
corner of the globe are piled together, the
splendor of its shops, the magni6cence of
its squares, and the lOrdly equipages
which glittered in the midst Of them, moved
me not They scarrel y excited my Obser-
walton. My soul was filled with thoughts
Of my own prospects; and | wandered,
dreaming, from street to street, moving at
pace as though l had been sauntering by
the side of one Of my own native lakes, and
| appeared as the only individual in the
great city who bad no aim and 10 urgent
business which required d. to move rapid
ly, as others did. / delivered all the let
ters that | brought with me, and l was
again asked, as | had been in Liverpool,
what could do. But / did not, as did
there, reply anything" l, however, was
puzzled how to answer the question. The
truth was, was utterly ignorant Of bust
ness l had been brought up among those
mountains, with merely a knowle ledge that
there was such thing. In fact, my ideas
Of it hardly extended beyond giving out
goods with one hand and receiving money
for them in the otheI The word com
merce was to ne as phrase in a dead Ian
guage. had fancied to myself that the
sea was a great lake, over the whole ex-
pause Of which l should be able to gaze at
once and see the four quarters Of the globe
around it; and my ideas Of what ships
were were gathered from the boats which /
had seen upon Keswick. On the day On
which | left my parents roof, beard my
old schOOlmas,er console me with the as
surance that there was no fear of me, for |
was fit for anything. While such testi-
mony from his lips comforted them, It
cheered me also, and It caused me to look
upon myself as youth of high promise and
OF yet higher expectations. But Row, when
| was lett to myself, with all my talents
and requirements ready to be disposed Of
in any market, l found that my general
qualifications, my fitness for anything,
amounted to being qualified for nothing,
when reduced to particulars. Days,
weeks, months passed away, and / was
still wanderer upon the streets of the
modern Babylon.
At length, when ready to lie down and
die from hunger and from hopelessness, /
obtained a situation as copying clerk to a
solicitor, at a salary Of ten shillings a week.
In such city as London, and where it was
necessary to keep up respectable appear
ance, this sum might be considered as in
adequate to my wants. But it was not so.
During the first ten weeks, transmitted
two pounds to my parents to assist them.
| always kept the prOverb before my mem
Ory, that - penny hained is penny gain
ed :" and | never took one fIOm my peck
ct until had considered whether or not it
was absolutely necessary to spend it. My
food was of the simplest kind and, finding
that | could not afford the expense Of an
eating bOuse, it consisted of a halfquartern
loaf IN the twenty-four hours, the one half
of which was eaten 10 the morning,
the other in the evening kltcb-
ened my loaf. as they say in Scotland, with
a penny-worth Of butter, and occasionally
with lettuce or few radisbes in their seas
on; and the beverage with which | re-
galed myself after my meals was glass Of
water from the nearest pump.
Upon this diet l became stOutcr, and was
more healthy for the time than ever had
been before, though believe | have suffer
ed ior it since. 1t was my duty t. lcck up
The otfce-Or chambers, as taey were called
at night, and to open them ID the morn
ing. / had not been many days in my sit
uatiOn when the thought struck me that by
locking myself within the chambers at
night, instead Of locking myself out,
might save the expense OF a lodging
Again / said to myself that "a penny hahn
ed was a penny gained" and four challs 10
the chambers became my couch, while the
money which | would have given for a
lodging was transmitted to my parents.
/ ! had not been in this situation many
months when it was my fortune to render
what be considered a service to a rich mer-
chant in the city, who was client Of nv
employers. He made inquiry Of me re-
specting the amount of my salary aud con-
cerning my home and relatives. found
that be was from Westmoreland, and he
offered me a situation in bis counting
house, with salary of eighty pounds a
year. My heart sprang in joy ard in
gratitude to my throat at his proposal. /
seized bis band as though be had been my
brother | pressed it to my breast. A tear
ran down my cheek and fell upon it. Even
while held bis hand fancied to myself
that | beheld my parents and their chill
dren again sitting beneath the sunshine Of
Independence, and blessing their tirst-bOrn,
who was (" ht for anything
- entered upon my new situation and up
on my income of eighty pounds a year, IN
a few days, and received quarter salary
ID advance | well knew that my father
was still oppressed BY liabilities, which he