The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-06
Trials Of the Day.

England was prosperous and content, Out
added that the people Of England were oe'-
ter of than were the nobility OF other coah.
tries. We can take TO ourselves no part o'
the disadvantage Of this comparison since
we have no nobility" such as that alluoeo
to by the Prime Minister. The comparison
will be considered "odious" on the cont-
nent where bob.tailed" counts are quite
n1cn,v. There are seer-bre%ers ana peer
sellers in London who are far better OH tnan
yerv many of these counts but II shou'o oe
remembered that there Is vast number OF
t;llers Of the soil and miners in England
,vbose comforts are reduced TO very low
standard, and whose services are about as
heavy as those of any laborers in any part Of
the world-considcrsbl heavier than the
service rendered by the negroes Of the South
during the existence of slavery.
But we may institute comparison be-
tween classes in this country that may be TO
some extent parallel with that drawn by the
Prime Minister. We believe that the peo-
pie are better of" than the so-called fnilion'
aires. Such has been the unsettled condi.
ton of the trade in money and stocks thai
the great body OF those who have made it a
business to buy and sell money and bonds
and skirmish for corners In trade have found
little peace, and less profit. The reaction
from the speculative time-the times OF fast
living, fast trading, fast gambling, deep
shaving, and reckless borrowlng-has sadly
crippled the class Of men who made life
lottery and converted real existence into d
dream. Unlike the dream Of the sleep OF
death, it is not all dream. The dreamer
wakes up at last to n sad reality, and then
what trials come must indeed "give Us
pause"
The immediate cause that crowds the
great multitude of reckless specu'ators-the
men who, like the children, see bags OF goio
at the ends OF every rainbow, and expect 10
find lost treasure in every horse.track-ls
shrukage" What an awful thing That
"shripkage" IS? To think of AL iron safe
full of securities that have fallen in value
ope.third to threc-ffths or three-fourths,
aud indeed sometimes to not enough TO pay
the interest of the debt to secure the princl'
pal of which they were deposited as coliat-
eral. "SArinkage !" What curses have or
what curses have not been heaped upon 1t!
It Is financially the most horrid of phrases.
1t is like the horn that. being blown, sent
forth innumerable l!t'le devils, detested har.
pies, to carry annoyance and pcstiferous.
ness wherever they were waited by the
winds. This shrnkage has wrought fearful
change, and left the condition Of men, noted
heretofore a. mlIlionsires, exceedingly doubt
full. The packages Of securities which many
hold locked up safely in iron chests are best
left to their sequestered place. Like bodies
of the dead, they would probably drop into
ashes if the air and light were allowed to
come into contact with them. 1t may now
well be asked, "who, alas! are million
aire?"
As distinct from these wild dealersiu what
are called "securties AYE, and even III
gold-let us congratulate those who have
roughed it during these times in honest
toll as mechanics or as cultivators OF the
instructors of carrots and parsnips how to
rise in the world, and cabbages how to spread
Reconsideration the fact that they are not
familiar with "shrinkage," and that fulfilling
the doom Of heaven in eating their bread in
tho sweat of their brow they have good APP
petites, good digestion, easy consciences, and
delicious sleep. They are not racked with
anXeties and fearful anticipations. They are
not agoniZrd in the throcs Of remorse that,
like the dreaded python, is drawing his folds
tightly about the body that has forfeited that
beneticence, that. natural peace, and sweet Sc
renity which come from the honest and lnde-
pendent lifc-the life that fulfls that doom
which is so much more blessing than
curse, and from which proceed health and
the conscious satisfaction Of time we'll and
honestly spent.
Let the man of moderate pretensions and
honest urposes-who never expected nor
even desired to be millionaire, nor was ever
suspected to harbor that hope-a hope which
cannot be INDUCED without the expectation
Of troubles and even transgressions to come
great RICHTER of wrongs and Dispenser OF re.
trbutions has been wedding the field of pests
and there has been vast number thrown over
the fence. There be now lying on the
surface, condemned plants that have been
plucked by the roots and spread out to die
in the sun. But the son OF honest toll is
peaceful; he eats his meals in quiet, and has
no qualms of conscience. He has nobody's
misfortune at his door, and goes to bis work
with light heart. Should he envy nybody :
He would be a great fool to do so. He
should not envy the palace-the abode of
luxury with the skeleton in it-when the
good spirits come with gentle affections to
make his modest dwelling the abode Of peace
and gratitude.
Indeed, these are the times when the body
of the people may take real consolation to
themselves. In the storms and commissions
that have wrought such changes in society
those who occupied the humber positions
are best of. There never was day in which
appearances were more delusiYe than they
are now. Let no man envy any body. 1.-The
does he Will only show his good sense by en-
vying that unpretendipg citizen who is salts
fed With making an honest living and owing
nobody anything. He is the man to be cd
We'd. He is the pattern. He may be said
to enjoy heaven upon earth at this time Of
sad reverses, Of misfortunes, which bring SO
many thousands into situations to triumph
over which thew have neither the experience